I. The Basics This game is based on West End Game's D6 system, specifically its Star Wars Role-Playing Game. WEG's Star Wars is no long in print, but their brand new Metabarons game will provide you with additional info you might need. Go pick up a copy! If you have any questions or comments, please email me and I'll try to answer them for you.
GAME MECHANICS The Dice
The system requires players to roll six-sided dice (D6), which represent a character's attributes and skills. When appropriate, the Game Master will tell a player to roll a number of dice equal to either the attribute or skill being used. The player rolls the appropriate number of dice, adds the values together and tells the GM the sum. If the sum is equal to or greater than the difficulty number (See below), the character succeeds. If it is lower, the character fails.
Example: Coburn is trying to walk along a thin ledge without falling. He has a Dexterity of 3D. The GM sets a difficulty number and then the player controlling Coburn will roll 3 dice and sum the results to see if he is successful. Example 2: Coburn is trying to convince a militia officer to lend him his jeep. He has a Persuasion skill of 2D+2. The GM sets the diffculty and the player controlling Coburn will sum the result of 2 dice and add 2.
The Wild Die
Each player should designate one of his or her dice to be the Wild Die (it is helpful if it's a different color or shape). Whenever the the Wild Die comes up with a 2,3,4, or 5, add the result to the other dice as normal. But, if the Die comes up with a 6, add 6 to the dice total and roll the Wild Die again and add the new value to the dice total. If another 6 comes up, roll and add again. This continues as long as the player continues to roll 6's on the Wild Die.
Example: Coburn has a Firearms skill of 4D. When he fires, he rolls 4 dice. His values are 2,5,3 and on the Wild Die, a 6, resulting in 16. He rolls the Wild Die again and gets another 6! The total is now 22 and he gets to roll again. This time, he gets a 1 and adds that to the sum to get a 23 for his shot. If the Wild Die comes up with a 1 when a character is first rolling a Skill or Attribute Check, roll the Wild Die again. If the value is 1 through 5, remove the Wild Die and the die with the highest value from the dice to be added.
Example: Coburn is shooting again. He rolls a 2,5,6 and on the Wild Die a 1. He rerolls the Wild Die and gets a 2. He removes the Wild Die and the die that came up 6 and adds the remaining two dice together to get 7. If the second Wild Die roll comes up to be a 6, then the character has Complicated. He or she has screwed up in a particularly bad way....perhaps dropping his weapon down into a sewer grating or twisting an ankle while trying to dodge. Complications should make a character's life more difficult, but never kill them outright.
Example: Coburn is running away from a pair of Hydralisks over rough terrain. The GM has him make a running roll with a difficulty of 10 to avoid tripping over some jagged rocks. Coburn, with a Running skill of 3D, rolls 3 dice. He gets a 2,3 and on the Wild Die a 1. He rerolls the Wild and gets a 6! He not only fails but Complicates. The GM tells him that he not only trips over the rocks can, but he drops his rifle into an inaccessible crack. He will be defenseless if the Hydralisks catch up with him!
The GM could have just as well said that Coburn got a muscle-cramp and is -1D to all Dexterity actions for the next 5 rounds, or that he is stunned for the next round. Anything that makes Coburn's life a little more scary.
Difficulty Numbers
When a character makes an Attribute or Skill check, they are usually rolling against a difficulty number. Difficulties are divided into the following catagories: Diffic Difficult ulty Description y Num bers Very Anyone should be able to do this most of the time. Example: Driving a 1-5 Easy car in moderate traffic. Most characters should be able to do this most of the time, though Easy 6-10 there is still a change for failure. Example: Driving a jeep over mildly rough terrain. Modera Requires a fair amount of skill and/or effort. Most unskilled characters 11-15 te will fail such an attempt. Example: Driving a jeep over rough terrain. Only highly skilled characters succeed at these with any regularity. Difficult 16-20 Example: Zig-zagging a jeep through the middle of combat zone full of enemies. Even pros have a hard time pulling these attempts off. Example: Very 21-25 Steering your car into oncoming traffic and avoiding collisions while at Difficult high speeds. Extrem Only the luckiest and most skilled are successful. Example: Jumping 30-40 ely Diff. onto the back of an Ultralisk while it attempts to hack you apart. The stuff of legends. Example: flying a Wraith starfighter through the Heroic 40-50 tunnels of a Zerg Hatchery. A character must have advanced psionic powers to even consider the Uneart attempt. 50-75 hly Example: Accessing latent psionic powers capable of destroying a capital-scale starship or entity. Only rare beings of unique power will succeed. Practically godlike. Impossi 75+ Example: Using psionic skills to resequence the genetic code of another ble race.
Opposed Rolls
When a character is testing his or her Attributes or Skills against those of another (PC or NPC), the parties involved make Opposed Rolls. The one with the highest roll wins.
Example: One character tries to shoot another. The first makes a Firearms roll while the other makes a Dodge roll. If the attacker's roll is higher than the others' Dodge, then he hits.
Character Points
A character may spend his or her Character Points to gain additional dice during an action. They receive an additional die for each point spent. A character may spend up to 3 CP's per action or attack, and up to 5 CP's for any defensive action (Dodging, Constitution rolls versus damage, etc.). If the die purchased with a CP comes up a 6, the player may re-roll it and add the new value to the total (as for the Wild Die, though there is no penalty for rolling a 1). Though CP's may be used to augment an attack, they may not be used to increase damage.
Example: Coburn gets punched by a demon for for 23 points of damage. He rolls his Constitution of 3D and gets a 10. That's 13 points below the damage level, which is Mortally Wounded. Coburn's player decides to spend some Character Points. He spend one for an additional die and gets a 5, reducing the difference to 8, meaning Coburn's Wounded. The player decides to spend an additional CP and rolls a 6! He gets to roll again and gets a 4, which means his Constitution roll is 2 over the damage roll. Coburn suffers no damage from the attack!
Character Points may not be used the same around that Chi is used.
Chi Points
Chi represents a character's inner strength and (possible) cosmic "luck". When a character spends a Chi point, all skill and attribute dice totals are doubled for that entire round. Anything which is not part of a character (a weapon or vehicle), is not affected.
Example 1: Coburn is armed with a sword and is in melee combat with an Zergling. He decides to spend a Chi point one round. His Melee Weapon: Sword skill is normally 4D. This round, it will be 8D. He would normally do 4D+2 points of damage with the sword (3D for his Strength + 1D+2 for the sword). This round, his Strength will be doubled, for D6 damage, and then added to the damage for the sword, 1D+2, for a total of 7D+2. Example 2: Coburn is firing his pistol at a Protoss Zealot and decides to spend a Chi point. His Firearm skill doubles from 4D to 8D, but the pistol's damage (4D) remains the same. See Characters: Chi for rules about using and regaining Chi. Remember, Chi may not be used the same round Character Points are spent.
Effect Value
Some successes (and failures) are more dramatic than others. For each 10 points (round down) a character rolls over the base Difficulty for an action, he will have an additional Effect Value of 1. This may increase damage by 1D for each Effect Value or simply result in a more advantagous outcome.
Example 1: Cobrun is firing his pistol at a Protoss Zealot again. The Difficulty is 10. The player rolls Coburn's Firearms skill and ends up with a 31 (nice shooting). Because that is at least 20 over the Difficulty, he has an Effect Value of 2 and adds 2D to the damage roll from the pistol.
II. CHARACTERS TEMPLATES In order to play Starcraft D6, you'll need a character. The list below is really only illustrative. There are folks from every walk of life, profession, and background in the Starcraft galaxy. Even those in the same profession specialize in different areas. You can select one from the list below or create your own. TERRANS PROTOSS ZERG Bureaucrat Administrator Cerebral Lobe Cop Judicon Hound Criminal Heretic Abberation Ghost Intelligence Agent Stalker Marine Zealot Hydralisk Alpha Medic Healer Generative Militia Soldier Templar Acolyte Zergling Alpha Pilot Flyer Parasitic Scout Explorer Scout Longprobe Technician Engineer Splicer Syscomm Cyborg Operations Telepath Linkling Tank Jockey Scientist Free Thinker Psionic Fugitive Dark Acolyte Mutant Strain Field Scientist Industrialist Merchant Copy the structure from one of the Character Templates above onto a piece of paper to create your very own character sheet. I will try to make and post one when I get time, but don't hold your breath!
ATTRIBUTES
All characters receive 18 dice to separate among the 6 attributes. Dice may be broken up into 3 "pips", or "+1's", per die (See example below). The Attributes are:
Strength: a measure of the character's muscle power. Dexterity: indicates the character's flexibility, grace and hand-eye coordination. Constitution: represents the character's hardiness, such as resistance to disease, exhaustion and pain. Knowledge: serves to show how broad and deep a character's general understanding of the world, from streetsmarts to scholarship. Includes technical and mechanical skills. Instincts: make up one's perceptive abilities--his awareness to his environment as well as behavioral cues from other people. Presence: represents the character's force of personality, ability to perform, orate and convince other people. Generally, his "people skills." Psi: all Protoss and only certain rare Terrans have the genetic potential to tap into their mental energies and manifest them as awesome powers. The Zerg thirst for this Psionic potential, to add it to its genetic perfection.
Example: Dan is making a character named Coburn, a Terran Explorer. He decides to create his own template rather than use the one provided. He comes up with the following Attributes: Strength: 3D Dexterity: 3D Constitution: 3D Knowledge: 3D Instincts: 3D+2 Presence: 2D+1 Psi: 0D. Note: Once an Attribute is raised beyond XD+2, it moves to the next dice level (If Dan had assigned the "pip" in Presence to his Instincts instead, it would be 4D, not 3D+3).
DETAILS This is your opportunity to round out the character and provide a description, background, personality quirks, goals, etc.
Speed
Normal characters can move 10 meters per round while walking. With successful Running rolls, they can increase this value.
Hit Points (sometimes referred to as Body Points in the game)
These represent the physical toughness of your character. To get starting Hit Points, roll a number of dice equal to the character's Constitution and add 20. If a character increases his Constitution attribute in the future, he may roll another die. Furthermore, certain cybernetic enhancements may increase this number.
Description
Describe your character: How tall is he? What kind of clothes does he wear? Does he have any noticeable marks such as tattoos or scars? Does he have cybernetic implants? Blue hair? Bug-like antennae? Just what kind of freak are you creating, man?
Background
Every individual has some kind of history, be it mundane, romantic or criminal. What brought the character up to the point where the game's campaign begins? Are there ghosts that may haunt his future? Old rivals, lost loved ones, foregone opportunities?
Personality
Is your character a grouch? Is she impulsive, always itching for a fight, or is she more thoughtful and cautious?
Objectives
Everyone has a goal in life, even if is only to crush other species for the glory of the Overmind. Why does your character act, and what does she hope to achieve? How far will she go to get it?
Connection to other Characters
Most of the characters will just be meeting one another as the game campaign starts. They may be assigned to the same police squad or live in the same building. Some may have known others for longer periods. They may be related, or lovers, or even enemies.
CHOOSING SKILLS Starting skills
Each character starts with 7D to divide among Skills at Character Creation. Furthermore, each character can list 3 additional skills that they take a "0D" under each Attribute. The character may still perform any other skills under that attribute, but at a -1D difficulty. There'are two exceptions to this rule: • GM's may (and should) excercise discretion in assigning higher difficulty levels to "unlearned" skills. Certain characters may not have the background necessary to attempt certain skills. For example, a Zerg character will have absolute no idea how to fix a powersuit ("Um, ok, I sniff it, walk around it a couple of times, then I bite the leg. Did that work?") • Advanced skills represent much more complex areas of study. As such, a character cannot attempt an Advanced skill without having assigned at least 1 die to it.
Specializations:
Many skills have specializations which allow the character to focus on a certain aspect of the skill. If a specialization is taken, a character may advance in that specialized aspect of the skill at half the normal cost of advancement. However, uses of the skill not covered in the Specialization remain at the base skill level.
Example: Coburn has Firearms at 4D. He decides to take the specialization Firearms: Assault Rifles to advance to 5D at a cost of 6 CP rather than 12 CP. Anytime he fires a submachine gun, he gets to roll 5D, but all other firearms are used at 4D. Specializations may be selected at Character Creation. If so, the character receives 2 dice for every 1 spent. Thus, a player decides to Specialize in Submachine guns, he can gets +2D to all rolls with that kind of weapon. Alternately, the player may put 1 die into Submachine gun and put another in some other Specialization (such as Driving: Motorcyle, etc.). Note: Characters may not start with general skills greater than 6D or Specializations greater than 7D! Specializations are independent of the skill from which they are derived. If the player later increases the skill, the Specialization does not increase. If the Specialization increases, there is no change in the base skill.
Advanced skills:
Some particularly complicated skills require two times the normal amount of Character Points to allow for Advancement. They also typically require some other prerequisite skill.
CHI
Chi symbolizes the inner strength and resources of a character. It is usually a manifestation of their heroic qualities. However, ethics and morals in the world of Starcraft are often murky and highly subjective. Usually, characters may only gain additional Chi points by spending the ones they have. This is a bit of a gamble, since they will not always regain spent points. At the end of each game session, the GM decides whether the characters regain spent points and if they are granted additional Chi. In other D6 games, characters gain Chi/Force/Hero points when they use existing points to preform heroic actions. In Starcraft D6, heroism is often in the eye of the beholder. So, in deciding whether the character regains the spent Chi point, or is granted an additional one, the GM should first decide whether the character acted "heroically" within the character's own personality or code of ethics. At it's most basic level, good guys should act like good guys and villains should perform villainy. Note that there is no equivalent to Skeptic or Dark Force points in this game. Bad guys just act like bad guys, and the players want to play a jerk, you should let them (though you can certainly make life more difficult for them in other ways!) Generally, you may follow the guidelines below:
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If the character spends the Chi point to perform a heroic act, usually to save someone's life, stop a bad guy, or attempt an action that risk his own life, then he should receive the point back and gain another. • If the character uses the Chi point to perform a difficult task, but that is either not very dramatic or heroic, then he should get the point back but not gain another. • If the character spends the Chi point to accomplish a relatively normal feat or to just save his own sorry hide, he does not get the point back. A character may spend up to 2 Chi per round, each doubling the dice pools of 1 action(See Using Chi). Finally, if a character has no Chi points, the GM may decide to grant one after a particularly heroic or risky act (or an act that furthers the character's strong motivation).
ADVANCEMENT
At the end of each adventure, players will usually be rewarded Character Points at the end of an adventure by the Gamemaster. They may keep these CP's for later use or spend them on learning skills. Increasing skill levels For normal skills, it costs a number of Character Points equal to the current dice value of the Skill to increase by one pip. Thus to advance from 4D to 4D+1, the player must spend 4 CP's. Specializations cost the current dice value divided in half , rounding up (i.e., moving from 4D to 4D+1 would cost 2 CP's). Advanced skills cost the current dice value x 2. If the character has the skill at "0D," meaning equal to his controlling attribute, he is considered to "know" the skill and advances in this manner.
Example: Coburn has Firearms at 6D and wants to increase it to 7D. To do so, he must spend 18 CP (6 for 6D+1, 6 more for 6D+2, and 6 more to go from 6D+2 to 7D). He decides that's too expensive, so he Specializes in Handguns and takes Firearms: Handguns at 7D, costing him a total of 12 CP instead. Learning new skills To learn a new skill, the character must spend a number of CP's equal to the controlling attribute. If the character does not "know" the skill (i.e., he suffers a penalty when using the skill because he did not choose it at "0D"), the skill starts at a level equal to the controlling attribute.
Example: Coburn wants to learn the Piloting skill. He has a Dexterity of 3D. Thus, he spends 3 CP's and and gets Piloting at 3D. To increase to 4D, he would have to spend another 9 CP's (see above). Learning Advanced Skills Some skills represent very complex sets of abilities. These skills, referred to as "Advanced Skills" usually have prerequisite skills that the character must first gain proficiency in before the Advanced skill may be chosen.
Example: Coburn suddenly decides he wants to be physician. He must first meet the prerequisites for Medicine, which are First Aid at 5D, Life Sciences at 4D, and Education at 4D. Assume that he taken those skills at "0D." He has a Knowledge attribute of 3D, so he must pay 3x3=9CPs to get First Aid at 4D, then another 12 to get it to 5D. Next, he'll have to spend 9CP's get Life Sciences at 4D, and another 9 to get Education at 4D. Finally, he'll be able to start learning Medicine. He must then pay 3x4=12CP's to get Medicine at 3D. That's 51CP's! He'd better start saving those CP's now... A Note on Eggheads: A Proposed Scholarship Program I've often noticed that players avoid having a "scholarly" character in many games. Many systems make it easier to be a battle-ready thug than a learned physician. This is probably somewhat close to reality, but it makes for unbalanced games--and punishes those who want to do more than hack and slash. Often specialists, such as physicians, end up helping other characters more than they themselves gain from their own skills. So I recommend that GM's consider a "scholarship" program for players who want to start out as physicians or some other expensive specialist. Perhaps give them some extra dice at character creation to put into these specialized skills. If it seems that you are imbalancing the game, you can saddle them with deep debts or other problems as a result of their "higher" education. Improving attributes To improve an attribute, a character must spend 10x their current skill value to increase by 1 pip.
III. ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS Many of the skills that are used in Starcraft D6 are exactly the same as those used in West End Games' Metabarons game, or the new DC Universe. However, I have made a few changes. The links below lead to each Attribute and explanations of the skills they control (many of the skills are more completely explained in the West End Games rulebooks).
Attributes: Attributes represent a character's physical and mental characteristics. Each Attribute controls a number of skills whose starting level depends on the current score of the Attribute.
Strength: raw physical power for lifting, jumping and fighting. Dexterity: balance, hand-eye coordination, and reaction time. Constitution: physical and mental toughness. Knowledge: scope of understanding, education and analytical ability. Instincts: perceptiveness and intuittion. Presence: charisma and interpersonal abilities. Psi: the character's psionic potential and control. This Attribute and its associated powers are described in the Psionics section.
Skills are listed under each Attribute. Terms: Skill name: Aside from just the skill name, the skill may be designated as (A)dvanced or (S)pecial. Advanced skills usually require prerequisites and are more difficult in which to gain levels. Special skills are particular for some other reason, usually because there are certain rules that apply only to those skills. Prerequisites: Any skills and their levels that must be attained before the skill in question may be taken. Time of Use: Amount of time that passes while the character attempts the skill (regardless of whether or not it is successful). This can be highly variable and depends on the GM's discretion. An action that takes 1 round means that it is the only skill the character can attempt in that round. An action that takes "1 action" can be attempted in conjunction with as many other actions as the character can perform in one round. Other attempts may take anywhere from a minute to days (Scrounge, for example). Difficulty numbers may vary depending on time spent as well. Difficulty: This gives an approximate Difficulty level to successfully use the skill. GM's should vary this depening on the situation: including stress, available tools, amount of time dedicated to the task, familiarity with the situation and other factors. Description: A (hopefully) brief description of what the skill does includes and other notes. If a skill is listed by not given any other information, assume that it is available in one of West End Games' products (probably the Star Wars books, 3rd Edition).
STRENGTH Brawling Time Taken: One action. Specializations: none. Difficulty: Easy (10) Brawling covers basic hand-to-hand combat. It is less graceful than Martial Arts, but can be equally effective. A character will do an amount of damage equal to his Strength + 1D per Effect Value (10 over the Target Number). Note: Brawling may be taken under Strength of Dexterity.
Climbing Time Take: One action (but GM's may decide to have characters just roll once for an entire "pitch") Specializations: Different things climbed: buildings, trees, rock faces. Difficulty: Moderate (15) While Climbing covers the actual act of scampering up something, it may also be used when a character tries to do things like hold on to the hood of a speeding car (the "TJ Hooker maneuver") or grab on to the struts of a helicopter as it takes off, etc. The difficulty may be increased if the character is burdened or wearing armor.
Jumping Time of Use: 1 action. Note that "big" jumps may require a certain amount of "hang time." GM's should consider this in modifing difficulties for other actions that are attempted while the character is in the air.
Specializations: None. Difficulty: The distance covered depends on die total attained. See below. Jumping is not really an "academic" skill, but it is a talent that may be cultured nonetheless. You may notice a somewhat strange progression in the distance covered and the number of successes. This is because almost anyone can jump at least a little, but only a few people can really jump far. A roll of 40 is about the maximum that an Olympic jumper could get (assuming he didn't use Wild Dice, Chi or Character Points--all of which, I think, are illegal at the Olympics)--this assumes a Strength of 4 + Jumping skill of 6 (World Class) and a getting an average of 4 or greater on each die. After 40, the distance increases dramatically. This is because the jumper will only get this far if aided by technology (cybernetics) or some other "superhuman" means (Chi or Character Points). I would recommend to GM's that a result of 40 be the "maximum" allowed any non-augmented jumper (this includes the use of Chi and CP's) because the laws of physics and gravity have to apply somewhere. There is simply no way for a "normal" human to jump 50 feet horizontally! Approximate Difficulty Distance Covered Horitzontal: about 2.5 5 feet. Vertical: about 3 feet. Horizontal: about 4 10 feet. Vertical: about 4 feet. Horizontal: about 6 feet. 15 Vetical: about 5.5 feet. Horizontal: about 10 20 feet Vertical: about 6 feet Horizontal: about 15 25 feet. Vertical: about 7 feet Horizontal: about 20 30 feet. Vertical: about 8 feet Horizontal: about 25 feet. 35 Vertical: about 10 feet. Horizontal: about 30 feet (this is about the current world record). 40 Vertical: about 12 feet. Horizontal: about 40 feet. 50 Vertical: about 15 feet. Beyond 50, a jumper may only achieve these distances if aided by magic or technology. Even Chi and CP's should not be permitted to carry a jumper this far. Horizontal: about 75 feet 60 Vertical: about 35 feet. Horizontal: about 100 feet. 70 Vertical: about 50 feet. 80 Horizontal: about 125 feet.
Vertical: about 75 feet. For each additional 5, add about 25 feet to the result.
Lifting Time Taken: 1 action Specializations: none Difficulty: Depends upon the weight and bulkiness of the item. Lifting represents more an innate ability than a learned skill (though you can certainly learn the "correct" way to lift heavy objects). Difficulty depends on the weight of the object. The table below indicates the difficulty of lifting a common object of about the provided weight. Characters will be able to life much more than this amount if they bench press (approximately 3 x the amount) or do a dead lift (approximately 4x this amount) Weight of Object Difficulty 20 pounds Very Easy (5) 50 pounds Easy (10) 75 pounds Moderate (15) 100 pounds Difficult (20) 150 pounds Very Difficult (25) 200 pounds Heroic (30) Increase Difficulty by 5 for each additional 50 pounds
DEXTERITY Acrobatics Time Taken: One round Specializations:Tumbling, Balancing, Swinging Acrobatics is used whenever a character attempts to make an unusual or difficult maneuver with her body. A character may attempt an Acrobatics check if they fall or are thrown to the ground to roll to her feet or avoid damage (roll Acrobatics versus the damage. If the Acrobatics roll is higher, subtract the difference from the damage taken). Acrobatics may also be used in combat. If a character uses Acrobatics during combat they can potentially reap one of the following benefits: • A successful check versus a Moderate difficulty adds a +1D to either the character's attack or Dodge (but not Parry) attempts. The Acrobatics roll does not count as an action if successful. If it fails, it counts as an action.. • With a Very Difficult check, the character may get a +1D to both her Attack and Dodge attempts this round and the Acrobatics attempt does not count as an action. If she fails, it counts as an action. • Whenever Acrobatics is used for one of the above purposes in combat, the character is considered to act last in the round (her attacks will land in the "second segment").
Brawling Time Taken: One action. Specializations: none. Difficulty: Easy (10) Brawling covers basic hand-to-hand combat. It is less graceful than Martial Arts, but can be equally effective. A character will do an amount of damage equal to his Strength + 1D per Effect Value. Note: Brawling may be taken under Strength of Dexterity.
Dodge Time Taken: One round. Specializations: None. Dodge is the art of getting out of the way. A character need only make one Dodge roll per round. The result becomes the base difficulty for anyone shooting or throwing anything at the character. Thus, if a character makes a Dodge roll resulting in 20, enemies will need at least a 20 to hit the character. The Dodge result replaces the base difficulty, thus a bad Dodge result can put the character in a worse position than if he had just stood still. Dodge may also be used to get out of the way of other objects that are not purposely aimed at the character, such as falling boulders, careening busses or out-of-control skateboarders.
Drive Time Taken: One round.
Specializations: Particular types of vehicles, such as Motorcyles, Jeeps, Hovercraft, etc. Drive applies to the conduction of commonplace passenger vehicles. It won't do you a lick of good in a tank...
Firearms [Archaic Weapons/Firearms (Pistols and Rifles)/Light Artillery/Heavy Artillery/Vehicle Weapons/Remote Weapons] Time Taken: One round. Specializations: Particular weapons types. For example, Firearms: Rifles. When choosing the Fire Weapons skill, the player must choose one of the categories listed above. The character is considered unskills in all the other categories unless they too are selected. Marines using may only use Gauss rifles when wearing a Powered Combat Suit, but they fire them using the Firearms: Rifle skill.
Martial Arts Time Taken: One round. Specializations: none. Difficulty: Moderate (12) for standard blows (Damage = STR +1D per Effect Value); Special Moves have variable Difficulties. Martial Arts covers the study of unarmed hand-to-hand combat. At character creation, the character receives one special maneuver for each die they place in the skill. When the character advances with experience, each special move costs an additional 8 CP's (a character can buy as many as he would like).
