hyperdrive! rpg

8/2/2019 Hyperdrive! RPG

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Hyperdrive !

A Science Fiction RPG Systemby Andrea Back

Andrea Back, 2011


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Introduction

Year 2550 AD.Or Centaurian Date 6-03.4.

Or d 1098 .

Whatever you'd like to call it, this is it :the Future.

Earth was indeed not the only planet hosting life in the Galaxy.And Man was not the only intelligence that wished to explore its depths.

Will there be war or cooperation, in the future of humanity?

What will happen when Man will not be on top of the food chain anymore?

Or, what the hell is this Humanity you're rambling so much about?!(We are Furnaxians, duh!)

It's up to you to discover, travelling at the Speed of Lighttowards the unknown and the impossible.

Hyperdrive! Activate!


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System

SKILLS Rolling the dice& :

Character will distribute points among these skills. The amount of points he can spend ineach group depends on the character's race. The points are usually spent in Specializationsfor these skills. If a character uses a skill outside his specialization, his score is halved,rounding down.A character may attempt to use a skill in which he has no training (0 skill) whatsoever: he isallowed a Desperate Roll: he rolls 1d6, but this roll suffers -1 penalty (therefore, a roll of 5becomes a 4). Any negative skill point below 0 becomes an extra -1 penalty (eg: a characterwith -2 Acrobatics will roll 1d6-3)When a character attempts to use a skill, he rolls a number of d6 equal to the score of that

skill. He keeps the highest result. If more than one dice has the highest result, dice beyondthe first that share the highest result will add +1 to the total result. Each 1 that comes outsubtracts 1 from the result, after the highest result is picked. A roll that totals 0 or less isconsidered a Critical Failure.

Examples :A roll of 4,3,2 will have a result of 4.A roll of 4,2,2 will have a result of 4.A roll of 4,4,3 will have a result of 5. ( highest is 4, +1 for another 4)

A roll of 4,3,1 will have a result of 3. (highest is 4, -1 for a roll of 1)A roll of 3,3,1 will have a result of 3.(highest is 3, +1 for another 3, -1 for a roll of 1)A roll of 6,1,1 will have a result of 4. (highest is 6, -2 for two rolls of 1)A roll of 2,1,1 will have a result of 0. (a Critical Failure!)A roll of all 1s will have a result of 0. (a Critical Failure!)

Most actions are rolled against a static Difficulty Class.Some actions are contested, therefore two characters roll to beat each other's score.

IMPORTANT : The max amount of Dice you can roll is 5. Any extra die you should berolling, translates into a +1 to the final result of the roll. (Therefore 8d6 become 5d6+3)

Experience : A character gains a Specialization check near any skill he uses. When hecompletes certain objectives, and gains 1 XP, he can choose a skill where he gained aSpecialization check and increase that Skill:Specialization by +1.

Extras : Sometimes during its career a PC may gain Extra abilities, capabilities or flaws: hemay get a psyonic ability, he may have one of its forearms replaced by a plasma rifle, or hemay have a deep scar that crosses his face. These will need the GM's intervention.


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Character Creation:

The S.S.S.

Skill SpecializationScheme

Unlike many other RPGs, Hyperdrive! doesn't have an array of Stats to represent the virtuesand flaws of a PC. Instead, a PC will be described only by his Skills. In this game, it's impliedthat learned skills are in general superior to inborn capabilities.

When creating a character, first decide what role he will be serving in a spaceship crew, or

in a space colony. Then choose a race (see next chapter).Then distribute Skill pointsaccording to that idea.Skills are divided in 3 groups: Physical, Mental and Social skills. (See Skill chapter)

PhysicalSkills

ExampleSpecialization

MentalSkills


SocialSkills


Acrobatics (Dodge) Academics (TerranHistory)

Criminal (Steal)

Athletics (Climb) Analysis (Autopsy) Diplomacy (First Contact)CloseCombat

(One-on-one) Engineering (Repair) Disguise (Facial Make-up)

EnergyWeapons

(Light Laser) Explosives (Deactivate) Empathy (ShareEmotions)

Firearms (Guns) First Aid (Light Wounds)

Fast Talk (Haggle)

Pilot (Defensive

Maneuvers)

Navigation (Long Routes) Handle

Animals

(Ride)

Resistance (Viruses) Perception (Spot) Intimidate (Torture)

Stealth (Hide) Science (Medicine) Language (Centaurian)

Strength (Bash Open) Survival (Track) Leadership (Inspire)

Wear Armour (Light Armour) Technologies (Hacking) Politics (Indipendence)

Example : John decides that his character, Ryna, will be a Lunar Colonist serving as a nurseon an exploration space vessel. Her father was a mechanic, so she knows the rudiments of

Engineering; life was hard on Luna, so Ryna knows how to survive by herself (John choseEngineering and Survival as bonus racial skills). Ryna is trained to work with little or noequipment, and to face emergencies. He decides that Mental skills will receive a total of 6


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points while her Social skills 4. Her Physical skills have been left with only 2 points, but that'sfine, she'll never go out of the sickbay, after all. Or will she? When distributing Skill points, you have to select a Specialization, which is a specific area of that field of expertise where you're actually trained. When you use a skill outside your fieldof expertise your score will be equal to half the score of your best Specialization in that skill

(rounded down). If you put only 1 point in a Skill, you don't have to choose a Specializationfor that skill : the first point in a Skill is always considered for its generic use. Should youlater gain another point, it will be a Specialization and it will be at level 2 (thus leavingSkill:Generic at 1, coherently with the rules written just above)

Example : Ryna is a nurse, therefore she'll have a good training in First Aid. John decides to put 3 points in First Aid (Critical Wounds): that's going to be useful if someone is in a criticalcondition.If Ryna will use her first aid skills to cure minor wounds, her score in First Aid:Generic will be

just 1, because she halves her best Specialization rounding down.

