RULES

Character Generation

Character Picks a Level
As established characters each player picks their stats, and skills.

• Skills - Remove all specializations, remove ceiling on general skills.
• Traits - Each character gets a "Storied Past" trait. Players decide how important this is to their character. That Trait then counts as a bonus or penalty die to appropriate rolls in the game.
  

Common Prices

Food (including spices, beverages) per person per day

• Protein = .5€ per person-day (occasional poor quality alcohol)
• Canned = 1€ per person-day (occasional average alcohol)
• Fresh = 2€ per person-day (including decent alcohol)
• Luxury = 2€ per meal (included decent alcohol).
• A drink in a bar = .25€
• A bottle of wine = .5€ - 2€

Fuel

• 1 Fuel Hour = .47€
• 1 Ton Fuel = 5€
• Full Tank = 56 Tonnes = 280€
• Extra Tank = 5 Tonnes (+53 hrs)= 25€
• Total Fuel (600 hours) = 280€

Medical Supplies

• Standard Medical Unit = 2€
• Emergency Medical Unit (+2 skill steps)= 4€
• Immunization Packet (One person x 48 hours)= 3€
• Nika's Special Standard Units = 3€
• Joshua's Medication (per day) = 1€

Ammo

• Bullets 10 rounds = .2€
• Shotgun Shells 10 = .5€
• Tranquilizers 1 shot= 1.5€ (.2 per empty dart)

Tech

• Glow Stick = 10€
• Paranoiandroid = 20-50€ Card-based bootable Paranoidroid system.

Common Charges

• Shuttle Rental/Month = 50€
• 1 ton of cargo/week = 1€
• 2nd class passenger/week = 50€
• 1st class passenger/ week = 100€

Risky Business

Characters can take big risks to achieve greater results. For each increase in the Botch Threshold by 1, grants a die bonus as if the character used a plot point (adds to plot points not a separate die).

• Botch Threshold = Bonus
• All 1's = No bonus
• All 1's and one 2. = +1 step (or d2)
• All 1's and two 2's = +2 steps (or d4)
• All 1's or 2's = +3 steps (or d6)
• All 1's or 2's and one 3 = +4 steps (or d8)
• All 1's or 2's and two 3 = +5 steps (or d10)
• All 1's or 2's or 3's = +6 Steps (or d12)

Example, Joshua drives the flatbed in a reckless manner to try to elude his pursuers. He increases his plot point die by 4 (d8) the Botch Threshold goes to all 1's, 2's, and one 3. This gives him a d8 bonus that works like a plot point die.

Combat

SIMPLIFIED COMBAT PROCESS

1. Roll Initiative
2. Declare actions in reverse initiative order.(Higher initiative can interrupt lower)
3. Each person gets one "action" per turn*

AUTOMATIC DODGE
Whenever attacked everyone gets to roll their dodge, unless they are doing a complex action or are surprised. Roll against each subsequent attack with a -1 skill step penalty.
ABORT
Characters can Abort their next action for a simple one (dodge/attack/move/drop prone/dive for cover) at any time during the turn, if you abort an action, you lose your next action and cannot dodge until you can act, unless you aborted to a dodge or block, in which case that continues to work (with normal penalties). You can only abort once per turn, and cannot abort in the turn after you abort.
EXCEPTIONAL SUCCESS
If you hit by 7+ (plus any armor rating of the target) in combat:

1. Weapon Damage is +1 step (or +d4 in the case of Unarmed Damage)
2. Target makes an Average (7) Vitality+Willpower Check and if it fails, then Depending on the Damage Type:
   1. Stun: KO + 1 Shock Point per Stun Damage
   2. Basic: Incapacitated, a debilitating injury, either a broken limb (which is useless until treated), or he has been rendered blind, deaf, immobile, or under some similar condition.
   3. Wound: Target is Bleeding (d2 Basic every 10 minutes)(or Death for Minions)
3. Attacker gets One additional Simple Action (attack, move, etc..)

Exceptional Successes stack, so if you get an Exceptional Success on the additional Action, you get another additional action.
SAMPLE COMPLEX ACTIONS
These still count as the one action per turn, but when one is done, the person gets only innate defense.

