Chapter 41 — Encounters
An encounter is something the world does while the crew is trying to do something else — the patrol that rounds the corner, the hail from the dark, the storm that wasn't on the forecast. This chapter gives you four D66 tables, one per place a Wanderer travels: the deep (fringe space and the sealed jump week), the station, the settlement, and the wild. Roll on the one that matches where the crew is when you want to put something in their path.
Most encounters are not fights. Wanderstar's danger is genuine (Chapter 33), but the table earns its tension from variety — a beggar with a warning, a rival with a smile, a hazard with a clock all complicate a scene as sharply as a drawn weapon. Lean on the social and exploration skills (Chapter 23) at least as often as the combat ones.
Index§
- The encounter frame
- Fringe space & the jump week (D66)
- Space stations (D66)
- Planetary settlements (D66)
- The natural landscape (D66)
The encounter frame§
Every encounter resolves the same way, whatever the table:
- Roll the subject. D66 on the relevant table tells you what the crew meets.
- Roll the situation and reaction (below) — what it's doing and how it takes the crew. This turns a noun into a scene.
- Let the players act, and they roll. As everywhere in Wanderstar, the dice belong to the players (Chapter 40). If the encounter threatens harm, the player rolls the skill that meets it against 8; on a failure you roll the threat's damage die (Chapter 40) against their armor. Danger rides on Advantage and Disadvantage, never a moved target number (Chapter 5).
You don't need every step every time. A quiet encounter is just the subject and a reaction; a dangerous one reaches for the damage dials. Read the result against where the crew is (Chapter 37) and who they are — the same patrol means one thing to a clean crew and another to one with a price on their heads.
Situation — what they're doing (1D6)§
| 1D6 | When the crew arrives, they are… |
|---|---|
| 1 | …in trouble, and it's getting worse |
| 2 | …doing their job, and the crew is in the way |
| 3 | …looking for someone or something |
| 4 | …lying in wait — this is no accident |
| 5 | …going about ordinary business, unaware |
| 6 | …already watching the crew, and have been |
Reaction — how they take the crew (1D6)§
Read alongside the subject's nature; this is the starting disposition (Chapter 35), not a fixed fate. Players can shift it with a roll.
| 1D6 | Reaction |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hostile — they move against the crew (the threat acts; Chapter 40) |
| 2 | Wary — ready for trouble, not yet committed |
| 3 | Indifferent — the crew is an obstacle or an irrelevance |
| 4 | Curious — they want something the crew has |
| 5 | Needy — they want help, or look like they do |
| 6 | Friendly — an opportunity, or a hook wearing a smile |
Fringe space & the jump week (D66)§
For deep space, the approach to a world, and the sealed week of a jump (Chapter 27) — when the crew is shut in together and the galaxy keeps turning. Some of these are out there; some are aboard.
| D66 | In the dark |
|---|---|
| 11 | A distress call, genuine and getting weaker |
| 12 | A distress call that's bait (Chapter 38) |
| 13 | A derelict drifting across the crew's path (Chapter 38) |
| 14 | A patrol or customs cutter requesting to board |
| 15 | Pirates, shadowing and deciding whether the crew is worth it |
| 16 | A rival crew on the same route, same destination (Chapter 35) |
| 21 | A drive fault — the jump is degrading mid-week (Chapter 27) |
| 22 | A stowaway discovered three days out |
| 23 | A passenger who isn't who their papers say |
| 24 | Cargo that's shifted, leaked, woken, or gone missing |
| 25 | A medical emergency aboard, no port for days (Chapter 10) |
| 26 | A crew quarrel that's been brewing since boarding |
| 31 | A jump-beacon that's been moved — the crew is off-course (Chapter 27) |
| 32 | A ship in genuine distress the crew could help or strip |
| 33 | A blockade or checkpoint across the only lane |
| 34 | A debris field where the charts show clear space |
| 35 | A sensor ghost that keeps pace and won't resolve |
| 36 | A convoy that wants the crew to join for safety — or for cover |
| 41 | A solar or radiation storm bearing down (Chapter 13) |
| 42 | A fuel shortfall — the sums don't reach the next port |
| 43 | An arriving ark, centuries overdue, making orbit now (Chapter 30) |
| 44 | A smuggler offering a deal that's too good |
| 45 | A military exercise the crew has blundered into |
| 46 | A beacon broadcasting a warning in an old code |
| 51 | A wreck with survivors in failing pods (Chapter 38) |
| 52 | A ship hailing by name — they know the crew |
| 53 | A quarantine picket turning all traffic back (Chapter 37) |
| 54 | A salvage claim dispute already in progress |
| 55 | A passenger's secret surfaces and changes the trip |
| 56 | A sabotage discovered — someone aboard isn't loyal |
| 61 | A ghost ship, intact, drifting silent (Chapter 38) |
| 62 | A hard-luck trader begging to offload cargo cheap |
| 63 | A faction vessel demanding tribute for passage (Chapter 34) |
| 64 | A jump that comes out somewhere wrong (Chapter 27) |
| 65 | A pursuer the crew thought they'd lost |
| 66 | Something out here that no one has a name for |
Space stations (D66)§
For docks, rings, hubs, and orbitals (Chapter 37) — the crowded, sealed, deal-making places.
