"Some sneak peeks at upcoming "Five Parsecs From Home" stuff" Topic

Work is progressing nicely on the first supplement specific to Five Parsecs.

There'll be more detail on things like bounty hunting, mercenary work and whatnot. You will also get a bunch of random generators for fleshing out your campaign worlds a lot more. For those interested in the more RPG oriented side of things, you might enjoy this a lot.

A sample world I just generated:

A hot world (by Earth standards) with a normal breathable atmosphere. Despite that, there's almost no naturally occurring biosphere. (meaning the gaming tables will be a lot of rocks :) )
The world has seen extensive terraforming (presumably dropping its temperature from an earlier more unlivable level. This might also explain the lack of life).

A few small settlements exist. We'll delve into one where the adventurers will be located.

"Brynn's Wish" – a small ex-colony turned general Fringe settlement.

Using the "Settlement generator" tables we find that power is contested by a corporation, a powerful organized mercenary outfit and a charismatic leader and their followers.

Presumably, the mercenaries were brought in to safeguard corporate interests but eventually became a political force in their own right. The charismatic leader may well be a revolutionary type, giving us some instant conflict.

The social model is a regressive bureaucracy. At some point, this may have been a different governmental type but at this point, the layers of red tape has become impenetrable and no one wants to clear up the mess since the whole thing might fall down.
The main export from the planet is knowledge. Presumably corporate research that is sold off to interested buyers.

We generate two problems for the settlement, to give us some more adventure fodder. We get "loss of export resource".
How do you lose knowledge? If your scientists are being abducted by (or are defecting to) the rebels!
A second roll gives us "local warlord". Sounds like the mercenaries are getting a bit out of hand.

With a few dice rolls, we have what looks like several campaigns worth of gun fights, exploration and insanity. Perfect for the fringes of human space.

Supplement should be available in a few weeks time.

Excellent! Can't wait to see this.

Stop teasing us Weas :)
Secondly will you be doing more help modules for us soloists?
And finally thanks although I haven't got them the 5 Parsecs are my top of list buy(you'll know when I got them goodys :)
Cheers thanks for bringing some good quality gaming smack – hem! very RPG that.

I'd love to add more solo-stuff along the way but what kind of things do you want to see?

What would be helpful?

And thanks for the kind words :-)

Now you got me.
I think it has to be generic enough for all to use but able to be used in most sci-fi from hardcore to the more space opera. That said I even have figures for Barsoom Mars and the like.
Perhaps a matrix or snap card system that works together with 5 Parsecs that can create the enemy/situation (some detail but less than the crew you normally roll up) a sequence that would run with a bit of ambiguity so you don't have full control over it all (soloists nightmare ;)
Perhaps a card flip with events (these are in your rule I think? So maybe not?)
Maybe you need to create some core universal situations depending on the fluff.
Fluff (intended to be near but not the same as well known sci-fi)
40K (go rouge trader old school on Catachin death planet)
Firefly (of course the best cowboys in space only and ever)
Flash Gordon (the Queeny version brilliant)
John Cater on Mars (classical and cool monsters)
Avatar (this need fiddling as its hard core and space smirfs)
Starship Troopers (original concept,the movie and did you ever see the animated one_ very cool))
Terminator/Apocalyptic (Fallout vidgame, that kind of thing)
It could get sooo much longer Weasel but then its just busting your chops.
These things just have to be prep sheets with particulars for the genre.
Mechanics for solo is mainly reaction with a lucky throw giving enough reactions to give your (the ones you rooting for :) an advantage to win. The big thing is to have some running of the clock or it can play out to boring ends or complete shootouts to the last man.
Cheers hope this gives food for thought.

Presumably, the mercenaries were brought in to safeguard corporate interests but eventually became a political force in their own right. The charismatic leader may well be a revolutionary type, giving us some instant conflict.

Looks like somebody read their history… And their copy of Machiavelli's The Prince while they were at it…

Excellent.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Two more sections done:

Random settlement events (if you want to have a backdrop of things happening while the characters stay in one city or starport.

And starship events (upon request). Might find something interesting drifting in space while travelling to the next world, might get boarded or the engine might puke.

Bounty hunting yo.

One more section done. Tax collection. Work for the MAN, kick down doors and steal legally.