Non OTU: LBB S3 Spinward Marches (re)mapping in 1105

[kilemall]

That’s trade routes, it’s a choice that you
make x boat follow that convention.

 

[Grav_Moped]

The links in 77 were not xboat routes, just trade routes. They were retconned into being xboat routes later.

...or what @kilemall said while I was typing.

 

[Spinward Flow]

The links in 77 were not xboat routes, just trade routes. They were retconned into being xboat routes later.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Fifth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This increment includes editing of the Aramis Subsector UWP data to be compliant with LBB2.77 RAW standards.

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So many Amber/Red Zone reassignments in the Aramis subsector.

According to LBB3.77, there is no possible way that Lewis (X427402) can be TL=D.

• Starport = -4
• Size = +1
• Atmosphere = +1
• Hydrographics = -
• Population = +1
• Government = +1

Net TL DM = +0.
In order to have a TL=13 out of a 1D+0 would involve rolling a 13 on 1d6 (... whut? ).
You'd have to upgrade the starport from X (-4DM) to B (+4DM) in order to put a TL=13 within "range" of a 1d6 roll of the dice, while keeping the Red Zone classification (yeah, right ) ... so it just didn't work.

So while I was "correcting" that particular UWP error, I decided that the TL=13 was yet another "off by one" error and bumped the subsector capital Aramis/Aramis to TL=13 instead, which was within range of the 1D+DM for the UWP factors for Aramis.

Also realized that I needed to fix the UWP for Shionthy/Regina, because once again the UWP "as was" did not support a TL=8 result. So I adjusted the UWP to yield the highest possible TL for a type X starport yielding TL=7 instead.

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Went ahead and reverted some of the intermediate Express Network routes I'd been experimenting with in Lunion subsector and I think that this particular configuration in the Metadata is where I'm going to settle on for things.

 

[mike wightman]

There is a way, it has already been mentioned.

The folks at GDW introduced DMs and altered things to get what they wanted rather than stick with table constraints:

The referee may elect to alter the normal chances of worlds, making them more
frequent or less frequent to correspond to specific regions of the galaxy. This is easily
accomplished by imposing a DM of +1 or –1 on the whole subsector, or on broad
areas within a subsector.

The starports table indicates one specific distribution of
starports as a basis for star mapping. Just as the distribution of
stars can be altered (as indicated in item 1), the referee is also
free to create his own starports tables, perhaps as many as one
for each subsector.

This world creation process applies only to the single inhabited world in a star
system; additional planets in a system should be generated as necessary

Finally, the referee should always feel free to impose worlds which have been
deliberately (rather than randomly) generated. Often such planets will be devised
specifically to reward or torment players.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Finally, the referee should always feel free to impose worlds which have been deliberately (rather than randomly) generated. Often such planets will be devised specifically to reward or torment players.

I'm well aware of the "cheat by fiat" option that are built into the game for SPECIFIC purposes.
I prefer not to subscribe to such an option for GENERIC purposes (such as Lewis/Aramis/Spinward Marches have a TL that is more than 2x what it ought to compute out to be from UWP stats and a Red Zone with a type X starport to boot).

To put it politely, I prefer to keep my "cheating" (of myself) to a minimum when detailing settings.

Another example of this kind of "UWP by fiat, not rules" can be found in LBB S10, p16 at Shululsish/Alderamin/Solomani Rim which as published had a UWP of (A584A22 F W Subsector Capital G). The subsector Fluff Text™ included a blurb about the world, highlighting the exception.

The government of Shululsish is a rarity: a participatory democracy on a high population world, made possible by high technology. Each of the world's 21 billion citizens carries a terminal connected to the planetary computer; all eligible voters are polled regularly, and important laws are enacted in this fashion. All executive officials are elected for one-month terms. This form of government places a heavy burden on the individual, and the average citizen spends over an hour a day in government-related activity, both in voting and in using the computer net to gain the information needed to reach a decision. Other high-population worlds with similar governments include Aosta in the Harlequin subsector and Dimmurak in the Esperance subsector.

Point being that under "normal rules" for UWP generation, the highest population capable of retaining a Government: 2 rating would be Population: 7 ... but here you've got Population: A, so the only way to have a Government: 2 situation is to "cheat by fiat" and just "break the rules" for how UWPs are supposed to be generated in Traveller by default.

