M M – S PA CE

SPACE is a d10 0-based r ules

M – S PA C E
s y s tem for s cience f ic tion
r olepl ay ing. Ever y thing ne e de d
to play sci-fi games is included
here. W ith this book, a pencil and d100 roleplaying in the far future
some paper, you will be able to
create imaginar y universes and
play char acters from a variet y of
cultures and careers. They can
pilot s t ar ships , me et s tr ange
alien lifeforms and visit fantastic
worlds.

The game engine used for all this

is My thr as Imper ative. If you are
familiar with any closely related
d100 game, you will feel right at
home.

clarence redd
FrostByte Books
clarence redd
M M – S PA CE
SPACE is a d10 0-based r ules

M – S PA C E
s y s tem for s cience f ic tion
r olepl ay ing. Ever y thing ne e de d
to play sci-fi games is included
here. W ith this book, a pencil and d100 roleplaying in the far future
some paper, you will be able to
create imaginar y universes and
play char acters from a variet y of
cultures and careers. They can
pilot s t ar ships , me et s tr ange
alien lifeforms and visit fantastic
worlds.

The game engine used for all this

is My thr as Imper ative. If you are
familiar with any closely related
d100 game, you will feel right at
home.

clarence redd
FrostByte Books
clarence redd
M – S PA C E

clarence redd

FrostByte Books

 M – S PA C E 1.1

written & edited by clarence redd

additional material by
atgxtg, colin brett & jason durall

cover art by jadrien cousens

interior art by matthias utomo, david

sladek & pheidel

T his pr oduc t references the M y thr as

Imper ati ve r ules, av ail able fr om T he Design Mechanism at
w w w.thedesignmechanism.com and all as sociated logos and
tr ademar k s are copy r ight s of T he Design Mechanism. Used w ith per mis sion.
T he Design Mechanism makes no representation or w ar r ant y as to the
qualit y, v iabilit y, or suitabilit y for pur pose of this pr oduc t.

ISBN: 97 8 -91-9 8 2 3 9 3 -1-7

© Fr ostB y te Book s 2 017. A ll r ight s reser ved


 Contents

Introduction0 06

Char acter s0 08

Game System 0 32

E x tended Conflicts 0 42

Combat05 4

Simplified Combat 075

Spot Rules 078

Starship Design 086

Starship Combat 106

Advanced Starship Combat 116

Alien Creation 122

World Building 14 6

Circles156

Psionics170

Vehicle Design 178

Technology18 8

Life forms 206

Appendix A & B 212


 Introduction

M SPACE is a d10 0-based r ules system for science fiction ro-

leplaying. Ever y thing needed to play sci-fi games is includ-
ed here; the book is a complete game in itself. W ith this book,
a pencil and some paper, you are ready to tell amazing stories
together with a few friends. You will be able to create imaginar y
universes and play char acter s from a variet y of cultures and
careers. They can pilot star ships, meet str ange alien life forms
and visit beautiful (or terrif ying) worlds.

The game engine used for all this is My thr as Imper ative , created
by The Design Mechanism. If you are familiar with any closely
related d10 0 game, like Runequest, Call of Cthulhu or Open-
Quest, you will probably feel right at home. They have a common
heritage and share a lot of basic concepts and r ules.

M-SPACE is mostly intended for heroic and my thic sci-fi games,

but can be used for many other st yles too with a few t weaks. You
can emulate ever y thing from contempor ar y near-realistic set-
tings, to 194 0s pulp-inspired heroes.

6 IN T R O D U C T I O N
This book is a modular toolkit for sci-fi. Use whichever par ts you A Note on Roleplaying Games
need and leave the rest – the game system will not break down M-SPACE assumes that the reader
because of this. We have al so taken great care to write the r ules is familiar with the concept of how
roleplaying games wor k, the dif-
to help you create your own universe; no ready-made setting is
ferences bet ween the player s, the
holding back your creativit y. Just like roleplaying games were Games Master (or referee), the use
meant to be when invented in the 1970s. of char acter s and the use of poly-
hedr al dice. If this is your fir st ro-
leplaying game, we recommend
The stories are all yours here, and you can explore them in any
that you take a look at:
way you want. You can create unique alien species, complex cul-
ht tp: //w w w.r pgamer.com /
tures and worlds. Let a planet orbit a binar y star and put the savingthrow/pr imer.html
star on a map. Char t ancient courses for tr ader s and explorer s; It of fer s an excellent over view of
find out who’s a friend and who’s an enemy. A nd you have already the dif ferent par ticipants in role-
star ted to play. playing games and how a t ypical
roleplaying game session is str uc-
tured.
I wr ite science fiction, and science fiction isn’t about the future. I
don’t know any more about the future than you do, and ver y likely
less. Ur sula K Le Guin

Clarence Redd, August 2016 | w w w.frostby tebooks.com

IN T R O D U C T I O N 7
 Characters

E ver y player in M-SPACE control s a char acter. A char acter is

the player’s alter-ego, and is usually ver y dif ferent, physi-
cally and mentally, to the player. M-SPACE char acter s can be
ever y thing from star ship pilots and bount y hunter s, to journal-
ists and libr arians! All depending on what t ype of scenarios you
want to play.

The basic char acter is defined by a series of dif ferent elements

that describe the char acter’s capabilities. These elements are:

» » Char acteristic s: such as Strength or Charisma

» » Attributes: things like Hit Points or Movement
» » Skill s: exper tise in fundamental abilities

Most of these elements are described in terms of number s, and

some are dependent on or calculated by other s. What each ele-
ment means, and how they are determined, is described in the
following sections.

Char acters are usually recorded on a char acter sheet, which is

a handy way of organizing all the information about the char ac-
ter. It is recommended that you fir st design your char acter using
scr atch paper, and then tr ansfer the information to a char ac-
ter sheet once you have gone through each step of the process.
Use a pencil and have an er aser handy; cer tain number s such
as skill values will change sever al times during the char acter
creation process.

An empt y char acter sheet is included at the end of the book and
al so as a free download from our website.

8 CHAR ACTERS
Character Creation Steps
1. Character Concept
Decide on the kind of char acter to play. Keep it simple for now.
More will come.
2. Characteristic s
If playing a human, 3d6 for STR, CON, DE X , POW and CHA . 2d6 +6
for INT and SIZ. Allocate results to fit the concept.
Alternatively distribute 80 points amongst the char acteristics.
Minimum 3 (8 for INT and SIZ), maximum 18.
3. Calculate Attributes
Use the char acteristics to determine Action Points, Damage
Modifier, E xperience Modifier, Healing Rate, Hit Points, Initia-
tive, Luck Points, Movement.
4. Standard Skill s
Calculate the base value of Standard Skill s by adding together
the appropriate char acteristics.
5. Culture
Decide on a Cultur al Background. Allocate 10 0 points amongst
the listed Standard Skill s, the chosen Professional Skill s and
the Combat St yle (if any) for the chosen culture.
6. Career Rounding of Number s and Results
Choose a Career from those available to the setting. Distribute On some occasions you will be re-
10 0 points amongst the career’s listed Standard Skill s and what- quired to divide number s – t ypically
the r ating in a skill (such as for
ever Professional Skill s were chosen.
deter mining a cr itical success,
7. Bonus Skill Points which is 1/10 th of the skill ’s value).
A ssign a final 150 points bet ween any Standard skill or those W henever a division result creates
a fr action, always round up to the
Professional skill s gained as par t of Culture or Career.
whole number. So, for instance,
8. Equipment 1
/10 th of 6 4% is 6.4; this is rounded
Determine Star ting Equipment based on Culture and Career. up to 7.

CH A R A C T E R S 9
 Character Concept
A good place to star t is to have some idea of what sor t of char ac-
ter you want to play; a hardened colonist for example, or a cun-
ning thief. Your char acter concept does not need to be elabor ate
at this stage; simply an idea that will help guide cer tain choices
such as profession. A few char acter ideas are listed in the side-
bar to provoke your imagination.

Characteristics
E xample Concepts Ever yone is defined by seven char acteristics which tell you some-
» » Naive star ship pilot thing about your char acter; how strong or fast he or she is; how
» » Back water miner clever or healthy. Char acteristics are at the core of ever y M-
» » Cosmopolitan psionic SPACE char acter and form the basis for most of the other ele-
» » Streetsmar t smuggler ments such as Attributes and Skill s. The seven char acteristics
» » Adventurous scientist are:
» » Medical doctor on the r un
» » Jour nalist standing up for »» Strength (STR)
the poor »» Constitution (CON)
» » Secur it y agent betr ayed by »» Size (SIZ)
for mer employer
»» Dex terit y (DE X )
» » Mercenar y without hope
»» Intelligence (INT)
» » Diplomat on a secret mission
»» Power (POW )
»» Charisma (CHA )

Before calculating the char acteristics, the following section

explains what each represents.

Strength (STR)
STR represents physical strength: how much one can lif t, how
hard one can hit, and so on. STR is a component of the Damage
Modifier (page 12). If a char acter is reduced to zero STR he
lacks the abilit y to move or lif t objects.

10 CHAR ACTERS
Constitution (CON)
CON is measure of health and hardiness. CON is a component
in determining Hit Points (see page 14) and Healing Rate (see
page 13). If CON fall s to zero for any reason the char acter
dies.
Size (SIZ)
SIZ measures mass, and helps indicate height and weight. SIZ is
used to help figure Hit Points (see page 14), as larger, heavier
creatures tend to have greater endur ance against damage. SIZ
can al so be used to determine a char acter’s Damage Modifier,
Calculating Char ac ter istic s
Each char acter istic has a numeri-
cal value to deter mine how potent
it is. Roll the indicated dice for
STR, CON, SIZ, DE X , INT, P OW and
CH A taking each rolled score as it
comes. Since the results of these
roll s can be somewhat r andom, it is
of ten bet ter to decide on a char ac-
ter concept af ter the dice are rolled.
Other wise the final char acter istics
may preclude a preconceived role.

since mass helps to increase the force of a blow. Roll 3d6 for STR, CON, DE X , P OW
and CH A; then 2d6 + 6 for SIZ and
Dex terit y (DE X ) INT. Other species may use dif fer-
Agilit y, balance and reflexes are measured by DE X . It is an im- ent dice.
por tant aspect of Action Points (see page 12) and Initiative Your Games Master may want to
calculate char acter istics dif fer-
(see page 13). If a char acter is reduced to zero DE X they suf fer
ently.
functional par alysis.
Alter nate suggestions include:
Intelligence (INT) Dice Roll, A ssign: A s per nor mal
INT is measurement of cognitive abilit y. Those with a lower INT gener ation, except the player may
score are not necessarily stupid, but they are likely to be con- exchange values bet ween Char ac-
ter istics with the same dice r ange.
str ained in how creatively they can employ their wits. INT is a
Dice Pool: roll 19 six-sided dice and
factor in calculating Action Points and Initiative. If INT is re- assign three roll s to each Char-
duced to zero the char acter becomes completely mindless. acter istic, save SIZ and INT which
Power (POW ) only get t wo, but star t with a base
value of 6.
POW is a measurement of dif ferent things. It can be, for example,
Points Build: player s assign Char-
a measure of a char acter’s soul, spirit, inner drive or capacit y acter istic scores from a pre-deter-
for psionics. POW governs a char acter’s Power Points and Luck mined pool of 8 0 points. Char ac-
Points (see page 13). If a char acter’s POW ever drops to zero ter istics cannot be lower than the
they lose all independent will. minimum rolled value, nor higher
than the maximum.
Charisma (CHA ) Games Master s are free to come
Charisma measures personalit y and is independent of physi- up with their own methods or point
cal appear ance. CHA af fects a char acter’s E xperience Modifier values as desired.
(page 12). If CHA ever fall s to zero, the char acter can no lon-
ger socially inter act with others, becoming so painfully shy or
antisocial they are ignored or even driven away.

CH A R A C T E R S 11
 Attributes
Each char acter al so has a set of attributes. These are par ticular
capabilities derived from the char acteristics, or determined by
them that are used to govern cer tain factor s of game play. The
attributes are:

»» Action Points
Damage Modifier
»» Damage Modifier
STR+SIZ Modifier
»» E xperience Modifier
»» Healing Rate
5 or Less –1d8
»» Hit Points
6 –10 –1d6 »» Initiative Bonus
11–15 –1d4 »» Luck Points
16 –20 –1d2 »» Power Points
»» Movement Rate
21–25 +0

26 – 30 +1d2
Action Points
31– 35 +1d4 How of ten a char acter can act in a combat round (page 5 4) is
36 – 4 0 +1d6 determined by Action Points. For simplicit y, the M-SPACE r ules
41– 4 5 +1d8 gr ant all char acter s with 2 Action Points (the full My thr as r ules
can give char acter s a dif ferent number, depending on their DE X
4 6 –5 0 +1d10
and INT).
51– 6 0 +1d12
Damage Modifier
61–70 +2d6 The bonus amount of damage a char acter inflicts when physical-
71– 8 0 +1d8 +1d6 ly striking or applying force. It is an ex tr a die roll which is either
81–90 +2d8 added to, or subtr acted from, the damage inflicted by a weapon
or tool. If a negative damage modifier takes a weapon’s damage
91–10 0 +1d10 +1d8
to zero or below then no damage at all has been inflicted. Add
101-110 +2d10
together STR and SIZ and consult the Damage Modifier table in
111-12 0 +2d10 +1d2 the sidebar.
E xperience Modifier
Each 10 points Continue
O ver the cour se of play char acter s improve their skill s and ca-
Progression.
pabilities. This is achieved through the use of E xperience Roll s
which are explained in more detail on page 3 8. A char acter’s

12 CHAR ACTERS
CHA score may adjust the number of E xperience Roll s the char- E xper ience Modifier
acter has, reflecting the relationship he has with his peer s and
his reputation in his communit y. CHA E xp. Modifier

Healing Rate 6 or Less –1

Af ter receiving injuries, a char acter needs to recuper ate. Heal- 7–12 0
ing Rate determines how quickly they natur ally recover from 13 –18 +1
wounds. Depending on the severit y of the injur y (page 36), the
Each 6 points +1
Healing Rate denotes how many Hit Points are recovered per day,
week or month.
Hit Points
Hit Points represent how much injur y an area of the body can
withstand before it becomes useless, possibly resulting in in-
capacitation and ultimately the char acter’s death. The body of Healing Rate
ever y creature is divided into separ ate locations – humans for
example have seven; the head, chest, abdomen, arms and legs – CON Healing Rate
each location with its own hit points. To calculate the Hit Points 6 or Less 1
of each location, add CON and SIZ together and cross-reference
7–12 2
on the Hit Points table opposite.
13 –18 3
It’s al so possible to r un M-SPACE without hit locations; see Sim-
plified Combat on page 75 for more detail s. For settings with- Each 6 points +1

out much violence, this can be a good choice.

Initiative Bonus
The moment at which someone reacts in combat is governed by
initiative. Initiative Bonus acts as a modifier to initiative roll s;
the higher the bonus, the faster one responds in a combat situa-
Luck Points
tion, determining when you can act. Fur ther factor s – armor for
example – modif y it. Initiative Bonus is the aver age of the DE X POW Luck Points
and INT char acteristics. 6 or Less 1
Luck Points 7–12 2
Luck Points represent that str ange force dif ferentiating adven-
13 –18 3
turing heroes from ever yday folk. Call it fate, karma or simple
good for tune. Luck Points can be used to: Each 6 points +1

CH A R A C T E R S 13
 » » Re-roll the dice, if they are unfavor able
» » Mitigate physical damage or other unfor tunate
circumstances
» » Gain an edge at a vital moment in combat

E xactly how they are used, and when, is described on page 36.
Once a Luck Point is spent, the pool decreases; when one is out
of Luck Points, no more are available – unless the Games Master
makes an impromptu award – until the nex t game session when
they replenish to their normal value.
Power Points
For those who can utilise such power s, a char acter’s Power
Points are equal to their POW. These points are used for psion-
ics, the cost of which is dependent on the t ype of power used.
When the psionic r uns out of Power Points he has exhausted his
abilit y to use any power s until they are replenished.
Movement Rate
Ever y creature has a Movement Rate – a number of meter s that
can be tr avelled during a specific period of time. Movement is
not calculated from Char acteristics but is a default value which
dif fers from species to species. The base Movement Rate for
humans is 6 meter s.

Hit Points Per Location

CON+SIZ
1–5 6 –10 11–15 16 –20 21–25 26 –30 31–35 36 – 4 0 +5 pts

Leg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 +1

A bdomen 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +1

Chest 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 +1

Each A rm 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 +1

Head 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 +1

14 CHAR ACTERS
Skills Standard Skill s Basic Scores

Skill s fall into t wo classes. Ever yone has Standard skill s – things Skill Basic %
such as sneaking around or influencing other s. Professional Athletic s S TR+DE X
skill s on the other hand, are those requiring specific tr aining Boating S TR+ CON
before they can be attempted – things such as tr acking wild ani-
Br awn S TR+SIZ
mal s, piloting a spacecr af t or understanding ancient languages.
Conceal DE X+P OW
Char acters are given three pool s of points to spend on acquiring
skill s; the fir st pool for the Culture they grew up in, the second Customs INT x 2 + 4 0

for the Career they adopt af ter childhood, and the last to fur ther Dance DE X+ CH A
round out their skill set. Deceit INT+CH A
» » A novice char acter assigns 100 points to the Cul- Dr ive DE X+P OW
ture skill pool, 100 to the Career skill pool, and a Endur ance CON x 2
fur ther 150 points for rounding out.
Evade DE X x 2
Each Culture and Career has a defined r ange of standard and Fir st A id INT+DE X
professional skill s to which those skill points may be assigned.
Influence CH A x 2
Standard Skill s
Insight INT+P OW
Standard skill s cover a r ange of ever yday activities and local
knowledge which anyone can use without specialised tr aining. Locale INT x 2

The basic score of each Standard skill is determined by the sum Native Tongue INT+CH A+ 4 0

of t wo char acteristics or a multiple of a single char acteristic. Perception INT+P OW

The value represents the char acter’s innate competence in a Ride DE X+P OW
given area, before any points from the skill points pool are as-
Sing CH A+P OW
signed. The score represents the percentage chance of success
Stealth DE X+INT
for a skill; so, an Athletics score of 25 is expressed as 25%. See
nex t spread for descriptions of standard skill s. Swim S TR+ CON

Professional Skill s Unar med S TR+DE X

Professional Skill s represent more specialised forms of tr ain- W illpower P OW x 2
ing and experience. They can only be picked up during Char acter Combat St yle STR+DE X
Creation as par t of a char acter’s native culture or their career.
Once play star ts, new skill s can be learned by seeking out teach-
ers.

CH A R A C T E R S 15
Standard Skill s
Athletic s. STR+DE X . Athletics covers a
r ange of physical activities, including climb-
ing, jumping, throwing and r unning.
Boating. STR+CON. The Boating skill covers
the oper ation of small floating cr af t on riv-
ers, lakes and close inshore.
Brawn. STR+SIZ. Br awn is the ef ficient ap-
plication of technique when using r aw physi-
cal force. The skill covers lif ting, breaking
and contests of strength.
Conceal. DE X+POW. Conceal is the coun-
terpoint to Stealth, being the concealment
of large objects r ather than the char acter
themselves.
Customs. INT x2. Customs represents the
char acter’s knowledge of his own commu-
nit y; its social codes, rites, ritual s, taboos
and so on.
Dance. DE X+CHA . The Dance skill measures
a char acter’s abilit y to move rhy thmical-
ly and accur ately (to a reasonable degree)
when called upon to do so. Just about ever y
culture uses dance in some way – either as
recreation or as par t of impor tant ritual s.
Deceit. INT+CHA . Deceit covers all instances
where a char acter attempts to mask the tr uth
and of fer a deceit of some kind; barefaced ly-
ing, misleading a guard or even bluf fing (or
cheating) during a card game. Deceit forms
a counterpar t to the Insight skill and can be
16 CHAR ACTERS
used to oppose Insight roll s when other s are
attempting to discern either tr uth or motive.
Drive. DE X+POW. Drive cover s the control of
wheeled or dr awn vehicles. Drive roll s are
needed when a char acter wants to do some-
thing out of the ordinar y with a vehicle – tr a-
ver se treacherous terr ain, jump obstacles,
chase another vehicle and so on.
Endurance. CON x2. Endur ance is a char ac-
ter’s capacit y to endure physical stress, pain
and fatigue. It is used in a number of ways,
but most specifically to resist the possible
ef fects of injuries, including harmful poisons
and disease.
Evade. DE X x2. Evade is used to escape from
obser ved, impending danger and can be used
against r anged weapons (by diving for cover,
for example), avoiding tr aps, changing the
engagement distance in combat, and gen-
er ally getting out of the way of a potential
physical hazard.
First Aid. DE X+INT. Fir st A id measures a
char acter’s abilit y to treat minor injuries and
stabilise more severe ones. Fir st Aid may
be applied only once per specific injur y and
heal s 1d3 points of damage.
Influence. CHA x2. This is a measurement
of a char acter’s abilit y to per suade other s,
through per sonal charisma, into a desired
way of behaving. It is used in a wide variet y of
situations; from changing someone’s mind,
through to bribing an of ficial or guard.
Insight. INT+POW. Insight is the abilit y to
read or intuitively define another’s verbal
and non-verbal behavior (such as body lan-
guage or the manner of speech) to establish
their motives and state of mind. Insight can
be used to determine if someone is telling a
lie.
Locale. INT x2. Locale measures a char ac-
ter’s understanding of local flor a, fauna, ter-
r ain and weather in the area where he has
spent the majorit y of his life, usually within
his communit y.
Native Tongue. INT+CHA . Native Tongue is
the abilit y to speak one’s own language, the
one learned whil st growing up in one’s home
culture. It measures ar ticulation, eloquence
and the depth of the speaker’s vocabular y.
Perception. INT+POW. Perception is used for
both passive obser vation and focused detec-
tion; whether hunting for something specific,
a gener al scan of an area or simple aware-
ness of their surroundings.
Ride. DE X+POW. Ride covers the abilit y to
control and remain mounted on those crea-
tures that are tr ained to be ridden. The skill
can be applied to a diverse r ange of beasts,
ever y thing from mules to elephants; even fly-
ing or swimming creatures or alien beasts.
herent par t of most cultures, a prime source
of enter tainment and perhaps used in its rit-
ual s.
Stealth. DE X+INT. Hiding out of plain sight,
or moving with minimal sound are covered by
the Stealth skill.
Swim. STR+CON. Swim cover s your abilit y to
stay afloat, even if it is only a doggy paddle
or treading water.
Unarmed. STR+DE X . Unarmed measures the
abilit y to defend oneself without the aid of
weapons.
Willpower. POW x2. W illpower is a measure
of a char acter’s abilit y to concentr ate, chan-
nel his force of will in a par ticular direc-
tion, or harden his psyche to possible mental
shock. It is al so a measure of personal re-
solve.
Combat St yle (Specific Career or Cultur al
St yle) . STR+DE X . Each Combat St yle is the
skill to use the weapons expected of a ca-
reer or culture in the setting. In addition they
of ten assume a situational element, such as
fighting as close order infantr y or whil st
mounted. Combat St yles can be ver y diverse,
r anging from, for example, blaster hip shots
all the way to star ship gunner y.

Sing. POW+CHA . Carr ying a tune is covered

by Sing, any thing from monotonous chants
through to complex arias. Singing is an in-

CH A R A C T E R S 17
Professional Skill s
Acting. CHA x2. Acting governs the ar t of be-
ing able to impersonate and convey a com-
pletely dif ferent char acter, whether in a
staged per formance or in a social situation.
Acrobatic s. STR+DE X . Acrobatics covers
acts of balance, gymnastics, juggling and
tumbling. The skill can be used in its own
right as a way to impress an audience, but
al so to help mitigate damage from fall s. Ac-
robatics can be substituted for Evade if the
situation warr ants it.
Ar t. POW+CHA . There are many specific
ar t forms. Painting to Poetr y; Liter ature to
Sculpture. A char acter chooses an Ar t spe-
cialization when taking this skill. Subsequent
Ar t forms are advanced in separ ately.
A strogation. INT x2. A strogation is equiva-
lent to Navigation, save that it enables star-
ship pilots to plot a course at stellar and in-
terstellar distances.
Bureaucrac y. INT x2. Understanding admin-
istr ative procedures, records and unspoken
conventions are covered by the Bureaucr ac y
skill. It is used to inter act with of ficial s or
discover per tinent civic information.
Commerce. INT+CHA . Commerce is used to
evaluate the wor th of goods and commodi-
ties and to tr ade them for the best possible
price. It is al so used to understand the intri-
18 CHAR ACTERS
cacies of business tr ansactions in addition
to securing a profit.
Comms. INT x2. This skill gr ants the abil-
it y to use communications equipment to de-
tect, conceal or block comms tr af fic. It al so
gr ants a chance of cr acking encr ypted mes-
sages.
Computers. INT x2. Computer s reflects the
char acter’s abilit y to solve complex prob-
lems or ex tr act complex information, using
computer systems – be it through progr am-
ming code, detailed use of a par ticular piece
of sof t ware, hacking, and even diagnosing /
repairing sof t ware and hardware problems.
Gener al use of computer s does not usually
require a roll.
Cour tesy. INT+CHA . This skill cover s under-
standing how to act appropriately in a social
or formal situation: modes of address, ritu-
al s and conventions of behavior and so for th.
It includes ever y thing from who to bow to
and when, to how low; from when to use a
par ticular title to when it is appropriate to
act informally.
Craf t. DE X+INT. Each Cr af t is a specialised
form and there are as many cr af ts as there
are professions for them. Like A r t, Cr af t is
used to create the subject item. How long it
takes depends entirely on the nature of the
product: weaving a r ug takes longer than
throwing a pot, for instance, but time is not
necessarily the most impor tant factor: it is
the skill of the cr af ter, the qualit y of the re-
sources and attention to detail.
Culture. INT x2. Culture is the more specific
form of the Standard Skill of Customs, relat-
ing instead to societies foreign to the char-
acter’s own. Each Culture skill must be given
a par ticular nation or societ y to which it ap-
plies. Mechanically it works in the same way
as the Customs skill.
Demolitions. INT+POW. This skill permits a
char acter to safely handle and utilise explo-
sive material s.
Disguise. INT+CHA . Ef fecting a convincing
disguise, using appropriate material s (cos-
tumes, cosmetics, wigs or hairpieces), is
covered by the Disguise skill. Creating the
disguise requires time and attention to de-
tail, as well as access to the right material s
to make it convincing.
Electronic s. DE X+INT. This skill allows the
user to tinker with, bypass or repair elec-
tronic devices. It has many applications,
most of ten to tempor arily patch up damaged
equipment or replace broken circuits with
spares. Designing and building new elec-
tronic devices is not covered by this skill and
instead requires the Engineering skill.
Engineering. INT x2. The design and build-
ing of large-scale str uctures, from houses
to bridges, gates to siege engines, is in the
remit of the Engineering skill. Roll s are nec-
essar y when planning large scale projects
to ensure correct constr uction, but are al so
made when an engineer wants to assess a
str ucture’s integrit y for whatever reason
(state of repair or weak spots, for example).
Forger y. DE X+INT. The Forger y skill permits
the creation or fal sification of of ficial docu-
mentation.
Gambling. INT+POW. The Gambling skill
measures a char acter’s competence in
games of chance and especially where mon-
ey is staked on the outcome. It is used to as-
sess the odds of success or failure or spot
when someone is cheating.
Knowledge. INT x2. Knowledge covers a spe-
cific body of knowledge which must be cho-
sen when the skill is fir st learned. A strolo-
gy, Histor y, My thology, Str ategy and Tactics:
these are all t ypical examples of Knowledge
skill s. They mean the char acter understands
its fundamental s, how it can be applied to
immediate challenges and problems, and
can use the Knowledge to recall useful in-
formation.
L anguage (Specific L anguage) . INT+CHA .
This skill cover s the speaking and compre-
hension of a language other than the char-
acter’s own. The skill is treated as a static
representation of over all fluenc y. 1-25% a
few basic words, 26-50% simple sentenc-
Continued...
CH A R A C T E R S 19
Professional Skill s (continued)
es, 51-75% fluent for gener al conversation,
76 +% able to conver se eloquently. Its value is
used by the Games Master to limit the level
of spoken inter action when the players con-
verse with personalities in the game.
Lockpicking. DE X x2. Lockpicking is the
abilit y to open a mechanical locking sys-
tem without the aid of a key or other device
made specifically for the lock. It includes the
techniques of levering open bolted or barred
doors and windows without causing damage.
Mechanic s. DE X+INT. Mechanics represents
the knowledge and skill to assemble and
disassemble mechanical devices. The skill
of Mechanics gener ally involves the creation
of delicate contr aptions with small work-
ing par ts, as opposed to Engineering, which
deal s with massive constr uctions. This can
be any thing from the ser vicing of droid ac-
tuators to fixing moisture vapour ators. The
skill cannot repair something completely de-
stroyed, but could permit a brief jur y-rigged
fix if enough spare par ts are available. This
skill al so includes the maintenance and re-
pair of starships. The design and building of
new mechanical devices is not covered by
this skill, but requires the Engineering skill
instead.
Medicine. INT+POW. Medicine is the in-depth
knowledge of medical procedures, based on
cultur al pr actices. In a primitive culture,
for instance, healing will be based on the
knowledge of herbs and natur al cures. In a
civilised culture, dr ugs and more advanced
treatments are used. In all cultures heal-
ing includes the abilit y to set bones, suture
wounds and so for th. To use on an alien spe-
cies, all roll s are Formidable . Add points
from the skill Science ( A strobiology) to re-
duce penalt y.
Musicianship. DE X+CHA . Musicianship cov-
er s the playing of musical instr uments; from
a simple reed pipe to a complex stringed in-
str ument such as a harp. Each iter ation of
Musicianship is applied to a group of simi-
lar instr uments. A musician who can play a
reed pipe can al so play a flute, panpipes or a
recorder because the fundamental s are the
same.
Navigation. INT+POW. Whether using promi-
nent landmarks, the star s or the var ying
taste of seawater, the abilit y to accur ately
direct tr avel is covered by the Navigation
skill. Each Navigation skill cover s a specific
region or environment, such as Open Seas
or Underground for example. Roll s should
be made during unusual journeys or when in
completely unfamiliar territor y.
Orator y. POW+CHA . Or ator y is the ar t of de-
livering a speech to large group of people
with the aim of conveying or swaying a point

20 CHAR ACTERS
of view. It is a skill frequently used by politi-
cians to drive home a polic y, but is al so used
by commanders to inspire troops and impose
discipline on the battlefield. Wherever mass
persuasion is needed, Or ator y, r ather than
Influence, is used.
Pilot. DE X+INT. The Pilot skill permits the
control of a specified class (such as glider s,
starships, jet engines, and so on) of flying
vehicles. It al so covers the maintenance and
upkeep of a ship: assessing when repair s are
needed, where it is safe to land, the danger s
of violent weather, and so for th.
Politic s. INT+CHA . Char acters possessing
the Politics skill understand how to navigate
and negotiate the corridors of government at
local, national and interstellar level s.
Research. INT+POW. Research uses various
resources (such as a libr ar y, newspaper ar-
chive, computer net work, and so on), to dis-
cover desired pieces of information.
Science. INT x2. There are dozens of scien-
tific disciplines and the Science skill, which
can be taken multiple times, is always asso-
ciated with a discipline: Science ( A stronomy)
or Science ( A strobiology), for example.
Seamanship. INT+CON. This skill is used in
exactly the same way as Boating but is in-
stead applied to large waterborne vessel s
powered by sail s or mechanical means.
Seduction. INT+CHA . Seduction is the ro-
mantic or sexual persuasion of another per-
son, a skill ver y dif ferent to Influence. It uses
explicit signal s – verbal and non-verbal – to
elicit a sexually positive response. It al so
takes a significant amount of time: success-
ful Seduction may take hour s, days or weeks
to achieve depending on the mor al s of the
target, who always has the oppor tunit y to re-
sist a Seduction attempt with W illpower.
Sensors. INT+POW. This skill allows the ac-
cur ate use and analysis of sensor devices
from chemical snif fer s up to a starship’s
long r ange scanners.
Sleight. DE X+CHA . Sleight covers attempts
to palm or conceal small objects and in-
cludes attempts to pick pockets, cut purses
or cause a visual distr action. Natur ally it is
an essential thieves’ skill.
Street wise. POW+CHA . Street wise repre-
sents knowledge of places and social con-
tacts within a settlement. It covers ever y-
thing from identif ying potentially dangerous
neighborhoods, to finding local ser vices – le-
gal or illegal. How long a Street wise attempt
takes depends on what is sought. Finding a
good bar will take less time than locating a
fence for stolen goods or a fake tr ading per-
mit.
Sur vival. CON+POW. This skill covers sur-
viving in a r ur al or wilderness environment
Continued...
CH A R A C T E R S 21
Optional Skill s
In many my thic sci-fi set tings vac-
uum suits and the lack of gr avit y in
space are completely ignored. For
slightly more realistic tales, add
the optional skill s below. Note that
they are not included on the char-
acter sheet.
Vacc Suit. DE X+INT. This is the
knowledge on how to use a vacuum
suit and how to do missions out-
side of a star ship in space.
Zero G. DE X x 2. W ith this skill the
char acter has been tr ained in han-
dling zero G. Use it when per for m-
ing complex maneuver s, like fight-
ing.
22 CHAR ACTERS
where the benefits of civilization are absent: for aging, building
a fire, finding shelter or a safe place to sleep. When properly
equipped roll s are usually unnecessar y since the char acter may
be carr ying a tent, food supplies and so on. Only when separ ated
from their equipment or when environmental conditions turn bad
does it become essential to utilise this skill. A roll is usually
made once per day in such conditions.
Teach. INT+CHA . Teach allows the user to pass on their knowl-
edge and techniques in an easy to under stand and constr uctive
manner. W ithout this skill even the most capable of master s will
suf fer problems instr ucting others.
Tr ack. INT+CON. The Tr ack skill is used for tr acking any form
of game or quarr y. It uses signs of passing to remain on the
quarr y’s tr ail, including footprints, br uised leaves, scattered
pollen, displaced rocks and so on; small, tell-tale signs that are
invisible to the nonskilled. Tr ack roll s need to be made periodi-
cally, especially if conditions change abr uptly (a r ain shower, for
example, will disturb cer tain signs). How of ten depends on how
cunning the quarr y has been.
Select a Culture
Culture determines the kind of societ y in which the char acter
was r aised, and so prescribes cer tain outlooks and philosophies
he or she might have. More pr actically, culture helps augment
the values of the various skill s that shape your char acter’s over-
all capabilities.
There are three basic cultures: Rur al, Urban and Orbit. Together
with the name of a char acter’s home world (and perhaps its Tech
Level), you will get a prett y good over view of their background.
Each cultur al background lists a r ange of Standard skill s ap-
propriate to it and invites the player to pick up to three of the
presented Professional skill s: in this way player s from the same
cultur al background can ensure that their adventurer s are dif-
ferent in the areas they have developed.
Distribute the Culture skill points amongst the career’s listed
Standard skill s and whichever Professional skill s were selected,
increasing each skill by 1% for ever y point spent on improving it.
Games Masters may wish to apply a cap to how many skill points
can be applied to any par ticular skill.
Rural
This culture covers all t ypes of har vesting and herding habitats,
including the small village centers of ten associated with them –
regardless of tech level. It can be deep sea har vesting of algae,
exotic bird herders or plain old tilling. You can al so use this Cul-
ture package for char acters growing up in the wilderness.
Creating Planets & Cultures
Standard skill s: Athletics, Br awn, Drive, Endur ance, First Aid,
See the chapter s on alien creation
Locale, Perception and Ride. In addition the player may al so
and wor ld building to develop your
choose a cultur al Combat St yle. own detailed planets and cultures,
Professional Skill s: Cr af t (any), Mechanics, Knowledge (any), both human and alien.
Musicianship, Navigate, Sur vival, Tr ack.

CH A R A C T E R S 23
High and Low Gr avit y
Some char acter s may come from a
wor ld with higher or lower gr avit y
than standard. Use these guide-
lines:
Low gr avit y: STR & CON -2 each,
DE X & P OW +2 each. Make a Hard
Endur ance roll ever y day spent in
normal or higher gr avit y. If failed,
apply a Hard penalt y to all physical
skill s.
High gr avit y: STR & CON +2 each,
DE X & CH A -2 each. On nor mal and
low gr avit y wor lds, they will be
seen as clumsy.
24 CHAR ACTERS
Urban
This culture is for char acter s growing up in cities. They feel at
home on the streets and know how to handle themselves in vari-
ous social situations. Cities can dif fer a lot from each other;
some are rough and dir t y, while other s are laden with tr adition
and wealth.
Standard Skill s: Conceal, Deceit, Drive, Influence, Insight, Lo-
cale, W illpower. In addition the player may al so choose a cul-
tur al Combat St yle.
Professional Skill s: A r t (any), Commerce, Cr af t (any), Cour tesy,
L anguage (any), Knowledge (any), Musicianship, Street wise.
Orbit
This culture cover s all t ypes of space habitats: A steroids, space
stations, orbiting factories, etceter a. Some habitats are just
scr uf f y rocks, while other s are high tech wonder s of light and
greener y (for really big space stations, the Urban package might
be a better choice).
Standard Skill s: Conceal, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale,
W illpower. In addition the player may al so choose a cultur al
Combat St yle.
Professional Skill s: A strogation, Electronics, Knowledge (any),
L anguage (any), Mechanics, Pilot, Street wise.
Select a Career
Ever y M-SPACE char acter star ts the game having been tr ained
in a career. The occupation he chooses may not necessarily be
the one the char acter continues to follow as he begins his ad-
venturing life, but it is the career he embarked on as par t of the
tr ansition to adulthood and it fur ther defines his skill develop-
ment.
Each career presents a r ange of Standard skill s appropriate to
it and permits the player to pick up to three of the listed Pro-
fessional skill s. Distribute the Career Skill points amongst the
career’s listed Standard skill s and whichever Professional skill s Alien Cultures
were selected, increasing each skill by 1% for ever y point spent There are only a few ready-made
on improving it. A s with cultures a Games Master may apply a aliens and no alien cultures in this
book. We want you to use these
cap to how many skill points can be applied to any par ticular
r ules to shape your own fictional
skill. univer se. It’s back to the roots of
roleplaying games!
Future set ting books will include
Bonus Skill Points detailed alien species, wor lds and
cultures though. In the meantime,
A s a final step, a last pool of skill points are assigned to round check our website for free exam-
out the char acter. These may be applied to any Standard skill or ples:
those Professional skill s gained as par t of Culture or Career. w w w.frostby tebooks.com
Once again a Games Master may apply a cap to how many skill
points can be applied to any par ticular skill.

Careers
Agent
Standard Skill s: Conceal, Deceit, Evade, Insight, Perception,
Stealth; Combat St yle (any)
Professional Skill s: Culture (any), Disguise, L anguage (any), Pi-
lot, Sleight, Street wise, Sur vival, Tr ack

Belter
Standard Skill s: Athletics, Br awn, Endur ance, Locale, Percep-
tion, W illpower
Professional Skill s: Commerce, Cr af t (Mining), Demolitions,
Engineering, Science (Geology), Mechanics, Navigation (Under-
ground), Pilot, Sur vival

Bount y Hunter
Standard Skill s: Athletics, Endur ance, Evade, Insight, Percep-
tion, Stealth; Combat St yle (any), Combat St yle (Gunner y)
Professional Skill s: Bureaucr ac y, Commerce, Culture (any), Pi-
lot, Street wise, Sur vival, Tr ack

CH A R A C T E R S 25
Colonist
Standard Skill s: Athletics, Br awn, Drive, En-
dur ance, Locale, Perception, Ride; Combat
St yle (any)
Professional Skill s: Commerce, Cr af t (any),
Knowledge ( Agriculture), Mechanics, Navi-
gation, Pilot, Sur vival, Tr ack
Criminal
Standard Skill s: Athletics, Br awn, Deceit,
Evade, Insight, Perception, Stealth; Combat
St yle (any)
Professional Skill s: Acting, Commerce,
Electronics, Gambling, Lockpicking, Sleight,
Street wise
Detective
Standard Skill s: Customs, Drive, Evade, In-
fluence, Insight, Perception, Stealth; Combat
St yle (any)
Professional Skill s: Bureaucr ac y, Culture
(any), Disguise, Knowledge (any), Research,
Sleight, Street wise
Gambler
Standard Skill s: Athletics, Endur ance, Lo-
cale, Perception, W illpower
Professional Skill s: Acting, Bureaucr ac y,
Commerce, Cour tesy, Gambling, Research,
Sleight, Street wise
Journalist
Standard Skill s: Customs, Deceit, Influence,
Insight, Locale, Native Tongue, Perception
26 CHAR ACTERS
Professional Skill s: Bureaucr ac y, Culture
(any), L anguage (any), Knowledge (any), Or a-
tor y, Politics, Research, Street wise
Engineer
Standard Skill s: Br awn, Culture (any), Drive,
Endur ance, Influence, Locale, W illpower
Professional Skill s: Commerce, Computers,
Cr af t (any), Engineering, Electronics, Gam-
bling, Mechanics, Street wise
Medic
Standard Skill s: Fir st Aid, Influence, Insight,
Locale, Perception, W illpower
Professional Skill s: Commerce, Cr af t (Phys-
iological Specialit y), Medicine, L anguage
(any), Knowledge (Psychology), Knowledge
(any), Research, Science ( A strobiology)
Mercenar y
Standard Skill s: Athletics, Br awn, Endur-
ance, Evade, Unarmed; Combat St yle (any),
Combat St yle (Gunner y)
Professional Skill s: Cr af t (any), Engineer-
ing, Gambling, Knowledge (Militar y Histor y),
Knowledge (Str ategy and Tactics), Or ator y,
Sur vival
Merchant
Standard Skill s: Drive, Deceit, Insight, Influ-
ence, Locale
Professional Skill s: A strogation, Bureau-
cr ac y, Commerce, Cour tesy, Culture (any),
L anguage (any), Pilot, Street wise
Of ficial Professional Skill s: Culture (any), L anguage
Standard Skill s: Customs, Deceit, Influence, (any), Knowledge (Primar y), Knowledge
Insight, Locale, Perception, W illpower (Secondar y), Or ator y, Research, Teach

Professional Skill s: Bureaucr ac y, Com- Scout

merce, Cour tesy, L anguage (any), Knowl- Standard Skill s: Athletics, Drive, Endur ance,
edge (any), Or ator y, Politics Fir st A id, Perception, Stealth, Swim; Combat
Starship Pilot St yle (any), Combat St yle (Gunner y)

Standard Skill s: Drive, Endur ance, Evade, Professional Skill s: A strogation, Comms,
Locale, Perception, W illpower; Combat St yle Culture (any), Medicine, L anguage (any),
(Gunner y) Knowledge (any), Navigation, Pilot, Sensors,
Sur vival, Tr ack
Professional Skill s: A strogation, Comms,
Culture (any), Science ( A stronomy), Mechan- Smuggler
ics, Pilot, Sensors, Street wise Standard Skill s: Conceal, Customs, Deceit,
Diplomat Drive, Influence, Insight, Locale; Combat
St yle (any), Combat St yle (Gunner y)
Standard Skill s: Customs, Deceit, Influence,
Insight, Locale, Native Tongue, Perception Professional Skill s: A strogation, Bureau-
cr ac y, Commerce, Comms, Customs (any),
Professional Skill s: Bureaucr ac y, Cour tesy,
L anguage (any), Navigation, Pilot, Sensors,
Culture (any), L anguage (any), Knowledge
Street wise
(any), Or ator y, Politics
Thief
Priest
Standard Skill s: Athletics, Deceit, Evade,
Standard Skill s: Customs, Deceit, Influence,
Insight, Perception, Stealth; Combat St yle
Insight, Locale, Native Tongue, W illpower
(any)
Professional Skill s: Bureaucr ac y, Cour tesy,
Professional Skill s: Acting, Commerce, Dis-
Customs, Knowledge (any), Musicianship,
guise, Electronics, Lockpicking, Sleight,
Or ator y, Politics, Research
Street wise
Scholar
Standard Skill s: Influence, Insight, Locale,
Native Tongue, Perception, W illpower

CH A R A C T E R S 27
Passions Table Select Passions
Objec t of Base Passions are used to assist player s and Games Master s in deep-
Passion Char ac teristic s ening the nature of the char acter, introducing plot hooks based
A per son or on a char acter’s desire or prejudices, and helping the player to
P OW+ CH A
family understand who his char acter is, what drives him, and so on.
A n organiza- A Passion can be for any thing – a per son, an organization, an
P OW+INT
tion or group ideal, even an object. Passions are t ypically described by a verb
A r ace or such as: Desire, Despise, Destroy, Espouse, Fear, Flee, Fore-
P OW x 2
species swear, Hate, Love, Loyalt y to, Protect, Repudiate, Respect, Seek,
Subver t, Torment or Uphold.
A place P OW+INT
Passions are measured in the same way as skill s; they are r ated
A n object or
P OW x 2 bet ween 1 and 10 0 (or higher). A Passion can be improved in the
substance
same way as a skill, or it can be increased or decreased by the
A concept or
P OW+INT referee depending on circumstances.
ideal
» » Beginning char ac ters may star t with up to three
Passions, each based on t wo Char ac teristics, with
a bonus of +4 0 to the first, +30 to the second and
+20 to the third – the player deciding the order of
impor tance.

These can be tied to his culture, profession or per sonal foibles.

