Greetings, fellow GM

I would like to point you out to this one

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86467&it=1&SRC=Newsletter&action=log_in&freebie_login=1

The interesting part is not the system (attached to it?) since all of you play RT.

But Starting with page 71 you get tools, tables and advice on building your own sandbox-style star sector.

This is of course not the re-invention of the wheel, but you have handy tables for names, descriptions for strange xenos creatures (although the "weird ones" are a little to...weird) an tables to roll up your whole biosphere and society.

And it is for free.

I registered to get it, but when I try to download it, all I get is a site full of what looks like Chinese characters. I am quite certain I am not meant to learn Cantonese in order to grasp the secret of the contents.

Any ideas?

Chinese....

Well, must have been some weird mistake "on thee internets"

As you have an account (sorry, forgot about that you need to create one. But hey, it is for free as well), search for a product called "Stars Without Number" from Sine Nomine Publishing.

Well, I get to the product page, I currently have 3 copies of it on my account - I can't view, or download it though, for I get a wall of Chinese.

I can view the product preview, that works fine. But once those encrypted things kick in, it's goners. I guess I'll be writing to their tech support staff.

Von Todkopf, I have the same problem when attempting to dowload from DrivethruRPG while using Opera; for some reason or another it doesn't play nice with the java app the sets up the download. Works fine with Firefox, however.

Sirrah, you hit the nail on the head. I was, indeed, using Oprah. I shall reconvene shortly, with good news, I hope.

--------

Edit: There, the deed is done. Thank you again.

Gregorius21778 - nice find :-)

There is a lot of useful stuff here for any SF game (and "free" is my favourite price )

DW

Worked for me. Thanks for pointing it out! If there's one thing I love more than good RPG ideas, it's FREE RPG ideas! =D

Nice! Thanks for the heads up!

I often fumble when the players go a different direction than I expected (first time GM) and this is one more tool that will help me bend like the reed in the wind! Or something!

L-

HPLustcraft said:

I've been working for years in various game systems to come up with a method of keeping the game flexible enough to react to players without relying on anticipating them (since the latter is pretty much impossible.) I only recently became familiar with the idea of "sandbox" style games, and I immediately facepalmed for not thinking of it myself.

I'm preparing to run my first sandbox style (D&D) game shortly. I can confirm that it's quite a bit of work up front, but if you set up your framework right, you can recycle a lot of stuff into new games and you'll always have SOMETHING (even if it's just a random encounter instead of a plot-relevant scene) to throw at your players. That way, if they go off track you can fill the session with random encounters and then spend the downtime between sessions prepping stuff for where they're going next (and if they double back you'll still have whatever you were expecting to use last time.)

I'll have a look at it.

Alex

you can also use this little program to instantly generate very detailed star systems in seconds. has text output. don't know the author, though:

STAR

The downloadable file is at the bottom of the page (star.exe).

Example of output:

Stellar characteristics:
Luminosity : 0.192
Star Mass : 0.616
Spectral class: K6 V
Age : 1.86 billions years

Planets present at:
1 0.4 A.U.
2 0.6 A.U.

Planet 1
Orbit radius : 0.4 A.U.
Type : Rock
Density : 0.9 Earth density
Diameter : 4268 km
Gravity : 0.32 Earth gees
Mass : 0.034 Earth masses
Escape velocity : 3.58 km/s
Atmosphere : Very thin
-Atmospheric pressure : 0.082 atm
-Oxygen : 0.000 atm
-Atmospheric composition : None
Mineral ressources: 1
Water : Rare Ice
%Water : 1
Orbital period : 118 days
Rotation period : 7 hours
Eccentricity : 0.005
Axial tilt : 15 ø
Temperature:
-Average Temperature : 36 øC
-Effects of eccentricity : +/-0 øC
-Maximum increase : +9 øC
-Maximum decrease : -15 øC
-Maximum day increase : +0 øC
-Maximum night decrease : -28 øC
Unusual Characteristics:
-None
Satellites : 0

Planet 2
Asteroid belt: 0.10 A.U. width
Predominate asteroids :Stony
Mineral ressources :3