If you were the Governor ...

[rust]

Working on my Pandora setting, I would very much welcome some ideas
for the further development of the colony.

Imagine you are the elected governor of a young colony. The 550 colo-
nists are happily working on their jobs, aquafarming, seafloor mining and
the light industry (mostly assembly lines for imported parts) are doing as
well as expected, the survey of the water world is ongoing, the diplomatic
and trade missions to the neighbouring colonies are on their way, and the-
re are no serious problems on the horizon (I deleted all the nasty events
I will torture the characters with ...).

With no immediate desasters requiring your attention (yep, I deleted tho-
se, too ...), you can turn your mind to plans for the development and ex-
pansion of the colony. The economy does not yet allow for major projects,
but some investments into the future would be possible.

So, what would you propose to improve the lives of your citizens ?

Thank you for all ideas.

 

[DFW]

So, what would you propose to improve the lives of your citizens ?

Thank you for all ideas.

What are the major, exploitable natural resources?

 

[rust]

What are the major, exploitable natural resources?

The already discovered ones are the native plankton (used by the aqua-
farmers to grow fish), aluminum and titanium (mined by seafloor mining
drones, processed and partially used for the local light industry and par-
tially for export).

There may well be more and more valuable resources somewhere, but
at the moment they have not yet been discovered.

 

[DFW]

What are the major, exploitable natural resources?

The already discovered ones are the native plankton (used by the aqua-
farmers to grow fish), aluminum and titanium (mined by seafloor mining
drones, processed and partially used for the local light industry and par-
tially for export).

There may well be more and more valuable resources somewhere, but
at the moment they have not yet been discovered.

1st thing is to invite in mining companies (under proper agreements) to locate and help exploit currently unknown mineral assets.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

If the climate is right and the stellar setup would support it, what about some space tourism.

Warm tropical beaches are always a draw... Especially if there are nasty worlds or space-based colonies nearby. And of course you would need more people to support that tourism.

I would probably concentrate on finding ways to increase the population, but in a controlled manner. 550 people is not much for an entire planet.

 

[Captain Jonah]

What DFW said but not just to make a profit.

On world mining and manufacturing to reduce reliance on those supply ships. Likewise what else is needed to make the colony stand alone in terms of industry, medicine etc. Instead of importing parts to be assembled on world can you start making the parts.

Why was the colony formed in the first place, to explore the world, to what end. Are you there to exploit resources or as the base for a much larger colony. What steps need taking for the long term plan etc.

Do you have the food surplus to add another few hundred or thousand colonists to expand operations over the next year or two. Can you build the houses and factories needed for them.

Are your people lacking in entertainment, bars, a tri-d cinema etc. How is the colony band doing?

Plus not to forget you are undisputed ruler of a waterworld, move the capital to a nice warm spot and start the colony surf club

 

[rust]

Thank you all very much for a lot of good advice.

So we have prospecting for additional natural resources, expansion of the
aquafarming to become able to feed a larger population, expansion of the
industry to replace imports and increase exports, more cultural facilities
to improve the lives of the colonists and make the colony more attractive,
which also ties in with tourism as a service industry and source of income.

I agree that prospecting most probably should be the first step. While it
should not be too difficult to produce more food (algae and fish do that
automatically if not prevented), everything else required to increase the
population (infrastructure, housing, etc.) will cost some money, and with-
out more exports to finance more local industry and then less expenses
for imports this will be difficult to get - and at the beginning of this chain
are more and / or more valuable resources to obtain the start capital for
such a development program.

Yep, thank you - I was a bit uncertain, but I see now where this should
go, and how to connect this background with the characters' adventures.
Dealing with a greedy mining corporation's prospectors in the wilds can
lead to some fun, with the prospectors hiding or downplaying discoveries,
nasty local animals unwilling to support the operation, an occasional sea-
quake, tsunami or underwater volcanoe, and all that ...

 

[DFW]

What DFW said but not just to make a profit.

Actually what you (the Gov't) do is take the payments from the mining companies and give most to the citizens so they can invest in starting local companies, etc. The remainder should be put into a sovereign wealth fund for emergencies. It's not about "profit" as you are talking about governing not, a business venture. Once this kicks off make sure you have import taxes on any manufactured goods that could be being produced locally. This gives the gov't operating funds without something regressive like personal income taxation. Those who become rich and buy expensive off world luxury products take the brunt of gov funding.

 

[rust]

Actually what you (the Gov't) do is take the payments from the mining companies and give most to the citizens so they can invest in starting local companies, etc.

Currently the entire colony is very much a cooperative owned by the co-
lonists who all are shareholders, due to the conversion of ship shares in-
to colony shares and the fact that no single colonist or group of colonists
would have been able to finance the necessary "startup infrastructure"
(e.g. the power plant, the hospital, etc.).

However, "privatization" of the parts of the economy that can be handled
by individual colonists or groups of colonists is indeed something which I
should also put on my background development list - the sooner the co-
lony council (= administration) can transfer such responsibilities, the bet-
ter.

 

[kristof65]

It's been mentioned already, but tourism can be a great way to bring in money.

Were I the governor, I'd look for areas that are suited for tourism, and try to partner with various off-world companies to build a tourism base as well - a nice pristine section of beach with a decent hotel and some watersport vehicles is always a draw.

