Overcoming the logistical issues of the nature of the cosmos itself and how to transport an adventuring party across it's realms was really just the first step to making a successful adventure. As a DM in a setting like this it's up to me to create new and fascinating worlds for my players to explore (let alone the mechanical challenges presented by trying to challenge ECL 67 characters, but never you mind that, that's my problem) and adventure on.
Now, I would very much like to have a multitude of planets and worlds (moons, asteroids, comets, exceptionally cool red dwarf stars inhabited by heat resilient beings, etc.) to explore and one of the methods I have devised for generating worlds quickly as a sort of pallet to be colored in with a little creativity is to outline a set of variables and assign a d% chart to each variable.
Here's what I've come up with so far or what I've seen as important variables into what makes a solar system tick:
Disclaimer: This system is still very much still in it's beta phase. I'd very much like to improve upon it. As of now I don't even use the d% as a chart, I just use a random dice with the appropriate number of sides corresponding to the number of the potential variables I have thus far outlined.
Stars. How many stars comprise the primary bodies in a given system? Is it a bianary system? Is the primary star a dwarf star or a giant star? Giant stars sometimes have solar winds so powerful that terrestrial planets like our own Earth would have their atmosphere blasted away by the torrent of charged particles their host star puts out. Furthermore, giant stars can burn through their hydrogen fuel in just a few million years before they start fusing heavier elements and shortly thereafter (relative to the rest of their lifespans) blow up in catastrophic supernovae annihilating their resident planets or other celestial bodies in the vicinity and showering other solar systems within a few lightyears with potentially lethal amounts of radiation. Given this and barring the intervention of some deity or unusual magical phenomenon, it seems unlikely that giant stars would harbor life and so if I were to make a percentile chart to calculate the nature of a randomly generated star system, it could be assumed that dwarf stars like our sun would be the most likely candidates for systems hospitable to life. Furthermore, it also seems unlikely that binary star systems would have planets with stable enough orbits and, by extension, climates to be hospitable to life. Then again, life in the D&D universe could have supernatural traits which could protect them from extremes in environments that would be lethal to life on Earth. At the moment, my prototype system simply suggests rolling 1d3 to determine the number of stars. The size and nature of the stars in question is one of those thing the DM just has to make up.
Planets. We can safely assume that the majority of life on the Universe, even in a fantasy setting would live on planets, rather than live on asteroids, comets, moons or other bizarre objects. Of course there could always be the odd exception to this rule, but I think it's safe to assume that life in a given fantasy universe would still likely inhabit mostly relatively small terrestrial planets which orbit at just the right distance from their host stars to be hospitable to life. Potential home-worlds for life in my prototype of a system include;
1. Moons (which have a biology modifier of -2, decreasing the likelihood that they will harbor life)
2. Mega Moons. Large moons big enough to support their own atmospheres or other means of protecting potential living creatures from the harsh environments of outer space (Jupiter's' Europa springs to mind) as well as an at least somewhat abundant energy source (proximity to a star or other luminous object, geothermal energy, etc.) are potential candidates as well for alien civilizations, but are still not quite as ideal as planets. They have a bio modifier of -1, only slightly decreasing the odds that they will harbor life.
3. Planet. Presumably Earth-like planet abundant enough in energy and resources to support life. Bio mod of 0.
4. Large terrestrial planet. Presumably Earth-like and over-abundant in resources, energy and particularly hospitable and protective to living things. Bio mod of +1
5. Gas giants. Certain kinds of life found in a fantasy setting could perhaps thrive in the upper reaches of a gas giants atmosphere; the planets magnetosphere protecting living things from solar winds and other cosmic events, and yet far enough away from the super-crushing pressures near the planets metallic hydrogen core. Dragons, Abberations, Fey or even vast and strange gas-filled and buoyant animals or plants could potentially thrive in such an environment. Gas giants could have a bio mod of either +1 or -1, depending on the type of life you want to dwell there.
