Traveller General - Piracy Edition

Traveller is a classic science fiction system first released in 1977. In its original release it was a general purpose SF system, but a setting was soon developed called The Third Imperium, based on classic space opera tropes of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, with a slight noir tint.
Though it can support a wide range of game types, the classic campaign involves a group of retired veterans tooling around in a spaceship, taking whatever jobs they can find in a desperate bid to stay in business, a la Firefly or Cowboy Bebop.

Previously on Traveller General →

Library Data: Master Archive:
mega.nz/#F!lM0SDILI!ji20XD0i5GTIUzke3iv07Q


Galactic Maps:
travellermap.com/
utzig.com/traveller/iai.shtml

Resources:
1d4chan.org/wiki/Traveller
zho.berka.com/
travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/
wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page
freelancetraveller.com/index.html

Music to Explosive Decompression to:
>Old Timey Space music
youtube.com/watch?v=w34fSnJNP-4&list=RD02FH8lvwXx_Y8
youtube.com/watch?v=w0cbkOm9p1k
youtube.com/watch?v=MDXfQTD_rgQ
youtube.com/watch?v=FH8lvwXx_Y8
>Slough Feg
youtube.com/watch?v=ZM7DJqiYonw&list=PL8DEC72A8939762D4
>Goldsmith - Alien Soundtrack
youtube.com/watch?v=3lAsqdFJbRc&list=PLpbcquz0Wk__J5MKi66-kr2MqEjG54_6s
>Herrmann - The Day the Earth Stood Still
youtube.com/watch?v=3ULhiVqeF5U
>Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene
youtube.com/watch?v=nz1cEO01LLc
>Tangerine Dream - Hyberborea
youtube.com/watch?v=9LOZbdsuWSg
>Brian Bennett - Voyage
youtube.com/watch?v=1ZioqPPugEI

How does the, less than legal, acquisition of goods in space work?

Other urls found in this thread:

pastebin.com/G1kb29aT
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

So, since the last thread ended on that topic.

Let's assume we have a TL 15 ship that combines mechanical and biologcal parts.

Most of the hull, structure, some sensors and a primitive control system (brain) are biological while things like weapons, drives, other sensors and the power plant are mechanical.

How could this ship protect itself against the temperatur differences existing in space ?
Complex water circulation system in the outer skin ?

Artifical outer skin for heat regulation and armor ?

I've started collecting various bits of homebrew from our threads. Where should I stick it? (other than the obvious)

That old lady is Traveller AF.

pastebin.com/G1kb29aT
Fuck it, sticking it on pastebin.

Transpiration of water or hydrogen might be possible but I'm not sure.
>would transpiration work in space ?

But flying close to a sun is in general a bad idea for ships and colonies alike. You know, because of the giant, unshielded fusion power plant nearby.

Nice! Thanks for saving all that stuff.

>Artificial outer skin
Living beings on Earth can handle some pretty extreme pressures, so some form of natural grown, if not still "living", outer skin does not seem like a stretch. Vorlon and Minbari ships, Moya from Farscape, Marvel's Space Whales (X-Men's first Brood saga from back in the day), ST:TNG's Tin Man, and even the Tyranids.

...

...

The library master archive was taken down or isn't working any more.

Still works for me user, although I do have a Mega account
Try again a little later, it could just be fucking with ya

Which book should I read first?
There seems to be 5 "normal" editions and 2 from Mongoose...

If you just want to 'play now', Mongoose 2e.

I want to read more about the system/setting before deciding if I want to play but I'll start with that one, thanks.

>Living beings on Earth can handle some pretty extreme pressures

True, but they don't put up with extreme pressure GRADIENTS.

Wile those tube worms living near black smokers along the mid-Atlantic ridge are living in an environment under tons of pressure, the pressure is the same inside and outside their bodies.

Usual Earth norms, the hull/skin of a "living" spacecraft is going to have to constantly withstand ~15psi on one side and vacuum on the other.

That's a really intriguing pic. Care to "explain" it?

