Twilight's Peak --SPOILERS
Scott
The adventure starts out with a crew of a jump-2 far trader with a
broken jump drive -- it can't go more than jump one. They need money to
fix it. Two rumors start out the adventure -- one is an argument in a
starport bar insisting that Twilight's Peak is true, the other finding a
"water stained and worn" book with an octagon on the building.
Twilight's peak was an epic poem about a ship, the Gyro Cadiz, and three
scout/courier escorts, which were lost in 984 during the Third Frontier
War. The Gyro was subsidized merchant carrying drugs and other medical
equipment. The task force was lost. One hundred years later, naval
ships found one of the scouts, its crew long dead. A diary was found,
which told of an incredible tale in an epic poem written by the second
officer. The poem (even condensed) is quite long, but tells the tale of
a traitor ship (Zhodani crew), which ambushed the Gyro during an ion
storm on an unknown world.
The ships were all disabled, but the poem tells of shipwrecked crews,
and a long winter in an octagon shelter (one of many built by the
octagon society, designed to house stranded travellers). During the
winter, they were driven down the complex by wolves, and found a hidden
complex of the ancient's. Later they salvaged parts from all the ships,
were able to fix one ship, and jumped. Unfortunetely, they jumped out
in a middle of a battle, and the drives were destroyed.
The complex is amazing, and is so strange and alien that it is able to
put a sense of wonder and a "wow!" type of attitude into the most
cynical of players. The artifacts that can be found are incredible, and
while very simple, can be very hard to identify.
The adventure is composed of finding clues and rumors of the landing
place of the Gyro, over a dozen worlds. During investigation of the
complex, it is discovered that Droyne are there, in suspended
animation. It is realized they are the ancients. Of course, there is a
nagging problem of Zhodani ships and ground troops chasing after the
characters. The Zhodani have a secret base in the starport on Fulacin
(the location of Twilight's Peak), and they are afraid the characters
have discovered it. Hopefully the characters will discover the ancient
base is a planetary defense installation...
Scott
GURPS Traveller, btw.
David L. Pulver
> Yes this was supposed to be a reply to a post above. Oh well. This is for
> GURPS Traveller, btw.
>
>
>
>
>
Lovely adventure.
The major problem with Twilights Peak was that GDW didn't really address
what to do if the PCs behaved intelligently with the goodies acquired.
Aside from the cute little disintegrators that could be acquired (probably
too advanced for the Imperium to figure out), there is an anti-matter
battery that was lying around and relatively easy to acquire.
In my campaign the PCs made a deal with Sternmetal Horizons: the
antimatter battery was sold to Sternmetal in exchange for 0.1% of
royalties. Since the character generation system had made one of the
players a former Imperial admiral and another a sector duke's son there
was very little reason for Stermetal to do other than treat them with
courtesy and honor, since Stermetal was getting a very good deal indeed.
Within 10 years of analysis, Stermetal was offering the first anti-matter
power plant prototype to the Imperial Navy...
Yes, the Imperium has a law requiring artifacts to be turned over to them.
No, GDW didn't mention that until about 2-3 years after Twilights Peak
came out...
Scott
of the hands of the Droyne at the base, and if they did why someone in your
campaign had a level 10 telepath able to use them... They were a lot of fun, and
worked as if magic to my players: 'The pistol's targetting mechanism is complex
and telepathic: to fire, the warrior looks at the target and imagines it gone.
Control is sufficiently precise to vanish one man from a crowd or destroy a
party's weapons while leaving everything else intact... the pistol never misses
and there is no defense..." As the Droyne were written in to self-destruct the
base and kill themselves, it was my assumption they the guns were to be written
out of the campaign.
As for the anti-matter battery, it was a fun toy in my campaign. Someone put it
into a laser carbine, for endless shots. As it was a higher TL than the Imperium
(probably much higher), I didn't worry about anyone trying to duplicate it, as
they would have needed a manufacturing technology level equal to it to duplicate
it, even if they could figure out how it worked. I thought that was clear in the
rules discussion in the books. You can't produce year 2000 computers in 1945,
even if they could somehow figure out how they worked -- the infrastructure just
isn't built up yet.
pulver
On Fri, 13 Nov 1998, Scott wrote:
> I am a little curious how the characters would have gotten the disintegrators out
> of the hands of the Droyne at the base, and if they did why someone in your
> campaign had a level 10 telepath able to use them..
