Collace Between The Lines

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Edit: That someone who needed to change them was ME, but they're in a menu I overlooked. User error, not developer error!

Someone needs to change the default settings that the Traveller World Builder has for Collace.

I went there looking to be sure there was an asteroid belt to support the IMTU terraforming project (see the "throwing rocks and ice cubes" comment in the previous post, and "scheduled meteorite impacts" in my additions to the Wiki description in the first post). I was slightly surprised there wasn't one -- but they can strip the ring system from Planet 5 for material instead. No problem. But there IS a problem...

Collace is NOT a satellite of a gas giant! And it has at least one moon, too. (Kirkton is the "primary moon").


Trexalon, on the other hand, IS a gas giant's satellite.

Link to Traveller World Builder result for Collace HERE.

The previous version of that site had a checkbox for "mainworld is a satellite". The current version does not.

 

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Correction/update: The current version does have that checkbox, but got moved to a menu I hadn't explored. My bad. Many thanks to the developer for a really quick response!

This fixes the issues with both Collace and Trexalon.

The Collace system is as generated by Traveller Worlds with the default RNG seed, and the "Main world is placed as a planet" checkbox filled in the "Your Preferences" tab.

The Trexalon system is also as generated with the default RNG seed, but with "Main world is placed as a satellite" checkbox filled.

 

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Just took another look at Collace's Traveller Worlds results.

That map looks... well, given that no point on the planet has a surface temperature above 0^oC at any point in the year (though sometimes it gets close at the equator), it's going to have a lot more ice coverage than the map depicts -- as in, it's going to be a spherical skating rink with some dirt sticking out. Unless there's a really stupendous amount of magma upwelling to heat the oceans (doesn't look like it's happening naturally, per the description -- but I bet you could get it by cracking open mid-ocean tectonic rifts with carefully targeted meson guns). This also messes with my idea that the Darrians seeded Collace's oceans with methanogenic microorganisms back when they found the world's survivors, as a start towards terraforming the place. No oceans!

Weirdly, there's a code of Ho (which I think means "hot"), and given the temperature listings, it isn't. Understandably so, as it has very little atmosphere. Might need to tweak the albedo and greenhouse effect coefficients to get the temps to match the map, and explain it as the effects of the ongoing terraforming process (which is basically just intentional global warming to vaporize the oceans to increase atmospheric density; cleaning it up to be breathable is a separate step).

Also, since there are cities and arcologies near the poles, I'm probably going to have to forego my idea of the "Rockstream Corridor" streams of guided asteroids bombarding the poles as part of the world's terraforming process. Then again, the Collace system doesn't have any asteroid belts -- the only sources of floating rocks are the ring systems of the worldlet in Orbit 0 and the big world in Orbit 13 -- so that may be a non-starter anyhow. *_Sigh_* I really liked that idea....

The added comments on government type are a nice touch, and I can really use them. Cool.

 

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Quick updates:
I'm going to want to play with the updated TravellerWorlds generator; it'll let me tweak the climate to suit the "Darrian Terraforming Plans" storyline (mainly by giving the planet some ice-free ocean area), and save the output for re-use.

Also, implied in the IMTU current-events additions to the wiki description, Collace is at a few inflection points. The first is the financialization of its economy -- that is, its focus is shifting from long-term development towards short-term profit maximization (and, incidentally, toward greater economic inequality than its historic norms). The second is an impending "last move in the democracy game," wherein one faction exploits its incumbency to make further democratic change impossible. Changes to government structure to accommodate Imperial Accession may facilitate this "last move" attempt (and not, in the end, even lead to Imperial membership!) The third is that something's going to set Trexalon off and they'll ramp up the "cold war," destabilizing the situation.

The case in point for the financialization tipping point is the starship construction sector. They were well on the way to achieving TL-14 competence and exploiting the world's industrial base to build very good -- not great, but very good -- starships in quantity. Then a failing shipyard performed a leveraged buyout of the industry technology leader and basically drove away its best technicians in their pursuit of higher profits through re-badging imported ships. The "offshoring to Inchin" bit is an attempt to thwart this, but this approach has serious limits.

The "last move in the democracy game" storyline revolves around exploitation of the well-intentioned government changes being made in anticipation of Imperial Accession.

