This is a reasonably quick and simple system for generating complete planetary systems in rough detail, and the most interesting planets in somewhat greater detail. It isn't tied to any particular game mechanics, and should be usable with any SFRP system.

I designed it because I've never been very impressed by the planet generation schemes in most SF role-playing games, which are usually either too unrealistic or too complicated (or, frequently, both). I wanted a system that was simple enough to generate stars and planets fairly quickly, while still being designed with some astronomical knowledge, by someone who knew one end of a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram from the other. (Hint: Neither end is likely to have anything resembling Earth orbiting it.)

You will need some six-sided and ten-sided or twenty-sided dice (or, of course, a computer with a good random number function). I assume you're familiar with the usual dice notation (so you know, for instance, what "2D6+3" means). This system requires rolls on D6, D10, D20, and D100. Unless otherwise stated, all results of less than zero should be counted as zero, and all fractions should be rounded to the nearest whole number (round halves upwards).

This file is copyright 1993 by Ross Smith; all rights reserved. It may be distributed and archived freely, provided no changes are made. Comments can be mailed to me at the address above, or posted to rec.games.frp.misc (email preferred as our news service is unreliable).