If it goes well, none of you will even realize that you have been manipulated.
... but the REAL question is: who is manipulating me?
(wheels within wheels)
Yaskoydray, of course.
How much can you change traveller and still have traveller?
- Thread starter The Thing
- Start date
Yaskoydray, of course.
BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
Ok... those rulesets.
As well as VIRUS, or any of those type of trash.
Someone had been doing too much Cyberpunk when they decided to put that in.
Yes, I said "doing".. not "playing", "reading", etc... "doing" like a mind-warping drug.
The concept of Cybernetic enhancements and cyborgs had been around long before Marc wrote the first version of Traveller... yet he decided NOT to include it... or Genetic Engineering, or Cloning, or AI... all of which had also been appearing in Sci-Fi before 1975.
As I interpret the philosophy behind Traveller, this is how they should be handled:
"Bionic" limbs etc, if not illegal, are required by law to match (but never exceed) the capabilities of the replaced limb/organ.
I believe that somewhere in the moderately early CT material (before book 8 Robots) it is mentioned that true AI computers are illegal to manufacture in the 3rd Imperium (must have had a couple of WOPER/Skynet incidents in the past).
In the same way, I have always felt that Traveller treated Genetic Engineering & Cloning much like in Shiela Viehl's recent Stardoc series: any being created through cloning, or extensively genetically modified before birth, is not legally Human but is a laboratory creation... a piece of property... and strict controls are to be used to prevent experimental subjects from gaining access to the outside world or passing as a real Human.
If you have cloning, it is strictly limited to medical cloning... growing replacement parts for an individual from his/her own genetic material, and for correction of a life-threatening genetic condition... and for no other use.
As well as VIRUS, or any of those type of trash.
Someone had been doing too much Cyberpunk when they decided to put that in.
Yes, I said "doing".. not "playing", "reading", etc... "doing" like a mind-warping drug.
The concept of Cybernetic enhancements and cyborgs had been around long before Marc wrote the first version of Traveller... yet he decided NOT to include it... or Genetic Engineering, or Cloning, or AI... all of which had also been appearing in Sci-Fi before 1975.
As I interpret the philosophy behind Traveller, this is how they should be handled:
"Bionic" limbs etc, if not illegal, are required by law to match (but never exceed) the capabilities of the replaced limb/organ.
I believe that somewhere in the moderately early CT material (before book 8 Robots) it is mentioned that true AI computers are illegal to manufacture in the 3rd Imperium (must have had a couple of WOPER/Skynet incidents in the past).
In the same way, I have always felt that Traveller treated Genetic Engineering & Cloning much like in Shiela Viehl's recent Stardoc series: any being created through cloning, or extensively genetically modified before birth, is not legally Human but is a laboratory creation... a piece of property... and strict controls are to be used to prevent experimental subjects from gaining access to the outside world or passing as a real Human.
If you have cloning, it is strictly limited to medical cloning... growing replacement parts for an individual from his/her own genetic material, and for correction of a life-threatening genetic condition... and for no other use.
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Some stray thoughts looking for a home
In an interview, Marc said that the original inspiration for Traveller was the 1950's type of sci-fi (IIRC he was referring to the books and not the movies from this era) plus the newly released Star Wars movie. So Traveller owes more to "Flash Gordon" than "Blade Runner".
Since Star Wars was a Robin Hood/Ivanhoe/King Arthur in space, that gives Traveller a very eclectic pedigree.
In an interview, Marc said that the original inspiration for Traveller was the 1950's type of sci-fi (IIRC he was referring to the books and not the movies from this era) plus the newly released Star Wars movie. So Traveller owes more to "Flash Gordon" than "Blade Runner".
Since Star Wars was a Robin Hood/Ivanhoe/King Arthur in space, that gives Traveller a very eclectic pedigree.
So ... which role does Brian Blessed play in your TU?
More "Starship Troopers" than "Flash Gordon", I'd say, with a healthy dose of Foundation and (Larry Niven's) Known Space added for good measure.
Anyhow, I think that the three key features of Traveller (communications at the speed of travel, a person-centric perspective and quasi-hard-science) are so important not only because of their flavor but also because they facilitate play:
When communications are limited to the speed of travel, and travel takes time, the man on the spot - be that PC or villain - is important. You can't just call 911 or wait for re-enforcements - you have to face things yourself, and you get a chance to be a hero. The same goes for villains: not only does this allow for a whole lot of corruption to hide under the Imperial carpet, but also if you catch the villain's yacht as he visits his mistress in a remote system, you could finish things with him mano-a-mano without him calling his entire fleet on you (only the escort or two guarding his yacht).
