Derelict-Crawl Ideas: Piloted Asteroids + Wildcatter Class

 I'm reading the book The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell right now. It's pretty decent, though I have some bones to pick when it comes to pacing, incorporating themes and background knowledge (in a way that doesn't feel forced) and the general hesitancy I feel of the author in writing it, but maybe she was just chomping at the bit to get to the extremely meaningful part of the book and I'm in for a hell of a turn. Either way, there's a  concept that gets introduced about 100-150 pages into the book-- the idea that asteroids are piloted as ships of their own and are self-sufficient, providing their own fuel. I'm not particularly interested in the actual scientific possibility of this, just in converting the method detailed in the text to gameable material for Archon's Court's derelict-crawling game (Orbiters Local 519).

There's a few different places they mention the procedures involved for achieving this:

• Massdrivers, Lifepods, Miner's Quarters (112)
• The bigger the rock, the more fuel you have, but you worry about mining the asteroid to destabilization or until it just doesn't exist anymore (112-114)
• TONS of background (115) which I'll basically include verbatim later.
• Asteroid size has a direct relationship with fuel for a journey (132)
• Dimensions and substrates of the rock (146)
• Faultlines, Iron content (167)

Using these details, I'm going to write out the overarching lore behind it (and maybe some specific stuff some other time) then use that as a prescription for what's actually relevant from a gameplay perspective.

The Asteroid Market

As space travel became cheaper and more ubiquitous, asteroid mining became a more lucrative business. By investing in spaceworthy ships and surveying equipment, mining companies were able to extract valuable ores from asteroids without the restrictions imposed by governments in the name of environmental conservatism. The problems with this were twofold. First, the main source of most asteroids were asteroid fields and belts, within which there was a high likelihood that the chosen piece of rock would collide with other asteroids, resulting in loss of life, equipment, or both. Second, in many systems, sending the extracted metals to places where they can be used productively proved troublesome simply because of the range. 

A series of breakthroughs solved this problem, foremost among them being Ngale Bawa's Silicate Engine. By launching Silicate engines into space on spacecraft and attaching them to the asteroids, mining teams can guide their chosen rock out of the asteroid belt and near enough to a planet or space station that they can be launched into an ocean or desert with the newly patented Hermes Cannon and retrieved by excavators/deep-sea retrieval teams.

For half a decade, Silicate Engines were used exclusively by mining teams. They would launch a carrier-class ship into space with a set of Rockrunners (mining droids) a Silicate engine, and a CENTCOM capsule, fitted with storage, stations, and quarters for on-board technicians, AI programmers, and various maintenance workers for the Rockrunners, the Scrap Cannon, the engine and the CENTCOM capsule itself. Their main targets were asteroids near the middle of the Earth Solar System's asteroid belt, where they could find large, metallic asteroids, while still picking up silicate-rich stones en route to their mark. 

But when a Tellurian aerospace engineering team figured out how to modify Silicate Engines for efficient light-speed and FTL travel, a new market opened, and asteroids that fit the profile for being Transports were fitted with SFTL (Silicate Faster-Than-Light) Engines and used as alternative spacecraft. Spaceflight became possible as long as there was an available asteroid with the proper dimensions (cylindrical around the long axis, no fault lines or glaring structural weaknesses) and enough silicates on board to use as fuel, instead of sending a rocket into space with massive amounts of weight dedicated to fuel reserves. 

In addition, mining companies, who would formerly rent out large regions of the middle and interior asteroid belt hoping for a payout, could now sell asteroids with low metallic content to "wildcatters" and Wildcatter agencies who would use a smaller fleet of mining droids and an expanded CENTCOM capsule/FTL rig to provide cheaper (though perhaps slightly more dangerous) interstellar travel to the masses.

Gameable Material

Derelict-Crawling

The Anatomy of a Mission for standard Derelict-Crawling is as follows:

1. to retrieve portable and fragile objects such as computers
2. to locate and mark out volatile segments of the ship such as reactor cores and fuel tanks
3. to fight off any threats still aboard and rescue survivors on younger derelicts

If investigating derelict piloted Asteroids on behalf of a Wildcatting company, a clear secondary objective emerges: to determine the Silicate density and structural integrity of the Asteroid. For this task, a Wildcatter will be necessary among the crew.

