My Little Slice of the OTU

I think I found my new favorite Official Traveller Universe (OTU) "milieu": the Galaxiad. Situated in 1902 Imperial (the 7th millennium CE!) and related to Traveller5, it presents a "pastoral" era when most big empires of the Golden Age are gone, replaced by more independent worlds and pockets of civilization within the Wilds.

Practically, the Galaxiad permits me to use almost any part of the wonderful OTU canon while ignoring other bits as I desire - a canvas I can paint a painting of my own doing on while using existing and beloved colors.

The chosen region is the Solomani Rim - specifically the Sol and Dingir subsectors. These present a rich history and vast archives of older material, all while being "virgin ground" not yet officially described in the 1902 Imperial milieu.

In my head canon, the residents of the Solomani Rim name the entire period from the Rebellion up to the recovery from the Wave - the "Deluge". The Classic Era and preceding times are "Antediluvian". This works similarly to how the term "Medieval" works in our real world: most people refer to entire centuries-long historical eras by cliche and a very rough idea of what happened in these times. Only historians and history enthusiasts (EDU 10+ and/or a skill in history) would be able to clearly and accurately recount the history of the Rebellion, Virus, recovery, Wave, and second and third recoveries.

In my version of the Galaxiad-era Rim, the (new) Solomani Confederation, as presented in the Galaxiad booklet and as known in far-away Deneb, collapsed after Terra's ecosystem collapsed. It has two successor states in the Solomani Rim Sector and one in the Coreward part of Aldebaran, plus the upstart Solar Union (Terra's resurgence) and the Vegan Polity.

Local Polities and "Strong Worlds"

Solar Union (SU) - Terra and other Sol System worlds unified under one government, which clawed its way back to the stars after eco-collapse. Hungry for relic tech to help reterraform Terra and finally terraform Mars. Aggressive and heavy handed in politics, but its citizens enjoy relative freedom (Terra is GOV C, LL 7). In a cold war with the ISC. Viewed by the ISC and SCEA as a bunch of desert bandit usurpers.

Imperial Solomani Confederation (ISC) - Dingir subsector. Neither imperial, nor Solomani, and definitely nor a confederation. A militarist bureaucracy with strong Vilani cultural elements which evolved from the old SC's navy on Dingir. In a cold war with the Solar Union and the Vegan Polity.

Vegan Polity - finally free from human domination. Decentralized as typical of Vegans. Is in a cold war with both the ISC and SCEA; the SU is trying to gain diplomatic inroads with it.

Solomani Confederation Emergency Administration (SCEA) - Concord subsector. Has a legitimate claim for continuity of government from the old SC. On paper, claims the entire space of the old (1800's Imperial) SC, in reality controls a bit over half a subsector. In a cold war with the Vegan Polity.

Surveyors from the Republic of Regina reached SCEA in the late 1800s Imperial, were shown 14-subsector star-maps, which were two centuries out of date, and heard complaints about rebels, piracy, and communication issues. They returned to Regina and reported a 14-subsector Solomani Confederation with various issues. In reality, such polity exists only on paper - for a century or so.

My house rules for world generation in the Pastoral Era/Galaxiad:

1. With the exception noted below, worlds retain their Golden Era physical characteristics.
2. For each garden world (Atmospheres 5, 6, and 8), roll 2D; on 9+, environmental damage occurred. In such case, roll 2D; on 2-8, the atmosphere is Tainted; on 9, it is Vacuum (i.e., the atmosphere was stripped by powerful weapons); on 10-11, it is Corrosive; on 12, it is Insidious (Corrosive and Insidious here usually mean intense radiation or bio-contamination from past bombardment by nuclear, bioweapon, or similar WMDs, which was so extreme that radiation or bio-contamination remains severe even after 700 years).
3. Roll population as normal for habitable worlds (Atmospheres 4-9); roll 1d6-1 for unhabitable worlds within polities, 1d6-2 outside of them. DM-1 in both cases if Corrosive or Insidious atmospheres are present.
4. If a world's TL is too low to support habitation, population is zero. The minimal TL for Tainted atmospheres is TL5; for Vacuum or Exotic atmospheres, TL7; for Corrosive or Insidious, TL10.
5. In the Solomani Rim, present TL is capped at 11. Antediluvian (i.e., pre-Virus) relics may reach TL16 or beyond, and are highly coveted.
6. With a weak interstellar economy, worlds must produce spacecraft parts on their own, which severely limits production capacities. Starport B can occur only on worlds with POP 7+, and Starport A only with POP 8+. If the Population is lower, downgrade any rolled A or B starport to C.

