?Hi there.

I need yours oppinion about rules modifications: Moving asteroids. So after making move preparation but before proceding asteroids are moved randomly into one of four sides of play area. Roll D4 and make a move with Move 1 on small asteroids and Move 2 on big One. What do you think? Would you try this idea? I play this mod with two sets of asteroids in standard size play area. Also o was thinking about idea that if you hit anything you can`t attack this round (not only make a action) And asteroids should make attacking impossible.(no line of sight). Trully hard but this way you have to avoid them not only going through and roll red die.

It's a bit complicated but here's the rules from my custom campaign format:

Quote

The asteroids are kinetic and will move in reaction to ships, explosions, and other asteroids. At the start of the mission the asteroids will be stationary. When any ship moves through/into Range 1 of an asteroid it will receive 1 energy token to a maximum of 3 energy tokens. After the end of the activation phase and before the start of the combat phase: all asteroids with energy tokens on them will move towards (closest point to closest point) the last ship to pass by them using the straight maneuver template such that the speed matches the number of energy tokens on the asteroid. Asteroids will move leading edge to leading edge (not front to back, in this way the asteroid will only every move the distance of the maneuver template it is moved with).

If a ship is destroyed all asteroids at Range 1 of the destroyed ship will immediately increase their energy value to 3 and immediately move perpendicularly away from the destroyed ship.

If two asteroids collide, the asteroid that moves to overlap the other completes its movement while sliding the other asteroid forward. After the movement is completed the asteroid that moved to overlap increases its energy value by 1 (to a maximum of 3) and then assigns an equal number of energy tokens to the other asteroid. During the following movement step both asteroids will move away from each other at representative angles for the strike as best interpreted by the GM.

If an asteroid overlaps a ship normal rules for overlapping an asteroid apply immediately.

I've learned not to do front-to-back asteroid movement, gets out of hand REALLY quickly. This is the smoothest mechanic I've attempted so far, other mechanics (required a die to be rolled to indicate direction) take up a lot of game-time. In this way asteroids are following gravity's pull or following a predetermined path (perpendicular to an explosion). Randomness is still a factor and skill as a pilot is absolutely necessary to avoid getting plastered by a rock!

It's hard if not impossible to really do moving asteroids properly. Their movement wouldn't be random and you should keep in mind that the starships are going to "float" away just as much as the asteroids would. It's also going to be time consuming.

I like zealuxmyr's way where the asteroids don't move unless forced by something. I will say I'm not really on board with the concept the OP presented which is "asteroids should block all attack" YOu can blow up rocks and shoot at ships through where an asteroid once was. Like if I see a ship move behind an asteroid, I can shoot lasers to blow up the rock, and keep firing to try and hit something (I envision a single x-wing attack to be maybe a few blasts of a laser, not just one) if that makes sense. So for an in-universe example, ship A moves behind asteroid, Ship B fires a few blasts at ship A, which represents one in-game attack, the first laser blows up the rock and subsequent volleys go through and have a chance to hit. Maybe you could do a thing where shooting at an opponent through the asteroid grants them a defensive bonus as per usual, but incorporate some sort of effect similiar to moving through one, where you roll to see if any shrapnel hits their ship if they're within range 1?

For the mission in which I use the kinetic asteroids (most missions use standard asteroid game rules, in the interests of time) there is actually a sensor barrier that corrects for asteroids attempting to flee the zone they're supposed to be in...so, in that sense, I've solved the problem of them just up and floating away

Here is an old thread with lots of cool ideas about alternate obstacles. Unfortunately it looks like the image links are broken.

Edit: It looks like the link to the post isn’t embedding here. You can search for “Celestial Phenomenon” to find the original post.

Here is an example of moving asteroids. I printed them out on adhesive paper, stuck them to cardboard then cut them out. Worked pretty well. This image isn’t very high resolution. I think if you google search “Celestial Objects” and things like that you may be able to find some of the images mentioned.

I read a little about asteroids kinetics and:

1. Asteroids rotates Very slowly but anyway

2. Asteroids moves straight(in very big circle/elipse)

3. Small asteroids moves faster then big one

4. Its very hard to change move direction of asteroid(need other one to do this)

After that few points i think that making moving asteroids realistic should be like this:

1. Asteroids should move same speed and same direction each turn

2. Asteroids should rotate(1 quarter each turn clockwise)

3. Small one(3 of 4) should move speed 2, big one (1 of 4) should move speed 1(everyone straight)

4. Collisions between asteroids should result in explosion(range 1 from the center) like from bombs, and "reverse" asteroids move.

5. Collision between ships and asteroids should result in rules for a ship:

a) No actions this turn

b)Stress token for a ship

c)No attacking this turn

d)Red dice roll(Blank-nothing, focus - another stress, hit - as usual)

6. If asteroid moves out of play, place new one in random corner and move it to diagonaly opposing corner.