Ok, here it is:
First of all, determine the status of the belt like normal in Beltstrike,
ie cost of licences and the rolls to get them.
(You should roll up the belt using Worldbuilders at this point)
Second [this is my own addition] determine the freshness of the belt:
1d6 Freshness Later DM on Geology
1- Bonanza +1
2 Very Rich 0
3 Rich -1
4 Normal -2
5 Poor -3
6 Very Poor -4
7+ Exhausted -5
DM's: TL: 0-7: -1, 8-9: 0, 10-11: +1, 12-13: +2, 14+: +3. Use PreVirus TL
Cost of license (roll 5+ on 1d6 to ignore this DM): 0Cr +2, 1Cr-6kCr: +1,
10kCr-600kCr: 0, 1MCr+: -1.
Rationale: Higher TL places have had more time to exploit their belts.
High cost of license means that there is something to get
there, no license that it is of lower value.
The dependence on the license cost is not set in stone, so
there is a 33% chance of ignoring it.
Note that the players shouldn't *know* what Freshness a certain belt
has, but they might hear rumours about it. Most NPC belters know which belts
(remember that most systems have some kind of belts!) in a subsector that
are rumored to be bonanzas or regarded as being exhausted.
Here is the search roll [replaces the 2d6 roll in Beltstrike]:
Formidable: Geology.
(first divide asset to get Formidable, *then* add modifiers)
DM's: The mod from Freshness.
Each period beyond the first a certain person mans the sensors: -1.
Accelerating ship (rare in TNE): -2.
In trojan cluster: +1.
Ship lacks densitometer (handheld dens is *not* enough): -2
Max Sensor range:
ls DM
1 -3
2 -2
4 -1
8 0
(ls = light seconds, or 300,000km. The maximum sensor range that
can be used in a certain belt is half the width of the belt.
Example: A ship with a sensor range of 8 ls is scanning a 2 ls wide
belt. They will get a DM of minus 3 from this, since there is only
one ls of belt to each side to actually scan, regardless of that
the sensors see further.
Optional: Assuming that the sensors have to be used differently for
each zone in the belt (C M and N), replace width of belt above with
'width of the zone they are currently scanning')
Rationale: Same as in beltstrike for additional periods and accelerating
ship. Densitometer seems like a good sensor for belters to have
so lack of it is penalized.
The 'current producing area' area mod is replaced by making
the belt locally Fresher.
Bad sensors are also penalized, as are belts that are so thin
that full sensor capacity can't be used.
[Insert old beltstrike procedure to determine what type of find that is
indicated, and if it is really present]
The WBH procedure gives a common max and absolute max size of the asteroids
in a belt. That data is used by this. If the size rolled on the table below
is larger than the common max diameter given, reduce the size of the asteroid
to the common max asteroid, *except* in the case where a natural 12 is rolled
and the belt have an absolute max size larger than the common max size. In
this latter case, use the absolute max size given.
roll extent time diameter
1 1 1h 3m
2 10 3h 6m
3 100 6h 14m
4 1000 12h 30m
5 10000 15h 64m
6 100000 18h 140m
7 1000000 24h 300m
8 small 30h 500m
9 small 40h 700m
10 small 50h 1km
11 large 60h 5km
12 large 100h 10km+
time is the time in manhours required to conduct the initial survey, just
like in beltstrike but given in another timeunit. extent is extent in
displacement tons. Just like in beltstrike, the *actual* extent of the
asteroid and the find is got by multiplying the extent with 1d10 (reroll 1's).
Mining: Each person with laserdrill can per hour mine and load 1m3.
Each helper w/o laserdrill adds 0.25m3 up to +0.5m3 for two
helpers per person with drill which is max.
If a big turret mounted mining laser is used it adds 1m3 per
person *and* helper (max add 30m3).
Use the costs from beltstrike with 1 ton = 14m3.
Yup, that's all the changes I made. I've used it once and it appeared to work
ok, but I'd be interested in any comments.
Free hint: The trick is not to find a rich belt, the trick is to find an
acceptable belt in a system where you will get a good price for the ore.
- -bertil-
- --
"It can be shown that for any nutty theory, beyond-the-fringe political view or
strange religion there exists a proponent on the Net. The proof is left as an
exercise for your kill-file."