clarence

Rules for modular droids and cybernetics are in the works. Perhaps not enough to run Blade Runner with RAW, but a good start. Starships are worked on a little bit. Not sure yet how to package those extra bits though. An M-SPACE Companion perhaps, in true BRP tradition? First I need to finish Odd Soot however. I feel very strongly about this game/setting - it's been an amazing universe to play in and explore - and the writing process has been intensifying since early spring. A lot has been covered, but there's still much to do. Apart from the alternate Earth setting, it will also bring some psychological depth to characters, plague-infested insanities and a new take on Circles - complementing the rules in M-SPACE. Oh, and speaking of Kierkegaard, a Philosophy Engine casts a long, dark shadow over the entire setting. Regarding external writers, I welcome all ideas. I've had a couple of propositions so far, but it's too early to say what will become of them.

Yes, it started as an hommage to the old existentialist. Then I realized the irony of calling starship a graveyard and it kind of stuck. Not much deeper than that, though I found Søren Kierkegaard's work quite fascinating many years ago. A bit on the pessimistic side but otherwise enjoyable. Do you know when you will start playing the Sidereal campaign?

Dark secrets are fun. Complicating character's lives even more so. Good to hear Kierkegaard is being used. BTW, the name is Danish and translates into churchyard or graveyard : )

Very nice write-up. Is it for your play-by-post game?

I hope you make a swift and speedy recovery.

Oh, that's interesting : ) Can you tell us more or is it too early in the project?

The two explosives in M-SPACE are: Particle Grenade, Damage 3d8 Thermal Detonator, Damage 5d10 This is how I usually do it: Splash/Area Effect: Roll full damage for targets within 1 metre of the explosion, to all locations. Damage is halved and affects one less location for every metre beyond the first. This means, in general you need to be 5 metres from the explosion to avoid serious damage. A successful Evade is possible if the target is aware of the incoming grenade (if thrown), halving the number of locations affected. Sorry for not being clear about all this in the rules. For other options, like the Fragmentation trait, check this recent discussion on The Design Mechanism's forums: http://designmechanism.freeforums.org/explosives-t2106.html And make sure to get the free RQ Firearms PDF while you're there (if you don't have it already). It doesn't contain much in the way of explosives but a lot more about weapons in general.

Hmm, she won't win many social conflicts with CHA 6 : )

Love the maps! Good work. The funny thing with the Martian geography is that if I had a planet surface randomly generated looking like that, I would probably discard it. Such a massive southern landmass and only an ocean to the north - it just doesn't look right. And yet, that's how it is : ) BTW, here's an interesting piece on Martian timekeeping: https://www.inverse.com/article/32283-humans-mars-timekeeping

I quite like the idea about terraforming without dropping meteoroids/asteroids on Mars, but here’s an interesting real-world concept for re-routing asteroids: https://www.inverse.com/article/29303-made-in-space-asteroid-mechanical-spacecraft-project-rama It turns the entire asteroid into an autonomous spacecraft, slowly steering it towards Earth in this case. But Mars should be possible too. Cool. Will you have a map to share?

Terraforming Mars seems much more realistic after reading this: http://www.popsci.com/terraform-mars-climate-change After 100 years the atmosphere is still too low in oxygen, but at least no vaccsuit is needed. And sending robots to do the initial work is of course very clever.

Excellent.

Good to hear you're still working on it!

Looks very nice. Well done : ) It would be interesting to hear how they affect game play.

Please do!

Interesting idea. Let me know how it works out!

M-SPACE has an optional section with simplified combat. They only have 11 Special Effects and no hit locations. Most of my players care very little for combat and they find the simplified rules quick and easy.

Good read. I'm happy the Extended Conflicts worked out for you.

Thank you. I'm happy you like it.

Congratulations, both of you : ) I hope we will see more of Che's work.

Haha, well, I realized that reading about distant cultures, whether backward or forward in time, is surprisingly similar. Many historical cultures are so different from our that they just as well could have been on a different planet. Or even alien. Add technology to that and it can get quite interesting : )

While I do think it would be a cool subject for a book, I don't believe I'm the person to write it. Even though I have spent most of my life reading sci-fi, it feels like I have only scratched the surface. My method these days is to skip sci-fi and read New Scientist and history books at the same time : )

No problem Heath! I'm just happy to help. Just a note: the rules for Tasks in Mythras and Extended Conflicts in M-SPACE are not related. They can be used in similar situations, but work slightly different.

1. Only characteristics for Conflict Pools. Skills are used like 'weapons' to afflict damage to the Pools. 2. Yes, Pools heal like hit points, only a bit faster. A lowered Pool will not lower correlated skills though. (A Pool reduced to half will result in a skill penalty however, but that's something else). 3. Yes, that's exactly how I would do it : )

Ok, I'm not sure I fully understand the situation, but I'll give it a try. And remember, stacking several conflicts can be fun, but it's quite taxing on the characters. Compare it to running several fights in quick succession. Approaching the site with the ship: To avoid depleteing the pilot's Conflict Pools, I would make this a simple (hidden) skill roll or even assume it succeeds bar a fumbled roll. You do want them to arrive at the site after all. I would run the following two conflicts simultanously. One round for the pilot vs. the guards, then one round cutting the window open. And so on. Hovering the ship above the site without being detected and have the person dangling below in the right spot: Conflict Pool: DEX x2 Skill: Pilot Damage: 1d6 I would use the average INT x2 of the guards as the opposing Pool, with average Perception as the active skill. The reason for doubling the Pools, is that this Conflict contains the window-cutting. Preferrably, the guard's Pools shouldn't reach zero too quickly, as it will take away some of the challenge. Now, if the Pilot's Pool reaches zero first the guards have detected the ship and they start shooting. Within 2-3 rounds they will notice the person tethered to the ship and fire at him/her as well (and a backup PC sniper would be nice if this happens). (To increase the difficulty, every time the pilot's Pool is lowered the person cutting the bars will be unable to make a skill roll. A fumbled Pilot roll has the window-cutter take 1d4 hit point damage, as he's being slammed into the wall). Cutting the barred window while dangling under a ship: Conflict Pool: DEX Skill: Athletics or xx Damage: 1d6 The opposing force here is the sturdiness of the bars. How difficult do you want it to be? For a normal difficulty, use a Pool of 11 and a "skill" of 50% (in this case, these values are an abstract representation of the bar's security level, including how well they were installed). For every successful roll, one bar is removed. The trick is to reduce the window's Pool to zero before the pilot's Pool reaches zero. As the last bar is removed it takes two more rounds to grab the person inside the room and raise them to the ship. Or they can be left dangling during the following pursue : ) Race from the site: Normally, I use DEX as a Conflict Pool for races. Here, the pilot's DEX Pool is already lowered (or at zero) due to the previous conflict. So I would go for the average of INT+POW instead (unless you want the pilot in a really bad situation - use DEX in that case). Conflict Pool: INT+POW/2 Skill: Pilot Damage: 1d6 The followers use the same. I would tie the number of followers to how good the guards performed in the first Conflict. If their Pool ended up at zero they are obviously not very active/skilled, and there will be low numbers of followers. Perhaps one follower per two Pool points they had left? Every follower that reaches zero is out of the race (crashes or gives up). If everyone but the PC is at zero, the character's ship gets away. If the PCs Pool reaches zero, any remaining followers have caught up. This could mean a number of things: they are in firing range, the PC ship is forced to land, an even stronger force arrives (the sheriff?) and so on. This entirely depends on the scenario.