Only time will tell. Who's writing it?
Has Agent changed your vision of the Third Imperium?
- Thread starter mike wightman
- Start date
Only time will tell. Who's writing it?
Last I heard it was MJD.
When I started playing role-playign games back around 1980 I started with two games: D&D and Traveller. From the very start I felt that the settings for both games were very fertile grounds for creating epic adventures and stories as they grew. And I was right, both the Third Imperium and Forgotten Realms settings went on to become the starting points for countless stories and adventures that have been told everywhere from basements and kitchen tables to novels and even television and movies. I mean how many other RPG settings can boast that they were the inspiration for a show like Firefly? And I have to believe that somewhere along the line the creators of other books/shows like The Expanse, Dark Matter, and Killjoys have all been exposed to Traveller at some point (or something else influenced by it). 
Both settings have grown to the point where trying to collect all the information on either one in some official manner is a monumental task, just look at our efforts to keep the Traveller Wiki up-to-date for an example, but the Forgotten Realms setting has grown exponentially compared to the Third Imperium over the same amount of time. Now I know there are tons of reasons for this ranging from the fact that they are different genres to business "stuff" that is in the past and can't be changed (which is why I am not going into all that stuff!), but I think one reason that is worth talking about are books. Over the years WotC has done a very admirable job when it comes to the novels and books that expand on the Forgotten Realms. So admirable that I once created a database and used a bar code scanner to keep track of which books I owned and had read since there were so many of them. There are so many that if you walk into a library or book store they are in their own section. It is amazing how much content is out there. Over the years I learned so much about the Forgotten Realms and it's history from those books that it (at one time) was more complete than my knowledge of real history! IMHO, this expanded collection of source material is what is missing from Traveller and the Third Imperium setting.
Before becoming a member of these forums I didn't even know that there was Traveller fiction out there at all. I never remember seeing it in the book stores when I was combing the Sci-Fi and Fantasy sections for new stuff to read (back when I had time to read a book a week). Needless to say I am very excited that AotI was written and published and just as proud to be the owner of an autographed hard copy from the Kickstarter. I think novels (and novellas) are an excellent way to add to the lore and story of the Third Imperium and I look forward to more books, hopefully from multiple authors, in the future.
Now, to answer the question: YES! In the past 2+ years since I have restarted playing Traveller I have been reading everything I can about the Third Imperium. I have bought (way to many) books on DriveThruRPG, from hobby shops, and even gotten them as gifts from friends, for just about all the versions of the game to quench my thirst for information on the setting. I have spent countless hours reading the Wiki, these forums, /r/Traveller on reddit, and many of the fan sites out there. I thought I had a pretty good idea on how the Imperium worked, that is until I read AotI. Knowing that there are these "personalities" out there with that kind of power to change the course of history adds an entirely new layer to things. The new (to me at least) sophonts that were introduced are awesome. I find myself wishing that Marc would churn out another and another every few months for me to devour, though I know that is not feasible. Learning about how the Imperium, and Mr. Bland in particular, is concerned about "The Wave", the "Black Ships", and all these other things that are still coming is awesome. It allows for a whole new dimension of adventures and stories to be created.
And I think that the books that Mongoose has/is publishing on the setting such as the Borderland Profile series, are a great step in the right direction to adding to the setting. I just think we need more fiction to make it more accessible to non-Traveller players and possibly get them interested in the game.
tl;dr: Hell YES it changed things for me! Now where is the next book?!
Both settings have grown to the point where trying to collect all the information on either one in some official manner is a monumental task, just look at our efforts to keep the Traveller Wiki up-to-date for an example, but the Forgotten Realms setting has grown exponentially compared to the Third Imperium over the same amount of time. Now I know there are tons of reasons for this ranging from the fact that they are different genres to business "stuff" that is in the past and can't be changed (which is why I am not going into all that stuff!), but I think one reason that is worth talking about are books. Over the years WotC has done a very admirable job when it comes to the novels and books that expand on the Forgotten Realms. So admirable that I once created a database and used a bar code scanner to keep track of which books I owned and had read since there were so many of them. There are so many that if you walk into a library or book store they are in their own section. It is amazing how much content is out there. Over the years I learned so much about the Forgotten Realms and it's history from those books that it (at one time) was more complete than my knowledge of real history! IMHO, this expanded collection of source material is what is missing from Traveller and the Third Imperium setting.
