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Concept: | |||
| Age/Hgt/Wgt: | Appearance: |
Life Points:
Life Points measure how much damage you can take before passing out
or dying. When your character is punched, stabbed, or shot, the
damage comes out of your total Life Points. If your damage is equal
or greater than your Life Points, you’re out of the action.
Calculate your total by adding the die types of your Vitality +
Willpower Attributes. For example, a character with a d8 Vitality
and a d6 Willpower has 14 Life Points.
Step State:
Attribute Penalty:
When you've taken half or more of your total LifePoints in Wounds,
you suffer a -2 step penalty on all Attributes
Attributes
| Agility represents quickness and physical coordination. A high Agility could mean your character can twirl two pistols and leap on the back of a moving horse without screwing up either action. A low score might well mean you have four left feet—two on the ends of your legs and two at the ends of your arms. | |
| Strength tells you just how strong your character is. A high Strength means you can kick down doors, win arm wrestling contests, or break someone's jaw with a good right hook. Low scores mean you have trouble carrying your own luggage. | |
| Vitality is a measure of toughness and general health. High Vitality characters avoid catching the flu, can drink their buddies under the table, and run from the law without getting winded. Crew with low Vitality should stay away from people with colds and never drink the local water | |
| Alertness represents intuition and observation. A character with a high score might hear the stealthy footsteps of an Alliance Operative sneaking up on the group, notice an important clue caught in the bushes, or know the instant a fellow is lying. Someone with a low Alertness doesn’t notice that his fly is unzipped. | |
| Intelligence is smarts—plain and simple. Crew with high Intelligence are bright and inventive, able to think their way through complex situations, or solve puzzles that would confound lesser persons. Those with low scores might have trouble understanding big words or experience difficulty remembering complicated plans. | |
| Willpower is about determination and force of personality. A high score means a character can resist intimidation (and even torture), can convince a person to do his bidding, and can push on even when his body is about to give up. Those with low Willpower might be easily fooled, back down at a threat, or take the easy way out. |
Derived Traits
| Initiative: Agility + Alertness. Tells you who goes first in a given situation. Do you draw first or does your enemy have the drop on you? You’ll make Initiative rolls during combat and other hairy situations where time is a major factor. When the GM asks for an “Initiative Roll,” you roll your Agility + Alertness dice and tell the GM the result. Higher is better. Especially when a Reaver is rushing at you with a machete |
Agility + Alertness |
Long Haul: Strength + Vitality. Made when trying to perform an extended feat of strength that has to be maintained more than a few seconds, such as carrying a heavy load up a hill. |
Strength + Vitality |
| Burst of Strength: Strength + Strength. Made to see if you can perform a brief feat of physical strength, such as shoving a heavy object out of the way |
Strength + Strength |
Memorize: Intelligence + Alertness. Used to commit important information to memory. |
Intelligence + Alertness |
| Endurance: Vitality + Willpower. Rolled when you’re taken more Wounds than Life Points to see if you stay alive. |
Vitality + Willpower |
Recall: Intelligence + Willpower. A check to remember an important event or fact. |
Intelligence + Willpower |
| Out of Harm: Agility + Alertness. Made when reacting to sudden danger, such as diving away from a grenade that lands at your feet |
Agility + Alertness |
Resist: Vitality + Vitality. Made to resist environmental hazards, diseases, alcohol, and toxins |
Vitality + Vitality |
Plot Points
Plot Points are a way for major characters in the game to add a
little drama to the story. Plot Points can be used to improve the
odds for important actions, prevent someone from getting killed or
badly injured, or even used to alter the story.
| Reduce Damage | +1 Step per Point / +1 LP after |
| Add to Rolls | +1 Step per Point / +1 to roll after |
| Utilize Assets | See Asset description, 1-6 Points |
| Affect Plot | GM discretion, can use 1-12 Points |
Plot points above 6 are converted to Advancement points at the end
of each session.
