Old English, used from the mid-5th century to after the Norman Conquest 1066. So, peg it at 1,500 – 1,000 years ago.
Classic Traveller is set about 3,500 years in the future.
What Travdeller calls “Anglic” has less in common with our English, than our English has with the Old English of the post-Imperial era.
(Post-Roman Imperial, of course.)
Tokyo Imperial Palace: in case you need to detail the home of a ruling Subsector Duke.
Prehistoric Animals (That Aren’t Dinosaurs): When Referees need inspiration to further terrorize your Players
Zoo of Extinct Animals: Nobles want what they want, and often aren’t too worried about Solomani babble about ‘ethics’.
…and the prize find….
China: The complete and total section on Chinese Modern History is copied word-for-word below:
In 1912, China went through massive changes. War with Japan and internal strife ended the Qing Dynasty, and China became a republic.
After many years of political turmoil and conflict, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took control of the government in 1949.
And that’s it.
That last sentence covers a period of 70 years, by the way.
I invite American homeschoolers — and for that matter, all Christian families — to download the book, have their children read all of it, go over the history section, and have a good three-hour discussion on
This also makes good practice for detailed analysis of public school & university textbooks: always written to highlight certain facts, and obscure certain other facts.
The MegaTraveller Imperial Encyclopedia is also surprisingly useful here. See the two sections:
Library Data
a.k.a. “The Truth, as determined by Archduke Norris”
and
Library Data: Referee’s Introduction
a.k.a “What’s really going on”
There are quite a number of East Indians circulating within the Imperial Empty Quarter. If a large minority of them have the heart and bravery of Neerja Bhanot, they will have quite a good deal of earned respect, from both the Nobility and the Commoners.
Roleplaying a hero – or a heroine – is a risky venture: the bullets are real, and the good guys don’t always win.
Even so…. I know it’s worth it!
As we gallivanted around East Berlin, Hendrika rattled on about life on her commune in southern Holland. She talked of being a “free spirit,” and I soon realized that the Dutch translation meant “also does animals.” She bragged of frolicking with any and all types of mammals with no reservations or prejudices. She was the first person I met who viewed anthrax as a sexually-transmitted disease. (And no, I didn’t.)
James Bovard, My First Time to East Berlin
The focus of the article is on the oppression of Communist East Berlin, and not on the foolishness of a young Dutch lesbian of 1977.
(Who could well be an aging and respected Dutch Establishment politician in her 60s today.)
No doubt, the Solomani Party would view such activities with great hostility.
But there has always been two ways for totalitarians to rule, as noted by Orwell: play the puritan (as in the book 1984) or play the whore (as in Huxley’s book Brave New World), but – regardless of the style – always insure that all power is kept in the hands of the Right Sort.
(They are not strictly exclusive: the Inner Party of 1984 didn’t mind producing certain forms of pornography to keep the Proles happy, and I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that some Alphas of the Brave New World preferred a more Stoic way of life, to better centralize power in their hands.)
As the Emperor rules the space between the stars, he isn’t really that interested in the sexual activities of a planet’s inhabitants, so long as those perverted psions are properly suppressed.
(The Noble households are different: but most are more focused on governing the activities of their household membership, then on what the commoners are up to.)
And yet… there is an entire alien race within the Imperium, the Droyne, who are quite psionic and yet are not oppressed, suppressed, or undergoing genocide.
This is mainly due to public ignorance: as of 1115, very few Imperials are even aware that there is a single star-spanning Droyne race. And the Imperium isn’t that interested in spreading the news.
But the news is going to spread …if the Imperium lasts long enough. (Points to Archduke Dulinor, on his way to meet Emperor Strephon in 1116.)
The knowledge will leak (in an alternate-universe Imperium) from academics to popular science-oriented chat shows to the general public to the textbooks.
The Imperial Mystics – the analogue to Solomani Free Spirits – are going to start multiplying.
Various Imperial loyalist groups – and one conservative superculture, the Vilani – are going to start demanding Imperial Action against the deepening rot at at the foundations of Imperial Rule.
Relentless investigators and conspiracy theorists are going to reveal the secret repeal of certain Psionic Suppression Orders, something that will shock the public and open an opportunity for various ambitious Ruling Houses to make their move.
(And not just outside the Imperial Family, Duchess Margaret of Delphi, a relative of the Emperor, has a certain hostility to cyborgs. It would be interesting to discover her opinion on psions.
Perhaps she would be shocked – shocked! – at the actions of the Emperor who is, after all, her cousin once removed. Perhaps, for the sake of the family, her dear relative needs to step down and someone untouched by the scandal rise to the Iridium Throne.)
Certainly, the Emperor is going to have to make some far-reaching decisions as the crisis of legitimacy mounts.
Traveller’s 70s/80s system generation system – and even the more detailed GURPS Traveller system – is based on the mediocrity principle: “there is nothing special about humans, or earth, or our solar system, or our galaxy.”
Ooops.
“Contact your nearest Solomani Party Office for more details.”
On the other hand, there just aren’t any aliens to oppress or kill or preen about your superiority to. Just the profound silence of the Deep Dark.
IN THE FUTURE… nobody will be able to tell the difference between Traveller and Dungeons and Dragons.
Weird.
Yes, the Dutch are pagans. But upon occasion, they get it right: and when they do, Christians must learn from their example.
“Don’t just hear. Listen.”
This is the more stereotypical, “classic Imperial” style of travelling.
In the Imperium, there are all sorts of Nobles, who use all sorts of ways to get around.
Some of them even use Free Traders.
Some of them even run Free Traders as a side gig.
Set up your adventures accordingly.
Something interesting to investigate.
Also, it looks like – depending on the star – we may have to do some stellar engineering to set up a heliopause to protect the entire system, or raise a shield to protect a world.
Good engineering behind Voyager 2, by the way. She only has about six years of power left, and there’s nothing much left to discover, but she did her job.
*Salute*