Example: Coburn has a Dexterity of 3D and at character creation adds an additional die into Martial Arts (giving him a total of 4D in Martial Arts). He chooses Disarm, Elbow Smash, Multiple Strikes, and Power Block. Later, he increases the Martial Arts skill from 4D to 5D (costing 12 CP's) and decides to purchase Spinning Kick for an additional 8 CP's. SPECIAL MOVES The standard Difficulty for each move is given in parenthesis. • Disarm (D): if the character's attack is successful and not parried or dodged, the target is disarmed. • Elbow Smash (D): if successful, attacker may add +1D to the damage roll. • Flip (M): If successful, the attacker throws the target to the ground and does 3D damage. The target must take an action and an Easy Dex roll to get to his feet. • Flying Kick (VD): If successful, attacker does STR +2D + 2 points of damage. If she fails, the attacker is off balance and at -1D to all actions in the next round. • Foot Sweep (E): Will trip the target who must take an action and make an Easy Dex the next round to stand. • Headbutt (E): Can only be used if the attacker is close to the target (grappling, etc.). Does +1D damage. • Hold/Grapple (VE + opposing STR): Once the target has been successfully held, the attacker must make an opposing Martial Arts versus the target's Martial Arts, Brawling, of Strength each round to continue to hold them. If the target is held, he or she cannot attack. • Instant Knockdown (D): If landed successfully, this attack knocks the target to the ground. The target must spend the next round getting up or suffer multiple action penalties. • Instant Stand (M): Allows the martial artist to automatically stand up without taking an additional action. • Instant Stun (D): If successfully landed, this attack stuns the target for one round. • Multiple Strikes (D): A character can make an additional attack this round doing STR damage without a penalty for an additional action. • Nerve Punch (VD): If successful, the attack punches a bundle of nerves on the target and renders a limb unusable for 3D rounds. If the attacker beats the difficulty number by 15, the target is rendered unconscious for 3D rounds. Note, this will generally not work against cyborgs! • Power Block (M): A successful Power Block stops an unarmed attack and inflicts STR -1D damage to the attacker (note: it does STR minus 1D dmg). • Reversal (Opposed STR or Brawl or Martial Arts): Only works while being held or grappled. If successful, the martial artist breaks free and renders person holding him or her immobile (see Hold/Grapple above). • Silent Strike (D): If the character sneaks up on a target and also rolls a successful Silent Strike, the attacker does BDV +1D damage without making a sound. • Spinning/Power Kick (M) STR + 2D damage. If the attack fails, the attacker is off balance and suffers a -1D to all actions next round. • Shoulder Throw (M): A successful attempt will allow the martial artist to hurl a target to the ground doing 3D damage. The target must take an action and make an Easy Dex roll.
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Weapon Block (Opposed Martial Arts versus Melee Combat roll): Allows an unarmed martial artist to parry a weapon used in a melee attack.
Melee Weapon Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: Particular weapon "classes": e.g., swords; knives; blunt weapons; psi-blades, etc.
Missile Weapons Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: Particular archaic missile weapons: Bow, Crossbow, Slingshot, Dartgun, etc
Pilot [Aircraft/ Starfighter / Freighter / Capital Ship] Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: Particular models of machinery within the chosen category. When the player chooses Pilot, he must choose one of the categories within the brackets. He is considered unskilled in all other areas.
Ride Animal Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: Particular animals.
Running Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: none Difficulty: Easy. May be increased if there are obstacles or the character is burdened. Running includes not only the ability to move your feet rapidly, but also of avoiding objects and stumbling while you are doing so. Running is often one of those essential skills for avoiding becoming dead.
Throwing Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: Particular objects: grenades, spears, shoes. This covers the hand-eye coordination required to pick something up and hit a target. Difficulty depends on whether the object was designed to be thrown and range (see Equipment).
CONSTITUTION Endurance: Time of Use: 1 round. Generally not considered an action. Specializations: Particular forms of exercise: Climbing, Running, Swimming, etc. Characters must make Endurance checks when they exert themselves physically and begin to push the limits of their energy. The GM may decide when rolls are appropriate. For example, if a character is chasing a theif through sewer tunnel, he will make a Running roll. If the chase continues for a long time, the GM will ask the character to make an Endurance roll. If he fails, he will have to stop running to catch his breath. The difficulty of the rolls should increase with the time of the physical exertion.
Resistance: Time of Use: 1 round. Specializations: Particular forms of duress: Drugs, Pain, Gravitational forces (good for pilots), etc. Resistance indicates the character's physical resiliency against outside duress, such as pain or drugs. Furthermore, for when a character rolls to establish his Hit Points, he may roll Resistance if it is higher than his Constitution. Also, as he may roll an additional die each time he increases his Resistance skill level (only to the general skill, not Specializations).
Swimming: Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: None. When you know how to swim, you generally won't drown. This is a good thing.
Willpower: Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: None. Willpower represents the strength of the character's mind and ability to resist outside influences. Characters must make Willpower checks to avoid temptations, fight the powers of suggestive drugs, and remain conscious when physically weak or in extreme pain. Psionic individuals may use their Willpower to perform certain actions. Some machines, such as the Protoss
Slipbike, respond only to the users will rather than physical commands. These individuals may Specialize in using these particular machines.
KNOWLEDGE Alien Species Time of Use: 1 round. Difficulty: Moderate (15). Specializations: Particular species: Human; Protoss; Zerg. Alien Species is the knowledge of the biology, culture and general inclinations of a particular species.
Astrogation Time of Use: 1 minute to several hours. Difficulty: Depends on distance travelled. See Space Travel. Specializations: None. To travel the stars via hyperspace, an individual must know how to navigate around the various planets, suns and nebulae that will smash, burn, or simply disintigrate one's ship. This is done with a combination of star charts, mathematics, and a fair bit of guessing.
Bureaucracy Time of Use: 1 round to several hours. Difficulty: Easy (10). May be increased for particularly obscure or secret bureaucratic information. This character has an unfortunately advanced knowledge of how bureaucracies work. They will know who is in charge of what duties, where paperwork is kept, and what processes must be followed to get something done in a bureaucratic chain of command. Every species has its own kind on bureaucracy, and a smart individual can learn how to use it to his advantage.
Business Time of Use: usually ongoing. Difficulty: Moderate (15) for most matters. This character knows how economic principles can be best applied to a given situation. They can organize profitmaking ventures, find appropriate contacts, and recognize needed resources. In Starcraft, characters with Business may make a Moderate (15) Business Check once per game to gain an additional RP for their team. They gain an additional RP for each Effect Value of the attempt (Chi and CP's may not be spent on this attempt). Only one character per team may attempt this in a game, but characters may aid each other (+1D for each additional character skilled in Business).
Communications Time of Use: 1 round. Specializations: None. Difficulty: usually Easy (10). Represents familiarity with various forms of communication devices and how to best use them. It may also be used to diagnosis problems or propose improvements, though the actual work requires Electronics.
Computers Time of Use: 1 round. Difficulty: Easy (10). Increased for complex actions like Hacking (Difficult to Ex. Difficult) and breaking encryptions (depending on the strength of the cipher). Computers represents an overall ability to use and manipulate computers. The character not only knows how to access files, but can break through security, program, and do all sorts of other fun things. It may also be used to diagnosis problems or propose improvements, though the actual work requires Electronics.
Demolitions Education Time of Use: 1 round to several hours. Specializations: Particular areas of study. Education indicates the depth of the character's academic background. Characters may make Education checks in areas that require general knowledge, such as Geography, History, Greek mythology, basic mathematics, etc. This differs from Social Sciences, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences in that the knowledge is not generally applicable to real problems in front of the character--it only indicates that the character has a very general knowledg. The table below gives a rough idea of what each level in Education represents. Note that it is not necessary to go to college to have a level 3 or 4 Education, it just means that the character has invested time in learning on his own (in fact, lots of people who graduate from college never paid much attention and might only have a level 2 Education).
Comparati ve Education Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Schooling Equivalent Elementary School High School College Post-graduate studies Advanced studies World reknowned scholar Revolutionary scholar
Electronics Time of Use: 1 round Difficulty: Varies greatly. Usually Moderate (15). Specializations: Various electronic devices: optics; shield generators; starship systems; building systems; etc. Electronics represents a comprehensive knowledge of "things with wires." Got it?
First Aid Jury Rig Time of Use: 1 round to several minutes. Specializations: Jury-rigging particular objects such as cars, weapons, or computers. Someone with Jury Rig can fix almost anything, at least for a few minutes. This is the quick-fix, the hack, that gets something working when it needs to be working. But without more time and better parts, it won't last long. A Juryrigged item will continue to function for 1 hour per Effect Value point. The GM may alter this time table as he sees fit. Some very broad examples of Jury-rigging and the associated difficulties are given below: Attempted Action Difficulty Getting a decent, but malfunctioning, car started Easy (10) Fixing the heat sinks on an old computer so it will run Moderate (15) without overheating. Working out the kinks in an old elevator that won't Difficult (20) budge. Re-attaching a wing to a busted up airplane Very Difficult (25) Re-wiring a newly discovered and extremely complex Extremely Difficult (30) alien technology.
Languages Law Mechanics Time of Use: 1 round for simple attempts. Ofen will take several minutes or hours for most repairs. Larger projects will take days. Specializations: particular machines: Walkers (Goliaths and Dragoons); Starships; Passenger Vehicles, etc. Difficulty: Depends on the action attempted and the condition of the unit worked on. Default is Moderate (15). Mechanics is somewhat of a catch-all skill for the physical repairs of mechanical units. It usually applies to the actual, moving parts and their engines. Electronics is to be used for on-board computers, shields, optics, and other more specialized systems.
Medicine (A) Time of Use: 1 round to several hours or days. Prerequisites: Sciences 4D, First Aid 5D, Education 4D Specializations: Particular areas: cardiology, optomology, etc. Difficulty: Depends on action attempted. 5 to render basic aid. 10 to peform advanced aid (patient is Mortally Wounded). 15 to perform light surgery. 20 for basic surgery. 25 for invasive surgery or to diagnosis a rare disorder. 30 for experimental or novel work. Special: Though Medicine is under Knowledge, when the skill is taken, it is at 1D (not the character's Knowledge skill). At 1D will be considered a medic or med student. At 2D, a registered Nurse or an intern. At 3D, a doctor. At 4D, a specialist or experienced doctor. At 5D and above, the doctor will have a good reputation in the field, perhaps even be world reknowned. Medicine represents the whole of medical sciences, from advanced medic procedures, to surgery, to experimentation
and development. When a character uses the Medicine skill to perform first aid and basic field/emergency procedures (including light surgery), it is added to the character's First Aid skill. Furthermore, it may be added to Physical Sciences rolls when performing biological experiments. Finally, it may be added to Research skills when doing a medical research in libraries or with a computer. Penalties may accrue when working in substandard conditions or with patients who are not human.
Navigation Time of Use: 1 round. Difficulty: Easy (10); modified depending on conditions and the familiarity of the character has with her surroundings. Specializations: particular local areas. Navigation is the ability to orient onself by terrestrial landmarks. This includes using stars, but only in so far as they provide directions and relative distances to other places on a planet's surface. Stellar navigation is controlled by Astrogation.
Sciences Time of Use: 1 action (to several hours, depending on the action). Specializations: Particular fields of study: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc. Difficulty: Easy (10), but increased for more complex or obscure scientific theories. Sciences represents knowledge in fields such as physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology.
Scrounge Time of Use: 1 round to several hours (GM's discretion). Specializations: None. Difficulty: Moderate (15). Modify for available resources to scrounge in (dumps are better than jail cells). Scrounge is the ability to find useful things just about anywhere. Need a broken television? A battery with some juice still in it? This is the skill for you. Find both useful things and semi-valuable junk. With the right skills, you may find just the part you need to get you car, toaster or robot working again...
Security Time of Use: 1 round to several minutes. Specializations: Various types of security systems: Terran Installations; Protoss Bases; Zerg Colony, etc. Difficulty: Moderate (15). Varies widely depending on the quality of the defending security system. Security represents the ability to set up solid security systems or to defeat them. It also includes knowledge of encryption devices, various codes, mechanical locks, and just about anything one person would use to keep something from another.
Sensors Time of Use: 1 round to several minutes. Specializations: None. Difficulty: Easy (10). May be increased due to conditions such as terrain, ambient radiation, poor quality sensors, etc. Sensors is the ability to best use mechanical sensory devices. It may also be used to diagnosis problems or propose improvements, though the actual work requires Electronics.
Streetwise Time of Use: 1 round. Difficulty: Easy. Difficulty may be increased if used in a city unfamiliar to the character. Streetwise represents a character's ability to tap into the resources of the darker side of society. This skill may be used to procure stolen items, contact assassins, or score some drugs. It may also be used to find more unsavory and alien creatures and items.
Tactics Time of Use: 1 round. Difficulty: Dependent upon the situation. See Combat: Mass Combat. To guess an enemy's strategy, toll vs. Opponent's Tactics. Tactics is used whenever a commander attempts to guide his troops into battle. It may also be used to second-guess an opponent and predict means of attack.
Weapons Technology Time of Use: 1 round to several hours depending on the action taken. Specializations: particular weapons classes: Archaic Weapons; Firearms; Psionic Weapons; Starship Weapons; Vehicle Weapons; etc. Weapons Tech refers to one's knowledge of various forms of weaponry and how to build and/or repair them.
Value Time of Use: 1 round to several if the character must research the item. Specializations: particular types of items (jewelry, weapons, technology, texts, etc.) Difficulty: Easy (10). GM's should freely modify this difficulty, depnding on the obscurity of the item. Value represents the a familiarity with the economic value of things--books, real estate, collectibles, etc.
INSTINCTS Investigation Gambling Profile Time of Use: Depends on difficulty (See below). Difficulty: Moderate (15), modified by the table below. Specializations: Detecting certain behavioral patterns such as lying, worry, anger, apprehension, guilt etc. With Profile, a character can attempt to size up a target, making educated estimates of the target's emotional and mental state. The longer the skill user studies her subject, the greater chance she will draw the appropriate conclusions. The base difficulty is the target's opposing Willpower check. Additional difficulty modifiers are as follows: Difficult Desired Outcome y Surface emotions +0 Emotions or thoughts the target actively attempting to hide +5 Emotions or thoughts that the target is in denial about +10 Emotions or thoughts that the target doesn't even know he's having (secretly in love +15 with someone, etc.) Attempting to use this skill in a single round +15 Spending 3 rounds to use this skill. +10 Spending 5 rounds using this skill. +5 Spending a full minute using this skill. +0 Interviewing target (asking personal questions). -10 Observing the target closely for more than one hour. -7
Search Time of Use: GM's discretion. It depends on how large the area searched is and what is being sought. Specializations: None. Search represents the character's ability to pick up on clues, notice little details, and general alertness to her surroundings.
Stealth Time of Use: 1 round. Specializations: Type of habitat in which character seeks to be stealth: Forest, Urban, Aquatic, etc. With Stealth, a character attempts to move unnoticed. This skill includes walking silently as well as hiding in shadows and blending in with a crowd. A character using stealth moves at half-speed (walking). To move quickly while being stealthy, the character must endure increased difficulty levels (GM's discretion).
Survival Time of Use: One roll should represent 1 "event." Specializations: Particular habitats: Forest, Jungle, Urban, Aquatic, Desert, Arctic, etc. A character with Survival may attempt to endure the rigors of the natural world in a number of environments and situations. The skill is used when the character must find food and shelter or take other actions to survive in the wild. Note that Survival only covers what is needed for substinence. If you want to build a nice house like they have on Gilligan's Island, you'd better learn Craftsmanship: Carpentry or something similar...Difficulty levels increase when the character is using Survival not only for himself but to aid others as well.
Tracking Time of Use: 1 round. Specializations: Tracking in particular habitats: Forest, Jungle, Urban, Subterranean, Desert, Arctic, etc. Difficulty: Easy (10) to Difficult (20) depending what is being tracked and where. Tracking represents the skill of following and catching "prey." This does not include the ability to kill or trap it (those are different skills). However, the character can pick up on small traces, estimate how long it has been since the prey was in the area, and make educated guesses as to the condition of the animal.
PRESENCE Bargain Time of Use: 1 round. Specializations: Bargaining over certain items: weapons, natural resources, ships, etc. Difficulty: Typically an opposed roll against the other bargaining party. Bargain represents the character's ability to haggle over just about anything. In the Koprulu Sector, nearly everything is up for sale, and merchants tend to be shrewd. Without this skill, characters may find themselves much more than they should for goods and services. The table below gives general outcomes of Bargain "battles": If the winner is the buyer, reduce the "real price" (GM's discretion) by the Price Multiplier. If the winner is the seller, inflate the price accordingly. Winner's Total > Price Multiplier Loser's Roll 1-5 x 1.5 6-10 x 1.75 11-15 x2 16-20 x3 21-25 x4 26+ x5
Command Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: Commanding certain types of troops: Infantry, Fighter Squads, Battleship Armadas, etc. Difficulty: Easy (10) to Moderate (15) depending on the situation. Can be easier or hardier depending on the skill and morale of the troops. With this skill, a character can manage, direct and mobilize others in a wide variety of endeavors. She knows how to give clear instructions and inspire obediance and prompt response. In the heat of battle, an able commander is essential.
Con Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: Certain types of cons: disguise, fast-talking, forgery, etc. Difficulty: Opponants may make a Willpower or Knowledge opposing roll to rat out a Conning player. Con represents a character's ability to bend the truth and slide by on fast-talking. It also includes other ways of being less than honest--disguise, forgery, etc.
Gambling Time of Use: 1 round. Can roll for whole "games" or gambling events. Specializations: Particular games: Poker, Blackjack, Protoss Psi-chess, etc. Difficulty: Depends on the game. Generally, Easy for simple games up to Very Difficult for very complex ones. Can be used as an Opposing Action against other gamblers. Gambling can be found all over the Koprulu Sector--in the back rooms of the local Supply Depot, the bunks of Barracks, and, most likely, between the technicians killing time in the stock room of a Command Center. Skilled gamblers can make a nice little income just playing the various games available on a base.
Perform Time of Use: 1 round. Can roll for one whole performace. Specializations: Particular performance arts: music, acting, visual art, etc. Difficulty: Moderate (15). Vary difficulty depending on the quality and intricacy of the art attempted. With Perform, a character can attempt just about any art form. From song-and-dance to sculpture, the character can express herself and perhaps make a buck or two for the effort. The Koprulu Sector has become a well-developed human society, and has many celebrities, entertainers, and a burgeoning art world.
Persuasion Time of Use: 1 action. Specializations: Particular forms of persuasive speech: Seduction, Oration, Debate, Difficulty: Easy (10). Targets may make Opposed Willpower rolls to set a Difficulty.
Persuasion measures a character's ability to convice others of just about anything. It does not include the ability to bark orders (see Command), but rather to debate with logic, appeal to sympathy, and otherwise verbally convince others to see things the character's way.
IV. PSIONICS Psi represents the psionic potential of an individual. In general, every Protoss individual has at least 1D of Psi, only a very few Humans have any Psi, and no Zerg have yet added it to their genome. A character with 1D in Psi may choose one Psi skill. Additional skills may be added for each new pip in Psi the character achieves. Individual Psi powers may be improved as normal or Advanced skills (2x normal cost). Unlike other Attributes, Psi costs 3x the current Attribute Rating to improve. Below is a list of some of the more common Psi Power, sometimes referred to as Psionics. More ideas for psionic powers may be taken from WEG's Star Wars or Metabarons books. There are also other D6 resources on the web with lists of psionics and magical powers that might be useful. Design note: GM's and players may find it easier to simply import WEG's Star Wars rules for Force powers rather than use the Psionic system below. In that case, the Psionic would have three "psi-attributes": Control, Alter and Sense. See WEG's Star Wars books for more information. I believe Metabarons uses a very similar system, but I have not read it.
Terms: Psionic name: Aside from just the name, the Psionic power may be designated as (A)dvanced. Advanced power usually require prerequisites and are twice as expensive to advance in. Prerequisites: Any powers or skills and their levels that must be attained before the power in question may be taken. Time of Use: Amount of time that passes while the character attempts the power (regardless of whether or not it is successful). This can be highly variable and depends on the GM's discretion. An action that takes 1 round means that it is the only power the character can attempt in that round. An action that takes "1 action" can be attempted in conjunction with as many other actions as the character can perform in one round. Other attempts may take anywhere from a minute to days (Foresight, for example). Difficulty numbers may vary depending on time spent as well. Duration: the length of time the power will remain in effect. Some powers may be "kept up" if the Psionic concentrates on them each round. To keep a power "up" costs 1 action per round (thus all other actions are at -1D that round). If the character is distracted or harmed, she must make a Moderate Willpower roll (at -1D for the "up" power) to maintain her concentration or the power will deactivate. Difficulty: This gives an approximate Difficulty level to successfully use the power. GM's should vary this depening on the situation: including stress, any psionic enhancment tools, amount of time dedicated to the task, familiarity with the situation and other factors. Description: A (hopefully) brief description of what the power does includes and other notes.
Cloaking (A) Time of Use: 1 round. Difficulty: Depends on the "completeness" of the Cloak (see below). Duration: For every minute the character is cloaked, she must make an Easy Endurance roll. If she fails the roll, she is exhausted and loses the Cloak. She will be -1D to all actions until she rests for 10 minutes. This power must be kept up to extend beyond one round. A Psionic may attempt to hide herself from detection in a variety of ways. Each comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, as well as its own Difficulty Level. Humans and Protoss have managed to design some devices that enhance an individual's cloaking ability. Some of the most common ways are given below: Cloak Difficulty Description Type Diffus Easy (10) Creates a static field around the target about 5m in radius. This field disrupts any ion technological or psionic method used to track the target (they will point towards the diffused "sphere"). Furthermore, it adds 10 to any other Tracking attempts (such as by scent). It has no affect on visual observations however. Shado Difficult Covers the target in a psionic shroud of shadow, permitting the target to hide in available ws (20) shadows--even in daylight. This adds +3D to Stealth attempts during the day and +5D at night. Note, this spell does not affect sounds or scents from the target. Invisi Extremely Renders the target completely invisible to visual detection by normal humans (or those bility Difficult with equivalent eyesight). The target and his personal belongings will be invisible, but
(30)
will still be detectable by touch, scent and sound.
Concentration Time of Use: 1 action. Concentration may only be used once per minute (1 per 10 rounds). Difficulty: Easy (10). May be increased if the Psionic is agitated. Duration: 1 action. The Psionic can focus his mental energies and release them into one single action in the same round as the Concentration attempt. If successful, the Psionic may add 4D to that action.
Control Pains Time of Use: 1 action. Difficulty: Very Easy (5) to reduce Pain Effects by 1D. For every Effect Value, the Psionic may reduce Pain Effects by an additional 1D. Duration: 1 minute. This power may be kept up. The Psionic may control pains suffered from injuries (including drugs and stun effects), reducing their penalties by 1D according the Difficulty achieved (see above).
Emotion Control Time of Use: 1 round. Duration: 5 minutes +1 minute for every 5 over the Difficulty; may be negated by a successful Willpower check or certain negating psionics. Description: Grants the ability to manipulate the emotional state of a target or targets. The Difficulty increases with the intensity of the emotions and the Willpower checks of any unwilling targets. Difficulty: Difficulty Description Easy (10) Induces a moderate mood shift in any direction desired by the Psionic. Moderate Forces the target into the mood of the Psionic's desire. The target will attempt to act on the (15) impulses of her mood unless she makes an Easy Willpower check (may make one each minute). Difficult Completely possesses the target's emotional control. During the duration, the caster may change the (20) target's emotions at will, making them as mild or fierce as desired. The Target may attempt to resist with a Willpower check of Moderate once per minute. Each Spreads the effect of the Difficulty out an additional 10 meters from the point of casting, expanding additional the Psionic's sphere of influence. 5
Enhance Physical Attribute Time to Use: 1 action. Difficulty: Very Easy (5) to raise an Attribute 1D. For each Effect Value (10 over Base Difficulty), increase the Attribute by another 1D. With this power, the Psionic can use his mental energies to augment his physical body. Strength, Dexterity or Constitution may be temporarily increased by a value determined by the quality of the Psionic's attempt (see Difficulty above). The effect will last for 2D6 rounds, not long, but long enough to perform superhuman feats in times of need. Each Attribute may be Enhanced at the same time, but the affects to a single Attribute cannot be cumulative (thus if the Psionic attempts to Enhance his Strength when it is already Enhanced, the new result will replace the first).
Enhance Mental Attribute Time to Use: 1 action. Difficulty: Very Easy (5) to raise an Attribute by 2D. For each Effect Value (10 over Base Difficulty) increase the Attribute another 1D. Using this ability, the Psionic focuses his psi-energy to charge his other mental faculties to above-normal performance. Knowledge, Instincts or Presence may be augmented for up to 1D6 minutes. Each Attribute may be Enhanced at the same time, but the affects to a single Attribute cannot be cumulative (thus if the Psionic attempts to Enhance his Knowledge when it is already Enhanced, the new result will replace the first).
Foresight Time of Use: 2D6 minutes. Duration: Can foresee one "event" or get a general impression of a furture occurrence. Description: This represents a somewhat limited ability to see the future ("Always in motion is the future"). The Difficulty Number selected will depend on the specificity sought and the distance over time before the event will
occur. Difficulty: Difficulty Moderate (15) Difficult (20) Very Difficult (25)
Description The character may foresee vague impressions from the future, with a few tantalizing details ("A horder of Zerg...a horizon with a lone tree atop a hill...blood...blood!") The character might predict specific events of general concern (it will rain next week) or vague notions regarding a particular person ("Kerrigan...has a future full of darkness and violence...but greatness and redemption may be hers"). Here, the character may learn some very specific information about a particular person ("Tassadar will die a heroic death to save his people from the Zerg"). However, remember that the future is always fluid, and images taken from it should never be considered certain.
Healing Time to Use: 1D6 rounds. May only be attempted once per day on a given patient. Difficulty: As for Medicine Attempts, depending on the condition of the patient. May also be increased for alien species. With Healing, the Psionic seeks to enhance the natural healing powers of an organism. Bones may be set, wounds closed, diseases cured, all with nothing more than a thought. Psionics require no additional equipment or preparation, other than concentrating while standing over the patient being treated. When a Psionic heals another, he must endure searing pain and risk injuring to himself. He will take 1D +1D per Wound Level healed. He may make a Resistance Roll to reduce the damage. Any excess wounding damage is subtracted from the Psionic's Hit Points until he heals. Psionics may attempt to heal themselves, but do so at -1D (but they do not suffer the wound feedback).
Hindsight Time of Use: 2D6 minutes. Duration: Will see one "event" or "scene" attached to a given place, object or person. Description: With this spell, the Psionic may seek to read the past of a person, object or place by touching it and concentrating. The character will "experience" images in her mind. The clarity of the experience increases with great success of the attempt. A minimal success may leave the Psionic with a vague impression of what occurred, while a fine success will be like she was actually there in the room when the event occurred. Difficulty: Easy (10) for events within 24 hours. Moderate (15) for events within 1 week. Difficult (20) for events within 1 year. Very Difficult (25) for events within 10 years. Heroic (50) for events within the past few thousand years.
