Leif's DISCONTINUED GURPS Traveller Game, Recruiting Thread

[Insight]

Hmm. I didn't get that impression from reading GURPS Traveller. I still need to brush up a bit more on the setting. I guess that'll save Doc some points!

Do they have a separate language?

 

[Scotley]

I'm up for having some sort of semi-pc grunts about if that makes things easier. They wouldn't have to official marines, maybe more guns for hire types to keep the non-combatants out of trouble. Just a thought. I'm really good to go either way.

One thing on disads. I don't think Leif was saying we could only have 5 or 10 points worth. I think he was saying that we should have mild ones rather than extreme ones. In other words we could have several 5 and 10 point disads. (Please correct me if I'm wrong oh glorious GM!) Does that allow enough points for everyone to be able fight their way out of a recycled bio-degradable low acid paper bag or hit the broad side of a space tug hanger?

 

[Shayuri]

Insight, yep.

The galaxy of Traveller is kind of Cold War-ish.

You have the Third Imperium, which is big and diffuse, founded on the principles of thriving capitalistic trade, and "the Emperor pretty much lets you do what you want, as long as you don't get in his way." Each planet in the Imperium has its own government, its own rules and laws, and its own economy. The laws of the Imperium supercede, but most Imperial law is focused on space, trade, and war. They don't usually mess with local affairs. The Third Imperium is dominated by humans, though it has other races in it as well. Because there are so many relatively independent planets, there are many languages within the Imperium. Fortunaely, the emphasis on trade has emphasized just a handful that a traveler really NEEDS to know.

It's the 'hero' of the milieu, if a rather dysfunctional one, and has a lot of parallels to the United States.

Then you have the Zhodani Consulate. The Zhodani are not ALL psionic, but they are a psionocracy, ruled over by a noble caste of psychically gifted men and women. These nobles are only hereditary insofar as that psionic potential itself is, and any child with psychic potential from any background can be elevated to noble or semi-noble "Intendent" status. Despite this political system, the Zhodani citizenry is well cared for and by and large, happy. Of course, this is because the Thought Police in the Consulate really read minds. Discontent is recognized and treated as if it was a disease. By our standards, the Consulate is a creepy, psionically-enforced utopia...maintained through the largest and most effective surveillance state possible. Conformity is prized in the Consulate, and community harmony is one of the highest social values.

I think it's meant to evoke echoes of totalitarian communism, with a touch of sci-fi flair.

The Consulate is also human-dominated, but is culturally much MUCH less diverse than the Third Imperium. There are nonhumans among the Zhodani, but far fewer as well. The Consulate is also smaller than the Imperium, but not by much. Zhodani have two languages, if I recall right, High and Low. High Zhodani requires telepathy to fully utilize.

 

[Leif]

Hee. Zhodani are human too, actually. They look just like anyone else.
One could be next to you RIGHT NOW.

That's not COMPLETELY accurate, Shay, but close enough for our purposes, I guess. Zho do have a slightly different physiology from Terrans, but I suppose they could easily be mistaken for humans from a lower-gravity homeworld. (At least, that was what I gleaned from the GURPS Traveller material on them.)

 

[Leif]

Insight, yep.

The galaxy of Traveller is kind of Cold War-ish.

You have the Third Imperium, which is big and diffuse, founded on the principles of thriving capitalistic trade, and "the Emperor pretty much lets you do what you want, as long as you don't get in his way." Each planet in the Imperium has its own government, its own rules and laws, and its own economy. The laws of the Imperium supercede, but most Imperial law is focused on space, trade, and war. They don't usually mess with local affairs. The Third Imperium is dominated by humans, though it has other races in it as well. Because there are so many relatively independent planets, there are many languages within the Imperium. Fortunaely, the emphasis on trade has emphasized just a handful that a traveler really NEEDS to know.

It's the 'hero' of the milieu, if a rather dysfunctional one, and has a lot of parallels to the United States.

Then you have the Zhodani Consulate. The Zhodani are not ALL psionic, but they are a psionocracy, ruled over by a noble caste of psychically gifted men and women. These nobles are only hereditary insofar as that psionic potential itself is, and any child with psychic potential from any background can be elevated to noble or semi-noble "Intendent" status. Despite this political system, the Zhodani citizenry is well cared for and by and large, happy. Of course, this is because the Thought Police in the Consulate really read minds. Discontent is recognized and treated as if it was a disease. By our standards, the Consulate is a creepy, psionically-enforced utopia...maintained through the largest and most effective surveillance state possible. Conformity is prized in the Consulate, and community harmony is one of the highest social values.

I think it's meant to evoke echoes of totalitarian communism, with a touch of sci-fi flair.

The Consulate is also human-dominated, but is culturally much MUCH less diverse than the Third Imperium. There are nonhumans among the Zhodani, but far fewer as well. The Consulate is also smaller than the Imperium, but not by much. Zhodani have two languages, if I recall right, High and Low. High Zhodani requires telepathy to fully utilize.

This is all good stuff! Thanks for posting this.
[I'd have granted ENWorld xp for your post if I was yet able to make another award to you.]

 

[grufflehead]

OK, I have a backstory idea for critique/approval - explains quite *why* a Vargr mught be on a ship full of Zhodani, as well as filling my role in the party. If any of this is obviously wrong from the background, please pipe up.

