Proto-Traveller

[Fritz_Brown]

So, instead of kids rugs, you would play dominoes? (Well, would it be quadinoes? Does anybody remember the triangular dominoes game?) That'll work, too!

Could you work the code based on a binary code for 8 hexes to a side? (Yeah, this requires a square sub-sector in its basic form.) Routes in the first and third hexes would give a code of 5, routes in the second, 7th and 8th would give a code of 194. The numbers wouldn't be single digits, but its a starting point.

 

[Chuck Anumia]

Turn the square at an angle and give North, South, East and West directions also. Perhaps?

 

[Jame]

I kinda like the idea of having at least a few sectors/subsectors being "locked in," i.e. having Core sector (or at least subsector) and the Spinward Marches, plus the Zhodani, K'kree, Hivers Vargr and Aslan where they are already, at least in so far as having their homeworlds (plus Terra) in one standard place. That way there's a bit of commonality between the different universe variants.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Locking down any of the sectors, though, locks down many of the others, as well. At least, it does if you have more than one layout for subsector edges. And, the more layouts you have, the more locked down things get. If you only have one or two different sector edge variations, it doesn't lock down much at all.

 

[robject]

I suppose that's how the Imperium emerged -- once the concept was laid down it pretty much sprung into being, at least conceptually claiming its size, and locking the Marches into its niche.

 

[mike wightman]

I've been reading through Adventures 1-3.

Using only the library data, the rumours tables, and the encounter tables from LBB3 I reckon I could run a game that could last for years.

If only I'd known then what I know now...

 

[Jame]

Okay, let's try this out. I've got a set of characters (and I'll admit, I used an MTCG program and modified the characters a bit) on a far trader. Now, I have the Cassian Subsector, which is for our purposes two subsectors exactly from the rimward edge of the Imperium, two subsectors or more spinward of the (quadrant-sized) Solomani Confederation and somewhere near the Aslan Heirate (which is at least three subsectors away and no larger than a sector or two). Earth is known, and part of the Imperium. Anyone interested?

 

[robject]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
I've been reading through Adventures 1-3.

Using only the library data, the rumours tables, and the encounter tables from LBB3 I reckon I could run a game that could last for years.

If only I'd known then what I know now...

That's pretty much what I did, with some help from the Best of JTAS.

 

[robject]

Originally posted by Jame:
Okay, let's try this out. I've got a set of characters (and I'll admit, I used an MTCG program and modified the characters a bit) on a far trader. Now, I have the Cassian Subsector, which is for our purposes two subsectors exactly from the rimward edge of the Imperium, two subsectors or more spinward of the (quadrant-sized) Solomani Confederation and somewhere near the Aslan Heirate (which is at least three subsectors away and no larger than a sector or two). Earth is known, and part of the Imperium. Anyone interested?

Yes.

 

[Antaine]

Wow, what an outstanding thread...I go away for a couple of years (started my own business) and look what you Sophonts come up with.....

I wanna play too now

 

[Jame]

I'll start up a thread with how I planned it up in IMTU (sort of a LARP thing what like Kafka's doing).

 

[robject]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:

You could also redefine some of the areas within the Imperial Spinward Marches as being client states/pocket empires, with an Imperial Duke as a liaison/overseer. The Spinward Marches then become a true frontier region, not firmly under the Imperium's control.
Thus dissenting local politicians do occasionally end up in Imperial prison hulks; four Kinunir class battle cruisers with TL15 Marines are a force to be feared; planets within "the Imperium" go to war with each other while the Imps turn a blind eye; megacorporations pull the strings in the background...

This could even work with the OTU. Some are individual worlds; others are 'counties' 'administered' by an Imperial noble -- essentially reservations, or Xahdunemo ("flow around them") to coin the term from T4.

Candidates include:

The Five Sisters subsector.

The worlds around Vilis (with Vilis being nominally Imperial).

