Odraude |
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A bit of a thought from my ftl thread. I'm doing a space traveling and exploration game with Pathfinder and I'm interested in doing it as a hexcrawl (think Kingmaker but in space). That said, exploring space is a different beast from exploring a forested wilderness. Z axis means players can avoid obstacles. What are some ways of doing ahexcrawl in space?
avr |
Maybe rather than have it completely open you might use some form of stargate technology? So world 1 connects to worlds 2, 3 & 4; world 2 conects to worlds 1 & 5, world 3 to worlds 4 & 6, etc. You could draw that out as a web, it doesn't have to correspond directly to a star map.
If you want it completely open then, yes, you will have problems visualizing the map and placing obstacles. Not that obstacles make a great deal of sense in space; an operational radius from a starport might make more sense, perhaps expressed as a number of hexes you can cross without refueling. If a particular range of squares/hexes contains pirates or something it might be difficult to divert around them without running out of fuel.
Jaunt |
I think rather than "exploring" the vast emptiness of space, it's going to turn into "here's the six things that are vaguely interesting in the system". If you explore an asteroid belt you might find something, but so much of space is just emptiness. For that reason, I'd consider it less of a hexploration idea and more of a short bullet list.
Make the main obstacle in your hexploration be distance. Anything else will seem contrived. Unless it's rival empire space, in which case that's fine.
Errant_Epoch |
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Why not just treat the map as 2D. Each represents a 3D region but you still have to explore it in a linear way.
Or if Z axis is really important to you just add a mechanic where the travelers can break with the "galactic plane" and skip over hexes but doing so puts them into "deep space" where they might roll some seriously dangerous stuff on a deep space encounters stuff. Mostly deep space is empty so the percentages should be low but if the potential creatures are dangerous enough it creates a high risk high reward scenario: potentially skip danger, potentially get into far worse.
Just curious are these still "fantasy characters" using like a spelljammer ship or are they full on scifi characters?
Odraude |
Thanks for the responses. I haven't decided whether there will be magic or not, but the ships will be standard sci fi ships rather than spaceboats with sails.
I do like the idea of the emptiness and distance acting as the limiting factor for exploration. I'd even allow "scooping" of gas giants and brown dwarfs, with the standard dangers (gravity wells, radiation, high temps).
thenovalord |
I'd have two random encounter tables,
-one for the 'space lanes'...where you meet other explorer ships, probes, satellites, space rogues, officials, traders, wrecks etc
- one for when you go into the 'z' axis.....the unknown, and the further into this axis the weirder and more dangerous it gets but the greater the reward.....aliens, anomalies, artefacts, long lost things, etc
Make the z axis quite abstract so you don't get too bogged down in maths....well that's how I think I would do it
Keep us informed
Cevah |
A bit of a thought from my ftl thread. I'm doing a space traveling and exploration game with Pathfinder and I'm interested in doing it as a hexcrawl (think Kingmaker but in space). That said, exploring space is a different beast from exploring a forested wilderness. Z axis means players can avoid obstacles. What are some ways of doing ahexcrawl in space?
Add Witches.
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If you are doing in-system exploration, you must have at least one random meteor storm to endure. For deep space, it would be an ion-storm that is several hexes large. And you cannot scan to see where is it once you hit it. Lastly, encounter a rogue black hole.
Main hazard in space is not objects, but other ships. They can follow to force an encounter. They are also sent out to find you if you trespass the hegemony (evil empire) or into sacred space. Picking up a bug can also be a problem. Everyone is getting sick, so you need to find the cure. Stowaways can be fun. So can con-men.
/cevah
Odraude |
Sorry for being out. Long weekend of work.
I like the idea of ion storms in space. Fire the scale of each hex, I'm thinking about having it to be two parsec in length from opposite corners. I figured that would be a good galactic scale to have for exploration. Means each side of the hex is one parsec.
What's a good way to represent the ion storm and gravity wells damaging a ship or trapping ships?
Jaunt |
I don't think I'd represent ion storms at all. Have them be events, but unless you're open to the idea of a TPK because someone failed (perhaps several) Profession: Pilot rolls, you're better off leaving them open-ended or in the domain of plot devices only.
Basically, just tell the PCs they're in an ion storm, and hand out the consequences as the plot requires.
Jaunt |
-They're stranded until they get picked up by space pirates.
-They require expensive repairs.
-They can't use their much fast warp drives until they explore the nearby planet and find a Magicknitium deposit to repair the engines.
-They have to call in a favor and have another ship pick them up.
-They're stranded for X days while they repair, which gives them time to deal with the Pod People gestating on the ship unbeknownst to them.
-They have to abandon ship and flee home on an escape pod, and come back for it later.
-Ted Danson.
Odraude |
I can dig that. So ion storms can have emp abilities that screw with the ship and its electronics systems. These are good ideas. Thanks.