Also, according to Travellerwiki, IY 1116 = "Classic Era" (not 1105 like most of us assume) and somehow between 1108 (LBB S10, p4) and 1116 (Travellerwiki) the population of Shululsish/Alderamin/Solomani Rim has increased from 21 billion (1108) to 30 billion (1116) ... which is either QUITE THE BABY BOOM ... an almost impossibly fast rate of immigration (1 billion per year, minimum?) ... or a flat out exaggeration by typo in the Travellerwiki page entry (most likely, since the wiki entry also incorrectly records Government: 5, not 2).



Bottom line is that I'm more willing to forgive "cheat by fiat" stuff if there is additional Fluff Text™ provided in the subsector blurb providing an explanation for the exception. When the subsector's Fluff Text™ is completely silent on an obvious UWP "error" like that, I'm more inclined to believe that the issue is (yet another) "off by 1" transcription error where things got messed up/miscommunicated somewhere along the way and the error wasn't caught before going to publication.

Even something as simple as "it was supposed to be TL=03 but somehow got changed to be TL=13 instead in hastily written notes" is an example of such an "off by 1" type of transcription error that didn't get caught in proofreading/editing and made it all the way to publication ... ... and now that I've mentioned it, that might be what happened with Lewis/Aramis and I really ought to update the tech level assignments for Lewis and Aramis yet again on my (re)map of the Spinward Marches in 1105.

To put it politely, we KNOW that LBB S3 "contains errors" that went to publication (and thus became de-facto canonized).
I would prefer NOT to perpetuate those errors indefinitely now that there is the means to correct for them.

 

[mike wightman]

Have you looked at the Traveller Adventure at all?

Lewis is an interdicted world holding an estate of the Tukera family and is described in the chapter entitled
lnselberg

 

[Spinward Flow]

Have you looked at the Traveller Adventure at all?

TTA, p115:

Lewis (0707-X427402-D) is a small world with a diameter of approximately 6400 kilometers, a very thin, tainted atmosphere, and large oceans covering three-quarters of the surface of the planet. A young world, Lewis is one of several satellites of the only gas giant in the system.

Bare minimum, it looks like I'm going to need to add the Sa Trade Code (meaning the mainworld is a Satellite of another planet, in this case, the gas giant, in the system).

You make a compelling argument for "undoing" my correction of the Lewis UWP.



Incidentally, that's also why I'm "taking my time" and doing step by step, subsector by subsector, updates and revisions in order to crowdsource the peer review of what I'm doing with this project. That way, anyone who is following this topic has the opportunity to jump in with feedback and make a case for any issues that eyes besides mine can discern.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Sixth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This increment includes editing of the Qrerien Subsector UWP data to be compliant with LBB2.77 RAW standards.

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LOTS of STUFFS™ going on with this revision update!

On the UWP front, I reverted the UWPs for Corfu/Aramis, Lewis/Aramis and Aramis/Aramis all back to LBB S3 published values.
Corfu and Lewis are "out of bounds" for TL on what ought to be the case with type X starports, however there are extenuating circumstances in the cases of both Corfu and Lewis.

Corfu is a "recent" interdiction due to a worldwide plague with no cure (in 1105) so the downgrade to a type X starport is a "relatively recent thing" in world history, so the tech level is edging towards a downward spiral due to the lack of interstellar connections, but hasn't fallen "all the way down" to what the UWP formula says the world can support independently with a type X starport (according to LBB3.77).

Lewis is just a straight up outlier, as detailed in TTA, p115 thanks to megacorporate family shenanigans (supported by the Duke of Aramis). However, that same overview also indicates that the planetary settlers are limited to TL=7, while the Tukera estates are the TL=D compound (with a type D starport facility), so under the circumstances I'm thinking that the dowgrading the UWP for Lewis to TL=7 is warranted for the "general population" while the Tukera estate is functionally an "outpost" that is TL=D (and are "invite only to the type D starport facilities associated with the estate). So the UWP for Lewis has been adjusted to match the "general population" majority rather than the Tukera estate minority presence outlier.

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I got the UWPs for Qrerion subsector proofed and input, including the removal of the two later era Amber Zones at Retinae and Entrope (as shown on Travellermap M1105 "that isn't M1105 really"). Mostly this involved fixing world sizes and some other weirdness from the Travellermap data dump.