After you have distributed all your Skill points, you are free to write down your otherdetails, like race/origin, age, height, weight, sex and so on.

Example: John decides to put 2 points in Science(Medicine) and 1 point in Analysis: Ryna hasonly the basic training in this skill, so it applies to its Generic use. John then spends the rest of Ryna's skill points like this: Empathy(Patients) 3, Diplomacy 1; Resistance(Viruses) 2. Shewill need these skills to deal with patients and to avoid contamination. John then has only tospecify that Ryna is a Lunar woman aged 24, she has brown hair and green eyes, and she'sabout 5'2 foot tall.

Race and Origin

Where a character comes from is something every player needs to put some thought into.It's not simply a matter of races: it's about different cultures and people.

Human Races

TerransHumans that live on the Earth needed a name to differentiate their culture from those of the few established colonies on other planets and moons of the Solar System.Terrans, during the First Colonization, used to be an ambitious, curious and diplomaticpeople. However, since the beginning of the 23 th century, things changed: to oppose theclaims for independence of the colonies on Luna (the official name of the Moon since itscolonization)first and on Mars later, the newly born Terran Empire government coined thename Terran to also describe a citizen of the Earth (which has been called Terra since

then) and enacted a series of neo-colonial laws, that relegated the Lunar and Martiancolonist to being B-class citizens. The effect of that nationalistic policy caused the peopleof Terra to rediscover their roots and a newborn love for their history, religions and


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different cultures.As a society, they became pompous and prideful. They act as if only their Governmentshould be recognized as a legitimate human government. At best, they tend to see thepeople from the colonies as space hicks.

Terrans start any two of these bonuses: +1 Diplomacy, +1 Academics, +1 Leadership or +1Politics. Their Fragility is 3. They can spend only 6,4,2 points on Skills during Character Creation.

Lunar ColonistsThe Moon was the first place to be colonized, bringing about the time now called the FirstColonization, in 2082 AD. About 5000 settlers, mostly farmers but also doctors, engineersand other much needed professionals, were sent to inhabit the first colonial outpost of Earth in the Solar System. The Moon was called Luna, to avoid confusion with the other

planets major satellites, and to give some sort of recognition to the colony. However,relations between Lunar Colonies and the Earth governements grew bitter over time (as italways happens with colonies) and eventually in 2196, the social unrest on Luna caused 10of the 13 Lunar Colonies to ally and form L.A.S.I.R, the Lunar Alliance for Separation,Independence and Rights. The Terran Empire still officially refuses to acknowledge theclaims of the LASIR, but in fact the Lunar Colonies have gained independence: Terrans werestill too much concerned with the colonization of other planets and the exploration outsidethe Solar System to waste time and energy to hold on those first, uncomfortable outposts.Lunar Colonists are hard-working, independent and have a strong sense of freedom.

Lunar Colonists start with any two of these bonuses: +1 Engineering, +1 Survival, +1Diplomacy or +1 Politics. Their Fragility is 3. They can spend only 6,4,2 points on Skillsduring Character Creation.

Martian ColonistsMartians are not the small, green aliens that people were so obsessed about in the 20 th

century. Martians are the descendants of the settlers that made of the Red Planet their newhome. Overpopulation in the 22 th century was getting out of hand and mankind needednew places to inhabit; the Lunar Colonies were but an experiment and they turned out tobe troublesome, inhospitable to life and, ultimately, not worth the hassle. Therefore theEarth governements decided to enact the colonization of Mars, a long-time dream of humanity. The first Martian Colony dates back to 2204 AD.Unlike those on Luna, the first colonies on Mars served as Detention Facilities: all of thecriminals with more than a 2-year imprisonment sentence were transferred to MarsCorrection Facilities, were they would pay their debt with the Terran Empire through hard-labour, preparing the planet for the real colonization. Something that has never really takenplace.Between 2245 and 2265 there have been serious uprisings, rebellions and riots on the

Martian Colonies, until eventually the Terran Empire gave up on sending troops and tryingto regain control of the lost facilities. The planet never really proclaimed its independence,so formally it's still under the jurisdiction of the Terran Empire.


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Most Martian Colonists live in towns and villages scattered across the red desert that stillcovers the 76% of the surface, since the terraforming process has never been completed;few priviliged ones inhabit the terraforming colonies, verdant oasis that provide enoughwater and food to sustain their inhabitants. Martians are called Rust-eaters, for the red dustthat usually covers them from head to toe; some tend to be menacing, harsh and

dishonest, others are merely survivors of their own anarchic society.

Martians start with two of these bonuses: +1 Resistance, +1 Criminal, +1 Intimidate or +1Firearms. Their Fragility is 3. They can spend only 6,4,2 points on Skills during Character Creation.

