World Builders help

[Geir]

For Tidal Lock DMs for a planet's lock to its moon, do Planetary Rings count as a moon when calculating the DM-2 per moon beyond the first? How about Size S moons?

No. Yes. (I realise this is different than the previous table, but the first DM on this table is specifically for Size. Ring's don't count because you can't be locked to them as they already surround the world, so their effects would cancel any rotational tide effect - plus they don't really mass enough to even count as a Size S)

 

[coolAlias]

Which means the sunrise to sunrise period experienced on the surface is 3600/-0.47 = -7628.36 hours... for which the absolute value should be correct from a temperature perspective and the sun still goes backwards

You know what, I'm an idiot. I was not using the absolute value when calculating the Rotation Factor for temperature, despite you being very clear about it in the book:

 

[Geir]

You know what, I'm an idiot. I was not using the absolute value when calculating the Rotation Factor for temperature, despite you being very clear about it in the book:
View attachment 2262

Well, it was still an interesting problem, and I'm unsure if the answer is correct despite the math, I'm thinking an experiment with a lightbulb and a Ping-Pong ball with a red dot on it and the setting up an orrery and seeing how long between red-dot 'dawns' - I should trust the math, but it's weird enough that I can't visualise it properly. (no, not going to build a science experiment).

 

[ColinD]

In this case: rather odd, a retrograde rotation and an axial tilt more than 90 should, logically be the same as rotating prograde. (two flips are better than one??) and the day is longer than the year which is annoying, but happens . It should be equivalent to a prograde rotation based on 34.788 degrees and so treating the rotation as effectively positive, that yields -0.47. Which means the sunrise to sunrise period experienced on the surface is 3600/-0.47 = -7628.36 hours... for which the absolute value should be correct from a temperature perspective and the sun still goes backwards, rising in the east (at the 34.788 axial tilt, prograde, assumption (I guess it would be west in upside-down logic- but it would behave that way looking at the sky - ouch my head hurts, but I think that's right - effectively three flips. I'd have to build an orrery* to test it.)

*okay, in this case ChatGPT was helpful, correctly answering "what's the name of that thing with the sun in the center and the planets rotating on stilts?"

I would love to make an adventure on a planet that the day is longer than the year! I assume the tidal locked extreme axial tilt would also have massive change of seasons.

 

[coolAlias]

What is the preferred designation sequence for Planetary Rings?
1. Continuous with any other moons using the same alphabetical sequencing
2. As above but using a number for any Ring
3. As a separate sequence of numbers

For example, if there were a Moon, Ring, Moon, Moon, Ring, would it be:
1. a, b, c, d, e
2. a, 2, c, d, 5
3. a, 1, b, c, 2

 

[Geir]

What is the preferred designation sequence for Planetary Rings?
1. Continuous with any other moons using the same alphabetical sequencing
2. As above but using a number for any Ring
3. As a separate sequence of numbers

For example, if there were a Moon, Ring, Moon, Moon, Ring, would it be:
1. a, b, c, d, e
2. a, 2, c, d, 5
3. a, 1, b, c, 2

4. none of the above?

Seriously, I would lean towards #3. The potential gotcha is the 'real life' designation, where the planets are small letter after the star names, but in the Solar System, rings are capital letters, but going with capital letters would look odd for rings (and confuse with stars). so, yeah, go with #3.

 

[coolAlias]

p194 DMs for Highport presence you seem to have omitted the DM-1 for Population 6- from Core p258; was that intentional?

 

[Geir]

p194 DMs for Highport presence you seem to have omitted the DM-1 for Population 6- from Core p258; was that intentional?

Unintentional. I'll add it to my list....

 

[coolAlias]

Found another one, WBH p147:

... DMs and tables in the Traveller Core Rulebook pages 147-218

Those are the page numbers for the World Social Characteristics chapter in the WBH.

The Core rulebook's World and Universe Creation chapter is p246-261. PGL stuff starts on p252.

 

[coolAlias]

When generating population data:

1. For Population Concentration, do DMs for Min. TL apply if there are native sophonts?

2. Same question but for Urbanisation Percentage

3. For Urbanisation Percentage, does the Max % from an Agricultural world take precedence over the Max % from TL, or vice versa? For example, is the base Max% for a TL3 Ag world 30 or 90?

