Exploring

Despite the fact that the original age of exploration following the Exodus is over, there remain many wild zones scattered throughout the various quadrants of the Star Traders universe. These wild zones can provide great riches for those willing to explore them, but many also harbor great danger for those who dare to step foot on them. Wild zones may also be a destination for missions given by faction contacts. They provide discreet places for a rendezvous or a good spot to hide a valuable bit of information until it can be picked up by someone else. Exploiting these zones is the wheelhouse of Explorer, Exo-Scout and Scientist characters. Exo-Scouts are slightly more suited to crew combat which will inevitably be encountered in the wild. To a much lesser extent, Scavengers are also focused on exploring.

### Strategy

Like other operations, becoming a great Explorer will require a dedicated build. Increasing ship Explore and Tactics Skill Pools should be a key priority. Explorers will also need to invest in Talents that will help them determine the results of the card game. Most of these are provided by Explore, Exo-Scout and Scavenger crew members. In the early game, it is best to Explore often, checking the hand that is dealt at nearly every wild zone that can be visited and only playing those hands that give a reasonable chance of success versus possible negative outcomes. As a Captain's crew and ship develop, they will be able to engage in more extended explorations of the planet of their choice.

Every Wilderness zone has its own set of statistics that will determine both the risks and rewards of exploration.

* Exploration: Higher values allow you to explore more rounds in a row before the zone is temporarily picked clean (and unavailable for further exploration outside of missions.)
* Richness: How valuable, rare and unique the zone's exploration results are.
* Danger: How dangerous operating within this Zone is.

### The Card Game

In order to explore, a Captain must land in a Wilderness Zone. The User Interface will allow them to explore, create or use a stash or complete a mission. The results of exploring and explore missions are determined by a card game. The Captain will draw 5 cards which are determine by risk and reward factors. He or she may then have the opportunity to modify their draw through the use of crew talents which allow them to redraw, remove or improve a card. Then one card will randomly be selected from the remaining cards providing either a negative, positive or neutral result. If a negative result is drawn it is possible that it's results may be avoided by a test of certain captain and ship skills. All exploring actions consume time but not fuel.

## Card Game Mechanics/Logic

Card games are based on a deck of cards. Based on the Risk Factors and Reward Factors, positive and negative cards are used to create the deck. Risk and Reward Factors are also used to calculate the chance of Common, Good and Rare positive cards and Risk Factors calculate the Low, Medium and Max Risk changes. These are used to then determine which positive and negative cards are in the deck. For example, areas with higher Common Rewards will feature more +1 and +2 cards, while areas with high Max Risks will feature more -5 cards. Once the hand is shuffled and dealt, 5 cards are shown and the chance to draw any one of those five cards is 20% (random card selection). Upon completion of the hand and after the results of the final card are handled, the deck is reshuffled and 5 new cards are dealt.

Mission steps that require a successful card draw start at the normal base 20% chance of selection. However, after each unsuccessful draw, the chance increases by 2%. Without talents modifying the odds, you can expect to succeed at the mission step in 3 or fewer attempts most of the time, in 9 or fewer attempts almost all the time, and for a very unlucky few 41 attempts would be required. On the 41st draw, the chance of success is 100%.

Danger Rating |  [ - 1 to - 5] Crew Danger
 [ - 1 to - 5] Ship Danger
 [ - 1 ] Scavenger Combat
 [ - 2 ] Pirate Combat
 [ - 4 ] Xeno Combat
 [ - 1 ] Weeks Lost
Tactics Skill Pool
Explore Skill Pool
Captain's Wisdom |  [ +1 ] Raw Resources
 [ +1 ] Refined Resources
 [ +2 ] Mission success
 [ +2 ] Uncover Rumor
 [ +2 ] Fuel Depot
 [ +2 ] Smuggler's Cache
 [ +1 or +4 ] Intel Find
 [ +2 to +8 ] Xeno Artifacts
 [ +3 ] Ship Wreck (repair and refuel)
 [ +3 ] Contact Introduction
 [ +3 ] Pirate Treasure (credits and pirate combat)
 [ +5 ] Xeno Spore (artifacts and xeno combat)