Attack of the 50' Mutant Robot from Mars

The Future is Bright Page 1 Character Creation Page 3 Appointed Tasks Page 8 All That Money can Buy Page 20 Obstacles Page 27 Adventure in the 22nd Century Page 32 Pictures: Louis Glansman

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT The future once more looks bright, once we get past all the dark bits that happened. The world entered the new century of 2000 with a feeling of hope and wonder. Yet as the first decade opened up to humanity we were shocked by events such as 9/11 that had America declare a war on terrorism, the 7/7 bus bombings in London that saw hundreds of commuters injured or killed, and the extremist bombings in Mumbai, India. It was an era that saw enemies of the great nations hiding behind the mask of conformity, plotting from secret places to bring horror upon the world. These hidden enemies saw older, more established enemies rear their head in unforeseen ways. With the American economy in recession during the end of 2012, the only business booming was the drug trade and the illegal community that supported it: theft, illegal weapons and prostitution. Money flowed to the Columbian drug lords and the authorities wanted to secure the illegal money to help shore up the drying coffers of the American bank. Raid after raid was enacted over the next couple of years. Eventually the cartels, with backing from weapons cheaply purchased from China, sent large gangs, practically armies, of heavily armed units into the American homeland. Their targets were anything official, police stations, transit authority offices, anything that would cause the traffic of drugs problems and help the authorities. America was forced to declare martial law. Fingers were pointed at China at a global level but it had prepared itself well, and 2017 saw them annexing border nations that could offer little resistance: Mongolia, etc, etc The European community, including a non-communist Russia, seeing a repeat of Hitler's regime nearly seventy years ago, mobilised their forces for an offensive that they believed was imminent and deadly. Sabres were rattled and threats levelled until in a climax of political turmoil Russia launched five nuclear missiles against China on August 17, 2019. Headed towards the urban centres of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, the missiles heralded a new era in more ways than one - for they never arrived at their destinations. The Chinese had developed a new weapon, a cohesive electromagnetic ray that destroyed the circuitry of most modern avionics (as well as a variety of other objects). The Russian missiles simply fell out of the air. In response the Chinese hordes exploded across their borders, their soldiers bearing the new regimes dragon emblem, their sign of a just war. The Chino-European war had just started.

In the meantime America had four long years of conflict before finally managing to get a strangle-hold on the Columbian drug lords, attacking Columbia directly for supporting them by carpet bombing vast swathes of poppy fields and sending remote drones to destroy the palatial mansions of the drug lords. Hundreds of thousands of Americans had died in the war enacted on their own soil but this only saw them more resolved to stand fast against their enemies. With China embroiled against the European community

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America did what it could to help. The Third World War that had been dreaded so badly in the last century had finally become a reality. China's new weapon put a completely different spin on the weapons available to the coalition of European nations arraigned against them. The only sure fire way to harden planes, tanks and communications devices was to re-engineer valve technology. German scientists turned to projects that had been scraped nearly a century ago and perfected nuclear powered ramjets like those developed for Project Pluto back in 1957. The sky was torn by the sound of nuclear jets with simplified controls while the ground trembled under the rumble of nuclear tanks with less electronics than the smart watches so popular in the 2015's. The war tore across Europe and the Asian countries and even touched upon the shores of the American west coast. The death toll was phenomenal. Of the 9 billion people living on the Earth before the start of the war, nearly 75% of the population had been destroyed to leave a paltry 2.3 billion. By 2052 it was all over. China was never eventually beaten, rather both sides retreated to their respective corners, awaiting a chance to once more engage in hostilities in the future. It was a tense peace, one brought about by a tiredness in the souls of the combatants. But the war had brought about new advances in the form of the rocket plane. Space is now the new future and the European Coalition looks skyward, as do the Chinese. Speculation is ripe as to how long the new Cold War will last before shots are fired once more. But as man ventures into space to claim new materials for an upcoming war he wonders if he is not alone. During the Third World War there were many reports of UFO's and once more the term Foo Fighters was bandied about by fighter pilots witnessing things they could not understand. If they are friendly, why have they not contacted the nations of the Earth, if they are hostile, why have they not attacked. What they want is as big a mystery as how long peace can be held between China and the rest of the world.

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CHARACTER CREATION Attack of the 50' Mutant Robot from Mars (we'll just call it Attack from now on) takes its inspiration from the old sci-fi movies and comics that I grew up with. It is world where man is full of hope, though there are pressures from outside (Communism or Nazism, depending on the time of the film) but man boldly explores space and finds new dangers awaiting him, or has aliens bent on invasion come to Earth, only to be beaten back by a new gizmo or whatsit. So if, like me, you have a library of films and comics (I've listed some in the appendix) then you should get a thrill from the following pages as you plan you invasion of Earth or exploration of space. The year has been set in 2053 for rather than go retro and rejig a history that hasn't happened, I have tooled with the future to emulate that golden age of American space pioneering. Firstly, to explore the bright world of 2053 the players will all need a character full of hope and an eye for adventure. While some dangers have been passed, new ones are showing their faces and the characters will need to be prepared for anything. No one man can do it all so let your fellow players an area to excel at. Archetypes Attack doesn't have character classes like other games do but we do recommend tha t you deve lop an archetype. An archetype, while not exactly a class, delineates where you like to concentrate your skills and how you like to get things done. An archetype confers no benefit but it does help other players get a handle on your character. Tough jocks - This fellow was probably the track and field champion of his university and may have played on the football or wrestling team. He will develop his Strength skills above all others. Drivers - This character is more of an all-rounder. His main skill is in transportation but getting where he can he often needs a little Melee to get him out of trouble, some Mechanics to fix his ride, and possible some Streetwise to get some contraband he can't get at home. Foreign scientists - For some reason scientists with a strange accent are more prevalent than those with a good yankee drawl. They will know their way around a lab and have either a beard, glasses, or both. Science and Education or their forte. Progressive scientist - The progressive scientist is an all-American university chap that can throw a punch as well as design a new rocket plane. Quite often he is on the forefront of developing technology and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. Girl Friday - Amongst almost every group there is a Girl Friday, heaven knows why for the enemy always seem to want to kidnap them. They help round out a team by bringing good social skills as well as a smattering of others that the lads don't possess.

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Aspects Each character is described by four aspects that will give the player a sense of who he or she (though from now on we're just going to stick with the male pronoun) is. To determine a characters Aspects roll 2d6+2 for each one. Some will have a high result, some low, most will be average (that would be 9).