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Lastly, I decided to do a little bit more work on COLORS.

In this case I wanted to differentiate the border colors of the Zhodani Consulate from those of the Sword Worlds Confederation while also improving the contrast in color with the Darrian Confederation. This involved choosing new colors to assign in the css style definitions of the Metadata.

I also decided to update the color of the Imperial Express Network from a green color to a red color (to better match the polity boundaries). Here are the parameter updates I used to execute this change:

  <Stylesheet>
    border.DaCf { color: lime; }
    route.DaCf { color: mediumspringgreen; }

    border.ImDd { color: red; }
    route.ImDd { color: firebrick; }

    border.SwCf { color: blue; }
    route.SwCf { color: lightsteelblue; }

    border.ZhIN { color: deepskyblue; }
    route.ZhIN { color: grey; }
  </Stylesheet>

I would like to think that the Deepskyblue color makes for a better match for the Zhodani Consulate, since it is closer to the color used for Zhodani military counters in the Fifth Frontier War game. However, for some reason that I haven't been able to determine yet, the stylesheet assignment for the color of Zhodani Express routes does not update when I assign different color values to it (weird).

I was kind of surprised by how much of an improvement changing the Imperial Express Network route lines to the firebrick red color (to my eyes, anyway) helped reduce the "color clash" of red vs green that was going on before.

Just to be sure, I edited all the Route entries for the Third Imperium to include Allegiance as part of their definition to make my css style colors override stick.

I would also like to think that the Darrian Confederation and the Sword Worlds Confederation regions show improved color contrast (both with and without fill inside borders, I've tested) making them both stand out more obviously and cleanly on the sector map.

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And yet AGAIN ... I just couldn't prevent myself from tinkering just that little bit more with the Express Network routes through Lunion subsector.

Adabicci'Lunion connects to Wardn/Lunion, not Ianic/Lunion.
Tenalphi/Lunion connects to Wardn/Lunion, not Strouden/Lunion.
Resten/Lunion connects to Mercury/Mora directly and Capon/Lunion gets dropped off the Express Network completely.

Hopefully ... this will be the last time I feel compelled to do something to fix the idiocy of the Express Network lanes running through and around Lunion subsector.

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Next up will be Vilis subsector.

When I get "done" with this project and have all of the data parameters for the spreadsheet "settled" I'll publish the plain text so it will be easy for anyone to use my results or edit them further for their own use.

 

[Spinward Flow]

However, for some reason that I haven't been able to determine yet, the stylesheet assignment for the color of Zhodani Express routes does not update when I assign different color values to it (weird).

Found the problem.
The Metadata defines:

• <Allegiance Code="ZhIN" Base="Zh">Zhodani Consulate, Iadr Nsobl Province</Allegiance>

But then the Routes in the Metadata file had (until I fixed it) the following parameters:

• <Route Start="0103" End="0304" Allegiance="ZhCo" />

And anyone who does any kind of programming (even though css stylesheets), ZhIN does not equal ZhCo ... which is why when I was trying to define a different color for the Express routes in the Zhodani Consulate the color changes I was specifying weren't implementing.

I've now fixed this particular "Oopsies! " in the Metadata file that I'm working with so as to be able to control these parameters properly. I've now tested my corrective fix for the coloring of Zhodani Express Network and have it working properly now. So that change will also be incorporated into the Vilis subsector update coming later/next.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Seventh step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This increment includes editing of the Vilis Subsector UWP data to be compliant with LBB2.77 RAW standards.

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When I got to Vilis/Vilis I realized ("wait a minute...") that the minimum government code for Population: 9 is going to be Government: 4 ... because 2D=2-7+9=4 minimum. And when I noticed that, I was like ("wait a minute...") ... Efate/Regina ALSO has a Population: 9 and Government: 3 in the original LBB S3 publication, which is not "legal" under LBB3.77 rules.

So I figured that a +1 bump to government for Efate and Vilis seemed to be in order, so I implemented that edit for those major worlds.

Had to make yet more various and sundry corrections to the Travellermap UWPs for various worlds to bring things back in line with LBB S3 (aside from the obvious "off by 1" errors in the original publication).

Zeta 2/Vilis was another "oh come ON!" thing where the LBB S3 UWP had a type X starport and no Red Zone (which ALL type X starports get by default in this era) and just looked like yet another misprint by omission in the UWP and subsector map on the following page.