Advancement Points
Advancement Points represent the accumulation of experience and
are the building blocks for improvement.
| Die | Skill cost | Attribute cost |
|---|---|---|
| d2 | 2 | – |
| d4 | 4 | – |
| d6 | 6 | 24 |
| d8 | 8 | 32 |
| d10 | 10 | 40 |
| d12 | 12 | 48 |
| d12 + d2 | 14 | 56 |
| d12 + d4 | 16 | 64 |
Earned
Used
Unused
Skills
Skill Levels
Roll Difficulties
| Die | Proficiency | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| d2 | Incompetent | “That ain’t the ‘on’ button, is it?” |
| d4 | Novice | “Don’t pull the trigger, squeeze it.” |
| d6 | Competent | “Believe I know this dance. Shall we?” |
| d8 | Expert | “I can reprogram this trash bin to go wherever we want.” |
| d10 | Professional | “The dermal mender will keep that ear on fine. Just don’t fiddle with it!” |
| d12 | Master | “A Crazy Ivan? Right now? Okay.” |
| d12+ | Supreme | “You’re holding eights, low queen, jack, and ace. Your eyes gave it away.” |
| Action | Ordinary Success | Extraordinary Success | Complex Task |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 3 | 10 | 15 |
| Average | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| Hard | 11 | 18 | 55 |
| Formidable | 15 | 22 | 75 |
| Heroic | 19 | 26 | 95 |
| Incredible | 23 | 30 | 115 |
| Ridiculous | 27 | 34 | 135 |
| Impossible | 31 | 38 | 155 |
Animal Handling: You can make friends with any animal
using this Skill. Caring for, feeding, riding, teaching
the animal tricks, “whispering” to the animal—all things
you learned growing up on a farm or ranch. Well, city kids
can learn it, too, if they’ve got the heart for it.
Specialties: animal training, riding, veterinary, zoology.
Examples
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Medical Expertise: You know what they say: “there are
always places to see, people to break”. And when folk do
break, you’ll be there to put ‘em back together with your
bag of modern medical wonders. You can slap an aid-strip
on a scratch and tell them to take two aspirins in the
morning without this Skill, but anything more serious
requires medical school, internships, residency, and
knowing when to holler “clear!” Specialties: dentistry,
forensics, general practice, genetics, internal medicine,
neurology, pharmaceuticals, physiology, psychiatry,
rehabilitation, surgery, toxicology, veterinary medicine.
Examples
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Artistry: You make artsy pretties that folks admire.
Since aesthetic tastes vary quite a bit in the ‘Verse,
assume that the work is created to suit a target group or
audience. (Your painting of the blue-faced woman with
three heads and six arms is not likely to sell in the
souvenir shop on Jiangyin, even though the art critics on
Sihnon rave about it). Specialties: appraisal, cooking,
forgery, game designing, painting, photography, poetry,
sculpting, writing.
Examples
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Melee Weapons: Perhaps you swing a blade faster than the
other guy can draw his gun. This Skill allows you to use
weapons other than guns effectively in a fight. Note that
actions taken against other characters are usually opposed
rolls, so some of the examples might vary in actual use.
Specialties: clubs, knives, melee weaponsmithing,
nunchaku, pole arms, swords, whips.
Examples
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Athletics: Whenever you are moving, most likely you’re,
using athletics. This Skill allows you to run, jump,
throw, climb, swim, and play sports. Specialties:
climbing, contortion, dodge, juggling, jumping,
gymnastics, parachuting, parasailing, pole vaulting,
riding, running, swimming, weight lifting. (Note: An
individual sport can be its own Specialty, such as
baseball or soccer.)
Examples
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Perception: This Skill helps you pick up on subtleties in
your surroundings. You notice little things such as the
tiny crack on the marble floor that less attentive folk
could easily miss. Can’t slip a gnat past you, if you get
really good at it. Naturally, you can’t take certain
Specialties that rely on a particular sense if you are
partially or fully disabled in that sense—awfully hard to
justify takin’ “sight” when you’re blind, for
instance–although a blind person might take this Skill in
hearing. Note that Skill use against other characters is
opposed, so some of the following examples could vary in
actual play. Specialties: deduction, empathy, gambling,
hearing, intuition, investigation, read lips, search,
sight, smell, tactics, taste, tracking.
Examples
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Covert: Sneaky maneuvers, usually illegal. You can use
this Skill to move silently, hide, blow a safe, or pick
someone’s pocket. Specialties: camouflage, disable
devices, forgery, infiltration, open locks, sabotage,
sleight of hand, stealth, streetwise, surveillance.