Linguistics Time of Use: 1D6 minutes of listening to the new language. Difficulty: Very Easy (5) for relatively simple or familiar languages. Difficulty increases with the complexity of the language and the degree of communication desired. Duration: 10 minutes + 10 minutes per Effect Value. This skill may be kept up. Some Psi-talents can activate the portions of their brains that handle language skills and enhance them to quickly process new languages. This acts as a translator talent, permiting the Psionic to understand and speak foreign or alien languages as if they were his native tongue. The character can also understand the written form of the language if a Moderate check is made. When the skill's duration runs out the Psionic forgets anything he knew of the language.
Lockdown Time of Use: 1 round. Difficulty: Easy (10). Difficulty may be increased if target electronics are specially protected somehow. Duration: 1 round +1 round per Effect Value. This power may be kept up, but the Psionic must make a Moderate power check each round. Range: All electronics within a 2 meters sphere, as long as the focal point is within 10 meters of the Psionic. Increase the Difficulty by 5 for each additional 5 meters affected by the power and/or increased distance from the Psionic. Note that Lockdown rounds have a much more focused effect, on a single target but at a much greater distance. Terran psi-researchers have discovered that some psionics can focus on electronic devices and cause them to freeze up for short periods of time. Most psionics have only enough power to affect simple, unshield electronics such as calculators or light bulbs. But the Terrans have developed a special form of ammunition, referred to as "Lockdown rounds," that absorb and focus a Psionic's Lockdown energies. When fired at an enemy target, the Lockdown rounds will immobilize the target's electronics for a short period of time. Some Terran Psionics may be able to develop Lockdown sufficiently to use it without Lockdown rounds, but their Neural Inhibitors prevent them from getting more than 3D in the skill.
Magnify Senses Time of Use: 1D6 rounds to activate. Difficulty: Very Easy (5). Duration: 5 minutes + 5 minutes per Effect Value. This power may be kept up. The Psionic can increase his physical senses beyond their normal range. She can see small things or objects far in the distance, hear outside the normal spectrum, feel even the slightest bumps or changes in temperature. Add the Magnify Senses Skills to the character's Instincts Attribute +1D per Effect Value.
Mind Control (A) Time of Use: 3 rounds to activate. Difficulty: Moderate or Targets Opposing Willpower attempt (whichever is higher). If the target is forced to do something contrary to his nature or personal objectives, he may make another Willpower roll to break free of the Control. Duration: 5 minutes + 5 minutes per Effect Value. Target must remain in the line of sight of the Psionic. Targets may make a Difficult Willpower check once per minute in an attempt to break free. This power is considered to be kept up while the target is being controlled. This powerful discipline grants the user the ability to invade and possess the mind of another sentient being. The target will obey the telepathic commands of the controller, resisting only the most contrary or dangerous orders (see Difficulty) above. Mind Control is an exhausting endeavor. The Controller must make an Easy Endurance Check each minute in order to avoid becoming too taxed to maintain the control.
Psi-Blades Time to Use: 1 action. Difficulty: Very Easy (5) to activate a blade. Psi-Blade technology has been developed by the Protoss and remains unknown to other species. With it, the Protoss can channel psionic energy through Khaydarin crystals into focused beams of power. The Protoss may do damage equal to their Psi-Blade Skill Rating. Combat attempts are controlled by the user's Melee Weapon: Psi-Blade Skill (under Dexterity).
Psi-Bolts Time to Use: 1 action. Difficulty: Very Easy (5) to charge a bolt. Protoss technology has developed a variety of ways to focus psionic energy into missile weapons. Psi-Bolts represents a character ability to focus on a psionic firearm or bow and charge its missiles with sufficient psi-energy to do damage. The weapon will concentrate the energy somewhat, but does damage largely dependent on the user's Psi-Bolt Skill Rating.
Psionic Piloting Time to Use: 1 action. Difficulty: Moderate (15). May be increased for particular actions. Many Protoss vehicles and ships may only be piloted by those trained in using their minds alone to control the craft. These elite pilots often have faster reaction times than those that must depend upon physical controls to conduct their machines. Some pilots wear amplifier helmets and suits to better interface with their machines.
Sense Lifeform Time to Use: 1 round. Difficulty: Easy (10). May be increased if the user is looking for a particular kind of lifeform, or the lifeform is so alien it is difficult to recognize as such. Duration: 1 round. May be kept up to "scan" an area for lifeforms. The Psionic can reach out with her mind and skim over the living organisms within range of her power. When a living being is found, the Psionic focuses on it momentarily, only long enough to establish that it is in fact living and whether it is sentient or not. The Psionic will know the speed and direction in which the lifeform moves and perhaps its species (if it has encountered them before). Rarely will she be able to tell individuals or other details. Most modern cloaking technology will disrupt the Psionic's ability to detect the approachign lifeform. The Difficulty increases to Very Difficult in such cases.
Shield (A) Time to Use: 1 action to raise the shield. Difficulty: Easy (10). Increases by 5 for each additional 5 meters the Shield is expanded. Duration: 1 round. This power may be kept up. A few Psionics have learned how to generate powerful shields for themselves without the use of artificial shield generators. With this ability, the user can erect a protective bubble around themselves that will absorb damage up to
a value equal to the Psionic's Shield roll x 5 (for example, the Psionic has 4D in Shield and rolls a 12. The Shield will take 70 points of damage before the user will be injured).
Telekinesis (A) Time to Use: 1 action to activate and perform a simple action. Difficulty: Very Easy (5) to Activate. Final Difficulty depends on the weight of the object lifted and the complexity of the attempted manuever. Objects may be moved by 10 meters per round. Add 5 to the Difficulty for each additional 10 meters per round attempted. Duration: 1 round. This power may be kept up. Difficul Weight Complexity Range ty Simple up-down or side-to-side +0 Less than 1 kg 1-3 meters movement +5 1-10 kg Gentle movements 4-10 meters 11-30 +10 11-100 kg Easy manuevers meters 31-100 +15 101-1000 kg Complex manuevers meters 101-200 +20 1000-5000 kg Very Complex manuevers meters Intricate manuevers with 201-500 +25 5000-20,000 kg multiple objects meters 20,000 kg 501-2000 +30 50,000 kg meters 50,000 +40 2.1-5 km 100,000 kg Telekinsis permits the Psionic to lift and move objects with only a thought. Once the object has been lifted, the character may hold it in place without additional rolls (the power is considered "up" as an action and the character suffers -1D to all other actions that round). If the character attempts to do something new with the object, he must make an additional roll. If the Psionic fails any controlling roll or the object is removed from his line of sight, the Psionic will drop it. Telekinesis may be used as an attack, either directly or to throw objects at a target. When used directly, it acts as a crushing blow, doing damage equal to the Telekinesis Skill rating. Objects dropped or thrown do damage depending on their weight: 1D for objects 1-5 kg; 2D for 5-15 kg; 3D for 15-50 kg; 4D for 50-100 kg; 5D for 100-500 kg; 6D for 500-1500 kg; 7D for 1500-10,000 kg; 8D for 10,000-20,000 kg. Note, the target may get buried under a heavy object and be unable to move it!
Telepathy Time to Use: 1 action to activate and give a simple communication. Difficulty: Very Easy (5) to activate and communicate with familiar people. Difficulty increases for new people (+5), those who resist communication (+10), and alien species (+15). The power also attenuates with range. Add +5 for 100-1000 meters; +10 for 1 km-10 km; +15 for 10km-50 km; +20 for 50-100km. Duration: 3 rounds of conversation with additional rolls. After that, this power may be kept up. With Telepathy, a Psionic may project his thoughts into the mind of another and "hear" the other's thoughts as if there were holding a conversation. The two beings must be able to understand the language being "thought." Each participant will also receive a basic understanding of the other's emotional state (Moderate Willpower attempt required to hide it). Targets may resist receiving or transmitting thoughts by making a Willpower attempt in opposition to the Psionic's Telepathy roll.
V. ACTIONS & COMBAT TAKING ACTIONS Time For much of the game, Game Masters can inform characters as to how much time has passed between events. But for certain actions, such as combat or a skill used under timed conditions, a more accurate method is required. • Melee Rounds: Melee Rounds are about 5 seconds long. In general, a character can take one action per round without accruing penalties. • Individual Initiative: Characters may act in the order of their Instincts scores (from highest to lowest). A character with a higher Instincts may choose to Hold his Action, letting someone with a lower Instincts act first before he decides what to do. • Mass Rounds: Mass rounds are about 30 seconds long and are used to resolve combat between units (see Mass Combat below). • Mass Combat Initiative: Opposing forces may act in the order of their Tactics score (from highest to lowest). The commander with a higher Instincts may choose to Hold his Action, letting another commander act first before he decides what to do.
Multiple Actions in a Round For every additional action, the character suffers a -1D to all actions taken that round. Under normal conditions, a character can take a maximum of 5 actions per round (with a cumulative penalty of -5D to all actions). Some spells allow for more actions per round with reduced penalties. Any additional actions are considered to be taken in the second segment of the round. Thus, all first actions (by everyone acting in the round) are resolved in the first part of a round and any extra actions are resolved afterwards. Who acts first in a round depends upon Initiative (see above).
Example: Cullen is in combat again. He decides he will take two actions: he will attack and Dodge. He will be -1D to both actions.
Reacting Occasionally, a character will need to react to something that has occurred during a round. If the character has already acted in the round, the reaction skill is at -1D for being a reaction and -1D for each action already taken in the round. Dodge, Melee Parry and Brawling/Martial Arts are commonly used as Reaction Skills to avoid damage. If a Reaction Skill is used while defending from an attack, the dice roll becomes the difficulty the attacker must overcome to be successful, even if the reaction skill roll is lower than the original difficulty of the attack!
Example: Cullen is in combat and has already acted once this round. Suddenly, someone shoots at him and he attempts to Dodge. His Dodge skill is normally 4D, but since he has already acted, it is now 2D (-1D for having already acted and -1D for being a Reaction Skill). The shooter's base difficulty was 10. Cullen rolls 2 dice and gets a result of 7. The shooter only needs a 7 or better to hit Cullen. Full Reactions If the character decides that the only action she will take in a round is to react, then her Reaction skill roll is attempted with full dice and the result is added to the attacker's difficulty.
Example: Karine knows someone is shooting at her from a rooftop. She decides that all she will do this round is Dodge. She rolls her full 4D for Dodge gets 15. The shooter must now roll higher than 10 (standard difficulty) + 15 = 25 in order to hit her!
Applying Reactions to the Entire Round Dodge rolls apply to all ranged attacks in a round. Thus a character need only Dodge once to attempt to avoid attackers using guns, thrown weapons or grenades. Parry rolls must be made for every attack! Thus, in close combat, if a character is punched four times, he must either attempt four parries using his Brawling or Martial Arts skill or be take the damage!
RANGED COMBAT Ranged combat difficulty targets: Range Point Blank Short Mediu m Long Extrem e
Difficulty Very Easy (1-5) Easy (6-10) Moderate (11-15) Difficult (16-20) Very Difficult to Heroic (20+)
Shooting at Multiple Targets Characters may choose to aim at more than one target in a given round. If they do so, they suffer a cumulative -1D when shooting at each target beyond the first.
Example 1: Karine is cornered by two drooling zerglings. She is armed with a Gauss Rifle that can shoot up to 5 shots per round. She can either shoot at one without a penalty or attempt to shoot at both. She decides to fire once at both of her attackers. Her total dice penalty is -1D to the first shot (the penalty for taking multiple actions) and -2D to the second shot (the penalty for multiple actions + the second target penalty). Example 2: Karine is cornered again, this time by three Protoss Zealots. She decides to fire once at each (3 actions, 2 additional targets). She suffers a -2D to her first shot (for the two additional actions), a -3D to the second, and a -4D to the third!
Spraying Bullets Some weapons, such as fully automatic machine guns, allow the bearer to spray bullets at an enemy. This has a variety of advantages and disadvantages: Advantage Disadvantage Shooter gets +1D to hit and does The shooter may potentially hit anyone in the direction in not suffer any penalties for aiming which he is pointing the gun (including allies and at multiple targets in a round. innocents). If the shooter is trying to avoid hitting a friendly target, add 15 to the difficulty number to hit. If the shooter rolls less than 15 over the standard difficulty (dependent on range) , he hits the friendly target as well. Roll damage normally. Uses ammunition more quickly. If the attack is successful, roll one less die for damage.
Using two guns at once: Advantage Shooter does not suffer any penalties for shooting at more than one target in a round without declaring a "Spraying" action (see Spraying Bullets below). Both first shots are fired in the first segment of the round (if one gun is shot twice, the second shot is considered to go off in the last part of the round, after all other first attacks have been resolved. Permits the character to fire the maximum number of bullets from both guns in a round (thus, is a shooter is using two pistols which may fire 3 times in a round, she can shoot 6 times total in the round).
Disadvantage Shooting a second weapon counts as an action (resulting in an additional -1D to each action in the round). Shooter suffers an additional -1D to any shot taken with his or her "off" hand.
If someone using two guns stops to reload, they must take an additional action to stow one gun while the other is reloaded. There is no additional action if the "extra" gun is thrown away.
SCALE Starcraft D6 does not use Scale to modify attack attempts or damage as some other D6 games do. Frankly, it just adds more math and chart-checking. It is assumed that technology is sufficient to provide adequate targeting for larger scale weapons to hit smaller scale ones. Furthermore, the loss of the smaller unit's bonus to hit the larger may be seen as an indication that the smaller unit is less likely to harm the larger, even if the blow lands. I've left in references to Scale in certain parts of the game to illustrate the relative size of different units.
COMBAT MODIFIERS A number of factors can affect a character's chances to succeed in combat. Smoke may obstruct a target, oil on the floor may make dodging more difficult, etc. Following are a number of modifiers Game Masters may choose to apply in the game. • Drawing Weapons: Drawing a weapon counts as an action in a round (all other actions are at -1D this round). • Reloading Weapons: The time required to reload a weapon varies depending on the type. Most require 1 action to reload. See the weapon descriptions in the Equipment section. • Targeting Systems: Some weapons, usually in aircraft or tanks, have targeting systems that help the gunner. These depend on the weapon type and quality. • Rate of Fire (ROF): This statistic is given for each weapon. A weapon cannot be fired more times than its ROF in a round, regardless of the number of actions the character takes. • Called Shots: Attackers can make a "called shot" against a specific target, such as a particular part of a target's body (a hand, head, etc) or a small item. Add +1D to the difficulty for a target 10-50 cm (approximately 3-18 inches) long. Add +4D to the difficulty for a target 1-10 cm long. Add +8D to the difficulty for a target less than a centimeter long. • Cover: Provides a target with some protection from detection and attack. Add the following modifiers to attempts to detect or hit a target, when appropriate Visual Modifier to Cover Difficulty Light Smoke +5 Thick Smoke +10 Very Thick +15 Smoke Poor Light +5 Moonlight +10 Complete +20 Darkness
Characters can also hide behind objects, such as walls and vehicles, which provide protection against attack. Add the following modifiers depending on how much of the target is covered. Target is 1/4 covered 1/2 covered 3/4 covered Fully covered
Modifier +5 +10 +15 If cover provides protection, attacker cannot hit target directly. Damage is absorbed by the item giving protection, until it's Body rating is depleted (see Protection below). Protection: Inanimate objects have a strength rating to resist damage. If the attacker rolls well enough to overcome the Armor Value, reduce the the object's Body Strength by the remainder. When the object has no Body Points left, the characters hiding behind them take any additional damage. Sample Protection Armor Value Body Strength Flimsy wooden door 10 10 Standard wooden door 15 15 Standard metal door 20 25 Reinforced door 30 50 Blast door 45 100
If the damage roll is lower than the Armor Value, the protection is not damaged at all and the target character suffers no damage. If the
damage roll is equal to or greather than the protection's Armor Value roll, find the difference on the chart below to see how badly the protection is damage. Furthermore, its Armor Value is reduced by 1. Remaining Body Points 3/4 to all 1/2-3/4 1/4-1/2 1 point to 1/4 0
Protection is: Not seriously damaged Lightly damaged Heavily damaged Severely damaged Destroyed
A character behind protection may suffer some damaged depending upon how badly his protection is damaged. Subtract dice from the attack's damage based on the chart below. Protection is: Not seriously damaged Lightly damaged Heavily damaged Severely damaged Destroyed
Reduce weapon's damage by: Character is completely protected -4D -2D -1D Character suffers full damage.
Armor: Armor protects the wearer from damage. In the game, add the value of the armor to the Constitution roll of the character suffering damage. See the Equipment section for different armor types.
MELEE COMBAT Hand-to-Hand Combat Striking: The standard difficulty to hit with Brawling roll is Very Easy (5). Damage is equal to the character's Strength roll + 1D per Effect Value (see Effect Value). The standard difficulty to hit with Martial Arts is Easy (10), resulting in damage equal to the character's Strength. A fighter skilled in Martial Arts may attempt more complicated maneuvers to render more damage, but must roll against a higher difficulty number to hit.
Blocking: Character's may attempt to block an attack using their Brawling or Martial Arts skills. Players must declare they will be attempting to block before the attack occurs. If they do not, they suffer an additional -1D when attempting to block.
Example: Cullen is in a fight with another Terran. He decides to strike but forgets to "hold an action" in case he needs to block. The Terran takes a swing and Cullen decides he had better try to block. He must roll Brawling at -2D. If his blocking roll is higher than the Terran's attack roll, he will have parried the blow. If not, he may take damage. Example: Somewhat bruised from last round, Cullen decides he will hold an action this round in case he needs to block. This means he is -1D to both his attack and blocking roll. An unarmed character may not attempt to block an attacker with a weapon without a special Martial Arts move.
Melee Combat Melee Combat is handled much the same way Unarmed Combat is, except that the characters involved use Melee Combat and are armed with handheld weapons.
A character armed with a weapon may use it to block an unarmed assailant.
Damage
When an attacker successfully hits his target, he rolls the appropriate number of dice to designate damage (see the weapons list in the Equipment section). Ranged weapons do a set amount (e.g. a Heavy Pistol does 5D damage). Melee weapons do a the bearer's STR + additional dice for the weapon type + 1D for every 2 EV points. The targeted character then rolls his Strength dice and adds any armor value, if armor is worn. If the target's strength roll is greater than the attacker's roll, the she had resisted the damage. If not, consult the table below for results: Body Points Effect Description Remaining Character suffers a -1D to all skill and attribute dice for the rest of the round and 3/4-all Stunned the next. If a character suffers a number of stuns equal to her strength, she falls unconscious for 1d6 minutes. Characters fall prone and can take no actions for the rest of the round. The character 1/2-3/4 Wounded suffers a -1D to all skills and attributes until healed. Seriously 1/4-1/2 Falls prone and is in pain. -2D to all actions. Wounded Falls prone, and heavily dazed and will Mortally 1 point to 1/4 remain that way until healed. -3D to all Wounded Attribute and Skill checks. Falls Unconcious and must make Con or 0 unconscious Endurance checks to remain alive (See or dies. below). The Big Goodbye: At 0 BP's, the character must roll a Moderate Con or Endurance check once per 5 minutes. If you fail, you will die in 5 minutes. CP's can be spent freely to make these rolls. Once CP's are spent, a character may spend Chi. Each Chi point buys you 10 minutes of time. Once you're out of CP's and Chi, you're pretty much done for. Pulping: Cruel GM's may decide that if a character falls to -10 BP, their body is "pulped," or completely destroyed instantly. This is a major bummer for characters, as you might imagine, but it makes for a cinematic moment...
Armor Characters may choose to wear Armor to provide them with some protection against damage. The Armor Value of the protection is deducted from any damage rolls against the character. Every time a character wearing armor takes damage above his armor, the armor's value is reduced by 1. Different types of armor are listed in the Equipment section.
Example: Cullen is wearing leather clothing, which provides 6 points of Armor against damage. A Confederate soldier shoots and hits him for 10 points of damage. Cullen takes only 4 points of damage and his leather armor loses one point of its Armor Value. The next time he is hit, it will only provide him with 5 points of protection.
MASS COMBAT Note: there are many game systems out there with well throught out, detailed rules for mass combat. This is not one of them. D6 doesn't really lend itself to mass combat rules, and I'm not really smart enough to come up with a flawless system. Mass combat in Starcraft D6 is intended to provide background for the adventures of the player's characters, not be the climax of the adventure iteself.
Time in Mass combat: Mass Combat Actions are broken into Mass Combat Rounds of approximately 30 seconds, which is divided into two segments. Units may choose to move or attack in either segment (but it may only do each action once per round).
All attacks that occur in the same segment are resolved simultaneously (the effects of casualties do not manifest until the next segment begins.
Units: The ground troops of each race may be split into small groups that act as a single unit for combat purposes. The number of individuals at that construe a unit depends on the race and the trooper type. For simplicity's sake, only one type of creature may be in a unit. Race: The race of the acting unit. # Individuals Per Unit: the number of individuals that compose the unit. Casualty Categories: As the unit is reduced it's efficacy also declines. Reduce Damage and Resistance Dice by the amount indicated for each category. When necessary, break the appropriate dice into pips (1D=3 pips). Damage Dice: amount of Dice added to to the Damage roll for the attacking force. Resistance Dice: amount of Dice added to the Defense roll for an attacked force. Movement: speed at which a unit may move in Mass Combat Round Segment. # Casualty Race Individuals Damage Dice Resistance Dice Movement Categories perUnit 10-8=Full Dice 2D/Unit if plasma shields are powered Protoss10 Zealots 2D/unit up. 20m/segment 7-4=2/3 Dice 1D/Unit if only armor is worn. 1-3=1/3 Dice 10-8=Full Dice 1D/Marine Unit 20m/segment for Marines 10 Marines Terran 1D/Unit 10 Firebats 7-4=2/3 Dice 2D/Firebat Unit 10m/segment for Firebats 1-3=1/3 Dice 20-15=Full 1D/Zergling 25m/segment for 20 Zerglings Dice Unit 0D/Zerg Unit Zerglings Zerg 10 8-14=2/3 Dice 2D/Hydralisk 2D/Hydralisk Unit 20m/segment for Hydralisks 1-7=1/3 Dice Unit Hydralisks.
Example 1: Cullen is commanding 1 unit of Terran marines into battle. His Damage Dice will be 1D (1D/unit) and Resistance Dice will also be 1D (1D/unit) the first round. After one round of fighting, he has lost 3 marines. His Damage Dice and Resistance Dice will both be reduced to 2/3 normal, or +2 (1D = 3 pips) . If he were to lose another 2 marines, he will have 5 soldiers left and his Damage and Resistance Dice will be remain at +2. If he were to lose 2 more marines (3 left in the unit), his Dice would be reduced to +1. Example 2: Dan is commanding 1 unit of Hydralisks in a raid. His Damage Dice will be 2D and his Resistance Dice will be 2D. After one round of fighting, he has lost 3 Hydralisks. His Damage and Resistance Dice will both be reduced to 2/3 normal, or 1D+1 (2D = 6 pips, and 1/3 of 6 is 2. Subtract 2 pips from 2D and you get 1D+1). If he were to lose another 4 Hydralisks (3 left), he would only have Damage and Resistance Dice = +2.
Attack Roll Base Difficulty: 5 at Close Range, 10 at Short Range, 15 at Medium Range, 20 at Long Range. Some units--such as Zerglings and Zealots can only attack at Close Range. Other units may be Upgraded to extend their Range. Attack Dice Pool: Commander's Tactics + Unit Size+ Bonuses (surprise, terrain, special training, etc.). Damage: 1D (acts as a Wild Die) + 1D per Unit Damage +1D per Effect Value (10 over base Difficulty) + Bonuses (weapon upgrades, etc).
Example: Terrans vs. Zerg on open ground. 1st Segment Terran Actions: Cullen has 2 units of marines (20 troopers) and is leading them into battle against 2 units of Zerglings (40 Zerglings). Because the Terrans have their Guass Rifles, they need not move in order to attack this round. So, Cullen will attack by rolling his Tactics (4D) + Unit Size (2D) for 6D (he has no bonuses). His units are at Short Range (Difficulty=10) and he rolls a 22. To establish the amount of damage done, he will roll 1D +2D (1D/unit) +1D for Effect Value=4D. Cullen rolls a 4, 3, 6, and 2 for 15 points of damage, or killing 15 Zerglings. Zerg actions: Because the Zerg must spend this Mass Round closing in on the Terrans, they will take damage before they may attack in the second segment. Zerglings have no Resistance Dice naturally, so they will take full damage, reducing their numbers to 25. 2nd Segment Terran Actions: Since Cullen attacked in the first segment, he may only move in this segment. He decides his forces will fall back a bit, to higher ground (+1D to Resistance Dice). Zerg Actions: This segment, the Zerg on on the marines. The Zerg commander rolls its Tactics (3D) + Unit Size (1D for 1 full unit and + 1 for the extra 5 remaining after the Terran attack) = 4D+1 with a Difficulty of 5. The Zerg manage a 15. For damage, they will roll 1D + 1D+1 +1D (for Effect Value)=3D+1. The Zerg get a 4, 5, and 3 +1 for 13 points of damage to the Terran units. The Terrans roll their Automatic Defensive Check, which will be 2D (1D per unit) +1D for Higher Ground, for a 2, 3, and 5=10. Thus, the Terrans only take 3 points of damage, losing 3 marines to the Zerg onslaught. Casualties may be reduced by Medics.
Defensive Roll Automatic: Most units and individual soldiers will take some action to avoid damage from an attack. So all units have an Automatic Defensive Roll, reducing their chances for casualties slightly. Automatic Defensive Dice Pool: Units' Resistance Dice. Result: Subtract sum from the Attacker's Damage result. Defensive Manuevers: Rather than order an attack, a commander may have a unit (or multiple units) dig in and take a defensive position. During that Mass Combat round, the unit will not attack but will benefit from greater protection against enemy assaults. If Defensive Manuevers are taken, the unit does not make an Automatic Defensive roll. Defensive Dice Pool: Commander's Tactics + Resistance Dice + Cover Bonuses (for terrain, fortifications, etc.) Result: The Defensive Manuevers result becomes the new Base Difficulty for the attacking forces.
HEALING Characters can heal in a variety of ways, but the three most common methods are natural healing, first aid kits, and medical bays (or medlabs).
Natural Healing:
A character can heal naturally, but this process is both slower and riskier than getting medical care. The character must rest a specified amount of time and then can make a healing roll: the character's full Constiution to see if the character heals. Healing characters can do virtually nothing but rest. A character who tried to work, exercise or adventure must subtract -1D from his Constitution when he makes his healing roll. Any character who opts to "take it easy" and do virtually nothing for twice the necessary time may add +1D to his Constitution to heal. A wounded character may roll once per day for healing: Degree of Injury Stunned, unconscious Wounded Seriously Wounded Mortally Wounded
Difficulty of Constitution Roll Result Moderate
Revives.
