Best Detailed World/System Rules

[SpaceBadger]

What in your humble opionion is the best ruleset for generating detailed worlds and systems for Traveller? I'm looking at rulesets going beyond the mainworld UWP to generate the system star(s) and other planets as well. I'll list the ones that I have or am familiar with; if you have a different suggestion, please add it. If you have time, I'd appreciate any explanations of why you favor a particular ruleset, pros/cons, etc.

 

[McPerth]

I always liked the 2300AD system. It is one of the few I've seen not based on the Bode's Law, and gave many possibilities for variety. It's only problem was that it lacked most of the population/social data, as it was based on a game were colonies were few and well described.

As a second one I'd probably put GURPS space.

 

[SpaceBadger]

I always liked the 2300AD system. It is one of the few I've seen not based on the Bode's Law, and gave many possibilities for variety. It's only problem was that it lacked most of the population/social data, as it was based on a game were colonies were few and well described.

Was that in the old 2300AD rules? I thought I remembered something about Garden, Pre-Garden, etc planets and calculation of habitable zones from the Near Star List data, but when I skimmed through my Mongoose 2300AD PDF I could not find the rules for it. Will need to check my PDFs of the older rules on my CD-ROM from FFE.

 

[Limburger59]

I voted for "First In", because that is the reference I have, I refer to, and most importantly I appreciate.

That said, I have had the privilege of looking at a copy of DGP's World Builder's Handbook, and have coveted it ever since. I long to try out the expansions of the government, law, and tech levels. I believe that if I ever got my hands on a copy, and used it to generate a system, it would be my clear choice...but I'll probably never know. (Just like we'll never know what would have happened if we had had a chance to date that cheerleader everyone longed for back in High School.)

 

[whartung]

TNEs is "World Tamers Handbook", but it relies on the base TNE extended system generation and then adds on things like climate and such, but much of the book is more about adventure type and economics than world building.

TNE's Rule Book system is basically Scout 6.

 

[rancke]

I use both WBH and FI. They both have details the other hasn't.


Hans

 

[Timerover51]

I sort of use the system in Scouts, but play around with it quite a bit, as well as in some cases, simply deciding what I want in a system and then working from there. I do modify the population size based on how difficult the environment is.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

I would love to use WBH, but I haven't been able to afford it. So, it's LBB6 for me.
(Hopefully, someday soon, y'all can see the results of some of my efforts there.)

 

[Cryton]

Love me some WBH!!! Especially with a side of Book 6 System generation!

Mind you, I have been adjusting my Book 6 use to reflect what I am studying for my Astronomy degrees, but the WBH/Book 6 combo still cant be beat!

Although adding in the world mapping templates from T5 is going to be like adding hot fudge to a sunday! :devil:

~Rich

 

[Icosahedron]

I use LBB6 for basic generation, tweak as necessary, then add details from TNE World Tamers Handbook and Gurps First In if and when I need more detail.

I will never buy the DGP stuff unless I can obtain it for a sensible price.

I've also used the Heaven and Earth and Universe software to automate the process (I believe they're both based on LBB6).

Advantage: It's the best I have.
Disadvantage: Too many Pop9 TL2 Asteroids. Especially when automation makes tweaking difficult...

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Disadvantage: Too many Pop9 TL2 Asteroids. Especially when automation makes tweaking difficult...

Amen to that. In my LBB6 spreadsheet, I have all the raw rolls available in hidden columns, and go move rolls around to "fix" that. Yes, a lot of work.

 

[rich4421972]

My vote is for TNE. It has all of the star/ planet and orbital locations of GURPS and yet is relatively simple and easy to use. I also like the star classification system which is still fairly accurate t what we know about stellar types and their approximate presence.

 

[aramis]

I voted WBH and other. For insane cultural details, nothing yet beats WBH (or its progenitors, Grand Survey and Grand Census). For system gen, my homebrew redevelopment for MgT into an extended gen ala bk 6.

 

[SpaceBadger]

Cautionary note on WBH: I recently found my copy and got into a major snit over what I saw as errors in many of the size-related details (pp. 60-63), where they had obviously confused radius with diameter - until I read more closely and saw that the variable R in many of the calculations was for the planetary size digit from UPP, which approximates planetary diameter in 1000s of miles. Why they called this variable R (suggesting radius) rather than D (suggesting diameter) remains a mystery o: , but if you follow those directions the calculations do work out correctly.

 

[aramis]

2300 used the titus-bode relationship, McPerth. it just didn't use mercury and venus for all systems' initial a and b distances.

less broken, that way.

I find T20 plus MT WBH to be awesome for color details.

GURPS Space is more realistic, but realism ceased being my goal about 2008.

 

[McPerth]

2300 used the titus-bode relationship, McPerth. it just didn't use mercury and venus for all systems' initial a and b distances.

IIRC, Titus-Bode law gives orbital relation as O₁+(O₂-O₁)^n-1, where O₁ means first orbit, O₂ second orbit and n means orbital number, so giving you a geometric relation among orbits.

2300 multiplies the former orbit by 1.3 to 2.1, but a different multiplier could be for any orbit. IMHO those are not the same numbers.

As an example, in Titus-Bode law, by knowing the first and second orbits, you may estimate the 8^th orbit with little margin of error, in 2300 you could not, as the variation may quite extensive. (form O₁*1.3⁷, so O₁*6.27 to O₁*2.1⁷, so O₁*180 in extreme cases).

 

[Thanos]

So If I were to pick up one of these books, what should I get? Something that's easily compatible with mongoose.

 

[BytePro]

CT Scouts (LBB6) system gen is very compatible. Most that don't change the meaning of the UWP should be good as far as avoiding conversion issues.

MgT (Mongoose) Scouts had some system stuff in it, IIRC, that might have some compatibility issues, but that should be minor.

Note these books generally cover more than just system building - they include rules for playing in the system which would not be directly compatible with MgT. But spec-ing the system with anything compatible with LBB6 should work decently with MgT.

(LBB6 is available from FFE in the collection CDs (maybe reprints still), and probably from DriveThru individually...)

 

[MichaelSTee]

WBH has a lot of extra details that can be useful. GURPS Space (4th ed.) is the most realistic system I've ever seen, but does include shortcuts (still realistic, but with less math). But for Traveller-based systems, Aramis' system is the best amalgamation of rulesets I've seen.

To replace Titius-Bode, I'm thinking of using a log scale to determine approx orbit. Actual orbit can be up to 25% plus/minus.
|orbit|AU|Sol system equivalent
| 1|0.1 |
| 2|0.18 |
| 3|0.32 |mercury 0.39
| 4|0.56 |venus 0.72
| 5|1 |earth 1
| 6|1.8 |mars 1.5
| 7|3.2 |belt 2.7
| 8|5.6 |jupiter 5.2
| 9|10 |saturn 9.5
|10|18 |uranus 19
|11|32 |neptune 30
|12|56 |pluto 30-39 - kuiper belt
|13|100 |
|14|180 |
|15|320 |
|16|560 |
|17|1000 |

 

[the.barwickian]

This was quite a tough one. I went for GURPS Space (having the 4th edition in mind) as it's the most up-to-date and is very detailed. For some reason I love detail in world building, even if it means I build fewer worlds.

Having said that, for all its supposed faults, the DGP World Builders' Handbook is a superb balance between detail and usability, and I often refer to it for the social details.

And First In is pretty good, too.

If I really go all out, I suppose I use a blend of all three, seasoned with a dash of Stephen Gillett's World-building for inspiration.