This thread has made me so nostalgic (I may actually have had a nostalgiagasm) I dug my copy of the Books 0-8 reprint out of storage. Sadly, it's about the only Traveller material I own, having lost the rest in a move some years ago...

Of course, this means I'll just have to start over. Burgess Shale Period, Mk II, anyone?

Quote from: KoltarWell - when I used to do it that way I was a teenager and a tad obsessive-compulsive. I'd buy circle templates from an art supply store so my dots for planets and circles for amber zones wouldn't look so "squiggly".

Very Cool , Werekoala....you'remaking me all nostalgic and everything.


- Ed C.

Heh...when things are solidified, the circle template will come out.  Not that I'm the one making you nostalgic.

Here's my entry to the fray, a quadrant of four subsectors:



Scattered stellar density (33%) gives a Jump-2 route through all four subsectors, with extensive Jump-1 routes in separate locales.  A particularly sparse rift to the right side of the map generally necessitates a circuitous path between the two larger entities (blue in the top right, and green in the lower center) that passes near or through the smaller polities to the left.

The blue government in the upper right features an abundance of naval bases, and individual planets suggest that it is, overall, a militarily expansionist entity.  The green government at the bottom appears to be in a state of mercantile expansion.  Both governments are having trouble with recent territorial acquisitions at their extreme ends (the Amber Zones).  Both governments top out at TL 13.

In the rift, there is a string of Red Zones, almost all centered on barren worlds -- potentially habitable, but with no population.  Perhaps these systems demark a neutral zone between the two major powers to either side of the rift.

All in all, and completely at random, this has shaped up into a pretty interesting quadrant.

!i!

Gorgeous, Ian.

Quote from: Leo KnightThis thread has made me so nostalgic (I may actually have had a nostalgiagasm) I dug my copy of the Books 0-8 reprint out of storage. Sadly, it's about the only Traveller material I own, having lost the rest in a move some years ago...

Of course, this means I'll just have to start over. Burgess Shale Period, Mk II, anyone?

That's the spirit, Leo!

gorgeous, ian!  :keke:

i've always preferred the scattered density.  as we can see in your example, it shines when expanded to the sector level.  

i'd like to do a sector with "sparse" as the density (6 on 1D per hex).  it may not work on a subsector level without a high TL (unless you roll good, of course).  

book 6, scouts--coming out of the collection again

Sweet, nice work Ian!

Aw, shucks. Thank you.  I owe it all to Photoshop.

Quote from: beeberi've always preferred the scattered density.  as we can see in your example, it shines when expanded to the sector level.

Yeah, scattered density makes for crappy-looking subsectors that look impassable, but you start racking a few of them together and they begin to make sense.

I was taking a look at the quadrant that I rolled up (or had 1001 Subsectors roll up for me), and I realised that, with the purposeful placement of only a handful systems, I could easily complete a Jump-1 route that spans all four subsectors.  I have a feeling that this is exactly what GDW did with The Spinward Marches back in the day.

!i!

I've spent a little time over the last couple of days, taking a closer look at the political situation indicated by the UWPs and adding a small handful of planets to the otherwise random stellar assembly.

First, by adding only six strategically placed systems, I've created a nice Jump-1 mercantile route that snakes its way up the left side of the map between the smaller polities, making for a nice contrast between a "little guys" mercantile/exploration campaign and a "big guys" military conflict/intrigue campaign.

Second, after looking at the UWPs of individual systems, I realised that there were a few captive governments that needed to be explained away.  This led to the formation of two more fledgling polities on the left (pink and tan), and to two more Red Zones in the increasingly clear DMZ forming between Blue and Green.

Over all, this quadrant is looking to be rather war-torn, with emerging governments striving to make land-grabs and absorb them into stable and secure "pocket empires".  There's a rather intimidating plethora of Amber and Red Zones, which can make for some bold play.

!i!

Surfing for Traveller stuff and lo and behold, Ian's wonderful maps have captured my imagination.

But to the original post, hell yes!  

In fact there was no OTU that I knew of when I started Christmas 1977.  I literally spent 3 days and nights rolling up a sector from LBB3, which is still 90% as then rolled to this day.  As Ian's example is shown, the randomness makes these natural groupings that beg to be explained.

Never played in an OTU.  Most folks I found viewed it as interesting but as a source of ideas only, not an integral part of the game; until I discovered the internet.  But hey there are plenty of he+ (heretic +) people out there even on CotI, which I find to be fairly respectful of non-canon views and edition differences (especially compared to the flames D&D can inspire on these subjects).  

I always saw it is as a major strength of CT that the rules were setting neutral and even the implications of Scouts, etc. could be changed without unbalancing things.

Quote from: flyingmiceAt the core, it's an unholy melding of CT, Ringworld, and SPI Universe, Ken, along with CJ Cherryh, David Brin, and Larry Niven. Seeing how much I took from Trav, it's nice to give some back!

-clash

So cool.  You list the top three major influences as well on MTU.  I also include James White and Frank Herbert (especially non-Dune works), but cool.  Will certainly have to check out your games.  Are they sold in any FLGS in the Boston area?

Quote from: XantherSo cool.  You list the top three major influences as well on MTU.  I also include James White and Frank Herbert (especially non-Dune works), but cool.  Will certainly have to check out your games.  Are they sold in any FLGS in the Boston area?

Unless you trip on some backstock, no. My distributor is having problems. They are available from my site, though.

Where are you in Boston, Xanther?

-clash