KING OF

DUST

A CYBERPUNK RPG
BY ARCHON’S
COURT GAMES
 Introduction

King of Dust is a cyberpunk RPG/management

game where you play as the Board of Directors of a
near-future megacorporation.

One half of the game is the Mission Phase, a

rules-light RPG where you control a group of infiltration
and combat specialists, called Associates. The other half is
the Management Phase, where you choose where to
spend your corporation’s Resources.

King of Dust is intended to be played in short, ~5

session campaigns, ending when all other corporations
have been removed, either through merger or through
direct attack.

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 Table of Contents

❏ Corporation Creation (pg 5) - How to create the

Corporation you control.
❏ Cycles (pg 6) - How to keep track of time in King of
Dust.
❏ Resources and Operations (pg 7) - The actions you
can take during your Management Phase.
❏ Reputation (pg 8) - How different corporation’s
feelings towards you are tracked.
❏ Associate Creation (pg 9) - How to create your
Corporation’s infiltration and combat specialists.
❏ Associate Management (pg 11) - How Associates are
improved, replaced, and capped.
❏ Stat Checks (pg 12) - The basic foundation of
Mission Phase gameplay.
❏ Negotiation (pg 13) - A social conflict subsystem for
use in tense, important discussion.
❏ The Setting (pg 14) - A short description of the
setting of King of Dust.
❏ Mission Generator (pg 16) - A table for creating
Operations.
❏ Running the Game (pg 17) - Some advice for
running King of Dust.
❏ Biotech Corporation Tech Tree (pg 20) - The
upgrades available to a Biotech Corporation.
❏ Surveillance Corporation Tech Tree (pg 22) - The
upgrades available to a Surveillance Corporation.
❏ Military Corporation Tech Tree (pg 24) - The
upgrades available to a Military Corporation.
❏ Fabrication Corporation Tech Tree (pg 26) - The
upgrades available to a Fabrication Corporation.
❏ Robotics Corporation Tech Tree (pg 22) - The
upgrades available to a Robotics Corporation.
❏
❏
3
❏
❏
 Corporation Creation

The first thing you do in a game of King of Dust is

choose which Industry your corporation works in:

❏ Biotech - creates new medicines, biological

augmentations, and engineered toxins.
❏ Surveillance - conducts observation through
drones, security cameras, and satellites.
❏ Military - manufactures armaments and
equipment, the best often ending up in the
hands of their Associates.
❏ Fabrication - operates the most advanced
facilities, with the ability to grow the fastest.
❏ Robotics - makes advanced machines,
including near-human artificial intelligences.

This choice determines the research you will be able

to conduct through the game.

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 Cycles

Time in King of Dust is tracked in Cycles - each Cycle

is split between a Management Phase and Mission Phase.
You start with the Management Phase, where you
leverage your corporation’s Resources for simpler, less
important work.

During the Mission Phase, you play as your

Associates as they go out on important, high-risk
operations: negotiating with another corporation’s leader,
kidnapping a vital researcher, or defending an important
facility.

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 Resources and Operations

When the game starts, your Corporation has 2

Resources. Each Cycle, you can place Resources in each of
these Operations:

Collect Information - learn about another faction. Learn

one fact per Resource put into this Operation.

Improve Reputation - send Resources to another faction

to improve your Reputation with them. Gain +1 Reputation
per Resource put into this Operation.

Attack Corporation - send forces to fight an opposing

corporation. Take the difference of your Attack Corporation
Operation and the enemy’s. The Corporation with the
lowest amount of Resources in this Operation
permanently loses Resources equal to the difference. If a
Corporation hits 0 Resources due to this action, they are
destroyed utterly.

Conduct Innovation - spend Resources to create new

items from your Corporation’s tech tree (see page 13). The
cost for each item is at the start of their description.

Support Operation - assist your Associates in their work.

Each Resource put into this action gives you one benefit
(disguises, keycards, blackmail) on your next Mission
Phase.

At the end of each Cycle, every Resource spent

during the Management Phase is returned, except for
Resources gained through loans (see page 8).

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 Reputation

Reputation is a measure of another faction’s opinion

of your corporation.

You can increase it through Negotiation, the

Improve Reputation action, and more subjective methods
(having a common enemy or ally, for example).

Reputation ranges from +10 to -10:

❏ +10: Merger. The other Corporation wishes to

merge with yours, destroying them and giving
you all of their Resources.
❏ +5: Allies. The other Corporation will spend
Resources and go on missions to support you.
On any Management Phase, you can ask for a
loan of up to 5 Resources, with a chance-in-6
of receiving them equal to the inverse of the
amount (for example, asking for 1 Resource
has a 5-in-6 chance of success, asking for 4
Resources has a 2-in-6 chance.)
❏ 0: Neutral.
❏ -5: Opposed. The other Corporation will launch
Missions to prevent your growth, and spend
Resources on the Attack Corporation action.
❏ -10: Fanatic. The other Corporation will launch
Missions attempting to assassinate important
leaders and destroy facilities, and spend all of
their resources to destroy you.

