I've been playing around with my LBBs again, and rolling up some worlds.  If you're unfamiliar with "classic" Traveller, you roll up a planet at random, and each trait that you roll up has a modifying effect on the trait that follows.  Thus, the size of the planet affects the nature of the atmosphere, which in turn affects the amount of water on the planet, and the size of the population influences the type of government, which in turn influences the nature of local law enforcement.

Okay, so take a look at this planet:

   D78305A-7

I emboldened the zero for a good reason -- it means there's no population on the planet.  The "5" that follows it indicates a fuedal technocracy, followed in turn by an extremely strict law level.

Can you have a planet with zero population, and yet have a government type, law level, and tech level that are anything other than zero?  I've been looking through both Book 3 and Scouts for a ruling on the matter, but it appears that the dice allow it to happen, similar to how you can have water on a vacuum world (in the form of ice).

So what is this world?  An automated outpost?

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaI've been playing around with my LBBs again, and rolling up some worlds.  If you're unfamiliar with "classic" Traveller, you roll up a planet at random, and each trait that you roll up has a modifying effect on the trait that follows.  Thus, the size of the planet affects the nature of the atmosphere, which in turn affects the amount of water on the planet, and the size of the population influences the type of government, which in turn influences the nature of local law enforcement.

Okay, so take a look at this planet:

   D78305A-7

I emboldened the zero for a good reason -- it means there's no population on the planet.  The "5" that follows it indicates a fuedal technocracy, followed in turn by an extremely strict law level.

Can you have a planet with zero population, and yet have a government type, law level, and tech level that are anything other than zero?  I've been looking through both Book 3 and Scouts for a ruling on the matter, but it appears that the dice allow it to happen, similar to how you can have water on a vacuum world (in the form of ice).

So what is this world?  An automated outpost?

!i!

The world is currently a huge automated mining and metal processing center. The entire population is "on vacation" until the mining ends, some time in a century or so, when they will return. The mining company not only gives the "residents" a healthy income, but has guaranteed to return the planet to it's old state after it's done with the mining. Of course, mining concerns sometimes go out of business...

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceThe world is currently a huge automated mining and metal processing center. The entire population is "on vacation" until the mining ends, some time in a century or so, when they will return. The mining company not only gives the "residents" a healthy income, but has guaranteed to return the planet to it's old state after it's done with the mining. Of course, mining concerns sometimes go out of business...

-clash

Ooooh, I like that one.  Add a little detail like the the "vacation" that the workers are on is in cold berths and they will be unfrozen in a century or so, and you've go some interesting possibilities.  

Imagine going on a standard cargo run (routine replacement parts for the tiny maintenance staff) and finding an eerily empty colony, with thousands of workers in the deep freeze collecting paychecks.  Or maybe not...the feudal technocracy part of it may be that the frozen workers were forced to sign a contract of indenturement that promised them work after they were unfrozen at the end of the long journey to the colony thoughtfully provided by the company.  Only problem was that the fine print said that there was no time limit on the cold berth sleep, so it has turned out to be a *very* long journey, indeed...


TGA

The population convinced itself that they have proof of an afterlife and that everyone goes to heaven. They stopped having children to let the population age and construct a worldwide killing machine to kill everyone on the surface, in the most humane and complete way possible. They then committed mass suicide.

Oh, before they did that, they sent out invitations to the rest of the Imperium, the machines should still be operable for thousands of years.

The only law left leaves everyone alive in violation of it, and there is only one remediation. The machines run in what resembles a feudal technocracy.

There are vast treasures left just lying about, and it isn't a crime to help yourself to any of it. Still, be especially vigilant in avoiding local law enforcement.


Actually... I think I've just creeped myself out.

You know, I just recalled the ghost planet of Magrathea from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  The entire population of the planet placed themselves in a state of suspended animation in order to weather out a galactic recession until their technical services could be afforded again.  Merely approaching the planet triggers the automated defense system.

So, yeah, since the formula for calculating a planet's government is (2D6-7) + Population, and Population = 2D6-2, there's still a decent chance of rolling up the following results other than zero:

• Company/Corporation
• Participating Democracy (!)
• Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy (shouldn't be difficult with no one to challenge the status quo)
  
• Representative Democracy
• Feudal Technocracy

The only one that really makes immediate sense is the Company/Corporation (see clash's automated mining colony above). I keep looking for a rule that states something to the effect of "If the rolled population is equal to zero, government type, lawlevel, and tech level are all subsequently reduced to zero."  It's just not there, though.*

!i!

