Encounters in Space

Besides those Hazards, Ships, and Monsters which are assigned to asteroids, moons, planets, and space routes, characters may encounter hazards, ships, or wandering monsters.

Space Type	Type of Dice to be used	Base Frequency of Check	Notes
Normal Space, N-Space	1d6	Every 2 Days	A result of 1 indicates that the ship encounters a Hazard or a ship-scale Wandering Monster.
Hyperspace, H-Space	1d8	Once per Day of Travel	A result of 1 indicates that the ship encounters a Hazard or a ship-scale Wandering Monster.
Ultraspace, U-Space	1d10	Once per Hour of Travel, subjectively experienced as a Day of Travel	A result of 1 indicates that the ship will encounter a Hazard or an Ultraspace Wandering Monster. Ultraspace Wandering Monsters appear inside a ship Traveling in Ultraspace. Such Monsters are possessed by a berserk blood lust and their only goal is to destroy and slay.

How to Determine Space Encounters

In Normal Space, every 2 Days, the Space Master should make a check roll to determine if there is a space encounter. To do so, roll 1d6, a result of 1 indicates that the ship encounters a Hazard, Ship, or Ship-Scale Wandering Monster.

Note – Normal Space may have areas where the Space Master checks for Wandering Monsters every Day, or where a monster will appear when a map destination is reached and a ship exits Hyperspace or Ultraspace and enters N-Space. Conversely there may be areas where encounters are far less frequent, 3 or more Days apart.

Encounters in Hyperspace and Ultraspace are handled similarly but are less frequent as expressed by the change of the encounter chance dice type, d8 for Hyperspace and d10 for Ultraspace.

Hazard, Ship, or Ship Scale Wandering Monster?

Hazards, Ships, and Ship Scale Wandering Monsters may be selected by the Space Master or determined at random using the following method. When a Space Encounter is determined the Space Master may choose one of the columns in the table below to weight the encounter and then roll 1d4 to determine the type of encounter:

d4	Weight Hazard1	Weight Ship	Weight Wandering Monster
1	Hazard	Hazard	Hazard
2	Hazard	Ship	Ship
3	Ship	Ship	Wandering Monster
4	Ship Scale Wandering Monster	Ship Scale Wandering Monster	Ship Scale Wandering Monster

Note 1 – For Hazards refer to the topic Hazards in Space and use the table Space Hazards to determine the type.

The Space Master may want to create special tables for specific areas of space. These might include local hazards, Ship Scale Monsters which live in the area, and any ship traffic which can be found there. An example would be a map destination where a space station protected by a space mine field. A table for this area of space could have encounters with space faring goblins, their patrol ships and perhaps a chance of running into some weird Ship Scale Space Monster.

Note – Wandering Monsters may appear more often if the party is far from secretive, but should not be frequent if the party quietly spends a long time in one out-of-the-way place.

Encounter Tables

Space Hazards

d12 Dice Roll	Space Hazard	Notes
1	Asteroid	May contain dungeon
2	Derelict Rocket Ship	Refer to the Rocket Ship Encounters Table to determine type
3	Meteoroids	Causes damage if not avoided
4	Micro Black Hole	Causes damage if not avoided
5	Radiation Storm	Causes injury to characters, damages systems
6	Rocket Ship	Refer to the Rocket Ship Encounters Table to determine type
7	Rogue Moon	May contain dungeon
8	Rogue Planet	May contain dungeon
9	Satellite	Causes damage if not avoided, may contain data
10	Space Junk	Causes damage if not avoided
11	Space Mine	Causes damage if not avoided
12	Ship Scale Space Monster

Rocket Ship Subtypes

The following table may be used to broaden the type of Rocket Ship encountered. Ships may contain Characters and/or Monsters. Derelict ships of any type may contain wandering monsters.

d12 Dice Roll	Types of Rocket Ships	Notes
1	Generation Ship	WM:1, 2, or 3
2	Merchant Ship	Merchants
3	Monster Ship	WM:1, 2, or 3
4	War Ship	Space Patrol, WM:1, 2, or 3
5	Patrol Ship	Space Patrol, WM:1, 2, or 3
6	Pirate Ship	Pirates, WM:1, 2, or 3
7	Plague Ship	WM:1, 2, or 3
8	Sleep Ship	WM:1, 2, or 3
9	Smuggler Ship	Smuggler, WM:1, 2, or 3
10	Space Mine
11	Unmanned Cargo Ship	WM:1, 2, or 3
12	Escape Pod	WM:1, 2, or 3

WM:1 means Wandering Monster Level 1, (refer to tables in known rules)

WM:2 means Wandering Monster Level 2, (refer to tables in known rules)

WM:3 means Wandering Monster Level 3, (refer to tables in known rules)

Space Fantasy Wandering Monsters

The following table may be used in addition to and according to known rules to allocate Wandering Monsters.

d12 Dice Roll	Wandering Monster Level 1	Wandering Monster Level 2	Wandering Monster Level 3
1	Cadaverites	Cadaverites	Blobs
2	Energy Leeches	Caliban	Caliban
3	Gummy Men	Creepy Crawlies	Creepy Crawlies
4	Little Green Men	Independents	Giant Brains
5	Selenites	Robots	Independents
6	Smugglers	Shape Shifters	Robots
7	Space Patrol	Solarians	Shape Shifters
8	Space Pirates	Space Bugs	Solarians
9	Space Soldiers	Space Patrol	Space Slime
10	WM: 1	Space Pirates	WM: 3
11		Y’lech
12		WM: 2

WM:1 means Wandering Monster Level 1, (refer to tables in known rules)

WM:2 means Wandering Monster Level 2, (refer to tables in known rules)

WM:3 means Wandering Monster Level 3, (refer to tables in known rules)

Ultraspace Fantasy Wandering Monsters

Ultraspace Wandering Monsters appear inside a ship Traveling in Ultraspace. Reter to the topic U-Space Constructs.