Here a short greentext to summarize the setting. Anyone else feel free to correct me if I get it wrong.
> Life naturally evolves on several planets across universe
> one race of bipedal lizard-bird-creatures with wings develops FTL interstellar travel and spreads across universe
> enlist slower civilized species into their servitude
> to fit their purposes, uplift the entire fauna of those few other planets with life and spread naturally evolved and uplifted humanoids onto worlds across universe
> eventually one lizard bird creature develops psion powers beyond anyone's imagining to the point of immortality and omnipotence
> retreats into a universe of his own, other ancients see that he is becoming a threat
> war ensues between one lizard bird creature with enormous psion powers and the entire rest of his species
> psion lizard bird creature wins
> universe full of inhabitable planets and still inhabited by all the uplifted and naturally evolved fauna left behind, psion only wiped out the ancients
> even some fellows of ancient lizard bird creatures remained and are now called Droyne

That's why you have a setting where you meet complete aliens, alternative humans, but also animal uplifts. The gist of it is that even most alien-aliens are actually uplifts of the fauna of other planets. Thus you get incoherent tentacle monsters and elves alongside talking wolves.

Wow, thank you for typing that out!
I'm left with a few questions but I'll figure those out myself.

X-Boat Message
ORIGIN: DNBG0803 DUNMAG
DESTINATION: SWMK0107 WARDN
SENT: 025-1107
RECEIVED: 214-1107
RECIPIENT: Cpt. Tristan Horadric, CO Insufferable Intent (REG WARDYN ML8UD98
READ 275-1107
MESSAGE BEGINS
Dad, I know you're "enjoying" your "retirement", but can't you come home every once in a while? Your granddaughter would like to see you, and not just gifts from Chandlers and local artisans intermixed with holos of you getting shot at.
Seriously, why are you even travelling with a compulsive photographer?
I hope you can send a message back before Ilyia's 5th birthday (remember, it's 319), or maybe even show up yourself.
Or maybe you'll forget that you have a home to come to, just like you have for the last 12 years.
With Indifferent Love, Gloria Horadric

Cyborg ship user here.

I'm finally at a point where im sure about some things.

Cyborg ships are possible and their strong side is working in a wide variation of situations, while dealing less well with extremes. Also the fact that the Hull and Structure are mostly biological has the plus side that a good portion of damage will fix itself over time and offer alot of redunacy.

Radiation shielding could work with natural ferric metal deposits across the ship with a copper coil around them, basically natural electromagnets.

Cooling could mostly work by changes of surface are and circulation of water/blood. The warm surface becomes smooth while the hull to the cold site increases their surface. For short amounts of time excess heat could be stored in the on board fuel(water) tanks.
A cold atmosphere is more tricky, but it could work by replacing the water in the outer (and preferably dead) layer of the hull by oxygen, a byproduct of the process which turns water indo fusion fuel.

As blood something like liquid haemocyanin might be the preferred over heamoglobin in the shape of red blood cells. Since blood cells don't deal well with sudden changes of pressure.

Some sensors might be actually be better if organic, some primitive gravitation sensors, optic and a tactile layer in extremeties (like fins on a shuttle/plane) could assist the pilot. High defenition optic sensors, radar, lidar and the like would probably be better if mechanical.

Weapons would also be mechanical because, as said before, mechanical parts deal better with extreme situations... like channeling the power for a railgun shot.

But most of the logistic systems like transport of ammunition, wastes and life support might be much better if left to the ships organs

Overall, organic ships are not better or worse than mechanical ships, they are more of a sidegrade.
A trader, laboratory or yacht would be pretty bad as organic ship, since those have a pretty narrow set of functions to sustain.

Over all the whole thing would try to take the good parts of both, mechanical and biological as a cyborg ship.

But organic wise the whole thing would be less of a space whale and more of a space squid (with hard structure) or mollusc

>Alternate version from my fiancee (who is better at writing than me)
X-Boat Message
ORIGIN: DNBG0803 DUNMAG
DESTINATION: SWMK0107 WARDN
SENT: 320-1107
RECEIVED: 144-1108
RECIPIENT: Cpt. Tristan Horadric, CO Insufferable Intent (REG WARDYN ML8UD98
READ N/A
MESSAGE BEGINS
Hi grandpa. Mommy says since I am a whole hand now I can send you a messages like a big girl!
I really hoped you would make it for my birthday but its ok I know your busy. Would you mind
telling your friend to take a picture with you smiling and maybe send it for christmas? Or maybe he could take my picture if you decide to visit. That would be really nice, I really want to meet you.
Love, Iliya.

