Freelance Traveller

Travelling in the Universe of Dumarest of Terra

by Jeff Zeitlin

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2024 issue.

The Dumarest of Terra series is often cited as a major influence on the development of Traveller, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the setting of the novels is suitable for setting a Traveller campaign. Overall, while ‘stock’ Traveller isn’t exactly shiny and upbeat, the Dumarest setting seems somewhat darker and grittier than stock Traveller, and in some ways it feels like it would be common for ‘player characters’ to be in what would feel like a ‘red queen’s race’ – you have to run as hard and as fast as you can just to stay in the same place.

Interstellar Travel

Unlike ‘stock’ Traveller, interstellar travel isn’t quantized, and destinations aren’t fixed at the time of entry into hyperspace – a ship’s course can be changed once in hyperspace. Distances, travel times, and effective speeds are not given; hyperspace travel is at the speed of plot.

Traveller’s “Fast Drug” and “Slow Drug” both exist, under somewhat different names; “Quick Time” slows down the metabolism and speeds up time perception by a factor of (different in different stories) thirty to sixty, so that several days of actual travel time may only be perceived as a day or less. “Slow Time” does the reverse, with about the same factor; it’s used as part of medical treatment. A person who is conscious while under “Slow Time” needs to consume ‘Basic’ on a near-constant basis; ‘Basic’ is a liquid that is high in glucose and protein, fortified with vitamins, and is more-or-less ‘standard’ rations on a starship.

There are three levels of ‘passage’, just as in Traveller, but the characteristics of each are somewhat different: Low passage is essentially the same as in Traveller (freeze the passenger down into unconsciousness, some risk of not surviving the trip); High passage gives some amenities, but not necessarily the luxury that seems to be assumed in Traveller – it does include steward service, but since High passage includes being dosed with “Quick Time”, fresh-cooked or hot meals are precluded. Middle passage does not include steward service or dosing with “Quick Time” – the passenger experiences the entire period of the voyage. Working passage is possible, but rare.

Interstellar Organization

There is no actual interstellar government described in the stories; worlds are independent. There is no common currency, either; while shipmasters will take payments in local currencies, those currencies can’t be ‘fiat’ currency; they must have intrinsic value, and using things like jewels, metal ingots, or other valuta as payment for passage is common.

There are two organizations that exert influence on an interstellar level: the Church of Universal Brotherhood, and the Cyclan.

The Church presents as (and functions as) an order that has taken a vow of poverty and an oath of charity; they will set up “portable churches” where it is permitted, and the “brothers” (no female members are portrayed) will beg for alms, reminding their targets that ‘there, but for the grace of G-d, go I’ and trying to ‘guilt’ those they approach into giving. The portable churches act as confessionals; a penitent makes his confession, is subjected to the ‘light of benediction’ (which hypnotically instills a command never to kill another, and also hypnotically induces a self-created penitence), after which they are given the ‘wafer of forgiveness’ (essentially a wafer made of a day’s worth of Basic, or equivalent). The Church is not portrayed as having the ambition to control worlds; rather, they believe that when everyone everywhere subscribes to the ‘there but for the grace of G-d…” credo, the Millenium/Rapture/End Time/Triumph of G-d will occur.

The Cyclan, on the other hand, do have “imperial” ambitions, bringing worlds under their influence by sending their agent ‘Cybers’ to worlds and selling their predictive services; they claim not to advise, but they will answer questions on the likely outcome of a proposed course of action. Their predictions, however, can be phrased or slanted to encourage an action that would ultimately lead to the local government being increasingly dependent on them and their advice, so that the real power is effectively vested in the Cyber. Cyclan domination is a long-term plan; they are quite willing to have their Cybers forward the goals of their customer in the short term, while manipulating them toward the Cyclan’s own goals over the long term.

Aliens

While aliens are portrayed as existing, for the most part, they are not equal to or more advanced than humans; none have any interstellar presence. The setting can be treated as a human-only setting without losing any of the flavor of the books.

Careers

Not all Traveller careers are suitable for the Dumarest setting; roles that we do see would correspond to Drifter, Free Trader, Mercenary, and possibly Wealthy Traveller.

A note

In 2022, 2023, and 2024, there were some games at TravellerCON/USA that were using the ‘Dumarest RPG’ rule set. Burnt City Games is testing a customized version of Traveller, using the Dumarest setting with the permission of E.C.Tubb’s estate, and with the active mentoring and advice of Marc Miller. This article was written without any reference to the Burnt City offering, only to my reading of the series of novels.