Difference between revisions of "Stars Without Number: The High and the Mighty"

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(Erasmus Asgeirsson (Vektunaxa))
(Agmundr Kjærstad (Atlictoatl))
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*Background: Noble
 
*Background: Noble
 
*Training: Marine Officer (Skyward Steel)
 
*Training: Marine Officer (Skyward Steel)
*Bio:
+
*Bio:  
*Description:
+
*Description: A man on his way to being stout, Agmundr sports a well-developed beard and wild mane of shockingly red hair. He walks with a slight limp from a service injury.
 
*Languages:  
 
*Languages:  
 
*Player: Atlictoatl
 
*Player: Atlictoatl

Revision as of 21:04, 6 July 2016

A Play-By-Post Campaign run by The Wyzard.


Heroes

The Player Characters and their Henchmen

Agmundr Kjærstad (Atlictoatl)

  • Warrior 1
  • XP: 0/2000
  • Background: Noble
  • Training: Marine Officer (Skyward Steel)
  • Bio:
  • Description: A man on his way to being stout, Agmundr sports a well-developed beard and wild mane of shockingly red hair. He walks with a slight limp from a service injury.
  • Languages:
  • Player: Atlictoatl

Attributes

  • Str: 10
  • Dex: 07 (-1)
  • Con: 10
  • Int: 18 (+2)
  • Wis: 14 (+10
  • Cha: 14 (+1)

Skills

  • Combat/Energy Weapons 0
  • Combat/Gunnery 0
  • Combat/Melee 1
  • Culture/New Eden 0
  • Exosuit 0
  • Leadership 1
  • Perception 0
  • Persuade 1
  • Tactics 0

Combat

  • AC:
  • HP: 18/18
  • Init:
  • MR:
  • Primary Ranged Attack:
  • Secondary Ranged Attack:
  • Primary Melee Attack:
  • Secondary Melee Attack:
  • Special Attack:
  • Saves
    • Physical
    • Mental
    • Evasion
    • Tech
    • Luck

Mecha

Vodnir's Wrath

  • Power: 1/11 free
  • Mass: 0/6 free
  • Cost: 228,000
  • Armor: 12 (against non-gunnery weapons)
  • AC: 2
  • Speed: 4 (20 meters)
  • HP: 30/30
  • Mech Weapon: Anti-Vehicle Laser +2 to hit, 3d8+2, 500/1k range, AP 10
  • Mech Weapon: Rocket Launcher +2 to hit, 3d10+2, 2k/4k range, AP 5, Ammo.
  • Side Weapon: Monoblade +1 to hit, 2d6+3
  • Mech Fitting: Ammunition Cells
  • Mech Fitting: Polyspectral Sensors

Henchman

Start with no henchmen

Ofeig Sigurdsson (Caias Ward)

  • Expert 1
  • XP: 0/1500
  • Background: Noble
  • Training: Signal Officer
  • Bio: Ofeig would have been a footnote in his family line except for his terrible tenacity. Part of a petty squabble, he was targeted for an assassination at a young age. Defying the odds, he survived the attempt despite his terrible injury to a muscle degenerating poison which requires braces outside his suit mech. He's taken to diplomacy as a means to make up for his physical shortcomings.
  • Description:

Attributes

  • Str: 7 (-1)
  • Dex: 10
  • Con: 10
  • Int: 14 (+1)
  • Wis: 14 (+1)
  • Cha: 18 (+2)

Skills

  • Burearcracy 0
  • Combat (Energy Weapons) 0
  • Combat (Gunnery) 0
  • Combat (Primitive Weapons) 0
  • Computer 0
  • Culture/Traveler 0
  • Culture/World 0
  • Exosuit 0
  • Language 0
  • Leadership 0
  • Persuade 1
  • Security 0
  • Tech/Astronautic 0

Combat

  • AC:
  • HP: 16/16
  • Init:
  • MR:
  • Primary Ranged Attack:
  • Secondary Ranged Attack:
  • Primary Melee Attack:
  • Secondary Melee Attack:
  • Special Attack:
  • Saves
    • Physical
    • Mental
    • Evasion
    • Tech
    • Luck

Mecha

Start with a Suit Mech

Henchman

Start with no henchmen

Sanso Lastname (Nicias)