Strength - This aspect shows how physically strong a character is and how much power he can bring to bear in a fight or other situation that requires it. Agility - With this aspect a player can see how coordinated his character is. It is linked to eye-hand coordination and the ability to be nimble and quiet. Intelligence - A character that is strong in this aspect has probably spent a fair amount of time at school and university learning a variety of arts and sciences. Charm - Not everything is done with muscles and brains. Some characters prefer to use their social skills to improve their lot in life rather than the threat of violence. Diplomacy has its uses

The Health Track When a character has figured his Aspects he can also fill in his Health Track. The Health Track has five levels: Bruised, Battered, Wounded, Maimed and Crippled. Anything past crippled is dead. The values for the Health Track are based upon the character's Strength, Bruised has a maximum value of the Character's Strength, Battered is 2x the character's Strength, Wounded is 3x the character's Strength, Maimed is 4x the character's Strength, and Crippled is 5x the character's Strength. If a character had a Strength of 8 his Health Track would look like this. Bruised O O O O O O O O < < < < < < 4 Battered O O O O O O O O < < < < < < 8 Wounded O O O O O O O O < < < < < < 12 Maimed O O O O O O O O < < < < < < 16 Crippled O O O O O O O O < < < < < < 20 Skills Apart from the four basic Aspects a character can also learn a number of skills that determine how easy some Tasks are compared to others. There are sixteen skills, each belonging to an Aspect. At character creation a player can distribute a number of points equal to the value an Aspect amongst the four skills belonging to that Aspect as he sees fit.

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Ash has an Agility of 11 and decides to split it amongst his Piloting and Weaponry skills, giving them 7 and 4 points respectively. His other two Agility skills, Drive and Sneak start at a value of 0 each. A character can apply points to a skill from a different Aspect, say using Charm points to build up Athletics (a Strength skill). The cost to do this is at a 2 for 1 basis, so if you wanted to increase Athletics by 2 points you would need to spend 1 of your Charm points. The sixteen skills are listed below with a short description of what each one can achieve. Each description is preceded by its name as well as the Aspect it belongs to written in parentheses. Athletics (Strength) - This skill determines how well a character can perform at physical abilities such as climbing and swimming. A success lets you move in the desired direction, up for climbing (yes, you could be climbing down) or across the river (or whatever). A complication may allow you to complete your action (if you succeeded that is) but there are problems: perhaps you drop some rope down the cliff, an important piece of equipment comes loose and floats away, or something equally annoying. Awareness (Intelligence) - Quite often in dangerous situations the characters that notice the most are the ones that survive the longest. In this case having a good Awareness skill will help out. Getting a Complication will denote missed information that will cause a problem at a later instance. Brawling (Strength) - When it comes time to rolling up your sleeves and thrashing some deserving wretch with your bare hands then your character will need brawling. When you succeed in this skill you deliver 1d3 points of damage to your enemy. The AM can use a brawling complication to deliver 1d3 points of damage to your character or catch you in a grapple. Drive (Agility) - A lot more mundane that flying a rocket plane but necessary none the less. With this skill a character can direct a car, tank or even a boat. Success allows a character to get where he is going without crashing. Complications may result in damage to the vehicle from small scrapes, overpowering the vehicle or otherwise damaging the vehicle that will cause a reduction in power. Endurance (S t rength ) - The c h a r a c t e r s a r e g o i n g t o fi n d themselves in a variety of tough situations: the deserts of Mars, trapped in burning buildings, or under fire from space mortars. When this is the case they can rely on having a good Endurance to survive the worst of the problems. Complication that are rolled may show later as infection and fractures that doesn't heal right. Intimidate (Charm) - The world is full of civilised men that would prefer not to beat answers out of their captives. In this case a character can always

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use the threat of violence or some other dire outcome such as the deprivation of privileges, loss of freedom, or any other number of threats. Characters that get a Complication will probably have their threats seen as blather while their opponent pretends to do as they ask only to betray them later. Mechanics (Intelligence) - There is nothing like the thrill of flying a modern rocket plane, but your character will enjoy it better if the flight is trouble free. Should there be issues then it will be the Mechanics skill that will be needed to fix the problem. And it is not just for fixing engines, Mechanics can be used to bypass mechanical security such as a locked

door or the tumblers of a safe deposit box. Getting a Complication may cause a repaired item to fail again at a very inconvenient time or completely break the device if the Complication was on a failed skill roll. Melee (Strength) - This skill will allow a character to look after himself in a fight using weapons of some sort: a laser sword, a fire axe, or a shock whip. A success lets you deal damage according to the weapons type. For every 3 points above the success threshold you can deal more damage. With a complication the enemy also deals his damage or the AM could opt to have you loose your weapon or bring about another calamity.

Perform (Charm) - Occasionally, there is the need to make a good impression through the use of song, dance, or poetry, this is where perform comes into play. It can also be used to distract an opponent from noticing some other nefarious deeds being performed by other party members. Complications resulting in the use of this skill are usually missed lines, bad notes, and shaky feet, they tend to detract from the performance. Persuade (Charm) - This skill lets people use other methods other than violence to solve delicate situations, perhaps convincing an alien ambassador that Earth poses no threat to the greater galactic community and shouldn't be burnt to a cinder. Getting a Complication could range from sending the opposite message (if you fail) or perhaps unwittingly giving the other party the impression they will be getting more than you intend in the bargain. Piloting (Agility) - If you want your character to fly a rocket plane to Mars or into battle against inter-planetary invaders then this skill is the one to use. Your character will be using this skill to keep up with fleeing opponents through a variety of terrain and when trying to avoid getting shot by an opponents weapons. Science (Intelligence) - While there are many fields of science the whole will be simplified with the one skill. The science skill will be used to design or modify articles to bring about a desired or different affect from what they usually do: for example making dragon's breath rounds out of shotgun shells. A Complication with this roll could lead to a spectacular explosion or a hidden flaw to be exposed at a later date.

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Sneak (Agility) - While a frontal assault can quite often solve everyones problems, some situations call for stealth. In this case a character can use Stealth to do things in a manner that keeps them hidden from prying eyes and ears. A complication in the use of Sneak may alert enemies or bring about unforeseen problems at a later stage of play. Streetwise (Charm) - The more world wise characters may have this skill. It allows you to find resources that diplomacy and red tape have failed to procure for you. Often following the path of streetwise leads characters into the shady side of life where deals are done in alleys under the watchful gaze of hired thugs, or in the back rooms of bars. Getting a Complication often sees the deal going sour in a variety of nasty ways - when you lay down with dogs ... Technology (Intelligence) - Science allows us to design complex machinery, Mechanics lets us repair it, and Technology allows us to use it in the manner it was meant to be used. This is essentially a blanket skill not covered by Piloting (which is a very specific form of Technology) or Drive. It could be used to detect enemies on a radar device, send messages on a laser-communications rig, or refine radium for a rocket planes engine from crude ore. Complications will sully the output of the device used. Weaponry (Agility) - When it comes to using a firearm, be it a bolt action rifle, machine gun, or ships laser turret, a character will exercise this skill to try and hit a target. With a success the character delivers the weapons damage (multiplied by the success threshold). On a Complication the character's gun may jam or he may receive return fire from the other combatant.