[*Edit:  I did just find an entry in Book 6: Scouts under the heading of "Subordinate Government" for planets and satellites other than the main world. "If there is no population, then government is 0."  Still, no such statement about the main world itself on the preceding page under the heading of "Main World Determination".  Funny.]

Quote from: darThe population convinced itself that they have proof of an afterlife and that everyone goes to heaven. They stopped having children to let the population age and construct a worldwide killing machine to kill everyone on the surface, in the most humane and complete way possible. They then committed mass suicide.

Oh, before they did that, they sent out invitations to the rest of the Imperium, the machines should still be operable for thousands of years.

The only law left leaves everyone alive in violation of it, and there is only one remediation. The machines run in what resembles a feudal technocracy.

There are vast treasures left just lying about, and it isn't a crime to help yourself to any of it. Still, be especially vigilant in avoiding local law enforcement.


Actually... I think I've just creeped myself out.

clash's & TGA's explanations are good, but this one is fantastic.  i think i'll put this world in something, just so i can use dar's idea.  add music from terminator as the adventurers start exploring the "abandoned" settlements. . . .

Ah.  Over on CotI, beeber broached this issue, and I was reminded (and I don't know why I needed to be -- it's right there in the book) that population is reported as an exponent of 10.  Thus...

Pop 0 = 0 to 9 people
Pop 1 = 10 to 99 people
Pop 2 = 100 to 999
Pop 3 = 1000 to 9,999
...and so forth...

So the feudal technocracy in question (government type 5) could be comprised of as little as a journeyman technician and his master-grade supervisor who lords over him with an iron fist.

!i!

You need only look to Star Trek for this answer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gamesters_of_Triskelion

Ian brings up an important clarification.

Also, the UPP was sometimes kind of loose in the source material.  That is, the   Scout service, as a branch of the Imperium, sometimes fudged the data, or had been given false data, or recorded a planet's info in a specific way that makes sense to a bureaucratic institution.

For example, when I first read the data, I imagined a colony controlled by a corporation that collected scientific geniuses from across the Spinward Marches.  Each one had been convicted of crimes that had cost them their citizenship (whether the charges were trumped or true).  The corporation basically "bought" out the jail time of the prisoners and gathered them to do research.

The only citizens on the planet are the Corp's reps.  There might be up to 5,000 "prisoners" -- but they don't show up on census data.  Hence the low numbers.

CK

Wait.  Christopher Kubasik...?

I thought I recognised this name.  Hmm, or maybe this one.  Then again, maybe it's this one after all.

I rather like the notion of a "Dirty Dozen" or "Kelly's Heroes" of the scientific and corporate world.

!i!

Quote from: beeberclash's & TGA's explanations are good, but this one is fantastic.  i think i'll put this world in something, just so i can use dar's idea.  add music from terminator as the adventurers start exploring the "abandoned" settlements. . . .

The idea of a whole society committing suicide because they found proof of an after life is borrowed from Larry Niven, just sos you know.

Quote from: darThe idea of a whole society committing suicide because they found proof of an after life is borrowed from Larry Niven, just sos you know.

cool, thanks!  which tale?  i've only read a couple of his works.

It was elsewhere of coarse, but I read in his 'Draco Tavern'. I think it was the 'Death Addict'.

Ian,

I had a world come up like that... how many years ago? These aren't grey hairs, are they? And it was an A class starport as well! I decided the population had been killed by a virulent plague. An automated caretaker service, looked in on every so often by the Navy and Scouts, kept the place from being looted until nearby authorities could find a way to decontaminate the place. This, of course, didn't stop my players from trying to loot it. They were, however, creeped out by my description of the vast, empty staport terminal. Robots quietly glided about, cleaning, doing routine maintenace. I was inspired by Ray Bradbury's story in "The Martian Chronicles" about the automated house left standing after the nuclear war. But afterwards, I always regarded population 0 as 0-9 people.

Miranda in Serenity was eerily reminiscent.