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 Associate Creation

During the Mission Phase, the game focuses down

from the wider world to a single operation conducted by a
group of infiltration specialists, simply called Associates.

Associates do not have names. They only have their

Identification Code, a set of 9 alphanumerics, like
p3m-206-imr.

Each Associate is defined by a set of 6 stats:

Athletics, Combat, Intimidation, Agility, Stealth, and
Persuasion.

They are split into 2 groups - Force (which contains

the first three stats) and Finesse (which contains the last
three).

When you create an Associate, you choose between

Force and Finesse. Then, you give each stat in that block
either 2, 3, or 4 points. For example, a character may have
Finesse chosen, and then have 2 points in Persuasion, 3 in
Agility, and 4 in Stealth. They cannot use any Force stats.

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 Associate Creation

After assigning all of your Stat points, you choose an

Augmentation. You start with these 5 Base
Augmentations, but can unlock more through the
Conduct Innovation action.

Subdermal Armor - once in your life, survive a Combat

check against you.
Pheromone Vents - activated before a roll in a
Negotiation - if you succeed, gain 3 successes. If you fail,
gain 2 failures.
Reflex Enhancers - once per Mission Phase, you can
activate your Reflex Enhancers and interrupt another
character, going before them even if they’ve already
declared an action.
Microexpression Processor - see the Success and Failure
gauges in a Negotiation, but at the cost of failing once.
Overcharged Musculature - once per Mission Phase, you
can activate the Overcharged Musculature. For 5 minutes,
treat your Athletics as 6, and become fully superhuman;
able to lift cars and break through concrete walls.

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 Associate Management

Outside of missions, Associates spend their time

locked in cryosleep, with a team of Corporate bionicists
ensuring their augmentations continue to work.

Your Corporation can afford a number of Associates

equal to the amount of players in the game, plus the
amount of Resources your Corporation has. Associates are
not connected to players - anyone can play any Associate,
as long as everyone agrees on who gets what.

As your Associates continue to prove themselves to

the Corporation, they are upgraded further. When they
complete one of their first 4 missions, add 1 point to any of
their stats. When they complete their 5th mission, they
gain a new Augmentation. After this, they gain nothing.

Creating new Associates is free, and can be done

during any Management Phase.

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 Stat Checks

Whenever one of your Associates do something they

have the chance to fail at, you make a stat check - roll 1d6,
and try to get under or equal to the stat being used. If your
result is above the stat being used, you fail.

Another important thing to remember is that a

successful Combat check instantly kills or incapacitates
the target. Never fight unless you have to, and always be
careful. You never know if someone’s sneaking up on you,
and you won’t get a second chance to check.

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 Negotiation

One of the things your Associates will often have to

do is Negotiate. Negotiating is different from persuading a
security guard to ignore you, or intimidating a room full of
researchers. You only Negotiate with important members
of other factions in an attempt to raise your Reputation or
as a key part of a Mission - forcing information out of
someone, for instance.

When you Negotiate, your target has a pair of

gauges - Success and Failure. Each time you roll a social
stat, you record your success or failure in that gauge. If the
Success gauge fills first, the Negotiation has gone over
well and your Reputation with the faction has increased by
3. If the Failure gauge fills first, the Negotiation has failed,
and your Reputation with the faction decreases by 3. If this
brings your Reputation into the negative range, the group
will take action immediately - opening fire on the
negotiators is the most common result.

The players do not get to see how many Successes

or Failures they need to fill one of the gauges. Give them
descriptions of forced smiles and hard eyes, but never tell
them numbers.

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 The Setting

The world has broken. Earth is an uninhabitable

wasteland, flooded by irradiated oceans. Its nations fell
with it, leading to total societal collapse.

The only things to survive were the dome-cities of

Luna, filled with the obscenely rich and their servants. The
domes were never built to be self-sustaining, but the
corporations managed to take control and lead a massive
engineering project that kept them functional for the
decades to come.

The corporations neglect to mention the thousands

that died as their leaders hoarded food and air, leaving the
workers to starve.

But this spirit of cooperation didn’t last long. Within

five years, the corporations fell into infighting, splitting the
cities among themselves.

Of course, open war is bad for business - people may

leave the corporation’s city if they hear it’s under attack.
So, conflict is largely hidden, and conducted by Associates;
vat-grown, genetically edited soldiers sent out to die for
their masters.

Another factor keeping this war quiet is the new

methods the corporations use. There’s no gunpowder on
Luna, and synthetic explosives are expensive to create. This
has led to a shift to coilguns, and a corresponding shift
away from armor - it simply doesn’t help.

