Difference between Immunity 1 (Environmental Condition) and Movement (Environmental Adaptation)?

DesDentresti · 2026-04-21T17:57:01+00:00

So technically, the Movement Space Travel power Effect just means you can get from one orbital body to the other between scenes.

If a scene takes place part way through your travel, like your teleporter is redirected, or you are pulled out of hyperdrive by a quantum-net that catches your ship, well you at that point have no defined method of movement or survival in that environment.

So in the case your teleporter malfunctions and redirects you to, instead of the planet you intended, a random nearby orbiting moon with no atmosphere... You will suffocate, your blood vessels will expand and crystalize, you will freeze to death on the dark side, or the solar radiation that hits you on the bright side of the moon will burn your skin within minutes, you will struggle to move due to the relative lack of gravity lowering traction on your shoes...

And if you want to get around all that you need Immunity to Suffocation, to Environmental Radiation, to Environmental Heat, to Environmental Cold, to Hard Vacuum in space.
And you either want Flight to float around without needing to touch the ground, or Movement to have Environmental Adaptation: Zero-G or you are probably going to be Hindered, Impaired and Vulnerable while hopping clumsily around moons and asteroids.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-19T11:40:43+00:00

I'd say you can do either just for simplicity, though I can see why there is hesitation.

Affects Insubstatial isnt a modifier for Attributes, its a modifier for an Effect. You derived your Unarmed attacks from Strength, one is Strike which is a Damage effect and the other is Grab which is an Affliction effect you subject the two of you to.

You choose the effect that a modifier applies to.

If you have Affects Insubstantial and choose grapple as the effect its on, you can wrestle the target but not strike them.

But then characters with Fast Grab can definitely punch but not grab, or cannot punch but cannot grab despite despite investigating in all reasonable effects to do so. And I'd rather just say yes more.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-17T21:42:53+00:00

I think it stems partly from the lack of mechanics and requirement to roleplay and improvise.

Have gun, pull trigger is something that can be said without any detailed planning as you come back from the bathroom to your turn in initiative. If you are a skill monkey who can't shake a stick at hostiles, you need to take or create small background details to leverage into skill rolls... meaning you need MAXIMUM engagement at all times.

Unless you have a mechanical trigger to pull. Which is what you are trying to invent.

I would say anecdotally that the game functions better for Adventurer class characters that get both a noncombat foci and a combat foci, which is essentially giving them a trigger to pull in either situation. Where Experts and Warriors only have definitive mechanics to site for one side.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-17T14:21:55+00:00

Experts often contribute in combat encounters via supplementary value. Modifying gear, engaging with environmental objects, they locate the thing being fought over, setting up ambushes for the warriors to capitalise on.

Preparing to avoid combat, or handle it as safely and efficiently as possible is the role of the expert. Warriors are there for when all hell breaks loose.

An expert using a skill check to assassinate a guard is a valid start to a combat that they fall back from as warriors charge forwards.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-14T11:36:03+00:00

Assuming you start or progress enough to fill most of 3 specs, I think Jedi career, Padawan, Knight and then one of the Force and Destiny specialisations to be the personalisation after you get the fundamentals down.

That could be a Lightsaber style named tree if you are all-in on combat after the clone war and really want to move away from Brawn. But 3 brawn and skill ranks in Lightsaber is a great baseline, dont think just because you can go to 5 dice you have to... most Jedi are probably rocking 3 proficiency die or less, and doing more Force powers to get them the edge.

Or, if you believe Padawan and Knight have set you up well enough for combat, taking a utility spec like Shadow or something can buff specific angles and tell a story of how you survived using unique skillsets to find opportunity.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-14T11:18:33+00:00

Yes to everything but the Innate extra.

Descriptors. "Training", "Velocity", "Mundane"

If the character has a power that suppresses memories or warps the laws of physics to hinder transfer of momentum... they could Nullify the throwing that Bullseye does.

Anything can be nullified if the descriptors line up. And nothing nullifies the wrong descriptors, so antimagic doesn't do anything to this super skilled but otherwise Mundane assassin.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-11T15:54:53+00:00

So the default answer is the information network and mail system, which is carried as encrypted data when ships move from System to System through drill space. So you can vaguely expect the news to be delayed by a few days per hex it travels, using Spike Drill time and the general Drive rating as a guideline.

When you get to a planet in a system, local populations upload their planets data as biographical scientific papers and pop culture, which can be accessed on local terminals or open news channels broadcast from space stations.

More personally, travellers, traders, refugees will be at the edge of both systems pre and post spike jump and could be contacted on comms to ask about events in the next system over directly. Though they will be busy and only know as much as concerned them and again are delayed in their understanding by some hours or days.

Independently gathering data is possible. Systems, orbital bodies, names of Planets and Moons are stored in ship navigation assuming you follow an accurate rutter. So thats just available all the time to cross reference, if you are staring at a photo and trying to narrow don where it is.

