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Showing posts with label Sci-Fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sci-Fi. Show all posts

Monday, January 28

Mishap Class has Modern, Sci-Fi Use


My Google search for random encounter material turned up this gem


BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
AIR FORCE INSTRUCTION 91-204
27 APRIL 2018
Safety


It is 104 pages of mind numbing bureaucrat speak which can easily be ported into the mouths of your science fiction NPCs. 

Code definitions in a statute(?) can be useful when defining random table elements I pulled these out of the document and I think these five class distinctions can be real useful for any Game Master of a Modern or Science Fiction RPG. Not the least is "pegging" the dollar-damage amount to a Class value. Now you have a built-in scale you can extrapolate results for whatever game system you may be using.

Class A Mishap—A mishap resulting in one or more of the following:
1.Direct mishap cost totaling $2,000,000 or more.
2.A fatality or permanent total disability.
3.Destruction of a DoD aircraft.
4.Permanent loss of primary mission capability of an AF space vehicle.

Class B Mishap—A mishap resulting in one or more of the following:
1.Direct mishap cost totaling $500,000 or more but less than $2,000,000.
2.A permanent partial disability.
3.Inpatient hospitalization of three or more personnel. This does not include individuals hospitalized for observation, diagnostic, or administrative purposes that were treated and released.
4.Permanent degradation of primary or secondary mission capability of a space vehicle or the permanent loss of secondary mission capability of a space vehicle.

Class C Mishap—A mishap resulting in one or more of the following:
1.Direct mishap cost totaling $50,000 or more but less than $500,000.
2.Any injury or occupational illness that causes loss of one or more days away from work not including the day or shift it occurred. When determining if the mishap is a Lost Time Case, you must count the number of days the employee was unable to work as a result of the injury or illness, regardless of whether the person was scheduled to work on those days. Weekend days, holidays, vacation days, or other days off are included in the total number of days, if the employee would not have been able to work on those days.
3.An occupational injury or illness resulting in permanent change of job.
4.Permanent loss or degradation of tertiary mission capability of a space vehicle.

Class D Mishap—An on-duty mishap resulting in one or more of the following:
1.Direct mishap cost totaling $20,000 or more but less than $50,000.
2.A recordable injury cost or illness not otherwise classified as a Class A, B, or C mishap.
3.Any work-related mishap resulting in a recordable injury or illness not otherwise classified as a Class A, B, or C mishap. These are cases where, because of injury or occupational illness, the employee only works partial days, has restricted duties (does not include medical restriction from flying or special operational duties by AF Form 2992) or was transferred to another job, required medical treatment greater than first aid, or experienced loss of consciousness (does not include G-loss of consciousness). In addition, a significant injury (e.g. fractured/cracked bone, punctured eardrum, any laser eye injury) or occupational illness (e.g. occupational cancer (mesothelioma), chronic irreversible disease (beryllium disease)) diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional must be reported even if it does not result in death, days away from work, restricted work, job transfer, medical treatment greater than first aid, or loss of consciousness.

Class E Mishap—A work-related mishap that falls below Class D criteria. Most Class E mishap reporting is voluntary; however see discipline-specific safety manuals for a list of events requiring mandatory reporting.

Sunday, December 9

Classic Traveller For Free

Yes, I want to signal boost this along with "everyone" else. I have played this original game system and really enjoyed using it to run my first satisfying role playing game of sci-fi.


CT-ST_Starter Traveller is an introductory version of the game. It included a book of core rules, a separate set of charts, and a book of adventures (there are three separate download files). Now all for free in PDF over at Drivethru.

The adventures are forgettable, but you want this for the core system and Marc Miller's recommendations for use. That being; a game system for those who want to run their own vision for an interstellar game universe. Yeah there are the typical conceits which have come to define Traveller; jump ships, death during character creation and massive computer space required during star ship build,  but as a flexible referee world-building tool kit with a solid, thoughtfully built personal combat system I don't find much which beat it.

Monday, June 11

What I bought at NTGC


Saturday and Sunday I checked out the vendors at North Texas looking for something to buy. Next to playing games the most fun I have with RPG's is running my fingers over new adventures looking for something I can use in my current games. There is also the nostalgia punch I get when I see an old copy of a product I once had. At a con though everybody is in the know so the chance of finding a diamond in the rough, while likely, will be priced to grab a high price for the vendor. I pulled down an SPI Dragonquest box and the price on it was $149.00. As much as I know where I was when I bought my original Dragonquest game and the hours of adventure I and my friends had with it, the system isn't that great and it never produced any good adventures. I did have a hunger for some high fantasy so continued to comb old D&D modules and Judges Guild I drilled down through their Traveller supplements I found in the bins looking for a sci-fi fix. I decided while I got a lot of joy looking at all these old classics I was sure I was not going to get game content I would be satisfied with. But I really want to buy some game stuff.


So I punted and felt over the one rack in the place which had old fantasy and sci-fi paperbacks. It wasn't much but at fifty cents to a dollar I felt I couldn't go wrong. Anything with REH on it was three to five. At Gencon I got Quelong for five dollars. Kennith Hite for a fiver? That was awesome, and he signed it! How James was able to sell this excellent adventure so cheap, well, I didn't ask him I just gave him five bucks and went looking for Ken. Can I repeat this here at the paperback rack. Not likely, but I would get, I was sure, what I was really after. Adventure material for my games. The games come from the stories, the source material. It what always fired me up about playing RPG's. There is always a story in mind behind any game I'm in.

My five dollar haul (it was really $5.50, but the young kid said he'd only charge me $5.00, what an awesome little dude) was Police Patrol: 2000 A.D., Time's Last Gift, Lacy and His Friends, Conquerors From The Darkness, and David Starr, Space Ranger. I now had reading material for the plane and enough fodder I was sure I could pull adventure ideas, npc's, campaign concepts, from these pages for my current games. While players are all familiar with many of the adventures which are out there they sure are not going to see I'm pulling stuff from late sixties stories. You file off your serial numbers and noone will know there Center City from their Vythain. I don't need to even keep them when I'm done. As cheap, disposable fiction they won't linger on my bookshelves. They either have good ideas or the don't. And I don't have to feel like I paid a king's ransom for garbage.

I wouldn't say no to more used fiction racks at a gaming convention. Concentrated on books which spurred our favorite games and adventures. But I know that is not for everyone as a fun gaming purchase. And maybe this is only attractive to game masters? Maybe players don't need to find a continuous stream of material to keep their game going so it isn't such a burning need? But if you got used paperbacks you are selling at the con you can be sure of getting my fiver.

Sunday, April 22

Classic Traveller City Building Random Generator

The data for this random table generator was wholly taken from Augmented Reality The Holistic City Kit For Cyberpunk. I punched in a bunch of the die roll tables into Last Gasp with some use of Text Mechanic to create a one-click generator.

Specifically designed for cyberpunk the entries are suitably generic enough any science fiction city and/or starport can find a home for these entries. It will at least give you detailed structures on the fly with a minimum of fuss. Just what the busy Traveller referee needs!