TOURING THE STARS

IONUS

A BATTLETECH SOURCEBOOKS COMPANION

 BATTLETECH
TM

TOURING THE STARS

IONUS
TM

Under License From

E-CAT35SN211
®

©2016 The Topps Company Inc. All rights Reserved. Touring the Stars: Ionus, Classic BattleTech, BattleTech, BattleMech and
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 Introduction

We began on Terra, a lonely, blue-green speck in the vastness of the void. It has been more than a millennium since
mankind ventured to the stars beyond home, and while it has been a tumultuous history—at the very least—we have
discovered, explored, and conquered worlds that our ancestors could only dream about. Humanity now occupies more
than two thousand worlds stretched across a vast range of interstellar space known as the Inner Sphere.
For humanity as a whole, Terra, at the heart of it all, will forever be known as “Home.” But for the far greater majority
of us, “home” is a very different speck amidst the infinite black. Our homes are many, varied, beautiful, and filled with
rich histories—each unique to itself.
In the grand scale of interstellar history, it often becomes so easy to forget this, to see planets and solar systems as
dots on an abstracted map. But, at the core of the matter, each of those dots is a place where men, women, and children
live, work, love, and survive. Join us on a special tour of the Sphere, as we explore the richness of these worlds like
never before!
—Professor Bertram Habeas, Touring the Stars: One World at a Time, Free Republic Press

W elcome to Touring the Stars, a campaign supplement designed to offer players the opportunity to learn about the worlds of
the Inner Sphere, Periphery, and beyond.
The background information contained in the Atlas section gives players a world’s geography, history, notable events, and other
tools needed create an unlimited number of BattleTech games for play, while the A Time of War section offers plot seeds and details
for the planet’s more notable events. These plot seeds can be used as stand-alone games, woven into an existing game or as part of
a larger on-going campaign.
The Rules Annex section explains planetary Atlas information for use in gameplay, as well as optional terrain tables, weather, and
flora/fauna rules. Terrain tables can be used as a random chart to determine gameplay maps, or simply as a guide to provide ideas
on the types of terrain found on the world. This section also contains a list of other rules that can be used to enhance your game
experience. All players should agree whether or not to use any or all of these features before play.
Note: The last four pages of this PDF are sized for 11” x 17” paper. Please keep this in mind when printing out the document.

CREDITS STAR LEAGUE ERA CLAN INVASION ERA JIHAD ERA

Project Development: Joshua C. Perian
BattleTech Line Developer: Randall N. Bills
Assistant Line Developer: Ben H. Rome
Products Developer: Ray Arrastia
Writing: Michael Miller
Editing: Herbert A. Beas II
Production Staff
Layout: Ray Arrastia
Maps: Ray Arrastia, David Kerber, Patrick Wynne

Special Thanks: A special thanks to Bruce Campbell et

al for giving us Tadmor, and to Wolszczan and Frail for
Draugr, Poltergeist, and Phobetor. You got us started.
SUCCESSION WARS ERA CIVIL WAR ERA DARK AGE ERA

3
 Atlas

IONUS

Star Type (Recharge Time): K6V (197 hours)

Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 3.91 days
Number of Satellites: 2 (Lycia, Myfia)
Surface Gravity: 1.0
Atm. Pressure: Thin (Breathable)
Equatorial Temp: 25oC (Temperate)
Surface Water: 30 percent
Recharging Station: Nadir
HPG Class: B
Highest Native Life: None
Population: 260,100,000
Socio-Industrial Levels: A-C-B-C-D
Landmasses (Capital City): Ionus (Kargon)

Like many of the millions of stars in the Inner Sphere, Ionus was The Free Worlds League eventually settled Ionus in 2405 due to the
studied by Terran Alliance telescopes decades before a JumpShip early travesties in the Age of War. The plans for this unpalatable world
reached it. The operators of those behemoth orbital instruments included a protected and hopefully secret shipyard, and a fortified
rendered a colloquial ruling in early modern English that both command post in case the worst ever befell Atreus. Ionus had some
justifiably deprioritized scouts from visiting Ionus until many years after useful features beyond proximity to Atreus. First, the old system was,
its neighbors were settled. The ruling is still perfectly understandable in ironically, of a late stellar generation and was abundant in higher
Star League Standard English: “It sucks.” atomic number elements, like germanium. Second, Ionus’s primary
Ionus is an old world that orbits a dim main sequence star. Its sun, was small and the proximity limit nearby. This worked against it
which looms over twice as large in Ionus’s skies as Sol does in Terra’s, defensively, but meant DropShips could reach Ionus and return to
subjects the world to high ultraviolet levels in the A and B bands. the jump point in approximately the time it took a JumpShip to
However, that sun produces little ozone-forming UV-C to protect recharge. Third, Ionus’s two small moons were rich in easily accessed
Ionus. Seven billion years under this bombardment have stripped it germanium, titanium, and other elements useful to a shipyard.
of what once was deep global ocean. Like the Capellan world Ovan, Fourth, the moons and nearby star produced three convenient L1
its remaining ocean is saturated with salts. Before humanity’s arrival, jump points. The moons’ points were transient because the sun’s
the thin atmosphere was starved of carbon dioxide because tectonic gravity sometimes placed the points deep in Ionus, but the star-Ionus
activity has almost ceased, shutting down the geological carbon cycle L1 point was stable and close to the planet.
and making the environment difficult for unmodified terrestrial plants. Only the basic facilities for the shipyard and a colony were in
Its uncomfortably short, 12-hour day and two moons are thought place before the Ares Conventions forever changed the Age of War.
to stem from an enormous collision with another planet relatively The shipyard project continued in secrecy until it was suspended
recently, perhaps two billion years ago. when it was clear that the other Houses were adhering to the
The two moons, both fairly ellipsoidal (“symmetrical potatoes”) with Conventions. The planet was declassified in 2425 under pressure from
a maximum length of 225 kilometers, orbit Ionus in just a few days the corporations involved. With the yard canceled, it was hoped that
each. They each raise tides comparable to Terra’s moon despite being civilian colonization and germanium mining would be profitable.
less than one ten thousandth as massive, which add to the large tides In anticipation of civilian settlement, a short program of “ecological
from the sun to make living on the shores of “Minithalassa” interesting. restructuring” (“terraforming” was too strong of a word) wiped out the
(Minithalassa, the single land-locked ocean, was named as some play remnant native algae and microbe populations in favor of terrestrial
on “Panthalassa,” a superocean of Terra 300 million years ago.) life modestly engineered to survive on the salty, high-UV world.