You'd be surprised...
>. They were a lot of fun, and
> worked as if magic to my players: 'The pistol's targetting mechanism is complex
> and telepathic: to fire, the warrior looks at the target and imagines it gone.
> Control is sufficiently precise to vanish one man from a crowd or destroy a
> party's weapons while leaving everything else intact... the pistol never misses
> and there is no defense..." As the Droyne were written in to self-destruct the
> base and kill themselves, it was my assumption they the guns were to be written
> out of the campaign.
Hey, it's a fire fight with a Zhodani platoon. I assumed the zhos were not
idiots, nor the warriors superhuman. One warrior took a PGMP shot and went
down, a PC grabbed his disintegrator.
> As for the anti-matter battery, it was a fun toy in my campaign. Someone put it
> into a laser carbine, for endless shots. As it was a higher TL than the Imperium
> (probably much higher), I didn't worry about anyone trying to duplicate it, as
> they would have needed a manufacturing technology level equal to it to duplicate
> it, even if they could figure out how it worked.
Nonsense. Science is not magic. They didn't "duplicate it." They studied
it and produce a crude copy -- a TL16-17 antimatter plant prototype --
based on some of the technologies involved.
Scott
> it and produce a crude copy -- a TL16-17 antimatter plant prototype --
> based on some of the technologies involved.
lol i think i see your problem -- my Imperium (following the books) didn't go above
TL15 (12 in gurps). There was a reason that the only TL 16 planet in the GDW universe,
Darrian, was an "old decaying world" with "many local buildings and complexes at TL G,
but the technology to maintain them has been lost". If you are going to change the
underlying assumptions of the game, then take the consequences, but don't blame the
adventure for allowing your universe to manufacture TL 16-17 goods.
Scott
Supplement 8 Library Data), "Consider: as useful as Tech Level 8 solid-state chip
circuits are, they cannot be used on a large scale without the knowledge of electronics
or the ability to provide supporting circuits (power circuits, circuit boards, and so
on), which further implies a knowledge of photo processing, and even crystal culture.
In the final analysis, attempting to jump to a higher Tech Level without passing
through any of the intervening Tech Levels just doesn't work: one must pass through the
lower stages of technological development on the way to the higher Tech Levels.
From supplement 8: "While some new technology can be purchased from advanced cultures
beyond the Imperial boundries, such high technology is expensive, and still requires a
solid technological foundation to allow its usage."
Meaning that anti-matter battery should have been used as intended, a novelty, and not
on large scale.
Thomas Schoene
<364D221E...@earthlink.net>...
> lol i think i see your problem -- my Imperium (following the books)
didn't go above
> TL15 (12 in gurps). There was a reason that the only TL 16 planet
in the GDW universe,
> Darrian, was an "old decaying world" with "many local buildings and
complexes at TL G,
> but the technology to maintain them has been lost". If you are
going to change the
> underlying assumptions of the game, then take the consequences, but
don't blame the
> adventure for allowing your universe to manufacture TL 16-17 goods.
There were later canon references to Imperial research and even some
limited production at TL16. What do you think those research stations
were for?
--
--------------------------------------------------
TomSc...@worldnet.att.net
*Insert pithy quote here*
Scott
> limited production at TL16. What do you think those research stations
> were for?
Which references are these? My Spinward Marches (and earlier books)
states that TL 16 is "occasional non-Imperial". It also states that
"Arthur C. Clarke has stated that "sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic". Within the context of Traveller, this is
assumed to occur at about tech level G (16) and above. The concept of
magic should not be confused with fantasy; the so-called magic is solidly
based on the sciences. But, to the ordinany individual, the results
appear fantastic... at Darrian...examples might include flying cities or
matter tranport booths."
This seems pretty clear to me that TL 15 is the intended maximum for the
game. What are research stations for? Gee, I don't know, adventuring
maybe? What good are toilets on all those deckplans for either -- my
characters never go to the bathroom.
David L. Pulver
> > They didn't "duplicate it." They studied
> > it and produce a crude copy -- a TL16-17 antimatter plant prototype --
> > based on some of the technologies involved.
