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UWP Extensions

OK, after much digging, I have found the information I put together over 2 decades ago for some UWP extensions. After an overwhelming demand for this data (well OK, 2 people ;) ), I am going to try to put them out here and let you all pull them apart.

Please remember a few VERY IMPORTANT POINTS:

1. This was developed by me before there were any UWP extensions.

2. They were originally written out on dead trees, so it will take me a while to type all this stuff in, please be patient.

3. They were designed to add color and flavor to the existing UWP. They do not give you exact numbers and masses of ships in orbit, for example. The idea is to give the GM a scale to compare this world to others so that imagination can be used to create a feel for the world or to spark adventure ideas.

4. Please be kind, I am an old man...

Now, I will try ot put these up as fast as I can.

In general, each UWP characteristic has a 3-digit extension. I will list them, explain them and give you whatever method I came up with for determining them.

Here we go...
 
ATMOSPHERE:
I know this seems a weird place to start, but one of these extensions modifies one of the later extensions (something I really tried to avoid, but couldn't in this case).


Composition (C): Used to determine the type of taint in the atmosphere.

Density (D): Atmospheric Density, easy to figure for some atmos, rolled for A-C).

Temperature (T): Given as a letter value corresponding to a range of Temperatures expressed in Kelvin. Two general ranges are needed, Habitable (ATM 4-A) and N-Hab (All others). Roll on the table and use that result:

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">2d6 Composition Density
ATM A-C
2 Nuclear(N) 4
3 Biological (B) 4
4 B 6
5 B 6
6 Chemical (C) 8
7 O2 Level (L) 8
8 C A
9 Dust (D) A
10 D A
11 Volcanic (V) A
12 Other (T) C
</pre>[/QUOTE]Atmospheric Density is determined for the most of the atmospheres using the following conversion:

ATM Density
0 0
1 0
2 2
3 2
4 4
5 4
6 6
7 6
8 8
9 8
A Roll above
B Roll above
C Roll above
D C
E C
F C

Temperature is rolled as follows:
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">2d6 HAB N-HAB
2 D (251-260) A (0-100)
3 E (261-270) B (101-200)
4 F (271-280) C (201-250)
5 G (281-290) C
6 H (291-300) Roll HAB
7 H Roll HAB
8 J (301-310) Roll HAB
9 K (311-320) Roll HAB
10 L (320-330) P (351-400)
11 M (331-340) R (401-500)
12 N (341-350) S (501+)
</pre>[/QUOTE]So from this UWP extension you can tell what type of taint an atmosphere has, what the density is for those types of atmospheres that don't automatically give them, and what the overall temperature will be (Earth is 293K for reference).
 
Next comes the Size Extensions.

These require some calculations (the only ones) and also that you extend the size to actually calculate the diameter in miles (I usually only went to the hundreds of miles.)

Density: The planetary Density given as a 0-F rating with each being a 0.1 of Earth. So Earth would be an A = 1.0 density. A world with 1/2 the density of Earth would get a rating of 5.

Gravity: The calculated surface gravity (in 0.1 units of Earth Gravity).

Stability (S): A relative measure of how stable the surface is. Hi numbers indicate a lot of vulcanism and quakes, low values would be very stable like Mars or the Moon.

Density: Roll 2d6+2=(Atm Density-Size Code)/2
This is why you needed to determine the atmospheric extensions first.

Gravity: Calculate G = (Diameter/7900)*Density
Use the Diamter from the size code to whatever level of detail you want. Density should be the decimal value from the code used. Use 0.5 for code 5 and 1.0 for Code A.

Stabiltiy: Roll 2d6-2

These extensions will give you an idea of the mineral wealth of the planet and well as the surface gravity. You also get an idea of geologically how active the planet is for color.
 
Hydrographic Extensions:

Life: A rating of the level of development of the native life. It is quite possible that imported life could be the dominant forms and I will discuss that at the end.

Distribution: This is water distribution. Hi nubmers indicate lots of scattered water, or land depending on they hydrographics number). Low values indicate concentrated Land/Water.

Glaciation: This is a relative value to let you determine if the world is in an ice age or not. Worlds out of the HAB zone are given automatic values. TEMP A-C: Glaciation = A, TEMP P-S: Glaciation = 0

LIFE: Roll 2d6-1 (See table below)
DMS:
ATM 1-: -8
ATM 2, 3, C: -6
ATM B: -4
ATM A: -2
HYD 1-: -4
HYD A: -1

DISTRIBUTION: Roll 2d6-2

GLACIATION: Roll 2d6-2

LIFE TABLE:
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">
ROLL NATIVE LIFE
0 None
1 Single Celled
2 Multi Celled
3 Simple Vegitation
4 Complex Vegitation
5 Simple Sea Life
6 Complex Sea Life
7 Simple Land/Air
8 Complex Land/Air
9 Diverse Biosphere
10 (A) Intelligence
11 (B) Post Intelligence</pre>[/QUOTE]This gives you your native intelligence. I used the Post Intelligence for the weird stuff like post-apocolyptic or caretaker worlds.

