Strange New Worlds

[kafka47]

The Traveller rules provide ample direction of creating a myriad of worlds that are common enough in our Solar System but has anyone created worlds not within the standard Traveller template besides the obvious Ringworlds, Dyson Spheres, etc. And, how did they do without a handwave.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

When you say "not within the standard Traveller template", are those crazy LBB3/6 worlds included in the template? You know, the ones with a TL2 society on an airless rock around a red dwarf?

 

[flykiller]

once had an idea for an "S" sized world that turns out to be an asteroid-based generation ship - got to where it was going, found nothing inhabitable and was unable to continue, so it just parked and stagnated.

(there's your tech 2 airless rockball orbiting a red dwarf!)

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Oooh, good one, flykiller! That works for the first one, and the next couple, but it gets harder after that to reuse that explanation...

(That scenario also requires the theft of a Vulcan brain on occassion, though. Or somesuch explanation for the maintenance of a technology that the residents can't handle.)

Edit: Or, to use another Trek bit: "It seems impossible, but there it is." end edit

 

[flykiller]

(That scenario also requires the theft of a Vulcan brain on occassion, though. Or somesuch explanation for the maintenance of a technology that the residents can't handle.)

easy. a size S is pretty big, it probably carries its own ecosystem. as for power, it comes equipped with a whole series of fission reactors, each one lasting 40 years. one winds down, just pull the rods on the next. simple.

Oooh, good one, flykiller!

it is, isn't it?

That works for the first one, and the next couple, but it gets harder after that to reuse that explanation...

wouldn't use it more than once. the second one would be an extermination warship of the ancients, just hanging around, waiting for someone to wake it up ....

as for "explaining" anything, never understood the need for a generation algorithm that produces conforms-with-all-the-latest-fad-theories-that-most-people-don't-know-about-or-care-about-or-understand-anyway planetary systems every time. if the referee doesn't like a result, he can reroll the dice. or, he can reach down with his pencil and make a change. simple.

 

[Merxiless]

It's all handwave.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

if the referee doesn't like a result, he can reroll the dice. or, he can reach down with his pencil and make a change. simple.

I have found something interesting while making my Massive, Whole Subsector, Excel LBB6 Generator Thingy. I try not to change the end result numbers directly, as all the values are interconnected. So, I go back and change the roll. There are times when changing (for example) a 4 to a 12 actually produces no change in the planet! It's because of orbit limitations, usually. This means that I now have to come up with a good explanation for the result.... :smirk:

 

[robject]

once had an idea for an "S" sized world that turns out to be an asteroid-based generation ship - got to where it was going, found nothing inhabitable and was unable to continue, so it just parked and stagnated.

(there's your tech 2 airless rockball orbiting a red dwarf!)

Sky Raiders, anyone?

 

[Plankowner]

No, it is the core remnant of a Gas Giant world that has lost all of it's atmosphere due to solar flares from the Red Dwarf star (most of them are flare stars anyway). Did I mention that it is in Orbit 0?

The core is very rich in metals, especially heavy metals, so there is a considerable mining and depending on population, refining operation.

 

[Vargas]

as for "explaining" anything, never understood the need for a generation algorithm that produces conforms-with-all-the-latest-fad-theories-that-most-people-don't-know-about-or-care-about-or-understand-anyway planetary systems every time. if the referee doesn't like a result, he can reroll the dice. or, he can reach down with his pencil and make a change. simple.

Quoted for truth.

 

[flykiller]

This means that I now have to come up with a good explanation for the result....

a spur to a good referee. freebie tip. it helps to realize that the explanation need not be a permanent one, but simply a snapshot in time in the history of that world.

another freebie. one observes today on terra a certain movement to have primates declared "people" eligible for human rights, and, presumably, also eligible for welfare, housing assistance, etc (all of which one may readily assume will be "managed" by those pushing for such rights). suppose a traveller planet's human population goes a little nuts and actually does something like this for some widespread pet or pest. there's a high-population world where you might not expect one. and, given wealthy humans' ... uh, desire to experiment ... one might find such a situation more than once.

 

[rancke]

as for "explaining" anything, never understood the need for a generation algorithm that produces conforms-with-all-the-latest-fad-theories-that-most-people-don't-know-about-or-care-about-or-understand-anyway planetary systems every time. if the referee doesn't like a result, he can reroll the dice. or, he can reach down with his pencil and make a change. simple.

