Unfocused Thoughts on the 5th Millennium

A Traveller thing I've been working on to fight the Blues.

• It's a homebrew Traveller setting that keeps as many of the assumed setting elements of Traveller as possible.
• I'm keeping the name "Imperium" but it is not set in the "Third Imperium."
• The overall political situation of the Imperium in the 5th Millenium is not unlike the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century.  The imperial throne is contested (and most people in the further provinces of the Imperium don't even know who the candidates are) and large swathes of territory are becoming de facto independent.
• There are also parallels to later Roman history - for example, Terra has been "sacked' by human and alien "barbarians," but since it is no longer the Throneworld its relevance is mostly psychological.
• Play will focus on the Zenobia sector, which lies close to (on?) the border with [Click] Space.  It is normally ruled by a Warduke, but due to the confusion about the emperors there are currently two Wardukes in the sector gearing up for war.
• I'll be using the aliens from the Directorate setting I made because I like them and don't really have a good sense of what the OTU aliens are like.
• The players will start in the only subsector I've developed so far, Palmyra.  Here's a map:

• The Palmyra subsector is at the heart of the dispute between the two Wardukes.  Warduke Ignatius Casso has built a powerful defensive line at the capital of Palmyra and the planets of Hannibal and Sinbad.  His rival's primary toehold in this subsector is Al-Mahdi
• In addition to the the looming presence of the [Click] (subbing in for Sassanids) and the two Wardukes threatening to war with each other, the region also holds a large number of ruins of an ancient alien empire. 
• The [Click] claim to be the successors to this empire, but archaeological records clearly show it was ruled by a different species.
• I'm using Mongoose Traveller (1st edition) because it's the one I have and I like it.
• I'm not sure I'll actually keep the time as the "5th Millennium" because it seems too distant from our time for a lot of the references in the planet names. 
• However, the far off date allows me to explain some of the clunky technology of Traveller.  Progress is a myth.
• One thing I want to establish very clearly is that there is no FTL communication.  If you want news from another planet you need to get it from a free trader who has been there recently.

That's more or less what I've got for now.

As if I needed another project...

In honor of both the first year anniversary of this blog and my new found love of Mongoose Traveller, I've decided to start a side blog dedicated to the development of my Terran Space setting.  You can find more about the project here.

I'll definitely be updating In Places Deep far more regularly, but I felt that another blog would both help me better collect my Traveller setting related material in an organized fashion and help maintain the OSD&D theme of this blog.

The Periphery: Subsector Map and Updated UWPs

click to embiggen

Ceres     0102   B557565-8   T C    Ag Ga NI      GG

Pepin     0104   A547477-11  N R T  Ga NI         GG

Laconia   0107   C958963-6   S R    Ga Hi         GG

Hohenstaufen 0108 B794422-8  T      Ga NI         GG

Enaar     0202   DABA988-7   S      Fl Hi In Wa   GG

Guthrum   0204   E646440-5   P      Ga Lt NI      RG

Nibelung  0206   B1219B9-10  S R T C   Hi In Na Po G

New Iconia 0304  A5A95A9-11 N T C  Fl NI          GG

Antioch   0305   B547551-11 T      Ag NI          GG

Diteen    0306   C9A9878-9  S P    Fl           AG  

Prometheus 0307  C615000-5         Ba IC Lt NI    RG

Shalom    0309   C888566-5         Ag Ga Lt NI    GG

0ndizak   0405   E326500-9  S      NI             A

Hattin    0408   D330766-3  S      De Lt Na Po    G

New England 0503 B551754-7  T      Po             G

Crecy     0504   C657A99-10 S C    Ga Hi          GG

Kasander  0505   C250689-7         De NI          G

Martell   0508`  B575763-5  S R    Ag Ga NI       GG

Clovis    0509   A100524-15 S T C  Ht Va          GG

We Made It 0701  D310879-6         Na             GG

Minerva   0703   A6578C9-12 R T    Ga Ht Ri       G

Caesarius 0803   C2018B9-10 T C    IC Va          GG

Thule     0804   C7CA552-11 S R P  Wa             AG

Alexios   0805   D3226B6-8  S      Na Po          GG

Aor       0806   X767310-4         Ga Lo          RG

Not sure if anybody cares about my Traveller nonsense, but here is some more of it anyway.  I'm rather smitten with Mongoose's version of the rules, and I might start another blog to service my development of a setting for it.  Not sure if that'll happen yet, but I'm thinking about it.


