The Web said:can•on (kănˈən)
An established principle: the canons of polite society.
Canon = fact about the OTU specifically, or Traveller's basic cultural assumptions in general.
Fifth Frontier War as a Vehicle for Canon
So now consider one major element of the setting: the Fifth Frontier War. GDW used it to draw together a lot of disparate elements of the OTU.
On role-playing levels, the movement of marine units across the Marches, as well as the role of mercenary tickets and unit composition (Broadsword). Social stratification comes out strongly with nobility running the navies -- but people are still clearly human.
The War strongly underscored the remoteness of authority, speed of jump, starports as "deep water" ports, explicit feudalism (and even piracy)... these things empower and require the players to make their own decisions and act.
On a higher conceptual level, the war touched on tradewar, communication routes (including escorts and drop tanks), skulking by Zhodani Patrol Frigates in BT and McClellan Factors space. High Guard as a concept underscores the benefits and risks of wilderness refueling. The Scout service plays a part of intelligence-gathering in the war.
It dealt with Zhodani, Vargr, Swordies, and Darrians, and (perhaps) touched on the Droyne. The War itemizes military starships, vehicles, and equipment. The War deals with the interactions between worlds and the Imperium. The War touches on megacorporate deal-making, and their relationship with the Imperial Navy.
Where To Find Canon
It's scary that there's so much canon, and yet it's so scattered about.
(Here's a guide to help understand what materials represents canon)
Not counting canon that invalidates other canon - that's a judicial decision. We're not even at that point yet. We're still living with the "scattered about" problem.
Offhand it seems that every piece of Traveller material published could be a potential source of canon.
So what's the potential volume of the primary sources?
- T5. As Marc's latest statement along CT/MT lines, when a source disagrees with T5, pick T5.
- Mongoose has several Third Imperium works, largely restating CT/MT. But when CT/MT disagrees with Mongoose, it is not always clear which is correct.
- GURPS has a lot of material. Material unique to G:T is canonical.
- TNE has some new material. Material unique to TNE is canonical.
- MT is a correction to CT. When CT disagrees with MT, pick MT.
- Material unique to CT is canonical.
T4's canon is a strict subset of CT: I don't think it needs to be consulted. (And yes, we can talk about HEPlaR).
This is how it currently looks to me:
Code:
|<---- Scope of Classic Traveller ---->|
----------------------------------------------------------
| Traveller 5 | | | 1248 |
---------------------------------------- | | |
| | | | |
| Mongoose Traveller | | | |
| | | | |
---------------------------------------- | | |
| | | |
| GURPS: Traveller | | |
| | | HIWG |
|--------------------------------------- | | |
| Clay Bush writings | | | |
---------------------------------------- | | |
| | | | | | PP |
| Classic | MegaTraveller | | | T | GO |
| Traveller | | | GURPS | N | JG |
| ------------------- | | E | |
| | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
That final, open-ended column represents secondary sources, including 1248, HIWG, Paranoia Press, Group One, Judges Guild, et al. Things from which good ideas can come.
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