4
 Atlas

Settlement was not as fast as hoped, but the mines and factories farms raised animals for slaughter. The little meat in Ionian diets came
started to support the stillborn shipyard drew employees and their from sport fishing in the rivers (which are usually held as noble estates
families. The settled regions were away from climatic extremes and and thus not open to commoners; poaching is a serious offense) and
thus enjoyed Mediterranean or mountainous plateau climates: cool to sustainable fishing in Minithalassa, which was stocked with terrestrial
pleasantly warm in the day, somewhat frosty at night, and always dry. life engineered to tolerate the brine.
Settlers adapted to the short days by being active from “midnight to A few staple crops dominate most agriculture. Prior to Succession
midnight” so one of the two daylight periods per calendar day was in Wars’ bioweapon attacks that targeted CAM-cycling photosynthetic
the middle of the workday. “Second noon,” which fell on the calendar genes widely used in the engineered crops, agriculture was much
midnight, was usually avoided in windowless bedrooms. The growing more diverse. The current noble “farm junta” (a local term) that controls
industry did bring the population to ten million by 2500, after which most farms has been slow to re-diversify owing to the cost of retooling
natural growth and a trickle of immigration would carry it to over their monolithic, mostly-automated farms to new crops.
100 million by the end of the Star League. Like many well-developed Ionian cuisine is thus primarily vegetarian, though not by ideology.
planets, Ionians have few children, so the population has not reached Only nobles and the wealthy frequently eat meat other than seafood,
300 million in the subsequent three-and-a-half centuries and it is a New Years’ tradition for commoner families to splurge on
Water resources are predictably scarce, though Ionus rarely called a rabbit or chicken. The noble-owned food processing companies
upon the Ryan Ice Cartel before the advent of Star League water have also been slow to incorporate artificial flavorings or texturizers,
filters. The planet has large ice caps from its low tilt and large land so Ionians are left either with direct vegetarian products (breads,
area, and those account for seven percent of Ionus’s water. (The low pastas, vegetable and fruit dishes, etc.) or a small number of imitation
tilt also leads to negligible seasons in the short, 1515-hour year.) foods (soy milk, synth-meat) with a limited range of textures. Chefs
The oblong Minithalassa was a thick brine, but evaporation from the compensate by heavy use of spices and herbs, often in combinations
ocean produced clean precipitation and freshwater rivers. Zoning and and ludicrous quantities visitors find unpalatable. This is odd because
environmental laws always zealously guarded freshwater sources and many dry worlds with similar dietary restrictions make flavorful,
arable land. This resulted in the small arable regions near Minithalassa balanced dishes, but wags suggest that shaker caps and cookbooks
and the rivers that fed it being densely developed as farms. Even steep are lostech on Ionus.
valleys near the ocean were terraced for farming. In arctic regions, Cities are necessarily forced into the desert by agriculture. The
greenhouses exploited polar meltwater to produce luxury foods. capital Kargon is a typical example. It sits on a mountain-walled bay
Because meat production was an inefficient use of farm yields, few on the near-arctic southern coast of Minithalassa that experiences

Brukaas

Starlaunch Eldiskar
AZUREBRONZE Mines
Gleel TA
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Forgemouth
AZUREBRONZE
UN
OCEAN Longroad Mreet
FIKLEND
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Urnair
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Mines
UNT
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I O N U S
HM

Dryhole
TH
Deretran
RUTSLI
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S A LTC O AT B AY MIPVINE
CR
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F L AT S ISLANDS
TA

S
OR
ID

KURZAD
RR
CR

CO
A S AY

CLA
DO

IO
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Heldask
FFI
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RR

MINITHALASSA
CO

MENDMIS
MO

NT
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AI ISLANDS
I O N U S NS
Lustranna
Orelift Resort SU XENO
Telameer GA
RB
Dustdrink Illium
OM
BF
Oasis Drives Factory IE LD PLEMMESK
USK GORPENGLE
HELLM S S B AY
FIELD

