CHAPTER 1WELCOME TO THE UNIVERSE THAT IS TRULY ENDLESS WITH POSSIBILITIES OF ADVENTURE

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CHAPTER 3SHOOT FIRST AND ASK QUESTIONS LATER AND ONLY IF THERE IS STILL A NEED TO DO SO

30

INJURY AND DEATH: In the chaos of battle,combatants can end up in no end of bad ways.Injury and death come to every hero and villain atsome point. The only question is how. Dependingon one’s Character Class, there are two dice thathe will literally live and die by.

TABLE #30: FIGHTING DICECharacter Damage Variable Defeat DiceFighterRogueMysticNo Class

D12D8D6D4

D10D8

D12D6

Wounds: Whenever someone is hit by anything, hesuffers ‘Damage’. These Damage Points determinethe severity of the wound and are temporarilydeducted from one’s Health. When delivering ablow, one will do a total amount of Damage equalto the Base Damage of the weapon he is using,increased by his Damage ‘Variable’ from Table 30.For all NPC creatures, this dice is listed alongwith their individual statistics in Chapter 21. If heis using no weapon, he has no Base Damage, andso delivers his Variable alone for Damage.

Protection: The value of one’s Protection Score isthe number of Damage that is reduced from everyblow. While Player Characters wear armor to attaintheir Protection, many creatures have naturally thickhides or other guards. But whatever the case, anyblow will always deliver a minimum 1 Damage,regardless of how high one’s Protection is.

Fatigue: When somebody is wounded, he suffers apenalty to many rolls until healed, as his woundstax his strength and ability to focus. Every 5 totalDamage one has (rounded up) is the cumulative -1penalty to his Defense Score, Attack Rolls, AbilityChecks, Skill Checks, and Searching Checks.

Healing: All wounds will heal at the rate of 1Health Point at regular intervals, this time equal tothe difference between his Genetics Score and 30in hours, provided the person isn’t wounded furtherduring that time (including through lack of food,traveling, etc). If someone specifically rests for thattime and so engages in no activity at all, he willheal an additional 2 Health Points. Also, there aremany forms of exotic and strange healing, usuallyin the form of professional services and unknownpowers, which heal one much quicker.

Defeat: If ever a Character or creature is reducedto 0 Health or less, his body is broken, and hisfate will depend upon the strength of his spirit. Atthis point, one rolls on Table 31 to determine whathappens to him, perhaps unconsciousness, perhapsbrutal death. This roll is made using the ‘Defeat’Dice listed for one’s Class on Table 30, while allNPC creatures simply perish outright.

TABLE #31: DEFEATRoll The Character’s fate

10-12

8-96-75

42-31

Will not die this time; does not get woundedand gains 10-1000 Experience PointsResolve; does not suffer the blow at allUnconscious; until Health returns above 0Slow death; he will die eventually when hefails a now daily Unique Ability CheckFinal fight; finally collapses in 1-4 RoundsDeadObliterated; nothing recognizable left

Pulling Damage: Sometimes a person may wish todo less than his maximum possible Damage, or dodamage only to knock his enemy unconscious, notkill him. In any case, one must state before anyAttack Roll is made if he is doing this, but not towhat degree. After the Damage is rolled he canreduce it, or declare his Healthless opponent notdead and unconscious only.

EXPLORING THE COSMOSSOMETIMES THE GREATEST ENEMY OF ALL CAN BE THE TERRASCAPE OF AN ALIEN WORLD

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SHORT TRANSPORTATION: There are manyways that technology and civilization have providedfor transport over short distances. However, there isalways something to consider with these modalitiesof travel, as detailed below.

Commercial: All commercial transport, from simpletaxis to sleek monorails, all function within thatcivilization’s system, and thus always have camerasor other recording devices hidden with them, whichwill flawlessly document anything anyone inside ofthem does, unless he makes a Stealth Check first.

Dropship: Military ‘drops’ are free-falls from largerships into an atmosphere, to pick up speed with itsown propulsion once the dropship itself is belowthe cloudline, a trip which is difficult for anybodyto endure, requiring a Genetics Check to withstandor that individual falls unconscious for 1-6 Rounds;this Check is Casual for robots, Challenging forhumans, and Critical for aliens.

