I’ve been working on roughing out the map for Osiris Base and thought I’d share the rough sketches with you. Especially since I won’t have much to post for a while as I work on the final versions of these maps.
Starting with this part of the project, I’ve started working out a new workflow. I recently purchased a new laptop, so instead of an really old (7+ years) netbook with an Atom processor, I’ve got a shiny new Lenovo Yoga 730. These images were drawn on the touch screen of that laptop in tablet mode using a Lenovo Active Pen 2 Stylus and using the Autodesk Sketchbook app.
Previously I used to do my sketches on my Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2″ tablet. Then I would transfer it to my desktop and work on the final images. The new laptop allows my to do the initial sketches and final work all on the same computer. The laptop is more powerful than both my tablet and my old desktop so it was been really nice to work on.
Enough about the setup, on to the sketches.
Overview and Main Level
Osiris base is carved out of an asteroid in the outer belt of the Duergan’s Star System that I detailed in the last post. This first sketch shows and overview of the asteroid and the relative positions of the various parts of the base, along with a detail of the docking and processing level. This level houses the ore processing plant, technical facilities, docking bay, and ore and supply storage areas. Access to the mines themselves is on this level
Click for full sized image.
Crew Level
This level houses the crew quarters along with the base’s computer system, life support system, offices, and recreation facilities.
Click for full sized image.
Power Station Level
This level simply houses the nuclear generator that powers the complex. It is buried deep within the asteroid away from the crew level.
Click for full sized image.
Suggestions/Comments
That’s it so far. The ship buried in the core of the asteroid (seen on the overview map) will be detailed in a different section of the adventure so I’ll work on that later. I also don’t plan on detail the mines as they twist and turn through three dimensions as they followed the richer ores.
If you have any suggestions or comments as to things that I forgot or should include in the map, feel free to let me know in the comments below. I’ll probably think of some as I start working on the details. When I first started, I forgot to add in the ore processing facility. I was posting sketchs on a Google Plus community when I realized I had overlooked that major detail. Luckily it was easy enough to add in.
As I mentioned at the beginning, there probably won’t be any major posts for a while while I work on these maps. I need to develop a process to match the style of maps that Bill has already produced for FrontierSpace so that things look consistent. I don’t know how long that will take. I’ll try to keep you posted as I go.
Duergan’s Star system is where the Ghost Ship Osiris adventure takes place. Part of the module is a short write-up of the system. Presented here for you enjoyment.
There might be a few tweaks to this after Bill looks over it but for the most part this is the final description of the star system. Bill wrote most of the background, I primarily did the astronomical data.
Duergan’s Star System
History
In -391 GFT, a starship from a distant point of origin crashed on a terrestrial world orbiting a yellow star. The Hawthorne was a rather large science research vessel that supported a crew of 100 Human scientists and technicians. The captain of the vessel, Dr. Duergan Mindner, identified it as a safe place to set down the failing ship, saving its crew but stranding them far from home. This was the first time Humans set foot on any of the worlds of the Frontier sector, and would become the start of their long legacy of influence. Just under 40 years later, Human migration vessels began their voyage from afar to make these worlds their homes.
Today, Hawthorne and Parnell have heavy Human populations. These two habitable planets reside within the habitable zone of the system’s primary Star. Its people share a cultural and economic brotherhood with those of the Kassel and Bhant Systems, the three comprising a region known as “The Ring,” a central hub of cultural, corporate, industrial, and economic activity for the Galactic Federation.
The local government of Duergan’s Star, headquartered on Parnell, is a member of the Galactic Federation and has been since its founding. The Federation keeps a naval garrison here and operates three navigational buoys, providing secure trade routes to Kassel (4 LY away), Bhant (4 LY away), and Krighton (11 LY away, gateway to the Asimaar Prelacy).
