 November 21, 2012 - 11:17am | AD&D Dungeoneers & Wilderness Survival Guides Written by Douglas Niles and Kim Mohan respectively I picked these up this past year on the cheap ($6.50 each) at a used book store in Maine. they're pretty cool and chocked full of ideas with two sections each with its own table of contents for players and referees. Going into things like using rope, crossing a chasm, falling, bridges, air, fire smoke, moving in underground environs, water, water temperature, mining, using beast of burden, watercraft, Vision, visibility, food, camp fires, terrain and effects of environment etc. for the player for the Reff: focused on cultures of the underground, sample caverns and discriptions, campaign stuff, plot and counter plot, story techniques, and a section on mapping. Love the perspective maps from the Dungeoneers guide. So as with many things I've been thinking about a Spacers survival guide, Planetary Exploration survival guide- not sure that these would ever be of a size that would require a hard bound book like the AD&D guides but thought it would be a good thing to brain storm for ideas to include with the community. For example the hazards of space dust turned up recently and that is a no brainer for a spacers guide. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 November 21, 2012 - 12:04pm | This is a great idea. Spacers: Void sickness would be a cool topic. As would symptoms of CO2 poisoning (inadequate life support). If there were beasties that lived in the vacuum - "hull scrapers" etc. - that could be cool. Perhaps re-stating certain rules in a more convenient location - like zero-g movement. Micro meteors? It reminds me of the video game Fallout 3 - where the PC is tasked with all sorts of dangerous tasks in the name of helping compile data for a 'wasteland survivial guide'. Of course all the 'leads' end up sending the PC into ridiculous danger... |
 November 22, 2012 - 12:19pm | Frontier Survival Guide sounds like a great name for a project dealing with the many hazards of space and alien worlds. |
November 22, 2012 - 12:48pm | Frontier Survival Guide sounds like a great name for a project dealing with the many hazards of space and alien worlds. Chapter 6: Vomiting and zero g... |
November 22, 2012 - 5:47pm | Hazards and topics to cover: 1. lunar dust 2. micro meteors 3. CO2 poisoning (this is a good one- life support is in poor upkeep could have lots of potential problems) 4. Void Sickness- something we'd have to make up but a good idea 5. vomiting in 0 g (in and out of the vacuum suit) 6. restate of the 0 g movement rules and emergency methods of 0 g proplusion like using a pistol and firing a bullet will create movement in the opposite direction 7. Radiation exposure in space- variety of sources: cosmic rays, ionizing radiation from KHs weapons, dangers of it and ways to protect yourself 8. probably should cover visiting asteroids and mining 9. visiting comets and kupier belt objects 10. posibly revist the rules for cutting into a ships hull with weapons off the equipment list. Anything else? The above is strictly a spacer survival guide and not an explorer's survival guide which will deal with planetary environments which are incredibly varied, you could almost write a survival guide for each planet I should think I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 22, 2012 - 8:08pm | Anything else? The above is strictly a spacer survival guide and not an explorer's survival guide which will deal with planetary environments which are incredibly varied, you could almost write a survival guide for each planet I should think I would add any critters that live in a vacuum. I know I've seen mention of Void spiders or something like that in the projects, hull scrapers, anything like that should get some sort of mention. |
November 22, 2012 - 8:25pm | Anything else? The above is strictly a spacer survival guide and not an explorer's survival guide which will deal with planetary environments which are incredibly varied, you could almost write a survival guide for each planet I should think I would add any critters that live in a vacuum. I know I've seen mention of Void spiders or something like that in the projects, hull scrapers, anything like that should get some sort of mention. there is not that many critters living in vacuum, we can add a discussion of dealing with mechanons in vacuum too I guess. there is scattered info in the books that could be brought together under one heading- reprint the system and planetary catelog and planetary footnotes but include in the foot notes what mega corp is headquartered at what planet (this info in in the mega corp descriptions and sometimes it names a city so that tidbit could be listed too) Star ship construction centers are listed in KHs, and militia forces, Two of the Space Fleet task forces have permenant stations this could get listed. The BrotherHood of spacers has chapters everywhere, include some sample maps of a chapter house and bar/club I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 November 22, 2012 - 9:40pm | Going back to that other game we have The Traveller's Aid Society was based on English Gentlemen's clubs and more specifically the Royal Geographic Society and its many branches where members could find aid and lodging while on their various missions. I support the idea of the Brotherhood of Spacers but their is a more relevant group to the Frontier and has modern and old time examples. I am speaking of the Veterans of the Sathar War. This group has many chapters all across the Frontier. Mostly local clubs where veterans meet and drink and eat and talk. While a character joins a local chapter their ID allows them to use any facility on any world or station. This group would be based on the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and the American Civil War veterans groups. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
November 22, 2012 - 10:14pm | Isn't Brotherhood of Spacers cannon? At least I thought it was - just looked in KHs remastered and couldn't locate it. Have to scare up WoWL module and look for it there. I like the idea of the Veterans of the Sathar War. Interestingly in the US we had the Grand Army of the Republic for Civil War vets in the North which is effectively defunct now then American Legion for WW1 vets and the more well known VFW. Do we want one organization for SW1 and one for SW2 or one that is a one size fits all? One size fits all is simpler but two different is prehaps more realistic and with long life spans the earlier one will linger as a viable organization. Of course you'd probably have this sort of group for Royal Marines- though perhaps not for yazirians- clan is all in all social dynamic there. and ther vrusk have the corporation. Dralasites with their social schools (stoa) are very likely to join these organizations. Note I dont mean to say that yaz and vrusk will never join just that the social dynamic is skewed to