Hard S.F. Worldbuilding Cookbook #4.11: The Fireball and Candle: A binary star system 

A how-to guide for writers and roleplayers

Start with your story. Choose locations, situations, and useful prompts as you need them. Have the science behind it all at your fingertips, when you want it. 

Inspiration first, then worldbuilding.

The Hard SF Worldbuilding Cookbooks:

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 interesting prompts and new story hooks, and work back towards the science behind them.

#4.11: The Fireball and Candle: A binary star system

As your characters set off into the universe, the right backdrop - the star system or systems they're voyaging through - can help their story be told. It's like finding a home - the neighbourhood has to be right for you: Is it close to the shops? How does the neighbourhood look?

Is that smoke? 

So the aim of this booklet is to give you a run-down on a realistic two star system mini-cluster, whose component systems are within travelling distance of each other using current-day-Earth-level technology - in particular: How it would be experienced from an Earth-like planet in the habitable zones of either of its component systems. This includes the bizarre phases of any moons lit by double suns, the crossing and strangely coloured double rainbows, and the strange patterns of day, half day, dusk and true night. 

The ‘sun’ of the smaller system explored in this booklet is what’s known as a type M5 -  the smallest possible type of true star, and one that comes with a system of worlds so close packed that travelling between them would take only days with today's rockets. The sun of the larger system is what is known as a A5 type star - a fierce, blue-white star that burns brightly and lives out it's life fast.

Beyond the broad themes you can set specific details to your needs - for example the number and type of other planets and the galactic neighbourhood. The booklet goes into:

How to use this booklet: p4

How multi-star systems are arranged, and combine into clusters: p4

How this applies to our ‘Coalfire and Matchflamer’ star system: p5

How does day & night work under these two suns? p6

How do moon phases work under these two suns? p11

How to go off book with your sun and sky colours: p13

Units of measurement: p13

Fireball and Candle cluster basics: p15

Basic stats for the ‘Fireball’ system’s type A5 sun: p16

Basic stats for the 'Candle' system’s M5 type sun: p19

Suggested prompts for exploring the double system: p22

Planets to populate your system with: p23

Galactic Settings: Determining the background sky, and general conditions: p41

General notes: p48

Glossary of terms: p60

Equations used: p68

Further reading: p71

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).

Beneath the haunted peaks of the Drathmir Spires, hope is dying. Savage gnoll hordes, driven by an ancient, whispering evil, descend upon the last mountain settlements, leaving only blood and ruin in their wake. When all seems lost, a disparate band of heroes—battle-scarred warriors, cunning rogues, and enigmatic elves—must brave the legendary Kharûmdel Deepways, a labyrinth of darkness where reality itself unravels and forgotten horrors stir.

As they descend into the abyss, they uncover secrets older than the world, face monstrous guardians, and confront a cosmic hunger that threatens to devour all light. Their quest will test the limits of courage, loyalty, and sanity. To save their people, they must become more than survivors—they must become the guardians of Kas’Durm.

If you crave epic battles, ancient mysteries, and a world where the line between hero and monster blurs in the shadows, this is the adventure you’ve been waiting for. Enter the Deepways—if you dare.

Monster Mage Games Presents:

Dead Man Delineation
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Mazes, Dungeons, Towers & Walls | Map Pack delivers a vast collection of classic fantasy adventuring locations designed for exploration, siege warfare, magical intrigue, and dungeon-crawl storytelling. This pack brings together underground lairs, towering arcane strongholds, sprawling labyrinths, and massive defensive walls—providing the backbone environments of countless fantasy campaigns.

Descend into a fully realized Classic Dungeon, featuring a wide variety of thematic spaces including caves, crypts, cultist hideouts, temples, underground rivers, and specialized lairs for dragons, giants, mages, minotaurs, spiders, humanoid species, and more. Each area is crafted to support tactical combat, environmental hazards, and narrative discovery.

Ascend through Mage Towers aligned with good, evil, and necromantic traditions. Each tower spans multiple levels—ground, lower, main, upper floors, stair sections, and roof—allowing for vertical encounters and dramatic confrontations. Upper levels are provided in both day and night configurations, while ground levels appear across diverse environments including arctic, cloud, desert, forest, island, and mountain settings.

Test your party’s resolve within Mazes and Labyrinths, offered in both large and small configurations. These twisting challenges come in a range of styles—arctic, funhouse, hedge, stone, and wood—supporting everything from ancient trials and cursed grounds to whimsical or deadly traps.

Defensive warfare takes center stage with a Massive Wall complex, presented in both arctic and stone variants. This structure includes a two-level outpost built against the wall, interior passages, elevated walkways with elevators, artillery positions with catapults, and versions featuring teleportation circles. Maps are also provided for the far side of the wall, enabling full siege scenarios, infiltration missions, or large-scale battles.

The pack is completed with an extensive suite of Teleportation Circles placed across a wide range of locations: cities, deserts, forests, ruins, inns, libraries, huts, islands, secure facilities, audience chambers, and scholar apartments, across multiple climates and eras. These circles match the design used throughout your other fantasy collections, including Fantasy City, 6 Fantasy Villages, and Places of Worship, ensuring visual and thematic consistency across your campaign.

