All posts by BeRKA

P-O "BeRKA" Bergstedt is the Zhodani Ambassador. :-) BeRKA started the Zhodani Base in 1994.
IMTU, Model-1, Rules, Science, Traveller

Benford’s law, or why you shouldn’t use a D10 for generating some random numbers

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This applies to all games where you want to generate a random number to describe something. In many cases you cannot just use a D10 since Benford’s law says that the lower numbers will have a higher probability.

Benford's law
Benford’s law – Public domain

This law is usually true when applied to things that grow exponentially. Like the population modifier digit (the P in the PBG-number) in the extended UWP for Traveller. Why is it so? Here is an explanation! A shorter explanation is that to change the first digit from 1 to 2, the population needs to increase 100%. To change the first digit from 8 to 9 the population needs to increase 12%. This means that the population digit will stay longer at lower values and therefore the lower values will be more likely.

Something else that is interesting for Traveller, Benford’s law can also be applied on asteroid sizes, since these has been built up of smaller objects over time.

It can most likely be used for anything that is big and varied enough like the size of buildings, the size of villages or towns, the size of space ships etc…

If you use a D10 to get a first digit for something that should behave according to Benford’s law, you will create a statistical anomaly. Doing it for one, or a few planets doesn’t matter, but if you do it for the P in the PBG-number of a subsector or something larger the result you get will be very unlikely.

So stop using that D10 now! Write a simple program on your calculator or computer that calculates the first digit according to Benford’s law!

For those who still (for some reason) needs to use dice, here is a table with a distribution that is close enough to the Benford distribution using 2D6, like you should do in Traveller.

2D6 First Digit
2 1
3 7
4 5
5 3
6 1
7 2
8 1
9 4
10 6
11 8
12 9

Just for fun, test Benford’s law for a number of datasets. It works!

2300AD, Reviews, Rules, Traveller

Techbook: Chrome

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Classic Traveller is inspired by Science Fiction before cyber-technology started to appear (with a few exceptions) in Science Fiction. So, in Classic Traveller there are no rules for cybertech.

There was a short article series in JTAS #02, #03 and #04 that talked about the differences between robots, cyborgs, androids, etc. We had to wait until the book 2300 AD Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook for 2300AD before GDW produced any good rules for cybertech, But this was for another RPG and not for Traveller and only 13 pages of that book was about different types of cybertech.

Cybertech might not fit well (if it is common) in the OTU. But for an ATU that needs a more modern feel, rules for cybertech are needed. Terra/Sol Games has produced a book that fills the gap; Techbook: Chrome.

Techbook: ChromeChrome is a well-known cyberpunk term, known from William Gibson’s Burning Chrome. It’s clever title for this book.

The book is written by John D. Lees, who Michel Cross wrote about in an earlier post.

The contents in the book are just what you expect, and more. There are rules covering Cybernetic Replacements and Biologicals and Accessories and Cyborgs and Cyrgeware.

Cybernetic Replacements is just what you expect it is. Biologicals is the same but these replacement are grown from organic tissue. You can buy biological upgrades and combine it with the cybertech. This can make your setting really feel like Bladerunner.

The Accessories section of the book are about improvements or additions of the body to add a function that a normal person doesn’t have. These can be both Cybernetic and Biological additions.

The Cyborg section of the book is about cyborgs. A cyborg is defined as an individual whose brain (and possibly other organs) have been placed in a robotic shell. This section of the book discusses lots of aspects of being a cyborg, including braincase, “food” and combat.

The section called Cyrgeware is about the ability to be able to change something (a function or appearance) within your body.

Most of the illustrations in the book are in grayscale and are really good. There are a few in color but only one (showing a sexy cyborg) except the cover is worth mentioning.

An alternative for this book would be 2300 AD Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook for 2300AD or Supplement 8: Cybernetics from Mongoose. But in my opinion, Techbook: Chrome is more interesting. It would be very useful in an ATU where you want cybertech to be more prominent.

Science Fiction, Traveller

BeRKA is back

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BeRKA is back from Paris. What science fiction related things have I done there?

Paris

We visited Musée d’Orsay where we looked at Renoir paintings. Another Renoir painting, Luncheon of the Boating Party was significant in the Amélie film. We visited the café where Amélie worked. In the Valérian and Laureline comic book called On the False Earths the final panel is an homage to this painting. We also visited Centre Georges Pompidou which is a location in the Valérian and Laureline comic book called Brooklyn Station, Terminus Cosmos.

