Extreme climates

It makes sense that when you have dozens, possibly hundreds of connected worlds left behind by an ancient race, that perhaps some of those worlds either have such an extremely hostile climate or so little atmosphere that a player can not survive exposure on the surface. Planets that, for all intents and purposes, have died. Picture Mars, which may have at some short time in its past harbored life, but is now a blowing sandy wasteland devoid of native life.

Why would anybody want to venture to such a land? extremely dense resources and rare materials may be more prevalent on a world that’s been abandoned for thousands of years! Eco-domes and subterranean mining settlements could be set up to provide a safe harbor for daring adventurers or anybody brave enough to scour the hazardous worlds for riches and relics.

A special environment suit could be required to survive the surface, but only for a limited time! Radiation and air supply could compound other survival mechanics to limit the time a player could spend outside a settlement.

From a world generation standpoint, the world could be generated with the surface being right at the cloud level, so that “clouds” are now billowing, blinding sand storms and exposure to them quickly drains the life of anything unlucky enough to be exposed. A hard outer crust could make it difficult at first to get below the surface of the world, but once you break the crust, vast and extensive cave networks with hazards of their own would be overflowing with common and uncommon minerals.

The only life left on these planets are the guardians and the titans. No natural fauna remain, although the colossal weathered skeletal remains on the surface hint that this world was once a lush paradise. Oort temples would pose a particular challenge when you’re also exposed to the harsh environment. Particularly rare and powerful artifacts await those willing to take on these additional dangers.

What do you guys think about such a world? Would you be brave enough to explore such a world? I think it’s important to say that players should NOT spawn on this world as a default home, as the environment would restrict all but the well established adventurers from succeeding here. Would you mine its riches, or prey off of others as a marauder, or perhaps gain your riches as a gun for hire protecting those who can’t protect themselves? The greater the danger, the greater the reward!