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  This is a revised and adapted edition of the ‘World Creator’s Handbook’ which 
  was previously published under the Traveller SRD licence. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Designer 
  Paul Elliott 
   
  Publisher in PDF format 
  Zozer Games 2016 
   
  Cover Art 
  Ian Stead 
   
  Interior Art 
  Ian Stead 
  S. Joshi 
  NASA Images 
  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license 
   
  Visit Zozer Games at www.paulelliottbooks.com 
   
  Find me on Facebook as Zozer Games 
   
  All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means is expressly forbidden. This 
  book is fully compatible with the Cepheus Engine roleplaying game, a Classic-Era Science 
  Fiction 2D6-Based Open Gaming System. Cepheus Engine and Samardan Press are the 
  trademarks of Jason "Flynn" Kemp,” and Zozer Games is in no way affiliated with either 
  Jason "Flynn" Kemp or Samardan Press™. 
   
   
   
  
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  Introduction 
   
   
   
   
   
  4 
   
   
   
   
   
  Star Systems 
   
   
   
   
   
  6 
  Planetary Bodies 
   
   
   
   
  6 
  Other Stars 
   
   
   
   
   
  6 
  Mainworld 
   
   
   
   
   
  6 
  Gas Giants 
   
   
   
   
   
  6 
  Planetoid Belts  
   
   
   
   
  6 
  Planets  
   
   
   
   
   
  7 
  Star Mapping  
   
   
   
   
  7 
   
   
  The U.W.P.  
   
   
   
   
   
  8 
  Size 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  9 
  Atmosphere 
   
   
   
   
   
  12 
  Hydrographics  
   
   
   
   
  17 
  Population 
   
   
   
   
   
  20 
  Government 
   
   
   
   
   
  23 
  Law Level 
   
   
   
   
   
  32 
  Technology Level 
   
   
   
   
  34 
  Starport 
   
   
   
   
   
  40 
  Trade Classifications  
   
   
   
  43 
  Bases  
   
   
   
   
   
  47 
  Travel Zones  
   
   
   
   
  49 
  Interstellar Governments 
   
   
   
  51 
  Communication and Trade Routes 
   
   
  51 
   
   
  The Process 
   
   
   
   
   
  52 
  Part 1 – The Physical Stats 
   
   
   
  52 
  Part 2 – The Social Stats 
   
   
   
  53 
  Part 3 – Linking Physical & Social Stats 
   
  54 
   
  Part 4 – The Hook 
   
   
   
   
  58 
   
  Subsector Map 
   
   
   
   
   
  59 
  Legal Information  
   
   
   
   
  60 
   
   
   
   
  CONTENTS 
  
  P a g e  | 4 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  THE UNIVERSAL WORLD PROFILE provides advice and assistance for any referee wanting to 
  flesh out the bones of a Universal World Profile (UWP), to turn a random string of numbers 
  into a memorable and exciting scenario setting. Cepheus Engine and the 2D6-based science 
  fiction game it is derived from, is amazing, it is a tool kit that puts the creation of an entire 
  universe into the hands of the players, allowing them to create heroes and villains, vehicles, 
  starships, sectors of space, alien lifeforms and of course, the planets themselves. The 
  mechanics for world creation, as detailed in the core book, have changed little since the 
  classic era, and have proved robust and useful. However, a good deal of imagination is 
  required to turn the numbers of the Universal World Profile into a unique and vibrant world 
  filled with memorable locations that might harbour the potential for adventure. 
  This need to extrapolate, to interpret the data and fill in the blanks, has no doubt dissuaded 
  many referees from creating their own subsectors within their own roleplaying universe. 
  Here then is a step by step handbook to world creation and it goes without saying that you 
  will need a copy of the Cepheus Engine Core Book on hand. 
   
  Is my advice any good? I am not a planetary scientist or an astrophysicist, but at college 
  level I studied physical geography and human geography as well as geology, later starting a 
  university degree in geological science. I dropped out, however, to begin a degree in ancient 
  history, a subject that I have written many books about since. History and human 
  geography (how societies interact with their environment) are of course key elements in 
  designing a habitable world and this book will provide advice on how to design realistic 
  societies that have been moulded by the landscape and the planet upon which they evolved. 
  Don't expect a technical treatise on planetary physics, though. You won't be dealing with 
  albedo values, Bode's Law or complex square root calculations to determine the length of 
  the world's orbital period. The push by members of the roleplaying community for extremely 
  realistic methods of star and system generation is laudable. Modelling realistic star systems 
  is virtually a past-time in itself. This book comes at world generation from another angle - 
  from the perspective of plot. The player characters will most likely visit each world in the 
  game's subsector at least once, so what is the hook, that memorable feature that either 
  draws them there, or that they will remember after leaving? For any reader who hears that 
  nagging voice in his head "each world should have a detailed, thorough and exhaustive 
  description of its society and geography..." then think again. Do players really need to know 
  the names of the ten biggest cities, or how many humans live in each one, how the army is 
  organized, or the various levels of world government? The answer is no. 
   
  Realistically, how much do you know about an international destination you have visited just 
  once, perhaps on vacation? Let's say you visit Jamaica. After having visited this holiday 
  island for a week, do you know the name of the prime minister, or the names of its major 
  cities and provinces? Do you know its history, decade by decade, the method it uses to elect 
  its judiciary or the national level of literacy? Of course not. Why expect a player to pay the 
  slightest bit of attention to these same facts? There are plenty of 'quick guides' to Jamaica 
  on the internet, imagine if something similar existed for Deneb or Algol ... 
  The aim of THE UNIVERSAL WORLD PROFILE is to assist the referee in creating short 
  descriptions of his worlds, useful for referees who are putting together a scenario, and for 
  players who want to get their heads around the world quickly, so that they can make 
  informed decisions in-game. There is no set worksheet that must be slavishly filled in by the 
  INTRODUCTION 
  
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  world 
  creator 
  because 
  every 
  planet 
  will 
  be 
  unique. On one world its 
  slavery 
  laws 
  may 
  dominate the description, 
  on another it may be a 
  permanent 
  continent-
  sized hurricane, on yet 
  another a vast volcanic 
  rift valley may be the 
  focus. For each planet 
  the 
  hook 
  will 
  be 
  developed and expanded, 
  forming 
  a 
  core 
  upon 
  which you will build any 
  additional layers of detail. 
  Yet caution is required, 
  although this is certainly 
  not 
  a 
  lesson 
  in 
  astrophysics, 
  we 
  still 
  don't want to fall into the 
  trap of creating a 'jungle 
  planet', an 'ice planet', a 
  'desert planet' and so on 
  ... The worlds and their 
  hooks must be rooted in 
  good science so that they 
  stand up to scrutiny. We 
  want realistic, memorable 
  and 
  interesting 
  worlds 
  with which to populate 
  our subsectors. 
   
   
   
  As a final note, the reader should not think he has to start investing in a library of geology, 
  geography and history books, or that he must possess some kind of scientific training in 
  order to build a believable world. The age of the internet has brought vast amounts of 
  learning to our finger tips and you will rarely need to stray far from the pages of Wikipedia. 
  The key to effective world building, addressed later on in this book, is to know what to 
  search for and then, within each article, what to identify for maximum world building 
  potential. 
   
  THE UNIVERSAL WORLD PROFILE begins with a short star system design method. It is 
  extremely simple and quick to use, and sketches out the important aspects of the world’s 
  star system. Next the mainworld’s UWP is explained in real world terms so that a referee 
  can visualise the planet that it represents. What does 'Atmosphere 9' really mean for life on 
  the surface? Will it have any impact on the humans who live there? The second half of the 
  book discusses the procedure used to build worlds and provides three working examples of 
  world-building. The process of creation is thoroughly explained, step by step, so that a 
  referee can see the method in action. 
   
  
  P a g e  | 6 
   
   
   
   
   
  Planetary Bodies 
  Each system contains a minimum of one star and 2d6+2 planetary bodies. These bodies are 
  located in orbits around the central star. To create a star system, first roll 2d6+2 and 
  determine the number of planetary bodies that orbit the star. Make a note of these bodies, 
  starting at Orbit 1, close to the star. 
   
  Other Stars 
  Many systems have two or even three stars and these additional stars orbit the central star 
  either closely, or at a distance - far beyond the orbit of the planets and gas giants. Roll 2d6; 
  on a 9+ the system is binary, whilst a result of 11 or 12 indicates the existence of a trinary 
  (triple) star system. Where can these companion stars be found? For a binary system, roll 
  1d6. An ‘odds’ result indicates that the companion occupies Orbit 1, whilst an ‘evens’ result 
  indicates that it occupies the orbit beyond the system’s furthermost planetary body. For a 
  trinary system the procedure is the same; roll 1d6. An ‘odds’ result indicates that one of the 
  two companions occupies Orbit 1 and that the other sits out on the edge of the system, in 
  the outermost orbit after the last planetary body. An ‘evens’ result indicates that both the 
  second and third star both occupy the orbits beyond the system’s furthermost planetary 
  body. 
   
  Mainworld 
  The mainworld is placed next and its location determines the habitable zone of the system. 
  Roll 1d6 and place the mainworld by counting out from the central star (or a companion, if a 
  second star occupies Orbit 1). 
   
  Gas Giants 
  A star system may have one or more gas giant planets. The presence of a gas giant allows 
  starships equipped with fuel scoops to refuel by skimming; this eliminates fuel cost for the 
  vessel and increases profit. It also allows refueling at systems that do not have starports. 
  Refueling in this fashion requires 1D6 hours per 40 tons of fuel. Gas giants are relatively 
  common. For each system throw 5+ on 2D6 for at least one gas giant to be present in the 
  system.  
   
  If gas giants are present then roll 1d6 to determine their number. A roll of 6 must be 
  rerolled, and one of the rerolled gas giants must be placed into Orbit 1, becoming a ‘hot 
  Jupiter’ that has migrated toward the Inner System. The other gas giants are placed by 
  rolling 1d6 and counting in from the outer-most orbital body. An already occupied orbit 
  cancels out the current attempt at gas giant placement, move on to the next one. If the 
  orbit is occupied by the mainworld then roll 1d6; on 5-6 the mainworld orbits the gas giant 
  as a moon. Otherwise place the gas giant one orbit further out. 
   
  Planetoid Belts 
  For each remaining planetary body that has not already been identified as a gas giant (or a 
  star), roll 1d6. On a result of 6 the body is actually a planetoid belt. Do not check for the 
  mainworld, these have been pregenerated. Planetoid belts exist in many systems, and are 
  mined by belters for ice, ore and other interesting things. If the primary world of the system 
  STAR SYSTEMS 
  
  P a g e  | 7 
   
  is Size 0, then there’s at least one planetoid belt in the system automatically. The Solar 
  System contains a single major planetoid belt – our own Asteroid Belt, between the orbits of 
  Mars and Jupiter.  
   
  Planets 
  Anybody that remains after determination of companion stars, gas giants and asteroid belts 
  is a rocky planet. Those within the Inner System (starward of the mainworld) typically have 
  rocky surfaces, whilst those beyond the orbit of the mainworld, inside in the Outer System, 
  are usually covered by sheets of ice. None of these worlds need be given specific 
  characteristics unless they become important to the current game. 
   
  Star Mapping 
  For Cepheus Engine universes, the presence of star systems is marked on hex maps, each 
  hex representing one parsec. For each system, generate a Universal World Profile for the 
  primary world of the system. The smallest astrogation map size, the subsector, measures 8 
  hexes wide by 10 hexes high. An intermediate map size, the quadrant, measures two 
  subsectors by two subsectors, while the largest map size, the sector, measures two 
  quadrants by two quadrants. 
   
  There is a basic one-half chance normally that a world (and its attendant stellar system) will 
  be in a hex. Systematically check each hex on the subsector map, throwing one die and 
  marking the hex with a circle if the result is a 4, 5, or 6. This indicates that a world is 
  present; otherwise, leave the hex blank. The Referee may elect to alter the normal chances 
  of worlds, making them more frequent or less frequent to correspond to specific regions of 
  the galaxy. A 50% density (no DM) is appropriate for the spiral arms of the galaxy. Apply a 
  –2 DM for ‘rift sectors’, a –1 DM for sparse sectors and a +1 DM for densely populated 
  sectors.  
   
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 8 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  The focus of most scenarios is on the mainworld of a star system. For whatever reason, this 
  single world is important, inhabited and the most regularly visited planet within the star 
  system. The Universal World Profile (UWP) is an elegant method of describing the essential 
  characteristics of this mainworld through the use of a string of letters and numbers. What 
  these numbers represent and how they are generated is clearly explained in the core rules. 
  The UWP typically looks like this: 
   
       Danarkis  
  0305 D5856A7-5 S  
  Ag, NI, Ri   
  RG 
   
  Danarkis is the mainworld's name and the four-figure number following it denotes the 
  world's location on the subsector map. The string of letters and numbers that follow 
  represent the various physical and social characteristics of the world. From left to right they 
  are: 
   
  Starport Type D (Poor Quality) 
  Size 5 (8000 km diameter) 
  Atmosphere 8 (Dense) 
  Hydrographics 5 (50% surface liquid) 
  Population 6 (Millions of inhabitants) 
  Government A (Charismatic Dictator) 
  Law Level 7 (All firearms are illegal) 
  Tech Level 5 (industrial, circa 1890-1940) 
   
  Following the string of numbers and letters may be a letter to denote the presence of a 
  military base. An S, as above, indicates a scout base on the mainworld while an N indicates 
  that a naval base exists on the planet. 
   
  Abbreviations for various trade classifications sit to the right; Ag, NI and Ri stand for 
  Agricultural, Non Industrial and Rich, respectively. Finally, at the far right come the travel 
  zone designation and the symbol for the presence of a gas giant planet within the same star 
  system (valuable, of course, as a source of starship fuel). Danarkis is classified Red - 
  dangerous and restricted. Amber travel zones, representing extreme caution, are designated 
  A, whilst Green travel zones (representing safe) typically require no designation at all. The 
  presence of one of more gas giants within the star system is flagged by the letter G on the 
  far right of the UWP. When planning refuelling stops across a subsector, this particular piece 
  of information may prove crucial for a starship captain. 
   
  As you can see the UWP packs an impressive amount of information into a single line of text 
  and gives the referee every key piece of information he needs when planning to visit. It tells 
  him what type of fuel and repair facilities are available at the starport, what the surface 
  gravity will be, whether or not he can breathe the air, if there is land, what the government 
  is like and how repressive it is. It tells him what kind of goods he can buy cheaply there, 
  what he can sell at a profit, if there are likely to be any encounters with the military and 
  whether or not he can scoop free hydrogen from a nearby gas giant. Taken in this vein, the 
  UWP serves admirably as a listing in the spacefaring equivalent of the American Automobile 
  THE U.W.P. 
  
  P a g e  | 9 
   
  Association atlas or Pooley's guide to UK Airports. When it comes to describing everyday life 
  on this mainworld, or providing players with a description of its important surface features, 
  then the UWP fails to deliver. It cannot cope with that level of detail and the referee must 
  take over using his wits, his imagination and the THE UNIVERSAL WORLD PROFILE. 
   
  Adding detail, that is, taking the numbers of the UWP further, requires a bit more 
  information. What do those characteristics actually 'mean' for life and landscape on the 
  mainworld? How is Size 5 that different from Size 8? So what if the atmosphere is Thin - it 
  has no real impact on the people who live there ... or does it? The rest of this chapter will 
  flesh out the UWP values in an effort to give the world builder an idea of how the numbers 
  affect the landscape, economy and society of the planet in question.  
   
  SIZE 
  The Size characteristic for inhabitable worlds ranges from 0 to 10, and is determined by 
  rolling 2D6–2. 
   
  Table: World Size 
  Digit 
  World Size 
  Surface Gravity (gs) 
  0 
  800 km (typically an asteroid) Negligible  
  1 
  1,600 km 
  0.05 
  2 
  3,200 km 
  0.15 
  3 
  4,800 km 
  0.25 
  4 
  6,400 km 
  0.35 
  5 
  8,000 km 
  0.45 
  6 
  9,600 km 
  0.7 
  7 
  11,200 km 
  0.9 
  8 
  12,800 km 
  1.0 
  9 
  14,400 km 
  1.25 
  10 (A) 16,000 km 
  1.4 
   
  Density 
  Let's start with the second number in the UWP, Size. Mainworlds are rocky or terrestrial 
  worlds, like Mars, Venus and Earth, but could also be the moon of a gas giant. In general, 
  the larger the world, then the greater its surface gravity will be. Surface gravity figures listed 
  in the Size Table, below, are typical, but could easily vary. The Jovian moon Ganymede, for 
  example, has a density of around a third that of similar-sized Mercury and so it has a much 
  lower surface gravity, 0.146 G compared to Mercury’s 0.38 G. It is probably composed of an 
  ice/rock mix. Some rock types like silicate are of a comparatively low density and worlds 
  made up of these lighter rocks would have lower densities and lower gravities compared to 
  similar sized worlds that contain metal-rich rocks. This game doesn't deal with planetary 
  densities, but the referee can look at the Atmosphere value for a clue. On a world with an 
  Earth-like density, Size and Atmosphere should generally match up. On such planets, iron 
  and other metals will be as abundant as they here.  
   
  A planet with a low Size but a Standard or Dense Atmosphere probably has a higher than 
  average density, its higher gravity helps it retain the thicker atmosphere. Such a planet is 
  likely to be iron-rich, a miner's dream, with plenty of iron and other useful metals to dig out 
  of the ground. Conversely, a large world that can only cling on to a Thin or Very Thin 
  Atmosphere has a lower than average surface gravity, pointing in turn to a much lower 
  density. These low density worlds are likely to be metal poor - perhaps to the point that they 
  are unable to sustain technological and industrial development. Very low density (silicate) 
  
  P a g e  | 10 
   
  planets will exist that bare virtually no useful ores or any kind. Of course large worlds, with 
  more gravitational attraction may attract a moon or two, or more! 
   
  Vulcanism 
  The density of a mainworld, suggested by both its Size and Atmosphere, holds further clues 
  for the world-builder. High density worlds will have a molten core, suggesting lively 
  tectonic activity which includes earthquakes and volcanoes. It will also be responsible for a 
  powerful magnetic field that diverts solar radiation and can produce spectacular aurorae at 
  the poles. Metal-poor, low density worlds have less interior heat and little tectonic activity, 
  this results in a weak or non-existent magnetic field - and little protection for solar radiation. 
  Where the Atmosphere and Size characteristics are roughly comparable, the referee can, if 
  he desires, assume a more or less Earth-like geology. 
   
  Smaller worlds, dead moons and low density planets might still have active cores. Jupiter’s 
  moon Io for example, should not have a molten core, but the huge gravitational influence of 
  its parent world as well as neighbouring moons, push and pull Io so much that internal 
  heating occurs. Impressive volcanoes are matched by an equally impressive magnetosphere. 
  A dead world like Mars might have, if the referee chooses, one or more large moons that 
  have a similar dramatic influence. 
   
  Rotation, Axial Tilt and Eccentricity 
  Unusual worlds can be created simply by varying the speed at which they rotate, the length 
  of their orbit or the tilt of their axis. None of these parameters are suggested by the 
  contents of the UWP, instead the referee has the freedom to apply them when and where 
  they may spice up an otherwise lacklustre planetary description. 
   
  So many factors affect planetary rotation that a referee can set the length of a day to 
  anything best fitted to his world design. Humans may prefer a world with days 20 to 30 
  hours in length, but there are no reasons why a day cannot last six Terran weeks, or six 
  Terran hours. There are some guidelines: larger worlds 'should' generally rotate faster than 
  smaller worlds, older worlds will have had a chance to slow their rotation, planets in the 
  same system will usually all rotate in the same direction, most moons and worlds close to 
  their parent star will have no rotation at all. They are 'tidally locked', with one face 
  permanently facing the more dominant neighbour, just as our own Moon turns one familiar 
  face toward Earth, whilst its far side remains hidden from ground-based observers. Note 
  that M type stars, which are cool and small, may have an Earth-like world within their 
  system, but that it is likely to be so close to the warmth-giving star that it is tidally locked. 
  Be aware also, that a rapid rotation will increase the Coriolis force on the planet's 
  atmosphere, creating strong winds, powerful storms and a dynamic and unpredictable 
  atmospheric weather system. 
   
