Start with your story. Choose the locations it needs. Have the science behind them at your fingertips, when you want it.
Inspiration first, then worldbuilding.
Written for worldbuilders who want their in-world science to be more than just technobabble, the Hard SF Cookbooks are focussed on story and dramatic possibilities rather than just being ‘here’s the science, now go create’. Each starts with a guide for the aspiring space traveller - where to go and how to avoid being fried, zapped, and/or blasted - then pulls out to the artist, writer and GM point-of-view, with lookup tables so you can start from the trope or scenario you want, find new story hooks, and work back towards the science behind them.
Find the whole series here for Kindle, or see below for PWYW PDF format:
#1: Moons of Gas Giants:
Dozens of worlds, deadly radiation belts, beautiful ring systems, a wealth of fuel and resources, all crammed into a volume that Neil Armstrong’s Apollo capsule could cross in a week. Inconceivable fortunes, and adventure beyond imagining, await in that crowded sky - but every opportunity brings dangers, and even the simplest operation means facing down lethal hazards. Drawing on the real-world exploration of the bizarre moons of Saturn and Jupiter, as well as recent exoplanet discoveries around other stars, Moons of Gas Giants covers:
Matching moons to appropriate orbits in a giant planet system - page 7
Radiation belts - page 8
Visual size of the gas giant - page 13
Water covered moons - page 16
Ice moons - page 18
Desert moons - page 20
Volcanic moon - page 22
Steppenwulf moons and gas dwarfs - page 24
Habitable moons - page 26
Asteroid-like moons - page 28
Carbon moons - page 30
Matching moon tropes to appropriate moon families, giant planets, and giant planet visuals - page 31
Mass vs gravity for moons and solid planets - page 36
Ring systems, antimatter mines and collection methods - page 37
Useful gas giant facts for world builders - page 39
Glossary of terms - page 41
Pay What You Want (suggested $4.99)
#2: Supernova
They are the most devastating explosions in the universe: Unleashing more energy and radiation than an entire galaxy, supernovae have shaped galactic history - and, in some regions, effectively ended it. Using a series of simple, flexible look-up tables, this book sets out the range, lethality, and timing of a supernova's effects - as well as detailed notes on the accompanying visuals and experiences, and countermeasures for endangered spacecraft and planets. Putting storytelling ahead of technical detail, but with plenty of in-depth material for those wanting to do a deeper dive, this second installment in the Hard SF Worldbuilding Cookbooks series covers:
Immediate effects of a supernova on space vehicles - page 8
Delayed effects of a supernova on space vehicles - page 9
Immediate effects of a supernova on an Earth-like planet - page 10
Delayed effects of a supernova on an Earth-like planet - page 11
Aftermath effects of a supernova - page 12
Supernova prediction - page 13
Tech and industrial levels - page 15
Use of Traveller tech periods and Kardashev levels - page 15
Effects of radiation doses - page 16
Countermeasures for space vehicles - page 18
Countermeasures for Earth-like planets - page 20
Pay What You Want (suggested $2.99)
#3: Rogue Planets:
Beyond the oases of light and warmth made by stars lie the vast, freezing, voids of interstellar space. Through these wander the rogue planets: Worlds spat into the dark during their solar system's early youth, and worlds that formed without any warming star to begin with. But, despite billions of years in the interstellar night, many of them are not entirely dead - some could support entire civilisations in the darkness. Nor are they exactly rare...
Using a series of simple, flexible look-up tables, this book sets out a range of possible, scientifically plausible, rogue planets - including moon systems for rogue gas giants, radiation, likely environments, hazards, opportunities and visuals. Putting storytelling ahead of technical detail, but with plenty of in-depth material for those wanting to do a deeper dive, this third installment in the Hard SF Worldbuilding Cookbooks series covers:
Locations in interstellar space - Page 8
Rogue planet tropes - page 17
Trope modifiers - page 29
Rogue gas giant planets and their moon systems - page 31
Tropes for moons of rogue gas giants - page 39
Glossary - page 55
Equations used - page 61
Further reading - page 63
Pay What You Want (suggested $4.99)
John Freeman is PhD physicist, who acts as advisor for world-builders when they want some real world details to help their creations. This series owes its existence to the GMs, writers, artists, and even historians who collaborated with him (and who keep him in touch with the real world, and supply him with snacks).
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