GT Universe Only: Agent of the Imperium - Canon in the Lorenverse or Not

[Spartan159]

I was thinking maybe the Agent put Dulinor up to the assassination...

I would be more inclined to think the Agent tipped off Strephon to the wave etc which got Longbow and other things moving along, which Dulinor interfered with.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

My biggest issue with that though is while every interdicted world is by default a red zone, not every red zone is interdicted. I wish there was some indicator of say Navy Interdiction or Scout Interdiction or Quarantine or such like.

In another thread I had pointed out the use of the Zone field in UWP data. It may be appropriate and unfortunate for how you use the Zone.
If in universe it is a code originating from Travellers' Aid Society, consider:

• They Red Zone any place their members should not go to. This would be Interdicted Systems. We a mere travel service have done our work for our members.
• Systems that are Forbidden or Dangerous. In T5.09 rules (Gov + LL) greater than 22 get Red Zoned. Some people disagree with cutoff, but the general idea is sound. Some places are simply too much of a hassle to go to and visit and TAS Red Zones on that basis.

This being the case, TAS has a Red on more systems. Say a Religious Dictatorship and a LL of 9 (=22), might not be healthy to leave the starport. So Red Zone. But the Navy and Scouts are not going to interdict because a non-governmental agency says that visitors might have an unpleasant experience (or fatal if you really offended authorities)

 

[Nathan Brazil]

I Have Forseen the Coming Doom! It Cannot Be Stopped!

Do you see what lies in store?

I would be more inclined to think the Agent tipped off Strephon to the wave etc which got Longbow and other things moving along, which Dulinor interfered with.

DING DING DING DING ! We have a winner!

345-434
Aboard ISS Talon orbiting
Caes 0914 C8858??-4 Beauniture Ga Ph
Jonathan Bland: “I am more concerned about the Craziness. Does it do this every time? To everyone? What happens when it reaches the empire?”
Captain Tryan: “In eight hundred years? That’s a long time from now.”
Jonathan Bland: “Long time or not, it will get there eventually. When you return, I’ve marked the relevant files for forwarding to Quarantine."

:devil::coffeegulp: :frankie:IT EXISTS That Wave of Craziness is coming in both universes!

• Perhaps that this was the true catalyst for the Psionic Suppressions. Forget that Zhodani funded Institutes storyline. Just a smoke screen for the masses that Jonathan Brand introduced so there are less psions to go insane in the Imperium?:smirk:
• Maybe the Third Imperium is not impacted directly but what of the Zhodani Consulate. In either universe imagine the slavering hordes of billions upon billions of unhappy or insane Zhodani all going all over to flee. Spinward, Rimward, Trailing towards the Spinward Marches. Many of their leaders with the psionics intact but not their sanity...:nonono::nonono: And we have seen what happens to the Regency when they came. Poor sods.
• Even more billions live to flee in the other universe because they were not killed off by Virus.o:
• More mobility for these poor insane people because their ships, combat vessels and combat robots were not taken over by the self-destructive early generations of Virus.
• What will happen when the Wave enters Imperial Space around 1200? In either universe?:coffeesip:

Because it exists in both universes, ya? and identical until at least 1116? or 9 months earlier as Aramis correctly points out.

 

[whulorigan]

Are you referring to the fact that since Chonadon Bilanidin (Jonathan Bland) has effectively devised a way to keep himself alive and updated via multiple copies of himself in multiple hosts (perhaps using his authority as an Agent to order the creation of a series of clones for himself to inhabit and/or be downloaded into), that he can always be on hand over the centuries to serve the best interests of The Imperium (not necessarily the Emperor)?

I would be more inclined to think the Agent tipped off Strephon to the wave etc which got Longbow and other things moving along, which Dulinor interfered with.

Do you see what lies in store? . . .

:devil::coffeegulp: :frankie:IT EXISTS That Wave of Craziness is coming in both universes!