>
> lol i think i see your problem -- my Imperium (following the books) didn't go above
> TL15 (12 in gurps). There was a reason that the only TL 16 planet in the GDW universe,
> Darrian, was an "old decaying world" with "many local buildings and complexes at TL G,
> but the technology to maintain them has been lost". If you are going to change the
> underlying assumptions of the game, then take the consequences, but don't blame the
> adventure for allowing your universe to manufacture TL 16-17 goods.
I have no idea what you are talking about.
Are you saying "the underlying assumption" of the game is that the
Imperium cannot learn from working higher-TL artifacts?
Note that canon sources already mention that the Imperium, upon finding a
cache of ancient black globes, was able to reverse-engineer crude copies
of them. That the Imperium could do the same, with a massive research
effort, when it found a working anti-matter battery does not strain my
disbelief.
In any case, a few TL16 antimatter power plants mounted on experimental
warships and the like does not equate with "manufacturing TL16 goods" but
rarther a limited advance within a limited sphere.
You may like your science fiction to be static, with "ancient technology"
forever akin to magic. I prefer a different approach...
David L. Pulver
> From supplement 8: "While some new technology can be purchased from advanced cultures
> beyond the Imperial boundries, such high technology is expensive, and still requires a
> solid technological foundation to allow its usage."
>
> Meaning that anti-matter battery should have been used as intended, a novelty, and not
> on large scale.
Shrug. My players chose to look at Traveller as a science fiction setting,
not as D&D in space. In short, they viewed ancient artifacts not as magic
items, but as technological discoveries from which people could learn.
I could care less what was written in supplement 8 -- and in any case,
think you take it out of context here. To say that a lower TL culture can
never learn from artifacts of a higher TL culture is simply rubbish,
especially after TL7.
Scott
> warships and the like does not equate with "manufacturing TL16 goods" but
> rarther a limited advance within a limited sphere.
The black globes reverse engineered by the Imperium are TL15, and stated as such. They work
only about 10-20 percent of the time if I remember High Guard correctly. There is a list of
Higher TL globes available, but they need to be found, all the way to TL 18 or 19 or so.
That is a lot different from saying the Imperium in your universe can manufacture TL 16 or 17
items. Fair enough though, it's your universe, and you can do whatever you want to with it.
You are right, I do like to keep the higher TL's as a sort of "magic". That is exactly how
Twilight's Peak was written, so I don't think I am too far off the mark in playing it that
way.
But back to my original argument, you can't criticize Twilight's Peak as an adventure for
allowing the artifacts found at Fulacin to unbalance your game. That is an unfair critique,
as it only became unbalanced because you as a GM let it happen that way, and against the
recommendations of the game system itself.
Thomas Schoene
> > There were later canon references to Imperial research and even
some
> > limited production at TL16. What do you think those research
stations
> > were for?
>
> Which references are these? My Spinward Marches (and earlier
books)
I know I've seen discussions of TL16 research, probably from Digest
Group, but
I'll have to plead lack of resources at the moment. The only
versions of Traveller I have here are G:Trav and New Era, which is no
help. The rest is all boxed up.
> This seems pretty clear to me that TL 15 is the intended maximum
for the
> game.
Then they shouldn't create situations when TL 16+ objects become
available for study. Any advanced TL 15 facility should have a good
chance to reverse-engineer at least crude versions of TL16 material.
> What are research stations for? Gee, I don't know, adventuring
> maybe? What good are toilets on all those deckplans for either --
my
> characters never go to the bathroom.
>
Let me rephrase that. What is the in-universe rationale for the
research stations? Advanced technology R&D, obviously. Since TL 15
appears to be well understood, albeit not widespread, future research
would clearly focus on TL16.
Markus
>
> That is a lot different from saying the Imperium in your universe can manufacture TL 16 or 17
> items. Fair enough though, it's your universe, and you can do whatever you want to with it.
> You are right, I do like to keep the higher TL's as a sort of "magic". That is exactly how
> Twilight's Peak was written, so I don't think I am too far off the mark in playing it that
> way.
