Death in character creation is a feature not a bug, without it the game balance goes right out the window.
Okay, Traveller's Third Imperium in a nut shell. Bear in mind that the Traveller fans will rend you like wild beasts if you conflate the setting with the system.
300000 years ago an alien race achieved sentience and technological advancement never seen since. They went to Earth and transplanted humans on dozens if not hundreds of worlds. They also uplifted wolves and transplanted them coreward and trailing. To this day there's some debate over whether Terra is really the human world of origin but it is the best candidate in known space.
6000 years ago, the humans of Vland developed anti-gravity and warp drive and began their slow and methodica explorations that would lead to the first imperium. The Villani are beaurcratic and fussy and their technological development stagnated quickly.
2500 years ago the Villani first encounter the Terrans who are expanding rapidly and have surpassed the Villani technolgically. A series of interstellar wars eventually leads to the collapse of the First Imperium and the establishment of the "Second Imperium" or "Rule of Man" which lasts maybe 200 years.
The 1000 year long night ends with the Sylean Federation expanding by selling new technologies to their neighbours. The technocratic entrenures take on tradition noble titles and call their new nation The Third Imperium.
1000 years later the Third Imperium is a sprawling giant bounded on all sides. If there is one rule to sum up the Third Imperium it's "don't impede trade or the megacorporations will eat you alive."
The Third Imperium encompasses many sentient species but those who achieve FTL "Jump Drives" on their own are accorded special status as "Major Race" they also are the major political entities that neighbour the Imperium. The Vargr are a nebulous race uplifted from Terran wolves by the ancients. Their nations seldom last more than a couple generations but they are numerous and aggressive. The Villani are part of the Third Imperium and are a major force for conservatism. The Aslan are descended from carnivorous pouncers and are somewhat lion-like. The K'kree or "Centaurs" are a herbivorous hexapedal race of militant vegans who will kill you if you have meat on your breath. They control an empire of 1000 worlds and get on poorly with all their neighbours though they won't be picking a fight with the Hivers again any time soon. The Hivers resemble starfish with one limb ending in another starfish. They are inscrutible, technologically advanced, and supported by their militant I'thkulr client race on the field of battle. The Hivers are master manipulators and the only designation or honorific in their society is "Manipulator." The I'thklur national sport is baiting the Hivers with absurd behaviours, like playing baseball and wearing Santa Claus hats. (there, that should set off any Traveller fans) On the spinward and coreward end we have more humans, the utopian, psychic, Zhodani who have a society ruled by psychics where criminals are treated with mind wiping and everybody is happy all the time, or else. They've fought five frontier wars with the Third Imperium and nobody really knows why.
Technologically Jump Drive and Anti Gravity are relatively simple technologies that we should be developing around next Saturday. Ancient artifacts like forcefields exist but are rare. The jump drive currently maxes out at six parsecs a week and that requires 60% of the ship to be fuel. This makes space travel relatively cheap and easy. Psionics exist but are banned in the Third Imperium. (which makes finding a psionic institute a solid adventure pull) There are no other FTL communications though research into long range telepaty is on going.