Another thing I decided to do (for the 6 subsectors updated) was to run through the Travellerwiki pages for each of the worlds to find out which ones are moons/satellites of other planetary bodies in their respective star systems. There weren't a whole lot of them, but there turned out to be more of them than I was initially expecting. So all of those worlds in the Sector data spreadsheet got Sa code entries added to them. I also decided that applying a Sa code (be default) to all of the Size: 0 Asteroid Belt mainworlds just made way too much sense, as a way to be congruent with the notion that while a planetoid belt is the solar orbit, the habitat is in a specific subset location within that belt in the same way that a satellite moon of a planet needs to be differentiated from the solar orbit assignment.

So that Sa code stuff is not something you can see on the sector map poster ... but if what I'm doing ever winds up being saved on Travellermap (somewhere) and linked to the Travellerwiki with alternate world pages (because, reasons...) so that a more fulsome functionality becomes accessible, all of that "programming stuffs" will be built into the Sector data spreadsheet.

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Net subsector on the list will be Lanth.

 

[Kakistocrat]

This increment includes editing of the Vilis Subsector UWP data to be compliant with LBB2.77 RAW standards.

Did you mean “LBB3.77” rather than “LBB2.77” for UWP data?

When I got to Vilis/Vilis I realized (“wait a minute…”) that the minimum government code for Population: 9 is going to be Government: 4 … because 2D=2−7+9=4 minimum. And when I noticed that, I was like (“wait a minute…”) … Efate/Regina ALSO has a Population: 9 and Government: 3 in the original LBB S3 publication, which is not “legal” under LBB3.77 rules.

So I figured that a +1 bump to government for Efate and Vilis seemed to be in order, so I implemented that edit for those major worlds.

Nice find! I’d done a similar double-check against the Book 7 trade classifications after applying the Consolidated Errata to the Spinward Marches and Solomani Rim UWP data, but I didn’t consider double-checking those sectors’ UWP generation themselves. Perhaps I’ll expand my code to do that double-checking as well, which could provide a way to ensure that our independently-coded results are consistent.

Zeta 2/Vilis was another “oh come ON!” thing where the LBB S3 UWP had a type X starport and no Red Zone (which ALL type X starports get by default in this era) and just looked like yet another misprint by omission in the UWP and subsector map on the following page.

Book 6, p. 26 states that a world with an X starport is “Generally a red travel zone” (i.e. generally rather than always). Where did you find that all worlds with an X starport should have a red travel zone? Per the “Red Zone” entry in Supplement 11, it doesn’t seem that all worlds with an X starport are necessarily quarantined, interdicted, or at war — they could simply be un- or under-developed without interdiction, and thus not warrant a red zone.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Did you mean “LBB3.77” rather than “LBB2.77” for UWP data?

Yes.
Damn pytos ... gets me every time ...

Nice find! I’d done a similar double-check against the Book 7 trade classifications after applying the Consolidated Errata to the Spinward Marches and Solomani Rim UWP data, but I didn’t consider double-checking those sectors’ UWP generation themselves. Perhaps I’ll expand my code to do that double-checking as well, which could provide a way to ensure that our independently-coded results are consistent.

There's a remarkably large quantity of these kinds of "errors" which I presume are largely a matter of transcription (dice, scribbled notes, typed pages, publishing layout, etc. etc. etc. lots of steps) done repeatedly, so like a game of "telephone" the errors creep in at each step.

Where did you find that all worlds with an X starport should have a red travel zone?

The fact that every Red Zone in the Spinward Marches had a type X starport.
There were no Red Zones with a type E starport, for example ... only type X.

Fortunately CT M03 Spinward Marches Campaign, p23 details hex 0919 (which is Zeta 2) as being a Red Zone, in addition to being the source for stellar data, which I'll take as being confirmation that the omission in LBB S3 is yet another error deserving correction.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Eighth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This increment includes editing of the Lanth Subsector UWP data to be compliant with LBB3.77 RAW standards.

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Yet more fun "un-fixing" Zones and fixing up UWPs to bring them into compliance with LBB3.77.

The most hilarious one was Victoria (D6D7772-2 A on Travellermap, X697770-4 R in LBB S3 ... and X697500-4 R in my revision).
The "errata revision" to Atmosphere: D effectively removed the Agricultural trade zone for the world, which I was unwilling to do.