If off-world companies weren't able to foster resources, there is always the local equivilent of working dude ranches - bring the tourists in and show them how the rough and tough colonists live, while getting a bit of "free" labor.

 

[rust]

If off-world companies weren't able to foster resources, there is always the local equivilent of working dude ranches - bring the tourists in and show them how the rough and tough colonists live, while getting a bit of "free" labor.

Thank you, I like that idea.

It would enable me to torture the characters with annoying tourists who
get into or cause all kinds of trouble without the characters becoming em-
ployees of a tourist resort.

"Look, there are these two wealthy tourists from Cassandra who need a
nice place to stay for a few weeks, and your aquafarm has those cute
newborn dolphins, so the Governor thinks you could ..."

 

[dayriff]

What's the immigration policy? 550 people is a tiny population, even with automation as a labor multiplier. The biggest obstacle to additional resource exploitation is that whomever you assign to that job, you're pulling away from whatever job they're doing right now. Even tourism; that guy guiding the tourists now doesn't have time to maintain the robot bogbots.

It feels like they ought to easily be able to put more people to work.

 

[Dave Chase]

First Families (or citizens). With the increasing numbers of those requesting citizen ship, the Governor allows (due to the increase pressure by the first ones, colonists) to give more rights/privaledges to those who were there first.

Investing in a space port and down port to control who enters and leaves the planet. (Import taxes and keeping out undesirables. Call it the learning centers )

Some others come to mind but I am short of time right now.

Dave Chase

 

[rust]

What's the immigration policy? 550 people is a tiny population, even with automation as a labor multiplier.
...
It feels like they ought to easily be able to put more people to work.

Indeed.

The campaign starts with the exploration mission to find out whether the
planet is suitable for a colony. Two years later a preparation mission with
50 people will establish the basic infrastructure for the colony (the power
plant, etc.) and prepare the aquafarming and the seafloor mining, and the
following year a starship will bring the other 500 colonist-shareholders to
the planet.

They will need about a year to get their colony core up and running, and
once this has been achieved the governor will have to think of ways to
move on from there and turn the core into a growing colony - which is
where my question about his options comes in.

In my view the colonists will be more than happy to welcome any newco-
mers, especially those who have useful skills and do not have to be re-
trained for a useful profession. The only limit to the acceptable population
growth is the colony's ability to provide food (easy) and to finance and
build housing and infrastructure for the newcomers.

 

[rust]

First Families (or citizens). With the increasing numbers of those requesting citizen ship, the Governor allows (due to the increase pressure by the first ones, colonists) to give more rights/privaledges to those who were there first.

This is very likely, especially because the original 550 colonists used their
colony shares to finance the colony project. Only newcomers able to in-
vest a comparable amount of money or willing to work a certain number
of years for the colony will probably be likely to get the full citizen rights
and the full use of the colony's infrastructure - I could even imagine a
political system where the number of colony shares brought into the pro-
ject would determine the number of votes a colonist has: No shares, no
votes, X years of labor for the colony to get a share and vote ...

 

[IanBruntlett]

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this already but Mongoose sell a book published by Avenger / Comstar called Project Steel. See:-
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1664&qsSeries=51

It is set in the early days of a colony being set up. So it might be too early in the history of a colony for you. We had fun playing it though

 

[rust]

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this already but Mongoose sell a book published by Avenger / Comstar called Project Steel.

Thank you very much, I will take a look at it.

Since my campaign will start with the very first touch down on the planet,
this should be no problem, the difficulty would probably be to adapt the
plot to a water world - but until now this was possible with almost all pub-
lished adventures.

 

[IanBruntlett]

Thank you very much, I will take a look at it.

Not a problem - glad to be of help

Since my campaign will start with the very first touch down on the planet,
this should be no problem, the difficulty would probably be to adapt the
plot to a water world - but until now this was possible with almost all pub-
lished adventures.

Well planet Steel is largely oceans, plains and mountain ranges. For your purposes, you may want to consider :- small scraps of land to act as a landing pad for space ships. If you have a mix of oceans and marshes, the colonists may be forced to use hovercrafts instead of ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles). Some water areas (e.g. marshes) will be harder to traverse than some oceans. And then there is the weather to think about!

 

[rinku]

Slightly OT, but I'd give some thought to the inevitable political and social tensions among the colonists. Even 550 people will generate these.
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series (especially Red Mars) is an excellent treatment of a young colony that deals a lot with this sort of thing (although the physical environment is totally different to yours).

The governor is likely to face challenges to his authority and factions, so setting up some social release valves like a colony council or a social club will be important.

 

[rust]

Slightly OT, but I'd give some thought to the inevitable political and social tensions among the colonists. Even 550 people will generate these.

Thank you for the reminder, it is not OT at all.

I have started to make some notes concerning the various factions among
the colonists, but until now I have not gotten very far with this.
There is some obvious potential for conflict, especially about the distributi-
on of the colony's limited resources, the future constitution and political
system and the future economic system.
Some more conflicts will be "imported", for example through the competi-
tion between traders and the tension between the Solar Alliance of the Co-
re Worlds and the Solar Commonwealth of the Free Colonies.

Currently the governor is elected by the assembly of all 550 colonists, and
he chooses his staff - the colony council - for the administration of the co-
lony. However, this is only a temporary system, a constitution will have to
be discussed and a referendum about it held in the not so far future.