David Johansen
SOC-12
sandworm farts
Dune
- Thread starter mike wightman
- Start date
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
Actually, not a joke.
The Dune appendix, something I imagine was missing from your Analog version-
http://readnovelonline.com/ScienceFiction/Dune/16676.html
Yep, I just reread the first book a couple of months ago, after ~35 years at last read. Really enjoyed it, and have the next few back on my ever-evolving "to read" list.
As they should be for the Harkonnen attack on Arrakis
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Sand plankton, which go on to become sandtrout and finally sandworms.
They should be in Harkonnen Black and Blue. Not Black and Red.
Hmmm...why did I think blue & orange?
I had also thought either Blue and Yellow or Blue and Orange for the Harkonnens. I thought the Harkonnen "Griffin" badge was of one of those colors upon a background of the other, just as the Atreides Hawk was Red upon Green, on a black banner.
Last edited:
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
It's blue and orange. Blue Griffin on an orange background.
Last edited:
David Johansen
SOC-12
So here's my thinking on building houses and world generation. I still need to build tables for the house specialties probably by breaking them down into base, specialized, and exotic columns.
Space Travel
Interstellar travel is mysterious and expensive. The shipping guild tightly controls access to information, providing destinations and itineries but never routes. Only the shipping guild and referee get to see the map or know the constraints of interstellar travel. It is strongly suggested that the referee select a paradigm and not share it with the players.
Simple and Linear
Routes can be shown on a hex grid, with each hex treated as a week’s travel.
Linear and Random
Routes are shown on a hex grid with each hex treated as 1d6 day’s travel to be rolled when the ship jumps.
Random and Unreliable
The distance to any point is 3d6 days of travel. It might be best to produce a list in advance or the players will catch on. At the very least the distance between a house’s worlds should be fixed at 2d6 and 1d6 added due to immediate circumstances like launch windows, and unforeseen delays.
Houses and Schools
The resources of a house are reflected by the worlds they hold in fief and the proprietary products they control. The resources a world generates are primarily a factor of the difference between their capacity to sustain life and their population.
Traits
Each house has its own internal culture and ideology. Roll d6-d6 to generate a modifier for Ambition / Contentment, Morality / Corruption, and Confidence / Paranoia. This modifier is applied to tasks that appeal to the motivations in question. The modifier is multiplied by negative one when appealing to the opposite trait.
Contentment d6-d6 Ambition
Morality d6-d6 Corruption
Confidence d6-d6 Paranoia
Population + Hydrosphere + Atmosphere.
Minor Houses
2d6 worlds
Major Houses
4d6 worlds
Base Mineral Extraction
Base Agricultural Production
Base Industrial Production
Base Pharmaceutical Production
Specialized Mineral Extraction
Specialized Agricultural Production
Specialized Industrial Production
Specialized Pharmaceutical Production
Exotic Mineral Extraction
Exotic Agricultural Production
Exotic Industrial Production
Exotic Pharmaceutical Production
Agricultural Products
Algae
Plankton
Grains
Nuts
Livestock
Fruit
Vegetables
Herbs
Narcotics
Seeds
Meat
Fiber
Spices
Medicine
Wood
Mineral Products
Oil
Coal
Gas
Gems
Lead
Iron
Tin
Copper
Titanium
Iridium
Gold
Silver
Uranium
Industrial Products
Building Materials
Weapons
Tools
Vehicles
Machinery
Toys
Furniture
Clothing
Containers
Processed Foods
Worlds Beyond Your Ken
This universe should not reflect standard science fiction tropes. Every world should be baroque, obscure, and bizarre. This is best managed by considering how cultural and environmental conditions might influence a population. In most places, humans try hard to enjoy a normal range of temperature, gravity, diet, and access to water.
Generating Worlds
Every star has a variety of debris, micro meteors, asteroids, and planetoids floating around it. Older stars and larger stars gravity fields will sweep out more of them but there will always be plenty of stray navigational hazards. In the main adventurers will be interested in rocks that are large enough to have sufficient gravity to hold an atmosphere down and are sitting in the “goldilocks zone” where liquid water exists. With a little luck there will be some life forms to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and produce a breathable atmosphere and some more advanced life forms to trade with. For these reasons, only inhabited worlds need to be generated and these rules favour habitable worlds.
Size 2d6 - 2 (x 1.6 Kilometres diameter)
Atmosphere Size + 2d6 - 7 (lower is thinner, higher denser)
Water Atmosphere + 2d6 - 7 (percentage of surface)
Population 2d6-2 (10 to the power of Population roll people)
Government Population + 2d6 - 7 Imperial Worlds Are Always 5
Law Government +2d6 - 7
Size indicates the diameter of the world. Multiply it by 1600 to find the diameter in kilometers. Size also indicates the world’s gravity with 7 being 1G and each point away from that reducing it by 10%.