Star System
Duergan’s Star System. Planets are to scale with one another and the orbital distances are to scale on a logarithmically scaled axis
The star itself is a yellow G7V main sequence star with a mass of 0.9 galactic standard solar masses (1.795×1030kg). It has a luminosity of 0.693 stellar luminosities (2.69×1026 W) and a diameter of 0.93 standard diameters (1.29 million km). Its surface temperature is 5472K.
Most of the star system is relatively close to the planet (less than 13 AU) but it has one distant world in the outer reaches. The Duergan’s Star system contains two asteroid belts, two habitable planets, an ice giant planet, and three other worlds. The FTL horizon is at 1.5 AU, 0.38 and 0.65 AU beyond the two habitable planets.
Inner Belt
The inner belt is a very high density asteroid belt filled with smaller objects that orbit between 0.2 and 0.4 AU from Duergan’s Star. There are considerable resources to be found by those that work the belt and numerous ships can be found here.
Wescott
Wescott is a large terrestrial planet orbiting 0.5 AU from the star. It has a surface gravity of 1.6g and is 1.34 standard diameters in size. It has six small moons that are asteroids captured from the inner belt. Its surface is covered with large impact craters – witness to regular bombardment by strays from the inner belt.
Hawthorne
Hawthorne was the first planet settled by humanity in the frontier. Despite its long history and large urban sprawls, Hawthorne is a remarkably clean planet. Founded by scientists who understood the need to be careful with their new world, the people have maintained that tradition over the centuries.
Hawthorne is a higher than average density world, Although it has a diameter of 11,097.9 km (0.87 standard), it has a surface gravity of 1.1g. It orbits 0.85 AU from the primary and has a warm pleasant climate with a day lasting 26.5 standard hours. It has four small moons.
Parnell
Parnell was settled much later after the Hawthorne colony was well established. Parnell is an ocean world with only a few very small island continents. These islands are completely covered with cities and overpopulated. The climate is very mild but not cold. The large oceans result in a bit more greenhouse warming and the planet is warmer than a typical terrestrial planet at this distance from its primary.
Parnell orbits 1.12 AU from Duergan’s Star and has a diameter of 8164 km. Its surface gravity is 0.9g and it rotates once every 21.3 hours. It has two moons. The mild climate, low gravity, and abundant beaches make tourism a major industry on the planet.
Outer Belt
The outer asteroid belt is not as dense and the inner belt (rating only a moderate density) but the individual objects in this belt are individually very large, often bordering on being minor planets themselves. Outpost Osiris is located on a medium sized asteroid in this belt. The belt is fairly wide with objects in this belt having orbits ranging from 1.6 to 2.8 AU from the star. Like the inner belt, there are considerable resources here and many mining operations are scattered throughout the belt.
Dungannon
Orbiting at a distance of 5.24 AU from Duergan’s Star, Dungannon is a dwarf planetoid 6250.5 km in diameter. It has a surface gravity of 0.53g and spins on its axis once every 75.5 hours. Dunganon has single large moon that is tidally locked to the planet (orbiting and also rotating once every 75.5 hours). This moon has a surface gravity of just under 0.1g. It has a diameter of 1722.2 km.
Coombs
Coombs is the system’s only Jovian planet and is classified as an Ice Jovian being composed of more methane and ammonia than pure hydrogen gas. It orbits 12.12 AU from the star, and has a diameter of 44646.7 km. It rotates once every 18 hours and has 37 moons ranging in size from small asteroids to o jects that are small worlds in their own right.
Winterbourne
The final, distant object in the system to be classified as a planet is the small dwarf planetoid Winterbourne. This cold, frigid planet orbits 78.83 AU from the star. It has a diameter of 3954.4 km and a surface gravity of only 0.21g. Like Dungannon, it rotates very slowly completing one rotation every 76.2 hours. Winterbourne is a solitary object with no moons. Lost in the clutter of small objects in the outer system, Winterbourne has only been considered a full plant for the past 43 years.
The following table summarizes the planetary data for the primary objects in the Duergan’s Star system.