Kargon
Militia
Headquarters BLUESILVER
CRI
DGE
LIC M
Stendrick OCEAN
KA

FT

O U N TA I N S
RI
RG

CRI Jenelell
ON

DGELIC
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MOU AK
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NT S BR
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NL
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BA
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Rimegarden
Farms

5
 Atlas

limited tides and has a warm ocean current just outside the bay. This electronic monitoring and implement a series of laws that broadened
moderates the otherwise-cool temperatures and produces abundant the definitions of slander and libel.
rainfall. Agriculture has claimed almost all flat land in the bay area, Deep raids brought tens of thousands of deaths to Ionus and ironically
forcing the city into the mountains. The Succession Wars then drove empowered commoners. Lyran and Capellan destruction of centralized,
the five million residents into dense strings of arcologies among the noble-owned fusion plants and water filtration facilities drove the planet
mountains, each holding five to fifty thousand people with integrated to coal-burning power plants and thermal desalination facilities as a
business and retail sectors. Forms vary from the squat, fortified “Guerra “wartime expediency” that lasted two hundred years. (Ionus possesses
Brutale” style popular in the twenty-ninth century to soaring, bold some of the finest, largest anthracite coal beds in the Inner Sphere,
glass towers of the High Hegemony style. The mountain-trained Ionian the result of an advanced ecosystem a billion years dead.) The crude
militia stays close to the capital, which is very difficult to assault in its replacements for lostech often demanded a great deal of labor, which
mountain bastions. put power in the hands of the laborers: commoners. The courts nobilis
At the opposite end from Kargon’s compact, defensive layout is and slander/libel laws were repealed by reform bills in 2793 when a
Longroad. Longroad is a city of 11 million in the northern hemisphere populist party came into power. The People’s Republican Revolutionary
isolated from any water except a polar water pipeline. It was founded Party only lasted five years before its own anti-corruption laws brought it
as a mining town and transitioned to aerospace and electronics down, but it left a reformed parliament with significantly more authority
manufacturing. The city receives its name from the eponymous in the People’s Chamber.
highway that connects Minithalassa’s northern shore with the city Like many planets deep in Houses, Ionus was spared direct attacks
and then the north polar icecap. Because Longroad is surrounded by in the later Succession Wars. Instead, it suffered as it lost suppliers of
at least 500 kilometers of salt advanced medical equipment,
flats in all directions, it has only water filters, and its own
built up a little and instead fusion reactor factories. When
sprawled. But because nobles its planetar y germanium
own vast farm plantations reserves became scarce Ionus
(especially the profitable attempted to establish mines
“sugarbomb” pseudocactus) on its moons, but those
clustered near the water proved to be expensive target
pipeline, the city mostly practice for Lyran and Capellan
grows along the highway. The raiders. Ionus gradually sank
few perpendicular “branch into an introverted, self-
neighborhoods” are typically contained world of modest
noble-owned subdivisions. technology and resources like
In turn, the highway is so many planets during the
constrained by the city and Succession Wars.
the fierce landownership The Helm Memory Core
rules so exploited by nobles. brought several changes.
The highway has become a nightmarish tangle of multi-level roads, Inexpensive water treatment and new fusion power plants were
rail lines, and subways that are constantly being rebuilt and repaired. two, though Ionians had grown inured to air pollution and water
Urban lore describes planetary security bases, organized crime conservation. Rather, the new technology that mattered to Ionians
hideouts, and bizarre homeless communities in the interstices and was a biodegradable polymeric paper substitute. The plant-deficient
abandoned parts of Longroad Highway. planet made paper rare in the Succession wars and the inexpensive
Ionus has a relatively boring history, which its residents appreciate. synthetic paper hygiene products were a welcomed wonder.
In 2487, the disgruntled populous formed a planetary constitution Technology recovery elsewhere in the League brought huge
after decades living as diverse corporate settlements under loose investments to Ionus. The same traits that had led to Ionus’s original
federal rule from Atreus. With that, it obtained representation in settlement were still valid in the 3040s. The FWLM and SAFE created
Parliament. At the time, the government was an unexceptional a shell corporation to develop Ionus’s germanium-rich moons and
parliamentary democracy. It gentrified throughout the Age of build a WarShip shipyard. The project accelerated with the Word’s aid
War and into the Star League era as landowners gradually accrued in the mid-3050s. When the shipyard was completed at the Ionus-sun
powers, titles, and exemptions from some laws. By 2750, it was a de L1 point and lunar mines were producing a bounty of germanium, the
jure feudal monarchy, with nobles nominally punished by a “courts Free Worlds was able to repair WarShips recovered by WoB and build
nobilis” separate of the planetary judiciary. In practice, nobles were new ships for the FWLM. The yards have survived to the current day,
rarely indicted or received modest fines for their crimes. The response though the destruction of suppliers and sundering of the League in
of nobles to commoner unrest over noble abuses was to tighten the Jihad has greatly reduced their output.

