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Codex Entry

System as Unit

Why a star system, not a planet, is the basic unit of empire.

In Echoes Beyond, every claim you own is a star system, not a single planet. Every system has exactly nine orbits — the positions around the central body, indexed 0..8. The central body is usually 1-3 stars; in roughly 2-3% of systems it's a black hole instead. Either way, the same nine orbits fill out around it with a deterministic mix of planets, asteroid belts and empty orbits.

Empty slots are not wasted — they host stations. Every empty orbit can be developed by a Build Station mission and accepts every specialty. Asteroid belts can host stations too — including a Belt Habitat for Population. Nine slots in always means nine slots you can do something with.

Note·Slot count is fixed, slot kind is (almost) flavour

Every system has the same number of orbits. What varies is the mix of planets vs. belts vs. empty — which affects the display name (Mining Colony vs. Mining Rig vs. Refinery Station) and a tiny +1% body bonus per settled orbit: volcanic worlds and belts favor metal, desert/ice/barren worlds favor crystal, gas giants plus shattered and water worlds favor aetherium, and terran worlds, jungles and stations favor habitation (food and population growth together). Big enough to notice, small enough that no system is ever "unlucky".

Slot equality

The kind of slot you draw (desert, water world, gas giant, asteroid belt…) only carries a flavor-scale +1% body bonus — never a big number.
What matters is the slot index (0–8), which determines its orbit zone, and the specialty you choose to develop there.
Every orbit can host every specialty — even Population on an asteroid belt.

Tip·No 'lucky systems'

Two systems with identical slot counts produce the same output once you develop them identically. Map RNG cannot give one player an advantage over another.

Sub-orbits

Every system also has a fixed total of nine sub-orbits, distributed across all nine orbits — planets, asteroid belts and empty orbits. Gas giants pull more weight (3×) than rocky planets, belts and empty orbits (1× each), so a gas-rich system tends to have a couple of crowded planets while a rocky / belt-heavy system spreads them more evenly. The grand total per system is always nine.

Every orbit gets at least one sub-orbit.
Sub-orbits inherit their parent's zone bonus at 50% strength; their own development layer is coming soon.
Their look matches the parent: planets get moons, asteroid belts and empty orbits get station extensions.

Note·Always 9 + 9

Whether your system rolls all gas giants, all asteroid belts, or all empty orbits, you always get exactly 9 + 9 = 18 surface slots. No system is "incomplete" by the dice.

Orbit zones

An orbit's position (0..8) places it in one of three zones, each granting a different automatic bonus once settled:

Zone bonuses — automatic per settled orbit, uniform inside each zone
Zone	Orbits	Bonus per settled orbit
Inner (orbits 0–2)	0, 1, 2	+10% metal · +10% energy
Mid (orbits 3–5)	3, 4, 5	+10% population cap · +10% population growth
Outer (orbits 6–8)	6, 7, 8	+5% crystal · +10% aetherium · +10% research speed

Note·Sub-orbit inheritance

Sub-orbits inherit their parent orbit's zone (so a moon around an outer planet still grants the research bonus, at half strength).

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