As far as i remember (its been a long time when i read those traveller
books), there are some worlds in the core empire which are TL16 in some
fields. the spinward marches are a remote frontier area, so it is
slightly retarded
> But back to my original argument, you can't criticize Twilight's Peak as an adventure for
> allowing the artifacts found at Fulacin to unbalance your game. That is an unfair critique,
> as it only became unbalanced because you as a GM let it happen that way, and against the
> recommendations of the game system itself.
i hate players finding ultra high tech equip. they always find ways to
misuse them. :-))
Markus
Markus
that may depend on the TL difference. a TL3 society may learn nothing
from a TV, TL 7, because the difference is to large. On the other hand
they may learn how to produce guns from a TL8 gun but would have no
chance on a TL 8 gauss gun, so i would say it also depends on the type
of item and on the TL it appeared first.
Markus
David L. Pulver
> Let me rephrase that. What is the in-universe rationale for the
> research stations? Advanced technology R&D, obviously. Since TL 15
> appears to be well understood, albeit not widespread, future research
> would clearly focus on TL16.
In fact, this is pretty much canon. The list of things that Imperial
research stations are working on (found in Research Station Gamma, and
repeated in Library Data and GURPS Traveller, among other places). To
quote GT p. 41 (which is a direct quote from earlier classic traveller):
"...antimatter containment, new weapon development (such as disintegrator
beams)... self aware robots and starships, stasis and time travel,
personal shields, memory transfer and total rejuvenation".
David L. Pulver
> But back to my original argument, you can't criticize Twilight's Peak as an adventure for
> allowing the artifacts found at Fulacin to unbalance your game. That is an unfair critique,
> as it only became unbalanced because you as a GM let it happen that way, and against the
> recommendations of the game system itself.
I can too criticize the adventure. If you toss in ultra-tech artifacts,
you should describe possible implications. If they didn't want them
analyzed , they should have said "these are TL20 [or whatever] and far too
advanced for the imperium to figure out."
In any case, who said they unbalanced the game? The players involvement in
Stermmetal LIC, the establishment of the first antimatter power plant
ship, the Starblade and the espionage and intrigue centered around its
building and the deployment of the new Lucifer class dreadnoughts for
which it was a prototype all added many months of enjoyment to the game,
far more so than if I had told my players 'sorry, it's all magic tech, you
have a cute lit'l magic battery you can't possibly understand, and of
course, just like in STAR TREK, whenever you find new technology, it has
no effect on the overall background or story, just gets shoved under the
rug."
David G. Bell
scot...@earthlink.net "Scott" writes:
> > They didn't "duplicate it." They studied
> > it and produce a crude copy -- a TL16-17 antimatter plant prototype --
> > based on some of the technologies involved.
>
> lol i think i see your problem -- my Imperium (following the books) didn't go
> above
> TL15 (12 in gurps). There was a reason that the only TL 16 planet in the GDW
> universe,
> Darrian, was an "old decaying world" with "many local buildings and complexes
> at TL G,
> but the technology to maintain them has been lost". If you are going to change
> the
> underlying assumptions of the game, then take the consequences, but don't blame
> the
> adventure for allowing your universe to manufacture TL 16-17 goods.
Find something beyond Imperial technology, sell it to a Megacorp, and a
TL16 prototype appears a decade later...
That sounds a quite reasonable option. In the pre-GURPS Traveller
timeline, it gets lost in the Rebellion anyway.
--
David G. Bell -- Farmer, SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.
David L. Pulver
> Find something beyond Imperial technology, sell it to a Megacorp, and a
> TL16 prototype appears a decade later...
>
> That sounds a quite reasonable option. In the pre-GURPS Traveller
> timeline, it gets lost in the Rebellion anyway.
Yay! Yay! Someone thought it was reasonable!
Thomas Schoene
<Pine.GSO.4.04.9811151013090.7270-100000@mercury>...
>
> In fact, this is pretty much canon. The list of things that
Imperial
> research stations are working on (found in Research Station Gamma,
and
> repeated in Library Data and GURPS Traveller, among other places).
To
> quote GT p. 41 (which is a direct quote from earlier classic
traveller):
>
> "...antimatter containment, new weapon development (such as
disintegrator
> beams)... self aware robots and starships, stasis and time travel,
> personal shields, memory transfer and total rejuvenation".
Thank you for saving my from my own failing memory and insufficient
library. I knew I'd seen that somewhere.
Scott
> > TL16 prototype appears a decade later...
