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Tuesday, September 8, 2020

The Most Prized Republic of the Hatfieldling People (Traveller)

Inspiration can come at the oddest of times, which is why I am a big proponent of the Omnipresent Inspiration Hypothesis.  In this case, I had the idea for a planet in my version of the classic space opera RPG Traveller while watching Game Show Network with my grandmother.  In the universe I've built in my head for the setting, FTL travel is powered by sex and steered by storytelling.  All of the actual aliens (as opposed to the descendants of humanity's transhumanist and AI period) are drawn from the . . . questionable annals of real UFOlogy, and various forms of Spiritualism dominate the galaxy's religious landscape.  A secretive group of Men in Black known as the Company work to preserve the continuity of the human species, and set up a technocratic neo-feudalism built on the concept of subcontracting so they wouldn't have to govern.

Thank you, as always, to my patrons Darius, Ferny, Jaina Bee, Dave, Casey, and Todd.  They saw this post a week before anyone else did, and if that or the mere prospect of helping support my RPG streaming and writing efforts excites you, please become a patron on my Patreon.

(I use Wikipedia's Random Article link to name the many things I have to name when making an entire planet; I have provided links to the Wikipedia articles where useful, in case they might provide inspiration for the locations and people they named)

D435544-7 (barony)
System Nature:  Solo (Scimeca, K7 V/orange dwarf star)
Stellar Mass:  1.069x10³⁰ kg (0.5376 sol; 179,020.8 Earths)
Stellar Luminosity:  1.096x10²⁶ W, 1.8675x10²⁸ lm (0.498 Lₛₒₗ)
System Population:  355,791 Scimecan sophonts
Planets:  

  • Scimeca I, 0.2 AU (habitable zone):  Hatfield (described in this post)
  • Scimeca II, 0.4 AU (outer zone):  Nomia (C00027L-E, population 710, Unusual Custom: Conspiracy)
  • Scimeca III 0.7 AU (outer zone):  The Planetary Barony of Hausu (E64523L-3, population 381, Sexist, Barbaric)
  • Scimeca IV, 1 AU (outer zone):  Vidara, (X677000-0, population 0)
  • Scimeca V, 1.6 AU (outer zone):  Sprinters' Commonwealth, (D45021L-6, population 617, Deceptive)
  • Scimeca VI, 2.8 AU (outer zone):  Julian Priestley, (X331000-0, population 0)
  • Scimeca VII, 5.2 AU (outer zone):  The Planetary Barony of Morgan-Beavis, (D56044L-5, population 83,208, Fashion)
    • Morgan-Beavis Α:  Weatherby Belt (XR00000-0, population 0)
    • Morgan-Beavis Β:  Cover (X000000-0, population 0)
    • Morgan-Beavis Γ:  Stadium (X000000-0, population 0)
  • Scimeca VIII, 10 AU (outer zone):  The Baronet World of Goat's Rue (E63627L-6, population 171, Unusual Custom: Media, Unusual Custom: Technology)
  • Scimeca IX, 19.6 AU (outer zone):  Robenhymer (the marquesal seat, B76733L-B, population 7459, Unusual Customs: Eating)
  • Scimeca X, 38.8 AU (outer zone):  Beyond Counting (X54223L-0, population 703, Honourable, Barbaric)
    • Beyond Counting Α:  Ghost Moon (X000000-0, population 0)
    • Beyond Counting Β:  John Griffith (X000000-0, population 0)
    • Beyond Counting Γ:  Solariella (X100000-0, population 0)
Mean Radius:  3520 kilometers (0.553 Earth)
Approximate Surface Area:  156,000,000 square kilometers (0.306 Earth)
Planet Density:  4.632 g/cm³ (0.84 standard; molten core)
World Mass:  6.271x10²³ kg (0.105 standard)
World Gravity:  4.119 m/s² (0.42 g)
Orbital Period:  44 days 13 hours 20 minutes 33.018 seconds
Rotational Period:  15 hours 41 minutes 16.8 seconds
Axial Tilt:  31 degrees
Orbital Eccentricity:  0.015
Seismic Stress Factor:  6
Atmospheric Composition:  Standard nitrogen-oxygen mix (78.08% nitrogen; 20.95% oxygen; ~ 1% water vapor; 0.9340% argon; 0.0408% carbon dioxide; 0.00182% neon; 0.00052% helium; 0.00017% methane; 0.00011% krypton; 0.00006% hydrogen)
Surface Atmospheric Pressure:  16.212 kPa (0.16 atm)
Mean Surface Temperature:  22.757 degrees Celsius (72.963 degrees Faherenheit; 295.757 Kelvins)
Hydrographic Percentage:  47% (73,320,000 km²)
Hydrographic Composition:  Liquid water
Tectonic Plates:  1
Oceans:  Björnsea, Central Sea, Cursed Sea, FaceKoo Ocean (minor), Goodloe's Ocean (minor), Leptogaster Ocean (major), New Puran Appu Sea, Ocean of the Commerce Lions (minor), Oddbjørn Ocean (minor), Ondřej Holeček Sea, Pedersen Ocean (minor), Pinacosuchus Sea, Sea of Winter, Senhoro do Porto Sea, Serpent Eel Sea, Stop Look and Listen Sea, 9 hexes scattered lakes
Volcanoes:  Bolton (undersea in FaceKoo Ocean), Charlie Meara (undersea in FaceKoo Ocean), Colorado (undersea in Pedersen Ocean), Corson (undersea in Oddbjørn Ocean), The Dirty Picture (undersea in FaceKoo Ocean), Fairchild (undersea in the Ocean of the Commerce Lions), Mahmudabad (undersea in Goodloe's Ocean), Makkada (undersea in Oddbjørn Ocean), Malheiros (undersea in Goodloe's Ocean), Mirea (undersea in Oddbjørn Ocean), Mount Stefanov (continental), Nauryzbai (undersea in Goodloe's Ocean), Poekilocerus (undersea in the Ocean of the Commerce Lions), Pūluga (undersea in FaceKoo Ocean), Swiss Super Cup (undersea in Oddbjørn Ocean), Washing Well (undersea in Goodloe's Ocean), Wrestling with the Commonwealth (undersea in the Ocean of the Commerce Lions)
Terraforming:  Greenhouse (-10% greenhouse effect), hydrographic (-4% surface water), terrain
Weather Control?  No
Native Life?  No
Satellites:  
  • Hatfield Α, 21,120 km:  Wrecking Ball (X00024L-6, 1280 km, population 936, Nexus, Liberal)
Population: 261,606 Hatfieldling sophonts
Approximate Population Density: 0.00316 sophonts per km²; 316 km² per sophont
Exports:  Manufactured durables, natural compounds, processed metals, processed non-metals, recordings
Cities

