In the Belt

Gorgonmilk: Gearing Up For X-Plorations

Gorgonmilk: Gearing Up For X-Plorations: A Completely Fabricated Interview with G. Gorgonmilk, Esq. J. DOE [JD] : There's been a prolonged lull in activity on this blog. What gives...

Starfreighter to Cesta

X-plorers Boxed Sets Available Again

I had planned on saving these to sell at some conventions this summer, but folks keep asking for them. So I have opened up this product for sale again. I have about two dozen of these limited edition (part of the 200 print run) boxed sets left.

http://www.bravehalfling.com/page13.html

Spacefaring in the Reaches: Warpjacking

In the storied history of the Reaches, multiple methods for creating the space "warp" that allows a spaceship propel itself hundreds of parsecs through the void in the space of a thought have been invented. The most popular and trusted method, though, has been the Continuous Magnetotron Spin Drive, a design which drives the tiniest space fighters to the most gargantuan robotic freighters that ply the spacelanes.

The use of the drive is simple. A starship sets its course to its destination. The power plant of the vessel then begins a slow transfer to power to the drive core, which begins to "spin up" the drive itself. (Note: No parts of the drive actually spin; "spin" is a term used by warp physicists to explain the motion of space/time generated by the drive) When the drive accumulates enough energy and spin, a warp in space in generated and the ship is carried along by its "wake" to the destination point, where the warp dissipates.

The warp in space that a CMS drive creates extends in a sphere for several meters around the jumping ship. Clever and disreputable pilots can take advantage of this by bringing in their much smaller vessel into a sensor blindspot within this zone while the jumping ship is spinning up its drive. Then, the smaller "warpjacker" opens the accumulators in his own CMS drive, but puts no power into it from his power plant. The warping space around the "host" vessel causes the drive in the smaller ship to spin up. Both ships enter warp. Because warp physics maintains that a smaller warp field cannot exist within a larger, the smaller field is "pushed "out of the larger field, allowing the smaller ship to emerge from warp at a completely different destination than the host vessel.

Warp jacking is a plague to large shipping companies and independent operators alike, and carries heavy criminal penalties throughout the Reaches. Without careful monitoring of the power input during spin up, these ships may take on warp jacking ships and end up using so much power that the host vessel exits warp light days or light years away from its destination with a depleted power core. This makes warp jacking a favorite tactic of pirates preying on large, automated freighters. The pirate warp jacks a large freighter and then later backtracks its course to pick off the helpless prize. Because of this, large ships often equip themselves with multiple sensors and gun ports to deter this type of action.

A pilot attempting to warpjack a ship must be piloting a craft at least 2 size classes smaller. The pilot makes an opposed roll with the Sensor operator of the larger ship using the Computers skill. If the pilot wins, he may warpjack the larger ship to the destination of his choice. If the Sensor operator wins, the pilot making the attempt is detected and a combat immediately ensues. Start this combat with the warpjacker 1 range band away.

Winner of the X-plorers Character Sheet Contest!

Hey folks, it is way overdue, but I am proud to announce that Anders Bohlin won the X-plorers Character Sheet Contest! While we had all kinds of great character sheets submitted (thank you so much!), Anders was perfect for the Boxed Sets. His free X-plorers Boxed Set arrived at his home a couple of weeks ago.

I have up-loaded his character sheet to RPGNOW.com as a free download for folks to use in the gaming.

Lastly, I found a box in storage from our move back in August that has a dozen X-plorer boxes in it, so I have that many more now available.

Marooned On Quaoar: X-Plorers!

Marooned On Quaoar: X-Plorers!: I downloaded the free PDF version of the X-Plorers from Grey Area Games . I know there is an updated boxed set being produced by Brave Half...