• Run = Move 30ft plus Strength + Athletics
• Charge = Run + Attack (-1 skill step to attack)
• All Out Attack = Attack +2 Steps (uses 3 shots)
• Other = Either longer actions or combining two or more actions with appropriate penalties (ex: Draw and Fire -1 step, Aim, Grappling, Feint, etc.)
• Reload a weapon
• Snapshot (move from heavy cover to light cover, fire -2 skill steps, return to full cover)
• Total Defense = Dodge + 2 Skill Steps

MELEE/UNARMED COMBAT
When someone attacks with Melee or Unarmed combat, and the defender has yet to act, the defender can opt to resist with unarmed or melee combat (if armed) rather than dodge. Whoever gets the higher roll wins that turn, and does damage to the opponent. This becomes her action for that round even if she did not initiate the attack, or it is before her initiative. Alternatively the defender can simply dodge, in which case, she can still do another action. If the defender has already acted that turn, she can only dodge or block. Using unarmed combat verses a melee attack is at a -1 step penalty.
RANGED/GUNS in MELEE
If you are attacked with a gun or ranged weapon by an adjacent opponent, and able, you can defend with either your DODGE to avoid the attack, or Unarmed/Melee skill to strike the attacker (even if you've already acted, just factor in any step penalty). If your unarmed or melee attack is higher than your opponent's attack roll, her attack misses and you do damage to her, the opponent with the smaller weapon (unarmed = small) get's +1 step bonus.

• Ex. Unarmed Combat vs Rifle. Unarmed opponent (small) gets a +1 step bonus versus Rifle (med).
• Ex. Spear vs.Pistol. The Spear (medium) vs. Pistol (small). Pistol gets a +1 step bonus.

GRAPPLING
A character wanting to initiate a grapple makes an Unarmed vs. Dodge* roll to initiate a grapple.

• Defender may use Unarmed or Melee Combat to resist an attempt to grapple (if they are armed and use Melee Combat they get +1 step skill Bonus to resist the grapple, and if successful they do damage to the grappler as if an attack)

Once a grapple attempt is initiated successfully, then both combatants are now grappling and must roll (unarmed vs. unarmed), each turn including that one (at the highest initiative). Both grapplers take stun, whoever wins takes 1 stun, whoever loses takes 2 stun. They remain grappled and this continues until either one grappler scores an exceptional success or is rendered unconscious.

• Exceptional Success indicates a win (pin, headlock, grab-for-cover, or escape, etc) and the normal additional action (attack, move, etc), and no stun loss to the winner.
  

Grapplers are Easy (3) Hand-to-hand targets, and Average (7) ranged targets to others, but attacks against them are at a -2 Step Skill Penalty. A Botch (1s or 2s) indicates you hit the opponent instead of your target.
PUSH/FLIP/TRIP
Attacker makes an unarmed attack (or melee if appropriate) versus the defender. In lieu of damage the attacker can push the opponent up to 5 feet. (Exceptional Success indicates defender automatic prone or push up to 10ft.) Otherwise, Defender must make an average agility/athletics roll (or the original attack roll whichever is higher) or be prone as well.
DISARM
Called Shot (Defender typically at +8 Def for weapon size). If it hits, the opponent is disarmed. If it is a successful unarmed attack, the attacker can keep the weapon). Opponent can choose to defend with melee combat, as normal (see unarmed vs. melee above)
MARTIAL ARTS (Unarmed or Melee Specialties)
Defenders against martial arts may only use their specialties if they are the same as the attackers. If not, defenders can only use Dodge or the base Unarmed/Melee Skill to defend.
FEINT/TRICK/DISTRACTION
A Feint attack is a complex action (Will + Skill) vs (Ale + Skill). that gives -1 Skill Step Penalty to the attack, but if successful, the target gets only innate defense. Attacker gets to choose who gets the benefit (herself or another attacker). If feinter doesn’t attack, Feint is at +2 Steps Exceptional Success makes target an Easy target (3).