  Axial tilt simply refers to how far a planet leans over while it rotates; all lean to some 
  degree, and this affects how much solar radiation is received away from the equator at 
  certain times during the planet's orbit. These are the seasons. With relatively little or no tilt, 
  there are no seasons. The greater the tilt then the greater the degree of severity of change 
  during the summer and winter months and the longer these extreme seasons will be. 
  Imagine if Earth doubled its tilt to 45 degrees, causing Serengeti-like droughts during the 
  long summer, blizzards and crippling snow-drifts during the similarly long winter. Not only 
  that, but summer days in the far north will be night-free, whilst those in winter will never 
  see the sun. The more pronounced this tilt, then the further south these 'midnight suns' will 
  occur. 
   
  
  P a g e  | 11 
   
  Could a world tip completely over? Could a planet have an axial tilt of 90 degrees? In this 
  scenario, the midnight sun, does not creep up slowly, day by day, but is part and parcel of 
  summer. In summer there is no darkness, in winter there is no daylight. Dawn and dusk are 
  long protracted affairs lasting months. Could a world like this exist? Well yes, Uranus has an 
  axial tilt of 98 degrees and its poles endure 42 years of continuous sunlight followed by 42 
  years of continuous night. Between the two extremes during the Uranian equinoxes, the gas 
  giant enjoys a short Earth-like day and night cycle. 
   
  Just as the referee can 'decide' that a world has an unusual rotation or axial tilt, he also has 
  the option of gracing his world with an eccentric orbit. Orbits are generally circular, but that 
  of Mercury could be described as oval, it speeds up as it nears the Sun, then slows down as 
  it makes its way along the longer part of its uneven orbit. If it was Earth-like, the effect of 
  the seasons would be greatly exaggerated, even a planet with no tilt and no seasons would 
  feel the short heat of summer and the long, cold of winter. 
   
  The planet Helliconia, created by writer Brian Aldiss, has a year that is 2500 Terran-years in 
  length and that is extremely eccentric. Civilization itself changes during the course of a year 
  and Aldiss thinks through all of the ramifications of such a monumental seasonal variation, 
  cursing the inhabitants with Fat Death and Bone Fever, diseases that have evolved to 
  remove the weak and to create survivors that will be able to face the coming seasonal 
  cataclysms. 
   
  Habitation 
  High density planets are perfect candidates for mining worlds, either as mining outposts if 
  the population is low, or as fully developed industrialized societies built upon a metal rich 
  economy, if the head-count supports it. Worlds with high gravities (typically those of Size 9 
  and 10, in excess of 1.25 G) would need some adapting to, colonists having spent a century 
  or more there may have selectively bred for survival traits, traits such as short and muscular 
  bodies, and robust cardiac systems to cope with the immense stresses put on the human 
  body. No-one goes anywhere fast which might create a fairly ‘tomorrow-will-do’ culture, or 
  perhaps it instead fosters a society of careful perfectionists, deliberate and calculating. We 
  can imagine that buildings will be single storey for the most part and that flight will be 
  restricted or non-existent. Water transport will become particularly efficient compared to 
  land or aerial travel, but at any appreciable depth the density of the water will increase 
  dramatically, shutting off the submarine world from surface-world explorers. If there is 
  native life on the high G world in question, it will be low-slung, close to the ground and 
  powerfully built. Hal Clement’s super-world Mesklin was home to foot-long centipede-like 
  creatures that had developed intelligence and enjoyed the fruits of civilization. 
   
  Worlds with a Size of 1-4 generally have low surface gravities; simply walking in a straight 
  line may prove to be a problem. Earth’s Moon is a Size 2 body and human movement (as we 
  saw during the Apollo missions) consists of what were described as ‘bunny hops’; large 
  strides and long jumps are all possible. Mercury is Size 3 and Mars is Size 4. Some worlds 
  will have a Size of 1, equating to a planet the size of one of Saturn’s main moons: Rhea, 
  Dione, or Tethys. Movement on a world this small will be particularly challenging. Low G 
  world inhabitants, if they have lived there for several generations, will tend toward the tall 
  and skinny. The construction of tall buildings will be easier than on Earth, and these 
  buildings may look a good deal more outlandish or exotic, since physics and the pull of 
  gravity are so much more forgiving. Flight will often be easier on a low G world (if of course 
  there is an atmosphere to support it!). Contrary to the low-slung native creatures of a high 
  G planet, the local denizens of a low gravity world may include a number of very tall species. 
  Plants and tree analogues may grow to prodigious heights and flying creatures will have an 
  
  P a g e  | 12 
   
  easier time of it. Coupled with a Dense Atmosphere, flying creatures here may grow to some 
  size … the speculative world titled Blue Moon (which featured in a 2005 TV documentary 
  entitled Alien Worlds) boasted both a low gravity and a dense atmosphere, a combination 
  that was able to support all manner of floating or flying fauna - including the magnificent 
  sky whales. 
   
   
  ATMOSPHERE 
  A planet’s Atmosphere is generated by rolling 2D6–7 and adding the planet’s Size. If a 
  world's Size equals 0, then the world's Atmosphere equals 0. The Atmosphere code should 
  never be higher than 15(F). 
   
  Table: Atmosphere 
  Digit 
  Atmosphere 
  Pressure 
  Survival Gear Required 
  0 
  None 
  0.00 
  Vacc Suit 
  1 
  Trace 
  0.001 to 0.09 Vacc Suit 
  2 
  Very Thin, Tainted 0.1 to 0.42 
  Respirator, Filter 
  3 
  Very Thin 
  0.1 to 0.42 
  Respirator 
  4 
  Thin, Tainted 
  0.43 to 0.7 
  Filter 
  5 
  Thin 
  0.43 to 0.7 
   
  6 
  Standard 
  0.71–1.49 
   
  7 
  Standard, Tainted 
  0.71–1.49 
  Filter 
  8 
  Dense 
  1.5 to 2.49 
   
  9 
  Dense, Tainted 
  1.5 to 2.49 
  Filter 
  10 (A) Exotic 
  Varies 
  Air Supply 
  11 (B) Corrosive 
  Varies 
  Vacc Suit 
  12 (C) Insidious  
  Varies 
  Vacc Suit 
  13 (D) Dense, High 
  2.5+ 
   
  14 (E) 
  Thin, Low 
  0.5 or less 
   
  15 (F) 
  Unusual 
  Varies 
  Varies 
   
  The third digit in the UWP identifies the type of atmosphere that the world has. As a rule, 
  only larger worlds have a gravitational field large enough to hold on to an atmosphere, but 
  there certainly are exceptions. An atmosphere is essentially a layer of gas or gasses that 
  cloak the surface of the planet and there are a number of reasons why a world may or may 
  not be lucky enough to have one. As we have already mentioned, a big world has the 
  muscle to keep its atmosphere and the bigger the world, in all likelihood the denser (or 
  thicker) the atmosphere will be. Conversely, moons and small planets with relatively low 
  surface gravities will generally have only trace atmospheres, if they have anything at all. 
  
  P a g e  | 13 
   
  Other factors also come into play. A world sitting close to the main star might have its 
  atmosphere stripped away by the destructive energy of the star's solar wind sweeping past. 
  The only chance a planet has of retaining its layer of gasses in this situation, is if it also 
  benefits from a molten core that is producing a protective magnetosphere. Compare the 
  Earth, whose atmosphere is shielded by its magnetosphere, with Mars. The red planet has a 
  trace or very thin atmosphere that was considerably thicker in ancient times, but as the 
  planet cooled it first lost its magnetosphere and then its atmosphere.  
   
  Yet there are exceptions; in the depths of the solar system, the moon Titan orbits the ringed 
  planet Saturn. Titan is cold, far from the sun and seismically inactive. It has no 
  magnetosphere and with a surface gravity of only 0.14 G should not be able to retain an 
  atmosphere - yet it has a dense atmosphere that is 1.45 times thicker than that of Earth's! 
  Ganymede and Callisto, comparable-sized moons of Jupiter, are of a similar composition but 
  do not have atmospheres. One theory suggests that Titan, being farther from the sun than 
  the moons of Jupiter, was colder during its formation. Gasses were trapped in the ice at 
  those low temperatures and later made their way into Titan's atmosphere. 
  Pressure 
   
  The UWP atmosphere table indicates that there are nine main types of atmosphere: 
  Vacuum, Trace, Very Thin, Thin, Standard, Dense, Exotic, Corrosive and Insidious. This 
  order roughly corresponds to their increasing level of pressure (or thickness). The manner in 
  which the mechanics work attempts to replicate the general rule that small worlds will have 
  thinner atmospheres, whilst larger worlds will boast denser atmospheres. Of course, since it 
  employs random generation, it may throw up an odd-ball like Titan once in a while! 
   
  Here on Earth we have little experience of differing atmospheric pressures, and so 
  underestimate how much of an impact this factor may have on everyday life. We are 
  actually living near the bottom of an ocean of air. At sea level, the weight of the air presses 
  down on us with a pressure of 1 kg per squared cm. At higher altitudes, less air means less 
  weight and less pressure. The pressure and density of air decreases with increasing 
  elevation. 
   
  Standard pressure is what you are breathing now. The table tells us that Standard has a 
  pressure between 0.71 and 1.49 times that of Earth. Things change at lower pressures and 
  those humans who live or work in mountainous regions can attest to those changes. 
  At altitudes above 2500m, the air pressure drops to around 0.70 that of sea level. This is 
  equivalent to the Cepheus Engine atmosphere type of Thin. Humans who are not adapted to 
  such conditions can suffer from altitude sickness, with headaches, nausea, extreme 
  tiredness, breathlessness and body pain. Associated high blood pressure can cause 
  complications for pregnant women. 
   
  At altitudes above 4000m (such as most of the Tibetan plateau) the oxygen content in every 
  breath full drops almost to 50%, whilst above 7000m (the peaks of the Himalayas) the lack 
  of available oxygen reaches lethal levels. This extreme altitude on the 'roof of the world' is 
  equivalent to the atmosphere type of Very Thin. For most explorers, respirators or oxygen 
  masks will be required in this type of environment. 
   
  Low pressure atmospheres will have a variety of effects on life, both native and alien. Air 
  temperature will be lower and the atmosphere will retain less heat; it will also have extreme 
  differences in temperature between day and night. The air in a thin atmosphere will be drier 
  than Standard, forcing both humans and native wildlife to drink more water. A further 
  drawback will be the lack of protection the atmosphere provides from the effects of solar 
  
  P a g e  | 14 
   
  radiation. In addition, with fewer air molecules to push against, native animal life will find it 
  difficult to get into the air. There will be few, if any, flying creatures on these worlds. Finally, 
  with less oxygen available, humans will struggle physically, and this struggle will be shared 
  by any combustion-engined vehicles. Railway trains in the Andes struggle to cope with some 
  of the serious inclines on the track because the power isn't there - compressors will need to 
  be fitted to engines in order to supply enough air to keep them running. On mid-tech 
  planets (TL 5 to 8) with thin atmospheres, electrical motors might take the place of more 
  inefficient combustion-engined vehicles and power sources. 
   
  Worlds with high pressure atmospheres are likely to be teeming with flying creatures, and 
  while most will be equipped with wings, others might be gas balloons, or may be gliders, or 
  'kites'. An aerial ecology really thrives when a very small planet (with low gravity) has a 
  dense atmosphere. Dense atmospheres also retain a lot of heat resulting in a great deal of 
  highly energetic weather; imagine gargantuan, continent-spanning hurricanes, powerful 
  electrical storms, supersonic winds and football-sized hailstones! Take a weather 
  phenomenon and max it out! 
   
  The greatest benefit of a dense atmosphere is the way in which it shields the surface from 
  the effects of solar radiation (which can make-up for a lack of magnetic field). When 
  considering human habitation on a world with Atmosphere of 8 or 9, remember air 
  resistance - vehicle speeds, including both aircraft and ground cars, will be reduced. Winds 
  will pack far more punch, and building designs will reflect this. Skyscrapers might be quite 
  rare and buildings may only be a couple of stories in height. Vegetation, likewise, will be 
  low-growing, or evolve to counter the prodigious strength of the wind. 
   
  Airless Worlds 
  A great many randomly created worlds will have an Atmosphere type of 0 (Vacuum) or 1 
  (Trace). Although a Trace atmosphere denotes a thin veneer of gasses around a world (such 
  as Mercury), it is of such barely measurable pressures that for the purposes of a roleplaying 
  game, it may as well be a vacuum. Animal and plant life is non-existent on an airless world, 
  although exotic and incredibly rare examples of vacuum life might exist (and certainly be 
  worthy of a mission). Humans must resort to living in bubble cities, underground 
  settlements and other artificial, sealed environments. It can be difficult for the referee to 
  make these vacuum habitats stand out from one another. Try to place these settlements at 
  interesting geographical locations: at the entrance to a huge mine, straddling a small 
  meteorite crater, along the walls of a canyon, inside old lava tubes, in the caldera of an 
  extinct volcano, inside a network of vast, natural caves ... and so on. Airlocks become crucial 
  to gameplay, since they limit freedom, so plan for plenty of airlocks - old, new, dangerously 
  under-maintained, guarded and unguarded, vehicle locks, elevators to the surface and vast 
  airlocks capable of accepting starships. 
   
  It's Tainted 
  The qualifier 'tainted' simply means that the atmosphere in question contains some element 
  that makes it unbreathable. Most likely it is a harmful gas, such as carbon dioxide, methane 
  and/or hydrogen that humans simply cannot breathe, which has serious side effects (such 
  as nitrogen at relatively high partial pressures) or sulphur compounds, possibly resulting 
  from global volcanic activity. Taints may also include bio-hazards such as pollens or alien 
  pheromones. Taints require a filter mask for human survival. 
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 15 
   
  Extreme Atmospheres 
  Some of the more difficult atmosphere types to explain and describe are the 'extremes', 
  types A, B and C which equate to Exotic, Corrosive and Insidious. Whereas the Very Thin, 
  Thin, Standard and Dense atmospheres are generally Earth-like in pressures with Earth-like 
  gasses in a variety of amounts, the 'extremes' are terribly toxic, horribly lethal and utterly 
  alien. The three types are really grades of lethality, and an A type and C type atmosphere 
  may actually contain the same poisonous gas, just in different amounts. According to the 
  table, Exotic atmosphere requires an air supply, a Corrosive atmosphere is dangerous, 
  requires a vacc suit and will cause 1d6 damage to an unprotected character per round. An 
  Insidious atmosphere is so dangerous that it will defeat a vacc suit after 2d6 hours and kill 
  the man inside it. Venus, with its incredible high pressure, high temperature atmosphere 
  comes into this latter category. Gasses which give an atmosphere an extreme label include 
  carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen, sulphur, oxygen, hydrogen, ammonia, chlorine and 
  fluorine. Select one active element from the list below, but note that some gasses are often 
  found in combination with others on the list. If the referee so decides, use these 
  combinations, mixing together the dangerous effects in one nasty airborne cocktail! 
   
  Carbon Dioxide - Carbon dioxide made up Earth's early atmosphere, and life on such a 
  world (if it supports life at all) must utilize direct sunlight, geothermal heat or chemical 
  reactions for survival, rather than oxygen. At a high pressure and high temperature, this 
  type of carbon dioxide atmosphere is Insidious, so an Exotic world with a CO2 atmosphere 
  must be distant from its star and the pressure fairly low. [May be found in combination with 
  sulphur dioxide, fluorine, nitrogen or chlorine] 
   
  Methane - Methane is both odourless and colourless and is extremely explosive should 
  anyone bring oxygen with them down to the world's surface. Leaks from vacc suits or 
  habitats or malfunctioning airlocks could easily mix oxygen with methane and create the 
  potential for a fierce explosion and fire. Methane worlds are usually large and cool and will 
  tend to form very dense atmospheres. Titan is a good example of a world boasting an Exotic 
  atmosphere, although in Titan's case it is so far from the sun that a heat-suit is needed as 
  well as an oxygen supply. [May be found with ammonia, or in a methane-ammonia-
  hydrogen mix] 
   
  Nitrogen - An atmosphere containing nitrogen and oxygen in certain combinations will 
  contain a nitric acid irritant, which on Exotic worlds will require a protective suit, and which 
  on type B and C worlds is the cause of corrosive effects. On these latter worlds, there may 
  be rivers and seas of nitric acid, all fed by an acid rain that can kill. [May be found with 
  fluorine] 
   
  Oxygen - Believe it or not, high concentrations of oxygen can be extremely harmful to 
  humans. A planet with a high oxygen content could be either Exotic or Corrosive. At 
  standard pressures, high oxygen levels burn the eyes and throat and fluid forms in the 
  lungs, the explorer becomes breathless and feels pains in his chest; of course there are also 
  the associated dangers of explosion and intense fire which accompany large concentrations 
  of this gas. As a side-note, oxygen 'can' be breathed at levels up to 100% safely, as it was 
  by astronauts in the Mercury and Gemini programmes, but only at reduced pressures. 
   
  Hydrogen - A cold world in the outer zone, with an atmosphere made up predominately of 
  hydrogen will qualify as Insidious. Hydrogen is not poisonous, but it is extremely flammable 
  and its atoms are small enough to penetrate suits, seals and vehicles. Hydrogen, with its 
  associated effects, will be found within ammonia and also methane-rich atmospheres. [May 
  be found in a methane-ammonia-hydrogen mix] 
  
  P a g e  | 16 
   
   
  Sulphur - Sulphur compounds created by volcanic activity or as a result of run-away 
  industrialization, act as an irritant and in much greater concentrations becomes corrosive. 
  Life might evolve to utilise sulphur rather than carbon, but its low energy yield might limit 
  the organisms' size. [May be found with carbon dioxide, fluorine or chlorine] 
   
  Ammonia - Ammonia is another irritant that, if present in low amounts on an Exotic world, 
  would require a protective suit as well. Any leaks will be noticed immediately due to 
  ammonia's pungent odour, which any referee who owned a child's chemistry set will vividly 
  remember. Ammonia attacks the eyes, throat and mucus membranes with a fierce chemical 
  burn that will be blinding and choking (and fatal rather quickly) on Corrosive or Insidious 
  worlds. Ammonia planets will probably be large and cold with dense atmospheres. [May be 
  found with methane or as a methane-ammonia-hydrogen mix] 
   
  Chlorine - Chlorine's use as a chemical weapon during the First World War reflects the 
  chemical's toxic nature. It might be present in tiny amounts on an Exotic world - enough to 
  cause persistent irritation, but in any sizable amount will be deadly, and in such 
  concentrations be found on Corrosive and Insidious worlds. The gas has a strong odour and 
  is greenish-yellow in colour, making leaks easy to identify. Chlorine will damage and destroy 
  exposed tissue faster and more effectively than ammonia, and like ammonia blinds and 
  chokes. It is an extremely dangerous substance even in fairly low concentrations. Since 
  chlorine reacts in a similar fashion to that of oxygen, chlorine-based life might well exist on 
  some worlds. And since chlorine is visible, an atmosphere with the gas in its make-up will 
  appear green, sunlight creating a yellow-green haze through which the landscape can be 
  viewed. [May be found with nitrogen, carbon dioxide or disulphur dichloride] 
   
  Fluorine - More corrosive, more toxic and more dangerous than chlorine, this gas will only 
  form the atmosphere of a Corrosive or Insidious world. Like chlorine, atmospheres of this 
  type may support bizarre alien eco-systems. [May be found with nitrogen, carbon dioxide or 
  sulphur tetrachloride] 
   
  High Temperature - Although not a toxic gas, air temperature on a world with a carbon 
  dioxide, chlorine, nitrogen or Earth-like oxygen atmosphere might be so high as to qualify 
  the world as Corrosive or Insidious. Venus is a prime example with its carbon dioxide 
  atmosphere squeezed to 92 Earth atmospheres and cooked at 460 degrees Celsius. 
   
