ANSI A (US Letter) format - Freelance Traveller
ANSI A (US Letter) format - Freelance Traveller ANSI A (US Letter) format - Freelance Traveller
Fifth Imperium(Continued from page 3)The Conspiracy GenreIs conspiracy really a genre? Certainly, I couldargue that it‟s largely the foundation of other genres—thebackstory of why your mystery, espionage,horror, or even science-fiction events are happening.However, I think that Umberto Eco proved that conspiracycould stand on its own in Foucault’s Pendulum.So, what makes up a conspiracy story? I think itrequires secrets within secrets, peeling back like thelayers of an onion. In Traveller you‟d need to envisionsomething that really undercut our normal understandingof the Traveller universe. Perhaps a conspiracyensured that both the Rule of Man and theThird Imperium stayed under the control of its Vilanifounders, despite the appearance of Solomani control.In the Spinward Marches, perhaps some forcehas controlled which areas of the sector have beencolonized and which haven‟t. Within a subsector,perhaps a single power (be it a megacorp, an immortalindividual, or an alien race) controls what appearto be several individual worlds. To really make astory fit into the conspiracy genre, include typicalelements like secret societies, shadowy cabals, hiddenplanets, undiscovered alien races, suppressedtechnology, and ancient secrets to your game.Something to keep in mind is that conspiracy canbe tough. In a mystery you have to lay out an adventure-longset of clues that lead players to a satisfyingconclusion, while in a conspiracy you might have todo so over the course of an entire campaign! Part ofthe joy of the conspiracy genre, after all, comes fromslowly unveiling what was hidden.Traveller References. There are probably fewerexamples of conspiracy-genre Traveller games thanany of the other genres I've talked about in this seriesthus far.The Secret of the Ancients could have formed thebasis of a conspiracy, if anyone had actually knownabout it. Perhaps building it more deeply into yourown Traveller universe—creating a universe wherepeople know and hide the secret and serve certainhigher powers—might produce a campaign arc that‟sultimately more satisfying than the original adventurewas. (I also hear tell that Mongoose is work on anew “Secret of the Ancients” campaign, which mightprovide fodder for a totally different conspiracy.)The Argon Gambit, also published in TravellerDouble Adventure 3 is another classic-era conspiracy.Burglary and blackmail lead to political intrigue.It‟s a nice bit of conspiracy with a basis in the Solomaniside of Traveller space.I tried to introduce a bit of conspiracy into myown campaign with the adventure sequence thatended with “New Humaniti”, but haven't done muchwith the conspiracy elements since then.Other References. The aforementioned Foucault’sPendulum is pretty much the touchstone forthe genre. If you want to look at other RPGs,Nephilim showed how to create conspiracy in a modernday or historical game (and also had awesomelists of references). In the SF genre, conspiracy storiesare a bit more scarce, but would surely involveancient, purposefully hidden secrets. Anyone haveany suggestions for reading?ConclusionIn these last two articles, I‟ve covered the topfive genres that you might want to blend with sciencefiction—and offered numerous ideas for plot seeds togo with them. I've still got a few more articlesplanned in this series, on some more unlikely genresand on the components of the science-fiction genreitself, but before I get to those, I plan to take a break,and cover a different topic, first. I‟ll see you in amonth.4
Raconteurs’ RestAfter Action ReportBy Aaron SomervilleI thought I‟d share an AAR from a one-shot I ranlast night; it is the second one-shot I have run forgaming friends using CT. Like the first, it was set inmy homebrew setting called the Terran Combine. Iran it using only the 3 LBBs plus deckplans fromTraders & Gunboats.The Terran Combine is an interstellar polity comprisedof nearly 3 dozen systems in a Jump maincentered around Terra. The present year is 2268; theCombine was established in 2243 as the result of along and bitter civil war that saw the end of the SolarRepublic by military uprising. Many had becomeincreasingly appalled at the actions of the libertineRepublic, and the entire confederacy of humanworlds became inflamed in a war that started as culturaland ended as total. The subsequent politicalcreation, the Terran Combine, is administered by acombined civil and military council and the singleallowed political entity, the Combine Party, dominatescivil life. It is broadly syndicalist and traditionalistin character.There is extra-terrestrial life, but nothing moreadvanced than a terrestrial tiger or wolf.This adventure concerned a group of adventurerswith their own Scout vessel, the CAV Juan Fernandez,a ship retired from active service and placed onpermanent reserve (inactive) with her captain, a retiredmember of the Combine Scout Service. Thegroup had been contacted by an aging ex-Navy manwho had been a comm operator on the CSS RobertMaynard, an Ernest E. Evans-class corvette, duringthe Civil War. A commerce raider, Robert Maynardwas tasked with running down a Loyalist smuggler,the SRS Mustang, which had (you may have heardthis one) made off with some supplies of pharmaceuticalsand most importantly, an unassembled Autodocfield surgical unit.Robert Maynard overtook Mustang near the asteroidbelt in the Europa system and crippled her engines.When the crew abandoned ship, Robert Maynardvaporized her skiff (oops! little war crimethere). However, the “Sollies” had begun a pushelsewhere in the system, so Robert Maynard wascalled away. She never returned to that spot.After he retired, the comm operator, one Ian“Wilkie” Wilkinson, checked with a buddy in NavalAdministration and found no salvage record for SRSMustang! Reasoning that she might still be adrift inthe rather docile Europa Belt, he began saving up tohire an expedition (but there‟s a twist...). Enter theplayer characters.The action began as the little scout precipitatedfrom Jump Space (I use Mass Precipitation for Jumpphysics) into the Europa system. On board wereWilkie (sacked out in the rec room), and our intrepidcrew of pregenerated characters:“Captain” Niles Kelley - retired Scout and Partymember, awarded Combine Party knife for distinguishedservice, discovered animal life on KA743IV, skipper of CAV Juan Fernandez.