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APPOINTED TASKS Following the Action Once the players have their characters they will need to know how things are done in Attack. During a session of Attack the players will be presented problems by their Action Master (we'll call him an AM). He will have designed an adventure through which the players will perform heroic deeds. To tell if a character succeeds at an heroic deed he is assigned a Task by the AM. The is called a Task Roll. The Task Roll To complete a task in Attack a player gets to roll a number of d6s and has to get greater than a Target Number (or TN) based upon the difficulty of the task. The number of d6s that a character gets to roll in his task pool is completely up to the character. He can choose to roll 1d6, 3d6, 6d6, whatever he likes. Nothing is ever cut and dried though. Every time a player rolls his Task dice pool you also note how many, if any 1's come up on the dice. Regardless of the character's success or failure, results of a 1 denote a Complication. The more 1's that are rolled the more onerous the Complication. Complications on a failure are very serious indeed. Ash is flying his r o c k e t p l a n e through an asteroid field chasing a Red Chinese spy that has stolen plans to a new prototype warhead. The AM s t a t e s t h a t n a v i g a t i n g t h e asteroid field is a Moderate task meaning that the target number Ash needs is 12. Ash rolls his dice pool, makes his modifications and gets a result of 15, quite a success. In essence characters are allowed to make a Task easy by using many dice, but doing so invites calamity with the heightened chance of getting one or more 1s. Some Tasks are so difficult that numerous dice need to be rolled and thus the chance of a Complication increases. Success Threshold The higher a character rolls is also beneficial. Attaining the TN required for the assigned Task allows a character to complete the assigned Task to a standard level. For every 3 points that a character gets above the TN, the greater the margin of success, and the more the character has achieved in his roll. Ash rolled a 15 when chasing the spy through the asteroid field. This result is more than 3 points above the TN required for a success. The AM tells Ash that he has managed to keep up with the spy and has also managed to close the distance between the two ships to put the Red Chinese spy in range of Ash's guns. Had Ash got an 18 he would have been able to improve his success even further. Of course this works the other way as well. The more 1's a character rolls the more serious the Complication that befalls the character.

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Skills To help with the problem of completing Tasks a character will have a number of skills that come in useful during play. Anytime a character makes a Task roll as assigned by the AM he can add an appropriate Skill that he has. This helps reduce the number of dice required to complete the task. When a character is opposing another character then he also needs to reduce his skill rating by the skill rating of his opponent. Ash has a Piloting skill of 7 but he needs to deduct the spy's skill of 3 to get a final result of 4. He needs to get 12 or more to follow the spy through the asteroid field. 3 dice give him an average of 10 or 11, leaving Ash with a slightly better than 50 percent chance of success. As Ash doesn't want to lose the spy he decides to use 4 dice and rolls, 5, 4, 1, & 1 and adds his Piloting skill total of 4 for a total of 15. Ash has managed to complete the Task, achieve a success threshold to improve his position, but he has also introduced new Complications for himself. Multiple Actions There may come a time when a character really wants to do two things at once. When this situation crops up you can allow him to do so but each Task has its difficulty increased by one level (so a Moderate Task, difficulty 12, becomes a Hard task, difficulty 16).

Effects Against NPC's S o m e weapons, such as the shock whip, call fo r an an ex t ra e f f e c t t h a t characters need to save from if they are hit by it. As NPCs d o n ' t h a v e a n y l isted skil ls they cannot make an

E n d u r a n c e o r whatever roll. To determine if they pass or fail such a situation the character will need to spend a success threshold to enable the effect. So in the example above where a character is attacking an enemy with a shock whip and his Target is 12, he would need to get a 15 to apply damage and render his opponent unconscious. The AM's Actions The AM takes no direct actions. All Tasks are resolved by the players. Quite often these Tasks involve or are against either an NPC or an environment. In this case the AM lets the player know what reduction in skill there will be as a difficulty to the Task. This usually forces the player to add more dice to his Task roll, increasing the chance of a Complication. AMs get to assign the Complications as they see fit. In the above example Ash had to reduce his Piloting skill total by 3, the Piloting skill of the Red Chinese spy. Different environments and challenging opponents can make Tasks harder to complete and cause Complications when they are completed. With his roll of 15

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Ash has managed to follow the spy through the asteroid field but because of the two 1s the AM dictates that he has damaged his rocket plane in a collision with an asteroid while hastening to catch the spy. The result is that his guns have been damaged, doing half damage (the first Complication) and he has starting taken damage to his craft, reducing its Health track (the second Complication). Difficulties As has been stated the AM makes his presence felt by introducing difficulties to the players actions. The tables below lists the five levels of difficulty as well as some benchmarks at which they can be applied. Looking at the tables below you can get an idea of how to adjudicate specific difficulties not covered here. After the difficulty tables are some specific examples to show how things work.

Table 1: Strength Difficulties

Difficulty Rating Example

Simple 4 Hitting a stationary object, swimming a calm stream with a life preserver, fighting back the pain of a jammed finger.

Easy 8 Hitting a prone target, swimming a calm stream, climbing a tree with many branches, fighting fatigue from an all-night gaming session.

Moderate 12 Hitting a person in melee, swimming in a slow flowing river, climbing a slope with many handholds, resisting sun-burn with sun cream.

Hard 16 Hitting a person while drunk, swimming in a fast flowing river, climbing a vertical surface with few handholds, resisting the common cold.

Daunting 20 Swimming in the stormy high seas, not dying horribly when exposed to 500 roentgens of radiation.

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Table 2: Agility Difficulties

Difficulty Rating Example

Simple 4 Driving slowly along an empty highway, flying through clear skies or open space, moving through a battlefield, shooting a human-sized target point blank.

Easy 8 Flying past a few objects in the sky or space, driving along a road during day, moving through a noisy area (workshop), shooting a human-sized target at close range.

Moderate 12 Driving through normal traffic, flying through an asteroid field, moving through an area with daily noises, shooting a human-sized target at medium range (weapon dependant).

Hard 16 Driving through heavy traffic, barnstorming (flying under bridges, etc), moving through a relatively quiet area (lab), shooting a human-sized target at far range.

Daunting 20 Driving through heavy traffic at high speed, barnstorming during tornado, moving through a silent area (church, library, etc), shooting a human-sized target at extreme range.

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Table 3: Intelligence Difficulties

Difficulty Rating Example

Simple 4 Spotting something poorly hidden (in a drawer on top, behind a painting), plotting a trajectory in near empty space (one other object nearby), filling a petrol tank, proving steam works, using a child's toy.