[Lore 25] Full Ishtar and Apep Sectors Map WIP #3

I made even further progress with my Lore25 challenge maps: a full Referee's map including Drill routes, and a Players' map with only the commonly-known stars and routes noted. On the Referee's map, the dashed lines are well-known Drill routes, while the dotted lines are forgotten and/or secret ones.

Referee's Map

Players' Map

[Lore 25] Full Ishtar and Apep Sectors Map WIP

I have progressed further in developing my Lore25 starmap for the Ishtar and Apep sectors. Now with all polities, borders, and world names marked. Note that worlds that already had Sobek(reptilian aliens) names were given the names of male Egyptian gods by Humans who did not wish to pronounce complex Sobek words. Most worlds which were unexplored by Sobek so far were given the names of Canaanite deities. The main exceptions are the nameless worlds of the Anomaly, as well as the new world names of the Liberated Worlds, Sde Prachim (formerly Laana - "Wormwood" or "Bitter Grass") and Tkuma (formerly Ba'al).

There is a good balance between polities (with their intrigue and conflicts) and independent (and sometime lost) worlds with their weirder features.

[Lore25] Ishtar and Apep Sector Maps WIP #1

I have been dedicating the first week of the Lore25 challenge to drafting the star maps of the adjacent Ishtar and Apep Sectors into a simple, easily printable, B&W map. As this is SWN and not Traveller, the map is much simpler, simply showing dots, names, borders, and Drill routes across space rather than all the world, base, and starport types shown on a typical Traveller map.

This is the first work-in-progress of the map, showing world locations, a few major world names, and the borders of the Anomaly.

Next would be naming all worlds and designing jump routes, and finally creating a player's map where worlds without official jump routes are not shown.

Next Year's Challenge: Lore25!

Similar to my abortive attempt at the Sector23 Challenge two years ago, I wish now to undertake a new yearly challenge, hopefully to bring to completion this time! Something nice to spice up my time and get my creative world-building juices flowing.

2025's challenge, as suggested by Discord friends, will be Lore25. The challenge, as the name implies, is a world-building challenge focused on setting lore rather than mechanics; develop a setting out of whole cloth with a year's worth of lore. 1-3 paragraphs a day (365-1095 paragraphs by December 31st, 2025! At 100 or so words per paragraph, that's 36,500 to 109,500 words total!

This time I will write up a setting for Kevin Crawford's excellent Stars Without Number: Revised Edition (SWN:RE). I will keep my setting vaguely compatible with the default one presented in the SWN:RE core book, but will - of course! - strictly respect the author's intellectual property; other than very vague references to a Deluge toppling a vast Terran State, and similar points permitting such compatibility, the lore written in this setting shall be my own. The focus will be on local lore and events anyway, but the two Sectors (about the size of two Traveller Subsectors) will be easy to drop into any SWN game.

Below is the challenge's plan:

January 2025 - Universe Foundation. Starmap, system names, polities overview, species overview, cultural overview, history outline (in a 5-pagaraph style: Forgotten History, Ancient History, Classic History, Modern History, Recent Events).

February 2025 - Philosophy and Culture. Philosophies, religions, cultures, cults. Including the Sobek (agamid-reptile aliens!) sun-worshiping religion! One idea per day.

March 2025 - Astrography. Flesh the worlds; there are going to be 50 of them. So, 2 worlds a day on average. Typical SWN world description table/paragraph.

April 2025 - Technology. Beyond the SWN:RE standard, I shall endeavor to write one unique technology or technological artifact per day.

May 2025 - Characters and NPCs. One unique important NPC per day. Not necessarily with stats, as most are various leaders and groundbreaking scientists, but at least a paragraph each.