Since the atmosphere is Dense, Tainted it is perfectly "legal" in the fluff text writeup for the world that a substantial layer of unbreathable toxic gases (denser/heavier than N₂ and O[/sub]2[/sub] persist at lower altitudes close to sea level, but at higher elevations the "atmospheric taint filters out" through simple buoyancy sorting into atmospheric layers. What is dangerous, however, is that storms can "stir up" and cause turbulence in the atmospheric layering, causing these toxic gas mixtures to plume upwards into higher elevations temporarily until they can drain away and settle back down into the lower elevations like normal. Consequently, almost all habitation on Victoria is to be found at higher elevations on mountain ranges. Travel through lower elevations between settlements is fraught with danger and rarely attempted due to the low technology level of the natives (TL=2 is the equivalent to the 14th to 17th centuries).

TL=4 as specified by LBB3.77 is "not available" given the UWP DMs to TL ... so TL=2 is the maximum possible yield (due to the type X starport -4DM).

The other fun thing was ... how does a Government: 7 yield a Law Level: 0 in LBB S3?
Short answer ... it shouldn't (under LBB3.77 RAW).
Then there's these data points in the wiki writeup for the world:

There is no world government: laws, government, and technology vary from area to area.
While proper permits might allow visits to Victoria, such permits include strict clauses about trading metal or metal goods to the locals

Okay, hold on.
"No world government" basically has two options ... Government: 0 (none) or 7 (balkanized).
Problem is that a Population: 7 means a UWP with Government: 2+ ... so the only way to get to Government: 0 would be to reduce the Population from 7 down to 5.
You can have X***500 ... but you can't have X***700 or X***770.

Now, ironically, if Victoria has a UWP of X697500 then the world can have a TL=4 (circa 1860-1900 era) as specified by LBB S3 ... however this would mean reducing the world population by 99% (from tens of millions to hundreds of thousands) while still retaining the Agricultural trade code. However, doing this then adds the Non-industrial trade code (because now Population: 6-) which then makes sense in the context of the quarantine import restrictions on bringing metals or metal goods to the locals in the wiki article (which I would usually assign a Law Level: A for, which bans all weapons (9) plus metals).

So given the contradictions and available information, assigning a revised UWP of X697500-4 R makes for the best "thread the needle" compromise when it comes to compliance with RAW and with Fluff Text™ written about the world of Victoria/Lanth.

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Made a few other corrections (beyond UWP discrepancies) such as shifting the placement of the words Zhodani Consulate and Third Imperium within their respective borders for a slight improvement in ease of readability, but otherwise the rest of the sector remains relatively untouched while editing changes into the Lanth subsector.

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Next time ... Rhylanor subsector!

 

[Spinward Flow]

Ninth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This increment includes editing of the Rhylanor Subsector UWP data to be compliant with LBB3.77 RAW standards.

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Starting to "get my groove" with these edits now (after so much practice ), such that it's becoming something of a highlight to search through all the wiki page articles for the worlds in a subsector to find out the burning question ... which ones of these worlds are Satellites of other planetary bodies (Sa code needed)? Turns out there's always a few surprises here and there (including this time).

This also marks the 1/2 way point in my edits of the Metadata plus Sector data files for the Spinward Marches, and I don't even want to try and count the quantity of changes that I've made (with some edits being made multiple times due to additional review and changing my mind about various things). I wouldn't be surprised if I'm well in excess of 100+ edits relative to the original T5 compliant source data used on Travellermap. It's truly staggering just how ... incongruent ... a lot of the information recorded on Travellermap is with LBB S3, even when setting aside the obvious errors, misprints and straight up "off by 1" transcription failures memorialized in that publication (which I'm also correcting).

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Next time ... Darrian subsector!

 

[Kakistocrat]

I’d done a similar double-check against the Book 7 trade classifications after applying the Consolidated Errata to the Spinward Marches and Solomani Rim UWP data, but I didn’t consider double-checking those sectors’ UWP generation themselves. Perhaps I’ll expand my code to do that double-checking as well, which could provide a way to ensure that our independently-coded results are consistent.

There’s a remarkably large quantity of these kinds of “errors” which I presume are largely a matter of transcription (dice, scribbled notes, typed pages, publishing layout, etc. etc. etc. lots of steps) done repeatedly, so like a game of “telephone” the errors creep in at each step.