6
Atlas

The Word was a welcome guest in the 3050s,

though it found few local adherents. Because Ionians
had suffered so little direct effects of the Succession
Wars they were relatively jingoistic and embraced the
recovery of military technology. Building WarShips was
a badge of pride, not the shame that Blake’s tenets
suggested. This relative resistance to Blake’s philosophy
meant the Word was unable to break into noble-owned
planetary media companies and widely disseminate
its views. The polite bemusement of locals and need
for Word aid in the shipyard prevented the need for
either group to take up arms against each other. Later
in the Jihad, when most of the Word’s security and
military personnel had been stripped to other areas,
Ionus decided to act on their League-destroying,
Jihad-waging guests. A long-honed contingency plan
used Ionus’s security forces and militia to arrest key
Word personnel and suspected sympathizers in critical
positions, like shipyard operations. The “undercover”
Word cyborgs were surprisingly ineffective because
Ionians had been discretely scanning for them with
the usual League anti-bionics paranoia and dispatched
them in vicious ambushes. Civilian Word personnel
were either caught in mass arrests or fled just ahead
of security squads and lynch mobs. The coordinated
sabotage that was expected of the Word was largely
prevented by this operation, though shipyard
production was halted for a month as computers were
replaced and destruct devices were removed.
The Ionus of 3130 is an advanced but specialized
world. The small aerospace companies supporting the
shipyard are respectably advanced, but the planet’s
modest population does not support a well-diversified
industry at that level of technology. Most consumer
products available to commoners are considerably
less advanced than seen on even neighboring worlds
like Atreus.

7
 A Time of War Adventure Seeds

UNDER PRESSURE IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR ENGINES ROAR

Recommended Group Size: 2-4 player characters Recommended Group Size: 2 to 8 player characters
Recommended Group Type: Military, Covert Ops Recommended Group Type: Military, Technicians, Covert Ops
Recommended Skill Levels: Green-Elite (Key Skill levels of 2-8) Recommended Skill Levels: Regular-Elite (Key Skill levels of 4-8)
When the capital city Kargon embraced new, affordable Although the multi-megaton Illium Naval Shipyard weaving around the
tunneling technology to build a 200-kilometer undersea maglev Ionus-sun L1 point in a Lissajous orbit makes a tempting target, most potential
and road tunnel to a populous resort archipelago on Minithassala attackers understand that the yards are only the final assembly point and build
in the late 3040s, SAFE saw this as an opportunity to build a few components themselves. Before and during the Jihad, they were the most
well-protected component factory for the planned shipyards. replaceable part of the FWLM’s WarShip assembly program. Still, destroying the
About midway along the tunnel, a two-kilometer branch was slips would set back production for years.
constructed to host a very secure undersea, underground factory The shipyard was not actually at the L1 jump point, but rather at the L1
that would assemble complete station-keeping drives for civilian Lagrange point determined by the balance of Ionus’s and its primary’s gravity,
JumpShips and shielding sections for WarShip drives. and the centripetal forces of Ionus’s radial velocity around the sun. This put
While it was quite easy to use the undersea tunnels to deliver the shipyard safely out of reach of kamikaze JumpShips, but any invaders
materials and personnel to the factory, the dimensions of the immediately fell within range of all the sensors – radar to jump signature – of the
final engines or shielding sections were too large to exit by the yard and its defenders. The aerospace defenders of such a facility were, of course,
same route. Instead, they were loaded into submersible barges numerous and skilled.
in the factory, floated on an internal canal to an airlock, and The weak spot was the personnel. The yards were thick with Blakists, whose
then locked out to float gently to the surface where tugs would relationship with League yard workers became more strained in every year of
deliver them to Kargon’s spaceport and waiting DropShips. the Jihad. The yards were also staffed with personnel from across the fractious
The deeply buried and submerged factory was well protected League, and the League’s dissolution was disastrous for security personnel’s
from orbital bombardment and even nuclear weapons at either peace of mind. Finally, the yards were overstaffed and had inadequate housing
the rail tunnel or airlock. Of course, the branch tunnel was facilities for their great number of workers who suffered in the zero-G maladies,
elaborately protected and screened. Underwater turrets and crowding, and frequent security interviews, and then were given access to the
a handful of submarines guarded the seas. And the seafloor controls of mighty weapons of war.
surrounding the vertical airlock was 120 meters deep, which Groups interested in destroying the yards only need to find the right
conventional wisdom held was too deep for BattleMechs and disgruntled “yard dog” to, say, fire up the engines of a WarShip in for repair and
underwater infantry. steer the yards into Ionus, or perhaps begin test firing the weapons while still in
Still, disrupting the production of critical WarShip engine the slip.
components was tempting to many parties through the decades. Complications: A few obstacles for players to tackle.
Complications: A few obstacles for players to tackle. Disconnect the Interlocks: Disgruntled workers are not the first people
Crumpled Like a Can: The factory airlock is not too deep for to consider doing something suicidal and stupid with ships docked in a
some units, and well armored ‘Mechs and underwater battle shipyard. Security personnel, of course, have worried about this. However,
armor designs may pay a visit. However, the environment the yard dogs who have to crawl into rocket nozzles, gun barrels, and in front
is not kind to them, being even more vulnerable to hull of deep space radars are justifiably concerned about unplanned activation,
breaches than in shallow underwater battlefields. which leads to industry “lock out, tag out” and safing procedures. Getting
Why Is It Raining Indoors?: Select sections of the factory may past these will require visiting several places on the ship (and, possibly,
be flooded in twelve combat turns. For Total Warfare and shipyard offices).
Alpha Strike combat, this means the area turns into depth This Is Why Calculus Is Important: The shipyard is not simply stationary
0 water on turn two of flooding, depth one on turn six, and at the Lagrange point, but rather following a more stable Lissajous orbit
depth two on turn eleven. Turn twelve just finishes flooding around the point. The delicate process of ramming hundreds of thousands
the ceiling air spaces infantry might have been sheltering in. of tons of WarShip into two million tons of space station in such a way the
Clown Barge: The cargo bay of the submersible barges ship can safely bring its full thrust to bear, overcome counter-thrust from
may hold five thousand tons of station-keeping drive or the station’s own drives, and then breaking that orbit will be an interesting
BattleMechs, but unloading from a cargo bay is much more navigational challenge.
time consuming than a combat bay. This leaves little time for Anyone Bring Snacks?: The station is close to Ionus, but not so close that
obvious combat units like ‘Mechs to get much done before the “controlled flight into terrain” will be a matter of minutes. If everything
the area is flooded or defenders responded. Infantry in sneak goes well, it will be twelve hours – plenty of time for the ship’s engines to be
suits, on the other hand…. disabled or security to storm the ship.
Tips: For Total Warfare scenarios, this is an opportunity to use Tips: For A Time of War scenarios, brush up on the Strategic Operations
the Extreme Depth rules of Tactical Operations, pp. 42-43. Player descriptions (p. 122 and 244) and rules of space stations. Familiarity with zero-G
characters may want to consult rules for diving and sneak suits combat (p. 159 and 237 AToW) will also be important. After all, space stations are
on pp. 296-297 of A Time of War. not single, large gravdecks.