Freefalling: Whether skydiving, paratrooping, sky-surfing or otherwise falling through a planet’satmosphere, the landing is always the tricky part.To land successfully and unharmed, one needs butmake a Challenging Movement Check. This Checkwill only be Casual if someone has an Occupationthat involves working with the military, as justifiedby the Player’s personal notes or story. Should thisCheck fail, the individual will suffer 2-12 Damage,regardless of the distance fallen.

Beam: This is a means of travel which requires itsown Power unit, instantaneously transporting up toa total Encumbrance (between body and equipment)equal to the Power unit’s credit cost a number ofmiles equal to the same number divided by 10. Ifthere is any physical obstruction in-between (hencethis is usually done to send crew from a spaceshipto a planet’s surface and back), this process willinstantly fail—the individual will not go anywherebut the device’s Power unit will be used up. Atarget larger than human-size can be transported inthis way as well, but for every 100 Encumbrance(rounded up) past the initial assured 500, there is acumulative chance in 6 that the process fails, onceagain using up its Power unit and not transportingits target anywhere.

Digital: An alternate form of ‘beaming’, this willreduce a single target to energy, recorded by thedevice in digital code, to be transported and thenreassembled physically upon the machine’s ‘landingpad’. This can transport anything, of any size, anydistance, theoretically—every 100 total (rounded up)between Encumbrance (bodily and carried) andmiles traversed is the cumulative chance in 12 offailure, which will result in the target rolling foritself on the following chart.

TABLE #73: FAILED DIGITAL TRANSPORTRoll Result of failed digital beaming

19-201817161514131211109876543

1-2

No effect; lucky bastardRinging in ears for 1-4 days; -1 to IntuitionBald; can never grow hair again1-10 fingers missing1-10 toes missingTeeth melt; -1 to PersonalityArm missing; -3 to PhysiqueLeg missing; -2 to Physique and MovementBlindness for 1-4 days; -3 to IntuitionPermanent blindness; -3 to IntuitionAmnesia; lose 100-1200 Experience PointsSkin melts; 10-40 DamageGender change; -3 to Presence ScoreTurned inside-out; 30-60 DamageExplodes; instant deathSplit in half; dies in 1-4 RoundsDisintegration; nothing leftRoll twice more on this chart

BUILDING A BODYA GOOD DEAL OF TIME MUST BE SPENT BUILDING A BODY SO IT DOES NOT FAIL LATER ON

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Digital braille: The Character is able to ‘read’ thedata on tapes, discs, chips and other electronic andcomputer devices simply by touching them. He canthus read data without the device having power.However, he or the party must commit their nextTurn to immediate use of this data, with all of thepotential benefits or consequences, after a UniqueAbility Check is made to read it. The difficulty ofthis Check is dependent on the potential gain.

Emotions: The Character has some sort of specialchip or other mechanism which allows him to trulyfeel emotions rather than simulate them by variousprograms. This will grant the robot +1 to Presenceand Personality Checks alike when dealing with allorganic life, but at the same time cost him a -1penalty to all Reaction Checks.

Energy form: The Character is composed of someform of energy rather than crude matter. Thusly,he has no weight and 0 Body Encumbrance. Thetype of energy he’s composed of does not need tobe specified, and if it is, it cannot be used to hisadvantage or detriment—a body composed of solidgamma rays could just as easily be strengthened bya shower of them as he could be broken apart byhis native energy.

Energy sustenance: The Character is able to drawnourishment from non-physical energy, such aselectricity, dark matter, etc. While he can eat foodand drink fluids normally, he has an alternative.The Player must specify the form of energy he candraw upon, and so long as he has it with him, hesurvive. As a rule, one can only draw upon Powerpacks described in Chapter 4, with its credit costthe number of days it will sustain him. If used forsomething else during that time, the Power supplyfunctions normally, with any bad rolls which occuraccounted for simply by the Character’s gluttony.

Etiquette: The Character is designed, amongst otherthings, for proper manners and social graces, thushis body is able to move in detailed ways that henormally would not, such as extremely versatilefingers or eyebrows. This allows him to re-attemptany Reaction Check anyone else failed in the sameRound, but using the same modifiers as before.