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 Mission Generator

To help you create plans for new sessions, roll 3d6 on

this mission generator, reading 1 of those dice per column.
For example, if you rolled 3, 1, and 4, that would be “steal
the scientists, but they will self-destruct”.

Do This To Them But

1 Destroy Scientists Someone

Else is
There

2 Protect Rebels You Don’t

Know
Where

3 Steal Computer It’s in

Files Space

4 Plant A Vehicle It Will

Self
Destruct

5 Deliver Prototypes It’s

Armed

6 Recover Prisoners It’s a Trap

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 Running the Game

Static & Dynamic Corporations

Tracking every corporation in the world in the same
way as the players’ would be an unreasonably difficult task
for the GM. Instead, split your campaign’s corporations into
2 - Static and Dynamic.
Static corporations do not advance over the course
of a game. Their Resources are not tracked, and they do
not have a Management Phase. However, Reputation is
still tracked for Static corporations.
Dynamic corporations are more complex, and
tracked in the same way as player corporations, gaining
technology and making deals in the same way. A
campaign of King of Dust should have around 4 Static
corporations and one or two Dynamic corporations.

Creating Player Input

When you run a game of King of Dust, you should
not plan out the entire campaign from the start. You
should only prepare one mission - something that the
players must react to. For example, one of these two:

❏ Enemy Associates attempt to kidnap a researcher.

❏ A bomb has been set in a corporate facility. Find it.

At the end of the first session, and every session

after, you should ask your players what they plan to do
next session, and plan a mission around that. For example,
if they want to sabotage one of the Delacruz Group’s
factories, you should prepare an infiltration mission set
inside of that facility.

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 Running the Game

The Scale of Missions

Missions should have a strong effect on the world.
For example, sabotaging the Delacruz Group factory
should halve their Resources during the next
Management Phase, or prevent them from spending
Resources on Conduct Innovation actions.
Make sure missions do not have an overly large
effect (destroying an entire corporation) or an overly small
effect (reducing a corporation’s Resources by 1). If the
Associates fail in their mission, it has no effect.

Scenario Design
Ensure there are multiple ways for Associates to
accomplish their objective, and have some of these routes
require no combat. For example, sabotaging the Delacruz
Group factory could have the Associates walk in the front
door and open fire, sneak in through air vents, or use a
Negotiation to persuade a manager to end production. Be
ready to improvise if the players do something
unexpected.

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 Biotech Corporation
Tech Tree
Augmented
Organs

Synthesized
Virology
Toxins

Nanomeds Immunology

Genetic
Recording

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 Biotech Corporation
Tech Tree
Augmented Organs (2) - All Associates have had their
vat-grown organs modified. They are immune to poisons,
disease, and other biological weapons.

Synthesized Toxins (1) - Small needles filled with

destructive nanobots are assigned to all Associates. An
Associate can make a Stealth check to unnoticeably inject
a target with nanobots, and then instantly kill them at any
point in the next Cycle.

Virology (2) - When you use an Attack Corporation action,

the enemy loses one Resource no matter what the result
of the attack is.

Nanomeds (3) - A Nanobot Revival Engine can be chosen

as an Augmentation. Once per Mission Phase, if an
Associate has died within the last 5 minutes, they can be
saved using the NRE.

Immunology (3) - Active immunosuppressants let you

give all Associates two Augmentations. If an Associate
survives 5 missions, they can use 3 Augmentations.

Genetic Recording (3) - If an Associate dies, and their

corpse is brought back from the mission area, they can be
fully reconstructed and brought back to life.

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 Surveillance Corporation
Tech Tree

Observation Project Augmented

Scalpel-012
Drone ARGUS Sensorium

Project Civil Security

OVERSIGHT Agency

Project
ORACLE

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 Surveillance Corporation
Tech Tree
Observation Drone (1) - The Observation Drone can be
chosen as an Augmentation. The Associate holds three
tiny, silent drones that connect to the Associate’s eyes.

Project ARGUS (2) - Your corporation is given a contract to

provide the city with cameras. During any Mission Phase,
you have a 4-in-6 chance of having a camera network in
the area.

Scalpel-012 (1) - A self-modifying computer virus is

released into computers worldwide. Each Management
Phase, the Gather Information action is treated as having
+1 Resources applied.

Augmented Sensorium (2) - The Augmented Sensorium

can be chosen as an Augmentation. The Associate’s
cybernetic eyes can see through walls up to 100 feet away.

Project OVERSIGHT (3) - Your corporation is given a

contract to manufacture government satellites. Once per
Mission Phase, you can connect to them and have an
overview of the entire area.

Civil Security Agency (3) - Expend three Resources to

completely lock down another corporation for one cycle,
as they are investigated by the government.