Social Outlook:
  • Progressiveness:  Conservative attitude, indifferent action
  • Aggressiveness:  Expansionistic attitude, militant action
  • Extensiveness:  Discordant globally, aloof interstellarly
Cultural Differences:  Unusual Customs: Media
Local Customs:  Child named for first piece of technology invented or improved
Government:  Representative democracy
  • Representative Authority:  Tetracameral parliament with executive, judicial, and legislative authorities; all decisions must be approved by all four Assemblies, or duly empowered committees composed of members of all four
    • the Assembly of Mediums, composed of 5 caucuses of 5 religious authorities for a term of six years
    • the Peoples' Assembly, composed of 13 caucuses of 5 seats representing geographical districts of equal population for a term of two years
    • the Labor Assembly, composed of 13 caucuses of 4 seats, each held by a different trade union for a term of one year
    • the Vigilant Assembly, composed of 5 caucuses of 4 journalists for a term of four years
Known Factions or Revolutionary Groups:  
Uniformity of Law:  Personal
Law Level:
  • Overall:  4.2 (low)
  • Weapons:  4 (low)
  • Trade:  2 (very low)
  • Criminal Law: 7 (moderate)
  • Civil Law:  6 (low)
  • Personal Freedom:  2 (very low)
Technology Level:
  • High Common:  7 (Space Age/late 20th century)
  • Low Common:  7
  • Energy:  7 (solar energy, early fuel cells)
  • Computer/Robotics:  8 (Computer Age/early 21st century; massive parallel/low data, computer/2 bis)
  • Communications:  8 (fibre optics)
  • Medical:  8 (artificial organs, metabolics)
  • Environment:  8 (orbital settlements, early weather control)
  • Land Transport:  7 (hovercraft, high-speed trains)
  • Water Transport:  7 (hydrofoils, hovercraft)
  • Air Transport:  7 (supersonic jet, hang gliders)
  • Space Transport:  6 (Atomic Age/mid-20th century; early manned rockets, unmanned rockets)
  • Personal Military:  8 (RAM grenade launchers, early laser carbine, cloth armour, flak jacket)
  • Heavy Military:  8 (particle accelerators, target designated missiles, composite laminate armor)
Trade Codes:  Low Gravity, Non-Industrial

A strong thread of personal sovereignty runs through Hatfieldling culture.  The government's powers are strictly limited by personal ownership of land, and concerns itself mostly with punishing one citizen's transgressions against another and ensuring the freedom of its citizens.  This is a planet of endless stretches of land forming an eternal frontier attracting homesteaders of all types and thin air that leaves those unprepared gasping in desperation.

