Lore and Legends of the Dezzyverse

Tag: GM Advice

  • To Boldly Go

    To Boldly Go

    Building Chariots of the Gods

    The ships of Starfleet are heroes of the story almost as much as the people who crew them. With voice-interactive computers, holodecks, and by the 25th century, holographic crew, a Starfleet vessel (and presumedly, an Imperial Klingon Naval vessel, a Cardassian Union Vessel, an a Stellar Imperial Romulan Vessel) can have distinct personalities. In a Traveller game, most Starfleet vessels are firmly Capital Ship class, that is, over 10,000 dTons. Though there are plenty of smaller Adventure Class ships warping through subspace. The ubiquitous Runabouts stationed at DS9 are great examples of a Starfleet ship that masses about 100 or so dTons. For purposes of designing the navies in the Star Trek Universe, we’ll be leaning heavily on High Guard, and dipping into the Traveller Companion.

    Warp Speed!

    The Jump Distances in Traveller figure into Lightspeed (C) by a simple formula, Jump Value X 3.62 (light years) X 52 (weeks). For that week that a Traveller vesel is in jumpspace, they emerge at their destination at an effective speed of C (though the physics of Jump space vessels don’t actually travel faster than C).

    Once the speed in terms of C is known, Warp Speeds can be figured in different scales based on the era of Star Trek. In TOS and the TOS movies, the formula is the cube root of C. with no upper limit. In the TNG and later eras (though we haven’t heard much about the 32nd century’s scale.. more on that later), the formula is Warp Speed = Warp Factor 10/3 * C.

    When compared to Traveller, the various transluminal speeds look like this

    • Speed measured in C/ Jump Drive / TOS (Cochraine Scale) Warp / TNG (Okuda Scale) Warp
    • 189 C / Jump 1 / 5.74 / 4.82
    • 357 C/ Jump 2 / 7.23 / 5.83
    • 567 C / Jump 3 / 8.28 / 6.7
    • 755 C / Jump 4 / 9.11 / 7.3
    • 945 C / Jump 5 / 9.81 / 7.81
    • 1,135 C / Jump 6 / 10.43 / 8.25

    At one point, Voyager is reported at traveling at Warp 9.97 (Okuda Scale). This is roughly equal to Jump 25. Jump 8 allows crossing a subsector in a single jump. Which is Warp 11.18 (Cochraine) or Warp 8.99 (Okuda Scale).

    Whichever Warp Scale a Star Trek Campaign uses is only truly important in so far as the GM remains consistent. After all, in the series’ and the movies, the ships went as fast as they needed to go for the plot. Values were written to contrast the impression of speed. “Warp Factor 5” was relatively middle of the road. “Warp Factor 8” would often be accompanied by the sound effect of an engine hum to make it seem like the ship is pushing it’s limits. Since the Cochraine and Okuda scales differ, especially at the high end of the scale.

    Warp Drives and Dilithium

    The Warp 5 project started in the 22nd Century as chronicled in the Star Trek :Enterprise Series, at this time, the United Federation of Planets was not yet inaugurated, but Starfleet was in existance and acted as the Navy for a United Earth.

    By the 23rd Century, Warp Drives could routinely reach Warp 8 (on the Cochraine scale). And by the 24th Century, after adopting the Okuda Scale, Warp Drives could reach Warp 9.9 and higher.

    Warp Drives in Star Trek feature several fundamental differences from the Jump Drive in Traveller. Warp Drive does not leave the Spacetime it is in fully, instead it creates a Warp Bubble and travels through that subspace region to travel at superluminal speeds. Fuel for Star Trek vessels is not the massive holds of Hydrogen Feul that Traveller vessels use. Star Trek uses a much smaller mass of Antimatter (or in the case of the Romulan Imperial Star Navy, an artificial singularity). While the fuel for an Antimatter Power Plant does not demand as much fuel space as Hydrogen, but Star Trek ships are very hungry for power.

    Dilithium Crystal is a regulator of the matter/antimatter reaction. The crystals degrade through use and need to be refreshed often, so most vessels carry a supply of crystals. When that supply runs low, the vessel resupplies at a Starbase, or trades for fresh crystals at a nearby station or planet.

    For Star Trek Vessels, fuel capacity is measured in time rather than distance. The Warp Core (Power Plant) is the ship’s component that consumes both Antimatter and Dilithium Crystal. The Power Points the Warp Core generates, are what are spent in the Warp Drive, the Impulse Drive, shields, weapons, computers, life support, transporters, even the replicators. When designing a starship, most of the space that would be used for Fuel will likely be taken up by an expanded Power Plant.

    The Warp Drive functions the same as explained in High Guard pp. 80-81. It uses no feul, but a starship needs to generate power (with a starship the size of the TOS Constitution Class (60 dKTons) that runs into a little more than 10,000 power points) to use the Warp Drive.

    Shields Up! Arm Phasers! Load Photon Torpedoes!

    Most Star Trek vessels use Deflector Shields or Screens as their primary defense against weaponry. Using High Guard, Deflector Shields count as Improved Energy Shields in the 23rd Advanced Energy Shields (page 84). Most vessels designed for hazardous duty have multiple shields. Usually Six (Fore, Aft, Starboard, Port, Dorsal and Ventral which can overlap to cover each other.

    Phaser Banks function close to the rules found for Tachyon Cannon Bays in High Guard pp 82-83. In general Phaser Banks are higher powered and more versatile than Disruptors. In the 23rd Century, Phaser weapons are only used by the Federation and their allies. The rest of the Galaxy was using Disruptors. By the 24th Century, most every navy in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants had adopted Phaser technology for their starships.

    Disruptors are very common in the 23rd and 24th Centuries. Relatively simple to design and maintain compared to Phasers, Disruptors follow the rules found for Plasma-pulse Cannon Bays in High-Guard pp 82-83. Even in the 24th Century, when the navies of the Major Empires in the Alpha and Beta Quadrant have adopted Phaser weaponry as their primary weapons systems, Disruptors remain common for system and colonial defense fleets, merchants operating in hazardous regions, and of course, pirate syndicates.

    Photon Torpedoes, and the late 24th century development of Quantum Torpedoes were pioneered by the Federation. By the late 23rd Century, Photon Torpedoes had been engineered and adopted by the Klingon Empire.

    • Photon Torpedo
    • Tech Level: 23rd Century
    • Thrust: 15
    • Damage: 4DD
    • Power: 50
    • Traits: Smart, AP 15
    • Quantum Torpedo
    • Tech Level: 24th Century
    • Thrust: 15
    • Damage 8DD
    • Power: 75
    • Traits: Smart, AP15, Burst 10

    Photon Torpedoes use the rules for Antimatter Torpedoes in High Guard pp 39-41. By the 24th Century, the mass of a Photon Torpedo is reduced to 20% of it’s older design. That is, a 24th Century torpedo masses 15 torpedoes per ton. In the 24th Century, the photon torpedo launcher are capable of launching volleys of 10 torpedoes (use the trait AF10). Quantum Torpedoes have a greater yield and to reflect this, double the damage characteristic (12D). 23rd Century vessels are restricted to Barbettes and Small Torpedo Bays. 24th Century Vessels can mount Medium Torpedo Bays. In either era, only installations the size of Starbases or Deep Space Stations can mount Large Torpedo Bays. In the 24th Century, Torpedo Barbettes and Torpedo Bays are designed to be loaded with either Photon or Quantum Torpedoes.

    Plasma Torpedoes are a weapon infamously developed by the Romulan Star Empire. These weapons were first developed in the 23rd Century and had enormous destructive power at close ranges, but their damage fell off at longer ranges, eventually dissipating entirely.

    • Plasma Torpedo
    • Tech Level: 23rd Century
    • Thrust: 10
    • Damage: 6DD Adjacent/ 5DD Close/ 4DD Short/ 3DD Medium/ 2DD Long/ 1DD Very Long/ No Damage at Distant Range
    • Power: 90
    • Traits: Smart, Enveloping

    Enveloping Trait: The enveloping trait applies damage to every active shield upon detonation.

    By the 24th century some ships designed explicetly for battle began to carry spinal mount weapons. The Romulan Star Empire had refined their plasma torpedo into a powerful beam weapon that could deliver punishing blasts without the limitations of launching a boiling ball of plasma.

    • Plasma Beam Spinal Mount
    • Tech Level: 24th century
    • Range: Very Long
    • Damage: +14D
    • Power: +6000
    • Traits: AP 15, Auto 10

    Cloaks and Holodecks

    A technology developed in the mid-23rd century by the Romulan Star Empire, the Cloaking Device is just as infamous as the Plasma Torpedo. In fact, the two were initially designed to work in tandem with one another. Coming out of cloak to launch a torpedo at close range and returning to cloak to avoid return fire and position for the next attack.

    By the end of the 23rd Century, an exchange of Naval technology between the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingon Empire gave cloking technology to the Imperial Klingon Navy, and a fleet of mothballed D-7 Battlecruisers to the Romulan Star Navy. The Klingon cloaking device is in general less effective and less efficient than the Romulan. By the Khitomer Conferences, Starfleet had become very good at uncovering the Klingon cloak. While the Romulans continued to develop and refine their cloaked navy into the following centuries, presumably all the way to Unification.

