The Zhodani Base

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:

• Universal Health Care (by Raz, winner 2009)
• Drought (by Ewan Quibell, winner 2010)

Two of my own patrons can be found here:

• Sophonts Rights
• The Restaurant

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.)

• Foreven Sector Maps
• Foreven LBB style Maps
• Foreven WriteUps

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

Map made using Traveller Map Post API.

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.

Image from Project Gutenberg. Copyright expired.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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.

(more…)

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).

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.

(more…)

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.

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.

Shoulder Service Insignia 

Description

On a blue silhouetted right cylinder 3 inches (7.62 cm) in height and 2 inches (5.08 cm) in width overall within a 1/8 inch (.32 cm) with a Maroon Central Stripe, 3 stars arrayed above a Unicorn’s Profile with the point of a bayonet in the background. A sunburst in the foreground at the bottom

Symbolism

The Blue background alludes to the vastness of space and the branch color of the infantry. The maroon central stripe is homage to the presently serving seconded Imperial Marines within the brigade, but also  legacy of of the unit origins form the Imperial Marine cadre that founded the unit after the 2nd Frontier War. The Three stars are in remembrance of the Thrid, Fourth and Fifth Frontier Wars where the brigade fought with valor and steadfast loyalty to the Imperium. That very loyalty and service in the Imperial Army is again seen in the sunburst in the foreground. The Unicorn’s profile is the personal crest of the Duke of Regina, of which the brigade serves as the primer household troops, but also represents the “Emergent Unicorn” (also known as the Bridled Steed) constellation spanning the Chronor and Jewell subsectors and recalls the fierce battles where the Huscarles gave the supreme sacrifice during the Third Frontier War in the service of their Duke and the 3rd Imperium. The bayonet point in the background is the current steadfast vigilance and readiness to defend the spinward marches now and in the future.

Created: 28 Jan 2011 by Sword Worlder

A useful generator for generating Sword Worlder ship-names or similar stuff is the Motto in Old Norse generator.

I leave it up to you to come up with some good examples…

Merry X-Mas and a Happy New Year!

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

Gryla              1724 A464663-9 S Ag Ri             613 Im
Befana             1729 C325669-6                     212 Im
Fouettard          1822 BA87655-9 N Ag Ri             512 Im
Jultomten          1824 B4748AD-6 N                   224 Im
Vixen              1826 A458756-E   Ag                404 Im
Joulupukki         1829 C661547-4   Ni                204 Im
Zwarte Piet        1921 B657102-8 N Lo Ni             123 Im
Prancer            1924 E73A233-8   Lo Ni Wa          314 Im
Vertep             1930 B877532-A S Ag Ni             314 Im
Olentzero          2021 E7A0334-5   De Lo Ni          412 Im
Dancer             2023 B98A255-A   Lo Ni Wa          223 Im
Dasher             2024 C67A644-9 S Wa                224 Im
Santa              2025 A946AAA-E N Hi In Cp          234 Im
Sinterklaas        2027 B97A558-B   Ni Wa             502 Im
Comet              2124 C9A8353-A S Fl Lo Ni          323 Im
Cupid              2126 A410437-A   Ni                100 Im
Pere Noel          2128 C386566-8 S Ag Ni             114 Im
Pelzebock          2130 E99488B-3                     702 Im
Donner             2222 C000644-A S As Na             413 Im
Blitzen            2223 C310202-7 S Lo Ni             325 Im
Krampus            2322 B7C1201-B S Fl Lo Ni        A 103 Im
Hanstrapp          2323 BAE8533-A 2 Fl Ni             112 Im
Schmutzli          2324 B564340-7   Lo Ni             300 Im
Rudolph            2326 X352655-1   Po              R 100 Im
Buzebergt          2328 A464200-A   Lo Ni             315 Im
Ruprecht           2422 C350651-8   De Po             235 Im
Ded Moroz          2424 A371454-C N Ni                223 Im

The idea for this was from a popular post on the facebook Zhodani Base page. This version is updated with a few ideas from the comments at facebook. So running an idea at facebook, before posting it at the base is quite useful. If You want to be able to influence the posts at the base, you should join the Zhodani Base facebook page.

The votes have been counted. The winner of the second Summer Zhodani Base 76 Patrons Writing Contest is Ewan Quibell with his Patron called “Drought“. w00t!

Image from wikimedia. License: Public Domain

You may now vote on which of the “Patrons” you think are the best.

The Patrons You can vote for are:

•  Zeroster by Rat Traveller
  
•  Drought by Ewan Quibell
  

Only registered users, facebook fans and participants in the competition may vote on the entries they like the most. Everyone else may still express what they think by posting comments. Facebook fans may only vote if they became fans of the Zhodani Base before Juli 1:st and are a real person.

Send in your votes using e-mail. Fans on Facebook should send me a message on facebook.

The voting ends on October 31:st.

Image from wikimedia. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwell. Public Domain.