Trade classification
The Trade Classifications or TC's of a world are a rough socio-economic approximation of a world's sociographic interest to an interstellar Traveller.
- Within each UWP is a remarks section, used to record various information that might be of interest. Its main use, however, is to record Trade classification codes for the use of merchants and other traders.
- Not all world descriptions have trade classifications and/or remarks, some have many of each.
- The trade classification data is only as good as the source. Prospective merchants should be aware that trade classification data may change or be incorrect.
Description (Specifications)
Trade Classifications are used in determining the purchase/sale price of goods.
- The area in the UWP for the trade classifications (which are usually abbreviated to two letters) is also used for additional remarks.
Sample Trade Code (TC) Sequence/s
TC Sequences are a newer astrographic convention and have not been fully regularized by the IISS yet.
UWP Typical TC Format Key [Ag Ni Ga / An Tp / Huma3 Varg7 / O:8511] Sequence 1 (Primary TC's)
Sequence 2 (Secondary TC's)
Sequence 3 (Demographics)
Sequence 4 (O-C Nature)
Remarks Ag Ga Ni An Tp Huma3 Varg7 O:8511 A mainworld may have all or none of the sequences. - None is represented by a dash "-".
Agricultural, nonindustrial garden world. - Seq-1 represents primary or common trade codes: economic, planetary, population, etc.
A temperate climate world with an ancients site. - Seq-2 represents uncommon tags like climate, zones, politics, or other special features.
30% human & 70% vargr population. - Seq-3 represents sophont demographics. The default is HumaW or 100% human.
- Insignificant percentages of other sophonts.
- Should equal 100%.
This world is occupied from world 8511 within the same sector. - Seq-4 represents political relationships, usually of subjugation.
- Every "C" has one or more "O" counterparts.
- A world with coordinates of 8511 is impossible. It's just an example.
This example does not come from any actual world within Charted Space. - It is possible for a world to have many colonies.
- "O" worlds are worlds that are occupied from a mother world. It is only possible to be occupied by one world at a time under normal conditions.
- "C" worlds have colonies on other worlds. Worlds that start colonies may have any number of colonies. In fact, some high population worlds within Charted Space have five, six, or more colonies.
Trade Classification Codes
Trade classifications are divided into seven categories:
- Economic (primary code)
- Planetary (primary code)
- Population (primary code)
- Climate (secondary code)
- Political (secondary code)
- Secondary (secondary code)
- Special (secondary code)
Trade Classification Codes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Class | Code | Type | Remarks | Market (Exports) | Market (Imports) |
Cold World | (Co) | Climate | A world with a climate at the lower end of survivability for most sophonts. | n/a | n/a |
Frozen World | (Fr) | Climate | A world with a climate beyond the lower end of survivability. | n/a | n/a |
Hot World | (Ho) | Climate | A world with a climate at the upper end of survivability for most sophonts. | n/a | n/a |
Tropic World | (Tr) | Climate | A world with a warmer than average climate but is also considered habitable. | n/a | n/a |
Tundra World | (Tu) | Climate | A world with a colder than average climate but is also considered habitable. | n/a | n/a |
Non-agricultural World | (Na) | Economic | Non-agricultural worlds are not able to produce quality foodstuffs and must import them. | Non-agricultural Worlds are good sources for Asteroid Belts, and Nonagricultural, Desert, and Vacuum Worlds. | Non-agricultural Worlds are good markets for Industrial worlds. |
Pre-agricultural World | (Pa) | Economic | A world suited to being an agricultural world but lacking the population to exploit it (10s of Thousands). Or having too great a population to have suitable agricultural resources for export. (100s of millions) | n/a | n/a |
Pre-Industrial World | (Pi) | Economic | It is a world working toward being an industrial world but lacks the population to do so. (10s or 100s of millions) | n/a | n/a |
Pre-rich World | (Pr) | Economic | A world suited to becoming a Rich world, but lacking the population to become Rich. (100's of thousands). Or having too many people to be rich (billions) | n/a | n/a |
Rich World | (Ri) | Economic | Rich worlds have high-grade living conditions. They have ideal breathable atmospheres and moderate populations (millions to 100s of millions) | They are good sources of cargoes for Agricultural, Desert, Industrial, High Population, Rich, and Non-agricultural Worlds. | Rich Worlds are good markets for Asteroid Belts, and Agricultural, High Population, Industrial, Low Population, Rich, and Water Worlds. |