Difficult Very Difficult Extremely Difficult
Characte raised to 3/4 HP Patient raised to 1/2 HP . Patient raised to 1/4 HP + 1D6 per EV.
First Aid Kits/Medpacs First Aid kits usually have bandages, antiseptics, anti-inflammatories, painkillers and other lightweight medical supplies. A standard kit can be used two times before needing to be restocked.
A First Aid roll is required to use a First Aid kit (or medpac). The difficulty depends on the severity of the patient's injury: Degree of Result Difficulty Injury Stunned, Very Easy Revives patient. unconscious Patient Raised to 3/4 HP Wounded Easy + 1D6 per EV. Seriously Patient raised to 1/2 HP + Moderate Wounded 1D6 per EV. Mortally Patient raised to 1/4 HP + Difficult Wounded 1D6 per EV. Unearthly (50) (must be attempted the round after Patient has 1 HP. Killed the patient has been killed. If the First Aid roll is unsuccessful, the character's condition remains the same. If the First Aid roll misses the difficulty by more than 10 points, the patient remains the same and another First Aid roll cannot be made for another 24 hours. Multiple First Aid attempts can be made on a patient within a single day, but the First Aid difficulty increases one level for each additional use.
Medical Bays/Medlabs/Emergency Rooms
Most colonies and bases have fairly advanced medical facilities, though some of the far-flung outposts approach medieval standards with their medical care. Aliens may have far different concepts of medical care as well (Zerg may simply be killed and their biological matter reincorporated into the Creep; Protoss may permit their bodies to be discarded and their minds transplanted in other machines). To use these facilities, a character must have the Medicine (A) skill. Degree of Injury Difficulty and Time Wounded Very Easy with 1D hours of care. Seriously Wounded Easy with 4D hours of care. Mortally Wounded Moderate with 1D days. Killed Unearthly (50) with 10D days.
VI. STARSHIP FLIGHT & OPERATIONS This section of Starcraft is adapted from the Space Travel & Combat section of the Star Wars Role-Playing Game (3rd) by West End Games. Their new Metabarons likely contains the same materials with some improvements. Most likely it will provide you with a much more comprehensive rule system for space travel. Lists of each starship type can be found under the descriptions for each species.
Introduction The three main species in Starcraft have very different methods of travelling through the stars. Terrans have developed faster-than-light engines that can warp space and travel through a space-time “slipstream” known as “hyperspace.” The Zerg have managed to assimilate giant space-dwelling creatures capable of organically warping space-time and entering hyperspace. The Protoss use their prodigious mental powers to actually bend reality slip into hyperspace; they can also establish stargates that permit teleportation from one point in space to another. Regardless of the method, each species has developed the ability to travel hundreds of light-years in relatively short periods. This is essential for travel even between planets in the same solar system, since at sublight speeds such journeys would take weeks at the least.
SUBLIGHT TRAVEL All starships are equipped with engines that permit rapid, but slow-than-lightspeed travel in space. The Base Difficulty to pilot a starship in open space is Easy (10). In the game, this speed is listed under a starship’s “Space” rating and estimated in “Space Units.” This is not measure of real velocity, but a relative measure between different starship speeds. GM’s should feel free to make the Space rating equal to whatever real velocity they feel is appropriate. Most ships will also have an Atmosphere Speed rating given in kilometers. The Space rating given for any ship is its Standard or Cruising Speed (no difficulty modifier to piloting attempts). It may be cut in half (round up) to decrease piloting difficulty by 5. Ships may also be moved at High Speed which is equal to double the Standard Speed and adds +5 to the piloting Difficulty. Finally, a pilot may push his ship to go All-out, which is equal to 4 times its Space rating and increases the pilot’s Difficulty by 15.
Example: Coburn is flying a Wraith with a Space of 8. If he decides to only move 4 units in a round, his piloting Difficulty will be Very Easy (5). If he decides to accelerate to High Speed, he will fly up to 16 units and have a piloting difficulty of Moderate (15). Finally, after one round of traveling at High Speed he may attempt to go All-Out, with a speed of 32 units! But his Difficulty will be Very Difficulty (25). Piloting difficulties should also increase if the fly-zone is littered with debris, amidst a battle, affected by cosmic events, the ship is damaged (+5 for each damage level), etc.
Sublight Piloting Errors When a pilot fails to make a Starship Piloting roll successfully, he temporarily loses control of his vessel and unpleasant results ensue. GM’s may craft their own devious consequences or consult the table below (decided by the number of points by which the attempt failed): • 1-3 Slip: The ship slides and slips, like a car fish-tailing on a wet road. The pilot completes the attempted movement, but he is -1D to all other actions this round and the next. • 4-6 Sloshing: The ship rocks sharply side to side (anyone standing must make a Dexterity check or be hurled to the deck and take 2D damage). The ship only completes half its Space move this round and the pilot suffers -3D to all other actions this round and -1D to actions next round. • 7-10 Spinning: The ship begins a rapid spin, completing only one fourth of its attempt Space movement and is veering sharply off course. The pilot cannot take any other actions this round and can only make a Moderate piloting attempt to get the ship back under control next round. • 11-15 Minor Overload/Collision: The ship either scrapes against something or the engines overload and the ship suffers systems damage (equal to 10D damage if there is a collision (consider armor and shields), or 3D damage internally (ignore armor and shields, passengers takes 2D damage). The pilot cannot act this round and the ship is sent into a Spin (see Spinning above). • 16-20 Serious Overload/Collision: The ship either crashes into something or suffers serious engine and internal damage (blow-outs, sparks, smoke, etc.). If the ship strikes something, it takes 20D damage (consider armor and shields) or suffers 10D internal damage (ignore armor and shields, passengers take 3D damage). The pilot cannot act this round and the ship is sent into a Spin (see Spinning above). • 21+ Major Meltdown/Collision: The ship either rams into something or suffers a complete engine meltdown. If the ship strikes something, it takes 30D damage (consider armor and shields) or suffers 20D internal damage (ignore armor and shields, passengers take 5D damage).
Acceleration: Starships may increase or decrease their speed levels by 1 level per round. Some general guidelines for sublight space speeds may be: • Approximately 3-5 minutes to fly from a high orbit to a safe distance to make a hyperspace jump. • Half an hour to fly from a planet to one of its moons. • 2-6 hours to fly between adjacent planets in a system. • 10-48 hours to fly from a planet to the edge of its solar system. Sometimes skilled astrogators will make micro-jumps into hyperspace while still in a solar system. This requires precise calculations and adds +10 to the Astrogration difficulty because of various gravitational interferences.
HYPERSPACE TRAVEL While hyperspace is essentially a warping of real space-time, it still has physical distance and actual time. Thus, the greater the distance between two points, the more time one must spend in hyperspace to make the journey. Travel distances are estimated in hours (or days) of travel at Class 1 (x1) speeds. Different hyperdrive engines will have different speed Classes that act as “hyperspace multiplier.” The Hyperdrive Class is multiplied against the standard travel time to estimate the total number of hours required to make a given journey (GM’s should feel free to vary this estimate a bit).
Example: Coburn and Red are both flying ships from Tarsonis to Korhal, which would be a journey of 1 day (24 hours) in a Class 1 ship. Coburn is in a Confederate Wraith, which has a Class 3 hyperdrive, so the trip will take 72 hours. Red is in an old cargo freighter with a Class 5 hyperdrive. It will be 120 hours (5 days) to reach Korhal.
Navigating in Space When hurtling through space at lightspeeds, a pilot must be careful to not collide with planets, stray comets, suns, or anything else that might make life unpleasant. He must use starcharts to plot a course using the Astrogration skill and plug directions into his ship’s navigational computer before making the jump to hyperspace. The standard attempt to plot a course takes about one minute and is of Moderate (15) Difficulty . Many welltravelled routes will have pre-calculated coordinates that ships can access upon request to a planet’s star-traffic control system (sometimes for a price, and the quality is sometimes questionable). The Difficulty is increased if the pilot rushes the calculations (+5 for every round / 6 seconds cut off), does not have a computer to assist in the calculations (+15), or has never been to that region of space (+10). GM’s should add other Difficulties depending on the situation (damaged ship, unexplained steller phenomena, drunk pilot, etc.). For each damage level the ship has endured, increase the Astrogation Difficulty by +5.
Astrogation Mishaps If the astrogater fails in his attempt to plot a course, various unpleasant circumstances may ensue. Roll 2D6 to find out consequences: • 2 Hyperdrive Cut-out and Damaged: the ship’s engines begin to overload and automatically shut down (if the “hyperdrive” is organic, the animal is exhausted and wounded). A Moderate (15) MechanicsStarship (or First Aid for animals) roll is required to get the engines back online. • 3-4 Radiation Fluctuations: Passengers and the ship take 5D of radiation damage (ignore the ship’s armor, but flight suits and power armor will protect characters). The hyperdrive will function below optimum levels and be 1D6 hours slower for each point by which the astrogater’s attempt missed the Difficulty. • 5-6 Hyperdrive Cut-out: the hyperdrive’s sensors have picked up a large mass nearby and cut-out to avoid a collision. The pilot must recalculate the course before they can jump to hyperspace again. • 7-8 The ship is off course and lost. A new jump must be calculated. Add the difference between the astrogator’s missed roll and the Difficulty of the first attempt to the new roll. • 9 Systems Blow-out. The ship suffers significant electrical overload and damage. The ship drops out of hyperspace and goes into dark mode (low-power). A Moderate (15) Electronics-Starship Systems repair roll must be made to bring the system back online. Add 2D x the Hyperdrive Class hours to the journey. • 10 Engine Strain. The hyperdrive engine suffers serious damage. The ship will be able to finish the journey, but its hyperdrive engines will not be able to be used again until replaced or a Very Difficult (25) repair roll is made. • 11-12 Collision / Heavy Damage: The ship collides with an object. The ship takes damage depending on its size (15Dx10 for Starship scale, 20D x 10 points of damage from Capital scale). Shields will be knocked out, life support will be minimal or blacked out, and parts of the hull will be ruptured. Serious repairs will have to be made before the ship can jump to hyperspace again (Very Difficult (25) repairs).
USING SENSORS Nearly ever starship is equipped with at least rudimentary sensors--flying blind would be certain suicide! Most sensor systems have four distinct sensor modes explained below: • Passive sensors are continually running, giving very basic information about what surrounds the ships. • Examples: the ship is passing a planet to port; a large vessel is off to starboard, etc. • Scan mode must be purposely used and interpreted by the sensor operator. The sensor array emits pulses in all directions from the ship and collects more detailed information. • Examples: the planet is a gas giant; the vessel is a starship closing in on the ship’s location. • Search mode narrows the sensor array to a single arc (forward, starboard, port, or aft) and will extend the distance of the sensor range and provide greater detail. • Examples: there is a small vessel in low orbit of the planet; the incoming starship is a Terran battlecruiser moving at 6 units per round. • Focus mode only provides information about a single object or an extremely limited area. • Examples: the planet’s atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and helium; the battlecruiser has a Yamato cannon and reinforced hull plating.
Limitations on Sensors Sensors must be used by a skilled operator (Knowledge: Sensors) in order to be effective. Furthermore, sensors are “line-of-sight”, meaning a target hoping to avoid detection may attempt to hide behind another ship, planet, or other sensor-blocking phenomena. Cloaked Ships: Standard sensors cannot detect cloaked individuals or vessels. Only delicate and advanced sensor arrays may pierce cloaking technology. Running Silent: A ship may attempt to confound the sensors of an opponant by “running silent,” or shutting down all systems except a minimal life support. The ship will drift until power is restored (but since there’s no friction in space, it will travel at the same velocity it was traveling at when the systems were shut down). Shutting down power may be attempted in 2 rounds with a Moderate Starship Piloting roll. Restarting engines takes at least one minute. Ships can rarely provide life support for more than 5 minutes while running silent, unless they have been specially modified. Jamming: Finally, one ship may attempt to use its sensors to jam another. This will flood the area with static. The opposing ship will know a ship is emitting the jamming signal, but will have a Very Difficult (25) time narrowing its scans to locate it. A sensor operator may attempt to clear the static by making an opposing Sensors check.
STARSHIP COMMUNICATIONS Terrans: the humans' interstellar communications are relatively crude compared to those of other. Thus, communications are often delayed between the Terran planets, sometimes for days. Relay buoys may increase the speed somewhat. Protoss: telepathic relays and amplifiers can send messages at the speed of a single thought. The Protoss also use their warp gate technology to transfer messages over thousands of light years with the same speed as if the two communicants were standing right next to each other. Protoss units also use electronic communicators as back-ups when necessary. The Zerg: the Swarm stays in continual contact with the Overmind through a tele-empathic link. While “words” are not necessarily transferred at the speed-of-thought, “ideas” and “orders” are. The Swarm instantantly relay information back to the Overmind, and it delivers its commands with equal speed. However, since the Zerg Swarm mainly stays in the same system, the Zerg have yet to develop hyperspace communication.
STARSHIP COMBAT Combat between ships is handled much as it is between characters (see Actions & Combat). Each round, whichever pilot has the highest Instincts wins iniative.
Movement in Combat A pilot need not take an action to fly his ship in a straight line and at the same speed as the previous round. However, if he attempts maneuvers, dodges or acceleration, he must attempt a Starship Piloting check. When attacked, the pilot may “dodge” with the starship just as he might use the Dodge skill in personal combat. The pilot may roll his Starship Piloting check and set the total as the new Difficulty for attackers.
Example: Coburn is in his Wraith fighter and fails to see a Protoss Scout waiting up ahead in ambush. As Coburn flies by, he spots the enemy just as it unleashes missiles and Coburn decides to attempt a Dodge. He rolls his Starship Pilot of 4D and adds the Wraith’s Manueverability of 2D, getting a total of 20. The Protoss attacker needs at least a 20 to hit Coburn’s ship.
A pilot may start the round intending to perform evasive manuevers. He can take no other actions that round (this acts as a Full Dodge does in personal combat). The total of the pilot’s Starship Piloting check is added to the Base Difficulty for the attacker.
Example: Three more Protoss Scouts show up and Coburn decides to spend his next round doing nothing but evasive manuevers. He rolls his 6D again, this time getting a total of 22. The Scout are at Close Range for their missiles, so they only needed a 10 to hit Coburn before his manuevers. Now they will need 32 (Base Difficulty 10 + Coburn’s 22) to hit!
Starship Damage Starships have Body Points just as individual characters have Hit Points. Each time the ship takes damage, its armor and performance will also decline. The Damage Level of a Ship is estimated by a percentage decrease in Body Points: A Few Scrapes and Burns (0-10%): Most ships can endure about a 10% reduction in Body Points before suffer debilitating effects. Each time a ship takes damage within this 10%, the pilot loses the ship’s Manueveribility Dice and is also -2D to additional actions that round (time is spent controlling the ship) and the next round. Manueveribility Dice are regained in the second round. Other ship systems remain undamaged. Lightly Damaged (11-25%): In this range, the ship has lost some of its outer plating, engines are beginning to heat up, a few sparks might fly. When a ship takes damage in this range, the crew lose the benefits of the Manueveribilty Rating for 2 rounds, cannot act that round (controls short out) and suffers a -1D to all operations checks until the damage is repaired. Manueveribility Dice return the next round. Each time a ship takes damage in this category, roll on the table below: • 1 Thruster Misfire: Ship loses -1D to Manueveribility until repairs are made. If Manueveribility already equals 0D, its Space Movement rating is reduced by 1 • 2 One on-board weapons system was hit and has taken damage. All Fire Control Dice are lost. If the system is hit again, it will be unavailable until repaired (Moderate Weapons Tech roll). • 3 Power Surge: the Sensors and Communications are temporarily blown out. It will take Moderate Sensors and Communications rolls to get the systems back online. If another Power Surge occurs before the systems are brought back online, increase the Difficulty for both attempts by 5. • 4 Hyperdrive Damage: each time the drive is so damaged, it adds +10 to Astrogation attempts until repaired (this is a cumulative effect). If the ship lacks a Hyperdrive, reroll. • 5 Shield / Armor Buckling: If the ship has operating Shields, they buckle and go down (but will begin recharging immediately). If the ship only has Armor, it loses an additional D6 points. • 6 Sublight Engine Damage: Ship has its Space rating reduced by 1. Heavily Damaged (26-50%): Now you’ve got to start worrying. The ship is venting plasma, you’ve lost your comm antenna and you can’t find the off switch for that annoying buzzing alarm. The Manueveribility Dice are lost for 3 rounds. The crew also suffers -2D to ship’s operations attempts until the damage is repaired. The second time a ship takes damage in this range, roll below for additional damage: • 1 Thruster Damage: Ship loses 2D to Manueveribility. If the ship has 0D Manueveribility, reduce is Space rating by 2. • 2 Weapons Destroyed: one of the ship’s weapons is destroyed. On larger ships, all the weapons in a given arc go down. • 3 Systems Overload: the sensors and communications arrays take heavy damage. They blow out, causing 3D damage to their operators. They will take 3D6 hours to fix with Moderate Starship Engineering or Difficulty Sensors and Communications attempts. Shipboard communications are also down. • 4 Hyperdrive Damage: the hyperdrive has gone down and can only be brought back online with an Easy Starship Engineering roll. It will then require recalibration for about 1 hour. Until then, +10 is added to all Astrogation rolls. • 5 Defensive System Damage: If the ship has shields, their generators are blown out and cannot be rebooted until a Moderate Starship Engineering roll is successful. If the ship does not have Shields, it suffers an additional 2D6 damage to its armor. • 6 Sublight Engines Damage: the ship’s Space rating is reduced by 2. Severely Damage (51-75%): Multiple hull breaches, loss of sensors and communications, life support is failing, thrust control is sporadic....and that’s the good news. Where’s that escape pod again? The Manueveribility Dice are lost for good (until the ship is repaired) and the crew suffers a -3D to all operations attempts. The second time a ship takes damage in this range, roll for additional damage below: • 1 Thrusters Offline: The ship loses any Manueveribility it has left. The pilot suffers an additional -1D to all Piloting actions. If the ship has 0D Manueveribility, reduce is Space rating by 3.
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2 Weapons Backfire: one of the ship’s weapons is destroyed and blows up. Starfighters and freighters take an additional 5D damage internally (ignore armor). Capital ships suffer an additional 10D damage internally (ignore armor). 3 Systems Blowback: the sensors and communications arrays explode. Internally, this causes 5D damage to their operators and 5D damage to starfighters or 10D to capital ships). They must be replaced, which will take 4D6 hours if parts are available. Shipboard communications are also down. 4 Hyperdrive Redline: the hyperdrive has taken damage and is venting coolant. It will overheat and be destroyed in 1D rounds if not repaired (Moderate Starship Engineering attempt). Once shut down, it will take 1D hours to bring back online. It will then require recalibration for about 1 hour. Until then, +10 is added to all Astrogation rolls. 5 Defensive Systems Degraded: If the ship has shields, their generators are blown out and cannot used until replaced. If the ship does not have Shields, it suffers an additional 5D6 damage to its armor. 6 Sublight Engines Damage: the ship’s Space rating is reduced by 3.
Critically Damage (67-100%): Things are now very grim. Say your goodbyes and just hope you manage to seal your vac-suit before everything blows up. The ship has lost all Manueverability, Sensors and Communications. The pilot is -3D to all piloting rolls as well. Each time after the first the ship takes damage in this category, roll on the table below: • 1 Dead in Space: all drives are destroyed. The ship is adrift in space. • 2 Overloaded engines: the ship’s engines is overloading. Unless it’s completely shut down, it will blow up in 1D rounds and completely destroy the ship. It will take 2D6 hours and a Moderate Starship Engineering attempt to get them back online. • 3 Hyperdrive is down: the hyperdrive engine has been overheated and wrecked. It will have to be replaced before the ship can go to hyperspace again. • 4 Weapons down: all of the ship’s weapons lose power. Roll D6 again: on 1-4, the weapons lose power but can be restored with a Difficult (20) Starship Engineering roll; 5-6 the weapons “blow out” and are useless until replaced. • 5 Structural Damage: Hull breaches erupt all over the ship and the ship begins to fall apart. The crew approximately 2D6 rounds to evacuate before the ship is completely destroyed. • 6 Destroyed: The ship explodes in a ball of flames. • Optional Rule: Player characters aboard the ship may prevent the Destroyed result by each spending 1 Chi point (which will not be regained at the adventure’s end). The ship will instead have Structural Damage and the crew will have 2D6 rounds to evaculate. Passengers may take damage during the course of combat. Electronics may blow out, engines can spring coolant leaks that freeze, hulls can develop micro-fissures to open space...a ship in combat is a dangerous place to be. GM’s should use their discretion and assign damage when they see fit.
VII. ALLIES & ENEMIES Starcraft is about a war between three species: the Terrans of Earth, the Protoss of Aiur, and the Zerg of Zerus. These three mighty species have collided in the Koprulu Sector and fight for their very existence. The pages below describe their histories, military units, structures and powers. While reading these materials through, remember that these species are not only fighting one another, they are also fighting civil wars with their own kind. In Starcraft, alliegences and enmities shift with the tides of war and political machinations.
The Species: • • •
Terrans: the "young" species of Humanity, struggling to survive at the edge of their galaxy. Protoss: the Xel'Naga's first born, a mature and advanced race of psionic warriors. Zerg: voracious and savage, the Swarm continually evolves seeking genetic perfection and the destruction of any lesser species.
TERRANS TERRAN HISTORY The 21st Century: The Decline of Nation-States During the 21st Century, many of the technological, economic and military differences that had separated the many nations began to evaporate. Advanced computer technology and weapons of mass destruction were available to nearly all countries and, corporations, and occasionally private individuals with their own agenda. The classic power structures foundered and though many prospered, tensions began to rise. The Human species itself was also undergoing radical changes. With the advent of genetic engineering and cybernetics, citizens sought to enhance their natural, physical attributes. An increasing number began to show signs of physical and mental mutations, that included unexpected psychic powers. By the 23rd Century, overpopulation and its myriad of problems--starvation, disease, war--reach epidemic proporations in every nation. Political and religious factions began to fightopenly, challenging established governments at every turn. Brutality was met with brutality, and the cycle of violence escalated into a chaos Humanity had never before endured. The United Power League: Earth’s new order in the 23rd Century Out of the ashes of the old United Nations, the United Powers League rose to fill the vacuum of authority, controlling most of the Earth. It employed fascist tactics of brutal police power, limited freedoms, and toothless public recourse. The UPL viewed many of the scientific and biological advances of the previous centuries with contempt and distrust. They zealously sought to outlaw cybernetics, genetic engineering, and to rigorously control any who showed signs of psychic ability. A new Inquisition arose, in which UPL Inquisitors scoured the planet, wiping out “degenerate” dissidents of all stripes: including mutants, scientists, political dissenters, cyborgs and various religious leaders. By the end, nearly 400 million people were killed or otherwise “controled” by the new order. Meanwhile, the UPL rigorously pursued “acceptable” scientific endeavors in robotics, weapons technology, and space travel. Strives in cryogenic freezing and faster-than-light engines (warp/hyperspace drives) released the Humans from the confines of their solar system. By the end of the 23rd century, Human colonies existed throughout Earth’s sector. Still, Earth’s leaders sought to expand Terran influence to new star systems. Rather than risk “quality” Human lives on a risky exploration, the IPL selected 40,000 prisoners, rounded up during the Purification, to be placed into cryogenic starships and hurtled off towards the planet Gantris VI. If these exiles managed to survive the journey, they would gain their freedom by establishing new colonies for Earth and mining the planet’s resorces. During the year-long trip, the Exile ships were to be watched over by the super-computer ATLAS (“Artificial Teleempathic Logistics Analysis System”) which spent the long journey reviewing the genetic code of the sleeping crews. ATLAS discovered that nearly 1% of the prisoners had the genetic material required to access powerful psionic abilities. Something went wrong during the journey and ATLAS sent offline. Unguided, the Exile ships hurtled through space at warp speed for nearly 30 years. Finally, the ships’ engines melted down, and the ships’ computers guided them to nearest hospitable worlds. Two of the carriers, the Reagan and the Sarengo, crash-landed on the planet that would later be called Umoja. Only the Reagan actually managed to touch down without killing its passengers. The exiles were woken from their long sleep, without any idea of how long their journey had been nor where they had managed to land.
On the nearby world of Moria, the Argo managed to control its descent and safely deliver its passengers to the surface. Yet, these survivors also lacked any knowledge of where they were or how long they had travelled, and had no way to contact their sister ships. Finally, the ship Nagglfar crashed upon the world Tarsonis. Its computer systems remained intact enough to permit the exiles to learn about how long they had journeyed. Yet, they had no hope of contact Earth or evey returning. The Rise of the Confederacy The exiles, now colonists, stripped their starships for raw materials and set about establishing independent societies upon each world. With a few generations, the three colonies had established contact with one another, created advanced cities, and were producing starships capable of sublight speeds. Tarsonis was the most advanced and dominant of the three and it used this power to establish new colonies throughout the system. Soon, it formed the Terran Confederacy, with its capitol on Tarsonis. It’s expansive powers made it the unchallenged authority in this region of space, now called the Korpulu Sector To protect itself from the increasingly aggressive Confederate military, Moria organized its mining colonies into the Kel-Morian Combine. This corporate, extra-legal entity secretly challenged Confederate power and eventually engaged in the Guild Wars. After four years of pitched battles, the two sides reached an uneasy peace, that was almost certainly an affirmation of Confederate superiority. Fearing a similar fate, the planet Umojan organized its colonies into a Protectorate. Though small, the Protectorate managed to keep Confederate domination at bay. The Rise of Rebellion: Korhal’s Legacy Finally, the Confederacy’s iron-handed tactics began to backlash. Korhal, one of the Confederacy’s core worlds, began to agitate for greate freedoms. Riots broke out and the citizenry were subjected to harsh military rule. Led by a chararismatic senator, Angus Mengsk, the Korhalians rose up in rebellion and captured most of the Confederate bases on the planet. Finally, when victory seemed to belong to the rebels, the Confederacy sent in elite assassins to slay Mengsk and his family. Mengsk’s assassins, however, left one member of the family alive. Arcturus Mengsk, Angus’ estranged son, had been a prospector on the Rim for years. While he had no taste for politics, the assassination of his father turned him into a rebel leader. He rallied new forces to him and, perhaps, formed a secret alliance with the Umojan Protectorate to challenge the Confederacy. Panicked, the Confederacy attempted to wipe out the rebellion in one last stroke. It unleased a salvo of nuclear weapons on Korhal, killing over 4 million in the first attack alone. The remnants of Korhal’s citizens and their supporters, managed to band together and form the Sons of Korhol. Under Mengsk’s leadership, they continue to pose the most significant challenge to the Confederacy’s power. The Arrival of the Zerg and the Protoss Beseiged by rebels, upstart Guilds, and rogue pirate militias, the Confederacy already had its hands full when the Protoss warships appeared and vaporized the colony on Chau Sara. Ignorant of the Protos’ true purpose--to wipe out the Zerg infestation before it spread to more Terran and Protoss worlds--the Terrans rallied and fought back. Though hardly damaged, the Protoss withdrew. Soon, Confederate forces encountered the Zerg race. Faced with this unimaginable nightmare, the Terran colonies race for their lives, to produce adequate weapons and armies to hold off these alien invasions.