    • Romulan Star Navy Cloak
    • Tech Level: 23rd Century
    • Stealth Effect: -15 to Sensor checks
    • Power: 50 per 1,000 dtons
    • Imperial Klingon Navy Cloak
    • Tech Level: 23rd Century
    • Stealth Effect: -10 to Sensor checks
    • Power: 100 per 1,000 dtons
    • Advanced Romulan Star Navy Cloak
    • Tech Level: 24th Century
    • Stealth Effect -25 to Sensor checks
    • Power: 75 per 1,000 dtons

    Replicators in the 23rd century produce nutritional food for every species on board ship. The fare focuses on compatibility, and primarily serves the needs of the species that comprise the polity the ship serves, and have a secondary capacity to serve guests and passengers. The fare is passable and is served in a variety of shapes and colors (looking very much like a ’60s version of “future food”)

    In the 24th century, replicators are advanced enough to accommodate the cuisine and tastes and cultural preferences of the person entering the order. The 24th century replicator also incorporates transporter technology. The food is generated and prepared within the recycling and reclamation matrix at the molecular level, heated (or cooled) to the desired temperature (again through molecular excitement within the reclamation matrix) and immediately transported to a micro transporter pad at the user interface. The ship’s computer maintains an extensive database of recipies as well as the personal modifications from more creative crewmembers.

    There are, of course limitations, Klingons, Kzinti and Gorn often complain that replicators do not produce live food convincingly, and their navies often maintain stasis holds with live prey to satisfy their instincts.

    By the 24th century, positronic computers have allowed for convincing personal interactions, and a combination of holographic emitters, localized electromagnetic force and specialized replicator use have resulted in the development of the Holodeck. Spartan navies like the Imperial Klingon Navy, Romulan Star Navy, (Cardassian) Union Navy and others consider Holodecks at best a frivolity and at worst a distraction. They do make use of the technology for shipboard training, and interrogation, but seldom for recreation.

    Starfleet, on the other hand has a Holodeck on nearly every vessel by the end of the 24th century. Some ships, like the Galaxy class have several. Smaller ships may be restricted to a tiny conference room, but Holodecks are a part of the crew morale and restoration policy. Ships that do not have a Holodeck are frequently directed to starbases or facilities with Holosuites to relieve the tension of long patrols away from suitable shore leave planets.

    A Campaign’s Ship is both Character and Home

    In a Star Trek campaign, the ship the characters serve aboard is as important and colorful as the characters themselves. When voyaging between stars, the ship is the characters’ self-contained world. When at the adventure destination, the ship becomes a base of operations, a source of supplies. While a given team of player-characters can be promoted (or demoted) to different ships, the nature of the Star Trek setting encourages each assignment to last long enough that the characters identify with the ship.

    Even in the 23rd century, a ship’s computer is capable of interacting on a personal level. Quirks can develop in a ship’s operating system through extended use as the ship’s database of personal logs, psychological and medical data and communications grow. In most cases these quirks are purged with routine overhauls and upgrades, however, some may persist, giving the character’s ship a distinct “voice” and persona to interact with. Most of the time, the ship is compelled to service of the crew. (Especially following the M5 incident, no one in Starfleet had a great desire to give command control over to the ships’ computer). But there are rare exceptions where the ship’s computer may become more insistent in it’s “service” requests phrased almost as orders, advice colored with agendas. It is up to the GM, and the players as to how much personality they would like their ship to have. With the addition of Holographic Crew, a ship’s computer could have one or more instances of itself among the crew, performing duties.

    Now, boldly go where no one has gone before!

  • A Sufficiently Advanced Technology

    A Sufficiently Advanced Technology

    Technological Marvels of The Star Trek Universe

    The major empires of the Star Trek Universe, even during the 23rd century (the era of Starfleet’s “Five-Year Missions”) displayed a Tech Level around 15. In the 24th and early 25th centuries that mean Tech Level does not change all that much. In Traveller, or at least in the Dezzy Traveller Universe, Tech Level is presumed to lie on a logrithmic scale, with each higher tech level representing exponentially more development than the previous. The scaling is mostly abstract, blending the existing scale of benchmarks with arbitrary assumptions. Traveller and Star Trek both are realms of imagination, and the rules sometimes don’t count.

    This causes a bit of a challenge when modelling Star Trek technology into Traveller terms. As mentioned, most of the Star Trek Universe is around TL 15. That gives a good “feel” to the far future technology. Impulse Drives, Computer Systems, Sensors, and such. Still, there are well established Star Trek technologies that are far beyond Traveller’s definition of TL 15. Antimatter, for example is TL 20 in Traveller, but it’s a fundamental power source in Star Trek. The common (though finicky) Transporter is TL 19. But the societies remain relatable to our 20th century experiences. I tend to equate most technologies in Star Trek to feel like the 3rd Imperium around 1105. Powerful personal computers, communicators, orbital and deep-space habitats. Gravity manipulation, all are pretty common for everyone wandering around the core systems of the various empires in Star Trek.

    We’ll Save Starships for Next Week

    There is an entire article that can be written about building the starships in Star Trek. Modelling Shields, Naval Weaponry, Warp Speeds and the like. We’ll address those next week. For this essay, I’m going to try to stick to more personal technology. The type that player-characters would be using on adventures.

    Tricorder Readings, Communicators, and the Universal Translator

    Let’s start with computers. The Tricorder is, in effect a portable computer with some high-end sensors, regardless of the Tricorder’s configuration (there are differences between the various specialty Tricorders, but overall, the function and hardware of a Tricorder remains constant). In Traveller, I’d call the Tricorder a TL 15 portable computer, that ranges in size between the pouch-portable box from the 23rd century all the way to a hand held carton in the 24th century that can fit in a convenient pocket. The Tricorder would have Computer/6 processing (which would allow it to support 6 Bandwith worth of software packages) and will be issued pre loaded with the Expert processes that reinforce the Tricorder’s purpose. It masses between roughly 1.5 kg (for the old box on a strap) to maybe .1 kg. It has incorporated in it’s hardware, a variety of sensors. Densinometers, Geiger Counters, Bioscanners, Neural Activity Scanners, EM Probes and even more specialized sensors. Tricorders are furthermore capable of analyzing data they have gathered through their sensors and data from a seperate computer (like a ships’ computer, or a mainframe) and using their Expert processes, draw conclusions and even limited speculation.

    Communicators also vary in size. From the hand held devices with a flip screen antenna of the 23rd Century to the badge communicators of the 24th and 25th. They are uniformly small, and their mass, even as the hand-held communicator, is negligible. Communicators have an orbital range and are powerful and sophisticated enough to transmit and receive through all but the most intense interference. Of course, most people who use Fleet issued communicators (whether Starfleet, the Imperial Klingon Navy, the Cardassian Navy and so on..) often are trying to use their communicator within the most intense interference. Apart from the communicator’s form, the only real difference between 23rd Century and 24th Century communicators is the integrated Universal Translator. A communicator also has an integrated Computer/1 (23rd century) or Computer/3 (24/25th century). 23rd century communicators commonly have the Intelligent Interface Software Package installed, so the user can flip it open and open communications with a spoken phrase. 24th century communicators add Intellect/1 and Translator/1

    The Universal Translator in the 23rd century is a self contained device around .5kg and is portable. By the 24th century communicators have Universal Translators (as already mentioned). The Universal Translator is a Computer/3 with Translator/1, Intellect/1 and Intelligent Interface software packages. Most ship’s computers in the Star Trek universe have the software packages for Universal Translators loaded as part of their general software. Which allows for verbal and written communication on board ship without the need for a separate device

    Phasers, Disruptors, and Other Things That Go “Pew-Pew”

    Energy weapons in the Star Trek Universe are very effective and deadly. Energy weapons configured as pistols, carbines or rifles have effectively unlimited ammunition for any given engagement. Exhausting a weapon’s charge is a complication the GM introduces in a given scenario.

    Disruptor style weapons (the type used primarily by the Klingon and Romulan Empires, the Cardassian Union, and pirate syndicates) simply incapacitate on a successful hit. If such a target isn’t given immediate first aid, the target will die. Assuming the weapon doesn’t disintegrate the target outright. Whether or not a target is vaporized by a disruptor blast is a matter of the intensity the weapon’s output is set at. Sometimes, you need a body after shooting it.

    Phaser weapons are far more versatile than disruptors. In combat, a phaser can be set to “stun” which will, upon a successful hit, incapacitate most targets (some especially large, robust, or strong targets can resist a phaser set to stun). A target incapacitated by a phaser’s stun setting is rendered unconscious for ten to fifteen minutes before recovering with a really nasty headache. A hypospray injection of a stimulant will wake a stunned target immediately (with the same nasty headache).

    When set to kill or disintegrate, a phaser functions in the same manner as a disruptor weapon. Unlike disruptors, a phaser can also be used to cut or burn through hardened materials or heat objects until they glow and provide heat similar to a campfire (useful in a survival situation). There is a smaller phaser configuration, the Phaser I, which is a palm-sized weapon, easily concealable and non threatening. These small phasers are limited in effective accuracy and charge. Phaser I can support roughly 20 discharges on stun setting, 10 on kill setting, 5 on disintigrate setting. It can maintain a heated object for one hour per remaining charge, and can cut through up to 5 meters of reinforced bulkhead over the course of 10 minutes.

