Drifting Through Space - A Free Sci-Fi RPG

g g n i t t f i i r D

Through

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E C A P P S

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y: geether b y: Cobbled to g

S S O R C . E L MICHA

k e r k t. T . J . B i ir ta r C a p t S t

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ruff . h t n e v e r o w e r h t , Not thru ‘

’

‘

Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

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‘

’

In 2097, 2097, the Hevig class clas s Star Freighter “THE BIGGUN” B IGGUN” lost los t all power to its systems. With only 24 hours left to live, Star Captain T. J. Birke did what any sane man would do... He wrote a roleplaying game. Contained within these pages is a 95.34% accurate reproduction of the captain’s hand-written scrawls* , salvaged from his ship and released to the public for the first time.

en.

* Y es, he used a p

! It’s a shock to us too


44

_ _ 5 s and 4 e t u n i m 3 * 6 4 rs 1 u o h 2 2 4 2 e next h t o t d s eco Dedicate n n d ds s ,

-

because that's all I have left... *

Ah! sod it!

CREATED, “EDITED” AND WRITTEN BY

Michal E. Cross mehow.nl “PROPER” EDITING AND PROOF READING BY

Chris Birch, Lynne Hardy, Richard Hardy & Fransje Koning PUBLISHED BY

Modiphius Entertainment Ltd. 35 Turneville Road, London. W14 9PS. United Kingdom [email protected] LEGAL

Drifting Through Space copyright copyright © 2011 - 2014 Michal E. Cross & is used under licence

The Modiphius logo is copyright © 2012 - 2 014 Modiphius Entertainment Ltd. Any unauthorised use of copyrighted material is ill egal Find out more about Modiphius Entertainment Ltd. at www.modiphius.com & www.modiphius.com & www.facebook.com/modiphius Modiphius Entertainment product number: MPS02011i


E N T S C O NT Introduction

2

CH APT ER I I

Character Creation

4

CHAPTER III

Doin g Stuff

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER IV

7 Dramatic Situations! 13

CHAPTER V

Baddies

CHAPTER VI

Ex perience

21 22

CHAPTER VII

Story Ideas

23

APPENDIX

Character Sheet

25

1 Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

*

Chapter I N O I T C U D O R I N T Hello and welcome to a game I wrote. Actually , I'm writin g it as I go, so technically it's not written yet. What's it about? Well , allow me to ex plain.

U sin g rules , rol epl a yin g games (or " RPGs" as the y are called b y the kool ki dz) al low pl a yers to i ma gine that the y are peo ple or bein gs i n extraord i nary ci rcumstances , or at least ci rcumstances that are sli ghtly d if f erent to their normal d a y-to-da y l if e. Take me for exam ple. M y crew (the ones that are still alive) and I have the reall y tedious job of trans portin g the materials required for plex terraformin g various rocks throu ghout the solar s ystem , via a com s ystem of gates which allow s paceshi ps**to travel immense distances b y foldin g s pace-time (thanks Ste phen!). But I won't bore you with all that. What makes m y current situation extraordinar y is that m y shi p's en gines have chosen to ex plode

* That's the roman numeral for "one"!

i ht ? * * I g ues s I s ho ul dn ' t co m p la i n , es p ecial ly in t hi s eco no m ic cli mat e. A jo b' s a jo b , r g 2 Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

e. liv to t lef s ur ho 22 y l on th wi ce pa s in t ou and now I'm stuck y or st e th of ink Th G. RP an as be d ul wo is th g in Just ima gine how excit possibil ities! Bein g an honourabl e servant to the gamin g communit y , I have thus d ecid ed to write a game based on m y current situation , al l whil st the ox y gen and f ood su p pl ies in this hunk of f lo atin g metal d wind le . Wow , the sacrifices I make! And it's all for you! Aren't I nice?

My plan is to write some mechanics, then shoe-horn in some story ideas all WITHOUT STOPPING! Let's see how that works out.


Cha pter II

R E T C A R A H C CREA TION e th is ble ta e th at n so per one me ga is th in , * Gs RP Like with most ) ger a n( Ma ce pa /S er st Ma n geo n Du r/ lle Te y or St er/ st Ma Game(s) r ye Pla e th of les ro e th y la o p wh s yer la e p ar s her ot and the ** got n't ve ha I , rd co re e th r Fo ). ers mb Me Characters (called Crew r he ot e th on u Yo G. RP an of ion nat pla ex h the time to give an in-de pt hand, probably D O have the time, so go look it u p and come back to this when you're read y. Done? Okay, let's continue. someone (or chosen/ When the role of S pace Man has been forced u pon *** volunteered , if your grou p is of that dis position ) , the pla yers the make their Crew Members. I recommend usin g a piece of pa per (or if character sheet that I promise to make at the back of this book f). I have time) and a pencil (as brains aren't good at rememberin g stuf

* I

l i ke t ha t l as t o ne - I l ' l u s e i t!

