proto-traveller/ATU ideas

[BwapTED]

My good friend Paul gave me copies of the first several LBBs, some supplements for CT, and some Judge's Guild stuff. This has got me to thinking...

Maybe I'll spend my next off -period [where I'm playing in someone else's game, and not GMing] generating sectors and worlds, and building an ATU? It wouldn't have the usual OTU aliens [droyne, vargr,etc] because I don't own the books detailing them, and I'd like to make my own weird aliens, besides. I probably won't be using much [if any] of the OTU history. Don't get me wrong, I like the OTU, but it will be fun to develop an alternate universe. There may still be an Imperium, but it will be different than the 3I in various ways. How exactly? I'm not sure yet. This is all still in its infancy.


Jump Drive works as described in the books, with a few minor twists-
A human [or sophont] pilot/crew is required because the Jump field requires the presence of living minds to work properly [maybe a low level psionic connection or some sort of machine-mind interface].

Sensors don't work properly in hyperspace/jumpspace. Ships in hyperspace tend to drift off course unless frequent corrections are made. These adjustments require direct human observation of hyperspace [which looks really trippy- possibly manifesting in a different way to each observer]. Heavy shutters seal the portholes when travelling through regular outer space, for safety's sake [radiation sucks].


Hyperspace is distorted in weird ways, and 'smooshed' so much that flat maps are actually useful for charting hyper-routes between star systems.

OTHER SOURCES-

Another source I'll be using is back issues of Dragon Magazine. There were a few Traveller articles in the 80s, and I imagine I could get some mileage out of them.

I'll be checking out fanzines and free web-based stuff , too.

 

[spinwardpirate]

Sounds fun. If I was doing an ATU I'd go with that same notion of jumpspace navigation requiring constant human interaction.

 

[BwapTED]

Sounds fun. If I was doing an ATU I'd go with that same notion of jumpspace navigation requiring constant human interaction.

Yeah, I'm sure other people must have done similiar things. My system means all jump-capable ships have human [or alien] crews, and makes the navigator's job more important. Navigational computers can assist a human navigators, but they cannot replace him. A ship can fly through real space on auto-pilot, though, you just need the mental interface to make jumps.

Other stuff:

Yeah, it'll be far-future. Yes, there will be shotguns. There will be some energy weapons, too, but they are not the end all and be all of killing stuff.

M-drive for advanced ships is reactionless grav impellers. These create a sort of pseudovelocity [completely bogus 'science' but it sounds fine and explains why you don't see near light speed grav missiles blowing up planets on the cheap].

Psionics is something about which I remain somehwat iffy. I do have some ideas for psi that might work, though.

I won't be using the 'die during character generation' rule. Instead, I use the optional rule that a roll of '' death'' is actually medical retirement. There may be a small penalty made to reflect this [ nothing drastic or crippling] Since the odds of this happening are higher if you keep re-upping, it could act as a balance mechanism.

One of the books Paul gave me is the Traveller's Logbook from Judges Guild. It has some nifty background tables, and I'll definitely make use of them.

What else...I'm not keen on everyone in the far future being so sword happy, so I think I'll de-emphasize the Blade skill on the career charts. Maybe it becomes a ''choose your own skill'' result? That would allow a bit of customization in what is essentially a random system [and I do like the random stuff]. If you want to be a swordsman, just pick blade when you roll the ''you pick'' result.


Oh, the capital world of the Imperium [if there is an Imperium] will be an ecumenopolis [ like Trantor or Coruscant].

 

[BillDowns]

If I may suggest.....

Since you want the Jump (or HyperSpace) drive to require human presence, perhaps a psi skill for Jump Navigation would help you out.

Also, for detection of other ships in Hyperspace, perhaps add a second psi skill for Presence detection as in Chandler's Grimes series.

Just a suggestion or two....

 

[aramis]

Note that in at least one sci-fi series, navigators need to be living, since humans can perceive jump-space, but machines can't.

 

[Colin]

Larry Niven's Known Space material. Hyperspace navigation was accomplished via something called a "Mass detector", as real-world objects have "mass-shadows" in hyperspace that affect travel. The mass-detector was described as a psionic device, requiring an actual mind to be able to read it.

 

[BwapTED]

Those are all excellent ideas. Thank you, guys. This is the sort of feedback which I'd hoped to receive.

Can anyone recommend a good world/sector generator program for Classic Traveller? I enjoy rolling up UWPs, but I don't want to spend ALL my free time rolling up sectors. For me, the fun part is interpretation of the values generated- including puzzling out ways to explain odd combinations.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

http://www.downport.com/wbd/HEAVEN_&_EARTH.htm

 

[BwapTED]

http://www.downport.com/wbd/HEAVEN_&_EARTH.htm

Thanks, Rhiatlto.

Ah, the screen name...Jack Vance. Great author! I really liked Ports of Call.

 

[BwapTED]

There's another way to justify the bizarre 'windows on a spacehip' trope. As Traveller ships are often assumed to have contragrav systems and are capable of atmospheric flight, the windows could be used just as one would on any conventional aircraft. This certainly makes sense for the smaller shuttles, free trader ships,etc that likelly go to and from planetside on a regular basis. Heck, even somewhat streamlined ships make sense, if one is moving very quickly through atmosphere.



Somewhere out there , there are 'primitive' spacefaring civilizations with only spin 'gravity' on their stations and larger ships. These guys might have big ships that cannot land, accompanied by smaller shuttles that do all the transatmospheric work. They could actually be fairly sophisticated- but they'll be outclassed when confronted with advanced contragrav/artificial grav technology.

 

[daniel_t]

Jump Drive works as described in the books, with a few minor twists-
A human [or sophont] pilot/crew is required because the Jump field requires the presence of living minds to work properly [maybe a low level psionic connection or some sort of machine-mind interface].

That reminds me of SPIs Universe game where the ship needed a psionic navigator who manipulated magnetic monopoles with his mind; that and the aid of a computer would cause the ship to jump from one point to another. In that game there was no hard limit to how far you could jump (it depended on the skill level of the navigator with modifiers for his familiarity with the destination,) but if the navigator failed his skill roll (or even if he succeeded but not by a wide enough margin,) it could damage his mind.

Although the jump time was instantaneous, the ship had to be outside the sun's gravity well before it could jump, so real space travel times were much longer.