June 2025 - Factions. SWN:RE is excellent at this, and I will try to create 2-3 factions per week for 8-12 total SWN:RE-type factions with full stats and agendas.

July 2025 - Wars! The big Human-Sobek conflict, as well as smaller ones. Potentially one week to write 7 paragraphs for the Human-Sobek conflict, then 1 small conflict per day.

August 2025 - Creatures and Species. Sentient alien stats and character generation (Sobek and potentially others), plus various non-sentient critters. These are easy to create in SWN:RE.

September 2025 - Economy and Trade. One paragraph about economics per day Potentially adding trade data from SWN: Suns of Gold to each world if time and energy permit.

October 2025 - Myths and Legends. One spacers' legend per day. Such as the lost planet of Carcosa, and whatever is going on within the Anomaly.

November 2025 - Adventure Hooks. One per day. SWN:RE has excellent tools for that based on the worlds I'll create in March.

December 2025 - Review and Polishing. Editing the setting lore into one cohesive document. Who knows, it might even get published in 2026!

Solo Shadowdark Barrowmaze Post #0

I decided I wanted to play a solo campaign in Barrowmaze, using Shadowdark with its free SoloDark supplement. This would be a "tabletop Roguelike" of sorts, combining crawling using all the aforementioned rules with some storytelling and me "filling in the gaps". A primary source of inspiration would be the Darkest Dungeon video game, a game which is very much in the same vein as both Shadowdark and Barrowmaze.

I will post my progress on this blog.

The setup will initially be simple: adventurers gather in the boomtown of Helix, eager to plumb the depths of the nearby Barrowmaze megadungeon. But death lurks aplenty under the old barrow mounds, and even among them on the moor's surface. Characters will begin simple and develop with time. A major random and procedural element will also shape their adventures, sticking strict usage of all the random tables and procedures in both Barrowmaze, Shadowdark, and SoloDark.

Character Creation

I will begin by generating the first four characters using Shadowdark. I will avoid using Shadowdarklings to get a better "feel" for my characters, which automated generation sometimes provides less of.

I will be using the Shadowdark core rules, Cursed Scroll #1, and my own Reptilian Ancestries as character generation sources.

All characters are generated by 3d6 six times in order.

As the adventures progress and characters die or are wounded, I will generate more characters for my "stable". Maybe even regardless of PC losses... Providing a dynamic party.

Variant Random Ancestry Table

As I use non-Core material, I'd like to change the Random Ancestry Table, Shadowdark p.40.

Roll is changed from 1d12 to 1d20:

d20   Ancestry

1-6   Human

7-9   Elf

10-12 Dwarf

13-14 Half Orc

15-16 Goblin

17-18 Lizardman (Reptilian Ancestry)

19    Gecko-Kin (Reptilian Ancestry)

20    Serpent-Kin (Reptilian Ancestry)

Draconians are not included yet.

Variant Random Class Table

As I use non-Core material, I'd like to change the Random Class Table, Shadowdark p.40.

Roll is changed from 1d4 to 1d8:

1-2 Fighter

3   Priest

4   Thief

5   Wizard

6   Warlock

7   Witch 

8   Knight of St. Ydris

The First Four

Let's roll.

Character #1 - Axidor the Acolyte of St. Terragnis (Male Elf)

STR 10 DEX 7 CON 13 INT 10 WIS 12 CHA 11

(Final stats STR 10 DEX 7 CON 13 INT 10 WIS 14 CHA 11)

Quite average, isn't he? Tough and a bit wise, but nothing remarkable.

Ancestry: Elf; Racial Talent: Farsight (+1 to attack with ranged weapons; +1 to spellcasting checks).

Class: Priest.

Sex: Male.

Name: Axidor.

Alignment: Lawful.

Title: Acolyte.

Class Talent: +2 to STR or WIS! Obviously chose WIS!

Deity: St. Terragnis. A Lawful human deity! Why would an Elf worship her? An interesting story hook!

Background: Noble! And not a decadent one, as evidenced by his CON score. Probably Axidor left his home for a monastery - potentially due to a revelation? - to hone his spirit, and endured the usual hardship there.