  Temperature & Climate 
  In the core book, rules are provided for determining a planet's average surface 
  temperature. They are efficient and very workable, but it is recommended that the rules not 
  be used whilst following the system followed in the THE UNIVERSAL WORLD PROFILE. The 
  random roll created will serve to restrict your choices when it comes to the process of 
  fleshing out your world. Note, however, that a world within the habitable zone may be 
  temperate and Earth-like, but could just as easily be in deep freeze or a burn and cracked 
  desert planet. Many factors play a part in the determination of surface temperature and so it 
  is an aspect of world building best left to choice as part of the creation procedure. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 17 
   
  HYDROGRAPHICS 
  Hydrographic percentage is obtained by rolling 2D6–7 and adding the world’s Size, modified 
  by the world’s atmosphere or size as described in the Hydrographic DMs by Size and 
  Atmosphere table. 
   
  Table: Hydrographic DMs by Size and Atmosphere 
  Condition 
  DM 
  Size 0 or 1 
  Hydrographics must be 0 
  Atmosphere 0, 1, A, B or C –4 
  Atmosphere E 
  –2 
   
  A world's Hydrographics value should never exceed 10 (A), nor may it be lower than 0. 
   
  Table: Hydrographics 
  Digit 
  Hydrographic Percentage Description 
  0 
  0%–5% 
  Desert world 
  1 
  6%–15% 
  Dry world 
  2 
  16%–25% 
  A few small seas. 
  3 
  26%–35% 
  Small seas and oceans. 
  4 
  36%–45% 
  Wet world 
  5 
  46%–55% 
  Large oceans 
  6 
  56%–65% 
   
  7 
  66%–75% 
  Earth-like world 
  8 
  76%–85% 
  Water world 
  9 
  86%–95% 
  Only a few small islands and archipelagos. 
  10 (A) 96–100% 
  Almost entirely water. 
   
  The Hydrographic characteristic indicates how much of the world's surface is covered with 
  ocean. Each point represents around 10%. As an example, Earth is covered by 
  approximately 70% seas and oceans, giving it a Hydrographic value of 7. Remember that 
  this is an approximation; a planet with 100% ocean coverage might by a Kevin Costner-style 
  water world, or it might be home to hundreds of tiny coral atolls. Be flexible in the 
  description. On most worlds, this value will represent the percentage of 'water' on the 
  surface, but on a planet with an extreme atmosphere the liquid will instead play some part 
  in the chemistry of the world (nitric acid oceans on a world with a nitrogen-rich atmosphere, 
  for example). 
   
  Oceans tend to be salty, due to the geological salts leaching out of the bed-rock. The 
  presence of moons will make them tidal. Other bodies, too, can cause tidal effects. If the 
  world is the moon of a gas giant inside the habitable zone, the gravitational interaction 
  between the gas giant and other moons will create very significant tides. Slow-paced tides 
  (measured over months or years) might be caused by the presence of a binary star within 
  the system. 
   
  A tectonically active planet will have a complex underwater geography of mid-ocean ridges, 
  abyssal plains and deep-ocean trenches. More benign worlds will have shallow seas with a 
  fairly unremarkable subsea topography, eons of erosion levelling off any submarine 
  mountain chains. 
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 18 
   
  Dry Worlds (Hydrographics 0-3)  
  The desert planet is a staple of science fiction, from Tatooine and Arrakis, to Heinlein's 
  Klendathu and Forbidden Planet's Altair IV. The true desert world, with a Hydrographics 
  value of 0 (absolutely no surface water at all) is sometimes thrown up by the world 
  generation system. Worlds like Dune, with its gargantuan sand worms and Bruce Sterling's 
  Nullaqua provide us with vivid living and breathing examples; they illustrate just what you 
  can do with a desolate ball of rock lacking water and plant life. Dune's ecology and physical 
  geography are lovingly detailed, realistic and evocative. Meanwhile Nullaqua pushes the 
  concept of a desert one step further, human activity is concentrated in vast dust-filled 
  crater. So fine is the dust that it can be traversed on ships and is home to the enigmatic 
  'dust whales'. 
   
  However, far more common are the 'dry worlds' with hydrographic levels of 30% or below. 
  With little or no rainfall there is a lack of surface water; plant and animal life will struggle to 
  survive and there will be limited opportunities for colonisation and human settlement. You 
  can imagine great seas of sand, an ocean of dunes that spans the globe of one of these dry 
  worlds. However, the creation of worlds for a game universe should be a little more 
  sophisticated than that. Your planet might be a dry desert world, but it's surface is not going 
  to consist solely of sand dunes. Consider Mars, our nearest desert-like world ... there are 
  dune fields close to the poles, certainly, but the rest of the Martian surface is wonderfully 
  diverse, complex and varied. The harshest, driest deserts on Earth are similarly varied. 
   
  Hamada is an Arabic term for a bare plain of bedrock, strewn with pebbles, gravel and 
  boulders, while another term, 'reg' is a sandy plain strewn with larger boulders and rocks. 
  Yet another Arabic word, 'erg' describes the familiar sand sea complete with wind-blown 
  dunes. These three types of desert surface would pose very different problems for 
  characters. And then there are salt pans, mountains, mesas, water-cut arroyos (or wadis) 
  and playas, which are the gravel plains at the openings of canyons which are created by 
  extremely short-lived desert rivers. Wind and water can likewise sculpt the rock on a 
  regional scale to create a landscape of sand-blasted pillars, pinnacles and arches similar to 
  those of America's Painted Desert. Or, if the winds are consistent and continuous, an 
  unearthly terrain of long, aerodynamically rock ridges called 'yardangs'. 
   
  Most dry worlds will have a small sea or scattered lakes, perhaps a few small rivers and 
  perhaps even a large Nile-like analogue. Around these water sources vegetation will thrive, 
  and there may be forests or intensively-irrigated agricultural areas. The boundary between 
  waterless desert and fairly lush, habitable regions will be composed of semi-arid lands, 
  steppe or savannah, a place where water is scare but available in large enough amounts 
  (perhaps seasonally) that plants and animals tough enough to live there can eke out an 
  existence. 
   
  Wet Worlds (Hydrographics 4-9) 
  When the term 'Earth-like planet' is bandied about, it generally refers to a world with a 
  sufficient level of surface water to support a complex eco-system of plants and animals. Yes, 
  there may be arid deserts and frozen wastes, but with seas and oceans in great quantity 
  and assuming an atmosphere conducive to life, the world's surface will be a riot of climatic 
  zones and vegetation types. With good reason, these lush, fertile planets are more 
  commonly known as 'Garden worlds'. In a roleplaying context, it can sometimes be difficult 
  to make these Earth-like locations distinctive or 'un-Earthly' and you may well fall into the 
  trap-of-least resistance, that is, assuming that the world in question is just 'Earthlike' 
  without any further elaboration. Techniques for world creation described later on in this 
  
  P a g e  | 19 
   
  book will provide plenty of methods the referee can use to give a Garden world its own 
  distinct identity. 
   
  Waterworlds (Hydrographics A)  
  A waterworld, a planet with a single ocean and no dry land, may seem unlikely but it has 
  many precedents in science fiction - from George Lucas' Kamino, to 2181 Despoina in Mass 
  Effect 3, and Goodloe and Oltion's Theresa, which was once an iceworld like Ganymede, but 
  that had later been melted during the slow expansion of its red giant star. In 2012, 
  scientists confirmed that the exoplanet GJ1214b had as a thick water vapour atmosphere 
  that suggested it was a waterworld (although one very different to those featuring in movies 
  and sci-fi literature). 
   
  Referees creating a waterworld might easily fall into the same 'all desert worlds are sandy' 
  trap. How can such a bland, watery world offer anything to the players or the game? The 
  100% hydrographic value may not mean there is no dry land, in fact there may well be 
  volcanic island chains, coral reefs, vast tidal sandbanks and so on, and it is on these remote 
  pieces of dry land that starships will land and where the native population will live. Life 
  might easily get crowded, intolerably so, on a waterworld with a million people. Or will it? 
  With sufficient technology humans may decide to move under the waves to create cities 
  beneath the sea, something posited by visionaries and underwater pioneers in the 1960s 
  and 70s. Relying on undersea mining and aquaculture, hundreds, thousands, perhaps 
  millions of people might inhabit the ocean floor in domes and sealed habitats. 
   
  This brings a new set of considerations to the table, and these considerations address the 
  physical problems of living underwater. Problems of pressure, temperature, light and 
  remoteness are as important here as they are in orbit around some distant star. Building up 
  a picture of life on the ocean bed could prove difficult. The referee who is unfamiliar with 
  the science of deep water environments might find it helpful to imagine the ocean floor of 
  his waterworld as the surface of an airless moon. There will be colonies or habitats, sealed 
  against the pressure and cold, perhaps built as a series of connected domes or tubes, 
  complete with airlocks. Submarine settlements like this will be located in the relatively 
  shallow waters around continents or large islands, rather than the crushing depths out in the 
  deep ocean. Submarines take the place of aircraft or spaceships, moving people, goods and 
  raw materials between habitats, while self-contained diving suits take the place of vacc 
  suits. There will be mines and aquaculture farms. And not everyone will get along. The 
  Government characteristic will give the referee a very good idea of what is going on - how 
  are these submariners organising themselves? Some of the technical aspects of working on 
  the seabed for extended durations are nicely illustrated in two sci-fi movies: The Abyss and 
  The Sphere.  
  
  P a g e  | 20 
   
   
  POPULATION 
  A world's Population is generated by rolling 2D6–2, modified by the world’s Size, 
  Atmosphere and Hydrographics as described in the Population DMs table. A world's 
  Population value should never exceed 10 (A). If a world has a population of 0, it is 
  uninhabited and the world also has a Government, Law Level and Technology Level of 0. 
   
  Table: Population DMs 
  Condition 
  DM 
  Size is 2 or less 
  -1 
  Atmosphere is A or greater 
  -2 
  Atmosphere is 6 
  +3 
  Atmosphere is 5 or 8 
  +1 
  Hydrographics is 0 and Atmosphere less than 3 -2 
   
  Table: World Population 
   
  The population digit should be read as a number of zeroes following a one, so that a 
  population of 3 indicates a population in the thousands (1000). If the standard method is 
  used for generating this digit then a subsector will have many worlds populated by hundreds 
  of thousands or millions of people. Some worlds will be home to only a few thousand, while 
  one, or sometimes two, may hold up to a billion people. Unless the referee wants to cap the 
  population digit at 8 (which is something the author does in his own game universe) that 
  single world of a billion souls should by rights dominate every aspect of life in the subsector, 
  since its manpower exceeds by many times that of all the other worlds in the subsector put 
  together. Economically, socially, politically and militarily, that one world is a powerhouse. 
   
  By contrast, those planets with populations of 6 or less could be considered colonies or 
  satellite worlds, or perhaps outposts or stations. They have insufficient populations with 
  which to form a self-sufficient technological base and must have all of their finished goods 
  imported from elsewhere. Meanwhile, those worlds that are home to many millions of 
  people (Population 7-8) are considered to be totally self-sufficient, quite capable of 
  manufacturing goods from raw materials and feeding their own people. 
   
  Low Population Worlds (Population 6-) 
  Every subsector contains a healthy scatter of low population worlds. Since, to a greater or 
  lesser extent, these are dependent on the high population planets of the region, the referee 
  might want to explore that relationship. A low population might be a group of exiles (forced 
  Digit 
  Population  
  Range 
  Comparison 
  0 
  None 
  0 
   
  1 
  Few 
  10+ 
  A tiny farmstead or a single family 
  2 
  Hundreds 
  100+ 
  A village 
  3 
  Thousands 
  1,000+ 
   
  4 
  Tens of thousands 
  10,000+ 
  Small town 
  5 
  Hundreds of thousands 100,000+ 
  Average city 
  6 
  Millions 
  1,000,000+ 
   
  7 
  Tens of millions 
  10,000,000+ 
  Large city 
  8 
  Hundreds of millions 
  100,000,000+ 
   
  9 
  Billions 
  1,000,000,000+ 
  Present day Earth 
  10 (A) Tens of billions 
  10,000,000,000+  
  
  P a g e  | 21 
   
  or voluntary), they might be the members of a failed colony or a newly established colony, 
  they might be miners or convicts, scientists or bold frontiersmen, they might be employees 
  of a megacorporation, the staff and hangers-on of a large base or facility, family and 
  servants of a wealthy recluse, perhaps even the thriving descendants of a crashed starship. 
  Whilst the inhabitants of a high population world just 'live there' and probably have done for 
  centuries, those of low population planets need a raison d'être, a reason for being there. 
  This reason, once established, gives the planet an identifiable hook that should differentiate 
  the world from its neighbours. 
   
  It's usually the low population worlds that provide all the fun. They are the backwaters, the 
  wilderness areas, the out-of-the-way places where bad people do bad things and where lost 
  things need finding. The sci-fi canon is replete with these frontier worlds, these worlds of 
  adventure. Setting a scenario on a high population world can be a little more difficult, there 
  is less freedom, fewer areas to hide or for things to get themselves lost, more surveillance, 
  more people and more rules. In truth the adventures are there, waiting to be played out, 
  but those on high population planets are of a different nature. 
   
  Typical scenarios can be divided into those that force the characters to interact with a 
  physical threat and those that force them to interact with members of a planetary society. 
  Situations that pit the player characters against some faction or group of locals are fairly 
  easy to engineer since we have an easily understood model of how humans organise and 
  behave all around us. The problem with taking social cues from early 21st Western society is 
  that it feels just a bit too familiar, and not at all alien. Many times this Classic game’s 
  interstellar society has been described as 1970s USA in space (since the game has its origins 
  in the late-70s). With only a modicum of effort worlds can be given their own spin to make 
  them more distinctive and memorable. This is covered later on in THE UNIVERSAL WORLD 
  PROFILE.  
   
  High Population Worlds (Population 7-A)  
  Referees should identify any planets with populations in the billions as the core worlds of the 
  subsector. If there are none, then worlds with populations of 7 and 8 will instead take that 
  role. Any world of population 6 or less is likely to be a little visited, peripheral planet. The 
  islands and peninsulas of South-East Asia provide a real world analogy. Dominating the 
  regional economy are the high population giants, cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta 
  and Manila, while cities such as Surabaya, Kowloon, Medan and Brunei play their part. 
  Scattered between these high population giants are the smaller towns and villages, that 
  exist in abundance across the region.  
   
  Fashion, food, cultural norms and fads, new technologies and media all spread out from 
  these high population hubs into the region as a whole. This is a numbers game. A powerful 
  high tech, high population world will make up the 'norm' and its citizens, if able to travel, 
  will disseminate that planet's culture and methods throughout the subsector. There are 
  always exceptions of course, but in human history, smaller settlements have tended to be 
  dominated, culturally and socially (as well as politically) by larger centres of population. 
  Even if these smaller populations do not adopt the ways of the billions next door, there may 
  be some imitation. 
   
  This process only works when the very high population planet is of a technological level 
  sufficient to spread its influence. If the billions are slaves governed by a ruthless elite, then 
  their influence off-planet will be non-existent. Likewise, if the billions are at tech level 6 or 
  less and do not have access to a top level starport, then the trappings of their culture and 
  society will go unrecognized by members of neighbouring worlds. Consider Communist 
  
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  China - its population reach one billion around 1980 yet the global fashions and trends of 
  the day were not influenced by what these billion Chinese were thinking, eating, wearing or 
  producing. 
   
   
  Life can be tough on these mega population planets, resources will probably be in short 
  supply, as will living space. Under such pressures the society might be forced to find ways to 
  cope with over-population. Enforced euthanasia, which crops up in Logan's Run, could be 
  one response. Another might be the use of capital punishment rather than imprisonment, in 
  order to reduce the excess population and provide organs for transplantation for the billions 
  left behind. On Frank Herbert's Dosadi, a population of 89 million is crammed into one city, 
  violence is rife and mind-altering drugs become a tool used to maintain control. Depending 
  on the planetary tech level and law level, a high population world might resemble a '1984' 
  Orwellian nightmare or an ultra diverse, fast-paced society caught in a perpetual overdrive. 
  In a free society, fads, memes, crazes, fashions, cults and movements cycle frequently and 
  perpetually as the hundreds of millions, or billions, of citizens struggle to find their own 
  identity. Mega City One, home to 2000AD's Judge Dredd, is a perfect example of this super 
  culture phenomenon. Games, novels and movies with a cyberpunk vibe can also provide a 
  great source of ideas for the ultra-urban world. 
   
  Population Modifier 
  Sometimes it is enough just to know that a world has hundreds of millions of people on it 
  (Population 8). Other times, a Referee or player may want a more specific number. The 
  Population Modifier is determined by rolling 2D6-2. If the Population is greater than 0, the 
  minimum Population Modifier value is 1. If the Population code is 0, then the Population 
  Modifier is also 0. The Population Modifier is multiplied by 10 raised to the power of the 
  Population code to determine a more specific number of people living on the world. For 
  example, if the Referee generates a Population Modifier of 4 for a world with a Population 
  code of 8, then he knows that (4x108, which is…) 400,000,000 people live on that world. 
   
   
  
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  GOVERNMENT 
  The Government characteristic is determined by rolling 2D6–7 and adding the world’s 
  Population. If a world's Population equals 0, then the world's Government equals 0. The 
  Government code should never be higher than 15(F), nor lower than 0. 
   
  Table: World Government 
  Type 
  Government 
  0 
  None 
  1 
  Company/Corporation 
  2 
  Participating Democracy 
  3 
  Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy 
  4 
  Representative Democracy 
  5 
  Feudal Technocracy 
  6 
  Captive Government 
  7 
  Balkanization 
  8 
  Civil Service Bureaucracy 
  9 
  Impersonal Bureaucracy 
  10 (A) Charismatic Dictator 
  11 (B) Non-Charismatic Leader 
  12 (C) Charismatic Oligarchy 
  13 (D) Religious Dictatorship 
  14 (E) 
  Religious Autocracy 
  15 (F) 
  Totalitarian Oligarchy 
   
   
  Whilst the Population characteristic does give us important information about life on the 
  planet under construction, it is eclipsed in importance by both Tech Level and Government. 
  That statement might seem surprising. A traveller on Earth could visit Chile, France, Bahrain 
  and Thailand and still have little clue as to what the government system for those countries 
  are, or how they differed. Would the space traveller be any different? 
   
  In truth, most peaceful worlds tick over like clockwork and their inhabitants get on with their 
  day-to-day lives. Governments whatever their form, whether Iranian religious dictatorship or 
  Egyptian military junta, typically work behind the scenes. Periods of crisis, however, are 
  different and have direct and immediate effects on natives and travellers alike, whether it is 
  economic depression, street anarchy, war, the outbreak of a disease or natural disaster. 
  None of these situations are dependent upon a particular government type though and 
  could strike any nation (or planet). So why is the Government characteristic so important to 
  world builders? It provides some form or shape to the lump of clay that is Population. It 
  gives the referee clues and ideas, and helps to put the society into some sort of context. 
  What has happened so far? And what is going on 'now'? Who is in charge? What effect has 
  this government type had on the population as a whole? 
   
