Devlog #3 -- The Lonely Procedure of Lune

The Lonely Heart of Lune » Devlog
63 days ago by Riles
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For the Lune hexcrawl, I used Luke Gearing’s Hexfill Procedure for Wolves Upon the Coast, but with tweaks made to adjust it from “medieval Europe” to “colonized moon”. I found this method of scaffolding extremely satisfying, and feels like a major speed boost in the process of building out a setting.

The changes I made to Luke’s procedure were intended to reflect the barren, hardy surface of Lune. So, I made it more likely for a hex to be empty, and reduced settlement populations. I also opted to place monster lairs by hand, to control their quantity and proximity to settlements. And of course, I changed magic things to outer space things.

Finally, I modified the Hoard Classes and Trade Goods from Luke’s &&&&&&&&& Treasure to create ones suitable for Lune. The numbers are still debatable, as I haven’t used this is actually generate any hoards yet. But the structure of Hoard Classes feels logical to me, and I was unsettled by the void of Trade Goods in Monolith. I was similarly unsettled by the vagueness of “Credits” (which is not Monolith’s fault, this is true of most sci-fi games), and being inspired by the Coins in &&&&&&&&& Treasure, I wrote d5 Physical Forms of Credit.

I hope you enjoy this low-effort ripoff of Luke Gearing’s excellent work.

Lune Hexfill Procedure

Per hex, roll a d6. Place monster lairs by hand.

d6 Hex Contents
1-4 Nothing
5 Settlement
6 Weird

Settlement

Roll a d6 to determine Size and Population.

d6 Size Population
1-3 Village d10
4-5 Work Site d6*10
6 Outpost 3d6

Notes

Roll a d6 to determine the nature of the Settlement.

d6 Notes
1-3 Relationship to nearby hex.
4 A boon or ally.
5 Hostile.
6 Roll again & once on Weird

Weird

Roll a d10 to determine the nature of the Weird in the hex.

d10 Weirdness
1 Geography.
2 High Tech Component.
3 Strange Merchant.
4 Strange Tutor.
5 Strange Ally.
6 Flora/Fauna Behaviour.
7 Clue to Nearby Hex.
8 Ancient Alien Location.
9 Treasure.
0 Roll twice and combine.

Treasure

Pirates covers "normal" hoards and those found in Lune's dusty no-mans-lands. Pirates I is a local gang, Pirates III is a system-wide facilitator.

Farms are both active and ruined sites of resource extraction. Farm I is a family farm, Farm V is an operation that sustains thousands of lives on Lune.

Ruins are historical sites, often of scientific or spiritual significance. Ruin I is decaying infrastructure, Ruin III is a legendary location.

Alien covers hoards generated by those originating outside humanity's understanding. Alien I is a tall grey, Alien IV is a black hole hyper-dragon.

A Mythic hoard is ancient treasure, a corporation's vault, etc - the campaign-defining haul.

Treasure Type # Credits (C) Trade Goods Artifacts Maps High Tech
Pirates I 2d6*10C 1d10*100C 20%:1 20%:1 1%:1
II 2d6*100C 2d10*100C 40%:1 20%:1 5%:1
III 6d6*100C 4d10*100C Nil Nil 20%:1d4
Farms I 1d8*10C Nil Nil Nil Nil
II 1d10*100C Nil 50%:1 Nil Nil
III 1d12*100C 1d4*100C 70%:1 Nil 10%:1
IV 2d6*100C 1d8*100C 1 30%:1 50%:1d4
V 2d10*1000C 1d4*1000C 1 50%:1 1d6
Ruins I 1d4*200C Nil 1 Nil Nil
II 1d6*300C 1d4*100C 2 Nil 10%:1
III 1d10*1000C 1d10*1000C 3 Nil 50%:1d4
Alien I Nil 1d6*100C 20%:1 20%:1 1
II 1d6*100C 1d8*100C 30%:1 40%:1 1d4
III 1d8*200C 1d10*100C 40%:1 1 1d6
IV 1d4*1000C 1d10*100C 1 1d4 2d8
Mythic 5d10*1000C 5d10*1000C 1d4 1d6 2d10

Trade Goods
If indicated in a hoard, 1d4 types of trade goods are present. Divide the amount required by the per-item value to get how many of each are present. Values are average. Quality varies across instances of an item: a single precious stone may make up half the rolled value. Distance from origin increases value - double prices for each system jump to the nearest source.