• Perhaps that this was the true catalyst for the Psionic Suppressions. Forget that Zhodani funded Institutes storyline. Just a smoke screen for the masses that Jonathan Brand introduced so there are less psions to go insane in the Imperium?:smirk:
• Maybe the Third Imperium is not impacted directly but what of the Zhodani Consulate. In either universe imagine the slavering hordes of billions upon billions of unhappy or insane Zhodani all going all over to flee. Spinward, Rimward, Trailing towards the Spinward Marches. Many of their leaders with the psionics intact but not their sanity...

.
.
.
Because it exists in both universes, ya? and identical until at least 1116? or 9 months earlier as Aramis correctly points out.

Perhaps the agent destroyed Dulinor's craft (or at least engineered its destruction).

And perhaps that is the seed for a late Imperial Golden Age grand campaign-arc:

You (your party, etc) are contacted by a man claiming to be an Imperial Agent, a "Decider", who has evidence of a plot to assassinate the Emperor, the results of which will have long-term catastrophic effects well beyond the simple political ramifications of such an event. The Assassin must be stopped at all costs for the long-term security of the entire Imperium . . .
​

A "fork-in-the-road" style campaign, the outcome of which will decide a campaign timeline arc that doesn't require time-travel and/or historical revisions by TL-29 temporal operatives.

 

[savage]

Not less psions to go insane but an excuse to consolidate them on a safe planet. A world that muffles psionics.

 

[Cryton]

Hmmm. I wonder, are Humans Dire-Hobbits? Was the Virus actually a countermeasure for the Agent should it ever go bad? Was Virus actually a bad copy of the Agent, and not derived from CIMs like everyone thinks, a copy that has decided that the Imperium must die?

Who knows.

 

[aramis]

Hmmm. I wonder, are Humans Dire-Hobbits? Was the Virus actually a countermeasure for the Agent should it ever go bad? Was Virus actually a bad copy of the Agent, and not derived from CIMs like everyone thinks, a copy that has decided that the Imperium must die?

Who knows.

Perhaps Virus is what happens when the Agent hits a Cimbaline Chip...

 

[savage]

Next generation of Wafer tech. Let's say an agent did something crazy like kill an empress for the empire. The imperium might suspect a problem and be working on the replacement tech after the 900-1000 year cycle is completed.

 

[mike wightman]

As the wafer tech advances wouldn't you just transfer the personality over to the higher TL wafer?

And what about the potential of:
installing the personality into a computer
building a synthetic body fpr the personality
cloning the original body (requires genetic material or records to have been filed away).

 

[The Pakkrat]

Having read the book and this thread forced the thoughts alongside this topic:

Spoiler:

1. Were the Decider, Warlord, Admiral, Negotiator or any of the personalities to become infected with Virus, one has to ask what Strain has done the infecting. Mix and match from there.

2. Virus, once it unpacks itself then, most often learns its raison d' etre, the function of the tech it finds itself in. It will either find compatibility with the personality inside the wafer or not, perhaps becoming a Suicider instead.

3. Can the recorded personality win over an infection from Virus and impose its will over the newborn infection? Will there be a struggle at all? Remember that the personality has a limited number of sleeps before oblivion whereas Virus is active so long as the tech is running, then it sleeps in the silicon.

4. If compatibility is achieved, what will the ensouled, daemon, hybrid personality/Strain do with itself? Will it become a Viral Warlord, a Viral Admiral, a Viral Negotiator or a Viral Decider? Will it still be loyal to the Third Imperium despite the Collapse?

5. Since the personality works through a volunteer who slots the wafer, will Virus then get a taste of wetware if it has infected and determined its function and reason for existence?

6. Or will the wafer technology be defunct by the time one reaches Cymbaline and comes into contact with the chips?

 

[Grav_Moped]

Having read the book and this thread forced the thoughts alongside this topic:

Spoiler:

1. Were the Decider, Warlord, Admiral, Negotiator or any of the personalities to become infected with Virus, one has to ask what Strain has done the infecting. Mix and match from there.

2. Virus, once it unpacks itself then, most often learns its raison d' etre, the function of the tech it finds itself in. It will either find compatibility with the personality inside the wafer or not, perhaps becoming a Suicider instead.

