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P-O "BeRKA" Bergstedt is the Zhodani Ambassador. :-) BeRKA started the Zhodani Base in 1994.
Adventures, The Base, Traveller

The Zhodani Base 76 Patrons Writing Contest – 2011

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It is now time for The Zhodani Base 76 Patrons Writing Contest – 2011.

This years first prize is a $20 Gift Certificate at DriveThruRPG.
Second prize is a $10 Gift Certificate at DriveThruRPG.
I decided to stop giving away books, since the postage to send them all over the world was too expensive.

If you win you can buy lots of traveller goodies that you might have missed.

The style of the entries should be in the style of the patrons in CT Supplement 6, 76 Patrons.

Past winners are:

Two of my own patrons can be found here:

The contest starts now and ends 30 Sept 2011. Write as many entries as You like.

After the 30:th of September 2011, all entries will be posted on the Zhodani Base. Registered users (on the 1:st of July) and participants in the competition may then vote for the entries they like the most.

By entering the contest You allow your entry to be posted at the Zhodani Base. All entries might also be posted in PDF format as a free down-loadable file at the Zhodani Base.

All entrants will be given credit for their work and will retain the copyright on their entries.

Some general guidelines:

1, Each entry should be less than 1000 words.

2, One image may be used in each entry. You must either have the right to the image, or it must be used under some sort of free license. Wikimedia Commons is a good place to find an image that You can use. Please provide information about the image. (Is it Yours? If not, where have You found it? What license is used?) Note: You don’t need to use an image.

3, Each patron should offer 6 options.

4, Each patron should be placed in the Foreven Sector. You may use the version of the Foreven Sector that can be found here at the Zhodani Base. (You don’t have to use this version.)

5, Please don’t force the PCs to sign up for (what they think are) illegal activities. It is better if they find that out later, or in some way are forced to take illegal action… 😈

6, Please use a spell checker! 🙄

Send Your entries by e-mail. Please use plain text format and attach the image, if You select to use one. Word files will not be accepted!

As an alternative, contributors to the Zhodani Base may log in and write their entries here. Entries posted that way will be made visible when all other are.

Please include a preferred nickname (that can be Your real name) to show on the Zhodani Base. If You expect to win, include an address to send the first prize to.

Some help: (That you don’t have to use.)

You may use Mongoose Traveller rules to design something for your patron, since the Zhodani Base now has a Foreven Free Sector License.

Fessor Subsector
Map made using Traveller Map Post API.

Reviews, Science Fiction, Starships, Traveller

Traveller Inspiration: Free e-books

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Traveller was first published 1977, and was inspired by even older science fiction. While this means that the computer rules used in traveller might feel a bit obsolete, it also means that for some of the books it was inspired by, the copyright has expired. (The computer rules are quite easy to ignore or modify anyway, so that doesn’t matter much.)

At Project Gutenberg, some works that has inspired traveller can be downloaded in several formats that will fit your e-book reader. It is also possible to read them directly on the web.

Here is a suggestion of five books for you to download:

1, Space Viking by H. Beam Piper

In Space Viking, there is a group of planets called Sword Worlds that are named after legendary swords. Doesn’t that seem familiar… The image below of the spherical ships  is from the book. They look a lot like the Mercenary Cruisers from traveller.

2, Deathworld by Harry Harrison

Jason dinAlt is the hero of the Deathworld books. In the Traveller Supplement 1, 1001 Characters, you can find his stats as hero #3, the Rapscallion Gambler. Jason dinAlt is skilled in gambling and also has a psionic talent, that can help his gambling. In Traveller, gambling is a skill, and psionics isn’t impossible.

3, Gambler’s World by Keith Laumer

Jame Retief is a Diplomat for the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne. In Traveller Supplement 4, Citizens of the Imperium you can find his stats as hero #5.

4, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Hero #1 of the Traveller Supplement 1 is John Carter. In the Solomani Rim (0239), there is a small planet named Barsoom.

5, Triplanetary by E. E. Smith

Triplanetary is a Lensman prequels. Kimball Kinnison of the Lensman series is hero #2 in the Traveller Supplement 1. GDW also published a game called Triplanetary before they published Traveller.

Mercenary Cruiser?

Image from Project Gutenberg. Copyright expired.

Mapping, Observances, Traveller

Eire Subsector

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day :mrgreen:

Eire Subsector

Derry

Map made using Traveller Map Post Function.
Click map for larger version!

I hope this will be more useful than the Merry X-Mas Subsector.

