Chyll wrote:Mapping:
the idea for 'layered' mapping universe, etc is very cool! Go buy yourself a coffee. Tell them its on Noel.
(gonna have to look at the Stars Divided material... may get to be multiple sectors)
The main reason that I went with this method in 2E is that it allows you to break a campaign map up into more controllable chunks so that they are individually easier to work with. Some of my larger campaign maps in 1E got a bit unwieldy in size, especially after multiple map hexes had been opened up.
Star Systems:
Lose the 'do' at the end of the first paragraph in 5.1
Biosphere roll table has RAW for the result column
Got it!
The flow of this chapter is off. You need to introduce everything for the Commander option in its entirety first. Everything that a player needs for the basic setup, no jumping or dealing with the more complex at all. The more advance players will have an easier time looking back than a new player will going forward.
The problem with that is that all of the rules, with the exception of the Commander rules, use all of the same rules. Putting all of the rules into each generation option would necessitate repeating the chapter's contents over and over and over again.
Now, that all being said, one solution that can be provided to players would be some reference PDFs that include the entirety of each system generation option in their own document, with all tables in-line for ease of reference. That way the logical rules structure (Stars => Zones => Planets) would be largely preserved in the book, but there would be another reference sheet that players could use when generating systems.
5.2.1 Starless Void - first paragraph sort of ends, and the second duplicates some of the first
Bwhaha -- a mid stream edit that never got finished up. Okay, got that fixed. It was a case of copying text from Star Charts, trying to get it reworked for 2E, and then seeing something shiny and not getting back to it.
not sure when I will ever used the more advanced generation, but it all looks solid. I did not stress test the examples
I personally use the Captain level rules for most everything and, during earlier playtest runs, used a hybrid version that included the star data from Admiral in order to test those out.
Movement:
On first read this all makes sense. Enough so that it will likely cause most of the movement section of Stars Divided rules to be pulled, and with the faster FTL tech worked in elsewhere also, it all feels right to me
I will not lie that Stars Divided's tech did have some influence on the desire to allow for more graduated tech advances. It allows you to have faster or slower FTL without the need for specific equipment, which is a nice bonus.
The 13.3 Cargo section is interesting. This is likely going to put a lot more emphasis on 'the tail' isn't it? I can see needing to boost the amount of cargo lift for Stars Divided v2.
I tried to make Cargo a more useful technology this time around. Now that it is required to move troops, goods, personnel, and replacement fighters, it is important to have some of them around, just in case.
13.3.2.3 was particularly interesting with the need to move elite officers now.
Now that Flights can't just be magically transported, it didn't seem right to allow elite officers to teleport across the map, either. It also gives players another reason to build fast couriers and upgrade jump lanes.
I am struggling with whether 13.5 Exploration goes with movement or with 4.5 Jump Lanes. there is a lot of overlap in those concepts. Seems odd that they are so far apart in the book. I guess it works tho (first impression afterall)
I had the same problem with the exploration rules. They once were in with the mapping option, but the exploration rules aren't used during the campaign map generation process, so I ended up bumping them to movement. The only reason they are there now is because they are effectively a movement order.
One alternative I can think of is to move the exploration rules to their own little mini chapter, but I don't think there is enough content (even stealing Unexplored Systems from the systems chapter) to justify that.
There are a lot of sections of the book that seem strange that they are as far apart from one another as they are, and I am open to suggestions on how to move the content around if it would make more sense.
Overall I like the exploration section here better than in the past - it is succinct, and yet includes some additional options.
My goal was to simplify the rules a bit and to separate the "explore the lanes" from the "travel down them" aspect. I also made it so that lanes are either explored or unexplored, so that you don't have to track that separately for each empire -- they just simply are either mapped or not for everyone equally.
I have some ideas in mind already to update my excel management sheet for tech.
The nice thing about the new tech rules is that they are still simple enough that you can sit down and design a ship with paper and a calculator, or quickly punch the formulas into a spreadsheet and run the calculations.
Space Combat
Didn't get to it yet. Given my past struggles with CSCR I am looking forward to seeing what you did.
I still have to get the new revisions of those rules put together. Here's hoping for that getting done this weekend among my other overtime work. There is a bit more front-loaded work setting up encounters in the 2E CSCR, but the battles become a bit more interesting as a result.
-Tyrel