News (IB)

Solar Hard SF Setting

Starfox's Blades Hack

This giant table generates news headlines for the Icarus Fall setting and the Icarus Burning.

You use it by tolling 2d6, adding the dice together, and then adding the Orbital Zone where the game is happening. Sol is Orbital Zone zero, the Asteroid Belt is zone 4, making the Jovians and further planets one higher in the order than you might expect. You read this number along the rows.

Then roll either 1d6 or 2d6. 1d6 gives a neutral mix or News. 2d6, pick the lowest, gives more social-oriented news item. 2d6, pick the highest, gives more astronomy and technical results. The result is the column to read.

The intersection of row and column gives you a news headline. GM and players are encourage to use this as the kernel of a discussion on what really happened and if it interacts with the player characters.

This table generates news headlines for the Icarus Fall setting and Icarus Burning game.

To use it, roll 2d6, add the dice together, then add the number of local Orbital Zone. Sol is Orbital Zone 0; the Asteroid Belt is Zone 4, which places Jovian space and beyond one step higher in the order than might be expected. Read this total along the rows.

Next, roll either 1d6 or 2d6 to determine the column:

• 1d6 — a neutral mix of news.
• 2d6, take the lowest — socially oriented or political news.
• 2d6, take the highest — astronomical, technical, or systemic news.

The intersection of the selected row and column gives a headline. The GM and players are encouraged to treat this as a starting point — a public-facing account that can be unpacked, contradicted, or reframed to determine what really happened and how it may involve the player characters.

News Table

Die result	1	2	3	4	5	6
≤ 5	Static	Static	Static	Static	Static	Static
6	Ghostly Radio Echoes From the Past	Communications Blackout	Emotional Strain Creates Social Openings	Solar Storm Lull Forecast	Solar Storms Forecast to Spike	Yet Another Prediction of Sol Stabilizing
7	Records Found Showing Horrors of the Fall	Legal and Memorial Services Circulate Offers	Pre-Fall Data Found	New Salvage Located	Helian Preacher Condemns Exploitation	Another Storm-Proof Solar Panel Patented
8	Negotiations Open with a far–away community	Consortium Delays Arbitration Talks	Neutral Mediator Sought to Prevent Violence	Rights to Salvage Caught in Limbo	Solar Proximity Accelerates Decay	Cooling Systems Failures down 10%
9	Habitats Connect in a Day Of Festivities	Communal Festival Doubles as a Resource-Sharing Negotiation	Local Communities Fail to Formalize Agreements	An Incoming Acceleratior Load Has Broken Up	Price Hike in Structural Materials	Supply Chains Tighten As Trade Falters
10	Community Claims Independence	Cultural Event Draws Media Attention	Authorities Issue Contradictory Directives	Salvage Rights For Sale Cheap	Kessler Bounties Peak	Kessler Issues Delays Traffic
11	Changes to Long-Term Degrav Resident Policies	Lecture Provokes Protests	News Services Denied Access To Diplomatic Gala	Courier Carrying Important Data Lost	Naval Maneuvers Restrict Spacelines	Infrastructure Issues Cause Congestion
12	Stakeholders in Conflict Over Claims and Access	New Stricter Safety Regulations Widely Ignored	Migrant Workers Arrive Seeking Short-Term Contracts	Shortage of Manufactured Goods Hits Outer Habitats	Security Incidents Slow Transit and Data Networks	Market Prices Fluctuate Wildly Across the Belt
13	Gentocracy Rivalries Surface Publicly	Aristocrat Sponsors Festivities in Lead-Up to Election	Local Reception Hides Political Maneuvering	Radiation Lull Opens Temporary Opportunities	Minor Body Swarm Shows Unusual Resource Density	New Estimates of Minor Body Populations
14	Virtual Meet-Ups See Another Peak	Trajectory Matchup Allows Social Visits	Emotional Strain Creates Social Openings	Bounty on Lost Science Probe	Ice Prices Spike	Transmission Window Floods Entertainment
15	Celebrated Project Finally Secures Funding	Clash Between Virtual Communities	Scientific Secrets Shared in Informal Settings	Minor Body from Outermost System on Approach	Unprecedented Images of the Outermost System	High-Resolution Interstellar Images Published
16	Outer System Exploration Ship Reports Cause Stir	Outer System Exploration Ship Fails Expected Report	Attempts to Stake Claims on Just-Discovered Objects	Metal and Silicate Prices Spike	Navigation Systems Lose Track of Distant Ships	Unexpected Physics Reported Near 0 Kelvin
≥ 17	Silence	Silence	Silence	Silence	Silence	Silence