Non human Races-

Juvians

This marine race has been the first form of extraterrestrial intelligence to have been found.They seem to have inhabited the underground oceans of Europe, the 4 th largest moon of Jupiter, for an equivalent of at least 10'000 Terran years, probably more.The first contact with them happened in 2320, when an exploring crew landed on thesurface of Europe and melted the icy surface to reach the underground ocean. Oncebeneath the ocean, the explorers found themselves face to face with the Juvians.Apparently, all the probes that had been sent on Europe since the beginning of the 21 st

century and were believed to have been destroyed by space radiations and magneticdisturbances from Jupiter, were destroyed by the natives. Contact with these superior

technologies revealed to the less evoluted Juvians that there was something outside theirdark, icy ocean. A whole universe, actually. Reverse-engineering of the probes improvedtheir technologies a lot, and when encountered these Aliens were almost on par withTerran science, except that they were just about to try and send their first space vesseloutside the ocean.Juvians recognized the Terrans as the makers of the probes, and greeted them. Since then,Terrans and Juvians acted in good agreement to help the marine people in their conquestof the space: these marine creatures turned out to be very intelligent and talented withtechnologic devices.Juvians have a sleek, muscular body, covered in dark and thick skin. They have long armswith 7 oversized fingers. They have two large eyes with miryads of pupils, and two seriesof gills on their backs. A membrane covers their face to protect the mouth and the organsfrom the glacial temperatures of Europa. They can be as tall as 10ft, but out of the waterthey cannot stad erected: they have to hunch their backs because their cartilagineousskeleton cannot sustain their weight, and every movement for them is slow and painful. Alarge dorsal fin and a flexible membrane like that of a mantaray helps their underwateragility. Juvians can live up to 160 Terran years.

Juvians start with any three of these bonuses +2 Perception (darkness), +2 Athletics(swimming), +2 Perception (darkness), +2 Athletics (swimming), +1 Strength and +1Technologies. Outside water they suffer a -3 Athletics. They have Fragility 5. They can spend only 4,3,1 points on Skills during character creation.


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CentauriansWhen Humans and Juvians developed in cooperation their first Hyperdrive engine in 2450and flew the TSS Hermes to Mars in about 4 minutes at the Speed of Light, it entered anew era of Space Travel. Soon after, a delegation of Centaurians, a technologicallyadvanced race from the only planet of the Tri-star system of Alpha Centauri, approached

the experimental starship and made first contact. Centaurian culture being more advancedthan Terran culture (and of course, Juvian culture), the Centaurians had already been flyingaround the galaxy for thousands Terran years before this First Contact, and welcomed boththe Solar System races to the Galactic community: at least other 5 races were travellingaround that sector of the galaxy at faster-than-light speed. Undoubtedly, countless moreraces inhabited the Galaxy: Centaurian claimed to have met more than 80 by then.Centaurians are a race of explorers, diplomats and scholars. They are physically weak, tallas humans but far thinner. They have a greenish, soft skin, often with stripes or patterns of scales of vivid colors. They heads are bald and with a colorful V crest that is more

pronounced in males. Their faces have serpent-like features, and they have two pairs of arms. They have no legs, moving on long serpentine tails. Centaurians can live up to 200Terran years

Centaurians start with any three of these bonuses: +1 Technologies, +1 Intimidate, +1Science, +1 Navigation, +1 Diplomacy or +1 Analysis. They have Fragility 2. They can spend only 5,5,3 points on Skills during Character Creation.


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JresharsJreshars are a race of wanderers and explorers whose planet was destroyed a long timeago. Since then, they travel around the galaxy as nomads, offering their services asmercenaries and filling the niches of the various alien societies. Their metabolism isaccelerated so they need to consume a lot of food despite their small size, and they seem

to be always on the edge. Their mother tongue is spoken so fast that a second is enoughto present oneself to a stranger, also wishing him a good voyage. Jreshars have tiny bodies,hardly ever reachin 5 feet of height. They are covered in thick red, brown or black fur andhave pointed, canine faces. They are a curious, hyperactive folk that can live only up to 60Terran years. They have long rat-like tails, and usually don't bother wearing shoes over theiroversized feet. They have a knack for mechanical devices and for dishonest activities ingeneral.

Jreshars start with any three of these bonuses: +1 Acrobatics, +1 Stealth, +2 Engineering

(Salvaging Parts), +1 Fast Talk, +1 Criminal, +1 Pilot. They start with -1 Close Combat, -1Strength and -1 Intimidate. Their Fragility is 3. They can spend only 4,4,4 points on Skillsduring Character Creation.

NebulansThe natives of the binary star system Rho Ophiuchi, which is located about 390 to 440 lightyears away from Terra, take their name from the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex, a darknebula of gas and stellar dust near their system. These people were among the first to dealwith the last arrived and generally appreciate the Terrans, even if they've always dislikedthe Juvians. This is quite peculiar, as Nebulans are famous for their emphatic powers thatmake communication and trust to be easily built within members of different species. Theyare highly valued as artists, negotiators, diplomats, counselors and , more rarely, politicians.Women have pink to light purple skin, soft as silk, and thin, elegant bodies. Men haveyellow to orange skin, soft as velvet and are considered athletic and handsome. They canalter their body features at will, but they seldom take advantage of this for illegal activities.They can live up to 80 years, but they don't show many signs of aging.Nebulans start with any three of these bonuses: +2 Disguise (racial features),+2 Disguise(racial features),+2 Empathy (read emotions), +2 Empathy (read emotions), +1 Languages ,+1 Criminal. They suffer -2 Resistance and -2 Armour. Their Fragility is 3. Nebulans can only

spend 6,2,2 points on Skills during Character Creation.


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SkillsPhysical

Skill Name Description Example Specializations Who needs this skill?

Acrobatics The ability to perform tumbles, cartwheels,dodging and many other feats of agility.

(Dodge), (Dancing),(Balance), (Juggling)

Martial Artists, Pole-dancers, Burglars

Athletics The overall capability of moving with ease orwithout getting hurt or weary.

(Jump), (Climb), (Swim),(Sprint), (Run)

Soldiers, Athletes,Hunters, Scouts

Close Combat The ability to fight in close quarters with handweapons or bare-handed.