After the Battle of Aiur (Brood War Era) During the war with the Zerg and Protoss, the Confederacy was sufficiently weakened for Arcturus Mengsk to land his killing blow. Destroying the Confederate power structure, Mengsk formed the Terran Dominion, over which he served as Emperor. Across the galaxy, the UPL watched with interest. It had observed the fate and history of its Exile experiment since the beginning. With the arrival of the Protoss and Zeg, the UPL’s reactionary leaders pressed for even stricter military rule. Reforming as the United Earth Directorate, Earth’s leaders sent a massive armada of warships to cleanse the Korpulu Sector of all alien life--Zerg and Protoss--and to bring the wayward colonies directly under Earth’s control.
THE TERRAN FACTIONS The Confederacy The Confederacy is formed by nearly a dozen planets in the Koprulu Sector and is by far the dominant power in the region. The core Confederate worlds are Tarsonis (the capital), Tyrador IX, Brontes, Chau Sara, and Dylar IV. Confederate money and power is centered on these worlds, while out on the Rim, small outposts often go without adequate food, education and defense. Rim-dwellers are often seen as backwards and, by some, seditious.
The Confederate military is well armed and extremely aggressive. The infantry is composed primarily of ex-convicts and quasi-psychotics who have undergone Neural Resocialization to turn them into zealously loyal guardians of the Confederacy. The most well-known military units are listed below:
Omega Squadron (“The Death’s Head Legion”) Commander: Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Reikson Designation: Heavy Assault Squadron Base of Operations: Dylar IV Squadron Color: Black Omega Squadron, as it name suggests, is associated with finality in any battle into which it enters. Its troops fight with a zeal that borders on religious madness, savagely cutting through opposition. The Death’s Head Legion reputation is so well-known that rebel elements have been known to surrender at the mere threat of the Legion’s deployment.
Nova Squadron Commander: Col. Jackson Hauler Designation: Black Ops/Espionage Base of Operations: Mobile Squadron: Purple Nova Squadron stands apart from all other military units because of its role in policing the Confederacy for all forms of corruption. Its agents have infiltrated every other military, governmental, religious, and commercial organization. Col. Hauler has managed to hold on to his position despite various attempts to remove him (both political movements and attempted assasinations). He is perhaps one of the few honest leaders the within the upper echelons of the Confederate political body, but he is not above using his various agents in black operations and other extralegal tactics.
Alpha Squadron (“The Blood Hawks”) Commander: Gen. Edmund Duke Designation: Advanced Tactical Strike Squadron Base of Operations: Chau Sara Squadron Color: White Alpha Squadron is composed of the best and brightest of the Confederate military. It hand picks every trooper, technician, and pilot from other squadrons, often recruiting civilians into its ranks. Its forces are the best-armed, best-trained, best-supported in the Confederacy. And its supremacy shows on the battlefield: the Blood Hawks have the highest kill to casualty ration in the Confederate Armed Forces.
The Independent Factions: Rebel & Pirate Militias Along the borders of the Confederacy, various independent groups operate contrary to the Confederate authority. Some of these groups are nothing better than pirate gangs, ravaging outpost colonies, hijacking cargo ships, and feeding black market economies throughout the Sector. Others are legitimate Trader Guilds who seek to operate outside the confines of Confederate regulation. Finally, there are numerous rebel elements springing up within the Confederacy and along the Rim.
The Sons of Korhal Commander: Acturus Mengsk Designation: Renegade Activist Coalition Base of Operations: Mobile Militia Color: Red The Confederate nuclear strike on Korhal only served to solidify the resolve of the rebel elements there. Led by the increasingly vindictive Arcturus Mengsk, the Sons of Korhal continue to strike at Confederate posts throughout the Sector. Their popularity also continues to increase with each new victory. Though they are a rag-tag group, the Son of Korhal have come to represent the one chance for freedom in the Koprulu Sector. But Mengsk’s methods can be unpredictable and harsh, and his own ambitions may be as great as the Confederacy’s.
The Umojan Protectorate Commander: Minister Jorgensen Designation: Neutral Protectorate Base of Operations: Umoja Militia Color: Aqua The Umajoran citizens take fierce pride in their independence from Confederate control. Indeed, they see their society as the Sector’s most advanced. In many ways they are right--Umajorans enjoy the highest standard of living in the Sector thanks to a wealth of natural resources and prudent planning. Their armed forces are primarily designed for system of their small region of space along the Confederate Rim and thus far they have been unscathed by alien invasion. The Minister is a wise and politically-saavy woman who will use Machiavellian techniques to
protect her people when necessary. Jorgensen seeks to form a treaty with the Protoss, believing the aliens can lead humanity into the next phase of its development.
The Kel-Morian Combine Commander: Gen Mah Sakai Designation: Mining Coalition/Renegade Pirate Group Base of Operations: Moria Militia Color: Green Formed by the Kelanis Guild and the Morian Mining Company, the Combine has amassed adequate power to give Confederate expansionists pause. The Combine is the most efficient mining operation in the Sector, capable of draining whole planets of their resources in a matter of weeks. The Combine has treatiest with nearly every power in the Sector, supplying each with at least some of the resources necessary to fuel their growing economies and armed forces. Indeed, the Confederacy has become so reliant on the Combine that it has signed a treaty agreeing to never prosecute the Combine for criminal activity within its borders. The Combine matches its economic powers with a broad military force. It maintains corporate-marshall law on many of its colonies and strictly limits personal freedoms. At the same time, many of its outposts are essentially lawless places, where any service, good, or even person may be bought.
TERRAN HEROES Artcurus Mengsk Former Prospector / Rebel Leader Emperor of the Terran Dominion (Brood War Era) Species: Terran Sex: Male Age: 38 STR: 2D DEX: 2D Brawling 5D; Firearms 6D; Dodge 5D; Pilot Starship 4D+2; Starship Gunnery 5D; Tank Ops 5D; Vehicle Weapons 4D CON: 3D Endurance 4D; Resistance 4D KNO: 4D Tactics 8D; Education 5D; Value 7D; Survival 5D; Demolitions 5D; Bureaucracy 8D; Business 8D; INS: 3D Search 5D; Profile 6D; Stealth 4D PRE: 4D Command 9D; Intimidate 7D; Con 6D; Persuade 7D; Interogate 7D; Bargain 8D. PSI: 0D Once a successful Prospector, Arcturus has grown to be the Confederacy’s greatest enemy. After Confederate forces assassinted his father and unleashed a nuclear holocaust down upon Korhal IV, Arcturus formed the Sons of Korhal, a militant terrorist wing that seeks to bring down the Confederacy. With his popularity growing and the strained Confederacy under fresh assaults from alien invaders, Arcturus sees his chance to crush the Confederacy and usher in a new era--hopefully under his watchful rule.
Jim Raynor Formal Colonial Marshal / Current Commander of the Sons of Korhal Species: Terran Sex: Male Age: 29 STR: 3D+1 DEX: 3D+1 Brawling 6D; Firearms 7D+2; Dodge 7D; Running 6D; Pilot Hovervehicle 8D; Vehicle Weapons 7D; Pilot Starship 6D; Starship Gunnery 5D CON: 3D Endurance 5D; Resistance 4D KNO: 2D+1 Tactics-Small Units 7D+2; Survival 7D INS: 3D Search 6D; Stealth 5D+2 PRE: 3D Command 6D+1; Con 5D+2; Persuade 5D; Interrogate 4D; Bargain 5D PSI: OD After years of loyally serving the Confederacy as a police marshal, Raynor abandoned it in the face of growing corruption, brutality and disregard for citizens. Joining the Sons of Korhal, he has quickly risen to become one of its primary field leaders, often advising Mengsk. Raynor’s influence may have grown, but he retains a close bond with the troops under him and clear moral vision for the ultimate goals of the rebellion. If Mengsk were to abandon those goals, it is unclear whether he would still garner Raynor’s support.
Sarah Kerrigan Former Confederate Ghost Assassin / 2nd in Command of the Sons of Korhal Species: Terran
Sex: Female Age: 26 Atributes (As of the Battle of New Gettysburg) STR: 2D+1 DEX: 4D Martial Arts 6D; Melee Weapons: 7D; Dodge 7D; Firearms 6D+2; Pilot Starship 5D; Starship Gunnery 4D+2; Pilot Hovercraft 5D; Vehicle Weapons 5D+1; Tank Ops 4D+2 CON: 2D+2 Endurance 5D; Resistance 5D; Swimming 4D+2; Willpower 6D KNO: 3D Tactics 6D; Survival 5D+2; Streetwise 5D; Bureaucracy 4D; Alien Species 4D+2; Sensors 5D; Sensors: Nuclear Targeting 8D; Communications 6D; Weapons Tech 4D. INS: 3D Search 7D; Stealth 8D; Profile 5D PRE: 3D Command 5D; Con 5D; Persuade 6D PSI: 1D (Neural Inhibitor in place) Concentration 4D (learned). Cloak 8D (HES Cloaking Device), Lockdown 8D (Cannister Rifle w/Lockdown Rounds), Enhance Physical Attribute 5D (HES suit); Enhance Mental Attribute 4D (HES suit). Atributes (As the Zerg Empress at the Battle of Aiur) STR: 8D DEX: 9D Martial Arts 10D; Dodge 10D CON: 8D Resistance 9D; Endurance 9D; Willpower 10D KNO: 8D Tactics 9D; Alien Species 10D; Languages 9D; Science: Genetics 12D; Psionic Research 10D INS: 7D Search 10D; Stealth 9D; Profile 8D PRE: 7D Command 10D; Intimidate 9D PSI: 8D (Neural Inhibitor removed) Concentration 9D; Lockdown (organic) 10D; Cloaking (organic) 10D; Telepathy 12D; Mind Control 9D; Telekinesis 10D; Shield 9D. Kerrigan likely has many other mental powers but they are rarely used because she usually commands her Swarm in battle rather than directly engage the enemy herself. At the Battle of New Gettysburg, Arcturus Mengsk abandoned Kerrigan and her fall to the Zerg. But recognizing the powerful psionic potential in this Terran, the Overmind captured her and began to manipulate her DNA. Kerrigan’s body and mind was transformed in a Zerg Chyrsalis and she was “reborn” as a new Zerg strain: Modified Terran Psionic. Kerrigan was released from the Neural Inhibitor and her psionic powers grew immense. When the Overmind was slain, Kerrigan assumed control over most of the Zerg swarm. However, it remains unclear whether the Cerebrates will accept this new “queen” and Kerrigan’s dominion over the Zerg forces is far from complete. As a Zerg, Kerrigan’s humanity appears to have been almost entirely erased. She will assimilate other humans if given the chance, and her hatred for the Protoss is equally strong. But some part of her human self may remain and that small hope may be key to ending the wars.
Edmund Duke Former Confederate General / General in the Sons of Korhal / Chief Secretary of the Armed Forces for the Terran Dominion Species: Terran Sex: Male Age: 53 STR: 2D Brawling 6D DEX: 2D Firearms 7D; Pilot Starship 7D; Tank Ops 8D; Starship Gunnery 7D; Vehicle Weapons 7D; Dodge 5D; Drive 7D CON: 4D Resistance 5D; Endurance 6D; Willpower 7D KNO: 2D Tactics 8D; Bureaucracy-Confederate 7D; Survival 6D; Sensors 5D; Communications 5D; Education 3D; Alien Species 4D INS: 4D Search 6D; Profile 5D PRE: 4D Command 9D; Intimidate 6D; Persuade 5D PSI: 0D As leader of the reknowned Alpha Squadron, Duke has enjoyed some celebrity among the Confederacy for his military victories. Seens as a plain-spoken man of the people, Duke was highly valued by the Confederate hierarchy, but also feared as a potential rival for power. Duke’s overbearing ego and ruthless tactics made him a likely candidate for political office. After a Zerg surprise attack on Alpha Squadron, Duke’s flagship Norad II crashlanded on a planet controlled by the Swarm. The Confederates accepted the loss and made no rescue attempt. Seeing an opportunity, Mengsk mounted a rescue operation and saved the remaining colonists and Duke. Subsequently, Duke joined Mengsk’s rebellion force and has quickly become one of his staunchest allies.
Brood War Era Heroes During the Brood Wars, all of the above heroes remain in play. Mengsk has risen to the throne of Emperor; Raynor
remains a rebel outlaw, only now he opposes Mengsk; Duke serves as Mengsk’s chief military counsel; and Kerrigan has been infected by the Zerg. New Terran players also enter the scene. Sent by the UED, these military officers will play vital roles in the fate of humanity.
Gerard Dugalle Admiral of the UED Expeditionary Force Species: Terran Sex: Male Age: 64 STR: 2D DEX: 2D Firearms 5D; Dodge 4D; Melee Weapons--Sword 7D; Pilot Starship 5D; Starship Gunnery 4D; Drive 4D. CON: 3D Willpower 8D; Resistance 4D; Endurance 5D KNO: 3D+1 Tactics 9D; Tactics-Fleet Combat 10D; Bureaucracy 8D; Education 5D INS: 3D+2 Search 5D PRE: 4D Command 8D+2 PSI: OD As the greatest living Terran military mind, Dugalle was the first choice to head the the Expeditionary Force to the Koprulu Sector. He is under orders to use a psi-emitter to take control of the leaderless Zerg swarms and use them against any Protoss that remain in the Sector. Once that is accomplished, he is to bring Mengsk and the Sector back under Earth’s control. Though a consumate soldier and extremely loyal, Dugalle has some hesitancy about using the Zerg as a weapon. He would rather win a victory by straightforward military tactics than loose the unpredictable beasts upon an honorable enemy.
Alexei Stukov Vice-Admiral of the UED Expeditionary Force Species: Terran Sex: Male Age: 52 STR: 2D DEX: 2D Martial Arts 5D; Firearms 7D; Dodge 4D; Pilot Starship 6D; Starship Gunnery 6D; Drive 5D; Tank Ops 7D; Vehicle Weapons 6D CON: 3D Resistance 5D; Endurance 5D; Willpower 7D KNO: 4D Tactics 7D; Science 7D; Weapons Tech 9D; Electronics 8D; Mechanics 8D; Sensors 7D+2; Communications 7D+2; Education 6D; Construction 5D INS: 4D Search 5D; Profile 5D PRE: 3D Command 7D PSI: OD With a keen, but unconventional, tactical and scientific mind, Stukov sometimes seems an unlikely match for Dugalle. Yet the two have known each other for decades and share a close and trusting friendship. Stukov has gained reknown more for his development of new weapons technologies than as a battlefield commander, yet he has no lack of experience in combat. Some of the UED’s more conservative elements distrust Stukov’s creativity and unconventional tactics, but his selection as Vice-Admiral was cemented upon Dugalle’s endorsement.
Samir Duran Former Confederate Operative / Rebel Leader / Advisor to the UED Forces Species: Terran Sex: Male Age: 33 STR: 3D DEX: 4D Martial Arts 6D; Firearms 6D; Dodge 6D; Pilot Starship 6D; Starship Gunnery 6D; Tank Ops 5D+2; Vehicle Weapons 5D+2; Drive 5D; Heavy Weapons 7D; Melee Weapons 6D; Throwing 5D CON: 3D+2 Endurance 5D; Resistance 4D+1; Willpower 5D KNO: 2D Tactics 6D; Survival 5D; Demolitions 6D; Education 3D INS: 2D+2 Search 5D+2; Stealth 6D PRE: 3D Command 7D; Con 5D; Persuade 5D; Intimidate 5D+2 PSI: 0D As part of Alpha Squadron, Duran claims to have served for years under Gen. Duke. But, as Mengsk grabbed power and began his iron rule, Duran and a few like-minded elite soldiers banded together to form a small terrorist cell. Duran hopes to sufficiently destabilize Mengsk’s control to bring down the Terran Dominion. With the arrival of the
UED, Duran has begun to serve as an advisor to the Earth forces. However, Duran’s true origins and loyalties remain in question.
TERRAN UNITS Clever and resiliant, the Terrans have managed to colonize a large number of worlds in the face of harsh conditions, meager resources and hostile aliens. While neither as technologically advanced as the Protoss nor as genetically gifted as the Zerg, Terrans make do with a mix of ingenius technology and biological adaptability. It appears that this "young" species has a firm foothold in the sector, though how long that lasts is anyone's guess...
Civilian Colonist STR= 2D: Brawling 3D DEX= 2D: Firearms 3D; Drive Ground Vehicle 3D CON= 2D: Endurance 3D. KNO= 2D: Jury-Rig 3D; Job: Farming or Mining 3D INS= 2D: Surival 3D PRE= 2D The Terran colonists are a hardy breed of individualists, scratching out a living on desolate worlds, half-forgotten outposts, and dilapidated mining stations. The tend to be wary of outsiders, especially any of an alien variety. Many think of the colonists as backwards, uneducated and crude. But the majority of colonists have neither the time nor temperament for polite niceties and their able minds are bent towards day-to-day survival rather than trivial entertainments and petty gossip. Of late, the colonists have been dividing themselves more and more into factions, sometimes leading to violence. Many of these new groups focus on political and military matters. Still others stem from religious revivals, sometimes bordering on obsessive cults.
Technician STR= 2D+2: Brawling 3D; Lifting 3D. DEX= 2D+1: Firearms 2D+2; Dodge 2D+2; Melee Weapon: Plasma Torch 3D; Pilot: SCV CON=2D+1: Resistance 3D KNO=3D: Mechanics 4D; Resource Extraction 4D; Computers 4D; Electronics 4D; Jury Rig 3D+2 INS=1D+2: PRE=1D+2: Equipment: Space Construction Vehicle; Toolkit; Hand computers. Technicians are highly valued among the civilian and military populace alike. While any spacefaring human needs to know a thing or two about engineering, only a few are truly capable with all things mechanical. Technicians do everything from extracting raw materials to building complex factories and vehicles. In space, the time it takes to to debug a space station's computer net, build a secure bunker, or repair a Seige Tank may mean the difference between life and death Many Technicians use Space Construction Vehicles (SCV's) in their repair and construction efforts. Though smart and able, many technicians are social misfits with extremely poor people skills. Some are arrogant, others shy to the point of debilitation.
Medic STR= 2D DEX= 3D: Dodge 3D+1; Running 4D CON= 2D+2: Endurance 3D. KNO= 3D: First Aid 5D; Sciences 4D; Education 4D; Medicine 2D; Engineering 2D INS= 2D+2: Search 3D. PRE= 2D+2 Special:: On the battlefield, Medics wear Pauling Armored Suit (PAS), a powered protective suit with built in medical supplies and tools. The The Medic Corps is also well-received in many parts of Terran Space. These "Angels of Mercy" carry out widespread, mobile health care to all of the colonial outposts in times of peace. During conflicts (which is all the time, these days), the Medics Corp members don sealed, armored suits and brave the front lines with other Terran troops. Though they do not engage the enemy--indeed, many have taken an oath to never harm another living being--the Medics bolster Terran forces by healing their wounds so that they may return to battle more quickly. Because Medics are popular among other Terrans, they generally get a +1D when dealing with other humans in a
friendly manner (bargaining for goods, trying to persuade someone of a course of action, seduction, etc.). However, people are always badgering Medics for favors--to take a look at an old wound, ask various medical advice, attempt to get a perscription, etc. For this reason, may Medics prefer to keep their identies as secret as possible.
Militia Soldier STR= 3D: Brawling: 4D; Climbing 3D+2 DEX= 2D+2: Firearms: 3D+2; Heavy Weapons: 3D; Dodge 3D; Running 3D; Melee Weapons 3D; Throwing 3D CON= 3D: Endurance 3D+2; Resistance 3D+2 KNO= 1D+2: Tactics 2D; Streetwise 2D+2; Jury-rig 2D+1 INS= 3D: Search 3D+2; Stealth 3D+2. PRE= 1D+2: Command 2D Weapons: Usually assault rifles (7D) or shotguns (5D). Occasionally will have heavy weapons, grenades or demolitions. Armor: Usually Kevlar Vests or, occasionally, personal powered armor (see the Armor section in Terran Equipment). Militia Soldiers make up the bulk of the regular army and police forces on the Terran Worlds. Militia soldiers have a wide variety of training, experiences and equipment--depending on the wealth and contentiousness of their colony. A few of the more talented soldiers are promoted into the ranks of the regular armor--to perhaps join the Confederate navy as a pilot or battleship crewman.
Armored Marine STR= 3D+1 (5D in armor): Brawling 4D; Climbing 3D+2; Jumping 3D+2. (Note: Strength bonus only increases damage, Lifting and Jumping skills, not Climbing and Brawling). DEX= 3D+1: Firearms 4D; Throwing 3D+2; Dodge 3D+2; Running 3D+2. CON= 3D+1: Endurance 4D; Resistance 4D; Willpower 3D+2. KNO= 1D+2: Tactics 2D+1; Jury-rig 2D+1; Streetwise 2D+2. INS= 2D+2: Search 3D; Stealth 3D. PRE= 1D+2: Command 2D+1; Intimidate 2D+2. Weapons: "Impaler" Gauss Rifle (8D). Armor: CMC-300/400 Powered Combat Suit (Armor Value: 30 / 23 / 16 / 9). Most marines are criminals or other social misfits that have undergone Neural Resocialization to make them loyal, if somewhat mindless, soldiers. They tend to be a fairly crude and uneducated bunch, spoiling for a fight and holding their ground to the bitter end. These men and women are the backbone of the Terran defenses. Though they are valuable for repelling attacks and wiping out enemy outposts, these soldiers are treated as fairly disposable.
Firebat STR= 3D+1 (6D in armor): Brawling 4D; Climbing 3D+2; Jumping 3D+2 DEX= 3D+1: Firearms 4D; Throwing 3D+2; Dodge 3D+2; Running 3D+2. CON= 3D+2: Endurance 4D; Resistance 4D; Willpower 3D+2. KNO= 1D+2: Tactics 2D+1; Jury-rig 2D+1; Streetwise 2D+2. INS= 2D+2: Search 3D; Stealth 3D. PRE= 1D+2: Command 2D+1; Intimidate 2D+2. Weapons: Perdition Flamethrower (9D). Armor: CMC-600 Powered Combat Suit (Armor Value: 33 / 25 / 17 / 9). Most marines are criminals or other social misfits that have undergone Neural Resocialization to make them loyal, if somewhat mindless, soldiers. They tend to be a fairly crude and uneducated bunch, spoiling for a fight and holding their ground to the bitter end. These men and women are the backbone of the Terran defenses. Though they are valuable for repelling attacks and wiping out enemy outposts, these soldiers are treated as fairly disposable.
Ghost STR= 3D: Climbing 5D; Jumping 5D DEX= 4D: Firearms 5D; Throwing 5D; Dodge 5D; Running 5D; Melee Weapons 5D; Martial Arts 5D.. CON= 3D+2: Endurance 4D; Resistance 4D; Willpower 5D. KNO= 2D: Tactics 3D+2; Sciences 3D+2; Security 4D. INS= 4D: Search 4D+2; Stealth 5D. PRE= 2D: Command 3D. PSI= 2D (Fitted with a Psychic Dampener. The Ghost cannot learn any new psychic skills beyond those taught to him by his military handlers.). Skills usually include Cloak Self, Sense Lifeform, Glitch; Healing; Enhance Strength, Enhance Dexterity, Enhance Constitution.
Weapons: 25 mm Cannister Rifle (5D). Armor: HES Espionage Suit. (Armor Value: 25 / 19 / 13 / 7). Ghosts are handpicked at birth because of their potential psychic abilities. These rare humans are trained throughout their childhood to become assassins and spies for the Terran government. Each is also fit with a Psychic Dampener to prevent the Ghost from independently developing her powers and growing too potent (Heroic Surgical Attempt to remove). Surprisingly, many Ghosts appear as normal folks, rarely manifesting their psychic abiliies. A few opt to have cybernetic implants to enhance their effectiveness as assassins.
Vulture Cavalry STR= 2D+2: Brawling 3D. DEX= 3D: Firearms 3D+2; Drive: Hovercycle 4D; Dodge 3D+2; Brawling 3D+2; Vehicle Weapons: Hoverbike Grenade Launcher: 4D. CON= 2D+2: Resistance 3D. KNO= 2D: Tactics: Vultures 3D; Mechanics 3D; Geography 3D; Navigation 3D. INS= 2D+1: Search 3D. PRE= 2D: Command 3D. Weapons: Standard Sidearms (Pistol 4D). Armor: Leather or Combat Vests. Vehicle: Scavenger Hoverbike. Most Vulture riders are part biker gang thug, part Wild West cowboy, and part stunt man. They ride fast and hard over the rough terrain of the Terran worlds. Vultures are highly useful for quick raids and sneak attacks, and are often used for scouting missions.
Tank Driver STR= 2D: DEX= 2D+1: Firearms 3D; Tank Ops 4D; Vehicle Weapons: Tank Cannons 4D; Dodge: 2D+2; Brawling 2D+2. CON= 2D+2: Resistance 3D. KNO= 2D+1: Tactics: Tanks 3D; Mechanics 3D; Geography 3D; Navigation 3D; Communications 3D. INS= 2D: Search 3D. PRE= 2D: Command 3D. Weapons: Standard Sidearms (Pistol 4D). Armor: Combat Vests or Unpowered Body Armor. Vehicle: Arclite Siege Tank. Tanks form the backbone of Terran ground forces, providing highly destructive firepower while withstanding impressive damage. Most Tank Drivers have extensive battlefield experience and some knowledge of armored tactics. They are usually men and women of few words, but they take a special pleasure in firing big guns and laying waste to enemy forces.
