![]() ![]() There's also the issue that people who are expecting to (maybe) be attacked would probably be actively searching the immediate neighborhood, not just passively looking for reflected light or obstructed starlight. The range of useful places to hide is much smaller if you want to be able to attack the people you're hiding from. A lurking attack ship out in the Kuiper Belt just isn't a credible threat shipping in the Asteroid Belt. Of course, it's a little more complicated than that, because if you're doing space battle scenes, you've got less space to work with than the entire Solar System. ![]() It's a lot harder to hide something out in space than many authors seem to think, because of physics. Only in space, there's not all that much for people to hide behind (though it does happen- there are a whole bunch of hidden-ship tricks in the Star Wars movies, from the Millennium Falcon ducking into an asteroid field to the hidden battle fleet in Return of the Jedi), so it's pretty common to invent technologies for hiding ships in plain sight.Īs common as it is, though, the idea of stealth in space is inherently kind of problematic. This is a classic space-opera trope, which is basically just an update of the classic adventure-story trope of having people jump out of hiding to attack the heroes. Though, I think you’ll agree that these things look fantastic and will be a wonderful addition to any Expansegame, not to mention just being a lot of fun to pour over.A key plot point in the pilot of The Expanse involves a stealth ship, lying in wait for one set of unsuspecting protagonists to come along, at which point it unleashes destruction that will turn out to have disastrous consequences for everyone involved. In the end, we had to make our own choices, often with very little actual information to go on. I know everyone is going to have their own opinions on certain details. If you’re using the deck plans on a VTT or the like, you can just ignore the cargo if you want your cargo bay to be empty. We felt that it added visual interest and also gave a better idea of space and scale. One of the choices I can see being controversial is the decision to include cargo and the like on the schematics. There is also a key that indicates which decks are on which level. However, if there are four decks of crew quarters, we only provide one plan for that since they are going to be identical in most cases. And then you get to the good stuff―the deck plans! For each individual ship you get deck plans for each type of deck. One of these shows the actual decks as well as elevator or ladder shafts. I think the story hooks will be especially useful for inspiration (and to give you an excuse to use your new deck plans) since it isn’t always easy to figure out how a group of PCs might end up interacting with some of these beasts.įollowing the text, you get two silhouettes from different perspectives. Following that are a few paragraphs that talk about the ship’s origins and history as well as its purpose within the military fleet or as a civilian vessel, followed by a story hook that presents how the ship might appear in an adventure. They also feature the new qualities and flaws that are included earlier in this book. PDF PREVIEW for the Munroe-class Light DestroyerĮach ship opens with the ship’s specifications, which is very similar to how they are presented in the Expanse core rulebook, but these are a little more detailed. We debated organizing them by size class, but in the end, alphabetical seemed best for easy reference. Then they are then listed in alphabetical order. They are in the order of UNN, MCRN, Independents, and finally, a few unique ships such as the Anne Bonny from Abzu’s Bounty. Today, you get to see a preview of one of the deck plans, the UNN Monroe-class Light Destroyer, and I’ll break down what all you’ll find in the ships section of Ships of the Expanse. You might be surprised how long it takes to figure out exactly what goes on each deck: how many crash couches are needed for the crew, how many bunks, where does the galley go, does this ship have a med bay, how many cargo holds, how can you access the cargo holds, and so on. We wanted to make them useful for gameplay and make sure that they were as realistic as possible. ![]() There are 28 ships detailed in this book, and we took a lot of time and care to get every one right. We apologize for the delay, but I think you’re really going to enjoy this book! We know it took a while, but a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this project. Although the pandemic can take most of the blame there, making all these plans involved an incredible amount of time. It is also, in part, the reason this book took so long to get out. Although they come in the final chapter, the deck plans are very much the centerpiece in Ships of the Expanse. ![]()
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