From: [email protected]
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 21:58:02 -0400
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: The Foundations of Traveller

This piece was created as foundation description of Traveller, its features
and benefits. Constructive criticism is sincerely invited.

Marc Miller

THE TRAVELLER UNIVERSE
Traveller is a comprehensive science-fiction future with its origins in the
distant past. Fundamental to the Traveller concept are answers to myriad
questions about life, society, civilization in the universe. Yet everything
is part of a cohesive structure that gradually unveils itself to the
participants and to observers (whether they be readers, viewers, or players).
Traveller describes a vast future universe in which mankind has already
reached the stars and conquered thousands of worlds, but still faces the
never-ending struggle to conquer more worlds and wrest more secrets from the
universe.

FOUNDED ON BOTH HARD AND SOFT SCIENCE
Traveller is founded on the sciences: technological science and social
science. Each adds realism to the systems universe while enhancing its
adventure potential.

TECHNOLOGICAL SCIENCE PROVIDES A FOUNDATION
The technological basis for Traveller provides a common ground from which all
extrapolations and story ideas can spring.
		The Jump Drive. The secret of interstellar travel is the jump drive. While
in normal space, travel is limited to the speed of light (and it takes years
to go from one star to another), jump drive leaps around space: a jump covers
one parsec (3.26 light years; the average distance between stars) in about a
week. Improved ships can reach speeds of more than 1,000 times the speed of
light.
		Communication Limited To The Speed Of Transportation. But the universe is
so vast that even the mega-speeds of jump drive cant work miracles. No one
has yet (or ever) invented a hyper communicator that will send messages
faster than light -speed. Communication is limited to the speed of
transportation; a message to the edge of the empire needs to be carried
there. For an empire 300 parsecs to the border that message takes more than a
year to deliver, even under the best of circumstances. News of war, conflict,
invasion, disaster, or even peace takes just as long to get back to the
center of government.
		Gravity Manipulation. The advance of technology has resulted in practical
methods of gravity manipulation. Gravity manipulation expresses itself in
three ways: as artificial gravity, as inertial dampers, and as thrusters.
Artificial gravity is built into the deck plates of starships, rendering a
natural environment most like that of a planet surface. Inertial dampers
eliminate the extremes of inertia which can pull and push people and
equipment as it maneuvers. Although such dampers are imperfect, they do allow
a normal environment on starships as they maneuver, and they allow extreme
physical maneuvers on small craft as they perform high-G maneuvers.
 Thrusters are the final aspect of gravity manipulation: they move vehicles
forward without the necessity of reaction mass (as required for rockets).
Thrusters work like rockets, but without the requirements for large amounts
of rocket fuel.
		Fusion Power. Cheap fusion power means that the inhabitants of this
universe are not tied to gas stations or complex fuel systems. Hydrogen taken
from water, ice, even the methane of gas giants like Jupiter is all that is
required to produce abundant electricity. Once a culture rises to the minimum
required tech level, its cities depend on electricity produced by efficient,
pollution free fusion power. Starships draw their fuel from the worlds they
visit.