(Martial Arts), (Parry),(Stun), (Wrestle)

Policemen, Thugs,Soldiers, Infiltrators

Energy Weapons The skill with high-tech weapons, like Laserguns, Tachyon guns or Plasma rifles.

(Light Laser), (T-gun),(Light Plasma)

Soldiers, Space Pirates,Gunners.

Firearms The skill with traditional projectile weapon,often using gunpowder

(Guns), (Rifles),(Machineguns)

Soldiers, Infiltrators,Thugs, Raiders

Pilot The ability to maneuver a vehicle and performoffensive or defensive stunts.

(Land Vehicles), (Tanks),(Corvettes)

Space Pilots, Stuntmen,Taxi Drivers

Resistance The defense against any form of adversecondition or contamination.

(Xenoviruses), (Bacteria),(Radiations),

Settlers, Explorers,Soldiers, Nurses

Stealth The ability to go unseen and undetected,through dexterity or craftiness

(Sneak) (Hide) (Shadow)(Ambush)

Bounty Hunters,Assassins, Thieves

Strength The capacity of employing brute force tobash, bend, crush, lift or carry things.

(Bash Open) (Lift/Carry)(Wrestle) (Demolish)

Soldiers, Wrestlers,Slave, Labourer

Wear Armour The capacity of wearing heavier kinds of armour comfortably and with ease.

(Light), (Heavy), (Shields),(Battle-suits)

Soldiers, Tribesmen,Pirates

MentalSkill Name Description Example Specializations Who needs this skill? Academics The knowledge in various fields of experience,

from Religion to Art.(Art), (Terran History),(Juvian Religion)

Scholars, Preachers,Ambassadors

Analysis The capacity of researching and elaboratinginformation or situations.

(CSI), (Autopsy),(Calculate), (Decrypt)

Scientists, Investigators

Engineering The ability to build or repair any type of machinery (see Technologies)

(Repair Weapon), (RepairSpaceships), (Deconstruct)

Engineers, Mechanics,Salvagers, Saboteurs

Explosives The skill with any type of explosive, likegrenades, mines or bombs.

(Deactivate), (Timer),(Grenades), (Mines)

Artificers, AssaultSoldiers, Sabouteurs

First Aid The ability to heal freshly made wounds,operating with limited equipment.

(Critical Wounds),(Bleeding)

Nurses, Physicians,Surgeons, Explorers

Navigation The ability to orientate oneself and to choosethe best route for a journey.

(Orientation), (Safe Route),(Escape Route)

Navigators, Explorers,Tacticians

Perception The acuteness of one's senses and theawareness of one's surroundings

(Spot), (Hear),(Ambushes), (Disguises)

Scouts, Guards, Hunters

Science The expertise in the various fields of scientificknowledge.

(Xeno-Biology) (Physiscs)(Astronomy)

Scientists, Doctors

Survival The capacity of surviving in a hostileenvironment with little support

(Track), (Food/Water),(Natural Dangers)

Explorers, Survivors,Infiltrators

Technologies The ability to operate any type of machinery(see Engineering)

(Hacking) (Scan)(Cloaking) (NebulanTechnology)

Scientists, Hackers,Pirates


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SocialSkill Name Description Example Specializations Who needs this skill?

Criminal Comprises a series of illegal activities, such assmuggling, pickpocketing and forging docs.

(Steal), (Smuggle),(Forgery)

Thieves, Assassins,Pirates

Diplomacy The ability to conduct peaceful negotiationswithin official standards of conduct

(Etiquette) (First Contact)(Bureaucracy)

Diplomats,Ambassadors

Disguise The capacity of changing one's appearanceand hiding one's identity

(Racial Features),(Uniforms), (Make-Up)

Infiltrators, Spies

Empathy The ability to read someone else's intentionsand emotions, or to get well with others.

(Read Emotions), (DetectLies), (Perceive Intentions),(Perceive Innuendo)

Ambassadors,Psichiatrists

Fast Talk The ability to conduct advantageousnegotiations, without any official standard of conduct.

(Lies), (Innuendo), (Omit),(Haggle)

Merchants, Spies

Handle Animals The capacity of taming wild animals, ridingtamed ones or dealing with them in general.

(Ride), (Tame), (Acquatic) Hunters, Herders,Tribesmen

Intimidate The ability to impress someone throughdisplays of violence, threats or fear.

(Scare), (Torture), (VeiledThreats)

Pirates, Thugs,Sergeants

Languages The capacity of expressing oneself withanother language.

(Centaurian), (LunarDialect), (Jresharian)

Ambassadors, Comm.Experts

Leadership The ability to impress someone with displaysof virtue, and to give orders to subordinates.

(Command) (Coordinate)(Inspire) (Decision Making)

Explorers, Survivors,Infiltrators

Politics The knowledge of the different forms of governement and their institutions.

(Indipendence) (Anarchy)(Bureaucracy)

Politicians,Revolutionaries


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COMBATIndividual Combat

When two or more characters end up fighting against each other on an individual scale(that is, not on a spaceship or vehicle) they will enter what's called Individual Combat.They have to follow these steps.

Initiative: If the two characters are already facing each other, they have to roll an opposed

Empathy check, since they rely on reading each others intentions for signs of aggression.

If a character is not aware of the presence of the other character, he has to roll aPerception check vs DC 4. If the other character is sneaking, his Stealth check isopposed to the Perception check. It is possible that both characters are not aware of each other's presence, so they will have to roll independent Perception checks.

Characters that take part into the combat, will act in order, with the highest rollerfirst, alternating their own combat rounds.

