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After watching a few shows on astronomy and having an interest in the universe I've been considering making a campaign with a larger celestial (not the angel type :P) influence than normal. Though I'm probably going to include loads of different things (if/when I think about them, or if you fine folks here wanted to suggest something) I was hoping to get some help with the effects multiple suns might have on a planet.
Myself I would think most of the world would be desert and that the suns would likely be revered in some way but aside from that I'm unsure what kinds of things could happen.
Could anybody lend a hand?
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I have a few ideas for you.
Have a binary system, that is further away than our sun is, and which goes through a cycle where it issues more radiation during some decades. If the sun sometimes scoured the surface, civilisations would need to dig warrens and holes and dungeons for the 'bright death' times, causing lots of excuses for spelunking.
Have the zodiac as deities.
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Thanks for the suggestions Sock Puppet! Having the sun caressing the surface of the world every so often would provide for many excuses for spelunking indeed. It would also work well with my idea for the sun (in short form, looked upon as a deity of death). I'm thinking I'll have to use this idea for some "religious holidays" :P
As for having the zodiac as deities, I'd thought about it briefly but I'm kind of hoping to greatly simplify my pantheon to be a few very powerful deities (perhaps 3-4). Although I might be able to use the zodiac as some avatars or something?
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A binary star system doesn't HAVE to produce a desert world.
For example in 3001: The Final Odyssey Jupiter (I think it was Jupiter anyway- maybe Saturn) compresses and becomes a small star.
The impact depends upon the size of the star. A tiny star, like a Jupiter sized star, would have minimal impact on Earth. Some, yes, but not much. It would appear as little more than a really bright star in the sky.
For example, if we had a duplicate sun within our solar system located at Jupiter's location about 5AUs from the sun, it would indeed increase the temperatures on earth as we would receive about 1/4 more light and heat than we do now, it would change our orbit and tides and would change how night would appear and even when it appears. It could be months with no true night, then months with a "half night." Also, if earth rotated around the original sun, at times the second one would be only 4 AUs away and other times would be 6 AUs away, so seasons could be extreme.
But if the new sun is tiny like Jupiter its effects would be far far smaller. For a Jupiter sized star assume it was a gas giant that failed to gain the mass necessary to become a star. Later something happened, such as manipulation from a powerful outsider, elemental or wizard, or god that ignited the planet into a tiny star.
Or you could have a real binary system that is far enough apart that you could literally have two stars and systems that orbited a central point.
Or perhaps one where they share planets, exchanging them in a weird figure 8 orbit.
A really helpful book for this stuff is GURPS: Space. A portion of the book is dedicated to developing worlds and star systems, and binary systems are addressed. I'd say it is THE premier sourcebook for creating your own star systems in a "realistic" manner.
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Thanks for the suggestions Sock Puppet! Having the sun caressing the surface of the world every so often would provide for many excuses for spelunking indeed. It would also work well with my idea for the sun (in short form, looked upon as a deity of death). I'm thinking I'll have to use this idea for some "religious holidays" :P
As for having the zodiac as deities, I'd thought about it briefly but I'm kind of hoping to greatly simplify my pantheon to be a few very powerful deities (perhaps 3-4). Although I might be able to use the zodiac as some avatars or something?
I developed a pantheon using one deity. Yep a pantheon.
The deity has avatars to represent certain portfolios and interests. These avatars become the main deities of the pantheon that interact with mortals. They then break down to more specialized avatars, down to demi-god level. Thus they, in all their facets, represent all of the interests of the single god and can account for good vs evil, law vs chaos, and every other conflict out there.
It was an interesting experiment anyway.
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I've been reading up on the effects a binary star system could have on planets. Typically whenever I ask for help on something I tend to look a bit deeper myself, kind of a "if I'm not willing to do some leg work why should the people I ask do it for me?" Anyway, I read up on the effects a smaller star might have and it's not what I'm looking for really. I wanted something larger and more substantial, not a two sun influence but a bit more than the Jupiter star.