SOCIAL SCIENCE ADDS CHARACTER AND FLAVOR
The social sciences add a characteristic flavor to this universe by
emphasizing the effects of the social sciences on societies in the universe.
Psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, and economics all impact the
activities of the people and the stories of this universe.
		A Cosmopolitan Universe. Traveller is a diverse, heterogeneous universe
composed of many different factions, concepts, races, communities, and
individuals. People (and the term is used to refer to "beings") come in many
different forms, all of whom constantly interact as a matter of course.
Naturally, there is conflict, antagonism, friction, and strife between
various groups, but the universe itself allows any with talent to rise to the
top.
		A Human Dominated Universe. Through a combination of fortuitous accident
and strong-willed effort, humanity has reached a position of dominance in the
universe. Three distinct groups of humans (the Vilani, the Solomani, and the
Zhodani) have each created empires that span thousands of stars and trillions
of citizens. In addition, more than a hundred additional human societies
scattered among the stars; each is, in its own way, a commentary on the
strengths and the particular weaknesses of the human condition.
		Duty, Honor, and Loyalty. Naturally (see: Communication Limited To The
Speed Of Transportation), interstellar society values people (human or not)
on whom it can depend: those who are loyal and who faithfully do their duty
are the ones to whom society awards responsibility. A natural nobility arises
of those leaders of society who faithfully and with innovation follow the
orders of their superiors. At the same time, superiors have learned to
express their orders in the most general of terms: to give greater freedom of
action.
		There Is No "Prime Directive." Interstellar governments have never felt it
their duty to impede development, especially economic development. As a
result, no government has ever promulgated the "Prime Directive (that
undeveloped cultures and societies be allowed to develop without interference
until they can enter the community of interstellar civilizations). Instead,
economic forces have driven the development of those worlds rich in natural
or exploitable resources, and have retarded the development of worlds without
resources.
		Everything Is Driven By Economics. Regardless of the pronouncements of
political, moral, or cultural leaders, action in this universe takes place
because it will produce some economic advantage. Economic advantage generally
means rewards in a monetary sense, but it can also mean rewards in political
or social power. But at the foundation of all action is economics.
		Wheels Within Wheels. The quest for meaning is always fruitful in the
Traveller universe. Events, ideas, concepts, and beliefs are shaped by
environments, but they are also shaped by the thinkers themselves. And as
those thinkers (be they readers, players, or viewers) learn and mature, they
begin to have new insights into their beliefs. For example, the uninformed
consider the Zhodani (an human race with some ability in psionics) an evil
empire intent on destroying the Imperium. Only with time is it possible to
see these Zhodani as humans with families, goals and desires just like other
humans. And only with time is it possible to see that some Zhodani are evil.
In the Traveller system, Wheels within Wheels constantly shows new ideas and
new facets of old ideas to the participants.