The focus on persons (rather than tech/psi/cyber/biotech/alien abilities) is the focus on the PCs and their actions - who you are and what you do is more important than what you possess (both in terms of gear and of extraordinary abilities). Prior experience and personal history - represented by skills - are more important than raw talent - represented by attributes.
And hard science helps as well to focus the story on the characters rather than on the gadget/superpower/particle of the week, and it also allows for players to figure out logical ways of out sticky situations (as hard science is usually more predictable than handwavium and easier to understand) rather than simply roll dice.
IMNHO, I would really prefer a slightly modernized Traveller, where computers are much smaller* and more powerful, permitting (at TL-11 plus) something like Shadowrun 4e's Commlink; also, some tech I find I disagree with the size/TL of intro/usage of; again, this is where house rules come in.
*: I created a noble a while ago (Witchy Yacht, anyone?) and I wanted to give her jewelery which acted as a computer.
*: I created a noble a while ago (Witchy Yacht, anyone?) and I wanted to give her jewelery which acted as a computer.
give us more detail please.
I use the items on this link (not all) for gadgets for Traveller...
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/Roleplayer/Roleplayer24/UTOuttakes.html
The Verifier (disguised as a ladies compact), Thermal Lockpick, Slipspray and a few others.
CP2020 has a few interesting items too.
I got this off the JTAS boards from the Steve Jackson site...
Subject: Re: TNS and your campaign
From: dlpulver@xxx.com (David Pulver)
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 00:43:56 +0000 (UTC)
Message-ID: 11162
Newsgroups: sjgames.gurps.traveller
On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 18:01:00 +0000 (UTC), (Jay Alverson)
wrote:
> Secret of the Agents? sounds like Austin Powers in Space
Sometimes it ran like that, yeah. In a moment of weakness, I did add
the Special Corps out of the Stainless Steel Rat series... no Slippery Jim,
but Inskip was there.
> Seriously, I remember an ancient posting about your PCs being in the
> bubblebath when assassins showed up. Something about Grasers too...ouch!
Yeah. What happened was that the PCs has managed to mess up a situation in
which the Thieves Guild (aka Andre Norton, interstellar crime cartel) were
selling stolen SuSAG bio-weapon secrets to the Geonee Empire (in my pre-any-
canon-on-the-Geonee game, an autonomous state with relations to Imperium
equivalent to the Sword Worlds).
After the mission, Colonol Orion, ex. Imperial Marines and now a Special
Corps agent, was relaxing with his lover Isolde in a bubble bath on the top
floor of the Regina Hotel. At that point a dozen Thieves Guild agents armed
with gauss SMGs and one Geonee Imperial Guard psi adept crashed the party.
Orion always carried his trusty snub autopistol, so grabbing it he and Isolde
fought a nude gunfight through the hotel. The first few moments saw the hot
tub provide hard cover against a rain of SMG slugs, leading Orion to suggest
(humorously) after the fact that it be awarded the Starburst for Extreme
Heroism. Another amusing moment occured during the fight when electrokinetic
psi-adept Electra attempted to flashfry Orion, only to be tripped into the
same bubble bath and short out (good dice rolls). It was a fun battle, and
the floor plans I drew of the Regina hotel saw a lot of use in later games.
As for Traveller, I think the basic things we got out of it were:
-- idea of the imperium
-- many of the names
-- the starmaps and the core system of FTL travel
-- the trading rules
-- deck plans (regularly used) and small ship designs
-- the basic character types
-- the weapons technology
-- the basics of ship design
-- the superior Azhanti High Lightning/Striker attack roll-and-damage system
-- the Droyne and the Ancients
-- world UPPs
-- TLs
-- a few of the other races
-- psionics
-- some adventures. We ran, interspersed with my own adventures, Kinunir,
Research Station Gamma, Twilight's Peak, Leviathan, Divine Intervention (but
not Night of Conquest), Expedition to Zhodane, Argon Gambit, Death Station,
Chamax Plague*, and Secret of the Ancients. I think SoA was the last GDW
adventure I ran, as most of the rest tended to be too low tech (bought Safari
Ship but never used it), and then there was Megatrav which went off into
areas where we weren't going, and overall bored the heck out of me, although
I enjoyed reading Survival Margin in the run-up to TNE.
* I wanted to run Horde, but my players were so traumatized after Chamax
Plague -- which really got to them -- that they threatened dire punishment on
me if I ever used a Chamax again. I think I would have ended up tied to the
chandelier for the attack cat in KODT style if I'd run Horde...
