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Old 06-20-2022, 06:49 PM   #1
notovny
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Default Far Trader, First In, and the Ice-Capped (Ic) trade class

After twenty years, I've started to pull together a program that runs the sector generation process from GURPS Traveller: First In. A lot of things I hadn't expected have shown up, like how the most common lifebearing worlds seem to be Icy (Subsurface Ocean) moons, because there are generally so many more of them than Earthlike planets.

Randomly-Generated Sector Image: https://imgur.com/a/7Qfb013
Randomly-Generated Sector Stats: https://pastebin.com/raw/zu0NjuBs


At any rate, I've gotten to the point where I'm implementing trade routes and trade classes from GURPS Traveller: Far Trader, and ran into an issue about the Ice-Capped (Ic) trade classification:


GURPS Traveller: Far Trader describes the following on T:FT13
Quote:
Ice-Capped (Ic): Hydrographics contained in polar ice caps. An icy rockball world
with a Trace atmosphere or less (<0.10 atm) and surface “water” >5%.
My issue is: The GURPS Traveller: First In rules will not generate any such worlds. T:FT71 states:

Quote:
A world may have hydrographic coverage if it is of Large, Standard or
Small size class, has at least a Very Thin atmosphere, does not fall in the inner
zone, and is closer to its primary star than three times the snow line distance
On T:FT68, only Very Small or Tiny worlds in the Outer Zone get classified as Icy Rockballs. T:FT69, under step 13: Atmospheric Pressure, Tiny worlds get No atmosphere, Very Small worlds get Trace, at best. So none of these worlds will fit all the qualities of an Ice-Capped World by Far Trader.

What would be the best option for worlds that First In can produce for the Far Trader Ice-Capped trade Class?
  • Any Icy Rockball World?
  • Any Icy Rockball Moon with Subsurface Oceans?
  • Any Earthlike world with Frozen or colder Climate and >5% hydrographic coverage?
  • Any Desert world with > 5% hydrographic coverage?
  • Any world Tide-Locked to its star that has >5% hydrographic coverage?
  • Any Middle-Zone or Outer-Zone world with >5% hydrographic coverage?

Something else, or some combination of the above? I'd prefer to keep the First In Rules as close to as-is as possible, and put the burden on the Far Trader trade class definitions.
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Old 06-20-2022, 09:59 PM   #2
thrash
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
Default Re: Far Trader, First In, and the Ice-Capped (Ic) trade class

The Ic trade classification is a holdover from the classic Traveller trade system (Book 7, pp. 36, 40). Under Book 3 rules, it is possible to have Atm 1- and Hyd 1+, which is the original definition. The Ic class is a fudge to explain why a world can have a "hydrographic" score without the atmosphere to retain liquid oceans. The trade class is there for anyone using world data generated under Book 3 or one of its derivatives, rather than the more scientifically accurate version in First In.

I would say that any icy rockball world or moon would count. Earthlike worlds in a snowball state technically wouldn't count unless the atmospheric pressure is very low. Desert worlds shouldn't have more than 5% hydrographic coverage, by definition -- the original classification doesn't overlap with ice-capped at all.
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Old 06-21-2022, 08:11 PM   #3
notovny
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Default Re: Far Trader, First In, and the Ice-Capped (Ic) trade class

Ah, at that point I meant the First In "Desert World" classification, that can roll up to about 25% hydrographic coverage under the right conditions, rather than the Far Trader/Traveller "De" classification at that point. Apologies, should have been more clear.

Fair enough; that makes sense. Thanks.
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