Space Viking World and Subsector Generation Thoughts

Art by Alan Gutierrez

I mentioned in an earlier post that the standard world generation in Traveller wouldn't meet my needs for my SV inspired setting.  There are a few worlds I would want to handcraft.  Those worlds that had a high enough tech level for interstellar flight, particularly the character's base worlds.  And the world(s) that they controlled/dominated.  Essentially whatever pocket empires I want in the setting.  I don't envision them being larger than three or four worlds in size.  Other than that I would want to be able to randomly generate worlds that meet the tech level and other requirement that produce the feeling of the setting.

So, planetary generation would need to be modified in several areas.

• Tech Level Cap (TL 10)
• Starport Type
• Bases
• Planetary Atmospheres
• Government

The first thing that would have to be modified is tech level.  The tech level cap will be TL10.  Though I'm thinking that I will allow Type J maneuver drives, jump drives and power plants because that will allow for 2000 ton ships.  Space Viking had some big ships and this will allow for a bit more emulation in that area.  TL 10, however, limits the setting to computer type 4 which means jumps are limited to 4 parsecs.  So even small ships won't be wildly speeding through the galaxy.  I plan to designate which planets have TL9 or TL10 so the planets that I randomly create need to be capped at TL8.  My solution is to roll on the Tech Level Table as usual but ignore the starport type modifier.  Technically, this can still yield a tech level as high as 11 but I think it is unlikely.  And the GM can just cap it at TL8.  Or, if they want another starfaring planet they can just go with it up to the TL10 max.

Starport type needs to be handled differently too.  Anything below TL7 will not have a spaceport.  Unless it is in ruins or it is mothballed or on a moon or is a satellite.  TL7-8 can have interplanetary ships so can have one and may be in the process of colonizing its solar system.  The GM can either choose a starport type or roll on the table I've devised below.

Bases won't be present on TL6 or below planets.  Unless, of course, they are ruins or abandoned bases off planet.  They can be determined as the GM deems appropriate for TL7 and above systems

I wanted to modify atmosphere for a couple of reasons.  The first of which is that 10 out of the 13 types of atmospheres listed in the book are unbreathable by humans without some sort of breathing equipment.  I figured that with the loss of technology after the Federation fell that this would lead to planets being depopulated as their inhabitants lost the ability to manufacture and repair the equipment.  The second reason is that I can remember the only planet in Piper's Terro-Human Future History that did not have a human breathable atmosphere was Niflheim. It was from another of Piper's books, Uller Uprising, set centuries earlier than SV.  The only reason that people had anything to do with Niflheim and its corrosive atmosphere was its wealth in metals.  The planet is so hellish that its name is actually used as a curse.  So, in order to give planets a higher chance of be habitable I am going to dropped the tainted designation.

Several of the planets mentioned in SV weren't unified, both the primitive ones as well as some of the relatively technologically advanced worlds.  I wanted to have this reflected in the world generation.  I figured that before the government type was rolled the GM would roll 1D6.  On a 1-3 the planet would be balkanized, otherwise the GM would roll normally.  If balkanized, roll 1D3+1 to find the number of major countries/political units.  Then the GM can either roll separately for each country or the GM could choose.

Here is what the World Generation Checklist would look like.

• Determine world occurrence (1D for 4, 5, 6 is standard). 
• Check system contents table for details of world. 
•     Check for gas giant. 
• Name world. 
• Generate universal planetary profile for world. 
• Planetary size: 2D-2. 
• Planetary atmosphere: 2D-7 +size. Ignore Tainted designation (unless GM has special circumstances in mind).  If planetary size is 0, the atmosphere must be 0. 
• Planetary hydrographics: 2D-7 +size. If planetary size is 0, then hydrographics must be 0; if atmosphere is 0. 1, or A+, then apply a DM of -4. 
• Population: 2D-2. No population if atmosphere 0-3, A+
• Government: Roll d6, 1-3 Balkanized. Roll D3+1 for # of major political units.  Governments can be roll for or determined by GM. If not balkanized 2D-7+population as usual.
• Law level : 2D-7+government. 
• Technological Level : 1D+DMs from tech level table. Ignore starport modifiers.  TL8 cap unless referee decides otherwise.
• Determine starport type. See tables below.
• Determine naval base as appropriate. 
• Determine scout base as appropriate.
• Decide if travel zone coded. 
• Establish communications routes.
• Note trade classifications based on universal planetary profile. 
• Note statistics for reference.

