STALKER7

Playtest Lessons

“That looked good on paper…”

CCWC regular, Mike D, has been generously donating time and energy to put a noob Scrapjack crew through their paces in a series of simple, starter missions. As intended, the test games helped sand down a number of rough spots.

A Gun Crawl

Scrapjacks is a ‘dungeon crawl in space’ with the crew collecting loot as they move through a series of 12″ x12″ floor tiles. (or 30cm x 30cm) The tiles can either be drawn at random from a pile, or set up in full view beforehand. Is the crew going in blind, or do they have a map the schematics of the station?

Either way, players risk environmental hazards as they breach each section. After all, these are damaged/abandoned/derelict locations; zero-g, electrical surges, radiation, partial flooding, toxic fumes, and more, are common problems. And a major cause of many deep space salvage fatalities.

Players can either spend precious Aircharge (Oxygen + Power) to repair/restore the section, or work through the danger. But we’re not even talking about threats posed by active hostiles yet.

Dog Fight in a Closet

12″ x 12″ sounds reasonably large – until your minis start brawling among the important bits of cool, scatter terrain – and then those rogue security drones/claim-jumping pirates/xeno-specimens are really damn close. Wounds and Suit Breaches stack up fast. Very fast.

We discussed an alternate game mode: a mid-sized layout, say 36″ x 36″, or the increasingly popular 30″ x 22″. The Scrapjack crew would simply need to clear the one, larger area, alternately facing Hazards and Hostiles as they searched for salvage and terminated the mission by accomplishing a single Objective.

That’s a more accessible option for many TTG players, which is good. But it shifts the game away from its dungeon crawl roots. That not only reduces the constant tension, it diminishes the intrinsic value of important resources like Aircharge, Salvage, and Scavenged Gear. In the end, we were concerned that undermined the game’s theme, made it less challenging, and less interesting.

Not Deep Space

Last is the realization that not all players might want to salvage ‘deep space’ locations. Or have access to EVA-suited minis. What about more standard sci fi figs?

Simple enough to adjust the floor tile sections with different scatter. Salvage and Objectives remain the same. Aircharge – a critical resource for deep space work – then changes from a limited supply in the crew’s air tanks/batteries to a measure of the power and breathable atmosphere remaining in a rapidly failing facility or hab-dome.

Rather than trying to represent the interior of an asteroid lab or the various decks and rooms on a derelict spaceship, the game opens up to more standard sci fi terrain and miniatures.

That means loads of potential salvagers. At the moment, I’m partial to Artizan Design’s new Frontier range with that gritty, blue collar feel. Or interested Scrapjacks can pick up a set or three of Anvil Industry Void Salvagers. I highly recommend either.

Thanksgiving guests are arriving, so I’m signing off for now. We’ll discuss the Scrapjack’s base of operations and cosy ‘home away from home’ next; their ship. Until then – Good Hunting.