The key for the maps can be found here.

The Periphery: Patron Encounters and Rumors

Here is the information for steps 11-13.  This is the last of the information I created for the campaign, and I'll return to regularly scheduled D&D content soon.

General

1.       A corporate agent wants the party to investigate a murder committed within his organization using a strange weapon.

2.       A Noble wants the party to retrieve data from a crash landed research vessel on a hostile planet.

3.       A thief needs you to plant some illegal trade goods inside a police station.

4.       A courier cannot get a message to another traveller because the traveller is being monitored by the Imperium.  He asks the party to find a way to deliver it.

5.       A contact or ally of the PCs wants them to hijack a Korx ship in order to seize the “juice” aboard it.

6.       A minor noble wants the party to see if pirates are building a base in a system in the Rift.

Ceres

1.       An imperial agents wants the party to hijack a ship tacking important imperial intelligence to the Korx.

2.       A farmer, who claims to be a member of the resistance but is actually an Imperial agent, wants you to rescue his brother who is on a damaged laboratory vessel in deep space.

3.       The starport administrator wants the party to transport a member of the consulate to a more secure world.  He is being stalked by Derengin assassins!

4.       A tribal leader asks the party to investigate the murder of a farmer by a group of thugs.

Pepin

1.       An Iconian ambassador wants the party to find the wreckage of a research station in the rift and bring back any information they can.

2.       A human agent working for the Korx will attempt to deceive the players into being attacked by pirates.

3.       A naval pilot wants the crew to bring some illegal items (food) to the downtrodden inhabitants.

4.       A revolutionary wants the crew to plant a weapon on a pro-imperial noble.

Enaar

1.       A scout officer wants you to explore a ruined part of the underwater city, against the wishes of the Iconians.

2.       A human ambassador wants you to retrieve data from an imperial contractor that has been arming saboteurs.

3.       An imperial official wants you to sabotage a ship bringing goods to the workers under the surface.

4.       A human leader wants you to investigate some criminals who have stolen an alien artifact.

Nibelung

1.       A human agent for the Korx wants the crew to salvage a wrecked free trader the Korx had hired to investigate Ancient ruins.  The ship currently houses a number of Yor prototypes.

2.        A “union” leader wants you to investigate the theft of some medical supplies.

3.       A corporate agent wants you to steal the cargo of another free trader and deliver it to his employer.

4.       A Korx wants the crew to transport some weapons off of the planet quickly.

New Iconia

1.       An imperial agent wants the party to steal an Iconian artifact from a museum.

2.       An assassin wants you to steal a mercenary ship with obvious markings so that he may use it to assassinate an Iconian leader.

3.       An Iconian terrorist wants you to destroy a public statue guarded by imperial marines.

4.       A corporate agent wants you to find out what happened to an Iconian government official.  He is currently being held by imperial authorities.

Antioch

1.       A clerk serving one of the local nobles wants the party to salvage a space station.  Unfortunately it’s already being salvaged by the Korx.

2.       A financer wants you to pick up a large shipment using a massive cargo hauler he has stolen.  He will not tell the players the last bit, but it will show up on any scans made by authorities.

3.       An assassin in the employ of one of the local lords wants the party to retrieve an artifact that was stolen by another lord.

4.       A Korx wants you to assist in the theft of goods being supplied to one of the lords by another group of Korx.

Diteen

1.       A financier working with the Imperium wants you to prevent the theft of computer data by a group of Iconians.

2.       An Iconian terrorist wants the party to sabotage a shipment of supplies to the imperial outpost.

3.       An embezzler wants the party to plant faulty computer data in the imperial records in order to get him off the hook.

4.       A free trader wants mercenaries to attack the pirate base in the system.

Onzidak

1.       An Imperial diplomat wants the party to stop a heavily guarded shipment of juice.

2.       An imperial spy would like the party to pretend to be pirates looking for work with the Korx to see what they’re up to.

