SFRPG

It can be okay to have a society that is doomed, just so long as it’s not dead yet.

If you have a lot of them that’s a bit of a bummer, but just a few, if they’e doomed in somewhat different ways, can be okay. One time, when I was running a campaign for what would have been scouts if if had been Traveller, the party landed on a coral-fringed tropical island. The gorgeous, happy, half-naked locals lead them to a temple where a groups of priests chanted a litany at them: “We’re very glad you’re here, beecause out diet is deficit in alpha-linolenic acid and iodine, and we’re living on top of a superplume.” But it turned out that they didn’t understand what it meant.

The area doesn't have to be unstable to have a bit of geothermal energy. Britain has very few and rather pathetic earthquakes, but it also has hot springs in Harrogate and in Bath: https://www.thermaebathspa.com/news-info/about-the-spa/spa-history/
https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/GeositesBath

Bits of Bath are liable to collapse into underground caverns not because of quakes, but because people have been quarrying limestone out from under the town for centuries, plus groundwater dissolving the limestone away.

What strontygirl said.

Also, there´s Iceland - they have so much geothermal energy that even now they have to think sideways to use it all. They heat up their sidewalks in winter, and a secluded bay in summer (to make it warm enough to bath in, despite being near the arctic circle). No major earthquake risk, but quite a lot of volcanism.

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Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards. Sir Frederick Hoyle
Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in a cradle forever. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Man has earned the right to hold this planet against all comers, by virtue of occasionally producing someone completely bat**** insane. xkcd #556
Just like people, stars can be very important without being terribly bright. Phil Plait, "Bad Astronomy"

Thanks, I hadn't thought about the low-level thermal activity - I was thinking Yellowstone...

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My friends call me Richard. You can call me Sir.
www.XmasDragon.com

My thoughts: "I like it, I love it, I want some more of it."

I have a personal fascination with Low-Tech Traveller (but not recreating Historic Eras).
On Unseen Servant I have an ongoing (Coming up on 3 years, I think) PbP game set on a TL 4 WATERWORLD with no Space reference at all. We just ported all of the skills and tropes back to the Age of Steam and threw in a little "Steam-Punk" vibe for good measure.

As a nod to everything that EDG posted and I read all of those YEARS, the world is ALMOST tidally locked. (I worked it out at the beginning, I think it is a 4:3 ratio ... so one "day" on the world is 960 hours (8 hours per "shift" x 3 shifts per "day" x 40 days per "Cycle")
with 20 days of sunlight and a high temperature just over 100 F and 20 days of darkness with a low just above the freezing point of seawater (0 F).

I have some notes and artwork on Bronze Folding Knives and an annual "Founders Day" whittling contest that I may get to use some day.

I also started at the other end (TL 6) and began to design space-faring societies using advanced knowledge and available technology.
What could you build with Apollo Era hardware?
What could you build with V-2 / Redstone Era Hardware?
What could you build with Robert Goddard Era Hardware?
What could you build with Congreve Rocket Era Hardware?

I got as far backwards as a diving suit with an umbilical airhose (TL 4 1860-1900) to EVA from an asteroid and repair the rubber seals on the glass windows that deteriorated over time. Space workers will have a life expectancy similar to 19th Century Coal Miners due to the radiation exposure, but it was acceptable back then, so ...

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I really love Classic Traveller, especially without the Imperium ... There, I said it.
Now pass me a laser carbine and a couple of extra battery clips.

Asteroids: spin stabilized to produce artificial gravity and a metal pole sticks through the wall and into space. Mirrors focus sunlight on the pole and the heat is radiated inside. a water tank envelopes the end of the pole inside the Asteroid and the water boils to produce steam. The steam is tapped for TL 4 industry and radiators/condensers return cold water to the tank.

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I really love Classic Traveller, especially without the Imperium ... There, I said it.
Now pass me a laser carbine and a couple of extra battery clips.