Inner Sphere Campaign World - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Inner Sphere Campaign World

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Burren
Aug 06, 2011 21:23:21 Per the subject line, I'm working on a new campaign world that takes place on the inside of a world sphere. However, I could use some help with inner sphere details. I know that the horizon will rise and that you'd be able to see farther due to said rising landscape but what else? Assuming there's a stationary sun in the middle of the sphere temperatures would pretty much be consistent whereever you were, correct? What about atmosphere; if it's a temperate world will the sky be blue-green? Sorry, I know these are just random thoughts and questions but I'm hoping someone here has some experience in inner sphere world-building. I'm looking for those details that just make an already unique world that much more believable. Also, if anyone has any reading or viewing suggestions, that would be great as well. It's been long years since I read Niven's Ringworld books or Weis & Hickman's Death Gate Cycle but I'm sure there was some stuff I could glean from them. There was also a Star Trek TNG episode where they encountered a Dyson's Sphere, IIRC. Anyway, I greatly appreciate any input anyone may have on this subject. Cheers!
#2
slobo777a
Aug 07, 2011 5:47:04 A central sun would mean it wouldn't move during the day. Without something to block the sunlight, there would be no night - you could add something to block the sun, such as a dark 'moon' that orbitted close to the sun.

Or the sun-moon pair could be a light/dark binary orbiting a central point. If the "moon" was larger than the sun, and the orbit large, you could set it up to give day/night (over the equatorial regions) and seasons (the orbit itself could precess, and which part of the equator got the closest approach of the sun would vary).

Alternatively (and probably more simply), the sun could be firey on just one side. Then the rotation of the sun would give day/night, and if it orbitted around a central point, that would give seasons.

#3
slobo777a
Aug 07, 2011 6:21:09
I know that the horizon will rise and that you'd be able to see farther due to said rising landscape but what else?

The night-time view of the opposite lit side of the world would be very different to our night sky. Visibility to it might be poor, but otherwise it might resemble a map of the other side of the world.

Assuming there's a stationary sun in the middle of the sphere temperatures would pretty much be consistent whereever you were, correct?

Assuming a simple sun (but then you lose day/night), yes, but then you would get a kind of boring statis. You need energy to move through the system to get weather and interesting things to happen. If, for instance, you allow the bottom of the oceans to be cooler, and that heat eventually makes its way out of the system through the thinner bottom of ocean "containers", then that will set up heat flow, which will drive winds and weather. Which in turn would mean that centres of continents would be consistently hotter and dryer than the oceans, and lead to a lot of familiar weather phenomena such as mountains with rain shadows etc.

What about atmosphere; if it's a temperate world will the sky be blue-green?

If you assume the same sort of atmosphere and sunlight as Earth, then daylight colours of the sky ought to be pretty much the same. Evening and night colours will depend on how you set up the sun, and how much light the system allows through from opposite side of the world (and if this is significant, what the reflected colour is of that opposite side).

Answering this question accurately is possible by playing with a ray-tracer, and tweaking your system's model of sun and atmosphere.

However, instead of going that route, I would suggest that once you get the big picture self-consistent and satisfactory, you switch to fantasy mode and make a world based on opportunities for interesting and unique adventure. Every time a sciency question pops up, you answer it in a way which is consistent, and may lead to further adventures e.g. you put volcanoes in your world. Players: "Does that mean there are plate tectonics". DM: "Erm . . . no, this is due to portals to the elemental chaos."
#4
powercat
Aug 07, 2011 11:57:54 What is the radius of the sphere? If we're talking about a sun the size of our own, with the surface of the world the same distance as Earth is from the sun, you'll have a world with a surface area of approximately 108 quadrillion square miles. That's about 550 million times the size of Earth.

It will either take a really good explanation or a single giant handwave to give the world a cycle of night and day and seasons.
#5
Burren
Aug 07, 2011 18:46:22 Many thanks, Slobo! That's exactly what I was looking for....you've given me some crucial details to consider. I had thought about having moons but I really like the idea of the sun being bright on only one side. Much better than the "boring stasis" as you say. I've been struggling with the day/night/seasons stuff, trying to find a way to work all those things into an inner sphere world and you've effectively solved that little conundrum. I love the idea of an illuminated map-like night sky; great mental picture.

And Powercat, thank you for your response. Size was another matter I was toying with and I definitely hadn't planned on a world quite that large. I'm thinking the sphere will be close to Earth-sized and I'll just have a smaller sun. But as you point out, a handwave is just as easy to make things work. It is fantasy after all!