    In Traveller terms, the disruptor weapons are TL 16 (like a Disintegrator), and phaser weapons are TL 17.

    Armor

    Personal armor is uncommon, but not unheard of. Starfleet Security often wears reinforced uniforms with close-fitting helmets. Klingon warriors wear heavy mesh armor as a part of their uniform. Cardassians have distinctive breastplates. Romulan junior officers often wear close fitting helmets.

    In an environment of energy weapons that kill or disintegrate when they hit, this seems like a needless extravagance. However, a great deal of personal combat is done hand to hand with clubs, knives or unarmed strikes. In these instances, having a solid helmet or a reinforced tunic might turn a blade or cushion a blow. Most armor would fall into the categories of Jack or Mesh. Maybe in extreme cases like the Breen, Combat Armor.

    Vacc Suits, or Hostile Environment Suits are also very common. They usually impose negligible encumbrance on the wearer and can be outfitted with a wide variety of sensors, computers and communications devices. Powered armor, like Battle Dress is not a common sight, even the Jem’Hadar, the Dominion’s endless ranks of ground troops do not use powered armor.

    Medical Technology

    In addition to the Medical Tricorder, most medical officers carry a first aid kit with a hypospray and a pharmacy of medications used in the field. With Transporters being common, first aid is intended to stabilize a patient long enough to be transported to a medical bed in sick bay. This colors the medkit.

    Medkits in the Star Trek Universe are TL 15, and provide a +3 DM to any check to perform first aid. This means that even an unskilled person can use a medkit to attempt first aid with their non-proficiency penalty fully balanced by the supplies and the instruments in the medkit. When attending to a dying patient (all physical characteristics reduced to zero) a successful first aid attempt using a medkit will stabilize the patient, returning one of their physical characteristics to 1 immediately.

    Medkits in the 24th century have mico-replicators that when used with a Medical Tricorder can replicate dosage for any medical drug needed at the time. In the 23rd century, medkits contain doses of the following drugs for the hypospray

    • Anti-Rad
    • Medical Fast Drug (slows patient metabolism by a factor of 60:1 Placing them in a state of suspended animation for prolonging life support) 60 days pass while the patient subjectively experiences a single day.
    • Universal Vaccines, Antibiotics and Antivirals
    • Panaceas
    • Medical Slow Drug (increases patient metabolism by a factor of 30.) A medical bed or sickbay is necessary to make use of this drug. The patient will experience 30 days of accelerated healing in a single day. However unless treated with the resources of a medical bed (normally inducing a coma) the increased metabolism will cook the patient’s internal organs and brain.
    • Stims
    • Non-Federation medkits also have a supply of Combat Drugs.

    Resistance is Futile

    The Borg break a lot of these assumptions. They are cybernetically enhanced, networked into a communal matrix, and in general use higher Tech than the other empires in the galaxy. While the empires in Alpha and Beta Quadrants are around TL 15 by the 24th Century, the Borg are closer to TL 19 or 20. Borg technology is a bit beyond the scope of this short article, but GMs can feel free to use whatever unfair advantage their devious little hearts can dream up when sending The Borg after their player characters.

    A Glance Into the 32nd Century

    In the post-burn galaxy of the 32nd Century, the Star Trek Universe has advanced to at least TL 20. Teleporters are commonly used for inter-ship and inter-facility instantaneous travel. Programmable Matter can generate any needed device with just a command. Artificially designed sentience is self-replicating and have become species’ unto themselves.

    Until next time, Go Boldly, Live Long, and Prosper!

  • Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations

    Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations

    Using Traveller to Run a Star Trek Campaign (Part 2)

    The Galaxy of Star Trek has a bewildering variety of new life and new civilizations for a crew of player characters to seek out as they boldly go where no one has gone before. Especially in a Starfleet centered campaign that diversity will be front and center on display. Using the Traveller rules, it is not difficult to create a species for players to use. Modiphius has also recently published a Species Sourcebook for Star Trek Adventures, which is an excellent resource (obviously) for adapting the different species to Traveller.

    Vulcans Break the System

    When running a Star Trek game, character balance is not the point. Species are not all created equal. Vulcans (and Romulans) I’m looking at you.

    Vulcans (even mixed-species Vulcans like Mister Spock) have big bonuses to Strength, Endurance, Intellect, Education and have Psionic training in their backgrounds. Though I think Vulcans are limited to Telepathy and probably Awareness. I cant think of any Vulcans displaying Clairvoiyance, Telekinesis or Teleportation.

    As mentioned last week, the Vulcan Science Academy is exclusive to Vulcan students, and is a far better University than what other educational institutions offer. Vulcans also live over 200 years (on average), sometimes approaching 300. Add to this the “Vulcan Nerve Pinch” which could be a variation of Telepathic Assault with the range reduced to Personal. This also conveniently explains why non-Vulcans cannot normally perform the attack.

    Humans and near-Humans

    Most of the sophonts in the Trek Universe are human (at least in the Federation) are “human”. They may be from Rigel or Proxima, or Utopia or any number of colonies and systems that present human parallel evolution. For purposes of species, these all count as Human. Cultural and Ethnic diversity can account for different background skills, but for purposes of Starfleet characters, they count as human.

    Near humans are those non-human species that are so similar to humans that, like human characters only minor changes to their background abilities are really necessary. Betazoids, Bajorans, Cardassians, Orions are examples. They are not especially more or less strong, dextrous, intelligent, etc.. than humans. Their cultures make relatively minor adjustments to their character generation (Betazoids, for example, start with Psionic Training and Telepathy presented as reading emotions)

    Uplifted species like Terran Dolphins, Great Apes and Beluga also work well in Star Trek (just travel down to Cetacean Ops and party with Lieutenants Kimolu and Matt if a wanna know). Traveller already has templates for uplifted Terran species so adapting to Star Trek becomes that much easier. In the Star Trek Dezzyverse I’d allow Vargr because they are, in the Traveller Universe, an uplifted species from Terran Wolves. Also, I like Vargr and I think they ‘re neat. After all, if a Ferengi can join StarFleet, a rough-around-the-mange Vargr can join too.

    Non-Humans and Aliens

    Non humans are a category of sophonts that have fundamentally different characteristics and abilities from humans. Kzinti, Gorn, Ferengi, Klingons, Andorians, Tellarites. They are in general different enough from human that they have positive and negative Characteristic adjustments and abilities. The Kzinti in particular have a strong parallel in Traveller with the Aslan.

    Especially as the Star Trek Universe expands into more, shall we call them “Mileus” the variety and expanse of represented species expands far beyond the human and-near human. Star Trek Crew can venture beyond the humanoid, or even carbon-based forms. In one of the Star Trek comic book series, there is a Horta Bridge Officer on the Enterprise for a time. There’s a Medusan and a Brikar who join Starfleet in Star Trek: Prodigy. Some of these more extreme examples may be a challenge to model, but, like with Vulcans mentioned earlier, game balance is really not the point. Just work with your players to make something interesting and fun that satisfies their character idea.

    Of course, when discussing non-humans, Star Trek has plenty of examples of artificial, or engineered life. Androids like Data, Photonics like SAM, Ex Borg, Cyborg, the list goes on and on. In Traveller there are multiple resources to model these forms of life. From the rules in the Robot Handbook all the way through the campaign adventure Singularity. Of course, this brings up the question of Starfleet’s Tech Level, which we’ll be covering next week.

    Infinite Combinations

    The thing I absolutely love about the direction Star Trek has gone in Strange New Worlds, Discovery, and Starfleet Academy is how the Federation and Starfleet are no longer presented as majority human. It was impractical back in the 1960s and even the 80s and 90s to have too many radically non-human characters. And even the diversity, especially in the Original Series and Next Generation era was mostly focused on Earth culture of the time. James Kirk was famously from Iowa, William Riker, Alaska, Pavel Chekov was Russian and Nyota Uhura was Kenyan.

    As Star Trek has developed, not only were the species of the characters expanded, but where they came from got a more attention. Tasha Yar was from a colony where public security had broken down completely, Worf was an orphan raised by a human Russian couple, Deep Space Nine dealt with people recovering from a brutal Cardassian Occupation, Voyager XO Chakotay came from Trebus colony, Seven of Nine was a colonist from Tendara colony (before she was assimilated and subsequently recovered from the Borg). The point here is that players should be encouraged to explore the breadth of Star Trek’s potential through their character’s culture instead of leaning heavily on present-day cultural stereotypes. Nothing is entirely wrong with being proud of where you were raised, but Chekov has pretty much overdone the stereotypical over-the-top Russian for everyone at this point. If a player wishes to use an Earth culture (even if it’s a transplanted Earth culture onto a distant colony world), just tread lightly. Remember that if an existing culture is being used, real people, some of whom may be at your table, or at your convention, or are in your local Star Trek gaming community may belong to that culture. Be respectful.

    The existing promise of Star Trek, the Federation, and Starfleet is that all of these cultures, all of these People can coexist and work together. There is still conflict, and there are still a host of prejudices that the peoples of the Star Trek Universe continue to hold in their hearts. But the hope remains that the future continues to progress towards inclusion and diversity. Live Long and Prosper!

