Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Planet 28
Written and illustrated
by
Nicolas Evans.
Core concepts.
Characters.
Each player should have a selection of characters, referred to collectively as a warband.
All characters in a warband are individuals that act independently.
Each character in planet 28 has the following basic skills:
Fighting (F) - used to determine how well a character fights in melee combat.
Shooting (S) - used to determine how well a character performs in ranged combat.
Agility (A) - used to determine how well a character navigates obstacles and to decide
in what order characters may act during a turn.
As well as these basic elements a character can have a range of unique traits, abilities
and equipment.
Rolling dice.
The most important dice roll in Planet 28 is the skill roll. This is the main way for you to
see whether a character has succeeded at something. All skill rolls are done in the same
way - simply determine which skill a characters actions fall under and roll a single 10
sided dice (1D10). If you roll under the characters skill value then the action is a
success. If you roll equal to or over then the action has failed.
A roll of 10 is always a failure regardless of modifiers.
Likewise a roll of 1 is always a success regardless of modifiers.
There are a few other ways to use your dice but these will be covered in their respective
sections.
Actions.
Characters in Planet 28 perform actions to achieve their goals in a game. All characters
may choose from the same set of actions. Characters are free to perform actions in any
order or perform the same action twice. The actions a character can perform are:
Move, Charge, Fight, Shoot, Ability, Item, and Hold.
Movement.
All characters have a default speed of
10cm. This means they can move up to 10cm In a single action. characters may change
direction at any point during a movement action in order to travel around obstacles.
Moving over terrain.
Terrain in planet 28 is either EVEN, ROUGH or HAZARDOUS.
EVEN terrain represents flat open ground, ladders, stairs or low obstacles like steps.
Moving over even ground requires no skill rolls, simply move your character to where you
want them to go.
ROUGH terrain represents things like rubble strewn ground, flowing water, or walls less
than 5cm in height. When moving through rough terrain make a skill roll against the
characters agility skill. If the roll succeeds, the character moves as normal. If the roll fails
the character moves at half speed.
HAZARDOUS terrain represents things like razor wire, toxic sludge or jagged spike pits.
To move across hazardous terrain a character must first make a skill test by rolling against
their AGILITY skill. If they pass they may treat the hazardous terrain as ROUGH terrain
instead. If they fail they must take 1D10 damage—minus any armour rolls.
You must make a skill roll for every action a character spends in hazardous terrain. So if a
character moves into hazardous terrain in their first action then continues through it in
their second, they must make two skill rolls.
Charge.
A character may perform a charge if they end their movement action in base contact with
an enemy character. The charging character may make a single extra fight action at
+1D4 to their fighting skill. Fight actions after the initial charge do not receive a bonus.
A charged enemy may counter as normal.
( E.G. - Character 1 moves and then moves again to charge character 2 - because they charged
they are able to make an attack despite having used both their actions. They roll a D4 and score a 3,
raising their fighting skill value by 3. In the next turn their fighting skill will be back to its starting value
as they are no longer charging and are instead locked in combat.)
Shooting.
Characters may shoot any character that is within range of their weapon and that they
can see. A character can see another character if any part of that characters body
(meaning head ,arms, legs and torso) is visible from the miniatures point of view.
characters have no facing and can see in all directions.
To make a shooting action simply make a skill roll against the characters
shooting skill. If the roll succeeds then the shot has hit its target. If the roll fails then the
shot has missed.
If the shot is successful then the shooter rolls for damage using their weapons damage
dice.
The target may then make any armour rolls. The remaining damage is removed from the
targets hit points.
. A character may not shoot at any character that is locked in combat.
. A character may not use a shoot action when locked in combat.
. A character may only use one weapon per action.
Cover
If any part of a characters body (meaning torso, head, arms or legs) is covered by terrain
then they are considered to be in cover.
A character in cover receives an additional 1D6 armour roll against shooting actions on top
of any existing armour.
