Worldbuilding 3.2 comments

[EDG]

Canonically, the table, as reflected in numerous Marc Miller articles in Challenge magazine, and in several alien modules (starting with the Aslan IIRC), regarding minimum TL for worlds based on atmosphere type proceeds as follows:

Atm    Minimum Tech Level
0      7
1      7
2      7
3      6
4      5
7      5
9      5
A      8
B      8
C      9
D+     6

If Mongoose is going to put such minimums in, and I agree that it should be, then I would prefer to see the canonical values used.

Actually Flynn, now I look at it again, this table is incorrect (despite its official nature).

You need Vacc Suits to survive on atm 0 and 1, and they're not introduced (according to CT Book 3, p 17) until TL 8. The Combination respirator/filter mask is introduced at TL 5, not 7 (same source). And the Filter Mask (allows breathing of 4,7,9) is introduced at TL 3, not 5 or 6. And Oxygen tanks are introduced at TL 5, not 6 (if that's what you're assuming would be used in atm D+), though I guess this assumes that D and E have regions that require protection. I'd also say that while some type A atmospheres could just require oxygen tanks, most are probably too hostile for that in terms of temperature and so need Vacc Suits, so they need to be TL 8. For Panthalassics (F) I'd use TL 8 as a minimum (vacc suits probably), and for Insidious I'd assume TL A just because of their hellish nature.

So the correct minimum environmental tech level table that sticks to canon should actually be as follows:

Atm    Minimum Tech Level
0      8
1      8
2      5
3      5
4      3
7      3
9      3
A      8
B      9
C      A
D      5
E      5
F      8

 

[AKAramis]

Actually Flynn, now I look at it again, this table is incorrect (despite its official nature).

You need Vacc Suits to survive on atm 0 and 1, and they're not introduced (according to CT Book 3, p 17) until TL 8. The Combination respirator/filter mask is introduced at TL 5, not 7 (same source). And the Filter Mask (allows breathing of 4,7,9) is introduced at TL 3, not 5 or 6. And Oxygen tanks are introduced at TL 5, not 6 (if that's what you're assuming would be used in atm D+), though I guess this assumes that D and E have regions that require protection. I'd also say that while some type A atmospheres could just require oxygen tanks, most are probably too hostile for that in terms of temperature and so need Vacc Suits, so they need to be TL 8. For Panthalassics (F) I'd use TL 8 as a minimum (vacc suits probably), and for Insidious I'd assume TL A just because of their hellish nature.

You don't need vacc suits, you need vacuum capable construction vehicles and structures.

Also, that TL6 had vacuum capable suits is known, since TL6 is defined by time, and we know they could and did manufacture same in that defined 1940-1969 timefram, already in the past when CT was written. Whether they meet the standards of the TL8 Vacc suit... well, we know they did not.

We also have, in the MT Imperial Encyclopedia, a TL6 Protective suit:

Suit, Protective: Protects against corrosive atmospheres.
The protective suit is sealed, air-conditioned, and has its own
air supply (good for six hours). The suit has no water supply
of its own, nor will it protect the wearer once the air supply gives
out, but so long as it works, the wearer will not suffer the ill
effects of the outside environment.

TL	Vol	Weight	Price
6	8 liters	7 kg	Cr1000

 

[Flynn]

This is a personal matter, but I also feel that a world's Starport places some limits on both Tech Level and Population.

Starport A:
Min POP 3 (assumes that the starport needs at least 1000 people for staff and support); Min TL 9 (assumes that Starport A can repair starships, and Jump drives only become available at TL9)

Starport B:
Min POP 2 (assumes that the starport needs at least 100 people for staff and support); Min TL 6 (assumes that Starport B can repair non-Jump vessels, and those become available at TL6)

Starport C:
Min POP 1 (assumes that the starport needs at least 10 people for staff and support); Min TL 4 (assumes that Starport C can do minor repairs, and the ability to mass produce machined parts become available at TL4)

Starport D:
Min POP 1 (assumes that the starport needs at least 10 people for staff and support)

Starport E:
Becomes the default for barren worlds instead of Starport X (based on Marc Miller's position in T4, and it makes sense to me).
No minimum POP or TL. Max TL5 (because once you have airports, you essentially have a Starport D in the event of an emergency).

Starport X:
No restrictions on UWP, simply on general public access.

More Food For Thought,
Flynn

 

[EDG]

I'd be a lot stricter on the Pop limits myself, partly because I think the bigger starports would only be built on worlds that already had large markets to justify the increased shipping and trade. Otherwise it'd be like building JFK or Heathrow airport to service a small village.

So I'd say that type A's need pop 6 minimum, Bs need pop 5, Cs need pop 4, and Ds need pop 2. E and X don't have pop limits since they don't have any facilities.

I also think that the default for barren worlds should be either E or X, depending on whether or not its been surveyed. E would mean that someone's plonked a beacon on the surface and pops back occasionally to check on it, X means nobody's bothered with the planet at all.

 

[AKAramis]

I'd be a lot stricter on the Pop limits myself, partly because I think the bigger starports would only be built on worlds that already had large markets to justify the increased shipping and trade. Otherwise it'd be like building JFK or Heathrow airport to service a small village.

So I'd say that type A's need pop 6 minimum, Bs need pop 5, Cs need pop 4, and Ds need pop 2. E and X don't have pop limits since they don't have any facilities.

I also think that the default for barren worlds should be either E or X, depending on whether or not its been surveyed. E would mean that someone's plonked a beacon on the surface and pops back occasionally to check on it, X means nobody's bothered with the planet at all.

Typically, they should, but there are good reasons for exceptions... using Fairbanks, Alaska, as a parallel, it has a NASA-Shuttle-approved international airport, and a significant inland "sea-port", and major repair hangars... not because the city is large (30-40K), but because it supports three military bases (Eilson AFB, Ft. Wainright, Ft. Greely), and a training range, and is a major hub for all the "Type E" ports scattered throughout the state. Did I mention, it's the city at the CENTER of Alaska? Ocean access is via several hundred miles of the Nenana River, but it provides the major water-shipping (C-port equivalent) transfer to air or dogsled for the various villages fed by Fairbanks.

So we should look at the minimums for the minimum facilities for the type, not the "normative" in either case, for setting the minimums.

 

[EDG]

Seems to me that Fairbanks would be the equivalent of a C or D starport with a Naval Depot attached wouldn't it (not that you can roll that up)?

And yes, you can get exceptions, but (to repeat my general mantra about Traveller) the point is that this sort of thing should actually be exceptional, not the rule. Maybe things can be tweaked so that unusually large or small starports can be present at low probabilities, but at the end of the day I think it's a lot easier to say that there's nothing stopping GMs from just deciding to manually add whatever they like, as appropriate to the situation.