MisterV said:
Now, I don't fully understand the world creation rules, someone should do a FAQ or something - what's all those letters in the different tables (like 10 (A)?
Welcome, MisterV! I can explain the (A) phenomena in MGT.
In previous versions of Traveller, extensive use was made of hexadecimal notation. Basically, any number from 10 upwards was given a letter to represent it, thus:
Code:
10 = A
11 = B
12 = C
13 = D
14 = E
15 = F
16 = G
By doing this, you can squish double digit numbers into a sinlge letter, and you form chains of numbers and codes which represent things. For example, the Universal World Profile (or UWP as it is known) looks like this:
Gruffty's World A867843-C
which means:
A = Starport type A
8 = Size 8
6 = Atmosphere 6 (standard)
7 = Hydrographics 7 (about 70% water on the surface)
8 = Population 8 (Hundreds of millions: between 100,000,000 and 999,999,999 people)
4 = Government 4 (Representative Democracy)
3 = Law Level 3 (relatively low law level)
- = a dash to sepearate out the Tech Level code (next)
F = Tech Level 15 (above average Imperial TL)
How can you get 12 (a population of trillions) on a roll of 2d6-2?
You can't. But if *you* decided you want a world very, very heavily populated (i.e. more people on the planet than the table allows you to roll) you can choose to use Population 11 or 12 (B or C). Useful when trying to replicate Trantor (Asimov's Foundation/Empire books) or Coruscant (Star Wars).
I don't get how am I supposed to calculate the tech level. :?
Bacially you throw 1d6, then work your way through the various components of the planet.
So, let's look at Gruffty's world again, but this time without the Tech Level code (the x on the end, after the "-" shows where the TL code will go):
Gruffty's World A867843-x
Now, look at p. 179 of the main rulebook. See the Technology Level section with the tables? Right:
Starport: Gruffty's world has starport type A - so we look at the Starport Value column and read down to 10 (A). A type A starport gets a +6 DM.
Size: Gruffty's world is size 8 - so we look at the Size Value column and read down to size 8 - there's no DM for a size 8 world.
... and so on, working your way through Atmosphere, Hydrographics, Population and Government. Add up each DM for each parameter of the world (starport, size, atmosphere etc) as you go along.
Gruffty's world would get:
+6 for Starport A
+0 for Size 8
+0 for Atmoshere 6
+0 for Hydrographics 7
+0 for Population 8
+0 for Government 4
(no TL DM for Law Level)
... so that's a +6 DM to my 1d6 throw. I throw 1d6 and get a 6, +6 = Tech Level 12 (or C for us Grognards

).