  Don't mistake the government type for the official title of the agency in charge. What a 
  political institution calls itself and how it actually operates are often unrelated. The United 
  Kingdom is actually a representative democracy and although the Supreme Soviet of the 
  USSR claimed to operate as a representative democracy, it more accurately resembled an 
  impersonal bureaucracy. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and might be considered to 
  be a captive government, but it has its own parliament of elected representatives. The 
  recent military coup in Thailand illustrates how confusing labels can be. Officially titled the 
  Kingdom of Thailand, both the army and the monarchy have frequently intervened in the 
  
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  nation's democratic constitution. In game terminology modern Thailand (circa 2014) could 
  be said to be under the sway of a Charismatic Oligarchy. Slapping a label on Iran is much 
  harder since it resembles a representative democracy with a president, yet it has a Supreme 
  Leader with great power and authority. He in turn is elected by an Assembly of Experts 
  made up of Islamic theologians. Is the Iranian government classified as type 4, A, B or D? 
   
  To be of any use to the world creator, we must consider only the impact that the 
  government has on its citizens and on the society at large. How do the inhabitants of a 
  world see their leaders? Imagine an elected president riding a huge groundswell of public 
  support and backed by corporations and the armed forces that is leading his planet through 
  some great catastrophe. In game terms an elected official like this might be considered to 
  be a Charismatic dictator. Nazi Germany in the early 1930s was a representative democracy 
  and Adolf Hitler was legitimately elected to the post of Chancellor by the voting public. But 
  upon taking power in 1933 we can consider that the government type switched very quickly 
  and very blatantly to that of Charismatic Dictator. This could happen without any 
  constitutional change whatsoever. 
   
  Let's go through the different government types and look for ways in which they might 
  make our worlds memorable and interesting places to visit: 
   
   
  0 - None 
  This can indicate a complex society that has broken down into absolute anarchy, but even in 
  these situations, strong men, clans, gangs and warlords will quickly move in to fill the power 
  vacuum. A world with a Government type of 0 will probably not resemble some Mad Max 
  post-holocaust wasteland. Instead it indicates the lack of any large scale authority. Gangs, 
  clans, tribes, families, co-operatives and other smaller, less formal organisations instead fill 
  that human need for government and order. 
   
  Small, newly established colonies could get along with informal assent and regular meetings. 
  Independent prospectors and miners would also be able to get along without any interfering 
  regulation. It becomes harder to picture lack of government, however, when it comes to 
  higher population worlds. Technically the highest population value capable of maintaining a 
  0 level government is 5 - hundreds of thousands. Is this post holocaust survival? Or is it a 
  new model of society, self-sufficiency in a post-industrial future? Even more bizarre 
  explanations might suggest themselves. The inhabitants cannot group together for some 
  reason, and remain apart and self-reliant, due to religion, taboo, some biological danger or 
  ancient law. 
   
   
  1 - Company/Corporation 
  Every time this comes up during world creation I can't help but be reminded of the movie 
  Rollerball in which large corporations share global power between themselves. During the 
  1980s this theme, of multinationals wielding powers greater than most nation states, was 
  explored in countless books and movies. Should 'Multi-Tech Incorporated' (or whoever) 
  actually take over planet Earth, though, we would more likely categorize that government as 
  a participating democracy, a civil service bureaucracy or some other type, depending on the 
  type and level of interaction that citizens have with it. Type 1 government indicates a much 
  smaller corporate base, station, outpost or colony, where everyone really does work for the 
  company, not just the miners but the janitors, mechanics, nurses and police officers. Peter 
  Hyams' gritty movie Outland featured mining station Con Am 27 where even the hookers 
  and the drug dealers were paid for and brought in by the company. 
  
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  2 - Participating Democracy 
  Also known as Athenian democracy, this form of government is organised and administered 
  directly by the citizens without any intermediaries - no politicians. The key to an interesting 
  world, however, is the identity of the citizens. In Athens only adult men born within the 
  state boundaries were able to participate, vote and stand as magistrates. Women, slaves 
  and foreign-born folk had no say. Foreign mercenaries served as the police force and official 
  duties were carried out by elected citizens. The army was all volunteer, a militia in which 
  every free man served. Rome's Republic likewise held free elections and offices of state 
  were eagerly contested, but only the landed aristocracy of Rome were able to participate in 
  this system. So - who has the vote? 
   
  Obviously with citizens themselves sharing out the onerous business of government between 
  themselves, direct democracy favours low population worlds. Could a planet with billions live 
  like this? Online voting and digital self-representation is a likely and welcome future trend, 
  but despite the more immediate involvement of citizens, a large state apparatus with 
  professional, full-time politicians will almost certainly still be required. 
   
  Note that decisions made by the Athenian assembly were instant and sometimes spur of the 
  moment. At times the citizens regretted their quickly-made decisions. In 427 BC the 
  assembly voted to execute all the menfolk of the city-state of Mytilene and enslave the 
  women and children. A war galley was dispatched with the orders. The next day many of 
  the Athenians regretted their decision and the assembly met again, this time voting to 
  reprieve the citizens of Mytilene. A second ship was hastily dispatched with two crews and, 
  rowing without a break, managed to reach Mytilene just in time to save the population. A 
  high tech world operating like this might be fast moving, with a fluid culture and a 
  schizophrenic society - policies and laws changing with the influence of global media. 
   
   
  3 - Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy 
  An oligarchy is rule by a small, unelected elite and the masses have little or no input in 
  affairs. Members of the oligarchy have no intention of giving up the reins of power, and 
  instead hand it on to their heirs. Although there are benign oligarchies, most are oppressive 
  and disliked by those they rule. The elite may be a hereditary caste, a group of privileged 
  families, a royal dynasty, a clique of wealthy and influential men sharing power between 
  themselves (much like Russia's modern billionaire oligarchs), an educated elite or a 
  corporate hierarchy. Rule by an elite minority features in several science fiction novels, the 
  Ender's Game series had its Starways Congress, whilst George Orwell created the sinister 
  Inner Party in his novel 1984. 
   
  Oligarchies are generally unpopular which naturally suggests the growth of (outlawed) 
  opposition parties, saboteurs, rebellions and terror groups. They may only be fledgling 
  groups, an idea held by a small number of disillusioned conspirators, or they may be part of 
  a world-spanning counter-culture that seeks to overthrow the oligarchs at every turn. Since 
  this is science fiction, it is entirely appropriate to have high technology or some aspect of 
  the planet itself, play a role in the social division. Although there is no mention of a 
  government in Andrew Niccol's movie Gattaca, the society depicted is one based on genetic 
  selection and manipulation (eugenics). We can imagine that the rulers of such a world are 
  the genetic elite, bred for their role. For a less subtle, but no less interesting take on this 
  idea, we can consider the planetary rulers of the floating city Stratos, in an early Star Trek 
  episode called The Cloud Minders. These superior intellectuals depended on raw materials 
  that were supplied by the Troglytes, a caste of miners living on the planet's surface that 
  have been forced into servitude. Harmful zenite gas in the mines had stunted the Troglytes 
  
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  mental abilities and served as the justification for their enslavement. Naturally some of the 
  miners fought back and these rebels were known as the 'Disruptors'. 
   
   
  4 - Representative Democracy 
  There is probably little to say about this government type since there are hundreds of 
  examples on Earth today. The various regions of the planet will send their own 
  representatives to a planetary assembly where votes are cast and policies made. All of the 
  problems and quirks of the system here on Earth will be repeated amongst the stars 
  including entrenched political parties, extremist ideologies, personality politics, the power of 
  lobby groups, corruption, vote rigging and so forth. This type of government is great for 
  scenarios featuring competing factions, with political groups vying for power and using the 
  player characters as tools in their plans. 
   
   
  5 - Feudal Technocracy 
  This baffling government type seems to have no precursor - what does it mean and where is 
  it from? The term actually originates in H. Beam Piper's novel Space Viking and was the 
  preferred method of government in Piper's Sword Worlds. In it, noble houses own and 
  operate large industrial sectors of the economy in an interlocking relationship. Lady Elaine 
  Karval of Karval House, for example, is heir to the prosperous Karval Steel Mills. The Great 
  Houses of Dune that make that novel so memorable could also be classed as a feudal 
  technocracy - the emperor himself assigning a planetary fief to a house according to the 
  assets and talents of the noble house in question. The feudal implication suggests that the 
  noble houses sit in a ladder of obligation, both militarily, socially and economically. In Piper's 
  Sword Worlds the means of industrial production - from farming and light industry to oil 
  drilling and starship construction - were held as noble fiefs embedded in an interlocking 
  system of feudal relationships based upon inheritance, marriage, and of course, more 
  traditional business contracts. 
   
  Feudal technocracy can be a difficult concept to get your head around. For game purposes, 
  simply imagine each noble house as a typical cyberpunk megacorporation, with a diverse 
  portfolio and fingers in many pies. Its many subsidiaries are actually minor houses owned by 
  lesser nobles all of whom owe fealty to the great noble. The various great houses are bound 
  together in interlocking relationships that ensure they do not compete directly and as a 
  result force each other out of business. There are no shareholders, and the planetary 
  government is made up of representatives of the great noble houses. Since the feudal 
  houses supply many of the services normally provided by a government, there is very little 
  government apparatus - which greatly appealed to H. Beam Piper! Military forces were 
  supplied by each house, which maintained its own troops and guard units. 
  In many ways the noble houses of the feudal technocracies somewhat resemble the 
  Japanese keiretsu or corporation, which are are large economic entities like Mitsubishi and 
  Honda. Some of the keiretsu are virtually self-sufficient, with their own subsidiaries 
  established to supply the production aspect of the business with vital raw materials, legal 
  advice, banking, supply chains and retail outlets. Everything is kept 'in house'. 
   
   
   
   
   
  
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  6 - Captive Government 
  Providing an endless number of adventure opportunities, this government type is a godsend. 
  A previously free world has been taken over by another, more aggressive state, either 
  recently or in the distant past. The inhabitants do not rule, they have no government and no 
  representation. All decisions are made light years away. 
   
  Immediately our brains conjure up thoughts of Nazi troops in Paris, Soviets in Afghanistan or 
  stormtroopers on Bespin Cloud City. Military occupation, jackboot authority, despotism and 
  exploitation provide a slew of adventure ideas. Resistance fighters need help, they need 
  supplies, transport and guns! In the short term, of course, a foreign occupation is hated and 
  resisted, but over time, perhaps over decades and centuries, the relationship settles down to 
  one of mutual advantage. The world builder is free to decide on the nature if the 
  relationship between occupier and occupied. Were the invaders invited in by a faction? Was 
  the world given to the invaders as a gift or bequest (which is how the powerful city of 
  Pergamon fell into Roman hands)? Did the invaders arrive with good intentions to either 
  protect or free the locals from some threat, but stay on - indefinitely? The term 'captive 
  government' may not simply mean that invaders from other stars are driving tanks down the 
  main street. 
   
  For the planet builder, key questions need answering. Why did the invasion take place? Was 
  it to seize resources needed by the invading world, or was it to prevent a neighbouring 
  world from falling into the hands of rebels or insurgents? Were the invaders invited in by a 
  desperate local government with its back to the wall, or was this a surprise attack? Decide 
  on the state of the resistance - if any. Think carefully about the long term aims of the 
  invaders. When are they going to pull out? Soon? In the near future? Never? Finally, is the 
  invasion a cover, perhaps, for something else? 
   
   
  7 - Balkanisation 
  When the Ottoman Empire lost control of the Balkan peninsula after 1817, a number of 
  small independent states were established in the region. The term Balkanisation was coined 
  at this time. Of course, today, it is more often used to refer to the break up of any large 
  state into small, self-ruling nations. The Cepheus Engine definition explicitly refers to 'rival 
  governments [that] compete for control'. In essence this is our 21st century, disunited 
  planet Earth, a planet divided by nation state rivalry, war and political competition. Referees 
  might want to roll several more times in order to determine the type of government 
  employed by the largest nations on the planet in question. 
   
  Creating a world like Earth with 200 plus sovereign nations should be done sparingly, if at 
  all. Instead give a balkanized world 2-7 (1d6+1) major nations, this way you will be able to 
  get to grips with their relationships with one another and assess the likely front runners - 
  who has the strongest state, and which are the planetary superpowers? Is there a reason 
  for balkanization? Has the population grown up from several competing colonies, or has the 
  first flush of colonialism waned and the emergence of differing attitudes and agendas 
  resulted in division, rivalry and discord? There are many models of national rivalry to 
  emulate, from USSR versus USA, to China and Taiwan, the attempt at an Arab League, the 
  European Union, the spread of Communism in South East Asia in the 1960s, illegal migration 
  of unskilled West Africans across the Sahara into southern Europe, or the regional isolation 
  of states like Israel or Apartheid South Africa. 
   
  This type of government throws up some important questions, and finding answers to these 
  adds further detail and depth to that planet. In which nation is the starport located? Why? 
  
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  Does the Tech Level refer to the major nation, or is it typical of most of the nations on the 
  planet? Do all the nations feel the same way about interstellar visitors, fuel scooping from 
  oceans and the spread of interstellar trade goods? When Rome invaded tribal Britain the 
  tribes were divided, some already traded in Roman luxury goods and welcomed the 
  newcomers, others were hostile and resisted with violence, some were easily placated and 
  co-operated with the Romans. This they did to avoid being attacked and destroyed, and also 
  to ally with the new invaders against their hated neighbours! The arrival of starports and 
  starfarers and megacorporations might elicit a similar response avross a balkanized world. 
   
   
  8 - Civil Service Bureaucracy 
  Red tape and a multi-layered and stultifying administration are the hallmarks of the civil 
  service bureaucracy. Here the bureaucrats hold all the power and while there might be a 
  parliament or king or an assembly of elders, it is the professional civil servants that hold the 
  levers of power. Perhaps the machine of government is so complex and arcane that only 
  those who work within it can understand it. H. Beam Piper gives us the planet Aditya by way 
  of example; here the nominal government is the Convocation of the Lords-Masters, an 
  oligarchy. But all of the crucial decision-making is made by an extensive class of highly 
  educated slaves. They form the civil service, and the many millions of inhabitants of Aditya 
  are also slaves, organized into a complex hierarchy of servitude. On Aditya judges don't 
  even know how to get to their own courtrooms - they are represented in court by their own 
  chief slaves. This is a colourful extreme, but indicates how a civil service bureaucracy might 
  operate. 
   
   
  9 - Impersonal Bureaucracy 
  Government agencies which are insulated from the governed masses can be described as an 
  impersonal bureaucracy. Citizens have little or no say, and often a wide disconnect exists 
  between government policy and daily life. This can produce inefficient and frustrating or 
  even farcical and sometimes tragic situations. Look to Terry Gilliam's bureaucratic nightmare 
  in the movie Brazil. The government is well meaning but the disconnect between it and the 
  people it rules results in a catalogue of mistakes, resulting in an innocent man being 
  tortured to death. Similarly, in Franz Kafka's book The Trial, Josef K. is put on trial by an 
  impersonal and remote authority. K is never even made aware of what it is he is being 
  accused of. 
   
  There are other examples of impersonal bureaucracies, such as the administration of a 
  decaying empire or an entrenched caste of bureaucrats. The wheels of government rumble 
  on, oblivious to the coming and going of the heads of government or the changing situation 
  within society. Outdated rules and regulations no longer apply or are totally misplaced and 
  revolution may be in the air. Although the rules do not judge the merits of any of its 
  government types, an impersonal bureaucracy has a good chance of getting things wrong 
  and creating frustration and inefficiency. 
   
   
  A - Charismatic Dictator 
  The charismatic dictator is a revolutionary leader or a 'man of the people'. Today the word 
  dictator is associated with oppression and brutality - a more apt label for the game would 
  perhaps be 'charismatic authority'. Earth history is littered with names of these charismatic 
  leaders, from Juan Peron of Argentina to Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro. They rise to 
  prominence (usually during a period of crisis) and gather a following, typically seizing power 
  
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  and overthrowing the established political authority. Paul Muad'Dib was one such leader, 
  carried along by the religious fanaticism of Dune's Fremen tribesmen. The series of books 
  called the Bio of a Space Tyrant, by Piers Anthony, charts the rise of Hope Hubris, a naval 
  officer who becomes the supreme leader of Jupiter. Anthony's governmental system echoes 
  Heinlein's Terran Federation, with its sense of civic duty, common sense and the needs of 
  the collective justifying the suppression of individual needs. Hope Hubris' world espouses 
  strong, charismatic leadership, allowing him to rise to supreme power. 
   
  Life on a world ruled by a charismatic leader will be influenced by the nature and personality 
  of his or her character. Pol Pot ruled Cambodia as a totalitarian dictator, after he gained 
  power he was utterly ruthless and without mercy, and responsible for violence, torture and 
  murder on an unprecedented scale. Juan Peron, on the other hand, was an elected 
  president (for several terms of office) and although he dominated the politics of Argentina, 
  he was a popular figure, and even seen as a hero by large segments of the population. The 
  best loved of charismatic leaders will be those who have risen in the wake of some 
  repressive government, although that love may not last for long ... Personality cults will 
  typify this type of government. The leader rules by force of personality and his portrait may 
  be ubiquitous, his name used often and his everyday life and actions reported in the media. 
  Perhaps the leader might die, but his death kept a secret, and his personality cult continues 
  simply in order to retain the loyalty of the populace. 
   
  Other leaders may blur the distinction between government and religion. An enigmatic 
  figure like Jim Jones or Shoko Asahara and who commands a religious cult, could capitalize 
  on that popularity to become a global figure. With such power the cult becomes the society 
  and the cult leader is able attempt to transform society into something new (and probably 
  bizarre). Akhenaten, the Egyptian pharaoh, attempted to do this, rebranding himself, 
  replacing the traditional gods with one of his own creation, and building a new capital city. 
  This radical transformation lasted only during his lifetime and provoked some bitter 
  opposition. 
   
   
  B - Non-Charismatic Dictator 
  A previous charismatic leader has been replaced by a leader through normal channels. This 
  means that a popular individual took control and has since died or given up power; now 
  those that follow in his footsteps rule in a similar fashion. A line of hereditary monarchs fits 
  this description well, from Roman emperors to Saxon kings and Russian tsars. But this type 
  of government can also be more transitory. Mao Tse-tung ruled China for twenty seven 
  years as a charismatic dictator and after his death a canny vice-chairman called Deng 
  Xiaoping rose to power. He lacked the 'cult of personality' created by Mao, but yet had 
  access to all of the levers of power that Mao had created. Deng quickly began reforming the 
  Chinese system to more easily operate within the global economic market, his changes were 
  radical and important. Deng's rule lasted until the late-1980s and the form of government 
  that survived him was transformed. China was no longer ruled by a dictator, charismatic or 
  not. 
   
  Military dictatorships also fall into this category of government. A military leader gains the 
  trust of the people and seizes power (government type A); his successors inevitably lack 
  that original popular support. Often the regime becomes more heavy handed as the 
  population begins to become disaffected with a string of unelected and out-of-touch leaders. 
  Real world examples include Argentina (the most recent of numerous military juntas ended 
  in 1983), Burma (from 1988 till 2010) and Pakistan, which has had several military 
  
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  governments since independence. These juntas often claim (falsely) to be neutral arbiters 
  that have stepped in to save a nation from corrupt or unpopular politicians. 
   
  Stargate Atlantis featured a military dictatorship that ruled the Genii. Living underground in 
  bunkers and shelters, the society looked to the military to provide an effective resistance 
  against a species of predatory aliens. Heinlein's Terran Federation could be seen as a 
  military dictatorship since it was established by veterans and only those who had served a 
  few years in the military had the right to vote or work in government. Although the 
  Federation had a military flavour, it allowed its citizenry to vote, making it more if a 
  democracy than a dictatorship. 
   
  What about Big Brother, the mythical face of Oceania in George Orwell's 1984? Although we 
  originally described the government of Orwell's dystopia as a self-perpetuating oligarchy, to 
  the down-trodden citizenry, they may well describe their government as a charismatic 
  dictatorship, with all loyalty directed to a single omnipotent figure. Science fiction novels like 
  Neal Asher's Gridlinked or Godard's movie Alphaville, even show us a universe in which 
  entire worlds are controlled and governed by powerful artificial intelligences. The 
  possibilities for chaos and catastrophe are endless when a heartless machine is the utterly 
  logical dictator in charge if millions of lives. 
   