ADVENTURE!
Above all, this universe is filled with adventure. Individuals can own
starships and travel on their own to distant worlds. Individuals can
undertake literally world-shattering missions whose results depend on their
personal courage and resources. Individuals are the key to discovery,
progress, and the turning points in history.
The Traveller system addresses adventure through three specific areas:
Casual Players. Any role-player can play Traveller. The concepts are
intuitive: combat, travel, tasks. Individuals can role-play diverse
characters or they can play themselves.
Detailed Role-Players. Traveller provides dedicated gamers the opportunity to
role-play complex characters with strong motivations and intricate
backgrounds. The Traveller system can be as casual or as rich as the
participants want it to be.
Systems Engineers. The Traveller system provides referees and game masters
the materials with which to explore the Traveller universe in detail.
Starship design systems, world generation systems, vehicle description
systems, trade and commerce systems, animal generation and encounter systems.
Each is produced with two specific goals in mind: as a prod to the
imagination, and to allow game masters opportunities to create custom
equipment or information.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE
The universe are we know it was irrevocably influenced by a meek pastoral
intelligent race (the Droyne) which evolved some 200 parsecs from Earth some
300,000 years ago. The activities of these people continues to be felt
throughout time and space.
Grandfather (300,000 BC). One of the Droyne was born a mutation incredibly
intelligent and incredibly talented. In his first few years, he realized the
full import of his talents and used them to conquer his world and his people
(not that either really resisted). This super-genius Droyne (called
Grandfather by modern anthropologists) then turned his attention to space,
invented space ships and then starships with jump drive. He and his people
ventured out into the universe. He raised a family of super-genius children
(nearly as smart as he) and they scattered to settle hundreds of worlds, each
engaged in some sort of scientific research. Grandfather invented immortality
(for himself only it seems; he shared a lesser form of it with his children).
He invented energy sources, world shattering weapons, mind-boggling
transportation systems, and pocket universes. Much of what he invented is
still unattainable to modern man.
At some point, he and his children had a disagreement which escalated into
galaxy wide war. That war completely destroyed the Ancients and their
thousands of cities on hundreds of worlds. The modern universe can see the
fossil remnants of this war on worlds which still bear the scars of
super-high-tech war, and in Ancient sites: the ruins of those war-spoiled
cities.
But there is another, less obvious, reminder of the Ancients. At some time in
their travels, the Ancients visited Earth and carried away several thousand
near-intelligent cavemen. Grandfathers children must have found them useful
in some way because they took them to hundreds of worlds. At the end of the
Ancient War, the Ancients were dead, but humanity lived on. Each of those
planets became a new world which humans conquered and created a unique yet
human culture.
The Vilani Era (4700 BC to 2300 AD). The first of these many human races to
reach the stars was the Vilani. About 5,000 BC, they began to create a
star-spanning empire through their monopoly on the jump drive. Only they had
the secret of faster than light travel, and they used it to monopolize trade
and dominate both human and non-human cultures for dozens of light years
around. Eventually, the Ziru Sirkaa (as the Vilani Empire was called) became
a rigid, brittle culture dedicated to maintaining the status quo. Laws,
politics, social pressure all emphasized conformity and resistance to change.
Innovation and technological change were prohibited. Their four thousand year
empire was drawing to an end.
The Terran Confederation (2100 to 2300 AD). In about 2100, Earth invented the
jump drive and reached the stars, only to find them already taken.
Fortunately for tiny Earth, the Vilani Empire ignored the Terran upstarts
long enough for them to gain a foothold among the stars. Over the course of
200 years, the Vilani and the Terrans fought a dozen interstellar wars, each
one seemingly inconclusive, but edging the Vilani Empire closer to collapse.
In 2299, the Vilani were defeated so soundly that they surrendered.
The Rule of Man (2300 to 2750 AD). Terra, with perhaps a hundred worlds in
its confederation, now faced the immense task of ruling, as a conquered
territory, the now collapsed Ziru Sirka, with 40,000 worlds. Terra created
the Rule of Man: the Second Imperium, to govern these conquered worlds, often
assigning mere lieutenants as governors of worlds, and naval captains to rule
subsectors of 30-40 worlds. It was a losing battle. Nothing, not
technological innovation, not social change, not new blood, not threat of
outside invasion, was sufficient to raise the former Vilani worlds from their
cultural lethargy. Slowly, over the course of 400 years, the worlds of the
Rule of man drifted into a dark age.
The Long Night (2750 AD to 4550 AD). When interstellar trade shut down, the
Rule of Man ceased as an interstellar government. Each world found itself on
its own, living or dying on its own resources. Outpost worlds dependent on
food or supplies shipped in from agricultural worlds simply died. Scattered
starship trade kept other worlds alive, but after a few centuries, even the
starships stopped running. Each world found itself along in a sea of space,
completely dependent on its own resources. This Long Night lasted for more
than 1700 years.
The Third Imperium (4521 to 5637 AD). One world tenuously held on to its
technology, its resources, and its knowledge, remaining a beacon of hope in
the Long Night. Ultimately, it began its own reconquest of the worlds of the
former empire under the Starburst Banner of the Third Imperium. From a base
of a dozen worlds, the Third Imperium began a systematic effort to recontact
the 40,000 worlds of the old Ziru Sirka and bring them under one rule. Some
accepted immediately; others resisted, but none could resist the combined
military might and economic incentives that the Imperium could offer. Over
the next 500 years, the empire reached out to absorb tens of thousands of
worlds.
The Aslan Border Wars (3400 to 4900 AD). The conflict of the Aslan against
the Imperium along their common border.
The Vargr Campaigns (4700 to 4900 AD). The conflict of the Vargr against the
Aslan along their common border.
The Barracks Emperors (5100 to 5140 AD). The defining power struggle of the
military hierarchy and the ruling noble families of the Imperium as competing
factions fight to be the ones that rule the interstellar empire.
The Solomani Expansion (5121 AD to 6500 AD). The struggle of the Solomani
worlds (both within and outside the Imperium) as they endeavor to establish a
community of worlds.
The Rebellion (5367 AD). The Imperium, now more than a thousand years old, is
split asunder as competing factions fight to create the next Emperor, or to
chart their own path outside the established Imperium.

THERES MORE!
There is so much more to the Traveller universe that can only be touched on
here: The Zhodani expeditions to the core of the galaxy. The Psionic
Suppressions. The Julian War. The Ilelish Revolt. The First Survey. The
Solomani Rim Wars. The Hiver Interventions. The Virus Era. The Regency. The
Far Far Future. The Expeditions to the Rim. The Heat Death of the Universe.
Each of these milieux (or eras) is another opportunity to provide
participants with adventure and insight into the human condition as they
explore the comprehensive science-fiction universe that is Traveller.