> >
> > That sounds a quite reasonable option. In the pre-GURPS Traveller
> > timeline, it gets lost in the Rebellion anyway.
>
> Yay! Yay! Someone thought it was reasonable!
Oh of course, you are right. I stand corrected. While your characters are
at it, I guess they sold the teleportation disks from Twilight's Peak too
(remember those?), and prototypes showed up ten years later as well. Um,
wait a second, Darrian has teleportation disks too, the Spinward Marches said
so... and since the Imperium recontacted the Darrians in the year 148
Imperial (see page 18 of Gurps Traveller), about 1000 years ago, they had
1000 years to come up with a prototype. The Solomoni had longer of course,
they first contacted the Darrians about 2500 years ago. Gee, I wonder what
is taking so long.
After all, it seems reasonable that the Imperium goes up a tech level every
10 years or so. I am assuming that the Imperium was about TL 10 when the 3rd
Imperium was founded, so I think the books are wrong -- the Imperium should
be about TL 120+ right about now. I told my players this, they have renamed
their characters after Greek Gods and are now destroying whole systems with
their hand-held nova bursters.
Michael Cule
scot...@earthlink.net "Scott" writes:
> Oh of course, you are right. I stand corrected. While your characters are
> at it, I guess they sold the teleportation disks from Twilight's Peak too
> (remember those?), and prototypes showed up ten years later as well. Um,
> wait a second, Darrian has teleportation disks too, the Spinward Marches said
> so... and since the Imperium recontacted the Darrians in the year 148
> Imperial (see page 18 of Gurps Traveller), about 1000 years ago, they had
> 1000 years to come up with a prototype. The Solomoni had longer of course,
> they first contacted the Darrians about 2500 years ago. Gee, I wonder what
> is taking so long.
Well, yes, actually.
What *is* taking them so long? The thing that struck me as absurd about
TRAVELLER most often was the incredible conservatism of its interstellar
culture. Why is everything so recognisable to 20th century gamers and so
unchangeable for great lengths of time. Never made much sense to me.....
--
Michael Cule
Actor And Genius
AKA Theophilus Prince Archbishop Of The Far Isles Medieval Society
Arms Purpure An Open Book Proper: On the Dexter Page an Alpha Or
On the Sinister an Omega Or. Motto Nulla Spes Sit in Resistendo
(Resistance is Useless). Ask me about the Far Isles:
Better Living through Pan-Medieval Anachronisms.
pulver
On Mon, 16 Nov 1998, Scott wrote:
> Oh of course, you are right. I stand corrected. While your characters are
> at it, I guess they sold the teleportation disks from Twilight's Peak too
> (remember those?), and prototypes showed up ten years later as well.
The teleport disks were in Secret of the Ancients, I think.
> Um,
> wait a second, Darrian has teleportation disks too, the Spinward Marches said
> so...
Must have missed that line. Care to give a page reference?
I didn't think teleport disks were TL16-17, more like TL20 or so. Bit more
difficult than antimatter power generation...
> and since the Imperium recontacted the Darrians in the year 148
> Imperial (see page 18 of Gurps Traveller), about 1000 years ago, they
ha 1000 years to come up with a prototype. The Solomoni had longer of
course, they first contacted the Darrians about 2500 years ago. Gee, I wonder what
> is taking so long.
Perhaps the Darrians don't like anyone examing their secret technology?
"Hi, we're the friendly imperial traders. Sir, we understand you have
TL16(?) teleport disks. Please turn them over to us. What, you've only got
a few working copies? Don't worry, we'll give them back. Honest."
I very much doubt that teleportation is TL16, though, but who knows?
> Aft all, it seems reasonable that the Imperium goes up a tech level every
> 10 years or so. I am assuming that the Imperium was about TL 10 when the 3rd
> Imperium was founded, so I think the books are wrong -- the Imperium should
> be about TL 120+ right about now. I told my players this, they have renamed
> their characters after Greek Gods and are now destroying whole systems with
> their hand-held nova bursters.
You seem to be somewhat confused about what a "Tech Level" is.
A tech level is not something that magically appears with all inventions.
