Quote:
Originally Posted by thrash
This is what Farmer suggested and you agreed was plausible, with the understanding that "shipboard life" in this context implies "living in a habitat."
|
I see that the definition does include "space base." I don't quite think of a settlement on the surface of a planet as a "space base"—the phrase brings to mind orbital stations—but I do see that it's relevantly similar. On the other hand, in a community of 50,000 people, or even a neighborhood of 8000, I don't quite see 1500-2000 adult males all having the skill package you describe.
In PP, the corporate government encourages the formation of neighborhood watches, and their members will be trained in the relevant skills. But nonmembers will have Spacer at the default of IQ-4. And then the emergency gear will be set up to provide instructions to a user who needs them, which add 50% to the cost and provide +5 to effective skill (raising it effectively to IQ+1). That provides for immigrants who haven't been trained in the relevant skills for living in outer space.
I have to grant that Crewman is a better fit than what I thought of, which was Urban Survival.