The Wordsmith's Forge

>> I'd suggest several moons, of several different 'types' of celestial body. I.e. ice world, a fire world, a 'toxic sludge' world, temperate earthish world, etc. (It might also be possible to have multipoles of one type, i.e. the two ice worlds and the polar/mountaintop cultures* of the earthish world form a tight cohort in comparison to the fireworld.) <<

Good start.

>> Also, have some sort of (very alien) life in the gas giant, as well.<<

Usually what happens is the atmosphere is a soup of tiny organisms that get flung off into space, hence peppering the nearby moons. Rarely you get a more complex ecosystem in midair.

>> Now, for each of these planets, avert both the Single-Biome Planet and Planet of Hats trope. Even on an ice world, there would be more than one ecosystem, and on any given planet there should be more than one culture (with very rare exceptions such as recent colonization.)<<

Easy. Here on Earth we have the land (humans, other apes, elephants, etc.) and water (cetaceans, cephalopods) division. With an ice world, it's surface/ocean. With a lava world, it's crust/lava. And so on.

>> If possible, also try to come up with different tech mases, and realistic limitations of those tech bases. What is acceptable (or not) for practical reasons, like melting in a foreign atmosphere? WHat is acceptable or not for cultural reasons? What is most efficient for whatever purpose it is being used for? What purposes do we need alien tech for anyway? <<

All good, and you need a different tech base anyway because the chemistry and physics are so different on each world. Metal here, ceramic there, ice IV over yonder.

>>Also, having tons of satellites means that the 'planetary shooting gallery' acts as a sort of natural defense or minefiled against any strangers approaching without invitation.<<

No shit.

To some extent, moons will "sweep" their own orbit, but in a cluttered gas giant system, it gets messed up pretty quick.

>>Essentially one could weave a very rich tapestry of stuff to play around in, and if done right it would be fairly unique.<<

I'll have to watch for this as a worldbuilding scenario.

>> Now, if the purpose of the stories are to teach humans how to evolve to the next stage of a global culture, I would suggest at least one plotline of human colonists/refugees/explorers arriving and being incorporated into the Planetary Cultural Web. It is easier for humans to understand a human perspective than an alien's, and it is also easier for a human to empathize with other humans.<<

True.

But I'd have more fun cooking up a dozen or so aliens.