ybn1197
2023-11-13, 01:03 PM
"Demons run when a good man goes to war
Night will fall and drown the sun
When a good man goes to war
Friendship dies and true love lies
Night will fall and the dark will rise
When a good man goes to war
Demons run, but count the cost
The battle's won, but all is lost"
― Steven Moffat {slightly modded}
The Second Colonization Period from the Sol System is generally defined by historians to last from the discovery of a wormhole in the Neu Berlin system until the collapse of that wormhole on 131 years after it's discovery. This period is often referred to as the Clement Sector Age or the Silver Age of Colonization.
Scientists from the Neu Berlin Institute were attempting to discover additional jump points in the system when they discovered something entirely different. Closer examination showed the existence of a naturally occurring wormhole less than a light year away from the system's star, Epsilon Eridani. Moreover, it was discovered that there was a jump point leading to a point near the wormhole within the Neu Berlin system as well as one near the wormhole which led back to the Neu Berlin system.
The two scientists, Waldemar Zielicke and Tekla Szymczak, enlisted a British friend Dr. Dustin Thorne and the trio went to work to study the wormhole. Zielicke and Szymczak headed the project to develop a possible probe into the wormhole while Thorne headed the project to expand the wormhole. After eight years, Thorne devised a way to expand the wormhole large enough to get the initial probe, which they called EB1, into the wormhole and hopefully to the other side.
The EB1 became the first ship to traverse the wormhole. The unmanned probe returned through the wormhole with a wealth of data. These data would develop into the first look at what would eventually be called Clement Sector. Two years later, the wormhole had been expanded enough for ships larger than the probe to begin traversing it. A pair of permanent devices, which were octagonal (and thus each was referred to as "The Octagon") were put into place to hold open the wormhole. Manned vessels soon followed.
The other side of the wormhole opened within one light year of an orange K7 V main sequence star located on the opposite side of the Milky Way in the Scutum-Centaurus Arm over 60,000 light years away from Earth. As with the Neu Berlin side, a jump point was discovered that led to this nearby star system and that one existed in that system to provide a return trip to near the wormhole. This orange star had several planets, and one was in its habitable zone. This planet, called "Hub" by Thorne, was soon settled and became a German colony. Hub became the first world visited by most of those who traveled to this new sector of space. A popular and famous British scientist, Dr. Harold "Harry" Clement, who had been invited by the German government to join the crew of the Alfred Wegener, died in a shuttle crash during one of the first exploratory missions of the Hub surface. The other members of the science crew determined that they would name the sector for Dr. Clement, thus becoming Clement Sector.
So many began moving through the wormhole to establish new lives that the wormhole came to be called "The Conduit" as it seemed to many that people and materials were being "piped" through it on a regular basis. It sometimes seemed that an endless supply of colonists who were interested in this new frontier of easier to settle worlds began to pour through to the Clement Sector. In return, raw materials began to come back to Earth as well. Interest in expanding to other stars in Earth Sector slowed as nations, corporations, and other groups began to find opportunity in Clement Sector.
As these new colonies were established, trade routes began to form. Soon it was not only colony and scout ships moving across the region, but also shipping vessels. Both freight companies and single person owners began moving cargo across the Conduit, through Hub Subsector, and then onward throughout Clement Sector.
Over the period of the next 131 years, the four main subsectors (Hub, Cascadia, Franklin, and Sequoyah) were completely settled. The fringe subsectors of Clement Sector (Dade, Superior, and Winston) had colonies within them but most of the rest of the sector remained uninhabited. Later visitors would establish colonies in the Peel Subsector of Ariel Sector (located to coreward of Clement Sector) and the Dawn Subsector of Tranquility Sector (located to trailing of Clement Sector).
The largest obstacle to colonizing all Clement Sector is The Darkness. This large area devoid of stars cuts through the center of the sector and no jump points lead to worlds across this distance from the worlds so far colonized. Routes around The Darkness exist from Dade Subsector and through Tranquility Sector but so far no one has dared to explore in this region. With so many easier to settle worlds placed near The Conduit, it almost seemed unneeded to explore further.
Indeed, some have felt that the existence of so many inhabitable worlds seemed almost unbelievable and far too convenient. This has led to several speculative theories as to what caused this but so far there has been no definitive proof. The most common of these postulations is that an alien force terraformed these worlds and left them for humanity to colonize. However, even the proponents of this theory cannot agree on what the purpose of such a plan might be.
However, one singular event would put a halt to colonization and leave Clement Sector and Earth Sector once again separated by over 60,000 light years. On that day, The Conduit suddenly collapsed. Those who witnessed the event say that the wormhole was there and then was suddenly gone.
Today, humans have colonized the majority of the coreward systems of Clement Sector and a handful of worlds within Ariel Sector to coreward and Tranquility Sector to trailing. The rimward portion of Clement Sector remains unexplored.
