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Old 09-27-2013, 01:59 AM   #23
Agemegos
 
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
Default Re: Scope and format of world data sheets in SF

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
It's not so much that illumination doesn't matter at all as that habitable worlds are unlikely to vary by enough to make a gaming-relevant difference.
It's true that habitable worlds are like happy families according to Anna Karenina: all the same. Pretty much any environment in which the gravity, temperature, light level, pressure and pp(O2) of the atmosphere, etc. differ from Earth's enough to make a tactical difference in skirmish wargaming is inimical to agriculture and everyday life. And that makes those things the stuff of space opera rather than planetary romance: they matter in space adventure far more than on inhabited worlds.

But my taste in RPGs runs not so much to extensive use of the combat rules. To me it matters that the people of Ardor habitually wear large wrap-around shades, a custom originally responding to the 180% light levels on that world. It affects facial recognition (human and computer). Perhaps they have a facial exposure taboo. It would help a character with comprehensive knowledge to recognise at a glance where someone came from.
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