TABLE #103: ALIEN FEATURESFeaturePersonality

PossibleD.N.A.

CreationPoints

Totalroll

Battle-rageFluffingGeniusPain toleranceRiddlespeechStupidityTaunting

B, H, MB

A, DA, B, HA, D, HB, D, H

D, H

4353322

96-1009594

91-9389-90

8886-87

SensoryBig brainDigital brailleFeline eyesKeen hearingKeen sightSixth senseSeventh senseSpectrum visionTracking

D, HA, H, MA, B, HA, D, BA, D, BA, D, H

A, DA, D, B

B, D

662116744

8584

80-8375-7970-7468-69

676665

PhysicalBig earsClaws or talonsColored skinExtra limbFangsFur or body hairGillsHornsLarge wingsPipe-bonesPrehensile tongueScaly-skinShortSmall wingsStrange skinTailTallWebbed hands or feetZardonian features

B, D, HB, M

B, D, MB, D

B, D, HB, H

B, D, HB, D, H

BA, D, H

B, HB, D

B, D, HB, D

A, B, DB, D

A, B, HB, D, M

A, H

2226214189633523327

63-6460-6250-59

4946-4842-4540-4136-39

3533-34

3230-3127-29

2620-25

1916-18

1514

BizarreBreathe fireBreathe frostBreathe poison gasEnergy formEnergy sustenanceRegenerationPlasicityShapeshiftingSpecial bloodVenom sacks

B, MB, MB, MA, M

A, H, MA, H, M

D, HA, H

A, B, HB

4569735896

131211107-9654

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SIMPLE TRICKS AND NONSENSEPRACTICING WITH HOPE IS ONE THING BUT SKILL AGAINST THE DICE IS SOMETHING ELSE

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Navigation: The Character is very knowledgeableabout space, his Skill Level giving an equal bonusto all Navigation Checks if he is either the ship’snavigator or on the command deck (though onlythe maximum Skill Level applies if more than oneindividual is present with such a Skill).

Negotiation: The Character is skilled with words,conversation and convincing others of his point ofview, as his Skill Level gives him an equal bonusto any Reaction Check that he makes—for thisbonus to apply to group reactions, this individualCharacter has to be the one actually doing thespeaking, indeed rolling the dice.

Packing: The Character is clever and efficient whenpacking supplies, with each Skill Level reducinghis carried Encumbrance by 5, and that of anyoneelse he wishes by 2.

Searching: The Character is cunning, clever, andgood at guessing where others (may have) hiddencertain kinds of things, of which he must selectfrom below, with his Skill Level for it giving himan equal bonus to his Searching Checks wheneversuch a discovery (as known by the GM) is thereto be found.

Specific technologySecret doorsTracksTrapsHiding CharactersCosmic treasuresPeople and places (in a civilization)

Spacetravel: The Character is very knowledgeableabout a certain kind of engine or means of spacepropulsion, his Skill Level granting an equal bonusto all Space Rolls made if he is either the ship’sengineer or on the command deck (though only themaximum Skill Level applies if more than oneindividual is present with such a Skill).

LightspeedSpace-warpGeespeedLight-lines

Survival: The Character is knowledgeable of whereto find food, water and other bounty in one kindof environment, of which he must choose fromthose listed below, his Skill Level the bonus to hisForaging Checks in such lands (though only themaximum Skill Level applies if more than oneindividual is present with such a Skill).

CivilizationTemperateTropicalDesertVolcanicArcticAlienAtmosphericUnderseaLunar

Technology: The Character knows his stuff wellenough to make a good technobabbe argument toanyone, especially himself and fate, his Skill Leveloffering an equal bonus to his Tech Checks with aspecific technology, chosen from those listed below.

ExplosivesMindworkTime-spaceRoboticsCloningComputersCommon stuffVehicles

Weaponry: The Character is well trained with ageneral type of weapon, from which he must selectof those listed below, his Skill Level offering himan equal bonus to Attack Rolls and Defense Scorewhile using any such weapon.

LasersProjectilesAlienMeleeThrown objectsHeavy gearUnarmed combatCosmic treasures