Crossover with Third Imperium

[DickNervous]

I recently introduced a group that I have played D&D with for the past 18 months to Traveller. We rolled up characters and played through the "High and Dry" adventure that is the starter for Mongoose 2E and everyone loved it. We finished that two nights before TravellerCon and ended with them doing a misjump when attempting to get to Flammarion to end the adventure. Since I have wanted to do a Clement Sector game for the past tow years I looked at this as the perfect opportunity. So while at Travellercon I purchased a few books from John (Thanks John!!) and this week we are going to Clement Sector.

With that in mind I was hoping to get a few suggestions from folks who use Clement Sector on how to handle things. The group consists of 5 players, 4 human and a Vargr. They have a Type-S Scout ship that is in very bad shape with an operating system that expires in about 2 weeks. I also have a 6th player who wants to join who rolled up an uplifted bear pirate with a social of 11 (this is going to be awesome!). She will be their initial contact in Clement Sector.

So here are the things I would like some opinions on:

1. Communication. Anglic (Third Imperium common) is based upon modern Earth languages. And according to responses in this thread those include English, Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Spanish and probably some non-Earth words as well from Vilani and other cultures. So my 3I characters will have to rely on translators to communicate in the Clement Sector, but can their computers do that? based upon the above info this is the conclusion I have come up with:

A computer that can translate the current major Earth languages would probably be able to do a decent job of translating Anglic. However, a computer designed to translate Third Imperium languages would have a hard time with modern Earth languages. ​

Please feel free to chime in with your opinions on that.

2. Location, Where should I have them come out? In which subsector and near which planet would you have a scout ship from the 3I appear? I was thinking in the spot where the Conduit was because that would cause all kinds of chaos, but I'm not sure. I was also thinking that might be to high profile.

3. Compatibility. Would a Clement Sector shipyard be able to repair a 3I ship? Particularly the jump drive? Would computers be able to communicate? The easy thing to do is say sure, no problem. But I want there to be a problem, I WANT culture shock, just not sure how far to take it. Suggestions?

So we meet again tomorrow night and I still have a lot of reading in the Clement Sector books to do, but would greatly appreciate any suggestions and ideas my fellow players and Refs have. Thanks!

 

[madmike]

1. Languages? Well average stellar 3I computers are not quite as sophisticated as Clement Sector computer systems of the same tech (TL12) and a bog average scout is not above TL12. So There WILL be a major language barrier. Five thousand years of language drift and language merging is going to be tricky to get around even with a computer to sort the mess out.

2. If you came out near the Conduit, you would have a really long sublight crawl to Hub. Zimm drives can skip-transit. I would suggest you come up at the frontier somewhere.

3. Zimm Drives are an entirely different technology to a jump drive so no shipyard in Clement Sector would be able to repair a jump drive. If you are doing a multiverse thing the jump drive may simply not even work. At least with a Type-S Scout, the drive could be swapped out for a Zimm Drive, providing the ship's crew have funds to pay for the work.

It is your game though and you can make it how you want.

Enjoy!!

 

[DickNervous]

The language thing is going to be fun. I think the Type-S computer may have records of ancient Earth languages, but any portable computer they have wouldn't. And they won't know to try to download it, at least not right away. The CS translators will have a better time of it due to Anglic being based mostly on ancient Earth languages.

I want them to come out somewhere a pirate would find them, since the new person joining is an Uplifted Bear pirate, so the frontier sounds right. Just where...

And I figure that they could probably sell the jump drive, even one that ins't functioning 100% to someone who will try to reverse engineer the technology and pay them quite a bit for it. Once they figure out how to explain to them what it does....

 

[madmike]

The language thing is going to be fun. I think the Type-S computer may have records of ancient Earth languages, but any portable computer they have wouldn't. And they won't know to try to download it, at least not right away. The CS translators will have a better time of it due to Anglic being based mostly on ancient Earth languages.

I want them to come out somewhere a pirate would find them, since the new person joining is an Uplifted Bear pirate, so the frontier sounds right. Just where...

