The Expanding Frontier

Creating Sci-fi RPG Resources

  • Home
  • Order a Map
  • Order Miniatures
  • Supporters
  • About
  • Bio

About

This site is dedicated to producing and sharing resources for use in science fiction role-playing games.  I’ll be posting about the materials created, as well as behind the scenes looks at how it was created.  I’ll also be posting tutorials on my process and tools.  While most of the pieces will be provided for free, some of the final products will be for sale. In addition, this site and the projects are supported by a Patreon campaign. Patreon supports receive access to additional material, free copies of the finished products, and early access to some of the materials presented on the blog.  Some of the blog posts will be available to Patron supporters only.

What are we making?

The short answer is a wide variety of resources for use in science fiction role-playing games. But you probably want more detail than that.

The typical end goal of each project will be an adventure that a GM could use in their game. As part of that process, I will be creating locations, stories, characters, equipment, ships, vehicles, creatures, and possibly entire worlds, along with anything else needed to make the adventure complete. Each of those items could be used individually as well. I will occasionally also just do some stand-alone material that is not part of a specific adventure. As a patron, you receive early access to, and free electronic copies of, all material produced as it is produced.

In addition to the written material and maps, I dabble in 3D modeling and printing. Any time I create a starship, I’ll be creating a 3D printable model. I might even try that for some of my other creations as well.  I’m also a software developer so sometimes the things I create may be software tools to assist in running or creating your game.

The one thing I don’t do is draw. At least not very well. So don’t expect a lot of character, creature, or location sketches. I can do maps, but I plan on outsourcing any serious artwork.

How is this going to work?

It will all start with the idea for an adventure or other project. It may come from me, or it may come from my patrons. I’ll flesh the basic idea out and determine the assets needed to complete it. At that point, I’ll start making the maps, characters, ships, and other pieces needed. Eventually, it will all be done and released either for sale or for free depending exactly on the IP involved. All of my Explorer ($5/mo) and higher level patrons will get electronic versions of any final products. After that, we start over again on a new project.

As development progresses, I will hold monthly (or more frequent as the Patreon matures) chats with my patrons at the higher levels to discuss topics of interest or directions for future projects. As we hit higher goals, I’ll also start running on-line games for patrons where we playtest the adventures or material under development. Other levels will allow me to put in appearances at gaming conventions to run games in person.

To get the ball rolling, I have a three projects to prime the pump:

  • A large starship which will include dozens of deck plans, a full write-up on the ship, and a 3-D model or two.
  • A complete adventure I just finished running for my home game
  • A module for a new game system I am working on with the game’s creator

That should get us started and then we’ll see where things go. This is all very much a work in progress so if there are things you’d like to see or for me to do, let me know. I’m more than willing to adjust things as we go and figure this out together.

Why a Patreon?

Two reasons. One is accountability. By being beholden to supporters to produce content, it motivates me to be consistent in my production schedule. Additionally, patron support will encourage me to work on material regularly and share it as I go.

The second is freedom. I’d love to be able to do this full time. But I have to pay the bills. As I consistently produce new material and increase the number of patrons, I will be able to dedicate more of my time to this endeavor that I love and produce even more content for my supporters to enjoy.

Why monthly as opposed to per creation? I debated this for quite a while. In the end, because I will be producing a wide variety of materials of varying scope that could take anywhere from a few days to a few months, a per creation model didn’t really make sense. A monthly model allows me to pursue larger projects and deliver pieces along the way while working toward the larger goal.

What Game Systems are the Material for?

The answer to that is: it depends. While much of the material will be mostly system agnostic, game stats need a system. So we might as well get this out of the way at that beginning. The game closest to my heart is Star Frontiers, TSR’s old sci-fi RPG from the early 80’s. I’ve been playing since I was 12 and have be one of the primary torch-bearers for the game on-line in the past decade. The initial material will most likely be focused on Star Frontiers for the complete adventures simply because it is the one I’m most familiar with.

That said, much of the material can be lifted directly into other systems, only the specific stats will be system specific. The other system that I’ll initially focus on is FrontierSpace, a new sci-fi RPG inspired by Star Frontiers that my friend Bill Logan has published.

However, one of the goals of this Patreon is to produce material that can be used regardless of the game system and I want to produce conversions wherever possible. That’s why one of the early goals of the project is to start acquiring additional game systems to provide conversion rules for the material produced. If I get a lot of requests for a specific game system, I will definitely look into creating material for that system.

Become a Patron!

Recent Posts

  • Building Print Editions of the Star Frontiersman
  • Detailed Frontier Timeline – FY61.294 to FY61.325
  • State of the Frontier – Dec 2020
  • HSS History’s Hope Deck Plans – part 1
  • Thoughts on the Second Sathar War
  • Battle of Ken’zah-Kit (K’aken-Kar) – FY61.296
  • Detailed Frontier Timeline – FY61.265 to FY61.294
  • State of the Frontier – Nov 2020
  • Second Battle of Stenmar (Kazak) – FY61.293
  • Battle of New Pale (Truane’s Star) – FY61.287

Categories

  • 3D Models
  • Adventures
  • Background
  • Creatures/Races
  • Deck Plans
  • Equipment
  • General
  • Locations
  • Maps
  • NPCs
  • Optional Rules
  • Patreon-only
  • Project Overviews
  • Reviews
  • Setting Material
  • Starships
  • System Brief
  • Vehicles
  • Writing

Recent Comments

  • Jess carver on Building Print Editions of the Star Frontiersman
  • Building Print Editions of the Star Frontiersman – The Expanding Frontier on State of the Frontier – Dec 2020
  • Tom H on HSS History’s Hope Deck Plans – part 1
  • Thomas Verreault on Thoughts on the Second Sathar War
  • Thomas Verreault on Extended Frontier Map – final update – Referee’s Map
  • Thomas Verreault on Extended Frontier Map – final update – Referee’s Map
  • State of the Frontier – Dec 2020 – The Expanding Frontier on Battle of Ken’zah-Kit (K’aken-Kar) – FY61.296
  • HSS History’s Hope Deck Plans – part 1 – The Expanding Frontier on Mapping Rosegard – Part 1
  • Thoughts on the Second Sathar War – The Expanding Frontier on Starship Construction in the Frontier
  • Tom on Star Map Generator – GUI Edition

Archives

  • January 2021 (2)
  • December 2020 (5)
  • November 2020 (11)
  • October 2020 (4)
  • September 2020 (5)
  • August 2020 (4)
  • July 2020 (6)
  • June 2020 (5)
  • May 2020 (8)
  • April 2020 (5)
  • March 2020 (5)
  • February 2020 (5)
  • January 2020 (5)
  • December 2019 (7)
  • November 2019 (4)
  • October 2019 (6)
  • September 2019 (5)
  • August 2019 (6)
  • July 2019 (7)
  • June 2019 (5)
  • May 2019 (6)
  • April 2019 (7)
  • March 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (5)
  • January 2019 (7)
  • December 2018 (5)
  • November 2018 (10)
  • October 2018 (4)
  • September 2018 (4)
  • August 2018 (5)
  • July 2018 (4)
  • June 2018 (4)
  • May 2018 (12)

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
Powered by WordPress | theme Layout Builder