Easy 8 Spotting a hastily hidden item, maintaining an engine (changing oil or spark plugs, etc), plotting a trajectory in mildly occupied space (2-4 objects nearby), repeating the results of someone else's experiment, using early technology (say from 2025).

Moderate 12 Spotting a hidden item, plotting a trajectory in moderately occupied space (5-13 objects nearby), on repairing an engine, creating a known scientific principle or effect in a lab, using normal technology (radio, radar, etc).

Hard 16 Spotting a hidden item in the dark, plotting a trajectory in heavily occupied space (14-30 objects nearby), making an engine, improving on a scientific principle or effect, understanding high tech gear (say from the future).

Daunting 20 Spotting a hidden item in the dark with your hands tied or listening to a whispered conversation in a noisy club, plotting a trajectory in densely occupied space (more than 31 objects nearby), discovering a new scientific principle or effect, understanding alien technology.

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Table 4: Charm Difficulties

Difficulty Rating Example

Simple 4 Singing happy birthday at your kids birthday, dealing for cigarettes, scaring a child in telling you their name, convincing a friend to help change a tire.

Easy 8 Performing for friends, dealing for common items, making an adult nervous enough to back off from a fight, convincing a friend to do something risky.

Moderate 12 Performing to a receptive crowd, dealing for hard to get or rare items, cowing a hardened criminal, convincing a stranger to provide simple help.

Hard 16 Performing to a unresponsive crowd, dealing for illegal items, shocking an insane person to momentary reason, convincing a stranger to go out of his way for you.

Daunting 20 Performing to a hostile crowd, dealing for unique items (the rifle that shot JFK, etc), making a hostile force listen to you because your tough, convincing an enemy to help you.

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Combat Quite often the characters will be involved in a fracas of some sort. This may be a firefight between combatants wielding guns or a melee where everyone carries a handheld weapon, or a mixture of the two. Whenever such a situation occurs you need to determine who goes when in the combat. Character actions are taken in order of their Agility, highest to lowest. When a character wants to attack someone he uses either his Weaponry skill or his Melee skill, depending on the weapon used. In any melee combat where combatants have more or less easy access to their targets then the difficulty is Moderate (12). When attacking a person with a Melee weapon the character needs to deduct his opponent's Melee skill from his. If the character is involved in a shoot out then the difficulty to hit the target will depend upon the range between him and his opponent. Check Table 2: Agility Difficulties for TN's appropriate to range. The character then decides how many dice he will use, makes his roll and adds his modified skill (in the case of Melee combat) to the result. On a success the character has hit and done the weapons listed damage. For each threshold of success that the character earns then he has done another level of damage (so if the character needs a 12 to hit his opponent and actually gets an 18 then he does 3 times normal damage). As has been stated a the AM can use a Complication to do damage from the opponent's weapon to the character. If he has more than one Complication he can do multiple damage. Complications can also be used to cause a fault in the PC's weapon, make him run out of ammo, have reinforcements come, and other such difficulties as decided by the AM. When a character takes damage he marks off the damage in the Health Track starting with Bruised and working his way down. The first time a character starts a new row in the Health Track he must make an Endurance roll with a difficulty equal to that of the condition. If he fails then he falls unconscious, on a success he is okay. Should a character get a Complication then his injuries have caused him some grief: a sprain, a broken bone or some other similar injury. Each Complication levies a -1 penalty to all further skill rolls until alleviated. Creatures have a single Health score. When a character does damage in excess of the creatures Health score then it has been killed.

Ash has gotten himself involved in a firefight with the Red Chinese spy after forcing him to land his ship on an asteroid. Ash, who has already taken 7 damage, is currently Bruised. He has made an Endurance roll and is fairing fairly well. During the next exchange of shots Ash once more hits the spy but also rolls a 1. The AM decides to spend the 1 on causing a wound from the spies gun. The AM rolls 1d6+6 for the laser pistol an gets a total of 8, adding this to Ash's Health Track. Ash has a Strength of 8 so the 8 points of damage take him from the Bruised category to the Battered category. As this is his first instance of reaching the Battered category he needs to make another Endurance roll with a target number of 8.

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There are no rules for armour in Attack as none is ever used in the genre from which the inspiration for this game has come. While it would be expected for vehicles to have some form of armour this is expressed by them having a large Health Track. If you really feel the need to develop armour then I suggest that it is used to mitigate the damage coming in. You then also have the option to use Complications in fights as good hits that bypass armour. Rocket Plane Combat When the characters decide to travel between the planets and suns, it is through the use of rocket planes that they will get there. While using a rocket plane is relatively simple (all the hard parts have been done by the engineers back on Earth) there are still some things to keep track of for proper use of the rocket plane. The biggest test of a rocket plane is when it sees some action. Combat between rocket planes is handled differently from personal combat. All the characters in a rocket plane will have a specific job which needs to be handled efficiently so that the rocket plane as a whole keeps going. During each combat round a character will roll for his task, his success will affect the successes of those coming after him. Positions that aren't filled are assumed to have failed (so if a ship has no-one filling the engineering position they will always be running at half power). Characters can fill in multiple positions but don't forget to levy a penalty for doing multiple tasks. Engineer: It is the job of the engineer to keep the ship running. He will look after the ships Health Track as it determines how much power can be assigned. To get power from the ships power plant the Engineer needs to make a Mechanics roll with a difficulty based upon the ships condition. On a success everyone with a position has enough power to do their job, on a failure then the ship is only running at half power (so half the positions can make follow-up rolls, engineer dictates). A Complication sees a ships station damaged from a power shortage making their rolls harder. Ash (the pilot), June (comms officer), Tracy (engineer), Michael (gunner), and Phil and Dave (hands) are flying the deeps of space when set upon by invaders from Planet X. During the first round Tracy at the engineers position needs to get a 4 or better to provide power to the ship as it is in perfect condition. As she has a Mechanics of 6 she passes automatically and everyone has enough power to complete their own tasks.

Communications: It is the duty of this position to intercept messages from other craft and ground installations as well as keep track of the in-flight radar system. Operation of the in-flight radar allows a comms officer to keep the captain abreast of enemy movements he can't see in a 3D environment. The comms officer makes an Awareness roll using the in-flight radar with a difficulty based upon the surrounding terrain. On a success he has spotted potential threats and can relay them to the pilot who will take action accordingly.

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On a failure the comms officer completely misreads the situation making the pilot's roll one step more difficult (so a Moderate Task would become a Hard Task). On a Complication the comms officer has had to trade off a major threat for a lesser one and the ship gets damaged by flying debris or enemy ships getting an opportunity shot at the rocket plane.