So...what exactly is this?

Page 9/10 bump content that isn't pictures ( )
Followed by my fiancee's version, because she wanted to prove that she could make it sadder.

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An archived thread ( the borrowers on sup/tg/) mentioned the roach coach. Does anyone remember that?

Not offhand. Was that the flying bordello, or the convenience store module for the cutter?

Not sure, the reference was in response to a ship that doubled as a fast food joint (with a drive through window, even).
I'm going to guess the cutter (so convert as much of a broadsword to cargo as you can, and you get a home base for it, with space for 2-3 resupply modules to land)

Oh yeah, we had a couple of good threads about this thing.

In terms of getting into the "setting" I would recommend the first book you read is the MegaTraveller "Imperial Encyclopaedia".

any opinions on Mongoose's Secret of the Ancients?

One of the better compilations.

Interesting read. Would have made an interesting novel.
The lethality and power creep is a bit much for my tastes, though. Nothing like the old CT series by that name.

Ah, the inspiration strikes again. My current idea is that megafreighters use 2000dT cargo containers... And then I thought, could I pack the equipment needed for a small colony in one? And could I make it land?

>dude on the right
two what?

which do you think is better?

As you can see from his knee and helmet, he escaped death twice already and is not willing to try his chance a third time.

There are a few more editions than that.

Read Classic, or a Mongoose corebook, unless you're already a GURPS fan.

Two "fuck you I'm not going out there, you go out there"s.

I like that guy's idea of 30dT RV modules with basic built-in engines and optional fairings to streamline them enough for atmosphere work.

>This is the Traveller version of the ubiquitous Winnebago. These will be found in retirement-friendly systems and tourist spots throughout the Imperium. Owners of starships dedicated to module transport often organize package tours for RV module owners: "Dock your home and see the wonders of the universe! Relax in our casino lounge and get to know your neighbors for the voyage."

Fairing is 3dT and allows better speeds, and there's a 4.5dT microtug for transporting RVs with damaged engines.

I've always kind of liked the idea of a universe with mostly small craft, and the jump ships being huge affairs that small craft hop on board to travel between systems. Handwave, handwave, maybe M-drives only work on hulls under 100dT of volume because of the reactionless field generation requirements, while J-drives don't work on anything under half a megadton? Cue scheduled planetoid jumpships, possibly independent of local system authorities, either as a spacing guild thing or simply taking the 3I's "ruling the space between worlds" thing to extremes.

>That's a really intriguing pic. Care to "explain" it?
Not entirely sure about this one! Perhaps those pillars are conductors for electrical storms, much like the iron trees on Thorwald in the Solomani Rim. This creatures spectacular thunderstorms which in turn attract "nightgaunts", huge bat-like creatures which harvest the electrical current through osmosis and use it as sustenance. The visiting starship is a tourist vessel or noble's yacht enjoying the spectacle.

In the early US spaceflight days, they operated at a reduced pressure to help address this problem.

Apollo used 5 PSI of pure oxygen (which contributed/exasperated apollo one's fire).

If you were designing (breeding? growing? a spaceship with a hull made of living matter, I'd want to explore having it's 'skin' to be several layers of a semi-porous spongelike material, so while the outer layers are exposed to vacuum, each layer a couple of psi above the previous layer until you reach a comfortable pressure.

Essentially to mechanically hold onto gas similarly to how the earth does through gravity.

We could apply a cost reduction to small craft. This makes them even more available to the common public without decreasing PC ship options. This also gives you huge carriers for small ships.
Otherwise we end up with Battletech, where the PCs have to wait for a jump-carrier to show up in system before they can go anywhere.

I mean, hell, we could fluff it as a small craft needing less of the integral systems required for a jump capable craft. Even the spaceships need those, in case a later owner refits them to have a jump drive.

Yeah. multi layered skin is pretty much the norm, downside of the human skin in vacuum is the fact that we need to take in some of our oxygen through it.