  • Warrior 1
  • XP: 0/2000
  • Background: Noble
  • Training: Commando
  • Bio: Sanso might be from an undistinguished junior line of a backwater arctic clan, but he is pretty certain he can be a hero. He's still really into that kind of thing, even as a half-conscious cynicism has snuck into his (young) adult life. All those stories where the problems get resolved at the end when a kind and wise noble discovers the issue, or they platonically rescue the peasant heartthrob from criminals? He eats it all up. He wants to be that guy.
  • Description: The very model of a modern Space Viking, with buzzcut, dark blonde hair, dark blue eyes, a somewhat uneven tan, and a lanky build. He is maybe 80 or 90% as large across all dimensions as the modern Space Viking strictly should be; peasants from his estate often comment on this after meeting him in person. He seems tall in the media.
  • Languages: English, [SpaceViking], [Reserved]
  • Player: Nicias

Attributes

  • Str: 10
  • Dex: 18 (+2)
  • Con: 14 (+1)
  • Int: 14 (+1)
  • Wis: 7 (-1)
  • Cha: 10

Skills

  • Banked: 0
  • Athletics 0
  • Combat/Melee 1
  • Combat/Projectile 0
  • Culture/New Eden
  • Culture/Spacer 0
  • Exosuit 0
  • Leadership 0
  • Persuade 0
  • Stealth 0
  • Survival 0
  • Tactics 0

Combat

  • AC:
  • HP: 19/19
  • Init: +2
  • MR:
  • Primary Ranged Attack:
  • Secondary Ranged Attack:
  • Primary Melee Attack:
  • Secondary Melee Attack:
  • Special Attack:
  • Saves
    • Physical 12
    • Mental 15
    • Evasion 14
    • Tech 16
    • Luck 13

Mecha

Hamlet (Shock Suit)

  • Maint 500, Speed 4, Armor 12 (v. non-gunnery weapons)
  • Hitpoints: 30
  • AC: 2
  • Power 7/11, Free Mass 6/6, Hardpoints 1/2
  • Fittings: Active Camo Surface (Power 1, Mass 2), Grav Chutes (Power 1, Mass 1)
  • Weaponry: Cutter Plates (Power 5, Mass 3, Hard Points 1)
    • (+4 to hit, 1d12+2 damage, Melee, AP10)

(Named for a famous Terran detective and warrior-prince.)

Henchman

Start with no henchmen

Carla Danger (thirdkingdom)

  • Warrior 1
  • XP: 0/2005
  • Background: Noble
  • Training: Space Marine
  • Bio: Carla is a brash and energetic space marine, claiming the legendary warrior and bon vivant Carlos Danger as her ancestor and namesake.
  • Description: Carla is of average height, weight and appearance for a woman of her musculature. She wears her hair short, as all good spacers do.

Attributes

  • Str: 18 (+2)
  • Dex: 14 (+1)
  • Con: 10
  • Int: 14 (+1)
  • Wis: 7 (-1)
  • Cha: 10

Skills

  • Banked Skill points: 0
  • Combat/Energy Weapon 0
  • Combat/Gunnery 1
  • Combat/Melee 0
  • Combat/Primitive 0
  • Culture/New Eden
  • Culture/Spacer 0
  • Exosuit 1
  • Leadership 0
  • Persuade 0
  • Tech/Astronautics 0

Languages

  • English
  • Chinese

Combat

  • AC:
  • HP: 18/18
  • Init: +1
  • MR:
  • Primary Ranged Attack:
  • Secondary Ranged Attack:
  • Primary Melee Attack:
  • Secondary Melee Attack:
  • Special Attack:
  • Saves
    • Physical 12
    • Mental 15
    • Evasion 14
    • Tech 16
    • Luck 13

Equipment

Mecha

Kermit

  • Power: 3/11 free
  • Mass: 0/6 free
  • Cost:
  • Armor: 12 (against non-gunnery weapons)
  • AC: 1
  • Speed: 4
  • HP: 30
  • Mech Weapon: Heavy Machine Gun (3 power, 2 mass, 10k)
  • Mech Weapon: Rocket Launcher (3 power, 2 mass, 8k)
  • Side Weapon: Void carbine
  • Mech Fitting: Ammunition Cells, machine gun (1 power, 1 mass, 10k)
  • Mech Fitting: Ammunition Cells, rocket launcher (1 power, 1 mass, 10k)

Henchman

Start with no henchmen

Erasmus Asgeirsson (Vektunaxa)

  • Expert 1
  • XP: 0/1500
  • Background: Noble
  • Training: Engineer
  • Bio: Erasmus has no deep space experience, but his family shipyard built the frigate and Erasmus was called on to represent the family on board.
  • Description: Black hair, brown eyes. Tall and thin.