3. Can the recorded personality win over an infection from Virus and impose its will over the newborn infection? Will there be a struggle at all? Remember that the personality has a limited number of sleeps before oblivion whereas Virus is active so long as the tech is running, then it sleeps in the silicon.

4. If compatibility is achieved, what will the ensouled, daemon, hybrid personality/Strain do with itself? Will it become a Viral Warlord, a Viral Admiral, a Viral Negotiator or a Viral Decider? Will it still be loyal to the Third Imperium despite the Collapse?

5. Since the personality works through a volunteer who slots the wafer, will Virus then get a taste of wetware if it has infected and determined its function and reason for existence?

6. Or will the wafer technology be defunct by the time one reaches Cymbaline and comes into contact with the chips?

5+4: It becomes humanized by running on wetware, and loyal to the Third Imperium. When it realizes there isn't such a thing anymore, it's got two choices:

1. Civilization will rise again. One day there will once again be lemon-soaked paper napkins. Until then, there will be a short delay. Please return to your seats.
(Hitchhiker's Guide reference, of course. Basically, go into standby until there's a valid successor to the 3I then support that.)

2. If there isn't an Imperium, well then, he'll have to create one from scratch won't he?

Spoiler:

Hivers think they're the reason Humaniti keeps building Empires across Charted Space, time after time. They're wrong.

The 3I think they're the ones who created the idea of Agents. They're wrong too.

Spoiler:

Where did the descendants of the original crew of the ANNIC NOVA and their incredible technology, go? Someone had to have been replacing the Collector sails on that thing all these years, and it's almost certainly not the only ship like it out there...

 

[whulorigan]

Concerning the ANNIC NOVA:

Spoiler:

Where did the descendants of the original crew of the ANNIC NOVA and their incredible technology, go? Someone had to have been replacing the Collector sails on that thing all these years, and it's almost certainly not the only ship like it out there...

Perhaps this is answered in some of Marc's Interview and Galaxiad material:

Spoiler:

They perhaps went to the other side of the Galaxy to Dhushis Khurisi (see Traveller Map - pull out and view at full size). I know Marc has already talked about and gotten feedback from others at some point concerning the use of collectors for galactic-distance voyages.

 

[Maksim-Smelchak]

As likely as not, AOTI is both Lorenverse and Millerian OTU.

How do we like those apples?

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Timerover51]

As likely as not, AOTI is both Lorenverse and Millerian OTU.

How do we like those apples?

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

To be perfectly honest, I do not like them at all. You could argue that Marc's novel applies to the Traveller 5 Universe, but not to any of the earlier editions of the rules.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Perhaps this is answered in some of Marc's Interview and Galaxiad material:

Spoiler:

They perhaps went to the other side of the Galaxy to Dhushis Khurisi (see Traveller Map - pull out and view at full size). I know Marc has already talked about and gotten feedback from others at some point concerning the use of collectors for galactic-distance voyages.

Spoiler:

The interview is how I knew about the tech. I'm only slightly acquainted with the Galaxiad milieu, though.

Anyhow, that's a good place to hide. The trip there would have been "interesting", to say the least. Look who they'd have to sneak past in order to get there!

But, if that's the canon (or consensus but non-canonical) explanation I can work with that too.

Thanks!

 

[Blue Ghost]

Stupid question; what is the "Lorenverse"?

 

[whulorigan]

Stupid question; what is the "Lorenverse"?

It is the nickname for the GURPS: Traveller alternate timeline (where Strephon is NOT assassinated). It is called the "Lorenverse" because the setting was overseen for SJGames by Loren Wiseman as line editor, and represents Loren Wiseman's view of the Imperium and Charted Space.

 

[aramis]

To be perfectly honest, I do not like them at all. You could argue that Marc's novel applies to the Traveller 5 Universe, but not to any of the earlier editions of the rules.

Marc has hinted at a "each game is a different historian's flawed approach to simulating their subject timeframe" which is a very strong subset of "unreliable narrator"...