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Thursday, 7 August 2014

Universe Building Part 3: Fleshing Out A Planet And Its Races

I couldn't stop thinking while at work today about how to go about fleshing out the alien races that would inhabit the various planets I have already and am going to generate. Whether to let the planet dictate the alien races that inhabit it, or to let the alien races dictate what the planet is like. There have to be certain parameters here, as not all planets are equal. I would assume that those planets generated that have home races are similar to earth in many respects, and those without can be a variety of other kinds of planet, those that can be colonised like Mars and those it would be near impossible to like Jupiter. I was thinking that I would have a table that you rolled on that determined how advanced the technology of each race on the planet was and that could then dictate how advanced the planet would appear, a city planet like Coruscant would come from a highly advanced race. Then again I would like room for a city planet without any home races, because that would be a mystery worth investigating in an RPG. Here's what I scribbled down while on my break:
Alien Race Type (D10) -
1= Mammalian, 2= Avian, 3= Amphibian, 4= Reptilian, 5= Insectoid, 6= Mollusc, 7= Fish, 8= Crustacean, 9= Mechanoid, 10= Intelligent Energy/ Elemental

 Alien Race Technological Advancement (2D6) -
2= Pre-Technology, no different than animals.
3= Pre-Civilisation, savage tribes, basic technology, stone weapons.
4= Early Civilisation, nations, use of metals in armour and weaponry.
5= Developed Civilisation, use of firearms, use of machines, steam power and coal.
6= Advanced Civilisation, use of aircraft, communication with other planets, satellites.
7= Super Advanced Civilisation, first colony on own moon or nearby planet.
8= Early Space Farers, travelling between planets within own system and multiple colonies.
9= Developed Space Farers, inter-planetary system travel, trade within own system and first colonies in other systems.
10= Advanced Space Farers, inter-sub-sector travel, trade within nearby systems and first colonies in other sub-sectors.
11= Super Advanced Space Farers, inter-sector travel, trade within own sector and first colonies in other sectors.
12= Space Masters, near instantaneous space travel, trade and colonies in all parts of the universe.
A few extra rules, if a race exists in the same system as a race from Early Space Farers and upwards and is a lower level, then their level should be raised by 1. If a race exists on a planet with another race that is a developed civilisation and upwards and is a lower level, then their level should be raised by 1. These pluses are cumulative, the idea here is that other races would share technology (or have it stolen). It's unlikely a planet would be inhabited by one super advanced race and one still hitting mud with sticks.

This system really does need a lot of tweaking, but lets roll some dice for the two systems I've been developing and see where we end up:
Star - Aty
Planet 1 - Ivu - None
Planet 2 - Vaq - None
Planet 3 - Okon - None
Planet 4 - Opo - None
Planet 5 - Gamoju - The Iwaperons
Planet 6 - Nanofinu - The Giliseni, The Nanolin, The Pir.
First on Gamoju, the Iwaperons are advanced space faring race of elementals.
Secondly on Nanofinu, the Giliseni are a race of developed space faring insects. The Nanolin are early space faring mammals and the Pir are a race of developed space faring molluscs.

Over in the Yru System:
Star - Yru
Planet 1 - Ejymo - None
Planet 2 - Iguryfo - None
Planet 3 - Rexovimu - The Apurans are developed space faring mammals, The Eraqutons are also developed but are molluscs.
Planet 4 - Ypa - The Ypanoids are space mastering mammals.
Planet 5 - Regu - The Ehunepolin are developed space faring reptiles, The Regumon are space mastering birds.
Planet 6 - Juli - The Julirans are developed space faring insects.
Planet 7 - Doqoco - None
Planet 8 - Cuwalivi - The Cuwal are space mastering elementals and  the Odotolin are amphibian developed space farers.
So now my two systems are jam packed with space faring races, we'll have to see how well they all get along, and whether there are alliances or wars!

Thanks for stopping by!
WGP

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