Weapons
How much damage an attack does is determined by the damage dice of the weapon being
used. Simply roll the relevant dice when that weapon makes a successful attack - the result
is how much damage a character takes.
Weapons are either ranged of melee .Ranged weapons may only be used for shooting
while melee weapons may only be used for fighting.
Some weapons may have special rules - the effects of which should be carried out as
written on the weapons entry.
(E.g. - Character 1 shoots an enemy with a Ranged 1D6+4 weapon. The shot is successful, so charac-
ter 1 rolls a D6 and adds 4 to determine how much damage they have done. )
Armour
When a character wearing armour is attacked they may make an armour roll. This is simply
a case of looking at the defence dice of the characters armour and rolling it to determine
how much damage the characters armour has absorbed.
(E.g. - A character wearing D12 armour is hit and takes 10 damage. They roll a D12 and score 6, then
subtract this from the damage they have taken. The total damage they take would be 4.)
Damage.
All characters in planet 28 have 20 hit points by default. When a character takes damage
they lose hit points equal to the damage dealt. If a character is reduced to less than 50% of
their starting hit points then all of their skills are reduced by 1 for the rest of the game, or
until they are healed back up above 50% health.
Once a character has lost all of their hit points they are removed from the game.
Fighting.
Characters may fight any character that they have charged or that is within 5 cm of them.
First declare which character you wish to attack, then move both characters so that their
bases are touching - this is referred to as base to base contact. Characters in base to base
contact are considered to be locked in combat.
Fighting is resolved in a similar manner to shooting. The attacking character then makes a
skill roll against their fighting skill. If they succeed then the target character makes any
armour rolls and finally damage is applied by rolling the attackers weapons damage dice.
If the attacking character fails their skill check then both characters remain locked in
combat.
If the attacker is successful they may push their opponent directly backwards 3cm, in
which case the characters are no longer locked in combat.
Countering
If the target character has not acted yet they may choose to use one of their actions to
fight back. In this case both characters make a skill roll at the same time, each trying to roll
under their Fight value. If both players succeed then both characters must make take
damage from their opponents weapons, minus any armour rolls.
If both characters fail then neither has scored a hit and both remain locked in combat. If
one player succeeds but the other fails, the failing character must make an armour roll and
then take damage from their opponents weapon dice.
Leaving combat.
Characters may leave combat using a move action but do so at half speed. Should a
character choose to break from combat then their opponent may make a free attack
action before they move.
Item.
A character may use an action to use an item or switch between weapons. To do so simply
declare what the character is doing and follow any item specific rules.
Hold.
Instead of using both of their actions straight away, a character may instead choose to hold
their actions. This simply means that a character may use one or both of their actions later
on in the turn.
A character with a held action may use it at any point during the turn provided they do not
interrupt another characters actions.
Held actions are lost at the end of the turn if not used and do not carry over to the next turn.
Warband creation.
When creating a character the first thing to consider is who they are. Are they strong,
secretive, cowardly? Have they fought in wars across the galaxy or spent their whole life
working a desk job?
A characters backstory not only helps you decide what kind of stats they should have, it
should also inform how you use that character in a game and add an extra level of narrative
to the tabletop action.
When creating your characters you can either work with your opponents to choose stats
that you feel best suit each character or use the following points system to create balanced
warbands. As a benchmark an untrained average human would have skills of about 3 or 4,
while a trained fighter may have skills of around 5 or 6.
Shooting - 2
Fighting - 2
Agility - 2
Hit points - 20
Speed - 10 cm
All characters have a starting cost of 10 points and a warband must have at least 2
characters.
A character may increase their skill level by 1 at a cost of 10 points per level .
(E.g. - a character may increase their shooting from 2 to 5 at a cost of 30 points.)
A character may not have any skill with a value of more than 10.
Characters may be given traits abilities and equipment from the following tables at the cost
listed in each entry.
Cursed -30 When making a skill roll this character must roll 2D10 and keep
the highest score.