Attributes

  • Str: 10 (+0)
  • Dex: 14 (+1)
  • Con: 10 (+0)
  • Int: 18 (+2)
  • Wis: 7 (-1)
  • Cha: 14 (+1)

Skills

  • Combat/Gunnery 0
  • Combat/Melee 0
  • Computers 0
  • Culture/New Eden 0
  • Exosuit 0
  • Leadership 1
  • Perception 0
  • Persuade 0
  • Tech/Astronautics 1
  • Tech/Medical 0
  • Tech/Postech 0
  • Vehicle/Space 0

Combat

  • AC: 8 (unarmored), 6 (Armored Undersuit), 3 (Pilot Suit)
  • HP: 16
  • Init: +1
  • MR: 10
  • Primary Ranged Attack:Laser Rifle (+1 to hit, 1d10 damage, 300/500 m range, 20 round magazine, no recoil)
  • Secondary Ranged Attack: Thermal Pistol (+1 to hit, 2d6 damage, 25/50 m range, 5 round magazine, no recoil)
  • Secondary Ranged Attack: Void Carbine (-1 to hit, 2d6 damage, 100/300 m range, 10 round magazine, no recoil, damages vacuum suits)
  • Primary Melee Attack: Monoblade (+1 to hit, 2d6 damage)
  • Secondary Melee Attack: Unarmed (+1 to hit, 1d2+1 damage)
  • Special Attack:
  • Saves
    • Physical 16
    • Mental 15
    • Evasion 12
    • Tech 11
    • Luck 14

Personal Equipment

  • Weapons
    • Monoblade, Void Carbine, Thermal Pistol, Laser Rifle
  • Armor
    • Pilot Suit (AC 4, Enc 1)
    • Armored Undersuit (AC 7, Enc 0)
  • Exploration Gear
    • Atmofilter (Enc 1), Backpack (Enc 1), Binoculars (Enc 1), Glowbug, Solar Recharger (Enc 3), Survival Kit (Enc 1)
  • Tools and Medicine
    • Bioscanner (Enc 1), Lazarus patch (Enc 1), Medkit (Enc 2), Metatool (Enc 1), 6 Type A power cells (Enc 1), Tech/Astronautic tool kit (Enc 3), Tech/Postech tool kit (Enc 3)
  • Personal Accessories
    • Compad, Dataslab (Enc 1)
  • Readied items
    • Armored undersuit, backpack, laser rifle, monoblade, lazarus patch
  • Stowed items
    • Thermal pistol, atmofilter, binoculars, glowbug, survival kit, bioscanner, medkit, metatool, 6 type A power cells, dataslab

Mecha

Vafthru∂nir, a shock suit Power: 9/11, Mass: 6/6, Hardpoints: 2/2

  • Armor: 12 (against non-gunnery weapons)
  • AC: 2
  • Speed: 4 (20 meters)
  • HP: 30
  • Mech Weapon: Rocket Launcher (+2 to hit, 3d10+2 damage, 2k/4k range, AP 5, Ammo)
  • Mech Weapon: Heavy Machine Gun (+2 to hit, 3d6+2 damage, 0.5k/1k range, AP 5, Ammo, Can fire to suppress)
  • Side Weapon: Monoblade (+1 to hit, 2d6+2 damage)
  • Mech Fitting: Breaching Tool
  • Mech Fitting: Field Medical Unit

Henchman

Start with no henchmen

Remar Vargas (Heavy Josh)

  • Psychic 1
  • XP: 0/2000
  • Background: Noble
  • Training: Astrogator (Skyward Steel)
  • Bio: As a rare Edenite MESs, Remar was sent off to the Psychic Academy in Capital City once his powers began manifesting, and mercifully before he used them to hurt himself. He is of noble blood, but is somewhat detached from all that, having grown up away from his clan's estate. On a rare trip home, his clan informed him of his new assignment as the astrogator of a raiding starship.
  • Description: Short dark hair, sunken eyes, pale complexion, clammy hands. He listens to a wide variety of "viking music", and spends most of his time observing social interactions, rather than participating in them. It's for the best.
  • Languages: English, Norwegian
  • Player: Heavy Josh

Attributes

  • Str: 10 (0)
  • Dex: 10 (0)
  • Con: 14 (+1)
  • Int: 14 (+1)
  • Wis: 18 (+2)
  • Cha: 7 (-1)

Skills

  • Combat/Gunnery 0
  • Combat/Melee 0
  • Culture/New Eden 0
  • Exosuit 0
  • Leadership 0
  • Navigation 0
  • Persuade 0
  • Science 0
  • Vehicle/Space 0
  • (1SP remaining)