Originally, I had planned to have one more Mapping Rosegard video here that covered adding in the labels for the roads and making the black and white version of the map you’ll see below but for some reason, the audio didn’t record, only the video. Since I didn’t want (or really have the time) to do a voice over, and it’s not that important of a topic, I decided just to drop it. Also, it is something I can easily cover in a future series.
So instead, you’re getting the post that I had originally planned for the beginning of next week, the final maps along with the write-up on the town proper.
Rosegard
The final Rosegard map. Click for full sized image (~6MB)
History
Rosegard is located about 400 km northwest of Point True. It was founded shortly after the Great Sathar War as part of the resettlement effort initiated by the Pale government. It originally consisted of six human families that set up homesteads in the valley using the agriculture subsidies the government provided to encourage development of farming to supply food for the population. Over time, the small village has grown to include 13 families, many of the additional families are children of the original settlers that went away to school and then returned.
While there is no shortage of technology in the village, it is still primarily an agricultural center. Most of the actual agriculture work is done by robots but supervised by the towns inhabitants. The technological specialists in town keep the robots, vehicles, and computer systems running to manage the farm production. Every week, trucks arrive to pick up crops to take into the larger population centers to sell.
About 18 years ago, one of the villagers was up exploring in the mountains and discovered a vein of gold that had been revealed by some recent erosion. Lacking the infrastructure to properly mine the valuable resource themselves, the village brokered a deal with Streel (formerly known as Streele Mining before the war) to lease the company the rights to the mine. The mine proved to be more lucrative than either party imagined and is still active to this day.
The village’s income from the mine amounts to several million credits every year. That money is held in trust and used to maintain the village infrastructure, pay for primary and secondary education for all of the village youth, and other expenses as needed.
There is a very good relationship between the workers at the mine and the city. In addition to providing additional revenue to the village, the mine employs the village’s technical workers (the technician, roboticist, and computer specialist) to help assist with work at the mine in addition to their own staff. The mine staff also takes advantage of the medical facilities provided in the village. Reciprocally, the village invites the mine staff down for any town activities and has integrated them as part of the community. The youth often go up to the mine to see operations there and the mine staff often come down to teach mini-lectures in the village school.
Inhabitants
Original Homesteading Families
These are the senior members of the community who originally founded it. Their houses are located around the circular loop at the north end of town. These families primarily work the agriculture portion of the village’s activities.
Genio & Kathy Washy – Genio is the town mayor. They have two older children living at home. They live in the home on the same plot as the General Store. Kathy is a horticulturist and is responsible for tending the rose hedges in the central part around the gazebo. It is these rose gardens that gave the village its name.
Martin & Jenne Lexand – They have two children living at home. They live in the home on the same plot as the Technician shop/Garage.
Steven & Janie Hite – They have three kids living at home.
Matthua & Julie Colly – They have three kids living at home.
Jon & Jessa Smeson – They have a single child living at home
Reme & Kayelyn Marte – The youngest of the original settlers, they still have four children living at home
Newer Families
These families are younger, many of them being the older kids of the earlier settlers. Their houses are built around the block on the west side of town.
Rickern & Mikaela Bennez – Mikaela is the second child of Jon & Jessa Smeson and the town’s roboticist having studied at Pale University. Rickern helps manage the Smeson farm. They have three children.
Mese & Braealyn Washy – Mese is the oldest child of Genio & Kathy Washy. They run the town’s General Store and have three kids, ages 17, 14, & 12 who also help out at the store when not in school.
Larroy & Camryn Tinnett – Camryn is the daughter of Steven & Janie Hite and is the town’s computer specialist having studied at the Triad Institute of Technology. Larroy is a veterinarian and works with the village doctor. They have a single daughter, Allyssa, age 12.