For example, the char acter might take: Hate (Loperians), Dis-
tr ust (Psionics), and Desire ( Alcohol); or the char acter might
choose Loyalt y (Emperor), Destroy ( Aliens) and Uphold (the L aw)
instead.
Using Passions
Passions are any deeply held commitment that has the capac-
it y to influence events during play. Although they are viewed as
standalone abilities (to call them skill s is to do them a disser-
vice), passions can be used thus:
» » To augment another skill, reflecting the depth of one’s feel-
ing and how it drives action. When used in this regard the
Passion adds 1/ 5 of its value to a skill being used, as long as
the augmentation is thematically and dr amatically impor tant.
28 CHAR ACTERS
» » A s an abilit y in its own right to drive choices, desires and Deepening and Waning
emotional actions and responses. When used in this way a Passions can increase dur ing a
standard roll is made against a Passion to determine how game independently of E xper i-
ence Roll s, based on the strength
strongly the char acter thinks and feel s about something. If
of whatever occur red to tr igger the
a roll is a success then the char acter acts in-line with what increase. Al so Passions can, and
the Passion would dictate. If the roll fail s then the char acter do, wane. A strongly held belief can
can act freely without feeling constr ained by the Passion’s be shaken by many things leading to
that Passion being either reduced
drives.
or, in more ex treme circumstances,
» » To oppose other Passions – even those held by the same rever sed completely. For instance,
char acter. This is t ypically used where t wo Passions would a char acter with ‘ Tr ust Chief tain’
might, if his chief tain acts treach-
conflict. For instance a personal love might dictate a cour se
erously, either reduce his Passion
of action that would be contr ar y to an oath or loyalt y. Here or tur n into ‘Distr ust Chief tain’ at
use an opposed roll bet ween the t wo Passions with the more the same percentage. The Games
successful determining how the char acter acts. Master needs to determine if a Pas-
sion reduces or rever ses. If it re-
» » A s a gener al measure of depth of commitment, belief and duces then it does so according to
loyalt y to a cause. The higher the Passion’s value, the more the strength of the source of the
committed the char acter is. Char acter s with similar Pas- change. The Deepening and Waning
table shows by how much the Pas-
sions can compare and contr ast their r atings to determine
sion changes.
who exhibits the deeper commitment.
Change Score +/-
» » To resist some form of psychological manipulation or psion-
Weak 1d10
ic domination. In cer tain cases where a char acter is being
Moder ate 1d10 +5
forced into per forming an act contr ar y to his Passions, he
Strong 1d10 +10
may use substitute his Passion for the usual W illpower in the
opposed roll. Star ting Equipment
» A set of clothing appropr iate to the
char acter’s profession
Equipment » A small amount of money; 2d6
x10 0 0.
Now that the char acter is almost finished, he or she needs some » A ny tr ade tool s or tr anspor table
gear. This can include weapons, armor, or other impor tant par a- equipment suitable to the char ac-
phernalia used for a par ticular profession. In the cour se of ad- ter’s profession, if appropr iate.
» A ny per sonal weapon for the char-
venture there are many chances to get more equipment, but each
acter’s Combat St yle.
star ting char acter has in his or her immediate possession the »O
equipment listed in the sidebar. See the Technology chapter for
more detailed descriptions of various gear.

CH A R A C T E R S 29
30 CHAR ACTERS
CH A R A C T E R S 31
 Game System

P ar t of the fun and dr ama of M-SPACE comes in making a

roll against a skill to see if success or failure is the out-
come. It can be tempting to call for skill roll s for each and ever y
challenge but there are some cases where roll s are not needed.
However, when the action becomes dr amatic or ex tr aordinar y,
players and the Games Master should roll dice for the resolu-
tion. It is usually obvious when a skill roll is necessar y, but if in
doubt, consider the consequences of failure: are they cr ucial to
the plot? Does the chance of failure heighten tension and make
for an exciting possibilit y? W ill a failure add fun to the game? If
the answer is Yes to any of these, then have the char acter make
a skill roll.

How Do I Succeed?
The most impor tant question in a roleplaying game is “Do I suc-
ceed or do I fail?“ Nex t is “How well did I succeed or fail?” M-
SPACE provides an easy-to-under stand system to measure these
chances, using dice roll s to determine whether an action suc-
ceeds or fail s. Some skill s (especially combat skill s) are inher-
ently dr amatic and dangerous, and are always rolled for.
Whenever a char acter is called upon to resolve some form of
test, challenge or professional abilit y, 1d10 0 is rolled and the
result compared with the skill ’s value:
» » Equal to, or less than, the skill indicates a success. If the
roll was equal or less than one tenth of the skill (rounded
up) it is a critical success instead
» » Greater than the skill ’s value indicates a failure. If the
roll was 99 or 00 (or only 00 if the skill exceeds 100%),
then the result is a fumble
Critical s and Fumbles represent spectacular successes and fail-
ures; those cases where a char acter has either excelled in his
32 G A ME S Y S T E M
attempt or failed miser ably and utterly. There are cer tain spe- Dif ficult y Skill Modifier
cial cases concerning success and failure that should be noted.
Automatic No need to roll
» » Any roll of 01-05 is always a success
Double the skill
» » Any roll of 96-00 is always a failure, irrespec tive Ver y Eas y
value
of how high the skill ’s value
Add half again to
Eas y
the skill value
Modif ying Skill s
Standard No adjustment
There are some occasions where a skill roll is required but the
chances of success need to be adjusted to reflect par ticular con- Reduce the skill
ditions. Fleeing bandits, for instance, might require an Athletics Hard value by one
roll. A wide variet y of conditions such as weather, equipment or third
distr actions can af fect the dif ficult y of the roll, using a series of Reduce the skill
For midable
gr ades to determine how it is modified. These are listed in the value by half
sidebar. Reduce the skill
Herculean
Where a char acter is already suf fering a penalt y from other cir- value to one fif th
cumstances the hardest dif ficult y gr ade takes precedence. No at tempt can
Hopeless
What sor t of modification is required for any par ticular skill or be made
contex t is ultimately up to the Games Master to decide; accord-
ing to the capabilities of the char acters, his perception of the
Simplified Dif ficult y Gr ade Table
dif ficult y of the situation and the dr amatic tension at that par- W hil st dif ficult y gr ades are de-
ticular moment. signed to scale with char acter
The chances for rolling a critical success or fumble are likewise skill, some Games Master s may
find applying penalties results in
adjusted af ter the ef fect of a dif ficult y gr ade has been applied.
the slowing down of their game. A s
For instance a char acter with Pilot (Star ship) 65% would nor- an alter native the following option
mally gain a critical success with an 07 or lower, but this would is provided:
be reduced to 05 if suf fering a dif ficult y gr ade of Hard .
Dif ficult y Skill Modifier
Reattempting Skill s
Ver y Eas y + 4 0%
In some situations a char acter will fail a skill attempt but be lef t
Eas y +20%
in a situation where he could potentially tr y again. E xample cases
might be picking a lock or attempting to climb a sheer wall. Standard None
Instead of simply denying any fur ther attempts, kindly Games Hard -20%
Masters may permit a follow-up, last-ditch attempt. However,
For midable -4 0%
the char acter will suf fer some trepidation or lack of confidence
Herculean -8 0%
which increases the dif ficult y of the skill roll by one gr ade.

G A ME S Y S T E M 33
 Opposing Skill If this second ef for t al so ends in failure, the char acter is as-
Ac tivit y sumed to have given it his ‘best shot’ and cannot make any fur-
E xamples
Commerce vs ther attempts for the foreseeable future.
Bargaining / Commerce or Opposed Roll s
Haggling Influence vs Char acters frequently find themselves pitting their skill against
Commerce others. E xamples of times where skill s are matched against each
Athletic s vs Ath- other might be Stealth versus Perception when a thief attempts
Chasing / letic s, Athletic s to cut a nobleman’s pur se; or Endur ance ver sus the Potenc y of a
Racing vs Endur ance or Poison if the same thief is bitten by the snake within. These are
Ride vs Ride known as Opposed Roll s and are used where a challenge will
Deceit vs Insight result in either win or lose, pass or fail.
Deceiving or Sleight vs An Opposed Roll is determined thus: both par ticipants roll their
Perception respective skill s. The winner is the one who gains the better lev-
Evade vs Athletic s el of success. If the par ticipants score the same level of success
Get ting out or Evade vs Mech- (a standard success each, or a critical each), then the winner
of the Way anisms or Ev ade is the one who has the highest dice roll still within the success
vs Ride r ange of their skill.
Stealth vs Per-
Hiding or If both par ticipants fail in an Opposed Roll then either:
ception or Stealth
Sneaking » » Describe the situation, leaving both sides hanging in dr a-
vs Tr ack
matic tension, then re-roll the contest to establish a win-
Influence vs W ill-
ner
Pulling Rank power or Deceit
» » Produce some explanation or circumstances that suit the
vs W illpower
mutual nature of the failure
Endur ance vs
Staying the
Endur ance or En- E x tended Conflicts
Cour se
dur ance vs Br awn An optional use of opposed roll s in M-SPACE is to use them for
Sw aying a Or ator y vs E x tended Conflicts. Here, sever al opposed roll s are used and
Crowd W illpower the winner of each roll deal s damage to a Conflict Pool derived
Br awn vs Br awn from char acteristics, similar to the way hit points are used in
Test of
or Br awn vs combat. A bargaining situation can, for example, use CHA as
Strength
Endur ance Conflict Pool s. A s one Pool reaches zero, that par t has lost the
W illpower vs W ill- argument. This way, almost any t ype of conflict can be r un in a
Test of W ill s power or Seduc- more detailed manner. See more in the chapter E x tended Con-
tion vs W illpower flicts, on page 42.

34 G A ME S Y S T E M
Dif ferential Roll s Augmenting Skill s
Dif ferential roll s are similar to Opposed roll s except that instead It is possible for one skill to aid an-
of a simple win or lose result, the dif ference in level s of suc- other. This is called Augmenting.
The following r ules apply:
cess are calculated. They are primarily used for the resolution
Char acter s can only augment the
of combat (page 5 4). pr imar y skill with a single other
A Dif ferential Roll is determined in the following manner: Both skill.
par ticipants roll against their respective skill s and suf fer the A n augmenting skill increases the
results of their roll as if tested in isolation. There is no outright value of the pr imar y skill by t wice
its Cr itical r ange (ie, 20% of the
‘winner’ per se, but whoever gained the higher level of success skill.
gains an advantage equal to the dif ference in the success level s Char acter s can augment other
bet ween them (assuming one par ticipant gains at least a stan- char acter’s skill s to assist them.
dard success or better). If both par ticipants score the same level All the above r ules apply, so a
of success (a standard success each, or a critical each), then char acter being aided cannot aug-
ment himself in addition. Likewise
there is no additional ef fect. Cross reference the table below to a char acter can only contr ibute
determine the outcome of the roll s. one of his skill s to assist another.
Opposed Skill s O ver 100% So, for example, tr ying to scale a
high wall, a char acter could have
If the highest skilled par ticipant in an Opposed or Dif ferential his Athletics skill augmented by a
Roll has a skill in excess of 10 0%, that par ticipant subtr acts the companion’s Br awn (representing a
dif ference bet ween 10 0 and his skill value from the skill of ev- hitch-up).
er yone in the contest, including himself. This reduces the skill
value of the opponents but leaves him retaining the advantage.
The identification of who has the highest skill must be calculated
af ter any other modifiers for circumstances have been applied.

Dif ferential Roll Results

A ntagonist Critical A ntagonist Success A ntagonist Failure A ntagonist Fumble

Protagonist Prot. wins 1 lvl of Prot. wins 2 lvl s of Prot. wins 3 lvl s of
No Benefit
Critical Success Success Success
Protagonist A nt. wins 1 lvl of Prot. wins 1 lvl of Prot. wins 2 lvl s of
No Benefit
Success Success Success Success
Protagonist A nt. wins 2 lvl s of A nt. wins 1 lvl of
No Benefit No Benefit
Failure Success Success
Protagonist A nt. wins 3 lvl s of A nt. wins 2 lvl s of
No Benefit No Benefit
Fumble Success Success

G A ME S Y S T E M 35
For One Luck Point You Can:
Twist Fate
Char acter s can use a Luck Point
to either re-roll any dice roll that
af fects them or swap the number s
already rolled, when rolling a d10 0
for example. This can be a skill
roll, damage roll or any thing el se
that has some ef fect.
Make a Desper ate Ef for t
If a char acter has exhausted his
Action Points dur ing a fight and
needs to find that last bur st of
desper ate energy to per haps avoid
a messy demise, he may spend a
Luck Point to gain an additional
Action Point.
Mitigate Damage
A char acter who suf fer s a Major
Wound may spend a Luck Point to
downgr ade the wound to a Ser ious
Wound. This reduces the damage
taken to one Hit Point less than
what would be required to inflict a
Major Wound.
36 G A ME S Y S T E M
Luck Points
Luck Points represent a char acter’s abilit y to potentially turn
failure into success and even cheat death. They are expended
during play and, at the beginning of the nex t session, replenish
to their usual value. Only one Luck Point can be used in suppor t
of a par ticular action. See the sidebar for some ways to spend a
single Luck Point.
Game Time
In M-SPACE, time is an impor tant factor, mostly to determine
what happens in what order, so that game mechanics are applied
when they should be. Remember that in– game time is usually
not equivalent to time actually spent playing. Sometimes, the
GM may need to summarize the events of many days in a single
sentence, such as ‘It takes you a week to reach Constantinople,’
while at other times, par ticularly during combat, the actions of
only a few seconds of time can take sever al minutes or longer to
resolve. See the sidebar opposite for impor tant distinctions of
game time.
Injury and Healing
Char acters in M-SPACE inevitably suf fer damage. There are
three categories of injur y which can be inflicted, namely Minor
Wounds, Serious Wounds and Major Wounds.
Minor Wound
Minor wounds are cuts, scr atches, br uises and spr ains. They
hur t, may bleed, but are not significant enough to slow down or
hamper the victim.
Serious Wound
If a location is reduced to zero Hit Points or below, the victim re-
ceives a Serious Wound. The location is scarred and they cannot
attack (but can still parr y or evade) for their nex t 1d3 turns due Combat Rounds
to shock and pain. A Combat Round represents five
seconds of real time. They are used
A char acter suf fering a Serious Wound must immediately make
to measure shor t, frenetic bur sts of
an opposed test of his Endur ance versus the successful attack activit y that take moments to com-
roll of his enemy. Failure results in a limb being rendered use- plete or measur ing ver y detailed
less, or unconsciousness if the Abdomen, Chest or Head. This activities that require a blow-by-
blow resolution. For example, a
persists until the char acter is successfully treated with Fir st
chase bet ween hunter and prey
Aid. where each round deter mines the
At the Games Master’s discretion, even if the char acter remains t wists and tur ns of the pur suit.

functional, all tasks requiring use of that body location will suf- Skill Time
fer an ongoing penalt y of one dif ficult y gr ade, until the injur y is Local Time represents a few min-
reduced to a Minor Wound. utes to a few hour s and is used to
measure activities that do not re-
Major Wound quire the detailed at tention of a
If a location is reduced to a negative score equal or greater than Combat Round, but require a spe-
its star ting Hit Points, the char acter receives a Major Wound. cific concentr ation of ef for t with a
The char acter is immediately incapacitated, unable to continue definite end result. Picking a lock
might take five minutes and this is a
fighting. measure of Skill Time. W hereas ob-
A s with Serious Wounds a char acter who suf fer s a Major Wound ser ving the patrol s made by teams
must immediately make an opposed test of his Endur ance ver sus of guards around a high secur it y
lab might require sever al hour s.
the successful attack roll of his enemy. Failure results in a limb
being severed, shattered or ripped of f, or instant death if the Ab- Nar r ative Time
domen, Chest or Head. If the char acter sur vives but treatment is This is the amount of time taken
not star ted within a number of minutes equal to t wice his Heal- when the GM is nar r ating to the
player s, or when the player s are
ing Rate, he still dies from blood loss and shock. discussing. Unless there is a spe-
Major Wounds require some form of surger y (using the Medicine cific reason for it, most actual ro-
skill) to heal, el se the wounded location will be maimed. leplaying takes place in narr ative
time. W hen roleplaying, nar r ative
Healing from Wounds time resembles real time, where a
Natur al healing from wounds and injuries is based on the char- conver sation takes as long to have
acter’s Healing Rate. The Healing Rate dictates how many Hit as it takes to play. If a game session
includes lengthy tr avel, or per iods
Points are recovered depending on the injur y’s nature: of activit y where exact time is not
» » Minor Wounds: Days of the essence, then time is com-
pressed greatly to a few moments
» » Serious Wounds: Weeks
o
» » Major Wounds: Months

G A ME S Y S T E M 37
First Aid Actions Thus a char acter with a Healing Rate of 3 who suf fer s a Serious
Wound, will heal natur ally at a r ate of 3 Hit Points per week until
Successful
Injur y his injur y is downgr aded to a Minor Wound, and then heal 3 Hit
Treatment
Points per day until fully recovered. The healing char acter can-
The vic tim begins
A sphy xiated not engage in strenuous activit y: other wise the Healing Rate is
breathing again.
reduced by 1d3. Thus, a char acter recovering from even a Minor
The blood flow is
Bleeding Wound could find his progress halted if he decides to engage any
staunched.
physical tasks that might exacerbate his injuries.
The impaling item
Permanent Injuries
is removed without
Some Major Wounds inflict maiming injuries; for example horri-
Impaled causing fur ther
bly cr ushed and severed limbs, or the necrotic ef fects of venoms.
damage to the
The result of this damage permanently reduces the Hit Points on
victim.
that location, forever weakening it. A location maimed in this way
A s long as the un-
uses the diminished Hit Point value to calculate its new Serious
consciousness is
and Major Wound thresholds.
not the result of
Uncon- For permanent injuries caused by accident or battle injur y, roll a
poisons or narcot-
sciousness die of equivalent size to the original Hit Points of the location and
ic s then the injured
par t y is restored to permantently reduce the Hit Points by the amount rolled.
aw areness.
Treatment restores Character Improvement
Minor
1d3 hit points to
Injur y Ever y char acter has the oppor tunit y to improve their skill s with
the injur y.
time. The mechanism for most char acter improvement is the E x-
Treatment restores
Ser ious perience Roll. Games Masters dispense E xperience Roll s at an
the location to par-
Injur y appropriate juncture in the campaign: at the end of ever y suc-
tial functionalit y.
cessful scenario or stor yline; or af ter perhaps t wo or three ses-
A successful Fir st
sions of play if the stor y is a long one which will take time to
A id roll on a loca-
complete. The frequenc y is at the Games Master’s discretion. A
Major tion suf fer ing from
high frequenc y of E xperience Roll s will lead to the char acters
Injur y a Major Injur y does
developing at a faster r ate.
not retur n any Hit
Points. The number of E xperience Roll s given in any one sitting should
aver age bet ween three and five, but it can be lower or higher
depending on how long it has been since the last set of roll s and
how well the char acter s per formed or have been played.

38 G A ME S Y S T E M
It is recommended that all char acters be given the same number
of E xperience Roll s, which helps maintain fairness and parit y
in char acter progression. The only exception to this guideline is
where a char acter gains an additional roll (or suf fer s a reduction
in roll s) for their E xperience Modifier (page 12) in those situa-
tions where the char acter can put their influence to good use or
suf fer its consequences.
Any skill on the char acter sheet, Standard or Professional, can
be increased by spending one E xperience Roll.
» » The player roll s 1d100 and compares it to the skill being
increased. The char acter’s INT is added to the roll.
» » If the number rolled is equal to or greater than the skill
being improved it increases by 1d4+1%.
» » If the number rolled is less than the skill selec ted, the
skill still increases but only by 1%.
» » If a char acter fumbles any skill during play, the fumbled
skill gains a free increase of 1%.

G A ME S Y S T E M 39
40 G A ME S Y S T E M
G A ME S Y S T E M 41

Be careful not to br ing too many
ex tended conflicts upon the char-
acter s. This will deplete their re-
sources long before a scenar io is
over. Tr y to find a good balance be-
t ween the number of conflicts and
the time it takes to restore conflict
pool s. Depending on the st yle of
play, the exact number will var y
and the GM will have to tr y things
out as the group evolves. It’s of-
ten a good idea to var y both the
t ypes of conflicts used and which
char acter s are af fected – that will
br ing more var iation, pool s last
longer and ever yone tends to get
more involved.
42 E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S
Extended Conflicts
C onflicts are the driving forces of most fictional works, and
the same goes for roleplaying. It can be a locked door bar-
ring the way, a dense asteroid field to pilot through, a bargain
with a tr ader or a regular fist fight. The Game System chapter
covers single skill roll s, opposed roll s, and dif ferential roll s.
Here, the optional r ules for ex tended conflicts are presented.
E x tended Conflicts: Opposing forces use sever al skill roll s in
multiple rounds. Damage is dealt to Conflict Pool s based on
char acteristics. If, or when, a Conflict Pool reaches zero, that
side has lost and is out of the conflict.
E xample: Climbing a tree can be as easy as making a success-
ful Climb roll. But if this par t of the scene is a critical moment,
the player may have to roll sever al times in an ex tended conflict
(losing her DE X Conflict Pool gr adually).
The more impor tant the conflict is, the more time, energy and
dr ama should be spent on it – and an ex tended conflict is of ten
the best choice for that.
Al so, a char acter that is not satisfied with the outcome of a sin-
gle or opposed roll can always r aise the intensit y and determi-
nation by asking the GM for an ex tended conflict. Breaking out a
conflict like this gives her another chance to succeed. But it is
al so riskier; more is at stake. Not only Conflict Pool points can
be lost, but skill s can al so be tempor arily lowered.
Using Opposed Roll s
Both ex tended and simple opposed conflicts use opposed roll s to
determine the outcome. The concept is quick to learn: The high-
est successful roll wins.
E xample: While tr ying to bargain for an antique scroll, Nedr a
roll s 5 3 on her Commerce at 65%. Her opponent, a greedy an-
tiquarian, roll s 47, and despite his skill being 70%, Nedr a has Round Length
rolled the highest success. Nedr a gets the scroll for half the The length of a conflict round is
price. highly flexible. For combat it will
be about 5 seconds, while a jour ney
Critical s always tr ump normal successes and if both opponents can have a round lasting 24 hour s.
fail their roll s, nothing happens. A failed roll wins over a fumble The basic r ule is to make one skill
though. roll per par ticipant ever y round.
See example conflicts below for es-
Conflict Pool s timates on round length.
Conflict Pool s work like hit points, but for any conflict. They are
based on char acteristics and are used one at a time (STR for Conflic t Pool E xamples
arm wrestling for example) or sever al together (DE X+INT for a STR: Breaking something, ar m
car r ace). Whenever damage is rolled in a conflict, it is subtr act- wrestling, lif ting objects
ed from the current Conflict Pool. If, or when, a Conflict Pool CON: Jour neys, hard labor, combat,
reaches zero, that person is out of the conflict. poisoning
SIZ: Only used to gain a bonus or
E xample: Nedr a is in a heated argument with Egil. It is not going
penalt y in other conflicts. SIZ pool
ver y well - she’s down to 2 in her CHA Conflict Pool. Egil roll s is never reduced
1d6 for damage af ter a successful Influence and deal s 4 points of DE X: Lockpicking, climbing, acro-
damage. Nedr a is out. Her physical health is untouched, but she batics, dr iving, untangling ropes or
has run out of arguments and lost the discussion. She leaves the nets, tasks including fine manipu-
lation, combat
room with a dark mind, already planning her nex t move.
INT: Reading a hard to decipher
Dif ferent conflicts use dif ferent char acteristics, and it is up to book, solving a puzzle, tr acking,
the GM to see which one to use. The table in the sidebar provides under standing unfamiliar machin-
a few guidelines. er y, inventing new gear, culture
POW: Psionics, situations involv-
Sometimes the task at hand is dif ficult to categorize into just one
ing a hef t y amount of luck & mental
char acteristic. Getting through a formal reception in an unfamil- health
iar culture requires not only social skill s (CHA ) but al so knowl- CH A: Social conflicts, influence,
edge about the societ y (INT). In these cases, use the aver age or ator y, commerce, commanding
of the t wo char acteristics: (CHA+INT)/2. On r are occasions, you other people, per for mances, cock-
tail par t y, inter view
may need to combine three as well. But always tr y to minimize
the number of char acteristics used, or you will soon find that the (CON+SIZ)/2: Physical damage,
same ones occur in ever y conflict. combat

E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S 43

Cr itical s & Fumbles
The gener al ef fects of cr itical s and
fumbles are as follows:
Critical: Full damage.
Fumble: The roller is damaged, ei-
ther 1d6 to the cur rent pool or (if
appropr iate for the task) 1d4 hit
points.
44 E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S
Resolving a Conflict
These are the steps for resolving an ex tended conflict:
1. Pick the skill s necessar y for the conflic t and an approximate
round length. If there is a set dur ation or number of skill
roll s for the conflic t, it should be declared by the GM now.
2. Choose a char ac teristic to base the Conflic t Pool s on.
3. The char ac ter with the highest pool declares her ac tion and
roll s 1d100 below her skill in an opposed roll. Ever yone el se
involved follows in order from highest to lowest pool. High-
est success wins.
4. The winner roll s 1d6 for damage to Conflic t Pool s. Write
down any new pool values nex t to the char ac teristic on the
char acter sheet.
5. Withdr awal s can be declared.
6. If any pool is halved the GM asks if anyone wants to with-
dr aw. If not, skill s related to the Conflic t Pool are at Hard for
those with a halved pool.
7. Repeat step 3-6 until there is a winner; either through with-
dr awal s, a time limit is reached or all pool s but one are
down to zero.
Using Multiple Conflict Pool s
In some situations, you may want to use t wo separ ate pool val-
ues. Of ten it will be the main Conflict Pool, plus a pool for physi-
cal injuries.
E xample: At a cour t duel, with a small gathering of spectators,
t wo pool s are used: One for physical injuries and one for social
damage. While lightsabers dazzle, the opponents take turns in-
sulting each other. One person may win the physical battle, but
the rival can win the hear ts of the crowd – opening up a lot of
interesting situations in the scenarios to follow.
Withdrawing From a Conflic t
Most conflicts can be ended by one par t just by declaring a with-
dr awal. In those cases, the remaining par ticipant determines
the outcome as if she was the winner.
When the first pool is halved, the GM should al so ask whether
anyone wants to withdr aw. Ever yone, including the GM, should
take a moment to consider the impor tance of the conflict for
their char acter (s) to see if there are any alternate solutions or
compromises possible. A s pool damage won’t heal until the nex t
day, char acters need to think str ategically about which conflicts
are wor th fighting.
Damage
Base damage is always 1d6, regardless of the t ype of conflict.
(For quick combat, the damage values will var y slightly – see ex-
amples below). W ith a pool reduced to zero, that per son has lost
the conflict. In most situations the outcome will follow logically
from the scene: The winner decides what to do nex t, reaches the
goal first, gains the knowledge she was looking for, etceter a.
The damage done to a pool will al so carr y over to the nex t con-
Hit Points or Conflic t pool s?
flict; a reduced CHA pool when attempting to bargain for a star-
Hit points and a CON+SIZ Con-
ship for example, right af ter a cour t duel. flict Pool are essentially the same
When a pool is halved, the char acter is stressed. All skill s cor- thing. The gaming group has t wo
choices here: Treat them as one OR
responding to that char acteristic are at Hard. They remain low-
use hit points for potentially deadly
ered until the pool is r aised above half the initial value. violence and the CON+SIZ pool for
If t wo char acteristics form the basis of a pool, the damage is small injur ies (only ending in un-
consciousness at zero). W hen a
distributed equally among them. For simplicit y, this is done at
combat dr aws near, the GM should
the end of the conflict. E xample: (INT+POW)/2 is used in a gam- communicate clear ly which t ype of
ing contest. At the end of the match, the player redistributes the conflict it will be.
6 points of damage. She reduces her INT pool by 3 and POW by 3. The same applies to Power points
vs P OW pool. Treat them as one or
At least six hours of sleep is required to regain lost pool points.
use Power points str ictly for psion-
Half the amount can be restored af ter resting, light tr aveling or ics, and the P OW pool for mundane
meditating for an hour. For conflicts taking sever al days to re- “

E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S 45
Opponent Rating
The values of an opponent’s con-
flict pool & skill s are not always
obvious. The easiest way to think
about them is as a toughness r at-
ing of the situation. For non-living
opponents (a stor m, a book, etcet-
er a), think of the skill value as the
chance the opponent has to win or
to damage the char acter. The pool
will show how per sistent it is. Use
the values below as a guideline.
Ef for tless, Nor mal and Dif ficult
will be the values used most.
Ef for tless Pool 6 Skill 30%
Normal Pool 11 Skill 50%
Dif ficult Pool 16 Skill 70%
Ver y
Pool 20 Skill 90%
Dif ficult
Heroic Pool 24 Skill 110%
Impossible Pool 28 Skill 130%
You can al so keep the skill level s
from above, but roll 3d6 for pool
values. That opens up a more com-
plex galler y of NP Cs that will be
harder for the player s to adapt to.
This way, someone with a low skill
but a high pool, can have a luck y
str ike and outper for m a more ex-
per ienced char acter.
46 E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S
solve, like a journey, replenishing can take up to half the time of
the actual conflict.
While the basic concept of damage is ver y str aightfor ward, some
conflicts will be open to more options, especially when more
people are involved. Por tr aying a cocktail par t y as an ex tended
conflict will, for example, work better if sever al “winner s” are
allowed. Al so, damage can be rolled individually, or just once
(by the round’s winner) and applied to all. See example conflicts
below to get a feeling for how to use these options.
Other ef fects of damage are possible too. Social conflicts can
result in lowered communication skill s for a day for example.
These ef fects are highly dependent on the specific situations.
Choosing Skill s
Choosing the right skill s to use in a conflict will be easy most
of the time. Occasionally it may require some thinking to match
the skill s used by the opponent, especially if they lack the exact
same skill as they are “attacked” with. There are t wo ways to
solve this: Either use a skill that is reasonably similar (perhaps
with a Hard penalt y to reflect the mismatch in competence) or go
for a char acteristic roll instead. Char acteristic roll s used versus
a skill will necessarily be quite low – x2 or t wo char acteristics
added together. Someone tr ained in a skill should always have
the upper hand. See example conflicts below for inspir ation.
Example Conflicts
Persuade
Skill: Influence, Commerce, Deceit, Insight
Conflict Pool: CHA
Damage: 1d6
Round length: 1 minute
This is a common situation that can easily be turned into an ex-
tended conflict. The one to reach zero fir st loses the argument.
For social conflicts in gener al, suppor ting skill s can sometimes
be used. These should either relate to the subject being dis- Quick Combat
cussed or something like Acting, Culture, Knowledge (Psychol- For really quick combat, tr y these
ogy), etceter a. They will add 1 / 5 of their value to the main com- alter nate r ules.

munication skill, but only one at a time. Skill: A ny combat st yle

Conflict pool: (CON+SIZ) /2
Sneak Damage:
Skill: Stealth vs Perception 1d4 for unar med combat and im-
Conflict Pool: DE X vs INT promptu weapons.
Damage: 1d6 1d6 for melee weapons, mar tial
ar ts and old-st yle r anged weapons
Round length: 1-5 minutes like bows.
Sneaking past guards is a favorite theme of many roleplaying 1d8 for firear ms and energy weap-
games. Turning those situations into ex tended conflicts can ons.
Round length: 5 seconds
make them even more exciting. If the char acter reaches zero
Run the combat as any other con-
before the guard, she is detected. flict. Each roll is a combined at-
Poker Game tack, par r y and evade roll. It is rec-
ommended to use this t ype of sim-
Skill: Gambling
plified combat for non-lethal situa-
Conflict Pool: (INT+POW)/2 tions mainly. This means a conflict
Damage: 1d6, rolled once per round by the winner. All par tici- pool of zero only results in uncon-
pants but the round winner takes the same amount of damage. sciousness – not death. Optionally,
ever y time the pool reaches zero,
Round length: 15 minutes
reduce regular hit points by 1d4.
A t ypical conflict only takes 3-4 rounds to resolve - use INT+POW
str aight for the conflict to last longer.
Note: In a high-level gaming environment, a successful Gam-
bling roll may be needed to be allowed to even par ticipate.
Determine the “gambling stats” of NPCs as follows (if you don’t Cheating in Poker
already know them): To be able to cheat, the skill Sleight
Low-level /Casual /Beginner: Gambling 30%, Conflict pool 6. is required. For ever y success-
Mid-level /Regular: Gambling 50%, Conflict pool 11. ful Sleight roll, the cheater gets a
+10% bonus on her Gambling skill
High-level /Professional: Gambling 70%, Conflict pool 16. the same round. Failure gives no
Ever yone place their bets. The GM and player s come to an agree- bonus and the other card player s
ment about the size of the bets. will detect the cheating with a suc-
cessful Perception roll. For more
Star t playing! Use opposed roll s, with the highest success in e
Gambling skill winning the round. The winner deal s 1d6 damage

E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S 47
Chase (Dr iving)
Skill: Dr ive (any vehicle)
Pool: DE X or the aver age of SPEED
& H A NDLING (see vehicle r ules).
Damage: 1d6
Round length: 10 seconds
The fir st vehicle to reach a conflict
pool of zero has lost. Either the
vehicle being followed gets away
or the follower has caught up. To
force the other vehicle to stop, a
Dr ive roll at Hard is needed. If the
roll fail s, the vehicles continue
side by side, and new tr ies can be
made the following rounds.
Fumble: Both vehicle and passen-
ger s takes 1d4 hit point damage
(rolled individually), in addition
to the reduced pool. For detailed
vehicle damage ef fects, see mal-
function r ules in Vehicles chapter.
Shooting while dr iving: All hand-
gun fir ing bet ween moving ve-
hicles are at a dif ficult y gr ade of
For midable . Cr itical s will hit r an-
dom passenger.
48 E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S
to ever y other par ticipant (only roll damage once per round – ev-
er yone takes the same amount of damage).
When a PC/NPC is reduced to a conflict pool of zero, she is out
of the game.
The last PC/NPC to have a conflict pool lef t wins the game. Now,
either the winner takes it all, or the money is divided according
to how many rounds each player won. E xample: Four players bet
100 Cr each; 4 00 Cr in total. The game lasted four rounds, with
player 1 winning three (and winning the entire game) and player
2 winning one round. Player one gets 300 Cr and player 2 100 Cr.
Or player 1 wins all 4 00 Cr.
Playing an unknown game halves the Gambling skill for the first
3-10 games, depending on the complexit y of the game.
Chase (Running)
Skill: Athletics. Complement with Climb & Acrobatics if needed.
Additionally, Stealth can be used
Conflict Pool: The aver age of CON & DE X
Damage: 1d6
Round length: 10 seconds
The person being followed determines the route and if any other
skill s than Athletics are needed. The follower must make the
same skill roll s to keep up.
If the person being followed is down to zero pool points, the fol-
lower has caught up. A successful Unarmed roll is needed to
actually stop the per son. In many cases an Influence, Commerce
or Deceit roll at Hard will do the trick too.
Fumble: The r unner trips, slips or r uns into an object, taking 1d4
hit point damage in addition to the regular Pool damage.
Dinner Par t y Social Disposition Table
Skill s: Any communication skill s
Influence
Conflict Pool: CHA Deceit
Social or other
Damage: 1d6, rolled once per round. All par ticipants failing their skill
Disposition skill
modifier
roll s take the same damage. modifier
Round length: 30 minutes Affectionate -10% +25%
Pick 1-6 NPCs as the main par ticipator s. If there are more peo- Friendly -5% +15%
ple attending the dinner, treat them as subordinates to the main Amiable 0 +5%
NPCs (and ignore them to simplif y the setup).
Indifferent 0 0
Define the NPCs conflict values as follows (if you don’t already
Dislike +10% -10%
have them):
Unfriendly +20% -20%
Low-level: A ny social skill at 30%, CH A 6
Mid-level: Any social skill at 50%, CHA 11 Malicious +30% -30%

High-level: Any social skill at 75%, CH A 16 Use this table to modif y social
skill s when char acter s inter act
Decide how long the par t y will last.
with NP Cs. All social skill s but De-
Play the dinner! All involved makes a skill roll ever y half hour ceit use the r ight column; modifier s
the dinner par t y lasts. Only those failing their roll s takes dam- for Deceit are (mostly) inver ted.
age. The person with the highest success roll s the damage (1d6). For impor tant NP Cs, you will prob-
ably want to keep notes on how the
When the time is up, par ticipants have made it through the ban-
Social Disposition changes over
quette according to the points they have lef t in their pool s: time. A nd make sure to update it
Zero. The char acter made a lousy impression. She won’t be in- af ter each session, to reflect the
repercussions of the char acter’s
vited again, will have a bad reputation in these circles and won’t
doings.
easily get a job or information from these people. W ill be at -10%
Social Skill s
in communication skill s in these circles ( Dislike on the Social
Standard: Deceit, Influence, Insight
Disposition Table on the nex t page).
Professional: Bureaucr ac y, Com-
Below half their pool. The outcome is neutr al. Nothing special
merce, Cour tesy, Or ator y, Politics,
happens. Social disposition +/-0. Seduction, Street wise, Teach
More than half the pool lef t. She made a good impression. She Suppor ting skill s: Acting, Customs,
will be invited again and will be favor ably met in the future Gambling, K nowledge (Psychology),
( Friendly on the Social Disposition Table). Culture

E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S 49
Secrets & Threats
In social conflicts, you may want to
add optional bonuses to skill roll s,
when the following power ful lever s
are used.
Threats. Benign threats are com-
monplace in most social conflicts,
but a threat of ample physical vio-
lence will make a communication
roll Easy; or even Ver y Easy when
used against regular people. The
per son making the threat must be
able to back it up though (at least
seemingly), other wise it can have
the rever se ef fect. Al so, for tar-
gets with a high W illpower skill or
relevant Passion, threats will be
less ef fective: the GM must judge
this based on the specific circum-
stances.
A s soon as a threat is included in a
conflict, the target’s Social Dispo-
sition towards the per son making
the threat is reduced to a minimum
for a longer period of time.
Secrets. Threatening to reveal an
opponent’s well-kept secret will
make communication roll s Easy
or Ver y Easy. Ever y thing from tax
evasion and romantic lapses, to a
liter al dead body in a closet can
be used. To uncover a secret, the
char acter must have made some
research on the opponent before-
hand though (or per haps payed or
threatened someone el se to tell
them about it). A s for threats, So-
cial Disposition will plummet as
soon as Secrets are brought into a
conflict.
50 E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S
In addition, for ever y successful roll the char acter makes, there
is a chance that something interesting and useful is revealed. It
can be related to the scenario or not, and can be secrets over-
heard, r umor s, new business relations presented, love af fairs
implicitly indicated, etceter a. The GM may want to prepare be-
forehand what tidbits are revealed and how many successful
roll s it takes to get each of them.
E xample: Nedr a is invited to a fanc y dinner held by a criminal
net work in Glimminge. Earlier that day she had r an into an old
enemy, Egil Hermstad. The GM decides that if Nedr a makes three
successful roll s (out of five), she will overhear a conversation
about what her old enemy is up to these days. Nedr as’ player is
luck y with the dice, and makes the three roll s (with an Influence
at 60%). This information will eventually lead to a new scenario,
with Nedr a getting help from a psionic to stop an alien por tal
from opening.
Boating Through a Storm
Skill: Boating or Seamanship
Conflict Pool: The char acter can use (DE X+INT) divided by t wo,
vessel SIZE (if the vehicle r ules are used) or a combination of
both. For the storm, fir st decide what chance it has to damage a
vessel – that is the skill percentage equivalent. Set the pool ac-
cording to the gener al r ules on opponent r ating (see sidebar on
page 4 6).
Damage: 1d6
Round length: 30 minutes
Fumble: Passenger s & crew takes 1d4 hit point damage.
Long journey on foot
Skill s: Athletics, Endur ance, Sur vival
Conflict Pool: CON
Damage: 1d6
Round length: 24 hours
Decide how many days the journey will last and roll once a day
for each char acter, plus the opposing force. Use the following
dif ficulties:
Light terr ain, good conditions*: 30%, pool 6
Mixed terr ain & conditions: 50%, pool 11
Dif ficult terr ain, tough conditions**: 75%, pool 16

* = for example sleeping in a bed at night, plent y of r ations, light

backpacks, beautiful weather.
** = for example too cold or hot, r ain or snow, rock y or moun-
tainous, thin or harsh atmosphere, heav y packs, wetlands, gear
unsuited for conditions, no time to prepare for the journey.
Conflict pool s are not fully regained until the journey is over.
The journey is over if the char acters manage to keep their pool s
above zero until all the roll s are made. If any char acter’s pool
drops to zero, the par t y will have to rest at least one full day,
regaining one four th of their original pool s per day resting. 1d4
hit points are lost ever y time the CON pool drops to zero.
Optional: Tempo can be allowed to af fect pool damage.
Hard tempo: 1d8, 4 0 km per day
Normal tempo: 1d6, 20 km per day
Easy tempo: 1d4, 10 km per day

E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S 51
52 E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S
E X T E ND E D C O NF L I C T S 53
 Combat

C ombat is an impor tant feature of roleplaying games. V iolent

confrontation has ever been a way of settling problems, from
vengeance driven fights bet ween nemeses, to the clash of armies
in times of war. Never theless combat need not be a savage battle
to the death. Some combat encounter s can be swashbuckling du-
el s which end without injur y, or perhaps light-hear ted bar room
br awl s.
M-SPACE uses a number of terms to explain the core elements
of Combat. These are explained in the following sections, but in
over view, these are:

» » Combat St yle: The skill of wielding a group of weapons

learned as par t of a culture or profession.
» » Combat Ac tions: Possible acts a char acter can per form
during a round by the expenditure of an Action Point.
» » Weapon Size: How dif ficult it is to parr y or block a par-
ticular weapon.
» » Engagement: When combatants can hit or be hit by a di-
rect opponent, depending on circumstances.
» » Special Ef fec ts: Combat maneuvers which can be per-
formed if one combatant gains the upper hand.

Combat Styles
Skill s covering fighting and combat are called Combat St yles.
Each st yle is a ‘package’ of multiple weapons, related by culture,
career or even school s of combat, which avoids the necessit y of
learning each individual weapon separ ately. The most impor tant
aspect of Combat St yles is that the char acter learns how to use
each weapon in the st yle, both singly and in combination so that
they might be interchanged as necessar y.

54 C O MB AT
Thus a Zamhareer colonist may be expected to know how to use
a blaster and a knife; whereas an Imperial High Guard may be
tr ained in blasters, blaster carbines and Unarmed instead. De-
ciding how many weapons should be included into a single st yle
is ultimately a choice determined by the Games Master and the
setting of the game.
Char acters who attempt to use a weapon not covered by their
st yle should suf fer a skill penalt y of one or more dif ficult y
gr ades.
Combat St yle Benefits
Combat st yles possess another function beyond simply learn-
ing one or sever al weapon skill s. Since each st yle is taught by
a par ticular culture or career, they are inherently optimized for
the environment or militar y tactics that group normally fights
with; for instance an Enyin nomad learns to fight from the sad-
dle, or an infantr yman tr ains to fight in close order formation.
Therefore, as an additional bonus, some Combat St yles may be
assigned one or more tr aits which gr ants it an advantage under
cer tain circumstances. Tr aits are only intended to be used with
the weapons and situations of that par ticular st yle. Obviously
there are countless tr aits, many of which are specific to a par-
ticular campaign world.

Simplified Combat
Running Combat A s not all scenar ios and campaigns
involve a lot of fighting, a later
To emphasise its viscer al nature, combat is tr acked on a blow by chapter is dedicated to simplified
blow basis. In order to ease book keeping fights are broken down combat. Using it can al so be a good
into Combat Rounds of five seconds each. During this period way to lear n the basics of the sys-
tem. For those instead wanting
combatants may make hand-to-hand attacks or defend against
more detail s, see the full My thr as
them, maneuver into and out of combat, fire or throw a r anged r ulebook, available from The De-
weapon and so on. Combat Rounds use sever al impor tant terms: sign Mechanism.

C O MB AT 55
E xample Combat St yle Tr aits » » Initiative: The order of when each char acter or creature
may take their Turn during a Combat Round.
Tr ait Description
» » Turn: On their turn, a par ticipant per forms a single pro-
Blind Allows user to active Combat Action, which comprises of a declar ation,
Fighting ignore any penalties any necessar y dice roll s (including reactions) to resolve
imposed due to poor the action.
lighting or tempo-
Initiative
r ar y blinding
Initiative determines par ticipants’ order of actions during the
Daredevil May use the Ev ade Combat Round. It is rolled at the star t of a fight by each combat-
skill to dodge blows ant rolling 1d10 and adding their Initiative Bonus (page 13).
in hand to hand
Whoever gained the highest result acts fir st, followed by the sec-
combat without
ond highest and so on. When t wo or more par ticipants tie scores
ending up prone
they act concurrently. Unless something occur s to change the
Defensive Increases the Size of situation, the values remain in play until it is forced to be re-
Minded your weapon when rolled.
par r ying by one
Char acters who wear armor are hindered by its encumbr ance.
step, provided no
Ever y t ype of armor has an associated penalt y which is applied
of fensive ac tion is
to the Initiative of its wearer.
taken that round
Ac tions in Combat
A ssassi- Allows the user ac-
Once initiative has been determined, the par ticipants have the
nation cess to the nor mally
potential to per form sever al Combat Actions during each Combat
restr icted K ill Si-
Round. All char acter s get 2 Action Points per round, but when
lently special ef fec t.
they can act is limited to whether the action is proactive or reac-
K nockout W hen at tacking with tive.
Blow sur pr ise treat any
Proactive actions can only be attempted on the char acter’s own
Stun Location as
Turn; that is to say, on his initiative Strike Rank. Proactive ac-
lasting minutes
tions are those in which the char acter is the instigator, such as
instead of tur ns
making an attack with a weapon.
Mounted / Allows char acter to
Reactive actions are those taken by a char acter to counter or re-
Vehicle ignore the skill cap
sist an act made against them. Only one reaction attempt is per-
Combat placed upon combat
mitted for each threat, an example would be tr ying to parr y an
roll s by the Ride
attack. Unused Action Points do not carr y over from one round
skill
to the nex t.

