Asteroid Prospecting and Mining - rule book, supplement, whatever?

[terranstrider]

Does anyone know of a RPG rule book, supplement or adventure that includes rules for finding, mining and selling valuables from asteroids and or comets?
I'm after rules for the chance of finding something valuable; what it takes to mine it - time, cost, equipment; how to sell it and how much it is worth.
I have read the information in GURPS Space, GURPS Transhuman Space The Deep Beyond, GURPS Spaceships 6 - Mining and Industrial Spacecraft and the GURPS Basic rule books. There are plenty of guidelines but no specifics for gaming asteroid mining.
Space Campaign Parameters: TL 10^, Wormhole Jump Drives, Artificial Gravity, no nano-technology. Players can access a mining ship 3,000 tons, 2g/c manouver drives, with mining module, ore & volatile processing modules and the ability to tow external cargo modules (if leased).

Some rules with tables for % chances, random events, hazards, bonanzas, etc. would be a big help.

[hal]

Originally Posted by terranstrider

Does anyone know of a RPG rule book, supplement or adventure that includes rules for finding, mining and selling valuables from asteroids and or comets?
I'm after rules for the chance of finding something valuable; what it takes to mine it - time, cost, equipment; how to sell it and how much it is worth.
I have read the information in GURPS Space, GURPS Transhuman Space The Deep Beyond, GURPS Spaceships 6 - Mining and Industrial Spacecraft and the GURPS Basic rule books. There are plenty of guidelines but no specifics for gaming asteroid mining.
Space Campaign Parameters: TL 10^, Wormhole Jump Drives, Artificial Gravity, no nano-technology. Players can access a mining ship 3,000 tons, 2g/c manouver drives, with mining module, ore & volatile processing modules and the ability to tow external cargo modules (if leased).

Some rules with tables for % chances, random events, hazards, bonanzas, etc. would be a big help.

There was an "astroid strike" adventure for use with TRAVELLER back in the day. Do you want more information on that?

[terranstrider]

Thanks Hal,
Found a PDF copy of "Beltstrike" an old GDW Traveller book (late 70's or early 80s) on DrivethroughRPG for $12.
Bought a copy on spec hoping it would be a professionaly presented product as opposed to the rubbish presentation and abysmal editing Mongoose publishes. I was wrong; it's a low-res scan of a hard copy, all GDW copyright material removed, no illustrations, the few maps presented do not scale when zooming... ah well, at least it has useful prospecting and mining rules and maybe the adventures will be good.

Still if you know of anything set in a more realistic universe than Traveller with reasonable presentation I'd appreciate a note.

[fschiff]

The Mongoose Adventure Beltstrike ( named after the GDW effort ) has about 30 pages on asteroid belts and mining.

[hal]

Originally Posted by terranstrider

Thanks Hal,
Found a PDF copy of "Beltstrike" an old GDW Traveller book (late 70's or early 80s) on DrivethroughRPG for $12.
Bought a copy on spec hoping it would be a professionaly presented product as opposed to the rubbish presentation and abysmal editing Mongoose publishes. I was wrong; it's a low-res scan of a hard copy, all GDW copyright material removed, no illustrations, the few maps presented do not scale when zooming... ah well, at least it has useful prospecting and mining rules and maybe the adventures will be good.

Still if you know of anything set in a more realistic universe than Traveller with reasonable presentation I'd appreciate a note.

Therein lies a major connundrum if you will. Realistic rules for something set so far into the future - sort of boggles the mind ;)

That having been said, the real question to ask yourself is "what is it that I truly desire for use with my players?"

Is it a series of values associated with a given amount of any one "material" being mined, so you have a frame work of how to determine what it is your player characters are mining? Is it meant to be a high-tech version of the gold rush of the 1840's? Are you trying to tell a story akin to the gold miners who'd work placer deposits? Do you want a sort of wild west atmosphere where instead of gunpowder and pickaxes, you want robotic diggers and lasers? How much "detail" are you looking for in your upcoming campaign?

Have you for example, taken a look at the old GURPSNET archives? I seem to recall once, a discussion (thread) discussing the relative values (and weights) of various metals and minerals - so much so that you might be able to find it archived somewhere in the GURPSNET archives. At the moment, I'm trying to rack my brains for the various SCI-FI role playing games over the years, that might have something of what you desire.

What might be worth your while, is to go look on EBAY to see what sci-fi games are being sold second hand. While you may not want to purchase anything from Ebay per se, it might give you ideas of what to look for.

Game companies you might want to google or look for on EBAY might be:

SPI - UNIVERSE
TSR - Star Frontiers (has Knight Hawks, which I vaguely recall having SOME mining rules in it, but nothing major I don't think)
FGU - SPACE OPERA: (do a wayback machine search on the following: http://www.sden.org/jdr/spaceopera/GB/interviews/ed.htm)

SPACE OPERA is still available from FGU as a published book at $20 US. You can also get it from RPGNOW for a cheaper price. I don't know if it will have mining in it though.


Hmmm. That makes me want to dig up my old FTL books to see if perhaps there's something in there.

[jacobmuller]

Saw your question and immediately thought of GURPS Spaceships 6: Mining and Space Industry. Sadly, it only has 2 paragraphs on asteroid mining and a couple of lines that refer you to GURPS Space p130-132, and Transhuman Space: Deep Beyond.

[KjetilKverndokken]

I must say this also interest me quite alot, because I also have an urgo to host a mining themed campaing in my sci-fi setting.

[vicky_molokh]

This is one of the gaps in my preparation for my (almost cancelled) Star Control 2½ campaign. Anything at least gameable is welcome. Surprisingly, LTC3 might be the way to go.

[downer]

I would think that such questions should be solved by the intentions of the GM. If you want to keep the characters barely flying, Firefly style, make most asteroids poor or let the minerals traders be stingy and/or fraudulent. If you want them to make a killing, have them hit a mother lode. Simply assign the market value of any given asteroid according to the needs of your campaign and explain any value shifts in terms of variable supply and demand. This could result in some fun plots, like:

- PCs find rich rock, but must protect their treasure from pirates and thieves
- PCs find rich rock, but someone else presents an older claim and they must defeat them in court
- PCs chasing rumors of "the big one", but find only dirt
etc. pp.

Coming up with tables and rules seems somewhat unnecessary, unless you want to make the process itself, rather than the characters' hopes and fortunes the focus of your campaign.

[KjetilKverndokken]

Originally Posted by downer

Coming up with tables and rules seems somewhat unnecessary, unless you want to make the process itself, rather than the characters' hopes and fortunes the focus of your campaign.

Actually both things is 100% doable as one thing... And with Gurps i do like to have the realistic and simulationist aspect in, otherwise I use Diaspora and Starblazer adventurers instead.