The big problem I have is that once I get past the descriptive politics part of it (describing the situation and the factions in it) and into the normative politics element (identifying "good guys", "bad guys", and a preferred outcome), the politics of it make it a lot harder to write about in this forum, because the solutions are likely political and therefore potentially controversial.

On a side note, I seem to have developed an affinity for TL-13 worlds at the edges of the Imperium (note my thread on Boughene...).

 

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The big problem I have is that once I get past the descriptive politics part of it (describing the situation and the factions in it) and into the normative politics element (identifying "good guys", "bad guys", and a preferred outcome), the politics of it make it a lot harder to write about in this forum, because the solutions are likely political and therefore potentially controversial.

And now I'm back in school again after a hiatus to avoid Covid, with a full course load of Poli-Sci courses.

I want to get normative now! (Free time permitting....)

 

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Relevant, from the S5 Long Scout thread:

This probably belongs in my Collace Between the Lines thread, but I'll park it here anyhow.

Development history:

1074: J5/M0, 199Td (Size E Drive) proof of concept* by Collace Light Industries Yard No. 6. 4 built.
1082: J5/2G, 400Td (Size K/E Drives) Built in response to Trexalon having constructed 2 ships of this specification (and subsequently another 4). 4 started by CLIY#6, 2 finished by 1084, other two scrapped on the ways. Trexalon's ships of this type were... unreliable, to say the least. At least one is known to have survived as late as 1105.
1083: J5/2G, 600Td (Q/F-drive, TL-14 competence) Shugushaag class and variants, by CLIY#6.
1083: J6/0G, 400Td (M-drive, marginal TL-15 capability*) 3 built by CLIY#6. Similar ships built at Efate/Regina for Boughine/Regina.
1084: J5/3G, 199Td (HG, TL-14) Neon Pegasus class. 5 built, 1 started but scrapped. (CLIY#6)
1084: J5/2G, 400Td (HG, TL-14) Shugushaag II class. (CLIY#6)
1090-1098: Collace reverts to TL-13 after Treaty of Mertactor**.
Ongoing maintenance support after 1094 only available at Glisten/Glisten or Scout Base Collace (with some parts having to be sourced from Glisten).

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* These are prototypes; while functional, thy are only marginally so. [Out-of-Universe: they are not Rules As Written compliant (the design shorts them on power plant fuel) but functionally compliant (enough power plant fuel dedicated to complete a maximum-range Jump with tanker support at each end of the transit).] The J6 400Td "6-Boat" is similar to my Israfel-class Courier (again, a ship that only works by house rules on fuel requirements).

** See the Collace Between the Lines thread's extended library data section. In short, the act of Collace building starships with its indigenous industrial base [under High Guard naval procurement rules] elevated the effective Starport rating to A from B, yielding a +2TL bonus which wasn't fully realized. They built TL-14 equivalents, and TL-15 prototypes [valid under LBB3 drive TL limits but not HG ones], demonstrating TL-14 competence. This enabled them to build ships at TL-14 (Shug IIs and Neon Pegasus class) briefly, until by treaty they ceased building starships on Collace itself [and lost the +2 TL bonus].

 

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And now I'm back in school again after a hiatus to avoid Covid, with a full course load of Poli-Sci courses.

I want to get normative now! (Free time permitting....)

And this brings up something that's been a hypothetical issue (since I haven't run a campaign out of there) since I started looking at Collace as a setting: Why are they the "good guys" other than because I want them to be?

I mean, they're an Imperial-aligned representative democracy with law level 3, and they like off-worlders. That's gotta count for something, right? But on the other hand, their rival Trexalon is an imperial-skeptical Feudal Technocracy with Law=1, so maybe they're good guys too if you don't like the Imperium all that much (maybe having started out in the Sword Worlds?)

The question is how to sell Collace-as-good-guys to players who might not highly value either Democracy or the Imperium.

I might write up some fanfic from the point of view of somebody wandering through the region, just to give the place that personal touch. Now, to come up with a suitable character who's not necessarily an author-insert...

 

[Spinward Flow]

The question is how to sell Collace-as-good-guys to players who might not highly value either Democracy or the Imperium.

Easy.
Stop trying to use the "good/evil" continuum as your spectrum of measurement.

Use something else.
Money makes for a good starting point.
As an Industrialized world, Collace is going to have a larger economy than any other world between Wonstar/Five Sisters and Glisten/Glisten. This makes them something of an economic "center of gravity" surrounded by quite a lot of Non-industrial worlds.
That gives Collace "heft" in terms of soft power (economic, diplomatic, cultural, etc.) with respect to foreign affairs.