   
  C - Charismatic Oligarchy 
  Those in power within a charismatic oligarchy are a select group that are members of an 
  organization or class, that has the overwhelming confidence of the citizenry. These small 
  groups typically rise to power as a reaction to an unpopular regime. The Bolshevik 
  revolutionaries in 1917 Russia and the military junta that overthrew the elected Egyptian 
  president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 were both charismatic oligarchies. They do not remain 
  charismatic for long, and are more successful as some sort of transitional government. Think 
  of them as a force for change, and a sign that a planetary government (and perhaps society 
  at large) is in a state of flux. Members of these small groups pick up on a groundswell of 
  revolution or dissatisfaction and then instigate a coup or revolution against some unpopular 
  regime. They know they have the backing of the people, but once they have achieved their 
  aims and have dislodged the leaders of the previous regime, the oligarchs may find their 
  services no longer needed. Clutching on to power, this type of government may be become 
  a self-perpetuating oligarchy, or some other type of government entirely. 
   
  Science fiction is replete with popular uprisings against unwanted governments, from 
  Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to Spinrad's The Men in the Jungle and Kim Stanley-
  Robinson's Mars Trilogy. 
   
  D - Religious Dictatorship 
  When powerful religious groups take control of the government, the society they control 
  follows the dictates and beliefs of that religion. A planet ruled by such an authority may 
  sometimes seem perplexing to interstellar explorers. Religious law will prevail, with the 
  governing faith's deity or deities standing as the absolute authority, and his priests and 
  soothsayers serving as his mouthpiece. In-game, such governments may well exist amongst 
  pre-industrial pre-scientific societies. Medieval Europe was made up of a series of 
  hierarchical religious dictatorships. The Pope in Rome had power over kings, princes and 
  lords in many matters, and the general population was governed by a set of strict religious 
  edicts. 
   
   
  
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  This form of government has appeared several times in works of science fiction. The 
  invaders of primitive planet Kwanwoon in the short story Oomphel in the Sky, for example, 
  must deal with the entrenched beliefs of the local world religion; but a religious dictatorship 
  may still appear in a mid or high tech world. Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale 
  is set in a near-future Earth where a Christian fundamentalist nation has replaced the USA. 
  Modern day theocracies inevitably create tension between the religious hierarchy and those 
  citizens who value freedom and scientific knowledge. At higher tech levels a religious 
  dictatorship may provoke an extreme reaction and even violent resistance. 
   
  Referee’s can really play with this government type. The priesthood of a world could actually 
  be the mouthpiece for a clandestine alien race, or for some faction of off-world humans; it 
  might even utilise high tech equipment imported from off-world to replicate divine 'miracles'. 
  Any religious hierarchy will be suspicious of interstellar visitors, fearing they might bring in 
  new ideas and faiths, perhaps even using scientific teachings to undermine the religious 
  tenets of the theocracy. Because of this, dealings with off-worlders might be restricted to a 
  select few, at a certain location. A religious dictatorship with a powerful following and access 
  to interstellar travel could threaten the security of the sector. Paul Muad'Dib's Fremen and 
  the Necromongers from The Chronicles of Riddick both wage an interstellar jihad that aims 
  to conquer and convert the inhabitants of other worlds. 
   
   
   
  
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  LAW LEVEL 
  Law level is determined by rolling 2D6–7 and adding the Government characteristic. If the 
  world’s Government is 0, then the world’s Law Level is also 0. Law Level should never be 
  less than 0. 
   
  Table: Law Level 
  Digit 
  Descriptor 
  Not Allowed 
  0 
  No Law 
  No restrictions; candidate for Amber Zone status 
  1 
  Low Law 
  Poison gas, explosives, undetectable weapons, weapons or mass 
  destruction 
  2 
  Low Law 
  Portable energy weapons (except ship-mounted weapons) 
  3 
  Low Law 
  Heavy weapons  
  4 
  Medium Law Light assault weapons and submachine guns  
  5 
  Medium Law Personal concealable weapons 
  6 
  Medium Law All firearms except shotguns and stunners; carrying weapons 
  discouraged 
  7 
  High Law 
  Shotguns 
  8 
  High Law 
  All bladed weapons, stunners 
  9 
  High Law 
  Any weapons outside one’s residence; candidate for Amber Zone 
  status 
  10(A)+ Extreme 
  Law 
  Any weapons allowed at all; candidate for Amber Zone status 
   
   
  Planetary law level provides a rough idea of how many regulations, laws and security checks 
  a traveller from off-world will encounter. Although the table above breaks these numbers 
  down to establish what type of weapons can be carried and what possessions are illegal, the 
  world builder is best served by taking the Law Level to be more of a guideline. 
   
  No Law 
  Anarchy is the term usually used to describe a society without law, and this term typically 
  means a chaotic and unstable society. In some cases this should be true and with a planet 
  with a high population, the anarchic situation may be the result of state collapse similar to 
  that of Somalia and Afghanistan in the 1990s. Government is fragmented or non-existent, 
  warlords operate where they feel safe, resources are fought over, and without law, order, 
  transport links or commerce, the population struggles to survive. 
   
  Zero Law Level may mean something different amongst low populations, however. Small 
  groups may create their own laws and be willing to change and adapt them to suit their 
  situation. American frontier associations, for example, moved West at a rate that far 
  outpaced the spread of formal state and federal governments. Instead, law and legal 
  systems were established by land claim clubs, cattlemen's associations, wagon trains, and 
  mining camps. Israeli social communes, the kibbutz, provide a neat model of how a small 
  population might operate without established law and law enforcement. These groups work 
  under a consensus, managed by regular meetings, people do what needs to be done, and 
  tasks are shared out equally. At one time kibbutzim were mainly agricultural, but the 
  modern kibbutz dwellers can just as easily earn their living through light industry and 
  manufacturing. The Free Territory of Ukraine that was established after the First World War, 
  proclaimed itself to be a form of anarchy, within the Free Territory up to seven million 
  Ukrainians lived without central government, their society was based upon independent local 
  communities making their own decisions, the kibbutz writ large. 
  
  P a g e  | 33 
   
   
  Low Law 
  We can place the law level of a typical Western nation at around 2 or 3 (Low). This equates 
  to a society where many freedoms are recognized. However, there are laws governing 
  extreme behaviours and a large body of law that protects the rights of individuals, groups, 
  corporations and governments. Citizens can walk around safely and generally avoid 
  harassment from law enforcement. 
   
  Moderate Law 
  The freedoms we take for granted are not universal and the citizens of a moderate Law 
  Level world are constrained in some way. There may be minor travel restrictions or a series 
  of laws regarding public behaviour. Curfews may be in place at certain times, and the 
  security forces are more visible. These aren't the hallmarks of a totalitarian state, but 
  instead suggest a society under stress, from terrorists, food shortages, rioting, over-
  population, disease pandemic, civil unrest and so forth. Or they could indicate a peaceful 
  and contented population that naturally accepts a large amount of government intrusion in 
  its life. This is 'the way things have always been'. Any out of the way nation on today's Earth 
  could reasonably be said to have a moderate Law Level: Nicaragua, Vietnam, the Central 
  African Republic, Algeria and so on. 
   
  High Law 
  There are nations on Earth today where the state has much more control over its citizens 
  than any of those in the West. Freedom to travel, to work or to communicate have all been 
  curtailed to some degree. North Korea, East Germany and Mao's China all have high Law 
  Levels. Its citizens will find their movements restricted and their identity papers frequently 
  checked. Suspicion is in the air and security forces are often visible. There may be spies at 
  large, working for the government, and security checks will be frequent and time 
  consuming. Any activity veering from the norm will instantly fall under suspicion. The police 
  force will probably be uncompromising, tough and brutal. The justice system will likewise be 
  extremely severe, very unfair and skewed heavily in the favour of government prosecutors, 
  not defendants. 
   
  Extreme Law 
  Extreme Law Level represents a totalitarian society that carries out routine surveillance on 
  its own citizens. George Orwell's 1984 and George Lucas' THX 1138 both feature repressive, 
  stifling societies where not just movement but speech and even thought are monitored and 
  controlled. Justice is mechanical, unfair and liable to lead to torture and execution. 
  Governments with this kind of power can rewrite history, they can make individuals (and 
  families) disappear from the records and can instil absolute obedience in the population 
  through the application of absolute terror. 
   
  Could a government operating at this Law Level actually be benign and well meaning? For 
  this to happen there must be absolute trust between citizens, and an unbreakable trust in 
  the authorities. Perhaps San Angeles, the 'utopia' that features in the 1993 movie Demolition 
  Man, might serve as an optimistic model for a benign totalitarian state. The setting is pure 
  satire - weaponry, drugs, alcohol, bad language and other undesirable behaviours are 
  prohibited or regulated, while personal behaviour is monitored through implanted 
  transceivers. A population believing that thought control and extreme behavioural 
  modification are good things will reinforce the power of the state, and in effect police itself. 
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 34 
   
  TECHNOLOGY LEVEL 
  The Technology Level (also called “tech level” or TL) of the world is determined by rolling 
  1D6 and adding DMs per the Technology Level DMs by UWP Values table. A world’s 
  Technology Level may not be below 0. 
   
  Table: Technology Level DMs by UWP Values 
  Value 
  Starport Size Atmosphere Hydrographics Population Government 
  0 
   
  +2 
  +1 
  +1 
   
  +1 
  1 
   
  +2 
  +1 
   
  +1 
   
  2 
  ` 
  +1 
  +1 
   
  +1 
   
  3 
   
  +1 
  +1 
   
  +1 
   
  4 
   
  +1 
   
   
  +1 
   
  5 
   
   
   
   
  +1 
  +1 
  6 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  7 
   
   
   
   
   
  +2 
  8 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  9 
   
   
   
  +1 
  +1 
   
  10 (A) +6 
   
  +1 
  +2 
  +2 
   
  11 (B) +4 
   
  +1 
   
  +3 
   
  12 (C) +2 
   
  +1 
   
  +4 
   
  13 (D)  
   
  +1 
   
   
  –2 
  14 (E) 
   
   
  +1 
   
   
  –2 
  15 (F) 
   
   
  +1 
   
   
   
  X 
  –4 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Certain world conditions must meet a minimum Technology Level requirement. If the world 
  possesses a lower technology level, then the Referee should increase the world’s tech level 
  to the required minimum. 
   
  Table: Technology Level Minimums 
  Conditions 
  Minimum TL 
  Hydrographics is 0 or 10(A), Population is at least 6 
  4 
  Atmosphere is 4, 7 or 9 
  5 
  Atmosphere is 3 or less, or 10(A)-12(C) 
  7 
  Atmosphere is 13(D) or 14(E), Hydrographics is 10(A) 7 
   
  Technology Level, along with Government, is key to designing a planetary society - there are 
  few other cues available to the world builder. Tech Level (TL) might represent the 
  technological base that a world is capable of, i.e. it tells us what the planet can produce and 
  at what level the economy functions, OR it tells us what technology is generally in use, 
  without reference to its origins. In THE UNIVERSAL WORLD PROFILE, we favour the latter; 
  TL shows the referee and the players what is currently in use, whether manufactured locally, 
  or imported from off-world. This becomes helpful when dealing with those poorly populated 
  but high tech planets representing outposts and colonies. Two thousand people living at TL 
  9 cannot produce almost any of the items they use and almost everything has to brought in 
  by starship. 
   
  Evaluating the TL and using it to create an interesting and workable society can be tricky, 
  because Tech Level is not a historical timeline - it is a guideline. TL 5 roughly equates to the 
  period 1900 to 1939, but that only means that some or all of the technology on the world in 
  question is of a similar level. There may actually be something in everyday use in that 
  
  P a g e  | 35 
   
  society from TL 4 or from TL 6, the referee should not be afraid to mess with the 
  technological base. More often than not, such ‘mixing up’ will be forced on a planet by its 
  resources. A world without fossil fuel reserves may cling to inefficient wood-burning steam 
  engines, while a planet with a dense atmosphere may invent the dirigible airship at TL 3 
  rather than TL 4. 
   
  The biggest danger is in looking at TL 5, seeing that it represents 1900-1939 technology and 
  then assuming that life on planet X must be similar to 1920’s America or Edwardian England, 
  with all of the cultural and social baggage that comes with it. There are certainly good 
  reasons for assuming a historical society is the product of the technology around it, but 
  doing so creates clichéd planets that remind us of Star Trek episodes like A Piece of the 
  Action (mobsters in space) and Patterns of Force (Nazis in space). Instead, try to divorce the 
  technology from the timeline, it happens all the time in the developing world. I have seen 
  Masaai herdsmen on the edges of the Serengeti, driving along their cattle while talking on a 
  mobile phone and there are villages in India and Nepal, little changed from the 17th 
  century, that now boast wind turbines and solar power arrays. 
   
  Whatever the TL, it must suit the planet on which it exists. In fact, TL is the way in which 
  the unique landscape of the world being created can be brought to life, particularly by 
  emphasizing one particular piece of equipment or technology. What follows are individual 
  Tech Level descriptions: 
   
  TL 0 – Stone Age 
  This society depends on muscle power and stone tools, transport available is limited to 
  carts, canoes and rafts. Weaponry is limited to clubs, bows and spears. While tribes of 
  savage cave dwellers are associated with the Stone Age, in fact there were many societies 
  later in history, that used stone tools, but which lived in small villages, farmed the land and 
  herded cattle or sheep. Co-operation can achieve great stone structures and building 
  projects and the communities, although quipped with primitive tools, may still have complex 
  and interesting societies. Note that some cultures, especially in Polynesia, where flints and 
  obsidians were rare, used animal teeth as tools, an example of which is the shark-tooth 
  sword of the Maori warrior. In a post-holocaust scenario, scrap metal and scavenged parts 
  might replace stone as the working material. 
   
  TL 1 – Bronze/Iron Age 
  Tech Level 1 represents the technology of the first societies and city-based cultures. Muscle 
  power is now supplemented by the water wheel. Tools are now made of metal, leading to 
  more efficient production of crops and the ability to feed larger populations. Transport now 
  includes large wagons, oared galleys and small sailing ships. Weaponry now includes 
  daggers and swords, axes, crossbows and military catapults. Beacon fires, heliographs, 
  medical instruments and the abacus are also available. This is the technology of ancient 
  Greece and Rome. When one considers the huge cities of the Roman Empire, with villas, 
  public baths, sewers, aqueducts and heated rooms, a TL 1 planet certainly does not have to 
  be primitive or uncivilized. 
   
  TL 2 – circa 1400 to 1700 
  The biggest change from TL 1 to TL 2 is in science. The invention of the printing press helps 
  to disseminate learning in chemistry, physics, astronomy and biology. Wind power now 
  supplements muscle, and weaponry now includes early cannon (including matchlock and 
  wheelock muskets and pistols), two handed swords and crossbows fitted with powerful 
  winding devices (cranequins). Metal plate armour is also available at this tech level. 
  
  P a g e  | 36 
   
  TL 3 – circa 1700 to 1860 
  The very beginnings of the industrial revolution are represented by TL 3. Of greatest 
  significance is the invention of large steam engines used as power plants in the newly 
  established factories. The growth of cities accelerates as the new industries need large 
  amounts of labour, some of which is skilled, requiring the establishment of schools for the 
  masses. Innovations in transport include the hot air balloon and the sophisticated multi-mast 
  sailing ship, capable of trans-global voyages. Street lighting first appears, powered at this TL 
  by coal and oil gas. The first electrical telegraph is invented at this TL and new weaponry 
  includes the flintlock musket which, although developed later on in TL 2, dominates warfare 
  and hunting in TL 3. 
   
  TL 4 – circa 1860 to 1900 
  Tech Level 4 represents the full development of industrial manufacturing, with coal burning 
  steam technology now advanced enough to power railway engines and ocean-going 
  steamers. Airships are invented within this tech level and used for passenger transportation 
  and warfare. Innovations in medicine include anaesthetic and the discovery of germs and 
  microorganisms. Electrical power generation allows public street lighting to replace gas and 
  the telephone supplements, then replaces the telegraph. Flintlock muskets are replaced on 
  the battlefield with percussion rifles which use preloaded powder cartridges and efficient 
  percussion caps, to increase the shooter’s rate of fire. Rifled barrels also extend the 
  weapon’s range and accuracy. They are soon supplanted by breech loading rifles using brass 
  cartridges, supplemented by revolvers. Sophisticated artillery guns and hand-cranked 
  machineguns now appear on the battlefield. The elevator and the steel-framed skyscraper 
  come into limited use at TL 4. 
   
  TL 5 – circa 1900 to 1939 
  TL 5 heralds mass production, the introduction of the production line, the internal 
  combustion engine and the aeroplane. The development of the light-weight combustion 
  engine paves the way for cars, tanks and propeller-driven aircraft and accelerates road-
  building and oil extraction. As a result, the plastics industry develops significantly during TL 
  5. Diesel-electric submarines become feasible, as do aircraft carriers. Electrification spreads 
  to businesses and private homes. Radio is invented, as are mortars, modern rifles, self-
  powered machineguns, automatic pistols and submachineguns. Large analogue computers 
  using vacuum tubes first come into use for a variety of specialised tasks. In the medical 
  world, antibiotics are first discovered and the X-Ray machine is invented, while law 
  enforcement is able to use fingerprinting to identify criminals. Development of steel and 
  reinforced concrete frameworks allow skyscrapers to be built more easily. 
   
  TL 6 – circa 1939 to 1969 
  Mass production continues at TL 6, and although the automobile continues to dominate 
  ground transport, there are innovations in jet aircraft and helicopters. The concept of an all 
  terrain as well as an amphibious vehicle is created. The battlefield now sees the arrival of 
  the automatic rifle, the light machinegun and the missile launcher. Fission power is 
  harnessed to allow the construction of power plants as well as atomic weapons, although 
  cost prevents nuclear energy from replacing coal and oil fired power stations. Ships, 
  submarines and large aircraft are now able to be powered with small nuclear reactors. 
  Computing technology leaps forward as transistors replace vacuum tubes, although 
  computers are still very large and expensive pieces of equipment. Television emerges at  
  TL 6. 
   
  
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  TL 7 – circa 1970 to 2000 
  With TL 7 we enter the realms of the modern world. New methods of transport include 
  supersonic and wide-bodied passenger aircraft, hovercraft and tilt-rotor aircraft. Space 
  capsules that are capable of reliably reaching small orbital stations now exist, as do reusable 
  space planes. The nuclear thermal rocket is invented early on in the Tech Level and is 
  capable of sending manned crews to planets within the solar system. On Earth, lack of 
  funding and political will prevented such expeditions, but there is no doubt such a vehicle 
  could have been produced and tested before the end of the Twentieth Century. Tentative 
  manned exploration of neighbouring planets is now made possible. Computing reaches the 
  microprocessor stage and its development from then on accelerates almost exponentially, 
  bringing powerful computers on to citizens’ desks, laps and into their hands. Cellular phones 
  become feasible at TL 7 and soon become almost indistinguishable from hand-held 
  computers (tablets). 
   
  Robotics enter mainstream industry and create efficiencies in manufacturing, and a global 
  computer network is established later on in the Tech Level. A complex world-wide 
  communication network now allows for global credit and debit card services to be 
  established. Solar, tidal and wind turbine projects begin generating electricity at this Tech 
  Level. In warfare, ballistic body armour, grenade launchers and assault rifles enter service 
  with regular troops. Medical breakthroughs include organ transplantation and DNA profiling. 
   
  TL 8 – 2000 to 2050 
  No-one knows quite when Earth will reach TL 8. In Cepheus Engine, the primary TL 8 
  development is fusion power which scientists today predict will become feasible ‘in a few 
  decades’. Without this invention, Earth probably reached TL 8 at the turn of the century with 
  the wholescale adoption of the Internet by personal, commercial, academic and military 
  users. This coincided with the rise in smartphones, mobile computing, electric aircraft and 
  the commercial adoption of electric road vehicles. Since 2000 there have been other 
  breakthroughs, including the deployment of ship-based laser weapons. Medical 
  breakthroughs have included the mapping of the human genome and the invention of an 
  artificial heart implant. 
   
