Generating non-mainworlds

[cunningrat]

I started "Pirates of Drinax" with my group today, and one of the first questions of their mouths was "what else is in the Drinax system?" So now I have to come up with those 3 other worlds, and optionally any moons the gas giants may have.

I can follow the world generation algorithm in the core rulebook and discard nonsensical results, of course. But I'm curious if there's actually an existing procedure to figure those out. If so, where would it be?

 

[AKjeldsen]

I’d recommend the GURPS Space book, it has a very detailed system for generating solar systems.

 

[PsiTraveller]

Travellermap.com is mentioned in the Traveller Companion book (pg 118-125) The website can generate an entire starsystem for you, and maps as well for every world in the system. If the world(s) make no sense you can generate an entirely new system by regenerating a new system with a new random seed under the System Actions button.

 

[Baldo]

Travellermap.com

donjon; Star System Generator

donjon.bin.sh

Or try the Donjon generator, it does have a Traveller version at https://donjon.bin.sh/scifi/tsg/ but I prefer the main Star System Generator above.
Here various Seeds I've used/saved:

1615488385 879454861 1616520441 3442593124 933423994 1469450807 840012237 1618852015 62124397 1619342248 616232957 797391523 1620918965 1623402130 1526578590 782067277 1861781784 1977412488 1009277272 1693112280 1626864275 681546997 30748240 1629105128 1448083013 401889140 4629621370 1629821089 2787036969 595565943 1630577536 2630577536 1631607064 1633338867 1009846309 1635157994 516617169 60590416 1788614553 1639735020 1152692386 1641290461 1643130433 1643459004 741054600 90806500 9181694728 9999990860 1749361966 502294017 391017424 86867473 1648314619 2030007647 1649839797 1649937504 786177003 711911763 (ALKLHA 1690451722) 901861937 76667204 2013378759 1651159723 8152742585 138215448 1614149426 4008895312 19166523 1654079965 1013670919 189276904 134277088 5555556383 517082422 1655629394 1655717675 332160963 1656321587 2063904710 9957010150 615054294 2092856470 397280509 968988333 1658071701 8523986325 1658401955 1992494982

 

[cunningrat]

Travellermap.com is mentioned in the Traveller Companion book (pg 118-125) The website can generate an entire starsystem for you, and maps as well for every world in the system.

That's an excellent resource, PsiTraveller, and thank you: I have been using travellermap.com but, uh, hadn't noticed the world generation button.

 

[Geir]

Travellermap.com is mentioned in the Traveller Companion book (pg 118-125) The website can generate an entire starsystem for you, and maps as well for every world in the system.

That's an excellent resource, PsiTraveller, and thank you: I have been using travellermap.com but, uh, hadn't noticed the world generation button.

It's actually from Traveller Worlds, but there is a link. If you expand a system on Travellermap, there will be a link toward the bottom: Generate World Map. That link gives a world map, but there is also a button on that site which allows a system generation: System Actions. Then choose Regenerate System. It gives Traveller5 results, so there might not be much context for terms like Rad World, and you should take the breathable atmosphere results with many grains of salt, but you can use it as a basis.

 

[Sigmar]

JTAS 4 has an article on non-main worlds. It's not super-detailed but it may be what you're looking for.

 

[Lurking Grue]

Thanks for the tip about Traveller Map generating entire systems, I had never noticed that (and have been using the Map for years). Very handy! It is using Traveller 5 rules for that, right? Anyone know what rule system does the Donjon generator use?

There were also quite thorough rules for star system and planet generation in the MegaTraveller era World Builder's Handbook (by DGP). However, that might be a bit tough to get hold of now days, unfortunately.

 

[Geir]

Thanks for the tip about Traveller Map generating entire systems, I had never noticed that (and have been using the Map for years). Very handy! It is using Traveller 5 rules for that, right? Anyone know what rule system does the Donjon generator use?

There were also quite thorough rules for star system and planet generation in the MegaTraveller era World Builder's Handbook (by DGP). However, that might be a bit tough to get hold of now days, unfortunately.

To be clear, Traveller World Builder is an entirely different thing by a different author. It is using T5 rules. The Great Rift set provides an extended system generation routine in Book 4 (DSE Handbook), but it is a little hard to flowchart.
(Disclaimer: Way back when LBB 6: Scouts came out, I was unhappy enough with the system generation process - was taking an astronomy course at the time - that I wrote my own, which eventually evolved into a 10,000 line program and helped get my my first living-wage job, so I have my own strong opinions on how it should be done [and that whole effort crashed when real exoplanets started showing up and proved everyone had it wrong])

 

[steelbrok]

Yes, real exoplanets are so weird and wonderful that you can pretty much justify all sorts of things in the remainder of the system.

 

[paltrysum]

Classic Traveller Book 6: Scouts and MegaTraveller's World Builder's Handbook are your go-to guides for generating inner- and outer-system planets. Not totally up with modern space science, but there really hasn't as comprehensive a set of rules since then.

 

[Lurking Grue]

Classic Traveller Book 6: Scouts and MegaTraveller's World Builder's Handbook are your go-to guides for generating inner- and outer-system planets. Not totally up with modern space science, but there really hasn't as comprehensive a set of rules since then.

Yes, this is how I've been generating star systems for years, even if the rules are somewhat outdated by now. However, for gaming purposes and as there's still so much we don't know for certain about the "Big Spaaaaace" (that's a scientifically proper term, by the way :lol, I'm more than happy to use those rules and roll with it. I've tweaked them a bit, like increasing the number of M class stars for one and I've made habitable worlds less of an every star system occurence (I'm not going by the OTU canon, there are many uninhabited systems IMTU), but otherwise I'm going pretty much by those two books. Even if my inner simulationist would like to have the star systems be as accurate to known science as possible, I've learned to "handwave" it -- and as my players aren't nearly as interested in the science side of things as I am, I'm being "cost effective" in my use of time and energy, too.

 

[PsiTraveller]

One thing that the system generation tools allows is a system to have multiple types of types, asteroids, vacuum, hell worlds, fluid worlds etc. If there are populations on those worlds they could be miners extracting trade goods for sale. Items like radioactives, precious metals etc. which need specific world codes to be available. Players may want to go prospecting, or an adventure could be made with a valuable trade item being the prize.