Goods

Goods are the equipment, guns, gadgets, gimmicks, devices, and technological toys. They also include more mundane items such as food, drink, construction materials, drugs, luxury items, tools, and emergency response items.

Metahistory

The use of Equipment to enhance the character's abilities is one of the first underlying concepts described in the original Versions of Traveller. The acquisition of more expensive, exotic or improbable items was one of the rewards built in to that original system.

As the game system has progressed, the list of goods available has extended as rules were added for designing ever more complex items from subatomic size to Megastructures.

Goods Subcategories

There is a summary list.

Articles about goods in the encyclopedia are placed into following categories:

A - Protections, Safety (Armor, Clothing, Insulation, etc), Augments.

Fabrics, Protective gear, Personal armor, Cyberware, Powered Armor

B - Breathing Gases. Specialized Mixtures.

Breathing apparatus

C - Cables and Surface Gear.

Survival gear, Climbing gear, Personal mobility

D - Detectors (Sensors, Sensory aids, Signal amplifiers, etc).

Sensory aids

E - Emitters (of signals capable of being sensed).

Communications gear, Emitters

F - Food. Nutrients

Beverages, Foods, Spices, Food and Drink

G - Non-Breathing gases.

<No Category>

K - Containers, Carriers, Cases, Backpacks, Holsters.

Containers

L - Liquids. Liquid Manipulating Equipment. Pumps.

<No Category>

M - Construction Materials, Structural Items.

Construction materials

N - Information, Software, Data, Apps, Programming. Computers.

Computers, Programs

P - Power. Power Supplies. Power Cells. Energy Sources.

Power supplies

Q - Small Craft.

Smallcraft

R - Drugs (Rx) and Medical.

Medical, Drugs

S - Structures, Shelters,

Structures

T - Tools. Toolkits. Basic Machines

Tools, Tool kits

U - Unique items

Personal items

V - Vehicles.

Civilian Vehicle, Combat Vehicle, Paramilitary Vehicle, Personal vehicles

W - Weapons

Weapons

X - Explosives. Exothermic Chemicals.

Explosives

Y - Robots, Automatons, Strangeforms.

Robots of Charted Space

Notes: Materials such as grain or wood should not be in the library, unless there is a special Traveller-related reason (q.v. Hellboria Wood).

Technological Stages of Goods Development

Emergent Period

TL-0:
At TL-0, sophonts use found tools, acquired items from their environment to master their environment and the non-technological creatures surrounding them.

Foundational Period

TL:1-9:
By TL-1 and beyond, sophonts have learned how to use basic tools to construct more sophisticated tools: tools making tools.

Interstellar Period

TL:10-18:
By TL-10 and beyond, sophonts have learned how to manufacture advanced tools using Makertech and other sophisticated technologies.

Ultra Period

TL:19-27:
By TL:19-27, robots become society's Basic Workforce, radically transforming everyday life for non-robotic sophonts. Early robota manifest various levels of autonomous behavior, but lack the deep ability for independent decision-making which constitutes true artificial intelligence. At this point, tools build more sophisticated tools, that are in turn built by tools, with tools, and were intellectually formulated by tools as well, completely removing non-robotic sophonts from the equation.

This ushers in what economists have long called a post-scarcity economy. It is not an unlimited post-scarcity economy, but most goods necessary to life are widely available for negligible value. Many societies provide extensive social safety nets, most consumer goods can be had affordably, and makertech has so advanced that most manufactured goods can be quickly had where they are needed most.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller, Robert Eaglestone, Don McKinney. Worlds and Adventures (Far Future Enterprises, 2019), 165,172.