As part of the adventure I am writing, the PCs are going to an area of Wild Space that hasn't been properly charted. The players have asked for an exploration style sandbox-y adventure. I'd like them to scan for planets around stars, and for other sites of interest.

However, thinking about, the sensor range on the ships listed in the books are all in planetary range bands - far too short for the kind of thing I am thinking about.

Does anyone know if star system range scanning is even possible using the FFG system, or in Star Wars in general?

Sensors on exploration class ships are long, plus remember a sensor scan in game terms provides highly detailed information. Sensors are handled very narratively and simply detecting planetary masses need not be an elaborate or difficult affair. We do it now lightyears away with very rudimentary information and math.

Planets are pretty big and even with our limited technology we can detect planets from light years away. I can imagine Star Wars scanning tech, though stagnated, is bit more impressive than ours. You could use an Astrogation check to get close to a target system and then use an Knowledge (Education) check to determine if there are any planets within. Plot a sub-light course and away you go.

IIRC, Sturn has some rules enhancements that make this sort of thing a lot easier to handle, while still keeping things descriptive and cinematic.

I’m not sure where he posted those rules, but you might want to take a look at them and see if there is anything interesting there for you.

Also, what kind of skill check do you think would be appropriate for tracking down things like planets, comets and anomalies? I'm guessing Knowledge (Education)? Astrogation seems more related to programming the nav-computer.

Definitely Knowledge (Education) for tracking space objects. I included Astrogation because you would be attempting to plot a new course to an uncharted system. Part of charting unknown space would be figuring out what course to plot to get there.

I would say Astrogation is the skill you'd use. Plotting courses is but a part of Astrogation. In order to do so requires tracking and calculating the positions of the various objects in Space. Thus, Astrogation incorporates these checks into it. Thus, if you want to check for a planet and, in turn, its spacial coordinates, you use Astrogation.

Also, what kind of skill check do you think would be appropriate for tracking down things like planets, comets and anomalies? I'm guessing Knowledge (Education)? Astrogation seems more related to programming the nav-computer.

Education would be used more for evaluating an object once you've found it (It's a comet, but what kind of comet?).

Astrogation would tell you how to get to it, or where it's going (be it an actual path, or more just an orbit).

For initial spotting I'd say go with Perception (since the character is essentially visually examining video and telescopic feeds) or Computers (since the character is running various programs that evaluate sensor data to kick out an estimate of what you're looking at). You can pick one or the other, or have both allowed with different difficulties based on the thing being searched for.

Really, I could go with a couple of different skills for finding planets. Education for sure, Astrogation could easily apply (astro-cartography? Sure, why not!) and why not Rim/Core Worlds?

If your player can justify the skill, let them use it!

Also, if you want the players to find or see something, just narrate it. No roll necessary because rolls can fail to succeed. Then what, let them roll again until they succeed? Just let them find the planet.

Alternatively, you can simply narrate that they discover the new world, but have a Computers or Education roll indicate additional information that could be useful but not required. Maybe create a handy chart beforehand with Advantages, Threats, Triumphs, and Despairs on it that you can reference when they make that roll.

But if finding the planet is crucial to kickstarting the adventure, just narrate its discovery.

I'm in no way an astrophysicist so all of this is based on my layman's understanding of exoplanet discovery. With that being said:

Assuming that you have no prior information to work on (old records etc,) you will have to do pretty much what we do now: Observe stars for as long as it takes to discover a shift in its spectrum caused by a planet passing in between the star and your point of view.

That means that you could discover a planet from very far away as long as you, the star and the planet are on roughly the same plane. The catch is that you have to wait for up to one orbital period until the planet passes in front of the sun. If it doesn't pass in front of the sun at all, it will remain invisible to you.

I imagine every starship has the instruments that could give you the readings required. Unfortunately, the process can't be sped up (can't make the planet orbit faster) - that's why having access to a record would be huge for your explorers. If they don't, there is some amount of chance involved, but the sheer number of stars you can observe like this allows you to find an enormous number of potential targets to check out at any given time.

IIRC, Sturn has some rules enhancements that make this sort of thing a lot easier to handle, while still keeping things descriptive and cinematic.

I’m not sure where he posted those rules, but you might want to take a look at them and see if there is anything interesting there for you.

See my signature for "Signals Intel".

Also, if you want the players to find or see something, just narrate it. No roll necessary because rolls can fail to succeed. Then what, let them roll again until they succeed? Just let them find the planet.

Failure does not necessarily mean the game comes to a halt. A bad roll means bad information "Yeah, you find the planet but that despair means that you also pick up a Hideous Star Beat of Thrag on the scanner." when really it was just a bit of grit on the scanner lens. Or a great roll means they get planet configuration data, optimal hyperspace routes and the concierge will leave a mint on their pillow when they arrive.

Sturn, I happily discovered this thread and your Signals Intel rules by accident. But they are going to be a huge boon in the AoR campaign I am planning. Thanks for sharing!

This is something that's cropped up lately in my EotE campaign, where my players are exploring a huge gas cloud that contains a few unmapped systems. I run it so that a full scan of a system takes two full days and requires an Easy to Average Astrogation check; three successes or more drops it down to one day.

I don't think sensor range plays much of a role when doing something like this. Even from very far out a ship would be able to detect huge masses like planets and moons, and then it's just a matter of observing them over time to be able to tell how many there are, plot their orbits and so on. You wouldn't even need sensors - a good powerful camera would eventually give you all the information you'd need.

Also, if you want the players to find or see something, just narrate it. No roll necessary because rolls can fail to succeed. Then what, let them roll again until they succeed? Just let them find the planet.

Failure does not necessarily mean the game comes to a halt. A bad roll means bad information "Yeah, you find the planet but that despair means that you also pick up a Hideous Star Beat of Thrag on the scanner." when really it was just a bit of grit on the scanner lens. Or a great roll means they get planet configuration data, optimal hyperspace routes and the concierge will leave a mint on their pillow when they arrive.

"I want to scan for planets."

"Okay, make an average Computers check."

[Rolls dice]

"What did you get?"

"No successes, no anything." (An entirely possible roll at any time.)

"Okay... You can check again tomorrow, I guess. And the next day of need be."

I'm just saying if spotting the story hook is crucial, no need to roll.

"I want to search for new worlds."

"Okay. You find something interesting, possibly a Class M world. Make an average Computers check to learn more with the sensors."

I'm just saying if spotting the story hook is crucial, no need to roll.

I guess I see no issue with making a roll where the success is a given, but the how good your roll is determines the quality of that success. That null result? That gets them the basic information that they would have gotten anyway. A really outstanding roll with lots of triumphs and advantages? It gets them bonus information, good information or something else relevant like a back door hyperspace route in.

Threats and despair? That just means it takes way longer than anticipated. What would have taken an hour takes them three days.

Pretty much as Desslok said, I was going to set it up so that they will always find one location as a result of their check- additional successes will give more results to investigate, which are harder to pinpoint. Threat might mean they get setbacks on their check to travel there, and a despair might mean they incorrectly identify a site and it ends up to be a black hole or something.

What about a Simple (-) difficulty check then? Guaranteed success, but with better information depending on degree of success, and the option of a lucky tangential discovery if you roll enough advantage.