TNE Only: Extended System Generation Questions (TNE Core)

[TheDark]

I'm working on creating some systems, and ran into questions when I hit the Extended System Generation starting on page 192, even with the errata from FFE.

I first went through the UWP Generation for the mainworld, and created the following world:
A535453-A N - G903

Running it through the Collapse, it became:
X535000-0 - - G003

Since this is clearly a world that would be of interest for salvage, I wanted to generate the full system. In step 3, I got a binary system, and steps 4-6 generated a primary star of M5V and a companion star of M0V. The companion wound up in Orbit 8. This is where I start having questions.

Going to Step 11, it mentions rolling maximum orbits for the primary and for far companions, but not for near companions. I rolled 5 available orbits for the primary and didn't roll for the companion.

Step 12 mentions that available orbits are 0-4 Between B and A, 10+ for Beyond B, and 0-4 for B Itself.

Per the Orbit Zones tables, the M5V is Outer for all orbits, and the M0V companion is H for Orbit 0 and O for all other orbits. The orbits go to 13, so I think this means I have orbits 0-4 for A, 0-4 for B, and 10-13 for the outer system to place 5 planets. Is this accurate?

From the UWP creation, I know there are 3 gas giants and 0 planetoid belts, so I skip steps 21 & 22.

Step 23 confuses me. I have 14 orbits to place 5 planets (I think), so there's no point in rolling for empty orbits.

For Step 24, I roll a captured planet, get 1 captured planet, and it's in orbit 1.9. How can I tell if this is around A or B?

For Step 25, I would throw 2d6-3 three times to place the Gas Giants, but given my available orbits are 0-4 and 10+ (the latter of which is impossible on 2d6-3), only rolls of 7 or less will give me a possible orbit. It also doesn't help me determine which star it goes around.

Step 27 says to place the mainworld randomly, and with Atmosphere 3, special requirement 1 doesn't apply. Is there a process for random placement?

Step 28 says all orbits should be filled. How does that mesh with the random number of filled orbits generated in Step 11?

Thanks in advance for any assistance (either additional errata or answers in this thread) that can be provided.

 

[GypsyComet]

Going to Step 11, it mentions rolling maximum orbits for the primary and for far companions, but not for near companions. I rolled 5 available orbits for the primary and didn't roll for the companion.

You do Step 11 for any Companion except Close, which is spelled out in the table in Step 12.

Step 12 mentions that available orbits are 0-4 Between B and A, 10+ for Beyond B, and 0-4 for B Itself.

Per the Orbit Zones tables, the M5V is Outer for all orbits, and the M0V companion is H for Orbit 0 and O for all other orbits. The orbits go to 13, so I think this means I have orbits 0-4 for A, 0-4 for B, and 10-13 for the outer system to place 5 planets. Is this accurate?

Not quite. The Maximum Orbits applies to each star separately. Each star will have its own Maximum.
Page 184: "The Maximum Orbits table (page 192) indicates the highest numbered orbit available for the star."
The actual Step 11 on page 192 also makes it obvious that each star is rolled separately.

Step 23 confuses me. I have 14 orbits to place 5 planets (I think), so there's no point in rolling for empty orbits.

Despite the term used, an Empty Orbit "fills" one of your available orbits.

For Step 24, I roll a captured planet, get 1 captured planet, and it's in orbit 1.9. How can I tell if this is around A or B?

Do one star, THEN do the other.

For Step 25, I would throw 2d6-3 three times to place the Gas Giants, but given my available orbits are 0-4 and 10+ (the latter of which is impossible on 2d6-3), only rolls of 7 or less will give me a possible orbit. It also doesn't help me determine which star it goes around.

Step 27 says to place the mainworld randomly, and with Atmosphere 3, special requirement 1 doesn't apply. Is there a process for random placement?

Main World placement *defines* the primary star. If the Main World was placed around the Companion, technically the Companion becomes the Primary. That would also make a lot of other steps break, so don't do that.

Main Worlds are preferentially assigned to the H Zone. If there isn't a Habitable Zone, or if the Main World is obviously not shirt sleeve, then the nature of the world helps place it. Airless rocks can be anywhere. Any positive hydrographic coverage means Habitable or Outer Zone. Special atmospheres can be anywhere. Belts can be anywhere.

Step 28 says all orbits should be filled. How does that mesh with the random number of filled orbits generated in Step 11?