  TL 9 – Pre-Stellar 
  The Cepheus Engine universe really begins at TL 9, it is at this stage that gravity 
  manipulation is developed. Anti-grav vehicles then become possible and grav drives allow 
  faster and more reliable space travel. This research eventually leads to the invention of the 
  interstellar jump drive in prototype form. Society is transformed, with the rich having access 
  to early flying cars. Helicopters are made redundant by a variety of light grav vehicles. In 
  warfare laser rifles are introduced, spurring on the development of ablative armour. Tracked 
  laser tanks also enter the battlefield in small numbers, and these are fitted with beam or 
  pulse lasers. Medicine now allows the regeneration of human limbs. 
   
  TL 10 - Early Stellar 
  The jump drive comes of age and allows routine travel to the stars, giving the world the 
  ability to colonise neighbouring star systems. Orbital stations and space colonies become 
  more numerous as space travel drops in cost. Medical developments include early biological 
  augmentations and cybernetic enhancements, a variety of slow and fast drugs, and the 
  medical cryoberth. Portable fusion generators are introduced at this TL. On the battlefield 
  soldiers now carry advanced combat rifles (ACRs). Grav tanks now supplant tracks and are 
  armed with either mass drivers or lasers. In the civilian sphere, clothing can now hold a 
  computer weave and remain clean with smart fabric technology. Crystaliron, manufactured 
  
  P a g e  | 38 
   
  in zero gravity, revolutionises structural engineering. Information storage is now 
  standardised into the credit card-sized data wafer. 
   
  TL 11 - Early Stellar 
  Advanced computing leads, at TL 11, to the introduction of artificial intelligence - robots are 
  now partially self-aware. Gravity manipulation now extends to civil engineering, with some 
  structures suspended by an integral gravity field. Holographic projection is perfected and 
  finds use in a number of different applications. Soldiers now wear combat armour and carry 
  ACRs, while military grav vehicles are now capable of free flight and no longer restricted to 
  ground effect. The capability to augment weaponry and other items with intelligent software 
  now exists, giving these items limited self-awareness. Stealth technology can now provide 
  spacecraft with a radar absorbent, heat dispersion hull that reduces the craft's signature, in 
  addition the powerful meson gun is developed for use by large military craft. Advances in 
  medicine now allow for damaged organs in the human body to be replaced with artificial 
  versions. Brain transplantation into a donor body is feasible at this Tech Level. 
   
  Tech Levels 12 to 15 
  In this game, the Tech Levels 12 to 15 are closely related, and could be seen as subdivisions 
  of a single TL. There are developments in weaponry, in starship technology and gravitics, 
  but none of the new innovations seem to change the nature of society in quite the same 
  way that earlier Tech Levels did. With the invention of grav technology, society takes a new 
  turn, cities are redesigned with flying vehicles in mind and planets spread their populations 
  out into orbit and beyond. Control of the environment is assured at these Tech Levels and 
  humans can live in extreme climates and terrains with ease. The information net is 
  ubiquitous and accessed by everyone all the time, limited only by time lag when connecting 
  with citizens living off planet. 
   
  TL 12 - Average Stellar 
  Weather modification is perfected at TL 12, revolutionising agriculture and transforming the 
  business of planetary terraforming. In military circles squad-level plasma weapons enter 
  service, replacing grenade launchers and rocket launchers. Infantry are issued with gauss 
  rifles and some scout troops are equipped with newly developed grav belts. In the world of 
  communications, real-time multi-lingual translators are now in use. Stardrives capable of 
  jump 3 are introduced, along with nuclear damper fields, meson screens and fusion guns. 
  Medically, it is possible to keep a brain alive away from a body at this TL. 
   
  TL 13 - Average Stellar 
  Grav vehicles merge with orbital spacecraft since most grav drives are now powerful enough 
  to reach low orbit. Entire buildings, and even cities can be suspended in mid-air through the 
  use of (very expensive) grav motors, while a new generation of jump drives are capable of 
  jump 4. Humanoid-shaped robots with limited self-awareness are available at this TL. Elite 
  troops have access to powered armour (Battle Dress) and support from grav gunships 
  carrying heavy hitting plasma guns. Data Display/Recorders, personal heads up displays 
  become ubiquitous at this TL and are used by individuals in thousands of professions for 
  data analysis on-the-move. Cloning is now used to grow and replace defective or damaged 
  human body parts. 
   
  TL 14 - Average Stellar 
  At TL 14 bonded superdense materials are developed, these have molecular structures 
  reinforced and strengthened in a powerful artificial gravity field before having its internal 
  electron bonds strengthened by a small induced electrical current. Bonded superdense 
  
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  materials allow for almost impregnable starship hulls and amazing feats of engineering that 
  were previously impossible. Stardrives capable of jump 5 are introduced, and the increasing 
  numbers of battle dress-wearing soldiers now carry a plasma gun into battle. Support is 
  provided by a man-portable fusion gun. Genetic engineering reaches its full potential at this 
  Tech Level, as does reliable memory erasure. Floating cities are now able to move, but 
  expense precludes use. 
   
  TL 15 - High Stellar 
  At TL 15 the new generation of stardrives are capable of jump 6. Frontline troops are almost 
  universally equipped with powered battle dress and portable fusion guns. Meson 
  communicators are developed which allow communication through solid objects. Anagathics, 
  or age retarding drugs, are introduced, but expense restricts their use to the wealthy. 
  Advances in bio science pave the way for the invention of the universal bioscanner as well 
  as the portable neural activity scanner. 
   
   
   
  
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  STARPORT 
  Many worlds have starports, their presence being essential to interstellar trade and 
  commerce. To determine the world’s primary starport, roll 2D6-7 and add the world’s 
  Population value. Compare the result to the Primary Starport table to determine the starport 
  class for the world. Each starport class offers different levels of service. The Starport Class 
  Services table provides more specific details. 
   
  Table: Primary Starport 
  Roll 
  Starport Class 
  2 or less X 
  3 
  E 
  4 
  E 
  5 
  D 
  6 
  D 
  7 
  C 
  8 
  C 
  9 
  B 
  10 
  B 
  11+ 
  A 
   
   
   
   
  Class A Starport 
  Treat this like one of today’s airport hubs, places like Chicago O’Hare, Dubai International 
  and Heathrow. They are vast in scale, with the workforce and complexity of a small city. 
  Hundreds of starships can be accommodated and both crews and passengers can spend 
  time in hotels, restaurants, lounges and other entertainment facilities at the port. It can 
  provide refined fuel, top quality maintenance facilities and a prodigious cargo-handling 
  service. Ships can be bought and sold here, and new ships are being constructed at 
  integrated shipbuilding yards. All A class starports include a high port, a huge space station 
  in orbit that transfers goods, equipment and people between surface and orbit. Like any 
  hub, ships leave here for less glamourous destinations, or ship passengers travelling longer 
  distances between hubs. All interstellar shipping lines will operate at this type of port. The 
  class A is busy, cosmopolitan, a high energy, non-stop transportation machine. 
   
  Class B Starport 
  The class B resembles an international airport that does not serve as a global hub. It will 
  therefore be sited close to the planetary capital. It will have a shipyard capable of building 
  non-starships and small craft and is able to provide refined fuel. There are good 
  Class Descriptor Best 
  Fuel 
  Annual 
  Maint. 
  Shipyard Capacity 
  Possible 
  Bases 
  A 
  Excellent 
  Refined 
  Yes 
  Can construct starships and 
  non-starships 
  Naval, Scout 
  B 
  Good 
  Refined 
  Yes 
  Can construct non-starships 
  Naval, Scout 
  C 
  Routine 
  Unrefined 
  No 
  Can 
  perform 
  reasonable 
  repairs 
  Scout 
  D 
  Poor 
  Unrefined 
  No 
  None 
  Scout 
  E 
  Frontier 
  None 
  No 
  None 
  None 
  X 
  None 
  None 
  No 
  None 
  None 
  Table: Starport Class Services 
   
  
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  maintenance facilities present that can carry out a starship’s annual maintenance if required. 
  Nearly all class B starports include an orbital high port. The navigation aids, traffic control 
  and emergency services are top notch and usually extremely reliable. There will be hotels 
  and other leisure facilities at the port, though not quite as elaborate as those of a typical A 
  class. Airports like Portland International in Oregon, or Albuquerque’s Sunport are good 
  comparisons in terms of their size in relationship to the big international hubs. Capable of 
  supporting international flights, a good portion of these airports’ traffic is domestic. A class B 
  is often home to a shipping line, which uses the port as a base. 
   
  Class C Starport   
  The type C starport is found in great numbers and although small in size and with limited 
  facilities, most see a large and steady flow of traffic. This is probably the lowest class of port 
  that can be ‘depended on’ to provide an efficient and service, with class D and E ports being 
  extremely hit and miss in quality and efficiency. Generally only reined fuel is available, but 
  there are repair yards that are able to address most maintenance issues. Comparing the 
  starport to a modern airport, Hillsboro airport in Oregon or Leeds-Bradford airport in the UK 
  might be good analogies. Traffic control and starship handling will be able to cope with 
  several landings and take-offs simultaneously and ships can often expect to see hangers, as 
  well as landing pads that are able to accommodate ships up to 5000 tons. Some class C 
  ports have an orbital high port, but these are not the floating cities of a class A hub, but 
  simply docking stations able to provide fuel, repair and transfer facilities. Smaller shipping 
  lines, serving only subsector routes might establish their operations centre at a type C, out 
  of the way of the big hubs and high density trans-sector lines. 
   
  Class D Starport 
  The class D is the smallest landing facility that would be clearly recognisable as a starport. It 
  is a minor port, with a handful of landing pads, a cluster of buildings and a very modest 
  traffic control system. There will still be a security fence surrounding the facility. Only 
  unrefined fuel is available, and there are no repair facilities to speak of. Minor work might be 
  carried out, but anything requiring major parts will need to be done off-world, or equipment 
  and spares shipped in after a considerable delay. Class D ports are often established to 
  serve a particular need, perhaps the shipping of mineral ores, tourism, or the importation of 
  supplies for a colony or settlement. In airport terms, the class D is equivalent to a busy 
  general aviation facility, such as Friday Island in Washington state or Scotland’s Kirkwall, 
  which links up the remote islands of the Orkneys. 
   
  Class E Starport 
  When there is no starport, but a place has been designated as an authorised or recognised 
  landing spot for starships, a class E facility exists. There is no fuel and no repair yard, no 
  real landing pad or traffic control, no navigation aids or perimeter fence, no hotels or 
  terminals … not a lot really. I landed at a couple of airstrips in Kenya that serve the safari 
  lodges at Amboseli and Masai Mara. Those airfields have no runway lights or tower, no staff 
  or perimeter fences. Animals can wander across the runway unexpectedly. The only 
  buildings (where they do exist) are simple sun shelters, with a primitive toilet out back if you 
  are lucky. One or two busier strips that I visited, like Seronera in Tanzania, had a couple of 
  people on duty, one was a caretaker who kept the toilets clean, and there was a guy with a 
  radio in a hut who liaised with the nearby Serengeti visitor’s centre to arrange for jeeps to 
  pick up passengers. While I took a toilet break at Seronera, my guide and jeep driver used 
  the phone inside the hut to contact his HQ in Arusha town. I passed a few airstrips in East 
  Africa that were simply dusty lengths of orange dirt, with only a windsock to advertise their 
  use. At Lake Manyara, a couple of children were playing in the middle of the dirt runway. I 
  
  P a g e  | 42 
   
  see class E ports in this vein. They are a marked touch-down spot (a pad, rather than a 
  runway) that is agreed upon, where passengers can transfer to local forms of transport. 
  There might be a caretaker in some semi-permanent or prefab building or there might not 
  be. 
   
  Class X Starport 
  There is no agreed landing ground. There will undoubtedly be many places on the world 
  that a starship might be able to touch down, but these are ad hoc arrangements, each with 
  their own potential dangers. Uninhabited planets are routinely given the designation of class 
  X starport. 
   
  Starports as Plot 
  Starports are crucial SF gaming, second only to starships. They are not just places for ships 
  to land and player characters to disembark; they are the first contact point for that planet 
  and its civilization. In many scenarios, the player characters may not even leave the confines 
  of the starport, merely refuelling, loading up new cargo and shipping out. As a referee I try 
  my hardest to get the players away from the starport and into the wilderness or the society 
  of the world that they have landed on. What’s the point of Travelling if you just hop from 
  one port to another? I do this by locating cheap cargos away from the port, at the seller’s 
  location of choice. To make a purchase and get it to the starport, the players have to ‘get 
  out there and have an adventure!’ 
   
  If this approach isn’t possible and the game does jump from one starport to the next, then 
  the other possibility is to drag the world into the starport. The Mongoose book Starports is a 
  fantastic resource and full of additional information plot hooks and ways to customize your 
  port setting. Within the Third Imperium, the Starport Authority manages all of the civilian 
  starports on major worlds. This organisation provides a level of uniformity and 
  standardisation but also ensures that imperial ports are run efficiently, safely and fairly. 
  However, considering the vast number of worlds with enormous differences in climate, 
  topography and society, these starports are going to all be different in some way. To a 
  much lesser extent, this is true of airports on Earth, particularly at the smaller airfields 
  where the mass transit of cargo and passengers hasn’t brought with it the necessary (and 
  usually very similar) terminal buildings, nav-aids, and service areas. 
   
  Try to infect the starport with some memorable aspect of the world that it is found on. 
  There is certainly no need to go to great lengths, a simple statement about the architecture 
  or some facility found at the port, or a unique type of encounter, will set the scene quite 
  nicely. On a frozen planet, imagine if some of the port buildings were cut out of the ice, like 
  Sweden’s amazing Ice Hotel at Jukkasjärvi, or the tunnel complex on Hoth in The Empire 
  Strikes Back. The tech level of a planet may also affect how it looks or operates. At very low 
  tech levels you could see beasts of burden on the landing pad, bringing in cargo or taking 
  away passengers. Local materials, brick, wood, sandstone blocks might be used in the 
  starport construction. As the port gets bigger and moves into the class C category, these 
  materials will be replaced with concrete and glass, but it would be evocative to have the 
  earlier design reflected in the new buildings in imitation of the past. Te most sensible place 
  to build a large starport is on flat, well-drained and stable land, but this is science fiction and 
  a starport will benefit immensely from a unique location – at the base of a sandstone cliff 
  (with hangers cut into the rock), on an island in the middle of a large river, on a plateau in 
  mountainous terrain, raised on stilts in a mangrove swamp, over the sea on an artificial 
  island, at the centre of a vast city, with underground hangers and repair facilities, etc. 
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 43 
   
  TRADE CLASSIFICATIONS 
  Trade codes are assigned based on a world’s UWP values, as noted in the UWP Values for 
  Trade Codes table. 
   
  Table: UWP Values for Trade Codes 
   
   
   
  Trade classifications are broad labels that tell the players and referee what kind of goods 
  might be bought cheaply on-planet and what might be sold at a profit. More than that, 
  though, the classification gives us a look at the broad economic base of the planet. Does it 
  import or export? What do people do? How does the world make its living, and how does it 
  fit into the economy of the subsector? This label is extremely valuable to the world creator 
  and should certainly be kept in mind throughout the process. But what does each 
  classification mean? 
   
  Agricultural  
  Assume an agricultural world is able to produce a huge surplus of food that can be shipped 
  out through the starport. Whether grain, cattle, edible fungi, exotic tree-analogues, 
  vegetables, fruit or whatever, the economy is heavily focussed on farming. Organisation of 
  the economy could vary tremendously, from free and independent small-holders, to vast 
  corporations, to nobles and their tenant farmers, to latifundia (Roman-style slave farms). 
  There are other aspects to the economy as well, but a good deal of it supports agriculture. A 
  world of this nature will have some key advantage, perhaps a vast fertile river valley, much 
  like the Nile or Euphrates. Perhaps it has vast prairies watered by regular onshore winds. It 
  may benefit from extensive forests, slowly being replaced with cash crop plantations, or a a 
  single year-long growing season caused by a lack of planetary tilt. At higher TLs, farmers 
  are not backwoods yokels. At TL 7 they are savvy businessmen and mechanics as well as 
  farmers, at TL 11 and up they may be experts in genetic modification, robotics and life 
  support recycling. Asimov's Solaria is an Agricultural world where millions of robots tend vast 
  farming estates owned by only tens of thousands of humans. Meanwhile, Anne McCaffrey's 
  agricultural planet Botany is populated by slaves and criminals. 
   
  Classification  
  Code  Size  Atmos. 
  Hydro  Pop. Gov. Law TL 
  Agricultural  
  Ag  
   
  4–9  
  4–8  
  5–7 
   
   
   
  Asteroid  
  As  
  0  
  0  
  0 
   
   
   
   
  Barren  
  Ba  
   
   
   
  0  
  0  
  0 
   
  Desert  
  De  
   
  2+  
  0 
   
   
   
   
  Fluid Oceans  
  Fl  
   
  10+  
  1+ 
   
   
   
   
  Garden  
  Ga  
   
  5, 6, 8  
  4–9  
  4–8 
   
   
   
  High Population  Hi  
   
   
   
  9+ 
   
   
   
  High Technology  Ht 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  12+ 
  Ice-Capped  
  Ic  
   
  0–1  
  1+ 
   
   
   
   
  Industrial  
  In  
   
  0–2, 4, 7, 9   
  9+ 
   
   
   
  Low Population  
  Lo  
   
   
   
  1–3 
   
   
   
  Low Technology 
  Lt 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  5- 
  Non-Agricultural  Na 
   
  0–3  
  0–3  
  6+ 
   
   
   
  Non-Industrial  
  Ni  
   
   
   
  4–6 
   
   
   
  Poor  
  Po  
   
  2–5  
  0–3 
   
   
   
   
  Rich  
  Ri  
   
  6, 8  
   
  6–8 
   
   
   
  Water World  
  Wa  
   
   
  10 
   
   
   
   
  Vacuum  
  Va  
   
  0 
   
   
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 44 
   
  Asteroid 
  Asteroids are often mining colonies that produce various ores and crystals for use in 
  industry, but others may be small colonies, prisons, private retreats and factories. An 
  example of asteroid mines include Io from the movie Outland, and the Icarus mining station, 
  from the Space Above and Beyond episode titled The Dark Side of the Sun. 
   
  Barren  
  Barren worlds have no population and no economy. Example: any wilderness location.  
   
  Desert  
  The desert planet, as we discussed earlier in this section, will not be all desert. There may 
  be rocky highlands, dry prairies and mountains too. However, to qualify for this 
  classification, the planet has to have zero Hydrographics percentage - no standing water. An 
  economy based on a true desert world like this will be concerned with survival first and 
  foremost. Water will be a top resource, either taken out of the air or drilled from aquifers 
  deep underground. In desperate situations, water may even be shipped in. At lower Tech 
  Levels, animals can be herded on dry grasslands, crops farmed around boreholes to create 
  civilized oases scattered across a seas of sand. Frank Herbert's book Dune is filled with 
  wonderful details that would bring any true desert world to life: the water-seller in the 
  market-place, the dew collectors at work each morning, the Resentment citizens have for 
  date palms growing on a nobleman's estate, the wonderful stillsuits, which capture and 
  recycle bodily moisture and of course the way in which the Fremen recycle water, boiling 
  down their dead in underground stills. The best example of a desert economy has to be 
  Frank Herbert's Dune. 
   