Atmosphere primarily indicates density with 7 being average. Odd numbers contain taints, pollutants, and at high levels actual toxins that make it unbreathable.
Water indicates the percentage of the planet’s surface that is covered in water.
Population levels indicate increases by factors of ten. A second 2d6-2 roll can be used to find a multiplier if more detail is desired but is not reference in the game mechanics.
Government indicates the complexity and repressiveness of the social order with higher rolls indicating a more oppressive and unmanageable government. A world’s Government rating acts as the target number for Administration tasks like getting an exit visa while a ship is berthed there. While it is possible to assign terms like “democracy” and “dictatorship” to governments these are vague labels at best.
Law Level indicates what weapons can be carried and how restrictive legal barriers to trade are.
The base Resource value of a world is its Population - 1 per point of atmosphere away from 7, -1 per point water is below Population. Each resource point is an order of magnitude greater than the previous one. A resource point is roughly a million credits.
0 No Restrictions
1 Large Group Attack Weapons
2 Medium Group Attack Weapons
3 Very Rapid Fire Weapons
4 Short Group Attack Weapons
5 Rapid Fire Weapons
6 Pistols
7 Rifles
8 Long Melee Weapons
9 Medium Melee Weapons
10 Short Weapons
11 All Weapons
Star Port
The quality of facilities can be determined by rolling 2d6 on the following table
2 No Facilities
3 Cleared Area
4 Landing Strip
5 Landing Strip and Fuel
6 Landing Strip, Fuel, and Hangers
7 Landing Pads, Fuel, Hangers, and Hotels
8 Docking Station and Down Port
9 Orbital Port and Shuttle Service, One Down Port
10 Orbital Port,City, and Shuttle Service, 2d6 Down Ports
12 Ship Yards, Orbital City, and Shuttle service, 3d6 Down Ports
Tech Level
After ten thousand years technology in the imperium is relatively uniform with worlds and houses holding a few specialized technologies in advance of their peers. The average Tech Level in the imperium is 12. If a variable Tech Level is desired roll 1d6 + Star Port - 3, +1 for any other characteristic below 2 or over 10, as they would make life without high technology unsustainable.
Tech Levels determine the availability of equipment and ships systems.
0 Stone Tools and Weapons, Agriculture, Domestic Animals
1 Bronze Tools and Weapons, Stone Buildings
2 Steel Tools and Weapons, Water Wheel Power
3 Black Powder Firearms
4 Cartridge Repeaters, Steam Engines
5 Machine Guns, Internal Combustion Engines, Aeroplanes
6 Radar, Pressurized Aeroplane Cabins
7 Early Computers, Satellites, Guided Missiles, Fission Power
8 World Wide Computer Networks, Stealth Aircraft
9 Laser Weapons, Anti Gravity, Jump Drive 1
10 Thrusters, Grav Plates, Fusion Power
11 Jump Drive 2
12 Jump Drive 3
13 Inertial Dampers, Jump Drive 4
14 Jump Drive 5
15 Jump Drive 6
Space Travel
Interstellar travel is mysterious and expensive. The shipping guild tightly controls access to information, providing destinations and itineries but never routes. Only the shipping guild and referee get to see the map or know the constraints of interstellar travel. It is strongly suggested that the referee select a paradigm and not share it with the players.
Simple and Linear
Routes can be shown on a hex grid, with each hex treated as a week’s travel.
Linear and Random
Routes are shown on a hex grid with each hex treated as 1d6 day’s travel to be rolled when the ship jumps.
Random and Unreliable
The distance to any point is 3d6 days of travel. It might be best to produce a list in advance or the players will catch on. At the very least the distance between a house’s worlds should be fixed at 2d6 and 1d6 added due to immediate circumstances like launch windows, and unforeseen delays.
Houses and Schools
The resources of a house are reflected by the worlds they hold in fief and the proprietary products they control. The resources a world generates are primarily a factor of the difference between their capacity to sustain life and their population.
Traits
Each house has its own internal culture and ideology. Roll d6-d6 to generate a modifier for Ambition / Contentment, Morality / Corruption, and Confidence / Paranoia. This modifier is applied to tasks that appeal to the motivations in question. The modifier is multiplied by negative one when appealing to the opposite trait.
Contentment d6-d6 Ambition
Morality d6-d6 Corruption
Confidence d6-d6 Paranoia
Population + Hydrosphere + Atmosphere.
