11.2.4: Space Adventures

Space is the classic Wing Commander Universe setting, so it should come as no surprise that most adventures in WCRPG will be set in space. Space adventures refer to any story wherein a character group must leave the confines of a planet. Space itself is little more than a special type of wilderness with its own unique set of qualities. The main difference between space and other adventure settings is that in the vast majority of cases a character group cannot just up and go out into space under their own physical power. They will need a space vehicle (a shuttle, capsule, transport, fightercraft or capital ship) in which to travel. Because of this necessity, the character group has to work as a team, becoming more like the different parts of a single entity (namely their vehicle of choice) during a space adventure.
Creating a space adventure is only a little different from creating a wilderness 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 designer has a little more breathing room for their own tailored encounters. Like wilderness adventures, a space adventure can be treated similarly to a site-based adventure; all that's needed are a few encounters along the way. Each encounter point can be treated as a site in its own right, though determining its boundaries is trickier; in general, there are no landmarks to serve as natural boundaries in space. It's usually best to use the maximum combat range (fifteen range increments) as the "boundaries". In Wing Commander, encounters typically occur around nav points and/or "ambush" points.
As with wilderness adventures, space adventures can be incorporated into a larger story. Such an adventure may begin at a point of origin, use the space portion of the adventure to travel to a specific site off-world, have some events at the destination site, and then use another space portion to return to the point 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 the setting for the bulk of the adventure (such as they are sent to attack a specific target like an enemy space station).
Space is inherently the most hostile environment in which a character can find themselves; extreme heat, extreme cold, no atmosphere, lethal radiation and the like are all commonplace. Few creatures can withstand these conditions; characters that must go take a dip in the void must have the appropriate gear (such as a Pressure Suit) in order to survive. Actual exposure to the space environment is almost always fatal; for more on environmental effects and how they affect characters, see Chapter 12.3.
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