Big +6 This character gains +5 hit points and -3cm speed.
Missing Limb -10 This character has lost the use of one arm and as such may
only wield 1 one handed weapon at a time.
Iron skin +8 This character may make an additional 1D4 armour roll
whenever they take damage.
Sniper +20 This character may re-roll any failed skill rolls when shooting.
Extra limbs +17 This character has an extra set of arms - they may wield two
additional one handed weapons or one two handed weapon.
Inspiring +20 Friendly characters within 10cm of this character receive +1 to
all their skills.
Foul aura +15 This character projects a foul aura - enemy characters receive
+1 damage for each turn they spend in base contact with this
character.
Brawler +8 This character is a natural hand to hand fighter. When unarmed
their fists count as 1D4+2 close combat weapons.
Coward -15 This character may not charge any other character and must
make a break test when charged.
Gunslinger +20 This character may make shoot actions when locked in
combat.
Abilities
Abilities are special actions your characters can perform. Things like casting arcane spells,
healing comrades or throwing enemies around the battlefield. To use an ability
simply follow the instructions written in the ability entry below.
Heal +20 This character may heal 1D6 hit points to any
character in base contact.
Inspiring zeal +15 A single friendly character within line of sight receives
+1D10 to their skills during their next turn.
Throw +15 This character may throw any character in base contact
1D12cm in a direction of their choosing. Characters thrown
off of ledges must take fall damage.
Drain +25 This character may remove a single hit point from any
character within 5cm and add it to their own hit points.
loot +20 After this character slays an enemy in combat they may
take one piece of equipment from the defeated
character and add it to their own.
Rent asunder.
If a character fails in their attempt to use an arcane power they must make a rent asunder
test. To do so roll a D10 and add the number of failed arcane powers that the character
has cast this game. If the result is greater than the characters remaining hit points then
the character takes damage equal to the powers difficulty level. Characters may not make
armour rolls against this damage. (E.g. - A character with 12 hit points fails in casting smite for
the third time. They roll a D10 and add 3 for a result of 13. As this is greater than their remaining hit
points they suffer 8 points of damage.)
Weapons.
Weapons in planet 28 are either one handed or two handed. A character can hold two one
handed weapons at a time, but must spend a turn to change between two handed
weapons or to swap a one handed weapon for another.
All weapons have a damage rating. To determine how much damage a weapon does
upon hitting an opponent, simply roll the listed Die. (E.G For a weapon with damage 1D12+5
you would roll a D12 and add 5 to the result.)
All weapons also have a description that tells you whether they are ranged or melee, their
range ,how many hands they take up and any special rules they may have.
Custom weapons.
Alongside the weapons listed above you may
wish to create unique weapons for your
characters. You can do this by adding special
rules from the following list to any of the basic
weapons or by creating your own weapon
profiles. To create a weapon profile, simply
add up the Range and maximum
potential damage of the weapon. Then add 5
points if it’s one handed and finally add the
cost of any special rules.(E.g. A one handed
weapon with 15cm range and D20+5 damage
would cost 45 points.)
explosive +20 Characters within 5cm of any character hit by this weapon
take D6 damage.
Anti material +30 When hit by this weapon, target characters armour is
reduced to the next weakest armour value for the rest of
the game. (E.G. A character with powered armour would use the
armour value of heavy armour for the rest of the game.)
Volatile -10 If the user rolls a 10 when attempting a skill roll with this
weapon then the weapon deals damage to the wielder
rather than their target.
Knock back +20 Targets hit by this weapon are thrown backwards 1D12cm.
Armour.
Armour in planet 28 is represented by a dice value. When making an armour roll simply
roll the die listed under your characters armour value and minus the result from the
damage of your opponents weapon. The final result tells you how much damage your
character has taken.
Armour. Cost. Armour
value.
No armour 0 1D4-1.
The gamemaster.
The first way to set up and organise your games is to play with a gamemaster.