I do think that this almost follow the rules for popular subsectors from a previous post. We have some backwater worlds, but they are not independent. We have 2 interstellar states. We have obvious adventures, and also a place called home. Dublin for some of us, Armagh for Eamon, and maybe somewhere else for someone.

The obvious adventures can be taken from the news (old and new) about Ireland.

This leads me to my suggestion of 4 races in this subsector. They should represent the Celtic, the Norse, the Protestants and the Catholics (or Old and New English). The lazy could use Humaniti, Vargr, Aslan and Bwaps or any other Traveller races that might fit. The more ambitious may want to invent their own races. An interesting scenario would be if the Humans represent the Celts. Then this will be in the far far future, when Humaniti have been driven away from their home-worlds to this cluster at the edge of the galaxy. Another interesting scenario could be if the Humans are the latest (New English) invaders. Then there might be some interesting moral dilemmas about the genocide of the original inhabitants of this cluster.

One thing to note about the map is that the towns and villages that are not in the map are still there as secondary populated worlds. E.g. Banbridge is a planet in the Armagh System. In the empty systems within the borders, there might be deep space objects.

Continue reading Eire Subsector →

Aliens, Mapping, Traveller

A Vargr Subsector – Uksoulez Subsector

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Using the ideas form the previous post, I wanted to make a Vargr subsector. I used my random subsector generator and selected Vargr as race and backwater as settlement. Everything else was using the default settings. Using this subsector I also wanted to try the new print style at TravellerMap.

I must have been very lucky. On the first try a very nice subsector was generated. I only had to move three worlds to make room for the names of the Interstellar States.

There are backwater independent worlds and 2 interstellar states here. Lets find the adventure and the place called home. To do so we need to invent some background for this subsector. Lets say that the Tingoeg Union is an expansive Vargr State, and that the Kague Territory is the reaction to that. To stop the Tingoeg Union expansion a charismatic Vargr called Kague united a number of planets. That was 100 years ago. Now these 2 states have fought a few wars, and there is currently a cold war going on. The independent planets are part of a neutral zone.

Adventure can then be found in lots of places in the subsector. Some ideas;

  • At Unaets (2119) the PCs can help the Kague Territory can set up a spy station.
  • Ozadzugh (2114) is balkanized. Tingoeg Union and Kague Territory support different nations. The PCs can spy or fight in wars.
  • Dzaloukh (1720) has tech-level 0. Has there been a war here? The PCs can help survivors.
  • A J-1 ship can reach lots of worlds in both interstellar states. The PCs can trade and do other jobs using their old J-1 trader.
  • Gnuengarr (2014) is a low tech world with almost no atmosphere. The PCs can ship supplies here, and someone might try to stop them.

A place called home might be Uksoulez (2013). It’s a high population world where the PCs might know some people that can help them or can employ them. An alternative might be Dourtsuen (2214).

Uksoulez Subsector
Map made using Traveller Map Post Function.
Click map for larger version!

All ideas from the previous post are now fulfilled. There are a number of backwater independent worlds. There are 2 interstellar states. There are obvious adventures. Finally, a place that can feel as home has been suggested.

Continue reading A Vargr Subsector – Uksoulez Subsector →

Mapping, Traveller

What makes a subsector popular?

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After asking about the preferred subsector in the Spinward Marches on facebook and on CotI we can see what the online community think. From the results I have created a color coded chart for popularity. More green is more popular.

Most popular subsectors

Here we can see that the most popular subsectors are District 268 and Regina.

The reason for District 268 seems to be that it has lots of independent backwater worlds, that are great for adventure, and are close to the Imperium and the Sword Words so that there also can be some interstellar diplomatic intrigues.

For Regina, a good reason is that the players and referees feel at home here.  A lot has been published for this subsector. The first adventure (The Kinunir) started here.

Another slightly less popular subsector is the Sword Worlds. Who does not like this subsector, partly borrowed from H. Beam Piper? Rhylanor and Jewell are also popular. Probably since these are close to Regina, and also have published adventures within them.

The least popular subsectors are Lanth, Lunion and Mora. Lanth is quite divided. Its worlds more feels like they are part of Rhylanor, Vilis and Regina subsectors. Lunion and Mora are quite ordinary, and does not really have the interesting features that the popular subsectors have.

What lessons can we learn from this (if we want to create an interesting subsector)?

  • There should be some backwater independent worlds.
  • There should be 2 or more interstellar states quite close.
  • There should be obvious adventures.
  • There should be a place that can feel as home.