System generator
Shamelessly pirated from the Rogue Trader (RPG) sourcebook Stars of Inequity, the tables for randomly generating a Star System a pioneering Exploratory Fleet might discover.
System Properties
| D10 | Feature | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bountiful | Lots of mineral wealth. Choose one to all of:
|
| 2 | Gravity Tides | Treacherous skies. Choose one:
|
| 3 | Haven | Peaceful system of garden worlds. Choose one:
|
| 4 | Ill-Omened | Cursed, either in fact or in legend. Crew morale will suffer just by arriving and will stay fragile until you leave. |
| 5 | Pirate Den | A wretched hive of scum and villainy. You must be cautious. D6+4 ships are present, including a beefy flagship, and 50% chance of a space station base. |
| 6 | Ruined Empire | A Xenos or Dark Age civilization once lived here. Choose one:
In either case, this affects a minimum of 1 Planet and if there are more Resource deposits than planets the remainder are Derelict Stations or Starship Graveyards. |
| 7 | Starfarers | There are several planets and a civilization (human or xeno) which spans them. Minimum 4 Planets in the system; add more wherever if it falls short. The native civilization inhabits D6+3 Features, planets first. Any planet with a native civilization has this one, with Development level Voidfarers, Colony, or Orbital Hab, with at least one Voidfarers in the system. |
| 8 | Stellar Anomaly | Some star systems don't fall into the neat "planets orbit star, stars orbit galactic center" bucket. This is one; there's some fuckhueg negative space wedgie affecting the local gravity. Remove any 2 Planets generated in the system as they or their orbits are destabilized. Navigating within and through this system is easier since these wedgies are used as Navigator's landmarks. Local Warpspace is also calmer, but sudden reversion to realspace is more dangerous with a high chance of Gravity Riptide, Solar Flare (even if not near a star), or Radiation Burst. |
| 9 | Warp Stasis | A calm Warp isn't always good; sometimes it becomes "becalmed in the Warp". Double the base time for any trip entering or leaving this system and the time to send or receive an Astropathic message. It may also be harder to use psychic powers of any kind in the system. |
| 10 | Warp Turbulence | This isn't a true Warp Storm, but that may not be much consolation. All Warp jumps into or out of this System are more difficult. Some of the following may also be true:
|
Star And Solar Zones
Roll for star strength and size, which then determines how much stuff is in each of the three Solar Zones; Inner Cauldron, Main Biosphere, and Outer Reaches
| Roll | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mighty: Blazing, overpowering blue or blue-white light. Strong Inner Cauldron, weak Main Biosphere. |
| 2-4 | Vigorous: Steady white light. All zones normal. |
| 5-7 | Luminous: Well past its peak brightness, but steady yellow or yellow-orange. Weak Inner Cauldron. |
| 8 | Dull: This star will live for millennia more, but it is unmistakably dying. It is large but dim, usually red. Strong Outer Reaches. |
| 9 | Anomalous: Dis's fuckin weird. It may be bilious green, nearly-invisible purple, or just about anything else. Make any one zone strong or weak. |
| 10 | Binary: Two stars. Roll D10; 1-7: the stars match; reroll once. 8-10: they're different; roll once for each. Reroll 9s and 10s, but if the stars match a 10 can mean it's a three-star system. Star characteristics are set by the appropriate roll; zone strength is set by the lowest roll, subtracting 1 for each extra star, min 1. |
| Zone Strength | # of System Element rolls |
|---|---|
| Weak | 1d6-3, min 1 |
| Normal | 1d6-1, min 1 |
| Strong | 1d6+1, min 3 |
System Elements
| Inner Cauldron | Main Biosphere | Outer Reaches | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roll | System Element | Roll | System Element | Roll | System Element |
| 01-20 | No Feature | 01-20 | No Feature | 01-20 | No Feature |
| 21-29 | Asteroid Cluster | 21-30 | Asteroid Belt | 21-29 | Asteroid Belt |
| 30-41 | Dust Cloud | 31-41 | Asteroid Cluster | 30-40 | Asteroid Cluster |
| 42-45 | Gas Giant | 42-47 | Derelict Station | 41-46 | Derelict Station |
| 46-56 | Gravity Riptide | 48-58 | Dust Cloud | 47-55 | Dust Cloud |
| 57-76 | Planet | 59-64 | Gravity Riptide | 56-73 | Gas Giant |
| 77-88 | Radiation Bursts | 65-94 | Planet | 74-80 | Gravity Riptide |
| 89-100 | Solar Flares |
95-100 | Starship Graveyard | 81-93 | Planet |
| 94-100 | Starship Graveyard | ||||
Element Descriptions
Asteroid Belt: A thinly-spread ring of rocks which may have once been a rocky world. This poses a minor navigational hazard for all travel in its Solar Zone, and has D6-1 Mineral Resource deposits.