* * W h y n ot ? ! I t kee p s w it h t he s p ace t heme.

4

* * * I lear n t t h at w or d f ro m D &


D!

S

A T T RI B UT

E S

_ KI LLS

8 _ 7 Each crew member has... er... 6_ Attributes. Because I saw a _

biolo gy TV pro gram once, they are:

* - how think y your Crew Member is

_ HEAD BRAIN

_

- how phis ph ysical ly tou gh the y are ARMS - how stron g the y is e lik y's e th ds han eir th h wit y nd ha w ho RS GE IN F LEGS - how runn y and movey with their le gs they are EYES AND EARS - how well your 'Member can see and hear stuff _ FACE MOUTH - how good at talky things da 'Member is @, like HEART - how expertly they can mentally say "NOT WANT!!!" or "I'm in control, honest guv" in their head(s)** Each pla yer now has some points to distribute amon gst these 8 Attributes. Let's sa y 45. Now , here's an AWESOME twist: no Attribute can be 0 , nor above 10 , and a value ma y only be du plicated once! Haha! S KI N

_

SPECIALTIES AND FLAWS M ost of the big games hav e a hu ge li st of s peci al bonuses/ powers/ f is h/ abil ities/ whatev ers f or pla yers to choose f rom , but I have l ess than a da y to live so I'm not goin g to do that. The pla yers get to invent their own situational bonuses called at "S pecialties". These are thin gs that their Crew Member is good (for exam ple , mechanics , pilotin g , jum pin g , and Scrabble). Each pla yer chooses 3 for their Crew Member. * Not to be confused with my pilot, Brian.

* * A d ou b le n od t o y ou m y mut an t f ri en ds o f 9 M et is .


5

That's nice , isn't it? But look , I'm in a prett y dire situation ri ght now , so I'm goin g to add a double shot of failure into this game. After choosin g 3 S pecialties , pla yers must to choose 2 thin gs that their Crew Member sucks at. I'm going to be unoriginal and call these "Flaws". Like in the section title , I guess. Now , unlike Specialties , Flaws must have some im pact on the stor y/ setting/situation/whatever, therefore pla yers can't choose an ythin g stupid like board games (who pla ys those an ymore an yway?) , medieval basket weaving , or go-kartin g. No no no! The y have to be thin gs like guns , com puters , ph ysics , movin g in zero- g... That way when a dire situation arises in game , it hurts more (and you mi ght just be able to feel m y pain). lties Finall y , and this is ver y im portant , S pace Mans must a p prove S peciathe and Flaws before pla y , and ever yone must understand how and when y can be used. If I had a Space Credit each time I saw someone getting shot or stabbed over something like this, I'd be like, 12 Space Credits richer. Roleplayers can be so passionate!

OTHER STUFF

Some peo pl e think that a name and ph ysical d escri ption woul d be good f or a Crew M ember to have. If you' re one of those peo pl e , d o all that stuff now. Also , if you can be arsed , you could write a back ground for your Crew Member as well*. Warnin g: some peo ple will like to do these thin gs BEFORE choosing Attributes , S pecialties , and Flaws! Can you ima gine?! It makes me ill thinkin g about it... If the Space M an wants, (s)he can allow pla yers to choose weapons and other stuff f or their Crew M embers (see l ater). n. tio ac r fo y ad re s er mb Me ew Cr ve ha now uld sho The pla yers FYI , I have a headache... 6

* No 2o lar be lief , S p ace M an s h at e t hat ! ,Oo o w or d essa ys , pleas e! C on tr ary t o p o pu

R ea l ly, th e y d o. An d t he ones t hat s ay th ey hav e r ead it are liar s... or un em p loy ed .


I DOING STUFF Chapter I I

...and I 'v e just eaten m y last potato. It's situations like these that*sla p you in the face and remind you that you're goin g to as ph yxiate in... 18 hours 52 minutes. I suddenly feel very depressed. is th y pla to w ho you ow sh to w No g. inin wh y m of An ywa y , enou gh y m om fr t ou ll pu I die at wh e se to g in go m I' , rst fantastic gameTM. Fi .. a. 's It .. ic. an ch me re co e th r fo at th e S pace Dice Ba g and us Whoo ps, I drop ped that one under the console (I'll find it later)... Ok , a gain...