56 C O MB AT
Combat Actions E xample Combat St yle Tr aits (cont.)

Ranged W hen using a r anged

Combat Actions are those acts which can be per formed during
Mar ks- weapon, shif t a
battle. Dr awing a weapon, casting a spell, or diving clear from an
man r andom Hit Location
attack are all examples of Combat Actions. Most are concerned
roll to an adjoining
with elements of combat itself, but some relate to activities out-
body location
side the to and fro of spell s and weapons.
Skir mish- The st yle per mits
A s previously mentioned, how of ten a char acter can act per
ing launching r anged
round is limited by their available Action Points. These are spent
at tacks whil st
over the course of each Combat Round to per form various Com-
w alking or r unning
bat Actions. Once a combatant’s Action Points are expended,
they may no longer act for the remainder of that round and must Throw A ny melee weapon in
wait until their points reset at the beginning of the nex t. Weapons the st yle can al so be
thrown at no penalt y
Unless other wise specified any Combat Action (save for ‘ free’
to skill, but when
actions) costs one Action Point. Thus combatants need to care-
used in this w ay a
fully consider how and when they use their points. They may act
weapon’s damage
as aggressively or defensively as they wish, dynamically reacting
roll is halved
to the evolving circumstance of the combat.
Proac tive Actions Unar med Per mits the user to

The following are activities a char acter can attempt on his Turn Prowess treat his Unar med

by spending an Action Point. Note that some actions such as us- blocks and par r ies

ing a psionic power or reloading may take sever al turns to com- as ‘Medium’ sized,

plete; each turn costing its own Action Point. enabling him to
bet ter defend
Attack: The char acter can attempt to strike with a hand-to-hand
himself from ar med
weapon or use a r anged weapon.
opponents
Dither: The default option unless another action is chosen, the
char acter simply wastes his turn doing nothing useful.
Mount: The char acter can mount or dismount a riding beast or
vehicle. Par ticularly large mounts may require sever al turns to
complete.
Move: Provided he is not engaged with an opponent, the char ac-
ter can move any distance the Games Master deems suitable for
the situation.

C O MB AT 57
Free Ac tions
Free actions can be per for med at
any time dur ing the Combat Round
and cost no Action Points to per-
for m.
Drop Weapon: Dropping a weapon
is a Free Action.
Signal: If unengaged, gestur ing or
signalling to one or more par tici-
pants (as long as they can perceive
the sign) is a Free Action.
Speak: A char acter can speak at
any time dur ing combat, but what
is said should be limited to shor t
phr ases which can be ut tered in
five seconds or less; for example
‘Look out behind you!’ or ‘Damn
you to hell!’
Use Luck Point: Using a Luck Point
– to re-roll a par ticular result for
example – is a Free Action.
Ward Location: The char acter
guards a par ticular Hit Location
from being hit by dedicating one
of his weapons to passively block
the area. A ny blow which lands on
that location has its damage auto-
matically downgr aded as per nor-
mal for a par r ying weapon of its
Size. The cover continues until the
dedicated weapon is used to at-
tack or actively par r y. E stablish-
ing or changing the Hit Location
covered must be per for med pr ior
to an opponent rolling to at tack
the char acter. Due to their design,
shields can cover multiple areas.
For fur ther explanation see Pas-
sive Blocking, page 71.
58 C O MB AT
Outmaneuver: The char acter can engage multiple opponents in
a group opposed roll of Evade skill s. Those who fail to beat his
roll cannot attack him that Combat Round. See the section on
Outmaneuvering on page 71.
Ready Weapon: The char acter may dr aw, sheath, withdr aw or
reload a weapon. Retrieving a nearby dropped weapon requires
t wo turns: one to move and reach down for the weapon and a
second to return to a readied stance. Some missile weapons re-
quire sever al turns to reload.
Regain Footing: If unengaged with an opponent, the char ac-
ter can automatically regain his footing from being tripped or
knocked down. If engaged, the char acter must win an opposed
test of Br awn or Athletics with the opponent before standing.
Sneak Peek: A ssess situation without becoming a target. Per-
ception skill fumble results in opponent getting a pot shot.
Struggle: If the char acter is the victim of a cer tain t ypes of at-
tack or Special Ef fect, he may attempt to ex tr act himself from
the situation. For example breaking free from a Gr apple or Pin
Weapon.
Use Power: The char acter can attempt to use a psionic power.
Complex power s may require sever al turns in order to complete.
Reactive Actions
This list specifies reactions which can be used at any time during
the Combat Round as a response to an imminent threat. A s in the
previous list, a reaction costs an Action Point to per form.
Evade: The char acter can use their Evade skill in an attempt to
dive clear of threats such as incoming missiles or a charging at-
tack. This leaves the char acter prone, unless mitigated by some
special circumstance. Thus the char acter’s nex t turn is usually
spent taking the Regain Footing action to stand again. See Evad-
ing on page 69.
Parr y: The char acter can attempt to defend against an incoming
attack using a combination of parr ying, leaning, ducking and
side-stepping foot work to minimise the blow.
Take Cover: The char acter gets behind something (not prone).
Used as a reactive action here ( ie. char acters can dive for cover
af ter someone shoots at them).

How Combat Works

Fighting in M-SPACE is resolved with each attack or parr y repre-
senting a single stab, swing, cast or shot of a weapon. A ny of fen-
sive action is permitted the chance to be resisted by a reaction.
Thus even if a char acter manages to strike an opponent, the foe
is permitted its own roll to see if it can parr y the blow before
it lands. The same philosophy is used whether the attacks are
blasters against targets diving for cover, or tr ying to break free
from the iron gr asp of a giant alien.
Attacks and Parries
Close combat is handled in the following step by step manner:

1. On his turn the attacker spends an Ac tion Point, roll s

against his Combat St yle and notes the result.
2. If desired, the defender spends an Ac tion Point, roll s
against his Combat St yle and notes the result.
3. The success level of the results are compared as per a
Dif ferential Roll (page 35).
4. Any dif ference gr ants the successful combatant with the
superior roll one or more Special Ef fec ts.
5. If the attacker achieved a success or critical, he may roll
weapon damage and apply their Damage Modifier (if any). Special Ef fec ts & Damage
If applicable, a Hit Location is determined for the blow. Note that any Special Ef fects gen-
6. If the defender achieved a success or critical, reduce any er ated by the exchange are inde-
pendent of whether or not damage
damage inflicted according to the compar ative sizes of
is inflicted. It is quite possible for a
the weapons involved. defender to gain the higher success
7. Reduce any remaining damage by the Armor Points of level, yet still suf fer injur y.
natur al or worn protection.

C O MB AT 59
Par r ying a Missed At tack
If the at tacker misses his initial
at tack roll, the defender has the
option of whether or not to spend
an Action Point to par r y. Although
it may seem disingenuous to par r y
an at tack which will miss any way,
a skilled defender can use this
to his advantage to gain one or
more Special Ef fects, potentially
weakening or incapacitating a foe
and preser ving their nex t tur n for
some other action.
Unsuccessful Roll s and Fumbles
If both combatants fail their roll s,
or the defender decides not to take
advantage of a missed at tack, then
the at tack-par r y sequence ends
and combat continues on to the
par ticipant with the nex t highest
Str ike Rank.
60 C O MB AT
Weapon Size
Ever y weapon in M-SPACE possesses a number of dif ferent attri-
butes from the damage it deal s to how many hands are required
to wield it. Size is a combination of a weapon’s mass, lever age
and stabilit y, and is used to determine the weapon’s abilit y to
impose and parr y damage.
Size categories are Small, Medium, L arge, Huge, and Enormous.
The unarmed attacks of creatures are assigned similar catego-
ries according to their physical char acteristics.
Damage Reduction
If a defender succeeds in parr ying, then he can reduce an at-
tacker’s damage, if any, according to the compar ative Size of the
weapons used.
» » Parr ying an attack with a weapon or shield of equal or
greater Size deflec ts all damage
» » Parr ying with a weapon or shield of one Size less only
deflects half damage
» » Parr ying with a weapon or shield t wo or more Sizes less
fail s to deflec t any damage
For example, parr ying a Huge axe with a Huge shield would
block all damage; parr ying it with a sword (L arge) would halve
the damage, and parr ying it with a knife (Small) would stop no
damage at all.
Armor
Any damage which penetr ates the defender’s parr y, is fur ther
reduced by the A rmor Points of any natur al protection (such as
scales or a shell) or worn armor they possess. If the defender
has both, then the t wo stack together to reduce damage.
Due to its mass and restriction to movement, the highest A rmor
Point value of armor worn by a char acter acts as a penalt y to
their Strike Rank.
Special Effects Unable or Unwilling to Par r y
In a situation where a defender is
unable to par r y due to having no Ac-
Fighting is far more than simply injuring or killing an opponent.
tion Points remaining, or, confident
Combative ar ts teach many methods of defeating a foe, perhaps in his abilit y to weather the blow,
rendering them helpless or forcing them into situations where elects not to par r y, he is treated as
they must capitulate, without necessarily needing to actually having automatically rolled a fail-
ure. This has the consequence of
cause them harm. Special Ef fects represent these techniques
gr anting a successful at tacker one
and control how they occur in play. or more Special Ef fects.
Whenever opponents engage in a Dif ferential Roll of their re-
spective fighting skill s, any resulting dif ference in success lev-
el s indicates an oppor tunit y for Special Ef fects to occur. This
reflects one combatant manoeuvring his opponent into a dis-
advantageous situation which can be exploited using a cunning
trick or tactic.
The number of Special Ef fects received depends on the dif fer-
ence bet ween the level s of success, as illustr ated on the Dif fer-
ential Level s of Success table (see page 35).
If any Special Ef fects are won during an exchange, they must be
selected before Damage and Hit Location, if any, are rolled. In
cases where the recipient is badly wounded in addition to receiv-
ing a Special Ef fect, Endur ance roll s are resolved af ter the ap-
plication of the ef fect.
Special Ef fects cover a diverse r ange of situations and tech-
niques. Some are designed specifically for attacks, whil st oth-
ers are intended for defence and a few are adaptable for either
circumstance. Cer tain Special Ef fects can al so be limited to par-
ticular weapon t ypes or specific dice roll s, requiring a Critical or
Fumble result on their skill check for instance.
When t wo or more Special Ef fects are gained, the combatant
may freely mix and match which ones are selected, providing he
meets the prerequisite conditions for each one. Some ef fects can
be stacked. For example, an attacker who roll s a critical success
and wins t wo Special Ef fects could choose Maximise Damage
t wice r ather than choosing t wo separ ate of fensive maneuvers.

C O MB AT 61
Special Ef fect Descriptions defender fail s, then they begin to bleed pro-
fusely. At the star t of each Combat Round
The following Special Ef fects are a subset of
the recipient loses one level of Fatigue, un-
those available in the full My thr as r ules:
til they collapse and possibly die. Bleeding
Accidental Injur y. The defender deflects or
wounds can be staunched by passing a Fir st
t wists an opponent’s attack in such a way
Aid skill roll, but the recipient can no lon-
that he fumbles, injuring himself. The at-
ger per form any strenuous or violent action
tacker must roll damage against himself in
without re-opening the wound. See Blood
a r andom hit location using the weapon used
Loss, page 80.
to strike. If unarmed, he tears or breaks
Blind Opponent. On a critical the defender
something internal, the damage roll ignoring
briefly blinds his opponent by throwing sand,
any armor.
reflecting sunlight, or some other tactic
Arise. Allows the defender to use a momen-
which briefly inter feres with the attacker’s
tar y opening to roll back up to their feet.
vision. The attacker must make an opposed
Bash. The attacker deliber ately bashes the roll of his Evade skill (or Weapon st yle if us-
opponent of f balance. How far the defend- ing a shield) against the defender’s original
er totters back or sideward depends on the parr y roll. If the attacker fail s he suf fer s a
weapon being used. Shields knock an oppo- situational modifier of Hard or Formidable
nent back one meter per for ever y t wo points for the nex t 1d3 turns, depending on the
of damage rolled (prior to any subtr actions method of blinding.
due to armor, parries, and so for th), whereas
Bypass Armor. On a critical the attacker
bludgeoning weapons knock back one meter
finds a gap in the defender’s natur al or worn
per for ever y three points. Bashing works
armor. If the defender is wearing armor
only on creatures up to t wice the attacker’s
above natur al protection, then the attacker
SIZ. If the recipient is forced back wards into
must decide which of the t wo is bypassed.
an obstacle, then they must make a Hard Ath-
This ef fect can be stacked to bypass both.
letics or Acrobatics skill roll to avoid falling
For the purposes of this ef fect, physical pro-
or tripping over.
tection gained from psionics is considered
Bleed. The attacker can attempt to cut open as being worn armor.
a major blood vessel. If the blow overcomes
Choose Location. When using hand-to-hand
Armor Points and injures the target, the de-
melee weapons the attacker may freely se-
fender must make an opposed roll of Endur-
lect the location where the blow lands, as
ance against the original attack roll. If the

62 C O MB AT
long as that location is normally within reach.
If using r anged weapons Choose Location is
a Critical Success only, unless the target is
within close r ange and is either stationar y or
unaware of the attacker.
Circumvent Parr y. On a critical the attacker
may completely bypass an other wise suc-
cessful parr y.
Damage Weapon. Permits the char acter to
damage his opponent’s weapon as par t of an
attack or parr y. The targeted weapon uses
its own Armor Points for resisting the dam-
age. If reduced to zero Hit Points the weapon
breaks. Ranged weapons require a critical to
damage a weapon.
Disarm Opponent. The char acter knocks,
yanks or t wists the opponent’s weapon out
of his hand. The opponent must make an op-
posed roll of his Combat St yle against the
char acter’s original roll. If the recipient
of the disarm loses, his weapon is flung a
distance equal to the roll of the disarmer’s
Damage Modifier in meters; or, if the char ac-
ter has a free hand, he may seize the weapon
from the opponent. If there is no Damage
Modifier then the weapon drops at the dis-
armed per son’s feet. The compar ative size of
the weapons af fects the roll. Each step that
the disarming char acter’s weapon is larger
increases the dif ficult y of the opponent’s
roll by one gr ade. Conversely each step the
disarming char acter’s weapon is smaller,
makes the dif ficult y one gr ade easier. Dis-
arming works only on creatures of up to
t wice the attacker’s STR.
Drop Foe. A ssuming the target suf fers at
least a minor wound from a shot, they are
forced to make an Opposed Test of their
Endur ance against the attacker’s hit roll.
Failure indicates that the target succumbs
to shock and pain, becoming incapacitated
and unable to continue fighting. Recover y
from incapacitation can be per formed with
a successful Fir st A id check or using some
form of technological booster. Other wise the
tempor ar y incapacitation lasts for a period
equal to one hour divided by the Healing Rate
of the target.
Duck back. This r anged special ef fect allows
a shooter to immediately duck back into cov-
er, without needing to wait for their nex t Turn
to use the Take Cover action. The char acter
must be already standing or crouching adja-
cent to some form of cover to use Duck Back.
Enhance Parr y. On a critical the defender
manages to deflect the entire force of an at-
tack, no matter the Size of his weapon.
Entangle. Allows a char acter wielding an
entangling weapon, such as a whip or net,
to immobilise the location str uck. An entan-
gled arm cannot use whatever it is holding; a
snared leg prevents the target from moving;
whil st an enmeshed head, chest or abdomen
makes all skill roll s one gr ade harder. On
Continued...
C O MB AT 63
Special Ef fect Descriptions (continued)
his following turn the wielder may spend an
Action Point to make an automatic Trip Op-
ponent attempt. A victim can attempt to free
himself on his turn by either attempting an
opposed roll using Br awn to yank free, or win
a Special Ef fect and select Damage Weapon,
Disarm Opponent or Slip Free.
Force Failure. Used when an opponent fum-
bles, the char acter can combine Force Fail-
ure with any other Special Ef fect which re-
quires an opposed roll to work. Force Failure
causes the opponent to fail his resistance
roll by default – thereby automatically be
disarmed, tripped, etc.
Grip. Provided the opponent is within the at-
tacker’s Unarmed Combat reach, he may use
an empt y hand (or similar limb capable of
gripping) to hold onto the opponent, prevent-
ing them from being able to disengage from
combat. The opponent may attempt to break
free on his turn, requiring an opposed roll of
either Br awn or Unarmed against whichever
of the t wo skill s the gripper prefers.
Impale. Roll weapon damage t wice, with the
attacker choosing which of the t wo results
to use for the attack. If armor is penetr ated
and causes a wound, then assuming it is a
melee weapon, the attacker has the option of
leaving the weapon in the wound, or yanking
it free on their nex t turn. Leaving the weapon
in the wound inflicts a dif ficult y gr ade on the
64 C O MB AT
victim’s future skill attempts. The severit y
of the penalt y depends on the size of both
the creature and the weapon impaling it, as
listed on the Impale Ef fects Table on page
66. For simplicit y’s sake, fur ther impale-
ments with the same sized weapon inflict no
additional penalties. To withdr aw an impaled
weapon during melee requires use of the
Ready Weapon combat action. The wielder
must pass an unopposed Br awn roll (or win
an opposed Br awn roll if the opponent re-
sists). Success pull s the weapon free, caus-
ing fur ther injur y to the same location equal
to half the normal damage roll for that weap-
on, but without any damage modifier. Failure
implies that the weapon remained stuck in
the wound with no fur ther ef fect, although
the wielder may tr y again on their nex t turn.
Specifically barbed weapons (such as har-
poons) inflict normal damage. Armor does
not reduce withdr awal damage. Whil st it re-
mains impaled, the attacker cannot use his
impaling weapon for parr ying.
Kill Silently. Restricted to those tr ained with
the A ssassination benefit. It allows the at-
tacker to neutr alise a victim in complete
silence, stabbing, shooting (with silencer)
or garrotting them. This prevents the vic-
tim from cr ying out or other wise r aising an
alarm. Kill Silently can only be used on a
surprised opponent and only on the fir st at-
tack against them.
Marksman. Permits the shooter to move the
Hit Location str uck by his shot by one step,
to an immediately adjoining body area. Phys-
iology has an ef fect on what can be re-tar-
geted and common sense should be applied.
Thus using this special ef fect on a humanoid
would permit an attacker who rolled a leg
shot, to move it up to the abdomen instead.
Conversely shooting a bear-like alien in the
chest would permit selection of the forelegs
or head.
Maximise Damage. On a critical the char-
acter may substitute one of his weapon’s
damage dice for its full value. For example
a blaster which normally does 1d8 damage
would instead be treated as an 8, whereas
a great club with 2d6 damage would instead
inflict 1d6 +6 damage. This special ef fect may
be stacked. Although it can al so be used for
natur al weapons, Maximise Damage does not
af fect the Damage Modifier of the attacker,
which must be rolled normally.
Pin Down. This firearm special ef fect forces
the target to make an Opposed Test of their
W illpower against the attacker’s hit roll.
Failure means that the target hunker s down
behind whatever cover is available and can-
not return fire on their nex t Turn. Note that
Pin Down works even if no actual damage is
inflicted on the target (perhaps due to a suc-
cessful evasion or shots striking their cover
instead), as it relies on the intimidation ef fect
of gunfire passing ver y close by. Although a
pinned victim is unable to fire back for the
requisite time, they can per form other ac-
tions provided they don’t expose themselves
to fire in the process, such as cr awling away
to new cover, communicating with others, re-
loading a weapon and so on.
Prepare Counter. The defender reads the
patterns of his foe and preplans a coun-
ter against a specific Special Ef fect (which
should be noted down in secret). If his op-
ponent attempts to inflict the chosen Special
Ef fect upon him during the fight, the defend-
er instantly substitutes the attacker’s ef fect
with one of his own, which succeeds auto-
matically.
Rapid Reload. When using a r anged weapon,
the attacker reduces the reload time for the
nex t shot by one. This ef fect can be stacked.
Scar Foe. The combatant inflicts his oppo-
nent with a scar that will be the talk of all
for the rest of his or her life – such as an
almost-severed-throat, or a facial scar.
Select Target. When an attacker fumbles,
the defender may maneuver or deflect the
blow in such a way that it hits an adjacent
bystander instead. This requires that the
new target is within reach of the attacker’s
weapon, or in the case of a r anged attack,
is standing along the line of fire. The new
victim is taken completely by surprise by the
unexpected accident and has no chance to
avoid the attack which automatically hits. In
compensation however, they suf fer no spe-
cial ef fect.
Continued...
C O MB AT 65
Special Ef fect Descriptions (continued)
Slip Free. On a critical the defender can au-
tomatically escape being Entangled, Gripped,
or Pinned.
Stun Location. The attacker can use a blud-
geoning weapon to tempor arily stun the body
par t str uck. If the blow overcomes Armor
Points and injures the target, the defender
must make an opposed roll of Endur ance vs.
the original attack roll. If the defender fail s,
then the Hit Location is incapacitated for a
number of turns equal to the damage inflict-
ed. A blow to the torso causes the defend-
er to stagger winded, only able to defend. A
head shot renders the foe briefly insensible.
Sunder. The attacker may use a suitable
weapon, such as an axe, to damage the ar-
mor or natur al protection of an opponent.
Any weapon damage, af ter reductions for
parr ying or psionics, is applied against the
Armor Point value of the protection. Sur-
plus damage in excess of its Armor Points
is then used to reduce the AP value of that
armor (ed) location – ripping str aps, creas-
ing plates or tearing away the hide, scales or
chitin of aliens. If any damage remains af ter
the protection has been reduced to zero A P,
it carries over onto the Hit Points of the loca-
tion str uck.
Trip Opponent. The char acter attempts to
overbalance or throw his opponent to the
ground. The opponent must make an op-
posed roll of his Br awn, Evade or Acrobatics
against the char acter’s original roll. If the
target fail s, he fall s prone. Quadr uped oppo-
nents (or creatures with even more legs) may
substitute their Athletics skill for Evade and
treat the roll as one dif ficult y gr ade easier.
Withdr aw. The defender may automatically
withdr aw out of reach, breaking of f engage-
ment with that par ticular opponent.
Weapon Malfunction. When attacker fum-
bles, this special ef fect can be used by the
target. Attacker’s weapon is useless, until
time can be spent to clean it. Used for fire-
arms only.

Impale Ef fec ts Table

Foe SIZ Small Weapons Medium Weapons L arge Weapons Huge Weapons Enormous Weapons

1-10 For midable Herculean Hopeless Hopeless Hopeless

11-20 Hard For midable Herculean Hopeless Hopeless

21-30 No Ef fec t Hard For midable Herculean Hopeless

31-4 0 No Ef fec t No Ef fec t Hard For midable Herculean

41-50 No Ef fec t No Ef fec t No Ef fect Hard For midable

Each +10 Follow table progression

66 C O MB AT
Special Ef fec t Of fensi ve Defensive Specific Weapon Ty pe Specific Roll Stackable

Accidental Injur y • At tacker Fumbles

A r ise •

Bash • Shields or Bludgeoning

Bleed • Cut ting Weapons

Blind Opponent • Defender Cr itic al s

B y pass A r mor • At tacker Cr itic al s •

Choose Location • S ee Descr iption

Circumvent P ar r y • At tacker Cr itic al s

Damage Weapon • •

Dis ar m Opponent • •

Drop Foe • F irear ms Only

Duck Back • F irear ms Only

Enhance Par r y • Defender Cr itic al s

Entangle • • Entangling Weapons

Force Failure • • Opponent Fumbles

Gr ip • Unar med

Impale • Impaling Weapons

K ill Silently • Small Weapons S ee descr iption

Mar ksman • Ranged Weapons Only

Maximise Damage • At tacker Cr itic al s •

Pin Dow n • Ranged Weapons Only

Prepare Counter • •

Rapid Reload • • •

S car Foe • • Bl aded Weapons Only

S elec t Target • At tacker Fumbles

Slip Free • Defender Cr itic al s

Stun Location • Bludgeoning Weapons

Sunder • Two Handed Weapons

Tr ip Opponent • •

W ithdr aw •

Weapon Malfunc tion • F irear ms only At tacker Fumbles

C O MB AT 67
Close Combat Close Combat
Situational Modifier s
Close combat is hand to hand fighting in its classic sense, when
Dif ficult y
Situation combatants strike each other with wielded or natur al weapons.
Gr ade
The following guidelines of fer ways to make close combat more
At tacking a interesting and help to fur ther explain some concepts hinted at
Automatic
helpless target earlier in this chapter.
Defending Situational Modifiers
while on lower Hard Situational modifier s may be applied when fighting in par ticular
ground conditions, or as the result of a Special Ef fect. For example
Fighting in a fighting in the dark might incur a dif ficult y gr ade of Herculean .
confined Hard Unless stated other wise, modifier s are decided by the Games
situation Master. Where t wo or more situations are per tinent to the char-
acter, use the most severe.
Fighting with
an unfamiliar Hard Some modifiers are circumstance dependent, but r ather than ap-
weapon plying a dif ficult y gr ade the Combat St yle is limited by a relevant
skill. For example, fighting from the back of a hor se would cap
Fighting when
For midable the combatant’s Combat St yle by their Ride skill, whil st fighting
prone
in water might cap it to the value of the char acter’s Swim.
Defending
Engagement. A char acter is considered Engaged if he or she is
against an
For midable within melee weapon r ange of an opponent. This does not neces-
at tack from
sarily require that both combatants can reach each other; only
behind
that one of them can be potentially str uck by the other.
Fighting in
Once a char acter has engaged with an opponent he can no longer
pitch dar k-
Herculean freely depar t that fight (charging past is a special exception). It
ness or when
requires some form of deliber ate act to break contact with the
blinded
foe, normally per formed via a combat action such as Outmaneu-
Fir ing at prone
For midable ver, or use of the W ithdr aw Special Ef fect.
target
Charging. A charge requires a char acter to spend at least one
If at tacker turn using the Move action prior to the turn in which they at-
is prone (by For midable tack. Whil st charging, the attack roll suf fer s a dif ficult y gr ade
force) of Hard . In return the charge increases the Size of the attacking
weapon by one step and a bipedal attacker’s Damage Modifier
by one step; or t wo steps if a quadr uped (or more legs). Rid-

68 C O MB AT
ing char acters may substitute their Damage Modifier for that of
their mount instead. The final position of the charging char acter
depends on the result of the exchange and whether the attacker
wishes to stop or continue sweeping past, immediately breaking
engagement.
Rather than parr ying or evading, the recipient of a charge can
simultaneously counter attack the charging attacker instead. In
this case the wielder of the longer weapon strikes fir st. If the
weapon can be set to receive a charge (such as a spear), the
recipient may use the Damage Modifier of the charger instead of
his own.
Cover. Cover is used by opponents to obstr uct attacks against
them, by either physically blocking a blow due to the toughness
of the interposing material, or by obscuring where precisely the
foe is. The precise value of cover depends on the thickness of its
protection and the ex tent of its cover age.
An attack against a target which lands on an obscured Hit Loca-
tion will be blocked to the ex tent of the cover’s inherent protec-
tion. Cover can be par tially negated either by use of the Choose
Location special ef fect to aim at visible par ts of the target; or
striking through the cover if the weapon is capable of penetr at-
ing it.
In situations where cover is total but the attacker believes his at-
tack will penetr ate, he may strike blindly at the hidden target. In
such cases the attack roll is one gr ade harder and Choose Lo-
cation may not be taken if a special ef fect is won. This assumes
the attacker knows fairly accur ately the target’s position behind
the cover.
Evading. Evading in combat is to throw oneself clear of an over-
whelming attack. This requires an opposed test of the Evade
skill of the defender versus the attacker’s per tinent roll. This
could be any thing from the Drive skill of a r amming battle tank
to the usage of a psionic power. If the attacker wins then they

C O MB AT 69
 inflict damage as per normal. If the defender wins damage is
completely avoided.
If the winner of the opposed roll achieves one or more level s
of success over his opponent, they may select suitable Special
Ef fects as per normal combat. Whatever the result, the evasive
gambit leaves the defender prone – usually requiring the char-
acter to regain his footing on his following turn – unless they can
use the Arise special ef fect or possess a Combat St yle tr ait such
as Daredevil.
Knockback. A n attack which impar ts more damage than the SIZ
of the recipient will, by default, result in the char acter being
knocked back. The damage in this circumstance is before any
reduction due to parr ying or armor. On receiving such a blow,
the recipient must pass an Easy Acrobatics or standard Athlet-
ics roll to avoid falling prone. They are al so thr ust back wards
one meter for each five points of damage (or fr action thereof) in
excess of their SIZ.
Leaping Attacks. Leaping attacks can be launched from a vari-
et y of situations, most are triggered as par t of an ambush or at
the conclusion of a charge, but some creatures have the abilit y
to leap atop an opponent without the need for a r un-up or supe-
rior height.
A leaping attack is resolved with an opposed roll of the leaper’s
Athletics skill ver sus the defender’s Br awn or Evade skill. Quad-
r uped targets make the attack roll one dif ficult y gr ade harder.
If the leaper wins then the defender is automatically knocked
prone, with the attacker astride them. Failure means the de-
fender has weathered or sidestepped the impact. If the winner of
the opposed roll achieves one or more level s of success over his
opponent, they may select suitable Special Ef fects as per normal
combat.
No damage is inflicted as par t of the leap; however a subse-
quently prone victim cannot recover his footing until either his

70 C O MB AT
attacker leaves him, or he eventually wins a Special Ef fect per-
mitting him to Arise.
Outmaneuvering. A char acter facing multiple opponents can use
movement to limit the number which can attack him at any time,
constantly shif ting position, forcing foes to inter fere with one
another. Outmaneuvering requires that the char acter has room
to move about and is not pinned in a confining area.
Outmaneuvering requires that the char acter engages his oppo-
nents in a group opposed roll of Evade skill s. Ever y par ticipant,
both the maneuvering char acter and those foes who wish to cor-
ner him, must spend an Action Point. Then they each roll once
and those who fail to beat the maneuvering char acter’s roll can-
not attack him for the remainder of that Combat Round, being
blocked by their allies or terr ain features.
If the maneuvering char acter beats all of his opponents he has
the choice of safely engaging a single foe for the rest of the
round or W ithdr awing from the fight completely.
Passive Blocking. Passive Blocking allows a char acter armed
with a weapon to hold it in such a way that it cover s a chosen
location (or locations when using a shield), but at the cost of be-
ing unable to actively parr y with it (see Ward Location page 5 8).
Any attack which hits the locations automatically receives the
benefit of the weapon or shield, reducing damage as normal. The
technique is commonly used when a warrior wishes to guard a
weak spot or wounded location. Nothing prevents a t wo weapons
or weapon and shield combatant from using his other weapon to
actively parr y.
Since passive blocking works in the same way as cover, the
Choose Location special ef fect cannot be used to bypass the
block in close combat, though opponents can still use the ef fect
to strike other unblocked areas. Crouching down behind a shield
allows a char acter to double the number of locations covered
whil st passive blocking.

C O MB AT 71
Ef fec ts of Sur pr ise
»» The target suf fer s a -10 pen-
alt y to initiative
»» Until their Strike Rank arr ives
they are considered flat footed
and cannot defend themselves
»» The fir st at tack on the target,
if successful, gains a bonus
Special Ef fect
»» For the remainder of the round
they may not per for m any of-
fensive action
72 C O MB AT
Surprise. Surprise occur s when an unexpected attack is launched
against opponents unaware of the attacker’s presence or in-
tention. An ambush would be an example of the former, whil st
treacherously turning on an unsuspecting ally during amiable
conversation illustr ates the latter.
The ef fects of surprise on a target are listed in the sidebar.
Sweep Attacks. Sweep attacks occur at the Games Master’s
decision, when weapons or creatures of unusual size attack a
closely clumped group of opponents – the sc y thing tail of a huge
reptile or the unstoppable charge of a giant tricer atops for ex-
ample – striking sever al foes simultaneously. A sweep attack is
made by applying a single attack roll of the weapon or creature
to all targets in its path. Each defender must resolve the ef fects
of the attack separ ately and any special ef fects imposed on the
attacker are treated as having occurred concurrently.
Ranged Combat
Ranged combat incorpor ates all forms of weaponr y which re-
quire to be shot, thrown or slung to strike their target. Ranged
attacks are resolved in an identical way to close combat. How-
ever, r anged weapons can normally only be parried with shields;
those without must rely on natur al cover or use Evade to dive
out of the line of fire. Thus against lightly armored foes, r anged
weapons can be formidable deterrents.
Each r anged weapon has a number of specific attributes which
determine its ef fectiveness. The ones which have a key bearing
on combat are as follows:
Force
Force is an abstr act measure of the penetr ative power of a weap-
on or its ammunition to determine whether the blow overcomes a
(shield) parr y. Force is not used by energy weapons.
Damage Modifier
This attribute shows whether or not the Damage Modifier of the
attacker can be used to boost the r anged weapon’s damage roll. Ranged Combat
In gener al only self-dr awn bows and thrown weapons allow the Situational Modifier s
user to apply their Damage Modifier.
Dif ficult y
Range Situation
Gr ade
Three numbers separ ated by slashes, representing the maxi-
Light W ind Hard
mum Close, Ef fective and Long r anges of the weapon or its am-
munition. Close r ange is the distance over which the Choose Lo- Moder ate wind For midable
cation special ef fect may be used, provided the target is station- Strong W ind Herculean
ar y or unaware of the impending attack. Ef fective r ange has no Gale, stor m or
significant modifiers. At long r ange the weapon can still inflict Hopeless
hur r icane
harm, but the amount of damage is halved and Force is reduced
Target is r unning Hard
by one step.
Target is jinking For midable
Load
The time in turns taken to load or reload a weapon which fires Target par tially

ammunition. A char acter can reduce the time spent loading or obscured by
Hard
readying by use of the Rapid Reload special ef fect. Load times cover, mist or

for firearms indicates changing the magazine. t wilight

Impale Size Target mostly

The Size of an impaled weapon is dif ferent from the Force it obscured by
For midable
strikes with. Ranged impaling weapons have a special column cover, thick
denoting their actual size when considering the hindr ances smoke or fog
caused by the Impale special ef fect. At tacker is blind
Hopeless
or pitch dar kness
Situational Modifiers
A s with close combat, situational modifier s may be applied when
using r anged weapons in par ticular conditions. A char acter’s
Combat St yle may be capped when using the weapon in dif ficult
circumstances, such as firing a gun whil st driving a motorbike.
Aiming. By spending additional time aiming a r anged weapon, a
char acter can potentially increase his chance to hit. Aiming re-
quires an entire Combat Round steadying the weapon and wait-
ing for the best oppor tunit y to release, for example withholding
a blaster shot until a target moves bet ween t wo obstr uctions.

C O MB AT 73
Spot r ules By aiming, the char acter may reduce the dif ficult y of a Range or
Three additional spot r ules are Situational Modifier by one gr ade. Additional rounds spent aim-
used. ing gr ant no fur ther advantage.
From the Hip: Shooting from the
Firing into a Crowd
hip, without taking aim, is quick but
imprecise. Add 10 to Initiative for a Firing into the swirling ebb and flow of a melee can be a risk y
char acter using this. The default business, thus there is always a risk of accidentally striking
dif ficult y is Hard at close quar ter s someone other than the original target being aimed at.
(within 3 meter s) and For midable
for longer r anges. When firing at a specific target at the edge of a crowd or me-
Dual firearms: W ith dual firear ms, lee, the attack suf fer s a dif ficult y gr ade of Hard . If tr ying to fire
t wo shots at once is possible. They through a group to hit a target in its midst, or on the other side,
still cost one action point per shot, the penalt y should be r aised to Formidable . Aiming is still per-
but both shots are fired in the at-
mitted to help mitigate the danger.
tacker’s fir st tur n. Both shots
are at a dif ficult y gr ade of For mi- A marksman who passes his attack roll despite the dif ficult y
dable . penalt y has aimed tr ue and will hit his intended target. If how-
Firing From a Moving Vehicle: To ever the marksman fail s the roll, but would have succeeded if
fire a handgun from a moving ve-
not for the ‘ firing into a crowd’ penalt y, then an adjacent victim
hicle, the at tacker’s skill is capped
at the pilot’s Dr ive skill. is str uck instead (who is free to Evade or Parr y as normal).
If more than one target is in the line of fire, the Games Master
should determine the victim r andomly. Any special ef fects won
as par t of the attack only apply to the original target, not any ac-
cidentally str uck bystander.
Humanoid Hit Locations
Hit Locations
Hit Location 1d20
Right Leg 01-0 3 Most successful attacks land on a specific hit location. This can
Lef t Leg 0 4-06 be determined r andomly or in some circumstances be selected
by Special Ef fects such as Choose Location. To r andomly calcu-
A bdomen 07-0 9
late which location is been hit, roll 1d20 and compare the num-
Chest 10-12
ber rolled with the relevant humanoid or creature Hit Location
Right A r m 13-15
table.
Lef t A r m 16-18
Animal s and aliens usually have slightly dif ferent hit location
Head 19-2 0 tables than humanoids to reflect their own unique physiology.

74 C O MB AT
Simplified Combat
Combat is downplayed in some settings and campaigns, and the
r ules as written may feel too bulk y at times. Below is a set of
streamlined r ules that are designed to make fights quicker and
easier.
Combat is al so slightly less lethal in this ver sion. One shot will
not incapacitate a char acter quite as of ten, though special ef-
fects like Drop Foe or a lack of armor will still make many gun-
fights shor t and dangerous.
A s the group star ts feeling comfor table with the simplified r ules,
you may want to switch to the regular r uleset. For even more de-
tail, use the full My thr as r ules.
Below is a compact description of the simplified r ules; read the
regular combat r ules first for full comprehension.
Hit points
In simplified combat, gener al hit points are used, calculated
Combat St yle Tr aits (Optional)
as (CON+SIZ)/2. No hit locations are used. When hit points are
A ssassination. Allows the user ac-
halved, the char acter gains a serious wound; see below.
cess to the nor mally restr icted K ill
Action points Silently special ef fect.
Char acters have 2 action points, just as in the regular r ules. Blind Fighting. Allows user to ig-
nore any penalties imposed due to
Round length
poor lighting or tempor ar y blinding.
Round length is the same; 5 seconds.
Mounted/ Vehicle Combat. Allows
Initiative char acter to ignore the penalties &
Initiative is determined the same way: Aver age of DE X and INT, skill cap placed upon combat roll s
by the Ride, Dr ive or Pilot skill s.
plus 1d10. Rolled at the star t of each fight.
Skirmishing. The st yle per mits
launching r anged at tacks whil st
Combat Styles walking or r unning.
Quickdr aw. Tr ains the char acter to
Combat st yles are determined by weapon t ype:
dr aw and shoot a hol stered weapon
» » Rifle in a single, fluid motion, ignoring
» » Carbine penalties for From the Hip.

» » Handgun

S IMP L IF IE D C O MB AT 75
Situational modifier s & Spot Rules
A s per the regular combat r ules,
plus:
»» Penalt y when fir ing at some-
one in par tial cover: Upper
body visible: Hard , Head +
Shoulder s: For midable , Lean-
ing out from behind a cor ner to
fire: For midable .
»» Fatigue is not used.
Mook Rules
In many scenarios, less impor tant
NP Cs – like secur it y guards and
trooper s – will be encountered by
the char acter s. Most of them will
fall under the Mook Rules. These
r ules state that unimpor tant, low-
level NP Cs stop fighting af ter be-
ing hit once. If they can, they flee.
Other wise they fall down, probably
unconscious.
76 S IMP L IF IE D C O MB AT
For example, use Combat St yle (Handgun) when shooting with a
blaster, or Combat St yle (Rifle) when using a laser rifle.
Having any of the above combat st yles and using any of the other
t ypes is a Hard roll.
» » Unarmed. Kick & fist; regular unarmed combat.
» » Force Sword.
» » Melee weapons.
Melee weapons are al so determined by weapon t ype: Sword, A xe,
Knife, Throwing knife, and so on.
Combat st yle tr aits are optional (see sidebar on previous page).
Combat Actions
The combat actions listed below are used mainly, though Use
power, Str uggle, etceter a can be used if applicable.
Attack. Regular attack.
Move. A distance the GM judges as reasonable under the circum-
stances.
Regain footing. Roll Br awn or Athletics to get up af ter Trip Op-
ponent for example.
Sneak peek. A ssess situation without becoming a target. Per-
ception skill fumble results in opponent getting a pot shot.
Evade. Char acter ends up prone. Use Regain Footing or Arise to
get up.
Parr y. Used only with melee weapons. See weapon sizes to de-
termine how much damage that can be absorbed. 1 step smaller
stops half the damage, 2 steps smaller doesn’t stop any damage.
Take cover. The char acter gets behind something (not prone).
Used as a reactive action here ( ie. char acters can dive for cover
af ter someone shoots at them).
Special Effects Special Ef fec ts (Simplified)
1. A rise. Get up from prone (without
A subset of 11 special ef fects are used in these simplified r ules; loosing an action point).
2. Blind opponent (Critical only, Op-
they are listed in the sidebar. A s you get used to them af ter a
posed). Make an opposed roll: Or igi-
couple of fights, the speed of combat will increase. They do add a nal roll vs Evade to avoid being blind-
nice tactical element, so it’s well wor th the ef for t to learn them. ed for 1d3 rounds.
3. Disarm (Cr itical only, Opposed).
Cheat sheets for players are recommended!
Make an opposed roll: Or iginal roll vs
Combat St yle (new roll) to avoid drop-
Wound Levels ping weapon.
4. Drop foe (Opposed, Firear ms only).
If the target takes at least one point
A s hit locations are not used, wounds work a bit dif ferently –
of damage, make an opposed roll:
though the same terms are used. Or iginal at tack roll vs Endur ance to
Minor wounds: All damage above half hit points. avoid shock /pain lasting 30 minutes
or until Fir st A id or similar is used.
Serious wound: When hit points are halved or lower. No attacks Cannot fight dur ing that time.
possible for 1d3 rounds. All skill checks are at a penalt y of Hard 5. Duck back (Firearms only). Take
until the wound is no longer serious. cover r ight af ter at tacking (not hav-
ing to wait for the nex t action to use
Major wound: Zero hit points or lower. Char acter is dead or dy- Take Cover).
ing. If the char acter fail s a roll against their Endur ance they 6. Impale. Roll damage t wice; at tack-
are killed instantaneously. Other wise they are incapacitated and er decides which roll to use.
require hospitalization before they die of shock or blood loss. 7. Maximize damage (Cr itical only).
One of the damage dice will count as
Blown Away: Negative Hit Points equal to Star ting Hit Points. its maximum value.
Instant death from excessive tr auma. 8. Pin down (Opposed, Firear ms
Healing only). Make an opposed roll: Or iginal
at tack roll vs W illpower to avoid hun-
Minor wounds: Regain hit points equal to a char acter’s Healing ker ing down in full cover (no at tack
r ate per day. possible).
Serious wounds: Regain hit points equal to a char acter’s Healing 9. Trip Opponent (Opposed). Make an
opposed roll: Original roll vs Br awn,
r ate per week (until it reaches half the original value – from then
Evade or Acrobatics to avoid ending
on it heal s as a minor wound). First aid will restore a number of up prone.
hit points equal to a char acter’s Healing r ate right away. 10. Weapon Malfunc tion (Fumble,
Firear ms only). W hen at tacker fum-
Major wound: If not dead, First Aid will stabilise a dying char ac- bles, this special ef fect can be used
ter for a number of hours equal to their Healing Rate. Requires by the target.
hospitalization or Medicine skill to treat.

S IMP L IF IE D C O MB AT 77
 Spot Rules

M any dif ferent things can occur during a game. Some are re-
solved through skill use or one of the major game mechan-
ics such as combat; other s require their own r ules for adjudica-
tion. This chapter provides r ules and guidance for a variet y of
dif ferent scenarios that Games Masters and players will encoun-
ter whil st playing M-SPACE.

Fatigue
Fatigue measures tiredness and its incremental ef fects. It is
used to tr ack many dif ferent things from strenuous activit y to
the debilitating ef fects of disease.
The primar y way of accr uing Fatigue is by engaging in some form
of physical activit y. The more arduous the exercise or work, the
more quickly it tires the char acter. At the Games Master’s dis-
cretion, char acter s must make an appropriate skill roll – either
Athletics, Br awn or Endur ance – to resist gaining a level of Fa-
tigue.
Ever y failed roll accr ues a level of Fatigue. Each level of Fatigue
carries penalties for skill use, movement, Strike Rank and Ac-
tion Points. A sphy xiation, Blood Loss and other setting depen-
dent ef fects al so contribute to Fatigue accr ual.
For most char acter s, activities of any kind become near impos-
sible when the level of Incapacitated is reached. At this stage the
char acter is still conscious but incapable of any thing but the
most desper ate of activities.
Beyond Incapacitated, char acter s cannot act at all. The Fatigue
level s – Semi-Conscious, Comatose and Dead – are gener ally
reser ved for measuring the most ex treme ef fects of suf focation,
disease, blood loss, star vation, exposure and so for th.

78 SPOT RULES
A sphy xiation A sphy xiation Endur ance Roll s:
Char acters can hold their breath for a number of seconds equal »» If the roll is a cr itical success,
to their Endur ance skill. However the char acter must be pre- no fur ther deter ior ation occur s.
pared (filling the lungs with as much air as possible); if not, then »» If the roll is successful, the
the period is halved if the char acter was in a passive situation, char acter accr ues an ex tr a lev-
or reduced to one fif th if the char acter was engaged in strenu- el of Fatigue.
ous activit y. »» If the roll fail s, the char acter
Once the period of held breath is over, char acter s must make an sustains 1d2 ex tr a level s of Fa-
Endur ance roll ever y Combat Round; see sidebar for results. tigue that round.
W ithout aid, death from asphy xiation is usually swif t. If the as- »» If the roll is fumbled, the char-
phy xiation ends before the char acter dies, they recover Fatigue acter sustains 1d3 ex tr a level s
level s lost. of Fatigue that round.