Before becoming a member of these forums I didn't even know that there was Traveller fiction out there at all. I never remember seeing it in the book stores when I was combing the Sci-Fi and Fantasy sections for new stuff to read (back when I had time to read a book a week). Needless to say I am very excited that AotI was written and published and just as proud to be the owner of an autographed hard copy from the Kickstarter. I think novels (and novellas) are an excellent way to add to the lore and story of the Third Imperium and I look forward to more books, hopefully from multiple authors, in the future.
Now, to answer the question: YES! In the past 2+ years since I have restarted playing Traveller I have been reading everything I can about the Third Imperium. I have bought (way to many) books on DriveThruRPG, from hobby shops, and even gotten them as gifts from friends, for just about all the versions of the game to quench my thirst for information on the setting. I have spent countless hours reading the Wiki, these forums, /r/Traveller on reddit, and many of the fan sites out there. I thought I had a pretty good idea on how the Imperium worked, that is until I read AotI. Knowing that there are these "personalities" out there with that kind of power to change the course of history adds an entirely new layer to things. The new (to me at least) sophonts that were introduced are awesome. I find myself wishing that Marc would churn out another and another every few months for me to devour, though I know that is not feasible. Learning about how the Imperium, and Mr. Bland in particular, is concerned about "The Wave", the "Black Ships", and all these other things that are still coming is awesome. It allows for a whole new dimension of adventures and stories to be created.
And I think that the books that Mongoose has/is publishing on the setting such as the Borderland Profile series, are a great step in the right direction to adding to the setting. I just think we need more fiction to make it more accessible to non-Traveller players and possibly get them interested in the game.
tl;dr: Hell YES it changed things for me! Now where is the next book?!
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
Very little, to be honest, aside from giving form to the "apartness" of the Navy.
Orion Shipyards
SOC-1
Well... Not exactly. There were a number of situations where some expert, cadre of experts, or computer program look at the combined threat analysis and decided this was a situation where the wafer had to be activated. If the situation you're in meets those criteria, you're getting a wafer agent, or you're violating protocol.
There were those situations where someone just felt "Maybe it'd be smart to get the input of someone with a lifetime of experience in this matter before I make a final decision..." and ended up waking up and being ordered around by someone with massive imperial authority because... Well, maybe they didn't think through the whole range of Edict 97 ramifications or something.
IMTU we have Imperial Marshals that are similar in concept to the Agent. So, we've had some games and campaigns that bear a passing resemblance to specific episodes of the story in that sense.
We use subdermal computer/communicators rather than specific chip-jacks, but skill and knowledge chips haven't figured very prominently in our games. The idea of a full-consciousness download that could overlay and subdue the user is interesting and rife with potential. Subderms are about as common in space professionals in MTU as the wafer-jack seems to be in Agent.
The feudal government influence / model reaches further and deeper in my universe than in much of canon, so the enhanced Imperial authority felt right at home.
The biggest single way the novel changed my view and will likely change my GMing is that, over the course of so many years of Traveller with mostly the same players in largely the same game universe, it seems like I haven't been emphasizing the other races nearly enough... It's been ages since anyone really encountered anyone who wasn't Aslan, Vargr, or Humaniti. My players all know what a Droyne or Hiver or K'kree is, but they never really show up, and - well, like I said, it's been ages since they interacted with anything else.
That'll probably change soon.
Apologies for the necro, but in answer to the thread title: Yes, this novel has certainly changed my view of the Imperium. Up until now I’ve seen it as much like the Empire in Asimov’s Foundation books, not especially good or bad in itself, but workable enough. But after the first few chapters (I’m up to the scrubbing of Deyis), it seems pretty clear to me: this is an evil system, however much it justifies its repeated planetary exterminations — not long-term interdictions, for which the Imperium certainly has the tonnage, but exterminations — as being for the greater good. Our always-correct Agent Bland would have solved the Ebola crisis by nuking West Africa. These aren’t automatic Cold Equations situations where physics prevents lower-case quarantining the worlds in question, though that’s obviously the novel’s intent. Frankly, I’m repulsed.
If one has read Adventures 1-4, or S6: 76 Patrons, it's pretty clear the Imperium is not the hero state.
The "worthy 3I" is, fundamentally, not the intent from the get-go...
... as with many of the Sci-Fi novels which inspired it, the government is the enemy, and the protagonists criminals and freedom fighters, working around the system to do what they can...
Moral grey zones make good drama.
Likewise, the Alien modules present complex aliens with different governments, and cultural strengths and flaws. And not a one incapable of being perceived either as heroic possibility or grimdark nightmare.
Traveller has always supported this.
Yes, absolutely yes.
It's really updated the setting and added a lot of stylistic changes.
http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Agent_of_the_Imperium
Shalom,
M.