I’ve updated my code to double-check the UWP generation. The types of errors in the Spinward Marches are quite different from those in the Solomani Rim — the latter are overwhelmingly (but not exclusively) technological indices that are too high. I’d guess that the Solomani Rim UWP hydrographics were calculated using the atmosphere as the addend rather than the world size.

Book 6, p. 26 states that a world with an X starport is “Generally a red travel zone” (i.e. generally rather than always). Where did you find that all worlds with an X starport should have a red travel zone?

The fact that every Red Zone in the Spinward Marches had a type X starport.
There were no Red Zones with a type E starport, for example … only type X.

Well, Djinni/Lanth (hex 2111) is a Red Zone with an E starport, and Andor/Five Sisters (hex 0236) and Candory/Five Sisters (hex 0336) are Red Zones with C starports.

Fortunately CT M03 Spinward Marches Campaign, p23 details hex 0919 (which is Zeta 2) as being a Red Zone, in addition to being the source for stellar data, which I'll take as being confirmation that the omission in LBB S3 is yet another error deserving correction.

Since Zeta 2 is shown as a Red Zone in Module 3, I agree with you that it should be treated as an erratum to Supplement 3, where it isn’t shown as a Red Zone.

 

[Spinward Flow]

The types of errors in the Spinward Marches are quite different from those in the Solomani Rim
I’d guess that the Solomani Rim UWP hydrographics were calculated using the atmosphere as the addend rather than the world size.

Not surprising, given that LBB S10 was published in 1982, after LBB2.81 had been published.
The age old case of "when the rules change out from under the universe, the universe falls out of compliance with RAW" due to the alterations (see: Kinunir, et al.).

I'm also kind of not surprised that the Solomani Rim sector would wind up with a "tech bias" out of UWP DMs giving worlds a bonus of extra tech. I'm sure that someone figured that the Solomani Rim has been "settled long enough" (since the Rule of Man) that having "too much tech" lying around was excusable relative to what RAW rules would support. Makes the sector feel "older/matured" in a more developed sense, rather than feeling like a "frontier" sector (such as the Spinward Marches) that is still being settled and developed after centuries of habitation (and four frontier wars by 1105!).

Djinni/Lanth (hex 2111) is a Red Zone with an E starport

Djinni/Lanth gives every indication (from the writeup on Travellerwiki) of being a "should be X rather than E" starport.
Yet another "off by 1" error in the publication of LBB S3 (I'm shocked. Shocked. ).
I've corrected my own version of Lanth subsector to make Djinni a type X starport.

Andor/Five Sisters (hex 0236) and Candory/Five Sisters (hex 0336) are Red Zones with C starports.

However, that discrepancy is QUITE explicable, as those are Droyne worlds (not Chirpers, Droyne). There is a substantial quantity of lore backing up the exception of giving these worlds an Interdiction even though they have type C starports and are TL=9. I view their Red Zone classifications as being a matter of (interspecies) politics rather than being something resulting from (pure) UWP dice rolls.
Hope that helps.

Since Zeta 2 is shown as a Red Zone in Module 3, I agree with you that it should be treated as an erratum to Supplement 3, where it isn’t shown as a Red Zone.

Agreed. There certainly is plenty of transcription errata present in LBB S3 as published.
Simplest example of that kind of thing is Alell (SM1706) missing a world name on the Regina subsector map on p21.

 

[Kakistocrat]

I’d guess that the Solomani Rim UWP hydrographics were calculated using the atmosphere as the addend rather than the world size.

Not surprising, given that LBB S10 was published in 1982, after LBB2.81 had been published.
The age old case of “when the rules change out from under the universe, the universe falls out of compliance with RAW” due to the alterations (see: Kinunir, et al.).

Per the Consolidated Errata — even those for the 1977 rules — my code is treating the atmosphere as the proper hydrographics addend rather than the world size, even if subsectors were originally generated using the world size as the addend. Do you have a preference for which addend to use?

I’m also kind of not surprised that the Solomani Rim sector would wind up with a “tech bias” out of UWP DMs giving worlds a bonus of extra tech. I’m sure that someone figured that the Solomani Rim has been “settled long enough” (since the Rule of Man) that having “too much tech” lying around was excusable relative to what RAW rules would support. Makes the sector feel “older/matured” in a more developed sense, rather than feeling like a “frontier” sector (such as the Spinward Marches) that is still being settled and developed after centuries of habitation (and four frontier wars by 1105!).