Glaciation and Distribution give you a good feel for how the surface would look to a casual explorer. It also aids in mapping the world.
 
Population Extensions:

Population Modifier: Exactly like the P in the PBG rating. No further explanation given, since the system for the OTU is better than what I had.

Scattering: A measure of how dispersed the population is around the planet. Hi values indicate many smaller settlements. Low values indicate fewer high population centers.

Minorities: A measure of how many aliens are on the world. Hi numbers indicate a lot of aliens. Low numbers indicate very few aliens.

SCATTERING: 2d6-2

MINORITIES: 2d6-2

This givees the GM a feel for how the people are living and whether a Star Wars Cantina is likely, or something more like Firefly.
 
Government Extensions:

Sub-Government: Gives the secondary type of government that is functioning. For example, the UK of today could be a GOV: 3 (oligarchy) with a sub-government of 8 (civil serv. Bureau) or maybe a 4 (Rep. Demo). Remember, the GOV code is the visible government, this sub-government gives shades to the GOV code. The USA has changed sub-governments several times during it's history while maintaining a GOV 4.

Stability: A measure of how stable the current government is. Hi means a very stable government. Low means essentially GOV 0.

Xenophobia: A measure of how non-locals are treated. This is not just aliens, but non-natives. Vilani, Solomani, or just someone from the next world over, this indicates how Travellers would be treated. Hi means lots of persecution. Low means probably not even noticed.

SUB-GOVERNMENT: 2d6-7+POP

STABILITY: 2d6-2

XENOPHOBIA: 2d6-2

What is interesting is when you get a world with a Hi Minority rating and a Hi Xenophobia rating. This probably means that there is a fairly large minority that is being actively persecuted by the majority/government.

Stability gives you a good idea of when to re-roll the government or sub-government.
 
Law Level Extensions:

I am the most displease with these and could really use some help here:

Personal Liberty: A measure of how much the government controls your movements and privacy.

Independence: How much mobility you have within your society. Hi means anyone can become the leader. Low means an almost Caste system.

Bureaucracy: A measure of the amount of red tape it takes to get anything done in the government. Also measure how fast the government can respond to a situation...

PERSONAL LIBERTY: 2d6-7+LL

INDEPENDENCE: 2d6-2

BUREAUCRACY: 1d6+LL

HELP!
 
Starport Extension:

These are rolled without regard to the type of starport in the system. Each GM must determine what is "average" for his vision of the universe. This gives variations within that standard.

Build Capacity: Rating of how much can be built. Only valid for Class A and B Starports.

Repair Capacity: Rating on how many ships can be repaired and a general idea of how extensive these repairs can be. Only valid for Class A-C Starports.

Trade Capacity: This can give you DMs on the trade availability tables (you do this for YTU). It also gives a measure of how busy the starport is, how many ships are in orbit or on the surface.

BUILD CAPACITY: 2d6-7+POP

REPAIR CAPACITY: 2d6-7+POP

TRADE CAPACITY: 2d6-7+POP

Again, these numbers are only valid when comparing between like starport ratings. You need to determine what the average number of ships are present at a Class B Starport, this would give you ideas for how far off that standard this particular port is.

This one is the most subjective Extensions and the one that requires the most effort after they are determiend.
 
LAST ONE!

Tech Level Extensions:

Growth: A measure of how fast the planet is increasing it's TL. Hi means it is learning fast. Low means it is actually going backwards and loosing it's ability to make things.

Distribution: A measure of how widely distributed the Tech is to the general population. Hi means that everyone has access to that TL. Low means that only a minority have access to the full TL and most people live at a lower TL.

Settlements: A measure of how many off-world settlements there are. Again, this is relative to the TL, so you will have to decide what an average TL C system has for normal off-world settlements within the system.

GROWTH: 2d6-2

DISTRIBUTION: 2d6-2

SETTLEMENTS: 2d6-2

Maybe these need DMs from the POP and GOV data, but I didn't do that. We can discuss.
 
I see a lot of good ideas here, Plank. I like your atmosphere tables in particular, and your population extensions (brilliant!), followed by size, TL, and LL extensions.

Least useful to me are probably therefore the gov't, hydrographic and starport extensions.
 
Why thank you kind sir. I spent a lot of years playing with it back in the Early 80s.

