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Small planetary "data" questions ...

T

Tellon

SOC-12
I am curious as to what you guys use as a quick "write-up" for a planet -- like a "Library Data file" that a player might look up to check out a certain locale.

say your working on fleshing out a system, and thus going down the list fleshing out all the worlds, moons and GG's ....

-- since I am wondering what I *might* be missing for a quick "glance" at what a planet offers and such

here is an example:

- Melody

Orbit
Orbit Inclin 0.0
Orbit Eccen .02
Diameter 6700 km
Surf.Gravity .5
Atm.Press .05
Atm.Comp Methane
% Water 2% (ice pockets at poles)
UPP G411539-B Re
Exp LL's 899BA7
Exp TL's BDDCB-B9AB-BBBB-B99

* Aristocracy - Noble family is vocal of support for religious & psionic causes.
* Research labs is rumored to be a psionic institute
* Ships non-ferrous ores & data commonly
* Progression - Fairly traditional -- due to the religious and Psionic aspects --
* Agressiveness - Passive, mellow folks
* world view - very secretive and mysterious -- very technically saavy in robotics/cybernetics
* off-world view - generally secretive -- the planet is a sanctuary for religious/psionic types

note: the LL's are the exteded Law levels; the ext TL's are of course the TL's ...and the notes below give a bit of extra social data on each location -- so it covers several things that are of importance for a player looking thru "Library data" at a location to give them an idea of what they could expect.
 
Generally, I'll just give them the UWP, and the decoding key.

If I've got a 1 paragraph writeup, I'll add that.
 
Here are notes I made when I rolled up a new subsector a while back:

Perdition
(103) B-321759-C (non-ag, poor)

'Smaller than Mars. Wild, planet-wide talcum-dust storms. Very little standing water, mostly in deep aquifers near poles. Utopian, closed communities like arcologies, domed or sealed against storms. Closed ecology growing food, managed by technocrats. No weapons allowed, only military or police. High-tech, fusion.'

I love the new Mongoose "Cultural Differences Table" on page 177. I rolled "24: Hororable" so I added:

'Respect for growing things, hippies and New Alchemy in space.'

That's about all I start out with until it seems likely players will go there. If my notes are fairly innocent, like above, I'll read almost verbatim to the players. If I noted any nasty surprises, naturally I keep mum on those. :devil:

More wriggling space for the Referee when the PCs arrive at the planet.
file_22.gif
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Precisely.
 
leo knight said:
Here are notes I made when I rolled up a new subsector a while back:

Perdition
(103) B-321759-C (non-ag, poor)

'Smaller than Mars. Wild, planet-wide talcum-dust storms. Very little standing water, mostly in deep aquifers near poles. Utopian, closed communities like arcologies, domed or sealed against storms. Closed ecology growing food, managed by technocrats. No weapons allowed, only military or police. High-tech, fusion.'

I love the new Mongoose "Cultural Differences Table" on page 177. I rolled "24: Hororable" so I added:

'Respect for growing things, hippies and New Alchemy in space.'

That's about all I start out with until it seems likely players will go there. If my notes are fairly innocent, like above, I'll read almost verbatim to the players. If I noted any nasty surprises, naturally I keep mum on those. :devil:



Precisely.
Click to expand...

Gets my vote. :smirk:
 
leo knight said:
Here are notes I made when I rolled up a new subsector a while back:

Perdition
(103) B-321759-C (non-ag, poor)

'Smaller than Mars. Wild, planet-wide talcum-dust storms. Very little standing water, mostly in deep aquifers near poles. Utopian, closed communities like arcologies, domed or sealed against storms. Closed ecology growing food, managed by technocrats. No weapons allowed, only military or police. High-tech, fusion.'

I love the new Mongoose "Cultural Differences Table" on page 177. I rolled "24: Hororable" so I added:

'Respect for growing things, hippies and New Alchemy in space.'