It would be also helpfull if the outmost layer reflects infra red radiation while also absorbing heat from sourrounding matter to radiate it away.

Otherwise a two layer skin sytem could also work, like scales. The outer layer reflects IR and the lower oneradiates heat away. Ad some muscles to expose the second layer to the vacuu, so you can regulate the heat.

but Battletech's FTL is almost as 'bad' (read: limited) as Traveller's

Yeah, but its like waiting for the bus. Nobody wants to do that in a game.

It could work, it'd just mean the game location wasn't a subsector but a system, and you can fit a lot of junk in a system, and get around it pretty fast with a drive capable of sustained 2g or higher.

You'd only jump when you were leaving the setting for a new one, or desperately running to get on the jumpship and out of local jurisdiction.

bump

You could also go EVE style and use jumpgates that have on/off cycles. This still has almost the same effect, since it makes the focus on small ship, with naturally limited interstellar travel.
This actually gives me an idea for an interesting ATU: what if there were Ancient jumpgates with ranges measured in hundreds of parsecs? How would this effect the spread of interstellar governments and trade?

it'd end up very mass effect island chain style, tiny clusters of a couple parsecs of settlement around each gate, not much more than that

Up until the limits of the gates were reached. If its a loop, is full of dead ends, or even just a small number of them, you would have people expanding away from the gates as worlds easily reached became over populated.
We could also put another interesting restriction on them: no gate shares a system (or even a subsector) with another one. This requires a long haul between the gates, thus opening up more raw volume for settlement and trade. Add in jump geography, and you get even more required volume for j1 haulers to make the route. Or would it be massive fleets of j6 couriers between gates?

Of frills, like one of those dinosaurs. I forgot how much a challenge heat is.

Optimal solution would be frills with an outer layer that give of heat radiation as well as reflect it at the same time, but i fon't know how feasible that is...

On the other hand, the ship is supposed to be TL 15

It stores heat in various materials, waiting until they turn liquid or almost gaseous from the energy build up. It then expells the materials, thus dumping massive amounts of heat at once.

.... so it sweats through bone/chitin/carbon plates ?

Or it pisses liquid sodium every once in a while.

Another idea, for ones that will be loitering in an area with LOS to the local sun is a bodily process that allows them to build a solar shield that isn't attached to them.

Like scatting a cloud of sand infront of them ?

The liquid sodium idea sounds neato, but i think that we have hit a point where we have a problem that could be solved by different ideas.

Some Organic ships could make great use of the sodium solution but my players are pirates so i think that a more natural approach will also work well enough.

The on board water tanks will suffice for short trips closer to the sund and function as heat storage.

And i think i will stick with the heat radiator frills/scales. If my players want to nail more metal bits into their ship, they can but i would prefer if it has as much cyberware as it needs and as less as possible.

Like scattering a cloud of sand, except with spiders webs is kind of what I was thinking. I was also thinking of shedding a specific layer of skin and letting it float in space to provide solar shielding. A possible route for ones that just spawned, to protect the young?
But yes, we could go a few hundred ways at this point. Heat radiators will work pretty well, but something must be said for the efficiency of 3-dimensional radiator structures.

3-dimensional radiator structures are pretty sweet, that's for sure.

So far my ship is pretty much a space faring cyborg mollusk at this point.

Basically you have multiple hollow rooms withing the ship and have some sort of bone/chitin/cartilage plating growing from rather thin living tissue.

If they are grown i would assume that they grow in shallow water and reproduce asexually by creating something that is basically a clone of themselve, you don't want a lot of mutation in your spaceship production line.

Found the American.

It's bugging me that not only is there no means to go between floors, there is no space allowance for it either.

Overhead iris/deck iris at the bottom end.

Specifically, inside the 2 parts labeled "access lock" (one in front, one in back). Notice the circle in there, then check the key.

>space faring cyborg mollusk

Sounds like a good name for a band

...

Does anyone else feel that plenty of DGPs stuff is as good a generic workbook as the standard GURPS supplement? Cause I'm getting that vibe off of it.