Thank you again!
#6
powercat
Aug 07, 2011 19:27:13 You're welcome. I had fun doing the math, and sometimes I like to give people a reminder of how incomprehensibly enormous even our own tiny corner of the universe is. To further drive home the point, here is what 108 quadrillion looks like numerically: 108,000,000,000,000,000.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Burren Aug 06, 2011 21:23:21	Per the subject line, I'm working on a new campaign world that takes place on the inside of a world sphere. However, I could use some help with inner sphere details. I know that the horizon will rise and that you'd be able to see farther due to said rising landscape but what else? Assuming there's a stationary sun in the middle of the sphere temperatures would pretty much be consistent whereever you were, correct? What about atmosphere; if it's a temperate world will the sky be blue-green? Sorry, I know these are just random thoughts and questions but I'm hoping someone here has some experience in inner sphere world-building. I'm looking for those details that just make an already unique world that much more believable. Also, if anyone has any reading or viewing suggestions, that would be great as well. It's been long years since I read Niven's Ringworld books or Weis & Hickman's Death Gate Cycle but I'm sure there was some stuff I could glean from them. There was also a Star Trek TNG episode where they encountered a Dyson's Sphere, IIRC. Anyway, I greatly appreciate any input anyone may have on this subject. Cheers!
#2 slobo777a Aug 07, 2011 5:47:04	A central sun would mean it wouldn't move during the day. Without something to block the sunlight, there would be no night - you could add something to block the sun, such as a dark 'moon' that orbitted close to the sun. Or the sun-moon pair could be a light/dark binary orbiting a central point. If the "moon" was larger than the sun, and the orbit large, you could set it up to give day/night (over the equatorial regions) and seasons (the orbit itself could precess, and which part of the equator got the closest approach of the sun would vary). Alternatively (and probably more simply), the sun could be firey on just one side. Then the rotation of the sun would give day/night, and if it orbitted around a central point, that would give seasons.
#3 slobo777a Aug 07, 2011 6:21:09	I know that the horizon will rise and that you'd be able to see farther due to said rising landscape but what else? The night-time view of the opposite lit side of the world would be very different to our night sky. Visibility to it might be poor, but otherwise it might resemble a map of the other side of the world. Assuming there's a stationary sun in the middle of the sphere temperatures would pretty much be consistent whereever you were, correct? Assuming a simple sun (but then you lose day/night), yes, but then you would get a kind of boring statis. You need energy to move through the system to get weather and interesting things to happen. If, for instance, you allow the bottom of the oceans to be cooler, and that heat eventually makes its way out of the system through the thinner bottom of ocean "containers", then that will set up heat flow, which will drive winds and weather. Which in turn would mean that centres of continents would be consistently hotter and dryer than the oceans, and lead to a lot of familiar weather phenomena such as mountains with rain shadows etc. What about atmosphere; if it's a temperate world will the sky be blue-green? If you assume the same sort of atmosphere and sunlight as Earth, then daylight colours of the sky ought to be pretty much the same. Evening and night colours will depend on how you set up the sun, and how much light the system allows through from opposite side of the world (and if this is significant, what the reflected colour is of that opposite side). Answering this question accurately is possible by playing with a ray-tracer, and tweaking your system's model of sun and atmosphere. However, instead of going that route, I would suggest that once you get the big picture self-consistent and satisfactory, you switch to fantasy mode and make a world based on opportunities for interesting and unique adventure. Every time a sciency question pops up, you answer it in a way which is consistent, and may lead to further adventures e.g. you put volcanoes in your world. Players: "Does that mean there are plate tectonics". DM: "Erm . . . no, this is due to portals to the elemental chaos."
#4 powercat Aug 07, 2011 11:57:54	What is the radius of the sphere? If we're talking about a sun the size of our own, with the surface of the world the same distance as Earth is from the sun, you'll have a world with a surface area of approximately 108 quadrillion square miles. That's about 550 million times the size of Earth. It will either take a really good explanation or a single giant handwave to give the world a cycle of night and day and seasons.
#5 Burren Aug 07, 2011 18:46:22	Many thanks, Slobo! That's exactly what I was looking for....you've given me some crucial details to consider. I had thought about having moons but I really like the idea of the sun being bright on only one side. Much better than the "boring stasis" as you say. I've been struggling with the day/night/seasons stuff, trying to find a way to work all those things into an inner sphere world and you've effectively solved that little conundrum. I love the idea of an illuminated map-like night sky; great mental picture. And Powercat, thank you for your response. Size was another matter I was toying with and I definitely hadn't planned on a world quite that large. I'm thinking the sphere will be close to Earth-sized and I'll just have a smaller sun. But as you point out, a handwave is just as easy to make things work. It is fantasy after all! Thank you again!
#6 powercat Aug 07, 2011 19:27:13	You're welcome. I had fun doing the math, and sometimes I like to give people a reminder of how incomprehensibly enormous even our own tiny corner of the universe is. To further drive home the point, here is what 108 quadrillion looks like numerically: 108,000,000,000,000,000.