Examples
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Performance: You can hum a few notes, dance a few steps,
or otherwise impress an audience with this Skill. Maybe
you’re even good enough to make a living. As with
Artistry, your performance should fit a target audience.
(Your rendition of the quartet from Rigoletto will not
garner much applause in the local Whitefall saloon. In
fact, it might get you lynched!) Note: con artists,
fugitives, and other folk who want or need to pass
themselves off as someone else will need to take this
Skill. Specialties: acting, dancing, costuming, keyboard
instruments, impersonation, mimicry, oratory, percussion
instruments, singing, stringed instruments, wind
instruments.
Examples
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Craft: Involves creating or altering items, often for
commercial purposes—anything from the cheap china in a
Jiangyn tourist trap to the million-credit remodeling of a
mansion on Bellerophon. You must roll a Skill check to see
how close you come to making a craft to the desired
specifications. Note that most projects require complex
Skill checks (see Chapter Two: Traits and Skills).
Specialties: architecture, blacksmithing, carpentry,
cooking, leatherworking, metalworking, pottery, sewing.
Examples
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Pilot: If it flies—either in atmo or out in the black—
you’re able to make the craft perform. In addition to
simply flying, the Skill also covers charting a course,
maintenance, and basic troubleshooting—though any serious
problem is covered by Mechanical Engineering. You need a
Skill roll to control the craft under adverse conditions,
evade pursuit, or perform difficult maneuvers. A Botch
roll does not mean you’ve instantly crashed your craft—but
it certainly means you’ve made the ride a helluva lot more
interesting! Specialties: aerial navigation, astrogation,
astronomy, astrophysics, space survival. (Note that
specific types of craft are also Specialties. Examples
include: gunships, hang gliders, helicopters, large
cruisers, mid-bulk transports, patrol vessels, rocket
shuttles, ultra-light aircraft, and short-range shuttles.)
Examples
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Discipline: Usually obtained through some sort of
training, such as that gained in the military or when
learning martial arts—though the Discipline can be
selftaught or learned through other circumstances. This
Skill set allows you to resist interrogation, focus on the
job at hand in the face of distraction, or scare the hell
out of someone else. Specialties: concentration,
interrogation, intimidation, leadership, mental
resistance, morale.
Examples
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Planetary Vehicles: Your ability to drive, operate, and
maintain vehicles used planetside—on the ground, on or
under water. Most folks are capable of driving a car,
steering a boat, or riding a horse, but when things get a
mite tricky, you’ll need to roll the dice to see how well
you perform. Note that basic maintenance for vehicles is
covered under this Skill. Serious repairs must be
performed by those with Mechanical Engineering.
Specialties: aquatic navigation, cars, canoes, equestrian,
ground vehicle repair, horse-drawn conveyances,
hovercraft, industrial vehicles, land navigation, large
ground transports, military combat vehicles, powerboats,
sailing, scooters, scuba diving, skiffs, submarines,
yachts.
Examples
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Guns: Anyone might be able to squeeze a trigger, but
that’s not the same thing as actually knowing how to
shoot. The ‘Verse is a dangerous place, and it’s best not
to strap on iron unless you have the know-how needed to
use it. Specialties: assault rifles, energy weapons,
grenade launchers, gunsmithing, machine guns, pistols,
rifles, shotguns.
Examples
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Ranged Weapons: Any weapon that can be thrown or shot and
is not a gun falls under this Skill. You make a Skill roll
when trying to hit a target from a distance with a ranged
weapon. There are places in the ‘Verse where they still
fire arrows from a bow or toss javelins at wild animals.
Both are a whole lot quieter than a rifle and just as
deadly between the eyes. Specialties: blowguns, bows,
crossbows, darts, grenade, javelin, ranged weaponsmithing,
slings, throwing axes, throwing knives.
Examples
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Heavy Weapons: This Skill makes it possible for you to
bring the biggest gun to a fight—and use it! Some weapons
require a crew of two or more to operate (see Chapter
Five: Keep Flyin’ for rules on Cooperative Skill use).
