Actually, upon mulling things over with the aid of a cup of coffee, I'm warming to the idea of a tide-locked world. I still agree with hgjs that the chief cause of the problems should be human, but I can't deny that the perpetual twilight gloom of a tide-locked world would fit very nicely with that 40k necromunda-like feel.

In terms of tech, I'll reluctantly go with Low. There's a lot of stuff in there that feels a bit too high-tech for my liking, and in terms of customization I'd be in favour of dropping nano-tech and grav-tech, but I do want spacecraft and I definitely want the Hammer and Spacefarer settings to be native.

My preference is for low index or high index.

If we go the latter, I'd prefer there to be great disparity in the distribution of technology.  So the ruling class can have their force-field doors and personal anti-grav devices to carry their bloated bodies, while the rest of the population still looks low-index.

As for the tidal lock thing, if it is the fault of human beings, I would prefer that it be something ongoing rather than a one-time event in the distant past (like the suggestion that Pseudoephedrine removed from his post), with a conspiracy to cover it up.

EDIT: Removed ridiculous shit.

Hm. If everyone is coming around to the tidal locked world, I'm game for it. We just need a good reason that the humans have tide locked their world.

If we decide to drop grav-tech, there might be a good colour explanation somewhere in there. Maybe a gravity experiment gone wrong has stopped the world spinning, leading the authorities to ban further research into it?

I'd be fine with giving up nanotech.

I would prefer not to drop grav-tech.  Grav sleds are cool.  Civilizations with faster-than-light spacetravel using helicopers isn't.  I'm indifferent to nanotech.

EDIT: Also, I like my space ships with artificial gravity.

Good point. Though we could always have Babylon 5-style rotating ships.

So, we keep grav-tech, but get rid of nano-tech? If we keep grav-tech, we can always keep it in the background - nothing too nuts - if everyone agrees.

That seems a fair compromise. Personally, so long as one has reactionless thrusters, I don't see what grav-tech adds. You can still have vertols, star-fighters, and flying cars, only you have to actually fly into orbit, rather than zoom straight up and out. Hell, Aliens manages fine without grav-tech, and it has cool dropships and battleships. As for artificial gravity, well, that's a matter of taste. I quite like rotating centrifuges and ships built so that the front is up, relying on thrust to provide the equivalent of gravity. And I must admit, I can't stand contragrav belts etc.

That said, if others want it, I can wear it.

As a compromise, how does allowing grav-tech only as colour technology, not as hard technology sound? Or would folks prefer it vice-versa, or without any particular decision at all, but just kind of a fuzzy consensus that we won't go hog-wild with it?

Werekoala> Hard technology is technology that affects rolls, colour technology is just neat trappings you can use in scenes that doesn't affect rolls.

I'd sort of rather go with a variant of hgjs' suggestion for High Index, only for Low Index instead. That is, say that grav-tech does exist, but is expensive and rare, so available only to the wealthy elite. Maybe the world has even lost the capability to build it, meaning that what is left is highly prized and fought over. That way you can have a few shiny grav-ships floating around, but the majority are still the old clunky centrifuge ships etc. The same would go for flying cars on the planet - maybe a smattering of sleek gravsleds, and a bunch of Bladerunner style flying cars that use jets and thrusters. Though I'd really really prefer to avoid personal grav-tech if at all possible.

Sounds good.

That actually leads into the next question, if we're not racing too far ahead too fast (everyone feel free to chime in on questions we've passed):

Dominant government

I'll write it up tomorrow though. It's time for bed right now.

Re: Tidal locked. I'm all for humanity fucking up the world as well and this could easily be included. The habitable zone of the planet would be quite narrow and generations of humans have been dumping waste in the cold/hot zones without thought for the consequence but in fact it has lead to a degeneration of the habitable zone as well. Dumping radioactive material has caused ice to melt in the cold zone for instance leading to high rad floodlands and toxic seas is one idea? It was more I wanted something exotic/alien for partial-life supporting environment and think we could combine them.

My preference is for low index. Firstly although there are only 4 bands the implication is that they are gradients within them, so we could be at the higher end of low index, so it would be realistic that as the movers and shakers in the world we could presumably have access to higher index tech - it just causes increased difficulties in the resources rolls and needs general agreement around the table?

Also in later stages of world burning we get to decide on regulation of services/production and if there are any techs we want banned or restricted then this could be done then, even if it leads to wierd combos. So nano-tech could be totally proscribed, only available to the elite or only used within certain narrow industries where it is totally necessary. The distinction in the book seems more about the general availability and infrastructure of the world.

Finally I agree with Pseudoephedrine that the low index world fits more with the dystopian/polluted society that we all seem to be pushing for.

Quote from: PseudoephedrineSounds good.

That actually leads into the next question, if we're not racing too far ahead too fast (everyone feel free to chime in on questions we've passed):

Dominant government

I'll write it up tomorrow though. It's time for bed right now.

If you don't mind, Pseudoephedrine, I'll try my hand at a summary.  I'll try to keep my editorializing clearly separated from the description.