  • Into the Black

    Into the Black

    Tell Them I’m Not Coming Back

    In the World Builder’s Handbook, there is a section regarding “empty” parsecs on Traveller navigational maps. In summary, “empty” parsecs are anything but. It’s likely more accurate to describe these parsecs as non-commercial. There are no easily navigable stars to jump toward, or gravity wells for maneuver drives to interact with. The result for ships jumping in is the promise of a difficult arrival in system, and a long, slow acceleration to go anywhere.

    These same circumstances apply in parsecs that have systems with active travel. Except that most jump and maneuver traffic never venture beyond the primary system’s gravity well.

    As described in the World Builder’s Handbook, there are plenty of potential gravity anchors to jump to. White Dwarfs, Brown Dwarfs, Rogue Planets (including Gas Giants), Asteroids are just a few, in a volume of more than 30 cubic light years, there is abundant room to add objects to draw Travellers into their next adventure.

    Bridging the Gap

    Some empty parsecs lie between two (or more) trading mains in a region. It is possible, even probable that Jump 1 traders would simply carry enough extra fuel (sacrificing cargo space, or using external fuel bladders) to make the extra jumps in series. However, in those parsecs that experience heavy pass-through traffic, a bridge station can be built.

    At minimum, a bridge station is the equivalent to a Class C Starport. Capable of docking 6,666.27 dTons of ships at once. They are often in orbit around Brown Dwarfs or Gas Giants and maintains a small fleet of skimmers to pull unrefined fuel off the high regions of the atmospheres. Bridge Stations that are heavily traveled will incorporate Fuel Refineries to offer Refined Fuel.

    Bridge stations will also have some basic maintenance facilities for civilian ships. Prices are often elevated, often double the normal cost of maintenance and repair elsewhere, but when a ship needs repair in-between established systems, the Captain pays what they need to in order to keep flying. Crew Accommodations, Brokerages, Storage, Hiring Halls, and an a variety of services are built into bridge stations. A successful bridge station eventually expands to accommodate nearly any service that a trader and their crew might need.

    Microjumping

    It is difficult and dangerous to jump within a parsec. As described in the World Builder’s Handbook, jumping through a cluster has a 1D penalty to Astrogation checks that changes every day. Jumping within a parsec would suffer a similar penalty. Jump computers aren’t designed for such short jumps, and work best when using a gravity anchor to calibrate arrival from out of Jump Space.

    Regardless of the distance jumped, a ship will spend ~168 hours in Jump Space. Fuel consumption for the jump is equal to 40% + 1Dx10% of a full Jump-1. These microjumps are impractical for any distance below 1 LY. (which is roughly (very roughly) ~ 25% of the distance across the breadth of a parsec). A microjump does not save time and is not fuel efficient. But, there are times where jumping to locations within the parsec is necessary.

    Pirate Bridges

    Pirate fleets, if they enjoy enough success, or become large enough can use an empty parsec as a location for a hidden bridge. A base station where pirate vessels can strike from and escape to. These pirate bridges also serve as a trading hub for stolen cargo, mixing and obfuscating the goods to a point where it becomes nearly impossible to track their theft. “Pirate” brokers negotiate sales of stolen cargo to willing buyers.

    It would seem, from an overview of an empty parsec on a subsector or sector map, that establishing a pirate bridge would be easy, even inevitable, to discover by the local Navies, and subsequently eliminated. After all, if a known pirate fleet uses Jump 2 ships to attack trade lanes, and there is an empty parsec within Jump 2 of several victimized systems. The Naval authorities can easily triangulate the parsec and send an anti-piracy task force to eliminate the threat.

    Keep in mind, a parsec is a volume of 30 ly3. enough space that can contain thousands of Sol-type star systems. As Douglas Adams famously said,

    “Space is big, it (the Guide) says. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.” (Why yes, I was looking for an excuse to use the famous quote from Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and I apologize for nothing.)

    Point being there’s a lot of space in space, and using Maneuver Drives, even the fastest Maneuver Drives need centuries to cross a single light year. So, unless the precise coordinates of the pirate bridge can be uncovered, simply knowing which parsec it floats in won’t reveal it’s location.

    Toll Bridge, Troll Bridge

    Building a bridge station is extremely expensive. Materials are sourced from the target parsec as much as possible. Because of this, many bridge stations are built within buffeted asteroids towed into orbit around a rogue gas giant. Even using raw materials mined from nearby sources, manufactured components need to be delivered from outside the parsec. Which is an intense logistics effort.

    Once operational, bridge stations charge premium fees for services. Nickel-and-diming ships that come through for everything, from berthing fees, fueling, and resupply, to restaurant meals, bar drinks, and rest stations. Think about the services (hotels, restaurants, bars) that surround major airports, or the services offered within major airports.

    Pirates often lurk near the jump points to the bridge station, obstructing incoming ships and extorting a “toll” for access to the station. These pirates don’t hijack or take their victim’s entire cargo. That would attract too much attention from the station’s security and reduce overall traffic.

    The same logistical challenges to build a bridge station in an empty parsec also affect protecting the station. Every security ship docked with the station, takes up docking space that can be used for revenue. Thus, bridge stations will keep as few vessels as possible on patrol at the station. Most of the time a single System Defense Boat, or a small squadron of Light or Heavy Fighters. Most of the time it’s easier (and cheaper) just to pay protection to the regional pirate fleet.

    Getting a message out from a bridge station to a neighboring parsec takes a minimum of one week. The response to that message will take a second week. Thus, for fourteen days, bridge stations in empty parsecs are on their own in an emergency.

  • Quick, Send in the Clones

    Quick, Send in the Clones

    They’re Already Here

    Cloning has been a part of Science Fiction for a century. Pod people, Engineered populations, Teleportation accidents, Parallel dimensions, the ways clones are imagined go on and on. The literary vehicle of clones and cloning has been used to explore the questions of identity, personhood, and society

    Traveller is no different. There have always been clones in Traveller. Every way that clone could be grown in fiction can be found somewhere in Charted Space. But for purposes of this essay, we’re going to focus on “engineered” clones. That is, clones created from genetic material from a host and grown in an artificial womb. The technology required for this method of creating clones is fairly low. TL 10. This will produce a viable clone, reliably, as an infant after a normal gestation.

    There Should be Clones

    Creating a clone-baby of yourself isn’t any more expensive than any other artificial method of gestation (at least at TL 10). Roughly KCr 50 depending on where the procedure is performed. This process does not include accelerated gestation or growth. The parent donates some cells, and 40 weeks later, there’s a newborn clone baby.

    Accelerating gestation and growth brings risk and costs credits. At TL 10 or 11, accelerated gestation reduces the reliability of producing a viable clone. Starting at TL 12, gestation can be accelerated to 80% of normal gestation for the cloned species. That time can be further reduced at higher Tech Levels; TL 13 = 60%, TL 14 = 40% and at TL 15 = 20%.

    For human clones this becomes 40 weeks at TL 10-11, 32 weeks at TL 12, 24 weeks at TL 13, 16 weeks at TL 14 and 8 weeks at TL 15.

    Starting at TL 13, a clone’s growth can be accelerated to physical maturity during gestation. (this is 18 years for many species, including Humans). This results in the newborn clone being born with the host’s STR, DEX, END, and INT stats being equal to the value they were when the host was 18. The SOC value will be addressed later (because the different people of Charted Space have opinions regarding Clones, few of them positive.) EDU, unless the clone is subjected to uploaded education and training, it’s EDU begins at 0 (like a newborn infant). Clones can be educated in a similar manner to other members of their society. Usually 12 years of primary education. Which will result in an EDU of 2D when they are ready to pursue Pre-Career Education (which would make most force-matured Human Clones 13 year old).

    Subjecting the clone to accelerated gestation and growth negatively affects their aging. Accelerating Gestation adds a Term of service when calculating aging effects. Accelerating growth adds a second term. One does not necessarily need the other. Accelerated growth can be induced with full-term gestation.

    When a clone reaches maturity there is a possibility for variance in the clone’s characteristics from their host. Roll 8+ for STR, DEX, END, and INT with a -2 DM for accelerated gestation and a -2 DM for accelerated growth. On a success, the characteristic value is equal to the value of the host for that characteristic at ate 18. On a failure, roll Flux and apply the result to the characteristic. If the result reduces the characteristic below 2 or above 15, the clone is unviable and the process needs to start anew.

    Accelerating gestation costs KCr 20. Accelerating Growth costs KCr 50.

    During gestation, a clone’s STR, DEX, END and INT can be increased at a cost of KCr 10 per point of increase. The cost for increasing the clone’s stats are paid and applied before rolling for variance.

    Flux is a die mechanic borrowed from Traveller5.10. Roll 2 dice, one designated “Light” and the other “Dark”. Subtract the value of the Dark die from the Light. This will produce a probability curve equal to 2D6 with a value range between -5 and +5 with a mean value of 0.

    This process for creating clones is different from the process found in Traveller5.10 and the Robot Handbook. This process is not a replacement for either. It is a framework of an option that can be built on.