That's about all I start out with until it seems likely players will go there. If my notes are fairly innocent, like above, I'll read almost verbatim to the players. If I noted any nasty surprises, naturally I keep mum on those. :devil:
Click to expand...

Cool -- :) Thx ..
 
Hmmm...

Tellon said:
I am curious as to what you guys use as a quick "write-up" for a planet -- like a "Library Data file" that a player might look up to check out a certain locale.

say your working on fleshing out a system, and thus going down the list fleshing out all the worlds, moons and GG's ....

-- since I am wondering what I *might* be missing for a quick "glance" at what a planet offers and such

here is an example:

- Melody

Orbit
Orbit Inclin 0.0
Orbit Eccen .02
Diameter 6700 km
Surf.Gravity .5
Atm.Press .05
Atm.Comp Methane
% Water 2% (ice pockets at poles)
UPP G411539-B Re
Exp LL's 899BA7
Exp TL's BDDCB-B9AB-BBBB-B99

* Aristocracy - Noble family is vocal of support for religious & psionic causes.
* Research labs is rumored to be a psionic institute
* Ships non-ferrous ores & data commonly
* Progression - Fairly traditional -- due to the religious and Psionic aspects --
* Agressiveness - Passive, mellow folks
* world view - very secretive and mysterious -- very technically saavy in robotics/cybernetics
* off-world view - generally secretive -- the planet is a sanctuary for religious/psionic types

note: the LL's are the exteded Law levels; the ext TL's are of course the TL's ...and the notes below give a bit of extra social data on each location -- so it covers several things that are of importance for a player looking thru "Library data" at a location to give them an idea of what they could expect.
Click to expand...
And this exactly where. *grins* I might like to vacation there.
 
Gents,

For what it's worth, Leo's example is pretty much what my players' characters would have read in their Pilot's Guide to the Fill-In-The-Blank Subsector with one important exception: Cultural Aspects.

My players could only get a handle on the purely "cultural" stuff, the results from Mongoose's Cultural Differences table or the results from the earlier similar tables in DGP's WBH, by "working the street". That kind of information was always something the players had to uncover on their own via in-game actions.

GDW routinely wrote about how acquisition of knowledge was as much a goal in a Traveller game as the acquisition of wealth. By allowing my players to "learn" ahead of time about the worlds they visited by game play rather than just reading a snippet of Library Data, I was able to emphasize that acquisition of knowledge.

Because they "learned" the information themselves, very often my players in-game conversations reminded me of certain details regarding a world before I had to look them up.

Using Leo's superb "thumbnail", this is what would be available via Library Data:

Perdition
(103) B-321759-C (non-ag, poor)

'Smaller than Mars. Wild, planet-wide talcum-dust storms. Very little standing water, mostly in deep aquifers near poles. Utopian, closed communities like arcologies, domed or sealed against storms. Closed ecology growing food, managed by technocrats. No weapons allowed, only military or police. High-tech, fusion.'
Click to expand...

And this is what would be available by working the street:

'Respect for growing things, hippies and New Alchemy in space.'
Click to expand...

Using Tellon's equally nifty "thumbnail", this would be Library Data:

- Melody

Orbit
Orbit Inclin 0.0
Orbit Eccen .02
Diameter 6700 km
Surf.Gravity .5
Atm.Press .05
Atm.Comp Methane
% Water 2% (ice pockets at poles)
UPP G411539-B Re
Exp LL's 899BA7
Exp TL's BDDCB-B9AB-BBBB-B99

* Aristocracy - Noble family is vocal of support for religious causes.
* Research labs present
* Ships non-ferrous ores & data commonly
* Very technically saavy in robotics/cybernetics
* Planet is a sanctuary for religious types
Click to expand...

While this would be revealed in pieces by working the street:

* Aristocracy - Noble family is vocal of support for psionic causes.
* Research labs is rumored to be a psionic institute
* Progression - Fairly traditional -- due to the religious and Psionic aspects --
* Agressiveness - Passive, mellow folks
* world view - very secretive and mysterious
* off-world view - generally secretive -- the planet is a sanctuary for psionic types
Click to expand...