Psionics

  • Power Points: 3

Precognition (Major Power)

  • Omen (cost: 1)

Biopsionics (Minor Power)

  • Biostasis (cost: 1)


Combat

  • AC: 4 (Pilot Suit)
  • HP: 15
  • Init:
  • MR: 10
  • Primary Ranged Attack:
  • Secondary Ranged Attack:
  • Primary Melee Attack:
  • Secondary Melee Attack:
  • Special Attack:
  • Saves
    • Physical 13
    • Mental 12
    • Evasion 15
    • Tech 16
    • Luck 14

Mecha

Henchman

Start with no henchmen

Wealth & Assets

The Ship (Name)

  • Class: Frigate
  • Cost: 5.29m
  • Speed: 2
  • Armor: 10
  • HP: 40
  • Crew Min/Max: 10/40
  • Days of Life Support: 4 weeks stores
  • AC: 7
  • Power: 0/15 free
  • Free Mass: 0/15 free
  • Hardpoints: 4/6 free
  • Fittings:
    • Advanced Nav Computer (2 power, 0 mass)
    • Atmospheric configuration (0 power, 2 mass)
    • Armory (0 power, 0 mass)
    • Cargo Space x3 (0 power, 3 mass)
    • Drive-3 (4 power, 4 mass)
    • Fuel Bunker x2 (0 power, 0+1 mass)
    • Fuel Scoops (2 power, 2 mass)
    • Sensor Survey Array (2 power, 1 mass)
    • Ship’s Locker (0 power, 0 mass)
    • Workshop (0 power, 0 mass)
  • Weapons/Ship:
    • Plasma Beam (5 power, 2 mass, 2 hardpoints): +x to hit, 3d6+x damage, AP 10
  • Weapons/Gunnery:
    • Forward Arc Rocket Launcher, +x to hit, 3d10+x damage, 1/1 magazine, 2000/4000 range
    • Starboard Arc Heavy Machine Gun, +x to hit, 3d6+x damage (can suppress), 10/10 magazine, 500/2000 range
    • Port Arc Heavy Machine Gun, +x to hit, 3d6+x damage (can suppress), 10/10 magazine, 500/2000 range
    • Dorsal Turret Anti-Vehicle Laser, +x to hit, 3d10+x damage, 15/15 magazine, 500/1000 range, (rerolls 1s on damage dice vs. hard armored targets)

Cargo & Treasure

Valuable Information

Planetary Currency

Star Systems

A list of star systems explored.

Astaroth (06.06)

The star system which is the origin-point of both the Nobility and the Mecha, and the place where the campaign begins.

New Eden (Astaroth Tertius)

  • Atmosphere: Breathable Mix
  • Climate: Temperate
  • Biosphere: Engineered
  • Population: Two Billion Peasants. Two Hundred thousand Nobles. Two Hundred Thousand Psychics.
  • Languages: English (common tongue), Mandarin, Hindustani, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, French
  • Tech Level: Baseline 4 with some pretech capabilities (Mech Interfaces, Limited Psitech capabilities, Basic TL5 energy weapons, Bio-Engineering.)
  • Tags: Warlords, Regional Hegemon. Large areas of territory are controlled by different Noble families, and the Planetary Senate is minimally effective at anything but preventing all-out war.
  • Trade: +2 Luxury, +1 Sapient, -1 Pretech, -2 Biotech

History: Unlike many less-fortunate colonies, New Eden was already paradisiacal when the Scream hit. They lost their psychics and their Gates, but disruption to the planetary culture itself wasn't too severe. They have spent the last thousand years expanding across the globe and refining their own culture and biosphere. Individual Estates, no less than 150,000 square kilometers, number around 100. Armed conflicts are strictly limited to small-scale, refereed engagements between hand-chosen mecha and a few support units. Peasants and Nobles are ruled by different codes of law are not treated as equals, although the governments of individual Estates can have substantial differences between them. Psychics are also prized, and are given special privileges over Peasants. Psychic abilities are much more common among the Nobility, but do not give an rank exalted among their peers. All Nobles are expected to be extraordinary; psychic capability is merely one possible expression of their excellence.

Recently, a spike-drive-equipped exploratory mission from another world visited New Eden and landed, in order to make contact. They eagerly shared the secrets of FTL technology with the people of New Eden, who had previously only made System craft for purposes of asteroid mining and the like.

Their generosity may prove to have been ill-advised.