Tr a c y h a s c h e c k e d a l l t h e instruments and the ship is flying straight and true. There are three armed scout ships heading towards the player's rocket plane in an attack vector but they are in otherwise open space. Tracy needs to make an Easy Awareness roll to direct Ash to try and avoid getting the craft in a deadly crossfire. Tracy has an Awareness of 6 vs. a difficulty of 8. She decides to play it safe and rolls two dice getting a 3 and 2 for a total of 13. Not only has Tracy passed, she has managed to hit a success threshold. The AM adjudicates that Tracy has spotted a flaw in the incoming attack allowing Ash an easier difficulty in flying the ship. T r a c y a l s o r e c e i v e d n o Complications so the initial shots fired at them all miss. Pilot: Getting from point A to point B safely is the duty of the pilot. After receiving data from the comms

officer the pilot is able to plot a course that will allow him to avoid danger while putting his ship in a better position to make an attack. The pilot needs to make a Piloting skill roll with the difficulty based upon the conditions prevailing and whether or not the comms officer was able to correctly track the other objects in near space. If he gets a success then he has managed to line the gunner up for a good shot, on a failure the gunner has a tougher shot. If the pilot gets a Complication he may have hit a nearby object or stressed the frame, either way damage may ensue. Ash would normally need an 8 to fly around the invaders from Planet X but with Tracy's outstanding success he only needs a 4. Having a Piloting skill of 7 he succeeds automatically. He could roll 1d6 if he wished and try for a success margin, but decides to play it safe for now. Gunner: Every rocket plane action is going to come down to trading shots between craft. The gunner that has the best eye and steadiest hands will destroy his enemies before his craft is in turn destroyed. To do this he is reliant on the engineer providing his station with power and with the pilot being able to put him in a good position in which to fire. When all this is accomplished he can make a Weaponry skill roll. The chances to hit any target are given on Table 2: Agility Difficulties (and look at the equipment chapter to see difficulties to hit certain craft). The Pilot's roll may have reduced the gunner's difficulty, or put them in a worse position. On a successful roll the gunner has hit his target. A Complication would

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suggest possibly hitting a friendly target, or perhaps overheating the guns and having them offline for a round or two. Michael in the dorsal turret is keen to b last some Planet X scum into scrap. So far in this opening round the characters h a v e b e e n having it easy w i t h m o s t difficulties being easily passed. M i c h a e l ' s difficulty to hit t h e i n v a d e r s from Planet X is 12. He gets no bonus from Ash's flying prowess. Michael has a Weaponry skill of 6 but is keen to d e a l a r e a l l y heavy blow to the first enemy craft and chooses to roll 3d6 getting a result of 4, 5, and 3 for a total of 18 after adding in Michael's Weaponry skill of 6. Not only does Michael hit but he gets 2 Success Thresholds, tripling the damage done. Even better, Michael, like his team mates has not rolled a single 1 to get a Complication. Michael now rolls his damage so that the AM can apply it to the first vessels Condition track. Hands: Should there be spare characters aboard the vessel they can fill the duty roster as deck hands. Deck hands will try and do the odd jobs that are needed to keep the ship going. If the ship takes damage they can make Mechanics skill rolls to try and repair the damage. Each application repairs 1d3 damage, more if a success threshold is gained. If a crew member is wounded then a hand can also take their place. Phil and Dave are currently located in the ships engine room where the stores are kept for repairs. As everything seems to be going smoothly they decide to play cards while watching the progress of the battle on view screens and placing a bet on how quickly the first invader will be destroyed. Rocket Plane Damage vs. Personal Damage: Rather than have huge numbers of dice to describe the damage of large weapons found on rocket planes you will find that they have numbers similar to the characters weapons. This is done so that players don't have to roll a kajillion d6's for damage. It doesn't mean that you can fire a laser pistol at a rocket plane and bring it down. Damage exchange is done on a ratio of 5 to 1. So if you fire your laser pistol at a rocket plane divide your damage by 5 to see how much damage is actually done. Likewise if the turret of a rocket plane targets you multiply the damage by 5 to see how much damage you take. Ouch!

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Making Things Eventually one of the characters is going to try and make something. That's natural, let it happen. Table 3: Intelligence Difficulties gives you an idea of what can be achieved when using the Mechanics and Science skills. The time actually taken is what may be the big issue. A good rule of thumb may be to apply a time constraint of minutes, hour, days, weeks, and months for the five difficulty levels while the actual time taken can be found by rolling 2d6+5 and subtracting the characters applicable skill. The most common use of the Mechanics and Science skills would be when a character wants to improve a piece of equipment he uses a lot. For instance he may want his laser pistol to do more damage, or his rocket plane to use less fuel. The character describes what he wants done, the AM sets a difficulty and the player makes the roll after the commensurate time period has passed. As far as technical terms go, an improvement isn't a great leap. When improving current scientific and mechanical technology the character will end up with around about 5% better efficiency.

Ash, having taken a few licks on the asteroid from the Red Chinese spy, decides to visit his old pal professor Markovich and asks him if there is any way he can juice up his laser pistol. Professor Markovich looks it over and decides that if he shifts the luminence scale up by a factor of 3 he can get the laser pistol doing more damage. The AM decides that this is improving a known scientific principle so se t s t he d i f fi cu l t y a t 16 . Professor Markovich first rolls 2d6+5 and subtracts professor Markovich's Science of 7 to see how long the redesign will take. He gets a 2 and 3 for a total of 3 (2 + 3 + 5 - 7 = 3), therefore he s p e n d s t h r e e w e e k s

experimenting before he gets his final results. Professor Markovich has a Science skill of 7 so his player decides to take a chance on three dice. He rolls a 6, 4, and 3 for a total of 13 plus his skill of 7 to get 20. Not only does professor Markovich improve the damage of the laser pistol (adding +1 to the damage, roughly 5% more) but he also passes a success threshold with the roll of 20 allowing him further improve the gun. Professor Markovich decides to put the success into extra damage (another +1 for a total of +2). Now that the gun has been designed Ash and the Professor can get onto the task of making the new laser pistol. Characters may receive Complications when designing and making items. A Complication during the Science roll is a design flaw. Every item made from that design will share the same Complication. A Complication during the Mechanics roll is specific to that one item. AM's are encouraged not to disclose what the Complication is until the item

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is used under duress. The designer has already conducted experiments that failed to show the Complication, the fabricator has also made brief tests to check the efficiency of the item. It is only during actual use that its shortcomings will be revealed. It is possible that an individual item may have both a design and fabrication Complication, being doubly hard to use. The sort of Complications possible are nearly endless. The device may function perfectly as designed, but it may use more fuel or power, or expose the user to another danger, take more time, be unreliable or be awkward to use. The possibilities are only limited by the AM's devious mind. So if characters are able to design and discover new breakthroughs (you ask), why hasn't this been done already? The short answer is that is has. The game starts at the highest technological platform that the world has been in for many a year. Boffins around the world are experimenting and creating new motors, weapons, and communications devices. They'll probably work a little bit slower but thats because most government and state-run facilities realise that almost no new item is perfect upon issue. It will be released in small quantities to a select few, tested hard by that control group for months, and then notes sent back where improvements can be made until it is safe to release to the public. Until that time the characters are free to design machinery laden with complications that they can use to their hearts content.