keep their numbers low in these organizations. I like the idea of the one from the SW1 having the name Muster in it to pick up that bit of history about the 1st and 2nd Common muster. Guards of the Muster or something. But if its just a one size fits all then I lean toward Veterans of the Sathar Wars (VSW) Also think that mercenaries will have their own organization - only name I have right now is Brotherhood of Mercenaries and its news letter: Soldiers of Fortune ;) I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 23, 2012 - 8:02am | I really like the idea of a VFW type organization in the frontier. SW1 was an existential threat and undoubtedly, the vets would be venerated by many. The would probably be the equivalent of a Veterans day or Armistice Day or something like that as well. At the very least, if the humans in the frontier are linked to old earth somehow, there would be some sort of tradition like this in memory even if the other races wouldn't participate. I imagine that some clanless Yazirians would be a part - as would those who honor "Clan Morgaine". |
 November 23, 2012 - 9:33am | Hmm, I also use the Brotherhood of Spacers (aka the Spacers Guild). Not sure where I got that. Heinlein? The Frontier Survival Guide should include information on the short-term and long-term effects of greater or lesser gravity on the body. Also, the effects of different atmospheres, and atmospheric pressure. For example, thin atmosphere like in Tibet, vs a denser atmosphere like Earth had millions of years ago, that made animals larger. |
November 23, 2012 - 9:37am | Isn't Brotherhood of Spacers cannon? If you count ZG as canon, then yes. If not, then no. By the way, I added them to the SF Wiki. I like the idea of having them in the setting to give some tension between spacers and the mega-corps. The Zeb book notes them as a "cadre," who are basically a labor union. |
November 23, 2012 - 10:28am | @ malcadon: thanks budy I knew I was just missing that, @bossmoss good idea: long term effects of low gravity is added to the list for the spacer guide and effects of higher atmo pressure should go on the explorers guide table of contents. I do believe there is substantial literature on the medical effects of low gravity out there its probably onlt a matter of trolling for it to write something. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 23, 2012 - 10:33am | Frontier Survival Guide sounds like a great name for a project dealing with the many hazards of space and alien worlds.
I think that you could use the hitchhikers guide project for this and just start a thread on a planet to discuss its hazards. Or just start a thread on "Hazards of Volcanism" to discuss volcanic activity in general and etc. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 23, 2012 - 10:36am | I can totally see a Spacers Survival Guide, and Planetary Exploration Survival Guide as a largely fluff-fulled source books (with fake promotional ads for the Planetary Survey Administration and the Brotherhood of Spacers), based on real-life issues of space travel, with rule notes to cover them. The Spacers Survival Guide would deal with the issues and dangers of living in space, as well as planetary environments akin to the Earth's Moon. It would deal with info on habitable environments (food, waste, air circulation, gravity, radiation, and so on), things to remember when living in tight quarters (e.g. "Chapter ?-5: What is that human doing in his bunk, and why you should ignore it?"), and info on damage-control (sealing decks, patching holes, dealing with boarding parties, and such). The Planetary Exploration Survival Guide would deal with surviving on a somewhat habitable worlds. It would address basic survival techniques (finding food/water/shelter, treating injuries and so on), dealing with adverse environments, basic ecology (which would have advice on fulling out a believable environment), dealing with with alien cultures (how to negotiate, and advice on making unique customs and cultural mindsets), and so on. Should we start a project group for this? |
November 23, 2012 - 10:59am | I'm sure we can shoe horn the planetary stuff in one of the exisitng projects. The spacer stuff i think just requires brainstorming a comprehensive list of topics, quite a few of which have been published previously in the magazines. This mean a lot of the ground work is laid. On the other hand a separate project allows for a documents section to assemble the guide and forum threads for individual topics but my preference would be a PDF end product that could be downloaded, printed and enjoyed. I guess i could go either way there. Thats partly why i did this thread in the main forums to get ideas from everyone and compile a list of topics to cover. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 19, 2012 - 11:14am | Very cool idea. The effects of regolith (moon dust) are frequently overlooked. The zero G manuvers would be very interesting to see. Reasonable men adapt to the world around them; unreasonable men make the world adapt to them. The world is changed by unreasonable men. Edwin Louis Cole |
December 19, 2012 - 3:24pm | Very cool idea. The effects of regolith (moon dust) are frequently overlooked. The zero G manuvers would be very interesting to see. I suppose we need to come up with some rough numbers for the ammount of propulsion firing a gun would generate in 0g. I read a story in school where a gun (.45 I think) was used in 0 g to import momentum. I suppose once we have a half way realistic number for how much momentum will impart to a man sized character using it as an improvised "jet pack" we can then extrapolate numbers for other weapons. Gyro jet is probably negligible since its totally ineffective at PB range till its own rocket motor kicks in. however I imagine that firing a sholder fired rocket should have a kickback. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 19, 2012 - 6:04pm | The delta v for firing a colt 45 pistol on a 100kg (220 lb) character would be 0.8 m/s or 4.8 m/turn. Firing a single round from a M16 would be 0.04 m/s or 0.24 m/turn. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
December 19, 2012 - 6:10pm | And a rocket launcher probably doesn't impart much recoil at all as it is just a long hollow tube for firing the rocket (per the description in the rules). I.e. the exaust goes out the back so there is little recoil on the character. There should be a little bit but probably not more than any of the rifles/pistols. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
December 19, 2012 - 7:29pm | Rockets are interesting in that with no gravity so the forces would be equal going both ways EXCEPT for the amount of force absorbed by the launcher as the rocket leaves. Which if the shooter is not braced could send them into a spin and well figure the rest out. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 19, 2012 - 8:51pm | There, I did it! Are you guys happy? |