Planet

Planet

Omicron Pioneer (04.07)

There's a refueling station and trade depot here, orbiting a chilly, rocky world. There was a colony down there that failed at some point, possibly due to the fact that the native life is lethally allergenic to humans. Sometimes prospectors go down to explore the ruined cities and look for treasure, but as many fail to come back as come back with valuables. Most people here are just passing through. The system has maybe a hundred permanent residents.

Planet

Planet

Planet

Dyson Medusa (06.05)

This is a neutron star, in a system very late in its life-cycle. The lone inhabited planet orbits close in. It's relatively warm, but also radioactive as hell, with an atmosphere made up almost entirely of noble gases. The surface is a weird, bizarrely-colored jungle of plant and animal life adapted to those conditions. The colony is entirely underground, with mile upon mile of tunnels and caverns. It's inhabited by surprisingly low-tech people with a bunch of black-box fusion generators. They're currently engaged in a civil war, so going there is a risky proposition, although they'd likely pay about anything you wanted to charge for TL4 weapons.

Planet

Planet

Planet

Icarus Illthrax (07.06)

This is the closest thing to civilization that can be reached directly from Astaroth. There's a world here with about 3.5 billion people, in an engineered biosphere that has gone completely haywire. They're currently being ruled by foreign invaders who moved in floating cities and rain down plasma death on anyone that defies them. The native atmosphere is very thin (one of the things that the bio-engineering was supposed to fix.) The locals are adapted to it, but outsiders who visit should probably wear some kind of oxygen or breathing mask.

Planet

Planet

Planet

System Name

Overview goes here.

Planet

Planet

Planet

House Rules

House rules go here.

Character Generation & Advancement

  • Character attributes will be 18, 14, 14, 10, 10, 7, arranged to taste.
  • Characters begin at level 1, with 0 Experience points
  • Hit Points will start out at maximum for the class, plus 10.
  • Each level, All hit dice will be rerolled. The new total is kept if it is larger, the previous total is kept if the new roll is smaller (There is no +1HP consolation prize!). Note that the +10HP bonus given at character generation is a one-time bonus. It will not apply to later rolls, and it is thus highly probable that characters will not gain HP during their first few levels. Think of it as an advance on future advancement.
  • Noble characters are trained to destroy their lesser foes in droves. When fighting generally unworthy opponents, their damage rolls can "blow through" an opponent reduced to zero, and apply to any further unworthy opponents who do not have stronger defenses.
  • All PCs must take the Noble background, but may select whatever training package they wish.
  • English is the common language of New Eden.
  • All PCs treat Exosuit as an in-class skill.
  • Combat/Unarmed is replaced with Combat/Melee. This adds the skill bonus to damage only for actually unarmed attacks, but may also be used for to-hit rolls with melee weapons. Combat/Primitive must still be used for grenades and the like, so it isn't useless. Combat/Melee OR Combat/Primitive may be used to modify AC when in personal-scale combat versus other melee fighters, provided that the defender made a melee attack on their last action.
  • PCs may replace the Noble package's Combat/Primitive with Combat/Melee. This option is not available at other steps of character generation.
  • At character creation, Noble characters receive an additional allotment of skill points equal to what their class would normally grant (two for warriors or psychics, three for experts.)
  • After character creation, Noble characters receive double skill points (Four for warriors or psychics, six for experts.) The normal skill maximum by character level still applies.
  • The game will be using the rules from various other books. It is advisable that the party pay special attention to the skill functions in those books. Particularly if the group intends to engage in mercenary or other military conflict, it may be wise to plan for one Warrior character to function as captain of the ship and general in charge of ground forces; this would involve high mental attributes and maxed-out Leadership and Tactics skills.
    • Suns of Gold: "A merchant’s expertise is simply the total of his or her Business skill, relevant Culture skill, and the better of their Intelligence or Charisma modifiers. If they have absolutely no planetary Culture skill, they suffer a penalty of -1. A group can pool their talents to use the best numbers available to them, but this requires close cooperation and trust.
    • Skyward Steel: "To determine a ship’s Crew Points, first add the crew’s highest available skill levels for Athletics, Combat/Gunnery, Computer, Culture/Spacer, Exosuit, Leadership, Navigation, Tech/Astronautics, Tactics, and Vehicle/Space. If no PC has the skill above level 0, assume some NPC crewman has it at level 1. Double this total to find the Crew Point total.
    • Starvation Cheap: "Add up the army's most common Tech Level, plus the lower of the commander's Tactics or Leadership skills, plus the total of the commander's Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma modifiers...Extremely well-commanded armies might not have enough troops to pad out all the possible units they can support. In this case, any unassigned unit points can be divided up and added to the Strength of one or more units, to represent the surfeit of leadership available to them."
  • Equipment
    • Rather than give a particular budget for starting equipment, the PCs are welcome to take any TL4 equipment that seems reasonable. Post your equipment list in the chargen thread and I'll veto anything I deem excessive. A TL4 backpack, a compad, a primary weapon and sidearm, and an armored undersuit should be considered the minimal necessary equipment. The character will also receive 1d1000+1000 Astaroth credits.
    • Each character will also receive a Pilot Suit, which is in essence an AC4 version of the Vacc Skin. They're Encumbrance 1, have an interface for your compad, and are considered TL5 equipment. They can be worn inside a mech, unlike other armor.
    • No cybernetics.
    • Characters will generally receive XP at my discretion. Expect 1XP per 5 Credits captured, looted, or earned from mercenary work. Mercantile ventures do not grant XP. XP from combat will only accrue if the opposition is meaningful. Meeting goals may result in bonus XP awards.
  • The character advancement tables are going to get simplified a little.
    • Experts level at 1500, 3000, 6000, 12000, 25000, 50000, 100000, 200000, etc.
    • Warriors and Psychics level at 2000, 4000, 8000, 16000, 32000, 64000, 128000, 250000, 370000.
    • Further, PCs will receive some special abilities at level 3 and above, which we'll go into later.
  • Nobles are harder to kill than lesser men. They may make a physical effect save on the first three rounds after reaching 0 hit points to automatically stabilize. Lazarus Patches do not begin to accrue penalties until after the first three rounds, but are still useless after six. Biopsionic stabilization works automatically, but is still useless after six rounds.