Fatigue Level s

Recover y
Skill Gr ade Movement Strike Rank Ac tion Points
Period

Fresh No Penalties

W inded Hard No Penalt y No Penalt y No Penalt y 15 minutes

Tired Hard -1 meter No Penalt y No Penalt y 3 hour s

Wearied For midable -2 meter s -2 No Penalt y 6 hour s

E xhausted For midable Halved -4 -1 12 hour s

Debilitated Herculean Halved -6 -2 18 hour s

Incapacitated Herculean Immobile -8 -3 24 hour s

Semi- No Activities No Activities No Activities

Hopeless 36 hour s
Conscious Possible Possible Possible

No Activities No Activities No Activities No Activities

Comatose 4 8 hour s
Possible Possible Possible Possible

Dead — Never

SPOT RULES 79
 E xposure to vacuum
If suddenly exposed to vacuum, char acter s fir st roll 1d4 for de-
compression damage to the lungs (Chest), then they roll for as-
phy xiation as normal, plus 1d2 hit point damage per round (r an-
dom locations).
Blood Loss
Blood loss due to ex ternal and internal wounds, usually sus-
tained in combat, can wear a char acter down ver y quickly. Its
ef fects are measured by the accumulation of Fatigue level s, in
a manner similar to asphy xiation. Unrestr ained blood loss t ypi-
cally results in death without some form of medical attention.
Unlike asphy xiation, the ef fects of serious blood loss on Fatigue
are enduring. A char acter recover s Fatigue lost to bleeding at a
Falling Distance Table r ate of one level per day, star ting the day af ter his exsanguina-
tions cease.
Distance
Damage Taken
Fallen
Falling
1m or less No damage.

1d6 points of The amount of damage suf fered in a fall depends on the distance
2m to 5m damage to a of the drop (see sidebar). Armor points do not reduce falling
r andom location damage, but the Damage Modifier of the falling char acter or
2d6 points of
creature applies to damage roll s.
6m to 10m damage to t wo Falling from a Moving Vehicle
locations Damage sustained from a fall from a moving vehicle, such as a
speeder bike, depends on the vehicle’s speed and the distance
3d6 points of
fallen. For Speed values used in the vehicles chapter, this means
11m to 15m damage to three
1d6 per ever y point of Speed (if the vehicle is moving at top
locations
speed). Other wise, assume that the speed, in meter s per Combat
4 d6 points of
Round, is equal to half the height shown on the Falling Distance
16m to 20m damage to four
table. For instance, a char acter who fell from a car moving at
locations
20m per Combat Round would suf fer 2d6 damage to t wo r andom
Each +5m +1d6 damage locations.

80 SPOT RULES
Fires Falling & Acrobatic s
Acrobatics can be used to mitigate
Fires are always a source of danger when used as a weapon falling damage – a successful roll
allows the char acter to treat the
or r age out of control. The Fire Intensit y table below gives five
fall as if it were t wo meter s shor ter
dif ferent intensities for heat damage, with some examples. The than it actually is. In addition, as
damage inflicted per round is given in the Damage column. Being long as the roll is successful and
relatively small, Intensit y 1 and 2 sources apply their damage to the char acter does not suf fer a Se-
r ious or Major wound due to the
a single Hit Location, usually that touching the source. Intensit y
fall, the char acter lands relatively
3 and 4 sources are larger, applying damage to nearest 1d4+1 safely and is not prone.
Hit Locations, indicating the degree of r adiant heat. Intensit y 5
sources af fect all Hit Locations simultaneously.
Jumping
Fire has the abilit y to ignite flammable material s. If not ex tin-
A successful Athletics roll allows
guished immediately such material s combust within a number of one to jump up to SIZ x 20 centime-
rounds as indicated by the fire’s Intensit y. Once ignited, flam- ter s hor izontally or up to SIZ x10
mable material s burn until physically ex tinguished. Damage is centimeter s ver tically (with at least
a five meter s r un-up available).
applied directly to the Hit Points of the material, ignoring A rmor
For ever y full 20% a char acter has
Points, and to any flesh beneath. If lef t uncontrolled it spreads
in Athletics, he can add an ex tr a
to a number of Hit Locations, per round, equal to its Intensit y. meter to a hor izontal jump.
On a cr itical success the char ac-
Fire Intensit y Table ter adds a fur ther meter to his total
distance, and remains upr ight on
Intensit y E xamples Time to Ignite Damage landing.
A fumbled roll indicates the char-
1 Candle 1d4 1d2
acter has landed awk wardly. He
2 Torch 1d3 1d4 must immediately make an Endur-
ance roll. If the Endur ance roll is a
3 Campfire 1d2 1d6
success 1 point of damage is sus-
4 Conflagr ation 1d2 2d6 tained to one leg. If the Endur ance
test fail s, then 1d4 points of dam-
5 Volcanic lav a Instant 3d6
age is inflicted instead.

SPOT RULES 81
Keeping Tr ack of A mmunition Inanimate Objects
The basic idea of M-SPACE is that
ammunition is too complicated All inanimate objects possess A rmor Points and Hit Points which
to keep tr ack of. A nd blaster s in
are used to determine resistance to damage and destr uction. Ar-
space oper a never seem to r un
out any way, unless for stor y telling mor Points reduce damage before Hit Points are af fected. Once
reasons. an object’s Hit Points have been reduced to zero, it is useless.
But an easy way to do it is to have Breakage attempts require a char acter to make a Br awn, Un-
an abstr act resource percentage
armed or Combat St yle roll, as appropriate, to inflict damage. A
called A mmo that is lowered af ter
ever y fight. Star ting at 10 0%, it is success deal s damage to the item.
lowered by x % af ter a fight (x can Weapons vs Inanimate Objects
be any thing from 10 to 50, depend-
Using a weapon against an inanimate object with Armor Points
ing on the set ting /campaign).
equal to or greater than those of the weapon deal s damage to
Roll below A mmo at the end of a
fight (af ter lower ing the value both the object and the weapon. For instance, using an axe on
fir st) to have some lef t. A failed an iron door may damage the door, but the axe itself will be de-
roll means the char acter is out stroyed long before the iron door is. The Games Master should
of ammunition and she must get
exercise discretion on which weapons or tool s can af fect which
a new clip before get ting into an-
other bat tle. objects. A chisel, for example, is explicitly designed to car ve
The GM can decide how much to wood or stone whil st a sword, although sharp, is not. The chisel
r aise A mmo depending on how would therefore not take damage from something it is attempt-
much is found/bought: bor rowing ing to car ve whereas a sword most likely would.
from a team member +10% (low-
er ing the team member’s A mmo
value by -10%) or going back to the
star ship (r aises A mmo to 10 0%)
for example.
E xample: At the end of a fight,
char acter A roll s above her A mmo
4 0% and she’s out of ammunition.
Her companion B has 8 0% and
roll s a success. Bor rowing from
B, A now has A mmo 50%, while B’s
value is lowered to 70%. Both will
automatically have enough ammo
for the nex t bat tle, but lower s them
and roll s as nor mal at the end of it.

Continued...

82 SPOT RULES
E xample Inanimate Objec ts Optionally, if a player clear ly states
that she’s tr ying not to waste “bul-
Objec t A rmor Points Hit Points lets” (and acts like it, with a more
tactical or sniping approach), the
Chain /shackle 8 8 GM can r ule the percentage loss
L amp post 8 15 af ter the fight to be lower than nor-
mal.
Glass window 1 4
The good thing about this system,
Steel door 12 30 is that it can easily be changed to
a more gener al Energy value. All
Rope 6 3
sor ts of equipment can depend on
Sword 6 10 this percentage, not just weapons:
power tool s, welding equipment,
Wooden chair 2 6
high-energy comms or special sen-
Wooden table 3 10 sor s.

Wooden door 4 15

Inter ior w all 3 20

Br ick w all 6 30

Concrete w all 8 40

Bulletproof glass window 8 25

Steel beam 12 50

Tree tr unk 6 50

SPOT RULES 83
84 SPOT RULES
SPOT RULES 85
 Starship Design

T his chapter cover s a simple r ules system for star ship cre-
ation. B y combining dif ferent t ypes of modules you need, it
is ver y intuitive to design most t ypes of star ships, from small
fighters up to mega-destroyer s. To create a ship, you star t with
the number of people it’s constr ucted for. For ever y per son, you
will need at least one Module, though more are of ten added as
you go. A ver y simple ship, let’s say an automatic rescue pod,
can consist of just one Module. The majorit y of star ships will
have much more though.

W ith all per sons (crew or passenger s) accounted for, you will
star t to add a cockpit, engines, maneuvering, hyper space ca-
pabilities – and sometimes a galley, sickbay, weapons or a lab.
Keep adding Modules to fill the functions you need; without
breaking the bank. The number of Modules will eventually make
up the SIZ stat of the ship.

Many sci-fi campaigns and scenarios are built on the assumption

that the char acter s have access to a star ship. But star ships are
massive investments and most star ting char acter s don’t have
that kind of money. There are many ways to solve this dilemma,
but one of the easiest is to have a patron lend the char acters a
ship; perhaps a r ust y bucket with loads of per sonalit y and many
oppor tunities for upgr ades, to be returned at the end of a few
scenarios. If they treat it well, the ship may well become a par t
of a payment later on.

Scale
These r ules add the concept of scale to My thr as. Descriptions in
many of the other chapter s are considered as Planetside scale,
while star ships are in Starship scale, being roughly ten times in
size, damage, armor and so on.

86 S TA R S HIP D E S I G N
Overview
The r ules go through these steps:
1. Decide upon Ship Type
2. Pick the Modules you need. Determine Size & Size Rating
3. Calculate Speed & Handling. They get more expensive the
more Modules you have
4. Add Shields, Armor and Apps (Skill Enhancers)
On A strodynamic s
To simplif y these r ules, a catch-all
Speed value is used. A s a conse-
quense – for those of you concer ned
with astrodynamics – conser vation
of momentum in space is mostly ig-
nored.

Starship Type
First decide what t ype of ship you need. Many adventurer s want
something in bet ween the examples here, but they can hopefully
ser ve as a star ting point.
E xample Ship Types: Shuttle, Fighter, Far Tr ader, Scout, Star
Liner, Scientific, Yacht, Gunship, E xplorer.
There are sever al ready-made
ships for inspir ation in the Technol-
ogy chapter (page 18 8), and al so
a detailed walkthrough of star ship
design in A ppendix A (page 112).

Modules
Pick the Modules you need from the list on the following pages.
Write the Modules’ names down on the Star ship Sheet on page
102, and the number of Modules. When finished, add the number
of Modules together and write it down at the bottom of the Mod-
ule box. This number is the ship’s Size stat.

The following things are always included in a starship: Hull,

power plant, airlock (not for small ships), vacuum suits for com-
plete crew, computer, life suppor t system, communications sys-
tem, sensors, repair kit and a gr avit y gener ator. There is no
need to buy specific Modules for these functions.

S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 87
 Cockpit /Bridge
1 Module per per son.

Engine
Select a Thr ust Rating (TR) for the Modules. Determines the
ship’s Speed value, see page 94.

Engine Type TR for Engine Cost/Engine Module

Cutting Edge 120 10000
Excellent 100 7000
Standard 70 5000
Economy 40 2500

Maneuvering Thruster
Select a Thr ust Rating (TR) for the Modules. Use the table above.
Determines the ship’s Handling value, see page 94.

Sickbay
1 Module for an Autodoc with room for one patient. 4 Modules
per patient for a regular sickbay.

Crew
1 Module per crew member. 4 Modules per crew member for a
cubicle.

Passengers
1 Module per passenger. 4 Modules per passenger for a cubicle.

Cargo Hold
1 Module per ton cargo. Secret spaces, specific habitats or bi-
omes cost more.

88 S TA R S HIP D E S I G N
Weapons E xample
1 Module per attack and round. Handled by one per son with the W hen put ting together a star ship,
combat st yle Gunner y. One Module can be handled by the pi- a good way to star t is to decide
lot. The following weapon Modules are separ ate turrets. Choose how many people it should be able
to car r y. We star t here with four
from laser, blaster, ion cannon and missiles. people: One pilot and three crew
member s. That’s 1 Cockpit Module
L ab and as this will be a ship for longer
1 Module adds +10% in one chosen skill (cannot exceed +30% per tr ips, that leaves us with 16 (4x4)
Crew Modules.
skill, though larger specimen can be brought into the lab if more
We will need a cargo space taking
Modules are added for the same skill). up 2 Modules and Hyper space with
a r ange of 3. Rounding of f with 1
Open Space Module of ex tr a sensor s, we land at
8 Modules minimum for canteen, briefing room, theatre, garden, 2 3 Modules.

gym etc. Holds one person per Module, but at least 2 Modules Not aiming to be par ticular ly fast,
we tr y a Thr ust Rating of 10 0 and
per person is prefer able. 3 Engine Modules. Using the calcu-
lation template on page 94, we get
Hangar Bay a preliminar y SPEED of 12 (30 0/
4 Modules for a small All Terr ain Vehicle ( AT V ). 10 Modules for a (2 3 +3)).
Using only 2 Modules for H A NDLING
small fighter or shuttle.
and a Thr ust Rating of 10 0, we now
have 28 Modules in total. H A N-
Hyperspace DLING is 7 (20 0/28).
1-5 Modules resulting in a faster-than-light r ange from 1-5. Re- W ith the new total number of mod-
fuelling is needed before a new jump can be made. ules at 28, we recalculate SPEED to
11 (30 0/2 3 +3 +2).
SIZE is the total number of mod-
Self-Repair
ules: 28.
1 Module per self-repair unit. One roll ever y third combat round.
+5% per step.

Escape Pod
1 Module can house one person for a week. No manual steering;
docking and landing is automatic.

S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 89

E xample Militar y Ship Sizes
Titan: 12 8 0 (6 4 0-1920)
Bat tleship: 6 4 0 (320-960)
Cr uiser: 320 (160-4 8 0)
Destroyer: 160 (8 0-24 0)
Fr igate: 8 0 (4 0-120)
Cor vet te: 4 0 (20-60)
Cut ter: 20 (10-30)
Small Cr af t: 10 [8-15]
Fighter: 5 (3-8)
E xample Civilian Ship Sizes
Far Tr ader: 4 0 (20-60)
E xplorer: 65 (4 0-120)
Shut tle: 12 (8-15)
Scout: 30 (20-60)
Star Liner: 320 (160-4 8 0)
Yacht: 30 (20-60)
90 S TA R S HIP D E S I G N
Trac tor Beam
1 Module per 10% to use as an opposed roll against opponents
Pilot skill. Tr actor beam percentage value must be greater than
the size of the ship being captured. Range 2.
E x tr a Sensors
1 Module with t wo additional close r ange sensor arr ays. For ex-
ample Heat, Life, Specific Miner al, Water, Volcanic Activit y. Use
with Sensor s Skill.
Robot Arm
1 Module for one ex ternal robot arm, usually controlled from
the bridge. Strength 10 (Star ship Scale). Reach: 10 meter s. Skill
roll not necessar y under normal circumstances. For doubled
strength and reach, add one Module.
°
Add the number of modules together to get ship Size. See the
char t on the nex t page to calculate Size Rating. Use the closest
higher number of Modules, and write down the Size Rating nex t
to the Size value.
Streamlined: Write ‘ Yes’ here if the ship is designed for atmo-
spheric flight. Size stat is not altered, but the length and width
of the ship will be greater, to make room for wings and a slim-
mer hull (see page 94). Non-streamlined ships suf fer a dif-
ficult y gr ade of Formidable to Pilot roll s in atmospheric flight.
Stealth: Gives the opponent -5% per step in Sensor s or Percep-
tion skill. Max -4 0%. More advanced stealth technologies may be
encountered under r are circumstances.
Capital Ships Number of
Size Rating
Modules
For ver y big ships (somewhere over 250 Modules), using the ta-
ble for Size Rating makes the design phase a little easier. 1 1
2 2
Pick Modules as you normally would, but write down both the 3 4
number of Modules needed and the Size Rating for each func-
4 8
tion. And instead of keeping tr ack of hundreds (or thousands)
of Modules to add together, identif y the function with the high- 5 16
est Size Rating. Then make an estimate to see if the rest of the 6 32
Modules moves the ship into the nex t Size Rating. Round up if 7 64
necessar y.
8 128

E xample: A Mega Destroyer have a r ating of 15 for crew – that’s 9 256

about 4 000 people living on this ship. If it had a r ating of 12 in 10 512
weapons, 3 in labs, 12 in hangar bays, 13 in engines and so on, 11 1024
the whole thing could fit in a Size Rating 16 hull (1 bigger than
12 2048
the Size Rating 15 for the crew, since all the other modules tak-
en together is approximately 2000+4+2000+4100 ≈ 8000). So we 13 4096
would know the ship was r ated up to 32 768 modules – without 14 8192
having to go into the bother of actually counting them and as-
15 16384
signing all of them. Note that it could be 30 000 or 4 0 000 mod-
16 32768
ules – at this size we really don’t need to know.
17 65536
It will al so be of some help to use the r ules for weapon upgr ades 18 131072
and the damage ladder on page 116. Using that system will
make it easier to conver t, for example, 10 0 L aser Modules into
10 Heav y L asers.

S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 91
 Module Cost per Module Note
Cockpit /Bridge 50 0 0 Cr 1 Module/person
Select Thr ust Rating (page
Engine 250 0/ 50 0 0/ 70 0 0/10 0 0 0
8 8) to determine Speed
Select Thr ust Rating (page
Maneuver Thr ust 250 0/ 50 0 0/ 70 0 0/10 0 0 0
8 8) to determine Handling
1 Module/patient for
Sickbay 50 0 0 Cr Autodoc. 4 Modules/patient
for regular sickbay
1 Module/crew member. 4
Crew 10 0 0 Cr Modules/crew member for
cubicles
1 Module/passenger. 4 Mod-
Passengers 10 0 0 Cr
ules/passenger for cubicles
1 Module/ton cargo. The
Cargo Hold 10 0 0/ 50 0 0 Cr higher cost is for secret
holds or habitats/biomes
1 Module/gunner. For costs,
Weapons 50 0 0-50 0 0 0 Cr
see Weapons
1 Module/Skill +5%. Max
L ab 50 0 0 Cr
+30% in any one skill
1 Module/person, though
Open Space 10 0 0 Cr
more is to prefer
4 Modules for AT V. 10 Mod-
Hangar Bay 10 0 0 Cr ules for small fighter or
shuttle
Hyperspace 50 0 0 Cr 1 Module/jump r ange. Max 5
Self-Repair 50 0 0 Cr 1 Module/Mechanics +5%

92 S TA R S HIP D E S I G N
Module (continued) Cost per Module Note
1 Module. Holds one per son
Escape Pod 10 0 0 Cr
for a week
1 Module per 10% as an op-
Tr actor beam 50 0 0 Cr
posed roll against Pilot skill
Two sensor t ypes per
E x tr a sensors 50 0 0 Cr
Module
Robot Arm 50 0 0 Cr

Attribute Cost per Module & step Note

Hit Points 50 0 0 Cr 1 HP/Module is always free
Armor 50 0 0 Cr Max 10
Shields 10 0 0 Cr

App Cost /+5% Note

Targeting 20 0 0 Cr Max +20%
Sensors 20 0 0 Cr Max +20%
Navigation 10 0 0 Cr Max +20%

Attribute Cost Note

Streamlining 10 0 Cr/Module
Stealth 50 0 0 Cr/-5% and Module Max -4 0%

S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 93
 Stats

SPEED = SPEED (1-20)

Total Thrust Rating
Number of Ship Modules
Speed is a combination of acceler ation and top speed, and is
calculated from the number of Engine Modules and their Thr ust
Rating (TR). Add all the Engine Modules’ TR together. Then di-
vide the combined Thr ust Rating value with the ship’s total num-
ber of Modules to get Speed.

Zero Speed can be used to simulate ship-sized space stations.

HANDLING = HANDLING (1-20)

Total Thrust Rating
Number of Ship Modules
Handling defines how quick and easy the ship is to steer, and is
calculated from the number of Maneuvering Thr uster Modules
and their Thr ust Rating (TR). Add all the Maneuvering Thr uster
Modules’ TR together. Then divide the combined Thr ust Rating
value with the ship’s total number of Modules to get Handling.

Speed & Handling Guidelines SIZE (1- )

To get star ted, use a Thr ust Rating Size is the number of ship’s Modules. It is divided into the Size
of 10 0. Ratings on page 91. Add the ship’s Modules together, and see what
1 Speed = 1% of total number of Size Rating it has, always rounding up.
Modules.
Cut ting Edge: 1.2 Speed per 1%
Standard: 0.7 Speed per 1%
Approximate
Size
Economy: 0.4 Speed per 1%
Length
1-4 <10 m
W ith Engine Modules 10% of the
5-15 10 m
total number of Modules, you get
Speed 10. 15-50 20 m
W ith Engines 20% of the total num-
50-10 0 50 m
ber of Modules, you get Speed 20.
10 0 10 0 m

For Size over 100, use the Size value as a star ting
point for the approximate length in meters.

94 S TA R S HIP D E S I G N
The approximate length is a rough guideline to give a hint at how Calculating Speed & Handling:
big a ship is. A spherical ship can be 50% smaller, whereas a A Simpler A pproach
streamlined ship can be about 50% longer. Here is an alter native approach to
Engine and Maneuver ing Thr uster
Modules, making it slightly easier
to deter mine a ship’s Speed and
Weapons Handling.
To mimic the idea that the engines
L aser
are an integr al par t of the hull, al-
Damage 1d6, Range 20, Cost 50 0 0 Cr. ways taking up approximately the
same percentage of the ship, cal-
Blaster culate the total number of Modules
without Engine and Maneuver ing
Damage 1d8, Range 20, Cost 10 0 0 0 Cr.
Thr uster Modules. Deter mine the
number of Engine and Maneuver-
Ion Cannon ing Thr uster Modules you need to
Damage 2d6 +1, Range 10, Cost 15 0 0 0 Cr. get your desired Speed and Han-
dling, but do not recalculate the to-
tal number of Modules with the new
Missile Modules.
Damage 3d6, Range 4 0, Cost 20 0 0 0 Cr.

High-Energy Blaster
Damage 3d6, Range 30, Cost 50 0 0 0 Cr. Size: 3 Modules.

Note that all damage is in Starship scale. For Planetside ob-

jects, like vehicles and built str uctures, multiply damage by ten.
Protection & Recovery
Shields
Shields are energy fields protecting the ship. Damage is sub-
tr acted from Shields first, until it reaches zero. If Recover y is
used, Shields gain an amount equal to Recover y at the end of
ever y combat round. Other wise Shields are fully restored in 6
hours. Cost /Module and step (+1): 10 0 0 Cr.
Missiles
Missiles hit the round af ter they
were launched, and again t wo
rounds later if they miss the fir st
time. Evading missiles: Regu-
lar Evasion maneuver. Shooting it
down: Roll Sensor s fir st and then
Gunner y. Or just Gunner y at -20%
(if Sensor s roll fail or Sensor s are
of f-line). In any of the four rounds.
Round 1: L aunch. 2: Fir st at tack.
3: If fir st at tack is a miss, finding
a new tr ajector y. 4: Second at tack.

S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 95
A r mor in Space Oper a
Many space oper a set tings seem
to constr uct ships without ar mor,
per haps as a tr ibute to the aero-
planes of the past that were opti-
mized for low weight.
Optional Rule: A r mor as Modules
In most cases ar mor does not count
as Modules. But sometimes it is
more logical to add par ts of the ar-
mor as Modules. The most obvious
situation is a ship with completely
separ ate, suspended ar mor, of ten
protecting only from a couple of
directions. To calculate the size
of the suspended par ts, use 1/6 th
of the total number of Modules for
ever y side of the ship that are to be
covered.
E xample: A 12 Module ship will
have thin plates of ar mor sus-
pended along both sides as its only
protection. 2/6 ths of 12 is 4 – adding
4 Modules of ar mor will cover the
sides, resulting in 16 total Modules
(12 + 4).
96 S TA R S HIP D E S I G N
Armor
A high tech composite material cover s the hull, giving more pro-
tection. When Shields reach zero, deduct Armor from the dam-
age roll before reducing Hit Points. 2/3 of the Modules need to be
armored; the remaining third are considered internal.
Cost /Module and step (+1): 50 0 0 Cr. Max 10
Hit Points
A ship’s gener al Hit Points are the same as Size. To simulate that
a ship can be built with a sturdier constr uction than normal for
its size, Hit Points can be bought separ ately. Af ter the shields
reach zero and armor is deduced from the damage, it reduces
Hit Points. Note that hit points are reduced only per section, as
hit locations are used. Gener al hit points are only used in the
simplified star ship combat r ules.
Cost /Module and step (+1): 50 0 0 Cr.
Recover y
Recover y is an optional r ule, to regener ate Shields at the end
of ever y Combat Round. One point is recovered at the end of
a round for ever y step bought. Other wise Shields are fully re-
stored af ter 6 hour s without combat.
Cost /Module (+1): 20 0 0 Cr.
Apps
Apps are progr ams that can be installed in a star ship to aid its
crew. The most common apps are Targeting, Sensor s and A stro-
gation. Each of them are targeted at a specific skill, and will give
the user a bonus in cer tain situations.
Targeting App
Skill af fected: Gunner y. Up to +20% in Gunner y combat st yle.
Cost /+5%: 20 0 0 Cr.
Sensors App
Skill af fected: Sensors. Intelligent algorithms aid user s of sen-
sor systems to detect ships, get info on star systems, planets or
anomalies. Adds up to +20% in Sensors.
Cost /+5%: 20 0 0 Cr.

A strogation App
Skill af fected: A strogation. Add up to +20% in A strogation, when
rolling for Hyperspace jumps. Cost /+5%: 20 0 0 Cr

Rebuilding & Expanding

At standard starpor ts or better, and all ship yards, a ship can be
rebuilt and expanded (and repaired of cour se).

A ship can only add 20% new Modules when expanding. Modules
can be changed quite freely to new ones (labs to cargo hold,
cargo hold to weapons for example), but use common sense.

Most of the other stats can be bought up, but not more than 20%
(maybe with an occasional exception for stor y telling reasons).
This can, among other uses, simulate the acquisition of gear
from a world with an unusually high Tech Level. NP C Star ship Sheet
On page 10 3 is a simplified Star ship
Upgrading Engines Sheet to use with less prominent
The primar y upgr ade of Engine & Maneuvering Thr ust Modules vessel s. Additionally, At titude and
Faction can be wr it ten down.
is to increase Thr ust Rating. Re-calculate Speed and Handling,
Attitude might be descr ibed as ag-
and pay the dif ference bet ween the t wo r atings. If more Engine
gressive, stalking, hit & fade, fights
Modules are to be added, they can only be expanded by 20%. to the last man and so on.
Fac tion is the side the ship belongs
These upgr ades can be done in a standard starpor t or better. to.

S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 97
 Hit Locations
For more realistic battles, but al so deadlier and more unpre-
dictable, a system for hit locations is used. A s soon as a ship
is damaged, for example in combat, 1d10 0 is rolled and a ship-
specific char t is consulted.

Preparing a Hit Location Char t

A s layouts for star ships can var y quite a lot, ever y ship has its
Section Modules own hit location char t prepared at the design stage. Fir st, look
Total Modules up the ship’s total number of Modules. Then go through each
then multiply answer with 100 ship section (Engines, Cargo Hold, Cubicles, etceter a) and use
the formula to the lef t (rounded up). The number you get is the
chance that this section is hit, depending on how many Modules
each section has.

Go through all sections and add them to the hit location char t
until you have filled the char t up to 10 0. See example in the side-
bar on the nex t page.

If you want to, you can specif y Shields and A rmor for specific
sections at the normal cost per Module. Write the new Shield
and Armor value in the char t nex t to the percentage to hit. In this
case the standard armor value is not used.

Hit Locations in Combat

When an attack is successful roll 1d10 0 to determine which sec-
tion is hit. Subtr act Shields and A rmor as normal (per location
if you have assigned it).

The default system for hit location damage works like this: a
section has hit points equal to its number of Modules, and dam-
age is subtr acted per section. When hit points reach zero or
below for a section, there is a complication . If section hit points

98 S TA R S HIP D E S I G N
are reduced to its full negative value, the section is unusable E xample: A ship consisting of 8 0
until landing and repairs are made (see more on page 109). Modules in total has 2 Modules for
the cockpit. 2 /8 0 = 0.0 3. Multiply
that with 10 0 and you get 3%.
D ynamic Shields
Now you can put those 3% on top of
While requiring more book keeping, some player s want to be the hit location char t for the ship:
able to re-allocate shields per round. In that case, add together 01-0 3 Cockpit
all Shield values and make sure that all Shield points are dis- Nex t, 16 Modules are used for cubi-
tributed at the star t of each round. Make sure you keep tr ack of cles. 16/8 0 = 0.2. Multiplied with 10 0
lost Shield points. this is 20%. Add it to the hit location
char t:
01-0 3 Cockpit
A new, free Combat Action called Re-allocate Shields can be
0 4-2 3 Cubicles
used at the star t of each round.
Adding Shields, A r mor & Hit Points
can look like this:
Hit Locations for NPC Ships 01-0 3 Cockpit. Sh 7, A r 4, HP 2
Not all NPC ships the char acters meet will have hit locations 0 4-2 3 Cubicles. Sh 4, A r 1, HP 16
prepared (unless you are an exceptionally well-prepared GM). In Continue adding sections till you
those cases, use hit locations for a similar ship; sever al dif fer- reach 10 0. (If you get to 98 or 102
ent t ypes can be found in the Technology chapter at the end of it’s of ten because of small round-
ing er ror s made on the way. Don’t
the book. While they will not be exactly right, they will of ten be
worr y. Just tr y to reshuf fle the per-
close enough. centages, so that those last points
end up in a less impor tant section,
For small enemy fighters, around Size 10, it is of ten enough to like the cargo bay).
decide how many hits they can take (1 or 2 hits is quite normal)
before they explode. Hit locations will not be necessar y in those
cases.

S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 99
Crew & Passenger s
Luxur y Accommodations: 16 mod-
ules per per son (five star, fir st
class accommodations on a pas-
senger liner)
1st class civilian: 8 modules per
per son
2nd class civilian: 4 modules per
per son (standard)
3rd class civilian (coach/steer-
age): 2 modules per per son
Militar y, Of ficer’s Quar ters:
4 modules per per son (a bunk,
desk and some stor age space)
Militar y: 1 per son per module (a
pair of bunk beds). Hot bunking
can reduce the crew requirements
up to half again.
Minimum requirements to r un a
ship: 10% of the crew is needed to
r un a ship (only 10% of the Weapon
Modules are active) for a shor t pe-
r iod of time. For ships below 150
Modules, one per son can pilot the
ship and utilize one Weapon Mod-
ule.
W ith automation, crew require-
ments can be lowered consider-
ably.
100 S TA R S HIP D E S I G N
Additional Rules
Autodoc
An Autodoc has Fir st Aid skill at 80% (treatment takes 10 min-
utes) and life sustaining treatment in severe cases (major wound,
poison, contamination) for three days.
Sensors
W ith a successful roll you can get the following information:
Long r ange: Detect a star ship, its speed and direction, and
sometimes an of ficial record with name, home por t, destination,
mission t ype & captain. Communications possible.
You can al so get a good reading on unchar ted planets and moons
(atmosphere, rough map, standard temper ature r ange, elec-
tronic signal s, broadcasts). For higher tech solar systems, you
get most info from the star char ts and comm droids: space sta-
tions, starpor ts, tech level, law & securit y, customs.
Shor t r ange: Star ship t ype, speed & direction, approximate
weaponr y and armor. For planets and moons you get a detailed
map, temper ature variations, rough idea of biomes, gener al
weather data, probably the location of a few settlements.
Hyperspace
A hyperspace engine is a stor y telling device needed to tr avel the
huge distances bet ween the star s. For a regular jump, no skill
roll is necessar y. The length of a jump is bet ween 1 and 5 (with
secret high tech gear and unknown civilizations probably having
access to more). A jump of 1 gives access to only a few close-by
star systems, while 5 will make it possible to cross large areas
of empt y space to hard to reach systems, and shor t cuts across
voids. To really make sense of this value, you need to dr aw a star
char t – see page 150.
Ship Condition High- & Low-Tech Ships
Here are some guidelines for cre-
Ship condition is an abstr act way to deal with ship damage. It is ating star ships from lower technol-
an optional r ule to simulate ships that are a bit r ust y or ships ogy level s (TL 10-12):

with a bit of “personalit y”. Ship Condition r anges from 0 to -10 0. They will have low Speed and Han-
dling (1-10), to simulate weaker en-
All new ships star t with zero. gines and poor maneuver ing con-
trol s. Use a Thr ust Rating bet ween
The ship condition value first and foremost works as a penalt y to 10-30. To make them less capable
all Pilot roll s. Under normal circumstances, routine maneuver s in combat, use A pps to give skill
penalties (-20%-50%) to both Pilot
does not require skill checks. But as ship condition drops below and Gunner y roll s. They will have
-20, take of f, landing and entering hyper space will of ten need a reduced damage with all weapons.
Pilot skill roll. Any time a roll is failed, the GM may call for a roll Low (1-5) or no Shields. A r mor 1.
on the malfunction table. At -20 these roll s should occur once Hyper space 1, if any.

ever y second gaming session, at -4 0 once ever y gaming session. For ever y Tech Level lower, the
number of Modules needed for
At -60 to -10 0; roll freely! a function is increased by 50%.
Weapons can either increase in size
Ship Condition is reduced as follows: -10 each time maintenance or reduce damage one step on the
is not paid for (maintenance costs 1% of ship cost ever y month Damage L adder (see page 116).
Higher Tech Level s (14-15, or more
or ever y four th adventure) and -10 ever y time the ship is not re-
if needed), will have engines with
paired properly af ter combat. higher Thr ust Rating (14 0-20 0) and
Weapon Modules will either take
Al so use Ship Condition as a negative Mechanics skill modifier. 50% less space or move up one step
on the Damage L adder. Other t ypes
To increase Condition, one Mechanics roll is required per +10,
of Modules can al so be more space
plus the expenses in Credits. ef ficient, but use common sense.

Buying and selling used ships

The Ship Condition modifier can al so be used when buying and
selling used starships. For example, a ship with condition -4 0
will have it’s price reduced by 4 0%.

S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 101
M – SPACE STARSHIP
name type player

speed shields recovery

handling armor hit points
size hyperspace

modules weapons

apps

other

frostbyte books
|
ver 3.0 july 2016
streamlining
stealth
 M – SPACE NPC SHIP
attitude type faction

speed shields recovery

handling armor hit points
size hyperspace

pilot weapons
gunnery
pilot hit points

attitude type faction

speed shields recovery

handling armor hit points
size hyperspace
frostbyte books

pilot weapons
gunnery
pilot hit points
|
ver 3.0 july 2016
M – SPACE STARSHIP
name
nighthawk type
trader player

speed 10 shields 7 recovery –

handling 10 armor 1 hit points 89
size 89 hyperspace 3
modules weapons
cockpit 2 –
open space 12
crew (4) 16
cargo 38
hyperspace 3
engine (tr100) 9
maneuver (tr100) 9 apps
astrogation +10%
= 89

other
hit locations: 01-02 cockpit,
03-15 open space, 16-33 cubicles,
34-76 cargo, 77-86 engines,
streamlining yes 87-96 maneuvering, 97-00 hyperdrive
stealth –
S TA R S HIP D E S I G N 105

Two examples of star ship combat
are included in the book: the fir st
star ts at page 110, the second at
page 216.
Get ting All Pl ayer s Involved
For ever y additional crew member
that is active on a ship, one Ac-
tion Point is added. Their actions
are played out at the same time as
Gunner y. It can be used for Gun-
ner y, Mechanics, Fir st A id, Medi-
cine, Sensor s, Comms or Comput-
er s.
Mechanic s. A skilled star ship me-
chanic is essential in combat, do-
ing quick-fix repair s in mid-com-
bat.
First A id & Medicine. The crew will
need to be kept in shape dur ing
combat.
Sensors & Computers. Not all
ships are easy to locate, and a
skilled technician can be the key to
get ting a good shot.
Comms. Social skill s, negotiations
and deceits can be ver y useful even
in the hard vacuum of outer space.
106 S TA R S HIP C O MB AT
Starship Combat
T his is a star ship combat system that is somewhere bet ween
abstr act and detailed; abstr act enough to be quick and fun
to play, but with enough detail s for player s to make interesting
choices. For more detailed r ules, add some or all of the ingredi-
ents from the chapter Advanced Starship Combat.
Combat Round
The combat round works ver y similar to the round in regular
combat. Combat Actions, Dif ferential roll s and Special Ef fects
are used in the same way. Round length is multiplied by 10
though: 50 seconds. A pilot has t wo Action Points to spend ever y
combat round: one for the Pilot skill, and one for Gunner y (or,
more seldom, Comms, Sensor s or Computer s).
The Combat Round works like this:
The ship with the highest Handling plus 1d10 goes first (or pilot
DE X if there’s a dr aw).
1. Players choose Combat Ac tions and roll Pilot skill
2. Compare Success Level s (page 35) and pick piloting Spe-
cial Ef fec ts, if any
3. Gunner y Initiative goes to the ship with the highest success
level in piloting (or lef t unchanged if there’s a dr aw)
4. Roll Gunner y. Include any modifiers from Pilot Combat Ac-
tions or Special Ef fec ts. Roll for other skill s
5. Compare success level s and pick any Gunner y Special Ef-
fects. Roll for damage & hit location
6. Initiative for the nex t Pilot roll (nex t round) goes to the ship
with the highest Success Level in Gunner y (or lef t unchanged
if there’s a dr aw). Keep tr ack of any modifiers carr ying over
to the nex t round
Rinse and repeat for nex t player. When all ships have acted, the Keeping tr ack of distance
nex t Combat Round begins. Sometimes you may want to keep
close tr ack of distances bet ween
Both the choice of Combat Actions and any Special Ef fects can star ships in combat. The easiest
af fect the following roll s with skill modifier s. Especially Pilot way to do this, is to use the slowest
roll s will make or break the gunner’s oppor tunities for a good ship as a point of reference. Then
shot. Al so note that Initiative shif ts continuously, of ten creating add the dif ference in Speed at the
end of ever y round, for each of the
streaks of dominance – only to be lost by a single roll or t wo. faster ships and wr ite this number
down. W hen this number exceeds
Combat Actions the Range value of a weapon, ad-
ditional at tacks will be automatic
These are the Pilot Combat Actions to choose from: misses.

Of fensive Positioning
This is the default attack roll. The pilot does her best to position
the ship favor ably for using its weapons; without becoming an
easy target. No modifier to the following (Gunner y) roll.
Defensive Positioning
W ith this positioning, the pilot optimizes the flight pattern to
evade incoming fire. This leaves the gunner s (or the pilot her self
Additional Combat Ac tions
when firing) in a much more dif ficult situation. If the Pilot roll
Some additional Combat Actions
is a success, Gunner y is at Hard for both the opponents and the that may be of use:
ship using Defensive Positioning. If failed, Gunner y is at Hard for Speak. Free action. The crew mem-
defender only. Penalties from any Special Ef fects are not added ber s can communicate quite freely
to this; use only the largest one. through the inter nal comms sys-
tem, coordinating their ef for ts, re-
Move por t casualties, damages, and so
The ship moves a distance determined by the player, with the on.
ship’s Speed value as maximum. In complex environments, with Use Power. For psionic pilots and
obstacles or other moving ships, the GM may reduce top speed gunner s, using a power related to
the cur rent skill takes one Action
to half (or impose a Pilot skill penalt y at Hard to Formidable ). Point. Thus, a gunner will have to
Hold Steady wait one round for the power to
The pilot holds the ship reasonably steady one entire round, to take ef fect; a pilot must spend the
second Action Point on Use Power,
allow for the gunner to use Aim; see below. The ship holding
and the ef fect comes in the the nex t
steady is Easy to hit. If the Pilot roll is failed, the gunner re- round at the power user’s fir st ac-
ceives no bonus, but the ship holding steady is still Easy to hit. tion..

S TA R S HIP C O MB AT 107
A im vs Defensive Positioning
If one par t uses A im and the oppo-
nent Defensive, the modifier s can-
cel out if both par ts are successful
or fail.
Additional Special Ef fec ts
The following Special Ef fects will
come into use more r arely:
Bash. (Pilot) Not as desper ate as
r amming, this Special Ef fect is a
more “gentle” bump into the other
ship. A ny damage rolled will force
the ship into an alter nate path;
recipient’s nex t Pilot roll is Hard .
Bashing wor ks only af ter at least
one Change Range, and on ships up
to t wice the at tacker’s SIZ. If the
recipient is forced into an obsta-
cle, then they must make a Hard
Pilot skill roll to avoid br uising the
ship (1d6 damage in r andom loca-
tion).
Change Range. (Pilot) W ith a clev-
er flight path, this increases or
decreases the distance bet ween
ships by half the ship’s Speed, no
mat ter the speed of the other ship.
Can be used to get out of fir ing
r ange, move into cover, etceter a.
Selec t Target. (Gunner y) W hen an
at tacker fumbles, the defender
may maneuver in such a way that
the shot hits an adjacent ship in-
stead. This requires that the new
target is along the line of fire. The
new victim is taken completely by
sur pr ise by the unexpected acci-
dent and has no chance to avoid the
at tack which automatically hits. In
compensation however, they suf fer
no special ef fect.
108 S TA R S HIP C O MB AT
The following Gunner y Combat Ac tions are used:
Fire
This is the default attack. Damage is rolled af ter any Special Ef-
fects are picked.
Aim
The Gunner spends an entire round aiming, making the Gunner y
roll Easy; but the aiming ship is al so Easy to hit for opponents.
Must be used in tandem with Hold Steady by the pilot (see above).
An aiming gunner’s action is moved last in the round; if sever al
gunners choose A im, use Initiative to determine order.
Special Effects
Just as in regular combat, Special Ef fects are used to get a tac-
tical advantage. Pilot and Gunner y roll s have separ ate sets of
Special Ef fects, and sever al of them af fect the following roll s
– either improving your own chances or decreasing the oppo-
nent’s.
These are the Pilot Special Ef fec ts to choose from:
Dominate. The pilot gains the upper hand, finding a supreme po-
sition to fire from. The ship’s Gunner y roll s are Easy the current
round.
Evasive Flow. The pilot finds a flight path that the opponent has
dif ficulties firing at. Opponent’s Gunner y roll s are Formidable
the current round.
Withdraw. W ith this Special Ef fect, the ship can withdr aw from
combat.
Use the following Gunner y Special Ef fec ts:
Choose Location. Critical only. The Gunner can pick any hit loca-
tion to strike.
Find Weakness. The gunner strikes a weak point in the shields
or hull; roll damage t wice and pick the best roll.
Limit Flight Path. By planning the firing pattern, the opposing
ship will have a limited choice of flight paths. Opponent’s nex t
Pilot roll is Hard .
Marksman. The gunner roll s hit location as normal, but can
move the hit to an adjoining location on the list.
Maximize Damage. Critical only. The gunner strikes a per fect Technical Sec tions: Engines, Ma-
hit. One damage dice yields maximum damage. neuvering Thr uster s, Weapons, E x-
Weapon Malfunction. When an attacker fumbles, the opponent tr a sensor s, Tr actor beams, Robot
can choose this ef fect to render the weapon unusable for 1d3 ar ms and Self-Repair.

rounds. Crew & Passenger A reas: Cubicles,

Open space, Cockpit, Cargo, Sick-
bay, L ab.
Damage
Damage is first subtr acted from Shields. When Shields reach
zero, subtr act Armor and then the remaining amount goes Crew & Passenger A rea Damage
(1d6)
str aight to Hit Points. Roll 1d10 0 to determine hit location.
1-2 Power out. No power to con-
For technical sections, like engines or weapons, hits disable the trol s. Control s for thr uster s, en-
specific function at zero or lower hit points. Quick-fix repair s are gines, sensor s, computer s, etcet-
needed to get them online again: Three successful Mechanics er a are unresponsive. Only life sup-
por t, comms and emergenc y lights
skill roll s r aise hit points to 1 (and the function is tempor arily are functional. Door s must be
restored). If section hit points reach the negative equal to the opened manually; requires 1 round.
full hit points, the section is so badly damaged the ship must 3-4 A ir Leak. The hull has been
land or dock at a por t to be repaired. breached and air is leaving the sec-
tion. If lef t without repair s, vacu-
For crew or passenger areas, hits add complications in a specific um ensues in 10 rounds. If section
section; roll on the table in the sidebar. hit points are reduced to their full
negative value, decompression is
When any section reaches zero or lower hit points, all onboard
instantaneous; see r ules for expo-
the ship must al so roll 1d4-1 personal damage. sure to vacuum.
Recover y & Repairs 5-6 Gr avit y damaged. Ever yone and
ever y thing not fastened floats into
Lost starship hit points are recovered in the following way: the air. Athletics or Acrobatics roll s
Hit points above zero: Only light repair s. The ship is back to nor- may be necessar y to get back to a
specific point. Other ef fects, like
mal hit points af ter six hours, as long as the crew spends that
floating objects, are deter mined by
time repairing it. No skill roll s necessar y, but at least one crew the GM. Al so keep in mind what will
member must have the Mechanics skill. If only three hour s are happen when gr avit y retur ns.