6. Other. The universe (and even more-so a universe in a fantasy setting) is filled with bizarre and fascinating objects. Brown dwarf stars (which are really just enormous gas giants not quite hot enough at the core to fuse hydrogen), neutron stars (not sure how anything could live under such immense gravity, but hey with the existence of magic in the mix anything is possible), rogue planets with no host star, clusters of asteroids or planets shattered by cosmic impacts. With this one the sky and your imagination are the limit. However, I feel as though this one should be an extremely rare option. With my prototype of a system I just roll a d6 to determine which planetary classification a potential world should fall into and that just seems extremely unbalanced.
Humanoids. The presence or absence of humanoid creatures seems to play a significant role in the evolution of a world. We humans on Earth have done a fantastic job of screwing with the environment in a short span of 200 years or so and we don't even have magic (or if we do, it doesn't much resemble the way magic works in D&D). Also, we have here what is similar to a role-playing equivalent of the anthropic principle. We as humans tend to want to role-play as characters we can relate to. Creatures with big brains relative to body size, opposable thumbs, the capacity for magic or psionics, and characters we can pour a little bit of ourselves into when we create them. In my current system I just roll any dice and if it's odd or even determines the presence or absence of humanoids before I move onto the next variable class. The absence of humanoids imposes a sort of -1 to the potential technology level of any given civilization, assuming that the majority of other creatures in a fantasy setting lack opposable thumbs and the big brains, whereas their presence makes their technology levels improve by one stage (more on that in a minute).
Other major and minor planets in the solar system. In my current system I simply roll 1d8 for the number of major planets in a given star system (using our own solar system as a model here) and 1d3 for the number of dwarf planets.
Next we come to the technology level. I divide these into roughly 10 categories, using our own historical ages as a model.
1. Stone age
2. Bronze age
3. Iron age
4. Industrial revolution
5. Steam punk*
6. Modern*
7. Space age*
8. Interstellar*
9. Intergalactic*
10. Other
*These levels of technology could include rules from the D20 Modern rulebooks and may belong to alien worlds where magic is unknown and so the natives had to develop technology as a survival mechanism. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.
Magic and Psionics. These two systems could be completely unknown or un-evolved on some distant worlds. Perhaps on some world one is present and the other is absent. Perhaps on some world, the practice of one or the other is forbidden, or perhaps because of the nature of the inhabitants one is simple far more prevalent than the other. I think it's fair to say that in the traditional D&D setting, magic is far more prevalent than psionics.
Gods. Do these alien worlds have their own gods? Are these gods real divine beings or simply myths and legend? If they are real, do they make their presence known and demand worship or tribute? Do they ever manifest on the material plane to prove their existence or do they rely solely upon their clerics to prove their existence? In my current model, I roll a d6 to randomly generate a pantheon for a given inhabited world.
1. No gods (outside of the far distant gods which may already exist in a given campaign setting. Or perhaps they are simply the same gods all across the material plane, regardless of how vast it may be.)
2. 1d3 Lesser deities. 2d4 Demigods.
3. 1d3 Intermediate deities. 2d4 Lesser deities. 2d6 Demigods.
4. 1d3 Greater deities. 2d4 Intermediate deities. 2d6 Lesser Deities. 3d6 Demigods
5. 2d4 Greater deities. 2d6 Intermediate Deities. 3d6 Lesser deities. 4d6 Demigods.
6. (Perhaps some deity above greater status) 2d6 Greater Deities. 3d6 Intermediate. 4d6 Lesser. 4d8 Demi.
Atmosphere. The nature of a worlds' atmosphere can greatly influence the evolution of life there. This may be determined randomly, but sometimes may not need to be. Currently I roll a d8 in the unlikely event I want to randomly generate an atmosphere.
1. None. The planet has no fluid atmosphere at all. Its' surface may be exposed to the harsh vaccum, but perhaps the planet harbors life under it's surface in spite of its' inhospitable surface.