Combat Round:

When it's a character's turn, he can take any action he could possibly perform in 10seconds. If an action would take more than that, it will require more rounds.

Attack : the character rolls an appropriate offensive skill check like Close Combat(blade weapons), Firearms (Small Guns), Energy Weapons (Light Plasma) while thedefender rolls an appropriate defensive skill check like Close Combat(Parry),Acrobatics(Dodge). If the attacker rolls higher than the defender, he scored a hit!

Damage : in the case of a hit , the difference between the Attacker's roll and theDefender's roll (plus any bonus Dice for weapons etc) is the Damage Dice Pool. Theattackers rolls that number of d6 against a DC equal to the defender's Fragility. If theroll succeeds, the defender's health will shift one degree to the right. If the rollsucceds by more than 3, it is a Critical Hit: health takes an extra shift to the right foreach point beyond 3 in the difference between Damage Value and Fragility.

Note: Record on the character's sheet the Damage Value suffered by your character,you will need that value to recover your health later.

Wounds: A character has various degrees of health, and how easily he can go fromone to the next depends on its race. The Fragility of a race is the DC to hurtmembers of that race: for humans, that's 3. Fragility can be increased by wearingarmour. The various degrees of a character's health are : Healthy / Light Wounds / Severe Wounds / Critical Wounds. Beyond that, there's outright Death.

Example: An unknown alien lifeform is sneaking up on Ryna. It rolls Stealth (sneak) 4, and gets a 3. Ryna rolls Perception (which for her is a Desperate Roll with -1) and is quite lucky.She rolls a 5, that is reduced to a 4 enough to notice the aggressor just in time! Ryna runs


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towards a desk, hoping to find something she can use as a weapon. The alien jumps on her with outstretched claws: it rolls Close Combat (Predator behaviour) 4 because he's driven by hunger, obtaining a result of 5. Ryna tries to defende herself with Close Combat, but againfor her i'ts a Desperate Roll at -1: se rolls 3, which is reduced to 2. The Damage Dice Pool of the hit is 3, thus the Alien rolls 3d6. It rolls a 6 which is way more than Ryna's Fragility of 3,

therefore she is Lightly Wounded now. A gaping wound on her forearm soaks her shirt withblood.

Vehicle Combat

Sometimes a combat will be between two or more vehicles be it spaceships or war trucks.It has the same rules of Individual Combat, but relies on different abilities and often on thecooperation of more characters.

Initiative If the vehicle allows one or more Characters to see any approaching enemy, they

can roll a Perception check. Should the vehicle have radar technologies, the crewcan roll a Navigation (Radar) check as well. Technologies(Cloaking) can be used asan analog to Stealth, opposing radar technologies and sometimes even humansenses.

If a vehicle is aware of the presence of another vehicle, the crew can rollTechnologies (Scan), if they have access to such a device, to obtain informationabout the other vehicle.

If combat is imminent, the crew that rolled higher can act first.

Crew posts Roles &Every vehicle is different, so sometimes more duties will fall on the same crew member for example, on a small vessel the same character can be Commander, Pilot and Navigator.

(1) Pilot : can use Pilot; governs the vehicle direction and acceleration.(2) Gunner : can use Energy Weapons, Firearms; governs the vehicle weaponry(3) Engineer : can use Engineering and Technologies; governs the vehicle propulsion(4) Navigator : can use Navigation and Perception; governs the vehicle navigation sys.

(5) Scientific Officer : can use Technologies, Science and Analysis; governs the vehiclescanning and analysis systems

(6) Comm-expert : can use Perception, Languages, Empathy; governs the vehicleCommunication systems

(7) Captain : can use Leadership and Empathy; commands the course of action.

Combat When it's a crew's turn, they can take any action they could possibly perform in 30

seconds. If an action would take more than that, it will require more rounds. All crew members can act at the same time, or they can do up to three actions one

after the other (thus approximatively 10 seconds per action), but the samecharacter cannot act more than once per round.


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Attack : the Gunner will roll the appropriate offensive check, such as EnergyWeapons (Laser Cannons) or Firearms (Turret Guns), while the enemy Pilot canattempt a Pilot(Defensive Maneuver), just as you can use Acrobatics(Dodge) inIndividual Combat. If the Gunner wins the contested roll, he scored a hit against theenemy's vehicle. A Gunner can fire in a single round any number of weapons.

Damage: When hit, vehicles don't take Wounds, they have breakdowns andfailures, but they work in just the same way. The difference between the Gunner'sroll and the enemy Pilot's roll is the Damage Dice Pool of the hit. The Gunner rollsthat many d6s and tries to beat the GSI, General Structural Integrity DC of theenemy vehicle. If the roll succeeds, the Structural Integrity of the vessel goes downby 10%. If the roll succeds by more than 3, it is a Critical Hit: it does an extra 10%damage for extra each point beyond 3 in the difference between Damage Valueand GSI.

Note : the Engineer should record on his character's sheet the exact damagesuffered by his ship, he will need that value to repair the ship later.

Structural Integrity & Breakdowns : When a vehicle takes a hit, some of itsinstrumentation may break. For every 10% of Structural damage taken by a vehicle,roll 1d6 to determine which crew member's instrumentation suffered the hit. TheCaptain has no instrumentation so he doesn't count. When the instrumentation of acrew member takes a hit, that crew member will suffer a -1 penalty to all checksassociated with that instrumentation (Therefore, if a PC is both the Pilot and theGunner of a spaceship, and Gunner's instrumentation is hit, the -1 penalty onlyapplies to when he is acting as a Gunner, not when he's piloting). When the sameinstrumentation is hit for the third time, it simply breaks down. When StructuralIntegrity is at 0% the vehicle may explode.