Minor Houses
2d6 worlds
Major Houses
4d6 worlds
Base Mineral Extraction
Base Agricultural Production
Base Industrial Production
Base Pharmaceutical Production
Specialized Mineral Extraction
Specialized Agricultural Production
Specialized Industrial Production
Specialized Pharmaceutical Production
Exotic Mineral Extraction
Exotic Agricultural Production
Exotic Industrial Production
Exotic Pharmaceutical Production
Agricultural Products
Algae
Plankton
Grains
Nuts
Livestock
Fruit
Vegetables
Herbs
Narcotics
Seeds
Meat
Fiber
Spices
Medicine
Wood
Mineral Products
Oil
Coal
Gas
Gems
Lead
Iron
Tin
Copper
Titanium
Iridium
Gold
Silver
Uranium
Industrial Products
Building Materials
Weapons
Tools
Vehicles
Machinery
Toys
Furniture
Clothing
Containers
Processed Foods
Worlds Beyond Your Ken
This universe should not reflect standard science fiction tropes. Every world should be baroque, obscure, and bizarre. This is best managed by considering how cultural and environmental conditions might influence a population. In most places, humans try hard to enjoy a normal range of temperature, gravity, diet, and access to water.
Generating Worlds
Every star has a variety of debris, micro meteors, asteroids, and planetoids floating around it. Older stars and larger stars gravity fields will sweep out more of them but there will always be plenty of stray navigational hazards. In the main adventurers will be interested in rocks that are large enough to have sufficient gravity to hold an atmosphere down and are sitting in the “goldilocks zone” where liquid water exists. With a little luck there will be some life forms to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and produce a breathable atmosphere and some more advanced life forms to trade with. For these reasons, only inhabited worlds need to be generated and these rules favour habitable worlds.
Size 2d6 - 2 (x 1.6 Kilometres diameter)
Atmosphere Size + 2d6 - 7 (lower is thinner, higher denser)
Water Atmosphere + 2d6 - 7 (percentage of surface)
Population 2d6-2 (10 to the power of Population roll people)
Government Population + 2d6 - 7 Imperial Worlds Are Always 5
Law Government +2d6 - 7
Size indicates the diameter of the world. Multiply it by 1600 to find the diameter in kilometers. Size also indicates the world’s gravity with 7 being 1G and each point away from that reducing it by 10%.
Atmosphere primarily indicates density with 7 being average. Odd numbers contain taints, pollutants, and at high levels actual toxins that make it unbreathable.
Water indicates the percentage of the planet’s surface that is covered in water.
Population levels indicate increases by factors of ten. A second 2d6-2 roll can be used to find a multiplier if more detail is desired but is not reference in the game mechanics.
Government indicates the complexity and repressiveness of the social order with higher rolls indicating a more oppressive and unmanageable government. A world’s Government rating acts as the target number for Administration tasks like getting an exit visa while a ship is berthed there. While it is possible to assign terms like “democracy” and “dictatorship” to governments these are vague labels at best.
Law Level indicates what weapons can be carried and how restrictive legal barriers to trade are.
The base Resource value of a world is its Population - 1 per point of atmosphere away from 7, -1 per point water is below Population. Each resource point is an order of magnitude greater than the previous one. A resource point is roughly a million credits.
0 No Restrictions
1 Large Group Attack Weapons
2 Medium Group Attack Weapons
3 Very Rapid Fire Weapons
4 Short Group Attack Weapons
5 Rapid Fire Weapons
6 Pistols
7 Rifles
8 Long Melee Weapons
9 Medium Melee Weapons
10 Short Weapons
11 All Weapons
Star Port
The quality of facilities can be determined by rolling 2d6 on the following table
2 No Facilities
3 Cleared Area
4 Landing Strip
5 Landing Strip and Fuel
6 Landing Strip, Fuel, and Hangers
7 Landing Pads, Fuel, Hangers, and Hotels
8 Docking Station and Down Port
9 Orbital Port and Shuttle Service, One Down Port
10 Orbital Port,City, and Shuttle Service, 2d6 Down Ports
12 Ship Yards, Orbital City, and Shuttle service, 3d6 Down Ports
Tech Level
After ten thousand years technology in the imperium is relatively uniform with worlds and houses holding a few specialized technologies in advance of their peers. The average Tech Level in the imperium is 12. If a variable Tech Level is desired roll 1d6 + Star Port - 3, +1 for any other characteristic below 2 or over 10, as they would make life without high technology unsustainable.
Tech Levels determine the availability of equipment and ships systems.
0 Stone Tools and Weapons, Agriculture, Domestic Animals
1 Bronze Tools and Weapons, Stone Buildings
2 Steel Tools and Weapons, Water Wheel Power
3 Black Powder Firearms
4 Cartridge Repeaters, Steam Engines
5 Machine Guns, Internal Combustion Engines, Aeroplanes
6 Radar, Pressurized Aeroplane Cabins
7 Early Computers, Satellites, Guided Missiles, Fission Power
8 World Wide Computer Networks, Stealth Aircraft
9 Laser Weapons, Anti Gravity, Jump Drive 1
10 Thrusters, Grav Plates, Fusion Power
11 Jump Drive 2
12 Jump Drive 3
13 Inertial Dampers, Jump Drive 4
14 Jump Drive 5
15 Jump Drive 6
