Star Heist: End of Mission 1

 After six game session the team completed their first mission. It was loosely based on an old and frankly not very good movie called "Deadlier than the Male".

After the game we did a post session summary and the two players left (one had to go to work) seemed happy. Two NPCs Dr. Kirkpatrick (Ugler healer) and Captain Slater (Human analyst) did a lot of work in the background that helped out. However, no one seemed to feel they were overwhelming or too important to the game. They contributed information that the players were able to use but it was mostly behind the scenes and they were not involved in decision making.

I think that they filled roles the players had not really focused on and did not make any big decisions for the group was a big contributor to them seeming useful and fun to interact with but not taking any of the spotlight away from the player characters.

Notable NPCs..

Dr. Kirkpatrick is the ships doctor and was useful in saving one PC's life as well as providing opinions and detail on autopsies and medical reports. Also helped the team diplomat with psych profiling.

Captain Slater is the ships captain and mission lead but his specialty is statistical analysis, this was intended to help me give the players guidance if they got stuck and to spend the required hours of research and slogging through paperwork that many cases would require but would be rather boring to the players. With him going through the paperwork and videotapes they could focus on more active tasks.

Sam and Snick are the ships engineers, mostly intended to keep the ship running and repair things. They had some interaction with the players but were very much background characters.

Bear the security specialist was intended to protect the ship so the players don't have to and to act as reinforcements if they got into a fight. Mostly background, some interaction but he stayed out of things this mission.

JJ the ships pilot (PC) did some Streetwise, that did not directly help but got them a taste of the bad guys when one of them tried to assainate him with a poisoned cigar. Other than that he mostly played chauffer. That is the job of the teams driver/pilot but I want him to be able to get more directly involved, this is the area I feel the most disappointed in so far. If the player remains only the chauffeur I feel he will get bored and so I am hoping he comes up with some directions to grow in that we can work with.

He with the long name that I cannot pronounce and hence cant remember is the groups decker and rigger. Still concerned with the robot allies and being good enough at driving to make the JJ feel redundant but so far it hasn't come up much. He was frustrated at not being able to use his computer hacking abilities but the players opted for a mostly law abiding team and role which hampers the effectiveness of one who is mostly designed to break into other peoples computers. However, the player is smart enough to know this was going to be an issue so its more of a challenge to work around than a serious obstacle, so far anyway. He did get to hack one persons computer which got them the really big clue they needed to decide the case so we both felt good about that.

Duri the diplomat (final PC) did the bulk of the front and center work as this was mostly a working the people kind of mission. I think everything went well there and he was not greedy about the center stage, just that is the way the cards fell. I suspect his character will be the most useful most of the time as talking to people is rarely illegal and tends to come up a lot.

I explained the roles of the ships crew in more detail at the end of the last game. Paying for a ship and its crew is a bit extravagant so they have other duties. Captain Slater, Dr. Kirkpatrick, and the engineers can review various cases by going through paperwork and making recommendations. So they can cover a lot of rather routine cases as background and earn their keep that way. The full team is only needed for major cases and the field team is mostly the PCs with occasional help and support from the NPCs.

General GM Thoughts

NPCs provide a lot of the flavor in a campaign, which is great but they come with a big risk. For example a spacefaring or seagoing campaign often needs NPCs to flesh out the crew. They need to be competent but not overwhelmingly so or at least not prone to taking over the campaign from the players. In this case I assigned them important roles but ones that are more backup or background. So far its working out and I think will continue to do so.

The Research Skill in GURPS

 For my Star Heist campaign I expect the Research skill to see a lot of use and wanted to add some detail. Obviously you can apply task difficulty modifiers for more difficult questions, but some research should take more or less time - especially in a world with computers and a version of the internet readily available!

So here is a version I came up with, thought I would share.

Research

see p. B217

Research is a common task in the Star Heist setting, and computers greatly speed it up. The default time for a Research roll is based on the complexity of the question.