| D66 | On the station |
|---|---|
| 11 | A dock official demanding fees, papers, or a bribe |
| 12 | A fixer with a job and a smile (Chapter 38) |
| 13 | A pickpocket, con, or short-change artist working the concourse |
| 14 | A brawl spilling out of a bar, pulling bystanders in |
| 15 | A beggar or refugee with a warning worth hearing |
| 16 | A merchant with a deal that's real but complicated (Chapter 28) |
| 21 | A rival crew, drunk, spoiling, or scheming (Chapter 35) |
| 22 | A faction recruiter working the desperate (Chapter 34) |
| 23 | A patrol or station security sweep, checking everyone |
| 24 | A Contact the crew didn't expect to see here (Chapter 35) |
| 25 | A medic, chaplain, or fixer who hears everything |
| 26 | A black-market seller with TL-12 stock and a nervous manner (Chapter 24) |
| 31 | A debt collector who recognizes someone in the crew (Chapter 28) |
| 32 | A station malfunction — air, gravity, or power flickering (Chapter 13) |
| 33 | A lockdown — the station seals while the crew's inside |
| 34 | A celebrity, magnate, or official and their entourage |
| 35 | A Sleeper newly woken, lost in a century they don't know (Chapter 30) |
| 36 | A street preacher whose crowd is getting agitated |
| 41 | A gambler offering a game the crew can't quite refuse |
| 42 | A theft in progress — and the crew is nearby when it's called |
| 43 | A child, runaway, or stowaway looking for passage |
| 44 | A bounty hunter comparing faces to a list |
| 45 | A corporate auditor or inspector asking pointed questions (Chapter 34) |
| 46 | A protest, strike, or riot building on the concourse (Chapter 34) |
| 51 | A broker selling information the crew needs and can't verify |
| 52 | A vendor whose goods are stolen, and the owner's coming |
| 53 | A drunk who knows a dangerous secret and won't shut up |
| 54 | A quarantine flag slapped on the crew's ship |
| 55 | A reunion — someone from a crew member's past (Chapter 22) |
| 56 | A station boss who wants a private word (Chapter 34) |
| 61 | A hull for sale cheap, because of what's wrong with it (Chapter 26) |
| 62 | A medical ship recruiting donors, subjects, or crew |
| 63 | A heritage flashpoint — two peoples, one grievance (Chapter 31) |
| 64 | A sabotage or bombing, and the crew is on the camera |
| 65 | A stranger who hands over a package and walks away |
| 66 | A figure of real power who's been waiting for the crew |
Planetary settlements (D66)§
For towns, camps, domes, and arcologies on the ground (Chapter 37) — where the crew meets a place's people and its problems.