When it comes to constructing the asteroid-derelict (as a DM) a few additional caveats emerge:

1. An additional wall-type is relevant: space-rock. The derelict consists of tunnels and caverns in the asteroid, as well as the Silicate engine and essential components. Mining equipment (or a functional mining robot) is necessary to make any kind of impact in these walls, and breaks can only be caused in Fault Lines within any reasonable timeframe (such as a ten-minute turn). Fault Lines function as thick walls.
2. Though the ship portions of the asteroid-derelict could have airlocks and breaches, the asteroid portions have breaches and a new mode of entry: tunnels. Breaches in an asteroid are tunnels that are too small for a ship to pass through; tunnels allow a Transport to float outside of the main ship portions. In this location, your transport may be in danger if the asteroid were to decay.
3. Depending on the company, additional features may be necessary aboard the Piloted Asteroid (other than life support, power plants, etc.). Almost all Piloted Asteroids have a Rockrunner Dock, where Rockrunners can recharge their batteries and receive 0G maintenance while not scurrying about the asteroid. In addition, while the Rockrunners are equipped with localized surveying equipment, the ship itself probably has a command and control center with a more powerful and broad surveying tool, in order to provide the Rockrunners with rough locations and depths of ore veins, Silicate or otherwise. Lastly, mining ships must have a Scrap Cannon with a power source and a chambering mechanism, that they might launch their mined valuables to worlds where they can be used.
4. If the Piloted Asteroid was travelling through or operating in a dangerous sector of space, they likely had defenses of some kind, including minor defensive capabilities provided to the Rockrunners.
5. Additional secondary objectives for an asteroid-derelict could be piloting it to a Wildcatter station, delivering/partially retrieving one last load of metals, or salvaging the Rockrunners and/or the Silicate engine.
6. Many different companies are experimenting with innovations in any step of these processes: faster engines, alternate fuel sources, alternate delivery of the valuables (location or method) Rockrunner modifications or replacements, etc.

Space Travel

This isn't my main focus, but if you're running a game with space travel as an important element, then you might want to consider a few more things:

1. Where do people get the right asteroids for SFTL travel and mining (where are the asteroid belts)?
2. How likely am I to find an asteroid high in Silicates or valuables? (For the game's sake, I personally would assume that generally, the asteroid you want is available, but the more detailed the composition, the longer it would take to find, the more valuable it is, and the more likely some mining company or Wildcatter owns it and wants to sell it to you.)
3. How expensive are SFTL engines and requisite Rockrunners, as well as technical staff? (This assumes the players are interested in piloting an asteroid.)
4. Where is all the metal being sent? Why do they need it? 

Oh! And last but not least, I have a few hard mechanical elements.

First is a class that might be relevant, based on the lovely Thieves' Guild paradigm made by Lexi:

Wildcatter (can be modified to a more general Technician class)

A: gain two abilities at rank 1

B: Rank up an ability you have, gain 1 at rank 1

C: Rank up two abilities you have

D: Rank up 2 abilities you have, then gain all abilities you don't have yet at rank 1 (except for 2 of them)