3.       A Korx administrator wants someone to steal a shipment of “juice” from a pirate who is holding out on them.

4.       A Korx wishing to make some money on the side wants to ship weapons to one of the occupied worlds in this subsector.  He’s willing to provide a cargo hauler if he can find a crew.

New England

1.       A resistance leader wants someone to infiltrate the governor’s compound and steal evidence of his abuse.

2.       A researcher is looking for someone to take him deep into the Rift to find a world he suspects will provide the Imperium with various trade goods.

3.       An Imperial police officer wants someone to prevent the theft of a Yacht by one of the Noble’s flunkies.

4.       A corporate agent would like help in convincing the governor to allow some dubiously legal enterprises on his planet.  Unfortunately, he has a shrewd vizier.

Martell

1.       A Corporate agent wants someone to recover a cargo lost near the Aor system.

2.       A scholar wishes that someone would discover what happened to the starport on Prometheus.

3.       A Clerk needs an outside party to investigate a freetrader working for a megacorp.

4.       A corporate spy wants to dig up dirt on a financier working for an Imperial supplier.

Clovis

1.       An embezzler needs the party to salvage a datapad from a wrecked cargo hauler.  Unfortunately it’s currently being investigated by the Imperial government.

2.       A smuggler wants someone to sabotage a medical center housed in a laboratory ship so that she can steel medical supplies.

3.       A belter wants someone to murder a meddlesome police officer while he’s in his police cutter.

4.       A scout officer believes someone has set up a research station on Aor.  Someone needs to take it down!

Minerva

1.       A researcher needs someone to bring him a large amount of illegal radioactive materials.

2.       A noble wants to explore the Aor system, despite the fact that it’s a capital crime.

3.       A clerk wants someone to hijack a laboratory ship that’s performing illegal experiments.

4.       A minor noble wants someone to go to Prometheus and recover an alien artifact.

Rumors

1.       A new drug called “juice” only affects aliens.

2.       No one knows what caused Prometheus to fail.

3.       Farmers and workers in the Periphery have been arming themselves.

4.       The Imperium wants things to go smoothly in the region because another war with the Derengi is looming.

5.       A crew that misjumped into Aor was executed publicly in Clovis.

6.       The Imperium is thinking about closing the route from Kasander to Diteen.

7.       The Iconians are scared of something.

8.       The researchers on Prometheus discovered evidence of a previously unknown alien race.

9.       There are habitable planets in the rift, they’re just too far away for most engines to reach them.

10.   Resistance movements on multiple worlds are starting to discuss unification.

11.   The Korx’s biggest trading partner is actually the Drengi

12.   The Imperium isn’t ready for the eventual rebellion.

The Periphery: Planet Descriptions and Plots

The following represents my efforts to complete steps 3-10 in Rob Conley's system.  There may be some inconsistencies in the text, but I've tried to correct them. 

The Periphery

The Periphery lies on the edge of a great rift.  Many of the worlds were only settled relatively recently due to the fact that the Terrans’ needed to use resources in the wars against the Derngin.  This subsector contains most of the former Iconian Refuge, and thus there exists a large number of Iconians.  The Korx are also interested in the system because Terran rule is rather limited.  Still,  humans make up the majority population in the region.

Planets

Ceres: 0102

This colony is ruled directly by the Imperium and provides much of the food for the subsector.  It’s primarily agricultural in bent, and the technology available to non-officials is fairly low.  The farmers resent the situation and will barter for illegal weapons and vehicles if available.

Pepin: 0104

This low population planet primarily serves as a naval base.  The force stationed here is a token one, and only exists because of rumors of hostile aliens beyond the rift.  The imperium does not take the threat seriously despite warnings from the Iconians.  There is also a research station which sends ships out to study anomalies in the rift.  The few inhabitants which do not belong to one of the above organizations possess representatives to petition them for supplies.  These petitions are being increasingly ignored.

Enaar: 0202

This planet possesses a Methane ocean similar to Iconia, and is inhabited by a mixture of Iconians and humans who live in a great underwater city.  The atmosphere within this city is retched due to the massive amount of industrial activity which is conducted within it.  There are more Iconians here than in New Iconia itself because many of them were displaced by the Imperium to serve in the factories.  An appointed governor reports directly to the Emperor.