S TA R S HIP C O MB AT 109
Star ship Combat E xample spent repairing the ship, hit points will only be r aised by half the
These are the t wo ships involved amount.
(full stats on page 10 4 and 114):
Hit points at zero or below: Repair time is 1 day per damaged
K ierkegaard
section if Mechanics roll s are successful; double the time oth-
Speed 15, Handling 12, Size 101
Pilot 70% er wise (or restore only half the hit points, if doubling the time is
Gunner y 70% (Blaster, 1d8 Damage) not possible). When repair s are finished, hit points will be back
Shields 10 , A r mor 2 to normal.
Nighthawk
Hit points at full negative value: The ship must land to make
Speed 10, Handling 10, Size 89
Pilot 70% repairs and new par ts must be obtained. Repair time is 1 week
Gunner y 70% (Blaster, 1d8 Damage) per section; double if Mechanics roll fail s (or restore half the hit
Shields 7, A r mor 1 points only, if doubling the time is not possible).
Roll for Initiative. K ier kegaard wins
with 16 ver sus Nighthawk ’s 12.
Spot Rules
Round one. K ier kegaard makes an
Of fensive Pilot roll: She roll s 70, a
Par tial Cover
success.
Moving the ship through an area with large obstacles makes it
Nighthawk takes the safe route and
roll s a Defensive Pilot roll: 10, al so harder to hit – but it’s al so harder for your own gunner to get a
a success. Both ships will be at a clean shot. Both sides at a dif ficult y gr ade of Hard in Gunner y.
dif ficult y gr ade of Hard for their Al so see Obstacles below.
nex t Gunner y roll s. A s Success Lev-
el s are the same, no Special Ef fects
can be used and Initiative remains
with K ier kegaard for Gunner y roll s.
K ier kegaard’s Gunner y is 70%-
20% =50%. She roll s 47 for Gunner y;
a success.
Nighthawk ’s Gunner y is al so at 50%;
49, a success.
Both roll for damage, 1d8 each. K i-
er kegaard roll s 7 and blasts away
Nighthawk ’s shields. Nighthawk
roll s 2 and reduces K ier kegaard’s
shields to 8. A s Success Level s are
the same, no Special Ef fects can
be used and Initiative remains the
same.
Continued...

110 S TA R S HIP C O MB AT
Boarding Round t wo. K ier kegaard roll s 18 in
To board a ship, it’s most common to render the target ship inca- an Of fensive Pilot roll, a success.

pable of defending itself or escaping (though this may var y from Nighthawk roll s 81 in a Defensive
Pilot roll, a failure. He will be at a
setting to setting). If you are not using hit locations – to take out
dif ficult y gr ade of Hard for Gunner y,
engines and weapons – this is simulated by reducing a ship’s hit unless K ierkegaard picks a Special
points to 1, and the gunner declaring she’s disabling the ship Ef fect to change it.
(with the GM adjusting damage to save one hit point). Manipulat- K ier kegaard chooses bet ween
ing the airlocks to get inside is of ten quite simple. No skill roll is Dominate and Evasive Flow: either
boosting her own Gunner y by +20%
needed in most situations, or use Demolitions, Mechanics, Elec- or penalize Nighthawk ’s with -4 0%.
tronics or Computers at Easy . A s Nighthawk ’s is already at Hard
Ramming due to his defensive positioning, K i-
er kegaard decides to boost her own
For desper ate players r amming is sometimes a viable option,
Gunner y to 90%. She roll s 20, a con-
either to strike an opponent or to get out of enclosed spaces. fident success.
Both ships (or ship plus constr uction) take an equal amount of Nighthawk ’s Gunner y is at Hard: He
damage. Size and speed are the determining factor s for damage. roll s 95, a gr and failure. K ier ke-
1d6 damage per 5 Size, and add 1d6 per 5 Speed. gaard gains a Gunner y Special Ef-
fect. She picks Find Weakness and
Obstacles roll s damage t wice, picking the best
Use a dif ficult y gr ade of Hard or Formidable in Pilot skill if roll: 5. Rolling 67 for location, she
there are many obstacles, like space junk, debris from exploding reduces the cargo bay from 3 8 to 3 4,
af ter reducing damage by 1 for ar-
ships, and so on. A failed roll will damage the ship lightly: 1d6
mor. No wor r ies.
hit points. Fumbles will al so require a roll for per sonal damage Round three. Initiative remains with
to ever yone onboard: 1d4-1. Roll Athletics or Acrobatics to avoid K ier kegaard.
damage. Al so see Par tial Cover above. K ier kegaard roll s Of fensive Pilot:
Small Ship Advantage 87, a failure. This opens for Night-
hawk to be a bit more aggressive:
When the dif ference in Size Rating is 4 or 5, the larger attacker’s he roll s 35 for Of fensive Pilot, a
Gunner y is at Hard . For the smaller attacker, Gunner y is Easy . success. He al so gains one Pilot
W ith a Size Rating dif ference at 6 and upwards, Gunner y will be Special Ef fect, and decides to lower
Formidable (larger ship) and Ver y Easy (smaller ship). K ier kegaard’s Gunner y to For mida-
ble with Evasive Flow.
Fast Ship Advantage Nighthawk wins the Gunner y Initia-
When the dif ference in Speed is 5 or higher, the faster ship’s Pi- tive thanks to his successful pilot-
lot roll s are Easy . This modifier evens out the odds for small and ing roll. He roll s 3 3, a success.
fast ships, especially against heavily armed opponents. K ierkegaard’s Gunner y is at 70%-
4 0% = 30%. She roll s 5 4, a failure.
Surprise
Continued...
Attacker gets one free Combat Action at Easy before the oppo-

S TA R S HIP C O MB AT 111
Nighthawk gains one Gunner y Spe-
cial Ef fect. He picks Limit Flight
Path; K ierkegaard’s nex t Pilot roll
is at Hard.
Nighthawk roll s damage: K ier keg-
aard’s shields are reduced by 3 to 5.
Round four. Nighthawk ’s got the Ini-
tiative.
He roll s for Of fensive Pilot: 97, a
failure.
K ier kegaard al so goes for Of fensive
Pilot: 73, al so a failure. Initiative re-
mains with Nighthawk. Both fire at
nor mal values.
Nighthawk roll s 35, a success. K i-
er kegaard 81, a failure.
Nighthawk is rewarded with a Spe-
cial Ef fect: Find Weakness.
He roll s damage t wice and picks
the best: 7. K ier kegaard’s remain-
ing shields are blasted away, and 2
points of damage are soaked up by
the ar mored hull.
Round four. Initiative remains with
Nighthawk.
Nighthawk roll s for Of fensive Pilot:
8 3, a failure. K ier kegaard goes for
Of fensive Pilot, in the hope of tur n-
ing the combat around: 57, a suc-
cess.
K ier kegaard gains one Special Ef-
fect: She picks Evasive Flow. Night-
hawk ’s Gunner y is at For midable.
She al so wins the Initiative.
K ier kegaard roll s 06, a cr itical!
Nighthawk roll s 41, a failure.
K ier kegaard gains t wo Special Ef-
fects. She picks Find Weakness and
Mar ksman.
Continued...
112 S TA R S HIP C O MB AT
nent can react; al so the surprised par t’s non-reaction is con-
sidered a failed roll (giving the attacker one Special Ef fect if the
roll is successful). The target’s second Action Point can be spent
either on Gunner y, as usual, or on Pilot – both are at Hard .
Simplified Starship Combat
Below is a simplified system for star ship combat, for settings or
scenarios where combat is less impor tant. The main points are:
no hit locations, Pilot roll s are simplified and damage is handled
in an abstr act way.
This system is less deadly than the regular r ules. If fights are
too dr awn out, upgr ade weapons to double damage.
Pilot Roll s
Instead of choosing bet ween dif ferent Combat Actions, the Pilot
roll s are generic. Both Pilots make dif ferential roll s and pick
Special Ef fects (if any) as usual.
These t wo Gunner y Special Ef fects will be redundant: Choose
Location and Marksman. Pilot Special Ef fects are kept as is.
Damage & Malfunctions
W ithout hit locations, all damage is withdr awn from gener al hit
points. When hit points are halved, the ship star ts to be badly
injured; roll on the Malfunction Table below. For ever y subse-
quent hit, malfunctions lasts a little longer; one step up on the
Dur ation Table.
Malfunction Table (1d6):
1. Power out, no sensor s or weapons
2. Leakage (air/water/fuel)
3. Maneuvering damaged, Pilot skill halved
4. Speed halved, Pilot skill halved
5. Uncontrolled spin, stabilization damaged.
Pilot skill at 0 %
6. Re-roll on this table. +1 on dur ation table
Personal damage: Ever yone on board the ship must al so make K ier kegaard roll s 7 for damage and
an Athletics or Acrobatics roll to avoid 1d4-1 damage. 73 for hit location. That’s the cargo
bay again, but Mar ksman allows her
Duration Table: to pick any of the t wo adjoining lo-
1. One round cations. She picks Engine. 6 points
of damage reduces Engines to 3 hit
2. 1d6 rounds
points. One more hit like that and
3. Until repaired Nighthawk is a sit ting duck.
4. Until repaired, Mechanics at Hard Round five. Initiative remains with
5. Until nex t landing and repair K ier kegaard.
6. Until nex t landing and buying K ierkegaard roll s for Of fensive Pi-
new par ts. lot: 41, a success. Nighthawk roll s
for Defensive Pilot: 73, a failure. He
will have Gunner y at Hard.
Repairs & Ship Condition
But K ier kegaard gained one Pilot
Lost starship hit points are recovered in the following way: Special Ef fect, and picks Evasive
Hit points above half: Only light repair s. The ship is back to nor- Flow: Nighthawk ’s Gunner y will be
at For midable instead.
mal hit points af ter six hours, as long as the crew spends that
Initiative remains with K ier kegaard.
time repairing it. No skill roll s necessar y, but at least one crew
K ier kegaard roll s 10 for Gunner y, a
member must have the Mechanics skill. If only three hour s are success. Nighthawk roll s 31, a fail-
spent repairing the ship, hit points will only be r aised by half the ure.
amount. K ierkegaard gains one Special Ef-
Hit points below half: Repair time is 1 day for ever y hit that end- fect: Mar ksman, hoping to take out
the engines.
ed up on 3-6 on the Dur ation Table; if Mechanics roll s are suc-
K ier kegaard roll s an 8 for dam-
cessful. Double the time other wise (or restore only half the hit age! Hit location is 90 (Maneuver-
points, if doubling the time is not possible). When repair s are ing Thr uster s), but she moves the
finished, both hit points and ship condition will be back to nor- hit to Engines thanks to Mar ksman.
mal. 7 points pass through the hull, and
reduces Engines to -3. They are of-
Hit points at negative value: The ship stops functioning, except fline! Nighthawk cannot make any
emergenc y systems (life suppor t, docking, emergenc y light, Pilot roll s. At least not until the en-
autodoc, air locks). Less impor tant NPC ships probably explode gines are repaired; three success-
ful Mechanics roll s are needed for
at zero Hit Points. Repair time is 1 week for ever y hit that ended that. It will be at least three rounds
up on 6 on the Dur ation Table; double if Mechanics roll fail s (or when he can only use Gunner y, and
restore half the hit points only, if doubling the time is not pos- K ierkegaard’s at tacks will automat-
sible). ically be Easy. Nighthawk reaches
f
Ship Condition is lowered by -10 for ever y hit below half hit
points. To restore them, use the regular r ules.
S TA R S HIP C O MB AT 113
M – SPACE STARSHIP
name
kierkegaard type
explorer player

speed 15 shields 10 recovery –

handling 12 armor 2 hit points 101
size 101 hyperspace 3
modules weapons
cockpit 3 blaster (turret)
crew (4) 16
open space 8
open space (workshop) 16
sickbay 4
weapons 2
cargo 18 apps
hyperspace 3 sensors +15%
engine (tr100) 15 astrogation +10%
maneuver (tr100) 12
extra sensors 1
aerial dropship (external) 3
= 101 other
hit locations: 01-03 cockpit, 04-19 cu-
bicles, 20-43 open space, 44-47 sickbay,
48-49 weapons, 50-67 cargo, 68-70 hy-
streamlining yes perdrive, 71-85 engine, 86-96 maneuver,
stealth – 97-99 dropship, 00 sensors
S TA R S HIP C O MB AT 115
 Advanced Combat
Advanced Starship Combat

Weapon Damage Type Range Ammo Cost

L aser 1d6 L aser 20 No 50 0 0
Par ticle
Blaster 1d8 20 No 10 0 0 0
Beam
Ion Gun 2d6 +1 Electric 10 No 150 0 0
Missile 3d6 E xplosive 40 10 20 0 0 0
Kinetic
1d8 Kinetic 10 10 10 0 0
Cannon

Weapon Options

T he following options allow the weapons above to be to be cus-

tomized and expanded. A GM can use all, some or none of the
following.

Options and Cost: All the options presented below increase the
cost of the weapon. This increased cost can be paid for in Credits
or by increasing the number of modules allocated to the weapon
(mounting a bigger weapon). Instead of 20 normal blaster s, you
can have 4 (each taking up 5 Modules) with a bunch of upgr ades.
Damage Cost
+1 step x2 Increased Damage: This upgr ade increases the weapon’s damage
+2 steps x4 by one step on the Damage L adder (see sidebar). This doubles
the cost each time it is done. If desired, instead of increasing
+3 steps x8
the damage dice, a flat +1 add to damage can be taken. A weapon
+4 steps x16 cannot have more adds than half it’s maximum damage roll.

116 A D VA N CE D C O MB AT
Increased Range: This upgr ade increases the weapon’s r ange. Damage
L adder
Range Cost Fire Arc s Cost
+25% x1.5 2 arcs x2 1d4
+50% x2 3 arcs x3 1d6
+75% x3 4 arcs x4
1d8
+10 0% x4
1d10

Fire Arc: This upgr ade allows a weapon to attack targets in mul- 2d6
tiple fire arcs. See more on page 119.
2d8
Autofire: This upgr ade allows a weapon to fire multiple shots in
one attack, allowing it to get more than one hit on a successful 3d6
attack.
2d10

Burst Cost Attack Bonus 3d8

Shor t Burst (1d3) x2 +10% 4d6

Medium Burst (1d6) x4 +20% 3d10
Long Burst (1d10) x6 +30%
5d6

Note: In some cases, such as point defense, a r apid firing weap- 4d8
on’s benefit is in putting more shots on target in order to in-
4d10
crease the chance of getting one hit, r ather than tr ying to get
multiple hits. The GM can allow someone to give up the ex tr a 5d8
hits from a burst in order to receive the bonus to attack.
5d10
Point Defense: This upgr ade allows a weapon to intercept incom-
ing missiles before they hit, possibly destroying them. A weapon
with this upgr ade can make an attack against the missile, right
before it hits (just like a parr y). If the missile is destroyed, then
the ship takes no damage. Most missiles are unarmored and
only have 1 hit point. A weapon that is used for point defense
cannot be used to attack on the same round. Cost x2.

A D VA N CE D C O MB AT 117
 Armored: The weapon has it’s own armor. This has the same
cost as armoring a ship, and is based on the number of modules
the weapon takes up. The upgr ade is usually used to either give
a weapon more armor than the ship is in, or to make missiles
somewhat resistant to point defense weapons.

Increased Ammunition: This upgr ade increases the amount of

ammunition available for a weapon.

Shots = Ammunition Modules/ Weapon Modules x 10 0

Spinal Weapon Mount: This upgr ade allows the weapon to tap
Engine Free directly into the ship’s engines. The ship is prett y much built
Modules Upgrades around the weapon. This allows for a ver y power ful weapon, but
1 1 one with some serious limitations.
2-3 2
A Spinal Weapon:
4-7 3
» » takes 1 round to charge up per module it takes up.
8-15 4
» » gets one or more free upgr ades based on the total number of
16-31 5 engine modules
32-6 3 6 » » uses up all the ship’s engine power when fired, dropping the
ship’s Speed to 0 in turn af ter it is fired.
6 4-127 7
» » a spinal weapon mount double the weapon’s cost. (x2).
128-255 8
x2 +1 Damage
See Damage L adder on page 117.

Armor
Armor is split into five categories: Primed for laser, par ticle
beams, electric, explosive and kinetic. Standard armor in the
Starship Combat chapter, is Multi-Primed and protects equally
well against all attacks. In advanced combat, armor can protect

118 A D VA N CE D C O MB AT
at half value against some t ypes of attack. For instance, Sin-
For ward
gle-Primed Kinetic armor protects at full value against kinetic
attacks, but only protects at half value against all other weap-
ons t ypes. A rmor can be Single-Primed, Duo-Primed, Triple-
Primed, Quad-Primed or Multi-Primed. The table on page 116
lists what t ype of damage dif ferent weapons do. Star-
Por t
board
Armor that is weak against a cer tain t ype of attack cost a little
less. For ever y damage t ype removed, cost will be lowered by
10%. Af t

Fire Arcs
Fire Arcs represents the idea that mounted weapons can only
fire in cer tain angles. There are four arcs: For ward, Af t, Por t
and Starboard. When using the advanced combat r ules, weapons
fire in one of the arcs unless they are upgr aded. Use with min-
iatures for best result.

A D VA N CE D C O MB AT 119
120 A D VA N CE D C O MB AT
A D VA N CE D C O MB AT 121
 Alien Creation

BIOSPHERE
C reating believable aliens can be hard. We do, af ter all, have
ver y little experience of ex tr a-terrestrial life. The images
and stories spread by popular culture are not always the best
source of inspir ation, as those beings were created to fit a man-
uscript, not an alien world.

The following r ules will help with the creation of aliens, making
it both easier and more fun. It’s not a replacement for creativit y,
UNI V ER S A L S:

UNI V ER S A L S:

UNI V ER S A L S:

but r ather a tool to spark it.

SE S SIL E 1

MOT IL E 1

MOT IL E 2

The r ules are divided into t wo steps. Fir st, the univer sal blue-
prints of all living beings on a planet are defined, and nex t sepa-
r ate alien species are developed from those universal s.

Universal Life form Parameters

L IF E FORM 1

L IF E FORM 1
L IF E FORM 1
L IF E FORM 2

L IF E FORM 2
L IF E FORM 2
L IF E FORM 3

L IF E FORM 3
L IF E FORM 3

i.
Str angeness: 1-10 0, where 1 represents Ear th-like , 50 Alien and
10 0 Really str ange . The Str angeness par ameter adds a good
over-all picture when interpreting the dice roll s in the creation
process. A low Str angeness value will indicate small variations
on concepts well-known on Ear th (physiology, behaviour, cul-
ture). A high value means you should interpret many of the re-
sults as dif fering wildly from what’s common here.

ii.
A biosphere can be descr ibed as
hot, cold, garden wor ld, aqueous, Define a few basics about the biosphere.
deser t, high r adiation, sulphur
r ich, thin atmosphere, low gr avit y Biosphere: Write down 1-3 main par ameter s about the biosphere,
and so on. Use the r ules for wor ld
building for more detail s. either from a world already created, or make some up.

122 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
Biodiversit y: Define how rich life is on the planet. Default is 1 Str angeness can al so be used as a
sessile (plant) group, 2 motile (animal) groups. High biodiversit y: negative modifier for all commu-
nication skill s. Use the modifier
+1 sessile, +1d4 motile. Low: 1 sessile, 1 motile.
whenever communication skill s are
used with humans or other aliens
iii. (for both sides). It can al so be used
as a negative modifier on Fir st A id
Body Plans: These work as generic blueprints for all beings on
and Medicine roll s, when using
a planet, with separ ate body plans for the dif ferent motiles and alien technology etceter a.
sessiles. Number the motile and sessile groups, and roll for each
body plan group to get the five values below (Size, Fr ame, Sym-
metr y, Limbs, Segmentation):

Size:

1d10 0 01-15 16-30 31-50 51- 60 61-70 71-75 76- 8 0 81- 8 5 8 6-90 91-95 96 -97 98 - 0 0

2d6 + 6 2d6 + 4 4
2d4 2d6 +14 2d6 +2 2 2d6 +3 0 2d6 +3 8 2d6 +52 2d6 + 6 0 2d6 + 6 8 >2d6 +74
Size Sub 1 (13) (5 3)
(5) (21) (2 9) (37) (4 5) (59) (67) (75) (>81)
Human Elephant

Fr ame:
01-3 3 Endoskeleton, 3 4-66 E xoskeleton, 67-0 0 No fr ame Bilater al: Body can be spilt in
t wo similar par ts. Radial: Body
Symmetr y: is roughly circular, with similar
01-25 Bilater al, 26-50 A symmetrical, 51-75 Radial Symmetr y, par ts repeated r adially. Spheri-
cal: Roughly spherical in for m, with
76-0 0 Spherical Symmetr y
par ts repeated all over the sur face.

Limbs:
Sex: If needed you can al so decide
1d10 0 0 -10 11-30 31-50 51- 8 0 81-90 91- 0 0
the number of sexes: 2d3-1. One or
Limbs 0 2 3 4 5-8 1d10 0 t wo sexes are common on Ear th,
but sever al more are probable to
occur in other places.
Segmentation:
Many beings divide their body into par ts, either the whole body,
limbs or specific organs. Roll 1d4 for the number of segments. Insects are the t ypical segmented
Segmented par ts can be body, limbs and/or organs. ear th life for m.

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 123
Star ting W ith a Weakness iv.
A n alter nate method for alien cre- Universal s: Roll or pick 1d3 tr aits from the list of advantages
ation is to star t with a disadvan- on the nex t spread that apply to all beings in a body plan group.
tage, and then tr y to figure out how
a species could sur vive through
evolution despite the weakness.
Dealing with contr adictor y roll s: If a r andom method is used to
How, for example, can ver y slow
beings avoid being eaten by preda- create alien life forms, sooner or later contr adictor y results will
tor s? Do they taste aw ful, are they occur from the dif ferent tables. There are sever al ways to deal
poisonous or per haps covered with with this. The most simple solution is to re-roll, but sometimes
spikes?
it’s good to give the contr adiction some thought. Can it be used
E specially for intelligent life for ms
as a creative springboard, to venture into solutions not tried
this can be a good pr actice. Their
intelligence have probably been before? Can the t wo results make a working combination by just
instr umental in their sur vival, but fudging them slightly? If time allows, tr y these pathways, and
some additional advantages will possibly you will be rewarded with some highly original mate-
probably be needed to fully explain
rial.
it.
This method will force you to walk
in the alien’s shoes, so to speak,
through its evolutionar y stages.
Missing hear ing, what alter nate
Life forms
ways to protect your self would you W ith univer sal s defined, the individual alien species is to be de-
need? A nd what would you eat if tailed. It is recommended to create a handful of beings, filling
you cannot hear your prey? dif ferent roles in the ecosystem. Star t with a few in the primar y
Keep asking your self these kind of motile group, like a handful of mammal s on Ear th, then proceed
questions and it’s likely you will
find your self with a well-rounded
to create the other s as needed ( ie. plants and a r adically dif fer-
alien species that’s not just can- ent secondar y motile).
non fodder for char acter s.
Decide which body plan group the being belongs to. One of the
motile groups is probably most commonly encountered by char-
acters, with the other motile being a more r are sighting.

Classification and Habitat: Define the role it plays in the ecosys-

tem (forest tr apper for example).

124 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
 Filter feeder s eat small objects (an-
1d10 0 Classification Type
imal s, seeds, etceter a) suspended
01-25 Producer Plant in the atmosphere (or in liquid).

26-50 Her bivore Gr azer, Filter feeder

51-75 Omnivore Gatherer, Scrounger

A mbusher, Chaser, Pouncer, Raider,

76- 0 0 Car nivore
Stalker, Tr apper

1d10 0 Habitat (cont.) Roll multiple times for interesting

1d10 0 Habitat
combinations.
01- 07 Pool /L ake /Sea 51-57 Forest / Tree

08-14 Stream / River 58-6 4 Underground /Cave

15 -22 Shore /Reeds Deser t / Dunes /

65 -72
23-29 Plain / Meadow A r id
Climate: Many life for ms can adapt
30 -36 Tundr a / Steppe 73-79 Wetland to dif ferent climates and will ap-
80 -86 Ice / Snow/Glacier pear with only slight alter ations in
Semi-open /
37-4 3 color ation or other detail s impor-
S av annah 87-93 Mountain tant to sur vival. But sometimes you
4 4-50 Bush land 94- 0 0 Rock y may want to design a creature for
a specific environment. Use the list
below as a reference:
Size Modifier: +/-1d3 (or more) on the Size table on page 81. This 01-25 A rctic
will create a large variet y in size within a body plan group, simi- 26-50 Temper ate
lar to what we have on Ear th among mammal s for example. Feel 51-75 Subtropical
76-0 0 Tropical
free to deviate from this if you want a more evenly sized group.
A s you can see not all habitats and
climates match up; make sure you
Advantages: These are the specifics that have kept the being
find a combination that doesn’t con-
alive through the ages, and have helped it to car ve a niche in the tr adict natur al sciences but still
ecosystem. Pick or roll 1d3 times on the table on the nex t page fulfill s your needs.
and tr y to find interesting combinations.

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 125
A r t as an Advan-
1d10 0 Advantage Description
tage?
The Swedish biolo- 01- 06 Perception Choose 1d3 senses that are heightened
gist Svante Pääbo DE X above 2 0 and /or Movement Rate >10. Fast life
has presented the 06-12 Fast
for ms add +1d6 to both; Lightning +2d6
idea that the big-
gest dif ference 13-18 Flight Gas bag, wings, glide, etceter a
bet ween moder n
Camouflage,
humans and Ne- 19-2 4 B y appear ance and /or as a skill (75% and higher)
ander thal s is that Hide or Stealth
they had no dr ive Natur al abilit y (like stick y feet or hooks) or as a skill
to express their 25 -30 Climb
(75% or higher)
exper iences to oth-
er s (and not that Moves equally well in, for example, liquid and on
their intelligence 31-36 Second habitat
land (or in gas)
was lower, as we
tr aditionally have Second
37-4 2 Breathes both gas and liquid
believed). atmosphere
Right from the
Heal s at a quicker pace (Healing above 5), can heal
star t, moder n hu- 4 3-4 8 Regener ation
mans seem to have more severe wounds or regrow entire body par ts
utilized flutes, im- Fine Finger s, toes, lips, ear s, tail s, tentacles. 75% or
ages and probably 49-5 4
Manipulation more in t wo DE X-based skill s. May be a tool user
stor y telling, even-
tually leading to 55 -60 Shar p Thor ns, teeth, claws, beak, hor ns, r idges
what we today call
61-66 A r mor E xoskeleton, bony plates, hard scales, coar se skin
the ar ts.
Could this be the 67-72 Poison Poison for protection or hunting
advantage that gave Building complex nests, for protection and /or to al-
moder n humans 73-78 Builder
ter the ecos ystem to suit them bet ter
the edge in the long
r un? Can be Simple (as for animal s), Complex (as apes,
79-8 4 Communication
whales, dolphins or bees) or L anguage

Psionic s or
85 -8 8 Power s of the mind; see the chapter on psionic s
Psionic Immunit y

1d3 ex tr a senses. Heat, bacter ia, movement, elec-

89-94 E x tr a Sense
tr icit y, magnetism (compass), specific chemical s

Intelligence or Intelligence: INT 7-15

95 - 0 0
High Intelligence High Intelligence: INT 16 or more

126 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
 Empathy
1d10 0 Disadvantage Description
Somewhere bet ween a behavior,
Cannot move. DE X 0. Suitable advantage and disadvantage, empa-
01- 0 4 Immobile
for producer s /plants thy is placed. Use this tr ait wisely,
to for m the basis of a societ y or to
Low hit points (-1d6 to -2d6), expose individual beings to dif ficult
05 -12 Fr agile no ar mor. Reduce CON; see decisions.
nex t page Aliens completely without empathy
will r arely for m societies. A “small ”
DE X lower than 5, Movement
13-20 Slow kind of empathy encompasses the
below 2 closest beings. A “medium” kind,
Hard to find fully functional have empathy ex tend to a complete
Rare or herd, village or group. A “large”
21-28 ecos ystem. Behavior 6 0 or
Vulner able habitat kind of empathy ex tends to almost
above all living beings.
Intensely targeted by a A s with humans, empathy var ies
29-36 Hunted bet ween individual s, and can be
car nivore. Behavior 31-70
shaped by philosophical or reli-
37-4 4 Disease-r idden Reduce CON. See nex t page gious ideas present in a societ y.
Changes in the environment
4 5 -52 Af fec ted by pollution af fect the beings negatively.
Reduce CON; see nex t page

For K-str ategists, this is a

5 3-60 Eggs /Cubs
danger-filled per iod
Life Span
Fighting about food, r ank, ter- In gener al, life span is related to
61-68 Inter nal Conflic ts r itor y, leader ship, etceter a. size. Small creatures live shor t
Behavior at 70 or more lives, large creatures long. But a
closer look reveal s many deviations
Individual s are not able to from this r ule. To simplif y the r ules
69-76 Hier archy/Obedient
make their own decisions here, SIZ 1 aliens live around a year
or shor ter. From SIZ 2 and above,
Missing one or more
77-8 4 Remove 1d3 senses apply a life span freely (even immor-
of the senses talit y is physically at tainable, as
Spends consider able time in proven by some jelly fish on Ear th).
The more ef fective advantages, the
85 -92 Hiber nation deep sleep or coma, reducing
longer the life span, while dif ficult
body functions to a minimum disadvantages may shor ten the life
span by 50%. Closely related spe-
Must fight for food. Reduce
93- 0 0 Food /energy scarcit y cies can have wildly dif ferent life
CON by -2 0%. Behavior at 70 + sp

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 127
Placement of Sense Organs
The logic behind the placement of
the sense organs is that they ap-
pear front most in the direction
of movement. Either the cur rent
direction or what used to be the
main direction of movement in an
ear lier development stage. They
are al so placed close to the br ain.
Disadvantages: This describes some of the problems the beings
are str uggling with, or what makes it more vulner able. Roll or
pick 1d3 Disadvantages above, and tr y to find interesting com-
binations.
Behavior: 01-10 In Harmony, 11-20 Curious, 21-30 Patient, 31-
4 0 Watchful, 41-50 Suspicious, 51-60 Hiding, 61-70 Afr aid, 71-80
Easily Angered, 81-90 Aggressive, 91-0 0 Detached.

Social: 01-20 Single, 21-4 0 Pair, 41-60 Small Group, 61-80 Herd
(from small to swarm), 81-0 0 Special (Par asite, Symbiotic).

Behavior & Fear

Al so decide if the beings are K-str ategists or R-str ategists (pro-
Fear is a strong dr iving force for
ducing only a few of f-spring and caring for them, or producing
behavior. A species under constant
pressure will ver y likely have a many and not caring for them).
behavior in the upper half of the
Behavior r ange. Species that have Communication:
had peace for a long time will on
the contr ar y tend to the lower half. 1d10 0 Comm. Description
W ith dif ferent par ts of a species
shaped by dif ferent backgrounds 01- 0 4 Psionic Sending and receiving thoughts
their behavior will probably var y 05 -20 Scent Spreading scents with var ious organs
quite a bit too.
21-36 Sight Light, color, signs, infr ared, ultr aviolet

37-52 Tactile Touch, tapping, stomping

Clicks, stomps, scr atches, mouth-sounds,

5 3-68 Sound low/ high frequenc y, gener ate sounds with
other body par ts
The r ange of communication can
have interesting ef fects on life Similar to scent, though other “sensor s”
for m behavior. Tr y pictur ing the 69-8 4 Chemical
are used
distance needed to war n other s
in their natur al ecosystem, and Electronic impul ses or fields are used for
85 - 0 0 Electr icit y
this will be the maximum r ange communication
of communications. The nor mal
communication r ange will be much
shor ter, per haps as low as 10% of Sever al communication forms can be combined, but pick one to
the maximum r ange. be the primar y.

128 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
Natur al weapons: Many beings will be able to defend themselves,
Natur al Base Damage
though not all life forms will, and not against an unusual threat 1d10 0
Weapon (+/- Dmg Mod)
(like humans for example). If they do, pick a natur al weapon in
01-10 Bite 1d6
the sidebar and use the following base chances.
11-20 Claw 1d6
Primar y weapon: Low-powered aliens has a base chance
Punch /
of 20% +DE X . Medium-powered 4 0% +DE X and High-powered 21-30 1d3
kick
60% +DE X . Carnivores get at least +10%.
31-4 0 Gr apple 1d3
Secondar y/ Third weapon: 20-4 0%.
41-50 Cr ush 1d3

Skill s: To round of f the alien, add a few dominant skill s you find 51-60 Throw 1d3
appropriate: Animal s 0-3 skill s, Intelligence 1-5 skill s, High In- 61-70 Hor n 1d3
telligence 3-10 skill s. 71-80 Sting 1d3
Elec- From sur pr ised
Calculating Characteristic s 81-90
tr icit y to 2d6
STR: Two thirds of SIZ +/-1d6. If fr agile, one third of SIZ +/-1d6.
From light r ash
For ever y 2 INT above 5, STR is of ten lowered by 1. 91- 0 0 Poison
to 3d6
CON: Two thirds of SIZ +/-1d6. If disadvantage Fr agile/Polluted/
Disease-ridden, one third of SIZ +/-1d6.
SIZ: See earlier.
DE X: Immobile 0, Slow 1-5, Fast 20+. For ever y 5 SIZ above 20, Quick Monster s

Dex terit y is lowered by 1. Sometimes you need to roll up an

uncanny adver sar y quickly:
INT: Animal 3-7, Intelligence 8-15, High Intelligence 16 +, Mind- Decide upon SIZ & power level
less feeder/producer 0-2. (high, mid or low). Choose bet ween
POW: Animal s of ten have POW 10 or lower, Psionics 16 +, Mind- car nivore and omnivore.

less feeder/producers will of ten have zero POW. Roll t wo Advantages (previous
page)and three times on A ppear-
CHA: Above 3d6 striking, awe-inspiring, beautiful. Below 3d6 ance table (nex t page).
ugly. CHA is always at -10 at first contact. Add one or t wo natur al weapons, at
60% (+15% if high-powered, -15% if
Movement: Normal 5-8, Slow below 5, Fast above 12. For ever y low-powered).
5 SIZ above 30, Movement is lowered by 1. Two movement values Hit points: 2 / 3 of SIZ.
are used if the being can move in t wo dif ferent atmospheres (air DE X 10 (+5 if high-powered, -5 if
and water for example). low-powered).

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 129
 1d10 0 Descriptive 1d10 0 Posture 1d10 0 Sur face
01- 05 Massive 01-20 Upr ight 01-14 Fur: Shor t or long
Skin: Smooth or
06-10 Slender 21-4 0 Hor izontal 15 -28
coar se ( A P 1-2)
11-15 Pear-shaped 41-60 Diagonal 29-4 0 Scales ( A P 1-5)
16-20 Long 61-80 Bent 41-52 Chitinous ( A P 1-3)
Tr ansparent /
21-25 Flat 81- 0 0 Crooked 5 3-6 4
Semi-tr ansparent
26-30 Bent 65 -76 Patched
31-35 Split 77-8 8 Feather s
36-4 0 Bulbous 89- 0 0 Or namented /Color ful
41-4 5 Hammer-shaped
4 6-50 Box y
51-55 Ridged Appearance (Optional)
56-60 Cr ystalline Hopefully the above process has given enough insights to
61-65 Slither ing make it possible to conjure up an image of the alien being.
66-70 Fat If fur ther input is needed, roll or pick on the tables above.

71-75 Wedge-shaped
Star t with descriptive terms for the whole being, and if
76-80 Spindle
needed, continue detailing specific body par ts or even sense
81-85 Retr ac table
organs. Go through Posture and Sur face in the same way.
86-90 Hollow
Keep the over all picture of the being (from the earlier re-
91- 0 0 Bony/A ngular sults) in mind all the time, to find interesting combinations.

High- & Low-Powered Aliens

Here are a few examples of how to make an alien species
higher or lower powered.
Low-Powered: Small size, fr agile, slow, weak, no natur al
weapons and/or no armor.
High-Powered: Big, strong, fast, lethal natur al weapons, in-
telligence, high intelligence, armored, coordinated (of ten as
a small group, but possible for pair s or herds too), tech level
matching the char acter’s or higher and/or psionic.

130 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
Tech Level s & INT Clothing
Intelligence 4-6: Can be an animal or have a primitive culture Clothing will probably be wor n by
some alien species. Here is a list of
(Tech Level 0-1). W ill not advance beyond TL 2, unless uplif ted
descr iptive words to make imagin-
by another species. ing them a bit easier. Roll or pick
1d3 times.
Intelligence, 7-15: W ill eventually reach the star s in F TL ships.
01-10 Loose
Depending on how long time they have spent evolving, ever y-
11-20 Functional
thing bet ween 0 and 10 on the Tech Level table is possible.
21-30 Str ict
31-4 0 Patched
High intelligence, 16+: 50% chance that Tech Level surpasses
41-50 Coar se
char acter’s Tech Level by 1d3. More primitive cultures exist too,
51-60 Tight
though evolution to higher Tech Level s may be faster, if they
61-70 Plain
don’t blow themselves up in the process; not uncommon with the
71-8 0 Color ful
Aggressive and Easily Angered behavior s.
81-90 Smooth
91-0 0 Elabor ate

Roll another 1d10 0 to find out how

large percentage of the body that is
covered.

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 131

For human wor lds, you can use the
culture creation r ules without de-
signing a species fir st.
Cultures
Developing a culture will by necessit y star t and end with the pe-
culiarities of the alien and its world. Hopefully you have formed a
vague image of the species’ life as you worked through its physi-
cal proper ties. This step is meant to turn that vagueness a bit
more specific.

Tech Level
Technology Level s measure the scientific capacit y of a world and
the complexit y and ef fectiveness of a piece of equipment. Use
the Tech Level Table on page 135 and roll 3d6-3. This will be
the gener al Tech Level of the world. Keep in mind that there will
probably be cases where there are dif ferent Tech Level s on a
world.

1d20 Technology Areas 1d20 Technology Areas

1 Agriculture 10 Energy
2 A stronomy 11 Manufacturing
3 Machiner y 12 Material s
4 Biology 13 Medicine
5 Chemistr y 14 Physics
6 Communication 15 Sensors or Optics
7 Constr uction 16 Tr anspor tation
8 Computers 17 Weapons
9 Economics 18-20 Unusual Technology *

* Examples include time travel, shape-changing, immor tality, psionics,

biotech, advanced robotics or technology connected with species-specific
senses.

132 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
Alternate Technology Paths
Some worlds may not have followed the same path of technologi-
cal progress as human civilization. Roll below to find out how
technology have developed dif ferently.

Alternate Technological Path, 1d6:

1-2 No deviation from the standard Tech Level

3 -1 Tech Level in one area
4 +1 Tech Level in one area
5-6 +1 step in one area, -1 in another and roll once more

Roll on the table on the previous page to determine what areas

of technology have developed dif ferently.

L aw Level
To determine the L aw Level, roll 1d10-1. The table on the nex t
page lists examples of illegal objects and some regulations.

Cultural Detail s
To develop an alien culture star t by considering the ten ques-
tions on page 136. Pick a few attributes that you consider to be
the most impor tant for the species. Give each a value bet ween
75% and 90%, with 90% representing the attribute having the
biggest impor tance for societ y. Add a couple of more attributes
and assign them the value of 30%, meaning they are less impor-
tant factors.
W ith a well-developed alien culture
it should be possible to assign a few
If some of the attributes are not in your cur ated list (or has a good Passions to alien individual s.
value of zero) it means that they are still likely to exist within the Use the same r ules as for humans
but assume that at least one Pas-
culture, but is not given much attention. Now, take a look at all
sion will be common to all of the
the values and consider if they give a good picture of the species. same species, while the rest will be
If not, re­a rr ange the values until you are happy with them. individual.

Continued on page 136...

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 133
 L aw Level Table

1d10 -1 Weapons Information Tr avellers

0 No restr ictions — —
V isitor s must contact plan-
Poison gas, explo-
etar y author ities by r adio,
1 sives, undetec table —
landing is per mit ted
weapons
any where
Por table energy V isitor s must repor t passen-
2 weapons (except ship- — ger manifest, landing is
mounted weapons) per mit ted any where
L anding only at star por t or
3 Heav y weapons —
other author ised sites
Light assault weapons
4 — L anding only at star por t
and submachine guns
Citizens must register of f-
Per sonal concealable
5 — wor ld tr avel, visitor s must
weapons
register all business
All firear ms except
V isits discour aged; excessive
shotguns and stun-
6 — contact with citizens
ner s; car r ying weap-
for bidden
ons discour aged
Citizens may not leave planet;
Free speech
7 Shotguns visitor s may not leave
cur tailed.
star por t
Infor mation tech-
nology, any non-
All bladed weapons, L anding per mit ted only to
8 cr itical data from
stunner s militar y per sonnel
of f wor ld, per sonal
media
A ny data from
9 A ny weapons of f wor ld. No free No of f wor lder s per mit ted
press

134 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
Tech Level Table

TL 0: (Primitive) No technology. TL 10: (Early Stellar) W ith the advent of Hy-

perspace, nearby systems are opened up.
TL 1: (Primitive) Roughly on a par with Bronze
or Iron Age technology. TL 11: (Early Stellar) The first tr ue ar tificial
intelligences become possible, as computers
TL 2: (Primitive) Renaissance technology.
are able to model synaptic net works.
TL 3: (Primitive) The advances of TL 2 are
TL 12: (Aver age Stellar) Weather control rev-
now applied, bringing the germ of industrial
olutionizes terr aforming and agriculture.
revolution and steam power.
TL 13: (Aver age Stellar) Battle dress ap-
TL 4: (Industrial) The tr ansition to industrial
pears on the battlefield.
revolution is complete, bringing plastics, r a-
dio and other such inventions. TL 14: (Aver age Stellar) Fusion weapons be-
come man-por table.
TL 5: (Industrial) TL 5 brings widespread
electrification, telecommunications and in- TL 15: (High Stellar) Black globe gener ators
ternal combustion. suggest a new direction for defensive tech-
nologies, while the development of synthetic
TL 6: (Industrial) TL 6 brings the develop-
anagathics means that the human lifespan is
ment of fission power and more advanced
now vastly increased.
computing.

TL 7: (Pre-Stellar) A pre-stellar societ y can

Higher Technology Level s exist and may be
reach orbit reliably and has telecommunica-
discovered by pioneering scientists.
tions satellites.
Present time on Ear th is TL7-8 and suggest-
TL 8: (Pre-Stellar) At TL 8, it is possible to
ed tech level for these r ules is around TL13.
reach other worlds in the same system, al-
though terr aforming or full colonization are These tables are taken from the original 1977
not within the culture’s capacit y. Tr aveller RPG by Marc Miller (now under a
Creative Commons license). This is as close
TL 9: (Pre-Stellar) The defining element of
to canon as you can come. For me, sticking
TL 9 is the development of gr avit y manipula-
with it is a small homage to one of the first
tion, which makes space tr avel vastly safer
sci-fi RPGs ever.
and faster.

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 135

These ten at tr ibutes can be linked
to the Str angeness value. For a
Str angeness of 10 only one answer
will dif fer much from the way we
humans do things. For a Str ange-
ness of 10 0, all ten will be highly
dif ferent.
Cultures & Circles
You may notice the similar ities be-
t ween the r ules for Cultures and
Circles, and they are indeed ver y
closely related. This means at-
tr ibutes can be easily tr ansfer red
bet ween them if you like.
A nd if you want to have cultures
clash on a gr ander scale it may be
a good idea to use the Circle r ules
to give them stats and more fixed
at tributes, using the Cultur al At-
tr ibutes as a star ting point.
136 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
Go over the attributes again and add a shor t description, either
using the words suggested below, or something completely dif-
ferent. See if some interesting links appear and mark these con-
nections in some way for later development.
This will probably be enough to star t with. If you want to detail
the culture more, now or later, develop each description into a
couple of sentences, star ting with the attribute with the highest
value. Deepen the connections if possible. When you have gone
through the list doing this, expand each sentence into one par a-
gr aph.
Cultural Attributes
Value. What do they value? If needed, check the Idea Table on
page 166 for some suggestions.
Belief. What do they believe in? E xamples: Pantheon, animism,
god-like leaders or aliens, nothing (atheism), ancient forefa-
thers.
War. How do they wage war? E xamples: Non-violent, ritualistic,
symbolic, psionic, large-scale, small-scale, br utal.
Weakness. What is their main weakness and how do they com-
pensate for it cultur ally? See species description.
Attachments. What forms of attachments are there? E xamples:
Romantic, life-long, familial, platonic, par asitic, none.
D wellings. What kind of dwellings do they create? E xamples:
L abyrinthine, technical, elabor ate, tempor ar y, haphazard.
Forbidden. What is forbidden and why? E xamples: Science,
books, inter action with aliens, androids, religion, speech.
Ar t. What is their ar t like? Pick one sense or sense group as pri-
mar y for the ar t form and give it a descriptive word. E xamples:
Elabor ate, cr ude, existential, serene, beautiful, functional, com-
plex, provocative, repul sive, completely unintelligible.
Economy. What is their economy like? E xamples: Bar ter, coop-
er ative, egoistical, secret, money-based, abstr act.

Food. How do they eat and how is it grown/hunted? Food can

be elabor ate, simple, disgusting, tast y, bland, liter ally inedible.
W ith the species’ food preferences in mind, how is food produc-
tion r ationalized?

And finally give some thought to:

What is the biggest crime one can commit?

What is the greatest act one can commit?

D wellings: Population & Settlements

Roll t wo times on the table below to find out the population den-
sit y and settlement str ucture. Star t by rolling the middle col-
umns, Population Densit y. For results Ver y Low to Medium, roll
a second time on the columns to the right. If the results, on
the other hand, are from
High to Super-Dense, roll Population Settlement
1d100 1d100
on the columns to the lef t. Densit y Structure
The first roll is at −4 0 if 01-17 Ver y Low Nomadic 01-19
Tech Level is 4 or lower. Tempor ar y
18-35 Low 20-39
Cluster s
Settlement
1d100 36-53 Medium Dispersed 40-59
Structure
Towns & V illages 60-79
01-32 54-70 High
Cities Towns &
80-00
Low Densit y Cities
33-66 71-87 Ver y High
Spr awl
High Densit y
67-00 88-00 Super-Dense
Mega Cit y

For Tech Level s 8 and up, add 1d3 space stations and 1d3 in-
system colonies for ever y additional level.

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 137
 Description of population densities:

» » Ver y Low. People are few and far apar t.

» » Low. Mostly unpopulated, with small cluster s at large
inter val s.
» » Medium. L arge areas are populated, but there are al so
wide stretches of unpopulated wilderness.
» » High. Densely populated areas are huge, and tr ue wil-
derness is gone.
» » Ver y High. Ver y large areas of high densit y. Open space
is a scarcit y.
» » Super-Dense. Most of the sur face is covered with multi-
stor y buildings.