  Fluid Oceans 
  Fluid Oceans are planets with oceans not made up of water, but of other liquids (liquid 
  methane, ethanol, etc.) such worlds will be very different from Earth, but will certainly have 
  things to offer the interstellar community. Petrochemical fuels and precious metals will be 
  found in abundance and exported. off-world in exchange for food and other consumables, 
  as well as any technologies related to life support. Arthur C. Clarke's depiction of Titan in his 
  novel Imperial Earth, could be classified as a Fluid Ocean world; its economy depends on 
  the sale of atmospheric fuel scooping to passing hydrogen-powered spacecraft. 
   
  Garden 
  The Garden world is Earth-like, blessed with a temperate climate, wide oceans and fertile 
  soils. It will also have a diverse biosphere of plants and animals. Self-sufficiency is the 
  watch-word here, since the inhabitants of the Garden planet will not have need of imported 
  foodstuffs or medicines and they will have all the ores and other raw materials that they 
  need. 
   
  High Population 
  These worlds will often be importers of materials - in particular foodstuffs. They will also 
  need a steady stream of manufactured goods and luxuries, some legal and some not. Drugs, 
  spices, art works, jewellery, rare foods and fine liquors will all be sought after. Frederick 
  Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth's Earth in The Space Merchants gives a gripping account of an 
  overpopulated world where power, water and other resources are in short supply. Vat meat 
  is cultivated for the masses, and this meat feeds on processed algae that farm labourers 
  harvest from ponds in long, poorly paid shifts. The 1973 movie Soylent Green also describes 
  an overpopulated world dependant on processed food sources. 
  
  P a g e  | 45 
   
  High Technology 
  Advanced manufactured goods, such as robots, vehicles, weaponry, medicines and 
  electronic items are exported from these worlds. Thriving high-tech economies like this do, 
  however, require raw materials - the more exotic the better. Rare metals, crystals and 
  radioactives will all be required for these advanced economies. 
   
  Ice-Capped 
  Ice-Capped worlds are cold and dry worlds with their abundant surface water locked up as 
  frozen ice. Mining and drilling will probably be crucial to the local economy, metals, 
  petrochemicals and crystals exported to high tech worlds for use in manufacturing. Of 
  course goods such as food and medicine will be imported, in return. 
   
  Industrial 
  The game’s definition of an Industrial planet is actually a 'super' Industrial world, a world 
  dominated by vast manufacturing centres and cities supporting the workers needed in these 
  centres. The scale is huge, only worlds with populations in excess of a billion people can 
  qualify as an Industrial world. It is taken as read that the atmosphere is unbreathable, either 
  due go natural contaminants, or ruined during the long road to planetary industrialisation. 
  These worlds are massive exporters of electrical goods, all kinds of appliances, 
  manufactured goods, weaponry, vehicles, advanced materials and alloys and robots. In 
  return they will require vast amounts of raw material. Industrial worlds are also High 
  Population worlds. 
   
  Low Population 
  Worlds supporting small numbers of individuals are usually dependant on outsiders for 
  everything, including foodstuffs, vehicles, manufactured items and medicines. The worlds 
  they inhabit may hold ample raw materials, but they may not have the industrial capacity to 
  be able to extract it. 
   
  Low Technology 
  Low tech worlds will crave various high tech items that they can use without any attendant 
  infrastructure. In other words they desire things like high tech medicines, electronic items 
  and petroleum fuels that have no strings attached. The government may quite like a 
  squadron of hypersonic attack jets, but a huge network of mechanics, engineers, trainers 
  and pilots would be needed as well as spare parts, specialized buildings and tailored 
  ammunitions. This isn't just about expense; a steam-age society does not have the technical 
  or economic infrastructure to support such an acquisition. Most of Firefly's Rim worlds could 
  be classified as Low Technology planets. There, all the modern conveniences of the Core 
  worlds are far more expensive and citizens make do without, they farm with hand tools, 
  resort to entertainment that doesn't require power and ride beasts of burden. 
   
  Non-Agricultural 
  The Non-Agricultural world has many mouths to feed, but lacks the climate and water 
  resources needed to feed them. It is dependent on outside sources for its food, textiles and 
  other organic products. The rules assume a good reason for the colonisation of such a 
  planet and the Trade table suggests that light industry thrives on these Non-Agricultural 
  worlds. 
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 46 
   
  Non-Industrial 
  Any world with a population between 10,000 and 9,000,000 is classified as Non-Industrial, 
  which indicates that there are too few people to support an adequate manufacturing 
  economy. Consequently many types of factory-made goods will need to be imported from 
  off-world. This makes the Non-Industrial world something of a backwater or 'developing 
  nation' reliant on high tech imports to maintain its economy. Most early colonies obviously 
  fall into this category. Although these worlds demand sophisticated products that they 
  cannot manufacture themselves, the Trade tables suggest that they themselves have little to 
  offer the interstellar community. 
   
  Poor 
  The Poor world really is a backwater, a place few visit, it has a thin atmosphere and 
  insufficient water resources to support a strong economy. In all likelihood the Poor world is 
  covered by extensive deserts. This is a dry and unattractive world, its inhabitants can 
  produce enough food to survive, but rely on imports for any sophisticated or high 
  technology items. The fractious and desperate lives led by the citizenry on some Poor worlds 
  may explain why the Trade table lists these worlds as prime markets for illegal weaponry 
  (just behind Amber and Red Zones). Star Trek's Nimbus III would be classified as a Poor 
  world. 
   
  Rich 
  The Rich world is a desirable destination, a luxurious retreat that boasts innumerable 
  diversions, entertainments and attractions. Wealthy individuals may make a Rich world their 
  home; its economy will generally be self-sustaining, but it will rely heavily on imports to 
  satisfy its inhabitants' insatiable craving for luxury items. Star Trek's pleasure planet Risa is 
  an example of a Rich world. 
   
  Water World 
  Citizens of a waterworld inhabit a planet filled with resources. Aquaculture and fishing 
  provide food, whilst seabed mining and oil drilling supply fuel, building materials and other 
  resources. Exotic chemicals and drugs might also be sourced from the oceans. Waterworlds 
  are a common theme in science fiction. Jonathon L. Howard's planet Russalka features a 
  conflict between rival submarine cultures, whilst Poseidon, created for the roleplaying game 
  Blue Planet, is dominated by a struggle between greedy colonists and adapted 'natives'. 
   
  Vacuum 
  Planets without atmosphere must shelter their populations within airtight habitats and 
  domes. Although food can be grown hydroponically, there will still be a great need for 
  consumables from off-world. Mining will typically form the bulk of any exports from a 
  vacuum world. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 47 
   
  BASES 
  The presence of military bases is noted on the UWP after the Tech Level characteristic. 
  Possible installations include scout bases, naval bases, scout way stations, naval depots, 
  imperial research stations and imperial prisons. Bases can help determine political 
  boundaries within a given region of space. An interstellar government will place bases along 
  its borders to guard against aggression from rival states, or to control local systems. The 
  presence of multiple bases within a few parsecs might indicate a contested border, or a 
  mighty stronghold. While other bases may exist, the two primary bases are the Naval Base 
  and the Scout Base. 
   
  Naval Base 
  A naval base is a supply depot, refueling station, repair yard or fortress of the Navy. Naval 
  vessels can obtain refined fuel and supplies here. If a world possesses a Class-A or Class-B 
  starport, throw 8+ on 2D6 to determine the presence of a naval base in the system. There 
  are a variety of types of naval base, and the referee can decide what will best serve the 
  world. The base might be huge, the equivalent of the US Navy’s Naval Station Norfolk, 
  Virginia. As the world's largest naval station, Norfolk supports 75 ships and 134 aircraft with 
  14 piers and 11 aircraft hangars. Four aircraft carriers are based at Norfolk, it is a vast naval 
  city, a nerve centre, supply base, training centre and maintenance yard. A naval base of this 
  size will dominate, not just the world it sits on, but also its neighbouring worlds and indeed 
  the subsector. Like a Type A starport it will include a large orbital station where carriers and 
  cruisers can dock. Most naval bases be of smaller scale, equivalent to Naval Station 
  Maryport, Florida, which serves as home to a single carrier and its attendant vessels and 
  units. Others will have a dedicated mission, such as Naval Station Portsmouth, Maine, which 
  focuses on the overhaul and repair of submarines.  
   
  Some naval bases then, might be fairly modest affairs (similar in size and capabilities to a 
  Type C starport) that focus on running patrol ships throughout the subsector, yet rarely see 
  anything bigger than a frigate or destroyer. Any base commander will have political clout 
  equal to the size and reach of his base. The local government may be happy to host the 
  base, since it helps the economy, provides good relations with the interstellar power, and 
  ensures a level of security from star-faring criminals. Other worlds may not be so keen, 
  Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is fiercely contested and its legality disputed by the Cuban 
  government. These governments may be powerless to do anything against the base, or, like 
  the Spanish reaction to RAF Gibraltar, may continually infringe the bases territory, harass 
  and impede workers or personnel entering or leaving the base, and generally try to make 
  life difficult.  
   
  Scout Base 
  A scout base or outpost offers refined fuel and supplies to scout ships. If a world does not 
  possess a Class-E or Class-X starport, throw 7+ on 2D6 to determine the presence of a 
  scout base in the system. This roll suffers a DM -1 if the world has a Class-C starport, a DM 
  -2 for a Class-B starport and a DM -3 for a Class-A starport. Like naval bases, scout bases 
  vary in scope and size, only more so. Scouts perform a large variety of missions and many 
  scout bases will be modest affairs that try to support those missions, from ship 
  maintenance, survey, contact and exploration and of course communication. Small bases 
  also exist, dedicated to a single task, such as surveying a single system or conducting long-
  term exploration within a single system or on a single world. Other scout bases may simply 
  serve to overhaul and maintain the scout fleet, train scouts, conduct research into new 
  technologies or perfect and practice survey methods. There are some of these bases with a 
  handful of staff, deployed to some airless, icy moon and waiting for visiting ships to break 
  
  P a g e  | 48 
   
  the monotony. The smaller the base, the less formal the structure, regulations, dress code 
  and work ethic will be. Big scout way stations have all the efficient buzz of a large naval 
  depot, but smaller, more remote, stations might not even be recognizable as a scout base – 
  they certainly will not look similar to other bases. The scouts deployed there create the 
  atmosphere and working ethic of the base they are stationed at, this isn’t helped by the lack 
  of strong leadership and the shared team-ethic of the scouts.  
   
  Pirate Base 
  A pirate base serves as a haven for interstellar pirates. If a world does not possess a Class-A 
  starport or a naval base, throw 12+ on 2D6 to determine the presence of a pirate base in 
  the system. If marked on the UWP we can assume that a pirate base is suspected within 
  that system. Is it there now? Is it seasonal? Where is it? Have the navy attempted to 
  eradicate it? Rather than the code spelling out the existence and location of a pirate base, 
  perhaps the referee will find it more useful to treat the code as a ‘flag’ that denotes 
  extremely high pirate activity in this system, suggesting a base or links with the system 
  government. In this way it resembles a ‘zone of piracy’ marked on modern maps that 
  indicate likely regions of attack by modern-day speedboat pirates, such as those off the 
  coast of Somalia and in the South China Sea.  
   
  Base Codes 
  The presence of one or more bases is designated on the hex map with a base code in the 
  upper-left of the world hex. The Base Codes table identifies which note-worthy bases, if any, 
  are present. 
   
   
  Table: Base Codes 
  Code Description 
  A 
  Naval Base and Scout Base/Outpost 
  G 
  Scout Base/Outpost and Pirate Base 
  N 
  Naval Base 
  P 
  Pirate Base 
  S 
  Scout Base/Outpost 
   
   
  Usually the presence of a base will have little impact on a high tech, high population planet. 
  Things are different, however, when the local populace numbers only a few thousand - or 
  less. Are these people workers on the base? Or are the personnel of the installation counted 
  separately from the planetary population? It is probably best not to stick to a hard and fast 
  rule but make decisions on the fly during world creation. On a sparsely inhabited planet a 
  large base will make a significant impact and alter the flavour of the world. The local 
  economy will see the personnel on base as a source of income, as natives did outside 
  Roman forts, or the South Vietnamese outside US Army bases. A lot of people may work on 
  the base, or for the base, or know people who do. The existence of a large military 
  population on-planet should certainly become a factor in the world creator’s thinking. 
   
   
  
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  TRAVEL ZONES 
  Most worlds are assumed to be civilized, or at least amenable to adventurers and other 
  visitors. Some, however, are caught in the throes of war, plagued by disease, or simply not 
  ready for interstellar visitors. Such worlds are classified by travel zones to denote such 
  status. In most cases, the Referee should indicate travel zones based on the information 
  available. Two such zone types exist: amber and red. 
   
  Amber Zone 
  An Amber world has been deemed dangerous, and travelers are warned to be on their 
  guard. Amber worlds are often undergoing upheaval or revolution, or else are naturally 
  hazardous environments. A world with an Atmosphere of 10+, a government of 0, 7 or 10, 
  or a Law Level of 0 or 9+ should be considered for Amber status. These worlds are 
  struggling with revolution, social upheaval or some natural threat and the local situation 
  holds dangers for off-world travellers. Plenty of science fiction writers have created worlds 
  that humans should not visit, like Terra 11, a failed colony ravaged by biological warfare and 
  civil war that featured in the movie Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone. James 
  Cameron's Pandora is a lethal world, full of hostile native tribes and belligerent wildlife. 
   
   
  Red Zone 
  Red worlds are interdicted and travel to them is forbidden. Interdictions are usually enforced 
  by the Navy. Red zones can indicate that the world is too dangerous or too sensitive to allow 
  visitors. The Referee assigns Red worlds at his discretion. Red Zones may or may not hold 
  some danger for characters, but they are classified as quarantine planets. Interstellar 
  authorities blockade these worlds for whatever reason and they dispatch military vessels to 
  prevent unauthorised landings. Why do they do this? The planet may well be dangerous, but 
  it may hold secrets of a sensitive nature, or a top-secret military base (Kamino), or a people 
  that must be protected from human contact (Star Trek: Insurrection), or a newly discovered 
  alien race, or a fabulous new mineral unknown to Mankind (Avatar), or a biological entity 
  escaped from a laboratory, or an enigmatic artefact (2001: A Space Odyssey), or a damning 
  piece of evidence that could bring down the regime (Serenity), or an amazing but little 
  understood new material or resource, or .... the reasons are many. 
   
  
  P a g e  | 50 
   
  How does interdiction work? It should vary, keeping the players guessing at each new Red 
  Zone. Undoubtedly they will be hired by some desperate patron to penetrate the blockade 
  and get down to the world’s surface. The navy could establish a permanent patrol in-system, 
  maybe one or two non-jump patrol craft based at a small orbital station, or a more costly 
  frigate or cruiser that sits on station for several weeks before being rotated back to base 
  when its relief arrives. Alternatively, the interdiction might be more ad hoc, with patrols 
  regularly ‘dropping by’. Some worlds might instead suit a network of spy satellites that are 
  capable of automated response, perhaps launching missiles or a barrage of lasers at the 
  interloper. Such a satellite network might take no action, but simply inform the next visiting 
  naval patrol of the players’ activities and the registration of their ship. If the subject of the 
  interdiction is quite localised (perhaps an alien ruin on the surface) then the naval presence 
  might actually be on the ground, at a fortified base, complete with fighters waiting to be 
  scrambled. Or … there may be no blockade, funds have dried up and the navy has quietly 
  pulled out of the system, but left the Red Zone classification in place as a deterrent. This 
  last situation lends itself to some other force (pirates? rebels? smugglers?) setting up their 
  own base on the interdicted and rarely visited world.  
   
   
   
  Getting past the navy might be down to luck, or skill. We all remember Han Solo faking an 
  ID pass in an Imperial shuttle to fly effortlessly past Lord Vader’s super stardestroyer in 
  Return of the Jedi. Yes there might be a blockade, but experts, government agents, repair 
  personnel, scouts, surveyors, military teams, supply drops and others still need access. Can 
  the PCs fake a pass? Or can they determine patrol schedules accurately enough that they 
  can get in before the local patrol sweeps through the area. If there are satellites, there must 
  be an ID code. And for the right price, I’m sure it’s for sale. Just pray that it is this 
  month’s code, and not last months … 
   
  What the navy actually does to the characters, should they be identified or caught, probably 
  varies from game universe to game universe, and from Red Zone to Red Zone. At a Red 
  Zone that is fiercely defended, characters may lose their ship and end up in prison to keep 
  them quiet, but this plot isn’t great for roleplaying, instead the navy might ‘cut them in’ and 
  ask for their assistance and the employment of their unique skills, to solve a problem on the 
  Red Zoned world that the navy itself cannot deal with. John Carpenter’s movie Escape From 
  New York seems to capture this plotline nicely! Getting caught shouldn’t thwart the 
  characters, but lead to more drama. What if the ‘threat’ is about to overwhelm the navy, 
  and the characters are hauled on board at the very moment that everything hits the fan! 
  Pitch Black anti-hero Riddick finds himself in custody when the ship he is on crash lands on 
  an incredibly hostile world. Naturally the crew and passengers require his murderous skills to 
  survive. The player characters, imprisoned inside a navy brig might find their talents equally 
  useful to the naval crewmen on the ship, overwhelmed by the threat from the Red Zoned 
  planet.  
   
  If the referee is using pregenerated UWPs then some of the worlds will be categorised as 
  Amber Zones and one or more will be Red Zones. These categories mark out those planets 
  as trouble spots. When creating his own worlds, however, the world builder should refrain 
  from assigning a travel zone until the very last stages of the process. 
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 51 
   
  INTERSTELLAR GOVERNMENTS 
  Worlds may be independent, or part of a larger interstellar government  that spans a system 
  or more. These governments or states range from loose confederations of a few worlds with 
  common trade or defense policies or cultural links, to vast star empires containing 
  thousands of systems and trillions of citizens. Borders should be drawn on the map. Note 
  that larger interstellar nations will usually have sub-domains, which should also be marked.  
   
   
  COMMUNICATION AND TRADE ROUTES 
  Within the subsector, governments will have established communications and trade routes 
  connecting some (but not all) worlds. Messages between businesses, governments and 
  people generally follow these routes.  
   
  Communications routes should be carefully drawn so as to avoid making all parts of the 
  subsector accessible; a subsector should have some areas as backwaters for exploration and 
  adventure. Communications routes are drawn as single lines connecting hexes on the 
  subsector grid.  
   
  Trade routes link worlds that have strong commercial ties. Consult the Trade Route Worlds 
  table– if any pair of worlds matching the two columns lay within four parsecs of each other, 
  and there is a Jump–1 or Jump–2 route between them, then mark a trade route connecting 
  those two worlds. 
   
  Table: Trade Route Worlds 
  First End Point 
  Second End Point 
  Industrial or High Tech 
  Asteroid, Desert, Ice Capped, Non-Industrial 
  High Population or Rich Agricultural, Garden, Water World 
   
   
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 52 
   
   
   
   
  "It is my job to create universes as the basis of one novel after another. And I have to build 
  them in such a way that they do not fall apart two days later." 
  Philip K. Dick 
   
  The process I use for creating interesting and believable worlds is made up of four parts. In 
  Part 1 I look at the first three physical characteristics listed in the UWP, and decide what 
  each one means. I try to conjure up a picture of what the planet itself may be like, even 
  though I have only three pieces of evidence to go on. 
   
  In Part 2 I assess the four social characteristics of the UWP (Population, Government, Law 
  Level, Tech Level) and factor in the Trade Code too, if it has one. What type of society is 
  this? Does it remind me of anything from Earth's history? Do any ideas spring out 
  immediately from that initial scan? 
   
  Part 3 involves playing tennis, flipping back from the physical stats to the social stats, and 
  then back again. The aim here, if at all possible, is to try to explain the social characteristics 
  by looking for answers in the physical ones. 
   
  In Part 4 of the world creation process we create a unique hook for the world. Not every 
  planet needs a hook, but they are certainly useful devices, particularly when the social and 
  physical characteristics don't seem to match up. 
   