Range Penalties
Range Increments for the following standard weapons are different from the book:

• Bow = 30ft
• Crossbow = 60ft
• Powered Crossbow = 75ft
• Pistol = 50ft
• Rifle = 110ft
• Assault Rifle = 75ft

Other weapons remain the same.
Aiming for one Turn doubles those ranges in addition to the +1 Step Bonus.
If you are Blind or in complete darkness range penalties are -2 for every 5 feet (-2 at 5ft, -4 at 10ft, etc) Assuming you are able to locate the opponent (Hearing Check vs Average (7)or Covert/Stealth +2 for every 30ft away.)One still gets the Point Blank bonus on close shots.

Firing into a Crowd
Firing into crowd or versus someone in hand to hand combat is tricky. The target gets light cover (+4) and a roll of only 1s or 2s becomes a Botch, resulting in hitting an unintended target (the other combatant in Hand to hand). Roll an attack (at the same dice) against the unintended target, and if that roll would not the person, assume it just hit (0 basic + weapon damage)

COMBAT SKILLS
The Serenity System does not pair skills with abilities. Instead it is up to the player to describe their actions and determine the appropriate abilities to pair with the skill. In some cases certain abilities may face Step Penalties if the circumstances require.
ex. Jayne tends to rely on his great strength to steady and aim Vera (his large gun). Normally he rolls Strength + Gun for his attacks with no penalties. This time Jayne is confronted by several Reavers approaching at high speed, to crack off three shots quickly he'd be better using his agility. If he decides to use his Strength anyway, the Gm determines his strength gets no penalty for the first shot, and a -2 step penalty for the second and -4 for the third (his great strength actually slowing him down). Had he used his agility, he'd only face the normal skill penalties.

Armor When a target is hit, roll any damage for weapon type. Then subtract the armor rating from wound damage. If there is any remainder, subtract that from the stun damage.

• In the case of body mesh, also convert up to 8 wounds from each attack into stun damage.
• Add the armor rating (and helmet rating if any) to the number needed to get an exceptional hit. (ex. Zoe is wearing body mesh, she is hit by an attack that exceeds her dodge by 7, normally this would be an exceptional hit, but the +1 AR makes it a normal it.) This makes it extremely difficult to take out soldiers in tactical suits (+14 needed to get an exceptional hit).

Called Shots A called shot adds to the defense of the target, +4 for torso, legs, +8 for head, arm, hand, stomach, +12 for heart, kneecaps, eye, ear, etc.. A successful called shot that does wound damage incapacitates that part (in the case of limbs), or causes automatic Wound Penalties (-2 steps to all abilities). If the target is the head or vitals (stomach, heart, etc.), the victim must make an hard endurance check or check versus attack number whichever is higher or be unconscious or dying (if wound damage was done). Increase the attack’s damage die based on the size of the area targeted (Moderate +2 steps, Small +4 steps, Miniscule +8 steps). The damage die inflicts Wound damage (no matter its damage type before), and the target begins bleeding (unless the attacker chooses not to inflict wound damage, then it is basic damage). In addition all the damage from called shots takes twice as long to heal, and any penalties from the damage linger until all the wound damage is healed.

Crew Rules

When the ship is danger there are two key roles: pilot and engineer. The rolls associated with those roles are fairly straight forward.

• High Speed Maneuvers = Ship's Agility + Pilot's Pilot Skill
• Repairing the Ship = Engineer's Intelligence + Mechanical Engineering Skill (difficulty equals stun)

There are several other 'supporting roles' that can impact the rolls of above. With all "supporting" rolls, the target number is Hard (11).

• Botch = Target Roll is -1 Skill step.
• Failure = Target Roll is unaffected.
• Success = Target Roll is +1 Skill step.
• Extraordinary Success = Target Roll is +2 Skill steps.

These roles can be taken by a person on the ship, not necessarily in a chair or with a specific title.
Supporting the Pilot:

• Captain (if not pilot/engineer) - Persuasion (Leadership) + Willpower (to one roll).
  