Walker Jockey STR= 2D: DEX= 2D+1: Firearms 3D; Walker Ops 4D; Vehicle Weapons: Walker Weapons 4D; Dodge: 2D+2; Brawling 2D+2. CON= 2D+1: Resistance 3D. KNO= 2D+2: Tactics: Infantry 3D+1; Mechanics 3D; Geography 3D; Navigation 3D; Communications 3D. INS= 2D: Search 3D. PRE= 2D: Command 3D. Weapons: Standard Sidearms (Pistol 4D). Armor: Combat Vests or Unpowered Body Armor. Vehicle: Goliath Assault Walker. Walkers are the infantryman's big brother--towering overhead, ready to pound the enemy to a pulp. Fast, agile, and powerfully armed, Walkers are a welcome sight to allies and a cause for concern among enemies. Walker Jockey's tend to know this, and so they're a bit cocky more often than not--some refer to them as "fight pilots without wings." Jockeys tend to hang out together and know other jockeys by reputation even if they've never met.
Science Crewman STR= 2D: DEX= 2D: Firearms 2D+2; Dodge: 2D+1; Pilot Transport: Science Vessel 3D. CON= 2D: KNO= 3D+2: Science 4D; Mechanics 4D; Electronics 4D; Communications 4D; Starship Operations 4D. INS= 2D: Search 3D. PRE= 2D: Weapons: Standard Sidearms (Pistol 4D). Armor: Combat Vests. Vehicle: Explorer Science Vessel.
Science Crewman staff the mobile research stations that the Terrans once deployed along the outer reaches of their space. With the invasions of the Protoss and Zerg, the Science Vessels have been recalled to Known Space to aid in the Terran defense. Where these crews once explored new worlds and studied unknown phenomena, they must now use their ships in the heat of battle, to defend their comerades and strike at the enemy however possible. Needless to say, few science crewmen signed on for such dire duty, and many have a hard time of it.
Freighter Pilot STR= 2D+1: DEX= 3D: Pilot Transport 4D; Starship Weapons: Science Vessel Weapons. CON= 2D+1: Resistance 3D. KNO= 2D+2: Science 4D; Mechanics 4D; Electronics 4D; Communications 4D; Starship Operations 4D. INS= 2D+1: Search 3D; Gambling 3D. PRE= 2D: Con 2D+2 Weapons: Standard Sidearms (Pistol 4D). Armor: Combat Vests. Vehicle: Standard Freighter or Military Dropship. Freighter Pilots make up the bulk of the Terran transport fleet. Civilian pilots handle cargo transportation, passenger ships, and courier vessels. Military freighter pilots are responsible for the Dropships which bring Terran units into the field of battle. Freighter pilots, especially Dropship pilots, tend to have nerves of steel--often flying large, slow, and unarmed ships right into the a hot zone in order to drop or extract troops. Though these pilots rarely get the glory of those flying starfighters or capital ships, they are an important part of the Terran defense force.
Fighter Pilot STR= 2D+2: DEX= 3D+2: Pilot Starfighter 4D; Starship Weapons 4D. CON= 3D: Endurance 3D+1. KNO= 2D+2: Tactics: Starfighters 3D; Mechanics 3D; Electronics 3D; Communications 3D; Starship Operations 4D; Sensors 3D. INS= 2D+1: Search 3D. PRE= 2D: Command 3D Weapons: Standard Sidearms (Pistol 4D). Armor: Flight Suit. Vehicle: Wraith Starfighter. Fighter pilots are the cream of the Terran navy--the quickest, coolest and most dangerous units available (at least in their own opinion). Flying the CF/A-17 Wraith, with its versatile weapons systems and cloaking potential, these pilots often make good on their boasts. They can slip right past enemy units in full daylight and lay waste to an opposition base. Pilots tend to be cocky and willing to take unnecessary risks, but in the heat of battle, they tend to fight well together, keep their heads, and show the same ferocious tenacity as the units on the ground.
Capital Ship Crewman STR= 2D: DEX= 3D: Pilot Capital Ship 4D; Capital Ship Gunnery 4D. CON= 3D: Endurance 3D+1. KNO= 2D+2: Tactics 3D+2; Mechanics 3+2D; Electronics 3D+2; Communications 3D; Starship Operations 4D; Sensors 4D. INS= 2D+2: Search 3D. PRE= 2D+2: Command 3D+2 Weapons: Standard Sidearms (Pistol 4D). Armor: None (standard uniform). Vehicle: Behemoth Battlecruiser. These crewmen man the controls of the Terran fleet's mightiest vessels: the Behemoth Battlecruisers. These ships not only pack the most powerful punch of the Terrans, they also serve as the command ships for the generals and admierals guiding the war effort. To serve aboard such a vessel is both an honor and a privilege. The crewmen know this and work extra hard to keep things running smooth and, hopefully, be considered for promotion...
TERRANS: Structures & Upgrades Terrans are an extremely adaptable and flexible species. To survive in the harsh Koprulu Sector, they need ingenuity, willpower and more than a little luck. Their structures represent this mix: they tend to be robot-driven factories and command centers with independent power supplies, jury-rigged systems, disposable subsections, and a ramshackle appearence. Mobility: All important Terran structures are capable of low-altitude flight. Though extremely slow (Move = 10 m/round; @ 6 km /hr), this ability makes it possible for bases to be moved from one mining site to another. In times of war, it permits bases to move depending on where the war front is to better support troops. Critical Building Damage: Because all Terran structures are internally powered and often patch-work structures, they can become dangerously unstable when seriously damaged. When any structure gets down below 10% of its original integrity (Hit Points), it will go to “Red Alert” and continue to lose Hit Points at a rate of 5 per round even if it is no longer under attack. It will take a Difficult Mechanics or Electronics roll to stabilize the structure. Add-ons: Many Terran structures have optional additions that may be built if deemed necessary (or affordable). These special add-on buildings provide increased facilities for a base. Unfortunately, add-ons cannot be mobilize to fly away to new base settlements. However, because of the modular nature of all Terran structures, a mobile structure may be landed next to and utilize an add-on that someone else constructed.
Command Center Role: Mobile Operations Control Hit Points: 1300 Armor: 40 Airspeed: 10m/round; 6 kmh Facilities: • SCV Assembly Line: Command Centers have an in-house, robotic factory capable of producing the SCV’s vital to any mining or military operation. • Mineral Refinery: as the first structure built in any base, Command Centers need to be able to produce the materials for subsequent buildings. Each Center uses small smelting and manufacturing facilities to break down raw materials and manufacture usuable parts. • Ops Center: the Centers also serve as the primary operations core for any base. Each has extended communication and computer facilities, debriefing rooms, and offices for command personnel. • Staff Quarters: most Centers are outfitted to house at least the core staff needed to run the base. Uprades: None. Add-ons:
ComSat Station: ComSats improve the communications and sensor facilities for a Center. Hit Points: 350 Communications Facilities: may have long-range space communications. Also, add +3D to any Communications or Security: Encryption attemps. Sensors: (ranges given for in an atmosphere. Multply by 10 for Space distance). Passive: 20km / 0D Scan: 5 km / 1D Search: 2km / 2D Focus: 1 km / 3D. Cloak Disruption: ComSats have sensitive sensors that may be employed to pierce any cloak within a scanned area. These sensors must be activated purposely (i.e., the controlling character must announce he is doing so) and can only be used once every 5 minutes.
Nuclear Silo: while full-scale nuclear weapons are no longer used, smaller, tactical nukes may be built by some Confederate forces. Hit Points: 400. Nuke Factory: each Silo has a robot factory capable of producing one nuclear warhead
and rocket at a time. The missile will fill up the silo when built and another cannot be built until the first one is launched. Nuclear Damage: 30D damage to all targets within 200 m of the primary target. Reduce damage by 2D for each addtional 10 m frm zone of impact. The area will remain radioactive for a long time afterwards, doing 6D radiation damage to any uprotected individual in the hot zone. Quick Damage: 6D+84 Guidance: To prevent hackers from over-riding a nuke’s course programming, Terrans have stripped nuclear warheads of any independent guidance computers. While nukes may be launched to strike any fixed position on a planet or within low orbit. However, they require a Ghost to “paint” the target site with guidance lasers. In general, the Ghost must be within line of sight of the nuke. During the missile flight, the Ghost will receive the missile’s telemetry and make minor corrections to best guide the weapon “home”. A nuke fired without a guidance scout on the ground will almost certainly miss its mark and will likely be overridden by enemy systems---and perhaps directed back on its makers.
Supply Depot Role: Operations Supply Structure Hit Points: 300 Air Speed: 0 (cannot be moved). Facilites: • Storage: Supply Depots serve mainly as the storage centers for growing bases. They house the food, standard arms, fuel, and other necessities for a Terran Base. • Stores: Supply Depots are often outfitted by private companies that sub-contract to bring supplies to a base. They often have private stores where miners and soldiers can spend hard-earned chips on luxaries like candy, soap and pornography. Some of the more developed Depots will have black-market goods, illicit entertainment facilities, and serve as havens for the local underground.
Vespene Refinery Role: Vespene Extraction and Processing Station Hit Points: 450 Air Speed: 0 (cannot be moved). Facilities: • Vespene drilling and processing assembly: powered by robotic drills and human workers, Refineries extract the precious Vespene gas from geysers below, filter out impurities, and package it for transfer to Terran factories. Upgrade: none. Refineries are a common sight throughout the Korpulu Sector. These structures are often half-falling apart, kept together by a few screws, some duct tape and a favorable wind. Inside, robot and human workers dig away at the earth to better extract Vespene gas.
Barracks Role: Trooper Training and Housing Facility Hit Points: 500 Air Speed: 13 m/ round; @ 8 km / hour. Facilities: • Troop Training Center: all new recruits are brought in and trained in the Barracks. • Troop Bunkrooms: each soldier is bunked with his troop mates in long rooms that have little but bunkbeds and washrooms. • Rec-rooms and Dining Halls: most Barracks have some meager entertainment facilities. While they all have cafeterias, the food is of broad, and often grotesque, quality. Upgrades: None. Barracks are the central facility for the Terran armed forces. New recruits are brought in and subjected to various forms of humiliating hazing, then whipped into shape by sadistic sargeants, only to be fitted with armor, handed a weapon and flung out to face the alien forces which menace humanity. Barracks house all the soldiers, regardless of their rank or duties. They are a good place for the troops to mingle when off-duty. The barracks are a soldier’s dysfunctional home: hounding superior officers, annoying bunkmates,
cold showers, and sub-standard food. But, home it is, and most troopers begin to miss the comaraderie of the Barracks once away from it for any period of time.
Academy Role: Elite Trooper Training and Research Facility Hit Points: 400 Armor: 40 Air Speed: 0 (cannot be moved). Facilities: • Elite Training Center: every Academy has facilities where top troopers may be trained with advanced weaponry and techniques. Academies are necessary for any base with Firebats, Medics or Ghosts. • Research Labs: Academies also house top Terran weapons scientists. In their labs, they produce weapons and drugs to make the infantry a more efficient killing machine. Upgrades: • U-238 Shells: Academy micro-factories may be used to produce special uranium shells that will fire much further than the standard C-14 Guass Impaler round. • Effect: Double all ranges for the C-14 Impaler for troopers served by this base. • Cost: 2 RP • StimPacks: Academy bio-techs may also formulate dangerous stimulant-cocktails that can be given to Marines and Firebats. These drugs increase the killing-capacity of the infantry, but cause some tissue damage. Long-term side effects include addiction, organ damage, and psychosis (@ 1 % of multiple users). • Effects: For 3 rounds, add +3D to any attack attempts. Also add: +1D to Strength; +2D Jumping; +1D Dodge; +2D Running; +2D to Willpower • Side Effects: Each time the StimPack is used, the trooper suffers 10 damage (cannot be reduced). Furthermore, the trooper must make an Easy Willpower roll. Failure results in addiction. A Critical Failure (Complication) means that the trooper has developed a psychosis making him dangerous to others and himself. He must be treated for 1D6 weeks to rid himself of the psychosis. Well guarded and shining, the Academy is the pride of many Terran bases. It represents the elite nature of a particular base. More importantly, it produces the Stim that so many troopers long for in battle. Within its walls, secret experiments run continually on live soldiers, super computers, advanced weaponry and captured aliens.
Engineering Bay Role: Advanced Infantry Armory Hit Points: 550 Armor: 40 Air Speed: 10m/round; @ 6 kmh Facilities: • Infantry Weapons Lab: the Bay houses labs and upgrade facilities to improve the weapons used by Marines, Firebats and Ghosts. • Armor Forge: the Bay’s facilities may also be used to coat the Terran powersuits with new layers of protective materials. • Missile Turret Materials Production: Bays also have the production facilities required to make the componant parts of the Terran Missle Turrets. Upgrades: • Infantry Weapons: Raises the damage for Marines, Firebats and Ghosts by 1D per Upgrade Level. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. • Infantry Armor: Hardens the armor of Marines, Firebats and Ghosts by an amount specified under each powersuit description. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. Engineering Bays are actually most focused on outfitting the Terran infantry with more potent weaponry and protection. Bays are often over-heated, loud places, full of Terran weapon techs surrounded by piles of spare parts, disassembled power suits, and assistant droids. Most troopers shy away from them, letting the tech nerds do their magic. Factory Role: Ground Vehicle Production Center Hit Points: 800 Armor: 40 Air Speed: 10m/round. 6 kmh Facilities: • Assembly Line: Factories are heavily automated production facilities for all Terran ground vehicles. A super-computer oversees production of each individual unit and is capable of switching between different vehicle types as needed. Only one vehicle can be produced at a time.
Upgrades: None. Add-ons: Machine Shop: the Shop greatly enhances the Factory’s capacity to produce more advanced heavy weaponry. Hit Points: 500 Armor: 40 Movement: 0 (cannot be moved). Facilities:
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Tank Parts Assembly: the specialty equipment in the Shops is required to produce the Terran Arclite Tanks.
Upgrades:
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Ion Thrusters: may be modified and fit upon the Vulture Hovercyles to greatly increase their speed.
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Effect: adds 20m/round to the Vulture’s speed.
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Cost: 1 RP.
Spider Mines: modifies Vultures to carry up to three of these powerful mines (See Terran Equipment Section)
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Cost: 1 RP.
Siege Tech: Shop facilities may also be dedicated to forging the parts required to turn the Arclite tanks into transformable heavy cannons.
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Effect: permits all Arclites served by this base to transform into Siege Mode.
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Cost: 2 RP
Armory Role: Vehicle Weapons and Armor Upgrade Facility Hit Points: 500 Armor: 40 Air Speed: 0 (cannot be moved) Facilities: • Vehicular Research and Development Lab: each Armory serves as the primary facility for Terran engineers to design and produce better weaponry for Terran vehicles and ships. These labs are top secret and often have small manufacturing plants to produce prototypes. • Goliath Gyroscope Calibrations: the sensitive equipment in the Armory may be used to produce the delicate gyroscopes required for the mighty Goliath walkers (which can then be produced in a Factory). Upgrades: • Vehicle Weapons: • Effect: Increases vehicle weapons for Vultures, Goliath and Siege Tanks served by this base by 1D per Upgrade Level. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 2 RP. • Vehicle Plating: • Effect: Increases armor on the Vulture, Goliath, and Tank units as noted under each description. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. • Ship Weapons: • Effect: Increase weapons damage for the Wraith, Valkrie, and Battlecruiser as per the amounts specified by each ship type. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. • Ship Plating:
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Effect: Increase the Armor Value of the Wraith, Valkrie, Dropship, and Battlecruiser units as per amount specified by each ship type. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 2 RP. Because of its utility in upgrading the essential Terran mechanized units, and its ability to help produce Goliaths, Armories are essential structures in nearly every Terran base. Their lack of mobility is unfortunate, but they will often continue their research and development even when the main base structures have flown away to extract resources elsewhere.
Starport Role: Primary Starship Production Facility Hit Points: 825 Armor: 40 Air Speed: 10m/round; 6 kmh Facilities: • Starship Assembly Plants: The first and most important role of Terran Starports is to produce the Dropships, Frigates, Wraiths and Battlecruisers that constitute the Terran Fleet. Vital to any base in peace or war, these ships are a necessity for successful defense, exploration, and, ultimately, victory. • Traders Guilds: many starports--usually those away from the front lines of combat--also serve as the primary trading facility for outposts. Imports and exports flow through their bays, and local authorities usually have some tariffs on all. The Guilds often have an agenda independent of Confederate authority-sometimes for profit, other times for political sedition. Upgrades: None. Add-ons: Control Tower Role: Advanced Manufacturing Oversight Facility Hit Points: 300 Armor: 35 Facilities:
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Planning and Design Team: top astronautics engineers will be assigned to a Tower to oversee the construction of Dropships, Frigates, Battlecruisers and Science Vessels.
Upgrades:
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Cloaking Field: Tower engineers may also provide the local Wraith ships with the coveted cloaking devices capable of hiding the Wraiths from most enemy detection for short period of time.
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Effect: Cloaked Wraiths may not be detected by normal sensors or vision. Special Detectors may spot and disrupt the Cloak effect.
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Cost: 3 RP.
Apollo Reactor: Wraith reactors may be upgraded to increase the amount of time they remain cloaked, and speed the cloak’s recharge time.
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Effect: Doubles the amount of time a Wraith may be cloaked and halves the recharge time.
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Cost: 2 RP
Science Facility Role: Primary Science Research Center Hit Points: 550 Armor: 40 Airspeed: 10m/round; 6kmh Facilities: • R&D Labs: once the Terran Science Facilities were dedicated to exploration of new planets, chemical combinations, and engineering techniques. Now, they dedicate themselves to finding stronger weapons of war.
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Science Vessel Schematics: each Facility also has a database with schematics on how to contruct the delicate Terran Science Vessels. These may be transmitted to the Starport, usually including minor fixes to compensate for local conditions and production materials. Upgrades: • EMP Shockwave: Facilities may research how their Vessels can use their sensors to release electromagnetic pulses that will disrupt the mechanized units of the enemy. • Effect: permits Science Vessels to use their sensors to create the EMP wave The Science Vessel remains unaffected by its own EMP wave. • Cost: 2 RP • Irradiate: • Effect: Science Vessels may use their powerful sensors to Irradiate enemy units. • Cost: 2 RP. • Titan Reactor: engine upgrades provide more power to the Vessels for its specialized weapons and defensive matrix. • Effect: Halves the Cooldown time for the various Science Vessel techniques. • Cost: 1 RP. Add-ons: Physics Lab Role: Advanced Starship Weaponry Lab Hit Points: 400 Armor: 35 Airspeed: 0 (cannot be moved). Facilites:
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Top Secret Astronautics Lab: the best and brightest starship engineers are brought in to help guide construction of the powerful Terran Battlecruisers and their weapons.
Upgrades:
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Yamato Gun: engineers may figure out how to fit local battlecruisers with the emitters required to unleash the fury of the Yamato Cannon.
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Effect: Provides Battlecruisers with access to the Yamato cannon.
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Cost: 4 RP
Colossus Reactor: engineers often choose to also upgrade the Battlecruiser engine cores to compensate for the huge drain caused by the Yamato Gun.
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Effect: Cuts the Cooldown rate of the Yamato Gun in half.
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Cost: 2 RP
Covert Operations Center Role: Top-Secret Tactical Research & Development Hit Points: 500 Armor: 40 Airspeed: 0 (cannot be moved). Facilities: Ghost Training & Control Facility: Ops Centers are the primary training grounds for Ghost agents. They are also where Ghosts are monitored for abnormal psionic activity and have their Neural Inhibitors adjusted on a regular basis. Covert R&D Lab: Ops Centers also manufacture the topsecret HES suits and the micro-cloaking devices uses by Ghost agents. Upgrades:
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Lockdown: Lockdown rounds combine advanced weapons technology with the pionic powers of a Ghost to short out electrical systems in mechanized units for a short period.
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Effect: Gives all Ghosts served by this Ops Center the Lockdown ability.
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Cost: 2 RP
Ocular Implants: among their many cybernetic enhancements, Ghost agents may opt to have their natural eyes removed and replaced with advanced optical equipment (see Cybernetics: Optics).
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Effect: Doubles the normal visual range of the Ghost. Provides low-light, infrared, and ultraviolet vision.
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Cost: 1 RP
Personal Cloaking: fits Ghost personnel with custom-made micro-cloaking devices that use the Ghost’s psionic energies to hide them from enemy detection.
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Effect: enhances a Ghosts Cloaking ability to a useful level.
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Cost: 3 RP
Moebius Reactor: micro-fusion generators that can be fit into a Ghost’s powersuit to enhance performance.
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Effect: Doubles the time a Ghost may remain cloaked and halves the recharge time. Cuts the Cooldown rate for the Lockdown attack by one half.
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Cost: 2 RP
Missile Turret Role: Automated Stationary Air Defense Hit Points: 140 Armor: 27 Airspeed: 0 (cannot be moved) Functions: • Cloak Detection Units: Missile Turrets are loaded with powerful, short-range sensors that can unmask any cloaked vessel within 500 m. The coordinates of the vessel will then be transmitted to all friendly units. • Missile Rack • Damage: 8D Guided Missiles (+2D to hit) • Quick Damage: 4D + 14 • Programmed Skills: Search 8D; Fire Missiles: 8D • Attack Dice: 10D • Ammunition: 200 missiles
Bunker
Role: Fortified Infantry Position Hit Points: 400 Armor: 30 Airspeed: 0 (cannot be moved). Cover Provided: Complete. Raises the Base Difficulty to hit any soldier inside the Bunker by 25 (thus, at Medium Range it would by 15 +25 = 40!). Any missed attacks will strike the Bunker. Reduce any possible explosive damage to inhabitants by 75%. Total Inhabitants: 4 troopers in powersuits. Up to 8 non-armored personnel may be squeezed in, but only 4 more use the gun holes to attack. Bunkers are one of the staples of the Terran infantry. They primarily serve to fortify bases. However, clever Terran commanders will usually have a few SCV’s in their troops to quickly build makeshift Bunkers on a battlefront. Bunkers are almost entirely pre-fabricated, and a competent technician can build one in a matter of minutes (5D6 minutes with an Easy Construction roll. Reduce Construction time by 1D for each Effect Value of the Technician’s roll).
TERRAN EQUIPMENT Note: Starcraft D6 does not make use of Scale to decide damage and to-hit modifiers. Weapons do the damage listed to any unit, regardless of size, unless otherwise noted. Where Scale is mentioned, it is only provided to give an indication of the relative size of particular vehicles or ships.
WEAPONS The weapons below are indicative of the types used by Terrans.
Terms: Damage: This is the standard damage that the weapon can do. Simply roll the number of dice indicated and add any other modifiers. Note: the damage system does not follow WEG's D6L standard system, which is success-based. Here, roll the dice and sum their value normally to establish the damage done. Quick Damage: To make damage calculations easier, GM's and players may choose to use the Quick Damage amounts. Quick Damage has the character roll 4 Damage Dice and add the average of any remaining, unrolled dice. Range: The range in meters of a weapon. Difficulties increase with greater distance (see Actions and Combat). Difficulty: The difficulty number the user must equal or surpass in order to hit. Concealability: A measure of how difficult it is to conceal the weapon under clothes. GM's may modify this depending on the kind of clothes worn (increased difficulty if only an evening gown is worn, bonuses is an overcoat is worn). Complexity: Some weaponry is particularly complicated to repair. Add any complexity modifier to the base difficulty when such attempts are made.
MELEE WEAPONS Typical Knife Damage: STR +2 (not +2D, just +2) Range: 2/4/8 (thrown) Scale: Character Skill: Melee Weapons: Knife, Thrown Weapons: Knife Difficulty: Easy Concealability: Very Easy Note: A typical knife can be thrown, but increase the difficulty by 5.
Combat Knife Damage: STR +1D+1 Scale: Character Skill: Melee Weapons: Knife (cannot be thrown) Difficulty: Easy Concealability: Moderate (length tends to by 1-2 feet.
Sword BDV: STR+2D Scale: Character Skill: Melee Weapons: Sword Difficulty: Easy (2) Concealability: Difficult. Note: Most colonies have laws against carrying around swords in public. However, swords are often used in the Badlands where ammunition for more advanced weaponry are scarce.
Club/Baseball Bat BDV: STR +1D Scale: Character Skill: Melee Weapons: Club Difficulty: Very Easy Concealability: Moderate Notes: Clubs are any blunt object made to hit something else hard. GM's should alter the damage rating depending on the quality of the club. For example, a broom stick might only do STR + 2 damage while a crowbar might do STR +2D. Also note that if the object is not very strong, it will likely break when used as a weapon.
FIREARMS As I said before, the guns listed here are very basic. See the Ammunition list below for specialized ammo. For much more detailed lists of firearms, check out Joe's Gun Catalog or Aaron LaBow's weapons list in PDF or Word 2000 formats. You can use the ranges given below for the weapons that Joe lists (or the ranges listed by Aaron).
Holdout Pistol Damage: 3D Ammo: 3 to 6. Range: 1-5/15/25 Concealability: Very Easy
Handgun Damage: 4D Ammo: 6 (revolver) to 12 (automatic) Range: 3-10/25/50 ROF: 3 shots per round maximum. No burst. Concealability: Very Easy
High-powered Handgun Damage: 5D Ammo: 6 (revolver) to 12 (automatic). Range: 3-7/25/50 ROF: 2 shots per round maximum. No burst. Concealability: Easy (7) Notes: -1 pip to all "To-Hit" rolls.
Machine Pistol Damage: 4D (see below) Ammo: 15 Range: 3-7/15/25 ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of 3 bullets rendering 5D damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on "To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic. Full automatic: Can empty the clip in one round, either spraying (See Spraying in the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 5D+2 damage. Concealability: Easy
Submachine Gun Damage: 5D (see below) Ammo: 30 Range: 6-10/20/50 ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of 3 bullets rendering 6D damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on "To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic. Full automatic: Can empty the clip in one round, either spraying (See Spraying in the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 7D damage. Concealability: Easy
Assault Rifle Damage: 6D (see below) Ammo: 50 Range: 5-20/60/90 ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of 3 bullets rendering 7D damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on "To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic. Full automatic: Can empty the clip in one round, either spraying (See Spraying in the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 8D damage. Concealability: Very Difficult.