    Clone Show

    At TL 12 a sophont’s personality can be recorded (and edited). This allows for a newborn clone before they can develop their own personality (a “blank”, as is commonly called) to be imprinted with a prerecorded (and possibly edited) personality. Also at TL 12, Wafer Jacks can be implanted to provide immediate (if temporary) skill. At TL 14 this process can be made permanent and non-invasive through neural induction.

    Accelerated creche training is a combination of educational immersion, subconscious learning, and enhanced indoctrination. At TL12, the process cuts the time needed to complete primary education in half, six years instead of twelve. At TL13 the process cuts the time requirement by half again, 3 years. At TL 14 the process is reduced to a mere year-and-a-half. However, creche training, while providing the background skills common to most societal requirements, does not provide any socialization.

    At TL 14, it becomes possible to imprint a persona and the memories and skills of the host to a clone body. This process costs MCr 10 per term of service the host has experienced. The process takes a half-year (182 standard days) per term imprinted. After imprinting, the clone will have an EDU score equal to the host’s.

    Clones in Society

    Since the inception of cloning technology, clones have been considered something other than a naturally born, or artificially born individual that conforms to a species’ reproductive method. For clones created through the engineering process we have been exploring in this essay, most cultures (Imperial going back to the Ziru Sirka, Confederation, etc..) visible markings (sometimes open, other times, discrete, depending on the clone’s purpose) are recorded on their bodies.

    Still, even with clones whose bodies lack such identifying marks, they can still be identified genetically by any facility of TL 10 or more. Specific identification requires a more rigorous genetic examination that relies on the Tech Level of the examiner’s equipment being equal to or greater than the Tech Level that created the clone. Once identified as such, the clone’s SOC Characteristic is reduced by 1, once the information becomes public knowledge. Sometimes the reduction in Social Standing is more extreme, based on the circumstances of the society at the time.

    For example, there is a “Solomani Purity” faction within the Solomani Movement. They have a strong dislike of clones, considering them a debasement of the Solomani genetic legacy. Clones in environments where The Solomani Purity faction enjoys influence and power in society suffer a -3 penalty to their Social Standing.

    The Domain of Vland covers much of the old Ziru Sirka and is very tradition bound. The culture surrounding clones is similarly restrictive due to the implications on family structure. Clones in this Domain suffer a -2 Penalty to their Social Standing.

    Some locations, mostly frontier sectors like the Spinward Marches or Reaver’s Deep do not suffer the same prejudices for clones. Out in these younger societies, the need for population exceeds the “luxury” of judging how the citizens came to be. Social Standing may not be affected by a clone’s origin.

    As ugly as it may be, slavery and indentured servitude remain common institutions in the various polities of Charted Space. Clones can be created and engineered for the express purpose of being a disposable population that can be used for labor exploitation. Or cheap, cannon-fodder armies. Clones that are engineered for this purpose are often prominently marked as such and have a SOC of 0. The “Underworker” from the Robot Handbook for Mongoose 2nd edition for an example.

    Clones of Clones of Clones.

    Sometimes, especially in the black markets, Clones are not made from original sources. Sometimes, genetic material is taken from an existing clone to make a new generation of clones. As this process iterates, the later generations of clones become less viable and more subject to mutation and recession.

    When checking for “variance” as described above, add a -2 DM for each clone iteration after the original host. Furthermore, if variance is present, apply a -1 DM to the Flux Roll for every clone iteration after the first. EVEN furthermore, iterated clones suffer an extra Term for every clone iteration after the first for purposes of Aging Rolls. Finally, the referee can add any number of creative mutations, mostly harmful, but, on occasion, beneficial. Genetic Dynasties have an expiration date.

    I, Clone

    Playing a clone as a character is similar in many respects to playing a Robot. Clones can be partially engineered, and creating a clone as a character can be a process similar to creating a robot.

    Or, a player can generate a character’s characteristics normally (rolling 2D for each Characteristic) and choose to declare that the resulting character at Age: 18 is a clone and proceed with their life path from there. Using this method, the player can apply some of the methods discussed in this article. Accelerated gestation and/or growth. adjusting their lifepath accordingly. (I think it’s mentioned that a human clone that has benefited from accelerated gestation and growth is 13 years old when they select their Background Skills).

    Players can also chose to consider their lifepath generation to be partially or completely with accelerated creche training. With this option, any term generated this way does not receive an Event, or a Mustering Out Benefit. Failing a Survival check for a term can either mean the clone proved inviable, and the process needs to start over, or the Mishap can be read in the context of a complication from the training process.

    Using an implanted persona and memories will generate Term Events, but Allies, Contacts, and Enemies that result are the associations with the original host. The clone is aware of those NPCs, but how they react to the clone’s new lease on life may be different than what the player would normally expect.

    Finally, all cloning costs are borne by someone. Either the host (and is thus deducted from the host’s Credit Balance, or the institution that created the clone, or as debt the clone owes someone for the cost of it’s creation (often a method of control used against a clone population).

    Happy Cloning!

  • Dancing at the End of Time

    Dancing at the End of Time

    The cosmic struggle between Law and Chaos comes to Traveller

    Somewhen in spacetime. Outside of the linear flow that most sentients experience, parallel to the physical universe and the higher dimension known as jumpspace, there is a place where the original creators have long since transcended beyond their Technological Singularity. Still the pocket dimension remains, where spacetime, quantum mechanics, and the fundamental forces of the universe are but tools that can change the state of matter and energy here for those who know how to use them.

    Its known by many names over the breadth of the Multiverse; Tanelorn, Shamballah, Xanadu, the Q Continuum, the Nexus, the Convergence, and untold others, but for purposes of this essay we’ll refer to this pocket dimension by the evocative term;

    The End of Time

    Law, Chaos, and the Balance

    Tension between the Cosmic forces of Law and Chaos play out over uncountable universes. Law is the force in the multiverse that gives structure and order. Law is what enforces the fundamental interactions of gravity, magnetism, matter, Law dictates the motion of the universe. Chaos is the entropy that permits change and endless variation throughout the universe. Without Law, nothing would exist within a stable form, everything would be a protean miasma of continual, unending permutations. Without Chaos, nothing would ever change, life would end, death would end, the universe would calcify into an unending singularity. For the universe, even the multiverse to exist at all, Law and Chaos must co-exist and the tension between them being the source of all motion. This state of tension is referred to as the Cosmic Balance.

    Cosmic Balance is never absolute, nor permanent. It is always shifting toward Law or Chaos as the influence of these poles wax and wane within any given expression of the multiverse. When Law or Chaos becomes too dominant, the Cosmic Balance is lost, and the Universe there spirals towards destruction.

    This, for the most part is beyond the scope of most Traveller Campaigns, it’s the background radiation of the universe, it’s there, it can even be perceived after a fashion, but the characters and the events in their adventures never directly affect the Cosmic Balance.

    Until they do, of course. Which is where Champions of Law, Chaos, and the Balance come into play.

    I’m the Cosmic Champion, and I Hold a Mystic Sign

    Let us return for a moment to the End of Time described earlier. Although the civilization that built the End of Time have transcended to a higher plane of existence, their greatest achievement continues to endure. Over ages and eons, the End of Time has been rediscovered by philosophers, psionic explorers and researchers that have probed the limits of their realities. They have learned that from the End of Time, a material being can observe the whole of the (Traveller) Universe from the big bang to it’s ultimate expiration. Those who retained their sense of self-identity in the face of eternity became a fellowship of adventurers and explorers who champion the cosmic Balance and strive to maintain it.

    They call themselves the Dancers at the End of Time. From their City, they search for imbalances that threaten the equilibrium of Law and Chaos, and if such an imbalance is detected in the timeline, the Dancers respond. Their operatives are represented by an endless variety of sophont species from civilizations across the breadth of time and space equipped with Tech Level Z gear and vehicles to address crises across the breadth of spacetime.

    There are champions of Law and Chaos as well. Mortal sophonts who are recruited by powerful representatives to serve the designs of Law or Chaos. Like the Dancers, these champions are often equipped with technology of Tech Level Z (or very near Z) that give them abilities that are indistinguishable from Magic, even in advanced civilizations like Charted Space in IY 1105.

    Are there Gods in the Traveller Universe?

    Not in the sense of how the term “Gods” is used in the classic Fantasy Role Playing sense. Still there are powerful species that can be found throughout the Galaxy that, to a sophont in Charted space may as well be “Gods” because of the vast difference in technology, evolution, and understanding. At these near Technological Singularity Tech Levels the advantages of supporting the designs of Law or Chaos can be realized. The danger of pursuing the dominance of Law or Chaos, is that the more a champion succeeds in pushing the forces they serve, the more they themselves are transformed by those same furies. These entities are the powers that actively strive to upset the balance between Law and Chaos, and they are the beings who lend their power and resources to Champions and Cults. See last weeks essay Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? for thoughts on Secret Societies and Cults in Traveller.

    The vast majority of people living in Charted Space will never know of the influence of Law, Chaos and their balance in the Universe. They will never be aware of how the struggles between Law and Chaos affect them. At least until it’s almost too late and the universe starts to succumb to the effects of unchecked Law or rampant Chaos.