It's a... DRUM ROLL!! d2O**!! Oh , how common... BAS I CS T HE W hen a Crew M ember wants to d o a task that has some ri sk or chal len ge i nv olv ed , the S pace M an shoul d ask the pla yer to roll a d2O.

m a r g o r p V y T g o l o i b at h w t e kn I ! o o t e m i t t s r i F ! t i h * O MG o ks r g , t hat s p el li n g lo :) help ed ! M o re ex clamat io n mar ks !!! A nd a s mil e y f ace. ** That's a dice with twenty sides, if you didn't know.


7

*. task the a ted to rel b utes Attri two T he S pace M an then names T he pla yer looks at thei r Crew M ember' s Attributes and ad ds these two to gether. I f the resul t of the d 2o rol l is equal to or und er this Attri bute total the Crew M ember has succeed ed at the task! Y a y! H owev er , if the resul t exceeds thi s total , rocks f al l and the y d i e the y fail at the task. Un-yay!

_ _ __

If it makes sense to the situation, S pecialties grant Crew Members a +2 bonus to their Attribute total. Pla yers must get S pace Man a p proval if the y want this bonus. On ly one S pecialt y can be a pplied.

On the othe hand , if a task which the Crew Member sucks at arises (due to a Flaw) , the y suffer a -2 penalt y to their Attribute total. Mult iple Flaws can a p pl y , which can even cancel out a S pecialt y!! MWAHAHahahahahahaaaaa!!! Ahem... Have some exam ple task Attribute totals:

Catch - Arms + F in gers Cli mb - Arms + Skin Driv e/ Pi lot - Brain + F in gers

rs Ea d an s ye E + ain Br y) t rie va r te pu m co e Hack (of th Lift/Push - Arms + Skin Be Nice to Peo ple - Mouth + Heart

Do Ar t y-F art y St uff - Heart + Fin gers Ask " Is H e L ying?" - M out h + Eyes and Ear s Fi x Thin gs - Brain + Arms (someti mes F inger s for del icat e st uff) J um p - Skin + Le gs N oti ce - E yes and E ars + H eart (Brain f or Searchin g) P ic k Lock - F in gers + Brai n Sneak y - Le gs + E yes and E ars T hrow - Arms + E yes and E ars M ov e in Low Gravi t y - Le gs + Arms 8

* Y eah , t he S p ace M an can d o t hi s af t er t he r ol l . M eh , w h y n ot ? ! P la y it ho w y ou

w an t. I d on ' t car e , I ' ll b e d ead w hen y ou d o.


TASK DIFFICULTY Because (s)he has the P OW ER !!! , a S pace M an ma y sa y that a task i s easier or hard er than usual . T o change a task di ff icul t y all (s)he has to d o is gi ve the Crew M ember' s Attribute total a mod if ie r. As a guideline, +2 is an eas y task whereas a -2 is a hard task. Sim ples. W O RK IN G T O G ET H E R

If two or more Crew Members are able to work as a team on a , ") at th it rm pe all sh I , y il er "V , ys sa n Ma ce pa particular task (and the S the y each make a roll with a +1 bonus to their Attribute totals per Crew Member in the team. The S pace Man is advised to give a limit on the number of peo ple who can hel p BEFORE an y dice are rolled*. If one person succeeds their roll , the team share the success (or even the Su per Success**!). On the other hand , i f all members of the*** team f ai l, well ... then the y al l f ail (and if one rol led a Boo-Boo , the y all get burned !) .

I n some situations , the S pace M an can call f or d if fe rent Attri butes totals when workin g to gether. For exam ple , one Crew Member holds the innocent victim down (Arms + Skin) , whilst the other administers the truth -serum (Fingers + Brain). In this case, all the Crew Members need to succeed, but they each still get the +1 bonus per member. I need a bath. * W at ch o ut f or t ho se p as si on a t e r ol e p la y er s. * * A n ew r ule! S ee l at er . * ** A n d an ot h er !! Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

9

_ _ _ _ _ _

SUCCESSES & BOO-BOOS Whenever a pla yer succeeds at a task A ND rolls 12 or more on the dice, the y're awesome and S pace Mans should throw them either a metaphorical or literal biscuit. In other words, their Crew Member has achieved greatness by succeeding spectacularly and should be rewarded. ull seduce the hot heir to the Z ylaxian throne , Exam ples include: p_ jum p further (how borin g) , bake 6 tast y cakes in one go. ER P U S SS UCCE S LEVELS OF

