You are a Space ProspectorA new sector of space is on the precipice of colonization by humanity. However, like a jungle, many unknown dangers lurk in its space. It takes trail blazers, prospectors, to light the path for the colonists and others who might want to exploit its untapped riches.
This is dangerous work. However, companies will pay a lot for the charts, biomass, and technology you may discover. This may be your only chance for an early retirement. So you sell your home and get a ticket to the orbital shipyard.
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As you may have guessed, this is heavily influenced by its namesake, Prospector. Game play will revolve around risk taking, dice rolls for results(which fits well with the risk element), and common sense. Also: Death. My hope is for this to be relatively short and finish it before I get bored, as is the death of many a forum game. This will also be abstracted. Going from Point A to Point B will only ever take 1 turn, unless its ridiculous. Combat will be much more automated, so instead of specific attacks, I'll need more of a combat stance when combat is initiated. Things such as "barrage the enemy ship with lasers until a critical failure in it occurs. Then demand surrender. If the barrage is ineffective, engage hyperwarp and escape".
I'll be taking up to 8 players. If it gets too much, I'll start throwing deadly situations to kill off players.
You
can pool money and purchase a better starting ship and equipment. I actually encourage it. Its a dangerous space. You'll need teamwork to survive.
Rolls will be out of 10, also. There won't be 'comparing' rolls. If you roll bad, you miss. If you roll good, you hit. Roll really good, hit a weak point. Ect.
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Gunslinger: Get +3 roll to firing guns first. This applies when you are surprised by a hostile enemy(think reaction fire), and when pulling your gun on someone.
Combat Medic: +2 Heal Rolls. You can't bring someone back from the dead, but you can surely patch up moderate wounds. Serious wounds will require proper medical equipment.
Megafarmer: +2 Plant Forage: Back home, you could tell the difference between a green bean and a green kidney bean. You are more likely to find plants that can be used for all sorts of purposes.
Sharpshooter: +2 to Long Range Shooting: You can line 'em up!
Hacker: +2 Hacking rolls. This includes hacking into a ship's computer system, or figuring out strange technology.
Captain: +1 to all ship combat related rolls. You have lead before, and know how to organize your crew.
Ship Engineer: +2 to ship repair: You are more likely to repair damage to a ship. This is especially important when your air processing tanks are hit.
Space Pirate: +2 to boarding assaults: You have lead boarding parties before, and know how to keep your cool.
Demoman: +3 to using explosives: With enough explosives, you can crack open any wall.
Culturally Sensitive: +3 to rolls when discussing with aliens. When meeting with intelligent aliens, you are particularly sensitive and have an easier time not offending them.
Tool Master: +2 to tool repair: If you find abandoned equipment on the field, you have a better time bringing back online/repairing it.
Zen Master: +2 to melee combat: You really know your way with a plasma sword.
Ship Navigator: +2 to Ship Navigation. You've flown all your life. You are better at maneuvers and navigating through nebula/asteroid belts and other anomalies.
Sprinter: +2 to escape rolls. You're a marathon runner. You are better at running away from hostiles.
You start with 10k credits. If you don't spend it all, it will be saved. You can, as I mentioned before, pool your money to buy better equipment/ships.
Also, I decided I'll be using an Excel spreadsheet for a 'map' of sorts. Exploring requires you to be using slower drives, while purely moving can be done by hyper driving to a gravity well. Each ship has a scan radius(1 = tile + 1 in every direction) and movement speed when using slower drives.
Ships
Mundo's Tug! - Costs 6k. -1 rolls to all ship related activities(ergo, it sucks). 1 scan radius, 1 movement
Prospector's Explorer - Costs 8k. A normal ship. Its not particularly good at anything, but not bad at anything also. 1 scan radius, 2 movement
Zero K Scout - Costs 13k. A scout vessel. +1 to escape rolls. 2 scan radius, 3 movement
Destroyer - Costs 25k. + 1 to ship combat rolls, +1 to bombardment rolls. 2 Scan radius, 2 movement.
Jeff's Illusionist - Costs 30k. +3 to anomaly navigation. This includes black holes, nebula clouds, and any other strange things you may find in the cosmos. 2 scan radius, 3 movement.
New Ships
Bob's Cheap Fighter: 5k. +1 To Dodge Rolls. A Cheap Space Fighter. It can't take a punch, nor can it land on planets. 1 Scan radius, 2 movement.
More ships will become available as you play and I get a sense of how things should be priced.
Equipment
Cannon Battery: 750 - Ship weapon. -1 to ship attack rolls, -1 to bombardment rolls. It sucks. But its better than nothing.
Laser Battery: 1.2k - Ship weapon. Good at both bombardment and ship attacks. Precise bombardment.
Plasma Battery: 1.6k - Ship weapon. +1 to ship attack rolls, -1 to bombardment rolls. Good at causing mass damage on enemy ships. Not very good for precise bombardment.