Something that really interested me was the eclipsing binary after reading it. It would work nicely in that it provides something unique that my players haven't seen before and when light intensity is up I can have religious observances.
I'm also interested in your "pantheon" of one deity Krome, but perhaps that's a tale best served another time. Thanks for your input!
Must look into binary star systems more later, giving me good ideas!
You could also have a world with multiple "suns" with their own separate axis. Geographical references could be given in three cardinal direction, so instead of North, South, East an West, you'd have where the Big Red Sun rises (the system's sun, a red giant), where the Peaceful Blue Sun rises (a neighboring planet) and where the Bright White Sun rises (the planet's own moon afire). The three axis could cross themselves, giving possibilities of eclipses, conjunctions and such.
or
a planet having multiple moons (an perhaps its own ring) shining of different hues. The night could thus be bathed in eerie blue light, spooky green light or imposing red light.
A dominant color or theme based on a certain color can give a definite feel for your game (think of the first Matrix movie and its green palette). RPG being a imaginative game, you'd have to insist on this theme in your narration, but it can still be very efficient.
'findel
I one did something similar with one of my prior campaign settings.
The main star was bright, but was too far out to give the planet much warmth. Basically it was a cool giant. The Day sun was worshipped as the God of light, Order, and Civilization.
The other Sun was very dim, but it's orbit was close enough to warm the world. The dimmer sun was only seen at night, and was it's brightest during summer months. The Night Sun, as I called it, caused many earth quakes, and storms when it's orbit was close to the world. So the Night Sun was worshipped as the Goddess of Darkness, Dreams, and Chaos.
I hope you find this Idea helpful.
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you know I really like those ideas.
A far away sun, but the moon itself is on fire! I also like the color palette idea. I have been thinking lately of using colors in the game to represent significant people, events, concepts. Haven't done anything beyond thinking though.
I also really think the those two ideas are very compatible. A Day Sun and Night Sun. The day sun provides a warm color to the day, and the night sun (the moon afire) is a soft white-blue.
Add in a ring around the planet and we have a really cool looking planet here. Certainly makes for a unique fantasy world to play with. I wonder what it would look like to gaze into the night sky and there is a ring and a burning moon?
If you want more info on that pantheon just email me at oclark86@gmail.com
I did a world once that was a moon of a gas giant (and the moon had moons). The gas giant reflected enough of the systems sunlight so it functioned a light giving (but not heat giving) second sun. Most of the local religions had customs and beleifs dedicated to the superstorms that would form on the gas giant, and how they looked and so on, for things like omens, prophecies, and other things like that.
Was really really fun to do. Makes me want to try and dig up that notebook and see about updating the world to something more useable with DnD these days (it was a second ed campaign I ran)
I did a world once that was a moon of a gas giant (and the moon had moons). The gas giant reflected enough of the systems sunlight so it functioned a light giving (but not heat giving) second sun. Most of the local religions had customs and beleifs dedicated to the superstorms that would form on the gas giant, and how they looked and so on, for things like omens, prophecies, and other things like that.
Was really really fun to do. Makes me want to try and dig up that notebook and see about updating the world to something more useable with DnD these days (it was a second ed campaign I ran)
Indeed, we often assume that the "world" is a planet, but a moon offers a whole new look on things. Think how different their mythology would have been!
Indeed, we often assume that the "world" is a planet, but a moon offers a whole new look on things. Think how different their mythology would have been!I did a world once that was a moon of a gas giant (and the moon had moons). The gas giant reflected enough of the systems sunlight so it functioned a light giving (but not heat giving) second sun. Most of the local religions had customs and beleifs dedicated to the superstorms that would form on the gas giant, and how they looked and so on, for things like omens, prophecies, and other things like that.
