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

[jacobmuller]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

GURPS Space p130-132, and Transhuman Space: Deep Beyond.

Nice statistics if you want the probable returns possible from running a mining operation.
Not sure I'd call mining an adventure- more of an excuse for being out where the adventure happens or a character background or a job that pays for the free time to adventure.

[KjetilKverndokken]

Originally Posted by thrash

Would you say that drilling for oil in the modern world is good roleplaying campaign material? If so, then you might enjoy realistic asteroid mining.

Maybe quote the whole part before saying that eh? ;)

And when one does the job, you release something in the asteroid, competing miners trying to outdo you, pirates wanting your haul etc etc etc etc... ITS so much one can do with it, its fantastic - and one can then also earn money....

[KjetilKverndokken]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

It seems to me that such low value ascribes to gasses and ices would only be realistic a setting with reactionless drives. As soon as you need reaction mass to lift things to orbit, or you need to pay the fare to ride up a space elevator, volatiles are going to be much more valuable than that.

Yeah, Im also thinking that, ice asteroids would also be good for terraforming events, water supplies on stations and barren planets and stuff like that....

[KjetilKverndokken]

But instead of focusing on what people likes to play in their stories, lets rather try to focus on the thread topic.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by KjetilKverndokken

Yeah, Im also thinking that, ice asteroids would also be good for terraforming events, water supplies on stations and barren planets and stuff like that....

Not just water supplies, but constituents of biomass. You can get hydrogen from skimming gas giants, but it's easier to get methane ice from comets. Methane also gets you carbon. Water ices gets you oxygen and hydrogen. All you need, of the basc biomass elements, is nitrogen, which can be skimmed from the atmosphere Earth and similar planets.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by KjetilKverndokken

Maybe quote the whole part before saying that eh? ;)

The exact same things are all equally likely to happen while drilling for oil in the modern world, if not more so.

So it's worth making a list of interesting things to happen during resource exploitation.

1. You release a monster.
2. Competitors try to drive you out of business.
3. Organised crime extorts you.
4. Disorganised crime steals from you.
5. Rebels attack you to eliminate the government's revenue
6. All out war breaks out. You are caught in the middle.
7. One of your crew is accused of murder.
8. One of your crew is murdered
9. The government threatens to nationalize your operation.
10. On the job accident requires a rescue operation or emergency medical transportation.
11. Um...bad weather?

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

The exact same things are all equally likely to happen while drilling for oil in the modern world, if not more so.

So it's worth making a list of interesting things to happen during resource exploitation.

Drilling for oil actually has more adventure potential. It's much more likely that people live where you want to drill. And you're on the surface of a planet with an atmosphere, and some axial tilt, so you've got weather.

Space is often quite boring.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

The exact same things are all equally likely to happen while drilling for oil in the modern world, if not more so.

So it's worth making a list of interesting things to happen during resource exploitation.

Yeah, none of this is specific to asteroid mining or especially enabled by groups of PCs doing asteroid mining. You could set the PCs in a gold mine in wild west california and have pretty much all the same things happening.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

Yeah, none of this is specific to asteroid mining or especially enabled by groups of PCs doing asteroid mining. You could set the PCs in a gold mine in wild west california and have pretty much all the same things happening.

Realistic (automated) asteroid mining is actually much worse. Old West prospectors had to wander around the brush, not use software on public astronomical surveys and they had to physically extract the resources themselves rather than having robots do it. Asteroid mining is probably a lot like running oil production today (which is interesting and a good set for locked room mysteries and survival horror; and always has the possibility of a H2S leak which is exciting) but requiring even less people on site to do it.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Drilling for oil actually has more adventure potential. It's much more likely that people live where you want to drill. And you're on the surface of a planet with an atmosphere, and some axial tilt, so you've got weather.

Space is often quite boring.

I know. That's why I said "if not more". Honestly, I'd never want to run a solar system campaign unless it was the old timey solar system with jungles on Venus and nekkid women on Mars. But it ain't my campaign so I do my best to be constructive.