Like an y good Yin , there must come the Yan g. If a Crew Member fails AN D the d ie turns u p as 9 or l ess , the y hav e " Boo-Boo' ed " and ev er yone at the table should shout this loudl y to rub i t in. I n this situati on, S pace M ans should take *awa y a bi scuit. Or burn the Crew M ember. Or just make his (or her ) li f e a l iv in g hell f or the next ten to ten**. es nut mi nd sa thou Exam ples include: tri p over , blow u p a com puter , hit your friend in

the face with the melon that you' re cutti ng f or the ev enin g meal' s f irst course. Look! Game Design T heor y TM : Clev er peopl e wil l notice that you can only get Su per Successes or Boo-Boo's if your Attri bute total is high or low enou gh!T hat' s what you get f or bein g a cake-fu master , or a l ud di te. VERSUS ROLLS Of course , two peo pl e can com pete a gainst one another to accom pl ish a task , like the f irst to grab a gun or be the person to eat the most whol emeal bread . I n this case the com peti n g sid es both roll a d 2o. l . y on e s ho ul d s uf fe r e q ual y * B ecaus e I b el i ev e t hat ev er 10

** For purely personal reasons, I recommend 24 hours of misery.


Who(m?)ever rolls hi ghest , but still under their Attribute total could (declared b y the S pace Man) succeeds , thou gh a "successful loser"totals still achieve somethin g. It is possible (and likel y) that the two e's a could be made out of different Attribute combinations. If ther tie , com pare Attribute totals. If there's still a tie , the S pace Man can either ask for a re-roll or say "fuck it" and let the tie stand. n ia Br ie. dd Ba . Mr t as k p ea sn to s nt wa , ian Br , t For exam ple: M y pilo ie's dd Ba . Mr t ins ga a ]) [4 gs Le + ] [5 rs rolls (E yes and Ea lls ro n Ma ce pa S e th ilst wh 9 a lls ro ian Br . ]) [5 t ar (Brain[3] + He d lle ro ian Br , ed' eed cc 'su h bot gh ou th en Ev Baddie. rolls a 3 for Mr.ore higher and theref snuck past M r. Bad di e. H owev er , as M r. Badd ie succeed ed , the S pace M an ma y d ecl are that he knows somethi ng is u p. If both sides rolled a fail , the person who rolled the hi ghest wins , or the S pace Man can call for a re-roll. Now to ex plain how Su per Successes and Boo-Boo's work with Versus Rolls. Here's a ladder with numbers: 4 Su per Success *. 3 Success S S KI s ' t e l , 2 Fail Ok 1 Boo-Boo

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I f the winner of a V ersus Roll scores a Su per Success , (s)he shoul d be reward ed as such , unless the other person al so scored one , in which case (af tt.er a tie break) as usual. I e. Su per i t' s onl y a success/ win with Successes cancel each other ou d de ar ew -r un be d ul sho n so per at th en th , o Bo If someone rolled a Boose ca ich wh in , om od Bo oBo s ve hie ac o als n so as such , unless the other per petition ma y continue with re-rolls , the y BOTH Boo-Boo'ed! The com at the S pace Man sa ys. de pendin g on the situation and wh You get me? * That's 'Keep It Super Simple'. Sorry to get your hopes up, lad(d)ies. Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

11

OTHER

STUFF

To be honest , I wanted to carry on with more detailed task exam ples together with Attribute total lists and whatnot , but I'm d yin g here. Throw me a bone* , will you?! If you find this not to your likin g , you have m y full permission to sla p m y dead cor pse ( presumin g you find it of course).

Anywa y , I'd better get on with the next cha pter.

* Or a rescue shi p.


Chapter IV

DRAMATIC ! S N O I T A U T I S ly. Wh y Oh , bu g ger. I knew I would have to write this cha pter eventualout of do role- pla yers alwa ys want a fi ght? Ok , time to pull somethin g m y s pecial place - also known as a "head"... When a situation calls for some time structure* , the S pace Man should mention that the Final Fantas y Effect has occurred. You know , that whooshin g noise when the "da-da-da-daaaaaa!" music starts and ever ythin g moves in slow-mo so that players can choose tactically what the y want to do? Alternatively , the S pace Man can sim ply call for a DRAMATIC SITUATION! Shoutin g loudly and pointin g epicall y would do wonders. Tr y it. Seriously.

TURNS A Crew Member acts on their turn. A turn's length can vary between 2 and 2O seconds depending on the story and the whims of everyone (meaning the Space Man).

TURN ORDER (OR "INITIATIVE"

**

)

How shal l we d o this? Let' s sa y that in a Dramatic Situation , Crew er of Brain f rom hi ghest to l owest. If M embers and bad di es act in ord *** there' s a tie , the hi ghest Le gs goes f irst. If there' s stil l a tie , the hi ghest E yes and E ars goes f irst. n o n' s l o i n c l o th . * F o r ex am p le: T h e mo men t a f te r y o u' v e s p il t y o ur p in t o n a K li g * * I f t he n am e ain

't b r o k e, d on ' t f ix it !

* * There must be a joke Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

in t her e s om ewhere.