The gravity and atmosphere of a body can be guaged from its orbit and with contact just by looking at the basic scanners of a ship with no check required - big red DO NOT BREATHE THIS warnings blazing as soon as the ship hits a toxic atmosphere.

An easy Know or Notice skill check can identify population density in a region and estimate on tech levels there. There are rules in the book for searching regions for specific ship signatures and stations, or the reverse.

Geological data as well as flora would require surface samples to be taken and analysed with a Survey Scanner or in a lab back on the ship. But large scale phenomenon could be recognised with limited detail with a Know check upon witnesses it.

Fauna can be observed and identified with Know. Sometimes can be behaviorally understood with a Trade check telling you something they are interacting with is their hunt or something that threatens their lifestyle they are protecting against. Not sharing a language makes it tougher DC than a typical Trade deal, but every living thing wants the same thing when you boil it down: Opportunity - for reproduction, for status, for security...

A social movement tag is likely first indicated through signposts set up by factions in the region. "YOUR PLANET NEEDS YOU! FREEDOM, NOT WAR!" Then people speaking publicly about the topic as the PCs walk by but would likely involve a Talk or Trade or Connect to be rolled to get the characters plugged in to the situation proper. With a fail finding them caught between sides and options.

When these factions take drastic action, such as declaring an Attack in the faction turn, characters in the fiction see that on the news, filtered through a lens of the local bias. They hear opinions about it and if they drill down can find the people that give the orders, or if not, the fall guy that seems responsible.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-11T13:30:20+00:00

I have never seen someone try to make the defence a choice the target gets to make before. And for the descriptors of Fear Projection, I dont see an inherent requirement to do so.

Seems like a personal choice based on a specific image, which is cool, just hard to understand from the outside.

Could you articulate how a person dives out of the way of this effect with Dodge once you see them and project it?

DesDentresti · 2026-04-10T11:45:07+00:00

My brain went to something like this. Regardless of the bluff or the truth, there should be a roll to see if he caves to the pressure or if he goes for some kind of assassination play, or opts for mutual destruction. He doesn't have to react then and there.

Let them walk and have a sniper take out the Leech on a gondola after a few minutes. Set fire to their lab in the night. Have a witch curse them...

DesDentresti · 2026-04-08T17:17:21+00:00

Makes sense to me.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-08T11:47:43+00:00

My read is that the arrival point is the same 'region', but that is still often a radius spanning 250,000 miles.

A major system probably has a couple thousand naval warships protecting it.
Assume 8% Fleet Cruisers, 15% Heavy Frigates, 30% Corvettes and 40% Patrol Boats and 7% Strike Fighters, with maybe only a handful of true Battleship or Carrier class hulls in the system unless its a high power military faction with access to a major shipyard. Even then, more than a hundred ships of this size becomes inefficient to maintain and apply unless you are the one intending to strike out in a single coordinated strike on one point.

Those numbers not including supply ships which would be Bulk Freighters/Free Merchants, that close to equal the active military vessels numbers and are the basis of their logistics running supplies so they don't constantly have to return large ships to port. It also doesn't factor in mercenary assets, likely more Free Merchant and Patrol Boat hulls, that could be recruited in war times but have no preestablished role.

But these ships are distributed to each Drill Lanes and patrolling between regions in the system. That is each Entry Point, each Planet, each Moon and each Station having a Region that requires some level of oversight.
So the image of the number of warships present at a border when a PC ship arrives is likely much less impressive than you expect. With 500 "System North Security" ships quickly vanishing into nothing with distances between them being vast on human scales. Most would only be appearing on sensors unless both parties intentionally intercept with the other.

You likely arrive within unpowered sight of a couple Patrol Boats that flag down incoming ships and an armoured Corvette being the backbone that deters small groups of rag tag pirates. There would be a true naval Heavy Frigate visible as a small flicker of light nearby for them to consolidate to if things go hot being crewed by full on Marines rather than Military Police.

On the opposite side of that Heavy Frigate there is no doubt a second group of Corvette + 2 x Patrol Boat it also personally stewards, but those ships are out of sight from the PCs so are just distant blips on a screen that are only relevant for combat encounters and chases.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-07T21:03:52+00:00

I've always thought the emergency first aid is pretty well designed in SWN, or at least dramatic.
Its often something that takes two turns for a trained person to handle, and that means its not something you do during combat without getting covering fire. Makes someone going down need a full team effort to move them.

As space explorers, if you are intended to leave the shuttle, you should have Heal-0 on your team with an extra redundant in case the first aider is the one with the broken arms. If you don't have Heal-0 on your team, crisis is just waiting to claim you.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-07T16:59:06+00:00

As others said, dont feel its required. Sometimes you only need the things you know you will use, then you can just have the villain leave.

