Non OTU: Some UWP ideas

[GLΩAMING]

I'm working on an alternative Traveller setting for my group, and want to make planet generation more "realistic", so no Droynia-esque Mars-sized worlds with a dense and muggy atmosphere, or tiny worlds with a trillion people. I also want to shed any Imperial (Terran-American, not 3I) measurements that appear, and replace them with metric.

Planet Size

I came across a good idea in another thread (can't exactly remember which) here on COTL to have a world size number correlate to that worlds radius in thousands of kilometres. This leads to an extended hexadecimal table like this:

0. 0km diameter - Ceres, Planetoids, Asteroids
1. 2,000km diameter
2. 4,000km diameter - Mercury, Pluto
3. 6,000km diameter - Mars
4. 8,000km diameter
5. 10,000km diameter
6. 12,000km diameter - Terra, Venus
7. 14,000km diameter
8. 16,000km diameter
9. 18,000km diameter
A. 20,000km diameter
B. 22,000km diameter
C. 24,000km diameter
D. 26,000km diameter
E. 28,000km diameter
...
Et cetera.
I'm thinking of going up to size 20/L (40,000km diameter), and generating world sizes on 4d6-4.

Atmosphere

My current idea for now is to generate atmosphere density and type on a heavily modified version of the regular 2d6 roll.

World atmospheres will be generated on a (2d6-5)+World Size roll, with the following modifiers:

Worlds size 0 have no atmosphere.

Size 3- have no atmosphere UNLESS a 10+ is rolled, in which case the atmosphere is 1.

Size 4-A have normal generation.

Sizes B+ must roll a qualifying roll to get a normal atmosphere generation. This is a 8+ roll. If failed, they receive an atmosphere type of X. Type X is a hyperdense, extruded atmosphere, that can be anything from a lethally dense nitrogen-oxygen mix to a traditional gas giant atmosphere. All type X atmospheres extend for a long way out from the planet's true surface. Think a gas giant's core as the actual planet in this case

Sizes E+ automatically receive an atmosphere of X, and are most likely gas giants.

Hydrosphere

Uncertain of what changes to make here. Maybe change generation to be on size rather than atmosphere? Perhaps with modifiers for atmosphere too.

Population

A population of standard humans is really unlikely to love being stuck on a hypermassive rock, or a tiny rock with no atmosphere either. Therefore, I propose a 2d6-2 roll with:

-1 to population if
Atmosphere = 0-3, A-F
Size = 0-3, A+
-2 to population if
Atmosphere X

+1 to population if
Size = 5-7
Atmosphere = 5, 6, 8

Uncertain what role, if any, hydrographics will play in population.

Starports

Starports are to be generated on 2d6-7+Population Size.
A starport on a world with atmosphere X is likely to be highport-only.

TL

Uncertain.



All in all, this gives provisional average world generation of...

E8A?444-?

21st century Terra would be (more or less)

E667974-8


This system is clunky and very unfinished. But, I think it slightly more accurately reflects modern day findings of larger, more massive exoplanets over more fantastical ones.

Critique and suggestions are IMMENSELY welcome.

 

[McPerth]

Using those factors (mostly the size chanes) would give you many larger worlds than ihabitable by humans, so, IMHO, unlikely to become the mainworld in a system.

Average for 4d6-4 is 10, not 8 as you listed...

 

[GLΩAMING]

Using those factors (mostly the size chanes) would give you many larger worlds than ihabitable by humans, so, IMHO, unlikely to become the mainworld in a system.

Average for 4d6-4 is 10, not 8 as you listed...

That's somewhat my plan. These rules are designed to give very borderline worlds, possibly ones requiring geneering or advanced technological support.
The idea is to have habitable, highly populated and industrialised worlds and their mines, refineries and resource extraction plants on borderline worlds surrounding them.

As for that embarrassing error...
It's entirely my fault. Many thanks for pointing it out.
I think I just calculated the average of 4d6 and took away 4. Not firing on all cylinders here.

 

[McPerth]

That's somewhat my plan. These rules are designed to give very borderline worlds, possibly ones requiring geneering or advanced technological support.
The idea is to have habitable, highly populated and industrialised worlds and their mines, refineries and resource extraction plants on borderline worlds surrounding them.

Well, that's of course dependant on which universe you look for, but I imagine that, should the resources of a system be in a hostile planet, the likehood would be to look for the most inhabitable one and establish the main colony here (so making it the Mainworld), and using it s a base to mine he resoruces of the otehr planets/satellites/PB there (as long as they are "close enough"(let's ay that microjumps are not better than STL to reach them...

Let's imagine our solar system without Earth and with a hostile, but mineral rich planet at its place. IMHO the best option would be to colonize Mars (oir a moon of this planet, if available)and use it as such aa base I told above, so despite the "best situated" planet in the inhabitable zone being hostile, the Mainworld being not so much so.

 

[Spinward Flow]

You might want to do something more like a "gaussian distribution" for world sizes ... 4D6-4D6 ... which yields results of 0-20 (results below zero default to Size: 0). Would give more of a randomized sizing for worlds, rather than a bell curve (which is what 2D6 does).

 

[McPerth]

4D6-4D6 ... which yields results of 0-20 (results below zero default to Size: 0).

This will give you about half the worlds as size 0....

Alternatively, you could do it in absolute value, with will (I guess) give you the same 0-20 range, but with a strong bias towards smaller ones (consistent with our own Solar System if you discard the GGs...).

As I said, depend on the universe you're looking for...

 

[Vargr Breath]

You could add a DM to technological index for different world characteristics. With out changing the CT world die rolls.
Size 0-4 add a DM of+3.
5-7 add a DM+2.
ABC add a DM +3
Atmosphere 0-2 add +3
3-5 add +2
ABC add +3
Hydrographic 0-3 add +3
4-6 add +2
A add +3
Population- would have to be keyed to size somehow.
Government- no DM

 

[TamsinP]

You might want to do something more like a "gaussian distribution" for world sizes ... 4D6-4D6 ... which yields results of 0-20 (results below zero default to Size: 0). Would give more of a randomized sizing for worlds, rather than a bell curve (which is what 2D6 does).

As has been pointed out, that will give slightly over half the worlds as size 0, and nearly 80% as size 0-4.

Alternatively make it [(4d6-4d6)/2)+10]. That still gives the 0-20 range, but gives a better distribution than convert negative results to zero.

 

[kilemall]

OP, might want to give RTT Worldgen a look- gives some ideas for manipulation of worlds along your interests I think.

RTT Worldgen - RPGnet

wiki.rpg.net

 

[Dragoner]

I personally vetted everything, so it came out to looking at around 3000 uwp's. One thing I noticed running the numbers, and of course this is due to sample size, though a lot of those worlds we can see, converting them to uwp's, their gravity is too high to be inhabitable.