Space is the classic Starflight Universe setting, so it should come as no surprise that many adventures in SFRPG can be set in space.
Space adventures refer to any adventure wherein a character group must leave the confines of a planet for any particular reason. Space is really a special type of wilderness with its own unique qualities. For starters, a character group cannot just up and go out into space under their own physical power (at least, not in the vast majority of cases). They need a vehicle to travel in, such as a shuttle, a capsule, a transport or a starship. Because of this necessity, the group becomes more like the different parts of a single entity during a space adventue. A group that works well will have a vehicle that works well, and will be successful in many space adventures.
Creating a space adventure is only a little different from creating a planet-side adventure. The rules for interplanetary and interstellar travel (discussed in
Chapter 8.3 and
Chapter 8.4) don't block out every hour of transit as do the intraplanetary transit rules, so a GM may have a little more breathing room for their own tailored encounters. Like planet-side adventures, a space adventure can be treated similarly to a site adventure. All that's needed are a few encounters along the way. Encounters may be random encounters generated by the transit rules, or they may be tailored encounters the GM intends to happen during the course of the adventure (or even a mix of the two). Each tailored encounter point can be treated as a site in its own right, though determining bounds for the encounter is trickier. In general, there are no landmarks to serve as the bounds of an encounter out in space, so it's usually best to use combat range as the "bound" in these cases.
As with planet-side adventures, space adventures can be incorporated into a larger adventure. Such an adventure may start out in a town, use the space portion of the adventure to travel to a specific site off-world where the bulk of the adventure takes place, and then use another space portion to return to the place of origin. Not all space adventures will involve the characters simply going from place to place; sometimes the void itself will be the destination and setting for the bulk of the adventure (such as when a ship is sent to attack a specific target like an enemy space station).
Space is inherently the most hostile environment a character can find themselves in. Extreme heat, extreme cold, no atmosphere, lethal radiation and the like are all commonplace. Few creatures can withstand these extremes, and so characters that actually go out to take a dip in the void must have the appropriate gear. Heavy, bulky pieces of equipment (such as a Pressure Suit) are necessary for simple survival. Actual exposure to the space environment is almost always lethal; for more on environmental effects and how they may affect characters, see
Chapter 12.4.2.
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