Was really really fun to do. Makes me want to try and dig up that notebook and see about updating the world to something more useable with DnD these days (it was a second ed campaign I ran)
I ended up doing a complete overhaul on it...used gods my players were familiar with from other settings, but revamped them in terms of outlook and style. Took me about 3 months to get the whole thing done, campaign lasted about a year and a half. I've really thought about updating it, just never gotten around to it.
I think one of the (more fun) aspects of it was Bane...as the god of Justice, Rulership, and Civilization. seriously threw my players for a loop...
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These are all awesome ideas guys! Keep them coming. Laurefindel I especially like your idea about three suns corresponding to the cardinal directions. Introducing dominant colour themes is going to have to come into the game as well.
Chaotic while I really enjoy your suggestions I think I'm going to reverse it. I'm hoping to give my moon a theme of peace and order while the sun (the main one) is seen as chaotic and destructive. Storms would be attributed to it and some people would fear it. Hopefully it will work out for me, should be a striking for my players who are so used to seeing the sun as a life-giver.
Having a moon for a world could really shake things up as well! Once I heard that some moons may be able to support life I knew I wanted to set a game there eventually. It's not likely to be this game but one day.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys, keep em coming! This discussion is really getting the ideas flowing for me.
P.S. Krome
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I created a whole sphere when Spelljammer came out. It was called the Black Pearl of Wildspace. The only sun in its solar system was a blue star that cast light equal to twilight. The largest population on the planet was drow who were not bothered by it while the rest were not native born had to struggle to adapt. One of the cities inhabited by the normal races was nicked named the City of Light. Mages of the city kept continual light spells going to give it a false day. At night they would cover all the lights except for a perimeter that was used to keep out and serve as a warning if the drow attacked as the invaders would counter the light with darkness.
The back history I’d created was that a powerful wizard conjured up a magical item called a Sun Seed that was planted on one of the distant lifeless planets to create a sun for the system. It ended the darkness for 100 years, driving the drow underground, until it died out having not been powerful enough to create a true sun. Game play was to start about a hundred and fifty years after the sun had gone out and rumors of another Sun Seed had surfaced.
Could the heroes find the seed and bring light to the world? Unfortunately I never found out as I never got to run anything for it. I thought I’d mention it though as a possible idea for an alternate sun. What if one of the other suns was magical in nature? Possibly even failing? Seems that could introduce a lot into a world’s religion and so on.
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mmmm adding even more complexity to it all (and getting down right ridiculous in the process), a massive gas giant, think several times larger than Jupiter, with rings. It has a habitable moon, about the size of earth, which itself has moons. This habitable moon lies within the gas planet's ring system. Additionally, the gas giant orbits one of a binary or trinary(?- or would it just be triple?) star.
Ugg getting weird. :) I'd never be able to figure out the tides! Umm they work just like on Earth, cause of magic, yeah...
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I created a whole sphere when Spelljammer came out. It was called the Black Pearl of Wildspace. The only sun in its solar system was a blue star that cast light equal to twilight. The largest population on the planet was drow who were not bothered by it while the rest were not native born had to struggle to adapt. One of the cities inhabited by the normal races was nicked named the City of Light. Mages of the city kept continual light spells going to give it a false day. At night they would cover all the lights except for a perimeter that was used to keep out and serve as a warning if the drow attacked as the invaders would counter the light with darkness.
The back history I’d created was that a powerful wizard conjured up a magical item called a Sun Seed that was planted on one of the distant lifeless planets to create a sun for the system. It ended the darkness for 100 years, driving the drow underground, until it died out having not been powerful enough to create a true sun. Game play was to start about a hundred and fifty years after the sun had gone out and rumors of another Sun Seed had surfaced.
Could the heroes find the seed and bring light to the world? Unfortunately I never found out as I never got to run anything for it. I thought I’d mention it though as a possible idea for an alternate sun. What if one of the other suns was magical in nature? Possibly even failing? Seems that could introduce a lot into a world’s religion and so on.