"The Octagon came to life as it usually did with a flourish of spinning light making a whirlpool shape in the center but then it did something that made my skin crawl. The spinning lights reversed, and it seemed, for just a second, that they were coming out of the Octagon altogether. Then an ungodly motion like a wave rolled from side to side through the lights as if the universe itself had suddenly become an unmade bed and unseen hands were shaking out the sheet." Testimony of eyewitness Jacob McMasters
The Big 16
1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?
Mongoose Traveller 2e with the 2022 update. Though there are only minor changes so any version of Mongoose Traveller is acceptable to start, we can bring things in line with the current ruleset.
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)? This is an ATU (Alternate Traveller Universe) campaign. I have never enjoyed the Third Imperium setting. We will be using a modified "Clement Sector" campaign from Independence Games Cepheus Deluxe system. Knowledge of the Clement Sector is NOT required. I will answer any and all questions regarding it. Tech Level of the Clement Sector caps out at 12. Use Tech Level 10 for the most part. Anything above 10 needs my approval first.
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many? Looking for at least 4 players and I will take up to 6. Afterwards I will take alternates as necessary.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?
OOTS
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
This is Traveller. You decide your starting status. Just remember, the more terms you take the higher the chances of injury and aging.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
Depends on your mustering out benefits.
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
If it's an official career from 2e it is acceptable.
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
This is a human-centric campaign but then again Traveller is a human-centric game. I will allow Aslan, Bwap and Vargr races.
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
I will create a die thread for everyone to roll dice on.
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
Not in Traveller.
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
The closest to multi-classing is to muster out of one service and enroll in another which is completely acceptable.
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
There will be a die thread where players will roll dice and link.
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
Not at this time. I will be using material from the Cepheus engine which is a variation of Mongoose Traveller 1st edition so don't be surprised if you are up on your MT2e information and don't recognize something.
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
Yes, a character background is required. Where from, why the services they enrolled in, plans after mustering out.
Special Note: If you get a starship as a mustering out object, you will not have access to it for the first segment of the game. Please come up with a reason why you don't have it just as background information. You can say you are on your way to take ownership or there were repairs. Whatever you would like you; you just don't have it for the first adventure.
On that note: the first adventure starts with all of you as passengers on the Hwanghu Yeong, a passenger liner en-route to the subsector capital. You do not necessarily know one another but if you choose to do so, put it in your background as to whether you met during service or happened to chat it up on the ship.
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
I will try to keep a nice mix of all in this campaign.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
Anything MT2e is fair game but try to keep it to the primary books, I haven't read through anything in the Mercenary or High Guard lines.
Night will fall and drown the sun
When a good man goes to war
Friendship dies and true love lies
Night will fall and the dark will rise
When a good man goes to war
Demons run, but count the cost
The battle's won, but all is lost"
― Steven Moffat {slightly modded}
The Second Colonization Period from the Sol System is generally defined by historians to last from the discovery of a wormhole in the Neu Berlin system until the collapse of that wormhole on 131 years after it's discovery. This period is often referred to as the Clement Sector Age or the Silver Age of Colonization.
Scientists from the Neu Berlin Institute were attempting to discover additional jump points in the system when they discovered something entirely different. Closer examination showed the existence of a naturally occurring wormhole less than a light year away from the system's star, Epsilon Eridani. Moreover, it was discovered that there was a jump point leading to a point near the wormhole within the Neu Berlin system as well as one near the wormhole which led back to the Neu Berlin system.
The two scientists, Waldemar Zielicke and Tekla Szymczak, enlisted a British friend Dr. Dustin Thorne and the trio went to work to study the wormhole. Zielicke and Szymczak headed the project to develop a possible probe into the wormhole while Thorne headed the project to expand the wormhole. After eight years, Thorne devised a way to expand the wormhole large enough to get the initial probe, which they called EB1, into the wormhole and hopefully to the other side.
The EB1 became the first ship to traverse the wormhole. The unmanned probe returned through the wormhole with a wealth of data. These data would develop into the first look at what would eventually be called Clement Sector. Two years later, the wormhole had been expanded enough for ships larger than the probe to begin traversing it. A pair of permanent devices, which were octagonal (and thus each was referred to as "The Octagon") were put into place to hold open the wormhole. Manned vessels soon followed.
The other side of the wormhole opened within one light year of an orange K7 V main sequence star located on the opposite side of the Milky Way in the Scutum-Centaurus Arm over 60,000 light years away from Earth. As with the Neu Berlin side, a jump point was discovered that led to this nearby star system and that one existed in that system to provide a return trip to near the wormhole. This orange star had several planets, and one was in its habitable zone. This planet, called "Hub" by Thorne, was soon settled and became a German colony. Hub became the first world visited by most of those who traveled to this new sector of space. A popular and famous British scientist, Dr. Harold "Harry" Clement, who had been invited by the German government to join the crew of the Alfred Wegener, died in a shuttle crash during one of the first exploratory missions of the Hub surface. The other members of the science crew determined that they would name the sector for Dr. Clement, thus becoming Clement Sector.
