A deep-seated territorial instinct causes male Aslan to have an inordinate… concern for the acquisition and control of land. The ownership of land is a major goal in the lives of most Aslan males. An Aslan’s stature is determined by the amount of land he (or her husband) controls, and the amount of land controlled by his family, pride, or clan (CT Aslan 4).
A landscape from Iywaiwofu (DARK 0337 A654349-C), the starkly beautiful, low-population homeworld of the ancient Erleihku clan.
In order to develop an Aslan clan profile that summarizes a clan’s capabilities and resources, it makes sense to begin by developing a new characteristic that defines the extent of landholds controlled by the entire clan.
The Classic Traveller government codes for Aslan worlds demonstrate a distinct clan hierarchy based on the clan’s sovereighty and the number of worlds controlled:
- Tlaukhu
- Multiworld
- Single World
- Small clan
- Tlaukhu Vassal
- Independent Vassal
- Small Vassal
These categories undoubtedly overlap. A Tlaukhu Vassal, for example, might be much more powerful than a Multiworld clan, and a Multiworld clan might have less esteem than an ancient Single World clan.
A Holdings characteristic for an entire clan has some precedent in individual character generation. In the CT Alien module, Aslan characters can acquire landholds as a mustering out benefit during character generation; the amount of land is based on the Aslan’s SOC score. Aslan of higher social levels gain larger and larger landholds. (MgT uses a different mechanic.)
Although Traveller5 does not have Aslan-specific character generation details, a character can win a Land Grant as a mustering out benefit, which is similar in concept. Each grant conveys economic control over 1 Land Hex, which is 10 km across, or 8,700 sq km in area. (Although the text says 6,500 sq km, I don’t think that’s correct.) Economic control is the ability to collect taxes, fees, rents, and so on. The Grant also provides outright ownership of one Local Hex, which is 100 km across, or approximately 87 sq km in area. (again, the text says 65 sq km.) This is more akin to the Aslan benefit and we can translate the CT Land Benefit into Traveller5 Local Hexes:
| SOC | Local Hexes |
|---|---|
| 9 | 1 |
| A | 2 |
| B | 12 |
| C | 120 |
| D | 1,200 |
| E | 12,000 |
| F | 120,000 |
Traveller5 details even larger units of area than the Land Hex: the World Hex, which is 1,000 km from the center of one hex to the center of an adjacent hex, or approximately 870,000 sq km in area. And World Hexes seem like an appropriate basic unit of measurement for Clan landholdings. The following table assigns clan holdings on a familiar scale of 0 to 10 (A):
| Code | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | up to 11 world hexes | – |
| 1 | 12–41 world hexes | – |
| 2 | 42–91 world hexes | – |
| 3 | 92–161 world hexes | – |
| 4 | 162+ world hexes | Maximum for Small clan |
| 5 | 1 mainworld | Single World clan |
| 6 | 2–3 mainworlds | Minimum for Multiworld clan |
| 7 | 4–7 mainworlds | Maximum for Independent Vassal clan |
| 8 | 8–15 mainworlds | – |
| 9 | 16–31 mainworlds | – |
| A | 32+ mainworlds | Tlaukhu clan |
This table describes only those holdings directly controlled by the clan, and does not include those holdings held in fief by vassal clans. A clan typically possesses additional holdings on non-mainworlds comparable to their mainworld holdings. A Multiworld clan, for example, that controlled 3 mainworlds would also control 3 secondary worlds, such as a gas giant moon or a small mining world.
Clans with holdings of 5 or more typically have landholds on a number of split control worlds equal to the number of mainworlds they wholly control, and perhaps many more. A clan that controlled 5 worlds outright, for example, would also have landholds on 5 or more split control worlds.
A clan’s holdings can be randomly determined by rolling 1D and consulting the following table:
| Sovereignty | Clan Type | Allegiance | 1D | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||
| Sovereign | Tlaukhu | AsTX | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Multiworld | AsMw | 7* | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | A | |
| Single World | AsWc | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| Small | – | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Vassal | Tlaukhu, Direct | AsTv | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Tlaukhu, Secondary | AsTv | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | |
| Independent, Direct | AsVc | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | |
| Independent, Secondary | AsVc | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | |
| Small vassal | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
* Roll 1D; on 1–2, Holdings = 6, on 3+, Holdings = 7.
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