I don’t know if canonical Vilani core sectors have been generated, but if such sectors exist in published form, I wonder if they also exhibit an analogous “maturation” of their technological indices.

I’ve corrected my own version of Lanth subsector to make Djinni a type X starport.

I don’t know if you’ve checked this part so far, but I’ve found a few worlds that have bases which their particular class of starport would prohibit (according to the RAW). For such situations, would you prefer to upgrade the starport to allow the base, to remove the ineligible base, or to craft your own exceptions to the RAW?

Since Zeta 2 is shown as a Red Zone in Module 3, I agree with you that it should be treated as an erratum to Supplement 3, where it isn’t shown as a Red Zone.

Agreed. There certainly is plenty of transcription errata present in LBB S3 as published.

I’ve since realized that Schedule 3 is based on the situation in Year 1105, before the Fifth Frontier War, while Module 3 is based on the situation in Year 1112, after that war, so it could be argued that the Red Zone of Zeta 2 being present in Module 3 but missing in Schedule 3 was due to a decision that was taken between 1105 and 1112, and thus could be viewed as not needing a zone erratum for the UWP in 1105.

Yes, I’ve been using the Schedule 3 UWPs with the Consolidated Errata for Schedule 3 for the Spinward Marches sector, and there are still plenty of errors to be found there, needing additional errata.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Per the Consolidated Errata — even those for the 1977 rules — my code is treating the atmosphere as the proper hydrographics addend rather than the world size, even if subsectors were originally generated using the world size as the addend. Do you have a preference for which addend to use?

Thank you for asking.
LBB3.81, p12 works well enough for our purposes in this regard.

• B. Planetary size: 2D-2.
• C. Planetary atmosphere: 2D-7+size. If planetary size is 0, the atmosphere must be 0.
• D. Planetary hydrographics: 2D-7+size. If planetary size is 0, then hydrographics must be 0; if atmosphere is 0. 1, or A+, then apply a DM of -4.
• E. Population: 2D-2.
• F. Government: 2D-7+population.
• G. Law level : 2D-7+government.
• H. Technological Level : 1D+DMs from tech level table.

I think that about covers it.

However, LBB3.81, p7 does include the following:

Finally, the referee should always feel free to create worlds which have been deliberately (rather than randomly) generated. Often such planets will be devised specifically to reward or torment players.

So the OCCASIONAL "out of bounds" UWP results are "allowed" for ... REASONS ... but should not become a "norm" everywhere on a map.

I don’t know if canonical Vilani core sectors have been generated, but if such sectors exist in published form, I wonder if they also exhibit an analogous “maturation” of their technological indices.

I have not researched the topic well enough to offer a (useful) perspective on the question. Perhaps someone else with greater knowledge of the topic than mine would care to chime in with their thoughts?

I don’t know if you’ve checked this part so far, but I’ve found a few worlds that have bases which their particular class of starport would prohibit (according to the RAW). For such situations, would you prefer to upgrade the starport to allow the base, to remove the ineligible base, or to craft your own exceptions to the RAW?

My personal preference would be to have such worlds "flagged for review" so that a case by case analysis can be performed. That way context and possible sector history/lore can be accounted for, in addition to the all too common "off by 1" errors that are so commonplace. Automated recognition of "that shouldn't be like that" when doing data cross-checks would be extremely valuable, since manual tabulation and proofreading EVERYTHING ... one by one, in sequence ... gets mind numbing very quickly.

Identify ... then adjudicate.

I’ve since realized that Schedule 3 is based on the situation in Year 1105, before the Fifth Frontier War, while Module 3 is based on the situation in Year 1112, after that war, so it could be argued that the Red Zone of Zeta 2 being present in Module 3 but missing in Schedule 3 was due to a decision that was taken between 1105 and 1112, and thus could be viewed as not needing a zone erratum for the UWP in 1105.

Yes, I’ve been using the Schedule 3 UWPs with the Consolidated Errata for Schedule 3 for the Spinward Marches sector, and there are still plenty of errors to be found there, needing additional errata.

