Have you ever created your own setting?

[Timerover51]

What advances have been made in hyperdrive tech in your setting timerover? How far have they been pushed techwise?

I have not pushed it to far so as to keep the Jump Drive in the mix. The Jump Drive is for getting somewhere fast that is within range, the hyperdrive is if you need range but are less concerned with how long it takes to get somewhere. The Jump Drive works as per the rules, while the Hyperdirve-1 travels a parsec a month. The Hyperdrive-2 travels at a rate of a parsec a week. The range limit is crew endurance and supplies. Allowances for supplies must be made if on a long-range hyperdrive run.

This setting really begs for the k'kree ...

With respect to the K'kree, I go with Larry Niven.

"How much intelligence does it take to sneak up on a leaf?"

]]

I have some other problems with them as well, but those deal with many logistical issues. I also keep wondering what sort of super-predator would it have taken to push the K'kree to intelligence, and how did they wipe the predator out before it wiped out the intelligent K'kree.

 

[vegas]

I also keep wondering what sort of super-predator would it have taken to push the K'kree to intelligence, and how did they wipe the predator out before it wiped out the intelligent K'kree.

Why does it have to be a "super-predator" rather some other environmental stress? All that is required for the development of intelligence is that intelligence provides a survival differential, right? So the evolutionary pressure could come from a lot of sources.

 

[Timerover51]

Why does it have to be a "super-predator" rather some other environmental stress? All that is required for the development of intelligence is that intelligence provides a survival differential, right? So the evolutionary pressure could come from a lot of sources.

While I have not read all possible predator studies, those that I have read indicate that the typical predator takes the easiest prey possible, which is normally the old, the sick, the young, and those that put themselves in a vulnerable position. Very heavy predation would force selection of those most alert and observant to survive. Environmental change might not occur fast enough to force the changes. This is just my viewpoint however. As it is, in My Traveller Universe, there are no K'kree. No Zhodani either. I am still debating the Vargr, however I might convert them to the z'Srauff as more in keeping with the sector name. I am still developing the sector.

 

[JimMarn]

There have been major stresses in the past on Earth from environmental causes.

Shutting down of the Gulf Stream would affect northern Europe. Big earthquakes along the Pacific Rim and the Eastern Med have collapsed civilizations.

And the people living on top of a volcano, Santorini, with the tidal wave hitting Krete and Ancient Egypt, caused many problems. Then the Sea People came in and toppled them even further.

I can see where several mile wide asteroids hitting major manufactoring, or city, areas could cause one or more nations on a planet hit by them to collapse. Then the neighbor nations come in and scavange. Or nations from a different continent.

 

[Timerover51]

There have been major stresses in the past on Earth from environmental causes.

Shutting down of the Gulf Stream would affect northern Europe. Big earthquakes along the Pacific Rim and the Eastern Med have collapsed civilizations.

And the people living on top of a volcano, Santorini, with the tidal wave hitting Krete and Ancient Egypt, caused many problems. Then the Sea People came in and toppled them even further.

I can see where several mile wide asteroids hitting major manufactoring, or city, areas could cause one or more nations on a planet hit by them to collapse. Then the neighbor nations come in and scavange. Or nations from a different continent.

The question is would environmental stress be sufficient to trigger the development of intelligence in a herbivore.

 

[kilemall]

The question is would environmental stress be sufficient to trigger the development of intelligence in a herbivore.

Hmm.

Wouldn't it be more like a stressor allows for the occasional mutation to intelligence to be a dominant survival selection trait?

 

[kilemall]

Space ships do carry fairly large lasers for anti-missile work and close-range fighting. Ship missiles are not small, and normally are going to have nuclear warheads if used by the military. Ranges are going to be a lot shorter, along with detection ranges. While I am not a radar expert, I do have a fair understanding of what radar detection requires in terms of volume of space scanned in a given amount of time. Therefore, active detection ranges run into the hundreds to low thousand of miles, not light-seconds. Passive bearings on an actively radiating ship are not a problem, and by careful maneuvering, range may be established, but it takes time. I just am not that much a fan of space combat, however.

The various Mongeese versions have that short range, I think more for cinematic drama as movement and time/actions are compressed, but good enough for your purposes- far range is 50000km.

