Comet
A comet is a ball of icy volatiles. This far from anywhere, it is just a dormant snowball with no tail or any chance of creating one. Roll a d6 to see how far it is from the ship. Technically, these aren't really comets, and some are better classed as kuiper-belt objects. But their make-up is very similar.
- 1D6 x 10 Mkm
- 1D6 x 25 Mkm
- 1D6 x 50 Mkm
- 1D6 x 100 Mkm
- 1D6 x 150 Mkm (1 AU) (+1 to Size roll)
- 1D6 x 2 AU (+2 to Size roll)
It will be moving vaguely in the ship’s direction (but is very unlikely to collide). Roll a D6 to see how quickly it is moving:
- 1D6 km/s
- 2D6 km/s
- 3D6 km/s
- 1D6 x 10 km/s
- 1D6 x 30 km/s
- 1D6 x 100 km/s. Roll again, on a 6 multiply by 10 and roll again.
Chance of the ship detecting it depends on what sort of sensor scans they are performing. It takes about 15 minutes to get a radio pingback from an object for every 1 AU it is in distance.
| Diameter | Details |
|---|
| D6 | D6 | Small comet, 1D6 KM diameter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | A small dirty snowball made of various ices, mostly water and methane. |
| 1 | 2 | An elongated snowball made mostly of water and methane ices. |
| 1 | 3 | An almost pure water-ice snowball. |
| 1 | 4 | A broken collection of snowballs barely clinging together under gravity. |
| 1 | 5 | A small dirty snowball which contains some exotic crystals that form spiky growths on the surface. |
| 1 | 6 | A fluffy snowball that won't support the weight of a person. |
| D6 | D6 | Small comet, 1D6 x 2 KM diameter |
| 2 | 1 | A small dirty snowball made of various ices, mostly water and methane. |
| 2 | 2 | An almost pure methane-ice snowball. |
| 2 | 3 | There are hints of exotic compounds deep beneath the surface which could be mind. |
| 2 | 4 | Almost black snowball covered in sooty organic substances. |
| 2 | 5 | A radioactive core of heavy metals, the surface is radiating a halo of volatiles from the heat. |
| 2 | 6 | This is two snowballs stuck together, their surfaces melted where they touched. |
| D6 | D6 | Small comet, 1D6 x 3 KM diameter |
| 3 | 1 | A mix of pebbles and ice. |
| 3 | 2 | A red tainted ice ball. |
| 3 | 3 | An icy ball riddled with caves and tunnels. |
| 3 | 4 | An icy ball riddled with caves and tunnels. Exotic crystals can be found near the core. |
| 3 | 5 | |
| 3 | 6 | |
| D6 | D6 | Medium comet, 1D6 x 5 KM diameter |
| 4 | 1 | |
| 4 | 2 | |
| 4 | 3 | |
| 4 | 4 | |
| 4 | 5 | |
| 4 | 6 | |
| D6 | D6 | Medium comet, 1D6 x 25 KM diameter |
| 5 | 1 | |
| 5 | 2 | |
| 5 | 3 | |
| 5 | 4 | |
| 5 | 5 | |
| 5 | 6 | |
| D6 | D6 | Large comet, 1D6 x 100 KM diameter |
| 6 | 1 | |
| 6 | 2 | |
| 6 | 3 | |
| 6 | 4 | |
| 6 | 5 | |
| 6 | 6 | |
| D6 | D6 | Large comet, 1D6 x 100 KM diameter |
| 7+ | 1 | |
| 7+ | 2 | |
| 7+ | 3 | |
| 7+ | 4 | |
| 7+ | 5 | |
| 7+ | 6 |
There is a 1 in 6 chance that the comet has some sign of civilisation.
- A radio beacon on it.
- There are a few empty cargo crates and signs of a makeshift landing site.
- This place has been mined, there is some equipment left behind.
- Some form of scout base, long since deserted.
- It is an old weapon's cache, still some weapons here.
- Old pirate base.
For the size of the settlement: 1-3) Small, 4-5) Medium, 6) Large.