13

Durin g their turn , a Crew Member or baddie can swa p places with the Crew Member immediate ly below them in the turn order if the y want. This new , un-Freudian positionin g lasts for the remainder of the Dramatic Situation.

WHAT YOU CAN DO ON YOUR TURN DURING DRAMATIC SITUATIONS (AKA "ACTIONS") A person can always talk and move (if able) on each of their turns and can also do one (and only one!) of the other actions below. TALK

A person can sa y somethin g short. That's eas y.

A person can move 10 metres (or 32.80 8399 f eet) each turn. Unl ess of course , the y are in mel ee combat , in which case the y have to Withd raw. Some terrain can be hard er to move over , so the S pace M an can im pose movement penalties. For exam ple: half-s peed when climbin g , or quarter s peed when swimmin g. M OV E

MOVE FASTER

The person can move faster. The y move extra metres equal to their Legs. Also known as runnin g or sprinting. ut ho wit at mb co lee me of t ou get to y wa y onl e th WITHDRAW This is st mu y ns pa a e lik y a aw n ru to g in nt wa son er e p Th gettin g smacked. + gs e (L e th t ins ga a ) ain Br + gs e (L eir th g in us perform a Versus Roll lls ro y ans e p Th h. wit lee me in e ar y e th ts nen po E yes and Ears) of all o p s'. ent pon p o e th of ch ea to ult res eir th s re once and com pa al rm no as ve mo n ca y e th , ts nen po p o eir th L AL t If the pans y wins a gains u pto 3 metres plus half their Legs. If the pansy does not win the roll a gainst ONE or more of the op ponents, the Withdraw has failed and the y stay put. 14 Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

If a person moves out of melee without doing a Withdraw thin g, then all baddies in melee ma y make an Attack on this idiot immediatel y. T he idiot stil l gets to move away afterwards (if the y are alive) , and then still perf orm an action. Toilet break. ATTACK! Finall y! How to kill stuff! First u p, it's a Versus Roll. The person makin g an attack (let's call them the Attacker) makes an "Attack Roll" whilst the target (let's call them Bradley the Defender) makes a "Defence Roll" (if they are aware , not bound etc.)

_

To make a ran ged attack, an Attacker must be able to see their tar get and be within wea pon ran ge. Lon g ran ges can suffer penalties or be im possible ( please consult your nearest S pace Man for details). To make a melee attack, an Attacker must be next to their target. They are considered to be "in melee". Have a look at my nice Table to get the right Attribute totals for the Attack and Defence Rolls. MELEE RANGED

ATTACK ATTRIBUTE TOTAL

DE FE N CE AT TR IBUT E T OT AL

Arms + Fingers*

Lowest + hi ghest of ** Arms , Le gs , and Fin gers

F in ger s + E yes and E ar s * **

Le gs + E yes and Ears

If the Attacker wins the Versus Roll , the Defender is hit and takesmber pons and Dama ge section that I ho pe I'll reme dama ge. See the***Wea to write below *. * You can swap Fingers for Legs if kicking someone. Also, kicking pretty much always counts

as being unarmed. ** Meh. Why not? * * * I e . a j av e li n o r b o w , i t' s ( A rm s + E y es an d E ar s) . n ed w ea p o n i s p ri mit iv e , g f t h e r a g 15 **** This is the sound of me trying to remember: "Hhhherrrrrgghhh!" Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

Wh y? Wh y did I have to include this?! Nobod y does it an ywa y. Ok , dee p breath.

GRAB/GRAPPLE

The Attacker and Defender make a melee Versus Roll as normal (using , (s)he grabs the the usual Attributes). If the Attacker wins gra y ma on ers d p bbe The rn. tu is th sed cau is ge a dam No er. fend De p ple around and grab onl y choose to either break free or turn the gra l. Rol sus Ver l sfu ces suc a g nin win y b rn tu t nex eir th on ent pon p their o An ywa y , if the grabbed person is stil l grabbed on the Attacker' s ylnext turn the y can suf f er Fist or Smal l Wea pon d ama ge automatical (Attacker's choice) and can be pinned with another successful Versus Roll. The Defender can then tr y to break free a gain on their next turn , but will be On The Floor and so the S pace Man should grant a +2 to the Member in control of the situation... It's alwa ys a bit easier to smack people involved in a grap ple , right? So the S pace Man should give bonuses to attack (I recommend +1 or +2 dependin g on how the gra ppl ers are positioned). A miss has a 25% chance of ru ple. ad qu nce cha is th ke ma n ca o's bo oBo r. ple p gra er th hittin g ano That's it. No more. Movin g on. uld co it t bu , is th th wi nt wa I at wh w kno y ll rea MANOEUVRE I don't s nt wa son er a p If r. ila sim g in th me so or int fe , ick tr re present a the y roll , h wit lee me in e ar y e th G) IN TH me so r (o e on me so to trick (Brain + Mouth) a gainst the tar get's (Eyes and Ears + Heart). The baddie gets a -2 penalty on their next two rolls if they lose (or four rolls on a Boo-Boo/Su per Success). In melee , make Versus Rolls as usual. If the Attacker wins , D no dama ge is caused , but the Defender's wea pon flies a distance awa y* in metres equal to half the attacker's Arms , in a random direction (rounded down). If the Attacker is unarmed , (s)he can take the wea pon instead. ISARM


* A s cho se n b y t he S p ace M an .