Here is the table to generate starport type for TL 7-8  I also included a table for TL 9-10 just for kicks.  In case the GM wanted a little randomness.

Spaceport Type			Spaceport Type
TL 7-8			TL 9-10
2	X		1	X
3	E		2	E
4-8	D		3-4	D
9-10	C		5-7	C
11-12	A/B		8-9	B
			10-12	A

These are just my initial thoughts.  I haven't tested these world generation rules yet.  When I do I will let you know how it went and and changes that I think need to be made.

How Piperesque? Warm Fuzzies Anyone?

Garnett Elliott* asked me a good question.  Am I going to include Fuzzies in my Space Viking inspired setting?  That me made take a close look at what I'm doing.  How close to the fiction do I want to adhere? 

I knew from the start I couldn't do a straight conversion.  To much history, background and differences from Traveller for me to want to do that.  At first I thought I would incorporate some of the planets, names and history into the setting.  But I need to decide how much to steal borrow.  Or do I just go for the vibe.

At this point I'm thinking I will just go for the feeling of Space Viking with a few bits and pieces built in.  Maybe a few key planets.  An alien race or two, like the Fuzzies.  Then again, it might be "inspired by".  I'll have to see how it goes as I work on it.  Because honestly I've been vacillating between the two on an almost daily basis.  And it will probably end up somewhere in between.

So, I guess I don't have an answer to G-Man's question yet. 

*Game/adventure designer extraordinaire and author you should read if you like your fiction hardboiled.

Traveller Setting Ideas and Parameters

I've been thinking about my Space Viking inspired Traveller setting.  Here are some preliminary notes.

• Space Viking vibe without trying to reproduce it specifically.

• Classic Traveller,  Books 1-3 (or the Traveller Book) plus Supplement 4 Citizens of the Imperium.

• TL 10 limit.  However, the old Terran Federation had a higher TL so artifacts might be found.

• Only a few planets have rediscovered interstellar flight.

• Terran Federation tore itself apart leading to the Long Night.

• Humancentric.  There may be aliens but they are low tech levels and have not discovered interstellar flight or spaceflight.

• The location of Terra has been lost.

• Few multi-planet polities. 

Other things to ponder:  

• Do I leave interstellar travel and jumps alone?

• Special resources for jumps?

• How big should the pocket empires/confederations be?  Two or three planets?  A few more?  There are apparently 12 Sword Worlds though I don't remember all of them being named in the book.  That seems like too many, at least for what I'm shooting for.

• Ship size.  CT using the first three books is a small ship universe.  However, the ships in Space Viking are huge.  A Space Viking ship (and all ships in the Piperverse) is spherical and could be 2000 feet in diameter and have a crew of 300 and carry 500 ground fighters.  Looking at High Guard and Fighting Ships, a ship with that crew size is something in the 30,000 to 50,000 ton range.  Much larger than I was thinking.  So, what do I do about that?  Ignore it?

Space Viking for Traveller

Many years ago I wrote a blog post about the novel Space Viking by H. Beam Piper and how I always wanted to play a Traveller game in that setting.  I wrote how complex the background was and how

some of the technology differed from Traveller so I had never done it.  Well, I still haven't done it but that hasn't stopped me from thinking about it.

Since I can't do a direct conversion and I don't want to use the Sword Worlds from the Third Imperium I've decided that I should create a setting has the feel of the book.  Namely, humanity is coming out of a Long Night after the collapse of a large star-spanning empire/federation.  Most planets have not regained spaceflight, let alone interstellar flight.  Those that have have only started to voyage outward and there is still much unknown about the remnants of the empire.  And some of the planets will have regressed pretty far technologically, as far back as preindustrial.

I've thought of this before but I didn't know how to pull this off when randomly creating the couple of subsectors I wanted to start with.  How do I keep the tech levels low enough for most of the worlds?  How do I ensure that there are two or three systems that have a high enough tech level but not too high?  The randomness of the subsector creation project would make it difficult..

