This is pretty cool, but... 😅 It's pretty hard to get this on paper in a convenient way.
Would it be possible to either invert colours so I can screen-cap, or format it so copy-pasting is cleaner?
Printing to PDF or paper currently doesn't work well.
Tubilak
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If you like Xot, anything Numenera could work. I tend to roll my own, so I haven't read much of them though. 😅
If you like Zone, just literally run S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky the video game. 😛
My tip, whether you run modules or not, is to focus your prep. I use Sly Flourish's 8 steps, that he's since put into CC so you can just get it here: https://slyflourish.com/lazy_gm_resource_document.html
He mostly runs 5e-type games, but I've used the same steps for Forged in the Dark games, 24XX and others. It's just a way to make sure you have things you can prep, and so you can feel confident when you later improvise at the table. Sometimes I change or rename the steps to better fit what I'm running.
I'm using them now while running the Saltmarsh campaign from 1980-something.
Don't underestimate the value of a bullet-point list.
If you want maps, here's a thousand of them: https://dysonlogos.blog/maps/
There's also generators, I like https://watabou.github.io/.
But, above all, keep it simple... If in doubt, grab a watabou region map, roll on the Xot tables to see what the town of Blackfire or whatever is about, and what they need, and have an NPC ask the PCs really nicely to pleeeeeaaase do the thing. They're the only ones who can. Pick a random Dyson map for where the thing has to be done, and just go with it.
It doesn't have to be Lord of the Rings to be fun. (actually having just come out of GMing a LotR campaign, it shouldn't be...)
PS: Sly Flourish/Mike Shea also films his prep sessions, and they're about an hour every week: Here.
The fugitive pilot and weaponmaster scoundrel started on Nova Station, just having escaped their former mafia boss employers/owners.
They immediately parked in the wrong spot, as a power armoured pirate came up to intimidate/challenge/build his own rep. Power armour all opened up to show his oiled pecs, because I felt like giving it a certain spin. Lord Humungus plus Mandalorian. :P
They looked around for work, got a job smuggling harpoon guns to Lyra, for their monster problem. Not illegal per se, but smuggled to avoid fees and such.
Ran into a ship in trouble on the way, weird space anomaly. They figured out he was a pirate smuggling water from Lyra to Tranquility, and bopped him on the head and tied him up.
Immediately made friends with the corrupt politician recieving the harpoon guns, and I asked "weren't you trying to go legit?..." :D
They got back to Tranquility, and Cassidy showed up because the PCs employer wasn't paying up to her, and the PCs tried to talk her down.
A 6- led to the earlier power armour pirate coming back with buddies to demand respect, things happened, Cassidy was a little paranoid, a shootout happened, ship weapons were used in-station. The usual. :P
The pilot is interested in the Triple Crown of course, and they both want cash to start over legitimately.
I tried working the sector stuff into the other oracle results, hence why the pirate-in-trouble was smuggling water, and I kept bringing up how ships keep disappearing en route between the planets. Basically I used the sector as a starting situation, the players got entangled in the events, and off we went.
A lot of threads left to pull, but we used Starforged for a 2-shot while we were getting our previous game sorted out after a couple of players left, so if we keep going who knows.
Did a two-shot game with my IRL group and printed out playkit booklets for everyone, and put your starter on the back. Useful and good!
https://i.imgur.com/G2xqrvH.jpg
I know it's hard to get feedback. 😅
I've been running a lot of oneshots at the local culture house, and last time I ran a Dark Souls L&F hack. The (few) extra rules in a 24XX game made character generation a little slower, but led to some choices based on specific character skills later on.
The "quest" tables were good, and the best part of most 24XX games. Love me a good table. :3