It's one week until Stargrave ventures into a new frontier! Let's hand over to author Joseph A. McCullough for a sneak peek at how rules for all-new Space Encounters work at the table...

My favourite part of Bold Endeavour is the Space Encounter Tables. These tables bring a major new narrative aspect to the game by determining what happens to the crews between games when they are flying around space. They could find a derelict ship, get attacked by pirates, encounter a time anomaly, or even run into the dreaded space kraken! This table meshes with the new mechanics for spaceship and crew assignments that also play a large element in the book. Perhaps the best part though is how easily expandable it all is. Players can easily modify what I have written to create more space encounter possibilities that fit specifically with their own campaigns. I believe the table is the first step in a major new aspect of the game.

A photo of miniature figures and terrain for wargaming: a crew of aliens and a robot dog in front of their landed spaceship in a snowy environment.

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"To determine if the crews have a space encounter, each player should roll one die before the scenario begins and consult Space Encounter Table I below. Alternatively, one player can roll on the table and all players have the same encounter. This is ‘more fair’, but frankly, ‘less fun’.

A table titled "SPACE ENCOUNTER TABLE I" showing results of a die roll against an associated event: 1-6 is No encounter, 7-12 is Encounter before the scenario, 13-18 is Encounter after the scenario, and 19-20 is Encounters before and after the scenario.

If the die roll resulted in an encounter before the scenario, the player should roll again on Space Encounter Table II. This will give the actual encounter faced. The player should go ahead and follow the instructions for the given encounter before proceeding to the scenario. This is important as some encounters can affect a crew before the game.

A table titled "SPACE ENCOUNTER TABLE II" showing the results of a die roll opposite associated events: from 1-20, Blockade, Ship in Distress, Comet, Black Hole, Fight in Progress, Distress Signal, Labyrinthine Plasma Cloud, Asteroid Field, Dark Stars, Wounded Space Whale, Ancient probe, Derelict Ship, Space Kraken, Oort Cloud, Abandoned Station, First Contact, Pirate Ambush, Worm Hole, Space/Time Anomaly, Flyby.

If the result on the first table calls for an encounter after the scenario, the player should make a note of this, and wait to roll for their encounter after the game (after checking for Survival and Levelling Up, but before buying or selling anything)."

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Stargrave: Bold Endeavour is out 19th October in the UK and 17th October in the US.

Pre-order now.

A footer banner for the Stargrave series, with the quote "The very best of the sci-fi games we've played" from Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine alongside awards crests for the series wins at UK Games Expo, all against a blue and purple nebula background.