Economics

There is no such thing as interstellar credits in this game, nor are there currency exchanges. Planetary/System currency will be described as "credits," although in fact this represents some arbitrary amount of dollars, dinars, pesos, energy certificates, or the like. Keeping a hoard of planetary currency on your ship is not unwise if you intend to return to that place, but generally speaking you should accumulate WEALTH rather than MONEY. Trade goods transfer just fine across the stars. Bonuses or Penalties to trade modifiers do not stack; use the largest bonus and the largest penalty.

Starting Ship

  • You will begin with a top-of-the-line military frigate in a saucer configuration
  • This ship contains a Workshop and one unit of Fuel Bunkers at no cost in space or mass. The workshop can do repairs and the like for suits or light mechs.
  • You may equip it with any further components you like, although you are limited to TL4 hardware.
  • I strongly recommend a drive-2 or drive-3, another Fuel Bunker or Fuel Scoop, one or more units of cargo space, and a way to reach the surface of a planet: Drop Pod, Cargo Lighter, or Atmospheric Capability. If you doubt the need for cargo space, consult the rules on mech maintenance.
  • The ship will also be equipped with some gunnery-scale defenses: A heavy machine gun on the port and starboard sides, a forward-mounted rocket launcher, and a dorsal turret armed with an anti-vehicle laser. These are useless in starship combat but may have some utility if the ship is assailed on the ground or by a boarding party. They do not require space or mass.
  • 25,000 credits worth of mecha maintenance parts constitute one ton of cargo. You start with 5 tons of these materials, and 100,000 credits worth of any other TL4 trade goods you like. See: Suns of Gold, pg. 16.
  • The ship has 20 crew plus yourselves. The crew are peasants and are only paid one-quarter of the normal amount, they are prepaid for the first three months.
  • Ship's stores last for four weeks rather than two weeks. This is doubled normally for extended stores; one unit of extended stores will give you two months of supplies in total.
  • Your family's generosity is great, but not unlimited. Visits to Astaroth will allow you to pay the crew for another month so long as you make a substantive report of your ventures, and will allow you to refuel, replenish your stores, and perform your yearly ship maintenance for free.
  • The ship has six suites for command crew (yourselves), which are three meters by three meters. Unimaginable luxury! The crew are in a tightly packed barracks with bunks.

