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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kemrain" data-source="post: 1925953" data-attributes="member: 12153">Could you explain this one? The 'Life Zone' (around Sol, at least) is the band 93 million miles around the sun, correct? One AU? Why must a planet be there to support life? It seems to me that this is a rather Terra-centric view of things.  Life need not rely on the light of the sun for its energy. If life exists on Europa, it will probably subsist on chemosynthesis (the energy in the chemecals involved in deep sea hydrothermal vents caused by geological activity), more than photosynthesis (we all know this one). I could also imagine life that got its energy from the intense radiation emitted by gas giants like Jupiter. Those, however, are not environments suited to traditional DnD games, and are interesting in an off-topic sort of way.  You seem to have a good understanding of these thigns, Steverooo, so if I'm wrong I'd love to be corrected.Ferret, if you want an earth-like world revolving around a gas giant, and for it to conform to most of the accepted scientific theories about such things, it seems doable. There are issues, as I understand it, that need to be overcome before a moon like that could support human life, but they have been mentioned.  A magnetic field seems necessary, but also easy to produce (Io has a very strong magnetic field, if I'm not mistaken) by the tidal forces of the orbited planet churning an iron core.  The radiation produced by a Jupiter-like planet would, under ideal curcomstances, cause a beautiful aurora effect, and at worst would bake the planet to a crisp.Very, very interesting thread. I love these things. Keep the astronomy coming.- Kemrain the TV Astronomer.</blockquote>

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