System Design

Adam Naylor asks:

> I have a question about star system design ??????
>
> 1) When you roll for the number of orbits a system has is the result
> the total number (ie roll 7, orbits 0 - 6 are used) or the number (Roll 7
> 0-7 orbits used) .

I usually use the first method, but one planet more or less shouldn't really
matter.

> 2) When rolling for primary star, if the planet has a pop of 8, and
> and atmos of 4-9, chances are the star will be dwarf, thus the world
> have a breathable atmos of -200 degrees. This is stupid, how do I change it?

Well, you could always stick to detailing worlds from the official sectors,
where I haven't observed this particular problem.  However, I suspect that
you should probably just use the +4 modifier on type, rather than on both
type and size.  This will make most 'good' worlds planets of FV stars, but's
that's better than dwarfs.

> 3) When placing the companion star, what does the book mean . EG I rolled a
> 10, the result being (I think) 5 + 1D6 . I rolled a 5 . So the companion
> star is in orbit 10???????? . The book then said Star A will have orbits 0-4,
> Star B + orbit 12+, Star B orbits 0-5 . Does this mean orbits 0-4 around
> A will be used, then at orbit 10 the companion star exists, around it, it
> has its own orbits of 0-5 . WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, can someone please explain
> this system to me ??????

Sure.  No need to shout. (-:  You are correct in your example: Star A would
have planets at orbits 0-4 and 12+ (if necessary), and Star B would be in
Star A's orbit 10, with orbits 0-5 of its own.  Just imagine Jupiter as a
star, and all those moons as its planets and you're all set.

> 4) When rolling up other worlds in the system, I get these strange paradox's
> Ie A world (not the main world) oftens ends up having a pop anywhere up to
> 6 levels higher than the mainworld . ie mainworld has pop of 4, another
> world in the system has a pop of 8, and its not the mainworld ????? . This
> happens alot when the mainworld is orbiting a large gas giant in a habitible
> zone . Should I assume that the mainworld has the highest pop, so any rolls
> I get the pop of those planets can never exceed the mainworld pop by more
> than mainworlds pop - 1 level ????????

Sounds like a reasonable solution.  In practice, I would expect that mainworlds
which are also gas giant moons should be fairly scarce.  In any other situation
the -5 and -3 modifiers for inner and outer zone planets will tend to reduce
populations below the mainworld.  Every once in a while you could allow an
assymetrical situation such as you describe as long as you can come up with a
good explanation, but generally, I'd adjust or reroll.

> 5) Using the world builders handbook I have yet to actually get a world
> (with standard atmos) with a comfy temp range . Its usually either -50 degs
> of 70+ .

Yes, this is a bit of a problem.  Sometimes you can adjust the temperature
a bit by moving the world a little closer to the fire, or pulling it back
out a bit, but 'jungle planets' or 'iceballs' do seem to outnumber temperate
planets.  Temperate planets only stay temperate, you've noticed, if they have
a nice dense atmosphere.  Otherwise nighttime cooling can cause summer night
frosts, which I expect could be a problem for many food crops of Terran origin.

Rob Dean
(who just created a planet with nasty weather _again_ just yesterday...)