creativehum
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In a thread about Cargo Cost, aramis at one point produced this nifty chart:
It shows the ratio of Patrols vs. Pirates each edition of the boxed set of Traveller would produce using the Ships Encounter table, rolled when a ship enters a system.
Aramis notes:
Carlobrand adds a few posts later:
I concur with the statements of aramis and Carlobrand.
Here are a few more differences between the 1977 rules and text and the 1981 rules and text:
When we look at the 1977 rules, we also find that there are Charted Space Lanes rather than Communication Routes in setting up a subsector.
Space Lanes are pre-plotted Jump plans that can be bought on cassettes that self-erase after one use. A ship with the Generate Program does not need them. But a ship without a Generate program needs them if it is going to get from one system to another. And if a Space Lane between two systems has not yet been charted at all, then the Generate program is required for a ship to get to it.
Also: The 1977 rules have no Travel Zones (Amber or Red). As one can see from the quotes above, it seems unlikely that governments that is constantly trying to swat away pirates from A starport systems (and not succeeding) will be able to interdict an entire system. Instead, all worlds, no matter how dangerous, are open to Player Character travellers if that's where they want to go. They could, of course, encounter resistance from any number of factions. But there is nothing on the books advising or warning them not to go.
Also: I recently came across this first paragraph from the section on Starship Encounters on p. 36:
This assumes a setting that will have "military or civil turmoil" in the space between worlds. Not that there has to be turmoil. That is up to the Referee and the worlds he or she builds. But it is certainly implied there can be such turmoil, and the text encourages the Referee to think in terms of offering up such turmoil. But this sensibility is in contrast to the rules of the OTU's Third Imperium which allows conflicts on worlds, but not in the space between them.
These elements alone are enough to bring me peace of mind. This is the sort of rough-and-tumble setting that I always imagined for Traveller because, of course, I bought the 1977 edition in my youth.
During the game line's development the rules changed, the OTU was developed, and the game and the setting became one thing. My view of what sort of environment the Traveller rules originally implied became erased. When I would say, "The Spinward Marches seems safer and more civilized than I want," I would be met with the reply, "How can you say that? It's on the edge of the Imperium. There's all sorts of adventure."
Which is true, by the way. There is all sorts of adventure in The Spinward Marches. Nonetheless, to me, with all its mega corporations with tendrils to the smallest and off the beaten path worlds, its empire capable of interdicting entire star systems, its vast fleet of enormous startups that utterly dwarfed the ships of the player characters, its all seemed a much different environment than those I remembered reading about when I first bought the rules. Overall, the Third Imperium enforced a law and order across the stars that wasn't in alignment with my sensibility for Science-Fiction Adventure in the Far Future. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! Traveller was always about the Referee making the setting he or she wanted to share with is players. GDW made the setting they wanted from the core rules -- and that is awesome.)
Of course, two years ago I bought a PDF of the 1977 rules when I got the CT CD-ROM and could go back to rules I originally read.
So, a thought experiment:
Let's use the rules and observations of aramis and Carlobrand above, along with rules shared with the 1981 edition:
First: are there any other differences between the 1977 and 1981 rules that provide interesting contrasts in terms of setting?
Second: what sort of assumptions can be made about the setting? What are the implications? What do we think the settings would be like drawn from these rules and bits of text?
It shows the ratio of Patrols vs. Pirates each edition of the boxed set of Traveller would produce using the Ships Encounter table, rolled when a ship enters a system.
Aramis notes:
Carlobrand adds a few posts later:
I concur with the statements of aramis and Carlobrand.
Here are a few more differences between the 1977 rules and text and the 1981 rules and text:
When we look at the 1977 rules, we also find that there are Charted Space Lanes rather than Communication Routes in setting up a subsector.
