World Builder's Handbook - Suggestions and opinions welcome

[Geir]

In addition to 'dry data', there are short sections entitled: "What Colour is the Sky?" "and "How Big is That Thing in the Sky?" and I'm still working on "How Bright is That Thing in the Sky?", which should help with description. Although the sky colour does have a big "It depends" at the beginning. Because it does. Not as simple as the colour of the star or even the major component of the atmosphere: take Venus, Earth, Mars, and Titan for a spin (or a look-see?) and you see what I mean.

 

[Reisender]

In addition to 'dry data', there are short sections entitled: "What Colour is the Sky?" "and "How Big is That Thing in the Sky?" and I'm still working on "How Bright is That Thing in the Sky?", which should help with description. Although the sky colour does have a big "It depends" at the beginning. Because it does. Not as simple as the colour of the star or even the major component of the atmosphere: take Venus, Earth, Mars, and Titan for a spin (or a look-see?) and you see what I mean.

I don't mind if these things are not straight forward as this will be part of preparation and not something that I have to come up with on the fly.
I would prefer to have something to work with but if there are no fixed rules, I want to be certain, that whatever I come up with does not contradict anything given.
On the other hand we should not forget that this is still just a game. Having to study astrophysics for 4 years might not be an option for everyone. So a nice balance between complexity of a simulation and playability might be a good idea. I feel that this is something that Traveller had always to struggle with.

 

[Geir]

It's not just the physics stuff, which is necessarily watered down ( I found an article on a "simple method" to determine mean temperature based on latitude and... well, 12 pages, read it four times and said 'Nope'. )

There's also the PGL part of the UWP. The original book has pages of culture tables that if you boil it down are no better than the D66 that already exists in the Core book, so I saw no need to redo that, but on the other hand, Government and Law Level stuff seemed underdeveloped or at least under-explained in the old DGP book. And to the Traveller, details like, "Am I going to get arrested for that?" are likely more impactful than sky colour (which, even more fun with that: the Earth's sky is actually a combination of violet and white, but our eyes doesn't see violet very well, so it looks blue. Birds, whose vision extends into the ultraviolet, probably see it very differently. I can guess how Vargr eyes work, if they're not 'improved' along with their brains, but don't know how Aslan eyes work, and Droyne? - so the colour of the sky depends on the eye of the beholder {small 'b'} ).

So my point, which wandered off the page... is that there's much more to world-building than the weather. Understanding the society is just as or more impactful than the physical aspects. In Traveller at least, gravity can be controlled, so if you're strolling through the starport, you can be on any technological planet, but the wall decorations, security checkpoints, hawkers of goods, pickpockets, that is more likely to show the character of the world. I just finished reading Bu and Embla's Guide to Starports of the Marches (part of the JTAS Kickstarter) which gets that idea across rather well.

 

[Reisender]

I have full faith that you have this covered. I'm really looking forward to see the World Builders Handbook(WBH), even though I'll probably have to wait 1 1/2 year to receive my printed copy. But I'm sure the wait is worth it.
A situation that will probably happen quite often will be that some data, e.g. the UWP from Traveller.com or other sources, is already given and the rest of the data has to be "generated" from that point. But I'm sure that there will be a way to do that easily with the WBH as well.

 

[Geir]

I have full faith that you have this covered. I'm really looking forward to see the World Builders Handbook(WBH), even though I'll probably have to wait 1 1/2 year to receive my printed copy. But I'm sure the wait is worth it.
A situation that will probably happen quite often will be that some data, e.g. the UWP from Traveller.com or other sources, is already given and the rest of the data has to be "generated" from that point. But I'm sure that there will be a way to do that easily with the WBH as well.

Yep. I cover both the 'extended' (from scratch) and 'continuation' (from partial data) methods and include an example of each. If I don't keep getting distracted today, I'm planning to test out the procedures and forms on another continuation method world.

 

[Vernonator]

Any update on the status of this MOST needed book? I am starting a new campaign (first time using Mongoose 2, have done alot of CT and Mega in the past) and was just looking for such a resource.

 

[Geir]

Any update on the status of this MOST needed book? I am starting a new campaign (first time using Mongoose 2, have done alot of CT and Mega in the past) and was just looking for such a resource.

I can only refer you to the release schedule. I turned it in and it's being edited.

 

[Reisender]

Any update on the status of this MOST needed book? I am starting a new campaign (first time using Mongoose 2, have done alot of CT and Mega in the past) and was just looking for such a resource.

I can only refer you to the release schedule. I turned it in and it's being edited.

Well, the thread Traveller Release Schedule 2023 and the Release Schedule on the main page give currently April as the release date. But from previous publications we know that this might change.

 

[kronovan]

I'm too late to the party on this, but am I right in assuming that this is world building from the perspective of, or about as close in as, a spacecraft in orbit?
I ask because I've been running Walker heavy missions and are expanding it into a campaign. I'm interested in world building from the perspective of variable land terrains and weather and any existing tools that could support my dynamically determining that. This upcoming book though, seems to be an expansion of what's in the CRB with georaphic planet details being about atmosphere and hydrographics. As it is, I borrow a lot from the Catalyst Games Labs Battletech Tactical Operations book. I'd much prefer to use a book specifically written for the Traveller verse though.
So will this book be what I'm looking for, or is there perhaps another existing book that's still applicable which I could use?

 

[Geir]

I'm too late to the party on this, but am I right in assuming that this is world building from the perspective of, or about as close in as, a spacecraft in orbit?
I ask because I've been running Walker heavy missions and are expanding it into a campaign. I'm interested in world building from the perspective of variable land terrains and weather and any existing tools that could support my dynamically determining that. This upcoming book though, seems to be an expansion of what's in the CRB with georaphic planet details being about atmosphere and hydrographics. As it is, I borrow a lot from the Catalyst Games Labs Battletech Tactical Operations book. I'd much prefer to use a book specifically written for the Traveller verse though.
So will this book be what I'm looking for, or is there perhaps another existing book that's still applicable which I could use?

Yeah, sorry. Nothing about weather or terrain, except at the temperature (ranges) and continents/ocean (as in number and size) level.

 

[IanBruntlett]

I can only refer you to the release schedule. I turned it in and it's being edited.

Well, when it is finally published, it would be *really* helpful if Mongoose could put a chapter-by-chapter account of this book on their website. My local FLGSs don't stock Traveller stuff so mail order it is... and with mail order, you don't get to look before you buy.

 

[MongooseBella]

Just to chime in - I'm currently editing this (at about the halfway mark right now!)