DUDE THAT IS SO AWESOME!
Expanding on the color theme...
Beyond our conception of colors (red for passion and aggressiveness etc), remember the reflection caused by a lack of some wave length.
White people don't have a lot of green pigment in their skin. Under green light, white people look pale and "gray". Emotions could be harder to tell for one thing. That is not quite the case with black people (no racism here, just observations from my stage lighting designer profession). Lizardmen and other reptiles that look "cold" under the sun would feel "warmer" or at least, more in their element.
A red light would make red things stand out, particularly if the dominant colors in nature are green and blue like they are in our world. Expect a lot of blood cultists (not necessary evil ones); one of the main source of "red stuff". Arizona-like deserts would make shapes hard to tell from each others. Red-hued lizard-folks would have great camouflage advantages. The source of red light could also emit more into the I-R range. Warmth could exist without brightness and long-distance spotting could be disturbed by blurry waves.
Blue light has a similar to green light on dark-skinned people. On white people, it tones down the "sanguinity" of emotions. Psychologically speaking, people could have more introspected anger and be colder in general.
Our sun is pretty yellow, which makes things lively. White light is a lot harsher (think of your crisp, bright winter day).
a few thoughts...
'findel
Building off the idea of a "hot" sun:
Instead of having the sun be dangerous you could have it just be really, really bright. Basically, give everyone a measure of light sensitivity under the bright sun. Races with normal vision are okay (they just squint a little), those with low-light vision suffer -1, and any race that already had light sensitivity takes a -2. Maybe the sun interferes with dark vision as well, rendering it inoperable outside.
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dm4hire that is an awesome idea! Totally stealing the magically made sun and making that a large impact on the campaign. How? I'm not entirely certain yet but it's happening.
Laurefindel I'm really appreciating your discussion on the colours and theming the campaign around them. It's really going to help me out when the PCs find themselves in the metropolis I have planned and are flooded with colours.
Fanguad, I'm not entirely certain giving my PCs (especially since they suffer from elf-love) in-game penalties due to the sun's brightness. While it would make for some unique circumstances I'm certain I would hear griping a lot for it. Maybe another campaign but not for this one. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Fanguad, I'm not entirely certain giving my PCs (especially since they suffer from elf-love) in-game penalties due to the sun's brightness. While it would make for some unique circumstances I'm certain I would hear griping a lot for it. Maybe another campaign but not for this one. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Yeah, just throwing ideas out there. I wasn't clear in my first post, but I was envisioning that such a scenario would have three different light periods: night, day, and bright-day. Personally I'd never use it because I would hate tracking the extra data.
I developed a pantheon using one deity. Yep a pantheon.
The deity has avatars to represent certain portfolios and interests. These avatars become the main deities of the pantheon that interact with mortals. They then break down to more specialized avatars, down to demi-god level. Thus they, in all their facets, represent all of the interests of the single god and can account for good vs evil, law vs chaos, and every other conflict out there.
It was an interesting experiment anyway.
I had an idea for a monotheistic pantheon too. My thought was to create crisis points where the existing deity split around some sort of great issue. Mortals would take sides and provoke a war or similar struggle. Eventually one of the godly twins would win out and become the new reigning god.
But the losing twins from all those earlier splits still linger around. Much reduced in power and influence. Supporting cults more than active faiths.
I created a whole sphere when Spelljammer came out. It was called the Black Pearl of Wildspace.
You might want to check out Karl Schroeoder "Virga" series. One of the subplots deals with the struggle over who gets control of the key that controls the sun.
<snip>
Chaotic while I really enjoy your suggestions I think I'm going to reverse it. I'm hoping to give my moon a theme of peace and order while the sun (the main one) is seen as chaotic and destructive. Storms would be attributed to it and some people would fear it. Hopefully it will work out for me, should be a striking for my players who are so used to seeing the sun as a life-giver.