So, the answer may seem obvious to you but, to be honest, I'm not very good at modifying game rules or even thinking my way out of the box created by the rulebooks.  I've always been this way for some reason.  I've never wanted to tamper with games because I don't want to mess them up.  I really can't explain why.  It's probably the same reason I have troubles writing in a fresh blank book.  I don't want to besmirch it with my lame thoughts and ideas.

However, I've been reading the blog Den of the Lizard King lately and I've drawn inspiration and practical advice from it.  Den of the Lizard King is the blog of Omer Golan-Joel.  He runs Stellagama games and has done a lot with Traveller and Cepheus.  One of the main things that has inspired me is his posts about low tech settings he has worked on called Hard Space and Harsh beginnings.  These really got me thinking about how I could apply what he was been writing to my desired setting.

Then I ran across one particular post which freed my mind up and gave me a practical method to create the subsectors I need.  The post is called "Hard Space: Thoughts on World Generation".  In it he discusses the population levels, government types and the law levels for each of the worlds.  And then he creates his own random tables customized to get the results to fit his setting.  This was a revelation to me.  I don't know why is was, other than me being slow and not very creative.

Then I re-read this in Book 3: 

Finally, the referee should always feel free to create worlds which have been deliberately (rather than randomly) generated.

Now, I believe I will be able to create the Traveller setting that I've always wanted.  Of course it won't be Space Viking but that's ok.  It will be something I can be happy creating and be close enough for my tastes. All I had to do was see an example of how to do it and  give myself permission to deviate from the book.

Hexgen

Mr. Raston over at the Lizard Man Diary Blog created an interesting little hex crawl.  What caught my interest is that he used an online map generator called Hexgen to create the map.  I always like map generators.  I haven't played with it much so I don't really know its capabilites.  The image is a randomly generated map without any modifications.  You can find it here:  Hexgen.

Sword & Sorcery Games

I own a lot of RPGs.  I mean a LOT.  It's a weakness with me.  Or an addiction.  But that's between me and any future therapist that I get.  Most of them are in PDF form.  I have a comb binding machine so if a like a game enough I print out a copy and bind it into a book myself.

My favorite genre of games is Sword & Sorcery.  (I think.  Because I like SF and post-apoc quite a bit too.)  I have quite a few but I've never compiled a list.  So that is what I am going to do here.  I'm bound to miss a few but I will add those later.  I think I have a somewhat narrow view/definition of what S&S is but I am going to list the games that the publishers advertise as S&S.  But it will also be tempered by my own judgement.

I will state up front, for those who don't know, my favorite S&S game is Barbarians of Lemuria.  It is a light, flexible game that can be played in many different S&S settings.  Not just the interesting one it comes with.  It fact, it has been used for different genres and eras as well and it has been turned into a generic pulp system with Everywhen.

Unfortunately, I haven't played all of them.  Or most of them.  And there are few I haven't read yet, too.  There are several I really want to try out but I actually have very little opportunity to play.

So, here we go:

1. Barbarians of Lemuria
2. Barbarians of Lemuria - Legends of Steel Edition
3. Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperboria
4. Barbarians & Basilisks
5. Barbaric!
6. Beasts & Barbarians: Savage Worlds
7. Black Sword Hack
8. Blades & Black Magic
9. Blood of Pangea
10. The Bloody-Handed Name of Bronze
11. The BoL Hack
12. Broadsword
13. Bronze
14. Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed
15. Crimson Blades
16. Crypts & Things
17. Forgotten Tales of Sword & Sorcery
18. GURPS Conan
19. Into the Bronze
20. Jaws of the Six Serpents
21. Lankhmar: City of Thieves (Savage Worlds)
22. Lankhmar: DCC
23. On Mighty Thew
24. One Dice Pulp (One of the "skins" is for sword & sorcery)
25. Red Mists: Swords Against Sorcery
26. Shadow, Sword and Spell
27. Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells
28. Stormbringer
29. Sword Noir
30. Sword of Cepheus
31. Swords Without Master (in Worlds Without Master #3)
32. Through the Sunken Lands
33. USR Sword & Sorcery
34. ZeFRS
35. ZeFRS - Cimmerian Quickstart

Edit:

Additional titles

    36. Swords Against the Shroud

#RPGaDAY2022 Oops

I didn't even meet my modest goals for RPGaDay2022.  So, I'll just give the rest of my answers in one post.