Gravity wells and escape velocity would only come in to effect for gas giants or bigger (or black holes), or during combat when escaping a planet's atmosphere. Otherwise it probably wouldn't matter.
Cevah |
Odraude |
While I adore the setting, I'm not too interested in the actual game mechanics. Which is fine. I've been on the fence between using Pathfinder and Savage Worlds for this and am actually leaning back to SW, especially since they have Nova Praxis which is a similar setting (Transhuman Future) but in Savage Worlds.
So far I own and read the following:
Eclipse Phase Core and some other setting books
Nova Praxis
Mindjammer
Stars Without Number
Mongoose Traveller
GURPS Space & Ultra-Tech
Pathfinder Technology Guide
Savage Worlds Science Fiction Companion
Basically grabbing as much sci fi info as I can to really get the sci-fi setting the way I like it. And much of the info here will definitely be useful for my campaign.
CripDyke |
If you want them to stick to routes...well, if there are regular star-lanes for trade, you might make it clear that while the risk of a mechanical breakdown is low, in/near a star-lane you'll be found in hours to days. Outside of a star-lane you'll be found in millenia-eons.
People travel those lanes for a reason - space is big and even if you know where you're going, being not merely far from help but being undetectable by those who would otherwise be willing to help, that's going to be rough.
Of course, depending on your communication tech, they could get a signal out...but who is going to answer? Is there a regular space-rescue-department? Or when you're off the beaten path are you more likely to get towed away by pirates who are jamming your comms before anyone who might help arrives?
But really, the thing that you're missing is plot.
Even exploration has a plot. Maybe there are several different plots that you semi-flesh out, with only the first clues/events written fully. If they end up on Rigel 4, then 3 of those plots intersect with that planet. Which one/s do they stumble upon? Well, now that they've chosen to solve a mystery/find an artifact/kill a villain, you flesh out the rest of the plot:
Does the villain have a secret lair? Well then, you need to visit Nebulon 9c to get the info, but you might need to visit Sirius 2 to find out that the info is available on Nebulon 9c.
The plot does the work, not the distances or physical parameters of the exploration.
Cevah |
I also have GURPS Humanx.
Lots of planets to adventure on, a list of travel times between popular locations, aliens with stats, and so on. All based off the series of books from Alan Dean Foster. I've read (and own) nearly all the Commonwealth books.
/cevah
Odraude |
I've heard of the Commonwealth series but I haven't read it before. I may have to look at it.
So for exploration throughout the galaxy, what are some cool intergalactic points of interest that players can run into? I'm looking to make the map either tonight after school or tomorrow during my break, so I'd love any ideas big or small.
Odraude |
I'll definitely check it out over the weekend. Sadly work plus school leaves me with only an hour and a half to myself each weekend, and that's usually spent grabbing dinner and doing homework for Food and Beverage Cost Control. I know one thing I want to do with aliens is to make them very alien. Non-humanoid, maybe even alternate biochemistries. Things like that.
Cevah |
The Commonwealth is not Star Trek with the funny looking human aliens. They have many well fleshed out biologies and cultures. Tech, however, is not as well developed.
Babylon 5 on Wikipedia
Babylon 5 site with lots of links.
B5 has good tech.
Piers Anthony's Cluster is a novel series with many races, most who speak with varied marks instead of quote marks. Many non human here. The book Thousandstar has a race between many aliens.
Some interesting tech is used for the race.
/cevah
Bandw2 |
space for the most part should be empty with a single system per hex or some such.
also, you can use gravity lines, the space between stars is slightly weaker/less dense making space travel along these lines much faster.
generally things will come to you in space, predators hunt out prey in the ocean while prey tend to just be heading from point A to B.
I honestly, enjoy Sword of the Stars lore and how they handle space travel and what not. basically, space is a scary place with several things having wiped out previous civilizations so it's scary to travel out into the expanse. It's like survival of the fittest but on a galactic species scale. Von Neumann machiens out in space eating your colonies. Giant space monsters eating your planet with it;s refined metals. space scavengers(read species as pirates).
Cevah |
More fun:
Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials
Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials is a 1979 science fiction book by artist Wayne Barlowe, with Ian Summers and Beth Meacham (who provided the text). It contains his visualizations of different extraterrestrial life forms from various works of science fiction, with information on their planetary location or range, biology, and behaviors, in the style of a real field guide for animals, such as Roger Tory Peterson's guide to birds of North America. It was reprinted in 1987.
Barlowe's Guide to Fantasy is a 1996 fantasy book by artist Wayne Barlowe. A companion to his earlier book Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, it contains his visualizations of different beings from various works of fantasy. The foreword is by John Silbersack, then editor-in-chief at HarperPrism. The interior text is by Neil Duskis.
/cevah