One out of sixteen Hatfieldlings lives alone, carving a home for themselves from the land around them, distilling industrially useful compounds from its surface, refining chemicals of many types therefrom, and tinkering with inventions aimed at a galactic market.  These homesteaders are famous throughout the Scimecan System for their eccentricities and irascibility.  They are the iconic inhabitants of the planet, with every Hatfieldling considering themselves cut from the same cloth, even those urban aesthetes from Prosectoides City, the (still not actually very large) capitol of the planet.

Scouts from the vastly more advanced planets of Nomia and Robenhymer will often spend a local year (approximately a standard month and a half) wandering Hatfield in search of new ideas for profitable products when sufficiently advanced technologically.

Hatfield maintains a military of about 34,000, of which about 5200 are in active service at any one time.  Any born citizen is required to serve for a period of two standard years (just shy of 9 local years), and Hatfieldling citizenship is easily acquired by offworlders, requiring only the purchase of a homestead and five standard years of military service.  The culture of the planet is one that glorifies the use of force thus embodied, replete with memes supporting the use of violence and force and the primacy of self-defense.  Hatfieldlings often posture abut the level of weaponry (or strength) they can bring to bear should a problem arise, and Hatfieldling social media often features such things prominently; this filters through into Hatfieldling foreign policy as well.  One slightly surprising result is that, despite the distrust between the native planetary government and the contract nobility of the Empire, Hatfield has been all too happy to contribute a large proportion of its military to the Marquis of Scimeca's service (and from there to serve the higher nobility) or even to the Baron of Hatfield, even in the midst of sometimes bitter conflict with these nobles (especially the latter).

The isolating individualism of Hatfieldling culture leads to inevitable and interminable disagreement between the planet's citizens, often spiced with extremes of passion and volume.  No one disagrees with a Hatfieldling like another Hatfieldling, but by the same token, no one agrees with one like another one, either.  Eccentric, inventive, and private as they are, the populace mistrusts change and difference.  Sure, Moisture Collector O'Shanahan a couple of miles down the road might be a damn fool, but he's traditional and that's vital.  This conservatism frustrates the popular desire to progress (though this is not a phenomenon easily visible to he average Hatfieldling), resulting in almost immeasurably slow evolution of culture and technology on the planet.  Offworlders are widely considered too strange to be trusted fully and wholly deserving of the sometimes-cold shoulder given them by natives.

Mass media provides the mechanism by which Hatfieldling culture builds a unity of culture, ensuring that the farflung pioneers of the planet are all drawing on a similar set of memes and ideas.  Craving that group identity without sacrificing their independence, it is not uncommon for Hatfieldlings to leave various media devices blaring at all times, whether televisual or audio, and a wide variety of rugged and self-powered devices are available to make certain that one can have entertainment present while working.  The most popular genre of show featured on these devices are game shows of many types, leveraging the deep-seated Hatfieldling competitiveness and independence to build an audience.

It is this very planetary obsession, and the conflict in the Hatfieldling mind between cultural conformity and prideful conflict, that has given rise to the oddnesses of the planet's governmental system.  Offworlders generally see a system almost mundane in its processes.  Tetracameral democratic systems are unusual, surely, but the idea that groups of politicians representing the citizens deliberate to determine how the society should act is far from odd.  The Four Assemblies share every power of government, which is a bit worrying, perhaps, but it is clear that the checks and balances in the system lie not in a separation of powers.  Tyranny is prevented by the varying constituencies of the Assemblies, instead.  Honestly, the strangest elements of the governemntal system in the eyes of offworlders are the rigorous division of each Assembly into 4- or 5-person caucuses.  Well, that and the lack of any sort of voting or elections.

Hatfieldlings don't trust politicians and their promises.  An irascible lot, anyone seeming to try too hard to be liked is immediately suspect in their mind.  There simply is no feasible or even possible mechanism to ensure that those promises are anything other than slick words intended to manipulate the heart and bypass the brain, and an electoral system only rewards those who seek victory, the fulfillment of their own desires, and the enactment of their own philosophies.  That last is the scariest idea to a culture so concerned with maintaining as homogenous a society as they can, as the lack of any way to assess whether those philosophies match those of the people electing a politician makes any idea of checks and balances a joke.

Assemblymembers on Hatfield are thus chosen by means of a game show.  The strict caucus system seen in the Assemblies is simply due to each of the four programmes featuring two teams of four or five candidates competing in each episode to progress through to sit on an Assembly.  The minimum age of these candidates is 15 standard years for unaltered humans (approximately 123 local years) or equivalent thereof, although every family must have at east one person who is 25 standard years or equivalent or older (approximately 205 local years).  As mentioned, there are four different shows, one featuring teams composed of people who all live in the same district, one featuring teams of people who do similar work, one in which only journalists compete, and one in which only religious professionals compete.  Each show works similarly, with a few very minor quirks here and there to differentiate them, and each feeds a different one of the Four Assemblies of Hatfield.

