Traveller Sandbox: Cultural Hub Examples...

Good Afternoon, All:

In my last post, I identified ten possible cultural hubs for Beta Quadrant. However, this step in the process is not complete. Just because I've selected these worlds does not mean we can move on. Instead, let's flesh these out with a few notes, to make sure we have something useful for gaming purposes. Only then should we move on to our next step in the process.

While I have ten worlds to develop here, I'm only going to write up three of them today. The worlds that I have chosen here are: Sutekh, Jengu and Koyane. I've chosen them because they are the capitol worlds of the three major polities in Beta Quadrant. Thus, the flavor we give these will have a dramatic impact on the rest of the Quadrant.

You can learn a lot from just the UWP values of a given world. Looking at these worlds in particular, here are some basic write-ups that simply translate the UWP values into text (provided by a program I wrote to convert UWPs into text):

Jengu (2407 A79A89C-B Amber Zone): Jengu is a large world, have a diameter of roughly 11200km. Jengu has a dense nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere that bears a taint that requires the use of a filter mask. The surface of Jengu is roughly 96–100% surface water (or similar fluid), which qualifies it as a Water World. Jengu has a general population of 600,000,000 local residents. The people of Jengu are governed by an impersonal bureaucracy. Visitors will find that Jengu is extremely oppressive and restrictive, with little or no personal freedom granted to the general public. Jengu has an excellent Class A starport, with extensive shipyards capable of constructing new starships and overhaul existing vessels. Jengu has Early Stellar technology, introducing the most primitive of true artificial intelligences, as computers are able to model synaptic networks. Important installations and facilities on Jengu include a Naval Base. Jengu has been designated as an Amber Zone by the Explorer's Society. Travellers should exercise caution in any dealings or activities involving this world.

KOYANE (2706 A5699EF-B Amber Zone): Koyane is a medium-sized planet about 8000km in diameter. Koyane has a standard nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere comparable to that of Terra. The surface of Koyane is roughly 86%–95% surface water (or similar fluid), whose land forms only a few small islands and archipelagos. A highly populated world, Koyane is home to approximately 7,000,000,000 local residents. The people of Koyane are governed by a religious autocracy. Visitors will find that Koyane is extremely oppressive and restrictive, with little or no personal freedom granted to the general public. Koyane has an excellent Class A starport, with extensive shipyards capable of constructing new starships and overhaul existing vessels. Koyane has Early Stellar technology, introducing the most primitive of true artificial intelligences, as computers are able to model synaptic networks. Koyane has been designated as an Amber Zone by the Explorer's Society. Travellers should exercise caution in any dealings or activities involving this world.

Sutekh (1707 AADA746-B): Sutekh is a large world, have a diameter of roughly 16000km. Sutekh has a very dense atmosphere that is breathable only above a minimum altitude, due to extremely high surface pressures. The surface of Sutekh is roughly 96–100% surface water (or similar fluid), which qualifies it as a Water World. Sutekh has a general population of 40,000,000 local residents. The people of Sutekh are governed by a representative democracy. Visitors may find Sutekh moderately restrictive, as most personal firearms are regulated or restricted by local authorities. Sutekh has an excellent Class A starport, with extensive shipyards capable of constructing new starships and overhaul existing vessels. Sutekh has Early Stellar technology, introducing the most primitive of true artificial intelligences, as computers are able to model synaptic networks.

While you can find a few adventure ideas simply from the Universal World Profile of a world, there are a few other elements that can help you develop a stronger sense of adventuring potential and actual flavor for the worlds in question. Using the fantasy sandbox building methods suggested in An Echo Resounding and adapting them to a science fiction setting like this, the elements attributed to Cities and Towns can be easily implemented here, although you might need a new table to really capture a futuristic feel instead of a fantasy feel. City And Town Origins could become System History. City and Town Activities might transform slightly into System Function (modified somewhat by the Trade Codes associated with a given world.) City and Town Obstacles metamorphoses into System Challenges.

My only other suggested addition here would be to include one or two cultural taboos or unusual practices to add a flavorful element that stands in the minds of the players. It is a challenge to make each world a unique gaming experience, but if we can only make a few stand out, the cultural hubs are the ones that should receive our efforts first. You can easily use cultural research to provide some of those unusual traditions, or dig around in the old MegaTraveller supplement World Builder's Handbook (itself being a rewrite in part of the old Digest Group Publishing supplement Grand Census for Classic Traveller) for the unusual customs tables provided for world generation. Ultimately, you should evaluate how flavorful the world is with the first three elements I mentioned above from An Echo Resounding, before you decide whether you want to add those details or not.

So, in order to complete this step, I need to create some tables for System History, System Function and System Challenges. Sounds like a great post or two later on this week.

More Later,
Flynn