8
 Rules Annex

The following section is designed to assist both players and between the planet and its moon or moons cancel each other out),
gamemasters in using this series to create games and/or campaigns and some of these same points (specifically, places near the L-1 points)
based on the worlds described herein. The following rules primarily are occasionally used as “pirate points” by daring raiders who wish to
rely on the players’ understanding of the core game rules found in radically cut down transit times and local defense preparations.
Total Warfare (TW), Tactical Operations (TO), and A Time of War (AToW) In night combat situations, worlds with one or more moons or rings
but additional references may be made to Strategic Operations (SO) and may produce lighting effects caused by solar reflections off the lunar
other rulebooks. surfaces (depending, of course, on lunar phases), while worlds without
Players and gamemasters alike should realize that these rules are any moons at all may present equally distracting effects. To reflect
substantially less rigid than core rules. Players creating tracks and these possible effects as applicable, see the Full Moon Night, Moonless
scenarios using the material in this annex are encouraged to accept, Night, or Pitch Black rules, on p. 58 of Tactical Operations.
modify, or even completely ignore these guidelines if they prove
too cumbersome. SURFACE GRAVITY
Surface Gravity has a distinct effect on the performance of virtually
USING PLANETARY DATA all combat units in game play. Values higher than 1.00 reflect worlds
The world featured in this product was presented with a block of where units are significantly heavier than they are under normal Terran
basic planetary data. This data provides key details that players can use gravity, while values lower than 1.00 reflect worlds where units are
to further tailor their game play, reflecting the unique features of the significantly lighter. The full effects of gravity on combat may be found
world. The following rules identify the core rules that apply, based on on p. 55 of Tactical Operations.
the indicated world data.
Across the Ages: It should also be noted that many of the worlds ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
presented in this series will have data that actually changes greatly This detail describes the relative density and breathability of the
over time—as in the case of Lone Star, which radically changes local atmosphere, and can have a profound impact on game play if the
between 2822, 2825, and beyond. Players and gamemasters should atmosphere is anything but “Standard (Breathable)”. Thinner or Thicker
thus account for the time period their games are set in when using atmospheres can affect the use of several unit types in gameplay
worlds that have such variable data values. and may even have an impact on weather conditions. Likewise,
atmospheres classified as Tainted or Toxic can affect how various
STAR TYPE, POSITION IN SYSTEM, combat units’ function and suffer damage in game play. For rules
TIME TO JUMP POINT covering Atmospheric Pressure, see pp. 54-55 of Tactical Operations
These lines are most pertinent to the advanced aerospace aspects for pressure variations, and p. 56 of Tactical Operations for Tainted and
of gameplay defined in Strategic Operations, and will generally have no Toxic Atmosphere effects.
impact on games that focus entirely on ground combat.
Star Type identifies the color, size, and stability of the world’s primary EQUATORIAL TEMPERATURE AND SURFACE WATER
star, as well as how long an arriving JumpShip requires to charge its K-F A world’s Equatorial Temperature helps define whether the world can
drive while in system (using only its jump sail). Particularly large and/ be broadly classified as hot, warm, or cold by indicating the temperate
or unstable stars can be prone to odd lighting effects that can affect (in degrees Celsius) it averages at the equator—typically the warmest
combat, such as glares and solar flares. Rules for Glare and Solar Flare region on the planet’s surface. Temperatures at the north and south
effects may be found in Tactical Operations (see p. 58, TO). pole of most worlds may average as much as 30 degrees colder than
Position in System indicates how many orbital positions away from at the world’s equator, but it is always important to know that local
the star the world orbits; an “orbital position” may be held by other conditions such as weather and terrain can vary these averages
planets or asteroid belts. somewhat. Nevertheless, the equatorial temperature helps players
The Time to Jump Point indicates how many days’ worth of travel gauge whether much of the world will likely be arctic, tropical, desert,
DropShips accelerating (at 1 G, the same acceleration produced by and so forth. If gameplay falls in regions where temperatures are
gravity on Terra) would take to travel from the system’s standard zenith extreme (below –30 Celsius or above 50 Celsius), Extreme Temperature
or nadir jump points to the world. This transit time includes a mid-point rules (see p. 62, TO), will apply.
turnover and 1-G deceleration rate as well, which are standard transit Surface Water reflects the percentage of the world’s surface that is
rates to and from most worlds. Longer distances between the world covered in water, and essentially defines whether the world might be
and its local jump point mean longer transit times for incoming vessels covered in vast, lifeless wastelands, lush forests, or miniscule, rocky
and thus more time for local defenders to arrange defenses once they islands. Worlds with low Surface Water values (50 percent or less)
realize there are inbound attackers. will rarely see much rainfall or snowfall weather effects, and water or
woods features on terrain maps may instead be considered sinkholes,
NUMBER OF SATELLITES craters, and rough terrain instead to reflect the lack of significant water
This line indicates how many natural satellites (moons) the world sources and vegetation. Worlds with higher Surface Water values,
has (and their names, if applicable). Many orbital facilities may be meanwhile, will much more likely have active, precipitation-heavy
found in the LaGrange Points (regions where the gravitational forces weather patterns, and support more water and woods terrain features.

