About Asteroid belts proper (
and this may be relevant quite soon, as the tech to mine them already is present in the Game):
First of all, see that with 2300AD System Creation rules, they are quite rare (not described in T2300, 1 in 6 for empty orbits in 2300AD), but as we're using H&E, based on Traveller System Creation rules, they are quite more common, so references to 2300AD setting may well be missleading in this matter (but, as you said, we must work with the tolos we have).
Also see that as rules tand, a system that has an Asteroid Belt but no planets would not be minable, as, even if you can set up an outpost thee, you cannot set up facilities, and Asteroid Mining is one.
This said, several points:
Mining potential:
In H&E (as in Traveller supplements Second Survey and MT World's Builder Handbook), the Asteroid Belts are described acording to:
- Its size (in AUs)
- its main/máximum planetoid size
- its zones :Nickel/Iron (the richer, and closer to the star), mixted (mostly silicates, the poorer and middle zone) and Carbonaceous (carbon and Ice, the farther from the star, minable for water and carbon compounds)
Of course, a large Asteroid Belt, with large planetoids and large Nickel/Iron zone would be richer tan a small one, with small, mostly silicates, bodies, but that is not as easy to evaluate as the density is for a planet...
So, about its mining potential, I'd keep with the 2d10, modified as the refree sees due to those factors, and halved (as unhospitable). IMHO even a positive general modifier could be appropiate due to the easiness to mine it (at least that is what I've read is expected, and how they are trated in most Science Fiction settings), but this might unbalance the game.
NOTE: as R sized represent the rings over planets/gas giants, that use to be smaller and probably poorer, most of this would not apply to them.
Hexes:
While the full orbit of a planet is considered a single hex, the volume covered by an Asteroid Belt (and so the posible zones to be mined) in enormous, so I'd suggest to either, condisere it a number of hexes, each one representing some degrees of it (let's say, 12 zones, each one representing a 30 degrees arc) or to simply don't reduce its profits according to how many mining facilities it has (this last option is easier, but again may imbalance the game).
Alternative:
In the only example we have of an Asteroid belt (the one in Sol system, I won't begin here a discussion about if the Kuiper belt could also be so considered), we have several S sized bodies on it, and we can assume this would be in most of them.
As S worlds are colonizable, we could well only allow the Astroid Mining facility on such planets (making them to be inside of the Asteroid Belt, instead of several AUs distant).
Of course, this would delay its explotation and need some rules changes...
And now, some questions about how the rules are right now:
(NOTE: All of them assume the Survey Ship modules are ot yet available)
- Is survey (and so, having an Enclave on it) needed to mine an Asteroid Belt?
- If not, is there any way to know its mining potential before trying to exploit it, or one must see it as a gamble to set the Asteroid Mining Facility
This message was last edited by the player at 17:19, Tue 21 Feb 2017.