Rulers
1d100 Rulers How a species or world is r uled can be a quite complex issue,
and many worlds will surely have dif ferent power str uctures in
01-24 Anarchy
dif ferent par ts. Roll on the table in the sidebar to get an indica-
25-49 Dictatorship tion on of ficial r uling (and roll multiple times if there are sever al
50-74 Democr ac y nations, for instance). To make it more complex, roll once more
Council / for the actual, but informal power str ucture, and write down in
75-00 parentheses.
Semi-Democr atic
Foreign Polic y
Combine the above t ypes of r ul-
Foreign polic y describes a gener al attitude towards the rest of
ing with the concepts in the Idea
Table, to get more specific t ypes the galax y, both close neighbor s and distant empires. It consists
(religious dictator, council based of Attitude, Allies, Enemies and Par t of.
on wealth, democr ac y promoting
Foreign Polic y: Roll on the table on the nex t page 1-3 times to
pleasure, and so on). Make sure it
matches the over all ideas of soci- cr af t an interesting relationship to the surroundings. Re-roll ob-
et y. vious contr adictions.
Allies: Write down what allies and friends the species has. Con-
sider how strong the ties are and how stable they are.
Enemies: Find some enemies, old or new. Add detail s later about
how and why.

138 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
Par t of: Is the species par t of some larger political str ucture?
1d100 Foreign Polic y
This may be empires, kingdoms, unions, feder ations and so on.
Is it par ticipating out of free will, or is there some pressure or 01-04 Aggressive
necessit y involved (internal or ex ternal)? 05-08 Intriguing
W ith only a handful of species and worlds, relationships can 09-12 Peaceful
quickly become interesting, making it much more dif ficult for
13-16 Secretive
the players to move around, and adventure hooks to spawn ef-
17-20 Negotiating
for tlessly.
21-24 Provocative
25-28 Opportunistic
Species Conflicts
29-32 Union-Building
Roll 1d10 0 1-3 times on the Idea Table on page 166 to find the
33-36 Neutral
conflicts that dominate a species or world.
37-40 Colonial

Rolling on the Idea Table will give you the ingredients of a world’s 41-44 Trading
conflicts. For example, Tr adition versus Equalit y is quite easy to 45-48 Closed
star t imagining what it could look like (according to tr adition
49-52 Passive
one species is a ser vant to another, but now the ser vants wants
equalit y), but Peace versus Wealth can r aise some interesting 53-56 Exploring
questions about a societ y (wealthy families r un mafia-like cit y 57-60 Unpredictable
states and are being opposed by a new gener ation of peace-seek- 61-64 Low-key
ing youths, leading ascetic lives to avoid the old blood-stained
65-68 A Cultural Giant
money).
69-72 Destabilizer
Use the full Circle r ules if you want to, with stats, attributes, 73-76 Fatherly
sub-circles and so on, or stick with this chapter for now and add 77-80 Sensible
detail s later if you need them. Just keep in mind that mono-cul-
81-84 Easily provoked
tur al planets are quite unlikely to exist – most worlds will host
sever al cultures. 85-88 Nostalgic
89-92 Empire builder
W ith the basic conflicts defined, mark them with an arrow to
93-96 Dependent
specif y if they are intensif ying or not. This will tell you something
97-00 Introvert
about what can happen if the char acter s star t fooling around on

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 139
 a world. W ill carelessness star t a war? Is diplomac y needed?
Can some str ategic suppor t ignite a revolution?

Change over time:

↑ Conflic t is intensif ying

→ No change over time, given the circumstances
↓ Conflic t is cooling down

Conflict Intensit y
Conflict Intensit y determines how hot a conflict is. Roll once for
ever y conflict and indicate with a small arrow on the World Sheet
how it will develop over time.

1d100 Conflict Intensit y Description

All-out conflict. Ever y aspect of societ y dominat-
01-13 L arge scale war
ed by the war
Smaller areas and groups involved in war time
14-27 Small scale war
activit y, only cer tain par ts of societ y af fected
Isolated acts of violence & black ops, with bur sts
28-41 Skirmishes
of retaliation
Societ y as a whole is aware of the conflict, acting
deliber ately and self-consciously. A majorit y, re-
42-56 Hatred & severe discrimination
ferring to tr adition, upholds the blatant discrimi-
nation
A large par t of societ y doesn’t care about the
57-71 Ignor ant
conflict, fueling it with their ignor ance
Societ y as a whole is aware of the conflict, de-
72-86 Debate & mild discrimination bating it, and tr ying to avoid acting on it. Tr adi-
tion and small groups keep discrimination alive
The “conflict” is viewed as curious dif ferences
87-00 Harmony & respect
bet ween individual s/groups, enriching societ y

140 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
Wild Card
W ild Cards is an optional r ule to make conflicts less binar y. It is
used to identif y some people standing beside the main conflict
of a world, of fering an alternative way for the player s to get in-
volved.

To determine a W ild Card, roll again on the Idea Table. Use this
result as a star ting point for an individual or group that acts in-
dependently of the planetar y conflicts.

Then roll on the Circle Influence Table on page 15 8 to determine

the influence they have on societ y. Results above 14 will be r are.

A L IE N CR E AT I O N 141
M – SPACE ALIEN
UNIVERSALS

biodiversity biosphere world

sessile no. frame universals

motile no. symmetry

strangeness limbs
size segmentation

sessile no. frame universals

motile no. symmetry

strangeness limbs
size segmentation

sessile no. frame universals

frostbyte books
motile no. symmetry

strangeness limbs

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size segmentation
 M – SPACE LIFEFORM
world strangeness species

classification ecosystem body plan

communication str hit points

con
behavior siz
dex
int power points
social
pow
cha

natural weapons skills & powers advantages & disadvantages

description/culture
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tech level law level

144 A L IE N CR E AT I O N
A L IE N CR E AT I O N 145
 World Building

U nknown worlds are a staple of science fiction, and the fol-

lowing r ules are meant to help create them. You can ei-
ther star t with a world and create an alien r ace that inhabits it,
or star t with an alien and make up a world that matches. The
method proposed is semi-r andom: roll dice for some initial re-
sults, let your creative side star t combining them into something
interesting, and then add additional detail s to make the image
more complete.

See page 152 for a blank World Sheet.

Bar ren Systems

Bar ren systems or wor lds might
seem uninteresting, but could be
used in many ways. They can be
sources for r are miner al s, dr aw-
ing both corpor ations and indi-
vidual s. Dissidents, refugees or
groups seeking solitude can colo-
nize planets, moons or asteroids.
Scientific outposts may be located
on bar ren systems for many rea-
sons. Once a camp is set up, they
tend to remain, if they are reason-
ably functional.

146 W O R L D B U IL D IN G
Star System & Planet Specs Multiple Star s
Star systems with t wo (binar y) or
To create a planetar y system and some physical detail s about three star s (tr inar y) seem to be
planets, roll up the values you need below. Or leave all blank, quite common. Of ten one of the
star s have planets (if there are any),
and only roll them when the players actually need them. Note
with the other star (s) or biting at a
that you may already have determined some detail s if you have distance. If the star s are too close,
created an alien species first. planets are more unlikely and one
of the star s star ts cannibalizing on
Star Type: Roll 1d3, three times. the other.
Cluster s of star s al so seem to have
» » Light Color: Blue, Yellow, Red
planets, contr ar y to what was be-
» » Star Size: D war f, Normal, Giant lieved ear lier. Planets with per pet-
» » Number of Stars: Single, ual daylight and half a dozen sun-
Binar y, Trinar y sets a day might be possible af ter
all...
Number of planets: 3d6-2, of which 20-50% will be gas giants.
Remove one planet if you need an asteroid belt.

Planets in the habitable zone: 1d3 (+ 1d3 moons each)

Star por t Type (Optional)

1d10 0 Type Description

Roll on the tables below for each planet in the habitable zone:
Build and
repair all
Planet Size 01-20 Full
t ypes of
Planet size is probably most impor tant as a “psychological hook ” ships
for the player s. Resources and areas to explore will be suf ficient Repair and
on even the smallest planets, though it gives some guidance to larger up-
population size. 21-49 Standard gr ades for
common
ship t ypes
1d100 Planet Size Gravit y
Simple
01-20 E x tr a Small 0.7 G repair s &
50 -79 Local
mainte-
21-40 Small 0.85 G nance
41-60 Medium 1G L anding
area &
61-80 L arge 1.15 G 80 - 0 0 Emergenc y
emergenc y
81-00 E x tr a L arge 1.3 G gear

W O R L D B U IL D IN G 147
 Life (if not already defined) O ver all climate

1d100 Life 1d100 O verall climate

01-19 Lifeless 01-11 Ver y hot
20-39 Single-cell life 12-24 Tropical
40-59 Plant life 25-37 Warm
60-79 Animal life 38-50 Ear th like
80-00 Intelligent life (Tech Level) 51-63 Cool
64-76 Chilly
Planets with just one climate or bi-
77-89 Ver y cold
ome (ice planets or deser t planets) are
quite common in sci-fi. In realit y sci- 90-00 Frozen
entists believe this to be ver y r are, or
even non-existent: Even ver y cold or
Percentage of planet sur face covered by wa-
hot wor lds are bound to have some cli-
ter: 1d10 0. On a Ver y Cold or Frozen planet, a
mate var iation.
large percentage will be ice or snow.

Atmospheric Pressure Atmospheric Breathabilit y

1d100 Atmospheric Pressure 1d100 Breathabilit y

01-19 Too thin (vacuum suit) 01-24 Vacuum suit
20-39 Thin (breathing mask) 25-49 Breathing mask
40-59 Ear th like 50-74 Unpleasant
60-79 Dense (unpleasant) 75-00 Ear th like
80-00 Too dense (breathing mask)
Unbreathable atmospheres can for example
have too high level s of methane, CO 2 , hydro-
gen, nitrogen, ammonia, be cor rosive, and/or
contain pollutants (ashes, pollen, sulfur).

148 W O R L D B U IL D IN G
Special World Features
Here is a list of unique features that will occur
sometimes, with var ying frequenc y.
01-07 Double Pl anet. Probably a special case of a
ver y large moon, t wo small planets or bit each oth-
er.
0 8-14 Ringed. Rocks and blocks of ice form a disc
around the planet. Beautiful to see from space,
spectacular from the planet’s sur face.
15-21 Habitable Moon. A satellite with either an
atmosphere or oceans. Not uncommon around gas
giants, though temper atures tend to be a bit low if
they are too far out in a system.
22-28 Tide-Locked. The planet is tur ning the same
side to the sun all the time. The night-side is freez-
ing cold and the day-side is ex tremely hot. The
small areas of t wilight are best suited for humans.
29-35 Canyon. A planet with a thin atmosphere can
sometimes have pockets of breathable air in re-
cesses like canyons and valleys.
36-42 Gaia. All living beings have for med a joint
consciousness, sometimes taking on an individual
will of it’s own to develop and protect the planet.
Psionic power s of some kind are probably involved
in this.
4 3-49 Heav y Bombardment. W ith a lot of mater ial
lef t unused when a planetar y system was for med,
planets will have many more meteor ite str ikes than
nor mal. This is a natur al stage for young systems,
decaying over time. Interesting compounds and or-
ganic molecules can be brought to a planet this way.
50-56 Rogue Wor ld. The might y forces involved
when star systems are for med will sometimes
plunge a planet away into deep space on its own.
Hard to detect and almost cer tainly lifeless.
57-6 3 Seismologically over-ac tive. Either by inter-
nal power s or because of gr avitational forces, some
planets have large number s of active volcanoes and
tectonic plates gr ating at each other to produce vio-
lent recur r ing ear thquakes.
6 4-70 A r tificial. For ver y high tech societies, cre-
ating a planet from the resources found in a star
system is feasible. It’s a possibilit y to shape the
per fect wor ld for their species.
71-77 Unique resource. The planet houses a unique
compound, plant or animal, highly sought af ter (or
per haps not even discovered before). Can be devas-
tating, enr iching or gr ant the discoverer s /inhabit-
ants great power, depending on how it is handled.
78-8 4 High r adiation. From the planet itself, from
the star or from a near-by gas giant.
85-91 Tidal Ef fec ts. Tidal ef fects from a moon or
an accompanying planet not only af fects water but
al so land masses, heating the planet from inside
and creating seismological activit y.
92-98 Flare Star. Relatively small star s can have
recur r ing huge solar bur sts, making them double in
size. For planets in close or bit this results in both a
heat wave and higher level s of r adiation, sometimes
even in deadly doses. A n atmosphere will reduce
the ef fects. Life will be problematic and indigenous
species are likely to have a high degree of muta-
tions.
99-0 0 Roset te Configur ation. A n ar tificial con-
str uction where t wo objects are placed opposite to
each other in or bit.
W O R L D B U IL D IN G 149
 Star Mapping
To make a star map for a small par t of a fictional galax y, the
Galactic classic route is to create a hex map. They might look a bit un-
Nor th
imaginative, but are quite pr actical. There is a blank hex map on
Spinward
the nex t page to fill out.

You can al so use the free ver sion of the progr am Hexogr apher
Trailing to make star maps. Here you can add the name of the star in
Coreward Rimward the hex, and small symbol s around the star to indicate some
Galactic impor tant facts. The symbol s are tied to Classic Tr aveller, but
South
it’s easy to change their meaning, as I have done in the sidebar.

Dif ferent Densities
For really dense par ts of a galax y
(close to the core or in a star clus-
ter) 8 0-90% of the hexes will have
a star. For more spar se par ts 10-
20% will have star s. Placing star s
just out of reach of regular hyper-
space jumps can make them a bit
myster ious.
One hex represents 1 par sec, equalling 3.26 light year s, (the
Milk y Way is approximately 30,0 0 0 par secs across) and al so the
distance tr avelled with Hyper space 1. For ever y hex in normal
space there is a 50% chance that a star is present, and 8 stars
in 10 have a planetar y system. For stor y telling reasons, a large
amount of these systems will have some kind of habitable plan-
et. Political units can al so be marked, with lines or color s, and
other features of space that af fects tr avelling (rif ts of empt y
space, slow-F TL zones, debris-rich or pir ate infested areas for
example).

A map with 8x10 hexes is called a subsector. 16 subsector s (4x4)

Star- Hex number
faring
make up a sector. You keep tr ack of subsector placement by not-
society ing the names of the adjacent subsector s.
Star

Life For a planet you want to detail, always write down the name of
Planets the subsector and the number of the hex it occupies, to make it
Name present easy to locate.

150 W O R L D B U IL D IN G
M – SPACE
subsector

sector

notes
M – SPACE WORLDS
subsector solar system hex

species main worlds

star type planets starports

habitable asteroid belt

world #1 world #2

frostbyte books
world #3 notes

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M – SPACE WORLDS
subsector
dendrite star system
iimbeni [07, 04] hex

species main worlds

ayari ayar (innermost), goltor (2nd), varl
(3rd)

star type 3
planets starports –
yellow, normal, single habitable 2 asteroid belt –

world #1
ayar: small planet, cool climate, 87%
water, dense/earth like atmosphere, no
moons.
inhabited by ayari species.
world #2
goltor: medium size, cool climate, 73%
water, thin/earth like atmosphere, no
moons. animal life only.

world #3 notes
varl: gas giant, 22 moons. ayari: tech level 3, law level 5
154 W O R L D B U IL D IN G
W O R L D B U IL D IN G 155
 Circles

W ith more than five people doing things together, work tends
to be organized in one way or another. And with more than
t welve people brought together, ideological groupings will of ten
star t to appear. Using organizations and ideologies in play can
be a ver y ef fective way to make worlds and NPCs come alive, giv-
ing them clearly defined goal s that the char acter s can either be
a par t of, or tr y to thwar t.

Here, organizations and ideologies are called Circles. A Circle

can be any collection of people sharing an ideology or goal, from
alien communities and world-spanning religions to secret illu-
minatis and local anti-environmentalists.

By assigning stats, attributes and tr aits to Circles, their relative

strengths and weaknesses can be compared. If char acter s join
a Circle, they can call for benefits and fight for its cause. This
way you can make Circles an integr al par t of the game, from the
personal level of the char acters up to a galactic scale where
ideologies compete for dominance.

Below you will find a way to describe Circles in more detail.

Ideas
Ideas are what make Circles tick, the ver y reason for their ex-
istence. It can be the love of a god, technological advancement,
the superiorit y of a specific group of life forms - or a combina-
tion of sever al ideas. Many Circles have one idea at the center of
its “ faith”, with other ideas being added as the ideology evolves.

On page 166 is a list of ideas that have passionately engaged

156 C IR CL E S
many humans throughout the ages. Use them if you need some
suppor t for your creativit y.

For some Circles there will be sever al layer s of ideas: some of-
ficial and some unof ficial. The unof ficial side can for example be
a handful of core values that are kept secret from ever yone but a
select few, or a violent tr adition called upon when needed.

This can al so be modelled with Sub-Circles. Sub-Circles share

most ideas, tr aits and attributes with the parent Circle, but have
a few that sets them apar t. They can either be an integr al par t
of the parent Circle or stand a bit on the side, handling its own
business.

Types
There are four t ypes of Circles: Organization, Ideology, Corpor a-
tion, Location.

Add a descriptive word af ter the t ype, for example Organization

(Religious), Ideology (Political), Ideology (Alien), Location (Cit y
of Gr aath) .

Resources and Tech Level

Stats To compare the resources of Circles

from dif ferent Tech Level s, use the
highest TL as reference. For ever y
Three stats define the basic concepts of a Circle: Influence, Size,
TL step lower, reduce Resources by
Resources. 2 for the lower-tech Circle down to
a minimum of 2. Use with caution
Influence (INF, 1-20) though, as low-tech societies may
have access to r are r aw mater ial s
Influence measures the impact a Circle has on the societ y it be-
for example, that are in high de-
longs to. Not only the direct influence, but al so on gener al poli- mand el sewhere, giving them an
cies, laws and ethics of a societ y. u

CIR CL E S 157
Nations, Wor lds & Cor por ations
Nations or entire wor lds can be
played as Circles if you want an
abstr act way to model their con-
flicts.
Size will be tied to population size
and Resources will broadly reflect
the wealth of the wor ld or countr y.
Influence will in this case mean
wor ld or subsector influence – how
much the nation can af fect inter-
national (or inter stellar) decisions
and policies.
At tr ibutes and Ideas will var y as
for other Circles, but Group (Na-
tion) or Group (Species) will be
common ideas. Troops and Politics
will be common at tr ibutes.
L arge cor por ations can in some
set tings al so act as power ful Cir-
cles, with their own agenda and
political goal s. They can be mod-
elled as other Circles with the ex-
ception that Wealth will always be
one of their ideas.
Resource Level s
1-4 Destitute
5-9 Poor
10-14 Aver age
15-18 Af fluent
19-20 Wealthy
158 C IR CL E S
INF Description
None. Circle’s ideas are unknown to most
1-4 people or viewed as uninteresting, ex treme
or just str ange.
Ver y lit tle influence. Concepts never reach
5 -9
the cor r idor s of power.
Some contacts and influence in the cor-
r idor s of power. Under favor able condi-
10 -14
tions the Circle’s concepts can be tur ned to
societ y-wide policies.
The Circle is a major player in the cor r i-
dor s of power. Has a big impact not only on
15 -18
what decisions are made but al so upon the
ver y agenda.
The cor r idor s of power are completely in
the hands of the Circle. Societ y is fully
19-20 immer sed in ideas from the Circle and new
concepts are easily implemented by its
leader s.
Size (SIZ, 1-20)
Size defines the number of follower s and is a rough estimate on
the number of life forms that can be considered par t of a Circle.
They are not necessarily active, but define themselves as be-
longing to that sphere of ideas. See nex t page for some example
sizes.
Resources (RE S, 1-20)
The resources of a Circle can take many forms, though money
and proper t y are perhaps the most common. For more primi-
tive societies, wealth will be measured in food, valuable objects
and animal s. Somewhere around TL4-5 abstr act resources will
make an entr ance.
Organic Stat Grow th SIZ E xamples
To give a quick indication of how a Circle develops, you can mark 1 <5 0. Mercenar y group
potential stat grow th with a small arrow pointing up, down or 2 2 0 0. Small colony
horizontal nex t to the stat value. 3 800
4 2.5k. Flat Ear th Societ y
Character Actions Raising Stats 5 10k. Town
If the char acters decide to openly suppor t a Circle, their actions 6 5 0k
can increase or decrease stats. A heroic deed showcasing the 7 2 0 0k. Small cit y
ideal s of the Circle are ver y likely to attr act new follower s, new 8 8 0 0k
money and possibly contacts with impor tant decision-maker s 9 2.5M. Greenpeace
and spin doctors. A Circle can gain 1 point in any of the stats for 10 10M. Small nation
a heroic deed by a char acter. Bad publicit y will reduce any stat 11 5 0M
by 1. 12 2 0 0M. L arge nation
13 8 0 0M
Area of Influence 14 2.5Bn. Chr istianit y
Size and Resources are in absolute number s. Influence, on the 15 10Bn. Humanit y
other hand, is in reference to the societ y it belongs to. A band of 16 5 0Bn
mercenaries can have a huge impact on a small colony world but 17 2 0 0Bn. Inter stellar Empire
go unnoticed in an entire subsector. To handle this, always write 18 8 0 0Bn
down the area of influence af ter INF. If you are moving it out of 19 2 5 0 0Bn
that area or scale, Influence is ver y likely to change. 20 >5 0 0 0Bn

Attributes
Attributes describe how the ideas of a Circle are implemented
and how the goal s are to be reached. They are used just as skill s
for char acter s, with a d10 0 to be rolled below the value to use it
successfully.

Choosing Attributes
Attributes are picked to reflect the ideas and methods of a Cir-
cle. For violent freedom fighters, Mob or Troops will probably
be appropriate, while Ahimsa and Politics will better reflect a
serene religion.

CIR CL E S 159
Node Based Circles Attribute Descriptions
A convenient way to wor k with Cir-
cles is to create them as inter lock- Ahimsa. Ahimsa is a collective term for all t ypes of non-violent
ing nodes. That way you can star t
actions. Protest marches, sit-ins, mass non-cooper ation, civil
with a small local Circle, and wor k
your way up to bigger and more disobedience, blockades & strikes. Requires Dedicated follow-
power ful Circles in sever al steps. ers or Strong Leader.
This is an easy way to str ucture a
Black Ops. Secret missions used for sabotage, assassinations,
longer campaign or a str ing of sce-
nar ios: the player s star t investiga- terrorism & kidnapping.
tions relating to a small Circle. At
Cellular. The Circle is divided into self-suf ficient cell s with as
the end of the scenar io they find
clues leading to a slightly more little contact as possible with each other.
power ful group acting behind the
Connec ted. The Circle is well-connected, perhaps through old
small one, and at the end of the
second scenar io the clues point to acquaintances, relatives or ex tensive bribes.
yet another Circle and so on. Cultural Heritage. The Circle is an integr al par t of the societ y it
The Circle nodes can be created belongs to. INF cannot be fully reduced.
top-down or bot tom-up, but star t-
ing out small (bot tom-up) is a good Dedicated Followers. There is a spirit of dedication within the
way to keep both feet on the ground Circle. It can be due to natur al causes like good leader ship or
dur ing the creative process.
forced upon the members with shame, sur veillance & br ain
washing.
Using At tr ibutes
Fear. The Circle has a fear some reputation.
At tr ibutes can be used in sce-
nar ios to indicate how a Circle re- Functional Stupidit y. Member s have a cer tain way of always sub-
acts to changes. W ill they call in
optimizing their actions to suit the Circle’s limited goal s r ather
their law yer s or send an assassin
when the char acter s star t pok- than anyone el se’s (or societ y as a whole).
ing around? The At tr ibutes can be
Info Retrieval. Through espionage, infiltr ation and briber y the
used both to indicate what reac-
tions are likely to be (highest At- Circle gains useful knowledge about its opponents.
tr ibute is likely to be used fir st, if
Legal. The Circle has got a well-tr ained staf f of law yer s always
the situation is appropr iate for it)
but al so how ef ficient that reaction ready to target opponents with lawsuits and threats.
will be (a Circle with Troops 10%
Media. The Circle is ver y skilled at PR and has good relations
will per haps only have a few sloppy
guards, while Troops 85% will rep- with the media in gener al.
resent a well-tr ained elite group
Memes. The Circle has a knack for spreading its world views
with top of the line gear).
through word of mouth.

160 C IR CL E S
Mob. W ith a large enough mob even tr ained troops will back of f. Stat & At tr ibute Level s
Use Thugs for small scale trouble-making. Below are some suggested power
level s for Circles, and what values
Politic s. W ith members at home in the corridor s of power, the to assign to them.
Circle can influence political decisions. Low Level: Use 10 stat points to
spend freely on stats. Distribute
Sanctions. The Circle is using its power s to block an opponent
150 at tr ibute points or 70 points to
economically. one at tr ibute and 4 0 to t wo. Ran-
dom method: Roll INF, SIZ and RES
Secrec y. The Circle’s members and oper ations, and even its
on 1d6. Roll 1d10 0 t wice on the Idea
existence, are kept secret. Use this as a negative modifier for Table. Finally pick 3 At tr ibutes res-
char acters researching the Circle. onating with the ideas (using the
same At tr ibute values as suggested
Securit y. Always war y of attacks, the Circle’s securit y is tight. above).
Passwords, id checks and clear ance level s are common. Medium Level: 25 stat points. 250-
320 at tr ibute points or 90 points to
Spread. Dif ferent par ts of the Circle reside in various locations.
one at tr ibute, 70 to t wo and 4 0 to
The Circle cannot be reduced below a cer tain SIZ, unless at- one. Random method: Roll INF, SIZ
tacked globally. and RES on 2d6. Roll 1d10 0 t wice
on the Idea Table. Finally pick 4 At-
Strong Leader. A charismatic leader is a strong focus point for tr ibutes resonating with the ideas
the Circle. (using the same At tr ibute values as
suggested above).
Territor y. The Circle has some territor y of its own. Higher value
High Level: 4 0 stat points. 4 50-550
indicates either larger areas and/or higher qualit y. at tribute points or 90 points to t wo
Troops. Well-tr ained militar y personnel is kept by the Circle. at tribute, 70 to three and 4 0 to t wo.
Random method: Roll INF, SIZ and
Welfare. The Circle suppor ts societ y by of fering education, char- RES on 2d6 + 6. Roll 1d10 0 t wice on
it y, health care and so on. Not always for altr uistic purposes, but the Idea Table. Finally pick 7 At-
tr ibutes resonating with the ideas
al so to gain a strong local suppor t.
(using the same At tr ibute values as
suggested above).
Traits Player-Controlled: For Circles cre-
ated by the player s, spend 2-4 stat
Tr aits are defining impor tant aspects of a Circle that are not points per player and a total of 150
easily covered by Attributes. This can be significant detail s like at tribute points equally divided
among the player s.
a dress code, t ypical behavior, diet restrictions and so on. This
is a chance to add some color to the Circle, making it stand out
in the player’s memories.

CIR CL E S 161
Some additional w ays Character Rank
to gain or loose r ank:
L arge donation: +3 For most Circles Rank will be an impor tant concept. Rank is
measured from 1 to 10 0+:
Successful public
appear ance: +1 to +3
01-74 Factotum
Negative publicit y or
public blunder: -1 to -3 75-99 Initiate
Illegal actions: +1 to -10 100+ Fugleman
Challenging the
leader s: +5 to -5 For char acter s joining a Circle star ting Rank will be 20.
High CH A: +1
Rank is r aised when a char acter (or NPC) does something good
for the Circle, in the name of it or put the spotlight on it. In gen-
er al, if the char acter has been acting like a good role-model for
the Circle in a scenario she will gain 1-3 in Rank.

Benefits
All Circles can of fer benefits to its member s. What kind of ben-
efits will var y. Some will be highly specialized and closely tied to
the ideas of the Circle and some will be more generic, like money
or information. A psionic institute might be able to boost a char-
acter’s POW for a while or provide tr aining. Classified equipment
or augmentations can be made accessible through a black ops
Circle, and unheard-of science from a group of shy aliens.

The easiest way to call for a benefit is to roll below RES x5 or an

appropriate Attribute. But it can al so be played as a one-sided
social conflict, with the char acters using their communication
skill s to win a bargain. Beforehand, the GM should decide upon
a minimum benefit to gr ant the char acter s ( ie. what they need to
finish the scenario), adding a larger benefit the more successful
they are in the bargain. See the chapter on ex tended conflicts for
more detail s.
162 C IR CL E S
Below are some t ypical benefits, shared by most Circles: Additional Benefit Modifier s:
»» Char acter CH A >16: +10%
Influence: Contacts, allies, information »» Char acter will not tell what the
Resources: Money, equipment, tr anspor t, troops, mob benefit will be used for: -20%
»» Char acter has not been entirely
Roll below the appropriate Circle stat x5 or Attribute to call for
tr uthful regarding benefits in
a benefit. Apply the following dif ficulties:
the past: -20%

» » Small /Common benefit: +/-0. E xamples: Small loan, com- »» Illegal activit y/equipment:

mon equipment, contact with journalist letting char acter s -4 0%. +/-0 for cr iminal organi-

get access to newspaper archive. zations

» » Medium benefit: Hard . E xamples: Contact with low-level »» W ill aid the Circle in a ver y pos-
securit y of ficer t weaking a few r ules, medium loan, special itive w ay: +20 to + 4 0%
equipment. »» A ny one of the following skill s
» » L arge/Rare benefit: Formidable . E xamples: Contact with divided by 5: Influence, Deceit,
police/law yer giving access to archives or confidential in- Commerce, Acting, Seduc-
formation, large loan, r are or expensive equipment. tion, Bureaucr ac y, K nowledge
» » Spectacular/Ridiculous benefit: Herculean . Any thing you (Ps ycho-logy), Cour tes y, Or a-
can think of‚ tor y, Politic s, Teach, Customs
» » Character Rank: Factotum -20%, Initiate +/-0%, or Culture
Fugleman +20%.

Many Benefits will be ready within 24 hour s, but as much as a

week will sometimes be necessar y. In most cases the flow of a
scenario will be the determining factor, either to speed the char-
acters up a bit or to withhold a benefit to increase tension.

Benefits are of ten to be returned by doing some dut y for the

Circle or, in the case of resources, with money. A dut y is prob-
ably most natur al to turn into a new scenario.

CIR CL E S 163
Church of Reason
Ideology (Religion)
Ideas: K nowledge, Peace
INF 11 (Erdini Sector)
SIZ 9
RE S 15
Attributes: A himsa 65%, Dedicated
Follower s 75%, Media 4 0%, Politi-
cal 4 0%.
Tr aits: Dress code ( Yellow robes),
Research, Academic Outlook.
Description: Religion celebr ating
knowledge as the highest level of
existence. Strong advocates for
peace, lear ning and research. Can
appear a bit cold in manner s.
Android Liberation Net work
Organization (Secret)
Ideas: Equalit y, Freedom
INF 4 (Erdini Sector)
SIZ 2
RE S 12
Attributes: Cellular 95%, Info Re-
tr ieval 75%, Memes 4 0%, Secrec y
10 0%, Spread 75%.
Tr aits: Only androids are allowed
to join the net wor k.
Description: Net wor k of androids
and robots secretly promoting the
r ights and freedoms of the entire
android communit y.
Circle Details
Here are some optional detail s that can be used if a Circle needs
to be fleshed out a bit more.
Income
Income specifies how the resources are collected. Common
sources are donations, wealth, crime, business, collecting taxes
and state subsidies.
Age
The number of year s the Circle has existed. L arge ideologies and
organizations are likely to have existed for at least 10 year s.
Enter & E xit
Some Circles are more dif ficult than other s to enter. Sometimes
ver y specific requisites are asked for (wealth, species, recom-
mendation and so on). Write requisites down and a more gener al
dif ficult y level of becoming a member (from easy to dif ficult).
Likewise, getting out may be as easy as saying so, or it may re-
sult in a lifelong death sentence. Rate from easy to impossible.
Restrictions
Some Circles regulate not only what member s should do, but
al so what they ought not to do. Restrictions are of ten the oppo-
site to the ideas & attributes, plus some ad hoc restrictions con-
cerning ever yday tasks (including food, clothes, behavior, lan-
guage, reproduction, pleasures and so on). Some of them can be
related to tr aditional wisdom (for sur vival or since long derived
best pr actices), some are tool s for control and power, and some
again are just plain incomprehensible, at least to outsider s.

164 C IR CL E S
Struc ture
About the str ucture of Circles an entire book could be written.
For most gaming needs these four categories will probably suf-
fice though:

» » Top-Down. (Rational, Tr aditional or Charismatic) . A strong-

ly hier archical str ucture with ever yone well aware of who
is making decisions for who. Rational is where leader s are
chosen for their actual skill s. Tr aditional represents lead-
ers that, for example, inherit their status. Charismatic is for
highly verbal and passionate leaders, with exceptional talents
for engaging followers (al so see attribute Strong Leader).
» » Flat. Members are equal and decisions are collective. De-
cision-making can be slow due to internal discussions and
conflicts. Can al so gener ate ver y dedicated followers.
» » Net. (Open, Closed, V ir tual or Cell). A ver y flexible str ucture
with individual s acting mostly on their own. Open has the net
in constant change, including and excluding people as they
are needed. Closed is a fixed group of people with tr ust as
a major component in their work. V ir tual is a net that only
exists through indirect communication through technology
or psionics. Cell is a small, tight group that has as little as
possible to do with other par ts of the organization, of ten for
securit y reasons (al so see attributes Cellular and Spread).
» » None. No str ucture at all or a str ucture in constant change.
Hard to steer and of ten has dif ficulties reaching a consen-
sus, but al so notoriously hard to destroy.

CIR CL E S 165
 Idea Table

1d10 0 Idea Description

The self comes fir st and as few limitations as pos-

01- 06 Egoism
sible should be set upon it.

War and violence destroy ever y thing of value. Peace

07-12 Peace
must be upheld.

One or sever al spir itual beings make their will ap-

13-18 God(s)
parent to follower s.

19-2 4 A narchy Freedom from hier archy and outer restr ictions.

Equalit y can be bet ween sexes, species, r aces, dif-

25 -30 Equalit y
ferent par ts of societ y and so on.

31-36 Independence The will to not be gover ned by an ex ter ior force.

A specific group of life for ms are at the center of

37-4 2 Group the Circle. The group can be a nation, species, clan,
wor k group, ter ror ist cell etceter a.

4 3-4 8 Power Gaining more power is a goal in itself.

49-5 4 Wealth Increasing wealth is a goal in itself.

55 -60 Environment Protecting some or all aspects of the environment.

Not content with just anarchy, societ y should be ac-

61-66 Chaos
tively exposed to chaos.

67-72 Pleasure Pleasure and well-being are goal s in themselves.

The dr ive to keep doing things the same w ay as they

73-78 Tr adition
have alw ays been done.

79-8 4 Enlightenment Continuous str ife to get bet ter.

Discover ing new wor lds, technologies, designs, phi-

85 -90 Newness
losophies is the solution to all problems.

91-95 Pro (any thing) There is alw ays something to suppor t...

96- 0 0 Against (any thing) ...or protest against. Make your voice heard!

166 C IR CL E S
 M – SPACE CIRCLE
leader name

attributes
influence

size

resources

ideas

traits benefits
frostbyte books

notes
|
ver 3.0 july 2016
168 C IR CL E S
CIR CL E S 169
 Psionics

P sionics are the power s of the mind, reaching out to change

the world without the body as an intermediate. POW is the
basic char acteristic defining if a mind is tuned to work with
these forces.

Psionic power s are divided into three spheres: Sense , Mind and
Matter. They describe, respectively, how well a psionic is tuned
to the forces flowing through the univer se, her abilit y to af fect
other people’s minds and finally her abilit y to af fect objects in
the material world.

When using a power, the player decides what she wants to

achieve and calculates the Power point cost. Roll 1d10 0 under
the power’s skill value. If successful, reduce Power points by
the calculated value, other wise subtr act 1.

Powers
Base r ange: 20 meter s. Double Power Point cost to double r ange
in most cases.

Base Power point cost: 1-10

Default time: 1 Action Point

Skill value is per power, increased as normal skill s. Optionally,

increase value +5% tempor ally per ex tr a Power point spent.

Star ting values: Three power s at POW x2 + add any skill points.

All powers are treated as separ ate skill s and increase individu-
ally as regular skill s. Depending on the st yle of the setting the
availabilit y of power s may dif fer. Either all power s are allowed
for ever yone to learn, or the psionic can be confined to one

170 P S I O NI C S
sphere only. Or the dif ferent Arcs (see below) may have specific Power A rc Requirements
requirements that must be fulfilled. Such requirements can for First A rc: P OW 16
example be a POW value and a skill value (see sidebar). W ith less Second A rc: P OW 18, one power at
restrictions, the more power ful the char acter s will be. 90%, lowest power at 60%
Third A rc: P OW 20, three power s at
90%, lowest power at 60%
Power points are restored by sleeping one night.

In ex treme situations a char acter can make an ex tr a ef for t,

pushing his/her capacit y beyond what is normally possible. In
these cases Hit points can be spent as Power points.

Finding New Powers

Spend a month in tr aining with a teacher or in isolated medi-
tation to awake a new power. Roll under POW x4 (tr aining) or
POW x2 (isolated meditation) to succeed. The new power star ts
at POW x2.

Increasing POW
POW has a chance of being increased when a char acter have won
a resisted or opposed roll against a more power ful opponent.
Put a check mark nex t to POW, and at the end of the adventure
roll 1d10 0 below (25-POW)x5, with a minimum of a 5% chance of
r aising POW. If successful POW will increase by 1 point.
Optional Rule: Stacking Power s

Sense In some situations a psionic may want

First Arc:
Avoid Harm. Utilizing small fluctuations in the continuum to
soak up damage, the psionic can tr ade 1 power point for 1 point
of damage when hit. Cannot be used on anyone el se.
Intuition. The psionic is per fectly in tune with the forces sur-
rounding her, acting as a gentle guiding hand. Adds +1% to any
skill per 1 power point.
to combine t wo power s to achieve the
impossible. To do this, the GM must
fir st accept the power combination.
Then both power s are rolled at Hard
(with Power points spent as usual).
If in the middle of combat, prepa-
r ation time is 1 round, in which the
psionic can do nothing el se. The con-
sequence is that both power s are ac-
tivated at the same time and can be
u

P S I O NI C S 171
Psionic Aliens
The basic concepts for psionics
work the same way for alien life
for ms. All species are supposedly
tapping into the same continuum
of life-forces that per meates the
univer se, and have lear ned to ma-
nipulate it.
But the power s are likely to mani-
fest themselves in dif ferent ways
due to the var iation in the mental
inter nal wir ing.
A s a gener al guideline, human-
like aliens (Str angeness 1-4 0) can
use the r ules as is. Power s can
have dif ferent names, be ordered
slightly dif ferent to reflect the
specific needs of the species and
a couple of new power s are likely
to exist.
There is al so the possibilit y of
single-powered aliens, with one
or t wo power s closely linked to
the evolutionar y sur vival of the
life for m. These of ten have close
ties to the way they get food, pro-
tect themselves or fight oppo-
nents. The r ules here can be used
as inspir ation but it is quite likely
the power s are unique. Other-
wise low-powered life for ms (even
plants) can be a real challenge for
the char acter s if psionics are used
this way.
For even str anger aliens (Str ange-
ness 50-70) it is possibly best to
wr ite down a new psionic power
Continued...
Meditation. Moving into a per fect meditative state, the psionic
can restore ¼ of her full Power points in one hour. Meditation
must be undisturbed and works only once a day. No power point
cost.
Second Arc:
Battle Meditation If a calm moment presents itself during com-
bat, the psionic can choose to quickly enter a deep state of inner
focus and clarit y, giving her an ex tr a bonus on the fir st combat
action following it. Minimum time 2 rounds. Fir st action is Easy .
Cost: 3 power points.
Psychometr y. Sense the histor y of an object or place, who’s been
using it, when and for what. The outcome can var y greatly in de-
tail depending on the local flow of the continuum. Cost: 3 power
points to sense a few days back in time, thereaf ter 5 points/
month.
Detect. Detects a psionic nearby or the tr aces it has lef t. Mask
Mind can be used for psionic stealth. Cost: 2 power points.
Third Arc:
Farsight. This power can give the psionic vague impressions of
events far away in time and/or place, not always showing actual
outcomes, but al so possible scenarios. Cost: 10 power points.
Mind
First Arc:
Friendship. Befriend any intelligent life form (2 power points per
step up on the Social Disposition table, if used). Dur ation: 2 min-
utes. Cost: 2 power points.
Mental Defense. Protection of a 5 m 2 area, including ever yone
inside it, against all psionic attacks. If attacked, use opposed
roll s (Power vs Power). Cost: 2 power points for ever y 5 m 2 .

172 P S I O NI C S
Empathy. The gener al feelings and attitudes of a being can be str ucture. Star ting with a few cen-
tr al power s is of ten good, and then
sensed. Cost: 2 power points. Re-new for 1 Power point to cap-
keep adding abilities in relation to
ture changes in attitude, for example during an ongoing conver- these. Use the life for m’s biome
sation (must be within a few minutes of the fir st roll). and evolutionar y challenges as a
star ting point.
Scream. A mind-numbing, silent psionic scream, like mental
L ast but not least, the really bi-
static. No one within r ange can act for the dur ation of the scream zar re life for ms (Str angeness 8 0 +).
plus 2 rounds. Targets must succeed with a Hard W illpower roll Here, any thing goes. If their physi-
to per form one simple action. Cost: 3 power points. cal for ms are hard to gr asp by
humans, their minds are likely to
Second Arc: be even more incomprehensible.
(Though not always – body and mind
Read Mind. Sur face thoughts can be clearly read by the psionic need not to be linked this way and
for 5 power points. For deeper probing, spend 10 power points shapeless blobs with human-like
and at least one minute. To block deep thoughts from being read, minds can be fun for a change).
Only your imagination sets the lim-
use opposed roll versus W illpower or Mental Defense.
its here.
Af fect Mind. Target follows one suggestion of the caster without
hesitation in small matters. Cost: 5 power points.

Mask Mind. Hides the psionic signature from other psionics,

making her dif ficult to detect. Make an opposed roll if another
psionic is using Detect. 1 power point per minute.

Speed Mind. A burst of mind activit y allowing fast comprehen-

sion, reading or complex interconnections. Knowledge or re-
search roll s are Easy as default, but can al so be used for more
specific resolutions under stress. Cost: 5 power points.

Amnesia. The psionic can make the target forget one minor event
that happened recently. Cost: 4 power points. To er ase more sig-
nificant and emotional events, cost is doubled and an opposed
roll (W illpower vs Amnesia) is needed.

Third Arc:

Control Mind. The abilit y to control the actions of one intelligent

life form. This is a resisted roll with the opponent’s W illpower.
Dur ation: One action or approximately one minute. Cost: 10 pow-
er points.

P S I O NI C S 173
Psionic Success Level s
Fumble: A bilit y fail s and the full
power point cost is lost.
Failure: A bilit y fail s. Power point
cost: 1
Success: A bilit y succeeds. Full
power point cost.
Critical: A bilit y succeeds plus any
of the following ef fects: Power
point cost 1, tr iple r ange, tr iple du-
r ation, infor mation gained exceed
all expectations or P OW (or power
point) value tempor ally doubled.
Fear. Target must make a Hard W illpower roll or flee in terror.
If the roll is made, the life form is incapable of any thing but the
simplest action for as long as the power is upheld. A psionic can
r aise Mental Defense in an opposed roll. Cost: 10 power points
per round.
Telepathy. Allows the psionic to send a simple message of any
one t ype (sound, image, feeling, etceter a) to another being. Cost:
10 power points. Add 5 points for each added t ype.
Matter
First Arc:

Healing. Healing can be used in t wo ways. Either the target re-

stores 1 hit point per power point spent, or physical healing is
doubled at a cost of 2 Power points per day.

Find. Locate any object known to the caster, just as if a compass

was pointing at it. Cost: 2 power points.

Thrown Objec t Damage

Move Object. Use the mind to move any object. Base cost is 3
Default damage by objects hur led power points for up to human-sized objects, then 1 more point
is 1d6 for ever y SIZ 10. Use the list per similar weight added. Base cost is 5 power points instead to
below as a reference for object hurl an object. See sidebar for damage examples.
size and damage.
Illusion. Life-like human-sized illusion working on all senses.
Some examples: To keep an illusion animated the psionic must focus on keeping
Full suitcase 1d3 the power up and can do nothing el se. Cost: 2 power points per
Small robot 1d6 round.
Human 1d6
Robot 1d8 Second Arc:
Motorc ycle 2d6
Push. Spend 2 power points to violently push back 1 human-
Speeder Bike 3d6
sized object. Target suf fer s knockback 5 meter s, is prone nex t
L and Speeder 5d6
round and takes 1d4-1 damage. Drops weapon if a Combat St yle
Tr uck 7d6
Star Fighter 9d6 roll is failed. Use Evade or Acrobatics to dodge, or an opposed
Push roll.

174 P S I O NI C S
Leap. Jump up to 10 meters horizontally or ver tically. Can al so Forgot ten Power s
be used to break a fall. Cost: 4 power points. For ever y additional Destr uc tion (Mind Rapture, Ego At-
4 Power points, add 1 meter. tack, Pain)
Tech ( A nimate, Redirect Power,
Reflexes. Lightning fast reflexes enabling the psionic to parr y Power Blast)
blaster shots, dodge bullets and get double Action Points in a Weaving (Telepor tation)
combat round (for simplicit y, treat it as t wo actions per action Cr af ts (Forge P OW Capsule, Psion-
point). Cost: 5 power points per round. ic Shield)
Nature/A rcane (Beast L anguage,
Stun. A more targeted version of the Scream power af fecting
Tr ue Path)
only selected opponents. Cost: 2 power points per per son and
round.

Mar tial Flow. In combat, af ter the dice has been rolled, the
psionic can spend power points to nudge a roll into a better suc-
cess: Fumble to failure, failure to success or success to critical.
Cost: 1 power point per 1% subtr acted or added to a roll.