And I figure that they could probably sell the jump drive, even one that ins't functioning 100% to someone who will try to reverse engineer the technology and pay them quite a bit for it. Once they figure out how to explain to them what it does....

Anderson and Felix would pay very, very, very well for that drive.

 

[Independence Games]

I want them to come out somewhere a pirate would find them, since the new person joining is an Uplifted Bear pirate, so the frontier sounds right. Just where...

I would recommend somewhere in the Winston or Dade Subsectors. Those are semi-settled, full of pirates, and far enough away from civilization to allow them a bit of time to find their footing rather than immediately face an established world.

 

[DickNervous]

I would recommend somewhere in the Winston or Dade Subsectors. Those are semi-settled, full of pirates, and far enough away from civilization to allow them a bit of time to find their footing rather than immediately face an established world.

Thank you for the suggestion John!

 

[DickNervous]

Anderson and Felix would pay very, very, very well for that drive.

I'm sure they will.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

I was late on the language thread, so I repeat here.
During the Interstellar Wars period:

Most Terrans speak at least two languages. Meanwhile, the modern dialect of English (which has plenty of loan words and slang from Mandarin, Spanish, and other languages) seems likely to become the first universal Terran language. It is already the official common language of the Terran Confederation Navy, and it serves as a lingua franca throughout the Terran colony worlds and nearby Imperial space. - GURPS Traveller Interstellar Wars pg.9

In turn, the Vilani are defeated and the Confederation Navy sends its 100,000 officers. The commonality of English will be the exposure most Vilani receive after the Wars. During the Wars, the Vilani may receive exposure to others via trade, but not from the Terran Navy.

Sprinkle about ~2500 years of linguistic drift.
In addition by 1105:
The Solomani as part of their "Authentic Movement" have kept the Terran languages alive, but in that might be more like how we keep Latin "alive" (i.e. dead and unchanged).
The Old Islands and New Islands in Reft Sector speak English, French, and German with only about 200 years of drift being the the sublight sleeper ESA expeditions.
The Darrians might have Turkish as a dead language, as Terrans from a Turkish company moved there during the Long Night or with ~2500 years of drift before they messed themselves up with the Star Trigger.
Finally, the Sword Worlders speak Scandanavian languages.

 

[DickNervous]

I was late on the language thread, so I repeat here.
During the Interstellar Wars period:In turn, the Vilani are defeated and the Confederation Navy sends its 100,000 officers. The commonality of English will be the exposure most Vilani receive after the Wars. During the Wars, the Vilani may receive exposure to others via trade, but not from the Terran Navy.

Sprinkle about ~2500 years of linguistic drift.
In addition by 1105:
The Solomani as part of their "Authentic Movement" have kept the Terran languages alive, but in that might be more like how we keep Latin "alive" (i.e. dead and unchanged).
The Old Islands and New Islands in Reft Sector speak English, French, and German with only about 200 years of drift being the the sublight sleeper ESA expeditions.
The Darrians might have Turkish as a dead language, as Terrans from a Turkish company moved there during the Long Night or with ~2500 years of drift before they messed themselves up with the Star Trigger.
Finally, the Sword Worlders speak Scandanavian languages.

It never ceases to amaze me the details people on this forum know about different things. Thank you.

So the short version is that general communication shouldn't be much of an issue, though details and nuances could (and probably would) get messed up by any translation software. Does that sum it up pretty good?

Thanks!

 

[Nathan Brazil]

One thing you can do is play up the language thing for session or two. Make the the Imperial characters think they are in the Sword Worlds or Islands. Hilarity will ensue as the Swordies are not friends of the Imperials and the Islands may be considered warlike barbarians by Imperials who know of them.

 

[DickNervous]

One thing you can do is play up the language thing for session or two. Make the the Imperial characters think they are in the Sword Worlds or Islands. Hilarity will ensue as the Swordies are not friends of the Imperials and the Islands may be considered warlike barbarians by Imperials who know of them.

Well, the first person they encounter is going to be a pirate in the form of a very large bear who speaks Russian. There should be plenty of hilarity ensuing tonight when that happens.

But yeah, by the third session the language will be mostly a non-issue, except when I want it to be.