    Introducing the Cosmic Struggle to Traveller

    Most campaigns don’t lend themselves to these extreme stories. A campaign like Cluster Truck doesn’t concern itself, either during it’s adventure or in the epilogue. However Secrets of the Ancients, can open the possibility of involving the Travellers with the struggle. Using Champions and Cosmic Law, Chaos, and the Balance in Traveller involves very high (like Grandfather Tech Levels, or the various elder civilizations that surround Charted Space or exist at the Core.

    Interacting with Champions or the Cosmic Servants is a reality-bending scenario. Even forging pocket dimensions is childs’ play at this scale. Finding and exploring the City at the End of Time can be a whole Campaign in and of itself.

    Using the Dancers

    The Dancers at the End of Time are a mysterious group. Their motivations may be obscure at best, working with, or against the Travellers from one encounter to the next. Sometimes the Dancers are on a mission to restore or protect the Cosmic Balance, other times they’re using their ultra-advanced technology to explore and adventure in the Cosmos for their own pleasures. They are both operatives that protect the ability for reality to continue without collapsing, and they are decadent adventurers who use their advanced resources for their own pleasures, “slumming” in the backwater regions of the Galaxy among primitives.

    Playing as one of the Dancers, or as a Champion of Law or Chaos is possible with some work in Traveller. If the group has access to Traveller5.10 there are design systems that support using Technology all the way to TL Z. In short, a campaign featuring Dancers as the Travellers would draw a lot of inspiration from E. E. Doc Smith’s Lensman series, the Green Lantern Corps, everything that has been presented as the Q Continuum, Zelazny’s Amber series, Dr Who, and of course, Moorcock’s Dancers at the End of Time trilogy. So close to the Technological Singularity, the Travellers’ abilities would resemble super-powers. Although the mechanics of Traveller can, with some work, support campaigns at this scale the setting does not. Not directly at least.

    The Third Imperium setting in 1105 is far too small, far too primitive to contain a Dancers campaign. At the extreme tech levels that the End of Time implies, almost anything is possible, what’s more, almost anything is commonplace. Dancers are a campaign type in and of themselves. They investigate anomalies and resist the efforts of Law or Chaos to become dominant. While Dancers can interact in the political arena, outmaneuvering Archdukes and First Councilors, the objective is not to rule a system, or even a sector. Those goals are too small when the City at the End of Time is the character’s home and all of time and space is open to adventure in. Dancers adventure within the Event Horizon of a black hole. They confront Elder Beings that are corrupting the very stars themselves. They don’t start or end wars, they contain the spread of an irresistable Legion of Law. The Galaxy, indeed all of time and space is their campaign setting. Campaigns and Adventures at this scale resemble episodes, (or entire multi-episode plots) of Dr Who. Which means, the Referee and the Players in the game are responsible for generating content.

    Arriving at the End of Time

    In many ways, using the Cosmic Struggle in the background doesn’t change much once Traveller is adjusted for the scale. That is because, despite their fantastic abilities, equipment, vehicles and resources, a campaign that involve the Dancers at the End of Time is a campaign about people. Keep that in mind when designing adventures and everything will be both familiar and fantastic. Even if some of those people are alien immortal sorcerers who are Champions of Chaos, they still have wants, needs, and motivations and discovering them through layers of inscrutable, mysterious presentation is more of a key to succeeding in an adventure than using your personal plasma ring to carve their neutron-star lair in half.

    In addition to several pieces of literature and art which I’ve referenced, I wish to extend a special acknowledgement and thank you to Michael Moorcock. It’s his body of literary work that gave us the Eternal Champion, the Cosmic Struggle of Law and Chaos, even the Dancers at the End of Time which was the inspiration for this essay and Jherek Carnelian through whose eyes we experience An Alien Heat, The Hollow Lands, and The End of All Songs.

  • Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?

    Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?

    Secret Societies, Conspiracies, Cabals and Guilds

    In the Third Imperium, there are countless organizations dedicated to the social, political, business, even academic advancement of their members. The oldest can exert generational influence, protecting themselves and promoting their members. The vast majority of these groups are private, using oaths of secrecy and hidden rituals to defend themselves and expand the scope of their power.

    The overwhelming majority of organizations like this are local, like the local Society Club, or a planetwide Directorate composed of bureaucratic functionaries that make government function, or a system-wide Belters’ Syndicate. Nothing sinister, outside the small-time corruption of trading favors and bending the laws to benefit themselves.

    Multi-system societies become exponentially complex to manage. Even with the fastest jump capable vessels, communications takes weeks between one system to another. But the scope at the Subsector scale is still manageable, just slow.

    At the Sector scale, any group would be more akin to a franchise. The Sector leadership can command huge amounts of resources, but can’t exert any direct control. So an organization like the Dagudashag Fraternity of Loyal Kashdi Adap (Kashdi Adap is an old Vilani name for an animal similar to the Water Buffalo on Terra) might have GigaCredit or TeraCredit resources at their disposal. They might have Lodges in every system, or a small fleet of Starships for Fraternal use. But the Grand Poobah of the Loyal Kashdi Adap neither controls nor owns the sector.

    Beyond the Sector scale there are a handful of organizations that can exert influence across polities and even into other, rival empires. However, there are far more conspiracies than there are actual organizations. Just keep in mind the speed of communication as Referee. Activating a nefarious plot like something out of a Dan Brown novel, or a James Bond flick takes over a year to unfold over these distances.

    Secret Societies in the Ziru Sirka

    Vilani society is steeped in tradition and conformity. The Secret Societies are guardians of those traditions and rituals which stretch back thousands of years to the original Ziru Sirka. Many of these organizations are domain-wide, and operate in Vland, Gushmege, Dagudashag, Corridor and Reft sectors.

    Most citizens that observe Vilani culture belong to at least one of these societies. (Note, one does not have to be of the Vilani subspecies of Humaniti to be a part of Vilani culture.) Membership is often familial with invitations passed from one generation to the next. These “tradition” Societies are all very similar to one another, they pass on the same cultural lessons, roles, rituals and presentations.

    In some ways they act similar to different denominations of Protestant Christianity in 21st Century Earth, teaching from the same scriptures and with a minimum of variance. In this way, the Secret Societies also resemble Mystery Cults. Passing on traditions in private. Although, like mentioned earlier, these secret societies in the Ziru Sirka are not “secret” so much as they are private. Unlike various denominations of religion, the mystery cult aspect of these organizations do not make them taboo or illegal.

    Within the Megacorps of the Ziru Sirka, secret societies train and support all levels of employment and seniority. While close to a case system, upward mobility remains possible, with the secrets of upper corporate tiers hidden from those of the lower corporate tiers. Promoting from the laborer or technical pool to management will initiate the employee into the appropriate corporate fellowship. When promoted, the employee’s new fellowship will often place them in a new company or division, separating the newly promoted from the coworkers they left behind.

    The Executive fellowships perform the function of support systems for the highest tiers of the Corporate pyramid. The corporate fellowships that serve the lowest tiers function more like Unions.

    Psionics Institutes

    In the Imperium and the Solomani Confederation, the Psionics Institutes are indeed secret societies. Since the Psionics Suppressions of 800 to 820 3i, the practice of Psionics in the Imperium has been criminalized and the Psionics Institutes were driven underground. In the Confederation, Psionics are likewise criminalized, popular perception being that human psionics are a “Zhodani development” and needs to be controlled by the Government. Psionics Institutes being independent organizations, are deemed threats to both the Imperial and Confederation authority and are poiced accordingly.

    The blanket term “Psionics Institutes” are somewhat of a misnomer. The various Psionics Institutes that stretch across the Third Impirium and into the Solomani Confederation. As mentioned earlier, the logistics involved in managing an organizations, especially a private or secret organization over multiple sectors is exceedingly impractical. However, the legacy of the Suppressions has fed into the conspiracy theory that the Psionics Institutes are a “Hidden Empire” comprised of psionic superbeings, or a Zhodani Consulate fifth collumn that works to undermine society. In practical terms, the Psionics Institutes are local and cellular, and provide mutual support for one another only as far as travel and communications can reach.

    Cults

    Whether believers in a charismatic leader, a following of fringe religious movements, or membership in a non-conforming community. Cults are often hidden, and their inner functions are kept very secret and private. There are numerous such groups spread throughout charated space, some of them settle their own planets where they can exist without interaction or interference with outsiders. Others build compounds within colonies and settled worlds where members recruit among the wider population.

    Cults that engage in forbidden or illegal activities can be found anywhere, and among all strata of society. Whether acting on the desires of their Cult Leader, or the interpretations of the perceived will of their gods, or demons, or angels, these cults are constantly on the prowl for new members, expanded resources, and sometimes, sacrifices.

    Cults are also the subjects of conspiracies, bigotry and moral panics as we will discuss next. While functioning cults are widespread, they are quite rare. However the ideas of a Cult, an Imperium-wide-cult-of-Gozer-the-Gozarian, or Followers of the Ancients are widespread, and can be imagined anywhere and everywhere. Interpreting graffitti, or uncovered heiroglyphs, or made-up propaganda proposing the “real truth” behind the cosmos are all possible catalysts for scapegoating the martinalized groups in a system’s wider population.