• Co-Pilot - Ship's Agility + Character's Pilot skill (use best of Pilot or Co-pilot)
  
• Navigator - Ship's Alertness + Character's Pilot Skill
• Sensors - Ship's Alertness + Technical Engineering (Sensors)

Supporting the Engineer

• Mechanic Character's Mechanical Engineering + Intelligence (use best of Engineer or Mechanic)
• Helping Hands Character's Attribute (roll d6 to determine which) + Discipline
• Damage Control/Preparation Character's Agility + Alertness

Flyin' in the Verse

Flying from one system to another (distances are as follows):

A Ship can travel 1 AU * SPEED Every 18 Hours

Summer's Gift is Speed Class 5
So it can travel 5AU/18 Hours = 1AU/3.6 Hours = 6.667AU/Day = 46.667 AU/Week
Ex. JiangYin (Red Sun) to Angel (Kalidasa)120AU (432 hours/18days)

Link to Online Travel Time Calculator

Available for "Rent" or "Purchase" are standardized Fuel Pods. Each Fuel Pod takes the place of one Cargo Container and adds 5 tons of fuel capacity of flight time (+120 hours on Summer's Gift).

• Fuel Pod Rental = 5 Credits / Week + Fuel
• Fuel Pod Purchase = 100 Credits.

Fuel is separate.

Pulse Beacon:
A transponder found on starships that sends out a pulsed signal on three frequencies (two wave, one radio). The signal is easy to detect, even at long range, but contains little actual information other than the presence of the ship itself. Originally, a starship's pulse beacon contained a unique code which identified the ship and contained its most recent navigation data. During the Unification War, Independence forces used this data to both spoof existing Alliance and unaligned vessels, and to keep tabs on Alliance transports. Since then, the Alliance has uncoupled their ship's data from the transponders. Two years after the war, the practice of spoofing data codes in pulse-beacons was so wide spread, as to be near useless in tracking illegitimate shipping. And the practice of turning off the beacon became a danger for collisions especially in the heavily trafficked core trade routes. So the Parliament voted to make all Transponders transmit only a generic code which was useful only for doppler distance, and vector analysis. As such the Pulse Beacon is standard issue and used primarily for air/space traffic control, collision avoidance, and emergency tracking.
Registry
An electronic device (black box) with ship ownership data encoded in the ROM. This device is roughly equivalent to the VIN of a modern auto and can demonstrate proper ownership in the case of dispute, piracy or salvage. The Registry also includes various licenses, repair, and inspection notices those these are used primarily for resale rather than official purposes (except in the case of Active duty Alliance chartered vessels and the military). The Registry can be accessed by Databook, but only modified using specialized equipment.

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Communication Lag

Communication in the 'Verse (after the 'Long Quiet) has been reduced to three main types.

• Radio Wave -- (or simply Wave)Traditional Light Speed communication. This is effective for basic audio-visual communication for short range distances.
  • It is an easy check for ship's Alertness+pc's Tech Eng (Comm)for distances of 1 light second (300,000km)to get clear conversation. +1 step (average, hard, etc..) for double of that distance (2,4,8, etc.)
    So to converse via radio at a distance of 8 light seconds (2.5M KM)would be a formidable (dc15) check.
• Narrowband -- High intensity radio transmissions. These are lines intended to duplicate some of the functionality of the cortex. They transmit large amount of data along redundant systems so that any data loss is recovered at the next node. The narrow band allows for site to site transfer of large files and communications. Ships are directed to stay out of the Narrowband streams, as they are vulnerable to disruption by pulse engines. The Narrowband has limits and operates on a request system (a sort of interlibrary loan) specific data can be requested and transmitted along the Narrowband. A cost of 1Cr is imposed for most requests (up to about a terabyte). The return time on requests depends on (a) the location where the data can be found (distance), and (b) the size of the queue (number of files being requested from any sites). Some companies can get priority use on the Narrowband to ensure the swift communication of time sensitive materials. Narrowband is limited to planets or ships possessing large radio wave transmitters and receivers.
• Pony Express -- Throughout the Verse ships have been assigned a datavault drive of approximately 1 petabyte (1024 terabytes). These rugged databooks carry bits of the old cortex piecemeal from one cortex node to another. The data on a datavault is heavily encrypted and largely in fragments preventing them of being much use to any computer other than a coretx node level computer (which decrypts and assembles the various fragments). That said a Heroic Complex (95) check might be sufficient to pull out specifically desired information with a datareader. Planets or moons with Cortex Nodes should have a Cortex that is generally up-to-date at lag of 2hours per AU distance from the Core times the difficulty of finding the information (unless specifically requests via Narrowband).
  • Easy to find information (eg. Verse News, Cortex Shows, Cortex Mail) would likely be available in Red Sun roughly 68(au) x 2 hours x 3 (easy)= 408 hours (17 days) after uploading.
  • Hard to find information (eg. Cargo Manifests, Private Fuel Logs, Local Legal Documents) would likely be available in Red Sun in 68(au) x 2 hours x 11 (hard) = 1496 hours (2 months)
  • Plot points can be spent to reduce the difficulty by a step per point.