<snip>
Actually the moon deity of that world was seen as a force for redemption. Also the god of the Day Sun wasn't always seen as a force for good. How the deities of the Day and Night Suns were perceived, in my setting, was mostly a matter of perspective.
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Speaking of number of suns and such. Anyone know a good resource that would include random charts for world and solar system generating? My group is working on building a new world for our campaign. We're going to use Dawn of Worlds, but there are some aspects that aren't covered that we'd like to be able to spead up by just rolling dice for.
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Speaking of number of suns and such. Anyone know a good resource that would include random charts for world and solar system generating? My group is working on building a new world for our campaign. We're going to use Dawn of Worlds, but there are some aspects that aren't covered that we'd like to be able to spead up by just rolling dice for.
That sounds like a great resource! I'll be watching the thread hopeful someone knows of something!
Speaking of number of suns and such. Anyone know a good resource that would include random charts for world and solar system generating? My group is working on building a new world for our campaign. We're going to use Dawn of Worlds, but there are some aspects that aren't covered that we'd like to be able to spead up by just rolling dice for.
Eh, take a look at GURPS Space I suppose. Theres two pretty good chapters in the book for world/solar system building. And a pretty good primer (read, crib notes) in the front half of the book for people who haven't devoted a ton of time to interstellar studies.
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Eh, take a look at GURPS Space I suppose. Theres two pretty good chapters in the book for world/solar system building. And a pretty good primer (read, crib notes) in the front half of the book for people who haven't devoted a ton of time to interstellar studies.
I've been reading a lot about GURPS Space and it's on my list to pick up. Was hoping someone might know some websites that might have tables or something to fill the gap. Wonder why GURPS Fantasy didn't cover world building or did it?
Eh, take a look at GURPS Space I suppose. Theres two pretty good chapters in the book for world/solar system building. And a pretty good primer (read, crib notes) in the front half of the book for people who haven't devoted a ton of time to interstellar studies.I've been reading a lot about GURPS Space and it's on my list to pick up. Was hoping someone might know some websites that might have tables or something to fill the gap. Wonder why GURPS Fantasy didn't cover world building or did it?
OH, it did. I have GURPS Space and GURPS Fantasy on my shelf exactly for those times when I want to whip up a campaign world. While alot of peoples opinions of the system will vary, I do have to admit, grabbing the generic genre books for the game is a good buy for DM who like homebrew worlds. They make for an awesome set of guidelines and reference books for that.
That being said, GURPS Space focuses on stuff like solar system and planetary building from a star system perspective. GURPS Fantasy focuses on worldbuilding from a contained world perspective (right down to races, race relations, magic and theology...)
You want a fun system, go with two suns and then sling the planet into going in a figure-eight around the two. That would give you a super-summer when the planet is going in between the two, and the possibility of winter occurring only when the planet is at the far side of one of the suns and the spot where the civilization is is angled away at them moment, assuming a tilted axis as with earth.
If you dim the stars, the super-summer doesn't even have to be that terrible or awful. It would be the winters that would be the terror, especially the rare winter that occurred on the far side of the dimmer of the two suns.
Eh, take a look at GURPS Space I suppose. Theres two pretty good chapters in the book for world/solar system building. And a pretty good primer (read, crib notes) in the front half of the book for people who haven't devoted a ton of time to interstellar studies.I've been reading a lot about GURPS Space and it's on my list to pick up. Was hoping someone might know some websites that might have tables or something to fill the gap. Wonder why GURPS Fantasy didn't cover world building or did it?OH, it did. I have GURPS Space and GURPS Fantasy on my shelf exactly for those times when I want to whip up a campaign world. While alot of peoples opinions of the system will vary, I do have to admit, grabbing the generic genre books for the game is a good buy for DM who like homebrew worlds. They make for an awesome set of guidelines and reference books for that.