2. Thin. The planet may have a thin atmosphere which is hospitable to life, but just barely.
3. Moderate. An atmosphere with an atmosphere similar to our Earth. Not necessarily composed of the same chemicals.
4. Thick. This planet may have a heavy, dense and ultimately crushing atmosphere. This is typical of gas giants or planets with an overabundance of certain chemicals (such as Venus' overabundance of CO2).
5. Smog. The planets' atmosphere may be polluted by the industrial activities of civilized creatures there or by some natural phenomenon.
6. Toxic. The planet may have an atmosphere which is filled with toxic chemicals and may be inhospitable to alien life attempting to visit the world. Or perhaps even to the natives and they must live in only in select parts of the planet where the air is breathable.
7. Liquid. The planet may not have an atmosphere at all composed of gaseous matter. It may be simply a liquid "atmosphere" surrounding a solid core and perhaps protected by a frozen shell. (Once again, Europa)
8. Other. Once again; your imagination is the limit on this roll. Perhaps the atmosphere is filled with magnetic metal particles that rain down from space. Perhaps it is composed of several "layers" each with a different chemical composition.
Gravity. The density and distance from the center of gravity determines the gravitational pull exerted on objects and creatures on the surface. If you want to roll for a planets gravity and let the rest fall into place using logic (or perhaps the complete lack thereof given the influence of supernatural circumstances) feel free to use this guideline.
1. Light.
2. Moderate.
3. Heavy.
4. Reversed.
Biology. For this variable, assuming you don't want to just allow this to fall into place, you can roll a d10 to quickly generate a biology for a given world.
1. Hostile. Planets with this kind of biology are only sparsely populated and ecosystems are fragile.
2. Small. Worlds with this kind of biology have just enough resources to support stable and resilient ecosystems, but may still be sparsely populated.
3. Slightly conducive. Moderately populated and fairly resilient ecosystems with a wide variety of living things, all well adapted to their environments.
4. Moderate. A biosphere comparable to the diverse and resilient Earth in our own universe. Wide variety of living things, all well adapted and most taking efficient advantage of their available resources.
5. Extreme. An extremely diverse biosphere filled with exceptionally resilient and adaptable organisms all taking extremely efficient advantage of their available resources.
6. Artificially enhanced evolution. A biosphere in which the genome of of the natives has been modified by a technologically advanced and possibly alien race.
7. Magically enhanced evolution. Biospheres of this nature have magic flowing in their veins. This could be a world populated by magical creatures where you either evolve magical defenses or you go extinct.
8. Psionically enhanced evolution. Biospheres of this nature are on the other end of the magic vs. psionic spectrum and have to have innate psi-like abilities or even levels in a psionic class to survive in their native environments.
9. Divinely enhanced evolution. A biosphere of this nature has quintessence abound. Creatures may begin their life cycles as mortal beings and divine ascension may simply be their version of metamorphosis, like the caterpillar into the butterfly. Other gods have brought the knowledge and means of apotheosis like mana from heaven to share with the inhabitants of this world. The gods worshiped on worlds like these may be vastly powerful cosmic beings far beyond the capabilities of even greater deities.
10. Other. Use your imagination. A combination the above possibilities. Something beyond my feeble creative talents that you lovely folks (and truly you are a lovely person if you've taken the time to read all this and tolerate my incessant use of parenthesis) create with sheer genius.
Economics. Every civilized race likely has some kind trade system. I have only found a few possible economies which function well. Roll 1d4 if you wanna randomize it.
1. None. This race lives an anti-materialistic or ascetic lifestyle, or due to their evolution simply have no need to external tools or resources due to their own innate abilities.
2. Resource trade. Basically bartering, but lacking a stable currency to stimulate a proper economy.
3. Monetary trade. Monetary trade with stable currency, likely restricted and moderated by the existence of some government like entity.
4. Free trade. Currency based and totally voluntary non-coercive system of free trade, not restricted or regulated by the use of force.
I really hope that someone has something to add to this, or at least some critique of the prototype for the system I have devised here. Maybe even a few suggestions on how to curve the probabilities of given variables presented above. Thanks in advance for your potential future help and thanks even more for reading this massive wall of text.