To-Hit (Melee): +0 (Mace 1d6); To-Hit (Ranged): -1 (+1 Elf; -2 DEX 7); HP 5; AC 9 (Leather Armor and bad DEX).

Languages: Common, Elven, and Celestial.

Class Abilities: Turn Undead (see spells); Spellcasting (based on WIS; 2 Tier-1 spells).

Priest Spells: Turn Undead, Shield of Faith, Protection from Evil.

Gear: 9/10 slots: Crawling Kit, Mace (1d6), Leather Armor (AC 9 due to DEX), 5gp.

Motivation: Ascend Anger. Maybe ascend to St. Terargnis' heaven by proving his holy zeal?

So, we have a tough and wise, but clumsy, Elven (former?) Noble. He is no healer but an expert in protecting himself and others from the forces of Chaos! And fighting Chaos with holy wrath!

Character #2 - Broken-Claw the Thug (Female Lizard-Kin)

STR 12 DEX 14 CON 5 INT 11 WIS 12 CHA 5

Fast! But weak and uncouth. Probably sickly from birth. I've decided that her low Charisma comes from the loathsome god she follows, and her murderous streak, rather from ugliness.

Ancestry: Lizardman! Racial Talent: Swims as fast as a human walks; can hold his breath for 1 hour.

Class: Thief.

Sex:Female.

Name: Broken-Claw.

Alignment: Chaotic! Beware of conflict with Axidor!

Title:  Thug.

Class Talent:+1 Backstab damage!

Deity: Ramlaat.

Background: Banished! Suitable of a Thug! She probably murdered someone important!

To-Hit (Melee): +1 (Dagger, 1d4); To-Hit (Ranged): +2 (Shortbow; 1d6) HP 1; AC 13 (Leather Armor and high DEX).

Languages: Common, Reptilian.

Class Abilities: Backstab (+1 weapon die vs. unaware target, +2/+3 to hit); Advantage on Climbing, Stealth, Disguise, Traps, and Picking Pockets/Locks).

Gear: 10/12 slots: Crawling Kit, Thief Tools (no slot requires); Shortbow, Dagger, 4gp.

Motivation: Blood and souls for Ramlaat!

In short: a Chaos cultist of the worst kind! Probably hiding her true nature behind a "neutral" facade, but doing it badly, with venomous remarks about various matters (low Charisma!).

Character #3 - Mirena the Shaman (Female Human)

STR 7 (-2) DEX 15 (+2) CON 9 (-1) INT 5 (-3) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 14 (+2)

(Final stats: STR 7 (-2) DEX 15 (+2) CON 9 (-1) INT 5 (-3) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 18 (+4))

Weak, Stupid, but fast and charming!

Ancestry: Human (1 extra Class Talent)

Class: Witch.

Sex: Female.

Name: Mirena.

Alignment: Neutral.

Title:  Shaman.

Class Talents: +2 to Charisma twice!

Deity: Gede.

Background: Drawn. Whispered to by a yet unknown entity!

To-Hit (Melee): -2 (Staff, 1d4); To-Hit (Ranged): +2; HP 2 ; AC 13 (Leather Armor and high DEX).

Languages: Common; Diabolic; Primordial; Sylvan.

Class Abilities: Familiar; Witch Spells (3 known)

Witch Spells: Charm Person; Oak, Ash, Thorn; Willowman.

Familiar: A Raven called "Talon".

Gear: 9/10: Crawling Kit, Staff (1d4); Leather Armor.

Motivation: Revoke Order. Maybe smash the local civilized government and call forth the Natural side of things?

In short, a wild shaman, strong in the way of spirits and very charming, yet base - even at near-animal level - in her intellect.

Character #4 - Malchor the Squire (Male Human)

STR 13 (+1) DEX 10 (+0) CON 15 (+2) INT 9 (-1) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 12 (+1)

We got ourselves a Fighter!

Ancestry: Human (1 extra Class Talent).

Class:Fighter.

Sex: Male.

Name: Malchor.

Alignment: Lawful.

Title:  Squire.

Class Talents: +1 to all attacks twice!

Deity: St. Terragnis (again! Probably sees himself as Axidor's protector)

Background: Sailor! A bold mariner!

