I finally finished painting these "Orc Space Pirates by Renegade 93, from the hands of legendary sculptor Kev Adams", as the Kickstarter put it. Just a bit late for Orctober. They are lovely metal miniatures, and just what one might expect from Kev Adams. Fun.
These frog minis are from Tom Mason. They are clean sculpts, like the goblins and gnomes I got from his company. Cute, too, and fun to paint.
I drew this little map for myself, for a little RPG called Under Hill, By Water, written by Josh McCrowell.
The game includes a map for players to add to and draw on, but I wanted to make my own map from scratch, for the fun of it.
I created a couple of characters, too. Miss Larkspur Longshot, a fletcher, who resides at number 1 on the map; and Mister Olliver "Ollie" Underfoot, an antiquarian, who resides at number 13 on the map. The proprietor of the Whistle & Pig is Chuffnell "Chuffy" Alesmith. The inn is renowned for the quality of its stews.
That's as far as I have gotten. The title page of the game says "This game is about capturing your aunt's escaped ornery goat", "This game is about growing the biggest turnip for the Harvest Festival", "This game is about gathering rare ingredients for a birthday feast", "This game is about being simple and silly". It's not designed as a solo RPG, and there are mentions of a GM and other players, but I'll see what can do solo.
ETA: I played a little bit of a Walking Holiday, an expansion to the above game, and drew up this map for a little jaunt by 3 halflings around some of the area surrounding the village.
I played out on adventure in this campaign, using the Starforged rules almost exclusively. I kept it light and ignored stuff I didn't want to deal with, such as "Iron vows". Mostly wanting to see if I could use it to play something less grimdark. I think it worked reasonably well. I also kept minimal notes as I didn't want to spend much time writing up more detailed stories.
minor military base and associated town: Sirius Station
population: thousands
first look: rustic architecture
settlement projects: pacifism
local landscape/biomes: coastal wetlands
Note: One decision I made here is that the biome I roll for a planet is the biome for the part of it where I am at at the time, rather than a planet-wide biome as in some sci-fi stories.
Thread: (using One-Page Mythic from Mythic Magazine 25)
Learn about ship; where did it come from, who did it belong to, what happened to them, etc.
Was it in the starport? Nearly certain = exceptional yes
Maybe? yes, and it was fully serviced, stocked, and fueled up; or yes, and the owners hadn't claimed it for so long it was considered abandoned? I wasn't sure so decided to roll 1D6, 1-3 -> first option, 4-6 -> second option = 6, port authorities declared the ship abandoned and put it up for sale/auction
Were other parties interested in it? very likely = yes
I gave this some thought and realized that in Starforged you are generally meant to have a spaceship as one of your starting assets. I also decided I didn't want to spend time playing around with who the other parties were (at least not at this time - maybe it will come up at some point in the future?) or with whether Psmith was able to acquire it or not or play out that scenario.
In any case, I decided instead that Mulligan was able to pay for the ship, and now has legal title to it.
So, now that he has his ship, time to find things to do.
Mulligan walks through the starport, to find news, job postings, etc.
(rolling on a table for benign starport encounters (I forgot where I found these) – results may just be for flavor or may lead to more)
He notices a group of religious pilgrims standing at a window, watching a ship loading cargo. Nothing of any real interest there for him.
A concerned looking team in hazmat gear run past.
hmmm, wonder what that was about...
Mulligan continues on and finds a computer terminal where he can check for job listings.
(rolling on the Jobs table from The Book of Random Tables Science Fiction, by Matt Davids) (later, I found Starforged has some options that could work for this, too – such as the table on page 130)
Rescue survivors of a pirate attack. Search and Rescue mission – I will probably mostly use Expedition moves, with a progress bar (Troublesome) and tension clock (6 segments)
To start out, I'm going to roll on the Swear a Vow move (just not calling it a vow; more like, taking on a job).
Rolled 2 and 2 on challenge dice; rolled 3 on action die, plus 1 for Heart = strong hit
(the doubles on the challenge dice could give an interesting twist or opportunity)
“you are emboldened and it is clear what you must do. Take +2 Momentum.”
Mulligan has a good idea of where to look for the victims of the pirate attack.
So let's start with Set a Course.
Rolled 2 and 9 on challenge dice; rolled 5 on action die, plus 5 for Supply = strong hit
arrive safely at destination (last know location of pirate victims' ship). +1 Momentum.
Note: The Wild Goose is the gray ship, which looks larger because it is closer - it's a very common ship model; sort of like the VW van of starships. The white ship is the damaged vessel that had been attacked by pirates.
Next step, could be either Gather Information or Explore a Waypoint – both use Wits.
I think I'll go with Explore a Waypoint.
Rolled 4 and 9 on challenge dice; rolled 6 on action die, plus 3 for Wits = weak hit
Need to hide from pirates until they move on (next move is probably in the direction they came from). No progress. +1 Momentum, and +1 for Explorer.
Acting casual, parked next to an asteroid, as a pirate ship sails past in the foreground.
Search continues. Going with Gather Information, looking for the ship or escape pods or anything else.
Rolled 9 and 10 on challenge dice, rolled 1 on action die, plus 3 for Wits = miss
Pay the Price. Tension clock advances. I decide to roll on the Spaceborne Peril table. 59 = others obstruct your path
Looks like too much pirate activity nearby; I'll have to try sneaking around. It will take longer, but there is still time.