So many began moving through the wormhole to establish new lives that the wormhole came to be called "The Conduit" as it seemed to many that people and materials were being "piped" through it on a regular basis. It sometimes seemed that an endless supply of colonists who were interested in this new frontier of easier to settle worlds began to pour through to the Clement Sector. In return, raw materials began to come back to Earth as well. Interest in expanding to other stars in Earth Sector slowed as nations, corporations, and other groups began to find opportunity in Clement Sector.
As these new colonies were established, trade routes began to form. Soon it was not only colony and scout ships moving across the region, but also shipping vessels. Both freight companies and single person owners began moving cargo across the Conduit, through Hub Subsector, and then onward throughout Clement Sector.
Over the period of the next 131 years, the four main subsectors (Hub, Cascadia, Franklin, and Sequoyah) were completely settled. The fringe subsectors of Clement Sector (Dade, Superior, and Winston) had colonies within them but most of the rest of the sector remained uninhabited. Later visitors would establish colonies in the Peel Subsector of Ariel Sector (located to coreward of Clement Sector) and the Dawn Subsector of Tranquility Sector (located to trailing of Clement Sector).
The largest obstacle to colonizing all Clement Sector is The Darkness. This large area devoid of stars cuts through the center of the sector and no jump points lead to worlds across this distance from the worlds so far colonized. Routes around The Darkness exist from Dade Subsector and through Tranquility Sector but so far no one has dared to explore in this region. With so many easier to settle worlds placed near The Conduit, it almost seemed unneeded to explore further.
Indeed, some have felt that the existence of so many inhabitable worlds seemed almost unbelievable and far too convenient. This has led to several speculative theories as to what caused this but so far there has been no definitive proof. The most common of these postulations is that an alien force terraformed these worlds and left them for humanity to colonize. However, even the proponents of this theory cannot agree on what the purpose of such a plan might be.
However, one singular event would put a halt to colonization and leave Clement Sector and Earth Sector once again separated by over 60,000 light years. On that day, The Conduit suddenly collapsed. Those who witnessed the event say that the wormhole was there and then was suddenly gone.
Today, humans have colonized the majority of the coreward systems of Clement Sector and a handful of worlds within Ariel Sector to coreward and Tranquility Sector to trailing. The rimward portion of Clement Sector remains unexplored.
"The Octagon came to life as it usually did with a flourish of spinning light making a whirlpool shape in the center but then it did something that made my skin crawl. The spinning lights reversed, and it seemed, for just a second, that they were coming out of the Octagon altogether. Then an ungodly motion like a wave rolled from side to side through the lights as if the universe itself had suddenly become an unmade bed and unseen hands were shaking out the sheet." Testimony of eyewitness Jacob McMasters
The Big 16
1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?
Mongoose Traveller 2e with the 2022 update. Though there are only minor changes so any version of Mongoose Traveller is acceptable to start, we can bring things in line with the current ruleset.
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)? This is an ATU (Alternate Traveller Universe) campaign. I have never enjoyed the Third Imperium setting. We will be using a modified "Clement Sector" campaign from Independence Games Cepheus Deluxe system. Knowledge of the Clement Sector is NOT required. I will answer any and all questions regarding it. Tech Level of the Clement Sector caps out at 12. Use Tech Level 10 for the most part. Anything above 10 needs my approval first.
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many? Looking for at least 4 players and I will take up to 6. Afterwards I will take alternates as necessary.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?
OOTS
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
This is Traveller. You decide your starting status. Just remember, the more terms you take the higher the chances of injury and aging.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
Depends on your mustering out benefits.
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
If it's an official career from 2e it is acceptable.
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
This is a human-centric campaign but then again Traveller is a human-centric game. I will allow Aslan, Bwap and Vargr races.
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
I will create a die thread for everyone to roll dice on.
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
Not in Traveller.
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
The closest to multi-classing is to muster out of one service and enroll in another which is completely acceptable.
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
There will be a die thread where players will roll dice and link.
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
Not at this time. I will be using material from the Cepheus engine which is a variation of Mongoose Traveller 1st edition so don't be surprised if you are up on your MT2e information and don't recognize something.
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
Yes, a character background is required. Where from, why the services they enrolled in, plans after mustering out.
Special Note: If you get a starship as a mustering out object, you will not have access to it for the first segment of the game. Please come up with a reason why you don't have it just as background information. You can say you are on your way to take ownership or there were repairs. Whatever you would like you; you just don't have it for the first adventure.
On that note: the first adventure starts with all of you as passengers on the Hwanghu Yeong, a passenger liner en-route to the subsector capital. You do not necessarily know one another but if you choose to do so, put it in your background as to whether you met during service or happened to chat it up on the ship.
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
I will try to keep a nice mix of all in this campaign.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
Anything MT2e is fair game but try to keep it to the primary books, I haven't read through anything in the Mercenary or High Guard lines.