Captain, sensors indicate a breathable atmosphere on the planet, but…

Roll 1d12. Please have other dice on standby.

  1. Super heavy gravity. Roll 1d10+1 times normal Earth gravity.
  2. Massive wind storms dot the planet.
  3. Innately hostile flora and fauna have adapted to other toxins on the planet’s surface.
  4. A serious lack of water on the planet contributes to massive dust storms.
  5. It’s breathable, but… The humidity is 200% that of Earth. Most of the planet is water covered in dense fog. It’s pleasant minus the almost constant rain.
  6. It’s basically a hollow moon with lots of deep craters that somehow conspired to maintain an atmosphere. The plant life all growns deep underground.
  7. The inhabitants don’t exist in a visible spectrum available to human eyes.
  8. Pollution in the air, water, and soil is almost toxic to most beings. The previous residents really made a mess of things before they died or abandoned the planet.
  9. Geomagnetic and electrical storms pound the planet day and night. The planet is bathed in constant darkness, with sunshine being only about 4 Earth hours long on a given day. The planet sits in orbit behind a jovian planet’s shadow.
  10. Low gravity. Roll d00% for the fraction of 1G. Bouncy!
  11. Mountainous planet with most of the breathable air being at low altitudes. There are also some big creatures down there at those altitudes.
  12. The planet is currently experiencing an ice age. It’s a lot cold down there.
Photo by Philippe Donn on Pexels.com

1d12 Things found floating in or around asteroid fields.

  1. Clank! The ship finds an abandoned electrogravitic mine! It might even still go boom. Or maybe it won’t? Sure hope we can figure out how to detach it,.
  2. Bleep. A forgotten? alien probe is floating around out here. Who and what it reports-to is anyone’s guess.
  3. Halp? A distress beacon from a ship stranded deep within the field. It may or may not still be there. Someone got stranded. Seems harmless enough.
  4. Grawr. Giant space worms with massive teeth lurk within nearby asteroids.
  5. What the?!? A giant space tardigrade floats by. It’s alive.
  6. Tong-tong-tong. A space train of full ore cars seems to be looking for a ship to dock with.
  7. Ping. A long deserted ship floats by. It’s on minimal battery reserve and almost no life support. It’s an old mining ship from some long dead world. It’s as if the crew fell prey to some kind of vicious xenomorph. There might even be eggs still on board.
  8. Tink tink. A rogue mining operation has taken up residence in a large nearby asteroid. They aren’t hurting anyone, but they’re officially not supposed to be there.
  9. Swish. A stellar cloud of ice, iridium space dust, and radiation create a deadly combo that knocks sensors offline and interferes heavily with communication.
  10. Hmm. A seemingly innocuous vessel detaches from one of the asteroids and leaves the field in a hurry. If questioned, they seem to be regular cargo haulers. If searched, it eventually becomes apparent they are smugglers.
  11. Alert! Space pirate vessel detected. Shields up. Red alert. They apparently have a stash in one of the asteroids.
  12. Vreeep Pew Pew Pew! A series of especially aggressive Kill Satellites have opened fire on your vessel. An unknown species built them, possibly as a doomsday weapon. They seem to be coming from an automated facility in one of the asteroids. Good luck, commander.