Regards,
Bill
 
*laughing*

Tellon said:
LOL -- so ya might wanna vacation on Melody huh? .. cool --

it's a moon of the SGG that is on the Far Companion star -- and far enough away from the government/military of the mainworld -- that the locals breathe easier.. lol
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Yeah, while I don't know what all the LL and TL extensions are, the tech seems about right for some one born on the Frontier and former Navy and oppressive LL's don't scare me, I am from Regina. :D
 
Magnus Thornwood said:
Yeah, while I don't know what all the LL and TL extensions are, the tech seems about right for some one born on the Frontier and former Navy and oppressive LL's don't scare me, I am from Regina. :D
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lol -- sorry about that

the extended law levels represent --
Common space (outside the spaceport), weapons, trade, criminal law, civil law, personal freedoms .. so like the B877ADE-A has a EDCGFE for thier laws .. lol, "Oh, you got caught commiting a crime? Hmm, a public excution should do the trick .. hmm, now where is that camera, I have an itchy trigger-finger"

so obviously the harsher areas keep the trade law done, so businesses keep the goods flowing to the govt/military -- while the people get shafted .. And the free "states" keep the personal freedoms good -- while the trade law is toughened just a bit

The endended TL's are
"Quality of life" -- Energy, Computers/Electronics, Commo/Sensors, Medical, Environ/Housing
"Transportation" -- Land, Air, Water, Space
"Military" -- Pers Weaps, Pers Armor, Hvy Weaps, Hvy Armor
"Trade Goods" -- High end, Low-end, Novelties

The extended TL's -- most of the time -- the "quality of life" section is kept up nice & high; while the dictatorship "states" have a different take on it -- "have great computers, electronics and sensors to keep an eye on people..." so it's all perspective ... so a TL A world can have TL 12 Plasma armed Battledressed troops; or TL 12 robots/cyberware or TL 12 drugs or TL 12 Meson spinal cannons

It's all up to how one plays with the TL's on a world and the suprises that can occur .. lol

"I thought that privateer came from a Dunger, they still use fission! -- and that boat has a damned PAW!" ... the reply from the navigator was a short scream just as the bridge was ripped apart.
 
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Yes, that trick seems familar...

Yeah, I too am a big fan of loopholes. :D

Of course there is a TL-F shipyard at Efate, too bad it is the private Fief of a Count and he's not so keen on uninvited guests. "..corporate espionage and all, I am sure you understand, and if you remain where you are, we will have some fuel sent to you..." DDB is kinda harsh about their Traffic Corridors being clear of "riff-raff". :devil:
 
Vargr said:
Tellon said:
ok, cool .. so keep the info more to a minimum --
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More wriggling space for the Referee when the PCs arrive at the planet. :smirk:
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IMO that's a genuine problem, and one of the main reasons I favor shared universes. In any kind of information society, such as most SF universes, players are entitled to a lot more information than any referee can reasonably be expected to write up on his own. If the players ask me "are there any notable problems we should look out for on Nextworld", they're entitled to be told that the local atmospheric taint can cause lung rot or that any female walking about unescorted by a male legal guardian will get picked up by the police. If I just hand over a UWP and a one-paragraph description, I feel constrained not to introduce any blatant surprises (not to avoid all surprises, of course; just those that aren't subtle enough to avoid ending up on a Tourist Advisory).

If someone else has done a writeup of the next world, I can copy, paste, edit a bit, and print it out for my players. Yeah! Otherwise, I either have to write one myself or assure my players that there are no big problems lurking on said world.

At one point I tried writing up one-page fact sheets for my players. Each summarized a subject down to fit on a single A4 page (roughly 700 words). I didn't manage to write very many, but those I did finish were very popular, one page being just about as much exposition as my players could handle in one go ;).

