Diaspora Star Cluster Generator
Diaspora is a roleplaying game designed by Brad Murray and others at VSCA publishing.
Like many roleplaying games, Diaspora uses some generative elements to create content. In this case, an expressive method of generating a cluster of star systems that fit with the hard-sci-fi setting. It’s a clever little system that quickly produces a lot of story seeds. It’s also a handy base for building other, similar generators by using different sets of stats.
This online generator by Jeffery Miller automates it and produces a nice diagram of the cluster, plus suggests Aspects for each planet. I like the mix of aspects. It takes a lot of work to get a large enough collection to give good juxtapositions. But it pays off: When I encounter a bronze-age system with a thriving planet but poor resources, with “Byzantine Intrigue” and “Shapeshifters walk among us” that immediately gives me several story ideas, especially when I notice that their system is at the crossroads of the cluster.
I’m fond of Brad Murray’s designs: one of his other games is the play-by-email Callisto, which I’ve run several times. (And I’m starting a new game soon!)