What about location, location, location?
Collace sits astride a rather important segment of the Spinward Main, creating a kind of All Roads Jumps Lead To Rome Collace sort of dynamic. Additionally, it can be a shorter trip from the Sisters' Reach down to Collace (requires 3 parsec range to cut across the gap) than trying to go all the way over to either Lunion or Glisten subsectors. So Collace becomes an important network hub that can supply the Five Sisters with a pretty wide variety of products, skills and technologies.

And if neither of those options are suitable for your purposes ... well ... there's always this example that you can borrow from ...

 

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Easy.
Stop trying to use the "good/evil" continuum as your spectrum of measurement.

Use something else.
Money makes for a good starting point.

Credit-Credit chip, y'all.*

But that's exactly the point I'm addressing here.

If I'm writing up "our heroes have to save the world, again" scenarios (for varying definitions of "the world" and "save"), I'd kind of hope the world in question is seen to be worth saving.

I can probably provide a few situations where the local authorities, institutions, or citizens "pet the dog/save the cat" (TV Tropes), to help get the players on-side.

If it's just about the money, some of the "bad guys" (Swordies, Joes, Trexies) have pockets deep enough to be problematic.

--------------------------------
*Just finished a short paper reacting to The Dao of Wu by RZA. I'm enjoying my classes...

 

[Spinward Flow]

If I'm writing up "our heroes have to save the world, again" scenarios (for varying definitions of "the world" and "save"), I'd kind of hope the world in question is seen to be worth saving.

Point of order.
If you want someone to be motivated to "save something" (the world, their neighborhood, their ship, etc.) then they have to be INVESTED in that "something" in some way. That motivation can be anything from patriotism/nationalism to politics to religion to parochial "just leave me alone!" stuff. You're going to have a status quo ... and something is trying to change that status quo. Whether the characters in your story fall on the side of wanting to uphold or overturn that status quo is almost immaterial (if you aren't running your campaign on a railroad), the point is that the characters need to be invested in whichever side they want to be on.

Note that this means you can design in branching paths for where the PCs story is going to go.
Do they align themselves with the establishment?
Or do they try to overturn it?
BOTH courses of action and decision open up a wealth of opportunities for storytelling.

I'd kind of hope the world in question is seen to be worth saving.

Fun part is when your PCs start to realize halfway through that maybe they picked the wrong side and perhaps want to start playing for the other team. What's exciting about that option is that the PCs will have some history/contacts/connections/relationships established by that point, so if they "switch sides" midstream then they can find themselves on a very different trajectory from one where they made a different decision in the first place when it came to choosing sides.

Again, branching paths.

If it's just about the money, some of the "bad guys" (Swordies, Joes, Trexies) have pockets deep enough to be problematic.

Money is a tool ... a means to an end.
Rarely does money become an end goal in and of itself, except for the most avaricious (and morally bankrupt).

Another point is that while there can be "vast sums of money" involved in world economies, a more important question is how much of that wealth can be expended on THIS endeavor? Sure, the Sword Worlds or Trexalon may have "deep pockets" in terms of total assets and resources ... but how much of that is available RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW?

To give you an example ... how much is a billion dollars in a bank worth if you're marooned, alone, on a tropical island?
Short answer: that money is basically worthless to you, because it's both inaccessible and can't be used for anything where you are.

Yes, adversaries might have "vast hordes of cash" at their disposal (theoretically) ... but if it's "not here, right now" how useful is it really?

PC: "If I had my PGMP-13 with me right now, you wouldn't be treating me like this!"
NPC: "But your weapon is impounded back at the starport, pending your return for departure, days from now."
PC:

Money is "nice to have" ... but it isn't always useful.
It's often useful ... but not always.

 

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Yes, adversaries might have "vast hordes of cash" at their disposal (theoretically) ... but if it's "not here, right now" how useful is it really?

Influence operations can be real bargains...

But that's a very good point that's gotten in the way of a scenario I wrote once but could never bring myself to finish. A "The Guns of Ice Station Cyber-Zebra" (kinda) thing. Secret superweapon (meson gun) that'll be used to take over a planet and then hold off re-taking it. Players have to stop it from being finished.