| D66 | In the settlement |
|---|---|
| 11 | A local official who wants the crew gone, or wants a cut |
| 12 | A homesteader offering hospitality, with strings |
| 13 | A bar, market, or square where the wrong word starts a fight |
| 14 | A patrol, militia, or company guard throwing weight around (Chapter 34) |
| 15 | A trader with goods the crew wants and a price that bites (Chapter 28) |
| 16 | A child or elder who's seen something they shouldn't have |
| 21 | A festival, funeral, or rite the crew stumbles into (Chapter 31) |
| 22 | A wanted poster bearing a familiar face |
| 23 | A faction outpost pressing the locals (Chapter 34) |
| 24 | A medic or healer overwhelmed and short of everything (Chapter 10) |
| 25 | A feud the crew is mistaken for a part of |
| 26 | A preacher, prophet, or organizer drawing a crowd |
| 31 | A disaster in progress — fire, flood, collapse (Chapter 13) |
| 32 | A mob forming around a real or invented wrong |
| 33 | A company enforcer collecting on the town's debt (Chapter 28) |
| 34 | A stranger who recognizes a crew member (Chapter 22) |
| 35 | A missing-person plea, fresh and frightened |
| 36 | A black-market deal happening in plain sight |
| 41 | A checkpoint between the crew and where they need to be |
| 42 | A local who'll guide them, for a price or a cause |
| 43 | A water, food, or air shortage turning neighbors against each other |
| 44 | A bonded Companion crew being worked openly (Chapter 31) |
| 45 | A scammer selling salvage, claims, or charts that don't exist |
| 46 | A standoff the crew could defuse — or be caught in |
| 51 | A wake-house of Sleepers, newly revived and unmoored (Chapter 30) |
| 52 | A corrupt magistrate holding someone the crew needs |
| 53 | A rival crew already doing business here (Chapter 35) |
| 54 | A sickness spreading faster than the town admits (Chapter 13) |
| 55 | A buried thing — literal or figurative — surfacing (Chapter 38) |
| 56 | A wedding, deal, or treaty someone means to ruin |
| 61 | A garrison that hasn't been paid and is improvising (Chapter 34) |
| 62 | A child who attaches to the crew and won't let go |
| 63 | A local legend that turns out to be true |
| 64 | An evacuation, and not enough room on the ships (Chapter 37) |
| 65 | A trap laid by someone who knew the crew was coming |
| 66 | The settlement's leader wants to hire — or stop — the crew |
The natural landscape (D66)§
For the wilds — surface, tunnel, ocean, and the spaces between settlements (Chapter 13, Chapter 37). Here the world itself is the adversary as often as anything living is.
| D66 | In the wild |
|---|---|
| 11 | A sudden storm, surge, or whiteout closing in (Chapter 13) |
| 12 | Terrain that gives way — crevasse, sinkhole, thin ice |
| 13 | A predator hunting the crew (Chapter 40) |
| 14 | A herd, swarm, or migration crossing their path |
| 15 | A toxic zone — gas, spore, runoff — with no warning signs (Chapter 13) |
| 16 | A temperature swing the crew's gear isn't rated for |
| 21 | A failing piece of infrastructure — bridge, lock, tap (Chapter 13) |
| 22 | A lost traveler, prospector, or survivor |
| 23 | A predator's kill, fresh, and the predator nearby |
| 24 | A cave, vent, or structure that invites exploring |
| 25 | A radiation hotspot from a buried source (Chapter 13) |
| 26 | A flood, tide, or lava flow on a clock |
| 31 | A ruin, wreck, or outpost half-swallowed by the land (Chapter 38) |
| 32 | A hermit or recluse who guards this stretch |
| 33 | A natural hazard mistaken for safe ground |
| 34 | A creature that isn't hostile but is in the way and huge (Chapter 12) |
| 35 | A poacher, rustler, or claim-jumper at work |
| 36 | A weather window closing — move now or be stranded |
| 41 | A water source — clean, fouled, or fiercely guarded |
| 42 | A trail of someone who came this way and didn't return |
| 43 | A nest, hive, or den the route runs straight through |
| 44 | A landmark that means the crew is lost |
| 45 | A seismic event — quake, vent, calving (Chapter 13) |
| 46 | A migrating hazard — dust front, ice pack, spore bloom |
| 51 | A trap or snare set for game, sprung on the crew |
| 52 | An old minefield, test range, or sealed hazard (Chapter 13) |
| 53 | A beacon, marker, or message left by the desperate |
| 54 | A grazing beast whose panic is the real danger (Chapter 12) |
| 55 | A shelter already occupied, and the weather closing in |
| 56 | A bloom of something beautiful and lethal |
| 61 | A canyon, reef, or chasm forcing a long detour |
| 62 | A carcass, crash, or camp that tells a grim story |
| 63 | A creature drawn to the crew's heat, light, or sound (Chapter 40) |
| 64 | A change in the land that means something worse is coming |
| 65 | A survivor who's been out here too long to trust |
| 66 | Something native to this world that no survey ever logged |