A person can make another person in melee be a person On T he F loor b y doin g thi s action. M ake a V ersus Roll . T he Attacker uses (Le gs + Arms) , whi lst the Def ender uses thei r usual mel ee Def ence. I f the Attacker wi ns, the bad di e takes 1 d ama ge and i s on the ground . RI P W RON G-F OOT /T

S pace Mans: make Boo-Boo'ers fall off ledges - it's fun!

Push/Shove Make a Versus roll in melee. Both Attacker and Defender roll (Arms + Skin). (A gain, watch out for the Boo-Boo's and led ges.)

WEAPONS

AND

DAMAGE!

_ _

When you hit someone , you give them as much hurt (more commonly known as "dama ge") as your wea pon causes. There are three wea pon sizes and two wea pon t y pes: ran ged and not-ranged melee. Other than that , you can make u p what the y look l ike and the science behi nd them.

E n jo y m y W ea pons T abl e! WEAPON

DAM AGE

RULES

Unarmed/Fist/Kick

1

* ss mle 'ar re ou' Alwa ys equ ip ped , unless y

S mal l M el ee W ea pon Medium Melee Wea pon Heav y Melee Wea pon

2 3 4

Need to use 2 hands unless Arms 5+ N eed t o use 2 hand s unl ess Ar ms 8 +

Small Ran ged Wea pon Medium Ranged Weapon

2 3 4

H eav y Ran ged W ea pon

N eed t o use 2 hand s unl ess Ar ms 5 +

Need to use 2 hands unless Arms 8+

, f uf st me eso aw r he ot d an ns po a we e siv plo ex You could probabl y have a e uc od pr I l ti un p u ose th ke ma to d ge a and the S pace Man is encour * su ppl ement for them , of course . * H a- ha!! I 'm S O f un n y ! Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

17

W hen an Attacker successf ull y hi ts their tar get , a wea pon causes the amount of d amage (ie. red uces H ealth, duh!) as stated i n the W ea pon T abl e abov e. A Su per Successf ul hit causes +1 d ama ge , and a Boo-Boo'ed defence roll causes an ad di ti onal +1 d ama ge. HEALTH A Crew Member and/or baddie has a number of Health points equal to their Skin , which drops as they suffer damage. The y are On The Floor and start d yin g at 0 Health. When someone is d yin g, they die totally and completel y on the Attacker's next turn unless brou ght up to 1 health somehow (it takes one extra turn to 'wake up'). If a Crew Member or baddie's Health drops to the equivalent of ne gative their Skin Attribute, they are automaticall y killed (their bod y has gone all mush y). Make sure you kee p track of this 'ne gative Health'. To make the game even more nast y , I'll add in wound penalties to remove that sill y "I've still got 1 hit point and I'm fine" s yndrome. I f you lose half (round ed d own) of your H eal th points you suf fe r a -1 penal t y when worki ng out Attribute totals. I f you l ose a quarter 2 orIf e a Ski n of h). (round ed d own), it increases to a -2 penal t y. I f you hav alt He 1 to p o dr u yo en wh . (ie y alt pen -2 e th r ffe su er ev 3 you onl y . gh) u eno d ba is y ck su at th g ein (b es ti nal pe no et u g yo you have 1 Skin N AT UR AL H EA LI N G A person or other l iv in g thin g re gains 1 H ealth back per week , or 2 if restin g/ do i ng li ght activ it y (that means " not much"). S pace M ans can be nice and add 1 i f a med ical person is present to take care of the person/ thin g d urin g that ti me. N o rol l required . N ic e , huh? WOUND PENALTIES

Remember: A Crew M ember' s H ealth can nev er exceed their Skin. DRAM AT IC RU LE S R OT HE M U LT IP LE M EL E E ATT ACK ER S T o make f ighti ng ev en nasti er , i f someone/ somethin g gets attacked more than once between their turns , the y suf fer a cumul ati v e -1 penal t y to their d ef ence and reactional V ersus roll s per attack made on them af ter the fi rst.


