Planet Categories

Planets within the Somnium Drax Galaxy are distinct from one another in composition, gravity, and size, but they can be separated into general categories based on similar features.

This section will describe some of the planet types to be found, and a chart listing the planets Magical Category will also be displayed below.

## Planetary Magic Scale

Planets are divided into three distinct types based on the strength of the magical energies around them.

Class A: This is the classification for planets with the strongest concentration of magical energy, typically life-bearing and oceanic planets are of this classification.

Class B: The second highest classification, ice, barren, and storm planets typically are of this classification.

Class C:  The lowest classification that always includes lava and gas giants.

## Category of Panets

Life-bearing worlds are often referred to as "temperate", as their mild temperatures are one of their defining features. Planets with existing, stable ecosystems are prime targets for colonization efforts as they are generally easier to make fully habitable; as a result, the majority of highly populated worlds are of this type. Indeed, it is not altogether uncommon for detailed surveys to reveal signs of previous settlements from various stages of Dragonstar Galaxy's history.

Temperate planet types vary into several different types, though most have great similarities. They will have a balanced mix of liquid water, oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, and optimal gravity. The best of these worlds are considered Gaia worlds, which have ideal proportions of elements that support life. Good examples of these kinds of gaia type worlds include Caledon Prime which is the homeworld of the Caledonian Empire, and Akkadia, homeworld of the Akkadian Imperium.

Oceanic worlds are a class of terrestrial world covered entirely by liquids, usually in the form of mundane water. While the liquid surface is exceptionally smooth, the ocean floor on most worlds of this type exhibits significant topographic variety. It is this subsurface irregularity which causes the formation of complex weather systems, which would otherwise revert to more uniform patterns.

Oceanic planets are very similar to temperate worlds, though fall more towards the tropical side of the spectrum. Most settlements will be located under water, or in floating cities anchored above rocky and stable outcroppings close to the surface of the water. Oceanic worlds are used primarily for fishing, as the planet wide waters make them ideal for fisheries and other aquatic farm types.

The majority of icy planets went through a period of being barren terrestrials, before being surfaced with ice over the course of many millennia. The exact process for this varies from case to case, but the end result is both common and visually uniform - a bright, reflective planet scored by countless fractures and crevasses. A few icy planets are hypothesized to have been warmer, liquid-bearing planets in the past that have subsequently frozen, as a result of either stellar cooling or failed terraforming projects.

Ice planets are valuable for many reasons, though not ideal for colonization, they are ideal for the lucrative mining and ice farming opportunities to be found here. Since most of these planets are made of almost pure frozen water, they are ideal for supplying substantial supplies of water to billions of people. The amount of ice found on a ice planet is so much that it is postulated that a single ice planet can supply an entire sector with enough water for many hundreds of generations. What is also odd is the fact that the ice seems to constantly regenerate over time, as there have been areas mined down, and in a few years the ice is back. Many believe that ancient fonts of ice magic can be found deep within the planet that regenerates the magic.

Storm worlds are usually considered terrestrial planets, although to a casual eye they may appear more similar to gas planets, given their opaque, high-pressure atmospheres. Geomorphically, however, the distinctions are clear: compared to a gas world, the atmosphere of a storm world is usually considerably shallower, and generally composed primarily of more complex chemicals, while the majority of the planet's mass is a rocky terrestrial ball. Their name is derived from the continent-scale electrical storms that invariably flash through their upper atmospheres.

Storm planets are hazardous even at the best of times, and with their high pressure atmospheres, they are not ideal worlds for colonization in the least.

So-called "lava planets" (properly "magmatic planets") fall into one of three groups: solar magmatics, which orbit sufficiently close to their star that the surface never cools enough to solidify; gravitational magmatics, which experience gravitational shifts sufficiently strong to regularly and significantly fracture cooling crusts; and magmatoids, which are for largely-unexplained reasons simply incapable of cooling and forming a persistent crust. All three types generally exhibit the same external phenomena - huge red-orange lava fields being a defining feature - but the latter two types are sometimes capable of briefly solidifying for a period measured in years or perhaps decades.

Lava planets are beyond what is inhabitable by all but the most determined of people. These planets tend to make the best places to find rare minerals, gases, and crystals. Lava planets are the best place to mine and extract lacrima crystal ore, which one of the key components necessary for many technologies throughout the galaxy.

Gas planets are characterized by a deep, opaque upper atmosphere, usually composed primarily of light elements such as hydrogen or helium. Simple chemicals can add a range of hues and shades in the visual spectrum, and the interaction between upwellings and rapidly circulating pressure bands result in a huge variety of visible surface structures. A similar level of diversity can be found beneath the cloud-tops: the inner composition of a given gas planet might belong to any one of a dozen broad groups, with no two planets entirely alike in this regard.

Gas Giants are unusual in the fact that many can be colonized, though only through the use of floating cities located in the upper portions of the atmosphere. These floating cities are surrounded by special barriers that filter the atmosphere, allowing breathable air through, as well as warming the area within so that it is tolerable.

Barren planets are archetypical "dead terrestrials": dry, rocky worlds with a minimal atmosphere and an unremarkable composition. They are commonly etched with flood channels, which are often broad enough to be visible from orbit; most such worlds have accumulated significant quantities of ice over their lifetimes, but cannot retain it on their surface. Generally surface liquid evaporates rapidly, contributing to the thin atmosphere, but occasionally it will seep back into the ground and refreeze, ready for another breakout in future when the local temperature rises.

Barren planets are often just barely habitable, many being desert or rocky worlds used by outcasts or those with little to no hope of advancing. Often havens for criminal groups, as well as mining firms, these worlds offer much in the way of metals, ores, and minerals, though few gases. Settlements are often cheaply made from local materials that offer protection from the elements, and that's it.

The aptly-named "plasma planets" have captured the imagination of countless artists and inspired innumerable works, yet the physics behind them are surprisingly mundane by cosmological standards. A rocky terrestrial with the right kind of atmosphere and magnetic field will, when bombarded with solar radiation, generate sprawling plasma storms as specific atmospheric elements are stripped of their electrons. Over time these storms will generally scorch the surface rock black, adding to the visual impact.

Plasma planets cannot be inhabited at all, as the raging plasma and magical storms happen with alarming frequency. Though mining firms do build orbital facilities to mine the planet remotely, using cheap but effective drones.

Minerals, ores, and metals mined from plasma planets are very unique, as they are often imbued with Void Magic, and plasma planets are the only places where these types of resources can be found. Since this makes them strategic resources, most plasma planets are controlled by major civilizations.