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ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY Whatever the characters do they may need a few bits and pieces to help them get through their adventures. Attack doesn't use any record keeping methods to track wealth and money, if the characters need a rocket plane then they will have access to one. If they need other small items like guns and binoculars it can be assumed that they have access to them as well. Not having a wealth stat does not mean that the characters can get access to the new multi-phase iridium-laser pulse beam tachyomacrometer. Give players what they need within reason and use certain objects as a gaming reward or something to work towards ("Yes the Northern Space Command will let you have a small cruiser, but there is a job you need to do for them"). While characters may have access to almost anything they want there will be times when they haven't prepared themselves, possibly through incorrect information or bad planning, or perhaps through the use of Complications a piece of equipment has been broken and cannot be used. These sorts of stresses can be used to help bring drama to a game, they are not intended to bog it down. Weapons NotesCartridge Pistol A throwback to the old days, these can be made cheap in third

world countries where they are popular. Cartridge weapons are not very reliable in space as the cold often hampers the ignition of the gunpowder (Complications happen on a 1 or a 6). They do 2d6 damage.

Cartridge Rifle Bolt action or semi-automatic, these long arms fire a heavier shell over a longer distance than a pistol doing 3d6 damage. They have the same problems as a cartridge pistol (Complications on a 1 or a 6).

Field Knife A slim metal blade used for cutting cables and botanic specimens. It can also be used to stick between the ribs of annoying humanoids. Essentially it adds a cutting wound to a punch. 1d3+3 damage.

Fist Everyone should have one of these, consult your physician if you are missing one or more. It does 1d3 damage.

Laser Pistol The technology of the 22nd century has given us the vaunted laser pistol that fires coherent light at a target. It does 1d6+6 damage.

Laser Rifle Like the pistol but with a heavier refractor tube for more damage. A laser rifle can deliver 2d6+6 damage.

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Shock Whip Discovered as a result of captured alien technology, this flexible steel cable carries a voltage high enough to damage its target. A successful hit does 1d6 damage and the character needs to make a Hard Endurance roll or be knocked unconscious.

Rocket Carbine This sturdy item propels a warhead electromagnetically from the barrel where, at a safe distance from the firer, a tiny, stabilised solid fuel rocket engine ignites, sending its payload swiftly to its target. It packs a punch at 5d6 damage, though there are other heads that deliver blinding smoke (all Awareness rolls are Hard), choking smoke (make a Hard Endurance roll or be incapacitated), and guided (only does 3d6 damage but gets an extra two chances to attack on the following rounds.

Tools NotesBroadband Comms Unit

Taking the place of the mobile phone so popular in the decades before, a broadband comms unit can be used for voice and data transferral. It has several levels of security to help prevent eavesdropping and can be connected to a printer for hard copies of data and recorded spoken conversations. It even tells the time.

Environment Suit This slim polymer suit will protect a character from the cold of deep space and the unmitigated heat of the sun. It also prevents strong radiation from shipboard leaks for short periods of time.

Medical Kit A small box containing a simple diagnostic computer plus a variety of stimulants, antitoxins, and healing salves. Each use will heal 2d6 on the damage track. Using a Medical Kit is a Simple Task but getting a complication means that the supplies have run out and a new one needs to be procured.

Refractive Visual Enhancer

In the old days these were know as binoculars, but the RVE's do much more. Not only do they allow you to see further away (lessens the Difficulty to an Awareness roll) they can also be used for night vision or thermal vision. Complications arising from using these often show a bad reading.

Scanner A handheld weighing about three pounds, this electronic marvel can detect residual heat signatures and a variety of other signals. The upshot of it all is that it is a great tool for tracking a target if you know something about them (allows you to use Awareness to track in a variety of environments).

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Vehicles The world of the 22nd century has seen a lot of changes in the transit industry. Most big cities are laced with tube car networks as well as having individual ground effect vehicles for most families. Third world nations typically use wheeled vehicles still and ethanol based fuels. Rather than have a long list of vehicles just use the condition track below to suffice for a wide variety of craft, adding or subtracting damage to reflect small differences in manufacture. Vehicles use the same damage as characters do. Dented O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 4 Shattered O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 8 Smashed O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 12 Crushed O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 16 Demolished O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 20

Hover Cars These marvels of the age were first developed in the 30's but only came common place about a decade later. Hover cars are made by the all the big names, Ford, Mercedes, Audi, just to name a few. As such they come in sports, luxury, mid range and economy models with so many differences that even an incomplete list would only scratch the surface. Tube Cars These quick transit vehicles come as either small coaches that hold about a dozen people in relative comfort or smaller four person vehicles. They are encapsulated in a polymer tube that runs between buildings and uses electromagnetic rails to take them from

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one station to the next. Replacing both the old rail and taxi cab networks, people can hire a four seater from a station, dial in a location, and the sophisticated switching network take the cab to the desired location for a small fee. Wheeled Cars These haven't changed much in the last fifty or so years. Styles change, motors have improved, but as most of them are made in countries where safety isn't a prime requisite they can be dangerous in a collision, if a tad fast in a chase. There typically isn't a lot of difference between a luxury, mid range or economy model. Rocket Planes Rocket planes are the means of exploration, attack and defence in the 2050's and come in a variety of sizes depending on the profile they are to be used for. Listed here are three rocket planes that can be commonly seen in the cold wastes of space. The Explorer This small vehicle can hold a pilot and co-pilot and is designed for flitting about the planets looking for minerals, alien life forms, and to observe scientific anomalies. Most of these are owned by the Northern Command Space Agency. Inside is a cockpit, observation deck fitted with many recording and analysis devices, turret with laser cannon, a two-bunk cabin, galley and recreation area, a toilet and enclosed shower, engine bay, and a cargo hold with a small buggy (can carry 1 ton) and several tools. Crew: Pilot 5, Gunner 5, Mechanics 3, Awareness 3. Dented O O O O O O 4 Laser Canon 2d6 Shattered O O O O O O 8 Smashed O O O O O O 12 Crushed O O O O O O 16 Demolished O O O O O O 20

