'Shadows' in CT: can't figure it out...

[philabbot]

First owned this when it first came out; just got it again & want to incorporate it into my MgT campaign. But one thing I could never figure out & still can't...

All the way thru the description of the base, it seems as if it's been abandoned & only the animals are living there now.

But then the final section, 'Referee's Notes' refers to the aliens who built the base in present tense:

'they are reptilian'; 'food must be eaten live'; 'breeding chambers serve to produce small animals... A hungry alien simply grabs one'; 'The aliens who man (sic) the interior... the others who live a life in the wilds outside'; The aliens have a great deal of interest...'

So... are those aliens still supposed to be around? Manning the base or nearby? Confused...

Anybody ever played this with the aliens still in residence? What race did you use? Hostile...?

Thanks!

 

[Spinward Scout]

In the version in The Traveller Book, the very last section of the adventure (the last couple of paragraphs) is titled 'The Situation Today'. That's where you'll find your answers. If you don't have that in your version, let me know.

 

[aramis]

In the version in The Traveller Book, the very last section of the adventure (the last couple of paragraphs) is titled 'The Situation Today'. That's where you'll find your answers. If you don't have that in your version, let me know.

I'll go ahead and quote that section, in spoiler block, since it's three paragraphs...

Spoiler:

The Situation Today: This colony failed many years ago. The aliens outside have died off and the food animals seeded outside have dispersed; the area has proven unable to support the numbers of aliens expected. All that remains today is the pyramid complex and the animals within, supported through the years by the power plant which continues to operate.

These food animals, originally docile, have regressed from their meek roles to wilder, more aggressive types, and as such they now pose some danger to the adventurers.

The area outside the structure may present additional challenges or interests to the adventurers. Some members of the original colony may still survive, although in what form is not certain. Some may retain their philosophical civilization, or they may have regressed to savagery. The original colony ship is almost certainly disintegrated by the local atmosphere by now. And any outside investigation would have to take into account the effects of insidious atmosphere on vacuum suits.

In other words, they're not "ancients"... commentary in this sblock...

Spoiler:

They probably failed in the last 100-200 years. They should have a world in a nearby location, seeing as it's set on Yoribund...

 

[philabbot]

thanks guys

ohhhh, that's where they put it!

cheers, that completes the puzzle for me

 

[philabbot]

and just remembered...

in kinunir, there's a rumour:

A scholar (age 58, 692CC9) has been researching the previous cultures which have inhabited this region (prior to the arrival of humans). His inquiry has lead him to believe that Knorbes (0207) and Shionthy (0706) are both former hubs of such cultures. Unfortunately, Shionthy is interdicted, and Knorbes is a game preserve with no records, and strict travel restrictions.

and shionthy is only jump-3 from yorbund, so maybe that's where they came from...

 

[Whipsnade]

... and shionthy is only jump-3 from yorbund, so maybe that's where they came from...

Shionthy is a planetoid belt.

The rumor in Kinunir refers to the Ancients, although not by that name. When you look over the adventure again, you'll find that one of the ships is orbiting Knorbes in order to protect an Ancients site.

There's no official explanation for the Shadows aliens, although there is a fanon material which links them to a STL-using minor race in the Vargr Extents.

 

[AlHazred]

Of potential interest: there is an unofficial fanon followup adventure, Deep Shadows.

 

[Jame]

Of potential interest: there is an unofficial fanon followup adventure, Deep Shadows.

Ahhh, it's *fanon*. So no wonder it used those H'kar folks.

 

[aramis]

Shionthy is a planetoid belt.

The rumor in Kinunir refers to the Ancients, although not by that name. When you look over the adventure again, you'll find that one of the ships is orbiting Knorbes in order to protect an Ancients site.

There's no official explanation for the Shadows aliens, although there is a fanon material which links them to a STL-using minor race in the Vargr Extents.

There is enough in Shadows to rule it out as an ancients site... which also means it can't have them from Shionthy, as it was settled during the 3I, and...

Spoiler:

Shionthy is what's left of Eskaloyt, the ancients/droyne home world.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Yeah, it was never an Ancient site, just a site that happened to be "ancient" with some other race involved.