Space Lanes are pre-plotted Jump plans that can be bought on cassettes that self-erase after one use. A ship with the Generate Program does not need them. But a ship without a Generate program needs them if it is going to get from one system to another. And if a Space Lane between two systems has not yet been charted at all, then the Generate program is required for a ship to get to it.
Also: The 1977 rules have no Travel Zones (Amber or Red). As one can see from the quotes above, it seems unlikely that governments that is constantly trying to swat away pirates from A starport systems (and not succeeding) will be able to interdict an entire system. Instead, all worlds, no matter how dangerous, are open to Player Character travellers if that's where they want to go. They could, of course, encounter resistance from any number of factions. But there is nothing on the books advising or warning them not to go.
Also: I recently came across this first paragraph from the section on Starship Encounters on p. 36:
This assumes a setting that will have "military or civil turmoil" in the space between worlds. Not that there has to be turmoil. That is up to the Referee and the worlds he or she builds. But it is certainly implied there can be such turmoil, and the text encourages the Referee to think in terms of offering up such turmoil. But this sensibility is in contrast to the rules of the OTU's Third Imperium which allows conflicts on worlds, but not in the space between them.
These elements alone are enough to bring me peace of mind. This is the sort of rough-and-tumble setting that I always imagined for Traveller because, of course, I bought the 1977 edition in my youth.
During the game line's development the rules changed, the OTU was developed, and the game and the setting became one thing. My view of what sort of environment the Traveller rules originally implied became erased. When I would say, "The Spinward Marches seems safer and more civilized than I want," I would be met with the reply, "How can you say that? It's on the edge of the Imperium. There's all sorts of adventure."
Which is true, by the way. There is all sorts of adventure in The Spinward Marches. Nonetheless, to me, with all its mega corporations with tendrils to the smallest and off the beaten path worlds, its empire capable of interdicting entire star systems, its vast fleet of enormous startups that utterly dwarfed the ships of the player characters, its all seemed a much different environment than those I remembered reading about when I first bought the rules. Overall, the Third Imperium enforced a law and order across the stars that wasn't in alignment with my sensibility for Science-Fiction Adventure in the Far Future. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! Traveller was always about the Referee making the setting he or she wanted to share with is players. GDW made the setting they wanted from the core rules -- and that is awesome.)
Of course, two years ago I bought a PDF of the 1977 rules when I got the CT CD-ROM and could go back to rules I originally read.
So, a thought experiment:
Let's use the rules and observations of aramis and Carlobrand above, along with rules shared with the 1981 edition:
- no fuel purifiers
- a cap on ship size at 5,000 tons (or so -- yes, yes, I know one can extend the table)
- the discussions of pirates and hijackings as a threat in Book 2
- the need for Refined Fuel (which is only found at 37% of starports) to travel without the risk of drive failures and misjumps (both of which can cause catastrophic results)
- the fact that Refined Fuel will only be available, on average, in 37% of star systems when rolled using tables in Book 3
- Space travel is relatively expensive:
Costs of Living per Book 3
- Ordinary Living thus costs Cr4,800 per year
- High Living is Cr10,800 per year
Costs of Space Travel Passage per Book 2
- High Passage: Cr10,000
- Middle Passage: Cr8,000
- Low Passage: Cr1,000
- Ordinary Living thus costs Cr4,800 per year
- High Living is Cr10,800 per year
Costs of Space Travel Passage per Book 2
- High Passage: Cr10,000
- Middle Passage: Cr8,000
- Low Passage: Cr1,000
- governments do not handle communication through interstellar mail, but hire independent contractors to carry the mail
- the fact that some people who need to travel but can only scrape together the Cr1000 needed for a Low Passage ticket are willing to risk a base 15% chance of death in order to get to another world
- the fact that the interstellar culture is clearly stratified along class in some fashion or another
First: are there any other differences between the 1977 and 1981 rules that provide interesting contrasts in terms of setting?
Second: what sort of assumptions can be made about the setting? What are the implications? What do we think the settings would be like drawn from these rules and bits of text?
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