Guthrum: 0204

Guthrum is a garden planet that serves as the base for a group of pirates who operate within these parsecs and the ones surrounding.  The Earth like nature of the planet is created by strikingly similar plants rather than terraforming.  The pirates have a democracy where the captains of each vessel meet in congress to decide on the admiral of the combined fleets.  They have an agreement with the Korx to provide them with human blood, and thus it is not a pleasant experience to be their prisoner.

Nibelung: 0206

Despite its low technology level, Nibelung provides much of the equipment used by the Imperium’s military.  While not the largest manufacturer in the Imperium, it is certainly one of the largest in the region.  The low tech level represents the fact that private individuals cannot legally manufacture or own items above TL 8.  The dictator who runs the planet is propped up by the Imperial government in order to maintain stable shipments of goods.

New Iconia: 0304

The homeworld of the Iconians is a “waterworld” covered in liquid methane.  The current dictator has risen to power due to his own personal charisma and his promises to improve the lot of Iconians within the Imperium.  The imperial bases lie on the surface of the planet on great manmade islands.  The Iconians lived in domed cities beneath the ocean itself.  Non-Iconians are not permitted to enter their domed cities, and all dealings with them are dealt with on the surface barges.

Antioch: 0305

Antioch is ruled by a feudal structure in which the nobles and knights have access to technology while the farmers do not.  As one might expect, the farmers are not happy with the situation.  The Korx maintain a strong presence in the star port, where they trade technological items with the feudal society for slaves and for human blood, or “Juice.”  This activity is frowned on the by the Imperium, but they have not yet acted in any way.  The Korx are also willing to trade weapons with the farmers, but they farmers have very little other than their neighbors to trade.

Diteen: 0306

This is another fluid ocean planet.  Unlike New Iconia and Enaar, it has a very small amount of natural land.  The Scouts maintain a bass on these islands.  Also unlike those planets, the oceans are comprised of hot acid rather than methane.  The Iconians still have a settlement below the ocean, but these refuse to submit to imperial rule.   A pirate base is located in the upper atmosphere of one of the system’s gas giants.  These pirates are more directly supplied by the Korx than the ones on Guthrum, and a large number of Korx may be found among their numbers.

Prometheus: 0307

Prometheus is an uninhabited planet that once served as a scout base and research station.  Despite its thin atmosphere, it possesses a number of strange ruins, left by the Ancients before they ascended.  Researchers were chronicling what little they could gather from the ruins before disaster struck the colony.  Fearing that they might activate one of the artifacts, an Iconian sabotaged the terraformed bubble, killing all inside.  If one of the beacons is activated it will summon the Yor from across the rift to devour all organic life in the subsector.

Ondizak: 0405

Ondizak acts as a Korx outpost, from which they supply the pirates in the nearby parsecs.  They maintain that they are not participating in the blood or slave trades, but this is of course false.  The Imperium has mandated that none of its citizens may do business in this system.  This is not a ban on any dealings with the Krox, simply those who inhabit Ondizak.

New England: 0503

New England is the private playground of a deranged noble.  He has set up a feudal system similar to the one on Antioch, but has more severely limited the technology in order to achieve a strange, pseudo-medieval fantasy land.  He has built castles and manors for his lords, and given them strange and ostentatious titles in order to maintain the illusion.  He’s got many of the facts wrong of course, and the nobles only go along with it as long as he can keep the peasants in line.

Martell: 0508

Martell is a garden planet that provides most of the food and agricultural supplies used by the Scouts.  The Scouts rule the planet directly, but unlike many of the other Imperial governors in the region they are not particularly cruel.  Most inhabitants are researchers and colonists who work directly for the Scouts.  The low tech level represents the fact that the colony is still being established.

Clovis: 0509

Clovis acts as the headquarters for the Scouts in this subsector.  It is a small planetoid bereft of atmosphere or water of any kind.  The headquarters itself is contained within a large, terraformed bubble with artificial gravity roughly similar to that of Earth.  The colony originally belonged to a group of miners, but a consulate and scout base was built soon after the First Derngin war.  The descendants of the miner’s still maintain their democracy, but it has little power in the face of Imperial forces.