Here's an example of a fact-sheet for a world.

Ruie

Ruie is a medium-sized, high-population planet with a diameter of 7,457 miles. It has a gravity of 0.95 G. The rotation period is 24h 51m 06s and the orbital period is 359.91 days (347.6 local days). The atmosphere is a standard oxygen-nitrogen mix tainted by fungal spores (see below). Hydrographic percentage is 58. Base temperature is 25°C, giving Ruie a summer high of 62°C at the equator and a winter low of -51°C at the poles. Native life is present.

History

Ruie was settled in 78, only three years after Regina, by a group of religious utopians from the Imperial core. The colony suffered a drastic loss of technology, and in 325 the Scouts interdicted the world to protect the population from outside interference. The world was recontacted in 1074, when it had worked its way back up to early GTL6 (electricity). In 1110 the Imperium claimed the Ruie system as a protectorate; while Ruie itself would not be interfered with, the system would be under Imperial protection until such time as Ruie was able to defend the system on its own.

Politics

Ruie is divided into 152 nations ranging in population from the 1.2 billion of the former world power Strolojka to the 23,000 of the tiny island kingdom of Ringinsel. Of these, the four most powerful are Jingarlu, the Comors Union, Nebelthorn, and Godarlu.

Jingarlu has long been an ally of the Imperium and recently became a member state. It has a population of 344 million and a tech level of 7. The Comors Union is likewise a full member of the Imperium. It consists of 21 member states with a total population of 653 million and an overall tech level of 7. Nebelthorn is a client state of the Imperium, but not a very cooperative one. It has a population of 905 million and a history of enmity to Jingarlu and the Comors Union and of antagonism to the Imperium. Travellers’ Aid Society lists it as an Amber Zone. It has a tech level of 6. Godarlu is also an Imperial client, but is neutral in the struggle between Jingarlu, The Comors Union, and Nebelthorn. It has a population of 961 million and a tech level of 6.

Languages

All Ruhigan languages derive from the same Germanic language. The written form of the original language has remained almost unchanged, but pronunciation varies a lot. Many educated Ruhigans speak Galanglic as a second language. Language crystals are only available for the major dialects.

Offworld Contact

There is no Imperial starport on Ruie yet. Each of the four major nations has its own Class III starport and many of the minor nations have starports ranging in quality from Class I to Class III. A small destroyer squadron belonging to the Duchy of Regina is stationed in the system to guard the merchant traffic. Each of the four major nations has bought a few second-hand patrol ships.

Ruie Red-spot

Ruie Red-spot is a most unpleasant fungal disease similar to athlete's foot, but far more irritating and sometimes very dangerous. It is endemic to the tropical regions of Ruie, which includes Jingarlu and the Comors Union. Skin infections are highly irritating, but not dangerous, and will usually clear up in 2-4 weeks. On occasion, the fungus will lodge in the respiratory tract, in which case it is quite often fatal. The locals are mostly immune to the disease; off-worlders and natives from more temperate climes are not. The use of a filter mask when outside prevents lung infections.​

For Ruie, I also had a 5000 word writeup that I'd done for JTAS Online, but 5000 words is a lot for a busy player to peruse, so I just made that article available for browsing.

In the next post I'll show you the fact sheet for Nebelthorn.


Hans
 
Here's my fact sheet for Nebelthorn:

Nebelthorn

Nebelthorn is a large nation that covers a large part of the continent of Emagi on Ruie. It has a population of 905 million and a tech level of 6. Travellers’ Aid Society lists it as an Amber Zone due to anti-Imperial feelings.

History

Nebelthorn was founded in 832 when the city-states of Nebel and Thorn united and became the core of a new alliance. By 911 it had grown strong enough to oppose the powerful nation of Strolojka and by 973 it was by far the most powerful state in Emagi and one of Ruie’s six greatest powers.

