Determining orbits

LtBennett · #1 April 2nd, 2021, 10:43 PM

When once in an online game I witnessed the referee determining what was in each of the orbits around a planet ...but didn't quite understand...I have searched and found something in the 'BBB' -Traveller 5E but can't find much so far in Mongoose Traveller publications...Anyone available to guide me a bit...direct me to a clear explanation as to how to determine where the moons might be...where the asteroids...where the gas giant might all be located around the main world planet....and even the starport?????

mike wightman · #2 April 3rd, 2021, 04:36 AM

Sounds like extended system generation.

CT LBB6 Scouts, MegaTraveller and other iterations include rules for this.

A non-Traveller resource that does it well is GURPS Space 4e.

BackworldTraveller · #3 April 3rd, 2021, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LtBennett

When once in an online game I witnessed the referee determining what was in each of the orbits around a planet ...but didn't quite understand...I have searched and found something in the 'BBB' -Traveller 5E but can't find much so far in Mongoose Traveller publications...Anyone available to guide me a bit...direct me to a clear explanation as to how to determine where the moons might be...where the asteroids...where the gas giant might all be located around the main world planet....and even the starport?????

Mongoose MgT1 Scouts supplement uses an abstract system the determines relative order but not absolute distance. This can make systems look realistic but really doesn't tie into the LBB6, MegaTraveller, TNE or T5 versions directly

wbuthod · #4 April 3rd, 2021, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike wightman

A non-Traveller resource that does it well is GURPS Space 4e.

If you really want to get deep into the topic, there is a more complex but lovingly crafted system generation process by Jon F. Ziegler, the esteemed sophont who wrote the worldbuilding section in GURPS Space 4e. [Architect Of Worlds]

mike wightman · #5 April 3rd, 2021, 05:32 PM

Now that is an excellent resource...

kilemall · #6 April 4th, 2021, 02:45 AM

There is also a system gen process in the Clement Sector sourcebook Unmerciful Frontier which includes orbit gen. I'm looking over it, the TNE WBH and Pocket Empires for retrofitting the baseline system I'm using, RTT Worldgen.

wbuthod · #7 April 4th, 2021, 11:57 AM

I like RTT Worldgen, too. The earliest version I found on RPG.net made a lot of unexplained references to a document, The ARC Planetary Classification Guide, which at first was difficult to locate. [link to archive of 2013 version via the Wayback Machine] [link to edited version by a worldbuilding blogger]

Someone made an adaptation of RTT rules for Eclipse Phase, "Astrometrics - A GM's Guide to Exoplanets". The main departure from RTT was converting {N}D6 tables to D10/D100. I think the only reason I didn't give it more of an in-depth read was that I downloaded it right before eye surgery, and the layout/color made it impossible for me to read until months later.
[direct link to PDF document]