Yes, it's frustrating that there are discrepancies (the lore was being rewritten as it was published, so not entirely surprising) and computers were not widely available commercial products in every home yet in the late 70s/early 80s. Thus, the kind of spreadsheet data curation that we take for granted these days simply did not exist at the time that CT was being formulated and printed for use.

I prefer not to work in terms of absolute defaults with respect to discrepancies between publications (this one is ALWAYS right, that one is ALWAYS wrong), because a later version might be correcting an error in a previous publication (or it could just be making new errors). That's why when I come across these kinds of conflicts, I prefer to flag them for more in depth review (lore, history, other sources, etc.) in order to try and "weight" my way to an answer given additional information and context. So I'll go and look at Travellerwiki pages to see what it written about when things happened.

So if the wiki page for a world records that in (for example) a Red Zone was invaded by the Zhodani during the Fifth Frontier War (1107-1110), changing its classification to being an Amber Zone, I can take that to mean that in 1105 it should remain a Red Zone on the map. That kind of thing.

Likewise, I'll scan through all of the wiki entries for worlds in a subsector (one by one) checking to see if there is any mention of the mainworld being a Satellite of another planetary body so as to enter the Sa code into the Trade Classifications data for that world. I'm also expanding the "notion" of a Satellite to include "sub orbits" for things like orbital habitats in asteroid belts (Shionthy, Patinir, Macene, Bowman, Glisten, etc.) because it is not the "entire belt" in the solar orbit that is inhabited, but rather a "localized subset habitat" located within that solar orbit that is the "Mainworld" in much the same way that Regina is a moon of a gas giant in its star system (and is thus a sub orbit of a solar orbit).

 

[Spinward Flow]

Tenth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This increment includes editing of the Darrian Subsector UWP data to be compliant with LBB3.81 RAW standards.

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Oh man ... so many corrections to make in this subsector!
It felt like at least 25% of the worlds on Travellermap had the wrong world Size (almost always biased "bigger" for no readily apparent reason).

Zamine needed a population bump from 9 to A in order to justify the TL=A the world is supposed to have (not a type C starport). As for why the starport ought to remain type E with a population A ... I refer inquiring minds to Rethe/Regina/Spinward Marches which "suffers" from exactly the same condition (except Rethe isn't an industrialized mainworld). From a world lore perspective, Zamine is classified as having a type E starport as a result of an insufficiency of starport infrastructure capable of meeting demand for services (low supply, high demand). In other words, a large outlay of public investment would be needed to upgrade the starport infrastructure, but that "hasn't happened yet" as of 1105 (the date of this remapping effort I'm undertaking). So this would represent yet another one of those "off by 1" errors that crop up with such frequency in LBB S3.

Another one was the hilarious thing that Nosea/Darrian has a UWP notation on LBB S3, p8 recording it as Nosea. rather than Nosea, with the difference between period and comma at the end of the world name denoting allegiance. In this case, given that Nosea is a part of the Darrian Express Network, it's pretty obvious that the "off by 1" error in this case is simple typo (just look at where the comma and period are on a standard QWERTY keyboard and it'll be pretty obvious.

Also needed to modify the Darrian/Military Base notations on the map (code: KM for those people who care about such details) owing to what LBB S3, p40 records on the subject:

D Darrian Confederation Naval Base. Marine Contingent also present.
M Independent World Naval Base, Marine and Army installations.

Also had fun finding out which worlds in this subsector are actually Satellites of other stellar orbiting bodies, since there number was higher than zero.

And as always, the task of correcting Green/Amber/Red Zones to match their arrangement in LBB S3 (except when LBB S3 makes obvious mistakes). So Garoo/Darrian is no longer an Amber Zone, nor are Condaria/Darrian or Nosea/Darrian as depicted on Travellermap.

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Next time, the Sworld Worlds subsector!
I may actually do that later today if other priorities don't pre-emptively distract me again like they did yesterday. If I do 2 subsectors a day (now that I've got the workflow down) I can have a preliminary finished draft of the sector done by the end of the week that would be ready for peer review.

Fun fact:
While I'm doing my spreadsheet edits and proofing out changes and edits to sector maps, I'm often times listening to Journey of the Sorcerer (1975) on loop repeat as background music while flipping between applications and browser tabs to do all my cross-checking and proofing work.

If you're not familiar with the title of this instrumental piece you will be when you listen to it (and if you don't recognize the theme, your Geek Credits are hereby confiscated and summarily revoked! ).