CREATING SETTING LOCATIONS
Fundamentally, a setting frames the locations where story scenes or encounters take place.
Many different location scales may surround these individual story scene or encounter locations and organize or link them together into a wider and wider setting world.
◢ Creating Star Maps showing relationships of star systems and polities to each other.
◢ Creating Star System Maps showing relationships of stars, planets, and moons within a star system.
◢ Creating Night Sky Maps showing what the night sky looks like to the Adventurers.
◢ Creating Planet Maps showing relationships of oceans, land, resources, and settlements for an entire world
◢ Creating Wilderness Maps showing undeveloped areas yet to be explored.
◢ Creating Battle Maps tracking obstacles, combatants, and their actions within a conflict scene.
Location Names
An initial survey may use catalogue style numbers: a catalogue ID and some increasing number.
Once an expedition arrives - the surveyor gets to pick a name, or the name of surveyor themselves may get used. Some system names might simply be surveyor names of the first surveyor to map that system, and never get changed for historical reasons or to honor that person.
The next name change comes when a place is colonized: the colonizers then get to choose the name of their home when they formally apply to be recognized as a colony.
Outposts may have individual names (such as Protein Farm 23) but the system/survey names don't change until the place is settled by someone.
Corporations may choose themed or name brand type names for Corporate worlds/systems.
Additional Setting Location Resources
Roleplaying Tips #0170 - Creating A Sci-Fi Setting With Depth
Roleplaying Tips #0197 - Tips On Designing General Sci-Fi Locations
Roleplaying Tips #0220 - 7 Tips for Roleplaying Encounter Locations
Roleplaying Tips #0586 - Eight Tips For Using Real-World Locations In Your Games
Roleplaying Tips #1069 - Celebrate Your Encounter Locations This Way