Trivial: Summed up in a short sentence and something commonly asked. Search databases are used to these questions, making for fast and accurate answers. Time 1 turn, +4 to skill. Examples: Nearest place to eat or shop for common item.

Simple: Typically, one or two sentence questions with one or two simple qualifiers. Time, up to a minute, no task modifier. Examples: The best place in town for a good steak.

Average: A question with several parameters but not a complicated subject matter and one with plenty of data available. Time, 5 minutes, no task modifier.

Complex: Typically, on a specialized subject, often a scientific or legal question that requires precision and detail. Time 1 hour, -2 to -5 skill, complementary skill bonus.

Amazing: This is something on the level of research for an academic paper, involving multiple refinements to the search after reviewing results. Another skill is typically required to properly refine the questions. Time, 1 day, -5 to -10 skill.

Comprehensive: Sometimes more than a single answer is needed, even the top few answers might not provide enough data. For example trying to research a world to prepare for an expedition. In this case multiple people can assist. Let each researcher make a skill roll suited to their own capability and skill mix and compile everything into one neat package. Alternatively researchers may assist the overall project by taking on some of the workload, in which case each competent assistant (Skill 12+) can offer a complementary roll to the overall project. This is only applicable on large data as with small projects multiple researchers tread too much of the same ground and may even confuse things with conflicting bias.

Computer Software can be a great help here. Most computers will have search programs available; this is considered basic tools. However, a search routine and database optimized for the subject gets a quality bonus (+1 or +2) and reduces the time spent by one step.

As one might note, it is inspired by the Invention rules, with the time and penalties lowered and the addition of the Trivial category. For a cinematic campaign, or one where the person making the skill check might be an AI additional traits might apply. For example why not a variant of Gadgettering to further reduce time and penalties?

As a friend remarked, this setup can be applied to other skills, I intend to use it for science skills for example.

Game Session: Star Heist, Session 0

 We had our first session, which was an introduction. We talked over some things and dealt with some questions. A few rules questions, the players all have an older version of GURPS Ultra-Tech than I which has a few errata and other differences. Notably TL11 for Rainbow Lasers and the setting is TL10.

Some questions about the laws and legal systems among various worlds. Who knew that adventurers might want o play fast and loose with the law?

We introduced the characters to each other and they got their mission brief so they have two weeks to make plans and ask questions which will represent their 4 week trip.

Adam (JoeJim): Psychically linked twins and the starship pilot.

Geoff (Sigretto Leiter al-Biq): Decker, Rigger, part cyborg, and wannebe combat monster with a bionic arm. Not sure how all the allies are going to work and I have serious reservations about the arm but we shall see.

Bo (Tickle): Diplomat and trained martial artist. Uses Escrima with some high tech sticks (neurolash) so should be pretty effective.

NPC's-------------------

Exeter (Starship): SM+9 research vessel, 4g Reactionless, Jump 4.

Ben Slater: Mission Lead, Analyst, ships captain.

Bear: Bloodkatt, 6 legged cat that looks like a small panther (SM-1), old Sargent type (not a Drill Instructor). Knight! making him a combat monster and also ships Tactical Officer/Gunner.

Dr. KIrkpatrick: Healer!, ships medic and a Ugler (small bird like alien's). 

Sam: Asst. Engineer, a leathery starfish shaped individual, very curious and loves taking things apart just to put hem back together.

Snick: Chief Engineer, a reptile man, much more serious than his assistant.

So one of the player characters is crew, the other two are passengers but everyone works for the insurance company. as the Pc pilot is effectively two characters this lets the players do the field work with a solid crew to watch the ship and provide occasional backup. the ship has room for a few more people, especially if they will take bunk rooms. This gives me mission flexibility.