Of the published adventures we used out of the box, I think Twilights Peak
and Divine Intervention were the ones that were most appreciated. The latter
was run straight and was one of their favorites -- they thought it was very
cleverly designed, and I agree. Most of the adventures I ran pretty straight,
but Leviathan I rewrote inside out and made up half a dozen new worlds (the
PCs discovered an ancient Berserker starship, a planet suffering from
a 'scientific" vamprie plague, and a lot of other weird things. One of the
alien worlds they encountered I actually wrote up many years later for SJ
Games (in very different form, it's Web of the Zyrani in GURPS Supers
Adventures).
Things we jettisoned: the Book 1 combat system (by 1982), the random
character generation system (by about 1986), the space combat system (always
experimenting with different versions), psionic system (various variants
used). Most of the GDW races were unpopular with players: we had a couple of
droyne, but I don't think anyone played a Vargr or an Aslan, though one
player had an Aslan ninja (human trained by them), and another had a Virushi.
Mostly we made up our own aliens, although the majority of PCs were human.
My thought is: earrings for speakers and monitor projection, bracelets/armlets for memory/hard drive and rings for keyboard. All skinlinked, of course. It doesn't need to be metal, or totally so.
Nanotech in Traveller
I seem to remember something about Medical Nanobots in one of the TNE novels and they were TL-15. Once used they would go inert and be removed as waste products. It's pretty reasonable to assume that some micro/nano Medical technology exists in the Traveller universe starting at say TL-13.
I seem to remember something about Medical Nanobots in one of the TNE novels and they were TL-15. Once used they would go inert and be removed as waste products. It's pretty reasonable to assume that some micro/nano Medical technology exists in the Traveller universe starting at say TL-13.
I can do better this time: it's a compact trode net with an attached computer and skinlink.
ah, nice, sorta like the mag-ducts in CP2020 (magnetic induction without intrusive cyber-implants).
what sort of features ? (for the comp) strictly data ? or sensory as well ?
BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
"It's pretty reasonable to assume that some micro/nano Medical technology exists in the Traveller universe starting at say TL-13."
And immediately be abused for assassinations, coercive control of target individuals (creating puppets out of Nobles, politicians, company employees, religious followers, and Admirals), selective "population control", and all the other nasty uses humanati have always put their tech... and with the dispersed nature of Imperial space, Law Enforcement was well behind the criminals from the start.
This would lead to the tech being banned... regardless of its potential benefits.
And immediately be abused for assassinations, coercive control of target individuals (creating puppets out of Nobles, politicians, company employees, religious followers, and Admirals), selective "population control", and all the other nasty uses humanati have always put their tech... and with the dispersed nature of Imperial space, Law Enforcement was well behind the criminals from the start.
This would lead to the tech being banned... regardless of its potential benefits.
Possibly true, but only if the Nanotech was easy to get and dirt cheap and then only a madman would even consider it. Of course isn't that similar to how the TNE milleu started out.
You could probably hire a Hiver to do the same thing cheaper, if they aren't already.
:: I like K'Kree.. Usually with a baked potato and corn. ::
Strictly data for the basic model, but there's lots of room for attachments...
These tend to be fairly light, even the computer system.This particular form of computer is more common amongst the middle and upper classes, you understand, even though it's not particularly restricted...
Strictly data for the basic model, but there's lots of room for attachments...
This particular form of computer is more common amongst the middle and upper classes, you understand, even though it's not particularly restricted...
so nothing so esoteric as the Infomorphs from Transhuman Space
nanotech
Agreed about Traveller being about being about anything. But, there have been two quasi-cannon** uses of nanotech. In one of the Paul Brunette novels, nanites were used for beautycare products at TL 15 and the second was in the computer game The Quest for the Ancients.
Also, I think there is room for nanotech but just not as we know it today from fiction, it is the percision microtools that MT eludes to. Loren was mainly afraid of the superscience that many of today's authors get carried away with.
**I will let the canonista argue about the holy word. But, given that Marc has commissioned a writer to complete the Brunette trilogy, it must have some grounding and the computer game notes do appear on CD ROM.
Agreed about Traveller being about being about anything. But, there have been two quasi-cannon** uses of nanotech. In one of the Paul Brunette novels, nanites were used for beautycare products at TL 15 and the second was in the computer game The Quest for the Ancients.
Also, I think there is room for nanotech but just not as we know it today from fiction, it is the percision microtools that MT eludes to. Loren was mainly afraid of the superscience that many of today's authors get carried away with.
**I will let the canonista argue about the holy word. But, given that Marc has commissioned a writer to complete the Brunette trilogy, it must have some grounding and the computer game notes do appear on CD ROM.
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