New M-SPACE Release: Junkyard Blues

clarence · December 2, 2021

Stranded in a Starship Graveyard

Junkyard Blues is a sandbox scenario for M-SPACE, set on a hostile world comprised of starship wrecks and strange artefacts.

Players take on the roles of stranded spacers and must venture across a vast starship graveyard to locate fuel, encountering strange aliens and desperate humans along the way.

Five factions are locked in deadly competition over basic resources – air, water and food. But cooperation might be the wisest choice.

Only a select few will be able to leave. Who stays and who goes?

A scenario for 3-6 experienced characters.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/376189/Junkyard-Blues

clarence · December 5, 2021

Junkyard Blues has been out for a few days and some first impressions have dropped in. Here’s one from the Murallas Blancas blog:

"This is a great adventure that will surely require several sessions of play. It could be a multi-episode mission on a series like Star Trek, as it has that harsh sci-fi background where the PCs need both technical and social skills. Although, the aliens would be more at home in The Expanse. What comes to mind is an Expanse-style crew solving a tough Star Trek situation." Thorkrim Orlanthson (And make sure you activate Google Translate if you want to read the full review).

On DriveThruRPG, Ville K says:

"The atmosphere is really something, the npcs and factions [...] are evocative and full of plot hooks. M-Space has good published adventures, but this stands out."

Sandbox Scenario

I have also got a few questions about what a “sandbox scenario” means. The RPG community has not really agreed upon a definition, but most players would probably accept the following description.

In a sandbox scenario, the Game Master has created a world with several elements in it - ie. locations, NPCs, organisations - to let the players freely choose which one they interact with. The Game Master has a general idea of how the various elements will react to the PC's actions, with some reactions being quite detailed, while others are deducted from the motivations of an NPC, for example. If the players do not act at all, elements might stay static or certain events might unfold anyway.

The big difference from a regular scenario is that locations can be visited in any order, giving the players more freedom. Most people points to the greater freedom a sandbox offers, compared to strictly plotted adventures.

The Launch Sale for Junkyard Blues Continues

If you plan a purchase, make sure to snag it at the lower price. Here's the link again:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/376189/Junkyard-Blues