Star Heist: Campaign Notes 3/30/2024

 Three players, a Decker, Diplomat, and Pilot in the campaign starting this Sunday. The Decker has been a pain, due to wanting lots of Allies and some odd choices. I had hoped to have listed a good amount of programs to help everyone do their jobs, and the ships crew fully fleshed out.

However, the work on Allies should be useful for the rest of the campaign and might even make a writing project down the line.

GURPS Template Toolkit: 3 Starship Crew helped me flesh out some of the crew, though wildcard skills covered the Medic and Engineer already.

What was the deal with Allies you ask? The player wants to be what was in Shadowrun a Decker and a Rigger and wants allies to control various drones, robots, an arm, and to help with hacking. The idea being that a TL10 computer can be small or tiny and still handle a decent Complexity level which determines IQ. He feels its better to have multiple AI on a drone, each assigned to one task rather than one smarter AI with more points in skills. Given how Ally and Ally Group works, its a fair idea. Though Allies are one of the most abuseable advantages in GURPS.

This resulted in a lot of the last two weeks being spent on robot and AI templates and rules. We shall see how it works, anticipate some changes needed.

Star Heist, a Campaign Setting

 The Magic Vegas campaign I was playing in is on a break and the group discussed options and we went with one of my older campaign settings.  It needs some update and revisions but is bascially a TL10 Space Opera setting.

This group is playing a Decker, Pilot, and Diplomat as insurance investigators.

Inspiration

Ghost Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller for the Pilots and revisions to how I was handling psionics. Basically aside from racial psi people can get it from travel trough subspace and the core mechanics is Wildcards. Each psi trait is built with a wildcard skill as the power talent and abilities are primarily versions of ESP and Probability Alteration.

Lensman by EE Doc Smith for some background and overall concepts.

The Ship Who Searched and other novels by Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey for an overall sense of the setting.

Harrington novels by David Webber for some of the FTL, though highly adjusted so ships travel far slower in real space.

Traveler for idea of Jump Drives.

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

Assorted other scifi

GURPS Materials

GURPS Ultra-Tech and Transhuman Space for the tech.

A blend of GURPS Cyberpunk, Action 2: Exploits, Telepathy powers, and some Pyramid articles by W.A. Frick for hacking and netrunning as well as possessing vehicles.

GURPS Spaceships

Setting Conceits

The campaign takes place in the Commonwealth, a human centric space government.

It uses three primary FTL types. 

Jump Drive (Called a Dive Drive) that uses contrgav to punch a hole into subspace for hopping between stars.

Star Gates for wormhole travel between known locations. It is fast but limited by gate size.

Sling Drive (alucabrd drive idea) with hyperspace highways. Very fast, built by precursers but travel is outside the heliosphere. Ships can use this method inside a solar system but only for short skips and they may get destroyed by space debris.

Building a Space Opera Setting: Setting Concepts

 Most RPGs are collaborative experiences, the GM and players work together to build a story. Certain things make that easier or harder and they should be carefully considered when building a setting.

• The world should be immersive and detailed enough that the players can quickly understand it.
• Overly detailed and complicated worlds can take people out of the game as they struggle to recall details or figure out how new situations and knowledge fit in.
• NPC's should be diverse and include a mix of ones the players regularly interact with and those that are just background. In very few cases does the GM need an actual stat sheet, even for those frequently interacted with. However the GM should keep notes to maintain consistency and allow the NPCs to grow organically over time.
• The GM should not get stuck on prior decisions. Often the players will inspire new ideas or takes on things and if these things are incorporated the players are likely to feel more invested.  This does not have to be obvious or even known to the players. Keep some mystery, let them wonder if this was the original plan or if it changed! That said I sometimes let players know they changed things but only if it wont disrupt the immersion or feeling.
• The GM and the players should be on the same page as much as possible and working towards a mutually satisfying story arc. Strongly guided campaigns (Railroading) are often less work for the GM but unsatisfying to the players who if they feel have no agency will be less invested. Open stories (Sandbox) leave it up to the players to choose and in my experience are a lot like a business run by committee. The ideal option is something in the middle, my preference is more sandbox than railroad but it takes more work on my part and requires me to leave lots of things the players can pick up on and some improvisation on my part.
• GMs that can better predict the players will typically run more interesting (to the players) campaigns and can save themselves a lot of work. Do not be afraid to recycle ideas. NPCs can often be reused with minor tweeks and the same with many plots.
• Related to the above is anticipating spoken and unspoken desires and goals of the players. If a player is interested in combat then combat should be available. If the player is interested in figuring out mysteries, exploration, advancing the world, or just making a difference these should all be considered and opportunities for them provided. Of course different players may have different priorities so time management is important.