Civilian Commune
Imperial Stewardship
Lawless or Anarchic
Merchant League
Military Dictatorship
Noble Fief
Theocracy

Civilian Communes are either representative governments or direct democracies, founded on the principle that legitimacy comes from the consent of the governed.  This is a rare form of government in the Iron Empires.  This government makes the Commune setting native.  (Sample lifepaths: law enforcement, judge, media, legislative official.)

Imperial Stewardships are governed by a Lord Steward and his ministers.  The source of the Steward's legitimacy is the Emperor who appointed him.  Below the Steward and his ministers, lords-pilot and courtiers maneuver for influence.  This form of government is often seen in the eight empires.  The Stewardship and Court setting becomes native.  (Sample lifepaths: Bureaucrat, Lord-Pilot Anvil, Courtier, Lord Steward.)

Lawless or Anarchic planets are "hives of free thinkers, smugglers, travelers, and traders."  They "advocate social relations based upon voluntary association of autonomous individuals."  This makes the Spacefarer setting native.  (Sample lifepaths: ship rigger, pilot, doctor, owner-aboard.)

Merchant leagues are run by a board of stockholders.  Properly called a trade commune, a planet achieves this status by buying a charter of freedom and trade from the Imperial Bureaucracy.  Usually their charters don't grant them the rights normally reserved for Peers of the the Anvil and Hammer to raise armies and war-fleets.  The Merchant League setting becomes native.  (Sample lifepaths: accounant, merchant, banker, chief executive.)

Military Dictatorships are worlds outside of Imperial rule that have been seized by warlords.  The Anvil and Hammer settings become native to the planet.  (Sample lifepaths: sergeant, armorer, propagandist, anvil captain; turret crew, hammer engineer, Lord-Pilot Hammer, hammer captain.)

If the Dominant Government of a planet is Noble Fief, this could mean that either the entire planet is divided into hereditary fiefs, or just key parts of it.  These fiefs are based around the right and obligation to raise armies.  Some of these planets have been ruled in such a fashion since before the rise and fracture of the Empire.  This makes the Noblility setting native, and automatically adds Slaves and Serfs to the list of planetary factions [which we'll be getting to later].  (Sample lifepaths: Armiger, Lord-Pilot Anvil, Lord-Pilot Hammer, Lady, Forged Lord.)

Theocracies are exactly what they sound like.  The planet's ruler answers to the larger galactic religious hierarchy.  This makes the Theocracy setting native.  (Sample lifepaths: student, sodalis [church soldier], inquisitor, Cotar Arderes [head of the galactic church].)

My thoughts:
I can see pretty much any of these working except Civilian Commune and Lawless or Anarchic.  (The latter may serve well to describe the orbiting stations, but not so much the planet.)  I don't have a clear reason for choosing one over another, but based on my vague feelings this is how I'll order my preferences:

1. Imperial Stewardship (WH40K)
2. Merchant League (I feel the theme of industrial desolation works well with the planet being ruled by a corporation)
3. Noble Fief
4. Theocracy (very WH40K, but for some reason I'm just not feeling it)

While mourning the loss of the anarchic trading port, I agree that anarchism probably won't fit with the industrial world. For that matter, I'm starting to reassess the whole pirates, space stations and space miners thing - the reality is that the focus is always going to be on the world, and including those elements may just lead to confusion and incongruity. I really don't see how a pirate lord is going to fit with that world except at the periphery. In my opinion, it's usually best to keep things simple and focused, so it might be better to jettison the extraneous elements.

So, going with industrial world, I'd opt for either Merchant League (for that corporate feel), or maybe Military Dictatorship (for a more Stalinist flavour). I'm not so keen on Imperial Stewardship or Noble Fief, since I find the idea of a local nobility rather jarring with my image of the world.

I'd go for Imperial Stewardship or noble fief as that seems to lend itself to the WH40k feel thats being mentioned. Its not made really clear in the book whether the Dunedin have an emperor. This bit suggests more of an Overlord. In the game the differences between the two would seem fairly small but having an Imperial Steward would suggest possible stories of conflict around the consequences of being ruled by a power from outside the system.

Given that the Dunedin are crusader types, how about the world has been recently (within the last 150 years) taken from the Darikahn empire to the south but the Steward's power is limited in practice because the Overlord's power is itself limited. Perhaps there are competing crusader camps plus remnants of those loyal to the Darikhan empire and those who simply lost out as well as all those anarchic/merchant space stations. With 6(?) choices of factions for the next step there is lots of room for that sort of thing.

The Dunedin are supposed to be very religous anyway, so most of these factions and government will be hand in glove with the church.

So my top three would be

1) Stewardship
2) Noble Fief
3) Merchant League

Edit: I'm quite taken with the idea of the world being recently taken over and all the conflict that would breed, and I think that concept could work with any form of government. A Merchant League could have received its charter from the Dunedin in exchange for guranteeing military or industrial products

Quote from: Illegible SmudgeI'm starting to reassess the whole pirates, space stations and space miners thing - the reality is that the focus is always going to be on the world, and including those elements may just lead to confusion and incongruity. I really don't see how a pirate lord is going to fit with that world except at the periphery. In my opinion, it's usually best to keep things simple and focused, so it might be better to jettison the extraneous elements.

I don't agree. I would like starpilots to be part of the game, and space stations and/or pirates facilitate that.