One of my big problems with space combat is no one seems to consider the issue of debris from destroyed ships. It they are in orbit, landing and takeoffs from the planet become a big question as are you hit with masses of orbiting debris. In open space, that stuff is traveling at very high rates of speeds in who knows what direction. Essentially, space combat makes space travel a lot more hazardous, even if you are not being shot at. If someone decides that it too restrictive and uses the whole range of space weaponry, that is their option. I share Gary Gygax’s view that rules are guidelines, not commandments written in stone. I knew Gary, and he was never a fan of rigid rules.

The anime series Planetes is all about space junk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DakRYsUIiIE


One convention that might occur as a Rule of War is that the space junk is cleaned, precisely because it interferes with normal life and commerce. Could be the loser is indemnified to pay or send people to clear up the mess, or the victor is- either way, a long term custom borne of ugly experience could make cleanup standard in all but total war situations.

 

[wellis]

Piper was writing before the laser became a major thing, so I am including that to a degree. I am not using Andre Norton’s sleep rods or blaster, even though the sleep rod would be handy to have. There are no personal energy weapons, especially of the plasma or fusion variety. Laser target designators are available, but no personal laser weapons. Space ships do carry fairly large lasers for anti-missile work and close-range fighting. Ship missiles are not small, and normally are going to have nuclear warheads if used by the military. Ranges are going to be a lot shorter, along with detection ranges. While I am not a radar expert, I do have a fair understanding of what radar detection requires in terms of volume of space scanned in a given amount of time. Therefore, active detection ranges run into the hundreds to low thousand of miles, not light-seconds. Passive bearings on an actively radiating ship are not a problem, and by careful maneuvering, range may be established, but it takes time.

Well wouldn't it be simply easiest to track a ship by heat, considering how hot they are against the background of space?

I just am not that much a fan of space combat, however. One of my big problems with space combat is no one seems to consider the issue of debris from destroyed ships. It they are in orbit, landing and takeoffs from the planet become a big question as are you hit with masses of orbiting debris. In open space, that stuff is traveling at very high rates of speeds in who knows what direction. Essentially, space combat makes space travel a lot more hazardous, even if you are not being shot at. If someone decides that it too restrictive and uses the whole range of space weaponry, that is their option. I share Gary Gygax’s view that rules are guidelines, not commandments written in stone. I knew Gary, and he was never a fan of rigid rules.

Well wouldn't a lot of stuff, like pirate ambushes, take place farther away from planets and more in the outer areas of a solar system, away from authorities and sort of farther away from help within a system?

For personal weaponry, it is your standard slug throwers, but with a bit more range of damage from them, along with the option of what I view as heavy hunting rifles. In the current rules, neither the Cepheus Engine nor Classic Traveller, is there provision for something like a .600 Nitro Express or a .577 Martini-Henry cartridge, both capable of doing massive damage to a human target with a solid hit. I actually prefer the combat system used by Don Featherstone in his Skirmish Wargaming book, as a single die roll covers hitting the target and the damage done. I do need to come up with a table or system for animal damage. I do have contra-gravity equipment, but it is expensive, so what would be viewed as old-fashioned internal combustion and steam-powered vehicles are still in wide use. Some planets simply will not allow the import of equipment that they cannot either maintain themselves.

What is the general tech level of your setting you would say, based on the Cepheus Engine considering you use it IIRC?

Since you mentioned personal energy weapons aren't a thing in your setting, is armor generally less advanced as well? Is something like battledress considered science fiction or something there you'd say?

 

[Timerover51]

Once again, Wellis, I am not ignoring you, but working on answers to your questions off line. One thing your questions are doing is forcing me to more fully develop my ideas, or at least put them done in a formal document, rather than just having them float around between my two ears.

I also finally recovered my files from my presently malfunctioning laptop, so I can refresh my memory and pot on the back burner as to what I had laid out. Those are now going on back-up a back-up flash drive and external hard drive to avoid this issue in the future, or at least, minimize the losses.

 

[Quint]

I have some other problems with them as well, but those deal with many logistical issues. I also keep wondering what sort of super-predator would it have taken to push the K'kree to intelligence, and how did they wipe the predator out before it wiped out the intelligent K'kree.

They are called G'naak (IIRC) and they are even detailed in one of the Traveller Digest's I believe... Maybe another publication, but I'm pretty sure it was the last issue of the MegaTraveller Journal.