Summary

Much of the above is general GM advise. However, certain things are key when designing a setting.

Place things of interest to your specific players and even broader details should have flavor or fluff material that helps players feel more immersed in the setting.

Building a Space Opera Setting: Personal Weapons

 Combat is an important part of most RPGs, so in a Space Opera setting what should we use?

GURPS Ultra-Tech gives us a good assortment of tech but its a grab bag covering multiple tech levels and sciences. So how should we choose what to include?

Weapon Effectiveness

We want our weapons to be cool and invoke something we think is fun. They also need to make sense for the science of the setting. Good choices will make combat fun and interesting. They should be more effective than modern weapons but not too lethal or else everyone hits dies.

GURPS has a reputation for deadliness, though in my opinion its a bit exaggerated. If you go past 0 HP you risk falling unconscious and start requiring death checks at fully -1* HP. A person with average HT and HP has a chance to die after 5d6 average injury. Lucky rolls, armor, higher HT or HP can make it take more. Modern firearms can do this kind of damage, though small arms will usually require several hits. This means a big damage boost can be very lethal.

The author of GURPS Ultra-Tech, David Pulver considered this and one of his solutions was high armor penetration.

I prefer high armor penetration over massive damage as our heroes can still survive if caught outside their armor, or only wearing minimal armor. I do not want characters to feel the need for battlesuits outside of military actions. Armor Penetration makes armor less effective but gives unarmored people a batter chance than just scaling up the damage.

I also like high accuracy (ACC) and lots of shots so we can avoid reloads or carrying tons of magazines or battery packs. Energy weapons that can be recharged can also reduce accounting. Just recharge between fights.

Star Heist Weapons (TL10)

So I want grav weapons since the technology is a key part of the setting. Grav weapons can do crushing damage and be less than lethal and just recharge back at the starship.

Lasers are a classic, highly accurate, good range, quiet, and also rechargeable.

Slug throwers are often favored by players and can be good when you have special needs or a lower tech base such as on a frontier world.

These are all in Ultra-Tech and I think will use the same stats. So I list this in my campaign bible as..

GURPS Spaceships: Building a Space Opera Setting

 In order to make a consistent and plausible setting you need to outline setting assumptions and try to make them make sense and be internally consistent with the setting.

My first step was to determine what form of FTL I wanted and how it works as well as regular space travel. I wanted to use the same core technology if possible so everything blends together. I went with grav-tech and two variations of Jump drives.

Reactionless drives based on gravity manipulation, not the classic push or pull but by bending the spacetime curvature so ships basically fall in the desired direction and that curve can be as steep as desired for higher acceleration. No grav compensators so that pilots dealing with extreme acceleration is a thing.

The FTL portion is bending spacetime so much that ships fall through space itself, only to reappear days later elsewhere.

This led to TL10^ with Standard and Hot Reactionless drives and a custom FTL drive that used various switches.

How Big Are Ships?

My next big step was to decide how big ships would be. I looked at the material in GURPS Spaceships, specifically the Hull Size Table (p. 9) and some example starships.  Then checked out tonnages and size of real world ships to give me a range of ship classes.

Smallcraft: SM+5 to +7 for shuttles and personal transport.