1. Surveying (start off with a Handheld Lidar) (ONLY WILDCATTER)
1. You know how to use basic surveying equipment to locate ore veins using Perception and a Lidar. You can always navigate to and from a location within an asteroid (but not necessarily within the ship-sections).
2. You can locate promising vein locations with your eyes, and locate fault-lines with a Lidar.
3. You can find fault-lines with your eyes, and can always navigate to and from a location in space (unless weird quantum shit is going on). The first time the asteroid suffers a Decay/Creak, you may choose which Fault Line it occurs at.
2. AI Maintenance (Start with an Command Decoder and a messy knot of adapter cords)
1. Your Command Decoder will tell you the programs executed by a computing system in the last 24 hours.
2. You can use your Command Decoder to communicate with a computer as if with Speak With Dead. It is a willing participant if it is a non-AGI AI.
3. Simple AI with your Command Decoder plugged into them will follow simple commands. AGI will as well, as long as your requests are not incompatible with its survival/ fundamental goals (can be core personality traits or key programmed goals, GM's choice).
3. Electronics (Start with an Advanced Electronics Repair Kit)
1. You can use your Advanced Electronics Repair Kit to locate Power sources and circuit breakers on a ship. If you locate a Power source, you know where its power is being diverted.
2. Your AERK comes with a tiny generator, which you can use to power up a device you want to operate on. Lasts 1 exploration turn and depletes 50/50.
3. When you salvage electronics from a ship, gain an additional 50% value points for the electronics you salvaged-- there's more of it, and it's in better condition due to your work.
4. Repairs (Start with Duct Tape, a Welding Torch, or a Foam gun)
1. You tend to notice problems before they arise. There's an extra turn between Creaks and Decays when you notice them. (Generally this means if you're in the same room, but this could become more powerful as your means of detection grows.)
2. If something on the spaceship is broken, you can test Perception to figure out how it broke, in broad strokes. There's a limit to what you can notice (DM's disgression). 
3. If a Decay would happen in the room you are in, you may using the appropriate equipment and a Strength check to fix the Decay. You'll be in harm's way if you fail. Some decays are beyond your ability to fix.
5. Space Mining (WILDCATTER ONLY) (Start with Asteroid Ledger & Coordinate Map)
1. You can use your Asteroid Ledger & your Coordinate map of the asteroid to locate points of interest on the asteroid by hand. This includes where the ship components are.
2. You know how to pilot an asteroid, how to operate a scrap cannon, and how to fix a Silicate Engine. When you roll for an event in the asteroid, in the room with a scrap cannon, or in an engine room with a Silicate engine, you may reroll the result and keep the second roll.
3. Your asteroid ledger includes command protocols for the Rockrunners on a craft. You can command them.
6. Space Junkie (Start with Jet Implants in your softsuit).
1. You are impacted by G's of force as if they were half as many G's. When your acceleration changes dramatically and suddenly, you may immediately take an action.
2. You ignore every other oxygen depletion you roll in a non-stressful situation; you're used to holding your breath for periods of time. You can move at full speed in microgravity.
3. When you are exposed to vacuum, you can immediately take one action. Reduce radiation damage by half.
7. Xenobiologist (Start with a Xenodex and a Pheromone Dispenser)
1. You know the stats of every alien you encounter.
2. If you have your Xenodex on you, you may ask the GM one fact about the biology of the aliens you encounter. You may use your Pheromone Dispenser to make aliens in your room neutral towards you if they are hostile. The pheromone cloud lasts for 2 exploration turns, after which it dissipates.
3. Aliens are generally neutral towards you, as an individual. When you encounter an Omen, you may choose whether or not you encounter aliens. When you encounter aliens, you may choose to surprise them. You may use your Pheromone Dispenser to make aliens friendly towards you, individually, treating you as a dominant member in their social group.
8. Aerospace Engineer (Start with a Aeronautics Omnistick)
1.  When you land on a ship, you're given a list of three likely locations for the Black Box. Hooking the black box up to your Aeronautics Omnistick gives you a readout of the way the ship became derelict (where damage was sustained and from what). You can pilot your transport remotely with your Aeronautics Omnistick, if its not connected to another device. Salvaging the black box is worth a lot, and even more depending on how messed up the ship was.
2. When you encounter the engines and the piloting console for the ship, you may ask the GM one question about it. Until you hook up your Aeronautics Omnistick to anything else, you may spend an exploration turn piloting the transport remotely.
3. If your transport is destroyed, you may call the Mothership for a second one. You may pilot drones remotely with your Aeronautics Omnistick.

Ships have a black box-- you can read damage reports if you find a central console.

you understand how the engines work, what damage they have sustained, what to salvage and repair, and how to do it.

Second are stats for the Rockrunners, and last are rules for Fault Lines and Decays/Creaks in the asteroid portion of a derelict-asteroid.

Rockrunner

HD: 1/3

Gyrochassis: The rockrunner is essentially a ball of legs with a drill at its center. It treats any direction as a flat surface, and can gain purchase on any surface by revolving its legs about its spherical core.

Exposed Processor: the Rockrunner is very fragile because of its minimalist design. The pistons and engines that drive its legs are exposed on each of the legs; its computing is done on a circuit panel located on a series of metal rails that surround its body and are held in orbit around its core by an electromagnet that moves out of the way of the legs as they rotate around the gyrochassis. You could crush the circuit panel in your hand to instantly render the Rockrunner unusable.

Drill: used for burrowing into rock. Extendable metal chute surrounds the drill and collects debris when the processor "tells" the Rockrunner that it should (i.e. when the Rockrunner's surveying equipment, part to the processor module, reads that the Rockrunner is mining desirable ores.

• Also deals 1d6 damage on a hit.

Fault Lines & Decays/Creaks

Add the following entries to your decay/creak table:

7. A new fault line appears. / A cracking sound echoes through the asteroid.

8----7+X. The Asteroid collapses at a fault line. / The fault line starts crumbling.

X equals the number of fault lines /2, rounding down. Keep this in mind when constructing an asteroid! It should probably have 3-5 fault lines to begin with. 

• If you have 0-1 fault line, you cannot access the last decay/creak profile. 
• With 2-3 fault lines, you trigger that last decay/creak on an 8. 
• If you have 4-5, you trigger it on an 8 or 9.
• etc.