... but how much would it cost, how does the construction logistics work, and why wouldn't you just put the thing into its own ship where it would be more survivable?

Mad supervillain plans are seldom practical operations.

 

[Spinward Flow]

and why wouldn't you just put the thing into its own ship where it would be more survivable?

... and mobile ... so if at first you don't succeed ...

 

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... and mobile ... so if at first you don't succeed ...

... then perhaps skydiving isn't the hobby for you.

 

[kilemall]

Perhaps a more useful term is resources.

Example, Paul Atriedes has been stripped of practical use of his title and ducal forces/income stream.

But he has skills and unique abilities in an environment that they can develop, a tailor made legend he can fulfill and capture desert power that allows a credible threat to the key resource of his civilization, and military power to capture the key people he needs to advance.

That’s resource power. It ends with military and fiscal power, but didn’t start with it.

 

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And now I'm back in school again after a hiatus to avoid Covid, with a full course load of Poli-Sci courses.

I want to get normative now! (Free time permitting....)

I just wish those courses had been less topical than they turned out to be.

But the world's just kinda like that, you know?

 

[Kakistocrat]

Trexalon: Trexalon/District 268 (SM 1339) is as represented in the Wiki with the following changes:
[The deviation from the Traveller World Generator using its default RNG seed for Trexalon of 13391339 is that the “Main world is a satellite” box is checked.]

• Trexalon is not an iceball with its atmosphere frozen out (as per canon). The world is tidally-locked to its primary gas giant, and “days” (months) are three years long. Someone check my math here, a “month” might be longer than a “year” (the orbital period of the gas giant around the system’s double star)… Despite its nominally standard atmosphere and position within the Habitable Zone in Orbit 1, it is not habitable because its orbit crosses in and out of its gas giant’s planetary magnetic field, and it has none of its own. Only a set of artificial geomagnetic field generators at the Lagrange points (at L₁, L₂, L₄, and L₅) make the surface habitable. The multi-year “days” limit habitable regions to near the terminators and high latitudes. (Temperatures near “noon” are extremely high especially near the equator, the “night” side becomes beyond arctic, and weather is extreme.) Also, there is very little water and the TTC uses its control over water supplies and agriculture to support its hegemony.

I was going to try my hand at checking your math here, but I’m not sure where your source data are located, since the Imperial Encyclopedia entry for Trexalon lacks necessary data for checking it. (For example, the system is described as being monostellar in that entry.) Perhaps I’ve misinterpreted which Wiki you’d meant?

As an aside, the energy needed to power the artificial geomagnetic field generators at those Lagrange points to affect Trexalon’s surface must be enormous.

 

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Perhaps I’ve misinterpreted which Wiki you’d meant?

You didn't.

As an aside, the energy needed to power the artificial geomagnetic field generators at those Lagrange points to affect Trexalon’s surface must be enormous.

Is the issue distance, or is the required power input still absurd if they're closer to the planet?

 

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You didn't.

Is the issue distance, or is the required power input still absurd if theyre closer to the planet?

Based on THIS (sciencedirect dot com) paper on potentially giving Mars such a field, a better solution would be to establish a charged plasma ring around Trexalon, using gas skimmed from the gas giant it orbits instead of satellites at LaGrange points.

Necessary hardware could be spinal-mount class plasma/fusion guns, or just spinal particle accelerators. This would just be to contextualize the size and cost of the hardware -- it'd almost certainly not be literal weaponry lifted from LBB5!

 

[Kakistocrat]

Is the issue distance, or is the required power input still absurd if they’re closer to the planet?

I was thinking primarily about the distance, since the L₄ and L₅ points are each π ⁄ 3 (about 104.72%) of the orbit’s semi-major axis away from Trexalon. (L₁ and L₂ would be much closer, perhaps around 1% of the orbit’s semi-major axis away, but even that distance would be power-hungry.) I’m not an engineer, so I wasn’t sure whether a net of generators on the planet’s surface or a swarm of them in a closer orbit to Trexalon would be the best long-term option.

Based on THIS (sciencedirect dot com) paper on potentially giving Mars such a field, a better solution would be to establish a charged plasma ring around Trexalon, using gas skimmed from the gas giant it orbits instead of satellites at Lagrange points.

Thanks for sharing that link — the abstract was intriguing, and I’ve downloaded the paper for reading later.