Mecha

  • Mecha have double hit points.
  • Suit mechs must be custom-fitted to the user, and are not interchangeable.
  • Noble-grade mechs are a little better than factory standard. The PCs may add the following bonuses to their own personal mechs: 1 power and free mass to all Suit mechs, 3 power and free mass to all Light mechs, and 5 power and free mass to all Heavy mechs.
  • Suit mechs take up 2 tons of cargo space. Light mechs take up 10. Heavy mechs take up 50.
  • The Workshop in a Frigate can perform repairs and maintenance on a Light mech. A Cruiser-scale workship is required for Heavy mechs. Suit mechs just require a toolkit.
  • Cargo carried about by a mech is highly likely to be destroyed in any exchange of fire or the like.
  • A mech pilot cannot be wearing any armor heavier than a pilot suit or armored undersuit.
  • The interior space allowed for pilot equipment is very cramped. The pilot may only have 5 encumbrance units of weapons or equipment inside a suit mech, 10 inside a light mech, or 15 inside a heavy mech. Unworn armor cannot fit inside a suit mech.
  • The pilot's Exosuit skill subtracts from the mech's Armor Class.
  • Every Suit Mech may have one sidearm: This is a personal-scale weapon such as a laser rifle or monoblade which can be used freely. Players may choose any TL4 weapon as their mech's sidearm.
  • A ranged gunnery weapon on a mech can only be used every other round, due to cool-down requirements. Slow-firing weapons must test or require another round to cool down.
  • A mech's ranged weapons score a Critical Hit on a natural 20. Their Melee weapons score a critical hit on a score of 20-(Combat/Melee) or better.
  • Melee attacks made by mechs use the pilot's strength or dex to-hit, but their bonus damage is always +2 regardless of the pilot's attributes, because mechs are hella strong.

Mecha Critical Hits

  • Ranged weapons critical only on a natural 20, but melee weapons critical on (20-weapon skill: Primitive, Melee, or Psitech)
  • On a Critical Hit, first determine whether the hit dealt any damage after applying the target's armor. If the hit dealt no damage, reduce the target mech's armor by 1. If the hit dealt damage, the pilot may roll a saving throw. Physical versus things that are essentially like bullets, mental versus psitech attacks, evasion versus explosives, tech versus energy weapons, luck if nothing else applies. On a successful save, the mech merely takes damage normally. On a failed save, apply the damage AND roll 1d6:
    • 1: Armor Damage. The target mech loses 1d4 points of armor. Subsequent armor criticals reduce armor by 1d4 more points AND penalize Armor Class by 1.
    • 2: Weapon Damage. Randomly select a weapon on the target mech, which becomes Damaged. It is at -2 to hit and damage. A further critical hit to the same weapon renders it Disabled, and it cannot be used until repaired. A third critical hit to the same weapon renders it destroyed. It cannot be repaired and must be replaced.
    • 3: Locomotive Damage. Determine how many locomotive systems the mech has. All mechs have legs. Some may have grav pods or the like. Randomly determine which are affected. Damage to Legs reduces the mech's ground-based Speed by 1, to no lower than 1. Recalculate its movement rate accordingly. Damage to grav pods or the like is handled like weapons: First they are damaged and only propel the mech at half their normal speed. Then they are disabled and cannot be used. Then they are destroyed and must be replaced.
    • 4: Systems Damage. Roll 1d4.
      • 1: Power Fluctuation. The mech loses its next action.
      • 2: Ammo Cookoff. Non-explosive ammunition for one weapon is destroyed, leaving only enough ammunition for one attack, or one weapon with explosive ammunition has it cook off, dealing damage equal to one hit to the defending mech. If the weapon had more than one unit of ammunition remaining, only one unit is left.
      • 3: Power Drain. The mech's energy weapons deal damage with one die type lower. 3d8 becomes 3d6, for example.
      • 4: Power Severed. The Referee may select one power-intensive system that ceases operation until this result is repaired. If there are no power-intensive systems, use Power Fluctuation.
    • 5: Electronics Damage. Roll 1d4.
      • 1: Visual sensor damage. -2 to hit with all weapons unless some other sensor system is available.
      • 2: Targeting systems damaged. Melee attacks and short-ranged ranged attacks are unaffected. Most Long-ranged ranged attacks suffer an additional -2. Systems that rely on sophisticated targeting, such as anti-air lasers, are generally totally unusable.
      • 3: Comms Down: The mech loses access to its communications suite.
      • 4: ECM/ECCM Damage: The mech ceases to operate as an ECM/ECCM platform. This may be really bad.
    • 6: Pilot Damage. Roll 1d4.
      • 1: One piece of equipment inside the pilot compartment is destroyed, if the pilot is carrying additional equipment. Determine randomly.
      • 2: The Life Support system is damaged. This will become a problem in 1d20 minutes in hostile environments.
      • 3: The pilot suffers 1d4 damage and a suit tear to their pilot suit.
      • 4: For each die of damage dealt by the weapon, the pilot takes 1d6 damage. No hit roll required.
  • Repairing a level of critical hit damage has a cost equivalent to 1d4 HP for that type of mech. It takes 12 hours, divided by the skill of the technician, who must have a skill of at least 1.