 

[Geir]

When generating population data:

1. For Population Concentration, do DMs for Min. TL apply if there are native sophonts?

It assumes a human-like culture and resource demands, so it could... (weasel answer, I know)... might be better if it didn't because it might help describe the peculiarities of the natives.

2. Same question but for Urbanisation Percentage

Same answer.

3. For Urbanisation Percentage, does the Max % from an Agricultural world take precedence over the Max % from TL, or vice versa? For example, is the base Max% for a TL3 Ag world 30 or 90?

Same sort of thing. The TL should be the max unless it is superseded by a minimum, but it assumes human-like.

 

[coolAlias]

When determining Faction Strength, are there any guidelines for when to assign the code "G"?

For example, Zed Prime with its balkanized government and 2 major factions - was that just an arbitrary decision to make them both G instead of rolling?

Would that code ever be assigned to a faction (ignoring the main government) on a non-balkanised world?

 

[coolAlias]

Also, "O" is not a valid eHex code, but you used it for Obscure on the faction strength chart. I'll just use zero instead.

 

[Geir]

When determining Faction Strength, are there any guidelines for when to assign the code "G"?

For example, Zed Prime with its balkanized government and 2 major factions - was that just an arbitrary decision to make them both G instead of rolling?

Would that code ever be assigned to a faction (ignoring the main government) on a non-balkanised world?

If it wasn't a balkanised world, G would be obvious as the main government and it would only be assigned to the main government unless there was a civil war ongoing (which, you might argue, makes it balkanised, at least temproarily). For the two factions, it was arbitrary assignment to the faction leaders (because you can't roll a G) I suppose if the faction was, say, the European Union, it might not be appropriate to make any of the governments G - but if you were talking about the Warsaw Pact, G would go to the Soviet Union.

 

[Geir]

Also, "O" is not a valid eHex code, but you used it for Obscure on the faction strength chart. I'll just use zero instead.

I really don't think it matters if it's not eHex - neither are Roman numerals. The absence of O and I from eHex is because of confusion with 1 and 0 but if it's all letters for that digit of the code it shouldn't be a big deal. Maybe they should have been called Unimportant and gotten a U.

 

[PeterDebney]

I would love to make an adventure on a planet that the day is longer than the year! I assume the tidal locked extreme axial tilt would also have massive change of seasons.

WHB gave me one planet with a day about a month long. That resulted in “daily” temperature swings between plus and minus 50C.
They would have a 4 week cycle of deep snow, flooding, parching, and rain. I assumed that most of the life would be crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) and a few hardy species being diurnal or nocturnal.
If you have not read them already, Brian Aldis’s Helliconia trilogy gives a great setting where the seasons are centuries long - the planet is in a very eccentric binary system.

 

[Geir]

Winter is coming...

 

[coolAlias]

I really don't think it matters if it's not eHex - neither are Roman numerals. The absence of O and I from eHex is because of confusion with 1 and 0 but if it's all letters for that digit of the code it shouldn't be a big deal. Maybe they should have been called Unimportant and gotten a U.

It doesn't matter to humans, sure, but computers...

Not a big deal, just a special case.

I probably would have done Faction Strength as a simple numeric scale of 0-6, with G slotted in at 5. Then anyone could tell at a glance which faction is more or less powerful without having to remember special codes. Is S more powerful than P? Easy right now because I'm looking at it, but I'll always know that 4 < 6.

 

[coolAlias]

For Systems of Justice, Secondary:

Even if a world’s justice system is adversarial or traditional in criminal and private matters, it may be inquisitional for strictly economic or regulatory offenses.

Presumably the above means worlds with Inquisitorial and None systems have the same system for both criminal and economic matters?

For those worlds with adversarial or traditional systems, on a roll of 12+,...

What is this roll, a straight 2D? Another 2D+DMs roll on the System of Justice table, but treating rolls < 12 as using the general judicial system?

 

[Geir]

For Systems of Justice, Secondary:

Presumably the above means worlds with Inquisitorial and None systems have the same system for both criminal and economic matters?

Yes

What is this roll, a straight 2D? Another 2D+DMs roll on the System of Justice table, but treating rolls < 12 as using the general judicial system?

Isn't the '...on a roll of 12, DM+Law Level' ?