I always wanted to write up a few follow ups to some of the official LBBs. I may give it a shot tonight.

"Return to Mithril", by Blue Ghost

 

[Hyphen]

Shionthy is...<snip>

I don't remember that (although it makes sense) - can you quote the reference?

 

[aramis]

I don't remember that (although it makes sense) - can you quote the reference?

Not until the nda is up... tho when it was a confirm of my two guesses.

 

[Whipsnade]

I've always thought the "red herring" of the Shadows pyramids combined with the Ancients rumors from A:1 Kinunir and elsewhere would make for a nifty short campaign. Such a campaign would have a exploration focus, perhaps using those research rules from MT I was always itching to try, and would involve the players assisting scientist who is trying to determine whether the Shadows pyramids are linked to the Ancients in some manner.

Of course, the campaign would involve surreptitiously visiting known and suspected Ancients sites in order to develop a baseline...

The theory the scientist is testing is false naturally but failure is how science works. Fermi once said if the result of an experiment agree with the theory being tested you've just made a measurement but if the result of an experiment don't agree with the theory being tested you've just made a discovery.

Sadly, the problem with this idea is that the whole Ancients story is too widely known among players. Most everyone will know the scientist's ideas are bogus but they'll have to play their characters as if they don't know the ideas are bogus.

 

[mike wightman]

This is the one big reveal that CT should have made - the events of the Secret of the Ancients adventure should have become common knowledge. As Mr. Whipsnade says the whole Ancients story is too well known by the majority of the Traveller community that it is no longer fit for purpose.

I can understand why the folks DGP introduced the primordials, but I think they missed a real opportunity to introduce radically different civilisations that predate the Droyne Ancient period.

Traveller needs the ancient civilisations mystery, but the race being investigated doesn't need to be the Ancients.

 

[philabbot]

hmmm

well... what about it being the same race that constructed the annic nova, then?

or was that the chirpers?

 

[Whipsnade]

well... what about it being the same race that constructed the annic nova, then?

They were human and, as with Shadows' pyramid builders, there's no real answer to who they were either.

Adventures like Kinunir, Shadows, Annic Nova, Leviathan, and Imperial Fringe which don't fit the OTU setting too well because they were written before the structure of the setting existed. It's best not to read too much into those ur-Traveller adventures.

or was that the chirpers?

Chirpers are Droyne who haven't casted.

 

[BlackBat242]

well... what about it being the same race that constructed the annic nova, then?

or was that the chirpers?

This is the one big reveal that CT should have made - the events of the Secret of the Ancients adventure should have become common knowledge. As Mr. Whipsnade says the whole Ancients story is too well known by the majority of the Traveller community that it is no longer fit for purpose.

I can understand why the folks DGP introduced the primordials, but I think they missed a real opportunity to introduce radically different civilisations that predate the Droyne Ancient period.

Traveller needs the ancient civilisations mystery, but the race being investigated doesn't need to be the Ancients.

They were human and, as with Shadows' pyramid builders, there's no real answer to who they were either.

Adventures like Kinunir, Shadows, Annic Nova, Leviathan, and Imperial Fringe which don't fit the OTU setting too well because they were written before the structure of the setting existed. It's best not to read too much into those ur-Traveller adventures.



Chirpers are Droyne who haven't casted.

Even in 1985 this was blazingly obvious to me, so I never used the BTB "Ancients" in my Traveller.

Instead, I used Andre Norton's Forerunner concept... many, many previous star-faring civilizations have risen and collapsed over the eons... some as far back as millions of years, while some still have survivors that have retrogressed into "barbarians" or even small enclaves holding on to a TL6-9 society (but in only a couple of systems).

Each one of these covered different areas of space, and might have interacted with contemporary civilizations or looted previous ones, thus mixing up artifacts between sites.

So when you find ruins, they may be from a previously-discovered civilization or a completely new discovery... you most likely don't know which until you either get a scientist to look at your loot or you try to sell it.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Not to get too off topic, but to me this is one of the benefits and bonuses of the Traveller milieu, and why I think real adventurious authors should take up the challenge of writing daring stuff for this game system.

*EDIT*
I've ranted about this before. Sorry about that.