System population vs. UWP (Hey Don!)

[rancke]

In the T5SS thread I wrote:

So I want to write a little blurb about the Regina Subsector which includes its population. In big round numbers, of course. I've summed up the figures from every UWP with a population level of 8, 9, or 10. I've used 26 billion instead of 30 billion for Rethe and added half a billion for each of the six population 9 figures (to account for the second digit of their populations). The result is 66.0 billion.

My question is this: if I write "the population of Regina subsector is 66.0 billion", am I accounting for the people living away from the mainworlds? Or am I ignoring a relatively small group of people who would "only" amount to another five or six billions? Or am I ignoring a group of people amounting to 100 billion? (The Spinward Marches claims that Regina Subsector has a population of 165.6 billion).

Or to put it differently, how do you establish the non-mainworld population of a system where the mainworld has a population of X?

This is a question with major world-building ramifications. Trade and tax bases are both affected. If the total population of a system averages 250% of its mainworld, Efate would have a population of 20 billion instead of 8 and Rethe 65 billion instead of 26. More than that, actually, since worlds like Menorb and Ruie probably have a lot less than the average number of off-mainworld population (tech levels of 7).

I don't usually bump posts, Don, but this is something that I'm wrestling with right now and I would really, really appreciate some TPTB guidance. In the hope that you just overlooked it the first time round, I'm posting it as a separate thread now.


Hans

 

[LeperColony]

In TNE there's actually an example of a main world with less population than the other planets in system.

 

[rancke]

In TNE there's actually an example of a main world with less population than the other planets in system.

I know.

And if the population of Regina subsector is 165.6 billion, then there must be quite a few star systems there with twice and more than twice the population living off the mainworld than on it. Which is a pretty important 'if' when you're worldbuilding.


Hans

 

[DonM]

Reviewing...

(I never imagined you doing a "Hey Don!" thread; I've seen myself do "Hey Hans!" thoughts before, and then e-mailing you...)

Mostly because while T5 may throw fits with some canon materials, it fixes others, and some future author will fit them together in a way none of us imagined, so anyone doing a semi-OTU setting campaign can make use of this material as they wish, and still claim "OTU campaign" status.

Ok, so the question here is:

When doing SystemGen, I roll up a mainworld of X by Y pop (X= POP, Y= Mult). What are the limits for the worlds in the rest of the system?

Am I understanding the question correctly?

 

[rancke]

Mostly because while T5 may throw fits with some canon materials, it fixes others, and some future author will fit them together in a way none of us imagined, so anyone doing a semi-OTU setting campaign can make use of this material as they wish, and still claim "OTU campaign" status.

That went right by me. I can't parse the paragraph nor figure out what it means.

Ok, so the question here is:

When doing SystemGen, I roll up a mainworld of X by Y pop (X= POP, Y= Mult). What are the limits for the worlds in the rest of the system?

Am I understanding the question correctly?

No, although the answer to that question may affect the answer to my question (that's up to you). My question is:

If I write "the population of Regina subsector is 66.0 billion", am I accounting for the people living away from the mainworlds (i.e. UWP population figures denote the entire system's population)? Or am I ignoring a relatively small group of people who would "only" amount to another five or six billions (i.e. UWP population figures only denote the population of the mainworld, but off-mainworld populations are fairly limited)? Or am I ignoring a group of people amounting to 100 billion (i.e. UWP population figures only denote the population of the mainworld and off-mainworld populations can and often do exceed mainworld populations considerably)?

Note that The Spinward Marches claims that Regina Subsector has a population of 165.6 billion, about 100 billion more than the UWP figures account for.

EDIT: Thinking it over, I guess my question really is much more simple: What is the total population of the Regina subsector?


Hans

 

[DonM]

Off the top of my head, I would think to get an accurate number, you'd need to build all the worlds in Regina subsector and do the math.

I'm probably completely missing a simpler solution.

 

[rancke]

Off the top of my head, I would think to get an accurate number, you'd need to build all the worlds in Regina subsector and do the math.

I'm probably completely missing a simpler solution.

I see. I guess I'll just have to come up with my own figures and let the editor worry about it.

Lessee, total population of the mainworlds is 66.0 billion. Off-mainworld population is 5-15% more¹ (rolls 2D+3 = 13%) or 8.58 billion. So the population of Regina subsector is 74.6 billion.

¹ Average of 10% with a bit of random variation.​

(And although UWPs normally only denotes mainworld populations, for some reason the Scouts used the total system population for Rethe's UWP. :devil

At least if you ask me.


Hans