I was just curious if anyone had experimented with Asteroids and scatter dice yet. I plan to soon, once I get a more regular playtest partner. But it seems like it could be an awesome mechanic for creating some crazy and frenetic games. Any thoughts?

I've been thinking of this as well. Probably going to design a scenario with a moving asteroid field for our league when it starts next month. I'm thinking I'll use GW scatter and artillery dice and a large amount of asteroids. A "hit" on the scatter die will mean the asteroid remains stationary. a 2-10 on the distance die will get divided for a 1-5 and move that template on the path of the scatter die. A "misfire" on the distance die will remove the asteroid. Going to need to playtest it but that's what League Players are for.

Jim

Scatter dice seem odd. Asteroids aren't going to be starting and stopping. They won't be changing directions or speed. It would also be unlikely to be in a field of asteroids all traveling at different speeds and in different directions.

Sure, sure, it's just a game, but that just seems so weird to have asteroids doing things so unrealistic.

What would seem to make more sense is place the 5 asteroids in a 'band' right in the middle of the table. Have the asteroids move towards one side at a continual speed. After all pilots move, the asteroids move a set speed in there set direction. If they go off the table, they reappear on the other side thus creating the effect of a asteroid field or a planetary ring.

Not only would you have to avoid the asteroid during your movement but also plan to stay out of their movement path.

Star Frogger, nice. But i'm not sure why you think this would be so odd. Watch Empire Strikes back again, those asteroids are not moving uniformly at all. That's what makes asteroid fields so dangerous, they're unpredictable. In every piece of fiction I've read asteroid fields work this way. Otherwise they wouldn't be half as difficult to navigate.

although, of course (and i know real physics/ reality has no bearing on star wars) if an X-wing were to travel in a straight line through a real asteroid field, the chances of hitting an asteroid are estimated at around 1/1000000000000 (or a probability of 0.000000000001)

Also, asteroids do not travel in the same direction or at the same speed, as there are so many collisions within an asteroid belt over the aeons it exists that this creates a non uniform structure. As in all things, this chaos increases over time exponentially.

However, faster asteroids would generally be further away from the object they are orbiting (due to the nature of the mechanics of orbiting bodies).

Anyway… thats enough geeking for now!

Sounds like an ace idea… in fact im pretty sure I made a thread giving exactly this idea and method many moons ago…

wait… thats no moon!

If you wanted to eliminate the use of a scatter die to keep everything "in box" (i.e. no outside dice, measuring tools, etc.), you could just roll an attack die and move the asteroid in the direction of the point at the "top" of the die.

Additionally, you could say a hit moves it 1 on the rangefinder stick, a crit moves it 2, etc.

R2D2 said:

Never tell me the odds!

I had this idea a while back, but the scatter die was only used at the start of the game, direction being kept throughout.

Our game group has been playing X-wing consistently over the last several weeks. Everyone loves it! However, the first question every new player asks, is do the asteroids move? I think the scatter dice concept is awesome. But, when would the movement take place and in what initiative order? Personally, I think asteroids should always have initiative.

Jonas

I would move them first (pilot 0), but after everyone picks their move, obviously.

Had a great session with my friend the other night. We did an asteroid field varient were we placed asteroids around. Then at end phase all asteroids moved in the same direction "2" we would roll the attack dice and for every focus that popped up we would place one asteroid. My friend would move it back and forth on the table edge. While I would close my eyes and say "STOP" the Asteroid would come in right there. We damaged one ship and lost at least 2 due to friggin Asteroids ! lol fun

having them move at a constant spend and direct until colliding with something would make sense… if you have multiple cores you could place out only large asteroids at first, allowing pilots to shoot them (no defend dice, requiring 1 hit to change direction, 1 critical to break up into 2 smaller asteroids going in opposite directions… i would also make large asteroids a constant 1 or 2 spend and smaller at 2 or 3 (would need a few play test rounds for this)… when one reaches the edge of play it would be out for that round, reappearing on the other side next turn…. this would create an asteroid field much like the old "Asteroids" video game from the 80's (oh childhood, how you always will be relevant in my mind!)

I havent used scatter dice, although I did play with a d6. Each number on the d6 coursponded to a movement template. We rolled again to see who got controll of what astroid.It was really fun.

I havent used scatter dice, although I did play with a d6. Each number on the d6 coursponded to a movement template. We rolled again to see who got controll of what astroid.It was really fun.

How are the asteroids changing direction and slowing down? That doesn't make any sense. Also, it'll be way too much effort and will slow the game down.

KarmikazeKidd said:

Each individual asteroid moves in a straight line when observed on the scale of a human or fighter ship. They can't change direction in space. Physics 101

ShadowJak said:

I just watched the asteroid scene in Empire. According to Star Wars 101, the asteroids go every which way bounce off each other some going this way and that. They hit and break into smaller pieces and solid chunks of ore can be blasted by the lasers on the Falcon. So the scatter dice is a great idea. If you don't like it don't use it, but it is still a good idea and I plan on using it. So while in our universe asteroids follow an orbit, in a galaxy far, far away, they do whatever is cinematic, and that means scattering to wherever the nearest TIE fighter is to knock its solar panel off so it spins into another asteroid, that convienently is in it path

Sheriff288 said:

I guess a little deus ex machina never hurt anyone (except for some TIE fighters apparently).

ShadowJak said:

Physics 101 would also seem to say that TIE Fighters ought not barrel roll backwards, yet they do. Strange old world we live in, isn't it? What with people going around playing games to have fun rather than to simulate reality as best they can. Now that's just crazy talk. I mean really…weapons in space have a range limitation? Let's just go through and break it all down so George Lucas can cry himself to sleep (though I'm pretty sure he already does).

If you like random asteroid movement, how about twisting a maneuvre dial without looking and follow the move?

To everyone else: All great ideas, which is why I wanted to post about this. The basic idea sounds fun, but there are obviously numerous different ways to go about it. I figured between us we could probably narrow it down to some of the better ways. Personally I think it will probably get tedious going through and moving every asteroid every turn in different directions and so on. I was thinking more along the lines of setting them on a path and having their paths altered as they collide with each other or ships. Perhaps start with the band across the middle as mentioned. But as collisions occur, or attacks on them as others have mentioned, they could be altered. I was also thinking of having them move on their own (non-collision) every other round, during the end phase. Or on Initiative 0, either way. This could help represent the fact that the ships are faster and maneuverable enough to navigate them.