Agricultural World | (Ag) | Economic | A reasonable atmosphere and available surface water, which may be ideal for agriculture with a moderate population (100s of thousands to 10s of millions) | Agricultural goods market well to Desert, Fluid Seas, Poor, Water Worlds, and Industrial Worlds. | Agricultural Worlds are good markets for Industrial Worlds, Agricultural Worlds, Barren Worlds (...for new plant and animal strains), and Rich Worlds. |
Industrial World | (In) | Economic | Industrial worlds have large production and manufacturing bases. It has an un-breathable atmosphere and high population (Billions or more) | Industrial goods sell well on most worlds. | Industrial Worlds are good markets for most goods. |
Asteroid Belt | (As) | Planetary | A ring of many small worldlets (planetoids), not capable of retaining an atmosphere or water. | Asteroid Belt goods market well to Industrial, Non-agricultural, Vacuum Worlds, and Asteroid Belts. | Asteroid Belts are good markets for Agricultural, Industrial, Non-agricultural, and Vacuum Worlds. |
Desert World | (De) | Planetary | Desert worlds have no free-standing water. | Desert World goods sell well to Desert and Nonagricultural Worlds. | They are good markets for Agricultural, Desert, Industrial, Nonagricultural, and Rich Worlds. |
Fluid World | (Fl) | Planetary | A fluid world has an ocean or oceans of a liquid other than water, (e.g., ammonia or methane). | Non-water oceans may be sources of raw materials, and the World's products sell well on Industrial and Fluid Worlds. | Worlds with fluid oceans are good markets for Fluid and Industrial Worlds. |
Garden World | (Ga) | Planetary | A world hospitable to most sophonts (...AKA a "paradise"), which does not require protective equipment. | Garden worlds tend to have high populations and be very productive agriculturally. They tend to produce a wide variety of exportable products. | Garden worlds also tend to have very active markets, which buy almost any kind of import product. |
Hellworld | (He) | Planetary | A world with a tainted atmosphere and little or no surface water. | n/a | n/a |
Ice-Capped World | (Ic) | Planetary | A world with little or no atmosphere with all of its water frozen. | Goods from Ice-capped Worlds sell well on Industrial Worlds. | The worlds are poor markets. |
Locked World | (Lk) | Planetary | A tidally locked world does not rotate like most planets do. It has one face locked to the gravity source, usually a star, and the other locked away from the gravity source, making for extremely warm weather on one side and cold on the other. | n/a | n/a |
Ocean World | (Oc) | Planetary | Ocean worlds are covered with very deep oceans with less than 1% of their land above sea level. | n/a | n/a |
Poor World | (Po) | Planetary | Poor worlds have thin atmospheres and little or no surface water, making them poor places to live. | They are not good sources of cargoes. | Poor Worlds are markets for Industrial Worlds. |
Twilight Zone World | (Tz) | Planetary | The world is tide locked to the primary, giving a hot pole, a cold pole and a twilight zone between. | n/a | n/a |
Vacuum World | (Va) | Planetary | Single worlds with no atmosphere. | They are good sources of cargoes for Asteroid Belts, Industrial Worlds, and Vacuum Worlds. | Vacuum Worlds are markets for goods from Asteroid Belts, and Industrial, Nonagricultural and Vacuum Worlds. |
Water World | (Wa) | Planetary | Water worlds have 90% or more of their surface covered in an ocean of water (H2O). | They are good sources of cargoes for Industrial, Rich, and Water Worlds. | Water Worlds are good markets for Industrial and Water Worlds |
Subsector Capital | (Cp) | Political | The capital of the local region, usually a subsector in size. | n/a | n/a |
Sector Capital | (Cs) | Political | The capital of a group of hundreds of star systems, typically a sector in size. | n/a | n/a |
Imperial Capital | (Cx) | Political | The overall capital of an interstellar government. | n/a | n/a |
Colony World | (Cy) | Political | The world is a colony of another, larger and more important world nearby. | n/a | n/a |
Barren World | (Ba) | Population | A Barren world has no population, government, or law level. | Goods from Barren Worlds are raw materials mined or gathered by a ship crew. They are poor sources of cargoes and resources. | Barren worlds cannot be markets. |
Die Back World | (Di) | Population | The die back world was once settled and developed, but the inhabitants have either died off or left leaving behind the remnants of their civilization. | n/a | n/a |
High Population World | (Hi) | Population | A world with a billion or more in population. | High Population World goods, because of the economy of scale for production, sell well on High Population, Low Population, and Rich Worlds. | High Population Worlds are good markets for Agricultural, Industrial, High Population, and Rich Worlds. |