Aimed shots : A skilled Gunner might want to call his shots, trying to disablespecific parts of the enemy vessel. For example, he might want to try and disable itspropulsion system (Engineer instrumentation), so it won't be able to escape orpursue.1. First the Scientific Officer has to pass a Technologies check with DC 4 to

determine if he knows enough about the enemy vessel to aim at its weak spots.2. Then, the Gunner has to attack as usual, but with a -2 to his Skill.3. In case of a hit, the Gunner rolls his damage against the SSI, Specific Structural

Integrity DC of the particular piece of equipment that was hit.4. The overall Structural Integrity of the target is damaged as usual, don't roll for

random hit location (obviously). Anyway, Aimed shots cannot deal more than30% damage (once a piece of equipment is destroyed, you can't damage it anymore) to S.I.

Life Death&

Recovering Health

A character can regain lost health right after the encounter that caused that wound withthe First Aid skill, or after a while with the Science(Medicine) skill. Otherwise, he will simplyheal with time.


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First AidOnly one roll can be attempted to apply First Aid on a wounded character after eachencounter. If successful, the wound will be treated and the character's health will shift onedegree to the left. The DC for healing a particular wound is the Damage that caused thatwound. If the First Aid roll fails, the character will need intensive treatment to recover that

wound.

Science Medicine( )A wounded character should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Once for everyday that the wounded character is being treated, the physician will roll Science (Medicine)and subtract the result from the Damage suffered by the character, starting with the lastwound. When the Damage for a particular wound has been healed completely, thecharacter's health shifts one degree to the left.

Natural RecoveryA living organism will repair itself, over time, unless Critically Wounded. A character willheal 1 Damage from his Severe Wounds at a rate of 1 damage per day. Then he will heal 1Damage from his Light Wounds at a rate of 1 damage per 4 hours. This form of healing isnot cumulative with medical treatment. A Critically Wounded character will have to roll hisResistance(Bleeding) against a DC of 1 point for each hour that he has been left withouttreating. Should he fail, he'll be Dead.

Example: Ryna has found one of her comrades critically wounded on Deck B-14. She pullsout her First Aid kit and tries to stop the bleeding: she rolls First Aid (Critical Wounds) 3,

obtaining a 6: the wound had a DC of 5, therefore the roll was successful. The man is now only Severely Wounded. Later Ryna takes the man to sickbay, where he can receive proper medical treatment: after one day of treatment, Ryna rolls Science(Medicine) 2 and obtains a3; she subtracts this result from the 5 Damage the man suffered for the Severe Wounds. Next day she will roll again, and if she rolls 2 or more, she will have healed the man's SevereWounds.

Repairing A VehicleThe Crew of a vehicle can repair damage to their instrumentation once right after theencounter that caused that damage with the Engineering skill, or after a while also withthe Engineering skill.NOTE: Vehicles don't repair themselves over time, quite the opposite!

Immediate RepairOnly one roll can be attempted to repair a damaged piece of instrumentation, after eachencounter. If successful, part of the damage will be repaired and the Structural Integrity of the Vehicle will increase by 10%. The DC for repairing a loss of S.I. is the Damage thatcaused that loss. It goes without saying that a piece of instrumentation that had a

Breakdown is restored at -20% if it's repaired. You cannot attempt Immediate Repair to takecare of Breakdowns Spiral damage.


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Station repairAn Engineer can only repair that much damage while his vehicle is on the move. To beproperly repaired a vehicle needs to visit a proper repair station. Once every day that thevehicle is being repaired, the Engineer will roll Engineering and add the result to the vehicleStructural Integrity, choosing which piece of instrumentation to start with. A vehicle being

repaired in a Station won't suffer from the Breakdowns Spyral.

Breakdowns spyralWhile a living organism will repair itself, over time, a piece of machinery will just have moreand more breakdowns until it becomes completely useless. A vehicle with less than 80%S.I. will lose another 10% every week until repaired in a Station. That 10% will be lost on themost damaged system; in case of a draw, the Captain gets to choose. The crew Engineercan try and prevent the Breakdown Spyral by making a Engineering check with DC of 1point for each 10% of lost S.I., rounding up.When Structural Integrity reaches 0% the Crew has to roll immediately to see if there is aMassive Explosion (and the Crew will be killed). Roll 1d6 for each of the 6 systems (Piloting,Weapons, Hyperdrive, Navigation, Scientific and Communications) that hasn't suffered aBreakdown: the DC for this roll starts at 3.

In case of failure, the vehicle will simply explode, killing all its crew. In case of success, immediately roll for Breakdowns Spyral (the Engineer can as usual

try to prevent it).After each hour without proper reparation, repeat the Massive Explosion roll. Everynegative 10% of SI adds 1 to the DC of the roll. When all systems are down, the MassiveExplosion is automatic.

Example: The crew of the Redhawk has just escaped a couple of outlaw spaceships; theRedhawk has been damaged in the battle, and its Structural Integrity is down to 60%: theWeaponry post has taken 2 hits, while the Navigation system and the FTL Propulsion systemhave taken 1 hit each. The chief Engineer tries to see if he can do something about it, beforethe situation goes worse: he rolls his Engineering (Repair Spaceship) 4 for each damaged

piece of instrumentation. He doesn't roll very well, managing to repair only 10% SI on theNavigation System. The ship keeps on travelling through space, and after a week, the Crew has to check for any new failure in the already damaged systems (Breakdowns Spyral): the

Weapon system risks taking the third 10% damage, leaving the Redhawk defenseless! TheEngineer tries to prevent the Breakdowns Spyral, rolling Engineering (Repair Spaceships) 4against DC 3 ( because the ship has lost 30% SI so far ). If he succeeds, he will postpone that damage for another week.


