Traveller Hero: Bicornn/Glisten (2331 Spinward Marches)

[AlHazred]

So, I'm four sessions into the second season of my successful Traveller Hero campaign, Flight of a Thousand Years. The players decide they will stop by Bicornn. They've been to the planet before, but didn't set foot off ship due to the Library Data entry (pulled from the GURPS Traveller Behind the Claw supplement: "The human states are engaged in a constant fight for survival against the Krvn, a semi-sentient species of human-sized burrowing arachnoids.") They met a couple of (human) natives off-world, were impressed with their resolve and survivalist mindset, and expect to go a little touring this time around. Checking elsewhere, it would appear that the GURPS: Traveller (GT) entry was written for this incarnation -- there is no canonical Classic Traveller (CT) reference. There have been some fan writeups of the world (like this one on Zho BERKA's site) which go in completely different directions.

Reading the GT blurb puts me in mind of "The Kokod Warriors" by Jack Vance. In this classic space opera tale, the world in question has an indigenous population of sapients with a hive-like societal structure (the hives are called "tumbles"). Periodically, the tumbles send their warriors to do battle; warfare is strictly guided by a large number of Codes of Combat, each of which specify the maneuvers that may be used, the weapons allowed, and so on. I posit three different groups on the planet.

The native "aliens" are the Krvn. They have a society with extreme biological stratification. The males are the warriors and the females are the Matrons of each colony (I might keep the name Tumble, it has a good ring to it). Due to the extremely limited space (it's a tiny world) the Tumbles are engaged in constant ritualized warfare. The Krvn are semi-sentient in the way that they have no real identity as individuals; instead, each warrior or Matron identifies so strongly with their home Tumble that they have almost no individuality. The constant warfare has become highly structured, and is devoted to acquiring the battle standards of opposing forces. In this conception,perhaps the nucleus of each colony is actually something non-organic, like the radioactive piles used by the ghosts in another Vance story The King of Thieves (which can also be found by following the Vance link in my first post). If so, this source of radioactive ores would be a hidden source of revenue if it is ever discovered, albeit to the destruction of the native life.

The first human group are the remnants of a colony ship that crashed here shortly before the Long Night. The passengers regressed, due in part to a lack of metal ores, and partly because of the extreme savagery of the native fauna, including the Krvn. They adapted and also engage in ritualized battle with the natives, although their inclusion probably required the inclusion of a new set of Codes of Combat. They call their strongholds Tumbles as well, and otherwise fit in. I have already established Venom Brandy as a local export, so this now becomes something stoked with the venom of another predatory arthropod. Their battle brotherhoods (see above) restrict them to specific (Renaissance tech) weapons and tactics, which neatly explains their given TL without problem.

The second human group is a set of capitalists who have created a betting lodge (or more than one?) on the planet. They have the highest tech level on the planet, and make their money from tourists betting on the local battles. This also allows me to add morally-bankrupt corporate chicanery without using one of the more established megacorporations (I get bored with them after a while).

The characters at one time tried to smuggle a shipment of TL9 weapons to their buddies on Bicornn, since they figured the "life and death struggle against man-sized spiders" meant that the people needed all the help they could get. After rolling well for port inspectors, I ruled that the "farm implements" had been seized by port security, and they figured that local law must have prohibited advanced tech. I'm now wondering if perhaps the lodge owners have had local import laws tightened to prevent the importation of higher-tech goods, in order to maintain their own monopoly on the equipment. Of course, by the previous reasoning, neither the native humans or the Krvn would have use for such weapons -- they don't fit any Codes of Combat! But still, I like to be consistent with my previous rulings, even when I never gave it much thought before.
Caption: "Typical Krvn fingerling (from Rock River Tumble). Thousands of fingerlings are born every year in each Tumble. Semi-sentient until adulthood, they are left to fend for themselves by the adults; about 90% perish in their first year."


Caption: "Typical Krvn warrior (from Rock River Tumble). Note the cuirass, derived from a local predatory arthropod."

Sources:
http://firecrows.blogspot.com/2010/04/alien-spider-mite-parasite-thing.html
http://matlatart.deviantart.com/art/alien-jungle-184734557
http://rajooda.deviantart.com/art/Alien-Sword-Weapon-115981915
http://www.kormax.com/images/KR0025.jpg

[AlHazred]

Re: Traveller Hero: Bicornn/Glisten (2331 Spinward Marches)

 

I've updated the character brief cards to reflect what I used during this weekend's session. I decided the human natives brought black powder to Bicornn, but the development of firearms has been slow because of a lack of easily-exploited metal resources on the planet.

 

I've since decided Bircornn, smaller than Earth but with almost the same gravity, has significant heavy metal deposits in the core, including veins of lanthanides and radioactives. I would be interested in speculation on the use of spent-uranium slugs in black-powder matchlock/wheelock firearms! Armor Piercing? Penetrating? Huge surprise for high-tech PCs not expecting significant native resistance due to superior Tech Level?

[Tasha]

Re: Traveller Hero: Bicornn/Glisten (2331 Spinward Marches)

 

I've updated the character brief cards to reflect what I used during this weekend's session. I decided the human natives brought black powder to Bicornn, but the development of firearms has been slow because of a lack of easily-exploited metal resources on the planet.

 

I've since decided Bircornn, smaller than Earth but with almost the same gravity, has significant heavy metal deposits in the core, including veins of lanthanides and radioactives. I would be interested in speculation on the use of spent-uranium slugs in black-powder matchlock/wheelock firearms! Armor Piercing? Penetrating? Huge surprise for high-tech PCs not expecting significant native resistance due to superior Tech Level?

 

Since most Matchlock/Wheellock weapons are smooth bore and shoot a spherical ball. I doubt that DU rounds would do much ex perhaps increase damage a DC due to the heavier material. They would need an upgrade to Rifled Barrels and bullets shaped like modern rounds |__> . Those you could put a DU core into and make an Armor Piercing round. Though honestly it's probably easiest to introduce barrel Rifling, smokeless power and brass round casings and go all Wild West Tech on them.