So I've been working on an ATU where there is no Imperium. In it's place is an ISO like organization that has a couple of departments that you would expect from the 3I (Scouts, TAS, Starport Authority), and a giant manual of standards, called the Stellar Trade Union.
Its mission: To boldly explore new potential markets, to to maintain the standards that ease interstellar trade, and help facilitate the rise of the galaxy out of the ashes of the Fourth Long Night.
I really hope to capture the old-school, pre-3I feeling that Traveller had.

The narrative difference is Raiders of the Lost Ark vs MIB. Cumulative clues leading to a cool thing vs "Chapter 1: everything you know is wrong, now here's your big gun"

Grand Survey and Census (CT) and their MT update World Builder's are broadly applicable toolkits for worlds.

It helps if there used to be some sort of large scale government or (attempt at) monoculture to instill enough respect for those organizations to let them do their work. Like the legend of the USPS in Brin's 'The Postman', or the modern beliefs about Arthur's knights or the golden age of the Samurai. Standards of behavior, respect for institutions from the good old days, and just enough modern reminders to keep the beliefs fresh, and those organizations will have the stature they need to function even in areas where they technically have no authority or protection.

The Patrol, from Norton's books, is an SF example of both the institution and the type of setting described.

Although really, if you're selling RVs to the old and retired, stairs would be a big deal. Maybe they have low-G grav plating instead?

"two what" user here, as I am definitely not American, what led you to say that? Genuinely curious.

...

So i made a deckplan for an biologic ship.
It's still work in progress but i would be happy to hear your thoughts about it.

Please be gentle, it's my first ship.

As for purpose: 200 dT raider

Nice, I like the shape, it reminds me to Moya and the B5 shadows.

...

Make it a zero-g zone and give handholds. Easier than stairs, and allows you to bring a walker or wheelchair with you. Add in a couple vents directed to drift things down to the floor.
Its like the airvents on the ISS, or that one strip from Free fall: in theory, unattended objects in zero-g will remain where they are, or will drift until they hit a surface. In practice, all unattended items will end up on an airvent cover.
That's what I'm going to be putting in for the history. This is the Fourth Long Night known to them, and plenty of tales remain from previous empires to make people see them as a sort of Regent for the next one.
The sheer economic incentives they give for working with them don't hurt either. For example, if a world decides to join (declares commitment to compliance with the standards), its local currency is traded at a 1-1 with the credit for the next five years. This does make it easier to pay the "consultancy fees" to maintain the Standards Compliance office (its basically a member tax), and they advertise your planet with news reports of compliance and brochures on trading opportunities.
The SPA will cover up to 75% of the cost of building and running a Starport (size dependent on local astrography, government desires, and world population), takes a 0.5% tarrif, and shares the profits of all fees and tarrifs with the locals at a ratio equal to how the costs are split.
The TAS (thinking of calling it something different, like the Spacers Guild or something) has multiple levels of membership, and covers certification of skills, in addition to regular TAS stuff (costs decrease according to membership level).
The X-Boats (J6 here), are mostly internal and news, but worlds can buy access to them for government use.
Scouts have the prestige of the 3Is Imperial Navy.
Any other things I should look at?

The official setting is arguably seeing its third, if you count the long quiet after the Final War to be the first, the usually labeled Long Night the second, and the one-two punch of Virus and the Empress Wave bringing on the third. Like the aftermath of the Final War, the Virus and Wave combo virtually depopulates Charted Space, so it'll be a long recovery.

...

This is the fourth one since humanity (and its Ancient distributed derivatives) have expanded into space.
I should probably rough out some ideas for what caused each one. Economic collapse is one, wide spread civil wars is another, any other ideas?

Regional or larger natural disasters, from supernovae suddenly occulting jumpspace for many parsecs or at an important travel junction, to mysterious events like the Ashen Stars.

If you have the Mongoose Zhodani book, read the bit about the artifact they triggered accidentally. Now imagine if kept going.

Wars need to be "civil" to shut down a large state. The exhaustion and infrastructure damage can happen regardless.

Wars need NOT be civil, that is.

Finally done, the finished 200dT raider.