“Tallon” - a very intellectually gifted woman, butwith a hard luck life. Served as a 2nd officer on atramp freighter and picked up a variety of skills.Terry Bessimer - an ex-Navy lieutenant whofound himself in enormous gambling debt. He lefthis old life, assumed a new identity and is now layinglow, hoping for a big score to get him out of trouble.A gifted engineer.Russ Fraser, CMC - Ooorah! A former Marine.Also, a minor celebrity. After distinguishing himselfin anti-Piracy activity at the Nevsky Belt, was selectedfor the Marine Color Battalion wherein hefenced competitively representing the Corps. Notableattributes: Strength C and Cutlass-4!Upon precipitating into the Europa system, thegroup was contacted by Naval Traffic Control, CSSBudapest (a Moscow-class Destroyer). It seems thatthere was actually quite a bit of Naval activity in thissystem, contrary to Wilkie‟s prediction. They wereordered to rendezvous with the CSS John Paul Jones(Ernest E. Evans-class corvette) for a routine customsinspection since they were an unregistered entryinto the system. Many hours later, they were metby a ship‟s boat from John Paul Jones carrying thehulking Sgt. Makarios Ngumbane and his Marinesquad, as well as the diminutive but fiery Lt. Pedro(Continued on page 6)5
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Fifth Imperium(Continued from page 3)The Conspiracy GenreIs conspiracy really a genre? Certainly, I couldargue that it‟s largely the foundation of other genres—thebackstory of why your mystery, espionage,horror, or even science-fiction events are happening.However, I think that Umberto Eco proved that conspiracycould stand on its own in Foucault’s Pendulum.So, what makes up a conspiracy story? I think itrequires secrets within secrets, peeling back like thelayers of an onion. In <strong>Traveller</strong> you‟d need to envisionsomething that really undercut our normal understandingof the <strong>Traveller</strong> universe. Perhaps a conspiracyensured that both the Rule of Man and theThird Imperium stayed under the control of its Vilanifounders, despite the appearance of Solomani control.In the Spinward Marches, perhaps some forcehas controlled which areas of the sector have beencolonized and which haven‟t. Within a subsector,perhaps a single power (be it a megacorp, an immortalindividual, or an alien race) controls what appearto be several individual worlds. To really make astory fit into the conspiracy genre, include typicalelements like secret societies, shadowy cabals, hiddenplanets, undiscovered alien races, suppressedtechnology, and ancient secrets to your game.Something to keep in mind is that conspiracy canbe tough. In a mystery you have to lay out an adventure-longset of clues that lead players to a satisfyingconclusion, while in a conspiracy you might have todo so over the course of an entire campaign! Part ofthe joy of the conspiracy genre, after all, comes fromslowly unveiling what was hidden.<strong>Traveller</strong> References. There are probably fewerexamples of conspiracy-genre <strong>Traveller</strong> games thanany of the other genres I've talked about in this seriesthus far.The Secret of the Ancients could have formed thebasis of a conspiracy, if anyone had actually knownabout it. Perhaps building it more deeply into yourown <strong>Traveller</strong> universe—creating a universe wherepeople know and hide the secret and serve certainhigher powers—might produce a campaign arc that‟sultimately more satisfying than the original adventurewas. (I also hear tell that Mongoose is work on anew “Secret of the Ancients” campaign, which mightprovide fodder for a totally different conspiracy.)The Argon Gambit, also published in <strong>Traveller</strong>Double Adventure 3 is another classic-era conspiracy.Burglary and blackmail lead to political intrigue.It‟s a nice bit of conspiracy with a basis in the Solomaniside of <strong>Traveller</strong> space.I tried to introduce a bit of conspiracy into myown campaign with the adventure sequence thatended with “New Humaniti”, but haven't done muchwith the conspiracy elements since then.Other References. The aforementioned Foucault’sPendulum is pretty much the touchstone forthe genre. If you want to look at other RPGs,Nephilim showed how to create conspiracy in a modernday or historical game (and also had awesomelists of references). In the SF genre, conspiracy storiesare a bit more scarce, but would surely involveancient, purposefully hidden secrets. Anyone haveany suggestions for reading?ConclusionIn these last two articles, I‟ve covered the topfive genres that you might want to blend with sciencefiction—and offered numerous ideas for plot seeds togo with them. I've still got a few more articlesplanned in this series, on some more unlikely genresand on the components of the science-fiction genreitself, but before I get to those, I plan to take a break,and cover a different topic, first. I‟ll see you in amonth.4
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