The Zhodani have become aware that some Vargr are beginning to develop psi powers. Naturally, they want to find out more to see if this is a potential threat. They assign psi 'sniffers' (agents with abilities to detect the talent in others) to accompany merchants, diplomats and others who have legitimate reasons for dealing with the Vargr. One such agent encounters a Vargr while conducting routine business (details to be fleshed out if this flies). His spider sense goes off as he realises he has a latent psion on his hands.

Now, while the Zhodani could just nab a few Vargr on the QT and take them away for probing (and probably have!), when the agent in question reports back on his findings, his handler, a particularly cunning and resourceful individual, realises there is a perfect opportunity for a 'live trial' with a willing subject. It turns out the Vargr in question is a skilled mechanic (aside from whatever talent(s) he is capable of developing), but lives a life of relative poverty. So they offer him a job on a Zhodani ship, and say he'll be paid enough to allow his family to raise their standard of living. And of course, if he steps out of line...

The best bit? The Vargr in question is totally unaware of his own psi potential. He thinks he just fixes stuff, not realising that part of his talent comes from his latent ability which may or may not develop either naturally or through training.

I'll need a bit of a steer on his power, but essentially there are 2 ways I can go with it: either have an actual power that costs points (in which case I'm looking for some sort of psychokinesis that allows him to manipulate 'machinery') OR just have high enough ratings in the requisite skills and handwave the fact that the reason he is as good as he is comes from a mix of 'skill' and that little unconscious bit of psychic help. Either way, if there's some sort of equivalent to the HERO Disadvantage of 'No Conscious Control' so he's not aware he's doing it, I'd go down that route.

I'm also thinking of explaining part of his ability through selective Eidetic Memory - can you apply a limitation on a talent like that (you could in HERO with a bit of permission from the GM). What I have in mind here is that he has an incredible memory for devices and how they work, and Eidetic Memory would be one way to represent that. He only needs to see a diagram of a circuit once, ride in a vehicle once, see something out of the ship's window, and if he sees it again he remembers it (and probably knows how it works. And so can probably have a go a t fixing it).

Any thoughts or suggestion how to start putting some numbers on some of this?

 

[Leif]

Sounds good to me, GH. Shayuri or Insight, can you provide the requested assistance? Thanks!

 

[Shayuri]

That's not COMPLETELY accurate, Shay, but close enough for our purposes, I guess. Zho do have a slightly different physiology from Terrans, but I suppose they could easily be mistaken for humans from a lower-gravity homeworld. (At least, that was what I gleaned from the GURPS Traveller material on them.)

I'm not sure what material you mean. GURPS Traveller hasn't changed any of the established Traveller lore on the Zhodani that I'm aware. of. Zhodani are human beings that were transplanted off of Earth during the Ancient epoch. The only differences between them and any other branch of Humaniti are the result of a few millennia of genetic drift...not really that long in evolutionary terms.

I seem to remember Zhodani being, on average, taller and kind of swarthy compared to your average Sylean or Solomani human. Furthermore, there's less variation of appearances among Zhodani...you're more likely to be able to recognize a Zhodani from appearance than you are one of the 'normal looking' human races (Vilani, for example, are immediately recognizable as such due to their altered appearances).

There's no reason you can't house-rule otherwise, of course, and go with the Star Trek "human except for the crinkly facial feature" paradigm.

 

[Leif]

Ok, you're right. But what I said earlier while working from memory wasn't that far off, either. To quote Alien Races 1:

"Though human in all respects, the Zhodani differ slightly in appearance from humans of Solomani or Vilani ancestry. They tend to be tall and lithe, averaging close to seven feet tall and roughly 200 pounds. Complexions are predominantly swarthy and hair color is usually black or brown. Blond hair is uncommon, but a mutation that occurred on Zhdant in the last 10,000 years made prematurely gray hair twice as common as red hair.

Zhodani have 28 teeth (as opposed to Solomani and Vilani with 32) and the teeth tend to average a tiny bit larger. This is not especially noticeable, but it does mean a brief dental examination can identify a Zhodani who has not been surgically altered.

All the physiological characteristics of Zhodani are the result of two factors: the original gene pool of the Humans who first inhabited Zhdant and minor mutations or developments which have taken place during the 300,000 years they have lived on their planet. Their height and physical build are both consequences of Zhdant's 0.85G surface gravity. Basic complexion was shaped by environmental factors which selected specific traits during evolution on Zhdant.

The original Zhodani came from a rather limited stock: under 5,000 persons were brought by the Ancients to Zhdant, all from the same small area. Coupled with a lower rate of environmental mutation (less solar radiation from Zhdant's KO star) and a social reluctance to intermarry with other Humaniti, modern Zhodani do not have the wide range of racial characteristics (coloring, height, etc.) that Imperial citizens posses."

I'm not sure that they should have used the word "citizens" there, either. "Subjects" would, perhaps been a better choice. As I recall from years ago, Imperial Citizenship is something that is not that easy to achieve. Do I misremember this?

 

[Shayuri]

I...think you do. If you're born to Imperial citizens, you're an Imperial citizen.

Most people who live in the Imperium are Imperial citizens.