An orbit is "filled" by a standard world, a belt, a gas giant, or an Empty designation. Captured Worlds do not count against the limit. Companion Stars have their own 2d6 roll for Maximum Orbit, constrained by their own orbit

 

[TheDark]

You do Step 11 for any Companion except Close, which is spelled out in the table in Step 12.

OK, so the word "far" should be removed from the second paragraph of Step 11 (which says to roll 2d6 for maximum orbits around a "far companion"). That makes more sense than the way it's written, and also makes sense with the errata removing Far from Step 7 and replacing it with 13+1D.

Not quite. The Maximum Orbits applies to each star separately. Each star will have its own Maximum.
Page 184: "The Maximum Orbits table (page 192) indicates the highest numbered orbit available for the star."
The actual Step 11 on page 192 also makes it obvious that each star is rolled separately.

I assume any "extra" orbits become Beyond B orbits for a binary? In the case I rolled, there are five orbits per star (0-4), so with a 2D6-4 roll, I could theoretically get eight orbits, which would mean filling all the available orbits around that specific star and having three orbits left over.

Despite the term used, an Empty Orbit "fills" one of your available orbits.

Ah, that makes sense.

Do one star, THEN do the other.

I think overall this is where I was having problems. I was looking at the system as, well, a system, rather than discrete elements, and the system seems to bounce back and forth between the two views - it looks like Steps 23 and 24 (Empty Orbits and Captured Planets) are for each star, while 25 and 26 (Gas Giants and Planetoid Belts) need to be randomized for the system as a whole (unless all GG and PB are supposed to be around the primary), then it goes back to looking at each star discretely for Steps 27 and 28.

Main World placement *defines* the primary star. If the Main World was placed around the Companion, technically the Companion becomes the Primary. That would also make a lot of other steps break, so don't do that.

I kind of suspected that was the case, but was going back and forth on the concept. It's really the only way to make the system work conceptually where an M9 can be a primary with an F0 companion.

Main Worlds are preferentially assigned to the H Zone. If there isn't a Habitable Zone, or if the Main World is obviously not shirt sleeve, then the nature of the world helps place it. Airless rocks can be anywhere. Any positive hydrographic coverage means Habitable or Outer Zone. Special atmospheres can be anywhere. Belts can be anywhere.

Step 27 says the preferential assignment to H Zone is only for Atmosphere 4-9 (although that's not really relevant in my example, since the M5V primary has no H Zone).

An orbit is "filled" by a standard world, a belt, a gas giant, or an Empty designation. Captured Worlds do not count against the limit. Companion Stars have their own 2d6 roll for Maximum Orbit, constrained by their own orbit

OK. That all makes sense.

Thanks for the help - this will definitely aid me in working through system creation. I rolled through the steps I missed (and assumed the GGs would be assigned randomly between stars) and got:

Primary (4 orbits): Size S in orbit 0, captured planet (size 2) in orbit 1.9, Main World (size 5) in orbit 2, LGG in orbit 3 (3 satellites, sizes S, R, 3), LGG in orbit 4 (10 satellites, sizes 3, 3, 4, 6, R, 1, 5, 3, 5, 4)
Secondary (5 orbits): Size S in orbit 0, Size S in orbit 1, Size 5 in orbit 2 (1 satellite, size S), SGG in orbit 3 (5 satellites, sizes 2, 2, R, 1, S), size 6 in orbit 4

Since there's no habitable zone around the primary, I placed the Main World randomly since neither clause in Step 27 applies and it's a vacuum world, so habitability isn't a factor in placement (if it had Atmo 4-9, I would have made it a moon of a gas giant). The primary gets a gap because two of the gas giants randomly rolled the two outermost orbits, I rolled orbit 2 for the Main World, and the Size S in orbit 0 was the last available orbit.

 

[GypsyComet]

OK, so the word "far" should be removed from the second paragraph of Step 11 (which says to roll 2d6 for maximum orbits around a "far companion"). That makes more sense than the way it's written, and also makes sense with the errata removing Far from Step 7 and replacing it with 13+1D.

Sort of. Since inner system Companions never have more than Orbit 6 available, they almost don't need 2d6. Far Companions have no such limits and could make full use of a 2d6 roll.

Step 27 says the preferential assignment to H Zone is only for Atmosphere 4-9

That would be the shirt sleeve range; atmospheres that are, taints aside, casually breathable.