Hazards in Space

A Character pilots a ship through space using the Rocket Ships Helm and when a Hazard is encountered in space a Player or Space Master must roll equal to or better than the Hazard’s Escape Number to avoid it.

Space Hazards

d12	Hazard	Escape Number	Dungeon?	Notes
1	Asteroid	6	Possible Dungeon	Landing may take place using the GN.
2	Asteroid Field	4	Possible Dungeon in one or more asteroids
3	Comet	3
4	Meteoroids	5
5	Micro Black Hole	2
6	Radiation Storm	3
7	Rogue Moon	7	Possible Dungeon	Landing may take place using the GN.
8	Rogue Planet	6	Possible Dungeon	Landing may take place using the GN.
9	Satellite	6
10	Space Junk	7	Possible Dungeon if large enough
11	Space Mine	4		.
12	Web Terrors	3		Refer to the Monster

Asteroids

Asteroids are dangerous objects floating in the void of space. They are dark. If they are not successfully avoided by a pilot a rocket ship is required to make a forced landing vs. the Asteroid’s GN, 9 through 2.

Asteroids may contain Dungeons, the wreckage of ships, treasures, or be populated by horrible space monsters, etc.

Asteroid Fields

Asteroid Fields are regions of space containing multiple Asteroids. They are much harder to avoid than a single Asteroid. If they are not successfully avoided by a pilot a rocket ship is required to make a forced landing on an Asteroid vs. the Asteroid’s GN, 9 through 2.

Comet

Comets have a trail of debris in their wake and it is this debris rather than the comet itself which must be avoided. If not avoided the debris smashes against the ship hull causing 1d6 damage, 1d4 systems must make a Saving Throw or become inoperative.

Meteoroids

Meteoroids blast the hull of a ship causing damage. If not avoided they smash against the ship hull causing 1d6 damage and a check for 1 system must make a Saving Throw or become inoperative. Meteoroids may also smash windows.

Micro Black Hole

Micro Black Holes have gravity and weigh the same as an asteroid or moon yet they are as small as the head of a pin. They cause 1d6 damage to a ship, 1d4 systems must make a Saving Throw or become inoperative., and injure the crew causing 1d4 points of damage, if not avoided.

Radiation Storm

Radiation Storms, 1d4 systems must make a Saving Throw or become inoperative, and the crew must each make a Saving Throw vs. radiation which causes 1d6 points of damage, if not successfully avoided.

Rogue Moon

A Rogue Moon is one that has been cast into the void of space and is now drifting. If they are not successfully avoided by a pilot a rocket ship is required to make a forced landing vs. the Rogue Moon’s GN, 9 through 2.

A Rogue Moon may have wrecked rocket ships, abandoned moon bases, dungeons, or be populated by terrifying space monsters.

Rogue Moons may be captured by the gravity of a planet if the Space Master wishes it and become a location for continuing adventures. Otherwise they drift onward and out of the solar system. They are a great location for temporary adventures.

Rogue Planet

If they are not successfully avoided by a pilot a rocket ship is required to make a forced landing vs. the Rogue Planet’s GN, 9 through 2.

A Rogue Planet, similar to a Rogue Moon, is one which has been cast into the void of space and is now drifting. Now frozen and dead, usually, the Rogue Planet is without an atmosphere. It may once have borne civilizations etc.

Rogue Planets may be captured by the gravity of a sun if the Space Master wishes it and become a location for continuing adventures. Possibly it will thaw and come back to life. Otherwise they drift onward and out of the solar system. They are a great location for temporary adventures.

Satellite

A satellite drifting through space. It may be recovered using a ship’s grapple and its data downloaded by a Robot. The satellite may contain a map showing the location of a dungeon or other information. If not avoided it smashes against the ship hull causing 1d6 damage and 1 system must make a Saving Throw or become inoperative.. If the satellite smashes its data cannot be recovered.

Space Junk

Space is filled with bits of cast off material. If not avoided the space junk smashes against the ship hull causing 1d6 damage and 1 system must make a Saving Throw or become inoperative.

Space Mine

A product of space wars these deadly mines drift through space. If not avoided the Space Mine detonates causing 1d6 ship damage, 1d6 systems must make a Saving Throw or become inoperative, and the mine injures the crew causing 1d6 points of damage. The really nasty space mines are invisible.

Sometimes space mines are used in fields surrounding strategically important areas in space. They are guardians that never sleep. A password or key, if known, may be sent via the Tele-Radio to grant passage through the mine field.

A space mine may be disabled with a Check Roll vs. its Test Number as assigned by the Space Master, 9 through 2, during a space walk. Failure to disarm the mine means it explodes causing 4d6 damage to nearby characters which may be halved with a successful Saving Throw vs. Blast. A deactivated space mine may be recovered with a ship’s grapple.

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Next Article – Space Monsters!