Third Arc:

Agilit y. E xceptional body control. For ever y 5 power points spent

add 10% to Athletics, Acrobatics or Unarmed in the current
round. Can be used to push a skill over 10 0% to minimize the
risk of failure or to counter negative modifier s when per forming
dif ficult tasks.

Haste. A bur st of high-speed movement at Movement Rate 30,

lasting 1 round. Cost: 10 power points.

Life Giver. Restore hit points to 1 for any dead life form. The
cause of death must be from unnatur al causes. Use the power
within t wo minutes from the deadly blow. Can only be used on
bodies that are reasonably intact. Cost: 12 power points.

P S I O NI C S 175
176 P S I O NI C S
P S I O NI C S 177
 Vehicle Design

T o sur vey vast areas or to venture into dangerous environ-

ments, the char acter s will sometimes need specialized vehi-
cles tailored for the situation. These r ules provide a fr amework
for that design work, from small single-per son flyer s up to large
mobile headquar ters.

Vehicles use the same modular approach as starships, with the

biggest dif ference being in scale. The scale of the modules (and
the finished vehicle) is in Planetside Scale, ie. one tenth the size
of starships. The default Module size is defined as: 1 Module is
big enough for 1 per son. Just as for star ships, but here with a
ver y bare-bones functionalit y compared to space faring vessel s:
Planetside vehicles don’t have to withstand cosmic r adiation,
keep air pressure up or micro-par ticles out. This al so means
they require much less space, building material s, str uctur al
suppor t, electronics and so on.

Vehicle design follows these steps:

1. Decide upon a vehicle t ype.

2. Pick a Movement Class.
3. Determine what Modules you need. Calcu-
late Speed & Handling.
4. Multiply Modules according to Movement
Class and get vehicle Size.
5. Add apps & pick armor.

178 V E HI CL E D E S I G N
Vehicle Type A n Open System
To make it possible to create all
Star t by defining what t ype of vehicle is needed. E xamples in- kinds of vehicles, from vespas to
fighter jets, these r ules are kept
clude: All-terr ain vehicle ( AT V), fly c ycle, car, tr anspor tation
as flexible as possible. This means
quad copter, speeder bike, land speeder, armored walker, heli- there are ver y few restr ictions and
copter etceter a. the r ules can produce fantastic or,
depending on how you look at it, r i-
diculous results. ( Vespas going at
Mach 2 for example)
Movement Class To keep vehicles in the spirit of the
set ting, the GM should always su-
Movement class represents the medium the vehicle moves in or per vise the design and compare the
on. It can be on or through the ground, in the air, and in or on results with the real wor ld or his
liquid. This choice will af fect the total number of Modules and campaign ideas.
sometimes Speed & Handling.

Ground:
»» Regular. Add 1 Module/10 Modules (minimum 1)
»» Terr ain. Add 2 modules/10 modules (minimum 2)
»» Walker. Modules x2
»» Burrower. Modules x3 (Speed & Handling at -90%)

Liquid:
» » Sur face, Motor. Modules x2
» » Sur face, Sail. Modules x2 + sail s
» » Sub. Modules x3 Vehicle Combat
Note that Speed & Handling are at -50% for all vehicles moving For vehicle combat, use the r ules
in or on the sur face of liquids. for star ship combat.

Flight:
»» Wings. Modules x3
Module Par tial s
»» Anti-gr av. Add 1 module/10 modules (minimum 1)
For small vehicles it of ten makes
»» Rotor blades. Modules x2
sense to wor k with half or quar ter
»» Hover cr af t. Modules x2 Modules for some functions, espe-
»» Gas bag. 10 modules (1 ton) need 10 0 0 cially engines and maneuver ing.
modules of default lif ting gas.

V E HI CL E D E S I G N 179
Stunts Vehicle Modules
To add even more fantastic tech-
nology, border ing on magic, use Pick the Modules needed for the vehicle. Most Modules are the
the guidelines below for Stunts.
same as for star ships: Cockpit, Cargo, Passenger s and so on.
Psionic s. The vehicle has a psychic
Below is a list of all Modules for vehicles.
ar tificial mind with power s equal
to a star ting psionic char acter, ei-
ther to use by itself or as suppor t- Basic assumptions:
ing power s for the char acter.
» » 1 module/person
Luck Points. For vehicles that
seem to make the impossible hap- » » 1 module/10 0 kg cargo
pen at just the r ight moment, make
» » 10 Hit Points/module
1-3 Luck points available to the
char acter s using it. » » Weight: 1 Module = 10 0 kg
Lighting Fast. Calculate Speed & (10 modules = 1 ton)
Handling stat as usual, but there is
al so a boost function pushing the
vehicle into the 16-22 r ange of the
stats for a shor t per iod of time. Module Descriptions
Shape Change. From vehicles that
Cockpit. 1 module per per son. 10 0 0 Cr.
can be unfolded, to vehicles with
dif ferent states or modes, for ex- Engine. Select a Thr ust Rating (TR) for the Modules. Determines
ample automatically changing into
the vehicle’s Speed value, see page 182.
a submar ine when hit ting water.
Tiny. Technology miniatur ization
taken so far that almost any thing
Engine Type TR for Engine Cost/Engine Module
can fit into a per sonal-sized ve-
hicle. Cutting Edge 120 2000
Excellent 100 1500
Standard 70 1000
Economy 40 500
Simple 20 250

Maneuvering. Select a Thr ust Rating (TR) for the Modules. Use
the table above. Determines the vehicle’s Handling value, see
page 182.

180 V E HI CL E D E S I G N
Sickbay. 2 modules for an Autodoc with room for one patient. 4
Speed km/h
modules per patient for an ambulating sickbay. 10 0 0 Cr.
1 10
Crew. 1 module per crew member. Bunk requires 2 modules/
2 20
person. 4 modules per crew member for cubicles. 50 0 Cr.
3 30
Passengers. 1 module per seated passenger. Bunk requires 2
4 40
modules/per son. 4 modules per passenger for cubicles. 50 0 Cr.
5 50
Cargo Hold. 1 module per 10 0 kg cargo. Secret compar tments,
6 60
specific habitats or biomes cost more. 50 0 Cr. 10 0 0 Cr for spe-
cial demands. 7 80

8 10 0
Weapons. 1 module per attack and round. Handled by one per son
with Gunner y skill. One module can be handled by the pilot, the 9 130

following weapon modules are separ ate turrets. Choose from 10 16 0

laser, blaster, ion cannon, missiles. For costs, see weapon table. 11 20 0
L ab. 1 module +10% in one chosen skill (cannot exceed +30% per 12 25 0
skill, though larger specimen can be brought into the lab if more 13 30 0
modules are added for the same skill). 10 0 0 Cr.
14 400
Open Space. 8 modules minimum for canteen, briefing room, gym 15 500
etc. Holds at most one person per Module, ver y tightly packed.
16 60 0
50 0 Cr.
17 800
Vehicle Bay. Gar age or hangar for a small vehicle. Takes t wice as
18 10 0 0
many modules as the vehicle carried. 50 0 Cr.
19 125 0
Self-Repair. 1 module per self-repair unit. One roll ever y third
20 15 0 0
combat round. +5% in Mechanics per step. 10 0 0 Cr.
21 20 0 0
Rescue Utilities. 1 module/1 person. 10 Par achutes or Life-Vests
22 30 0 0
fits into 1 Module. 50 0 Cr.

Sensors. Sensors are not automatically included for vehicles.

1 Module includes a close r ange sensor detecting r adiation, at-
mosphere, heat (IR), life, specific miner al s and water. Use with
Sensors skill. 10 0 0 Cr.

V E HI CL E D E S I G N 181
Vehicle Stealth
W hile of ten not as advanced as the
stealth found in star ships, it is cr u-
cial for vehicles in many set tings.
Common technology is masking of
r adar, heat, sound and emissions,
High tech visual masking is al so an
option.
Use the same r ules as for star-
ships: Stealth gives the opponent
-5% per step in Sensor s or Spot
skill. Max -30%.
Cost: 50 0 Cr per -5% and Module.
SPEED =
Total Thrust Rating
Number of Vehicle Modules
HANDLING =
Total Thrust Rating
Number of Vehicle Modules
182 V E HI CL E D E S I G N
Robot Arm. 1 Module for one ex ternal robot arm, controlled from
the bridge. Strength 4 0. Reach: 2 meter s. For doubled strength
and reach, double the number of Modules. 10 0 0 Cr.
Airlock. 2 modules for one per son. Not automatically included in
the “hull ” as for star ships. 50 0 Cr.
Stor age. Air: 1 module holds compressed air (and a rec ycler)
for 1 person to last 12 hour s. Smoke: 1 module holds 2 charges
of smoke, capable of gener ating a 10 0 m 2 smoke screen. Vehicle
concealed within 2-4 rounds. 50 0 Cr.
Environment. Sealed hull. Multiply total cost with 2. Required
for subs & high altitude flight. 10 0 0 Cr.
Vehicle Stats
Vehicles, like star ships, are defined by three stats: Speed, Han-
dling and Size.
SPEED (1-20)
Calculate Speed by multiplying the total Thr ust Rating of the
Engine Modules with the number of Modules. (Total Engine TR /
number of Modules).
HANDLING (1-20)
Calculate Handling by multiplying the total Thr ust Rating of the
Maneuver Modules with the number of Modules. (Total Maneuver
TR /number of Modules).
SIZE (1-)
Vehicle Size is calculated by taking the number of Modules, then
multiply or add, the modifier associated with the Movement
class. Then multiply that number with 10. For shor t: (Number of
Modules) x (Movement class modifier) x10.
Weapons
Choose weapons from the table below. All weapons require a
gunner with the Gunner y combat st yle.

Weapon Damage Range Modules Cost

Heav y L aser Rifle 2d10 + 4 15 0 m 1 10 0 0 Cr

Heav y Blaster Rifle 3d10 +2 10 0 m 1 2 0 0 0 Cr

Blaster Cannon 4 d10 + 4 10 0 0 m 2 30 0 0 Cr

Rail Gun 6d8 + 6 10 0 0 0 m 2 4 0 0 0 Cr

L aser Cannon 4 d8 + 4 600 m 2 30 0 0 Cr

Ion Cannon 3d10 + 4* 70 m 2 2 0 0 0 Cr

Missile 8d6 + 8 12 0 0 m 2 5 0 0 0 Cr

Stun Cannon 4 d6 40 m 2 10 0 0 Cr

* Only versus tech.

Damage & Malfunction Optional: Calculating Weight

Multiply Weight with 1+( A P/10)
Damage works as for simplified star ship combat (without hit
locations). When hit points are halved, roll on the Malfunction E xamples:
table: A P 5 = Module weight x1.5
A P 10 = Module weight x 2.0
Malfunc tion Table (1d6): A P 21 = Module weight x3.1
1. Power out, no sensors or weapons Special cases:
2. Minor leak in one module (air/water/fuel) Low-weight: Weight /2, cost x10
3. No Maneuvering, Pilot or Drive skill halved Ultr a-light: Weight /10, cost x10
4. Speed halved Supr a-light: Weight /10 0, cost x10 0
5. Uncontrolled spin. Pilot or Drive skill at 0 % Heav y-weight: Weight x4, cost x4
6. Re-roll on this table. +1 on dur ation table

V E HI CL E D E S I G N 183
Vehicle Condition
Vehicle condition is measured
from 0 down to -10 0. Use the r ules
for star ship condition regarding
skill modifier s, maintenance, re-
pair s and the cost of used vehicles.
A r mor E xamples
Use the list below as a reference
for ar mor. Most common is steel
ar mor, but var ious high-tech com-
posites appear at TechLevel 12. If
t wo A P values are shown, the sec-
ond value represents the protec-
tion for passenger s.
Speeder Bike, A P 10/0
Car, A P 10/2
L and Speeder, A P 10/0
A r mored Car, A P 16/ 5
AT V, A P 18
Tank, A P 24
Hover Cr af t, A P 10
Helicopter, A P 4 /2
Fighter Jet, A P 6/ 5
184 V E HI CL E D E S I G N
Duration Table:
1. One round
2. 1d6 rounds
3. Until repaired
4. Until repaired, Mechanics at -20%
5. Until nex t stop and repaired
6. Until nex t stop and buying new par ts.
Personal damage: Ever yone on board the vehicle must al so make
an Athletics or Acrobatics roll to avoid 1d4-1 damage.
Armor & Hit Points
Shields are not ver y common for vehicles in most settings, of ten
because they are too bulk y and energy demanding. If needed, use
the r ules for star ship shields. Cost /Module and step (+1): 50 0 Cr.
For armor, only 2 /3 of the Modules need to be covered – the re-
maining Modules are considered internal, with no need for pro-
tection. Cost /Module and step (+1): 10 0 Cr.
Hit points can be bought up (for vehicles with better str uctur al
integrit y) or down (for fr agile constr uctions and thin, shell-like
vehicles). +/- 50 0 Cr for each HP up or down. Can never r aise Hit
points more than 30% above the star ting value.
Apps
Apps function the same way as for star ships, giving up to +30%
to the skill used. The apps available for vehicles are Navigation,
Sensors and Targeting. See page 96 in the Star ship Design chapter
for more detail s.
 M – SPACE VEHICLE
type player

speed movement class hit points

handling armor
size

modules weapons

apps

other
frostbyte books
|
ver 3.0 july 2016

stealth
186 V E HI CL E D E S I G N
V E HI CL E D E S I G N 187
Researching New Gear
Technology
Goal: Combining functions in new
ways, inventing new functions or
modif ying existing functions.
Requisites: Suf ficient mater ial s, a
lab/ wor kshop and relevant skill s
T echnology is one of the pillar s of science fiction. This chapter
contains lists of equipment and weapons for the char acters,
sample vehicles, r ules for constr ucting and modif ying gear, and
(one char acter must have the En-
gineer ing skill; Mechanics, Elec- some guidelines for interstellar tr ade.
tronics & Computer s can be used
as assisting skill s).
Lab Research
The success or failure of constr uc-
tion skill roll s, af fect later oper a- Finding clues by scientific research is quite common in science
tion skill roll s.
fiction. W ith a L ab Module in their star ship or vehicle, char ac-
Default base penalt y for oper ation
of home made gear: -20% (see Per- ters even get a chance to uncover clues in the field.
manent Objects on how to reduce
the penalt y). First, decide what skill or skill s the L ab will be built for. A char-
acter using the lab must have the same skill, and gets a skill
One-shot objec ts:
bonus bet ween 5-30%, with each 5% step costing 50 0 0 Credits.
These are improvised objects that
are developed to solve a specific
A single Module can give max +10%, so to get full bonus, three
challenge in a scenar io. Fir st the Modules are needed.
GM must decide if the required
mater ial s are available (or can be Conducting research: The GM decides what basic clue should
cobbled together from scr ap or
other near by objects). Optionally
always be uncovered – the bit of information needed to move
one Luck Point can be spent by the stor y for ward. Determine a time fr ame (5 days for example)
player s to gain access to a reason- and the number of roll s needed (one per day perhaps). For each
able amount of mater ial s. successive roll, add a piece of information that gives the players
For ever y function the finished ob- an advantage when later solving the larger problem in the stor y
ject will consist of, it will take one
per son 1 day to put it together (or
(perhaps a shor tcut, a way to avoid violence, revealing sensitive
1 hour in tr uly heroic set tings). For local customs and beliefs or avoiding a tr ap). All dice should be
ever y additional per son involved rolled by the GM.
with relevant skill s (up to 4 peo-
ple), reduce time by 25%.

Continued...

188 T ECHN O LO G Y
Trade & Cargo Roll the relevant constr uction skill
once a day. For ever y failed roll,
Here are some pointers on interstellar tr ade, for char acter s that later oper ation skill roll s will be
at -10% (in addition to the default
wants to make good use of their cargo holds. -20%).
In oper ation: Skill roll once ever y
Cargo available: In major starpor ts there will always be cargo. minute (or somewhere bet ween
For smaller por ts, there is a 20-50% chance, depending on pop- 1-10 minutes, depending on the
ulation size and tech level. time scale of the situation) the ob-
ject is in use. For ever y failed roll,
Tons available: Roll 2d6 for the number of tons available on a
object functionalit y will be halved.
regular planet. Lower to 1d6 for sparsely populated worlds, and The exact ef fect is for the GM to de-
r aise to 3d6 or more for densely populated or high-producing cide; it can be r ange, damage dealt,
worlds. ef ficienc y, etceter a. Cr itical s, on
the other hand, will ex tend oper a-
Destination: Choosing the destination is an impor tant par t of the
tion time or ef ficienc y.
job. Use the Commerce skill to determine a good match, adding
1
/ 5 of Culture for any of the regions involved. Missing this roll Per manent objects:
results in a Hard penalt y on both buy and sell roll s (see below). Same as above, but for ever y ad-
Buying & selling: Use Commerce first when buying, and again ditional week spent refining the
constr uction, design and oper ation
when selling. Consult the table below to see how large the profit
(with a successful constr uction
will be. skill roll) add +5% to the oper a-
tion skill roll. W hen the total pen-
alt y reaches zero, the object can be
Buy skill Modifier when Sell skill Profit, % of
used as nor mal gear, without ex tr a
roll is a: selling roll is a: buy value skill roll s or penalties.
Success Eas y Success +5 0% Costs will be roughly the same as
if a reasonably similar object were
Fail Hard Fail -2 0%
bought on a near by wor ld.
Success Eas y Fail 0%

Fail Hard Success +10%

Common goods are agricultur al products, industrial technology,

luxur y goods (fine bever ages, r are miner al s, antiques, exclusive
tex tiles, works of ar t, etceter a), consumer electronics and so
on. Calculate with a cost per ton star ting at 150 Cr for staple
goods, 30 0 0 Cr in the mid r ange, while luxur y items will go much
higher.

T ECHN O LO G Y 189
 Personal Equipment
Below is a list of weapons, armor and per sonal equipment t ypi-
cal for heroic sci-fi settings. All values in Planetside scale.

Firing
Ranged Weapons Damage Range Load Cost
1. Can be set to stun. Rate
Roll damage as nor- 1
Blaster 1d8 10/ 30/120 1 3 4 0 0 Cr
mal, but damage is
1
done to the Conflict Blaster Carbine 2d6 15/ 50/220 1 3 70 0 Cr
Pool (CON+SIZ) di- 1
vided by two; see the Blaster Rifle 2d6 30/10 0/ 30 0 1 3 10 0 0 Cr
chapter on extended Heav y Blaster 1d10
1
7/25/ 50 1 3 50 0 Cr
conflicts. When the
1
Conflict Pool reach- Light Blaster 1d6 30 1 30 0 Cr
es zero, the charac- 1
Mini Blaster 1d6 7/25/ 50 1 3 250 Cr
ter falls unconscious
2
and takes 1d4 hit Ionization Rifle 1d10 vs tech 5/10/20 1 3 60 0 Cr
point damage (in
random location).
Force Sword 2d8 Reach: L 1 – –
2. Renders droids Par ticle Grenade 3d8 Thrown 1 – 80 0 Cr
and electronics in-
Thermal
operable for 1d3 x10 5d10 Thrown 1 – 10 0 0 Cr.
minutes. Detonator

Contemporar y guns
and other r anged
Melee
Damage Size AP/HP Note Cost
weapons are covered Weapons
in the freestanding
A xe 1d6 +1 M 4 /8 Can sunder armor 50 Cr
version of My thras
Imperative and in RQ Club 1d6 M 4 /4 –
Firearms. Both are
free downloads from
Dagger 1d4+1 S 6/8 Can be thrown 25 Cr
The Design Mecha- Force Sword 2d8 L 6/8 –
nism.
Unarmed 1d3 S – Unarmed human –

190 T ECHN O LO G Y
 Type AP Skill Modifiers Hit Locations Cost
Blast Helmet 4 -5% Perception Skill s Head 250 Cr.
Blast Vest 4 -5% to Physical Skill s Chest /Abdom. 30 0 Cr/par t
Blast Shield 6 (Shield Skill) 30 0 Cr.
Light BioMesh 4 A ny 150 Cr/par t
BioMesh 6 A ny 30 0 Cr/par t
Light Body Armor 10 -10% to Physical Skill s* A ny 4 0 0 Cr/par t
Militar y Body Armor 12 -25% to Physical Skill s* A ny 80 0 Cr/par t

* Lower if not a full suit. -5% for one or two pieces (for example both arms or
chest /abdomen).

Equipment
Datalink – For tr ansmitting high-bandwidth data across com-
Str angeness & Technology
puter-systems. 10 0 Cr.
Char acter s tend to find alien tech-
Comlink – A basic communicator: can easily be keyed together in nology that is hard to under stand.
pairs or groups, al so var y from commercial model s to high-end It can be labeled in an unknown
language, be fit ted with control s
militar y issue. Either hand-held, wrist-mounted, or headset. 50-
made for a completely dif ferent set
20 0 Cr. of limbs and manipulator s, and so
on. Usage of str ange technology
Droid Caller – Small device capable of summoning any droid
may require a skill roll (Mechanics,
with a restr aining bolt, or aler ting any nearby ser vice droid. 10 0 Electronics, Sensor s, Computer s,
Cr. Pilot, Dr ive and so on).
Droid Controller – A more complex ver sion of a droid caller, To reflect the alien nature of an
object, use the Str angeness value
similar to a keypad link. 150 Cr.
associated with the alien or iginal-
Keypad Link – A small hand-held computer slaved to another ly constr ucting the object. A ssign
computer or vehicle system, used for remote access and con- the Str angeness value to the ob-
ject, and use it as a negative modi-
trol. 20 0 Cr. fier whenever the char acter s tr y to
Datapad – Either specialized or gener al-use por table computer, use it. Skill points relating to the
alien species in Culture, L anguage,
usually equipped with some sensors and a datalink. 250 Cr.
K nowledge or A strobiology will
Memor y Cell – A data stor age medium, commonly used. 10 Cr. counter act a negative modifier.

T ECHN O LO G Y 191
Hologr aphic Display Projector – Read-only
projector for hologr aphic imaging or data,
sometimes called a holoprojector. 10 0 Cr.
MemCube – Data stor age medium, encr ypted
and self-destr ucting. 50 Cr.
Code Reader – Data reader for code c ylin-
ders, will scr amble c ylinder if not keyed
properly. 10 0 Cr.
Sensor Jammer – Anti-sensor equipment.
Of ten illegal. 250 Cr.
Communications Jammer – Self explanator y,
of ten illegal. Range: 20 0 meters. 20 0 Cr.
Securit y Field Jammer – Anti-securit y coun-
termeasure device, aiding intr usion into se-
cure areas. Highly illegal and controlled.
350 Cr.
Damper Shield Gener ator – Device capable
of dampening all electronic tr ansmissions in
an area. Range: 50 meters. 20 0 Cr.
Macrobinoculars – Self explanator y, al so
similar to Electrobinoculars. 10 0 Cr.
Tr acer Beacon – Tr acing units capable of
relaying coordinates planet-wide or across
star systems. Usually keyed into ship sen-
sors or a computer with ex tended sensor ca-
pabilities. 250 Cr.
Sensor Pack – A backpack-sized sensor ar-
r ay, capable of long-r ange detection and
t wo-way planetar y-wide relay. 4 0 0 Cr.
Multiscanner: Specialized handheld scanner
192 T ECHN O LO G Y
to detect r adiation, energy, miner al s, chemi-
cal compounds and life forms. Range: Up to
50 0 meter s. Skill: Sensor s. 4 0 0 Cr.
Probe: A self-sustaining sensor arr ay in
a small anti-gr av probe built to work both
in vacuum and dif ferent atmospheres. De-
tects r adiation, energy, miner al s, chemical
compounds and life forms. W ill last up to a
month. Scanner r ange: 1 km. Flight r ange
under atmospheric conditions: 50 0 km.
Flight r ange in space: W ithin a star system.
Skill: Sensor s. 10 0 0 0 Cr.
Light-intensifier Goggles: Intensifies avai-
lable light. Penalties for darkness halved.
20 0 Cr.
Infr ared Goggles: Allows vision in total dark-
ness. 20 0 Cr.
Cable Dispenser and Hook – Device with liq-
uid cable reser voir or filament cable, pos-
sible spike launcher, and attachable gr ap-
pling hooks. Can al so be combined into a
rocket cable launcher, mounted onto a blast-
er fr ame, gauntlet, or br acer. Range: 20 me-
ter s. 10 0 Cr.
Lock Picking Set: A small electronic kit for
picking all sor ts of locks, both mechanical
and advanced electronic locks. 4 0 0 Cr.
L aser Torch: Small close-focus hand laser
for cutting and welding. W ill cut through reg-
ular door s and bulkheads but not armored
ships. Can be used as a weapon (damage 1d6,
r ange 1 meter). 10 0 Cr.
Food Capsules – Could al so contain concen-
tr ated liquids or dr ugs. 10 Cr/10 meal s.
Nose Filter: Filtering out unwanted contami-
nants when breathing. 10 0 Cr.
Ox ygen Reprocessor – Al so comes in gener-
al or specialized varieties. Can al so be com-
bined with an ox ygen supply. 4 0 0 Cr.
Aquabreather – For under water environ-
ments. 30 0 Cr.
E xposure Suit – Protective outfit, comes in
gener al or specialized varieties. 50 0 Cr.
High Gr av Suit – Suppor t outfit, with auto-
musculature suppor t enhancements. 80 0 Cr.
VaccBelt – Belt with built-in air-bag re-
sembling a tr ansparent balloon, automati-
cally inflated when there is a steep pressure
change. Works for 10 minutes. 20 0 0 Cr.
Life Suppor t Suit – Can sur vive light vacuum
for shor t periods, some include food, fluid,
and waste systems. Monitors and regulates
life signs on chest or wrist panel. 10 0 0 Cr.
Space Suit – Comes in three basic varieties:
Emergenc y (shor t-term sur vival in hard vac-
uum), Utilit y (basic, with maneuvering jets
and high r adiation shielding), and Militar y-
Gr ade (long-term hard vacuum sur vivabilit y,
self-sealing, high r ad shields, jets, full food,
fluid, and waste systems). 20 0 0-10 0 0 0 Cr.
Cocoon – Ver y light and por table all-weather
cocoon holding one per son. 50 0 Cr.
Por table Emergenc y Shelters – Come in a
variet y of sizes and configur ations, from
basic to deluxe, gener al to specific environ-
ment. 30 0-20 0 0 Cr.
Medpak – A medical kit with either special-
ized or gener al application use. Makes First
Aid an Easy skill roll. 75 Cr.
Power Cell s – Useful for most powered
equipment, weapons, etc. W ide r ange of siz-
es and energy output features. 50 Cr.
Fusion Gener ator – One of a variet y of light-
to-heav y por table gener ator s. 30 0-150 0 Cr.
Fusion Tool s – Could be a gener al kit, or
specialized for specific t ypes of work such as
android repair, starship mechanics, or com-
puter systems. 10 0 Cr.
Anti-gr av Platform: Human-sized platform
used for lighter tr anspor t duties. Can carr y
up to 20 0 kg. 4 0 0 Cr.
Jet Pack: Two small thr uster s worn as a
backpack. Move 6. Skill: Drive (Jet Pack).
Range 2 km. 20 0 0 Cr.
Hover Board: Small disc-shaped anti-gr av
platform for personal tr anspor tation. Skill:
Drive (Hover Board). Move: 14 (lower in close
quar ter s and combat). Range 2 km. 20 0 0 Cr.
T ECHN O LO G Y 193
 Vehicles
The following vehicles are some of the more common t ypes used
in sci-fi works.

Speeder Bike
Fast and lightly ar mored hover bike. Cost: 10 0 0 0 Cr.

SPEED 15 Hit Points 40

H A NDLING 18 Weight 0.8 ton
SIZE 30 Dimensions L: 4 m W: 1 m

Weapons Heav y Blaster Rifle, 3d6

A r mor A P 5 /–
Cargo 5 0 kg

L and Speeder, Standard

Four-per son standard model hover car. Cost: 50 0 0 Cr.

SPEED 12 Hit Points 60

H A NDLING 8 Weight 1.2 ton
SIZE 50 Dimensions L: 5 m W: 2 m

Weapons None
A r mor A P 10/–
Cargo 10 0 kg

L and Speeder, Fast

Two-per son fast hover car. Cost: 10 0 0 0 Cr.

SPEED 15 Hit Points 50

H A NDLING 14 Weight 1 ton
SIZE 40 Dimensions L: 3 m W: 2 m

Weapons None
A r mor A P 8 /–
Cargo 5 0 kg

194 T ECHN O LO G Y
All Terrain Vehicle ( AT V ), Small Infor mation Access Level s
Four-per son light ter r ain vehicle. Cost: 50 0 0 0 Cr. In campaigns with ex tensive net-
works and power ful computer s, in-
SPEED 10 Hit Points 70 for mation is likely to be easily ac-
H A NDLING 8 Weight 2 ton cessible.
SIZE 70 Dimensions L: 6 m W: 2 m Level A: Infor mation accessible to
all citizens. No skill roll required.
Weapons None Histor ic data is of ten accessible at
A r mor A P 12 /2 this level but time-consuming to
sif t through, either due to legac y
Cargo 4 0 0 kg
systems (isolated and with arcane
input /output methods) or because
All Terrain Vehicle ( AT V ), Medium they exist only in pr int or handwr it-
Six-per son ar mored ter r ain vehicle with roof-mounted heav y blaster. ten for m. Skill s: Computer s, Re-
search, Bureaucr ac y.
L arge cargo area for expedition gear. Cost: 10 0 0 0 0 Cr.
Level B: Data considered as
SPEED 8 Hit Points 10 0 “owned” by someone who invested
H A NDLING 6 Weight 4.5 ton money to collect, organize and in-
ter pret it. Not classified. E xam-
SIZE 10 0 Dimensions L: 10 m W: 2 m ples: Complete technical dr awings
of building complexes, detailed
Weapons Heav y Blaster Rifle, 4 d8 + 4
descr iptions of technical systems,
A r mor A P 16 research data. Skill s: Bureaucr ac y,
Cargo 6 0 0 kg Computer s, Research.
Level C: Classified & encr ypted
Quad, Small data. E xamples: Economic tr ans-
actions, medical data, descr iptions
Two-per son highly maneuver able per sonal flyer. Cost: 10 0 0 0 Cr. of secur it y systems, militar y re-
search, descr iptions of high-r isk
SPEED 13 Hit Points 30
complexes. Skill: Computer s at
H A NDLING 17 Weight 0.5 ton Hard or For midable .
SIZE 30 Dimensions L: 3 m W: 3 m Level D: Highly classified infor-
mation. Kept in an isolated net-
Weapons None
wor k without access from ex ter nal
A r mor None sources, or data might only exist in
Cargo 5 0 kg physical form (in pr int, embedded
in objects or in a life for m), well-
guarded and/or hidden.
For infor mation in alien systems,
use Str angeness as a negative
modifier.

T ECHN O LO G Y 195
 Starships
This is a small collection of star ship stats to use in scenarios
and campaigns, either for char acters or NPCs. All ship modules
have been listed to make it easy to t weak the values to your
own taste, or to use them as reference when designing your own
ships.

Star fighter: Allround

A fast fighter with consider able firepower.
SPEED 19
H A NDLING 17 Cockpit 1
SIZE 8 Crew 1 (Mech Droid)
Weapons 2 (L aser, damage upgr ade to 2d6 each)
Hit Points 8 Engine 2 (Thr ust Rating 8 0)
Shields 10 Maneuver 2 (Thr ust Rating 70)
A r mor 2 Cargo None (only per sonal /sur vival gear)
Weapons L aser x 2 (2d6) Hyper space 1 (tiny - no module added to SIZ)
Missiles (3d6) Shields 10
A pps Targeting +15% A r mor 2
Hit Locations Cockpit 01-13 A pps Targeting +15%
Crew 14-25
Weapons 26-51
Engine 52-77
Maneuver 78-0 0

196 T ECHN O LO G Y
Star fighter: Fast & Fr agile
Mass produced favour ite, well known (and feared) for its speed and SPEED 20
maneuver abilit y.
H A NDLING 18
Cockpit 1 SIZE 6
Weapons 3 (L aser x 2, 2d6 each, Missiles)
Hit Points 6
Engine 1 (Thr ust Rating 115)
Shields –
Maneuver 1 (Thr ust Rating 110)
Cargo None (only per sonal /sur vival gear)
A r mor –
Weapons L aser x 2 (2d6)
Hyper space –
Missiles (3d6)
Shields –
A pps –
A r mor –
Hit Locations Cockpit 01-20
A pps –
Weapons 21-60
Engine 61-8 0
Maneuver 81-0 0
Star fighter: Slow & Sturdy
A ship from a previous gener ation, but still in use for its heav y ar ma- SPEED 15
ment and sturdy build. H A NDLING 11

Cockpit 2 (pilot + gunner) SIZE 14

Crew 1 (Mech Droid)

Hit Points 16
Weapons 5 (L aser x 2, Ion, Missiles x 2)
Shields 10
Engine 3 (Thr ust Rating 70)
A r mor 3
Maneuver 3 (Thr ust Rating 5 0)
Weapons L aser x 2 (1d6)
Cargo None (only per sonal /sur vival gear)
Ion Cannon (2d6 +1)
Hyper space 1 (tiny - no module added to SIZ)
Missiles x 2 (3d6)
Shields 10
A pps Targeting +10%
A r mor 3
Hit Locations Cockpit 01-13
A pps Targeting +10%
Crew 14-20
E x tr a HP 2
Weapons 21-5 6
Engine 57-77
Maneuver 78-0 0

T ECHN O LO G Y 197
 Free Trader
Ver satile light freighter still in use by shady char acter s despite its age.
SPEED 10
Ver y easy to repur pose for all sor ts of missions.
H A NDLING 8
SIZE 79 Cockpit 2
Passenger s (8) 8
Hit Points 79 Open Space 8
Shields 10 Weapons 4 (2 laser tur rets, damage upgr ade to 2d6 each,
A r mor 4 Machine gun)
Weapons L aser x 2 (2d6) Engine 8 (Thr ust Rating 10 0)
Machine gun (–) Maneuver 6 (Thr ust Rating 10 0)
A pps – Cargo 4 0 (4 0 tonnes). 4 hidden ( For midable to find)
Hit Locations Cockpit 01-0 3 Hyper space 3 (tiny – no modules added)
Open space 0 4-2 3 Shields 10
Weapons 24-2 8 A r mor 4
Engine 2 9-3 8 A pps –
Maneuver 39-4 6
Cargo 47-0 0 Note: The machine gun is useful only against Planetar y scale targets,
not star ships. Damage:2d6 + 4 / bullet in bur sts of up to 20 0 bullets. For
each bullet, r aise chance to hit by 5% (but never more than double).

SPEED 22
Star fighter: Ver y Fast
H A NDLING 20
Wedge shaped interceptor appreciated for its high speed.
SIZE 6
Cockpit 1
Hit Points 6 Weapons 3 (2 L aser, 2d6 each, 1 missile, 3d6)
Shields 6 Engine 1 (Thr ust Rating 130)
A r mor – Maneuver 1 (Thr ust Rating 110)
Weapons L aser x 2 (2d6) Cargo None (only per sonal /sur vival gear)
Missiles (3d6) Hyper space 1 (tiny; no module added)
A pps Targeting +10% Shields 6
Hit Locations Cockpit 01-17 A r mor –
Weapons 18-6 8 A pps Targeting +10%
Engine 69-8 5
Maneuver 8 6-0 0

198 T ECHN O LO G Y
Star fighter: Fast & Fr agile II
A n upgr aded ver sion of the Fast & Fr agile. Slightly faster and with
SPEED 21
more firepower. Still not outr unning the Ver y Fast Star fighter though.
H A NDLING 19
Cockpit 1 SIZE 6
Weapons 3 (L aser x 2, 3d6 each, Missiles)
Engine 1 (Thr ust Rating 125) Hit Points 6

Maneuver 1 (Thr ust Rating 115) Shields –

Cargo None (only per sonal /sur vival gear) A r mor 2

Hyper space – Weapons L aser x 2 (3d6)

Shields – Missiles (3d6)

A r mor 2 A pps –

A pps – Hit Locations Cockpit 01-20

Weapons 21-60
Engine 61-8 0
Small Bomber Maneuver 81-0 0
A dual-body bomber, similar to the Fast & Fr agile, car r ying a good load
of missiles. SPEED 12
H A NDLING 12
Cockpit 1
SIZE 9
Weapons 4 (L aser x 2, Missiles (Proton),
Missiles (Concussion))
Hit Points 9
Engine 2 (Thr ust Rating 55)
Shields –
Maneuver 2 (Thr ust Rating 55)
A r mor 2
Cargo None (only per sonal /sur vival gear)
Weapons L aser x 2 (1d6)
Hyper space –
Missiles P (3d6)
Shields –
Missiles C (3d6)
A r mor 2
A pps –
A pps –
Hit Locations Cockpit 01-11
Weapons 12-55
Small Bomber s may be upgr aded to include: Hyperdr ive (1 module);
the proton tor pedo launcher s can car r y six tor pedoes each; the missile Engine 57-78
launcher s can car r y ten missiles each. Fur ther var iants of the Bomber: Maneuver 79-0 0
Heav y Bomber (w. 2 ordnance pods); the L ander (with an ex tr a per son-
nel pod for troops); B Shut tle (with the ordnance pod conver ted for
passenger s); Boarding Cr af t (with the ordnance pod conver ted to car r y
clamps, a hull cut ter and a boarding par t y).

T ECHN O LO G Y 199
 Shuttle
This is a gener ic fr amewor k for a Shut tle. Use the var ious inter ior s
SPEED 11
below for dif ferent purposes.
H A NDLING 7
SIZE 44 Cockpit 6
Open Space 24
Hit Points 44 Weapons 5 (2 L aser, 1 Ion Cannon, 2 Missiles)
Shields 5 Engine 5 (Thr ust Rating 10 0)
A r mor 2 Maneuver 3 (Thr ust Rating 10 0)
Weapons L aser x 2 (1d6) Hyper space 1 (tiny – no modules added)
Ion Gun (2d6 +1) Shields 5
Missiles (3d6) A r mor 2
A pps – A pps –
Hit Locations Cockpit 01-14
Open space 15-69 Optional inter ior s: A . Staterooms 6 (x4 = 24). B. Passenger s 2 0 + Cargo 4
Weapons 70-81 (= 24). C. Cargo 24.

Engine 82-9 3
Maneuver 94-0 0

Star fighter: Fast & Fragile III

Protot ype for a more technically advanced Star fighter, the project later
SPEED 20
abandoned due to high costs.
H A NDLING 18
SIZE 6 Cockpit 1
Weapons 2 (Blaster, 2d8 each)
Hit Points 6 Engine 1 (Thr ust Rating 12 0)
Shields 2 Maneuver 1 (Thr ust Rating 110)
A r mor 2 Cargo None (only per sonal /sur vival gear)
Weapons Blaster x 2 (2d8 +1) Hyper space –
A pps Targeting +15% Shields 2
Hit Locations Cockpit 01-2 0 A r mor 2
Weapons 21-6 0 A pps –
Engine 61-8 0
Maneuver 81-0 0

200 T ECHN O LO G Y
Capital Ships
The ships described on the following pages are constr ucted with
the aid of the capital ship r ules on page 91 Modules are used
as normal, but the concept of Size Rating (SR) is used to keep
the calculations easier. This al so means that the exact number
of modules aren’t as impor tant as for smaller ships.

Most capital ships are armed with high-power turbolasers.

Individual turbolasers are ver y power ful (the beam carries

roughly three or more times the energy of a standard laser can-
non beam). Each turbolaser occupies 5 modules, as follows:

One turbolaser (base damage 1D6): 1 module

Damage upgr ade to 3d6 (+2 steps): 2 modules
Range increase +50% to 30 (+2 steps): 2 modules

Dual or Heav y turbolaser turrets have fur ther upgr ades: Range
increased to +10 0% (up to 4 0, costing 4 modules) and damage to
4d6 (3 steps, costing 3 modules) for a total of 8 modules each.

Keep the following modifiers in mind too: When the dif ference
in Size Rating is 4 or 5, the larger attacker is at Hard in Gun-
ner y. For the smaller attacker Gunner y roll s are Easy . A Size
Rating dif ference of 6 or more, Gunner y will be at Formidable /
Ver y Easy .

When the dif ference in Speed is 5 or higher, the faster ship gets
Easy Pilot roll s. This modifier evens out the odds for small and
fast ships, especially against a heavily armed opponent.

T ECHN O LO G Y 201
 Cor vette
A s a vessel of state, the ship features dining rooms for hosting state
SPEED 12
dinner s as well as conference rooms suitable for negotiations with in-
H A NDLING 5
ter stellar dignitaries.
SIZE 20 4 8 (SR12)
Cockpit 10
Hit Points 20 4 8 Passenger s 57 (6 staterooms, 3 3 regular)
Shields 10 Crew 4 6 (hot bunking)
A r mor 7 Sickbay 4 0 (10 patients)
Weapons L aser x 2 (4 d6) Open Space 340
L aser x4 (3d6) Weapons 2 8 (2 dual tur bolaser s à 8 modules, 4 single tur-
(Gunner y 65%) bolaser s à 5 modules)
A pps – Engine 25 0 (Thr ust Rating 10 0)
Hit Locations Cockpit 01 Maneuver 10 0 (Thr ust Rating 10 0)
Crew 02-12 Cargo 12 0 0
Passenger s 13-25 E scape Pod 8
Engine 26-37 Hyper space 3 (tiny – no modules added)
Maneuver 3 8-42 Shields 10
Cargo 4 3-0 0 A r mor 7
A pps –

In w ar time, cargo holds can be configured as bar r acks accommoda-

tion for troops. Allow one module per trooper (hot bunking; per sonal
stor age, in-flight r ations and other w ar mater iel), giving a capacit y of
15 0 0 trooper s.

202 T ECHN O LO G Y
Destroyer
These behemoths not only have ter rible fire power, but the size is so
SPEED 10
outr ageous it will scare any at tacker.
H A NDLING 5
Crew 370 0 0 (hot bunking) SIZE 65K (SR17)
Troops 970 0 (hot bunking)
Hit Points 65 0 0 0
Open Space 10 0 0 0
Shields 20
Sickbay 4 0 0 (10 0 patients)
Hangar Bay 14 5 0
A r mor 10
Cargo Hold 14 5 0 Weapons 60 Tur bolaser s

Tr ac tor Beam 10 (4 d6)

60 Ion Cannons
E scape Pods 10 0
(2d6 +1)
Weapons 55 0
(Gunner y 65%)
Engine 495 0 (Thr ust Rating 120)
A pps Targeting +15%
Maneuver 25 0 0 (Thr ust Rating 120)
Sensor s +15%
Hyper space 5 (tiny – no modules added)
Hit Locations –
Shields 20
A r mor 10
A pps Targeting +15%, Sensor s +15%

Hangar Bay: Can car r y 72 Star fighter s (720 modules); 8 shut tles (8 0
modules); 20 Walker s (2 0 0 modules); 30 Small Walker s (30 0 modules);
15 Troop Tr anspor ts (15 0 modules).
Weapons: 60 Tur bolaser bat ter ies (8 modules each = 4 8 0 modules); 6 0
Ion Cannons (6 0 modules); 10 Tr ac tor beam projector s (10 modules).
For regular sized ships (below SR13) roll 1d6 to deter mine how many
weapons can target the ship in a combat round (though creative flying
will lower that. For larger ships, double to 2d6 per ship.

T ECHN O LO G Y 203
 Frigate
This fr igate is essentially a smaller Destroyer, of ten used for patrol
SPEED 8
missions.
H A NDLING 6
SIZE 32K (SR16) Crew 190 0 0
Troops 4 0 0 0 (6 staterooms, 3 3 regular)
Hit Points 32 0 0 0 Sickbay 4 0 0 (10 0 patients)
Shields 15 Open Space 4000
A r mor 7 Hangar Bay 800
Weapons L aser x4 (3d6) Tr ac tor Beam 10
Ion Cannon x4 (3d6) Weapons 280
L aser x4 (4 d6) Engine 20 0 0 (Thr ust Rating 12 0)
(Gunner y 65%) Maneuver 15 0 0 (Thr ust Rating 12 0)
A pps Targeting +15% Cargo Hold 12 0 0
Sensor s +15% E scape Pod 10
Hit Locations – Hyper space 4 (tiny – no modules added)
Shields 15
A r mor 7
A pps Targeting +15%, Sensor s +15%

Hangar Bay: 72 Star fighters, 2 Shuttles = 74 ships needing 10 modules

each = 740 modules. Add 60 modules for AT Vs, speeder bikes, etcetera =
800 modules.
Weapons: 4 turbolaser batteries (40 x 5 = 200), 4 ion cannon batteries (40),
4 point-defense laser batteries (40).

204 T ECHN O LO G Y
T ECHN O LO G Y 205
 Life forms
This chapter contains a few example life forms to be used in
encounters or scenarios. They were developed to be generic
enough to be useful in many situations, but still with some tie-
ins to their environments.