Over the next century Nebelthorn acquired colonies across the world and came to dominate many other countries, including Jingarlu and the many small nation-states in Comors, who grew dependent on its oil and were ruthlessly exploited and played out against each other. After 1074, Jingarlu and the Comoran states began buying fusion power plants and fusion-powered vehicles from Regina. The loss of oil revenues caused a major depression in Nebelthorn in 1093. Its leaders thought to solve their problems by provoking a war with the Comors states, who reacted by forming a union and applying to the Imperium for client state status, forcing Nebelthorn to back down.

In 1110 Nebelthorn lost its colony of Nebelthorn West Jingar to the Imperium-backed nation of Jingarlu.

Government

Nebelthorn’s government is very repressive, dealing ruthlessly with dissent and using any means necessary to keep a tight grip on all offworld and most international contact in order to prevent outside ideas from provoking unrest.
The population of 905 million is by nature violent, empirical, progressive, and reckless, but firm government control repress the violence, stifle innovation, and force long-term planning on the population. As a result Nebelthorn is a seething cauldron of resentment bubbling just beneath the surface.

Foreign relations

Nebelthorn was the first country on Ruie to suffer depression because of offworld imports. This made them very hostile to the Imperium and for many years they refused most contact with it. In 1112, the eldest Eldenn, Aloin, who had been the most stubborn Imperium-hater of them all, died and his son Urgart applied to the Imperium for client status. This turned out not to signify any real change in policy, but seems merely to have been to ensure that the Imperial ban on the use of nuclear weapons against its member states and worlds also applied to Nebelthorn, leaving it free to pursue its goal of world domination by means of conventional arms.

As a client state Nebelthorn is obliged to grant entry to any Imperial citizen who desires it, but it does not have to make life easy on strangers. Those outsiders who do visit the country can expect an endless stream of petty harassments, and the country is posted as an amber travel zone by the TAS.

The Nenadi

Nebelthorn Nachrichtendienst (Nebelthorn Intelligence Service) is Nebelthorn's brutal instrument of espionage, subversion, and sabotage; its domestic branch is an equally brutal instrument of repression. It relies heavily on advanced equipment imported from Regina, giving its operatives a big edge over local dissidents.​

I'd also made a map of Ruie (included in the aforementioned JTAS Online article) and one (almost finished) map of the continent of Emagi, showing most of Nebelthorn and its dependencies.

Note that there were some pretty significant details left out, such as the pervasive influence of religion and the political importance of the Order of the Circle Knights.


Hans
 
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Magnus Thornwood said:
Of course there is a TL-F shipyard at Efate, too bad it is the private Fief of a Count and he's not so keen on uninvited guests. "..corporate espionage and all, I am sure you understand, and if you remain where you are, we will have some fuel sent to you..." DDB is kinda harsh about their Traffic Corridors being clear of "riff-raff". :devil:
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Actually[*], Efate's extended tech profile is identical to that of Uakye. The two worlds are very tightly bound economically even though they're separate political entities. So Efate does have a stellar technology of 15.

[*] Or rather, IMTU, since this is not canon :D. Well, Uakye's extended tech profile is canon, just not that the reason it can maintain it is that its economy is for all intents and purposes part of Efate's.​


Hans
 
Thanks for the kind words. This has been a rough week, and your comments really cheered me up.

Rancke2, I used to do write ups like that, not quite as detailed, but close. two things convinced me to stop. First, I suspect I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, and can ruminate forever if given half a chance, so I forced myself to back off. Second, my players didn't care. They just wanted to get to the action, kill things and take their stuff. So, I keep detail to a minimum. I still usually come up with more than I need.

Some time ago, I ran a long term Runequest campaign. When the PCs got powerful, they became eligible to join cults, thus aquiring allies, more powerful magic, etc. I had written up abreviated overviews of a few cults in my world, and plopped them down in front of my players. They stared at me, gape-mouthed, and bleated, "It's three pages long!" Poor babies.