Whether your players are delving deep underground, scaling arcane towers, navigating deadly mazes, breaching colossal walls, or stepping through portals to unknown destinations, Mazes, Dungeons, Towers & Walls | Map Packprovides a complete toolkit of iconic fantasy locations ready for adventure.

This version comes with complete line-of-sight setup, with walls, doors, and windows already placed.

This pack contains the following locations:

- Classic Dungeon
  - Cave
  - Chasm
  - Crypt
  - Cultist's Lair
  - Dragon's Lair
  - Entrance
  - Giant's Lair
  - Humanoid Species Lair
  - Mage Lair
  - Minotaur Lair
  - Underground River
  - Spider Lair
  - Temple
- Good, Evil & Necromancer Mage Towers
  - Ground, stairs, lower, main, upper, and roof levels
  - Upper layers in day and night configurations
  - Ground level in arctic, cloud, desert, forest, island, and mountain environments
- Mazes & Labyrinths
  - Large & small
  - Arctic, funhouse, hedge, stone, wood versions
- Massive Wall
  - Arctic & Stone versions
  - Two level outpost built adjacent to the wall
  - Passage through the wall
  - Top of wall with elevators
  - Top of wall with catapults
  - Versions with teleportation circles
  - Other side of wall!!
- Teleportation Circles in Various Locations
  - Arctic
  - Audience Chamber
  - City Terminal
  - Desert City
  - Desert
  - Deserted Island
  - Forest
  - Hut
  - Library
  - City
  - Old City
  - Ruins, arctic, desert, forest, fall
  - Secure City
  - Scholar's Apartment
  - City Inn Cellar
  - Country Inn Cellar
  - Castle Inn Cellar

The teleportation circles are of the same design as those found in our other fantasy map packs, like Fantasy City, 6 Fantasy Villages and Places of Worship.

Maps are created using DungeonFog.com 

Mini gioco di guerra immersivo, meccaica innovativa per simulare scontri nel pacifico tra nipponici e statunitensi. Chi scoprirà la flotta nemica per primo, facendo partire gli aero siluranti? Attento tra le nuvole potresti scoprire i caccia nemici. Riuscirai a sopravvivere? Se anche precipitassi o ammarassi in mare che fine farai? Un mare di pedine aerei, segnalini da stampare, ritagliare e incollare (colla Stick). Un regolamento semplice ma vi sbalordirà. La presenza scenica delle immagini è incredibile. L'atmosfera dell'epoca viene rivista in chiave moderna rendendo il gioco fluito e alla portata di tutti. Qwein Giochi Artigiano della Fantasa dal 1986

Some special sword designs - For personal use only.

Please leave feedback or contact me if anything is wrong! :)

Some special sword designs - For personal use only.

Please leave feedback or contact me if anything is wrong! :

Monthly Sketchbooksage , A free monthly containing promotional content from sketchbooksage.com and sketchbooksage affilated blog pages. Inside you will find panels from my webcomics Akuma Sake, Badham, Fandum!, Ultimate Wrestle Bout, a link to my photoshop brushes and merchandise.

Adventurers discover a ship frozen in the great ice fields of the Vire, hidden secrets and ancient horrors await beneath its icy decks

In this product:

* A  4096x4096 px (4k) battle map (see thumbnail illustrations)

* An adventure background and monster stats.

JACK ROCKET: SOLO EDITION invites solo roleplayers to the Future of Yesteryear.

Inspired by the black-and-white serial TV shows of the 1950s, JACK ROCKET takes retro Rockets and Ray-Guns science fiction and gives it a modern spin.

56 pages of solo Oracle Engines across ten chapters:

1. CHARACTER CREATION

2. CORE RULES

3. GAME LOOP

4. EPISODE ORACLE

5. SCENE ENGINE

6. NOIR TWIST

7. FACTION PLOTS

8. THE FINAL SCENE ENGINE

9. SOLO START ADVENTURE

10. RETRO DEATH & OUTRO

JACK ROCKET is retro-future pulp sci‐fi, played straight. It is the future as imagined by 1954 television: bright uniforms, rayguns, rocket packs, noble speeches, and looming Cold‐War paranoia.

The characters believe in the dream, AND know they are on set. 

The players know the cracks are showing.

Buy the game today and join Jack Rocket of the Rocket Corps™ to fight the evils of an ever hostile Solar System, in the future that never happened.

Introducing ''Beranor Brassrock'', one of the people responsible for Vlarazagoth escape from its eternal prison.

This title is also included in ''Raznag's Bestiary''.

More creatures will soon join Romeniac to give more challenges to the adventurers in your games!

Have you seen the Krabken, the Andarask and the Arachnoc?  Check my monsters bundle!

“Beranor Brassrock is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by Fria Ligan AB.  This Supplement was created under Fria Ligan AB’s Dragonbane Third Party Supplement License.”

Introducing the ''Drakynodon'', an additional sea monster for Dragonbane!

This title is also included in ''Raznag's Bestiary''.

More creatures will soon join the Vlarazagoth's Minion to give more challenges to the adventurers in your games!

Have you seen the Krabken, the Andarask and the Arachnoc?  Check my monsters bundle!

“The Drakynodon is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by Fria Ligan AB.  This Supplement was created under Fria Ligan AB’s Dragonbane Third Party Supplement License.”