0101 Muskatoon

**0101 Muskatoon A 562584-E**

*Starport Type A* -
Muskatoon Starport is the finest starport in the sub-sector, renowned
for its spacious docking and building capacity, the slowness of its
customs officials, and the sheer volume and in-your-face glitz of its
pleasure domes and arcades (with attendant high prices). The starport is
 the home of the Muskatoon Imperial Shipping Co-operative (MISC for
short), which builds the bulk freighters, liners, and luxury yachts for
this corner of the sub-sector. Many smaller shipyards specialize in
tramp freighters and other small vessels of dubious purpose. The feature
 everybody remembers, though, is the *Mischief*, a 10 000 ton
behemoth that protects the system from any attack. Capable of a
ponderous 1G maneuver, it has not sortied for battle in the more than 50
 years it has been built. A right of passage for every 17-year-old is to
 serve one year aboard the *Mischief*, where they automatically get
 one roll on the Navy Personal Development table. At age 18, Muskatoon
natives get a +1 DM to enlist in Navy or Marines if they choose that as
their career path.

*Planetary Size 5* - Approximately 5250
miles in diameter, and 16 500 miles around at the equator, with a 10
degree axial tilt. Muskatoon rotates on its axis once every 30 earth
hours. Its calendar year is 350 Terran days long

*Atmosphere Type 6*
 - Standard atmosphere, excellent for Earth-standard lifeforms.
Temperatures at the equator can reach 60 Celsius during the day, with an
 average close to 45 Celsius. The poles can reach 0 during the summer,
and as low as -80 Celsius in the winter. Prevalent mountain ranges
divide the planet into definite climate regions.

*Hydrographic Percentage 2*
 - Although oceans and lakes make up only 24% of the planet's surface
areas, at an average depth of 3.1 miles, the oceans are Significantly
deeper than Earth's oceans, and life is plentiful and bountiful. With
fewer than a million people, and high-tech irrigation systems, the
planet can grow all the foodstuffs it needs easily.

Population Size 5 *-*
 Muskatoon has 900,000 inhabitants, 10% of whom either work for MISC or
the planetary government. The starport itself has over 10 000 citizens,
and the rest are mostly concentrated in the great savannahs of the
temperate zone between the tropics and the polar regions. Farming,
industry, and technological innovation are the major occupations

*Government Type 8*
 - Muskatoon is governed by a complex interweaving of 537 differing
civil service bureaucracies, which all have predefined tax bases and
hiring practises. Examples are the Weights and Measures bureau, the Dock
 Inspection bureau, the Vehicle Piloting bureau, the Law Creation
bureau, the Law Contention bureau, the Law Enforcement bureau, etc.

*Law Level 4*
 - The Bureau of Personal Protection recognizes the Right to Bear Arms
of every citizen. Energy weapons and automatic or semi-automatic weapons
 are prohibited except for the Military, or collectors who can get
exemptions from the Bureau of Restricted Devices

*Technological Index E (14)*
 - One of the highest technological levels in the sub-sector, anything
can be built or bought on Muskatoon, assuming you can get past the
paperwork. But everybody knows there are ways to circumvent legalities
or restrictions...

*Notes* - A rich world, Muskatoon looks
heavily bueaucratized and regimented, but its Bureau of Innovation is
surprisingly open-minded, and myriads of small and medium business
start-ups try ideas with Bureau grants and loans that are not yet
accepted by the rest of society, and there is much opportunity between
the seams, so to speak. Crime and graft is also very organized, and
adventure hooks are not lacking. The Bureau of Trade and MISC jointly
funded the spaceport on sparsely-populated Miscatoon so as to reach the
populous worlds of Aquaria (0103) and Kalamari (0203). No organized
solution has yet been found to the corsair empire on Penzance (0104),
comprised of Jump-3 ships built on Muskatoon itself.

The *Mischief*
 is meant to be a gonzo ship that may or may not even be viable in a
fight. If using High Guard rules, make it some ridiculous size.