ftp.ee.pdx.edu/2014.02.ftp.ee.pdx.edu.tar/ftp.ee.pdx.edu/pub/frp/general/tekal.descr

Text File | 1993-07-08 | 13KB | 207 lines

     The following is a description of a planet, with some adventure ideas.
This description and the accompanying map is (C) 1993 by R. Russell Allbery.
Permission is granted to reproduce and use this description and the
accompanying map, provided that there is no charge for either over the cost
of reproduction and distribution.  The purpose of this notice is not to scare
anyone, just to establish that I came up with the planet and reserve my right
to use it in the future, if I chose to.
     The description is laid out in the format of an almanac entry.  It is
followed by notes and campaign ideas.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Tekal (tay-KAWL)

People
------
Population:    20,000 human; 3,500,000 Tekalian (est.).
Description:   Tekalites are completely humanoid and virtually
               indistinguishable from humans in appearance.  However, their
               internal organs are often in slightly different locations.  For
               example, the liver is higher in the chest, and the heart is
               shifted toward the center of the rib cage.  Tekalian average
               height is somewhat shorter than human average height, but they
               have, on the average, roughly 20% more strength due to the
               higher native gravity.  Their eyes also tend to be more
               sensitive to light and are somewhat larger.  Tekalian skin tones
               range from almost albino to medium brown.  Black-skinned people
               seem very strange to them.  Humans born in Hamilburg share the
               increased strength of the Tekalians.
Ethnic groups: Human: various.  Tekalian: Vendarkin 64%, Hambilk 30%,
               Mreklon 4%.
Languages:     Human: Galactic Standard.  Tekalian: Vendar, Hambili, Frong,
               over 50 more.
Tech level:    Human: [The same as your major galactic civilization in theory,
               however leading edge technology is generally not available];
               Tekalian: Pre-steel hunter-gatherer tribes [I think the
               Traveller TL is 2].

Physical Environment
--------------------
Location:      [Leave this out or include whatever coordinate system you use]
Star type:     K5.  Luminosity: 0.0800 [8% as bright as Sol].
Star System:   From the sun out: a hot, airless world; a heavy atmosphere
               world; Tekal; two cold, airless worlds; and a gas giant.
Moon:          Tekal has one moon at a mean distance of 174,004 miles
               (280,033 km).  The moon's diameter is 1,876 miles (3019 km).
               [This moon is somewhat smaller and closer than Earth's]
Atmosphere:     6%    Oxygen
               92%    Nitrogen
                2%    Water Vapor
Light level:   Average daytime light level is 24.6% that of Earth.
Air Pressure:  1.45 atmospheres at sea level at the equator
Gravity:       1.2 g
Temperature:   Planet-wide average 283 K (47 F); high 312 K (102 F); low 218 K
               (-67 F) excluding arctic zones [to convert from K to C, subtract
               273]
Axial tilt:    13 degrees to plane of ecliptic [Earth tilts at 23.5 degrees,
               so Tekal has less pronounced seasons than Earth]
Local time:    1 local day is 28.7 hours, 1 local year is 174 local days
               (208.19 standard days)
Orbital rad.:  0.57 AU mean [Tekal is closer to a cooler sun].
Topography:    Tekal is mostly oceanic with scattered islands.  Most of the
               islands are mountainous, with some high planes.  Four larger
               islands, especially the mostly flat Klivar, serve as centers of
               the native Tekalite population.  Many of the mountains are
               covered with scrup vegetation, and the flat land is almost
               entirely forest.  Tekalites have not reached the tech level
               necessary to begin large-scale farming, so there is very little
               cleared land.
Settlements:   One [insert major government] colony, Hamilburg, pop. 20,000
               human [or allied race] and 35,000 Tekalian.  Hamilburg is
               divided into two sections:  a human settlement on a high,
               defended plateau; and a Tekalite settlement in a plain below the
               plateau.

Government
----------
Type:          Hamilburg is a possession of Hamil Minerals, Inc.  The Tekalites
               are divided into nomadic tribal units.
Head of state: Hamilburg is managed by Vince Gregory.

Economy
-------
Industries:    N/A
Chief crops:   The small patches of crops grown by Tekalites are mostly a local
               wheat derivative with some fruit trees.
Minerals:      Tekal has a high concentration of radioactives including large
               quantities of uranium that attracted Hamil Minerals.
Resources:     Forests.
Starports:     Class D landing facilities near Hamilburg.

Health & Education
------------------
Life span:     89.2 human male, 96.5 human female, 39.6 Tekalite male, 42.1
               Tekalite female.
Pop. increase: 2.4% human, 5.1% Tekalite.
Infant mort.:  0.3 per 1,000 human, 96 per 1,000 Tekalite (est.)
Literacy:      Human 100%, Tekalite 5% (only clerics have any formal schooling)

