Trade and remark codes - my additions

[dalthor]

In my Varan campaign, I've got some custom remarks I use during world building. My uploads to TravMap don't include them, but I thought I'd post my current list here.

They aren't in the current T5 lexicon, and some may be common to many of us -- there are limits to the two-character codes available. Rs comes to mind...lol

Here ya go:

Varan campaign remarks, may be mainworld or secondary worlds:

Cf Frontier Capital
Cm Cemetery world
Ct Customs requirements or procedures (also see Qt)
Dm Diplomatic mission present (may be temporary or permanent)
Dt Drop-tank refueling and recovery systems (DTRRS) in system (also see Fu)
En Entertainment world or location - vacation paradise, for example
Fb Flashboat aka Fastboat (J-5+ or Hop-1 available)
Fu Fuel refinery (GG) or fuel depot present (also see Dt)
Fy Factory world or complex
Ht High Technology, Tech C+
Lt Low Technology, Tech 1-4
Op Oppressive Government, Law A+
Pb Corsair, pirate, smuggler, or raider facilities present
Ps Private shipyard, typically custom small ships (original Destrier, for example)
Qt Quarantine procedures or facilities
Rs Research Station (alternate Rs<X>)
Rw Refugee world (alternate Rw# or R#)
Sv Salvage yard, scrapyard, or wrecking yard
Tf Terraformed (completed or in progress)

Maybe some of these will be added to the OTU in the future, have at it!

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

In addition to the 16 standard canonical Trade Classes (including no trade class at all), I use these Comments, as well.

Cy - Colony, Generic (POP 5+, GOV 6)
Fa - Farming (per LBB6)
Ga - Garden World (per Mongoose)
Gh - Ghost World (PGL are 0, TEC is 1+)*
He - Hellworld (per Mongoose)
Mc - Mercenary Company (Military base + GOV 1)
Mb - Military Base (per LBB6)
Mi - Mining (per LBB6)
Mr - Military Rule or Martial Law (Military base + Opressive)
Op - Oppressive (GOV A+ or LAW A+ or both)
Pb - Pirate Base (Military base; GOV 1; LAW 0; STP C, D, or E; no other facilities.)*
Ps - Psionics Institute (per LBB3)*
Px - Colony, Exile or Penal (POP 5+; GOV 6; LAW A+).
Rr - Religious Rule (GOV D or E)
Rs - Research Facility (per LBB6)
Tp - Terra-Prime (SAH = 867)

*Gh, Pb, and Ps are not generally known to the players.

 

[The Pakkrat]

The remark of Ghost World (Gh) is intriguing. Can you elaborate on its conditions and how it is assigned? Though I am unsure, there may be one or more of similar worlds in the frontier sector of Knoellighz that I am still developing, wiki and TravellerMap.

Is a Ghost World a result of Dieback (Di) or exodus from Failing or Doomed worlds (per Mongoose)?

What kind of stories can result in a world being classified as such?

From Cartography, this is the Pakkrat for Net-7 News.

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

A Ghostworld is basically the same as a Dieback world. It includes everything from Ancient outposts to recent settlements; especially where it seems that all of the inhabitants have suddenly disappeared, leaving food on the tables, ground vehicles idling on the streets, and shop doors unlocked with the shops' good sitting undisturbed on the shelves ...

I prefer the term 'Ghostworld', because it sounds more 'spooky', and that it implies that there are supernatural reasons for the ominous quiet (e.g., "TOO quiet"), the cold drafts, and the flickering shadows at the edge of vision.

Not that there is ever a supernatural cause* - this is SCIENCE fiction, after all.

(*Clarke's Law notwithstanding.)

Stories? Roll 1D.

The TL-3 colony has been abandoned in a hurry, as if the inhabitants simply dropped whatever they were doing and disappeared.

1 - A naturally-occurring chemical or biological agent has induced rampant paranoia among the inhabitants, who have run as far from each other as possible. Some are still running, while others have fallen off cliffs, drowned in rivers, or simply ran until their hearts gave out.

2 - As #1, but the agent is synthetic, the product of a diabolical plot by a rival government to take over the colony after it has developed a semblance of self-sufficiency.

3 - As #2, but it's the product of secret military research gone horribly wrong.

4 - The inhabitants are xenophobic, and have all taken shelter in hidden underground bunkers until the travellers leave. They will defend themselves if cornered.

5 - The settlement was attacked by a ravenous insectoid species that consumes all animal protein (right down to the bodily fluids) once every 11 standard years.

6 - The settlers have all been rounded up by "Space Pirates", who have put the settlers to working in the unobtainium mines on this and other worlds.