Star Map Generation

In any one galaxy, there are about 10,000 million stars. Some have more stars while a few have less. On a larger scale, there are at least more than 10 billion galaxies in the STAR FRONTIERS universe. To record the statistics of every galaxy would be very tedious, in fact, impossible.

To make matters complicated, each star in a galaxy may have several planets orbiting it. Each planet in turn may have satellites and rings. Space, and its variety, is indeed infinite; STAR FRONTIERS should be a celebration of this variety.

The procedure detailed below presents a step-by-step approach to create a star map for your avid adventurers to explore. You will need a full set of polyhedral dice and lots of paper before proceeding.

• Step 1: Obtain (or draw) a piece of paper with a 5mm grid. This piece of paper should be as big as the one shown on page 51 of the "Alpha Dawn - Expanded Game Rules" Book.

• Step 2: Cross out in pencil 10d10 locations. These crossed out locations represent the positions of star systems.

• Step 3: Use Table 1 to randomly determine the type of star at a crossed out location or choose your own option.

  • Determine whether a system is binary. If it is, roll to determine the type of the companion star ignoring the "Binary" and "Multiple" columns. If the system is not binary, check again to determine if the system is multiple. If it is, roll the required dice to see how many companion stars there are. Again, ignore the "Binary" and "Multiple" columns.

  • Pick a spectral type for a star (where applicable) and finally calculate the Ecosphere Modifier (which is used later in Step 6).

  • Note: The random number "N" (which is a 1d10 roll) is also used in Step 7.

• • Step 4: Determine the miscellaneous information on the star system using the table provided below:

• Stability and X-Ray Level is explained in the next step. Also, determine the number of planets and asteroid belts for the system, if any.

• If there are more asteroid belts than planets, decrease the star stability by 10%.

• Step 5: The "Stability" of a star is very important for the referee as it determines how often solar activities take place (great suspense for adventures centered near a recurrent nova star). A star with zero stability explodes as a nova (80% likely) or supernova. Novas will collapse into neutron stars, pulsars or black holes while supernovas will collapse into pulsars, black holes or massive black holes.

  • X-Ray Level and Intensity are explained in Step 10.

• Step 6: The ecosphere is the region around a star in which a planet will be at a suitable temperature for life to exist - assuming the planet is of Earth type. The table below shows the Ecosphere ranges. Add the Ecosphere Modifier (obtained in Step 3) to both numbers.

  • The Ecosphere range is a crucial element when determining whether life exists during Planet generation.

• Step 7: Skip this step if the star is a neutron star, pulsar, or black hole. This step determines the spectral class of stars. Attach the number "N" (from step 3) to the Spectral Type.

  • For example, if you have a type G star and you rolled "N" as 6, the spectral class would be G6. Note that G6 is hotter than G5, F0 is hotter than G9, etc. Table 6 shows you the coldest spectral type at the top and the hottest at the bottom.

  • Note: The real life sequence of star classification in astronomy is O, B, A, F, G, K, M (or also easily remembered as "Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me!". Stars of Type W, R, N, and S are very special categories. X is for labelling dead dwarf stars.

• Step 8: Determine how many different celestial objects to be placed by rolling 2d10. Mark out their locations on your Star Map. Next, use the table below to determine what celestial objects they are.

  • Note: Intensity and X-Ray Level are explained in Step 10.

• Step 9: Add in routes on your map and add any other changes of your choice. With the completed star map in hand, proceed to generate planetery data on systems of interest.

• Step 10: This is an informational step that explains two terms.

  • Intensity: Intensity is the amount of hull damage sustained when travelling through a celestial object (per square on the stellar map). Refer to Page 34 of the Knight Hawks manual on the topic "Travelling through Asteroids" for a step-by-step procedure on resolving similar travel through other kinds of celestial objects.

  • X-Ray Level: This number is used to determine the interference and noise experienced by a communications system. For every level, a 8% chance of a message being garbled by noise is imminent. Therefore, a ship near a pulsar would not be able to hear a message 64% of the time (8 x 8%). The X-Ray Level takes effect if the communications system is within 1 LY of any X-Ray source (celestial objects inclusive). Note: It would be great fun for the Referee to role-play a garbled message.