Weapons & Equipment

Combat

  • Surprise may be checked for if the groups run into each other unexpectedly or one side does not expect combat. Surprise will generally result on a 1-4 roll of a D12. You may notice this is equivalent to 1-2 on a D6. The reason this matters is that characters with the Perception skill may subtract their ranks (including rank 0) from the range of rolls that result in surprise. Therefore, someone with Perception 2 would be surprised only on a 1 on 1d12. Someone with Perception 3 could not be surprised under normal circumstances.
  • During the round you first move up to your movement rate, and then may take an action. This may be to charge, use a weapon or item, use a psychic power, reload, or similar things that may be done quickly.
  • Combat movement rates are cut in half. Rotating is free. You will by default end up directly facing whatever enemy you attack. Your front facing is the three hexes in front of your character. Enemies attacking via melee will have +2 when attacking from your 2 flank hexes or +4 from directly behind. These modifiers do not apply to ranged weapons.
  • Hexes are generally two meters across; I may adjust this scale when there are Light or Heavy mechs in play.
  • Lesser enemies may be arranged into Mobs ala Godbound.
  • You may draw whatever weapon you intend on using as part of your action, which results in a -2 penalty to your initiative. It requires an action to re-sheathe or otherwise put away a weapon. If you don't want to do this, they may be dropped on the ground.
  • Cover protects against ranged attacks. Light cover will typically give a -2 penalty to hit, heavy cover will give -4. The determination as to whether cover is light or heavy will depend on the degree of concealment, the density of the material, and the type of weapon being fired. A plywood door will not give meaningful protection against a rocket launcher, but a flimsy reflective surface might give cover against a laser weapon.
  • A character with a melee weapon or Combat/melee skill of at least 0 may charge into melee as their action. They may move up to their normal movement rate and still make a melee attack. This attack is made at +2 to-hit and damage, but gives them -2 to their AC until their next action.
  • Characters who are armed with melee weapons (Unarmed counts if they have Combat/Melee at a skill level of at least 1) have a "zone of control" across their front arc. This has several effects.
    • They may make a "free" melee attack at -2 to-hit against any enemy who attempts to use ranged attacks while in their zone of control. This may also apply to the use of certain psychic powers or other distracting activities. They may make a number of free melee attacks equal to their skill in Combat/Melee.
    • Enemies also provoke this attack if they move out of any hex inside the zone of control at their full movement rate. It requires their move action to "step" one hex in whatever direction. This includes stepping into another hex in the same zone of control.
  • Some weapons are a bit different.
    • Gunnery weapons require a one-round cooldown between uses.
    • Monoblades deal 2d6 damage.
    • Void Carbines are designed not to damage starship internal systems. They also function like a suit ripper on a hit.
    • Mag Rifles and Mag Pistols deal only 2d8 and 2d6 damage, respectively. However, Mag Rifles ignore 4 points of vehicle or suit mech armor, and Mag Pistols ignore 2 points. They are still ineffective against targets only affected by gunner-scale weaponry.
    • Spike Throwers deal one less die of damage against armor as protective as a CFU or Pilot Suit. They deal two less dice of damage against vehicles or the like.
    • Personal-scale energy weapons receive +2 to hit rather than +1 to hit.

Crew

The ship's crew goes here. I don't really care if you name these guys or not.

Captain's Crew

  • Crew 1: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 2: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 3: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 4: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:

Comms Crew

  • Crew 1: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 2: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 3: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 4: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:

Nav Crew

  • Crew 1: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 2: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 3: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 4: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:

Engineering Crew

  • Crew 1: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 2: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 3: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 4: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:

Gunnery Crew

  • Crew 1: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 2: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 3: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 4: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:

Boatswain's Crew

  • Crew 1: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 2: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 3: (Class)
    • AC: HP: Attack: XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:
  • Crew 4: (Class)
    • AC: (armor) HP: Attack: (Weapon, to-hit, damage) XP:
    • Skills:
    • Gear:


NPCs

List important NPCs here.

NPC Name

  • Rank
  • Description
  • Abilities
  • Links to important posts
    • Post Link
    • Post Link
    • Post Link

NPC Name

  • Rank
  • Description
  • Abilities
  • Links to important posts
    • Post Link
    • Post Link
    • Post Link

NPC Name

  • Rank
  • Description
  • Abilities
  • Links to important posts
    • Post Link
    • Post Link
    • Post Link

Player Notes

Volume I

Volume II

Volume III

Important Links