It is achieved in incremental fashion, bit by bit. Developing a crude
working prototype of an antimatter reactor in a decade does not instantly
make the Imperium TL16. To achieve TL16, the Imperium would have to
achieve across the board advances in everything from biological sciences
to artificial intelligence to materials technology. Finding ancient tech
provided a boost in one specific area (power generation) allowing
construction of a crude antimatter prototype. Does "crude prototype" not
suggest something to you? Like, it didn't work as well as a true TL16
system? Why was that? Because many of the parts were still TL15? Got it.
Scott
> > so...
>
> Must have missed that line. Care to give a page reference?
>
See page 39. The same page that says that TL 15 is "Technical maximum Imperial".
> Perhaps the Darrians don't like anyone examing their secret technology?
>
> "Hi, we're the friendly imperial traders. Sir, we understand you have
> TL16(?) teleport disks. Please turn them over to us. What, you've only got
> a few working copies? Don't worry, we'll give them back. Honest."
You must be right. 1000 years of trading and visitors, along with competing Zhodani
interests, would never have gotten the info out of an old, decaying world. In fact,
they were so secret that no one else in the Darrian confederation has them either.
Guess they didn't trust their own people, those crazy paranoid Darrians. Wonder why
that is, if prototypes are so easy to make? Again, you just can't copy one TL 16 item,
you need the entire manufacturing infrastructure at that TL as well.
> A tech level is not something that magically appears with all inventions.
> It is achieved in incremental fashion, bit by bit. Developing a crude
> working prototype of an antimatter reactor in a decade does not instantly
> make the Imperium TL16.
Hmm. You said it was "a TL16-17 antimatter plant prototype". Are you changing your
mind? On the contrary, making a TL 16 item DOES make the world TL 16. As I stated
before, Traveller states "as useful as Tech Level 8 solid-state chip
circuits are, they cannot be used on a large scale without the knowledge of electronics
or the ability to provide supporting circuits (power circuits, circuit boards, and so
on), which further implies a knowledge of photo processing, and even crystal culture.
In the final analysis, attempting to jump to a higher Tech Level without passing
through any of the intervening Tech Levels just doesn't work: one must pass through the
lower stages of technological development on the way to the higher Tech Levels." So,
making that TL 8 chip needs TL 8 electronics, photo processing, materials,
manufacturing, etc.
Meaning, that "crude prototype" probably needs TL 16 technology not in just one
discipline, but in many across the board.
In any case, I was disagreeing with your assessment that putting artifacts into
Twilight's Peak was a problem. Getting back to that original question, I still
maintain that it was not a problem, as Traveller has adequately stated that TL 15 is
the intended maximum, and so there is no chance that the artifacts will mess game
balance up. Of course, you now state that it didn't mess up game balance, and "added
many months of enjoyment to the game", so why is it a problem in the first place?
WHUTAGUY
wrote:
>Hi David,
>
> > I very much doubt that teleportation is TL16, though, but who
> > knows?
>
>In the "MegaTravellers Referees Companion" there was a quite extensive
>list concerning the different tech levels.
>
>Transport Technology:
>Tech 16: Experimental Matter Transport (raw materials only),
>Tech 17: Exp. Matter Transport (Matter Transmutation)
>Tech 18: Exp. Matter Transport (Portal Technology)
>Tech 19: Portal Technology (regional range)
>Tech 20: Portal Technology (continental range)
>Tech 21: Starship-Sized Portals, Starship-Sized Matter Transport Portals
>
>In the text it's stated that practical matter transport for life forms
>doesn't appear until tl 18.
>
The difference here is game engine. GURPs TL16 and TRAVELLER TL16 are not the
same. You are using a TRAVELLER reference on a GURPs topic. I understand how
this difference can occur, and dont know how to resolve it, since TRAVELLER is
the older game, but this is a GURPS newsgroup.
Whut
Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't make me wrong
http://members.aol.com/WHUTAGUY/index.html updated 11 August 97
Scott Ellsworth
>On Fri, 13 Nov 1998, Scott wrote:
>
>> cultures beyond the Imperial boundries, such high technology is expensive, and still
>> requires a solid technological foundation to allow its usage."
>>
>> Meaning that anti-matter battery should have been used as intended, a
>> novelty, and not on large scale.
>
>Shrug. My players chose to look at Traveller as a science fiction setting,
>not as D&D in space. In short, they viewed ancient artifacts not as magic
>items, but as technological discoveries from which people could learn.
