The FASA adventures are set in this sector, and I have been re-reading them, and this looks to be (along with Reavers Deep) one of the best sectors for adventuring in the Original Classic Traveller Universe. It is a real pity that FASA did not expand its line of adventures in this sector, nor develop subsector books like those from Gamelords for the Reavers Deep sector.
Far Frontiers Sector
- Thread starter Murph
- Start date
Yes. But, actually...
Dale Kemper wrote a manuscript for a Far Frontiers sector supplement for FASA (only the rimward 8 subsectors). FASA dropped support for Traveller before it was published, alas, but nearly the entire content was republished twice - first in Ares Magazine Special #2, then later serialized in The Traveller Chronicle (available on DriveThruRPG)
Dale also prepared Far Traveller issue #3 which would have shifted the focus to Far Frontiers, and the manuscript detailed the polities and some locations in Far Frontiers in the Taemerlyk subsector. Like previous issues of Far Traveller and High Passage, had the magazine continued it would have detailed one subsector per issue. (More details: http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=33235)
I'm lucky enough to have copies of both manuscripts. Perhaps someday they'll see the light of day.
I've put together a list of all the references to Far Frontiers:
http://rpggeek.com/geeklist/142617/atlas-third-imperium-far-frontiers
http://rpggeek.com/geeklist/142617/atlas-third-imperium-far-frontiers
Very nice! It's missing Ares Special #2, but that's mostly redundant with Dale Kemper's articles in Traveller Chronicles (although some world names were changed!).
I hadn't heard of Gameplay before. Can you share any details about the Privateer adventure?
If I ever get a copy of Ares Special #2, I'll add it to the list.
The Privateer article was written by Bill Fawcett and has tons of setting detail on a pirate operation, plus lots of information on Alsas subsector. Adventure ideas for using this material are there also.
It's available at the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/AresMagazineSpecialEdition2
Intriguing!
Ares SE#2 is late '83 or early '84. Gameplay's article is April '83 so there's no way Fawcett could have seen Kemper's data for Alsas in print, and the converse is unlikely (assuming the timeline was a prepared manuscript for FASA that was later shopped around). This leads me to suspect they must have been in contact somehow. I wonder if Fawcett's article is actually half of the unpublished "Piracy / Stardust" FASA Double Adventure listed on http://www.travellerbibliography.org/ct.html#fasa and continued the build-out of Far Frontiers?
I have no further data on this, but after digging into "Privateer" I'm fairly convinced that the Alsas details there were the basis for Kemper's work. There are many unusual worlds described (e.g. gas giant mainworlds, nova remnants, etc) that lead to "wacky" UWPs present in the later FF details; they make more sense if the UWPs were crafted to match the descriptions.
Also of note: the "Privateer" details identify the world/gas giant counts for many systems, which worlds are satellites (Sa code in T5), and where systems should perhaps be renamed (i.e. Katano is a GG, its moon Kitten is inhabited).
Food for thought when we do a comprehensive review of the sector.
G K Zhukov
SOC-11
It seems some of the detailed data from Dale Kemper's Far Frontiers sector ended showing up in GURPS Space Atlas 1 & 3 in 1988-1990.
I have counted no less than 12 Far Frontiers worlds in Space Atlas 1 and 21 in Space Atlas 3. And all of these come with detailed icosahedral world map and detailed star system data, as well as some description of the world, plot ideas, and sometimes a contact or a significative animal/threat...
Some world names are slightly changed, but they seem to be the same thing (pending detailed cross-examination).
Oddly enough, Dale Kemper is only shown as author in Space Atlas 3, while Steve Jackson himself and William A. Barton take all credit for the worlds contained in Space Atlas 1.
I have counted no less than 12 Far Frontiers worlds in Space Atlas 1 and 21 in Space Atlas 3. And all of these come with detailed icosahedral world map and detailed star system data, as well as some description of the world, plot ideas, and sometimes a contact or a significative animal/threat...
Some world names are slightly changed, but they seem to be the same thing (pending detailed cross-examination).
Oddly enough, Dale Kemper is only shown as author in Space Atlas 3, while Steve Jackson himself and William A. Barton take all credit for the worlds contained in Space Atlas 1.
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G K Zhukov
SOC-11
I also added detailed comments to Art's geeklist at rpggeek:
https://rpggeek.com/geeklist/142617/atlas-third-imperium-far-frontiers
https://rpggeek.com/geeklist/142617/atlas-third-imperium-far-frontiers
I picked up a copy of Space Atlas 3. And yep - most of the worlds have similar stats. There's a high degree of correlation for the stats I looked at - size, atm, hyd, pop, stellar - but at least one or two stats per world is wildly off (e.g. pop by orders of magnitude, hyd by 50%, etc). Stellar data is probably the most consistently similar.
All of the worlds are in FF's "Protectorate" and in SA's "Confederation"; Caractacalla is the capital in both. Positions are different in the maps.
DonM has sent me the first T5SS drop for the sector. It's up at https://travellermap.com/go/farf
Announcement here: https://travellermap.blogspot.com/2015/11/t5ss-review-update-far-frontiers.html
Anyone want to take a stab at com routes for the Consulate?
Announcement here: https://travellermap.blogspot.com/2015/11/t5ss-review-update-far-frontiers.html
Anyone want to take a stab at com routes for the Consulate?
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Sure, I'd be willing to take a stab at the com routes.
Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.
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