The outback worlds on the coreside of the Regina subsector.

Isolate Glisten and Trin's Veil: divorce most of those subsector worlds from the Imperium.

By the way, I still like Aramis' proposed Imperial map:

+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|     |     |     |     |     |     |
| Zdt | Gvu | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |
|     |  G  |     |     |     |     |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|     |     |     |     |     |     |
| ??? | S M | Cor | Ley | M-A | ??? |
|     |  G  |     |  $  |  $  |     |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|     |     |     |     |     |     |
| ??? | ORV | S R | G R | C M | 2KW |
|     |  ?  |  G  |  $  |  $  |     |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|     |     |     |     |     |     |
| ??? |(Asl)| ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |
|     |     |     |     |     |     |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+

 

[mike wightman]

I still think a corridor sector is needed to have isolated the Spinward Marches from the Imperial core worlds for so long.

As I've said, IMTU I want the SM to be a frontier, not a sector that's seen nearly eight hundred years of Imperial development.

 

[robject]

Quite so. I'm afraid that by dragging that map forward I've started us in a loop.

 

[aramis]

No, you've rbought us back to a point where wanted to be...

I think maybe sigg is right. Insert a column to add corridor.. but not the corridor of yore.

 

[mike wightman]

No, not the Corridor of yore

It would have to be different to the Corridor sector presented in AotI.

There would have to be a lot of jump 3 and 4 gaps to have prevented the Vilani from spreading into the Marches centuries ago.

 

[Jame]

I'd say add a row between Core and the Solomani Rim (and put half the SR into the new row here), and another after SR. The Confederation goes in this further sector if it exists at all.

 

[Jame]

One more thing! The Imperium is somewhat stable, at least in that if whoever the Emperor is shows up the local nobility will say "Oh Crikey, The Imperial Personage is here, we better not let trouble get out or it'll bite us in the butt," but not so stable that there aren't occasional assassination attempts or armed "questions" over inheritance (i.e. the Emperor has just died and his son (daughter)/grandson (granddaughter) either isn't percieved as very strong or isn't old enough for the throne. Council of Regents/Small Rebellion anyone?

 

[Jeffr0]

Random thoughts:

The "barbarians" should be scary like the Reavers from Firefly.

I think that in my PTU, the Imperium is recovering from the "Long Night." Asimov's Foundation failed in their objective so its been 30,000 years of chaos.

The Imperium has it's hands full consolidating what it's got and it's afraid to expand to far out lest they meet up with who-knows-what. The Imperium doesn't know much about what's beyond its borders. But practically the whole galaxy has been settled at one time....

But the actual history is sketchy... people know as much about the pre-Night times as we might know about the Antediluvian era.

 

[robject]

Originally posted by Jame:
One more thing! The Imperium is somewhat stable, at least in that if whoever the Emperor is shows up the local nobility will say "Oh Crikey, The Imperial Personage is here, we better not let trouble get out or it'll bite us in the butt," but not so stable that there aren't occasional assassination attempts or armed "questions" over inheritance (i.e. the Emperor has just died and his son (daughter)/grandson (granddaughter) either isn't percieved as very strong or isn't old enough for the throne. Council of Regents/Small Rebellion anyone?

That works... so this Imperium is a bit more centralized in its power base, perhaps? The Emperor rules with an iron fist, perhaps? That seems to agree with the posts here.

Hey, could that mean no Archdukes?

Originally posted by Jeffr0:
Random thoughts:

The "barbarians" should be scary like the Reavers from Firefly.

I think that in my PTU, the Imperium is recovering from the "Long Night." Asimov's Foundation failed in their objective so its been 30,000 years of chaos.

But the actual history is sketchy...

I can accept a lot of this immediately.

Barbarians being truly barbaric sounds fine.

The Imperium having its hands full in re-consolidating the remnants of a truly ancient Imperium is a cool idea.

Of course, a lack of ancient history is a must.