One of the canonical assumptions in Traveller is that technology
change is glacially slow by present standards. This can be changed,
and I have changed it in my universe, but if you are sticking to
Traveller as it is written, you need some mechanism to explain
tech level differences, and slow change. My personal favorite
choice is that Vilani live longer, and are genetically less creative.
This slows the rate of tech change dramatically.
I also stated that a given tech level requires a certain number of
people acting in many roles to keep the society going. They do not
have to be on one world, but they do have to be tightly coupled, and
within one jump. (This is a controversial assumption.) I required on
the order a hundred million people to be an efficient TL9 culture, and
roughly a billion for a TL 12 culture. TL 15 I arbitrarily decided
required roughly 10 billion.
At some point, smart robots get developed, and while the numbers stay
the same, the number of humans drops. For example, a TL17 starship
has dozens of crew that are built into the wall.
I also stated that Darrians were very, very creative by nature. This
allowed them to go from TL3 to TL16 in very little time, with far
fewer people. (Perhaps a third of that needed by Solomani, and a
tenth of that needed by Vilani.)
>I could care less what was written in supplement 8 -- and in any case,
>think you take it out of context here. To say that a lower TL culture can
>never learn from artifacts of a higher TL culture is simply rubbish,
>especially after TL7.
Any culture can learn from a higher tech culture, but the amount they
can learn is limited. My rule of thumb for Scott's New Tech Level
System is that it is nearly impossible to jump more than one tech
level, but that a tech level change is vastly, vastly helped by
having things one level ahead.
Clearly, some seeding of devices, and a good idea of what is possible
will accelerate the entire process. Most researchers break the
devices trying to figure them out, until they are somewhere near the
correct tech level. They do not know what they can do to the device
to figure it out without breaking it.
This requires more tech level spread - I cannot see someone at TL6
breaking a TL9 device through ignorance. I can, though, see someone
from prior to nuclear power cooking themself trying to figure out how
you can displose of nuclear waste successfully. If you have a dozen
fission piles, this might not be a problem. If you have one, it can
be exciting.
To return to the subject, when we ran Twilight's Peak, the characters
went to Daryen with thier battery, and spent a good five years in the
research division. The Darrians were already very close to TL 16, and
so there was a complete industrial base nearly ready to get things
going.
While they did not develop AM batteries, they _did_ start using them
for fixed power plants, and it is figured that this will drop the
research time for small plants from a century to a few decades.
Scott
Scott Ellsworth sc...@eviews.com
"When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment
results" - Calvin Coolidge, (Stanley Walker, City Editor, p. 131 (1934))
"The barbarian is thwarted at the moat." - Scott Adams
gilmor...@gmail.com
At first they forgot about them in their inventory for awhile as other adventuring took place. It was during some desperate escape from a planet they were forced to jump before getting sufficiently far away from the gravity well. This (of course) caused a miss-jump putting them in a dead parsec with no planetary system and out of gas. Even I as the referee was not sure what "Deus ex machina" I was going to have to drop in place to rescue them ("rescue fuel buoy depot" maybe or something equally silly), then I remembered the battery and told my players; "you have the solution, you just need to think about it". At our school between classes they pestered me every day before they finally figured out they could rig the battery into their jump drive. It blew their systems, caused damage and another miss-jump, but it put them in a star system with fuel and repair resources.
Later, I gave them diagrams I made myself of the battery and grav platforms. They stuffed the diagrams into their Ships Locker notebook. Eventually, during a lull in the action on board their ship, a bored player noticed that grav platforms had buttons that allowed them to teleport what was on one platform to the other. Then they noticed that the platforms could line up over each other, this caused them to sandwich into one 8 handled platform (an new diagram I had created and held on for about a month), with colored contacts that perfectly matched the antimatter battery. The handles blinked but stayed lit when held. They grabbed on and then they hit the buttons and poof... they end up in an dark room and not on their ship where they were before. They make their way through the old ruin, obviously Ancient in origin, and out onto the surface of a planet. A look up at the sky and a skill check on Navigation reveals they are now two sectors away in the Far Frontiers sector... their starship is about a years travel away... and a quest for the Sky Raiders awaits... :)