Asteroid Cluster: A denser, cohesive group of asteroids, usually the remains of a shattered planet or moon. It is confined to a small volume but is a serious navigational hazard within its extent. It also has D6-1 Mineral Deposits, either within the asteroids or in the remains of ships destroyed trying to navigate it. Pirates often use these as cover.
Derelict Station: An old, empty space station. If there is a space-capable civilization in the system, it was their creation. Otherwise, roll on the Station Origins table and give it D6-1 (min 0) Archaeotech or Xenos Ruins Resources.
Dust Cloud: The leftovers of an asteroid field or solar flare, these can be used as sensor cover but are basically irrelevant beyond that.
Gas Giant: Usually not a useful planet directly, but frequently home to rocky moons which could be much more promising. Use the Planet generation table below.
Gravity Riptide: A major navigation hazard and one that's very hard to detect from a distance.
Planet: A rocky world, potentially suitable for human habitation. Use the Planet generation table below.
Radiation Bursts: Not localized, but affecting the whole Inner Cauldron. Detecting an imminent burst is tricky but possible, and a skilled Enginseer's care for the augur arrays, or taking refuge behind a planet or moon, can protect the sensors; otherwise they will be damaged and difficult to even begin repair on for several hours. Even when there is no active burst, lower-level radiation makes all augurs and sensors noisy and unreliable in the area.
Solar Flares: Not localized, but affecting the whole Inner Cauldron. They are essentially unpredictable, and any journey through the Cauldron has a 10% chance per day of being hit by a solar flare, which is nearly as damaging as void combat weapons. Multiple instances of this each add 10% to the daily chance of being hit by a flare.
Spaceship Graveyard: A number of dead ships, floating in the void. Roll on the Graveyard Origins table to determine how they got here, and add D10+2 small Resource caches (Archaeotech or Xenos Ruins) spread across the dead fleet.
Ruin Origins
| Roll | Origin |
|---|---|
| 01-10 | Eldar Orrery: Wraithbone station with many cloistered cells, and psychic signatures of long-gone power |
| 11-15 | Eldar Gate: Wraithbone contraption in the shape of an enormous door. What could it possibly be? |
| 16-30 | Ork Rok: From a distance, this looks like an asteroid, but it's hollow and full of Ork 'technology', |
| 31-45 | STC Defense Station: A commonplace core pattern found across the Imperium, customized to defend a human colony. |
| 46-65 | STC Monitor Station: A commonplace core pattern found across the Imperium, customized with extensive augurs and communications tools. |
| 66-75 | Unknown Xenos Defense Station: A heavily armed station of unrecognizable origin, clearly not built for human occupants. |
| 76-90 | Unknown Xenos Monitor Station: A station of unrecognizable origin, with many sensor arrays and clearly not built for human occupants. |
| 91-95 | Necron Station: Station made of the Living Metal characteristic to the Necron xenos. Purpose unclear, probably defended by Canoptek robots. |
| 96-100 | Unusual Human Station: Structure and markings indicate this was built for humanity, but it is unlike usual patterns of station. |
| Roll | Origin |
|---|---|
| 01-15 | Wrecked Battlefleet: Whichever side fielded these, they lost badly, and all hulks belong to the same force. 2D6 ships, most or all shattered beyond any value. |
| 16-20 | Fleet Engagement: Massive conflict raged here, with many hulks from both sides. 1d10+6 hulks, plus possible unexploded mines, torpedoes, or attack craft. A few might be worth salvaging. |
| 21-35 | Lost Explorers: Ships lost to overextended supply vaults, or failure of vital systems. D3 ships but most or all are salvageable. |
| 36-65 | Plundered Convoy: Plundered transports and cargo ships drift here, from an ancient shipping lane. D6+1 ships are here, all boardable but dsifficult to salvage and probably thoroughly picked-over. |
| 66-90 | Skirmish: Wrecks from a small battle, from two different sides, drift here. D6+2 hulks, all heavily damaged but possibly sturdy enough to salvage. |
| 91-100 | Unknown Provenance: Bizarre assortment of different vessels drifting past defies easy explanation. Dozens of utterly ruined ships, D6 hulks with some integrity remaining. No shared origin is plausible. |
Planet Properties
TODO; until then, Planet generator
Gross Properties
- Size and Mass
- Gravity
- Orbital Objects
- Atmosphere
- Climate
- Habitability
- Landmasses
Environment and Riches
- Territories: unusual and notable pieces of landscape, of varying size
- Landmarks: smaller, localized memorable things
- Resources: Valuable stuff, of different types and size of deposit, also used for non-Planet resources
Life
- Native Species, subsapient
- Inhabitants, sapient
- Race
- Tech Level