3. When were you first introduced to RPGs?

I was introduced to RPGs in the Fall of 1979 when I overheard some friends talking about a game at the bus stop.  I asked them if they were talking about D&D.  They weren't, they were talking about the Metagaming board game Melee.  But they did play D&D.  I bought Melee and then a short while later the Holmes Basic box. I was on my way.

7. System Sunday: Describe a cool part of a system that you love.

I really like the career system from Barbarians of Lemuria.  Instead of a list of skills a character has several careers from their past.  So whenever a character attempts a task, if it relates to one of his careers, he gets a bonus.  

The career system does a couple of things for the game simultaneously.  First it helps with genre emulation.  Barbarians of Lemuria is a sword & sorcery game.  Characters in the fiction often start out experienced and competent.  Having already had several careers shows this experience.  So, you were a farmer who became a mercenary that then turned pirate.  

Second, BoL is a rule-lite game and it helps speed up both character creation and game play.  During character creation you don't have to agonize over a list of skills trying to decide over which will serve you best during the game.  And during the game you don't have to remember which skills you have on your character sheet.  You need to tie a knot that will hold the weight of the treasure as you lower it down the cliff?  You were a pirate.  Pirates are sailors who have a lot of experience with knots.  You get the bonus.

Third, it gives the character an instant backstory.  Farmer, mercenary, pirate?  Our hero Kinlar was a simple farmer.  He tended his farm with his family, did his civic duty by participating in the town assembly and serving in the town militia and generally minded his own business.  Until the warlord Tyern destroyed the town, burned his farm and butchered his family.  With nothing left for him he took his meager skills as a militiaman and joined a mercenary outfit.  There he became a hardened soldier of fortune.  All the while his heart smoldered with the desire for vengeance against Tyern.  After several years as a mercenary his company was destroyed in an unsuccessful campaign and Kinlar fled for the coast after the battle.  There he was picked up by pirates.  They intended to sell him as a slave but his fighting skills soon earned him the pirate captain's respect and a place among the crew.  So, a quick and dirty backstory but easy to come up with.  It also provides a goal, hooks and complications that the GM can use.

These are the reasons I like the career system in BoL.  And to top it off, it is easily transferable to other genres using the system.

8. Who introduced you to RPGs?

School friends.

9. What is the 2nd RPG you bought?

It's hard to remember for sure but I believe it was Gamma World.  I remember reading Star Man's Son by Andre Norton and Hiero's Journey by Sterling Lanier not long after getting Holmes Basic and then seeing Gamma World.  I loved the post-apocalyptic worlds and wanted to play in something like them.

10. When did/will you start Gamemastering?

Immediately.  It was just me and a friend and someone had to do it.  I really started with Melee and Metagaming's solo adventures like Death Test.  But then it was me running games for my friend.

12. Why did you start RPGing?

It seemed like fun!  It WAS fun!

13. How would you change the way you started RPGing?

I wouldn't have jumped to AD&D so quickly.  It seemed expected at the time but I wish I hadn't.  And what I really wish is that I would not have dismissed Moldvay when it came out.  I only started exploring it when I got back into RPGs years later.  It and its derivatives are now my favorite versions of D&D.

16. What would be your perfect game?

Does it exist?  That's hard to say.  I really like Barbarians of Lemuria but it and its system isn't perfect.  But it's solid and adaptable.  I don't actually think there is a perfect game for me.  It would have to be anything and everything I want it to be all at once.

17. Past, Present, or Future? When is your favorite game set?

In the fantastical past.  In Lemuria.  My other favorite game is B/X.  B/X is pure fantasy.

19. Why has your favorite game stayed with you?

BoL.  Its ease of use and flexibility.  I really like the way that the character generation inspires my imagination.  And that it can work in many different settings.

21. Setting Sunday: Share an intriguing detail from a game setting you enjoy.

The setting for The Fantasy Trip: In the Labyrinth is the giant world of Cidri.  Cidri was created by the Mnoren.  This dimension traveling race imported people from across Earth at various times in the past as well as from fantasy worlds.  This allows GMs to create almost any historical or fantasy setting they want and mix and match as they please with a tech level up to early gunpowder equipment.

31. When did you first take part in #RPGaDAY?

The only other time I participated was 2015.