Someone picked up the reins.
*** What are the two? ***
Very cool.
Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
Hmmm, think of it like the Mongol Empire. Got a vast empire to hold together and not enough forces to be occupying much more then an example planet like Earth. Remember, that one planet sucked down the entire rimward forces into a Solomani/Alamo quagmire.
So, like the Mongols, wiping out a recalcitrant sub-entity is an exercise in force of economy AND the efficiency of terror.
More parallels, the Mongols appreciated the value of trade, not exactly being industrial types themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road#Mongol_age
It may seem jarring to compare the 3I to the Mongols, and certainly each was it's own thing, but there are similar force-to-economy-to-distance issues both faced.
Now then, the 3I COULD be a lot more fiddly/interventiony, but would that be a wise move in the vast cultural balkanization/babylonization of humanity across such time/distances? Could it have enough voluntary cooperation to raise the higher taxes needed to have a big enough military and LE force to maintain order without a tight homogeneous culture?
Which leads us back to the Vilani attempt at solving the problem.
The 3I may not be the best solution, but it could very well one of only a few sustainable ones.
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
How else do you empire stars? I find the novel an addition to what's already in use by Traveller. I look forward to the other books.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Co opt elites.
Leverage technological advantages.
Cultural imperialism.
Create a transport infrastructure that's primarily focussed for the rapid deployment of military forces, and secondarily economic exploitation.
Leverage technological advantages.
Cultural imperialism.
Create a transport infrastructure that's primarily focussed for the rapid deployment of military forces, and secondarily economic exploitation.
You mean "how else do you empire stars" besides glassing entire civilizations as a first option of conflict management? (I have not read the book.)
I'm sure someone could come up with something.
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
I would argue that Traveller's 3rd Imperium is not Star Trek's United Federation of Planets. In Star Trek, a planet-wide neutralizer (fabricated on the Enterprise during a commercial break) would be used to kill just the bad things on a planet's surface. A feudal technocracy has other things motivating it.
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Star Trek is very much full of idealism that isn't always so consistent with human nature.
Traveller is more of a blank canvas with more gritty realism that is also complemented by an avalanche of classic sci-fi tropes.
http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/What_is_Traveller?
http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Theme
Shabbat Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
Ebola is a pretty low level threat on the scale the Agent is using. Nowhere near planet scrubbing thresholds. The book over-samples for the high end of the threat range because that's what the Decider is specifically for.
If you have just gotten to Deyis, you really need to keep reading. Deyis is the opening act, and like any good game of Traveller, it DOES have repercussions.
I apologize for the necro.
Honestly, Agent of the Imperium sort of changed my mind on how powerful the nobility was. It was interesting seeing entire families be stripped of their titles or privleges for the actions of say an ancestor. Or even something like an admiral's wife being kicked out due to her now dead husband's actions that she would've had no inkling of.
Some of the responses, some I say, felt a bit more extreme than others. Deyis is understandable with the parasite admittedly though.
Also the Agent's handling of Kutubba was kind of iffy to me:
As for the special wafers Agent Bland uses, they remind me of forking from Eclipse Phase, in a way. Especiwlly with how he can have duplicates made and implanted in others and then when something happens, use those other wafers for new intelligence.
Honestly, Agent of the Imperium sort of changed my mind on how powerful the nobility was. It was interesting seeing entire families be stripped of their titles or privleges for the actions of say an ancestor. Or even something like an admiral's wife being kicked out due to her now dead husband's actions that she would've had no inkling of.
Some of the responses, some I say, felt a bit more extreme than others. Deyis is understandable with the parasite admittedly though.
Also the Agent's handling of Kutubba was kind of iffy to me:
Like why classify a world in need of help after such a massive disaster as an "Amber" rating? This is a world that will need supplies badly.
As for the special wafers Agent Bland uses, they remind me of forking from Eclipse Phase, in a way. Especiwlly with how he can have duplicates made and implanted in others and then when something happens, use those other wafers for new intelligence.
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AtlanticFriend
SOC-12
I agree that does not sound very productive nor proactive. But is it in character for the agent ?
Remember the reasons for the ratings in-setting:
Red Zones are no civilian travel permitted.
Amber Zones are hazards for civilians.
It's not the disaster, it's the secondary social and medical risks engendered by it... a "Don't go if you don't have to".
Heck, an amber zone can be issued for something as minor as "no civilian accommodations for tourists.
Or as severe as "Locals are sophonotophagic towards off-worlders." Or even, "vaccinations required to avoid contracting local lethal childhood diseases."