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The Defender This patrol ship is designed to protect the interests of the sovereign nations that own interplanetary real estate such as the American Lunar colony (Lunar 1), the British Lunar colony (Selenetia), or the Russian mining franchise on Ceres (Dneiprod). It typically carries a crew of eight (pilot, co-pilot {comms officer}, engineer, two gunners, and three hands {who also fill-in as marines}) A stout ship, it has a cockpit, four two-bunk cabins, two turrets with dual laser cannons, engine bay with stores, galley and recreation area, and small cargo bay used mostly for repair supplies. Crew: Pilot 6, Gunner 5, Mechanics 4, Awareness 4. Dented O O O O O O O O O O 4 Dual Laser Canon 3d6 Shattered O O O O O O O O O O 8 Dual Laser Canon 3d6 Smashed O O O O O O O O O O 12 Crushed O O O O O O O O O O 16 Demolished O O O O O O O O O O 20

The Imperious While Defenders can be used to deter minor incursion in outer establishments, the Imperious was designed for tactical strikes and retaliation, whether from spacefaring humans or intergalactic beings. The Imperious is huge. It has a bridge crew of four (captain, pilot, co-pilot, and comms officer), four engineers, eight ship hands, two medical officers, and sixteen marines (for landing and boarding actions). As well as the bridge there are sixteen two-bunk cabins, four dual laser turrets and two torpedo arrays, two engine bays and a hangar

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holding four AFV's as well as munitions for the marines. Crew: Pilot 5, Gunner 5, Mechanics 5, Awareness 5. Dented O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 4 Dual Laser Canon 3d6 Shattered O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 8 Dual Laser Canon 3d6 Smashed O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 12 Dual Laser Canon 3d6 Crushed O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 16 Dual Laser Canon 3d6 Demolished O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 20 Torpedo Array 5d6 Torpedo Array 5d6

UFO's The aliens races hailing form the region of Planet X use very similar craft designed around the familiar saucer shape that seems so popular with extra planetary creatures. A few of the basic types are listed below. Scout This small saucer carries a complement of about three individuals. It seems to be used solely for reconnaissance and abduction. The few that have been captured relatively intact and not demolished outright seem to lack quarters in favour for what scientists guess are stasis tubes.

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Dented O O O O O 4 Plasma Blaster 3d6 Shattered O O O O O 8 Smashed O O O O O 12 Crushed O O O O O 16 Demolished O O O O O 20 Infiltrators These large craft carry many aliens onboard and are equipped with a screen that makes them almost impossible to detect with radar or most other forms of electronic surveillance. The aliens use them to land near secluded urban centres from where they can begin to replace humans that they capture. Dented O O O O O O O O O O O O 4 Plasma Irradiator 5d6 Shattered O O O O O O O O O O O O 8 Plasma Irradiator 5d6 Smashed O O O O O O O O O O O O 12 Crushed O O O O O O O O O O O O 16 Demolished O O O O O O O O O O O O 20 Planetary Attack Craft Only three verified sightings of this craft has been made. The firepower that they bring to bear is a troubling thought to government bodies anywhere, yet under the direct threat of one of these craft it would be easy to see why a small nation would capitulate to their desires. A nasty piece of work, the N-wave refractor can attack a target one square mile in radius and deliver 10d6 damage to all biological targets in the area. Aimed at a rocket plane, the N-wave refractor ignores the ships armour to penetrate to hit the targets inside. Dented O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 4 Plasma Irradiator 5d6 Shattered O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 8 Plasma Irradiator 5d6 Smashed O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 12 Plasma Irradiator 5d6 Crushed O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 16 Plasma Irradiator 5d6 Demolished O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 20 N-wave refractor 2d6

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OBSTACLES Throughout Attack the characters will come across many enemies during their duties. The following chapter has many examples of the sorts of danger that they will face along with some notes on those dangers. Invaders from Planet X Recently the Northern Command Space Agency has encountered large numbers of UFO sightings. UFO's have been reported since t ime immemorial with the last large insurgence (or flap) being in the 1960's. Now it seems that the v is i tors are pay ing more attention to our blue-green globe once again. Reports of these visitors are far and wide, and a wide range of creatures have been seen making most authorities think that we are be ing probed by severa l different species. The truth is that all the incursions come from the one source controlled by the Deralites that hail from distant Betelgeuse. Cephalomites These aliens have been seen on Earth for over two thousand years. Scientists believe that ancient stories about the little people, elves, dwarves and gnomes began with encounters with these entities, the type of encounter colouring how those particular diminutive people were viewed. The cephalomites appear as short humanoids with large heads and large oval eyes. They also have the ability to control others through the power of their mind, and they can focus their mental faculties through a golden rod topped with a blue crystal similar in appearance to a flashlight. Melee 3, Health 10, Crystal rod 1d6 Complications: the characters next action is dictated by the cephalomite. Duralites Hailing from Betelgeuse, these humanoids have waged a war of conquest through the near galaxy, enslaving the Nords, Cephalomites and Serpentmen. Now their eyes are

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turned towards the Earth where they intend to use their tactics of fear and submission once more before moving onto another planet. The duralites themselves are hideous to see, squamous bodies as large as a bear with four large black eyes, dead to look at. They have no mouths, rather a short, flabby feeding tube that disgorges acid to break down bodies before being slurped up again. The primary motive form is through four thick tentacles grouped close together at the rear of the body. When not being used for motion they also double as manipulative organs. They are also highly psychic of a most malevolent nature. Melee4, Health 25, Worm gun (mixes your guts up from range) 2d6 Complications: they use a psychic jab that causes the victim to run around screaming.

Nords The Nords (a shortened version of Nordic visage, as all that have been seen are at least 7' tall with blonde hair and well built bodies) have been encountered rarely but are a captive race like the cephalomites and the serpentmen. They are often used to bamboozle humans into thinking aliens are god-savants that will bring a new Age of Enlightenment. Melee 7, Health 15, Ray gun 1d6+3 or Fist 1d6 Complications: their fists can push an opponent back a number of yards equal to the damage. Serpentman A recent visitant to the planet, the serpentmen have only been encountered in significant numbers in the last 50 odd years. They are more aggressive than cephalomites being physically powerful and having a nasty disposition. While only being seen close hand relatively recently, those encounters have led researchers to believe that they have visiting Earth for many years and are behind cattle mutilations and the odd human disappearance. Melee 5, Health 15, Plasma pistol 1d6+3 Complications: the serpentman throws a gas grenade that requires an Endurance roll or have the character fall unconscious. Martian Critters Mars has been a dying planet for many millennia. Only the hardiest of species has been able to survive the changes that have come over the planet. The sentient species