Low Population World | (Lo) | Population | A world with a population less than 10,000. | Low Population World cargoes sell well to Industrial and Rich Worlds. | Low Population Worlds are rarely self-supporting; they are excellent markets for High Population and Agricultural Worlds. |
Nonindustrial | (Ni) | Population | Nonindustrial worlds have population 10s of thousands to millions, lacking the population to be self supporting. | They are sources of goods for Industrial Worlds; their goods sell poorly on Nonindustrial Worlds. | Nonindustrial Worlds are markets for goods from Industrial Worlds. |
Pre-high Population World | (Ph) | Population | A world with over a hundred million people, but not yet at a billion. | n/a | n/a |
Farming world | (Fa) | Secondary | A world devoted to agriculture. | n/a | n/a |
Mining World | (Mi) | Secondary | A world located in an Industrial system being exploited for mineral resources. | n/a | n/a |
Military Rule | (Mr) | Secondary | A world under overall control of the local military (...regardless of government type). | n/a | n/a |
Penal Colony | (Pe) | Secondary | A colony devoted to housing prisoners. | n/a | n/a |
Prison Camp | (Px) | Secondary | A prison for criminals or other exiles. | n/a | n/a |
Red | (Re) | Secondary | A world with restricted access, either to protect the indigenous life forms, to protect available resources, or other reasons. | n/a | n/a |
Reserve | (Re) | Secondary | A world with restricted access, either to protect the indigenous life forms, to protect available resources, or other reasons. | n/a | n/a |
Data Repository World | (Ab) | Special | The world has a centralized collection for information and data. | n/a | n/a |
Ancients Site World | (An) | Special | A high-tech remnant of the now-vanished Ancients. | n/a | n/a |
Construct World | (Ax) | Special | An unusually large and artificial construct, e.g. Rosettes, Ringworlds, etc. | n/a | n/a |
Dangerous World | (Da) | Special | A world with an environment, laws, customs, life forms, or other conditions make it dangerous to visitors. | n/a | n/a |
Forbidden World | (Fo) | Special | This is a world considered "Forbidden", with an environment, laws, customs, life forms, or other conditions that make it extremely dangerous to visitors. Everyone is forbidden to travel here. | n/a | n/a |
Puzzle World | (Pz) | Special | A world with an environment, laws, customs, life forms, or other conditions that are not well understood and might be a danger to visitor. | n/a | n/a |
Research Station | (Rs) | Special | An experimental research facility. | n/a | n/a |
Satellite World | (Sa) | Special | The main world is a satellite of either a gas giant or another world. | n/a | n/a |
X-Boat Station | (Xb) | Special | An Imperial facility for rapid message transmission. | Worlds with X-Boat Stations tend to be smaller, low-population locations with no significant exports. | X-Boat Stations tend to be smaller, low-population locations suitable to smaller import traders. |
Notes: Secondary trade codes apply to worlds in the system that are the Main World or a Satellite World.
History & Background (Dossier)
The Office of the Emperor, the Imperial Bureaucracy, the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service, the Travellers' Aid Society, the Merchant Service, the Educational Institutes, and many other interstellar organizations use this data for governance, interstellar economy, world surveys, and other necessary tasks.
Such data drives Charted Space. The TC System is a time-honored practice of the IISS.
See also
Universal world profile
- Main world
- Hex Number
- Universal World Profile
- Starport (Sp)
- Planetary Size (S)
- Atmosphere (A)
- Hydrosphere (H)
- Population (P)
- Government (G)
- Law Level (L)
- Tech Level (TL)
- Trade classification & Sophont Codes
- Importance Extension (Ix)
- Economic Extension (Ex)
- Cultural Extension (Cx)
- Nobility
- Bases
- Travel Zone
- PBG - Population, Belts, Giants
- P: Population Multiplier
- B: Belts
- G: Gas Giants
- Worlds
- Allegiance Code
- Stellar Data
- COG Sequence
References & Contributors (Sources)
This article has metadata. |
- Marc Miller. Starships (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 46.
- Marc Miller. Worlds and Adventures (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 16.Marc Miller, Robert Eaglestone, Don McKinney. Worlds and Adventures (Far Future Enterprises, 2019), 16.
- Marc Miller. Scouts (Game Designers Workshop, 1983), 32.
- Marc Miller. Referee's Manual (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 25,48.
- Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen. Traveller: The New Era (Game Designers Workshop, 1993), 187.
- Marc Miller. Marc Miller's Traveller (Imperium Games, 1996), 132,135.
- Martin Dougherty, Hunter Gordon. The Traveller's Handbook (QuikLink Interactive, 2002), 379.
- Marc Miller. T5 Core Rules (Far Future Enterprises, 2013), 410.
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science