Sheridan Station Report

These are my own thoughts on Traveller (R) rules and house rules under development Striker vs. TCS vs. NATO -or- Your TCS Navy is Too Damn Big Suddenly NATO is relevant again, reminds me of 1981. I’m working on a campaign in the Gateway Quadrant circa 1004, and I want to pull together some baseline navies for the multitude of pocket empires that QLI and DGP left behind, which survive into the Travellermap. I’m looking for gameplay, not Keynesian Economic Models, i.e. a modicum of inputs and a range of outputs to be tailored by the referee to fit the game you want.   Let’s start with a comparison of Trillion Credit Squadron (TCS) and Striker. Striker presented a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Model, renamed GWP for Gross World Product.   It went like this: Citizen Income determined by Tech Level x Trade Modifiers (TRAD) x Referee Military Budget (MILBUD) x Branch Allocation (BRALLOC) in CR x Population.   Furthermore a lower TL world, could purchase higher TL...

  Sheridan has two primary competitors in the Gateway Sector: Haytch Dash Ten, usually abreviated H-10 : Glimmerdrift: Sosie (2124) and Galvestar : Gateway: Denkard (2008). H-10 Produces about 50% more ships than Sheridan and at a higher TL 14.  However H-10 is a Bureacracy, and the purchasing process can be excruciating and long, and not all governments are qualified buyers. Galvestar produces TL 11 ships, suitable for most purposes, but only had about a sixth of the capacity of Sheridan, and perhaps 10% of H-10s capacity.  Galvestar is ruled by a dictatorship which does not sell to governments that it finds idealogically offensive (at least not publicly). There are a few other Independent yards with less than 5% of Sheridan's shipbuilding capacity, in the Gateway Sector: Dover :    Gateway:    Ashton (2423) TL 10 - Dictatorship Tsavo :  Crucis Margin:  Bright Heavens (1125) TL 11 - Balkanized Aluudi :  Glimmerdrift:  Darkling (70...

I own physical copies of some Judges’ Guild Traveler material, which I had never referenced before 2019. Covid came.  I thought it would be fun to retcon JG to 1105, but discovered, after expending too much time, that it was no longer part of the OTU.  Then I discovered QLI’s Gateway to Destiny on a Far Future Enterprises CD ROM (available at Traveller20 Contents.pdf (farfuture.net) .  The system was T20, but the background material was intriguing, and TBH, far better than the Judges Guild material.  But that’s not a high bar to step over.  The plan changed.  I decided to build a campaign that fits into OTU, in the Gateway Sector.  Gateway to Destiny is set in 990, written in 2004.  I also own a physical copy of MegaTraveler Journal #4 (available on E-Bay), detailing the Gateway Sector Post Rebellion ~ 1120 , written in 1993.  It's not all "Canon" but a some of the material is incorporated into the OTU. The set up is wonderful: At th...

1004: "Peace"   Two years after the end of the war, 101 years before 1105. The Solomani Rim war lasted for 10 years during which the Imperium was forced to divert numerous resources to the war effort, leaving frontiers and borders less secure.  The shortage of Imperial resources led to increased crime and piracy along the frontier.  Some local political entities aka certain “pocket empires” sought to exploit the situation for their own gain.  Others sought to fill the void of law and order that was left when Imperial forces (Uncle Imperium) were no longer available to support free trade and commerce. Things were already bad in Glimmerdrift in 990, the Archduke was replaced circa 990 due to his own ineptness (malfeasance?).  Pirate activity had increase from 800 onwards and Imperial response had been lackluster.  The new Archduke sought to improve trade and commerce and project Imperial “economic guidance” into the subsector but was soon hamper...

Based on my interpretation of Sheridan, IMTU (In My Traveler Universe), many roads in the Gateway Quadrant lead to Sheridan Station.  The players can be agents of a family, or on Sheridan working for any one of hundreds of employers.  Let me first establish a timeframe, the year is ~ 1004. About 101 years before the classic era, and 2 years after the end of the  Solomani Rim War .  Also ~ 14 years after Gateway To Destiny . Q1. What is the relationship between the Imperium and Sheridan? The Imperium had never had the local resources to tackle the Sheridan Conundrum.  Sheridan promotes free trade and is generally a neutral factor in any conflicts along the Imperial Border.  Its own fragmented corporate structure ensures that where one side "levels up" a competing family will "level up" any competitors, keeping a modicum of stability in any open conflicts.  If the Imperium is ever able to focus attention on the region, it might need to choose sides....

 I've been working on a new Traveler Campaign during the Corona Virus and it's all sitting on my computer, doing no one else any good.  I saw another blog where a referee had posted an amazing amount of good material and I decided that I should put my modicum amount of medicore material into a blog for reference, for players and anyone else in the community who might be interested. What is Sheridan Station? Sheridan is a planet in the OTU (Official Traveler Universe) located in the Even Subsector of the Glimmerdrift Reaches Sector (0324).  Spinward of Sheridan is the Delphi Rift, 7 parscs Rimward of Sheridan is The Imperium Domain of Gateway.  Trailing and Coreward are numerous Non Aligned Human Worlds, States, Confederations and Unions. These are all customers or potential purchasers for Sheridan's numerous and enormous Tech Level 12 shipyards.  Sheridan Station is the hub of commercial and military shipbuilding activity that reaches out across the Glimmerdrift...