Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 8

Okay, we're moving out of the tables and into the instructions again. So, the next thing we roll is the population. Just roll 2D-2, for a number from 0 to 10 (A). Piece of cake. Oh, and the multiples of 10 are just approximations; the planet won't have an exact population of, say, 1,000,000,000 people. Although it could, if you wanted it to.

Next up, planetary government. We already know how those work from the table two pages ago, but there's also a note that Balkanization just means there's no one-world government, in which case the separate regions of the world can be generated individually. To get the government type, it's 2D-7+population; larger planets will have more complex or advanced governments. And more bureaucracy, of course.

Finally, there's the Law Level, which is 2D-7+government type. There's not much else to this one.

So, the planets now have their full range of characteristics (although we haven't seen Tech Level yet). These are to be considered guides, not statistics; obviously, they can be modified to suit the needs of the adventure or the campaign. Also, populations are very approximate; a population of 6 (1,000,000) can range anywhere from just over 100,000 to just under 10,000,000. If you wanted, you could have a pop-6 world with a higher population than a pop-7 world. And even a 100% water world can have small islands, so they can still have a normal human population. Or, they could be inhabited by races of aquatic peoples...

In the event that you roll contradictory or unreasonable combinations, either adjust them, or come up with a really good reason why this world is like that. That's almost Rule Zero of campaign design in any game, of course. Oh, and I especially like the last part of this section, which states that a) the referee is free to impose deliberately-designed worlds as opposed to randomly-generated ones, and b) these deliberate planets are often done specifically to reward or torment players. Insert maniacal laughter with rapid hand-rubbing.

Finally on this page, we have Comments on Basic Planetary Characteristics. Or at least, the start of this section, which discusses Alternate World Forms. This is the interesting world shape section; why settle for a simple sphere, when you can do something totally different? Setting aside the natural physics of the situation, let's make a totally different shape. However, the page ends before we get any examples. These alternate worlds are, from the gist of the paragraph, high-tech stuff, and they aren't randomly generated. They're usually used for high-pop worlds, although it also references degenerate and decimated worlds.

And so, we are left in suspsense...until we see the next page.