Luncheon of the Boating Party
Auguste Renoir: Luncheon of the Boating Party – Image from wikimedia.
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

I bought this rocket ship from the The Adventures of Tintin comic Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon.

Tintin rocket

Veronica and I visited Le Café de Paris. (This shouldn’t be confused with Café de Paris in Geneva that makes the famous sauce.) Jewel Staite (from Firefly) has also been here. You can see that in an image at her blog Happy Opu. Now I am Happy P-O.

Veronica

You can (if you know Swedish) read more about our visit to Paris at the berka.se blog.

Adventures, The Base, Traveller

The Zhodani Base 76 Patrons Writing Contest – 2013

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It is now time for The Zhodani Base 76 Patrons Writing Contest – 2013.

This years first prize is a $40 Gift Certificate at DriveThruRPG.
Second prize is a $20 Gift Certificate at DriveThruRPG.
Third prize is a $10 Gift Certificate at DriveThruRPG.

If you win you can buy lots of traveller goodies that you might have missed.

The style of the entries should be in the style of the patrons in CT Supplement 6, 76 Patrons.

Past winners are:

The contest starts now and ends 31 Aug 2013. Write as many entries as You like.

After the 31:st of August 2013, all entries will be posted on the Zhodani Base. The winner will be chosen by BeRKA.

By entering the contest You allow your entry to be posted at the Zhodani Base. All entries might also be posted in PDF format as a free down-loadable file at the Zhodani Base.

All entrants will be given credit for their work and will retain the copyright on their entries.

Some general guidelines:

1, Each entry should be less than 1000 words.

2, One image may be used in each entry. You must either own the rights to the image, or it must be used under some sort of free license. Wikimedia Commons is a good place to find an image that You can use. Please provide information about the image. (Is it Yours? If not, where have You found it? What license is used?) Note: You don’t need to use an image. You can also generate an image using the Pulp-o-Mizer or similar services.

3, Each patron should offer 6 options.

4, Each patron should be placed in the Foreven Sector. You may use the version of the Foreven Sector that can be found here at the Zhodani Base. (You don’t have to use this version.)

5, Please don’t force the PCs to sign up for (what they think are) illegal activities. It is better if they find that out later, or in some way are forced to take illegal action… 😈

6, Please use a spell checker! 🙄

Send Your entries by e-mail. Please use plain text format and attach the image, if You select to use one. Word files will not be accepted!

Everyone that sends me an entry will get a reply. If you have sent me something and not got a reply within a few days, then contact me again.

Please include a preferred nickname (that may be your real name) to show on the Zhodani Base. If You expect to win, include an e-mail address to send the first prize to.

Some help about Foreven Sector. (That you don’t have to use.)

Any rules you choose to use to design something for your patron is fine, even Mongoose Traveller rules, since the Zhodani Base has a Foreven Free Sector License.

76 Patrons Contest

Adventures, Aliens, Traveller

Dushis Khurisi and other interesting expansions of the OTU

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In the Traveller5 Book and in the Traveller5 CDROM we can read about a few interesting things that will expand the current “Charted Space” of the OTU to a galactic scale. There are a few hints that we can expect some epic adventures. If we look at the image of The GALAXY (p. 417 or in the CDROM) we can see many interesting things. In the map in the book these are called Scattered Hydrogen Societies. I have added these on the Milky Way map below.

MilkyWay Traveller5
Milky Way with information from Traveller5 added. Map from NASA. Public Domain.

From the top there is first Dushis Khurisi. Searching the interwebs I found it in Eaglestone’s Vilani Dictionary. The meaning is “poem“. This made me suspect that this was something from The Galaxiad. And there it is! Dashus Khurisi (slightly different spelling) is a Vilani Empire on the other side of the Galaxy.

In the Galaxiad Intro, the Abyssals, the Barren Worlds and the Essaray are also mentioned among many other interesting things. But there is no answer to what kind of Scattered Hydrogen Societies the SRAL and Denizens are. There are some notes about the Black Fleets that we remember from the Kickstarter Project (at the $ 25 level and above).

The first time I heard about the Barren Worlds was when Clifford Linehan was mapping the Zhodani Core Route. (His site is now offline.) He then discussed this with Marc Miller. That was 13 years ago. Marc must have been planning this a long time.