So a few weeks after I started trying to sandbox the sci-fi setting I'm about ready to walk away from the whole damn thing. Space is f-ing huge and mapping it is just insane. Seriously, seriously, SERIOUSLY, insane.
Most space maps come in one of two flavors. The first is the hex map of dots. They are purely for utility and generally kinda ugly. The other flavor is more artistic, usually a pretty galactic background with worlds, trade routes, or faction borders imposed upon it.
The first is functional, but inaccurate, the second is just pretty.
I really have no patience or use for either. I tried to make a sector with FM8...it worked sorta and I could cobble something functional out of it, but for the game table it's not real useful. I'm not going to print every map or bring a lap top with FM8 loaded and say "Go crazy guys" to my players. For one, the work involved in doing that is right at ridiculous. for two, the players would be overwhelmed with even a shred of what that involves.
So I need a solution that does not involve a lifetime of work and does not completely overwhelm my players. How the hell did I handle space travel in d6 back before the age of computer mapping software?
Oh that's right...this table in the core WEG book
It's a simple, and somewhat silly, little thing. Just lists the most notable planets from the star wars universe and list how long it takes to get from one to the other. Simple and somewhat elegant really. Maybe too much for a more massive setting with a few hundred worlds. Still, it worked.
So how I can adapt this to a sandbox and keep things moving along without a chart that lists several hundred worlds? Not sure yet, but I think it might be a more viable option that an actual galactic map. Even if it comes to a massive chart of planets, it would be easier.
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