To-Hit (Melee): +4 (STR and Talents and Mastery; Longsword, 1d8); To-Hit (Ranged): +2 (Talents; Javelin 1d4); HP 10 ; AC 11 (Leather Armor).

Languages: Common.

Class Abilities: Hauler; +1 to attack and damage with Longswords; Grit (Advantage on throws to overcome an opposing force).

Gear: 10/15: Crawling Kit, Longsword (1d8); Javelin (1d4); Leather Armor.

Motivation: Reverse Dark. Fight back the Darkness emanating from Barrowmaze?

In short, a stout squire! Strongest character in the party, with best chances of surviving their first adventure.

Party Overview

So, we have a Priest and his loyal Squire, both sworn to fight against Darkness, and two hanger-ons (?): an "adventurer" (Thug) trying badly to conceal her true nature, and a wild Shaman. All ready to seek treasure in Barrowmaze! The two hanger-ons were probably recruited at the "Brazen Strumpet" tavern in Helix for added skills and sorcery - well-known to be a prerequisite for survival in Barrowmaze!

Of course, inner-party conflict is likely to rear its ugly head soon...

[Review] XBoat Special Supplement 2: Galaxiad Gaming Kit

 

I have recently bought and read XBoat Special Supplement 2: Galaxiad Gaming Kit, published in March 2024 by Robert Eaglestone, a licensed - and canonical - milieu of the Official Traveller Universe (OTU), noting Marc Miller himself as an advisor and source in the book's credits. Below, I will review this excellent booklet in detail.

TL;DR: an excellent version of the OTU, unifying the various timelines and presenting vast opportunities for adventuring. I gave it a score of 5 out of 5!

This is a 82-page PDF, as far as I can tell without a print version. It is officially intended for Traveller 5th Edition, but contains relatively little rules material, permitting it to be easily used with any Traveller edition your group desires. Much of the booklet is setting information, with some minor Traveller 5 rule elements regarding some equipment and certain antagonists. There are some star-maps, naturally situated in the Spinward Marches, and a few world descriptions with UWP strings - which are identical or near-identical in most Traveller editions.

This milieu is set in the Far Far Future - the year 1902 Imperial. The New Era and even Traveller: New Era: 1248 are long gone. Known Space was ravaged by the AI Virus, and a few centuries afterwards by the Empress Wave (see below), but that was 500 years ago. I find this double apocalypse strangely convenient to the Referee. As many records were lost due to the AI Virus, and as most polities collapsed several times in the past, the Referee has canonical justification to use any OTU material they like, while ignoring most OTU material they dislike.

This milieu is described as "Pastoral", that is, a less technological era centered on garden-worlds, often isolated and usually agricultural in nature. There are no big empires around, and no universe-shattering events way above the typical PC level. The largest polity around is 14 subsectors in size - less than a sector! Most other polities are a very few subsectors in total each. A very manageable scale. Which I greatly appreciate: this brings things down to player character level. No more multi-sector empires fielding 100,000-ton battleships: much action here revolves around "Adventure Class" spacecraft, isolated worlds, pocket empires, and generally: locations and matters supporting player character escapades. All while letting you to easily use much existing OTU material, of which there is a vast wealth.

The Introduction chapter presents the setting's general outlook and feel, as I have outlined above: pastoralism, relative isolation, the small scale of things.

After the introduction comes the History chapter. It avoids repeating the standard OTU history leading up to the Virus, and starts with the Virus itself. It also mentions variants of this timeline, such as the Virus appearing later; or the Empress Wave having delayed effects, as suggested for those using the TNE: 1248 milieu as background. After briefly discussing the Virus and the Wave, the rest of the history chapter focuses on the Spinward Marches and their environs, such as Antares blowing up and a war in the Foreven sector. I appreciate the fact that this history is kept short, being 4 pages in total including flavor text, avoiding infodumps and long walls of text as many sci-fi authors are tempted to write in such cases.