D.

 

[wellis]

They are called G'naak (IIRC) and they are even detailed in one of the Traveller Digest's I believe... Maybe another publication, but I'm pretty sure it was the last issue of the MegaTraveller Journal.

D.

Isn't that the K'kree name for any carnivorous sophont?

 

[whulorigan]

Isn't that the K'kree name for any carnivorous sophont?

It originally referred to the specific species of intelligent carnivore that threatened the K'kree on Kirur, but later came to refer to any carnivore.

 

[Timerover51]

It originally referred to the specific species of intelligent carnivore that threatened the K'kree on Kirur, but later came to refer to any carnivore.

Was that intelligent carnivore ever described anywhere? That would make in interesting addition to a universe.

 

[wellis]

Once again, Wellis, I am not ignoring you, but working on answers to your questions off line. One thing your questions are doing is forcing me to more fully develop my ideas, or at least put them done in a formal document, rather than just having them float around between my two ears.

I also finally recovered my files from my presently malfunctioning laptop, so I can refresh my memory and pot on the back burner as to what I had laid out. Those are now going on back-up a back-up flash drive and external hard drive to avoid this issue in the future, or at least, minimize the losses.

No problem. If I'm being too pushy on this, you can say so.

 

[whulorigan]

Was that intelligent carnivore ever described anywhere? That would make in interesting addition to a universe.

Who they were/are is a supposed mystery lost to the mists of time, but can be discovered in the campaign scenario published in Megatraveller Journal #4 (by DGP) entitiled "Lords of Thunder".

 

[whartung]

Those are now going on back-up a back-up flash drive and external hard drive to avoid this issue in the future, or at least, minimize the losses.

Honestly can't recommend the file sharing services (DropBox, Google, etc.) enough for stuff like this.

You get a few GBs for free, and you never have to worry about forgetting to back up.

Of course, I also use Mac Time Machine -- which helps solve that problem. But the file sharing services handle this really well across platforms.

Don't keep a "local copy", just edit the files straight in the (say) DropBox folder tree. Soon as you make a change, the lights blinking shipping it up to the cloud.

 

[Blue Ghost]

They are called G'naak (IIRC) and they are even detailed in one of the Traveller Digest's I believe... Maybe another publication, but I'm pretty sure it was the last issue of the MegaTraveller Journal.

D.

Wasn't that an 80's song? The G'nak G'nak G'nak or something?

I haven't posted on this thread in a long time. When I ran games the rules and Imperium were a vehicle to get to exotic places. So, as per my previous post, yes. And again, as per previous posts, most of the time when various groups played, the default setting hung in the background as a launch point.

So, if you as a Ref wanted to take your players to a dinosaur planet, or one with BBC Timelords, or whatever, you could do so without much fuss as the game intended. If I were to run a session today, I would probably eschew that in favor of a more conventional Imperium focused setting.

 

[Timerover51]

Honestly can't recommend the file sharing services (DropBox, Google, etc.) enough for stuff like this.

You get a few GBs for free, and you never have to worry about forgetting to back up.

Of course, I also use Mac Time Machine -- which helps solve that problem. But the file sharing services handle this really well across platforms.

Don't keep a "local copy", just edit the files straight in the (say) DropBox folder tree. Soon as you make a change, the lights blinking shipping it up to the cloud.

I do not put anything online. See signature. At times, I send hardcopy and do not use email.

 

[Timerover51]

Who they were/are is a supposed mystery lost to the mists of time, but can be discovered in the campaign scenario published in Megatraveller Journal #4 (by DGP) entitiled "Lords of Thunder".

I did not know such a journal existed. Is there anything online regarding it? This is more curiosity than a sense of using it in my sector. I already have enough booby traps and other odd worlds in it.

 

[whulorigan]

I did not know such a journal existed. Is there anything online regarding it? This is more curiosity than a sense of using it in my sector. I already have enough booby traps and other odd worlds in it.

There were only four issues before DGP stopped producing for MegaTraveller. MegaTraveller Journal was the successor to Traveller Digest. The first two issues were reasonably "thick" in terms of page count, and the final two were very thick (closer to actual source-books in size).

See: http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/index.php?search=MegaTraveller+Journal&title=Special:Search&go=Go on the TravellerWiki.