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EquipmentHere you will find some example items, but the GM is encouraged to develop his own.

WeaponsPrecision is added to the character's Attack Dice Pool while Power is added to the DamageDice Pool, both in the form of extra D6s.

Weapon Description Prec Pow.

Wasp 27.7 The most common lasergun, lightweight and precise +1d +0d

Falcon 35.4 Larger version of the Wasp, it packs more powerful energy cells. +1d +1d

Centaurian CPC The Concussive Plasma Cannon is the trademark weapon of Centaurianbattle cruisers.

-3d +5d

S&W Frontier v4 The most common traditional handgun, lightweight but lethal. +0d +1d

Remington 2050/H A weapon developed for World War III, still in use. -2d +3d

XM-8000 Stinger The latest reincarnation of the XM series Assault Rifle. +2d +2d

Combat Knife A short steel blade, standard issue of Terran military forces. +1d +0d

Juvian Spear The ritual J-shaped weapon of Juvians, still used by their assaul teams. +0d +2d

Nebulan Bakkar This traditional weapon is similar to a whip with 4 tails, with a small steelball at the end of each tail. It is rotated in circles around the user andtakes a lot of mastery to use.

-2d +2d

ArmoursArmour Rating is the required Armour skill to use (if the AR is greater than a character'sArmour skill, the difference is applied to all his Acrobatics, Athletics, Close Combat, Stealthand Strength skills). Protection is added to one's fragility. Deflection can be used instead of an Acrobatics (Dodge) roll.

Name Type Description AR Prot Defl.

Heavy Clothes Light Any kind of mildly protective clothes, like biker or winterclothes.

1 +1 0

K-55Lightweight

Light The last kevlar body armour produced for World War III, stillvalued for its cheapness and comfort.

2 +1 1

Juvian Bodice Heavy This heavy bodice is especially designed to protect the weakspots in Juvian anatomy, but can be adjusted for other races.

3 +1 2

Space Legion Armour

Heavy The standard armour adopted by Terran infantry, made of ceramic materials and organic interactive polymers.

4 +2 3

CentaurianBipedal Armour

Battle-suit

Centaurian employ these nimble but powerful battle-suits toprotect their fragile bodies in land conflicts.

4 +3 3


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Other EquipmentSkill Bonuses are added to a character's Skill.

Name Description Skills

Instant RegenerationStimulant

This has been the greatest Terran invention since the microchip. Ithelps organisms recover from injuries and stops bleeding. Other raceshave their own analogs, and most are universal.

First Aid 1

Rhyno II Multi-tool

Mechanics and Engineers no more need to carry with them bag full of tools: the Rhyno II is a modular, all-purpose instrument.

Engineering 1

JresharianPilot Helmet

Jresharians have developed this useful pilot headgear that, despitebeing rather low tech, is cheap and efficient.

Pilot 1Perception(spot) 1

CentaurianUniversalTranslater

This small device employs complex algorythms to decipher spokenlanguages; only the latest versions are highly reliable, but thecheapest ones are likely to make some mistakes.

Languages 1

JuvianHumidity BreathingSystem

This complex device is necessary for Juvians that want to ventureutside water. It extracts oxigen from the air, and combines it withhydrogen to make it breathable for the Juvian gills.

(none)

Vehicles

Level is an indication of the quality and value of a vehicle: it's obtained by addingGeneral Structural Integrity (GSI) and the Total Bonus to Skills.

Acceleration Ratings are added to Pilot checks during chases or escapes. The resultof an Engineering(Push Engine) check can be added to the Acceleration Rating, upto doubling the original value. Pushing an Engine damages it by 10%. This can berepaired on a subsequent turn as any other damage.

Bonus to Skills are added to any Skill check performed by a particular crewmember.Some extra instrumentation might improve these bonuses.

Cooldown indicates after how many rounds of continuous fire the weapon needssome other rounds of cooldown without shooting: without cooldown, the Weaponrysystem automatically takes 10% damage per round.

Weapon Slots can be : Pivoting (can attack in any direction), Front/Back/Side (canattack only in a 120 in that direction); different Weapon Slots that state a differentangle are possible ( as Front 180 or Right Side 90)

Vehicles with Hyperdrives can travel at FTL speeds, using a notation called WarpSpeed, that uses this formula:

V=W3cThe Speed (V) of a vessel travelling at FTL speeds is equal to the Speed of Light ( c )multiplied by the cube of the Warp Speed (W).

The power of a Hyperdrive engine with X batteries with K capacity, and with maxWarp speed M, is calculated as: Power = X * K * M. It's measured in HyperdrivePower units.One HyDP is worth roughly 3600 hp.


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MartianOlympus E850

This large all-purpose truck was largely used on Mars because it was cheap to produce andeasy to repair. Its not too complex machinery could also stand the planet's hostileenvironment (especially the rust winds) and its Electric Engine was easily recharged by solarpanels. Nowadays these trucks have been mostly converted to wartrucks, with reinforcedplates and traditional firearms.