Oh, that's nice and nasty.
So here's what I got so far
1st collapse: wars and raiders, both following a sort of wave front/venn diagram as two or more powerfully psionic groups forcibly enlisted entire worlds in fights to the death over ancient artifacts they couldn't even use. General infrastructure collapse, but a quick recovery, minus the psionics
Second collapse: the madness wave. From a then unknown epicenter, a huge wave crashing through 45% of known space, causing portions of the population to become feral murders, others to just give up and die, and yet others were immune. Psions were also less effected, and could help shield others from the wave. Long ass recovery time, as the insane population went full reaver.
Third collapse: economic, followed by civil wars and raiders.
Fourth collapse: the rearranging. Empire of that time triggered what they thought was a regular, semi-understandable Ancient weapon. It first knocked almost all ships in known space out of jump space, made it even harder to get into, and then shuffled the map. It took 600 years for jump-1 drives to work again, and everybody had inaccurate maps. On the other hand, you could see out of your jump bubble now.
And the four or more precursor races had spread various useful servant species around a lot of the galaxy.

Double check your deck positions. At first glance, it looks you misplaced your iris valves.
Other than that, it looks great.

The weapon of the fourth collapse was a simple crystalline globe, five hundred meters across, with wires of platinum, lanthanum, and other unknown materials embedded in the structure. It was recovered from a system that was beyond the extent of the first imperial era, which also contained an incomplete Dekopi Ring.
Dekopi Ring: named after an erroneous transliteration of a corrupted audio file that dealt with the probable origin of a legend about a legend from the natives of the system that the first ring was discovered in. These are giant rings, 3AU in radius, each surrounding a star. 7 large streams of visible energy go from points on the ring to the star, performing an unknown function. There are 9 known ones, and it was over these that the wars of the First Collapse were fought.
Their actual function is unknown, but it is rumored that they, or an artifact taken from them, is what gave the Mind Lords of that era their great powers (at referee's discretion, a character can gain incredible psionic power from these, unknown methodology. PSI is rolled as 2d6x50, and is recovered completely within an hour. Almost every talent can be gained, and is gained at level 10, before adding (2d6+PSI DM)*2 levels to each. Not suggested for PCs).
They most likely cage something, such as the weapon that triggered the fourth collapse.

Don't let your players get this. Average PSI would 450, with a DM of +148.
This means every talent is, on average, 320.
On the other hand, incredibly powerful psions who could enslave entire planets, which might be right up your groups alley.
Geez, my dad didn't leave an impression of grand historical scale on me, no, not at all.

Thank you, i hope my players will like it too.

Yeah i messed up the valves, thanks for noticing.

Shuffled the map?
It moved star systems around and stuff?

I assumed he meant it shuffled the jump map, not necessarily the actual-space map. That would be even crazier.

It might have... Consider this:
The Dekopi Rings contain artifacts that imbue effectively random people with intense Psionic power (I also decided that they could then imbue people in turn with lesser levels of power). They were also built by one of the more recent Ancient races. An unfinished one was the site from which a super weapon was recovered. Is it unreasonable that it would be something as crazy as that?
Possibly. But psions get the impression that the Rings contain something extremely dangerous, and with tales of two Mind Lords fighting to keep the Rings from being messed with, and tales of several others deciding that they needed to break the Rings and remake the universe...
I might have gone full Lensmen with the ancient history.

You didn't recognise the archer's salute, so the other user figured you were American. After all, there's only two countries on the internet.

For context, raising two fingers like that is the British version of the middle finger. The scorched guy is basically telling his commander to go fuck himself, cause he isn't going to risk another peek at the invincible armour with the death gun.

Learn something new everyday... thanks user !

The origin of that "V" hand gesture is, allegedly, in a war between the English and French. The French hated English archers, and so they chopped the first two fingers off any English archers they captured. The English stuck those two fingers up at the French as a gesture of defiance - "Haha, you haven't caught me!"

This story is disputed by historians, but my history teacher taught it so we could all have an excuse to flick a V at him.

I heard much the same thing, bit it was the English punishing the Welsh longbowmen (the English didn't have those until they stole them from the welsh). The welsh then had another variant, with those two fingers down and the rest extended - "you can't stop me".

In all likelihood, neither of our stories are true, and flicking the Vs is one of those folklore things that just doesn't have a real explanation.

So to practise the system and GMing online, I want to start a solo campaign. What do you suggest for where to start and with what?

I'm using MT1e.