For exam ple: Our good friend Brian defends the third attack a gainst him in the same turn with a -2 penalt y. win g armour in hi s/ her game , it has ARMOU R I f the S pace M an(a ger!) i s al lo Armour P oi nts (oh, how ori ginal). T hese red uce the d ama ge suf f ered b y that amount. Space Mans: When allowing armour, I recommend 1 or, at a real push, 2 Armour Points maximum. KNOCKING SOMEONE OUT This is alwa ys so com plex in RPGs , so let's simply sa y that when you kill someone you can shout: "I choose to knock them out instead". They are at 1 Health, but not dying. The y wake u p a d ul wo y e th lth hea ve ti ga ne e th le ub do to l number of minutes later equa have ended u p with (minimum 2 minutes)*. Moving on now. FALLING If someone falls , the y get hurt (that's what artificia l gravit y was desi gned for). The fallee suffers dama ge/loses Health equal to a hal f of the number of metres f all en. I f (s)he succeeds at a (er... Le gs + Skin) rol l, thi s d ama ge is red uced to a thi rd (or a quarter on a Su per Success). T he y end u p On T he F lo or af ter.

W hen attackin g someone On T he F l oor , melee attackers get a bonus (+2) and ran ged attackers get a penalt y (-1 or -2 d e pend in g on the ran ge). T o stand u p f rom the f loor , a car pet-stroker must use it's move action for the turn , and curse lots whilst doin g so. FIRST AID I guess I should write some rules so that you can firststaid fir y ll fu ess cc su be y l on n ca n so per ed jur in An rn. someone on your tu aided once per in jur y. , s) ger Fin + in ra (B is ll ro Aid st Fir e th y sa t's Oh , you what more detail? Le a h wit (2 h alt He 1 ins ga re n so per ple eo d p re u j in e th at and the result is th y alt pen -2 a ers ff su er aid st fir a , kit al dic me a t **. Su per Success). Withou e on ve ha n) (ca u to their Attribute total. Ask your S pace Man if yo ON T HE F LOOR

_

* Y ou co ul d s l y f ou r af te r , i f y ou ' r e o ne o f " t ho se " p eo p l e. i y b q uar e r oo t i t an d mult p

a y b e cr ack a jo ke o r t wo , o r * * I r eco mmend w ait in g un ti l ( s) he' s in a g oo d mo od .* *M l s. a s er v ed w it h a b i sc uit o r 2 * - t hat s om et im es he p make t hem a cu p o f t e


* ** D g i es t iv es w ou l d b e n i ce.

19

'` . Remember: A Crew Member's Health can never exceed their Skin (de ja vu) If someone has successfully aided a d yin g person , the 'die-er' wakes u p , a turn later with 1 point of Health , or 2 points with a Su per Success but automatically dies with a Boo-Boo.

HA! I just remembered about this im portant s pace thing that I can('t) see throu gh the porthole and , as the game is about space, I think it might be important to add in. Humans can survive in a vacuum for a number of turns equal to half their Skin (rounded down). After that , their bodies sa y, "I don't like this" and shut down (ie. the y dro p to 0 Health automaticall y). The y die one turn later (I guess we'll make the turn 10 seconds lon g in this case , and the y die on an Attackers turn , if a p plicable). Unless , of course , the y are rescued , First Aided and stuff. SURVIVING

IN VACUUM

Ok, the possibilities are endless. That's why we play these games, am I right*? The Space Whatever-I've-Called-Them, should make up actions and WRITE THEM DOWN so you can use them again in the future. I'll even leave space for you here. Let me get your brain juices flowing: How would you let someone break their fall? How long does a space suit's oxygen supply last, when it's been damaged? Common sense, my dear Space Man and players. Please use it. M AKE SHIT UP

S pace to use. _ _

_

* G im me

20


a

!" Y EA H LL " HE **

I can't hear you!!

**

Chapter

V

BADDIES D NICE N A (

PEOPLE)

I f i t wasn't obv io us , this cha pter is written for S pace M ans. To kee p it short , I won't be writin g one of those bi g beast yer y-cha pterthings, I'll just give you some ideas. Actually , I'll make u p some guidelines e lik , ple eo y p dl ien fr e nic en ev or ies dd ba me so p u ke ma n so you ca e nic r he ot . .. er .. d. an rs ee gin en ion at blacksmiths mechanics , sanit friendl y peo ple. How skilled do you want the baddie to be? Simply give them a number of Attribute points, Specialties and Flaws based on how ade pt the y are. See the followin g Table (or just i gnore it and do what you want):

_ _

ADEPT-NESS

Amateur

AT TR IBUT E P OIN TS

35

Av er a ge Dud e 40 Skilled Man/Lad y 45 X-fu Master (where 'X' is what the y 5 5 are a Master of)