Throughout the year, every citizen of Hatfield is asked a total of eight questions, from which one answer feeds into the questions on the shows.  Each question they answer is asked to only 100 people (thus, there are a total of 20,928 different questions asked), and in a nod to the governance contract held by the Baron of Hatfield, the baron is allowed/charged with developing the list of questions (subject to approval by the Four Assemblies).  The discarded extra questions are intended as a block to politicians trying to game the system.  These survey questions occasionally concern important political, social, or economic issues, but most are inane, cultural, or humorous (e.g., "Name the hour that you get up on Sunday mornings.").  Occasionally, questions are posed only to certain demographics of Hatfieldling society, such as members of particular genders, races, marital statuses, etc.  By means of such seemingly minor surveys, candidates are tested on the depth of their knowledge of the overall mindset and worldview of Hatfieldling society.  The process, therefore, hopes to choose as winners and Assemblymembers only those people likely to vote the way most Hatfieldlings would vote if they could, a truer and more trustworthy candidate than could be chosen by an electorate.

Every round of the game, a certain number of these answers are concealed on the board, ranked by popularity.  Only answers said by at least two people can appear on the board.  A "face-off" question that serves as a toss-up between two opposing candidates begins each round.  The first candidate to buzz-in gives an answer; if it is the most popular, their team immediately wins the face-off.  Otherwise, the opponent responds and the teammember providing the higher-ranked answer wins.  Ties are broken in favor of the candidate who buzzes in first.  If neither candidate's answer is on the board, the other six or eight candidates have a chance to respond, one at a time from alternating sides, until an answer is revealed.  The team that wins the face-off may choose to play the question or pass control to their opponents.

The team with control of the question then tries to guess all of the remaining concealed answers, with each member giving one answer in sequence.  Giving an answer not on the board, or failing to respond within the allotted time, earns one strike, and three strikes give their opponents one chance to "steal" the points for the round by guessing any remaining concealed answer.  If they cannot, the points revert back to the team that originally had control.  If the opponents are given the opportunity to "steal" the points, then their team's captain gives their answer after the team confers with each other.  Any remaining concealed answers on the board that were not guessed are then revealed.

Answers are worth one point for every Hatfieldling citizen who gave them.  All revealed answers, including those given during the face-off but excluding the one used to steal (if applicable), contribute their points to the team that wins the round.  The number of answers on the board decreases from round to round. The first team to reach or surpass 400 points wins that match, gaining the chance to collect points which will determine if they will sit on the Assembly for the next term of service.

Those points are collected by two members of the winning team (representatives of the potential representatives, one might say) in a different format.  One candidate remains onstage with the host, while the other is sequestered backstage with headphones so that they cannot see or hear the first portion of the round.  The first candidate is asked five rapid-fire survey questions and has only 20 seconds in which to answer them. The clock begins to run only after the first question is asked, and the first candidate may pass on a question and return to it after all five have been asked, if time remains.  After the first candidate has either answered all five questions or run out of time, the board is cleared except for the total score, and the second candidate is then brought out to answer the same five questions.  The same rules are followed, but the time limit is extended by five seconds to 25; in addition, if the second candidate duplicates an answer given by the first, a buzzer sounds and they must give another answer.

The points earned in this last,special round are compared to every other winning team at the end of the season, and the top-scoring teams then go on to sit on the appropriate Assembly for the length of their term.  Should there be a tie which needs to be broken for the appropriate number of caucuses to be chosen, a special episode is (or episodes are, if necessary) aired with the same format, and the winning team of that episode gets the seats.  The Labor Assembly completely turns over all 42 of its seats (in 13 caucuses of four) every year, while every other Assembly staggers their available seats in order to ensure that there might be a season of their game show every year.  Thus, years alternate between six and seven five-seat caucuses of the 65-seat People's Assembly being available to be won, for example, as those seats have a term of two years.  The 20-seat Vigilant Assembly, which has a term of four years, turns over but a single four-seat caucus most years; every fourth year, two Vigilant caucuses are up for grabs.  Finally, the 25-seat Assembly of Mediums doesn't turn over any caucuses every sixth year, as it has only five five-seat caucuses and a six-year term.

There are no term limits, but no one can serve as an Assemblymember two terms in a row.  That restriction only applies to the individual Assemblies, however, allowing for the rare case of politicians serving consecutive terms in different Assemblies, with one famous individual managing to serve in all four Assemblies over the course of 13 standard years.

Any given Assembly decision requires a simple majority (50+1) to pass, with few exceptions, but at least two of the Assemblies must have achieved a two-thirds majority.  If that requirement isn't met, the bill or decision returns to the floor to be debated, rewritten, and voted on again.

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