Travelling on Station Five isn’t as straight forward as slapping on autopilot and going into stasis. Space is hostile, and the weather out here supremely hostile to life. While the Baron can handle empty space with relative ease, anything else requires the active assistance of the crew. While there is an adequate crew to keep Station 5 functional, the expertise of the senior officers ensures that every station runs at peak efficiency.
Each day the DM rolls 2d6 to determine what the weather is like or chooses it, which affects the collective DC required for checks made by the party. On a successful roll, the party is able to march at their chosen pace (PHB p181).
2d6 | Weather / Terrain | Clear Space | Scattered asteroids | Dense asteroid field | Migrating asteroid field | Broken continent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1-3 | Clear | trivial | trivial | trivial | 10 | 15 |
4-6 | Dust clouds | trivial | trivial | 10 | 15 | 20 |
7-9 | Radio waves | trivial | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
10-11 | Gravitation eddies / | |||||
Dust storm | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 | |
12 | Gamma radiation / | |||||
Micro-meteorite shower | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 35 |
To succeed on a roll, the majority of party members must succeed on their skill check. Station 5 is a complex machine, and nearly every kind of tool proficiency if helpful to its function and maintenance. Certain background or class features may also grant advantage to travel checks, or even allow individuals to succeed at them automatically if the conditions are right.
Travelling at a slow pace grants advantage on the travel check, whereas travelling at a fast pace inflicts disadvantage.
Once a player rolls, they can choose to roll again to aim for a better result. If they do so they gain 1 point of exhaustion the following day. A person can re-roll multiple times per day with the caveat that cannot do so if it would kill them.
A person may choose to rest on a day instead of work. In that case they are able to recover points of exhaustion.
One day spent working at a particular station with those tools also counts as a day towards any downtime project that also uses those tools. This can include the Training activity, where the character learns how to use those tools with proficiency by practicing over the course of travel. Alternatively, a character can use travel-time to do other downtime activities that do not directly contribute to CP’s function, such as performing religious rites.
Tool Proficiency | Description | Base Skill | Downtime Activity |
---|---|---|---|
Vehicles | Acting as a co-pilot, assists the Baron with managing the immediate route and speed, and minimising any potential damage. | DEX | Research (local astronomy) |
Alchemist’s Supplies | Cleans and maintains the barogyrometer, an inner-ear like machine incorporating a vacuum-sealed nitrogen atmosphere and a mercury bath that helps the S05 maintain balance, velocity and orientation in space - and the numerous other delicate chemistry instruments that make up S05’s sensors. | DEX | Crafting Items (potions, oils, powders) |
Brewer’s Supplies | Maintains the fermenting vats that generate fuel to power S05’s movement - performance is heavily dependent on the quality and concentration of the alcohol used. | WIS/CON | Crafting Items (potions, art), |
Recuperating / Relaxation^ (benefits gained by all party members) | |||
Calligrapher’s Supplies | Maintaining the inkwells and scroll-printing read-out machines that generate reams of information about the various other instruments that help S05 function. | DEX | Scribing Spell Scroll |
Carpenter’s Tools | Conducting general repairs on S05’s wheels, hull, or other structures that suffer from wear-and-tear. | STR | Crafting Items |
Cobbler’s Tools | Maintains the magneto and jet boots which SO5’s crew use to get around in zero gravity. | STR | Crafting Items (clothes) |
Cook’s Utensils | The kitchen transforms bland nutrient paste into something semi-capable of maintaining crew morale and energy during long missions away from the other stations. | WIS/CON | Recuperating / Relaxation^ (benefits gained by all party members) |
Glassblower’s Tools | Replacing and polishing the array of mirrors that are used to execute time jumps. | DEX | Crafting Items (art) |
Herbalism Kit | Maintains the hydroponic nursery which grows the extremely potent arc berries which ferment into S05’s fuel. | INT | Crafting Items (potions, oils, powders) |
Jeweler’s Tools | Maintains the delicate network of Redstone wires and crystals that make up S05’s inner workings and computer matrix. | INT | Crafting Items (treasure*) |
Leatherworker’s Tools | Maintains and replaces the hundreds of space-suits necessary to keep the crew safe on space walks. | STR | Crafting Items (clothes, armour) |
Mason’s Tools | Re-carves any broken runic slates which encode the multitude of spells required to power S05 and their temporal jumps. | DEX/INT | Scribing Spell Scroll (runecraft) |
Navigator’s Tools | Acting as a co-pilot, assists the Baron with planning the overall route and identifying potential issues in the terrain ahead. | WIS/INT | Research (local astronomy) |
Painter’s Supplies | Mixing and applying the special paint and lacquer to the inside and outside of S05 at regular intervals helps to keep moisture and other contaminants out. | STR | Crafting Items (art*) |
Potter’s Tools | Casts and replaces the ceramic tiles that form the heat shielding that protects S05 exterior from heat, cold and impacts, especially during sustained burns. | DEX | Crafting Items (art) |
Smith’s Tools | Conducts repairs on the metallic frame and engine that suffer from wear and tear. | STR | Crafting Items (armour, weapons) |
Tinker’s Tools | Fixes just about anything that moves, beeps or flashes. | DEX/STR | Crafting Items |
Weaver’s Tools | Maintaining and repairing the fabric of the astral sail which is required to keep S05 on course. | DEX | Crafting Items (clothes, art) |
Woodcarver’s Tools | Creates miniature prototypes that can be scanned and upscaled for S05’s internal 3d multi-material printer to create replacement parts for the thousands of small things that can break or simple equipment. | DEX/INT | Crafting Items (art*) |
The typical rules for crafting items require that you pay half the cost in materials to create something of a given value. However, art and treasure are an exception, given that their value is typically embodied in the aesthetic quality imbued through the vision of the creator. When creating art (which might include furniture, jewellery, delicate beverages, or fashionable clothes), you only need to expend 20% of the items target price.
Characters who spend downtime resting / recuperating also gain 1HD of temp hitpoints per workweek, maximum their CON modifier.