A gamemaster is an impartial third party who decides what kind of story is unfolding on the
tabletop, how each players characters are involved, what kind of scenery should be set up
and where each warband begins the game. At the start of each game the gamemaster
should let each player know what their motivations are or what they’re trying to achieve.
Playing with a gamemaster can also be a great way to add unpredictable events or
additional hazards into a game - a gamemaster may decide to flood the table with mutants
or declare that a previously safe piece of scenery is suddenly dangerously unstable.
Of course playing with a gamemaster requires some planning on the part of both the
gamemaster and the players, so for quick pick up games you may find it easier to use
scenario prompts.
Scenario prompts.
For quick games you can use the following prompts to set up your
games and add narrative to your games.
Game length.
To determine the length of your game, roll 1D10 and add 6. (E.G. a roll of 4 would signify a 10
turn game.)
Scenery.
For a quick game a playing area of around 90x90cm is recommended. all players should
then take it in turns to set up scenery on the board. Ideally you should use plenty of terrain
to provide cover, elevation and hiding spots for your characters—a good rule of thumb is to
cover at least 60% of the board. You can also set up terrain to fit an existing
narrative if all players agree.
Deployment.
Once you have set up your playing area you need to determine where your warband will
start the game.
Number the sides of your playing area from 1 to 4. Each player should then roll a D6 on the
deployment chart and set up their warband accordingly.
D6 roll. Deployment.
5 Set up your characters within 12cm of the middle of the playing area.
6 You may choose which edge of playing your characters are set up on.
Plot points.
To add a sense of story to your game, Roll against the plot point chart below. Rather than
giving you specific objectives, these plot points are meant to give you a foundation to quickly
build motivations and objectives on top of.
3 A visiting aristocrat has found themselves in the middle of a local revolt. They’ve locked
themselves up in a government stronghold but the mob will do anything to claim their head.
It’s a race between the revolutionaries, the local militia, and any unscrupulous criminals to
see who can get to the besieged noble first to secure their head, their rescue, or their
ransom.
4 Somewhere in town is a man with a map that supposedly leads to a cache of rare treasure.
Without a description the parties of treasure hunters must interrogate strangers to see if they
know about the map. Should they find their man they must whisk them off to safety before
their rivals can grab him and claim his secrets.
5 After a savage ambush, your warband is on the run. Wounded and panicked, they need to
get some backup if they’re going to survive the night. But things aren’t over yet, and in their
haste to get to safety they have attracted a hunter. Now trapped, the bruised and bloodied
fighters have to last the night until relief arrives.
6 A hideous cult has kidnapped the leader of a local warband! They intend to make a sacrifice
to their dark gods in the hope of summoning horrors beyond description. Now the warbands
remaining members must try to rescue their boss. But as things progress it becomes clear
that the power vacuum at the heart of the group may be their downfall...
A character may increase any of their skills by 1 or their hit points by 5 for a cost of 20
campaign points. They may also gain traits, abilities, and weapons for their cost in points.
Players may add a new character to their warband for a cost of 10 campaign points plus the
cost in points of any levels, traits, abilities or equipment.
Deceased characters can be replaced with a new character for free but any levels, traits,
abilities or equipment must be paid for.
If a character was killed in game then roll against the injury chart to see what happens to
them in the next game. All injuries except death can be healed after one game at a cost of 10
campaign points. (E.G. A character with a shattered leg must play at least one game with that injury
before it can be healed.)
Injury chart.
D6 roll. Injury. Effect.
1 Death This character dies of their wounds. They may not be used in
future games. Their equipment is distributed amongst their
warband.
2 Shattered This character is at –1D4 agility for the next 1D6 games. Their
leg speed is permanently reduced by 3cm.
3 Shattered This character may only use one handed weapons for 1D4
hand games and suffer -1 to all shooting and fighting actions for all
future games.
4 Shaken When making break tests, this character uses 1D20 rather than
1D10.
5 Slow heal This character will pull through, But not for a while. They cannot
take part in the next game.