9
 Rules Annex

RECHARGING STATION, Native Life describes (in very basic terms) the highest level of native-
HPG CLASS, NATIVE LIFE, AND POPULATIONS born life forms the world has. More life-barren worlds in the Inner
These details describe other noteworthy features of a target system Sphere may be host only to microbes or plants, while more evolved
that could affect campaigns to greater or lesser degree. planets often host their own species of animal life up to and including
Recharging Stations describes whether a system has any space mammals. Though this rarely impacts a planetary campaign, it cannot
station capable of recharging a JumpShip’s KF drive (and, if so, at which be ignored that many local creatures can pose a threat—or a boon—
of the two standard Jump Points they are located). Recharging stations to raiders and invaders in some circumstances, ranging from being a
are often small and fairly unarmed, but also act as spaceborne hubs of source for local food in the event of supply shortage, or a hazard to
trade and communication to the local world. Raiders often avoid these establishing secure perimeters while operating outside of vehicular
stations by taking non-standard jump points, so their arrival cannot protection. This detail, however, does not cover introduced species the
be blown to the locals, but more significant invasions often begin by human population may have imported to the world, so while a target
seizing the local recharge stations instead, to secure effective strategic world may be host only to native-born trees, horses originally raised on
control over the jump point. Terra may yet make an appearance.
HPG Class defines the presence of a local hyperpulse generator on Population defines the number of humans estimated to be living on
the planet, indicating its ability to transmit signals to other systems world. Worlds with particularly high populations—those numbering in
nearby. Such stations are always located on the planetary surface, the billions—are often highly developed, with many major cities. Sparsely
and are largely considered inviolate by all but the most serious attack populated worlds—with populations in the millions or less—are less likely
forces. (Attacking an HPG is still considered a crime against humanity to have major cities than they are small towns or even tiny outposts and
by most civilized realms, even in the post-Clan Invasion eras.) Class A domed arcologies. As a more densely populated world often raises the
stations reflect major interstellar communications hubs, while Class B threat of local armed resistance or merely more eyes to spot incoming
stations usually send transmissions in massive bundles less frequently. invaders and more voices to raise an alarm, raiders tend to target less
Although any HPG can send an emergency signal to a nearby system populace worlds, while invaders often attempt to secure the greater
within hours of an attacking force’s discovery, many raiders target manpower and infrastructure reflected in high population worlds.
worlds with Class B stations (or no stations at all), in the hopes that
their arrival will raise the alarm among nearby systems more slowly. SOCIO-INDUSTRIAL LEVELS
Assault forces, meanwhile, may target Class A worlds in an effect to The world’s Socio-Industrial Level is a five-letter code used to
secure a realm’s communications hub and disrupt responses to a broadly define the world’s level of wealth and development using a
border-wide campaign. series of classic A-F letter grades. The more “A”s and “B”s that appear
in this code versus “D”s and “F”s will
generally denote a world that is
more self-sufficient, technological
sophisticated, and resource wealthy
than the average. As many of these
factors can be used to enhance
role-playing aspects of game play,
an in-depth explanation of this code
structure may be found on pp. 366-
373 of A Time of War.

LANDMASSES AND
CAPITAL CITIES
The major landmasses (conti-
nents, regions, and/or island chains)
identified on each world are then
listed, with the planetary capital
city listed (in parentheses) beside
the name of the landmass where
it is located. Traveling between
landmasses often requires the
use of high-speed rails (overland),
aerospace transit (via DropShips,
airships, and other aerospace craft),
or seagoing vessels.