Project ORACLE (4) - The first true AI, connected to your

corporation’s mass surveillance. Its total knowledge of the
world allows it to truthfully answer one question per Cycle.

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 Military Corporation
Tech Tree
Target
Marker

Infantry
Pathfinder
Support
Rounds
Vehicle

Shrike
Breaching
Stealth
Charges
Drone

Automated Hoplite
Coilgun Powered
Battery Armor

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 Military Corporation
Tech Tree
Target Marker (1) - Every Associate can mark someone
they can see. Marked people can be seen through walls.

Pathfinder Rounds (2) - Combat checks can be made on

Marked targets even if the Associate cannot see them.

Infantry Support Vehicle (2) - If you spend one Resource

on the Support Operation action, you can have your
Associates arrive in the mission zone in an armored car.
The armored car is immune to standard Combat checks,
and is armed with a large cannon with 3 shots. Each shot
explodes in a 15 foot radius, killing everyone and
destroying anything inside.

Breaching Charges (1) - All Associates are equipped with

one Breaching Charge. The Breaching Charge takes 1
minute to set up, and can be remotely detonated. Its
explosion is lethal in a 5 foot radius and destroys the wall it
is attached to.

Shrike Stealth Drone (2) - If you spend one Resource on

the Support Operation action, a Shrike can be sent into
the mission. The Shrike is a palm-sized, silent quadcopter
with an inbuilt Target Marker. Your Associates can see
through the Shrike’s camera.

Automated Coilgun Battery (2) - All of your Associates

can have their Combat checks effect up to 3 targets.

Hoplite Powered Armor (3) - If you spend 3 Resources on

-the Support Operation action, you can send a tank-like
---- set of powered armor. It can resist 3 Combat checks, is
--------armed with an Automated Coilgun Battery, and
-----------automatically succeeds on Athletics and Combat
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--------------checks. It cannot make any other checks.
 Fabrication Corporation
Tech Tree
Improved
Automation

Accelerated Focused
Production Industry

Expansion Repair
Plan Program

Trade Deal

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 Fabrication Corporation
Tech Tree
Improved Automation (3) - Gain 2 extra Resources each
Cycle.

Accelerated Production (2) - You can increase your

Resources gained in a Cycle by transferring them from
your next Cycle. For example, if you gain 5 Resources per
Cycle, you could gain 7 this Cycle, and 3 next Cycle.

Focused Industry (2) - Choose an Operation. Every

resource placed into that Operation this Cycle is doubled,
but you must place all your Resources into that Operation
next Cycle.

Expansion Plan (3) - After an Attack Corporation action

concludes, you gain extra Resources next Cycle equal to
the amount taken off of the opposing corporation.

Repair Program (3) - If you have lost Resources from an

enemy’s Attack Corporation action, you can spend 3
Resources to regain 1 of those Resources.

Trade Deal (4) - Choose a Corporation. Every Cycle, you

gain 1 Reputation with that Corporation. You cannot
change which Corporation you have chosen until the
Corporation in the Trade Deal is removed from the game
through a Merger or a war.

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 Robotics Corporation
Tech Tree
Self-Teaching
System

Offensive
Infiltration
Neural
Android
Network

Turing
Capable AI

Autonomous
Drone Army
ONN

26
 Robotics Corporation
Tech Tree
Self-Teaching System (2) - While you are not able to
create full robots yet, prototype components can be used
to assist Associates. By connecting the self-teaching
system to the Associate, you can improve their training.
When an Associate would gain an extra point to their stats,
they gain 2.

Infiltration Android (1) - If you spend 1 Resource on the

Support Operation action, you can afford to send one
Infiltration Android to assist the Associates. The Infiltration
Android can be controlled by one player, or a consensus of
all players. It has 2 points in Persuasion, 3 in Agility, and 4
in Stealth, as well as the Subdermal Armor augmentation.

Offensive Neural Net (2) - The Offensive Neural Net can

be chosen as an Augmentation. The ONN is an effective,
self-teaching program built to hack devices without
human intervention. 3 times per Mission Phase, the ONN
can be activated to cause a device to act abnormally
(doors open or close, guns don’t fire).

Turing Capable AI (4) - A Turing Capable AI is able to

effortlessly pretend it is human. With its assistance, all
successes in Negotiations count as 2 successes.

Drone Army (2) - Each Management Phase, the Attack

Corporation action is treated as having +1 Resources
applied.

Autonomous ONN (3) - This improved Offensive Neural

-Network has become autonomous. It can be used an
----infinite amount of times.

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King of Dust is a
rules-light
cyberpunk RPG /
management
game by
Archon’s Court
Games.

Writing & Layout:

Luther
Gutekunst

Art: Dani
Richardson