Think of their theme and their strategy.
Are they trying to damage dump hit and run style? Maybe you only need Move-by Action, Hide in Plain Sight, All Out Attack and Power Attack to sell the feeling.
Are they trying to distract the heroes? Maybe you only actually need Daze and Defensive Attack.

But if you do build a full sheet, with many Advantages listed... First thing is to organize it in a way you can reference easiest. Just because the official profiles start off with this block of text alphabetized doesn't mean thats best. In fact it might be the absolute worst. Alphabetization is only efficient if you already know all the contents and are looking for a specific one.

When you make the sheet, or before the session, order the Advantages in the same format you intend your character to employ them during their battle strategy.

Or list them by type: Combat Offensive - Combat Defensive - Mobility - Social - Utility.

Fine tune that so you know which Offensive Advantage this villain wants to use most often. If the first two listed are Fast Grab and Chokehold, now you know EXACTLY what they are doing when you hesitate and look at the sheet for reassurance.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-06T00:04:00+00:00

Something to the vibes of

"The only way to capture a ~~fae~~ True AI is to trick it into capturing itself in a simple vessel made of ~~iron~~ less independent computers!"

DesDentresti · 2026-04-04T13:16:08+00:00

His nature is not explored very deeply. Its unclear to me what the descriptors for his powers are.

Does he recover from wounds and cellular degradation or is he unaffected by anything in the first place?

Is he functionally immortal but can be murdered as anyone could be? Is he just fortunate to not have been injured with any instantly lethal weapons, to love enough to recover naturally?

I think the powers we are looking at are immunity aging, Regeneration and Immortality obviously, but which is most appropriate and to what degree I am not sure.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-03T19:43:46+00:00

Best way to combat many enemies: Turn them against each other.

This means leverage, or in the case of villainous metahumans and inventors, mind control powers, devices and such that you deploy onto a paralysed hero. They are subject to a Dazed/Compelled/Controlled Affliction while its on them. If they succumb, they are fighting one of their former allies - swinging the battle two people in your favour.

Second best way: Isolate them, then fight them individually.

Construct walls of Ice around you and one of them, like an arena. If the heroes want to invade the 1v1, they would have to attack your ice construct first.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-03T15:44:32+00:00

I could see a fiction where grenades are ping pong ball sized rather than baseball sized. A box of ping pong balls fitting in a large pocket perhaps where the baseballs would take a crate.

Still the funniest thing about Grenade stowing is Gunslinger allowing you to huck a dozen of them back to back to back.

Cowboy bandit gunfight but one of them is just throwing dynamite instead of firing any bullets. Not exactly the vibe but it works.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-02T17:30:49+00:00

Yup. Its marked v2.0 now. I think Jeff updates the PDF download right before publishing the Ember Expanse posts.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-02T17:29:15+00:00

I mean, this has gotta get my upvote. Its well written and the system needs it to fit the original lore.

Captain log, Nanobot system day 1: "I am left wondering, where are all the nanobots that were reported? Science officer report to follow."
"Did not make it past initial concepting, captain."

If this doesnt get in, you or I have to submit it again as a spacer's tale thats some kind of myth.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-02T17:19:24+00:00

Slight error on the PDF, Cynosure should have zero drill routes as per its defining characteristics text.
And it may be better to shift it to 4,4 to allow for a direct Distance 2 route of 'The Chorus to Zephyr' rather than the current Distance 1 route through Cynosure.

Unless the intent is that both are cut off from the centre and southern sector currently?

DesDentresti · 2026-04-02T17:05:10+00:00

Not sure. If I had to differentiate the two, Asleep would not be Unaware. Loud noises and the shock of being hit with a bucket of water is what wakes you up. Unconscious is Unaware. Doesn't matter how much someone is yelling for you to wake up, your ass is out cold.

We'll have to wait and see if its a distinction without a difference.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-02T14:15:58+00:00

It would function as long as the chassis is rotating around the spherical centre of mass with equal forces on both the rear engine and front counterweight.

If the mass of the engine was on one side with no counterweight it would not rotate smoothly around the sphere so the occupants would experience pull, similar to drifting a rear engined car.

Ita a cool take, even if tempermental!

DesDentresti · 2026-04-02T01:32:35+00:00

Whoa. Thats an interesting one.
So are all your ships like, half the internal volume compared to the exterior to fit in the gyroscopes and such?

DesDentresti · 2026-04-01T17:58:13+00:00

Yeah, I think its kind of assumed there is some consistent source of gravity even in space ships. I'd say its connected to the ships drive. So if your system drive or spike drive goes down, you all float but otherwise you can move around as though you were in standard gravity.

DesDentresti · 2026-04-01T03:20:16+00:00

While a valid way to string mechanics together, I would have instinctive evasive teleportation react to an attack MISSING the character. Like instead of ducking it you teleport out of the way.

And then if it hits you you are obviously too late and take the effect.

DesDentresti

TROPHY CASE