Pump Shotgun Damage: 6D (buckshot) / 7D (solid slug)
Ammo: 5 Range: 2-5/10/20 ROF: 2 shots per round maximum. Concealability: Difficult for full-barrelled shotguns. Moderate for sawed-off shotguns. Notes: Sawed-off shotguns with buckshot do 7D damage at Point Blank range but suffer a -1D cumulative penalty to damage rolls for every 5 meters beyond the first.
8mm C-14 "Impaler" Gause Rifle Damage: 7D for standard 3-round burst. 9D for fully automatic spray. Quick Damage: 4D+9 (3-round burst). 4D+15 for fully automatic. Strength Required: 5D Ammo: 60 (20 3- round bursts). Range: 5-30/80/110. Range may be extended by 15 meters per category with the Research U-238 Shells upgrade. Concealability: Pretty much impossible. Modifier: When using the standard 3-round burst mode, users get +1D to hit the target. Complexity: 5 ROF: Impalers are locked into a Semi-automatic 3-round burst mode. They may be modified with a Weapons Tech roll to fire single shots or a fully automatic mode either spraying (see Spraying in the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 9D damage. Notes: This is the standard issue rifle used by armored marines.
25 mm C-10 Canister Rifles Damage: 7D for standard 25mm round. May be enhanced 1D per Infantry Weapons Upgrade. Lockdown rounds do no damage. Quick Damage: 4D+9 for standard round. Strength Required: 4D Ammo: 30 standard rounds; 1 Lockdown round. Range: 7-35/90/150. Concealability: Pretty much impossible. Modifier: 0. Complexity: 10 ROF: C-10's can only fire up to 2 standard shots per round and 1 Lockdown round per 2 rounds. Notes: This is the standard issue rifle used Ghosts. While the C-10 can be used by any trooper with sufficient strength, Lockdown rounds only function when infused with psionic energy by someone with a Psi rating of at least 1D.
ARMOR There are a wide variety of available armors in the Starcraft world, and characters who will be facing battle are well advised to make use of them.
Terms Strength: Represents the wearer's Strength while in the powered armor. Jumping Bonus: to be added to all Jump attemps while the powersuit is worn. Dexterity: This is the wearer's effective Dexterity while in the powersuit. Some high-quality powersuits will augment the wearer's abilities. If this value is higher than the wearer's normal skill levels, those skills are increased to equal this value. Armor Value: Protective points, as normal armor. Hit Points: Structural integrity of the suit. When powered armor is reduced to 1/4 points or less, each time it takes damage 1 die worth of those points (1D6) pass to the wearer. Furthermore, the suit will suffer penalties just as a wounded person would. So at 3/4 points, it reduces all the wearer's rolls by 1D. At 1/2 and less, they are reduced 2D, etc. When the HP's reach 0, the suit will cease to function and the wearer must roll a 1D6. On a one, the suit will explode in 5d6 seconds causing 5D6x3 points of damage to anyone within 2 meters of it. Complexity: This is added to the base difficulty to repair the powersuit. Optics: A list of optical options available to the pilot. See Cybernetics for a more complete description. Communications: A list of communications gear loaded into the unit. See Cybernetics for more information. Vocal: An vocal hardware and software built into the machine. Notes: Additional information about the suit.
Leather/Synthetic Hide Type: Personal clothing. Scale: Character. Armor Value: 6
Cost: 20-500 credits, depending on style.. Availability: Easy. Concealability: Very Easy (but usually unnecessary).
Kevlar Vest Type: Personal body armor. Scale: Character. Armor Value: 10 Cost: $1000 Availability: Common in developed colonies, though some place controls on civilian purchases of armor. Concealability: Moderate. Game Notes: Reduces Dexterity-based rolls by 1 die.
Full Body Armor Type: Unpowered Military armor. Scale: Character. Armor Value: 15 Cost: $10,000 Availability: Concealability: Difficult. Game Notes: Wearer suffers -2D modifier to all Dexterity based rolls and -1D to all Instincts rolls based on Perception.
Vac-Suit / Flight Suit Type: Civilian space suit. Scale: Character. Armor Value: Civilian: 10; Military: 13. Cost: $10,000 (civilian vac-suit); 20,000 (military flight suit). Availability: Common. Power: 12 hours of air supply. No power needed to operate the suit. Concealability: Very Difficult. Other: Vac-suits are sealed environmental suits to be worn in space or atmospheres with toxic environments. Some Vac-suits may be suited with small jet packs for manuevering in low-gravity situations. Game Notes: With Civilian vac-suits, the wearer suffers -2D to all Dexterity based rolls except those dealing with fine motor skills. Also, wearer's movement rate is halved. With Military flight-suits, the wearer does not suffer Dexterity or movement penalties.
Powered Personal Armor Type: Powered personal body armor Scale: Character. Armor Value: 15 Cost: $25,000 (blackmarket only) Availability: Rare. Usually only available to special forces personel. Power: 8 hours of continual use. Can be powered off (acts as Personal Body Armor). Recharges in 5 minutes with low-powered battery or standard power outlet. Concealability: Difficult. Other: PPA's generally are self-contained systems, protecting users from gasses and other airborne contaminants. Air supplies generally last 8 hours. Game Notes: Powered armor is finely tuned to each individual user (requires 1D6 hours to customize a suit to a particular user). Attuned suits result in no penalties to Dexterity or Instincts for users. If a user dons a suit without adjusting it to his own specifications, he will suffer -2D to Dexterity based rolls.
Civilian Powered Armor Type: Powered Armor Scale: Character. Strength: 4D Jumping Bonus: +1D Dexterity: Operator's Dexterity Armor Value: 15 / 11 / 7 / 3 (When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction. The wearer will suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At that point, the penalty increases to -2D. Finally, at 1/4 AV to 1 point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0, what is left of the armor will freeze up.) Complexity: 5 Optics:Light Amp, Computer Link
Communications: Comm Link, Broadband Receiver Vocal: Standard speaker. Cost: approximately $15,000 for standard suit. Options may be added for an additional cost.
Space Construction Vehicle (SCV) Type: Powered Repair and Construction Vehicle. Scale: Character. Strength: 6D. Jumping Skill: 0D. SCV's are equipped with hover jets that provide vertical movement. Dexterity: Operator's SCV Ops Skill. Armor Value: 20 / 15 / 10 / 5 (When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction. The wearer will suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At that point, the penalty increases to -2D. Finally, at 1/4 AV to 1 point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0, what is left of the armor will freeze up.) Complexity: 0 (SCV's are very reliable and well-designed, so they are easy to fix). Optics: Light Amp, Computer Link, Microscopic Lens Communications: Comm Link, Broadband Receiver Vocal: Standard speaker. Weapons: None. The unit's Fusion Cutter may be used for Melee Combat, doing 5D damage. Even if the Cutter does not penetrate armor, it will reduce the Armor Value by 1 point each round the armor is exposed to the cutter. Cost: approximately $50,000 for standard suit. Options may be added for an additional cost. Description: Part armored suit and part one-manned vehicle, SCV's are the standard repair and construction unit for the Terran colonies. While the SCV's have fully articulated arms and legs, they usually move via hoverjets built into the back (flight ceiling is about 15 feet). Nearly every tool a technician may need is built into the SCV. SCV's are also fitted for mining operations, and extract and deliver minerals and gassess to manufacturing plants.
CMC-300/400 Powered Combat Suit (PCS) Type: Armored Infantry Trooper Scale: Character Strength: 6D Jumping Bonus: +2D (8D total). Dexterity: Operator's Dexterity Armor Value: 20 / 15 / 10 / 5. May be upgraded by 5 for each Infantry Armor Upgrade. (When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction. The wearer will suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At that point, the penalty increases to -2D. Finally, at 1/4 AV to 1 point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0, what is left of the armor will freeze up.) Weapons: None built in. Most marines carry 8mm C-14 "Impaler" Gauss Rifle. Complexity: 10 Optics: None. Most units have external "headlights". Communications: Secure Commlink, Broadband Receiver. Vocal: Can be equipped with a loud speaker and translators as necessary. Cost: Not available to the general public. $75,000-$100,000 on the black market. Notes: The PCS is the standard-issue powered armor for Terran Marine forces. Most grunts have few modifications to their suits--since so few survive their battles, authorities see little point in investing in suits that will soon only hold corpses. Still, some enterprising soldiers have managed to tweak their PCS's systems and add some personal touches.
CMC-600 Firebat Suit (Firebat) Type: Armored Assault Trooper Scale: Character Strength: 6D Jumping Bonus: +1D Dexterity: Operator's Dexterity Armor Value: 22 / 17 / 11 / 6. Flame and heat attacks are reduced by 2D against Firebat armor. AV may be increased by 5 per Infantry Armor Upgrade. (When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction. The wearer will suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At that point, the penalty increases to -2D. Finally, at 1/4AV to 1 point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0, what is left of the armor will freeze up.) Weapons: • Plasma-based Perdition Flame Thrower ("PFT", mounted on one arm): • Damage: 9D. Armor is only 2/4 effective against the PFT. May be increased 1D per Infantry Weapons Upgrade. • Range: 2 / 4 / 7
Complexity: 13 Optics: None. Most units have external "headlights". Communications: Secure Commlink, Broadband Receiver. Vocal: Can be equipped with a loud speaker and translators as necessary. Cost: Not available to the general public. $75,000-$100,000 on the black market. Notes: The CMC is the standard-issue powered armor for Terran Firebat Heavy Infantry. The Firebats make few modifcations to the complex suits, if only because it might blow up if they do. However, they often decorate it with slogans, personal identifiers, and raunchy pictures.
Hostile Environmental Suit (Ghost Suit) Type: Espionage/Intelligence Environmental Suit Scale: Character Strength: Operator's Strength. Jumping Bonus: +0D Dexterity: Operator's Dexterity Armor Value: 15 / 11 / 7 / 3. May be increased for each Infantry Armor upgrade. (When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction. The wearer will suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At that point, the penalty increases to -2D. Finally, at 1/4AV to 1 point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0, what is left of the armor will freeze up.) Weapons: None. Most Ghosts are armed with 25 mm C-10 Canister Rifles Complexity: 17 Optics: None. Some Ghosts get cybernetic, optical implants to enhance their effectiveness as assassins. Communications: Secure Commlink, Broadband Receiver. Vocal: Can be equipped with a loud speaker and translators as necessary. Cost: Not available to the general public. $75,000-$100,000 on the black market. Potential Upgrades: • Personal Cloaking Device: Terrans may fit their HES's with micro- cloaking devices with the Personal Cloaking Upgrade. Only psionically gifted people may use these cloaking devices, which actually channel the psionic energies of the user to render them invisble to all be special detectors. • Power Drain: The Cloaking Device may only remain active for about 5 minutes out of every hour. It requires 10 minutes to recharge 1 minute of cloaking power. • Nuclear Guidance Lasers: HES suits may be specially fit (through an Upgrade) to include targeting lasers. The spatial data from the lasers is broadcast back to a nearby nuclear silo and will guide a limited nuclear warhead to the target site. Of course, this often kills the targeting Ghost... • Moebius Reactor Upgrade: the micro-reactor that powers the suit may be enhanced to provide more efficient power output for the Ghost. • Effect: Doubles the recharge time for energy spent on Cloaking or Lockdown rounds. Notes: The HES is worn by the Terran Ghost units and are specially designed to make optimum use of the Ghost's psionic abilities. While non-Psionics may wear the suits, they will garner few of the benefits.
Pauling Armored Suit (PAS) Type: Medical Emergency Powered Armor Scale: Character Strength: 4D+1 Jumping Bonus: +1D Dexterity: Operator's Dexterity Armor Value: 20 / 15 / 10 / 5. (When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction. The wearer will suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At that point, the penalty increases to -2D. Finally, at 1/4AV to 1 point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0, what is left of the armor will freeze up.) Weapons: None. PAS's do have an arm mounted flash grenade launcher which may be used to illuminate dark areas (1/4 mile square) that will potentially blind anyone looking into the flash (Resistance roll to avoid). This launcher may be Upgraded to become a more potent weapon (see below). Complexity: 10 Optics: None. Most units have external "headlights". Communications: Secure Commlink, Broadband Receiver. Vocal: Can be equipped with a loud speaker and translators as necessary. Cost: Not available to the general public. $75,000-$100,000 on the black market. Potential Upgrades: • PAS Armor may be Upgraded with an adequate investment of Resources. Each upgrade will raise the base armor value by 10.
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Restoration/Inoculation: Medics may be provided with powerful nano-technological medicines that will negate the effects of alien viruses. • Optical Flares: the built in flash grenades may be upgraded to cause severe, permanent damage to anyone looking into the flash. Potential victims within 10 meters of the flare must make a Difficult Resistance check or suffer permanent blindness (Difficult to repair the retinal damage). Notes: The PAS is worn by the Terran Medics Corp into battle. The suits have all the tools and medicines a field medic might need. They may be upgraded with an investment of resources to provide inoculations against Zerg parasitization.
COMPUTERS Computer technology is highly advanced in the world of Starcraft. The interface systems of most common computers render it so that even the beginning user can easily access the system. There are a wide variety of handheld, desktop, and super computers that the characters may encounter. Some cyborgs may be modified to directly interface with computers.
MISCELLANEOUS GEAR Communications Gear Portable phone Secure Communicator Decrypter Wide-range Scanner Scrambler Translater
Optics Goggles: Each pair of goggles may have up to 4 options listed under Cybernetic: Optics.
Survival Gear Food rations Tent Water Filtration Unit
Explosives Grenades Scale: Character. Damage: • Standard 4D. • Fragmentation 5D (Reduce Armor rating by 1/2). -1D for every 2 meters from point of explosion. • High Explosive 5D. -1D for every 5 meters from point of explosion. • Phosphorous 6D (Heat damage). Sprays a sticky, burning substance all over target with splash effects on anything with 1 meter. Burns for 5 rounds.
Plastic Explosives Mines Spider Mines Class: Anti-personnel "Smart" Mine
Scale: Character Size: Roughly .5 meter square when stored. 1.5 meters tall when extended on legs. Damage: 8D Explosive Damage to target. For nearby units, reduce damage by 1D for ever meter of distance from point of impact. Skill: To properly deploy: Demolitions: Mines; The Spider Mine strikes with 5D accuracy. Speed: 20 meters. Description: Spider Mines are semi-intelligent mines which, once deployed,submerge themselves in the soil. When a potential target comes within 15 meters of the mine, it scans for a friendly signal (all units on the same side wear passive responders). If the target is deemed hostile, the Spider Mine activates, sprouting six thin legs and scurrying along the ground directly at the target. The Mine will explode on impact, or at the end of the round (whichever comes first).
Miscellaneous Gear Grapping line Handcuffs Backpack Sniffer: This device is used to sense if there are biological or chemical agents in a medium, such as air, water, food or soil. The device is Very Easy to use and will detect dangerous, known chemicals and biological agents automatically. It is about the size of a pocket calculator.
VEHICLES Vultures (Scavenger Hoverbikes) Craft: Civlian and Military Hovercyles Scale: Personal Vehicle. Length: 2.2 meters. Cost: Civilian models: $3000 (used); $10,000 (new). Military models: 10,000 (used); 20,000 (new). Skill: Pilot Hovercraft: Hoverbike Speed: 80 kph / 200 kph. Speed may be doubled with the Ion Thrusters Upgrade. Hull Points: Civilian Models: 36 / 27 / 18 / 9. Military Models: 50 / 38 / 25 / 12. Armor: Civilian model: 8; Military model: 15. Provides no protection to the pilot, but reduces the chance a shot will hit a pilot by 1D. Military models may be upgraded by 3 for each Vehicle Plating Upgrade. Manueverability: Civilian 1D; Military 2D. Military models may receive an additional 1D with the Ion Thrusters Upgrade. Communications: None. Sensors: None. Weapons: • Mounted Fragmentation Grenade Launcher: 6D. Ammunition: 50 grenades. May be increased by 1D per Vehicle Weapons Upgrade. • Spider Mines: high-explosive, seeker mines may be loaded onto upgraded Vultures. Crew: 1 (can hold another rider, but increase Piloting Difficulties by 5). Crew Skill: 5D for professional racers; 4D for professional/military pilots; 3D for civilian joy-riders. Cargo: Very little: enough for a water bottle, a few camping supplies, and small toolkit. Description: Hoverbikes, or "Vultures," are commonly used by Terrans throughout the Confederacy. They are a reliable, rugged and fast way to get over any solid terrain (they will not work over water or other liquids).
All-Terrain Quads (Quads / Jeeps) Craft: 4-wheeled, all terrain passenger vehicle. Scale: Personal Vehicle. Length: 3.5 meters. Cost: Civilian models: $7000 (used); $15,000 (new). Military models: 18,000 (used); 32,000 (new). Skill: Drive: 4-Wheeled Passenger Vehicle Speed: 30 mph / 60 mph / 90 mph / 110 mph. Hull Points: Civilian Models: 60 / 45 / 30 / 15. Military Models: 75 / 54 / 35 / 16. Armor: Civilian model: 10; Military model: 20. May not provide much cover to passengers if there is no top. Manueverability: 1D.
Communications: None. Military models will usually have a satellite-link communicator. Sensors: None. Military models will sometimes have a short-range radar. Weapons: None. The following weapons may be mounted on an Upgraded Quad. • Mounted Fragmentation Grenade Launcher: 5D (Character scale). Ammunition: 150 grenades. • Spider Mines: high-explosive, seeker mines may be loaded onto Upgraded Quads. Up to 9 may be carried on a special dropping mount. • Gauss Impaler 8mm Rifle. 300 rounds on feed belt. Crew: 1. Passengers: Fits 4 (including driver) comfortably. Up to 8 may be squeezed in if no additional cargo is carried. Crew Skill: 4D for professional/military pilots; 3D for most experienced civilians. Cargo: Cargo area "trunk" is approximate 2 meters wide, 1 meter deep, and 1 meter high.. Description: Quads are 4-wheeled all terrain vehicles commonly used on outpost worlds where roads are rough or non-existant. They tend to be reliable, tough vehicles, but provide little of luxaries and comfort.
Arclite Siege Tank Craft: Tracked Tank. Scale: Heavy Vehicle. Length: 7 meters long. Cost: 100,000 (used); 300,000 (new). Crew: Skeleton: 2 (1 driver, 1 gunner); Standard: 4 (driver, co-pilot, gunner, sensors/communications). Crew Skill: Tank Ops: Arclite Siege Tank (4D); Vehicle Weapons: Arclite Cannons (4D). Passengers: May fit an addition 2 people with a full crew (very tight fit). Many more may ride outside the tank, on its hull. Cargo Capacity: 200 kilograms. Manueverability: 0D. Speed: 30/60 Hull Points: 100 / 75 / 50 / 25. Armor: 30. May be increased by 6 for each Vehicle Plating Upgrade. Communications: Secure satellite communications. Sensors: Short Range Radar; External Optics (Illumination-enhancement, Infrared, Telescopic) Weapons: . • Twin Fire-Linked 80mm Cannons (standard): . • Fire Arc: 360 degrees. • Crew: 1 (gunner). • Skill: Vehicle Weapons: Arclite Cannons. • Fire Control: 1D. -4D to hit vs. flying targets. • Range: 1-50 (Point Blank)/100 (Short)/200(Medium)/300(Long) • Damage: 10D. May be increased by 1D per Vehicle Weapons Upgrade. • Quick Damage: 4D+18. • 120mm Shock Cannon (Upgrade). Must be in Siege Mode (see below) to deploy. • Fire Arc: 360 degrees. • Crew: 1 (gunner). • Skill: Vehicle Weapons: Arclite Cannons. • Fire Control: -1D. -5D vs. flying targets. • Range: cannot aim at targets within 10 meters/ 11-75 (Point Blank)/ 200 (Short) / 400 (Medium) / 800 (Long). • Damage: 14D with Explosive effects (-1D for every 2 meters from impact point). May be increased 1D per Vehicle Weapons Upgrade. • Quick Damage: 4D+30. • Cooldown: The Shock Cannon may only be fired once every other round (requires @ 5 seconds to cool down after each firing). Description: Arclites have long been a staple weapon of the Terran defense forces. It's mobility, armor and powerful cannons have quelled many a problem within the Confederacy. Recent developments have produced Arclite Tanks capable of transforming into a stabilized, stationary Shock Cannon. The transformation takes 2 rounds and the Tank cannot move while in Siege Mode.
Goliath Craft: Assault Walker. Scale: Heavy Vehicle (4D over Character). Length: 7 meters long. Cost: 150,000 (used); 400,000 (new)
Crew: 2 (1 driver, 1 gunner). Crew Skill: Walker Ops: Goliath Strike Walker (4D); Vehicle Weapons: Walker Cannons (4D). Passengers: May fit an addition person, if he sits on someone's lap. Cargo Capacity: 50 kilograms. Manueverability: 1D. Speed: 30/70 Hull Points: 90 / 68 / 46 / 24. Armor: 30. May be increased by 5 for each Vehicle Plating Upgrade. Communications: Secure satellite communications. Sensors: Short Range Radar; External Optics (Illumination-enhancement, Infrared, Telescopic) Weapons: . • Twin Fire-Linked 30mm Autocannons (standard): . • Fire Arc: 180 degrees. • Crew: 1 (gunner). • Skill: Vehicle Weapons: Walker Cannons. • Fire Control: 1D. -4D against flying targets. • Range: 1-25 (Point Blank)/ 75 (Short)/ 125 (Medium)/ 200 (Long) • Damage: 8D. May be increased by 1D per Vehicle Weapons Upgrade. • Quick Damage: 4D+12 • Twin Fire-Linked Hellfire-AA Scatter Missiles (standard). • Fire Arc: 180 degrees. • Crew: 1 (gunner). • Skill: Vehicle Weapons: Walker Cannons. • Fire Control: 2D. -4D vs. ground targets. • Range: 15-50 (Point Blank)/ 125 (Short) / 250 (Medium) / 500 (Long). May be increased by 25m for each Charon Boosters Upgrade. • Damage: 9D. May be increased by 1D per Vehicle Weapons Upgrade. • Quick Damage: 4D+15 Description: Goliaths are commonly used throughout the Terran system. Originally designed as an infantry support vehicle, Goliaths have been used in a variety of operations: for base defense, quick strike missions, and all-out battlefield carnage. Their ability to comptently attack air and land targets simultaneously make them highly valued.
SHIPS CF/A-17 Wraith Craft: Space Superiority Fighter (Starfighter Class). Scale: Starfighter. Length: @ 10 meters in length. Cost: 100,000 (used); 300,000 (new). Crew: 1 Crew Skill: Pilot: Starfighter (4D): Operations: Starfighter (4D). Passengers: 0. Cargo Capacity: Very small. Enough for a few emergency supplies, a weapon, a change of clothes, etc. Consumables: 1 day. Hyperdrive Multiplier: 1x Manueverability: 3D. Space Speed: 8. Atmosphere Speed: 400 kph / 1300 kph Hull Points: 90 / 68 / 46 / 24. Armor: 25. May be increased by 5 for each Ship Plating Upgrade. Shields: None. Terrans lack the technology to provide all standard ships with defensive shields. Communications: Secure satellite communications. Sensors: (incapable of detecting cloaked ships). • Passive: 5 / 0D • Scan: 12 / 1D • Search: 20 / 2D • Focus: 1 / 3D Weapons:
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Twin Fire-Linked Gemini Air-to-Air Missile Launchers (standard) • Fire Arc: Front. • Skill: Starship Gunnery • Fire Control: 1D. -4D vs. ground targets. • Space Range: 1-3 / 12 / 25 • Atmosphere Range: 100-300 / 1.2 km / 1.5 km • Damage: 9D. May be increased 1D per Ship Weapons Upgrade. • Quick Damage: 4D+15 • Ammunition: 40 missiles (20 shots). • 25mm Burst Laser (standard) • Fire Arc: Front. • Skill: Starship Gunnery. • Fire Control: 1D. -4D vs. aerial targets. • Space Range: 1 / 2 / 3 • Atmosphere Range: 50 / 150 / 300 • Damage: 8D. May be increased 1D per Ship Weapons Upgrade. • Quick Damage: 4D+12 • Cooldown: The Burst Laser may only be fired at most once per round. Cloaking Device: An upgraded Wraith may be fitted with a cloaking device that will hide it from all but the most specialized sensors. The Cloaking Device will render any detection of the cloaked vessel Extremely Difficult (30). However, the Wraith may only cloak for about 5 minutes at a time (and must recharge 3 minutes for every 1 minute spent cloaked. Finally, if the cloaked Wraith is detected by an enemy sensor, it may be "painted" so that all enemy units--not just the detector--will spot the vessel and may fire on it. Wraiths refit with a new Apollo Reactor may stay cloaked longer and recharge their energy faster. The Reactor permits the Wraith to remain cloaked for 10 minutes at a time (recharging 2 minutes for every 1 minute spent cloaked). Description: The Wraith Space Superiority Fighter forms the cutting edge of the Terran navy's sword. Terran tactics have been moving from the hulking capital ship slugfest towards more agile and versatile starship assaults. With its cloaking device and weaponry fit for ground and air combat, the Wraith provides exactly what modern tacticians needs in defending the Terran homeworlds.
Standard Freighter Craft: Cargo / Passenger Transport. Scale: Starfighter. Length: @ 30 meters in diameter (varies with the design of the ship). Cost: 30,000 (used); 150,000 (new). Crew: Skeleton: 2 (1 pilot, 1 co-pilot/operations specialist); Standard: 4 (1 pilot, 1 co-pilot, 1 operations specialist, 1 engineer). Crew Skill: Pilot: Space Freighter (4D): Operations: Freighter (4D); Sensors (3D). Passengers: Cargo Vessels: 10 passengers and their belongings; Passenger Vessels: 30 passengers and their belongings. Cargo Capacity: Cargo Vessels: 1000 metric tons; Passenger Vessels: 200 metric tons. Consumables: 1 month Hyperdrive Multiplier: 3x Manueverability: 0D. Space Speed: 4 Atmosphere Speed: 40 / 60. Hull Points: 100 / 75 / 50 / 25. Armor: 25. May be increased by 5 for each Ship Plating Upgrade. Shields: None. Terrans lack the technology to provide all standard ships with defensive shields. Communications: Secure long-range communications. Sensors: • Passive: 5 / 0D • Scan: 12 / 1D • Search: 20 / 2D • Focus: 1 / 3D Weapons: None. Description: Freighters come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. They typically stay far from the battlefield, since they lack weaponry, heavy armor or maneuverability.