10
 Optional Rules

The following additional special rules are intended to provide DRY RICE
further flavor to games set on the world featured in this product. For Dry rice is a native plant to Layover. Technically a cereal, it produces
the most part, these rules may be considered advanced and optional, seeds resembling husked rice that has been bred into various rice-
as they primarily reflect conditions and/or features unique to this one like forms such as long grain and sticky. Other breeds are almost like
planet or planetary system. risoni pasta and readily transformed into noodles and pasta with less
processing than most grains or true rice. It is also tolerant of saline soils,
SUGARBOMBS high ultra-violet levels, and low moisture.
This fairly innocuous pseudocactus is allegedly from a lost world The many breeds of terrestrial rice and cereals humanity took into
somewhere in the Inner Sphere, but the homeland changes with every space have better yields with adequate irrigation and sufficiently rich
telling and is usually one the listener has never visited. The major soils, but dry rice is an excellent crop for the dry, salty fringes of Ionus’s
sugarbomb orchards around Longroad and other Ionian inland cities agricultural regions.
stick to the story that it was found on Jardine, while popular Ionian
conspiracy theories suggest it was found on Ovan, but that none of the IONUS TERRAIN
noble orchard owners wants to admit importing a Capellan plant. A The inhabited areas of Ionus tend to be flat desert. The world’s
much-overlooked study by Dr. M. Oro (missing and presumed dead in tectonics have largely halted, so there is little uplift to fight erosion.
2807) of the University of Kargon noted that the sugarbomb’s genes are The large, unbroken salt pans and plains may be subject to fierce winds
very similar to the Terran pear cactus, but there are gross and obvious and sand storms as found on p. 61 and p. 62 of Tactical Operations,
genetic patches from terrestrial coffee and sugar cane plants. Like most respectively. The Flatlands Terrain table on p. 263 of Total Warfare
of the Inner Sphere, the people of the Free Worlds and Ionus tolerate is a reasonable representation of most of the world’s terrain. The
necessary genetic treatments to adapt plants and animals to hostile capital of Kargon sits on a mountainous bay overlooking the ocean of
environments, but the idea of genetic engineering for profit and/or Minithalassa, as shown in the Kargon Table below.
pleasure is considered revolting. (And ask the Promised Landers or
Terran Belters about popular opinions of human genetic engineering.)
Whatever the origins of sugarbombs, they are a major cash crop
on Ionus. The tough plants almost perfectly conserve their water and MAPSHEETS TABLE
carbon dioxide like little closed, solar-powered ecosystems. Excess
2d6 Result Map*†
energy is stored as a sugar-rich sap and caffeine is produced as a ward
against pests. Because of alkalis and salt in the plant, they are not directly 1 Coast #1 (MS7)
KARGON

edible by humans. Not poisonous per se, but good for inducing vomiting 2 River Delta/Drainage Basin #1 (MS4, MSC1)
and indigestion. However, with a little processing the sap becomes a fine 3 City (Suburbs) (MS6, MSC2)
basis for strongly caffeinated soft drinks. With the right brewing, it can 4 Scattered Woods (MS2, MSC1)
be turned into caffeinated ciders, wines, brandies, and liquors. The only 5 Desert Mountain #1 (MS3, MSC1)
drawback is that sugarbomb is necessarily slow to grow in the nutrient- 6 Desert Mountain #2 (MS3, MSC1)
poor, dry soils of Ionus without substantial water and fertilizer input, *Place Light and Medium buildings of varying heights in each clear non-paved hex.
which the world has trouble sparing from other, more vital crops. †Kargon, unlike most of Ionus, is not vulnerable to strong winds or sand storms.
Ionus does export some luxury sugarbomb products, but the plant
grows well on many other worlds. Ovan, for example.

11
 12

IONUS

Brukaas

Starlaunch
AZUREBRONZE
Eldiskar
AZUREBRONZE Mines
Gleel
U N TA
INS
Forgemouth

OCEAN Longroad Mreet

FIKLE NDIC
MO
OCEAN

S
Urnair

TA I N
Mines

OUN I O N U S
Dryhole HM
TH
Deretran
RUTSLI
AT C

S A LTC O AT B AY MIPVINE
CR
RS

F L AT S ISLANDS
TA

S
OR
ID

KURZAD
RR
CR

CO
A S AY

CLA
DO

IO
B

OS

Heldask

FFI
N

RR

MINITHALASSA
CO

N
MENDMIS

MO
NT

U
AI ISLANDS
I O N U S NS
Lustranna
Orelift Resort SU XENO
Telameer GA
RB
Dustdrink Illium
OM
BF
Oasis Drives Factory IEL PLEMMESK
USK DS GORPENGLE
HELLM S B AY
FIELD