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that once ruled its plains have since fallen by the wayside while simpler and more aggressive species still hunt and kill across the surface. 50' Mutant Robot The first disastrous encounter with the fallen Martian intelligences was with one of their older machine. This creature seems to have been a natural creature that the Martians changed in horrible ways, adding strange machinery to it. It seems to have only one mission - kill everything it encounters. Melee 12, Health 35, Rays, rockets and power fists 4d6 Complications: affects multiple targets, destroys a piece of equipment, paralyses target Sand Crab A large arthropod that hides amongst the red sands of Mars waiting for tasty morsels. As they are usually buried a character that gets a Complication on an Awareness check will suffer damage from a surprise attack. Melee 7, Health 10, Claws 1d6 Complications: the wound is vicious, -1 to Strength, regained at 1 point every 2 days. Spider Bear Seriously that is what this critter looks like. Its stands about 15' tall with six spindly legs extending from its rounded body. Its fur is coarse and thick and the head is shaped

similarly to that of a bear or dog. Small pedipalps extend from its chin to grasp prey that is about to enter is fanged maw. Melee 5, Health 32, Bite 2d6 Complications: it can stand on a target making them easier to hit, a character will receive a Complication if he rolls a 1 or a 6. Sky Skate This beast floats up in the high atmosphere of Mars (thats about 30 yards). From there they look for tasty morsels (this could be a person) upon which to snack. Melee 3, Health 12, Bite 2d3 Complications: their first attack might be a Complication of an Awareness check, their bite is venomous, make an Endurance roll suffer -3 to Agility for 1d6 days.

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Mutants The scientific advances of the past decades has seen some problems associated with it. While medical authorities, watch-dogged by the governments of the time, are reticent to advertise a large trend in the amount of mutations occurring, there is no denying the number of independent reports of mutated animals and people attacking the general populace. It is almost impossible to compile a list of mutated creatures by the very nature of the incident, however, the AM can throw together a variety of mutants by using the following chart, rolling once on each column. The Attack column describes how the mutant delivers damage, the damage column denotes the amount delivered on a Complication.

Complications: you're better off coming up with something on the fly based on the description of the mutant. Rampant Robots During the Chino-European war, the European forces turned their factories into developing war machines to combat the Chinese hordes. One of the projects they developed was the Ares project (Actuated Robotica Electromechanical Systems). These robots were built using EMP proof valve technology and were armed with a wide variety of deadly weapons. While the robots have supposedly been decommissioned since the finish of the war, large number of them have been sold in the black market to criminal enterprises, and some factories still produce limited numbers for supposedly security companies.

Die Torso Head Arms/Legs

Attack Damage Melee/Health

2 Fish Flaming Centi-pedal

Spit 1d3 12/5

3 Octopus No head Talons Gas 1d6 9/7

4 Arachnid Human Multiple arms

Fire 2d3 9/10

5 Lion Crocodile Wings Poison 1d3+3 7/12

6 Dog Hawk Tentacles Rend 1d6+3 7/15

7 Human Wolf Claws Bite 2d6+3 5/17

8 Gorilla Elephant Hooves Bash 2d6 5/20

9 Bear Snake Serpentine Lightning 1d6+6 4/22

10 Eagle Baboon Pincers Spikes 3d6 4/25

11 Shark Two heads (roll twice)

Hooks Mental 2d6+6 3/27

12 Worm/snake

Three heads (roll

three times)

None Elemental (earth, fire, air, water)

4d6 3/30

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Melee 7, Health 15, Laser 1d6+6 Complications: Emits gas or electrical field - make Endurance roll of be subdued, robot arm crushes equipment

Venusian Critters Unlike Mars Venus has never had sentient life develop on it, instead it has remained a prehistoric land of volcanoes, harsh, unbreathable atmosphere, and extreme weather systems. Initial investigations of Venus show that it is mineral rich, with good ore deposits close to the surface of the planet. It just happens that the surface is almost fatal to man in so many ways. Fleet-Footed Gaper This saurian is quite quick on its four legs and has a wide maw capable of scooping up several smaller beasts (the smallest on Venus being the size of a large dog) or men who are straying in its path. Melee 4, Health 23, Chomp 2d6 Complications: knocked over by a large foot, caught in the wide maw - 1d6 chewing damage a round Land Behemoth This mighty beast is huge. It has six stumpy legs that carry it through terrain and a long thick neck that allows it to eat the lush mosses that grow on the rocky outcroppings of Venusian buttes. They are rarely preyed upon because it takes so much effort to kill them.

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Melee 3, Health 50, Trample 5d6 Complications: swallowed whole - cut your way out by doing twice your Endurance in damage while taking 2d6 crushing and digestion damage. Poisonous Scavenger A smaller example of the Venusian fauna, this one stands about as tall as a man and spits gobbets of poison to blind and hamper their foes. Typically they eat carrion but will attack en-masse if they feel they have an advantage. Melee 4, Health 17, Claws 2d6 Complications: spit acid - make an Endurance roll or be blinded Stickle-Backed Render This saurian-like creature is an example of the theory of parallel evolution, mimicking the sorts of life that lived on Earth millions of years in the past. They prey upon lesser lizards and so far the hapless probes that have been sent there. Melee 5, Health 25, Claws 3d6 Complications: destroys a piece of gear

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ADVENTURE IN THE 22nd CENTURY The world awaits with baited breath as to what will be revealed to it. Will the Cold War between China and the rest of the world heat up? Will the race to discover new resources in space become a deadly competition? Will the beings from Planet X start an interplanetary war? Or will something stranger happen? As previously noted, the idea for this book came from all those black and white saturday matinees that I used to watch on TV. It Came From Outer Space, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, and Invaders from Mars all deal with alien invasion. In It Came From Outer Space the visitors are not intending us harm, they just need time to repair their craft and need to infiltrate society to get the things they need. Earth vs. The Flying Saucers has humans going up against traditional aliens who have superior weaponry. Luckily human scientists are always resourceful. Invaders from Mars has the enemy trying to take over humans for their insidious invasion. Apart from invasion films there are also exploratory films: The Angry Red Planet, Project Moonbase, and Forbidden Planet. Four astronauts rocket to Mars in The Angry Red Planet and uncover dangers unimagined when the trip was planned. Project Moonbase sees a foreign spy (and some really bad costumes) insinuated on an American space station that is about to send a research rocket to the Moon. The team of a starship crew visit Altair in Forbidden Planet only to discover a strange beast that has unlimited power ready to pull them all apart. These are just a few examples, there are dozens more. The common themes are alien invasion or planetary exploration. The history of 2053 has been written so you can explore both options. In fact you probably should ask your players which way they want to go, galactic police or defenders of the Earth. Both themes often have you finding new technology. You may think that this new technology will quickly scale up your game. The easiest answer is to have it necessary for the humans to strip it down to understand it and then rebuild using less alien power sources, a process that will take a few years for the smallest of advantages. Of course its also good to give them a bone every now and then that allows them to blow stuff up quickly. In the end though its all about having good fun, so strap your favourite laser pistol to your side, jump into your rocket ship and let all the aliens beware.

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The world of 2053 needs heroes, someone that can shoot an alien right between the eyes

with a cobalt-magnesium laser pistol. If you feel you have what it takes then delve the pages of this game to bring your future

alive today.