Planets and moons without a Cortex Node (or equivalent) require double that time or more to get updated information.

Old System
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Medical Treatments & Cost

Medical Supplies are purchased in Units.

• Standard Supplies (allow for medical expertise roll at no penalties) = 2 Credits per use.
• Emergency Supplies (allow for medical expertise roll at +2 Step Bonus) = 4 Credits per use.

Each time you make a roll using medical supplies, you use one unit.
So in surgery, for example, if it takes you 10 rolls to succeed given the person's wounds, you've used 10 units of supplies.

Bleeding
A character who has taken an Exceptional hit from a Wounding Weapon (Gun, blade, etc..) or a Called Shotto the Head or Vitals is bleeding. The bleeding person takes d2 Basic Damage according to his or her activity:

• Strenuous Activity (Combat, Climbing, EVA, Using Physical Skills) Every Turn.
• Rest (no skills, talking, limited movement) Every Minute.
• Applying Pressure/Tourniquet Easy First Aid Check Every 10 minutes.
• First Aid (Alertness + Medicine(First Aid) vs Hard (11))Bleeding Stops.
  • Improvised Supplies(rags, and tape)Heavy distractions )eg. in combat)-- -2 Steps
  • Limited Supplies (splitting a medical unit between two people) light distractions (eg, evac)-- -1 Step
  • Standard Supplies (Standard Medical Supplies) no distractions -- No Modifiers
  • Superior Supplies (Emergency Medical Supplies)ambulance conditions -- +1 Step
  • Cutting Edge Supplies (Core Hospital) Hospital Conditions (in SickBay with Emergency Supplies) -- +2 Steps
  • Applying First Aid to oneself -- -1 Step (Greater (+2 Steps if wound is in the head or arms)

Lasting Injury

• A character who has taken more than half her life points in a single attack sustains a lasting injury. This lasts until they've heal all the wounds from that encounter (even wounds from other attacks).
• A character who has taken more than her life points in a combat remains "wounded" and suffers the wound penalty until they recover all the life points lost in that encounter.

On the Mend
A character who takes wound damage must make an Endurance check to recover. 1-2 wounds (Automatic), 3-4 (Easy), 5-6 (Average), 7-8 (Hard), 9-10 (Formidable).

• A character who engages in very light activity or rest (no skill rolls) recovers 1 Life point per day.
• A character who engages in moderate activity (no heavy lifting/combat/strength based rolls) recovers 1 Life point per two days.
• A character engaging in combat, strength or vitality based skills, does not recover that day. And she must make an Endurance check each hour starting at Easy, and then Average, Hard, etc.. or suffer d2 of wound damage.
  

Ongoing Care
Once a character is "on the mend" he or she can receive continual care from a qualified person (with Medical Expertise). Each day the character receives such care she gains an additional life point. The caregiver makes a check EASY to provide this benefit (using medical supplies if desired). For each additional patient under a caregiver's care, increase the difficulty of all the rolls by one step. (Easy -> Average -> Hard, etc..).

Plot Points

A character gets the starting plot points every episode.
in addition to these points you can earn plot points by any of the following:

• Roleplaying
• Take one for the team. Getting hit, failing an important skill role etc.. where interesting.
• Moving the Story (pushing the plot in an interesting direction)
• Confessionals (respond to a scene with interesting commentary or back story)These can apply immediately, or even retroactively, by FREEZING the scene.
• Adding story elements to the wiki
• Creating props or other tools which enhance roleplay.
• Drawing a card from the Chance Deck (1-3 plot points)
• Taking an Exceptional Hit (1 stun, 2 basic, 3 for wounds)

Companionship

Companionship

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