CT Only: Standard Worlds Only

[Supplement Four]

I have often thought about using standard CT rules to create a universe where only standard, Earth type worlds were colonized.

The one thing that would change is space travel. It would be harder to maintain trips. Trips would be a lot longer. And, fuel would be an issue.

Problem one would be how to get fuel on those long trips.

You'd have to jump to systems with gas giants and skim fuel.




You'd also have to watch consumables. Some of those trips would be quite long. Low Berths would be used a lot more.

Trade between worlds would completely change. Passengers could not afford trips. It would be very expensive to ship goods.

The galactic maps would cover wider areas (or a lot less worlds).

Maybe space routes could be established with space stations that service ships, floating out in the void.

It would be an interesting experiment.

 

[kilemall]

I don't know that history sustains that POV. I would think at the least that the example of mining towns in deserts suggests that if asteroid belts or barren rocks have monetarily rewarding resources, people will be there.

Assuming Oort clouds are common, you dont have to have gas giants/water to refuel, unless you stick with the must have grav field stop model of jump.

Pop though certainly should be tied to habitability.

I use the worldgen system I have mentioned before in part because the biosphere drives pop, along with how long that space has been settled.

For a quick and dirty fix, apply these DMs to pop, roll 1d6 to pop, and roll starports after pop is determined.

Atmos 6 or 8 +3 DM
Atmos 0,1,A+ -2 DM
Atmos others -1 DM
Hyd 4-7 +3 DM
Hyd 0 -1 DM
Hyd others +1 DM

Starports are rolled by 7-Pop=DM.

 

[aramis]

I would use a process using roll and drop...

For Thin, Standard, or Dense, non-tainted, non-desert, non-waterworld: 3d drop lowest; if outside hab zone, 2d.

Tainted, desert or water world of thin, standard or dense inside hab: 2d
Outside hab zone: 3d drop highest

Vacuum, Trace, VThin, or exotic inside hab zone: 3d, drop highest
Outside, 4d, drop highest 2

Corrosive or insidious: 4d drop highest 2.

Then subtract 2 from the remaining dice.

Gives some rare high pop "WTF?" worlds, but generally makes almost all the pop on habitable worlds.

I'd couple this with If Size <3, Atm other than VThin, Trace, or vacuum becomes exotic in or past the hab zone, and vacuum inside.

 

[whartung]

The one thing that would change is space travel. It would be harder to maintain trips. Trips would be a lot longer. And, fuel would be an issue.

Problem one would be how to get fuel on those long trips.

Well, just as a note of trivia, I did this once.

I assumed a ship had a Jump 2 range (meaning they could make make 2 parsecs, even if they only had a J1 drive), and that they could refuel at a Gas Giant or a 30%+ Hydro world. I think it also assumes you can jump to deep space in order to make J1 viable. This used to be possible, but I'm not sure if it's still allowed to jump to deep space.

Given those parameters, all but I think maybe 6 systems, can be reached within the Spinward Marches (also assuming you didn't start on one of those isolated systems -- I think I started on Regina).

As I recall, removing the Hydro Refueling capability did increase the number of unvisitable worlds, but not dramatically - like 2 or 3 more worlds.

And, obviously, the Marches has a certain density to it. So, there's that.

But, point being that, perhaps, the fuel part is not the problem you may think it is.

Mind, it also can add that bit of dangerousness to travel -- ships being lost during wilderness refueling. But even then, don't forget, like the Pony Express, there's nothing to stop the civilization from creating Fuel Stations to deal with this problem. Purification stations above gas giants, water processors for water/ice worlds. Asteroids scavengers for ice-eroids. Deep space fuel stations routinely supplied. Nobody said going to the stars was going to be cheap, safe, or easy.

 

[kilemall]

A sparse inhabited world model would greatly affect the trade game.

Even with 'free' refueling, it costs crew salary the more weeks it takes to get to a destination.

 

[Supplement Four]

I first got the idea, years ago, after watching the Sean Connery film, Outland, In the 1980's.

In that film, his wife had a year long trip (IIRC...I may be mis-recalling) to earth aboard the shuttle.

I figure robots would be prevalent in this new Traveller universe.

Would you have multiple crews? Refuelling would take Human supervision. Maybe one crew has a watch for X number of months, and then they hit the cryo-cribs while crew two takes over.

I'd use the standard system generation rules from Traveller. That way, Earth like rules would, indeed, be rare. And, there were would be long distances between them.

 

[mike wightman]

I have often thought about using standard CT rules to create a universe where only standard, Earth type worlds were colonized.

Interesting premise and you could make a case for 'this is how the Vilani' did it in the OTU, they preferred to settle on hospitable worlds.

The one thing that would change is space travel. It would be harder to maintain trips. Trips would be a lot longer. And, fuel would be an issue.

Systems without habitable worlds could/would still have space based settlements - by TL9 building habitats in space is a trivial feat of engineering, we could build O'Neil stations with today's tech, now imagine access to 6g drives, fusion power and artificial gravity.

Problem one would be how to get fuel on those long trips.

Space based settlements and industries in intervening systems.

You'd have to jump to systems with gas giants and skim fuel.

Or harvest ammonia ice, methane ice and water ice and convert to hydrogen - again pretty trivial for 6g ships and fusion power.

You'd also have to watch consumables. Some of those trips would be quite long. Low Berths would be used a lot more.

Not if you have starports for resuppluy in every system.

Trade between worlds would completely change. Passengers could not afford trips. It would be very expensive to ship goods.

Initially yes, but once you have space industry in every system - including the systems with the habitable planets you intend to colonize - costs come down.

The galactic maps would cover wider areas (or a lot less worlds).

Maybe space routes could be established with space stations that service ships, floating out in the void.

It would be an interesting experiment.

It is indeed, are you going to go into more details?

 

[GypsyComet]

An adaption of the UWP process seen in the K'kree module could model this fairly readily.