My players have set their sights on plundering the Righteous Path (the Into the Maw adventure from the back of the Core book) and next session they'll be attempting to discover the location of the mysterious system. The book gives a +0 Inquiry test to ask around the Gilt Processionals, but notes that this will alert everyone to their intentions; okay, fine. It then says "some quiet asking around" will lead them to a master mapmaker but gives no further details. I figure a Commerce test is the most appropriate, but then I started to wonder about the difficulty...

We are told a few things. Firstly, Starchart Collections are Extremely Rare; secondly, that even poorly-recorded ancient scraps claiming to map Winterscale's Domain are "priceless and invaluable" ( HA p139); thirdly, that maps and charts of varying accuracy and provenance are for sale in the Court of the Dead and, presumably, the Processional as a whole. So where does that leave our bold Explorers, looking to establish the location of a single system?

How does one establish the Availability of starcharts generally? Does that Availability change depending on the part of the Expanse they depict? How does accuracy factor in - does it change the Availability, or just use the Craftmanship rules for the final Acquisition?

And they want to know where one system is in Winterscale's Realm; do they need to buy a local starchart, buy starcharts for their whole route, or simply be told where the system is? If they aren't actually buying anything, does it still come under Commerce?

I'm having real trouble pinning this down, any thoughts would be welcome.

And then to top things out, after telling us the system in question lies in Winterscale's Realm, they place it at Magoros, which is clearly in the Foundling Worlds two sub-sectors away. That was a really, really bad editing job on someone's part. I use craftsmanship for Star Charts, and the charts play a very big part in successful warp navigation in my house rules (which I think you already know).

So treasure maps are a dime-a-dozen at the Courts of the Dead. Then it's not a matter of are there any, but which ones are real and which are fakes. And that's where our little-used skills, such as Nobilite Encoding come in useful. The Star Chart was written in Low Gothic? What Navigator with any self-respect uses that? And don't forget Evaluation. It might be a legitimate star chart, but is it laid out well or hurriedly scribbled? Or is it even written at all, or laid out on a holo-pict with several layers of protection?

I use normal acquisition rules and modify for quantity and quality as usual. A single chart is easier to find than a rutter full of charts.

My current campaign revolves around an inherited star chart. It is encoded, protected, and written in several languages...and it leads to several systems, otherwise nearly unattainable, that are rich in minerals, archeotech, xenos-ruins, lost colonies, and all those things our intrepid explorers are questing for. Fun for every career.

Thanks for your reply

Magoros, which is clearly in the Foundling Worlds two sub-sectors away.

Sorry, where did you get that from? Given that the worlds are covered in Egarian ruins I assumed it was in the Dominion... [EDIT: I suspect you're referring to the Core book, the map from which is not in my PDF copy. Clearly a cartographical error, though, given the aforementioned Egarian remains.]

Anyway, my problem is distinguishing between "we find a chart" and "we find the most accurate chart available"; 'charts' may be everywhere in the Court of the Dead, but 'accurate charts' may be virtually non-existent.

Do they repeatedly roll against Plentiful and then make Evaluate rolls for each success until I arbitrarily decide they find a good one, or do I combine the search and assessment into one and have them roll against Extremely Rare?

Wouldn't an accurate starchart automatically be of better Quality than an inaccurate one, or would Quality be more about level of detail or ease of use?

I know I could just handwave all of this but I'd rather establish a framework.

On a side note, I'm distinguishing between starcharts and Warp charts - a starchart shows you where a system is in relation to other systems while Warp charts show you how to get there safely. I figure Warp charts are like spellbooks in D&D, arcanely formatted and written in ciphers unintelligible to a lay human; the weird dimensions and composition of the Warp almost certainly means a route isn't as simple as a line from point to point.

This is one of those iffy questions. Do you let your players roll their acquisition rolls openly? I sometimes do and sometimes don't. In this case I don't. They want to find star charts? <secret dice roll> Okay, you found some. Now, are they real? Of course, in most of my games this led to some upset characters (and even some upset players) when they followed a fake treasure map to a burnt-out cinder of a star with nary a single planet orbiting it. Then again, it also led to more savvy characters (and players) in the future. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Nice Yeah, I'm all for secret rolls - I have a crib-sheet of the PC's stats and skills that I might want to roll against.

So, in the example you give, are you saying that you roll their Commerce against Rare (for an accurate chart) and if they fail they find an inaccurate one? I appreciate you taking the time.

Navigator Primus Mook Cloudrunner is looking for star charts to system Omicron VII, which is rumored to be hard to reach due to intermittent warp storms that spring up in its vicinity. He finds a shady character that claims to have such a chart. Mook is a savvy customer, and demands to see the goods before purchase. He looks them over. Either an Evaluate check can determine that it is indeed a navigation chart, and not some cheap fake, or perhaps he can read the occasional cipher with a successful Nobilite Encoding check, leading him to believe the item is genuine. He might need to collaborate with other members of his House in order to actually translate and interpret the entire chart, but deciding its the real McCoy, he decides to make the purchase. He first attempts to get a better price (opposed Commerce or Bargain check with each DoS/DoF modifying his PF by +/-2).

Behind the scenes the GM made a secret Acquisition roll: Extremely Rare (-30), Single Item (+30). The GM rolled vs. the Dynasty's PF and made the roll by 6 (e.g a 24 when </= 30 was needed), so decides such an item is indeed available. When Mook makes his Commerce or Bargain check, he succeeds by 2 DoS, which would have modified the PF to 34. The GM decides that with a roll of 10 better than needed, the star chart is upgraded to good craftsmanship (since that would have been -10 to the Acquisition check).

Now you might want to make some decisions about availability for your campaign. Navis Primer gives scarcity per sub-sector depending on the Navigator House, which is wonderful, if somewhat detailed. I just give a scarcity depending on port-of-call, or, if attempting to wheedle the charts from members of the Navigator's House, then a social challenge is in order.

Does that answer your question?

Yeah, that's fantastically clear, thankyou.

I see you use the Acquisition roll itself to determine whether they find items, that's what was confusing me; p111 of the Core book says

As I said above, I'm separating starcharts (used by the Carto-Artifex) and Warp charts (used by the Navigator). We haven't got a PC Navigator so I can handwave that based on the availabilities from the N avis Primer

Once again, the rules weren't edited very well. Another such contradiction are the Navis Prima, which contains warp charts that add to Navigation (Stellar), and the Almanac Astrae Divinitus , which that aids Navigation (undefined, but one would assume Warp given the description). Fortunately, by having my explorers visit uncharted systems, I don't have to worry about such inconsistencies, except when they visit Footfall, Port Wander, Damaris, etc.

Right, I think I've figured this out.

1) I'm going to set the Availability of accurate charts at Extremely Rare.

2) I'll ask for a Commerce roll but not tell them the target number.

A success, well, that's obvious; failure will lead them to inaccurate charts, which they can then Evaluate (if they choose) or begin to negotiate the Acquisition of. The closer a failing roll is to the target number (ie Commerce -15 in a population of 5 million) the harder it will be to spot the poor quality.

Thanks for talking this out with me.

sure