    Conspiracies, Bigotry, and Moral Panic

    This section should be taken with care. The historical scapegoating of entire ethnic cultures is long and well documented. Real People have, and are currently enduring violence and oppression generated by bigoted lies promoted by governments and religions. The parallels between the world we live in in 2026 (the time of this writing) and the Far Future of Traveller are clear, and must be handled with care. Please keep in mind that someone at your table or in your community may either be living with the effects of Conspiracies, or have friends and family who are living under this shadow. Listen to your players when they express themselves to you about what they are comfortable with.

    It’s part of the Human experience, to imagine puppeteers that are pulling the strings of events in the Galaxy. Star Chambers, Illuminati, Secret Masters, Hidden Empires, examples can be found everywhere. With the Assassination of Emperor Strephon by Archduke Dulinor in 1116 3i, Conspiracy theories flew fast and furious throughout 11,000 worlds. The fact that the Assassination was in itself, the execution of a years-long conspiracy in the Domain of Ilelish only added fuel to the fire during the Rebellion War and into the Hard Times. The Zhodani, Psionics Institute, Hiver Federation, Vilani Enclaves, and any group operating within the Third Imperium whose loyalty was in the least imagined doubt was blamed for being the “real” organization behind the Rebellion War.

    Sadly, even in the Far Future of the Traveller Universe, bigotry remains alive and well. While Secret Societies arouse suspicion because of the deliberately hidden nature of their fellowships, bigotry is mostly directed at ethnicity and cultures that are misunderstood by the societies they exist within. Unfamiliar food, dialects, languages, dress, point out these cultures as being different, and easy targets for scapegoating, or pressing into menial professions that the majority culture doesn’t want to be involved with.

    Moral Panics are yet another way that conspiracies target groups of people within society. Instead of using ethnic or cultural differences to justify their oppression, it is social criteria. Political, professional and social subgroups, any group that can be easily ostracized and targeted with all sorts of rumor and conjecture. Most of these groups are perceived to be too small to effectively refute any accusations, no matter how sensational or extreme.

    The targets of bigotry and moral panics are not secret societies, though the pressures applied to them often force these groups underground and take on the attributes of hidden or secret societies as a matter of survival.

  • Igniting the Stars

    Igniting the Stars

    Designing Solar Systems for 2300 AD

    One of the mechanics I’ve really enjoyed over my years with Traveller and Traveller:2300 (2300 AD) is the ability to generate star systems. Still, with 2300, I feel a bit constrained by the Near Star List, and the different colonial arms . Fortunately, Traveller has a long history of designing your own setting. And with Mongoose using their Traveller engine for 2300 AD, there is a lot of compatibility to make use of.

    Adapting Other Traveller versions

    One of the strengths of Traveller5 (and 5.1) is it’s depth of detail. Book 2 of Traveller5.1 adds a very detailed system generation mechanic. The Referee can use these rules to create a multi-body solar system. For 2300, These system-scope locations can support a full campaign. Though for purposes of this article, the interest I’m exploring is how the solar system is developed through application of system generation mechanics.

    The resources I’m using (and modifying) for this exercise are the original system generation mechanics from Traveller: 2300 (World Generation Chapter; Referee’s Manual pp 36 – 44). I’ve supplemented those mechanics with Book 3 of Traveller5.1 (Systems and Worlds pp 16 – 90). You can also find a lot of the foundational material in Classic Traveller Book 6: Scouts.

    When the Solar System is laid out, the worlds Universal Planetary Profile can be generated using systems native to 2nd Edition Mongoose Traveller. The trick is generating the Universal Colony Profile.

    As presented, 2300 AD is not intended to use custom generated worlds and colonies. The setting as designed presumes adventures being set in the core and frontier of the Near Star List. The Near Star List was, when the game was first designed a comprehensive map of most celestial bodies discovered within 50 light years of Earth. This map was created in the mid-late 80s (Traveller: 2300 was first published in 1986) from Astronomical data from that time.

    To add a little perspective, 1986 was still four years before the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. At the time of this writing (2026), this same 50ly volume around Earth has been far more thoroughly explored because of Hubble and the J Webb telescopes. (Indeed the image of Saturn used for the masthed is pulled from the NASA website J Webb space telescope imagery.

    Still, for the purposes of the 2300 AD campaign, Mongoose has chosen to maintain and develop the original setting material. Which is a valid editorial choice, no real need to rework 40 years of content.

    Map Only As Really Necessary

    This helpful phrase, coined by Marc Miller for Traveller5 and 5.1 is fantastic advice. Even a single solar system can contain dozens of worlds and millions of asteroids. It is really easy for a Referee to lose themselves in generating statistics for worlds that will never, never ever, be visited by a single player character. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way over my long gaming career. The detail and promise provided by the system generation mechanic can inspire long thought experiments. The designs evoke “what if” stories of who are the people who live here, or who once lived here and left behind their legacy in ruins and other footprints of civilization. If a Referee isn’t careful, they can spend weeks and months making details that will never see the gaming table.

    When starting a campaign using the systems for creating worlds and colonies, restrain your design to the world where the campaign begins, and the location where the first adventure takes place. From there, new locations can be designed based on the player’s choices for their characters. If the players make a truly random choice as to where their characters travel next, there reamain plenty of already designed colonies that can be found in 2300 AD Book 2: The Worlds of 2300 AD.

    Dezzy’s House Rules

    These are some of the house-rules I’ve developed to adapt the existing mechanics to generate unique systems, worlds and colonies.

    Coordinates: The limitations of “safe” Stutterwarp range of 7.7 light years will require most new worlds to be placed within that radius of a settled colony. For each coordinate (x, y and z) roll “Flux” using d8s (hearafter called “d8 Flux”) and apply the result to the coordinates of the system of origin.

    FLUX is a dice mechanic taken from Traveller5 and 5.1. To roll flux take two dice of contrasting colors and subtract the result of the dark die from the light die. In Traveller, the flux dice are always d6, but for purposes of these house rules, we’ll be using d8.

    EXAMPLE: Rolling 2d8, one being dark and the other being light, The dark die results in a 3 and the light die results in a 7. The flux result is 7-3 = +4. If the dark die resulted in a 5 and the light die resulted in a 2, the flux result would be 2-5 = -3.

    Nationality: 2300 AD has developed colonial networks along “arms” of stutterwarp routes beginning at SOL (Earth). Each Arm is named for the nation that pioneered it’s exploration; the French Empire, Manchuria, and the “American” arm (mainly efforts from the United States, Texas, Mexico and Canada.) If the newly generated system has a colony, choose an appropriate colonial power for the nationality.

    Colony Age: The current wave of colonization is around 100 years old, thus if the new system has an existing colony, roll d% for it’s age and maturity.

    Initial Orbit and Subsequent Orbits: Modify the tables on page 39 of the Traveller: 2300 Referee’s Manual to read;

    • 3d6 –Orbital Distance–Multiplier
    • 3—Empty Orbit—Empty Orbit
    • 4—Empty Orbit—x1.3
    • 5—.1 AU—x1.4
    • 6—.2 AU—x1.5
    • 7—.3 AU—x1.6
    • 8—.4 AU—x1.6
    • 9—.4 AU—x1.7
    • 10—.5 AU—x1.7
    • 11—.5 AU—x1.8
    • 12—.5 AU—x1.8
    • 13—.6 AU—x1.9
    • 14—.6 AU—x1.9
    • 15—.7 AU—x2.0
    • 16—.8 AU—x2.1
    • 17—.9 AU—x2.2
    • 18—1.0 AU—Empty Orbit

    I personally don’t always leave all system aspects to the randomness of the dice. If I require a world or colony with specific characteristics I simply assign the appropriate value to the proper descriptor.

  • Diggy out the Hole

    Diggy out the Hole

    The Rise an fall of Klaarg Tordenzme

    Dwarves in fantasy roleplaying, especially in the modern sense, have become stereotypes. Loosely based on Gimli from Lord of the Rings, it’s a common shorthand, found in several fantasy settings beyond Middle Earth. Dwarves are short, bearded, stocky, gruff, capable of holding grudges across generations, masterful artisans and miners. Some sources describe Dwarven women as having beards, (like Xindi and Xandi on the masthead), others describe Dwarven women as lacking facial hair (like Disa from Rings of Power) and often Scottish coded. Part of this image is Dwarves living in extensive Clans.

    So widespread is this stereotype is that it’s common parlance. When the GM mentions a character is a Dwarf, the players will most often draw up powerful mental images of that character based on the previous description. While this “short”-hand is useful (see what I did there?), it can lead to confusion at the table as players make assumption about their Dwarven companions.

    Dwarves in the Dezzyverse

    In my campaigns I “reskin” dwarves just to shake up player assumptions. This is mostly just retitleing the names of dwarven things. I prefer to use the terms a people would use for themselves, as opposed to the terms that others would use for them. In the case of my campaigns, they call themselves Svakk as a people. (Indeed, calling them “Dwarf” might start a brawl) Though the Svakk refer to themselves most commonly by the name of their Klaarg (which is their word for “clan”). “Xandi of Klaarg Tordenzme” for example. The languages of the Svakk are collectively called Klaargspek, though like their cultural identities, most Svakk refer to their languages by the name of their Klaarg. “Tordenzme Klaargspek” or “Sohnrodt Klaargspek”.

    Even divided among dozens of distinct Klaarg, the Svakk people are tightly bound together, Klaargspek is understood even through different dialects spoken in different Klaarg. Klaargspek also shares a single runic alphabet, the Vaalbek.

