Know any good "random complication" tables for SF games?

Faolyn · Mar 30, 2022

So, a couple of the folks at my table will soon be completing the character sheet for their newest 0th-level human and will be taking some time off of gaming because of that. We're figuring on putting our regular games on hiatus for a while, until they're ready to come back, and doing one-shots and the like during that time, using some of the rules-lite games I've collected over the years but never had a chance to play. I had a sudden yen to run a game like Lasers and Feelings (came to me while watching an ep of Star Trek: Discovery) in order to help hone my improv skills. And since it seems like a system that thrives on not planning things out too much ahead of time, I'm looking for interesting random tables. I've found a few for encounters and plot hooks, but none for complications or other SF weirdness. Anyone know of any?

Eyes of Nine · Mar 30, 2022

If you hustle, you could jump on this kickstarter:

Roll & Play: Sci-Fi Toolkits

Two books. Hundreds of random tables. Infinite possibilities. Compatible with all Sci-Fi RPGs including Mothership and Starfinder.

www.kickstarter.com

I have found Lasers & Feelings doesn't require much input once the game gets started... But probably nice to have a backup "twist" table or something.

Faolyn · Mar 30, 2022

Eyes of Nine said:
If you hustle, you could jump on this kickstarter:

Roll & Play: Sci-Fi Toolkits

Two books. Hundreds of random tables. Infinite possibilities. Compatible with all Sci-Fi RPGs including Mothership and Starfinder.

www.kickstarter.com

I have found Lasers & Feelings doesn't require much input once the game gets started... But probably nice to have a backup "twist" table or something.

Looks good! But it probably won't be available by the time I need it.

MattW · Mar 30, 2022

Here's a WH40K list. You could tone it down for a Traveller game
Occurrence Border Random Encounters - 1d4chan

Faolyn · Mar 30, 2022

MattW said:
Here's a WH40K list. You could tone it down for a Traveller game
Occurrence Border Random Encounters - 1d4chan

Thanks! I didn't think think about either WH40k or Traveller.

Hand of Evil · Mar 31, 2022

Surprised there are not a few, you would think Star Trek and Star Wars would have some. I swear I have seen card decks for random plots and ships at Gen Con! You may just want to search DriveThurRPG just to see what is out.

Bohandas · Mar 31, 2022

About a month ago the webcomic Handbook of Heroes had a table for things that could go wrong on a Farscape-style bioship hidden in the author's notes for a comic

Faolyn · Mar 31, 2022

Bohandas said:
About a month ago the webcomic Handbook of Heroes had a table for things that could go wrong on a Farscape-style bioship hidden in the author's notes for a comic

Ooh, I like those. Thanks!

Faolyn · Mar 31, 2022

Hand of Evil said:
Surprised there are not a few, you would think Star Trek and Star Wars would have some. I swear I have seen card decks for random plots and ships at Gen Con! You may just want to search DriveThurRPG just to see what is out.

I don't actually own any gaming books for those systems (I used to have some d6 Star Wars stuff, but gods know where they've gone). I only have some GURPS Traveler stuff and it seems low on the random stuff tables. I'm debating if I should break out my TOON books at this point.

I did just take a look through Drivethrough and found the "What's Wrong With Your Ship" collection, which was cheap enough to get.

Emirikol · Apr 12, 2022

I made a random ship problem generator that outputs to look like the ALIEN universe green screen. I used a list of actual ship parts from NASA as well as other hard and soft science parts. There is an option for feedback from roughnecks.