Rickey & Ilana Cooker – Rickey and Ilana met Camryn at school and she convinced them to move to Pale when she returned home. Ilana is the town doctor and also has some veterinarian skills. Rickey helps work the Hite farm with his in-laws. They have four kids.
Benjoe & Abbil Leray – Benjoe is a childhood friend of Rickern Bennez and became enamored of the quite life in Rosegard when visiting one year. Both he and Abbil are teachers and work at the village’s school. They have five children
Joshua & Miya Welley – Josh and Miya are the newest members of the village and the only ones that didn’t have an immediate connection when then arrived. As the village grew, the need for a city clerk arose and Miya was hired to handle the administrative affairs of the growing village. She works in the City Center handling a wide variety of tasks for the town. Joshua is a teacher and works with the Leray’s in the town’s school.
Mikkel & Danielle Lexand – Mikkel is the son of Martin and Jenne Lexand and is the town’s technician running the garage/tech shop in town. Danielle helps out on the Lexand farm. They have one child.
City Buildings
General Store
This building contains a wide variety of goods that are used regularly by the small village. While a lot of the supplies are foodstuffs and farming supplies, there are a number of small high tech wares as well. Larger items, such as robots, most weapons, and vehicles, have to be special ordered in from Point True but the store has access to the full Streel and PGC catalog and anything ordered will arrive in 2-4 days.
Technician/Garage
This is where Mikkel keeps all the village’s vehicles and equipment running. It has room inside to work on three vehicles at any one time. It is a fully equipped and modern repair shop and any Technician skill checks performed using this area gain a +10% bonus.
City Community Center
This large building consists of two stories, unlike all the other buildings in town. The lower level is a large gathering hall used for town activities and celebrations. The upper level contains the city offices where Miya works as well as the village’s central computer system. There are also half a dozen guest rooms that function as the village’s inn when they have overnight visitors. While most of the rooms can be used by any race, one of them is specifically appointed with furniture designed for the Vrusk anatomy. Across the street to the north, and directly east of the building are large grass fields used for outdoor activities as well.
School
The village’s school is where the younger kids spend their day getting their primary education. It is divided into several small classrooms where specialized classes can be presented dependent on age and ability level. Because of the small number of children in the village, there are not really “traditional” classes and each child has a workstation where they receive individual and tailored instruction based on their needs and interests. The school is very high tech and state-of-the-art. A lot of the village’s mine revenue has gone into its education facilities. As such the children in the village are often smarter and sharper than would be expected for their age.
Computer/Robotics Shop
Mikaela and Camryn share this building to work on the villages computers and robots. While the building is mostly given over to tech space to work on the various agriculture robots used by the village, there is also some space given over to computer repair as well. This building also houses a backup computer system for the village. If PC’s are looking for computer or robotic parts, they are more likely to find them here than at the General Store. The facilities here are top notch and any computer or robotics repair or upgrade attempts receive a +10% skill bonus.
Doctor’s Office
This small office has a small operating room, and three patient rooms in addition to the foyer and waiting area. Dr. Cooker has a small office here as well. The building is designed for patients of the core four races and while they do handle veterinary duties, those occur on location outside the office. Like the other areas in the town, the facilities here are of an higher than average grade and all medical checks made in the facility gain a +10% skill bonus.
Alternate maps
In addition to the main map above, I created one with no labels and another one in black and white. These two maps are presented below.
No Labels
Final map with the labels removed. Click for full sized image (~6MB)
Black & White
Final Rosegard map in black and white (with labels) – Click for full sized image (~2MB)
And that’s it for Rosegard for now. Next up I’ll be shifting gears back to the Ghost Ship Osiris module and you’ll be getting some information on the star system the adventure takes place in.
In this segment we finish up the map by adding in some small details such as driveways, a fence around the school yard, a scale, and then add in the labels on the public buildings. The earlier videos can be found here: part 1, part 2, part 3.
With the map finished we export the final finished version.
I will be doing one more video related to this map and then will post the final map for everyone to use if they wish.