Kargon
Militia
Headquarters BLUESILVER
CRI
DGE
LIC M
Stendrick OCEAN

KA

FT
O U N TA I N S

RI
RG
CRI Jenelell

ON

K
DGELIC

LE
MOU AK

PE

EL
NT S BR
AI EN
NL
ER
NS

BA
Y
Rimegarden
Farms
 A01

1 3

B01
B06
C01

C03
C06

C06
D01

D03

D04
D06

D06
E01

E02

E04

E05
E06

E06

E07
AZUREBRONZE
F01

F02

F03

F04

F05

F06

F07
OCEAN Longroa

Urnair
Mines
G01

G02

G03

G04

G05

G06

G07
Dryho

S A LTC O AT
H02

H03

H04

H05

H06

H07
F L AT S
CR
A S AY
D O I04
B

Heldask
N
I02

I03

I05

I06

I07
I O N U S
J03

J04

J05

J06

J07

Telameer
Dustdrink
Oasis
N USK
HELLM S
FIELD
K03

K04

K05

K06

K07

CRI
DGE
LIC M
O U N TA I N S
L03

L05

L06

L07
L08

KEY 2
KEY
PLAINS WATER
Plains
M03

M05

M06
M08

Rimegarden
Farms
FOREST DESERT

Woods
MOUNTAINS ARCTIC
N03

N06
N08

Mountains
ITEM OF
INTEREST DROPPORT

MOUNTAIN
RUINS

Water
PEAK
O03
O08

CITY CITY
EPICENTER OF POPULATION OF

Desert
METROPOLITAN SURROUNDING
COMPLEX; POPULATION AREA < 1,000,000 P01
OF SURROUNDING
AREA > 50,000,000
 K
IC

LE N18
FIKLEND

EL

DS
F16 H16 J16 L16 N16

IEL
BF
NS
O18
7

P01
AI
I O N U S

G15 I15 K15 M15 O13

OM
NT
U
MO

RB
N

S
FFI

AK
E

GA

Headquarters
F15 H15 CLA J15 L15 N P N13

SU
O
RG

Militia
KA
E16
E14 G14 I14 K14 M13

Kargon
D16
D14 F14 H14 J14 L13
C16 Deretran

Drives Factory
Mreet

C13 E13 G13 I13 K13

Illium
B16
A01

6
B11 D13 F13 H13 J13

MINITHALASSA
Lustranna
Resort
C11 E12 G12 I12 K12

Stendrick
Brukaas

L13
D11 F12 H12 J12 L12
M13
E11 G11 I11 K11 M11
N13
F11 H11 J11 L11 N11

Gleel
O13

P01
5

G10 I10 K10 M10 O08

NS

Starlaunch
Mines
F10 H10 J10 L10 N08

AI
NT
MOU
E11 OR
E09 G09 S ID
RR I09 K09 M08
TA I N

DGELIC
CO
OUN N
IO
D11 HM OS
RR
D09 F09 AT C H09 CO J09 L08
CR

CRI
RS

Orelift
TA
C11

S
C08 E08 G08 I08 K08

4
A01
B11
B06 D08 F08 H08 J08

ole
ad
 GO
E01
E24 G24 I24 K24 M23
0110
AZUREBRONZE

D01
D24 F24 H24 J24 L23
C01
OCEAN

C23 E23 G23 I23 K23

XENO
B01

10
A01

B21 D23 F23 H23 KURZAD J23

C21 E22 G22 I22 K22
L23
D21 F22 H22 J22 L22
M23
E21 G21 I21 K21 M21

BLUESILVER
N23
F21 H21 J21 L21 N21

OCEAN
O23
9

P01
G20 I20 K20 M20 O18

MIPVINE
ISLANDS
F20 H20 J20 L20 N18
E21
E19 G19 I19 K19 M18
D21
D19 F19 H19 J19 L18

Forgemouth
C21
C18 E18 G18 I18 K18

MENDMIS
ISLANDS
B21

8
A01

B16 D18 F18 H18 J18

Eldiskar
C16 E17 G17 I17 K17

TH

PLEMMESK
B AY
L18

RUTSLI

B AY
D16 F17 H17 J17 L17

INS
N TA
M18

U
E16 G16 I16 K16 FT M16

MO
RI
0101 0301 0501 0701 0901 1101 1301 1501
0201 0401 0601 0801 1001 1201 1401
0102 0302 0502 0702 0902 1102 1302 1502
+6 +6 +6

+6 +6 +6
P

0202 0402 0602 0802

P 1002 1202 1402
+6 +6

+6 +6
P

P
0103 0303 0503 0703 0903 1103 1303 1503
+6

+6
P

P
P

P
0203 0403 0603 0803 1003 1203 1403
P

P
0104 0304 0504 0704 0904 1104 1304 1504
P

P
0204 0404 0604 0804 1004 1204 1404
0105 0305 0505 0705 0905 1105 1305 1505
+0

+0
N
0205 0405 0605 0805 1005 1205 1405
0106 0306 0506 0706 0906 1306 1506
0206 0406 0606 0806 1406
K03
K02
0107 0307 0507 0707 1507
J03 L03
0207 0407 0607 J02 L02
I02 M03
I01 K01 M01
0108 0308 0508

Jenelell
H02 N03
0208 0408 H01 J01 L01 N01

Y
O03

BA
G01

P01
G25 I25 K25 M25 O23

ER
0109 0309

RPENGLE

NL
EN
F01

BR
0209 F25 H25 J25 L25 N23