I'll try Undertake an Expedition, using Shadow to keep under the radar, and try to sneak past the pirates.
Rolled 5 and 7 on the challenge dice; rolled 2 on action die, plus 2 for Shadow = miss
Pay the Price. Tension clock advances. Another Spaceborne Peril. 23 = gravity well or vortex takes hold.
Calling this Face Danger. Mulligan tries to pull the ship out of the vortex. Focusing his wits on that task.
Rolled 6 and 8 on the challenge dice; rolled 6 on action die, plus 3 for Wits = strong hit
Marking progress, +1 Momentum. He manages to pull the ship out of the vortex.
Explore a Waypoint to look for signs of the pirate victims.
Rolled 6 and 9 on the challenge dice; rolled 4 on action die, plus 3 for Wits = weak hit
Rolling on Spaceborne Opportunity; 17 = clear path through otherwise perilous space. +2 Momentum.
Gather Information; looking for clues or signs
Rolled 4 and 6 on the challenge dice; rolled 4 on the action die, plus 3 for Wits = strong hit
I'm going to mark progress; Momentum is at 10.
Mulligan spots the escape pod from the ship the pirates had attacked, and brings the victims aboard the Wild Goose.
Now we just need to chart a course back to Tir, and avoid any pirates who might still be lurking about.
Rolled 8 and 9 on challenge dice; rolled 2 on action die. Even when adding 5 for Supply it would be a miss. Mulligan burns Momentum of 10 to turn this into a strong hit.
Upon their return to Tir, Mulligan makes a “Progress move” to Finish an Expedition.
Rolled 2 and 6 on challenge dice; Progress of 9 = strong hit
One tick mark on discoveries legacy track
Everyone celebrates the rescue!
Cue celebratory music!
This concludes this chapter of the adventures of Mulligan Psmith and the Wild Goose in the Fore Edge Campaign.
I may return to this at some point, but for now I want to try some other games, and get some more minis painted.
It's been a long time! I got sidetracked from painting minis due to various circumstances, the heat of summer being one of them. Recently I finally got around to starting a solo sci-fi RPG campaign, mostly using Starforged, but trying to keep things light, and a simplified version of the Mythic Game Master Emulator as needed, called One Page Mythic. The latter came from Mythic magazine.
The setup:
There is a vibrant mix of people and cultures.
There are many different alien species.
Settlements can be scattered and isolated, or abundant and near other settled places.
Discoveries await. Even in settled regions new things can be found.
The galaxy is full of wonder, ancient mysteries, space-faring creatures, startling phenomenon, and other marvels.
Despite any challenges, hope remains.
Laws: there are various governments and jurisdictions, laws vary, level of enforcement varies, etc.
Religions are as diverse as the people and cultures.
Many have no religion, or offer an occasional prayer out of habit. Others pay homage to the gods of their forebears as a way of connecting to their roots. Some idealize the natural order of the universe, and see the divine in the gravitational dance of stars or the complex mechanisms of a planetary ecosystem. And some now worship the Primordials—gods of a fallen people who once dwelt within the region, or precursor races.
Magic, or something like it, can be wielded by some people. There are likely different kinds of magic or psychic powers or other skills. Some may be specific to a given race or culture.
Communication: there is FTL communication, as well as slower forms of delivering data and information. Personal communicators and devices similar to cell phones/smart phones are also common.
Medicine is advanced, but may not be widely available in isolated locations. Still, ships will usually have some facilities, and people may have personal kits and supplies for healing and treating patients to some extent even in uninhabited places or in emergencies.
AI, robots, droids, etc., are common.
War: usually not widespread or large scale, but there may be wars, raids, and other actions at various levels. Most major factions and many minor factions will not be in a constant state of war.
Lifeforms: intelligent life, various flora and fauna, can be found in many places. Many planets and some moons can support life. There may be some lifeforms in space, too.
Precursors: previous civilizations have left traces behind. Ruins, artifacts, derelicts, etc., may be discovered in space and on planets, moons, asteroids, and other celestial bodies.
In addition to any of the above, there is scope for other stuff, events, places, things, etc.
Wide spread, found in many places, sometimes as the controlling power, sometimes as invaders, attackers, visitors, ambassadors, etc.
The Empire
The Federation
Orks
Could be widespread or could be limited to a few places or just one
Might be allied with a major faction or other minor factions, long term or temporarily
Might have rivalries and enemies
Might be generic, with similar groups found in many places, but not all from the same organization
(for example, each independent planet will have its own planetary forces0
planetary governments
corporations
crime gangs
pirates
some alien species (maybe space dwarves and space elves fit here?)
forces:
planetary defense
corporate security
Big Bad Guys, Evil Overlords, leaders (good, bad, allies, friends, enemies, etc., usually leader of minor factions/orgs), other major characters and recurring characters
These space ork pirates are from Meridian Miniatures, as part of a Kickstarter project. Sculpted by Kev Adams, who has sculpted orcs and goblins and other minis for the likes of GW and others for some time now. The figures were cast in metal, and are single piece minis with plastic bases. Fun to paint, and I'm always happy to add a few more characterful orcs or other types to my collection.
Here are a few Star Schlock minis, with very basic paint jobs. I am trying to decide if these are good enough, or if I want to do more with the helmets and shoulder pads on the militia/rebels/planetary defense.
some droids