Plasma Stream: 3.5k - Ship weapon. +1 to ship attack and bombardment rolls. Combining the benefits of lasers and plasma, this weapon is a striking combination of power.
Tractor Beam: 3k - Ship Utility. Can be equipped along with a ship weapon. Only a ship weapon or a ship utility may be fired at the same time. Tractor beam stays active after firing. Causes the enemy ship a -2 to escape rolls and a -1 to evasion.
Cloaking Field: 3k - Ship Defense. +1 to escape rolls.
Boarding Tube: 1.5k - +1 to ship boarding. Essentially, a pressurized tube that connect you to your victim's ship, and melts a hole in the wall.
Laser Rifle: 1.1k. Your standard gun for a Space Prospector
Sniper Laser Rifle: 1.7k. +1 to LR fire. For those who like to kill without being seen.
Plasma Sword: 900. +1 to melee attacks. Your standard melee weapon.
Alien Translator: 1k. Allows you to communicate with alien species.
Bio Scanner: 900. +1 to harvesting foliage rolls.
Tool Kit: 1.1k. +1 to nonship repair rolls.
Medkit: 1.3k. + 1 to healing rolls.
Explosives: 500 each. Used to blow things up.
Laser Pistol: 700. -2 to LR shots, +1 to short range shots. +1 to 'gunslinger'.
Laptop: 1k. +1 to hacker rolls and interfacing with alien technology.
Bombardment Satellite: 1.7k. +1 to Bombardment. This targeting satellite helps bombardment be more accurate.
Satellite Scanner 2k. Another satellite. This allows you to get more data on far away objects/organisms.
Stim Pack 500. +1 to combat rolls for the duration of combat.
Micro Laser Drill: 2.5k. Allow digging of tunnels and all sorts of things.
Combat Jetpack: 3.5k. Allows short bursts of flight(think SC2 reaper). +1 to dodge rolls.
Cryo Pod: 2.5k. Allows cold storage of humans or alien organisms. Useful for humans in fatal condition, or for aliens too dangerous for normal containment. Can store large aliens(Think cow size).
Med Bay: 4k. Has the tools and machines necessary for surgery and other highly delicate tasks. Can't heal extreme damage, though. Only stations have the equipment necessary to do things such as limb replacement, or curing cancer.
Automatic Plasma Rifle: 5k. -2 to Long Range fire, and -1 to short range fire. Shoots in bursts of 3.
New Items
Communication Monitor 3k: Allows monitoring of radio waves being emitted by civilization. Allows detection of space stations, and civilization on planets. Detection Range is within your scan range.
Distress Beacon: 2.5k. If the ship is put into a state of disrepair, or trapped on a planet, allows friendly pilots to jump to your location. Also increases the chance of a pirate encounter substantially.
Targeting Computer: 2k. Reduces the accuracy loss from aimed attacks(from -3 to -2. Aimed attacks are like firing at the ship's guns, instead of me rolling a die to determine where the damage is taken).
As with ships, more items will become available as I get a better sense of how this game is going to run
Name:
Optional Background:
Skills(Pick 2):
Purchases:
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Sign ups1.
Name: Toaster
Background: Toaster spent a little time in the Space Navy as a tech sergeant, but has since retired and set out in the dangerous world in prospecting.
Skills: Hacker and Tool Master
Purchases: 1/3 of (Zero K Scout with Laser Battery and Med Bay totalling 18200) : 6067
Laptop : 1000
Laser Pistol: 700
Bio Scanner: 900
Explosives: 500
Total: 9167
2.
Background: Looking to ply his medical and cultural skills on a worthy ship in order to earn money to purchase land for his family
Traits: Combat Medic
Culturally Sensitive
Purchases: 1/3 of (Zero K Scout with Laser Battery and Med Bay totaling 18200) : 6067
Medkit (+1 to healing rolls): 1300
Alien Translator (Allows you to communicate with aliens): 1000
Total Spent: 8367
3.
Oscar Gafarov
After being exiled from the Eastern Bloc for massive instigation of cross-country conflict, took the nearest Soyuz rocket off that insipid wasteland in search of great profits in interplanetary prospecting.
Gunslinger
Engineer
1/3 of a modified Scout Ship
Tool Kit
Drill
Total Cost of 9666
4.
Sharpshooter
Gunslinger
Mundo's Tug - Plasma Battery
Sniper Laser Rifle
Laser Pistol
----> 10k
5.
Name: Barbara "Black Panther" Carpenter
Traits: Captain, Space Pirate
Equipment:Mundo's Tug! , Laser Battery, Boarding Tube, Laser Pistol: 400 cash
6.
7.
8.
If I do decide to extend this because I enjoy running it, people on the waiting list would 'join' by signing up as a mercenary for one of the players that is left. You wouldn't own a ship or anything, and would be dependent on the player. The player would also decide your % of the loot. Just a thought for later is all.
Author
Topic: Space Prospector - Turn 4: Yar har diddly dar.... (Read 9415 times)