S TR 2d6 +12 (19) Reptore

CON 3d6 (10-11)
Forest dwelling predator using heat sensitive glands to spot prey.
SIZ 3d6 + 6 (16-17)
See illustr ation on page 14 6.
INT 4 (4)
P OW 2d6 + 6 (13) Str angeness 30
DE X 2d6 +12 (19) Cl assification Car nivore ( A mbusher)
CH A 1d6 (3-4) Habitat Forest (Tropical to Temper ate)
Advantages A r mor (Skin, A P 4), Stealth (Hide, Silent)
Move 8m
Disadvantages Hiber nation (Day time deep sleeper), Cubs (For 3
HP 18
months / year)
Weapons Bite 60% (2d6) S
Behavior Aggressive
Claws 75% (1d6) M
Social Semi-single (3 individual s shar ing ter r itor y)
A r mor A P 4 (Skin)
Communication Heat (Max r ange 5 0 m, nor mal r ange 5 m)
PP 12
Dmg Mod +2d6 Biosphere Ear th-like atmosphere
Skill s Endur ance 65%, Body Pl an Bilater al, Endoskeleton. Limbs: 4
Evade 70%, Percep- Univer sal s Shar p, E x tr a sense (Heat), Reduced sense (Sight),
tion (Heat) 65%, Three sexes (Bir th-giver, Protector, Teacher)
Stealth 75%, Tr ack
5 0%, W illpower 5 0% The Reptore is a fear some predator. A master of stealth, it str ikes
without much w ar ning from its hiding place in the undergrow th, using
its size to ground the victim. W ith claws and teeth it quickly inflicts
lethal damage.
At home in forests undistur bed by civilization it is a ter r itor ial crea-
ture. Three individual s share the same area but r arely encounter each
other. Like all life for ms on the planet it has three sexes: One individu-

206 L IF E F O R M S
al giving bir th (1-3 cubs), a protec tor taking care of the cubs dur ing the Suppor ting Species
fir st six months and thereaf ter a teacher is educating them in the ar t Reptore main prey: Sever al hole
of hunting. Af ter 18 months cubs leave to seek out their own ter r itor y. dwelling species (SIZ 3-15) gr azing
Eye sight is not ver y well developed in life for ms on the planet, relying the undergrow th, looking like puf f y
instead on heat sensitive glands on the head, wor king best dur ing the lizards.
night. This means most life for ms, including the Reptore, sleeps dur-
ing the day. To compensate for its high-energy hunting habits, it goes
into a hiber nation-like state dur ing the day (tr usting its hiding skill s
for secur it y).

Deep-Sea Gobbler S TR 6d6 +24 (4 5)

CON 4 d6 +18 (32)
L arge aquatic builder on the verge of pr imitive civilization. SIZ 6d6 +24 (4 5)
Illustr ation on page 18 6. DE X 2d6 +3 (10)
INT 8 (8)
Str angeness 50
P OW 4 d6 (14)
Classification Omnivore
CH A 1d6 (3-4)
Habitat Oceans (Tropical to A rctic)
Advantages Size, A r mor (Skin, A P 4), Builder, L anguage (Sim- Move 6 m (Water)
ple) HP 39
Disadvantages Disease-r idden (1 in 10 are bor n with defect fins; Weapons Bite 75% (5d6) H
see detail s below) Ramming 75% (2d6)
Behavior Easily angered (protecting ter r itor y & eggs) H
Social Small group (12-2 0), Ter r itor ial A r mor A P 4 (Skin)
Communication Sound (Max r ange 10 km, nor mal r ange 2 0 0 m) PP 14
Dmg Mod +2d6
Biosphere Water oceans
Skill s Build nest 5 0%, En-
Body Plan Bilater al, Endoskeleton. Limbs: 0
dur ance 5 0%, Evade
Univer sal s A sexual, Aquatic (Motile 2)
30%, Hunt
(Under w ater) 75%,
Despite its fish-like appear ance, in evolutionar y ter ms the Deep-Sea
Gobbler is ver y far from a fish. It is an egg laying species, brooding its Perception 75%
2-3 large eggs in str uc tures built by a mix ture of sand and saliva. The
str ucture (of ten found on the br ink of continental shelves) resembles
a half-r uined sand castle and usually houses 12-20 individual s, con-
str ucted with their nimble mouths / beaks as manipulator s.

L IF E F O R M S 207
Suppor ting Species
The oceans are mainly dominated
by elongated shell-clad swimmer s,
using their r udimentar y ar ms /fins
in an almost propeller like fashion.
A handful species similar to the
Gobbler exist, but are quite r are.
They do not have the Gobbler’s
high INT.
A s they are asexual, they take tur ns laying eggs. Deep inside their
buildings, where w ater temper ature is more easily controlled, the eggs
are kept in relative safet y.
W ith the size of a killer whale and a quite ter r itor ial mind-set, the Deep-
Sea Gobbler may appear aggressive at times. Water vehicles, floating
or submerged, have a good chance of being at tacked if they enter Gob-
bler ter r itor y. W ith its strong jaws it can bite through unar mored hull s
or r am a vessel. If injured below half its hit points, it will withdr aw to
the safet y of the “castle” (and the rest of the clan).
Because of a vir us, 1 in 10 Gobbler s are bor n with defect fins, making
them ver y poor s wimmer s. If studied carefully, these individual s can
be seen to frequently stay in the built str ucture, improving on it to be-
come something almost architectur al. W ithin a few gener ations these
individual s will for m the basis of a shif t tow ards pr imitive civilization
relying on under w ater buildings, cat tle and far ming.

S TR 2d6 + 8 (14) Woog

CON 3d6 (10-11)
SIZ 3d6 + 6 (16-17) Subter r anean dweller using its keen senses to stay out of sight.
INT 1d6 + 6 (9-10) Illustr ation on page 187.
P OW 2d6 + 6 (13) Str angeness 50
DE X 3d6 (10-11) Cl assification Omnivore (Scrounger)
A PP 1d6 (3-4) Habitat Underground

Move 6m Advantages Enhanced perception (Hear ing, Scent), Stealth,

Intelligence
HP 14
Disadvantages Rare habitat, Food scarcit y
Weapons Bite 60% (1d6) M
Claws 75% (1d6) L Behavior Hiding

A r mor A P 2 (Skin) Social Single

PP 13 Communication Sound

Dmg Mod +1d6 Biosphere Ear th-like atmosphere

Skill s Endur ance 30%, Body Pl an Bilater al, Endoskeleton. Limbs: 4
Evade 75%, Percep- Univer sal s Fine Manipulation, A sexual
tion 95%, Stealth
95%, Tr ack 65% On planets where the Woog are found, they sometime take on a my thi-
cal aspec t. They are r arely encountered, or even seen, and they have a

208 L IF E F O R M S
remar kable w ay of just disappear ing. Mostly this is thanks to their keen
hear ing and scent. But al so a good knowledge of their underground
habitats.
W hy the Woog, despite their low tech level, are spread to what seems
like a r andom collec tion of planets, is hotly debated among scientists.
Most seem to believe that the Woog over millennia have sneaked on-
board star ships, later to disembar k unnoticed at the nex t stop.
A Woog is seldom violent. Most of the time only the tr aces of their vis-
its will be found (stolen food or tool s). If encountered they will tr y to
flee, disappear ing almost magically. If cor nered they will put up a shor t
fight, only enough to clear a w ay out.

Lava Swamp Morac S TR 6d6 +24 (4 5)

CON 3d6 +16 (26-27)
Heat-loving beast sometimes used for r iding. SIZ 6d6 +32 (5 3)
See illustr ation on page 8 4. INT 6 (6)

Str angeness 30 P OW 2d6 + 6 (13)

Classification Her bivore (Gr azer) DE X 3d6 (10-11)

Habitat Wetlands A PP 2d6 (6-7)

Advantages Size, A r mor (Skin, A P 6), Heat Resistant Move 8m

Disadvantages Rare habitat (L av a Sw amp) HP 40
Behavior Patient / Watchful Weapons Tr unk 75% (2d6) H
Social Small group (12-2 0), Wander ing Tusk 5 0% (5d6) L
Communication Low frequenc y sound (Max r ange 10 km, nor mal Tr ample 5 0% (10d6
r ange 2 0 m) vs downed foe) L
A r mor A P 6 (Skin)
Biosphere Ear th-like atmosphere
PP 13
Body Plan Bilater al, Endoskeleton
Dmg Mod +5d6
Univer sal s Shar p, Perception (Low frequenc y sound)
Skill s Endur ance 5 0%,
Evade 5 0%, Long-
The L ava Sw amp Mor ac is the largest animal able to sur vive the boiling
w ater s of the lav a-heated wetlands on Somol. Wander ing up to 30 0 km Range Communica-
in a year - almost crossing an entire continent – it moves slowly but tion 75%, Perception
steadily in groups of 10-2 0 individual s. (Listen) 75%, W ill-
Ever y autumn they retur n to the boiling wetlands to lay their sof t eggs power 75%
in makeshif t nests, kept w ar m and protected by the hot sur roundings.

L IF E F O R M S 209
 One of the indigenous intelligent species on Somol have al so lear ned to
use the Mor ac for tr anspor tation and har vesting duties. B y hitching a
r ide the gatherer s are taken deep into the lava s w amps on the safet y of
the Mor ac’s backs, for the r ider s to har vest the Imquilla flower s. Highly
ef ficient slings are utilized by the r ider s to keep predator s at a distance
dur ing the long jour ney.

Suppor ting species

Gr azer: Tree-hanging, long rodents in massive herds gr azing the trees.
Predator: The main predator is what looks like a cat-bear hybr id. Comes
in sever al subspecies, and t wo of them are capable of downing a weak
Mor ac. They cannot enter the lava s w amps though.

S TR 1d6 + 4 (7-8) Grept

CON 1d6 + 4 (7-8)
SIZ 2d6 + 6 (13) Intelligent psionic species with a str ictly hier archical societ y.
DE X 3d6 (10-11) See illustr ation on page 131.

INT 2d6 + 6 (13) Str angeness 30

P OW 2d6 +12 (18-19) Cl assification Omnivore (Gatherer)
CH A 2d6 (6-7) Habitat Semi-Open / Bush land
Advantages Intelligence, A r mor (Chitin, A P 2)
Move 6m
Disadvantages Hier archy, Fr agile
HP 10
Behavior Suspicious
Weapons Blaster 6 0% (1d8)
Social Small group or herd
N’Awr 75% (1d4) S
Communication Sound (Max r ange 20 m, nor mal r ange 5 m),
A r mor A P 2 (Skin)
Psionic (Range 2 0 m)
PP 18
Dmg Mod – Biosphere Ear th-like atmosphere
Skill s Endur ance 5 0%, Body Pl an Bilater al, E xoskeleton. Limbs: 4
Evade 5 0%, Percep- Univer sal s Psionic
tion 60%, Stealth
75%, Tr ack 6 0%, The Grept is an intelligent species of natur al psionic s from the Dellon
W illpower 75% s ystem. Their tech level is high (TL11) but, for reasons not ver y well un-
der stood, they have not developed space tr avel technology. The planet
of Dellon is one of the few examples of psionic abilities emerging ear ly
in the evolutionar y process, resulting in low level psionic s being ver y
common among all life for ms.

210 L IF E F O R M S
The dwellings of the Grept reflec t the str ict hier archy of societ y. Cities, Psionic Power s of the Grept
both small and large, are circular and divided into five Spheres. Each Member s of the t wo lower Spheres
Sphere is assigned to one of the psionic classes, with lower classes (4 and 5) will know the following
never being allowed into a higher Sphere. This is to “keep the spir itual power s (no roll s required in most
aether untainted” in the words of the higher classes. Member s of the cases):
higher Spheres can freely enter the lower ones, but it is not done fre-
Find Water & Food: A Grept always
quently (and they are not ver y welcome). Bar r ier s bet ween Spheres are
knows where to find food and water.
psionic in nature; no physical boundar ies reveal their existence and
only a psionic can detec t them. Broadcast Emotion: A simple way
of telling ever yone your emotional
The psionic abilities of all Dellon’s life for ms spr ing from a small inter - state.
nal organ called the Aeron, located in the chest. It’s a hazelnut-sized Locate Mind: A Grept can always
neur al node and wor ks like a hyper-connected appendix to the br ain keep tr ack of 5-10 close individu-
(al so located in the chest). al s. The fur ther away an individual
is, the less precise the power.
The Aeron and its func tion has been well under stood for about 6 0 0
year s, but r itual ex tr ac tions of the organ had taken place much ear lier. Use the above, plus power s from
A Grept can live without an Aeron only for a few days, both loosing its the psionics chapter for the three
power s, but al so becoming a mindless dr if ter. Aerons are sometimes upper spheres (1-3):
ex tr acted as punishment, as a result of duelling, as plain revenge or Third Sphere: 2 power s at 30%
in religious r itual s. A s the vic tims no longer have any psionic sensibil-
Second Sphere: 3 power s at 50%
it y, they are completely cut of f from societ y, not being considered as
individual s. Fir st Sphere: 5 power s at 70%

Even animal s will see their Aeron being cut out at times, mostly for r it-
ualistic reasons. But medical exper iments are conducted on them too. Equipment
There is a secret movement of physicians tr ying to tr ansplant Aerons, N’Awr: A c ylindr ical dagger, the
initially to save lives, but eventually to break the str angling mold of the N’Awr, is used to liter ally punch
Spheres. A s the Spheres are linked to the psionic finger pr ints, tr ans- out an Aeron, and it is still carr ied
planting an Aeron from high to low may allow for the boundar ies to be by many as par t of the tr aditional
crossed more freely. Grept ar mament.

The Grept & Non-Psionic Char ac ters

Non-psionic char ac ter s visiting Dellon will be treated in equal par ts
with fascination and contempt. The Grept will be unsure whether the
visitor s are gods or non-entities; only inanimate objects and the dying
lack aether minds. This uncer taint y, if utilized wisely by the char ac-
ter s, can benefit them in their dealings with the Grept. Local physicians
suppor ting the secret movement of Grept liber ation are al so likely to
show an interest in the char ac ter s - the medical possibilities of living
entirely without an Aeron will be ver y exciting to them.

L IF E F O R M S 211
 Appendix A

Starship Design Walkthrough

This is a walkthrough of the star ship design r ules in more detail.
It covers the creation of a t ypical star ship for player char acters,
housing 4 people for longer periods of time. It can be hard to
pinpoint exactly what t ype of ship this is, so I will call it an E x-
plorer. It has a good cargo hold, a sick bay, a small common area
and is lightly armed. (The cubicles can theoretically hold t wo
people, but then it will be a bit too crowded for any real privac y.
A s a tempor ar y solution, if the number of player s var y bet ween
scenarios, it should be fine though).

Step 1
The fir st step is to deter mine the ideal number of people that’s going to
use the ship. A s stated above, I’m going for 4 people. That’s 1 pilot and
3 crew member s or passenger s.

Step 2
modules Let’s star t with the cockpit. 1 Module would be enough, but as some
Cockpit 3 of the stor y telling action of ten happens in the cockpit, I’m making it 3
Modules. The second cockpit Module will be ideal for a gunner. I add
“Cockpit, 3” under the Modules heading on the star ship sheet.

Step 3
A s the ship must be functional for longer tr ips, cubicles are needed:
that means 4 Cubicle Modules per per son, a total of 16 Modules. I add
“Crew (4), 16” to the sheet.

Step 4
T ime to add a common room. A s it will be a combined meeting, dining
& hanging out t ype of space, I make it a bit bigger than necessar y: 15
Modules.

212 A P P E ND I X A
Step 5
Cargo holds are alw ays dif ficult to deter mine the size of, but I’ll go for
22 Modules here. Not big enough for a regular tr ader, but enough to
fit an AT V and some dandy explor ation equipment (not included in the
purchase though…).

Step 6
Char acter s tend to get hur t a lot, so a good 4 Module sick bay is needed.
A nd as a precaution I throw in an Autodoc too (2 Modules). That’s 6
Modules.

Step 7
The ship al so needs reasonable hyper space capabilities: 3 Modules.
The ship will be able to go 3 hexes per jump when used together with a
standard subsec tor map.

Step 8
Regarding weapons, t wo laser s will do (one oper ated by the pilot, the
other by the gunner). I’m upping damage to 2d6 though, using the r ules
from the advanced combat r ules. This will take 2 Modules.

Step 9
This is what the list of Modules looks like now (sidebar):

Step 10 modules
All in all, 67 Modules so far. I take a moment to look through what
Modules I have. Flicking through the r ulebook, I make sure I haven’t Cockpit 3
missed any of the func tions the ship needs. Af ter some consider ation, Crew (4) 16
I decide that I’m happy as it is. (The main reason for double-checking
at this stage, is to avoid recalculating Speed and Maneuver more than Open Space 15
necessar y). Cargo hold 22
Step 11
Sick Bay 4
Now that the ship’s layout is fir mly set, it’s time for Engines and Ma- Autodoc 2
neuver; I gr ab my iPhone calculator. I will tr y with a Thr ust Rating (TR) Hyperspace 3
of 70, and see how it wor ks. I star t with a size 1/10 th of the total Mod-
ules, just to get my bear ings on the Speed and Maneuver values: 7 En- Weapons 2
gine Modules and 7 for Maneuver. Let’s see what Speed and Maneuver
values we get with that:

A P P E ND I X A 213
 TR multiplied with the number of Engine (or Maneuver) Modules:
70 x7= 490. That’s the total TR.
Total ship Modules will now be 67+7+7= 81
Total TR divided by ship Modules: 490/81= 6

SPEED = Speed and Maneuver at 6 is a bit low for what I had in mind. So, either
Total Thrust Rating I increase the number of Modules or r aise TR. Let’s tr y 10 Modules of
Number of Ship Modules each; if that’s not enough, I will r aise the TR. The new calculations look
like this:

70 x10 =70 0 in total TR

Total Modules: 67+10 +10 = 87
70 0/87= 8

8 is still a bit low. Raising TR to 10 0:

HANDLING =
Total Thrust Rating 10 0 x10 =10 0 0 in total TR
Total Modules is the same: 67+10 +10 = 87
Number of Ship Modules
10 0 0/87=12 (11.5 rounded up)

Speed and Maneuver at 12 is a good star t! I will keep 12 for Maneuver,

but go back to TR70 for the Engine Modules (the engine, I decide, is a
bit old).

Step 12
That means ship stats are ready!

Step 13
SPEED 8 A r mor and Shields are nex t. In the contex t of the intended set ting,
A r mor will be fine at 2 and Shields at 7. The values can be deter mined
H A NDLING 12
in one of t wo w ays: either by deciding what is nor mal in the set ting, or
SIZE 87 just add as much as the ship builder af fords. A s I’m not doing the eco-
nomic calculations for this ship, I’m going for the fir st method here.

Step 14
For the remaining at tr ibutes I go for: Stealth (no), Streamlining (yes)
and A pps (no). I will not use Recover y, to keep any combats simpler.

214 A P P E ND I X A
Step 15
If you don’t w ant to use Hit Locations, the ship is done! Just set Gener al
shields 7
Hit Points to 87 and you’re good to go. I prefer Hit Locations for the armor 2
detailed stor y hooks they can provide though, so stay with me for a few
moments if you w ant to see how they wor k. hyperspace 3
Step 16
To calculate Hit Locations, I br ing out my calculator again. I’m dividing
the number of Modules for each individual section with the total num-
ber of Modules. So, for the cockpit it’s 3 /87= 0.0 3. Times 10 0, we get 3. Cockpit 01-0 3
Thus, the Hit Location table star ts like this:

Step 17
Nex t, cubicles (Crew): 16 Modules. 16 /87= 0.18. Multiplied by 10 0, we Cockpit 01-0 3
get 18. Just take the last number in the table (3) and add 18 to that: the Crew 0 4-21
r ange will be bet ween 0 4 and 21.

Step 18
For the rest of the sec tions it looks like this (sidebar):

Step 19 Hit Locations Hit Points

That’s it! The ship is done. I will call it A ajege, a S ïmmedh word mean- 01-0 3 Br idge 3
ing a spr ing of w ater. But there’s one more thing I w ant to add... 0 4-21 Crew 16
22-3 8 Open Space 15
Step 19 39-6 3 Cargo Hold 22
I’m planning for this ship to be slightly old, a bit bat tered and to have 6 4-69 Sick Bay 4
some per sonalit y. I’m halving hit points for some of the sections (Open
70-71 Autodoc 2
Space and Cargo Hold) and take aw ay 3 Hit Points each from Engines
and Maneuver. I al so set Ship Condition to -20; all Pilot roll s will be 72-74 Hyper space 3
Hard, just as all Mechanic s roll s. The GM is al so free to call for Pilot 75-76 Weapons 2
roll s for standard maneuver s, and any failed such roll may result in a 77-87 Engines 10
malfunction. (See more about Ship Condition at page 101). Just enough
8 8-0 0 Maneuver 10
to keep the player s on their toes, not relying too heavily on their tech.

A P P E ND I X A 215
 Appendix B
Starship Combat Example
Colin Brett has been so kind as to let me publish his test r un of
the starship combat r ules. See more of Colin’s work at http: //
w w w.colinabrett.me.uk /

Introduction
An example of star ship combat in M-SPACE. Presented in “me-
chanical ” and “narr ative” formats, to describe the dice roll s and
stor y aspects of a space battle. Fir st, the ships.

SPEED 6
Gamma Star – Solar Federation Patrol Ship
H A NDLING 5
SIZE 110 Br idge 5
Crew 5 0 (12 Crew member s)
Hit Locations Hit Points
Weapons 13
01-05 Br idge 5
Engine 6 (Thr ust Rating 10 0)
06-11 Engines 6
Maneuver 5 (Thr ust Rating 10 0)
12-16 Manoeuvre 5
Sick Bay 20
17-35 Sick Bay 20
Hyper space 3
36-75 Crew
Compar tm. 50
Open Space 8
76-8 0 Ion Cannon 5 Shields –
81-8 4 Por t L aser 4
A r mor –
8 5-8 8 Star board
A pps –
L aser 4
8 9-96 Open Space 8 Weapons: Dor sal Ion Cannon (5): Damage 2D6 +1, r ange 10, 36 0 degree
97-0 0 Hyper space 3 arc. Por t L aser (4): Damage 2D6. Star board L aser (4): Damage 2D6.

216 A P P E ND I X B
Captain Kur t Torr ance
A tough, no-nonsense, by the books ship captain with a strong sense of
dut y and fair play... except when dealing with pir ates, whom he consid-
er s the “scum of the univer se.”
DE X 8
Action Points 2
Pilot 8 5%
General Crew Skill s
Gunner y 8 0% , Mechanic s 70%

Speeding Blade – Pirate Raider SPEED 8

H A NDLING 6
Br idge 4
SIZE 62
Crew 30 (7 Crew member s)
Weapons 4 Hit Locations Hit Points
Engine 7 (Thr ust Rating 70) 01-07 Br idge 4
Maneuver 5 (Thr ust Rating 70) 0 8-19 Engines 7
Sick Bay 1 ( Autodoc) 20-28 Manoeuvre 5
Open Space 8 2 9-30 Sick Bay 1

Hyper space 3 31-8 0 Crew

Compar tm. 30
Shields – 81-8 4 Prow
A r mor – Blaster 2
A pps – 8 5-8 8 Ster n
Blaster 2
Weapons: Prow Blaster (2): Damage 1D10, 90 degree for w ard arc. Ster n
Blaster (2): Damage 1D8, 18 0 degree rear arc 89-96 Open Space 8
97-0 0 Hyper space 3
Captain Sasha Reeves
Hot-headed and somewhat reckless, she is w anted for numerous acts
of pir ac y and smuggling and has been on the r un for three standard
year s.
DE X 11
Action Points 2
Pilot 75%

General Crew Skill s

Gunner y 75%, Mechanic s 5 0%

A P P E ND I X B 217

Initiative for the fir st round:
1d10 + Handling
Choose Of fensive or Defensive
Positioning.
218 A P P E ND I X B
The Scenario
The Gamma Star has been tr acking the Speeding Blade. The Solar Fed-
er ation vessel has one chance to capture or destroy the pir ate before it
escapes into an asteroid field. The GM control s the Gamma Star, while
the P Cs (Pir ate Char acter s :) are aboard their ship, the fleeing Speed-
ing Blade. Despite being pir ates, and therefore “bad guys”, the P Cs are
regarded as the protagonists in this encounter, while the GM control s
the antagonists.
The Situation (“Round 0”)
a) Mechanics
Both Captains order their crews. Initiative for the fir st round is made
on D10 + Handling of the vessel. Tor r ance roll s D10 + 5, for a total of
(3 + 5 =) 8; Reeves roll s (6 + 7 =) 13. A win for the pir ate vessel. The
captains must then choose whether to per for m Of fensive or Defensive
ac tions. The pir ate ship won initiative and the Captain elects to take
Defensive actions, sensible against such a heavily ar med w ar ship. The
Solar Feder ation vessel elects to take the Of fense. Their actions will
take place in Round 1, below.
b) Nar r ative
A board the Gamma Star ...
+ + + SitRep to Captain Tor r ance + + +
“ We have her, sir. The Speeding Blade is heading tow ards an asteroid
field.”
“Move to intercept before she gets in amongst the asteroids other wise
we’ll never find her.”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
Meanwhile, on the br idge of the Speeding Blade...
“ We’ve been pinged, Captain! SolFed fr igate closing fast!”
“All hands to bat tle stations. Pr ime cannons fore and af t. Flank speed
to the asteroid field.”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
Round 1 Defensive Positioning: Make you
harder to hit, but it’s al so more
a) Mechanics
dif ficult for your own gunner s to
The Speeding Blade has initiative at the star t of this encounter. hit.
Reeves begins Defensive manoeuvres and roll s 90% on her Pilot roll,
Success vs Failure: one success
a failure. Tor r ance makes Of fensive Manoeuvres and roll s 61%, a suc-
level gr ants one Pilot Special Ef fect.
cess. This gr ants Tor r ance one level of success and he chooses the
Dominate Special Ef fec t, making his Gunner y roll s Eas y (8 0% + 20% =
Initiative changes to the par ticipant
10 0%) this round.
with the highest level of success in
Tor r ance’s skilled Piloting gr ants him Gunner y initiative. He opens fire the previous roll.
with the Dor sal Ion Cannon: a Gunner y roll of 74 is a hit. Reeves fires
back with the ster n blaster; gunner y is at Hard because of her Defen-
sive Positioning. A roll of 05%, scor ing a cr itical hit. A section is beyond quick-fix re-
pair s when hit points are reduced
Tor r ance roll s 4 points of damage to the Speeding Blade’s Sick Bay
to their full negative value or lower.
(location roll 2 9). The Sick Bay occupies one module and therefore has
only one Hit Point; the Autodoc is in wrecks. It can’t be repaired until
they land nex t time. All pir ates roll 1d4-1 for per sonal damage. Success vs Cr itical: one level of
Reeves hits the Gamma Star’s Crew Compar tments (location roll 5 4%). success gr ants one Gunner y Spe-
She picks Maximum Damage as Special Ef fect (she has one Success cial Ef fect.
Level higher than Tor r ance), for a total of 8 Hit Points damage.
Pilot initiative nex t round will go to the pir ate vessel, as it had the high-
est success level in the last roll.
b) Nar r ative
S asha Reeves knows she is heavily out-gunned and star ts a ser ies of Initiative changes to the par ticipant
tight tur ns and shif ts in relative altitude. Tor r ance pur sues with great with the highest level of success in
skill, allowing him to target the fleeing pir ate more easily. Gunfire the previous roll.
lances thr ugh space, resulting in lit tle more than scorched paint wor k.

Round 2
a) Mechanics
Reeves continues Defensive Manoeuvres and makes the fir st Pilot roll. W hen there are sever al cannons
W ith a 2 8% she scores a nor mal success. fir ing, match opposing roll s as far
as possible. The best roll is used
Tor r ance continues the Of fensive and roll s 41%, a success.
when success level s are compared.
Both Captains made the same level s of success (one each), so no Spe-
cial Ef fects are applicable. Gunner y initiative remains with Reeves.
Reeves fires with the Ster n Blaster: a roll of 0 3 is a cr itical hit again!
Tor r ance opens fire with both Por t and Star board L aser s, respectively
rolling 81% (a miss) and 25%, a hit. This gr ants Reeves one level of suc-

A P P E ND I X B 219

Initiative remains unchanged when
Level s of Success are equal.
Successful Defensive Positioning:
both ships’ gunner y at Hard.
A hit exceeding a technical sec-
tion’s hit points render s it useless
until repaired. All crew member s
must al so roll for any per sonal
damage.
220 A P P E ND I X B
cess and Gunner y initiative. She picks Maximum Damage (8). Location
rolled: Crew Compar tments.
Tor r ance’s location roll is 5 6, Crew Compar tments for 7 points of dam-
age.
Initiative nex t round will stay with Reeves and she will make the fir st
Pilot roll.
b) Nar r ative
Tor r ance continues his pur suit of the Speeding Blade, maintaining
weapons lock on the fleeing pir ate. Reeves seems unable to lose him.
He fires both laser bat ter ies and blows a hole in the side of the pir ate
ship. He smiles gr imly.
Reeves retalliates in kind, the Speeding Blade’s Ster n Blaster lancing
through the Crew Quar ter s.
Round 3
a) Mechanics
Reeves had one level of success in the previous Gunner y round: this
gr ants her the Pilot initiative this round. She continues Defensive
Manoeuvres and roll s 66% on her Pilot skill, a nor mal success; both
ship’s gunner y roll s will be Hard (-2 0%).
Tor r ance roll s 18% on Pilot skill and maintains Of fensive Manoeuvres.
Both Captains made the same level s of success (one each), so no Spe-
cial Ef fec ts are applicable. Gunner y initiative remains with Reeves.
Reeves fires with the Ster n Blaster, scor ing 21%, a nor mal hit. Tor-
r ance retaliates with the Por t L aser, rolling 5 4%, a hit.
Reeves roll s 7 points of damage against the Gamma Star’s Dor sal Ion
Cannon. The Cannon has only 5 hit points and so is disabled until re-
paired. All aboard Gamma Star roll s 1d4-1 for per sonal damage.
Tor r ance hits the Crew Compar tments again. Damage is 10 points.
Crew Compar tment hit points are more than halved (30-7-10 =13).
Initiative nex t round will stay with Reeves, as both gunner y roll s were
at the same Success Level.
b) Nar r ative
The pur suit remains close, both Captains using ever y gr amme of their
skill to gain an advantage.
Reeves is sickened by the losses her ship is sustaining. That Ion Can- Typically, crew compar tments, open
non will be the death of us all, she thinks. She order s her gun crews spaces and cargo bays are easy to
to open fire and is rew arded when the Ion Cannon is hit with wither ing hit, but they will not af fect the ship
Blaster fire. Revenge is s weet! ver y much. To get around this, use
Special Ef fects like Mar ksman and
Choose Location.
Round 4
a) Mechanics
Reeves maintains Defensive Manoeuvres but roll s 90% for her Pilot Failing Defensive maneuver s re-
skill, a failure. Her own ship’s gunner y roll s will be Hard, but Gamma sults in a gunner y penalt y (-20%)
Star’s gunner y is unaf fec ted. only for the evading ship.
Tor r ance roll s 6 4% Pilot skill, gr anting him one level of success, for
which he chooses the Dominate Special Ef fect, r aising his Gunner y skill
to 10 0%.
The SolFed ship fires fir st with Por t and Star board L aser s. These roll
22 % and 35% respec tively. The Speeding Blade retalliates with a 19%
from the Ster n Blaster.
Tor r ance scores nor mal hits for 2 points (against the Speeding Blade’s
Engines (not suf ficient to disable the engines) and 7 points ver sus the
Crew Compar tments (only 6 hit points lef t in that section!).
For Reeves, it’s a hit against (location roll 31) the Gamma Star’s Sick W ith hit locations, gener al hit
Bay, scor ing 3 points (not enough to disable the medical facilities). points are not used.
Initiative nex t round will be with Tor r ance.
b) Nar r ative
The ships continue their zig-zag r ace to the asteroid field.
Reeves, for the fir st time in three standard year s, buckles her self into
the pilot seat as the ship shakes under the pounding of the Gamma
Star’s laser s.
Tor r ance, for his par t, is looking over damage assessments from the
Speeding Blade. All in all, he thinks, things are going r ather well.

Round 5
a) Mechanics
Tor r ance has the Pilot initiative but roll s a piloting failure. Reeves
maintains Defensive Manoeuvres and this time roll s 24% Pilot skill.
A success, which gr ants her one level of success over her opponent.
Reeves gains Gunner y initiative this round and chooses the Dominate

A P P E ND I X B 221
Three successful Mechanics skill
roll s are needed to take a damaged
section on line again (restored to 1
hit point; this is only a tempor ar y
fix).
222 A P P E ND I X B
Special Ef fect, which will make her Gunner y roll s Eas y (75% + 20% =
95%).
Rather than maintain his of fensive this round, Tor r ance elects to re-
pair the Dor sal Ion Cannon. He sends his best star ship mechanic s (los-
ing the oppor tunit y to open fire, as they were al so gunner s – lous y
planning) and the Mechanic s’ skill roll is 21%, a success. Only t wo
more successful roll s are needed to get it online again.
The pir ate vessel opens fire, rolling 9 3%. Tor r ance retur ns fire with
both laser s, rolling 3 4% and 14%.
Reeves roll would nor mally be a miss but her Piloting skill and choice
of Special Ef fect makes this a hit instead. The damage roll is 4 ver sus
the Crew Compar tments (location roll 41).
Tor r ance hits the Crew Compar tments (location roll 62), and Open
Space (96). Damage roll s are 4 and 6 for Por t and Star board respec-
tively.
Initiative nex t round will be with Reeves, as level s of success are the
same.
b) Nar r ative
Tor r ance w ants his Ion Cannon back on line. W ith it, he will be able to
v apour ise the Speeding Blade. He locks autopilot onto the pir ate ves-
sel and relays order s to the repair crews.
“Damn!” shouts Reeves as yet another bur st of laser hit. Crew com-
par tments will not stand another hit now, with only 2 hit points lef t. At
least she has the satisfaction of seeing the SolFed ship being scorched
too.
Round 6
a) Mechanics
Reeves chooses Of fensive Positioning this time and her Pilot roll is
51%, a success. Tor r ance maintains Of fensive posture and roll s 91%,
another Pilot roll failure.
Reeves has one level of success and this time chooses Dominate, in-
tending to take the fight to her pur suer. Her Gunner y skill s are Eas y
(or 95%) this round.
The Speeding Blade tur ns and fires the Prow Blaster, rolling a 57%, a
nor mal hit. Tor r ance fires back with Star board L aser, rolling 5 8%, a
hit.
Reeves hits the Gamma Star’s Por t L aser. The damage is 5 points, suf- For a hit exceeding a crew section’s
ficient to disable the L aser. hit points, a roll on the A rea Dam-
Tor r ance makes 7 points of damage against the Speeding Blade’s Open age Table is made.
Space, hit points now below zero for that section. Rolling 1d6 on the
A rea Damage Table: the crew mess has a hull breach. Unless repaired,
it will be in complete v accum in 10 rounds. Ever yone in the crew al so
take 1d4-1 hit point damage. Movement around the ship is al so restr ict-
ed, as secur it y door s seal of f the mess.
Initiative nex t round will remain with Reeves.
b) Narr ative
W ith her ship badly mauled, Reeves elects to fight, not flee. She is
sure her crew would suppor t the decision, though there is no time for a
br idge conference. She skillfully whips the Speeding Blade 18 0 degrees
and flies str aight at the Gamma Star. The specially augmented Prow
Blaster catches the SolFed ship’s Por t L aser and she w atches it blown
into smithereens.
Tor r ance cannot believe the audacit y of this common pir ate. His Por t
L aser damaged, he retalliates with the Star board L aser, str iking a sat-
isfactor y hit against the Speeding Blade.

Round 7
a) Mechanics
Reeves roll s 0 3 on her Pilot skill (Of fensive), a cr itical success. Tor-
r ance responds with a 15% Pilot roll, a nor mal success. Reeves choos-
es Dominate Special Ef fec t again.
Reeves gains Gunner y initiative.
Just as in regular combat, finding
The Speeding Blade fires its Prow Blaster, this time rolling 22 % (a hit). weak spots like engines, maneuver,
The Gamma Star retur ns fire with the Star board L aser. It roll s 91%, a weapons, etceter a, is a ver y ef fec-
miss. One Gunner y Special Ef fec t for Reeves. tive.
Reeves hits the Gamma Star’s Engine s ystems (location roll 09), for 8
points of damage (picking Maximum Damage). This is suf ficient to dis-
able the Gamma Star’s engines (which have 6 Hit Points).
Initiative nex t round will be Reeves’.

A P P E ND I X B 223
 b) Nar r ative
The Speeding Blade continues her near-suicidal charge at the Gamma
Star. Reeves’ skill s, audacit y and sheer luck win out as the row Blaster
destroys the enemy’s dr ive s ystem. The Gamma Star is adr if t in deep
space, maneuver ing thr uster s at least allowing for some movement.

Round 8
a) Mechanics
Cr itical hits are 10% of the skill
Reeves has Pilot initiative and roll s 0 8, another cr itical success (10% of
value.
Pilot skill 75 = 7.5, round up to 8).
Tor r ance, with disabled engines, is unable to pur sue. The GM r ules his
Pilot skill roll is For midable this round (8 5% - 4 0% = 4 5%). W ith a 16%,
the SolFed ship tur ns tow ards the pir ate vessel.
W ithdr aw is a good Special Ef fect
Reeves has one level of success in Piloting, so elects to take the W ith-
for get ting out of a fight before
dr aw special ef fect.
being blown to pieces.
The pir ate vessel makes a par ting shot from the Ster n Blaster, rolling
59%, a hit against the Gamma Star’s Sick Bay, for 3 points of damage.
A s Tor r ance is not fir ing back, she automatically receives a Special Ef-
fec t: she picks Maximum Damage (8 points).
Tor r ance dispatches his mechanic s to get the engines online again.
b) Nar r ative
It is a nar row escape. Reeves pull s a safe distance aw ay from the Gam-
ma Star and punches the badly damaged Speeding Blade into Hyper-
space.
Tor r ance sees the pir ate vessel vanish from his scanner screens and
cur ses the enemy. I’ll get you nex t time, he vows. But for now, he has
more impor tant mat ter s to deal with.

224 A P P E ND I X B
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank ever yone at the for ums of BRP Centr al for their
generous at titude and open-minded discussions. W ithout them, M-
SPACE would not have sur vived beyond its fir st iter ation.
I’m al so in great debt to Paolo Guccione at Alephtar Games for his br il-
liant idea of a gener ic conflic t resolution mechanic for d10 0-games.
L astly, I’m happy to have found a good home for M-SPACE with The De-
sign Mechanism . L awrence and Pete have made me feel ver y welcome.

I dedicate this book to K atar ina & Olle.

A CK N O W L E D G ME N T S 225
Index B Climate 14 8

Behavior 128 Close Combat 68

Biodiversit y 12 3 Combat 54
A
Biosphere 122 Combat Round 37, 59
Action Points 12
Blood Loss 80 Situational Modifiers 6 8,
Advantages, Alien 126
Body Plans 12 3 73
Alien Creation 122
Star ship Combat 106
C
Advantages 126
Combat Actions 57
Capital Ships 91
A ppear ance 130
Combat St yles 54
Careers 25
Classification 125
Combat St yle Tr aits 56
Char acter Creation 9
Cultures 132
Communication, Alien 128
Char acter Improvement 38
Disadvantages 127
Conflict Pool s 43
Char acteristics 10
Psionics 172
Constitution 11
Char acter Rank 162
Str angeness 122
Cultur al Attributes 136
Charisma 11
Universal s 122
Culture 23
Circles 156
Alien Sheet 14 3
Alien 132
Attributes 159
A ppear ance, Alien 130
Orbit 24
Benefits 162
Apps 96
Rur al 23
Ideas 156
A sphy xiation 79
Urban 24
Idea Table 166
Atmosphere
Player-Controlled 161 D
Breathabilit y 14 8
Str ucture 165 Damage 36
Climate 14 8
Tr aits 161 Damage L adder 117
Pressure 14 8
Circle Sheet 167 Damage Modifier 12
Attributes, Circle 12
Classification, Alien 125 Damage Reduction 60
Autodoc 10 0

226 IND E X
 Starship 109 Fatigue 78 Injur y and Healing 36

Thrown Objects 174 Fatigue Level s 79 Intelligence 11

Defensive Positioning 107 Fire 81

J
Dex terit y 11 Fire A rcs 119
Jumping 81
Dif ferential Roll s 35 First Aid 16
L
Dif ficult y Gr ade 33 First Aid Actions 38
L aw Level Table 13 4
Disadvantages, Alien 127 Foreign Polic y 13 8
Light Year 150
Dur ation Table 113, 18 4
H
Luck Points 13, 36
E Habitable Zone 147
M
Endur ance 16 Habitat 125
Major Wound 37
Equipment 191 Handling 94, 182
Malfunction Table 112, 18 3
Evade 16, 5 8 Healing from Wounds 37
Matter Power s 174
E xpanding Starship 97 Healing Rate 13
Mind Power s 172
E xperience Modifier 12 Hex 150
Minor Wound 36
E xperience Roll 39 Hit Locations 74
Modules 92
E x tended Conflicts 42 Starships 98
Vehicle 180
Conflict Pool s 43 Hit Points 13
Mook Rules 76
Dinner Par t y 49 Hit Points Per Location 14
Movement Class 179
Opponent Rating 46 Hyperspace 10 0
Movement Rate 14
Poker Game 47
I
Multiple Stars 147
Quick Combat 47
Impale Ef fects Table 66
Social Conflicts 46 N
Influence, Circle 157
Narr ative Time 37
F Initiative 56

Falling 80 Initiative Bonus 13

IND E X 227
O Stacking Power s 171 Simplified Combat 75
Object Hit Points 82 Success Level s 174 Size 11

Of fensive Positioning 107 Circles 15 8

Q
Opponent Rating 46 Size Rating 91
Quick Monster s 129
Opposed Roll s 34 Starship 94
R
Vehicle 182
P
Range 73
Skill Points 15
Parsec 150
Ranged Combat 72
Skill Time 37
Passengers 10 0
Rebuilding Star ship 97
Social Conflicts 46
Passions 28
Recover y 96
Social Disposition Table 50
Permanent Injuries 38
Repairs 109
Special Ef fects 61, 67
Planets 147
Resources, Circle 15 8
Simplified 77
Planet Size 147
Rimward 150
Starships 108
Population 137
Rulers, World 13 8
Species Conflicts 139
Power 11
S Speed 94
Increasing POW 171
Scale 86 Spinal Weapon 118
Matter Powers 174
Segmentation 12 3 Spinward 150
Mind Powers 172
Sense Organs 128 Standard Skill s 15
Sense Powers 171
Sense Power s 171 Star Mapping 150
Power Arcs 171
Sensors, Starship 10 0 Starpor t Type 147
Power Points 14
Serious Wound 36 Stars 147
Professional Skill s 18
Settlements 137 Star ship Combat 106
Psionics 170
Shields 95 Combat Actions 107
Finding New Powers 171
Ship Condition 101 E xample 110
Requirements 171

228 IND E X
 Simplified 112 Stunts 180

Weapon Options 116

W
Starship Design 86
Weapons 190
Rebuilding 97
Starship 95
Starship Modules 87
Vehicle 18 3
Starship Sheet 102
Weapon Size 60
Star Systems 147
W illpower 17
Star ting Equipment 29
World Building 14 6
Stealth 17, 90
World Sheet 152
Str angeness 122
Wounds 36
Streamlining 90

Strength 10

Subsector Sheet 151

Surprise 72

Symmetr y 12 3

Tech Level Table 135

Thrown Objects 174

Thr ust Rating 94

TR 94

Vacuum 80

Vehicle Design 178

Modules 18 0

IND E X 229
M – SPACE player

name str action points

con damage modifier
home world siz exp modifier
healing rate
dex
culture initiative
int luck points
career pow move rate
age cha wealth

standard % professional % professional %

athletics str+dex acting cha x2 lockpicking dex x2
boating str+con acrobatics str+dex mechanics dex+int
brawn str+siz art pow+cha medicine int+pow
conceal dex+pow astrogation int x2 musicianship dex+cha
customs int x2 bureaucracy int x2 navigation int+pow
dance dex+cha commerce pow+cha oratory pow+cha
deceit int+cha comms int x2 pilot dex+int
drive dex+pow computers int x2 starship
endurance con x2 courtesy int+cha
evade dex x2 craft dex+int politics int+cha
first aid dex+int culture int x2 research int+pow
influence cha x2 science int x2
insight int+pow demolitions int+pow astronomy
locale int x2 disguise int+cha astrobiology
native tongue int+cha electronics dex+int
perception int+pow engineering int x2
ride dex+pow forgery dex+int seamanship int+con
sing pow+cha gambling int+pow seduction int+cha

frostbyte books
stealth dex+int knowledge int x2 sensors int+pow
swim str+con sleight dex+cha
willpower pow x2 streetwise pow+cha

|
language int+cha survival con+pow
ver 3.0 july 2016
teach int+cha
track int+con
 M – SPACE player

combat styles % locations ap hp

01-03 right leg
04-06 left leg
07-09 abdomen
10-12 chest
13-15 right arm
gunnery dex+pow 16-18 left arm
unarmed str+dex 19-20 head

passions % fatigue power points

powers % equipment
frostbyte books
|

description
ver 3.0 july 2016
M – SPACE player

name str action points

con damage modifier
home world siz exp modifier
healing rate
dex
culture initiative
int luck points
career pow move rate
age cha wealth

standard % professional % professional %

athletics str+dex acting cha x2 lockpicking dex x2
boating str+con acrobatics str+dex mechanics dex+int
brawn str+siz art pow+cha medicine int+pow
conceal dex+pow astrogation int x2 musicianship dex+cha
customs int x2 bureaucracy int x2 navigation int+pow
dance dex+cha commerce pow+cha oratory pow+cha
deceit int+cha comms int x2 pilot dex+int
drive dex+pow computers int x2 starship
endurance con x2 courtesy int+cha
evade dex x2 craft dex+int politics int+cha
first aid dex+int culture int x2 research int+pow
influence cha x2 science int x2
insight int+pow demolitions int+pow astronomy
locale int x2 disguise int+cha astrobiology
native tongue int+cha electronics dex+int
perception int+pow engineering int x2
ride dex+pow forgery dex+int seamanship int+con
sing pow+cha gambling int+pow seduction int+cha

frostbyte books
stealth dex+int knowledge int x2 sensors int+pow
swim str+con sleight dex+cha
willpower pow x2 streetwise pow+cha

|
language int+cha survival con+pow
ver 3.0 july 2016
teach int+cha
track int+con
 M – SPACE player

combat styles % hit points

gunnery dex+pow
unarmed str+dex serious wound

passions % power points

powers % equipment
frostbyte books
|

description
ver 3.0 july 2016