Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Traveller Tuesday: Planetary Habitability Codes

Are you a Trekkie? Do you wish you had the opportunity to say "Class M planet" in a game of Traveller?  Well, now you can.


By cross-referencing Traveller's Universal World Profile definitions with Star Trek's Planetary Classifcation definitions, we arrive at this handy Venn Intersection of science-fiction geekery.

Please note that these are approximations; Star Trek's system isn't as granular as Traveller's UWP.


Class A, B, C
  • Different only in how the planet is heated
    • Class A is geothermal (heated internally)
    • Class B is geomorteus (heated by a star)
    • Class C is geoinactive (frozen)
  • Size:1-6
  • Atmospheres: 0-3
  • Hydrographics: 0-1 

Class D
  • Planetoids
  • Size:0-1
  • Atmospheres: 0
  • Hydrographics: 0

Class E, F, G
  • Highly volcanic
    • Class E is geoplastic: the entire surface is molten
    • Class F is geometallic: the surface has cooled somewhat with significant metal deposits
    • Class G is geocrystalline: volcanic eruptions have mostly stopped and the surface is beginning to metamorphose into traditional rock
  • Size:6-9
  • Atmospheres: 9-12
  • Hydrographics: any

Class H
  • Desert
  • Size: 5-9
  • Atmospheres: 9-13
  • Hydrographics: 0-1

Class I
  • Large Gas Giants

Class J
  • Small Gas Giants

Class K
  • Uninhabitable without technology
  • Size: 3-6
  • Atmospheres: 0-10, but always tainted or exotic
  • Hydrographics: 0-1

Class L
  • Marginally habitable
  • Size: 6-9
  • Atmospheres: 4-9, tainted
  • Hydrographics: any

Class M
  • Terrestrial
  • Size: 6-9
  • Atmospheres: 5-9 (taint is likely to be from industrial pollution)
  • Hydrographics: any

Class N
  • Terrestrial, with reducing (hostile) atmospheres
  • Size: 6-9
  • Atmospheres: 5-12
  • Hydrographics: any

Class O, P
  • Water worlds; main difference is that class O is pelagic and class P is glaciated
  • Size: 6-9
  • Atmospheres: 5-9
  • Hydrographics: 8-10

Class Q, R
  • a.k.a "questionable" or "random", i.e. "WTF? This makes no sense. I blame the Ancients."
  • Size: 3-9
  • Atmospheres: 1-10
  • Hydrographics: any

Class S, T
  • Supermassive Gas Giants 

Class U, V, W (unofficial)
  • Artificially constructed habitats
    • Class U: hollowed-out asteroid
    • Class V: Ringworld
    • Class W: Dyson Sphere

Class X, Y, Z 
  • a.k.a. "hellworlds" or "demon planets"
  • Size: 6-9
  • Atmospheres: 10-15
  • Hydrographics: any, but rarely H20

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