Astrosynthesis orbital collision detection

[RPMiller]

If you want to stay true to physics then I would go with other planets and 2 moons. If you want to let magic rule the day, then I would talk about a "magical gravity" that allows the moons to "dance about one another" as the orbit the planet. If the moons are essentially orbiting each other as they orbit the planet that would give a lot of explanation about relationships and such and you can explain that the magics involved are what prevents the real physics from tearing the planet apart. Of course you wouldn't want to anger the gods because they might do just that.

[Midgardsormr]

So...I'm depressed now by all this gravity talk...As a DM...what would you do...

Fake it with a good write up and talk of the power and wisdom of the gods to maintain such a delicate balance of moons around a planet?

Or change the 8 moons to something else like other planets in the system and maybe give my smallish planet two tiny moons?

I'd do it the way I wanted and worry about justifying it later. Cosmology, after all, is one of those things that the players might never question, and if they don't challenge it, then it's right. Right?

[Normski]

The skeptic in me wants to say "the planets are always in a particular configuration when something happens; it's only when you can predict something based on the configuration of planets that you'll have something there". Of course, this skeptic has been known to watch things like pro wrestling and the Jerry Springer show so be sure to take any such opinions with a grain of salt. Or a ton of salt.

That's what he is looking for, seeing if there is any correlation. To put it in basics - no offence intended - if you put a magnet on a TV screen, the pattern formed on the screen is a four leaf clover type of effect. This surprised me when I did it as I was expecting a typical North / South configuration - remember the experiments with iron fillings?
Well, when the planets align with these 4 "poles" then poo happens - that's the very basic theory, but as with every theory there are 1001 differenent things that can influence the idea

My stepdad used to gauge the stock market by running historical star charts and comparing them to stock market highs and lows, and then looking for similar star and planet configurations and buying and selling based on that.

So...I'm depressed now by all this gravity talk...As a DM...what would you do...

Fake it with a good write up and talk of the power and wisdom of the gods to maintain such a delicate balance of moons around a planet?

Or change the 8 moons to something else like other planets in the system and maybe give my smallish planet two tiny moons?

Basically, the 8 moons represent the 8 core deities of the world...and two of them are the mother and father figure of the world...so thats how the cosmology and pantheon WERE supposed to line up.

Are you after realism or story? You could have the moons on the same orbital plane, with the same period of rotation round the planet, equally spaced, or near enough. I.E. N - NE - E - SE - S - SW - W and NW. Whilst this sort of set up is unlikely to happen in reality, it a fantasy world for a game you are producing here. If you do this then tides would be minimal, based purely on the size and gravitational force exerted by the larger moons. (and 1001 other things I have probably forgotten about - )

[Redrobes]

Assuming that the moons are not all precisely alike and spaced equally then they would pass each other in their orbits. I always thought that once you had more than 2 of these object (presumably one being the main planet) then you have the classic "N-body problem" which I thought was impossible to calculate. Now I must be mistaken cos NASA go around making grand statements about Saturn and Jupiter so is anyone able to flesh out a bit how they can do it. Or is it their best guess via a super computer thrashing out a numeric simulation. Wasn't it true for example that they stated that some of Saturns moons in its ring system actually swap over orbits when they get close enough to interact ?
My opinion is to the tune of "Hey theres 5 moons - got it, oh before anyone says to the contrary, theres no silly tides cos as DM I say so." and go with that approach. Its much easier than buying a super computer.

[jfrazierjr]

The skeptic in me wants to say "the planets are always in a particular configuration when something happens; it's only when you can predict something based on the configuration of planets that you'll have something there". Of course, this skeptic has been known to watch things like pro wrestling and the Jerry Springer show so be sure to take any such opinions with a grain of salt. Or a ton of salt.

Research shows that 75% of all statistics are made up.

Joe