GRANT system

[mike wightman]

As an aside - all of this is one of the things I've always considered Traveller to be brilliant at.
A couple of throw away lines and/or pieces of data, a bit of immagination, and look at the adventures that present themselves.

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
This reminds me a little bit of the computer game Alpha Centauri...

Crap! I love that game. (Actually, I can't really play it because it just takes too much time and I lose too much sleep.

) It wasn't a conscious reference point, but it was likely an unconscious one.

The only real difference is that I would skip the whole planetmind/transcendance thing. And the alien life form doesn't need to be sentient. Instead of negotiating, the telepaths could "train" it to behave ...

 

[mike wightman]

Hmm, so an animal level psionic intelligence sending nightmares etc. to Imp colonists - Event Horizon/Solaris/Call of Cthulhu - making their innermost fears real...

the Zho refugees learn how to tame it...

this keeps getting better and better.

p.s.
I know what you mean about the AC game daryen - I've lost days of my life playing it...

there's a GURPS rolplaying version isn't there?

 

[Pickles]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
p.s.
I know what you mean about the AC game daryen - I've lost days of my life playing it...

Weeks ...

 

[daryen]

To play up the AC analogy, yes, think mind worms. (Though I wouldn't actually use mind worms, the analogy works.)

Also, once the Zhos figure out how to train them, it doesn't take much imagination to figure that the Zhos could use these creatures for defense. They won't be much bother to someone who is fully prepared, but woe to the poor corsair/raider who isn't prepared!

BTW, don't anyone take offense if I ever get a chance to use this!

Yes, there is a GURPS sourcebook on Alpha Centauri. (It covers Alien Crossfire, too.) Most people didn't think much of it, and it would probably be rather difficult to actually roleplay. It does make a nice resource book, though. (Because of its relative unpopularity and 4e, you should be able to find it really cheap somewhere, if you are so inclined.)

 

[mike wightman]

BTW, don't anyone take offense if I ever get a chance to use this!

The sooner - this becomes canon - the better

I'll be using it this Thursday

 

[TKalbfus]

Is there any canon info on this system, and why its a red zone? It seems like such a good place to holiday (quiet, standard atmoshpere) except for the big "KEEP OUT" sign.

If anyone's got info on this system I'd love to hear it.

GRANT

Sub-Sector B Jewell
Hex Location 1607
World Name Grant
UWP X664100-0
StarPort X - No Starport
Planet Size 6 - 6,000 Miles (9,600 Kilometres)
Atmosphere 6 - Standard
Hydrographics 4 - 40% Water
Population 1 - Tens of Inhabitants
Gov't Type 0 - No Government Structure
Tech Level 0 - Stone Age - Primitive
Law Level 0 - No laws affecting weapons possession or ownership

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trade Lo Ni
Pop Multiplier 2
Planetoid Belts 2
Gas Giants 2
Bases
Stellar Data K6 V

So what we have here is a world with a standard atmosphere 40% hydrographics, and a population of from 10 to 99 cavemen, living on a planet with 113,097,335 square miles of surface area, 67,858,401 square miles of it is land.
685,438 square miles per person, if the population is 99.

You know that's a small population even for a stone age world. If you land anywhere on the planet, chances are, you won't encounter those 99 people. Perhaps the inhabitants aren't cavemen, what if they are criminals, and the reason that the planet is a red zone is because it is a prison planet. The Imperium sends its prisoners there and then dumps them in the wilderness with no jails and no prison guards, only the prisoners themselves. That their is a standard atmosphere implies that the planet has an econoly that's capable of sustaining human life. Still its a fairly large planet to reserve for less than 100 people.

What other reason could it be a red zone? What if the planet itself was alive? What if all of its life forms were part of a super-organism linked together by psionics? The present inhabitants are the survivors of ship wrecked starship crews. you see the planet got lonely and wanted some company, so it reached out with its psionics and caused those crews to land or crash their starships on the planet's surface.

The planet itself might be covered with a run-away nanotechnology that destroys technology, maybe their is a being controlling it all that fancies itself as a "Nature Goddess", This nature goddess desires to have some "Adams" and "Eves" to inhabit its garden, so it sends its nanotech out to wreck the starships of anyone who lands here.

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by Tom Kalbfus:
Is there any canon info on this system, and why its a red zone?

It's not canon, because it's only in electronic form, but I wrote an adventure for PYRAMID called Plague Planet that explained how Grant came to be like it was. It was echoed on the JTAS Online archive. If you have a subscription to either magazine you can look it up here:

http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/login/article.html?id=1817
http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?159

Here's a library data entry about Grant from the adventure.

1607 Grant (Imperial) Red Zone

Starport: Class 0.
Diameter: 6,339 miles (10,200 km). Atmosphere: Standard oxygen-nitrogen. Surface Water: 41%. Climate: Normal. Population: No permanent residents. Government: None. Control Rating: None. TL: None.

Grant was a thriving world until it was depopulated by a bio-warfare agent during the 4th Frontier War and turned into a naval test area for planetary bombardment weapons. It is rumored that some non-humans were left behind in the evacuation and that some still survive. The navy categorically denies this. The entire system is under interdict.

(This is an entry from 1117. By 1120 the entry has changed to the one in BtC. The adventure has more details.)


Hans

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by Lord Vince:
Why couldn't the planet be an old RoM Depot world, complete with still-active planetary defences, and a functioning Central AI that will only respond to old RoM Commands...which nobody knows, anymore.

Neither the Ziru Sirka nor RoM ever reached the Spinward Marches (though a few refugees from both empires did). Artificial Intelligence were beyond the technology of the RoM (and anyone else we know of in the TU except the Ancients and the Darrians)


Hans

 

[deadlock]

Greetings and salutations,

*throw in my .02 credits*

Another scenario for Grant could be something along the premise of StarCraft, Alien vs Predator, or a combination of the two.

The planet was actually used as an experimental station for the Ancients or whoever. They created the Zerg by mixing and matching different DNA from various lifeforms. The Protoss were Zhodani that were used in the experiments. When the Ancients or whoever left, these two races were left on their own. When the Imperium came to grant, they found the following:
</font>

• They found a vicious lifeform (Aliens, Zerg) with a terrorizing breeding rate.</font>
• They found a humanoid lifeform (Protoss) that made the Zhodani look like rank amateurs. Or the humanoid lifeform (Predator) could be a very efficient hunter that would make the Imperial Marine Commandos scream for their mothers.</font>

The Aliens/Zergs do not have the tech to build starships, but the Predators/Protoss do. The Imperium realizes it cannot allow the Aliens/Zerg to leave do to their viciousness and rate of breeding. The Imperium cannot allow the Predators/Protoss to leave because their TL is superior to the Imperium and poses a threat to their "superiority".

Hmm. And I have people that want to play Traveller. Oh yes, we shall play.