   
  Part 1 – The Physical Stats 
  What is this world like? Review the first three characteristics: Size, Atmosphere and 
  Hydrographics. A typical world thrown up by the world generation system will have Size 7, 
  Atmosphere 6, Hydrographics 7. That means its going to generally Earth-like, a Garden 
  world where humans can breathe the air, they can tolerate the gravity and there are 
  oceans, fresh water and (typically) a lively ecosystem. 
   
  When numbers veer away from this comfortable norm there needs some explanation and 
  the 'Earth-like world' becomes a little less familiar. Try to look at all three numbers together. 
  I'll roll some dice and create a set of physical characteristics to illustrate this process. 
   
  Planet A Size 2 Atmosphere 2 Hydrographics 0 
  Planet B Size 6 Atmosphere 5 Hydrographics 4  
  Planet C Size 4 Atmosphere 4 Hydrographics 3 
   
  Planet A is the size of our Moon, but it has a tainted and very thin atmosphere. It is bone 
  dry - so, not a vacuum world, but a tiny planet with a thin layer of (unbreathable) 
  atmosphere. If it has an atmosphere, maybe there are volcanoes spewing out gasses, like 
  Jupiter's moon Io. That would explain the taint, and perhaps there's so much volcanism that 
  the dissipating atmosphere is being continually replenished. Or, the gasses remain around 
  Planet A because it has a magnetic field, and therefore a hot core. 
  THE PROCESS 
  
  P a g e  | 53 
   
   
  It sounds a little more like Io, which is squeezed by Jupiter's gravitation so much that its 
  core remains molten. Planet A might be the moon of a gas giant, or a planet orbiting close 
  in to a type M red dwarf star. A volcanic world like this would be covered with thick deposits 
  of sulphur, creating a landscape of yellows and browns. There would be extinct volcanic 
  mountain chains and also dangerous areas of new activity. Perpetual clouds of ash and 
  smoke would darken the sky. 
   
  Planet B is smaller than Earth, yet bigger than Mars and it has a breathable, though thin, 
  atmosphere. There are lakes and seas on this world - which is a Godsend! Planet B just 
  about qualifies as a Garden world. But our deliberations probably end there ... is it partially 
  frozen in an Ice Age, is it tropical and warm, or is it a sun-blasted desert world, with barren 
  and rocky continents separated by lifeless oceans? We must wait until we see what the 
  social stats tell us about the people who live there. We need more clues, more information. 
   
  Planet C is somewhat Mars-sized and is lucky enough to hold on to a thin but tainted 
  atmosphere. It also has seas, but only 30% of the surface is covered by water. It could 
  stand in as a nice 'Mars-when-it-still-had-water' analogue, a small planet with a few seas 
  and a thin atmosphere. Let’s postulate a carbon dioxide taint, just enough to make the air 
  bad and dangerous to breathe for more than a few minutes. Planet C is classified as a Poor 
  world at the moment (only when the social stats are determined can we properly create a 
  Trade Code). So, we know this world is marginal with few viable resources. We don't want 
  to create a 'past-Mars', so we tentatively picture a world of vegetation, with scrubland and 
  desert away from the coastlines, but with jungle clustering around the life-giving seas. We 
  will know more about Planet C when we have the social stats. 
   
   
  Part 2 – The Social Stats 
  So, we have some basic idea about the physical side of our three planets, but we still have 
  too much leeway, the landscapes and climates of worlds B and C could be anything. We 
  need more data, more inspiration, more ideas ... Let's roll a few more dice and complete the 
  creation of the UWP. 
   
  Planet A Population 8 Government A Law Level 9 Tech Level 9 Starport D 
  Planet B Population 2 Government 5 Law Level 2 Tech Level 4 Starport D Planet C 
  Population 8 Government 8 Law Level 9 Tech Level A Starport B 
   
  Without referencing the physical characteristics (which we will do in Part 3) let us go over 
  the social stats. What kind of societies do we have here? 
   
  Planet A has a healthy population with hundreds of millions of people that are served by a 
  small D class starport. That's a major nation here on Earth and this group of people is ruled 
  by a charismatic dictator, a single leader who rules through agencies who are under his 
  direct control. Security is tight, however, akin to a modern-day police state, so our dictator 
  is probably not very popular and maintains a personality cult that aims to cultivate his 
  image. Secret police will be active amongst the citizenry. Perhaps the tiny starport is tiny for 
  a reason, the dictator isn't keen on interstellar contact and does not want to foster too much 
  trade with other worlds. 
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 54 
   
  Planet B also has a D class starport, but only a few hundred people live on this world. They 
  are ruled by agencies that are selected for their technical expertise - a feudal technocracy - 
  and live at a low law level. These people enjoy many of the freedoms that we have here in 
  the Western world. Interestingly, this world is at Tech Level 4 (equivalent to Earth between 
  1860 and 1900). Here we have a small colony depending on steam power, but with such a 
  tiny population, big projects such as railways and steel manufacturing are out of their grasp. 
  Perhaps the leaders of this society are the engineers and mechanics who are able to keep 
  the steam engines (and the society) running. The small D type starport is easy to explain - 
  this is a small colony with few imports and even fewer exports. 
   
  Planet C has a population of several hundred million, much like the USA today, and these 
  millions are ruled by a civil service bureaucracy. Like Planet A, they live at a high law level, 
  without many of the freedoms and rights that we take for granted today. With such a high 
  law level, we can assume the bureaucratic government is disliked and difficult to deal with, 
  the resulting law level represents the government's reaction to its population's unhappiness. 
   
   
  Part 3 – Linking Physical & Social Stats 
  Can the physical stats we created throw some light on our social stats, or vice versa? 
  Logically, the society that lives on a planet must be affected by the landscape and climate of 
  that planet. Why is the population so high? Is it a fertile Garden world? I may not get the 
  answers I need, so I jump back to the physical characteristics: could I reinterpret these 
  numbers in a way that would explain the growth of the society sketched out by those last 
  four numbers? 
   
  We do this because societies are intimately linked with their landscapes, particularly when 
  those landscapes are harsh. Consider northern Alaska, where the sun just doesn't get above 
  the horizon for a couple of months every year. The darkness is depressing and alcohol 
  provides such an easy and dangerous escape that (in places) it is banned and criminals 
  resort to smuggling it inside innocuous packages. Suicide rates there are seven times the 
  national average. Most important work outdoors, in particular construction, has to be done 
  in the warmer months since the ground freezes solid and cannot be dug over. Anyone who 
  has lived in Alaska will probably be able to identify many more differences between life on 
  the Arctic Circle and life in suburban Middle America. 
   
  The environment may determine where people live: some of the farmers along the Yellow 
  River live in cave-houses that have been carved out of the sandy, and easily worked, cliff 
  sides. Many traditional houses in lowland Thailand are built on stilts to mitigate against 
  seasonal flooding. The environment may also determine what industries dominate the local 
  economy: away from the Libyan coast, for example, oil drilling forms the largest industry 
  and surrounded by harsh desert there is no room for tourism or agriculture. In the forested 
  wilds of Brazil and Scandinavia, logging has become a primary industry, with entire towns 
  springing up to service it. The environment may determine how people travel: by snow 
  mobile or bush plane in the Arctic, by boat or airboat in the Florida Everglades and by train 
  in flat and poor northern India. The environment will determine how its inhabitants generate 
  power: English coalfields kick-started the Industrial Revolution, and the largest solar power 
  stations on the planet are located in sun-drenched California and Arizona. In past-times, 
  Scottish homes burned dried peat, cut from the moorlands and bogs, as fuel. Modern 
  Egyptians (as well as their ancient ancestors) use dried animal dung in their cooking fires. 
   
  
  P a g e  | 55 
   
  The essential lesson here is that people use what they have around them. Even though new 
  technologies may later develop (or arrive from off-world) the poor will still continue to use 
  what the environment offers, and this inevitably becomes a part of that local culture as 
  social tradition. Of course, as someone attempting to create a world that is interesting for 
  characters to visit we are actively looking for these unique and quirky ways of doing things. 
  If everyone lives in suburbia, flies an air/raft and relies on fusion power, then our universe 
  will be a bland one indeed. The more hooks that a referee can sink into the local climate, 
  landscape, resources and environment, the more real and vibrant and alive that planet and 
  its society will appear. It will truly appear to belong there. 
   
   
  Planet A  (ISHTAR)  D2208A9-9 
  Let's give our worlds names, so we don't get them 
  confused. Planet A is known as Ishtar. You will 
  remember that it is a Moon-sized planet with a tainted 
  and very thin atmosphere, and no standing water. We 
  considered that it might be highly volcanic and perhaps 
  the satellite of a gas giant. Our social characteristics 
  indicate hundreds of millions of people living in a police 
  state at a near future (TL 9) level of technology. This 
  society is governed by a 'charismatic' dictator. Can we 
  link the world with its inhabitants, somehow? What do 
  the people do for food, and what kind of industries thrive 
  here? I Google volcanic soils, and see that the ash from 
  volcanoes is actually full of nutrients and is great for 
  agriculture, but after Googling the moon Io, I also find 
  out that Jupiter's moon is 90% sulphur and 10% useless rocky material - no nutrients there. 
  What about sulphur? I Google uses for sulphur and discover it makes brilliant fertiliser, so 
  Ishtar might depend on super crops that are grown in vast greenhouses and fed on sulphate 
  fertilisers. I remember mentioning dark volcanic ash clouds - won't they obscure the sunlight 
  to these greenhouses? Maybe ... I remember reading about Iceland's use of geothermal 
  power, so Ishtar could do the same, generating electricity from geothermal steam 
  powerplants. 
   
  Since I can't see any mining going on, why don't we say that Ishtar exports its top quality 
  sulphate fertilisers to other worlds, particularly to large space stations, asteroid colonies and 
  vacuum worlds. The D class starport is just about the perfect size for this task. That's the 
  economy covered. Lava tubes are old tunnels cut through the rock by molten lava, and 
  would make a fine setting for some of Ishtar's underground cities. 
   
  Who is this dictator? Could he be the man who transformed Ishtar's sulphate extraction into 
  a subsector wide export business? That might make him quite a popular fellow, so maybe 
  the police state isn't there to oppress a rebellious populace, instead it might be a draconian 
  series of edicts to maintain the safety of the public. Everyone is, after all, living on a super-
  volcanic planet with a toxic atmosphere, one mistake and hundreds or thousands of citizens 
  might well end up very dead. 
   
  I can see this world now and I am beginning to imagine a visit from my characters. Cities 
  can be seen on approach from orbit, with vast greenhouses laid out like the petals around a 
  flower. Accommodation for the characters will be found in an underground hotel, built within 
  a series of twisting lava tubes, and where the ends of these tubes end at a rock outcrop, 
  large picture windows have been installed, so that the guests can see volcanoes erupting on 
  
  P a g e  | 56 
   
  the distant horizon. There are notices and warning signs everywhere, and tariffs for 
  government fines are listed on walls. Rather than a tour guide, which you might hire when 
  visiting a new city on Earth, characters on Ishtar are legally obliged to hire a government 
  licenced 'safety consultant' (who might double as a tour guide). 
   
  I recheck Ishtar's Trade Codes and find that it is classified as both a desert world and a non-
  agricultural world. This matches my conception of the planet quite well. Yes, it is self-
  sufficient with regards to food, but it does not export it, and Ishtarites will welcome meat 
  and animal products, as well as luxury foods and luxury goods, from other worlds. 
   
   
  Planet B  (RAVENNA)  D654252-4 
  Planet B will go by the name of Ravenna. We determined 
  that it was a small garden world with a thin atmosphere 
  and seas covering 40% of its surface. This leaves the door 
  wide open; Earth-like worlds are great, but if they are to 
  be memorable, they need to possess some unique 
  characteristic - they require some focus. Hopefully, by 
  looking over the social stats will provide this focus. 
   
  Ravenna's tiny population lives within a steam age society. 
  It is governed by technical experts, probably the board of 
  engineers that maintains the power systems designed to 
  keep the society running. Government is light, and the few 
  hundred citizens live remarkably free lives. Why, though, if this is a fertile garden world, are 
  there not hundreds of millions of inhabitants? Perhaps habitable land is at a premium, it 
  could be that the thin atmosphere label only applies to a small portion of the planet, while 
  other regions are blanketed by a very thin, unbreathable, atmosphere. This would mean the 
  thin air in the habitable zone is lower down, perhaps in a very deep crater or series of 
  canyons. Alternatively, the planet might be extremely hot or cold, leaving only a sliver of 
  temperate land near the equator, or, if the planet is tidally locked to its star, near one of the 
  poles. 
   
  I like the idea of a series of deep canyons, perhaps created by ancient tectonic activity. 
  These rift valleys are deep and thin air pools at their floors. We know there are seas or large 
  lakes on Ravenna, and can assume that these canyons also carry within them, rivers. In this 
  way our little colony will have breathable air and fresh running water and going further, we 
  can assume that vegetation grows easily along the river banks. Beyond the deep valleys, on 
  the high plateaus that cover the rest of the planet, air is too thin to breathe and plant life 
  only grows as mosses and algae and tough grasses. It is doubtful that the colonists ever 
  visit these harsh uplands. 
   
  Why are these humans here? If mining was lucrative, there would be many more miners! 
  Perhaps a small group of prospectors came here looking for precious metals and its 
  descendants have remained on Ravenna ever since. The fact that the people live at TL 4 
  suggests a period of stagnation, perhaps the mining colony was much bigger initially and 
  the prize of great mineral wealth attracted plenty of immigrants. If most of these folks left 
  when the spoils of the planet did not materialise, the culture would be plunged into a great 
  recession and many high tech luxuries would be difficult to maintain. So, this might be a 
  make do and mend culture, living within their means and mining coal with which it powers 
  its steam-driven society. Looking at the Trade Codes, Ravenna is classified as a garden 
  world, a non-industrial world, and both a low population and low technology world. 
  
  P a g e  | 57 
   
  Planet C  NAKURU  B443889-A 
  Planet C is named Nakuru and as we have already 
  determined it is fairly dry and small with a thin atmosphere 
  (tainted with carbon dioxide). It resembles 'Mars-when-it-
  still-had-water', but we decided that our planet has scrub 
  vegetation out in the wilds and fertile regions of jungle 
  clustering around its few lakes and seas. It is a well 
  populated world, with hundreds of millions living under a 
  harsh, and quite restrictive bureaucratic government. Why? 
  Why do so many people live here? Looking at the most 
  applicable Trade Codes, we see that Nakuru is a poor world 
  which would imply that it lacks the resources or viable land 
  to be anything other than a marginal colony. 
   
  I'm having troubling linking up the social characteristics with the physical ones. Nakuru is a 
  real backwater, although it boasts a type B starport, something you might not expect on a 
  frontier world of this nature. Obviously there is traffic, but nothing in the physical stats seem 
  to suggest a reason for this interstellar traffic. Perhaps the world sits at a communication 
  nexus or is home to a naval or scout base, either of these suggestions might warrant the 
  establishment of a large starport with an attendant service population. But we are not going 
  to factor in such things here. We could turn to mining again, but this seems unlikely, Nakuru 
  does not have an unusual surface gravity and hence density. And mining should certainly 
  not be the default 'get-out' when struggling to decide why a population has settled in a 
  planet. 
   
  At times like this, the referee needs to move to 'The Hook'. 
   
  
  P a g e  | 58 
   
  PART 4 - THE HOOK 
  Often it is possible to create an interesting and believable world by marrying the physical 
  part of the UWP with the social aspects. Although it may take some head scratching or 
  reinterpretation, vivid and living worlds can spring from the bare bones of a UWP. 
   
  But that may not always be the case. Sometimes the referee needs a 'hook', a one-off 
  signature aspect to the planet that will make the destination an unforgettable one. The hook 
  might be related to the world's physical form or to the society and culture that inhabits it. It 
  will be something unique. 
   
  In the Zozer Games' series of PDF books titled 'Planetary Tool Kits', each world was 
  designed with its own, very memorable, hook. The 760 million people of ocean world 
  Korinthea are squeezed uncomfortably onto an island the size of Sicily, with terrible 
  repercussions. On the desert planet Ubar, settlement thrives inside a deep meteor crater 
  with a pool of breathable atmosphere. Mazandaran is famous for its World River, which rises 
  within a high mountain range, and, like a super-Nile, snakes its way around three-quarters 
  of the planet's circumference - civilisation has developed along its fertile river banks as the 
  river snakes through thousands of kilometres of desert. Antioch is an ocean world that was 
  struck by a colossal asteroid in eons past, leaving a single circular continent (the remains of 
  its vast crater) for humans to colonise. A rich ecology thrives within the crater and 
  competing nations squabble over the rights to mine the awesome mineral and petroleum 
  reserves left behind by the impact. 
   
  The danger of overusing the use of hooks exists. They are, essentially, gimmicks, although 
  ones that may be grounded in good social or physical geography. But when the hook is all 
  encompassing and world-spanning, care must be taken to limit its use. 
   
  Each hook is inspired by something found here on Earth, but simply pushed to its extreme. 
  The World River of Mazandaran was inspired by the Nile - what would happen if the Nile 
  wrapped itself almost around the entire planet? Korinthea was inspired by a documentary I 
  saw on Manila, one of Earth's most densely inhabited cities. What would an even denser city 
  look like, and how can I achieve that? 
   
  Hooks are inspired by something here on Earth, and it will sometimes be the case that the 
  implementation of the hook will necessitate changing one or more numbers of the UWP. 
  Alternatively, the referee will find himself with a fantastic idea for a hook and a set of UWP 
  characteristics that go with it, and he finds himself scanning the UWPs of his subsector, 
  looking for a world that might fit the bill. This is something referees are particularly good at. 
  They come across a fabulous scenario that is set on a particular planet, and for the sake of 
  continuity within their own role playing campaign, they hunt for a world with a similar UWP 
  in their own game universe that might serve as a location for that scenario. Hooks can be 
  dropped in like that, from above, or they can be built onto a UWP, by looking at the string of 
  characteristics and coming up with a suitably memorable feature to match. 
   
   
  E N D 
   
   
   
   
   
  
  P a g e  | 59 
   
  Subsector Name  _______________________ 
  
  P a g e  | 60 
   
  LEGAL INFORMATION 
   
  The Cepheus Engine Compatibility-Statement License (CSL) 
  1. You must state on the first page where you mention Cepheus Engine that “Cepheus Engine and 
  Samardan Press are the trademarks of Jason "Flynn" Kemp,” and that you are not affiliated with 
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  2. If you’re using the license to commit legal fraud, you forfeit the right to continue using the 
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  respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental 
  regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.  
  13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein 
  and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall 
  survive the termination of this License.  
  14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be 
  reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.  
  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE  
  Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.  
  High Guard System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing. 
  Mercenary System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing. 
  Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002-2004, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill 
  Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, Eric Cagle, David Noonan, Stan!, Christopher 
  Perkins, Rodney Thompson, and JD Wiker, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip 
  Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.  
  Swords & Wizardry Core Rules, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch 
  System Reference Document, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, 
  Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. 
  T20 - The Traveller’s Handbook Copyright 2002, Quiklink Interactive, Inc. Traveller is a trademark of 
  Far Future Enterprises and is used under license. 
  
  P a g e  | 62 
   
  Traveller System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing. 
  Traveller is © 2008 Mongoose Publishing. Traveller and related logos, character, names, and 
  distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Far Future Enterprises unless otherwise noted. All 
  Rights Reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd Authorized User. 
  Cepheus Engine System Reference Document, Copyright © 2016 Samardan Press; Author Jason 
  "Flynn" Kemp 
  16. No part of The Universal World Profile contains new OGL rules mechanics and therefore the 
  entirety of the text constitutes Product Identity, which is protected by copyright as identified in 
  section 1. Copyright © 2016 Zozer Games; Author Paul Elliott. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Cepheus Engine/Cepheus Engine/Supplements/TCE - The Universal World Profile.pdf