1d100 Trade Good Value Complications
1 Alien ceramics 75C per vase Proscribed, delicate.
2-3 Drugs 40C per dose Proscribed, spoils, pungent.
4-5 Alcohol 15C per bottle Proscribed, delicate.
6 Trip chips 250C per chip Proscribed, ruined by EMP.
7-8 Scripture 50C per document Proscribed, delicate.
9 Water from Earth 50C per vial Proscribed, delicate.
10 Soil from Earth 75C per bucket Proscribed.
11 Robot brains 500C per brain Proscribed, ruined by EMP.
12 Live animals 100C per animal Proscribed, bulky, pungent.
13-15 Small arms As weapon Proscribed.
16-18 Body armor As armor Proscribed.
19-20 High-end clothing 80C per garment Delicate, bulky.
21-25 Work clothing 15C per garment Bulky.
26-28 Standard ammunition 50C per bandolier
29-30 Specialty ammunition 200C per bandolier
31-35 Starship fuel 200C per tank Bulky.
36-37 Uranium ingots 100C per ingot
38-39 Moonrocks 50C per moonrock
40-41 Iron ingots 25C per ingot
42-43 Helium-3 45C per tank
44 Lithium hydroxide 200C per crate
45-46 Silica 30C per crate Delicate.
47-48 Nanocarbon thread 50C per spool
49-50 Encyclopedic databank 50C per databank Delicate, ruined by EMP.
51-52 Engineering tools 100C per tool
53-55 Gemstones 50C per item
56-57 Jewelry 100C per item
58-59 Incense 50C per pouch Delicate, pungent.
60 Perfumes 100C per bottle Delicate, pungent.
61-63 Ambergris 150C per vial Extremely pungent.
64 Textiles 50C per bale Delicate.
65 Goose down 50C per sack Absorbs smells.
66-67 Sheep wool 50C per bale Bulky, pungent.
68-69 Exomammal pelts 70C per hide Bulky.
70-71 Salt 100C per block Ruined by moisture.
72-73 Saplings 100C per sapling Delicate, needs sun & water.
74-77 Crop seeds 140C per crate Delicate.
78-79 Ornamental seeds 80C per crate Delicate.
80 Honey 150C per jar Delicate, sticky.
81-82 Cheese 35C per wheel Pungent.
83-84 Powdered spices 80C per pouch Delicate, pungent.
85 Raw Meat (butchered) 40C per ration Spoils.
86-90 Raw Meat (vat-grown) 15C per ration
91-93 Raw Fruit/Vegetables 15C per ration Spoils, may bruise.
94-96 Nutrient paste 5C per ration
97-00 Potable water 100C per tank

Credits
"Credits" are a theoretical framework facilitating exchange throughout human space. Under normal conditions, credits are stored in bank accounts or otherwise recorded by creditors. When debtors live outside the law or things begin to fall apart, credits are hoarded in physical objects.

Credits discovered in hoards tie to the time of their origin. Hoards which are found were never claimed by their originator.

d5 Physical forms of credit
1 Digital thumb drives. Cold storage of digital currency recognized by many corporations. Extremely common in corporate stations and long-settled planets. If a drive is encrypted, extracting the currency requires a password, a hack, or a way to convince the manufacturer's customer service that you're really, really supposed to have it.
2 Printed bills and/or deeds. Representations of legal agreements with a current or former hegemon of any size. Exact credit values of these are debatable until redeemed. If the legal regime that printed it is no longer in power, its redeemable value depends upon the holder's ability to enforce it. Collectors and historians may buy such items for half their stated value; those eager to pursue a claim on applicable property may pay double.
3 Stamped metal coinage. Many younger planetary societies without a strong connection to inter-system trade resort to mined metals to facilitate hand-to-hand trade. Such coins, stamped with the face or heraldry of a local ruler, can be counterfeited easily, and typically do not originate with a powerful hegemony. Thus, they are of little value in a system-level context, unless the coins are made of a particularly rare metal, or if the story of their origin is of particular interest to researchers or collectors. 100 coins may be worth 1C in general.
4 Compressed oxygen tanks. Highly valued everywhere humans live in vacuum. A topped-up tank is worth 500C, and can make 1 spaceship hold habitable for 1 human for 100 days. However, most who buy such tanks do not ever intend to release the oxygen within; stations prefer ongoing oxygenation methods such as algae farming, while most spaceships are equipped with lithium hydroxide reactors. Regardless, there is little better backup plan for calamity in space than a solid tank of pure oxygen.
5 New information. Although humanity has risen far above its humble Earthbound beginnings, there is always more to learn. Hegemons across human space fund research on innumerable topics, but the results of this research do not always make it back to their sponsors. Recovered data from lost research, evidence of crimes or accidents, and other information previously unknown to humanity, are all commonly bartered against credits. However, making sure the information retains its novelty until credits can be exchanged is often a challenge.

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