Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Star Smuggler: e036 Rewrite for New Ships

When I created 3 new ships, I did so without access to e036. I was working from memory. So, let's rewrite the whole scenario using my house rules. The table at the end also addresses e001, which now gives you a choice of what ship to start with.

You can read all of e036 as it stands, but add in the following paragraphs to the end:

"Other options exist if you already own a starship. You may purchase another Antelope ship on credit and can trade in your old Antelope. Assuming you have paid off the loan on the first ship, that is. This option is not available if you owe anything on the old ship. If this ship is paid off, you will receive 60,000 credit against the principal and the interest payment will be reduced.

"You may also purchase a different class of ship under the same terms.

"Ships obtained from e001 have all of the items listed for an Antelope class, meaning you could be missing guns, hoppers and the like.

"When purchasing a new ship, you obtain it under the same conditions as the Antelope in e036. It will not have guns or hoppers or any other equipment. However, you have access to the shipyard's inventory. You may purchase boats (e035), boats guns (e053), ship's guns (e056) and hypercharges (e025). Stasis Units are not available here. Purchases each of these items at the dealership adds a premium. Add 100 secs. to the base price of each item.

"If you wish, you may purchase anyone of these ships outright. Please see the table below for all options.

"When trading in an old ship, you may transfer any gear or cargo from one ship to another, however, you may not remove the ship's guns, boats, boat guns, hypercharges, or permanently installed stasis units in the pilot's area. Items in the cargo hold count as cargo not equipment. If you are missing equipment, the ship is not sale-able and you will have to purchase these items either before going to the dealer (a die roll) or purchase them at the dealer's price.

"You may not roll against Cunning to negotiate the price of these ships, nor may you use ANY another mechanic such as psionics, drugs or pheromones to alter the prices. All attempts to do so will make you wanted in this system."

- no title specified
    Antelope    Alicorn   Blockade Buster    Buffalo   
    PriceInterestPriceInterestPriceInterestPriceInterest
Starting Ship120000300160000400256000640300000750
Full Purchase1800000240000038400004500000
Financed120000300160000400256000640300000750
Fin. w/Trade 60000150100000250196000490240000600

Players may wish a refresh on the alernate Hoppers:

Orbiter, e034. 1800 secs. base price. e035 is 2400 secs.
Fast Boat, e034. 1000 secs. base price. e035 is 1500 secs.
Interceptor, e034. 2500 secs. base price. e035 is 5000 secs.

Remember, the Orbiter is larger than most hoppers. Their full description is here.

The Alicorn's full description is here. Click the links for the Buffalo and Blockade Buster.

Look out for more house rules updates.

Alesmiter - Blog with an Eye on History

I just found the Alesmiter blog and added it to the list. So far, my favorite post is about Wolf Island Castle in England. Rod Thompson has an excellent photo series on this historical site and a series of inspirational posts in addition to gaming information.

Rod also posts on C&S other great games, both new(ish) and old. I love the old school vibe of his site and the images he uses.

I can't wait to read it all. And the way things are going, I will probably have the time.

I... We Still Hate Read Magic

I hate read magic as spell. Its... well, let me tell you, it's everything Dragons Gonna Drag said it was. Justin says everything I thought about this useless spell and more. With poetry, actual poetry. He doesn't just hate this spell, he has all kinds of tips, tricks and mechanics to get rid of it in a comprehensive fashion.



Someone once told me, "Criticism without an action item is... assholish." Justin Stewart names the issue and gives the reader many, many good ideas on alleviating the problem. It isn't just criticism, is valid criticism with a viable solution. Love it!

Why not add him to your reading list? Go check him out. 

By the way, feel free to add your blog or your favorite blog to my reading list by mentioning it in the comments. I can't wait to add it to my blog roll.


Build Worlds, Second Edition by Dancing Light Press

I've been looking at Build Worlds, Second Edition by Dancing Light Press for a while. It retails for $4.99 and tops out at just shy of 90 pages at 89. The cover art is excellent and the table of contents is tight. The book is divided into three main headings, Intro, Format and Elements, each one bigger than the last.

From the links above, you can see I am heavily invested in World Building for my B/X and AD&D campaigns. Back in the day, I picked a wonderful book for second edition AD&D called Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide. While I had a low awareness of second edition and a slight dislike of it, this book was a revelation to me. Now, it isn't exactly built for world building, but it drags you through the process of designing the adventures within your world.

Building Worlds is specifically meant for world building and is totally rule set agnostic. That means it should rejuvenate your eyes, giving the reader fresh insight in to their current campaign or a new one they are planning.

Go ahead and give them both a try. Both are available at DriveThruRPG from the links above.