Corvette: SM +8 commercial, escort, survey, and light patrol ships.

Frigate: SM+9 As corvettes. This is the largest SM where most ship systems do not require a dedicated workstation. This makes Frigates optimal for PC ships where a small crew can easily run the entire ship.

Destroyer: SM+10

Cruiser: SM+10 to +12

Battleship: SM+12 to SM+15

Carrier: SM+11 to SM+15

So Frigates are likely the largest PC controlled merchant ship. Most ship systems do not require dedicated crew so a bridge crew can handle most things. 

• Control Rooms have six workstations, plenty for most PC parties. 
• Each Habitat space includes 20 cabins, covering the full crew with plenty left over for passengers or other facilities such as labs. 
• Hanger Bays can handle 100 tons per system, allowing for a shuttle or fighter craft.
• Each Cargo Hold can hold 150 tons, not a large amount but ok for high value cargoes and a ship can of course have more than one cargo hold.

These guidelines let me focus on what size ships to build a good starting sample set. Star Heist is not intended to be a military campaign so the PCs will likely have a SM+8 or SM+9 starship and compete with larger merchant vessels in the Destroyer or Cruiser class that have higher overhead and crews. I also intend there to be plenty of "independent" merchants using SM+8 or SM+9 starships.

Ship Designations

On earth ships are registered with certain designations. This can be useful for players to quickly identify a ships purpose. I will assign ships transponders that broadcast the designation, manufacture, and the make and model. This will speed things up in play, give PCs with appropriate skills or databases to know roughly what a stock model of the ship they face is capable of, and I hope be immersive. Certainly it feels better than just giving a lot of mechanics and statistics.

For example they encounter an Eagle model courier ship made by Stardust Enterprises.

I can then tell them on a successful roll that it has a UV spinal mount, 1 cargo hold, rated for FTL6/6gs, has a hangar bay, and one electronics compartment - usually ECM.

Of course that just tells them the stock design, they need a good sensor roll or closer examination to find the after market modifications or perhaps even manufacturer options like the spinal mount is Improved UV laser with a gravitic lens and the electronics compartment is really a Tactical Array.

So far I have CX (Courier); LB (Life Boat); MV (Merchant Vessel - mega corp); RC (Research Vessel); TV (Trading Vessel - independent); and military designations CV (Carrier Vessel); DD (Dedicated Destroyer); EV (Escort Vessel).

I'll add more later. Transponders will also list the name of the ship (good for Reputation and maybe knowing the captain), and the owner if its a megacorp or military ship. Transponders can be hacked and military ships can turn them off to be more stealthy, but most ships will broadcast them for legal purposes - much like modern ships and especially aircraft.

Stardust class

 

Made by Stardust Enterprises  this is their signature starship and their first product. A small fast 2 man cargo ship designed to haul small but precious cargo, often emergency medical supplies. It is capable of 3g acceleration and delivering 9 tons of refrigerated cargo and 9 extra tons at normal temperature.

It is streamlined and has contragravity lifters so is able to land almost anywhere, especially with its short length of 45 feet.

TL 10^ SM+5, $1,834.5k

Front Hull System

[1] Nanocomposite Armor (SL dDR 5).

[2-6] Cargo Holds, Refrigerated (1.5 tons capacity each).

[core] Control Room (C6 computers, comm/sensor 4, one control stations).

Central Hull System

[1] Nanocomposite Armor (SL dDR 5).

[2-5] Cargo Holds (1.5 tons capacity each).

[6] Power Plant, Antimatter (4!).

Rear Hull System

[1] Nanocomposite Armor (SL dDR 5).

[2-3] Cargo Holds (1.5 tons capacity each).

[4-6!] Hot Reactionless Drive (3G acceleration).

[core] Control Room (C6 computers, comm/sensor 4, one control stations).

Special: Artificial and Contragravity system, Contragravity Lifter.