SPECIALTIES

1 2 3 4

FLAWS

3 3 3 2

whatever equi pment and wea pons you want them You can give them to have or use*. This equi pment can also be incor porated into thecrew baddie's bod y. For exam ple , have you seen that film where a shi p's are stuck on a shi p with a s pace creature (commonl y called an 'alien') which has nast y claws and an insatiable a p petite for HUMAN FLESH? In this case , the baddie has medium melee wea pons instead of hands**! * Which indirectly means you are giving these to the Crew Members

if they win a fight - the thieving bastards! 21 ) . t , ma y be I w ou l dn 't * * H a! I ' d l i ke t o s ee t he C r ew s te al t ho se ! (O n s eco nd t ho u g h Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

Cha pter VI

E X PE RI EN CE If you REALLY want XP in your game , then the S pace Man can allow you to raise an Attribute by one, or take/learn/ gain an extra Specialt y every now and then if you've succeeded doing a thin g at least 5 times. Space Mans should award this once every 2-4 sessions*.

n ! * H a! L i ke y o u' re g o g t i n o p l a y t h is g ame f o r t h at l o g 22 Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

Cha pter VII

Y R O T S IDEAS *! omise I pr , pter cha t Las

I can hear that you're be g gin g to ask: "Mr. Genius RPG Desi gner a, what great stories can we tell with your awesome game?" It's coincidence that you want to ask me that , as I have several ideas to give you. Unfortunately, as m y brain is be ginning to shut down** , I have to be quick. Here's a list: - The ship has one or more s pace monster(s)*** aboard , and it's (the y're) eatin g peo ple. It's survive or be... survived! - The driftin g ship drifts closer to another driftin g shi p that's drifting through space. Perhaps there are parts on it that the Crew could use to make their drifting ship no longer drifting? Time to suit up. shi p and the life su p port will onl y last - The Crew are on a driftinis ,gthe rescue team wil l be here in 5 hours. f or 3 more hours. T hin g If onl y there weren' t so man y peo pl e lef t al ive... Do the maths. - Board ed b y s pace pirates (" ARRGGH!!) or nin jas (" ..." ). * M o r e t o m y se lf t h an y o u. * * 29 min ut es l e f t!

* * * R ea d


- a l ie n ( s) .

23

- T he Crew are s pace-mercs runni n g f rom the law and can onl y get b y ng thei r serv ic es to peo ple in need . M a ybe the y' re cal led the b y off eri S-T eam*? - T he d rif ti n g ship crash l and s on a d is tant planet and the crew hav e to fix their shi p to get home. However, the natives aren't hel pin g. - The ship's artificial intelligence** has it's own a genda. Can you sa y, " government cons pirac y"? Dun-dun-Duuunnnn!! - A mixture of two of the above. ***. ve abo the of e thre of - A mixture

ED ! ! H S I N I F M ' I ! H A Z Z HU

at th ke ma to ve ha ill st I at th ed er mb me re t jus I . ...Or not character sheet...

* Y o u k no w. L i ke t h at o l d s h o w ? S ee w ha t I d i d t h er e? * * I f i t d id n' t h

av e o ne , it d oe s n ow .

* * * O k , I ' m c l ut ch g at i n s tr aw s h er e...


ATTRIBUTES ARMS

EYES AND EARS

_ _ _ _ _ _ BRAIN

S KI N

FINGERS

LEGS

MOUTH

HE ART

_ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ SPECIALTIES

MELEE RANGED

DE FE NC E / RE ACT ION

Arms + Fingers *

h i h es t o f L ow e s t + g i n er s e s , F g A rm s , L g

_ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Legs + Brain

MANEUVRE

FLAWS

ATTACK/ ACTION

F g i n er s + E y es an d E ar s * *

WITHDRAW

WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT

WRONG-FOOT/ TRIP

L g e s + E y es an d E ar s

e s + E y es an d E ar s L g

B r ai n + M o ut h

H ear t + E y es an d E ar s

L g e s + A r ms

M e l ee D ef en ce

PUSH/SHOVE

A r ms + S k i n

A rm s + S kin

* Swap Fingers for Legs if kicking. * * I e . a jav e l i n o r b o w , us e ( A rm s + E y es an d E ar s) . f p ri mit i v e, g Enrique Cobos (order #15006464)

HE ALT H

__ MAX.

Skin

CURRENT

ARMOUR

Wound penalties: -1 if under half * max. -2 if under quarter * max. * rounded down

in g t f i r D Through

E C A P S

Thank you for reading Drifting Through Space . I hope you enjoyed it!

This game is in constant flux and is continually being improved and refined. If you have any comments or suggestions to make this game better (or simply tell me how awesome it is!), please email me at: [email protected]

I look forward to hearing from you!

l a h M ic


Drifting Through Space - A Free Sci-Fi RPG

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