Minerva: 0703

Minerva is a rich and prosperous garden planet, but it was not always so.  It was one of the first planets in the region to be colonized, and it acted as an experiment in terraforming that proved wildly successful.  The entire planet is a veritable paradise.  The planet has a relatively large population, many of which are researchers studying the long term effects of terraforming.  Others are nobles who maintain villas on the pristine planet.

Aor: 0806

Aor is home to a race of strange, fat aliens who have just barely made it out of the industrial revolution.  They’re capable of making bolt action rifles and steam powered locomotion.  The imperium has forbidden all contact with these aliens and Scouts patrol the sector in order to prevent ships from entering.

Plots

The Revolution:  The Periphery is on the verge of a general revolution against the Terran Imperium.  If such a revolution happens and the PCs do not interfere it will eventually be quashed.  The Iconians will refuse to work with the humans, and there will be intense infighting.  Since the Imperium needs this region to produce weapons and ships to fight the Derngin, they are willing to commit great atrocities to make sure business goes smoothly.

The Yor:  This plot only occurs if the PCs activate the beacon on Prometheus.  The beacon will summon the Yor 1d6 months after it is activated.  If the PCs do not further intervene the Yor will devour world after world until almost reaching Terra.  The Terrans will eventually be able to stop them with the help of the Korx, Iconians, and even the Derngin who recognize the threat.

The Periphery: Planet Profiles

The Periphery is the name given to the subsector that was the homebase for the characters.  Here are the profiles for the planets in the subsector.  I'm sorry if they're a bit hard to read.  Blogger doesn't really like the format I used.


Ceres   0102   B557565-8   T C    Ag Ga NI  GG

Pepin   0104   A547477-11  N R T  Ga NI     GG

Laconia 0107   C958963-6   S R    Ga Hi     GG

Hohenstaufen 0108  B794422-8 T    Ga NI     GG

Enaar   0202   DABA988-7   S    Fl Hi In Wa GG

Guthrum 0204   E646440-5   P    Ga Lt NI    AG

Nibelung 0206  B1219B9-10  S R T C  Hi In Na Po G

New Iconia 0304 A5A95A9-11 N T C    Fl NI   GG

Antioch 0305   B547551-11 T         Ag NI   GG

Diteen  0306   C9A9878-9  S P       Fl      GG  

Prometheus 0307 C615000-5     Ba IC Lt NI   RG

Shalom  0309    C888566-5     Ag Ga Lt NI   GG

0ndizak 0405    E326500-9 S   NI            A

Hattin  0408    D330766-3 S   De Lt Na Po   G

New England 0503   B551754-7 T Po           G

Crecy   0504    C657A99-10 S C Ga Hi        GG

Kasander 0505   C250689-7     De NI         G

Martell 0508`   B575763-5 S R Ag Ga NI      GG

Clovis  0509    A100524-15 S T C Ht Va      GG

We Made It 0701 D310879-6    Na             GG

Minerva 0703    A6578C9-12 R T Ga Ht Ri     G

Caesarius 0803  C2018B9-10 T C IC Va        GG

Thule   0804    C7CA552-11 S R P  Wa        GG

Alexios 0805    D3226B6-8  S      Na Po     GG

Aor     0806    X767310-4         Ga Lo     RG

Terran Space

A couple of months ago I started an online campaign (pre G+) for a group of old friends.  Due to their mutual love of sci fi and the series Firefly we decided to use Mongoose's version of the Traveller System for a sandbox sci fi game.  The campaign is currently on hold due to the fact that it's difficult enough to run one game while in grad school, let alone two.

I thought I'd use my blog to dump some of the as yet unused material.  Much of the following posts was generated using Rob Conley's excellent system for making a Traveller sandbox.

For some reason I decided to use the aliens from Galactic Civilizations rather than the standard Imperium setting.  The technology is the same as the regular Traveller setting, I just wanted some different aliens.  At the time of the campaign, the Terran Imperium has absorbed the Iconian Refuge and the Arcean Empire.  The first was an act of colonialism, the second occured in order to protect the Arceans from extinction at the hands of the Drengin.  The only other alien species the Imperium is aware of is the Korx, who they maintain stable trading relations with.  The Imperium and the Drengin are currently in the midst of a cold war that will likely soon turn hot.

That's the background for the subsector I had planed for the action to take place in.  If you're one of the players in that campaign, I advise you to not read the next several posts in order to avoid spoilers.