History
-------
     Tekal was discovered by long range probe and named by Jorges Tekal in
2264.  It was explored in 2269 by the planetary survey ship Freerover, but was
passed over for colonization because of its high gravity and dense atmosphere.
However, in 2278, an expeditionary team for Hamil Minerals, Inc. discovered
large deposits of uranium.  A mining settlement was established immediately and
quickly grew in size to a stable population of 20,000.  The mines haven't come
close to running out, and mines have only been established on one island so
far, so Tekal appears to have a large amount of untapped potential.  Should
uranium substantially increase in value again, Hamil Minerals stands to make a
huge profit since they have established mining rights to the entire planet.
     The native inhabitants of the planet are the Tekalites.  They have only
reached a tech level of 3 and are currently in a hunter-gatherer economy, with
a large amount of warfare.  However, Hamil Minerals has been employing
Tekalites to help run the colony in return for giving the Tekalites certain
improvements in technology, such as forging techniques to make better plows and
equipment.  Hamilburg remains aloof from the Tekalite struggles because of the
well-defended position of the town.  The plateau is surrounded by electrified
fence to keep out both natives and animals, and a security force stops those
natives which manage to penetrate the fence.  Mostly, however, Hamilburg relies
on intimidation to prevent attack.  The natives living near Hamilburg are
frightened of the high technology, and rumors that the inhabitants of Hamilburg
are powerful wizards are encouraged by the Hamilburg government.  Because of
the extremely poor communications common to this low of a technology level,
many Tekalites have never heard of Hamilburg or know only rumors that are
generally not believed.  Technological help from the settlement is giving
Tekalites living near Hamilburg a definite advantage, and they are thinking
about conquering neighboring tribes.
     The uranium mines use somewhat outdated technology since it is easier to
maintain without a regular supply of replacement parts.  Older industrial
cutting lasers are used to cut out the ore, which is mostly rich pitchblende.
Although the ore is refined, no attempt to separate isotopes is made on Tekal;
the refined ore is shipped off planet as is.  Tekal is near the outside of
Alliance space, so supply vessels only arrive every six months, delivering
things not available locally and taking on uranium.  There is no facility
available for large starships, so landing vehicles make multiple runs to bring
the uranium up and take supplies down.

Notes
-----
     The technical details of this planet are from a shareware program called
World Generator 1.2 by Marcus L. Rowland; I'll upload this program to an ftp
site when I get the chance (probably ftp.cs.pdx.edu).  BTW, I would like to
register this program, but I'm not sure if Marcus is still at the address in
the documentation (the program was written in 1988).  If anyone knows, send
me e-mail.  It has very primitive graphics, but generates all the neat
numbers.  (If someone has a newer version, let me know before I waste time
uploading this one.)
     This world is an example of what will happen with an interstellar
civilization without a "Prime Directive."  In fact, Hamil Minerals is fairly
nice compared to what they could get away with.  They pay the Tekalites in
technology, giving the close tribes an advantage.  I put the local tech level
at pre-steel because I didn't want to have to deal with catapults, etc. that
could be a serious threat to Hamilburg.  As it is, Hamilburg is somewhat
vulnerable to a concerted attack by natives; the security forces do have hand
lasers (or whatever hand weapons you use), but can be overwhelmed by enough
people.  The main defense is intimidation.

Campaign Ideas
--------------
     My campaign is somewhat unusual.  It is basically a hi-tech, futuristic
campaign, but my players like hand-to-hand combat and martial arts, so I try
to throw in some low-tech adventures.  This planet is perfect for this.  Here
are a few ideas for campaigns; I'd love to hear what anyone else comes up
with.
     A (human) employee of Hamil Minerals steals one of the cutting lasers
used in mining, some hand lasers, and a hovercar and takes off for the other
side of the world to set himself up as a god.  The PCs could get involved for
several reasons.  First, although there is no "Prime Directive," there may be
laws against forming a government by using advanced technology, and the colony
is responsible for its employees.  Second, the colony could be dependent on
the laser to maintain its output.  If the colony output drops off, the governor
would be replaced, giving him an incentive to hire the PCs to retrieve the
laser quietly (he would probably be fired for letting this happen if the
company heard about it).  The PCs would not be able to use too much advanced
tech to track him down; the laser has no homing device in it and no one is
sure *exactly* where the thief is.  The PCs would have to land in the general
area and convince local natives to talk to them (the more tech they have, the
more intimidating they will be and the less likely anyone will talk to them).
The thief will try to stop the PCs from finding him, and will tell the
natives not to say anything.  When they get really close, the thief will throw
every convienient Tekalite at them.
     Local Tekalites have decided to take Hamilburg's technology by force
rather than working for it.  They have planned a major attack or a small group
of infiltrators to attack upper Hamilburg.  The PCs can either attempt to
defend the colony or attack it.  Large native attacks work best if the PCs
are defending; if the PCs are attacking the colony, they will probably prefer
to infiltrate it instead of attack it with a lot of other people.
     This planet is ready-made for a magic versus technology battle.  If the
natives have magical powers they have concealed from the humans (or the humans
discounted them as tricks or superstitions), a magical attack on the colony
will come as a big surprise.  Again the PCs can be on either side (or maybe
both sides at once...).  If you plan on trying this, you better have a
generic system; DND doesn't like blasters very much, and Traveler isn't big
on magic.
     Any other ideas?  I'd love to hear them.  Also, if you have any
criticisms, suggestions, etc. please post them or e-mail me.  Accompanying
this description is a .GIF map of the planet (441x202, 16 colors).  It is
very simple: I indicated mountains with dark grey, other land with mixed yellow
and green, and water with blue.  I didn't include rivers.  Hamilburg is
marked with a black dot and labeled, and the four major islands are also
labeled.  I am not a good map-maker; the map is intended to just give a basic
idea of the shape and size of the islands.

                                    Enjoy,

                                           R. Russell "Eagle" Allbery
                                           [e-mail]