Personally, I thought the Sub-Government idea was my best. It really lets you give some variety to the government types. It also helps with the Captive Governments and Balkanized Governments.

An example would be the USA:

In the early 80s (under Reagan) the sub-government was probably A (Charismatic Dictator). Same thing under FDR and maybe some other presidents. Currently, I would say the Sub-Government is a 9 (Impersonal Bureaucracy). BUT, this is a person opinion, and I really don't want to debate that here.

During the US Civil War, the Confederacy could have been a GOV 4 with a SGOV of 7 (Balkanized).

The Classic Third Imperium would be GOV 3 SGOV 7

The First Imperium was probably Gov 3, SGOV 8 or 9.
 
Plank:
Looks good to me, too. Gonna use these a bit over the next few days with some planets I'm goofing around with. What I like is that you get enough info to give the GM a poke in the inspiration, but not bogged down in too much detail.

Thanks!
 
Originally posted by Plankowner:
Law Level Extensions:

I am the most displease with these and could really use some help here:

Personal Liberty: A measure of how much the government controls your movements and privacy.

Independence: How much mobility you have within your society. Hi means anyone can become the leader. Low means an almost Caste system.

Bureaucracy: A measure of the amount of red tape it takes to get anything done in the government. Also measure how fast the government can respond to a situation...

PERSONAL LIBERTY: 2d6-7+LL

INDEPENDENCE: 2d6-2

BUREAUCRACY: 1d6+LL

HELP!
I´ll interpret "HELP!" as a request for more ideas ;)

How about creating a UGP - Unified Government Profile?

We could list several characteristics of the government and society to define those. For the sake of consistency, I´d say we choose only negative characteristics, so that lower is better.

We already have Oppression (opposite of Personal Liberty), Rigidity (opposite of Independence) and Bureaucracy (which would include inefficiency, time lags, red tape etc).
From the Government extension, we can take Unrest (opposite of Stability), Xenophobia, and as a new characteristic, Corruption.

Corruption would then be the difference between a harsh but essentially fair body of laws, and an out-and-out kleptocracy.
I´d determine Corruption as 2d6-7+Government.

So, if we combine these numbers, we have a nice 6-digit summary of a government. Okay, 8-digit if we include GOV and LAW codes.
A UGP code would look something like

X-XXXXXX-X

GOV-Opp/Rig/Bur/Unr/Xen/Cor-LAW
 
Chaos, you are correct HELP was indeed asking for ideas. When I looked at these last weekend when I found them again, I was very dissatisfied with the LL extensions. 20+ years of hindsite has a way of doing that. I also like to think that I am a little more worldly now than I was in my teens.

I like your ideas! I thought about corruption too, that is DEFINITELY something a GM could use for game play, which is the purpose of all this. I didn't want a 14 character extension for each UWP code that made you cross-eyed trying to figure out what the planet was like. I wanted these to inspirational, defining characteristics of the world that would enhance the playability.

Early on, I used to calculate Planetary Mass in the SIZE extension. Why, because I am an engineer and things like that are important to me, but I realized that for most adventures, the mass of a planet is totally unimportant. Density and Gravity are important but mass is not. Mass only comes into play when you want to calculate orbit periods for satellites. Not normally needed in Traveller, so I dropped it in favor of a "stability" extension which would give me the feel for Earthquakes, Volcanos etc. Much more interesting from a playability point of view.

Now, back to Chaos' suggestions:

The GOV Extension would now be:

If we did that, would we consider having only 3 extensions then: PHYSICAL (size, atmo, hydro), SOCIAL (pop, gov, ll) and ECONOMIC (Starport, TL)

Each of those extensions would be 6-9 characters long, which is starting to get into the unintelligible strings the I believe the USP suffers from.

Personnally, I kind of like the symmetry of having 3-digit extensions for each of the UWP codes. BUT, since I don't play anymore, I really am willing to change things around if it makes more sense. Like I said, I haven't looked at this stuff in 20 years, so there is a lot that I would probably change on my own.

ANY and ALL suggestions are welcome. There isn't much pride of ownership left in these.
 
Plank!

Good shtuff. Afraid many folk have a phobia of the alphanumerics of the game. Glad to see you have no such aversion.

LL, Starport, Govt have always been needing "further definition".

May I point out to others here, that planetary governments got some treatment in TNE's Path of Tears for "corruption", "cruelty", "xenophobia", "leadership", Belligerence (Warlike tendencies), "Military Strategy (Long range/ short range), & "Political Diplomacy" etc in a three step process of Low, Moderate, High rating system for GM's to use.

Some fine work there. Knowing how many ships are in system, much less at port is good thing to gauge, specially if trade falls off, picks up and players notice the difference ;)
 
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