I have no problem with the world generation system as such. As you say, if you get a completely unexplainable combination, you can just reroll (or, as I do, figure out the smallest change that will make the UWP work). My problem is solely with the published UWPs for the OTU. IMO a set of raw UWPs is not a finished product. It's not a finished product until someone goes through them and fix the inexplicable ones. Which, incidentally, takes about four hours per subsector. I know because, as an experiment, I did it for two subsectors that was featured in one of QuickLink's modules. Took me two evenings.

Marc Miller is dead set against changing UWPs to fit a concept. I feel that changing UWPs to fit the concept that the habitability of worlds correlates with people's desire to settle on them, and that neighboring worlds affect each other's development would be a Good Thing.


Hans

 

[daryen]

Marc Miller is dead set against changing UWPs to fit a concept. I feel that changing UWPs to fit the concept that the habitability of worlds correlates with people's desire to settle on them, and that neighboring worlds affect each other's development would be a Good Thing.

Which, I might point out, is highly ironic as some of the first UWPs ever published for Traveller have been continuously changed to fit the concept. The Spinward Marches are far from static, and even the initial data was obviously massaged to get what they wanted.

The Sword Worlds are all obvious modifications. There is no way all of those connected worlds would have been randomly generated to look like they do. It is an obvious "hand of God" effect.

And I have lost track of the number of times the subsector data has been changed. And not over in-game time. Just flat out changed.

So now it is all sacrosanct? If so, which version?

 

[Droyne668]

When you say "not within the standard Traveller template", are those crazy LBB3/6 worlds included in the template? You know, the ones with a TL2 society on an airless rock around a red dwarf?

You mean those very odd and primitive locals with the borosilicarbonate biology?

 

[BlackBat242]

another freebie. one observes today on terra a certain movement to have primates declared "people" eligible for human rights, and, presumably, also eligible for welfare, housing assistance, etc (all of which one may readily assume will be "managed" by those pushing for such rights). suppose a traveller planet's human population goes a little nuts and actually does something like this for some widespread pet or pest. there's a high-population world where you might not expect one. and, given wealthy humans' ... uh, desire to experiment ... one might find such a situation more than once.

Don't forget that those "newly righted beings" will also be declared "intellectually dependant", as they cannot function in a technological and legalistic society without guidance... so the organizations that get themselves declared the "Legal Guardians" of those "intellectually dependant newly righted beings" can get them included in the local Census... insuring extra governmental representation for their districts... with all of the issues that brings up.

 

[flykiller]

... the "Legal Guardians" of those "intellectually dependant newly righted beings" can get them included in the local Census... insuring extra governmental representation for their districts....

other districts will object. perhaps counting them as 3/5 of a person will be a good compromise.

 

[BlackBat242]

"3/5 of a person"


Now where have I heard that phrase before...

 

[Thuban]

No, it is the core remnant of a Gas Giant world that has lost all of it's atmosphere due to solar flares from the Red Dwarf star (most of them are flare stars anyway). Did I mention that it is in Orbit 0?

The core is very rich in metals, especially heavy metals, so there is a considerable mining and depending on population, refining operation.

I've used this in my campaign, too.

Planets orbiting M-class stars may be devoid of life on land due to flares but support abundant life below the surface of the sea where it is protected from deadly radiation.

A moon that spirals in to the Roche limit and breaks apart may create a transient ring feature around a terrestrial world as well as leaving a broad swath of craters ringing the planet. It could be relatively fresh, with big chunks still in orbit and raining fire on the planet , or it could have happened long ago, leaving old, weathered craters on the surface and a wispy dust ring in space.

Worlds that orbit close to the inner or outer limits of the habitable zone may be mostly desert or ice, with a small comfortable area at the poles or the equator respectively. An eccentric orbit could moderate conditions for a portion of the planet's year.

A world with an eccentric orbit around an M-class star may not be tidally locked to the primary, but rather enjoy a 3:2 spin resonance.

A significant axial tilt, or none at all, creates interesting surface conditions, as does fast or slow rotation.

Traveller already provides for exotic atmospheres like methane, ammonia, hydrogen, chlorine and fluorine. Combining these with extremes of temperature and pressure can make for new challenges.