Starport Scum

[krieghund]

Any more news ? ( he says impatiently  )

[beefcake]

I feel out of the loop here. What is this about?

[Conquistador]

TSA?

I will get my hat...

[Harry von Fleischmann]

Firstly, apologies, secondly some news......

OK, apologies for the radio silence; we got a bit carried away with some random event type charts....there was also the musings over sand - which is what we've called the most addictive drug in the galaxy. It's made from the crushed shells of alfoxian star crabs, cut with powdered diamond and other ingredients too expensive even to mention. The location of an unclaimed cargo of sand is also one of the random plot devices. As is the contact ID of the MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN THE GALAXY.

But I digress.

The news is that a beta version - the basic stuff sans the random generator stuff - will be available on a pay what you want basis from Nordic Weasel Games via wargames vault from, hopefully Wednesday.

Trust that answers a few questions; others such as "what are the ten most common weapons in the galaxy" or "so, what's a SolFed VIB, then" are being worked on even as you read this......

And, oh yes, it's a sci fi skirmish set of rules, roll up some characters, invest a bit in them and get them into a messy cantina shootout on a far rim asteroid with some renegade droid mercenaries who think you stole their cargo.

[krieghund]

Thanks for the update.

[Earther]

 

[Harry von Fleischmann]

Please, stop staring.....

OK, in the hopefully extremely near future, a snapshot of the kind of stuff to expect from the full version will be posted. Ivan tends to post on TMP but will give me the text to post here.
In brief, you'll see a set of mission generation tables (for salvage missions), one of the tables from the set that creates epic plot hooks and a few more details as to what goes on.

If it helps, a possible epic mission result is tracking down rogue bioweapons in the tunnels beneath the Imperial Citadel on Capital, beset by both Palace Security or Corporate Agents and of course something is moving in the shadows......it may not be THAT but I'd recommend short, accurate bursts just to be sure. There is another way to be sure but this is the Imperial Capital. Oh.....you're rebels?

[Rob_bresnen]

sounds very intriguing.

[Harry von Fleischmann]

So on an entirely deniable basis here is a brief glimpse at the future of Starport Scum and the full version.

The game will have a number of “jobs” which act as a way to quickly generate missions to play.

Each requires the roll of 3 or 4D6, with the player assigning each die to a mission table.

The sample tables for the Salvage mission look like this, at the moment:

1 local govt eg docks authority
2 local corporation
3 shipping line
4 anonymous client - they have their reasons
5 the actual legal owners
6 no, these are the REAL legal owners - due to lien, court order etc

Location of the cargo
1 crashed onto planet
2 risky low orbit
3 high orbit
4 asteroid belt
5 system space
6 deep space

Salvage item is
1 scout ship
2 free trader - hulk
3 free trader plus cargo
4 cargo (scattered or drifting)
5 luxury yacht
6 heavy freighter or science vessel

Opposition
1 other freelance salvage
2 pirates
3 the other legal owners
4 aliens with their own agenda
5 government agency
6 rogue AI

The tables will determine a certain amount of HEAT, which is used to determine what kind of opposition you'll go up against.
After the battle, you get to loot the battlefield for possible goodies and the job can give additional rewards based on HEAT.

Very basic and very easy.

As you play, you can earn Plot Points, which will help qualify you for a quest, delivered in a mysterious manner.

An example below:

1 an aged, hooded man speaks to a member of the crew
2 you pick up a signal from deep space, mayday mayday, message repeats, message repeats
3 a second hand data chip suddenly unlocks itself and starts dumping data
4 an anonymous man in a suit delivers a letter - handwritten in ink on PAPER!
5 the O/c the local scout station asks you to check out the abandoned freighter in orbit of a forest moon
6 a droid delivers a message and then messily wipes it's own memory core using explosi-gel

You will also learn where your quest mission takes place, what's going on and who are the potential opponents


The goal of the campaign is to link your games together in a very quick manner. It's not a comprehensive system ala Necromunda. Rather, the idea is to help establish a narrative and figure out why you're fighting and where.

Thank you for reading - it made the sacrifice of all those cheap and disposable.....sorry......heroic Bothans worthwhile.

[Jagannath]

I love all this but have to ask, what's the thinking behind this being separate to 5 Parsecs? Will it supercede it?

[Harry von Fleischmann]

It originated as a fast play set of rules which grew up on the back of an envelope and were showed to Ivan quite recently. We pinged emails back and for and it took on a life of it's own.

It's not meant to replace 5 Parsecs and as it's grown it has developed its own vibe; It's not specific to any setting but we have used reference to Imperial this or that as a nod to Traveller, Star Wars and Rogue Trader.

We've had great fun writing it - the job tables and events were a blast to write - and simply hope that it will provide as much fun to anyone who buys it.

[Jagannath]

Sorry yes, didn't mean to sound negative - sounds ace, hadn't realised it hadn't originated with Ivan. I'm going to use it to beef up the 'off board' role playing elements then carry on using 5Core mechanics for the tabletop, I think.

[The_Beast]

Sorry yes, didn't mean to sound negative...

Well, I will. Ivan's loving the new projects but I've already complained about some of the 'loose ends' for older items and versions. 

Wait, if I've already complained, why am I telling you lot? What a major curmudgeon I am! 

Doug