    The Doom of Klaarg Tordenzme

    Once, Klaarg Tordenzme stood among the strongest and most wealthy Klaarg among the Svakk. Indeed, the grasp of Klaarg Tordenzme had stretched beyond the halls and citadels of the mountain realms, Tordenzme was a force within the kingdoms and empires throughout the lands, from sea to ocean. The heart of this mighty realm was their city of Dohrgraign. Deepest of the delves beneath the mountains, in this age, Dohrgraign was was the only city to make peaceful contact with the dark realms of the Underworld.

    Exotic and expensive trade passed through Dohrgraign, under the leadership of Theigns from Klaarg Tordenzme. Roads from the farthest realms stretched to the Grand Gate that led deep into the Underworld, a league-and-a-half below the surface world to the City of Dohrgraign. For centuries Klaarg Tordenzme stood among the greatest of these ancient empires.

    Then came the Doom of the Tordemzme, a prophecy delviered to Klarg Tordenzme that was defied, causing catastrophe. Over nine years of what the chronicles named “The Fall of Dohrgraign”, the city suffered endless misfortunes that resulted, finally in the gates being sealed from the outside world. Few detailed records survived the Fall and in the eight centuries after the Sealing, the city itself was lost to memory, fading into myth, a distant curse and reason to shun the descendants of Klaarg Tordenzme.

    Eight hundred years ago, during the reign of Theign Haaldbarg, a mysterious prophet known as the Black Vizier was recieved at court. The hooded and robed figure did not bow, nor show deference to Theign Halldbarg, speaking directly and openly their warning.

    “Trespass no further into the dark below the stone on which your thy city stands. Else the greed of Klaarg Tordenzme will become Dohrgraign’s downfall.”

    Insulted, Theign Haaldbarg ordered the Black Vizier thrown in chains. Yet, when the guards attempted to seize them, the Black Vizier vanished with a clap of thunder that felled all within two or three strides of the figure.

    Afterwards, the Black Vizier appeared again and again, and always delivering disaster where it stood. It is difficult to tell exactly when Theign Haaldbarg sealed the city, but there was one last evacuation towards the surface. History records that a foul miasma had arisen from the Wyrmansklovt and spread throughout the city, bringing horror and death. What few citizens of Dohrgraign still remained were commanded to flee to the surface.

    It was following this last escape from the Underworld that the tunnels connecting Dohrgraign to the surface collapsed. In the centuries which followed, the city that grew around the Grand Gate withered and fell into ruin and Dohrgraign was ultimately lost.

    The Doom of Klaarg Tordenzme was used by the klaargs for centuries as a warning against hubris. The few Tordenzme communities that survived the Doom have been marginalized by other klaargs as “cursed” based on this myth.

    The Year of Rage

    In the “current” year of my D&D campaign, it has been roughly ten years since the events detailed in the published adventure Out of the Abyss. With the incursion of demons, a small struggle between the Demon Prince of Undeath and the Patron Deity of Dohrgraign, the Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain has caused lost passages to open once more as demons and the holy dead battled one another.

    The Year of Rage also corrupted the ambient magic of the Underworld. Mortals adventuring in the ruins of Dohrgraign risk Torment and corruption. The cursed city drew the Demon Prince to it. Dohrgraign had been a tomb for eight hundred years by the time the Year of Rage brought demons into the Underworld. The Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain was not only the God of hidden treasures and secret knowledge but he is the Keeper of the Dead. Dohrgraign is one of his holy places under the mountain, and after eight centuries, it has become a secret as well.

    The Crossroads of the Underworld

    Dohrgraign was not a naturally occurring space. It was carved from the stone of the underworld by Klaarg Tordenzme over centuries. Following the seams and veins of ore, the Tordenzme miners uncovered the passages and caverns used by the civilizations below the surface. The closest of these caverns became the Gatehouse of Dohrgraign, another nearby cavern (a much larger cavern) would develop into the settlement known as Genzhymyl.

    In the present day, Genzhymyl has grown into a thriving trading center. It is independent from the competing realms in this region of the Underworld, The Empire of Llolth, the Azhgov Clan, and the various Goblinoid, Kuo-Toa, and Orcish communities that have settled in this area over the past several centuries. With the newly unblocked passages, Dohrgraign is once again able to be discovered.

  • Where Were You When…

    Where Were You When…

    Using Setting Events in Life Path Character Generation

    Many of my favorite Role Playing Games feature a Life Path character creation mechanic. I dig this because it creates characters with a backstory that is determined from the dice. It also results in a variety of character ages. Of course, this works best in games and settings where the adventurers experience moderate advancement over their careers. In games where experienced characters are exponentially more capable than beginning characters (like Dungeons and Dragons (as the most prominent example), having a variety of starting capabilities results in the most powerful characters pushing the least experienced characters (and their players) out of the spotlight.

    Emergent Storytelling

    At it’s core, Life Path character generation creates characters with personal milestones in their life. Most games also encourage players to develop connections between their characters, developing relationships before play begins. So instead of a group of strangers meeting around the table of a local tavern, it’s a crew of friends, acquaintances and allies being called together. All the characters have connections with at least one other character and can speak up for another. The characters aren’t risking their lives and fortunes for strangers, but for buddies.

    This style of character gen also develops NPCs as background Allies, Enemies, Rivals and Contacts shared by more than one character. So when the Evil Ninja Clan shows up to collect on one character’s debt, a second character might have some influence with the Evil Ninjas, or a third character hates the Evil Ninja Clan for killing their childhood pet, etc. Ex-romantic partners could be shared among characters. Because this is all determined by dice rolls compared to a chart, the GM can tailor some direction of their setting by altering the Life-Path charts.

    Events in the Setting

    In many published campaigns, there is lore that too often fades into the background. Life Path character generation can help to give those lore events context. Maybe no one was directly involved when the Fire Nation invaded 12 years ago. But all characters were alive then, and probably remember when and where they were when that happened. Maybe the old veteran was in one of those early battles, maybe the brash young kid was only 7 years old and had to flee with their family. Point is, there is an event fixed in history, and it’s a big enough event that everyone knows where they where when they learned about it.

    This helps to make the setting feel alive. Things happen and your characters experienced them. Or their families were affected by them. Incorporating history in the Life Path, gives everyone a shared touchstone and brings the players into the setting. Their characters become part of the campaign’s fabric. their histories meshing with the history of the campaign.

    Counting Backwards

    The nature of Life-Path character gen (at least in Traveller’s long history of editions) usually results in a twelve-to-sixteen year character background broken into four year terms. The Life-Path starts at age of majority (usually 18) and moves forward term-by-term. This forward progression builds an intuitive history for the character. Second Term follows First Term and the events of the first term affects the various die modifiers of the second. However, due to the randomized nature of the character generation process, it is not possible to predict with complete certainty how many years or terms a life-path will last before the character is mustered out and begins their career as an Adventurer.

    Game Masters should establish the starting in world date of the campaign. That serves as present day, and its only during the wrap up phase that players can map their character’s life path onto the history of the setting. As explored in O God, Thy Sea is so Great, news in settings that lack direct Faster than Light travel, will take weeks and months to spread out through interstellar polities.

    One of my favorite sector maps in Traveller. It graphically illustrates how news travels through the Imperium

    The above map depicts how the news of Emperor Strephon’s assassination spread through the Imperium along X-Boat routes and priority Jump-6 courier routes. It is a great example of what a civilization-wide event looks like in a setting the size of Traveller’s Charted Space.

    Not All Setting Events Spread This Far

    Which also shows something important. Not every important event is earth-shaking like the assassination of the Emperor of the Third Imperium. There are plenty of potential events that are important regionally, but not universally. These can also, when incorporated into a campaign and character generation, help to define a character’s life-path.

    Consider a localized event, say a recent supernova of a star. It could even have led to the destruction of an inhabited system. The result is hundreds of millions, or billions of refugees spreading to nearby systems and the sudden pressure of a refugee crisis in those systems. The evidence of that event, that is, the electromagnetic eruption caused by a supernova still only spreads at the speed of light. So it would still take 3.26 years for the nova to spread to the nearest parsecs. Roughly one Traveller Term.

    In those four years, the stress on the surrounding subsector, would be evident, but beyond the sector, it would still take decades for the crisis to become anything more than a JoTAS story. Maybe a reclassification of Amber or Red Zones. Characters whose homeworlds are in the local region would definitely have the event featured. Characters from outside the region wouldn’t. And as a result, the scope of the setting can be enhanced.

    Of Course This All Fills a Session Zero to Overflowing

    Life-Path character generation’s biggest drawback is the amount of time necessary to create a character. Especially when creating a group of characters. Going through multiple terms, rolling for skill advancements and Events simply eats up time at the table. Adding another layer where the GM offers Lore details that might be at best, optional, can easily extend a Session Zero to second Session Zero point Five.

    Which is a delay to playing the campaign, ya know, the point of creating all these characters in the first place. So, add campaign lore events to Session Zero only as much as is fun for everyone. What you want, as a GM and a Player, is to generate excitement and anticipation. When the exercise becomes tedious and boring, it’s time to wrap up character generation and start adventuring among the stars!