Whipsnade, good point about formal info versus "the street". After all, that's what Streetwise is for! The way I figure it, the basic Wikipedia style entry anyone can find, but if someone goes to the trouble of serious research, they'll find more.

I wanted to share more of how I tried to develop a world. It's been a while since my regular group got together for Traveller, and I don't want it to go to waste.

I started with the UPP:
B-323400-D, Navy & Scout bases, Non-industrial, Poor

Here's what I wrote:

"High-tech, Naval test base, like Area 51, best of the best, Groom Lake.
Honorable, suggests miltary. Like the opening of "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull", desert, hot, dusty. Military test facility, bases are occupied, the rest is a shooting gallery. All enclosed bases, tubes and domes. 'Dome Buggies', pressurized vehicles. Main community is a Startown/ Freeport, serves Navy and Scouts."

Since my thoughts kept going "Area 51", I named the planet Lazar, after a man who claimed to have worked at Area 51.

Then, when I thought I would start my players there, I brainstormed some more:

"1. Rumors of a secret testing and reverse engineering facility on the farside, alien and ancient tecnology.
2. Groupies a la Roswell make pilgrimages and party like it's 2099 in inflateable Boh-domes!
3. Naval Intelligence (Men In Black)
4. There are at least 2 nosy reporterstrying to get a story on the place, and one is hot.
5. Aliens (reptillian shape shifters) are after the tech. Greys, too.
6. Bikers are on an interstellar road trip, and want to party/ start a brawl.
7. The hot reporter is Shayla Tyree, of Sagitarius News Network, trying to get a scoop. Casting: Alison Mack, Chloe on 'Smallville'.
8. Her rival, Farrell Dirk (scummy rat), of Lupus Information Broadcasting, wants to show her up. Casting: Lucius Malfoy.
9. Reporters are watched by NavInt. They have at least 2 two-man teams, agents Smith and Jones, Johnson and Brown.
10. Marines and bikers both like the Ring Runner Bar, which has strippers and home made 'moonshine'.
11. Shayla has her cameraman/ techie Clyde Vashton along. he, of course, adores her, but is too shy to do anything."

Then it sat for a while. More brainstorming.

"Goal: retrieve a suspected crashed alien probe.
1. The patron is Ayla Varesh, Hot Scientist Babe. She wants to retrieve intact alien tech.
2. A rival adventuring party is led by Shavin Chert, a scummy rat with a bad moustache. He has bully boys. Casting: Cary Elwes in 'Twister', Bill Pullman in 'True Lies'.
3. The Greys want their stuff back, or to destroy it so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
4. Reptillians want more advanced Grey tech. They are disguised as a documentary holovid crew.
5. Ayla wears glasses because: A, she looks hot: B,they are a HUD to download info.
6. And of course, a sandstorm!"

I then sketched out the startown, Challenger City. It's a cluster of 7 domes. The big central dome is Resnik, surrounded by smaller domes McNair, Scobee, Smith, Onizuka, Jarvis and McAuliffe. A tubeway runs from Scobee to the spaceport and bases, and main reactors are off of Scobeee and Jarvis.

I created two local holidays. The PCs arrived on Challenger Day, Jan. 28th, a celebration of manned spaceflight. The other big holiday is Founder's Day, April 5th, Judy Resnik's birthday.

At the last minute, I decided that the alien probe crashed on the fourth moon of the system's gas giant, Zamora (the name of another UFO contactee). The probe itself was buried in the ice, like the movie "The Thing".

I used different color markers to make my notes. Public info was in blue, secret info was in red. On game day, I just recited some of the public info. The main info guy was playing an agent with a cybernetic computer link. Each time he asked me a question, I had him make a Computer roll. The better the result, the better the info. The other players used their Streetwise and Carousing similarly. It seemed to work OK.

Sorry if this is long, but I was on a roll. Hope it gives some ideas.
 
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