That being said, GURPS Space focuses on stuff like solar system and planetary building from a star system perspective. GURPS Fantasy focuses on worldbuilding from a contained world perspective (right down to races, race relations, magic and theology...)
I use the AD&D World Builder's Guidebook myself. It has some information on creating solar systems. It also has one of the most detailed nation builders I ever ran across. That said, the book is very out of date in some respects. I.E. some of the monster races it mentions have gone away.
You want a fun system, go with two suns and then sling the planet into going in a figure-eight around the two. That would give you a super-summer when the planet is going in between the two, and the possibility of winter occurring only when the planet is at the far side of one of the suns and the spot where the civilization is is angled away at them moment, assuming a tilted axis as with earth.
If you dim the stars, the super-summer doesn't even have to be that terrible or awful. It would be the winters that would be the terror, especially the rare winter that occurred on the far side of the dimmer of the two suns.
I would not have the planet have a tilt relative to the two suns unlike Earth or Golorian. Trying to figure in the effect of the figure 8 between the two sun and the effect of the planet tilt would be more difficult than the benefits.
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I use the AD&D World Builder's Guidebook myself. It has some information on creating solar systems. It also has one of the most detailed nation builders I ever ran across. That said, the book is very out of date in some respects. I.E. some of the monster races it mentions have gone away.
I use to have the World Builder book a long time ago. I remember finding it lacking back then and didn't have a use for it at the time so got rid of it. Course now hindsight being 20/20 it might have helped somewhat. I will have to add the Gurps Fantasy book to my list then.
As for the figure eight rotation it seems okay, but I think a better option would just be to have the planet just rotate between them, acting more as a moon for one of them. That would justify logically why the planet doesn't rip in half when crossing between them.
I read a book... okay, it was a "Doctor Who" novel called "The Suns of Caresh"... where there was a world with twin suns that was archipelago-like. It was a very warm world, but there was lots and lots of water--I think the idea being that the world didn't have ice caps, the world's water was all in liquid form. I think the inhabitants were smaller, with large eyes and kept their hair quite short. No idea what the scientific basis was, but another idea.
I notice all the ideas here give nods to the science of planets. Fantasy need not follow such a reality. You could easily have two suns, one north and one south, and a flat plane for a world. When night comes, both suns simply lower on the horizon until they go below the world. Or maybe one lowers at a different time. Heck, they could even change color depending on the season. You could develop your deities to relate to that somehow.
There's nothing wrong with a more realistic "planetary system" approach, but this is not a sci-fi game; you're not stuck with science. I once did a game world where there were multiple "suns" (spheres floating above the plane, think big will-o-wisps) that came and went like a weather phenomenon. Thus, the question "what time is nightfall" could be answered only after examining the current sunflow. "Hmmm, I think it's going to get dark about an hour after dinner tonight..."
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Whoa! So many great suggestions (and here I thought the topic died, whoops). Thanks a lot guys, I've settled for a binary star system with a massive, natural sun and a smaller, magically created sun. The smaller one will orbit the larger and the planet the game takes place on orbits both at a fair distance. There will also be a fairly large moon in the picture somehow. The cosmic dance is going to be complex, I think. I'll post some spoilers of info I have of each celestial body in case anybody cares below.
SAAj, that is one beautifully detailed setting! (Link) I hope you don't mind if I steal some good ideas for my own game :) I'll also try to get some helpful critique up in the near future for you.
Conil is opposed to Sharaea but the two have a unique relationship. Sharaea sees the moon as her "motivator", so to speak. Something to push her on to a new day else she may grow bored with the constant setting and rising. Conil sees Sharaea as a goddess who lost her original purpose and constantly strives to return her to that lost glory.
It's still kind of rough so mind any mistakes/bad ideas in there :)
If you want to get really crazy add a Dayson Sphere to the whole thing.
