Lord High Munchkin said:
OK, I might be missing the obvious... but what is meant by "Zone Modifier"
and "Tendency"?
These are covered in the notes sheet, but I will put some info here.
Zone Modifier is simply the position within the habitable zone. It affects temperature. It is a random interpolation of the modifiers listed in the book. You can usually ignore it, but extreme values (less than -3 or more than +3) leave open the possibility of another semi-habitable planet in the system.
Tendency reflects the effective workings of the government. For vague government types e.g. 9 Impersonal Bureaucracy, it can give you the sense of whether the government is formally a democracy or dictatorship.
For more specific government types, it can provide some detail. For example 1-Man rule in a Democracy might mean a heavily centralized democractic state (like the modern UK), while a broadly-based tendency in a democracy could refer to a government with many different power centers (like the modern USA).
A dictatorship with 1-man rule has an unchallenged leader with an iron fist, while a broadly-based dictatorship probably has a ruling party with significant power centers and possibly some democractic procedures.
Too often, governments in Traveller seem like caricatures, compared with tremondous variability of real-world governments (and SF setting should increase the options). Let the tendency and group role flesh out the government.
The three government fields should be used to a tell a story. Here a few randomly generated.
Government 6 Colony
Tendency Broadly-Based
Group Role Convicts dominate government
Story: A prison colony of political exiles, running their own affairs in a democractic fashion
Government C Junta
Tendency Narrowly-based
Group Role Politicians dominate government
Story: A banana republic with a recent military coup, the military & government are controlled by the traditional political class.
Government 4 Republic
Tendency Narrowly-based
Group Role Rogues excluded from government
Story: Reformers have recently forced corrupt officials out of office, but the reformers have shown little interest in the status of most of the population. (Like Thailand)
Government D Cult
Tendency Broadly-Based
Group Role
Story: A theocracy, but with all offices elected even the head of the church. The population are mostly true believers.