The next chapter discusses the (Empress) Wave. This chapter starts with flavor text describing the effects of the Wave on an alien world far to the Coreward of the old Imperium. The Wave, for the uninitiated, is a phenomenon introduced in Traveller: New Era, which is a psionic (?) emanation from the Galactic core, travelling at a speed of one parsec per year. It had several versions in Traveller along the years, ranging from mild to disastrous. Here, a disastrous version is presented: it kills approx. 50% of a world's population (and part of the biosphere), mainly children and much less so adults. This overwhelms services and systems of governance, leading to chaos and potential socio-political collapse. Interestingly, this booklet presents actual (Traveller 5) rules for the Wave's effect on worlds, despite this being distant history in this setting.

Afterwards, comes a chapter detailing Charted Space in the Galaxiad era. It covers several OTU regions, including the Aslan (who were hit particularly hard by the twin apocalypses of Virus and Wave); the Vilani (now split into multiple pocket empires); Vargr space (which recovered quickly and is as fragmented as ever); the old Domain of Deneb (which was spared the brunt of the Virus and the Wave but is now corsair hunting ground); Foreven (a "bad place" with rumors of ultratech worlds); Hiver space (fragmented and split between multiple Hiver enclaves); K'Kree space (split into multiple warring K'Kree states); and Zhodani space (mostly Wilds by now).

It is noted (p.28) that The main difference in 1902 compared to 1105 is the Wilderness – the absence of large interstellar empires. This leads to the next chapter - What to Expect in the Wilderness. This has a description of a new Jumpspace phenomenon (Tangles - regions where ships are pulled out of Jump with unexpected results). It further details the dangers of Wilds travel, with piracy, raiding, and xenophobic worlds abounding. Here a few Traveller 5 rules are presented for trade and starship design variations, though these are of limited scope. Other aspects of the Wilds are discussed, namely the dangerous Freeports and Gray Markets and the absence of universal currency. Some D+D tables (similar to earlier D66 tables) present interesting variations in the local medium of exchange.

Afterwards come a chapter about the Black Fleets. Strange organic craft, known as the Black Ships, of unknown origin appeared in Known Space, still mysterious. They are filled with fluid and have an internal "immune system" composed of mobile "rods". However, unlike the Babylon 5 Shadows, it is noted that the Black Ships are closer to animals and act on instinct, rather than being organic craft operated by advanced beings (and cyborgs) at their helms.

The next chapter details the Republic of Regina. Established in 1648 Imperial, this is a semi-aristocratic state located in the Spinward Marches. Key worlds are described, alongside the alien species residing within the Republic and a starmap of this polity. The Republic's technology is surprisingly advanced, up to TL17, including Hop Drives capable of traversing 10 parsecs in one jump. The chapter also notes that AIs - descendants of the old Cymbeline chips (Cyms) - are also common in this region and are granted full citizenship.

Two Patron Encounters are also provided, set in the Republic of Regina and involving Vargr corsairs and hunting expeditions.

Then comes a chapter about Campaigning in the Republic of Regina. This is a useful chapter, as should be included in RPG setting books, suggesting adventure hooks for using the setting in actual play. A D+D table is also provided for specific homeworlds in the Republic, as well as Career events particular to it - adding local flavor to the local campaign. A very good idea. 6 character generation examples in this setting are also included - useful as ready-made adventurers to start playing in the Republic of Regina right away!

Another chapter offers a closer look at Technology in the Republic. It has an average Tech Level of 13, with the maximum being TL17 (!) for a true Far Far Future ultratech experience! This chapter also details the aforementioned Hop Drive and rules for its use in Traveller 5. Equipment is then discussed, for Traveller 5 (this is the main rules-specific part of the booklet), with TL16 and TL17 equipment. and ships.

Afterwards, the booklet includes Library Data about the Galaxiad Era, focused on the Republic of Regina. A good addition to any Traveller book - a good in-universe handout to players.

Finally, a short description of the authors and some adverts for further Traveller 5 titles appear.

The bottom line:

5 of 5

A well-written OTU milieu providing much room for the individual Referees to set their game, with sufficient hooks to permit use of the vast wealth of existing OTU material, all while permitting the avoidance of subjects and setting elements the individual Referee dislikes. Also, this milieu is at the players' scale of things, letting the PCs make a difference and avoiding too many events at a much bigger scope.

Get it HERE.