Type

Land Vehicle

Engine Fuel

8 x 50hp Electric Batteries

Autonomy

512 km

Recharge

1 battery / 4 hours

Level

2

Engine Power

400 hp

Top Speed

100 km/h

Acceleration Rating

2

Crew Roles 4 Pilot(1), Captain(7) Gunner(2),Navigator(4)Engineer(3) Scientific Off.(5),

Comm-expert(6)

StructuralIntegrity

General5

Pilot5

Gunner4

Engineer8

Navigator5

Scientific Off.3

Comm-expert4

Bonus toSkills

(Total -3) -1 -1 +2 +1 -2 -2

StandardWeaponry

Pivoting :Double MHMG .50

Heavy Machine Guns

Precision-1

Power+3

Cooldown3 rounds / 1 round

Weapon Slots Pivoting , Front 90 , Back


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CentaurianBasiliski9000

The Basilisk is the jewel in the Centaurian fleet. While Centaurian seems to be a peaceful,meditative folk, and they seldom engage in battles, their superior technology makes themformidable foes. All the vessels in the Enlightened Fleet that defends the borders of theAlpha Centauri system are masterpiece of engineering, and the Basilisk is one of their mostpowerful ship, second in firepower only to the Hydra; it's superior agility and speed makes

the Basilisk the biggest threat to the enemy, though.Type

Battle-cruiser

Engine Fuel

25 x Fusion Cells 0.38WP

Autonomy

9,5 light-years

Recharge

1 Cell / day

Level

10

Engine Power

6840 HyDP

Top Speed

Warp 7.2 = 373,3 c

Acceleration Rating

4

Crew Roles 7 Pilot(1)Gunner

(2)Engineer

(3)Navigator

(4)ScientificOfficer (5)

Comm-expert (6)

Captain(7)

StructuralIntegrity

General

7

Pilot

7

Gunner

6

Engineer

8

Navigator

6

Scientific Off.

9

Comm-expert

5

Bonus toSkills

(Total +4) -2 +3 -2 +2 +2 +1

StandardWeaponry

Pivoting :Phoenix C-Laser

Cannon

Precision-1

Power+5

Cooldown1 round/3 rounds

2 x Front 180:Concussive Plasma

Cannon

Precision-3

Power+5


1 x Back 90:Greenlight T-Cannon

Precision-5

Power+4


Weapon Slots 2 x Pivoting, 2 x Front 180, 2 x Right Side 180, 2 x Left Side 180, Back 90

Other AliensBesides the Alien races that cooperate with the Terran Empire on regular basis (thosepresented during Character Creation) there are a number of other people that don't havethat good a relationship with Terrans. These races are not meant for Pcs, but it's a GM call.

EridaniansNative to the binary star system Epsilon Eridani, at about 10.5 light-years from the SolarSystem, this race is mistrusted by everyone in the sector. Eridanians don't even trust eachothers. They are cunning, deceitful, selfish and ambitious. They had set eyes on the SolarSystem back when humanity was still going through the middleages, but the Centauriansalways prevented them from interfering with Terran culture: most probably, if it weren't forthe snake-people of Alpha Centauri, humans would be the slave race serving theirEridanians masters. Eridanians are humanoid, have very long tentacle-hair, long crookednoses and angular features. Their skin is a reddish brown, that turns greyer with age andprotects them from radioactive sources. They live about as long as a Terran ( 90 years ).Eridanians start with any three of these bonuses: +2 Resistance(Radiations), +2 Resistance


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(Radiations), +2 Fast Talk(Haggle), +2 Criminal(Forgery) , +2 Analysis(Evaluate) or +2 Fast Talk(Lie). They have Fragility 3. They can spend only 4,3,3 points on Skills during Character Creation.

TalithiansThis race of fearless conquerors and coldblooded bounty hunters comes from the Tau Cetisystem, about 12 light-years away from the Terran Empire. They value success, victory andpower over everything, and they shun cowardice, failure and compromise as signs of weakness. However, they are not just ruthless mercenaries and bloodthirsty warmongers:they value honour, they respect their foes and admit defeat. Their empire has entertainedvarious wars against nearby cultures, until they clashed with the Centaurians, the first

strong enough to oppose them. Talithians retired admitting that further conflict would notbring any good to either sides. Now they are mercenaries, smugglers, pirates but rumoursrun that their empire is planning for another war against the Centaurians.Talithians are slightly taller than humans, averaging 6.5 feet. They are strong and muscular:two hearts pump blood through their body alternating beats. Their face resembles anhybrid between a shark, a lizard and a man. They can live up to 120 Terran years.Talithians start with any three of these bonuses: +1 Resistance, +2 Intimidate(Scare), +2Energy Weapons (Light Lasers), +2 Close Combat (Martial Arts), +1 Wear Armour, +1Strength . They have Fragility 3. They can spend only 7,2,1 points on Skills during Character Creation.

FurnaxiansNative to a yellow dwarf star some 41 Light-years away from the Solar System, this race of stout, potbellied swines, really has a knack for engineering. While their technology mightnot be the more advanced of the sector, but they are formidable at repairing and buildingthings out of scratch. They would be the most highly valued engineers of the sector, if itweren't for the fact that they don't accept any technical advice and they are a verystubborn and rather touchy lot. Furnaxians and Jreshars don't like each other much, sincethe pig-people think the Jreshars are but parasites that steal and deconstruct theirmachines, and flow the market with their dangerous and unreliable stuff. Furnaxians arealmost as wide as they are tall, reaching about 5 feet and 200 lbs on average. They have


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ugly swine faces, with the male showing a longer snout than the female. They can live upto 90 Terran years.Furnaxians start with any three of these bonuses: +1 Technologies, +1 Engineering, +1Engineering, +1 Engineering, +1 Explosives, +1 Firearms. They suffer -2 Acrobatics, -2

Athletics. They have Fragility 4. They can spend only 6,4,1 points on Skills during Character

Creation.

hyperdrive! rpg

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