World and System design
I initially picked Cabrini because I wanted a medium TL world with a
standard atmosphere and a small population. I used the UWP for Cabrini
from Tom Bont's Astrogator program (identical to the *.WSB listing for
Cabrini used by Heaven &
Earth by Stuart W Ferris.)
The UWP for Cabrini is C365510-6. A small small population, world with
a standard atmosphere. Traveller (and GURPS) TL-6. Corporate
government, law light (as least as far as weapons are concerned.)
Agricultural and Non-Industrial.
Using H&E to generate world data I quickly found that getting an
icy rockball was pretty much in the cards. This was due to the
GURPS:First In rules used by H&E. Since my concept did not include
"linchen farmers of the tundra" I realized that I would have to tweak
the
design by hand. GT:FI permits this (both because the GM should be able
to make a world that fits more closely to his game concept than a
strict interpretation of the rules might allow, and because many UWPs
generated for canon violate the real world astrophysics the design
sequence GT:FI is based on.)
Now it became ugly. H&E does not let you tweak individual world
parameters (outside of the UWP.) No slam on H&E, it is simply not
designed to do this. The program is meant to
generate worlds in large numbers for Travelling PCs. At this it is very
good, giving the GM a tool with which to get sufficient detail for a
visit.
I needed extensive enough detail for an in depth creation, and I needed
it
to fit my
core concept of vacation world and company banana republic. So time to
rev up Excel and dig out GT:First In. I briefly considered working the
numbers by hand. I rejected this because, while GT:FI can be used with
just dice and paper to create a whole star system, the result would be
very much like that produced by H&E, more likely to produce a
freezing iceworld than an agricultural driven rich vacation spot. I
wanted to be able to tweak individual parameters in a way that would
let me optimize the design for my purposes without ignoring the rule
system entirely.
I started with a spreadsheet that I had originally created to design
the starport for Magash. This spreadsheet uses the formulas
from GURPS Traveller:Starports to create the starports and spaceports
of a world based upon the GT:SS rules in chapter 5. I then modified this
spreadsheet to include the design sequence in GURPS Traveller:First In
chapters 4 and 5. The spreadsheet is not a full design tool. I only
implimented those parameters I needed to complete the design of
Cabrini. While it should be usable for any world design within its
limits, the spreadsheet does not include design elements for companion
stars or moons. Nor does it carry the sequence much beyond step 17:
Overall Climate. For this reason I have not posted it. It is not
a complete enough tool to send to SJG for permission to distribute. I
would not be unwilling to send it to individuals if they contact me
through the TML. Perhaps someone with more time will be willing to turn
it into a more complete tool.
Once finished with the spreadsheet I saw that if Cabrini's sun was a
main seqeunce M9V there was little chance of the world being anything
but a iceball. Complex tweaking of all of the parameters convinced me
of one thing. Using the rules in GT:First In, which are based upon the
best actual scientific information avialable at the time the book was
published, ensures that M9V stars will have no worlds around them but
rocky iceballs and Gas Giants.
So I shifted gears. The Cabrini canonical system has three gas giants.
Suppose
one of them was a supergiant, almost a protostar, which produced enough
heat to keep Cabrini's temperature high enough for life? That would
mean that Cabrini could exist outside the life zone of the star, as a
GG moon, and still be warm enough. Such a supergiant would not be a
companion star, but it also would not be a place to go fuel dipping
either.
So in the end I ended up throwing out the design system. No doubt
someone else would have made a go of "Mushroom farmers of the Ice
Caves!" but I had a concept going in, of what I wanted to do.