Specialties: artillery, catapults, demolitions, forward
observer, mounted guns, repair heavy weapons, rocket
launchers, ship’s cannons, siege weapons.
Examples
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Scientific Expertise: You either got plenty of schooling
or you were very well taught by your own self. This Skill
measures your knowledge in the scientific fields, with
each Specialty indicating a deeper understanding of that
subject. Anyone who made it through the basic school years
can recognize fundamental facts and theories without this
Skill, but has no chance understanding concepts that are
more complicated. Note the Specialties below represent
major areas of study (earth sciences include chemistry,
geology, as an example). Specialties: earth sciences,
historical sciences, life sciences, mathematical sciences.
Examples
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Influence: Sometimes words are more powerful than a gun.
This Skill can help you win friends and influence people,
or if the situation demands, sweet-talk them into giving
you what you need. (Note: Most uses of Influence can be
opposed by the target’s Attributes or Skills, so the
examples below may not always apply.) Specialties:
administration, barter, bureaucracy, conversation,
counseling, interrogation, intimidation, leadership,
marketing, persuasion, politics, seduction, streetwise.
Examples
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Survival: You never know when you’re going to find
yourself stranded buck-naked in the desert or drifting all
by your lonesome in space. Whenever you find yourself in
such a situation, you roll a Skill check to see how well
you handle it. Specialties: aerial survival, aquatic
survival, general navigation, land survival, nature, space
survival, specific environment (e.g., zero-G) or condition
survival (e.g., heat, cold, toxic), tracking, trapping.
Examples
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Knowledge: Some folk can tell you how many dimples are on
a golf ball. Others know how to wash protein stains off a
red flannel shirt. This Skill gives you a broad general
knowledge of everything and detailed knowledge for each
Specialty you take. Note that there is a difference
between applied knowledge and “book learning.” You can’t
have both. For instance, you can’t have “Gunsmithing”
because that’s a Specialization of Gun Combat and counts
as applied knowledge. (You might have once read a book on
guns, but that doesn’t mean you know how to manufacture a
gun.) Specialties: appraisal, cultures, history, law,
literature, philosophy, religion, sports.
Examples
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Technical Engineering: With this Skill you can use
machines that run on complicated electronics and
computerized components, as well as engage in computer
hacking and programming. You can wave-order deliveries and
open programs without this Skill, though anything more
complicated, and you’ll be staring at a screenful of error
logs. Specialties: communications systems, computer
programming, hacking, create/alter technical devices,
demolitions, electronics, technical repair, technical
security systems.
Examples
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Linguist: Talking won’t do any good if no one understands
what you’re saying. Just about everybody in the ‘Verse
speaks English and Chinese (to one degree or another). The
Linguist general Skill covers basic familiarity with
various languages, though its use won’t grant you
fluency—meaning you won’t be able to follow a fast moving
conversation in another language. Specialties represent
familiarity or training with a specific non-native tongue.
Note that you are automatically fluent in any language
that is a part of your background. Specialties: Arabic,
Armenian, French, German, Hindu, Japanese, Latin,
Portuguese, Russian, Tagalog, Swahili, Swedish, etc.
Examples
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Unarmed Combat: They say never hit a man with a closed
fist, but it is—on occasion—necessary. And sometimes
nothing brings more satisfaction to one’s soul than
delivering a good old-fashioned punch to the jaw. For
those who relish those occasions, this is the skill to
use, whether it’s a knee to the groin, kick to the shin,
hook to the chin, chop to the throat or gouge to the eye.
Note that while Unarmed Combat doesn’t involve the use of
weapons, this and the Brawling specialty can allow you to
use weapons of opportunity (beer bottles, etc.).
Specialties: boxing, brawling, judo, karate, kung fu,
savate, wrestling.
Examples
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Mechanical Engineering: You know what they say: “there
are always places to see, things to break.” And with this
Skill, you’ll be there to fix ‘em, so long as the things
have nuts and bolts and don’t run on fancy computers. You
can handle very simple tasks such as changing a light bulb
or tightening a screw without this Skill, but you’ll need
it to deal with more complicated workings. Specialties:
create mechanical devices, machinery maintenance,
mechanical repairs, fix mechanical security systems,
plumbing.
Examples
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Skill Specialties
Assets
Complications