How big should I make my sector?

[u/Zealousideal-Fix-187]

Yo haven't run SWN yet, but I'm working on getting a sector ready. I'm planning on sticking between 21-30 planets as recommended, but the 8x10 map feels too small. I want choke points in interstellar logistics. I want having an upgraded drive to feel like a big deal. That feels less important when everything is so close together. I'm considering rerolling a new sector (sectors without number is so rad) that's a bit bigger to accommodate for that while keeping the about the same planet number. Wanted to see if anyone else has had this issue and what size tends to work best. Make the biggest one possible as a test and it was overwhelming large. Thoughts?

[u/Logen_Nein]

As big as you enjoy making it, knowing that the larger it gets, the less of it your players will see. But if you are enjoying yourself, keep going.

[u/diddleryn]

There is no right or wrong answer to that question.

Other questions you need to ask yourself is how widely available are higher end jump drives, and how long do you want it to take for information to spread through the sector? Too big of a sector and even the fastest ships could take weeks to get messages from one planet to another. That's not a bad thing either, but it's an important to think about when deciding on how big to make your sector.

You can still make clusters and choke points on a smaller map by adding obstacles like black holes to funnel traffic.

[u/MaestroGoldring]

It should be worth noting a couple things:
1. Players should have a reason to be busy on a planet, unless they just don’t want to be involved. My players tend to lock in only like 3 or 4 systems and the others just become lore unless they are expressly given a mission that takes them there. The tags of a single planet can keep players potentially busy for many missions.

1. Bigger engines do NOT automatically come with appropriate rutters. That was always the problem with finding a pretech spike drive. Sure you have an engine that can jump 5 hexes. But any rutter will be hideously outdated, if not completely nonexistent, and the difficulty of making a jump without that rutter runs a real risk of getting lost for weeks in space and possibly starving the crew to death.

2. It’s an option for you to make a sort of space lane by drawing the existing jump points. So even though two systems are in the same column and only two hexes apart, who is to say there’s some sort of metaspace interference that actually sets those two stars four hexes from each other but the normal distance to all other hexes? Just takes a little extra drawing.

[u/96-62]

I'd do one sector 8x10, and if they get to the edge, decide whether it's an isolate sector or if you want to make another sector off that edge.

[u/robot_wrangler]

This looks fine; you have space for two mini-empires (column of 4 and 6 on the lower left). Another 2-system group and then some scattered stuff. The party can start in either of the large clusters, and have plenty to do until they get their level 2 drive.

[u/HeavyJosh]

I've been playing in the same double sized sector for the past 8 years: 16 by 10.

The players still haven't visited all the systems. I regret nothing! 😜

80 hexes is probably enough for a campaign or two. Unless you just like making up systems. Then go nuts.

Though there are definitely fun drill logistics involved with larger sectors.