Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Casual Encounter Nazir Kobayashi


Nazir Kobayashi
BB7335  Merchant 3rd Officer 2 terms Age 26 Cr- some
Vacc Suit-1, Engineering-1, Bribery-1, Streetwise-1, Carbine-0
Not as stupid as he looks. Far stupider, in fact.

I found this character in a list of pre-generated characters, in Double Adventure 2, Across the Bright Face. I have no setting that he's a part of, no storyline to fit with. I just took what was presented and extrapolated this from his stats and skills.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Special Supplement Four - The Lost Rules

I recently finished some paid online writing work, not Traveller related, and decided to treat myself with my earnings to this curious little volume I saw for sale at DriveThruRPG. The back cover text says in part “This . . . examines various lost rules tucked away and forgotten in various Traveller sources”. This intrigued me, and as it was reasonably priced (the writing gig didn't pay that well) I picked it up.
The clean, simple look of the LBBs never gets old.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Book Review from National Review Online




On June 13th, National Review Online published and interview with Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Greene, about her newest book Welcome to the Orthodox Church. I had the privilege of working Kh. Frederica on this project, as the book's indexer.

Of course, she wrote about the Church here on Earth in the 21st Century, but it would still serve very well as a guide to the Ancient Faith in the Far Future.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

World Leaders and Hot Zones in the Corridor


On Stavanger, the senior Baron is the Head of State; with a Chancellor appointed as Head of Government.

Baron Allan, of House Hokksen 996ACF Age 50 Nobles
Leader-3, Administration-2, Steward-3, Air/Raft-2
Baron Hokksen is driven to see his barony's and his world's economic power increase, to an extent that even mercantile Stavanger sees as excessive.

On Lanzhou, there is a President and Vice President.

President Long Duyi A788AE Age 38 Merchants
Admin-2, Computer-2, Jack-o-T-2, Steward-2
President Long is viewed as a wise grandfather who has run his political party for over two decades.

Dekalb is a Civil Service Bureaucracy so they have a Prime Minister, who is simply a figurehead. The Business leaders are the real power.

Prime Minister Cecil Aylsworth 55699D age 42 Bureaucrat
Electronics-1, Bribery-3, Forgery-1, Streetwise-2
Minister Aylsworth is a cheerful, genial man on the surface. Underneath he is a canny manipulator, playing the business leaders against one another.

On Holtzmann, the Admiral of Naval Base Holtzmann is the de facto head of state. He often coordinates with the seneschal of Dimitrov, a private holding of a Talaveran Duke. 

Admiral Jupater 799A8D Age 42 Navy Admiral
Admin-1, Leader-1, Navigation-1, Pilot-2
The Admiral is an able administrator who chooses to be as uninvolved as possible. He delegates almost all civilian/domestic issues to his staff, leaving him free to run the Navy.

On Tabraz, The Potentate is an absolute dictator.

Potentate Indrus 697BCF Age 50 Bureaucrat
Theology (Islamic)-2, Admin-1, Bribery-2, Aircraft-1, Medical-2
The Potentate is a religious zealot and every bit as xenophobic as the people he leads.

On Dorothua, The Warlord Horkar Baddon is an absolute dictator.

Warlord Baddon 98D88F age 38 Army General
Leader-3, Brawling-3, Rifle-2, T/ATV-2
Baddon is boastful, brash, aggressive and ambitious. He despises anyone who shows sign of anything he considers weakness or passivity. 

On Narok, The Chancellor Kannos Heraklia is a constitutional monarch.

Chancellor Heraklia 3348BF age 117 Bureaucrat
Administration-3, Pistol-2, Bribery-2
The Chancellor is a stubborn old goat and an anti-religious bigot. His ruthlessness has kept him in power for most of a century.


Conflict Zones in the Corridor

  • The very destructive civil war on Faldor is now in its sixth year.
  • On Chapolco, the Geder region is in active revolt. Chapolco proper is supported by Stavanger; Geder, by Lanzhou. It is a proxy battleground for the two.
  • Pampati's unpopular king has to contend with multiple small rebellions and intrigues. The local economy is meager enough that Lanzhou is unlikely to expend much effort to help the king.
  • Narok could go the same way as Faldor once the Chancellor dies, as regional lords vie for the Chancellorship.
  • Worosha could try to break away from VanGoff's World by force.
  • On Dorothua, The Warlord wants to re-arm and get out from under the Empire.
  • Piracy and Multi-planetary organized crime groups threaten trade everywhere.
  • The Lycosky Trade Protectorate will back any group willing to impede the Talaverans, and vice versa.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

The Empire vs the Triplanetary

The center of political power in the Corridor
 The economic center of the Corridor is the Triplanetary: Lanzhou, Stavanger and Dekalb. Everything in an economic sense depends on these three, from trade to tech to finances. Naturally this produces a certain resentment on the part of the other governments, but nobody else except the Empire has the clout to challenge them. For example, VanGoff's World would like to use the Empire against Dekalb, to make up for Dekalb's order-of-magnitude advantage in finance. The Triplanetary don't get along well, except when coordinating against the Empire.