Editing Stars Without Number: Back in Black (section)

=== Tyson Strange ===

0. The star is a yellow dwarf, very much like the Sol that Lost Terra orbited once upon a time.

1. The first orbital body is a thick nebular ring.

2. The second orbital body is a thick ice field.

3. The third orbital body is a small, stony dwarf planet.

4. The fourth orbital body is a very Earthlike world, but largely aquatic. You think there are only two smallish continents, on opposite sides of the planet from each other. There is a mix of radio signals from this world. Low-tech broadcasts, too muddled to get much from this far out.

5. The fifth planet out is also habitable. Chilly, probably, but you can tell the atmosphere is a breathable mix, and it's covered in vegetation. You can't detect any signs of inhabitation, though.

6. The sixth and seventh planets out are both very small gas giants, with gravity slightly less than 1g. The sixth one is almost pure hydrogen. Your fuel scoops could refuel in only half the time, or two days.

*The fourth planet has three moons. Two are rather small, the third one is close to as big as lost Luna. That last one has a LOT of wrecked starships on the dark side.
*You can spot the nuclear bomb sites pretty easily from orbit. There are a couple scattered islands around the southern continent that were used for tests. There are at least two cities in the interior of the continent that were nuked in anger. As of right now, though, you don't see any large mobilizations and would say that the planet is at peace.
*The continent has a pretty good number of coastal cities and interior cities. There are still broad swaths of back country, but it's definitely been settled for a while. You don't see much sea traffic more than sixty miles from the coast, though.
*The northern continent is pretty much completely unsettled. There are a few shacks and cabins near the coast, but you don't see any signs of serious occupation.
*Your impression of the local tech level was generally correct. Lots of counterculture radio broadcasts, not much from the establishment. Looking down, you can see a weak highway system and a well-developed rail system.
*You think the place is actually kind of metal-poor. There are a lot of minerals that they might not have enough of to really bootstrap themselves up past their current tech level. The mineral deposits at the northern continent are much richer and more accessible (it's a very mountainous region) but those aren't being exploited.
*You can make some kind of educated guesses at national boundaries, but you don't have enough data yet to make that information useful. The continent seems (broadly) to be divided up into four quadrants, with some kind of major interconnection in the rough center. There's heavy rail traffic, highway access, and some river access. It's not the most geographically convenient spot imaginable, though, so it's a bit curious as to why it would be placed there, other than the fact that it's the center of the continent...

[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?717974-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-II-Space-Oddity&p=17684485#post17684485 Salvage] on largest moon of fourth planet - The aren't even what you'd call hulks, anymore. They were cut apart or in some cases actually wrecked on the moon. There were definitely cruisers among them, but you don't see evidence of capital ships.

You can get 2d4x1000 tons of salvage...nice roll. There are 7,000 tons of salvage there. There is an even greater quantity of scrap, let's say ten times as much. Salvage is as per the rules I've given for salvage. Scrap is basically hull plating and stuff, it's equivalent to "Metal Ingots, Common" on the trade tables. (Notice that common metal ingots are 1,000 per unit, but they're Bulky, which means a unit is ten tons. Since salvage is 1d4x100 per ton, this means that the average load of salvage is worth 2.5 times the equivalent tonnage of scrap.)

==== Details on Thalassa ====

[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?709157-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-II-Welcome-to-the-Jungle&p=17726111#post17726111 Link to post] describing the different countries on Thalassa's main continent.

[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?709157-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-II-Welcome-to-the-Jungle&p=17732844#post17732844 Link to post] with details on the Church.

[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?717974-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-II-Space-Oddity&p=17921455#post17921455 Link to post] with details on the comparative military strength of the countries.

[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?717974-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-II-Space-Oddity&p=17933465#post17933465 Link to post] with details on unique Thalassan item: Bone-Jewel.

[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?717974-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-II-Space-Oddity&p=17932979#post17932979 Link to post] with details on the Thalassan graduate students.

Students with space flight experience:
*Inigo - 1 flight
*Amari - 1 flight

==== Thalassa exchange rates ====

For purposes of this campaign, we're going to say that one unit of Trade Metals breaks up into ten "coins," which might be a great big krugerrand, a couple little ones, a big gem, or a few smaller ones, etc. Saul is offering you 2,500 in local currency (Lucre) per unit of trade metals. You can alternately think of this as 250 lucre per "coin."

At this point, you've had enough of an opportunity to examine prices for goods in the local economy. For purposes of convenience, we're going to say that objects have a cost in lucre equivalent to modern-day real-world dollars. Items which are made primarily of metal cost 150% more, and may have shortcuts taken to reduce their metal content.

And, of course, it's 1950s technology. So, you can buy a good refrigerator for 1,000 lucre (that's about what I get when I google "refrigerator"), but it's going to be a nice refrigerator from the 1950s, not a nice refrigerator from 2014 Home Depot.

He can move four units of trade metals per week, or 40 coins. That's 10,000 lucre. If you continue to do business with him, the amount he can move per week will increase.

He's guaranteeing you get clean local currency, and that it won't be traced back to you.

==== Goods left on Thalassa ====

*4 units industrial tools to build spaceport.
*40 tons of material/equipment needed to build spaceport.

==== Thalassan Defense Force ====

[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?724403-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-III-Lost-in-Space&p=18127005#post18127005 Three Scarab-class frigates]

==== Thalassan national militaries ====

[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?734598-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-IV-Big-Trouble-on-Planet-Pleasantville&p=18241645#post18241645 Thalassan national militaries]

==== Duchy of Dreswen ====

Sector 16.32 and the six immediately surrounding hexes. [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?724403-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-III-Lost-in-Space&p=18137671#post18137671 Queen Valentin's grant], [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?724403-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-III-Lost-in-Space&p=18142710#post18142710 further delineation of the Duchy]

==== Nuclear Inhibition Field Projector (NIFP) distribution ====

* 1 for our spaceport
* 1 for the Holy City
* 2 for Kadak (one in capital city, other at their discretion)
* 2 for Chowald
* 1 for Jeriat
* 1 for Acacia

==== Thalassan Trade Goods ====

* bone jewels (Compact, Mineral, Luxury, 1 unit = 1/10th ton, 25k credits base price)
* [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?734598-Stars-Without-Number-Volume-IV-Big-Trouble-on-Planet-Pleasantville&p=18273941#post18273941 Tlalix alcohol] (Fine Liqueur trade good)