Place one around a small second sun like Space Odessy did to Jupiter. Either base the game on a moon/planet or on the actual sphere surface which as a more normal couting. If players go deep enough the come out on the surface on the 'out' side with a dfferent star(s).
That or enclose the whole system which blocks out other stars? Making the night sky either a total void at night or some kind of odd reflection from the obsorption surface.
I know that all sounds very hollow world but remember that most deties end up making worlds however they please and have the power to insure it's set up in a way to create standard fantasy life.
Nicely done. I like the fact that the dominant power is the oppressive, vengeful one. That should give the campaign a really unique feel, with characters looking forward to evenings.
Just a suggestion about the planet; you might think of the people keeping in-doors during the day for the most part, avoiding the excessive heat of the cruel Sharaea, maybe taking afternoon naps, with life picking up in the evenings.
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Nicely done. I like the fact that the dominant power is the oppressive, vengeful one. That should give the campaign a really unique feel, with characters looking forward to evenings.
Just a suggestion about the planet; you might think of the people keeping in-doors during the day for the most part, avoiding the excessive heat of the cruel Sharaea, maybe taking afternoon naps, with life picking up in the evenings.
Thanks a lot! I've been wanting to include an oppressive deity in the Sun since it crossed my mind a few months ago. I can't wait until the PCs arrive on the surface (they're currently in a dungeon) and traverse a desert in the afternoon heat :P
Thanks for your idea as well, going to add it to my world as soon as they reach town (they started in the above mentioned dungeon).
Could anybody lend a hand?
Perhaps not 'lending a hand' so much as 'I'll show what I've done'.
http://worldoftinris.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/tinris-wip-v0-3/
This world has two suns, and (as stated in the source) I'm still working on the astromechanics.
The suns play a HUGE part, though that's not as fleshed out as I'd like in v0.3 yet.
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Unrelated to the two sun thing, I made a section of a game-world that was stuck in eternal night, because of a smallish moon that zipped around the planet in such a way (obviously not 'accidentally!') as to block sunlight from ever touching a particular area. Basically it was a permanant eclipse, in that one region, which made it party central for undead and light-sensitive humanoids. Weather was also messed up in that region and it's surroundings as the temperatures around it kept fluctuating between day and night, while it remained relatively static (creating constant pressure systems sweeping into and out of the eclipse zone).
Another way to play with a tide-locked world would be to have civilization mostly trapped in a fertile band between the eternal scorching deserts of the sun-facing side and the eternal dark ice-capped far side. Frost Giants, White Dragons, etc. could rule the far side, while Red Dragons, Salamanders, Efreeti, etc. rule sun-side, with humanity trapped between. Instead of north or south, people would refer to 'towards day' or 'walking into night' because one direction has the sun peeking eternally over the horizon, while the other direction is dark. Using this, you could port many of the denizens of the plane of fire to dayside and wintery beasties to nightside, and skip some of the Outer Planes stuff. (Putting the City of Brass at the center point of dayside, for instance, instead of on an elemental plane.) To mix things up, a great moon of metal might exist orbiting the world, and as it passes sunward, it heats up and begins to glow dull red, and as it passes nightward, it cools down, but takes time to do so, so that there is a dull red burning star in the sky providing at least faint light on nightside, for at least half of each orbit, brightest and hottest at 'moonrise' but bleeding off heat and being dark again when it passes back sunward, to be reheated. Some other mechanism for weather would need to be considered, due to the lack of variation in air temperature and the unusual disposition of liquid water (only existing in the fertile band).
Good Stuff
I like!
Both "Pitch Black" and "Firefly/Serenity" had trinary systems, and both treated them very differently. One had a single planet dominated by its sons, the other was a vast solar system with dozens of planets and hundreds of moons.
I once ran a campaign where the PCs lived on a moon that orbited a water-giant (a planet made of pure water). They had 7 days of "normal" day/night patterns, but the 8th day would be a period of just night as the moon went behind the water-planet. So it was refered to as the Long Night.