Terran Dropship Craft: Combat Personnel Transport (Freighter Class).
Scale: Starfighter. Length: @ 40 meters in length (varies with the design of the ship). Cost: 50,000 (used); 200,000 (new). Crew: 2 (1 pilot, 1 co-pilot/operations specialist) Crew Skill: Pilot: Dropship (4D): Operations: Freighter (4D); Sensors (3D). Passengers: May fit up to 10 armored marines, firebats, medics, or SCVs. Vultures take up the space of two individuals. Tanks and Goliaths take up the space of 4 individuals. Cargo Capacity: 500 metric tons (additional ammunition, first aid supplies, field repair tools, etc.). Consumables: 1 week. Hyperdrive Multiplier: 2x Manueverability: 0D. Space Speed: 5 Atmosphere Speed: 50 / 75 Hull Points: 100 / 75 / 50 / 25. Armor: 30. May be increased by 7 per Ship Plating Upgrade. Shields: None. Terrans lack the technology to provide all standard ships with defensive shields. Communications: Secure satellite communications. Sensors: (incapable of detecting cloaked ships). • Passive: 5 / 0D • Scan: 12 / 1D • Search: 20 / 2D • Focus: 1 / 3D Weapons: None. Description: Dropships look a lot like a big, floating bathtub--and are about as quick and responsive. Nonetheless, they are a welcome sight to many ground troops, either promising them a way home or (more likely) fresh reinforcements.
Science Vessel Craft: Mobile Research Station. Scale: Starfighter. Length: 30 meters in diameter. Cost: NA. Crew: 2 (1 pilot, 1 operations specialist). Crew Skill: Pilot: Science Vessel (4D): Operations: Science Vessel (4D); Sensors (4D). Passengers: May fit up to 8 additional people. Cargo Capacity: 100 metric tons. Consumables: 6 months (for crew of 2). Hyperdrive Multiplier: 3x Manueverability: 0D. Space Speed: 4 Atmosphere Speed: 40 / 60. Hull Points: 80 / 60 / 40 / 20. Armor: 30. May be increased by 5 for each Ship Plating Upgrade. Shields: None. But see Defensive Matrix below. Communications: Secure long-range communications. Sensors: • Intensive Automated Proximity Scans: the Vessel's computer automatically scans and records all objects and beings within 200 meters of the ship, revealing hidden and cloaked targets. Cloaked targets may be "painted" and their coordinates may be relayed to allied units, opening the cloaked enemy to attack. • Passive: 10 / 0D • Scan: 25 / 1D • Search: 40 / 2D • Focus: 2 / 3D Weapons: .None. However, many of the Science Vessel's systems may be modified to serve offensive and defensive purposes. • Defensive Matrix (standard). • Originally designed to protect science vessels from solar radiation and other space-bound dangers, the ships' shield generators have been modified to focus a burst of protective energy around a small area, effectively extending Starship-class shields to a smaller scale unit. • Shields: Provides equivalent of 60 points of Armor to the selected target for 5 rounds (@ 30 seconds).
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Cooldown: The Defensive Matrix must cool down for 30 seconds (@ 5 rounds) before being used again. • EMP Shockwave (Upgrade). • The Science Vessel may use its sensors to generate a brief burst of electro-magnetic energy that will disable the shields and electronics of any nearby units (will have no effect on Terran or Protoss personal powersuit, however). The emitting vessel will be unaffected, but any friendly units within the EMP's range will suffer its ill effects. • Skill: Sensors: Science Vessel • Range: 100 meters from vessel. • Cooldown: The EMP must recharge for 1 minute (10 rounds) between uses. • Titan Reactor Upgrade: permits the EMP to cut its recharge time down to 30 seconds. • Irradiate (Upgrade). • The Science Vessel may focus its sensors on a single unit and expose it to dangerous levels of radiation. • Skill: Sensors: Science Vessel • Range: 20 / 50 / 100 • Damage: 6D (reduce Armor protection by 1/2) for 2D6 rounds. The target will glow and give off radioactivity, damaging any unit within 3 meters (5D radiation damage each round of exposure, reduce Armor protection by 1/2). • Cooldown: The Science Vessel may only use Irradiate once per 30 second (5 rounds). • Titan Reactor Upgrade: permits the Vessel to use Irradiate once per 15 second (3 rounds). Description: Science Vessels once moved away from the Terran core worlds, to explore new planets, chart deep space, and discover new stellar phenomena. But with the incursions of the Zerg and Protoss, these exploratory vessels have been recalled to help defend Terran worlds. They must now twist the tools they used for science and discovery into weapons fit for the new, bloody battlefield.
Behemoth Battlecruiser Craft: Command Ship Scale: Capital (12D over Character). Length: 300 meters in length. Cost: NA Crew: Skeleton: 8 (+10 Difficulty); Standard: 50. Crew Skill: Tactics: 4D; Command 4D; Pilot Starship: Capital Ship 4D: Communications 4D; Sensors 3D; Starship Gunnery 4D. Passengers: May fit up to 100 armored marines, firebats, medics or SCV's. Vultures take up the space of 2 individuals. Tanks and Goliaths take up the space of 4 individuals. Cargo Capacity: 6000 metric tons. Consumables: 1 year. Hyperdrive Multiplier: 2x Manueverability: 0D. Space Speed: 4 Atmosphere Speed: 40 / 65 Hull Points: 400 / 300 / 200 / 100. Armor: 40. May be increased by 7 per Ships Plating Upgrade. Shields: None. Terrans lack the technology to provide all standard ships with defensive shields. Communications: Secure satellite and deep space communications. Sensors: (incapable of detecting cloaked ships). • Passive: 40 / 0D • Scan: 75 / 1D • Search: 150 / 2D • Focus: 5 / 3D Weapons: • Laser Batteries (standard) • Fire Arc: Turrets. • Crew: 1 • Skill: Starship Gunnery (4D) • Fire Control: 1D • Space Range: 3-15 / 35 / 75 • Atmospheric Range: 200 (point blank) / 600 (short) / 1200 (medium) / 2000 (long). • Damage: 14D. May be increased by 1D per Ships Weapons Upgrade.
• Quick Damage: 4D + 30 Yamato Cannon (Upgrade). • Fire Arc: Forward. • Crew: 1 • Skill: Starship Gunnery. • Fire Control: 0D. • Space Range: 7-30 / 50 / 100 • Atmospheric Range: 500 (point blank) / 1000 (short) / 2000 (medium) / 4000 (long). • Damage: 30D. Ignore armor. • Quick Damage: 5D+125. Ignore armor. • Cooldown: the Cannon may only be fired once every 5 minutes. • Colossus Reactor Upgrade: permits the Cannon to be fired 2 times every 5 minutes. Description: The Behemoth Battlecruisers are the command ships of the Terran navy. Appropriately, they are the most heavily armed and armored. Even the standard battlecruisers have impressive destructive powers. A variety of upgrades may improve their weapons and armors. Furthermore, some ships may be fit with the Yamato Cannon, which is capable of leveling whole structures in a single blow. •
THE PROTOSS Introduction The Protoss are an extremely advanced race of reptilian-like beings. Their technology boasts advanced robotics, time-space warping capacity, and, perhaps most impressively, a seemless integration of psionic powers with artificial machinery. Psionic forces surround the Protoss and form the fundemental part of their society. For generations, they ruled as the dominant race in the sector, but they have found themselves matched by their sibling race, the Zerg. Meanwhile the Terran people continue to surprise (and often horrify) even the wisest of the Protoss Elders. Where the Protoss will come out in this new cosmic disorder is an open, and haunting question.
History The history provided below is paraphrased from the Starcraft and Brood War instruction manuals, both published by Blizzard Entertainment. The originals have much more complete information about the history and motivations of the Protoss (and fewer spelling errors) and should be read by any GM or player of this RPG. The Evolution of the Protoss and the Aeon of Strife The Protoss were still a young, tribal race when the Xel'Naga arrived on Aiur and began to engineer them into a more evolutionary advanced species. The Protoss quickly adapted, becoming an intellctually advanced and individualistic race. This individualism led to factionalism which fueld the Protoss' natural inclination towards tribal separatism. Though the Xel'Naga had introduced themselves into Protoss society, the Protoss Tribes continued to segregate and hostilities grew. Finally, the Xel'Naga were forced to consider that they had made a mistake in interfering with the Protoss' development and chose to leave Aiur. The Protoss descended into violent chaos for generations. The Second Age After centuries of conflict, the Protoss will for warfare had begun to diminish, if only slightly. At the same time, a Protoss named Khas discovered a trove of Xel'Naga artifacts, including the Khaydarin Crystals. Using the Crystals, Khas tapped into the Protoss' inherent psychic powers. He soon accumulated numerous followers, known and developed the Khala disciplines, otherwise known as the "Path to Ascension." Khas' followers, known as the Khalai grew to dominate the populace and order was restored on Aiur for the first time in over a millenium. With this new peace, the Protoss built a powerful and prosperous civilization, rediscovering the old teachings of the Xel'Naga and developing awesome new technologies. The Protoss population was segregated into three major castes--the Khalai (citizens and followers of Khas), the Judicators (judges and administrators), and the Templars (warriors and scouts). Individuality and factionalism was muted to further communal, unified goals and harmony. The Protoss developed spacefaring technology and quickly discovered new alien species in nearby solar systems. Unlike the Xel'Naga, the Protoss did not manipulate these species, but they did undertake an effort to protect those
species from interstellar threats. For hundreds of years, the Protoss continued to develop their civilization and explore the stars. The Rogue Tribes and the Dark Templar A few Protoss refused to submit to the new rule under the Judicators, fearing their indivdiuality would be abolished. The Judicator elites knew of these outcasts, but kept them secret from the general populace. Finally, the Judicators decided to wipe out the Rogues and sent Adun, a powerful Templar, to perform the task. But Adun could not kill his own kind and sought to enlighten the Rogues with the Templar secrets, hoping to bring them back into the fold. But the Rogues lacked the discipline to control their new powers and a devastating psychic storms were unleashed on Aiur. Finally, the Judicators banished Adun and the Rogues from Aiur, forcing them to wander the stars for eternity, known only as the Dark Templar. The Dark Templars accepted their banishment, but have always loved Aiur and sought to aid her in secret during times of need. Humanity and the Zerg The Protoss were aware of Humanity ever since its arrival in the Koprulu Sector. The Protoss found Terrans to be relatively unpromising, with makeshift technology, no apparent psyhic potential, and an instatiable--and wasteful-lust to consume natural resources. It was only when the Terran colonies began to be infested by the Zerg that Protoss took notice. The Conclave ordered the Templar Tassadar to wipe out the Zerg threat, eradicating all life on the Terran worlds at the same time. Tassadar refused, but did engage the Zerg (and, at times, ignorant Terrans) in an attempt to contain the threat. The Brood War Era Ultimately, the Zerg managed to invade Aiur and begin to lay waste to the planet in its thirst for total domination. The Protoss and some dissdent Terrans united to battle the Zerg menace and Tassadar called upon the forbidden powers of the Dark Templar to slay the Zerg Overmind. In the aftermath, Zerg forces remain on Aiur, the Protoss civilization reels under destruction, and the Protoss have little idea that Terrans from the United Earth Directorate are arriving in the Koprulu Sector intent on quelling any alien activity--including Protoss.
PROTOSS TRIBES United under the disciplines of the Khala, the old Protoss Tribes together strive to protect and advance their species. Their differences are relatively minimal--often only a matter of varied skin tones. With the Judicators serving as the ruling caste, the Templars filling military needs, and the Khalai forming the industry and bulk of citizenry, the Protoss society functions with a well-developed efficiency maintained by a rigorous adherence to dogma and conformism. Some of the Tribes continue to take on special roles in the society.
Ara Caste: Judicator Station: Conclave Praetor Guard Tribal Color: Red The first to follow the teachings of Khas, the Ara control who will serve upon the elite Conclave Council. Despite its revolutionary origins, the Ara now seems cemented in the dogma of the Khala. It will pursue Protoss protectionism and interests without hesitation, seeking to wipe out the Zerg and leave the foolish Terrans to their own devices.
Akilae Caste: Templar Station: High Templar Command Tribal Color: Green During the Aeon of Strife, the Akilae warriors brutally dominated the other Protoss castes. With the rise of the Khala, the Akilae learned a new sense of honor and discipline, ceding control to the Judicators and pledging their armed might to protecting all Protoss regardless of Tribe. The Akilae now lead the Protoss forces into any battle against their species’ enemies. The Akilae fight honorably and willingly die to protect Protoss interests. They have began to debate with the Judicator that Humanity should be protected and guided rather than left to the Zerg onslaught.
Shelak Caste: Judicator Station: Librarians, Keepers of the Khaydarin Crystals Tribal Color: White The ancestral Shelaks were the closest to the Xel’Naga and retain responsibility for maintaining the remnants of knowledge from that ancient race. Today, the Shelak also study the properties of the Khaydarin Crystals and discover new uses for the Protoss.
Sargas Caste: Templar
Station: Enforcers/Assassins Tribal Color: Blue Always fiercely independent and resistant to the imposition of the Khala dogma, the Sargas stand a bit aside from all other Protoss Tribes. Less controlled by the Judicators and less rigid than the Akilae, the Sargas also have a long tradition of skill in the martial and stealthy arts. As such, they have become known as the assassins of the Protoss. Not surprisingly, the Sargas Tribe has produced more Dark Templars than an other.
Auriga Caste: Templar Station: Protectors of the Great Fleet Tribal Color: Orange From the Protoss’ infancy, the Auriga have always been the first to construct vessels of exploration and scout into the unknown darkness of the wilds. On Aiur, the Auriga were the first to circumnavigate Aiur, the first to launch rockets into orbit, and the first to master faster-than-light speeds. Today, the Auriga continue to produce the best pilots and mechanics of the Protoss starships. They are fiercely loyal to the Judicator leadership.
Furinax Caste: Khalai Station: Weaponsmiths and Technologists Tribal Color: Purple Though not warriors, the Furinax are the brilliant engineers and weapons technologists that arm the Protoss military. The Furinax are masters of developing new techniques to merge machines, the Khaydarin Crystals, and Protoss psionic abilities.
PROTOSS HEROES Aldaris Advisor to Koprulu Expeditionary Force Species: Protoss Caste: Judicator Age: 740 STR: 3D DEX: 2D CON: 3D KNO: 3D Tactics 6D; Bureaucracy 10D; Business 8D; Law-Protoss 10D; Education 8D; Science 7D; Alien Species 8D; Languages 8D INS: 2D Search 6D; Profile 9D PRE: 2D Command 8D; Persuade 7D PSI: 4D Telepathy 8D; Enhance Mental Attribute 6D; Telekinesis 7D; Concentration 6D HP: 40 CP: 12 CHI: 3 Aldaris has had a long career as a Protoss administrator and now serves as the Judicator overseer of the Templar fleet in the Koprulu Sector. Steeped in species pride and the dogma of the Khala, Aldaris will not suffer dissent and has little empathy for non-Protoss beings. While brilliant, Aldaris can be insufferably controlling and critical, often hounding those under him.
Zeratul Assassin / Adventurer Species: Protoss Caste: Praetor of the Dark Templar Age: 634 STR: 4D Climbing 6D; Jumping 6D DEX: 4D Melee Weapons 7D; Melee Weapons-Psi Blades 9D; Martial Arts 8D; Dodge 8D; Running 7D; Pilot Starship 6D; Starship Gunnery 6D CON: 4D Resistance 6D; Endurance 7D; Willpower 8D KNO: 2D Tactics 6D; Alien Species 5D; Survival 7D; Education 5D; Planetary Systems 6D INS: 2D Search 7D; Stealth 9D PRE: 2D Command 5D; Persuade 6D PSI: 4D Telepathy 6D; Enhance Physical Attribute 6D; Telekinesis 5D; Concentration 5D; Psi-Blades 8D; Shield 8D; Mind Control 5D; Cloaking (permanent) 7D HP: 50
CP: 15 CHI: 4 Refusing to bend to the conformist dogma of the Protoss establishment, Zeratul was one of the rogues banished from Aiur during the Dark Templar Exile. Though he has a strong hatred for the Protoss Conclave, Zeratul still loves his home planet and seeks to help the Protoss people however possible. Though he does not follow the Khala, Zeratul has a strong sense of honor and self-sacrafice.
Fenix Praetor of the Protoss Defense Force Species: Protoss Caste: Templar Age: 397 STR: 3D DEX: 3D Melee Weapons-Psi Blades 6D; Martial Arts 6D; Dodge 6D; Pilot Starship 7D; Starship Gunnery 7D CON: 3D Resistance 5D; Endurance 5D; Willpower 5D KNO: 3D Tactics 9D; Alien Species 6D; Survival 5D; Education 4D; Communications 6D; Sensors 6D; Planetary Systems 6D INS: 2D Search 5D; Stealth 4D PRE: 2D Command 8D; Persuade 6D PSI: 3D Telepathy 6D; Telepathy-Battle Commands 8D; Concentration 5D; Psi-Blades 8D. HP: 45 CP: 10 CHI: 2 Though relatively young, Fenix has advanced far in the Protoss military. His brilliance shines in large-scale battles, and his ability to effectively command large forces is unparalleled. A close friend of Tassadar, Fenix distrusts the Judicator caste and places great faith in the ability of his fellow Templars. Despite his doubts, Fenix will fight for the Protoss homeworld to the bitter end.
Tassadar Executor of the Koprulu Expedition Species: Protoss Caste: High Templar Age: 356 STR: 2D+2 DEX: 3D Dodge 5D CON: 3D Resistance 5D; Endurance 5D; Willpower 10D KNO: 3D Tactics 8D; Alien Species 6D; Education 6D; Planetary Systems 6D; Education-Dark Templar Mysticism 8D INS: 3D Search 7D; Stealth 4D PRE: 3D Command 8D; Persuade 7D; Intimidate 7D PSI: 6D Psionic Storm 9D; Hallucination 8D; Telepathy 9D; Telekinesis 7D; Concentration 5D; Shield 8D. HP: 45 CP: 15 CHI: 4 Tassadar elevated to the High Templar station early in life, Tassadar has always showed great promise in mastering his psionic potential and a clear intuition of the teachings of Khas. Though entrusted with great power by the Judicators, Tassadar is an unconventional, perhaps even revolutionary thinker. He studies Protoss history, mysticism, and the teachings of the Dark Templar with great rigor. He hopes to one day break free of the dogmatic quagmire in which Protoss society appears stuck. Re-uniting with the Dark Templar tribe may be the greatest hope to free the Protoss mind.
Brood War Era Tassadar sacrificed himself to destroy the Zerg Overmind during the Battle of Aiur. In the cataclysmic aftermath, neither Tassadar nor the Archon appeared to have survived. As the Zerg forces run rampant of Aiur and the pitched battles are renewed, some of Tassadar’s followers believe his essence may yet manifest again to help the Protoss cause. Though the Conclave and nearly 70% of Aiur’s population has been destroyed, a few Protoss leaders remain to attempt to protect what remains. In this time of crisis, new heroes are also emerging to attempt reconstruction of the great Protoss society.
Artanis Praetor of the Protoss Defense Forces Species: Protoss
Caste: High Templar Age: 262 STR: 2D DEX: 3D Dodge 5D CON: 2D+2 Resistance 4D; Endurance 4D; Willpower 6D KNO: 3D Tactics 5D; Alien Species 4D INS: 3D Search 5D; Stealth 4D PRE: 4D Command 7D; Persuade 5D; Intimidate 5D PSI: 4D Psionic Storm 6D; Hallucination 6D; Telepathy 7D; Telekinesis 5D; Concentration 3D; Shield 6D. HP: 45 CP: 5 CHI: 2 The young Artanis has quickly risen among the High Templar to lead their forces into battle. Loyal to the Khala disciplines and deeply faithful to a vision of a unified Protoss society, Artanis also harbors great admiration for Tassadar and emulates him in many ways. However, Artanis’ youth and inexperience sometimes combine with a certain reckless naivete which may place him and his forces into unnecessary peril.
Raszagal Matriarch of the Dark Templar Tribes of Shakuras Caste: Dark Templar Sex: Female Age: 1045 STR: 1D+2 DEX: 1D+2 CON: 1D+2 Resistance 6D; Endurance 5D; Willpower 10D (see below) KNO: 8D Tactics 9D; Alien Species 10D; Education 10D; Planetary Systems 11D; Science 11D; Bureauracy-Dark Templar 13D; Business 12D INS: 5D Search 7D; Stealth 12D PRE: 4D Command 10D; Persuade 8D; Intimidate 10D PSI: 12D Mind Control 14D; Psi-Blades 10D; Cloaking (permanent) 12D; Telepathy 15D; Telekinesis 11D; Concentration 9D; Shield 12D. Raszagul likely has many more psionic powers--likely all listed in this game and more yet to be described. HP: 32 CP: 50 CHI: 8 Among the most ancient of the Protoss, Raszagul was believed to have one of the greatest minds in the galaxy. But now in her great age, after generations of shepherding her Dark Templar children through space, Raszagul has begun to grow exhausted and her mastery of her psionic powers appears to be slipping. Raszagul has kept her Tribes apart from the other wandering Dark Templar, hiding instead on the planet of Shakuras. From time to time, she has sent agents to Aiur to collect intelligence and covertly assist the Protoss. Now, in this great time of need, she has brought forth her Tribes to aid all Protoss and hopefully reunite her people.
THE CASTES The Protoss have a strong sense of community and social responsibility. Each Protoss fits into the whole, serving a needed purpose for which each individual is specially suited. Like any thriving society, the Protoss are diverse, but the various tribes live in peaceful co-existence. Until recently, at least...
Protoss Citizen Role: Kahlai Caste Member STR= 2D+1: DEX= 2D: CON= 3D KNO= 3D+2: INS= 2D+2: PRE= 2D+1: PSI=1D: HP= 25. Height: 2 m Armor: 6 (Protoss robes). Shield: 25. Most citizens do not have access to shield generators (nor do they need them). Movement: 10 m.
Protoss citizens are as diverse as any sentient race that actively pursues intellectual growth, domestic harmony and spiritual development. They are scientists, industrialists, teachers, merchants, parents, neighbors. The Protoss have a deep sense of pride, and most believe that they are a superior race, destined for greatness in the galazy. However, they remain deeply divided about how to treat aliens and how to counter the Zerg threat. Some are fearful of humanity while others see it as an opportunity to guide an infant race towards a more harmonious existence.
Judicator Role: Protoss Administrator STR= 2D+2: DEX= 2D: CON= 3D KNO= 4D: INS= 3D+2: PRE= 3D+2: PSI=2D: HP= 25. Height: 2 m Armor: 6 (Protoss heavy robes). Shield: 25. Most Judicators do not use shields except if they are expecting some hostility. They seem such devices as below their station. Movement: 10 m. The Judicator Caste is primarily responsible for the functions of Protoss government. Their elites meet in the Judicator Assembly, which is headed by the Conclave, a small core of Elders. The lower members of the caste fill most roles for administration and bureaucracy for the Protoss. They tend to be highly organized, deferential to those in authority, and a bit uptight (even among the Protoss). The higher members of the Judicators are extremely powerful. The elites make decisions in secret and have the power to order Templar forces into battle, even, perhaps, to wipe out an entire alien species. As with any bureaucracy, their motives may remain mysterious and are in danger of being corrupted. But most Judicators believe they act to protect the Protoss race and will do any to achieve that goal. Some of the Judicators have been chosen to crew the powerful Arbiter starships. The Judicators use these vessels to lend their hand to the Templars in times of war and, most likely, to keep a presence of authority over the Templars as they carry out their campaigns.
The Templars: Zealot Role: assault warrior STR= 5D (in powersuit), 4D out of suit: DEX= 4D: Dodge 5D; Melee Weapons: Psionic Blades 5D; Running 5D; Martial Arts (Protoss): 4D+2 CON= 6D: KNO= 2D+1: Tactics: 3D+2 INS= 2D: Search 3D; Stealth 3D+2 PRE= 2D: PSI=2D: HP= 50 Scale: Character Height: @ 2.3m Damage: • Psionic Blades: the Zealot's power suit is fitted with units which channel psionic power into a beam of energy. • Damage: STR + 1D per PSI Die. May be increased 1D per Ground Weapons Upgrade. • Scale: Character. • Range: melee combat only. Armor: 22. May be increased by 5 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shield: 40. May be increased by 10 for each Shields Upgrade. Movement: 12 m. May be increased by 10 m per round for each Leg Enhancements Upgrade. Resource Cost: 1 RP for 2 Zealots. Zealots compose the primary ground force for the Protoss. These highly trained warriors are outfitted with
cybernetic implants and power suits and unleashed with ferocity upon the enemy. They live by the strict code of Khala and hope to master their Psionic potential to advance to higher levels within the Protoss order.
Dragoon Role: Cybernetic Support Warrior STR= 5D+2: Lifting 8D DEX= 3D+1: Dodge 4D; Running 7D; Heavy Weapons: Phase Disruptor 5D. CON= 6D+2: KNO= 2D+2: Tactics: 3D+2 INS= 1D+2 Search 3D; Stealth 3D PRE= 2D PSI=2D HP= 70. Dragoons may only receive First Aid through a Medicine: Cybernetics attempt. Scale: Passenger Vehicle Length: 3m Height: 5m Damage: • Phase Disruptor Cannon: the Dragoon body has a built-in anti-matter weapon which is bolstered by the Dragoon's Psi. • Damage: 6D + 1D per PSI Die. May be increased 1D per Ground Weapons Upgrade. • Scale: Character. • Range: 1-4 / 10 / 25 / 50. May be increased by 10 m in each category per Singularity Charge Upgrade. • Cooldown Rate: the Phase Disruptor Cannon may only be fired once per combat round at most. Armor: 30. May be increased by 7 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shield: 60. May be increased by 15 for each Shields Upgrade. Movement: 20 m. Cargo: Dragoons do not have a passenger compartment, but they may carry other beings upon their "torso". Resource Cost: 1 RP per Dragoon. Dragoons are Protoss warriors that have been grievously wounded and permitted their crippled physical bodies to be merged into large cybernetic walkers. Dragoons are somewhat tragic among the Protoss: proud warriors without flesh and blood, forced to channel their psionic energies through a machine in order to function. Regardless, they are highly valued among the infantry and given due respect.
High Templar Role: Psionic Warrior STR= 4D: DEX= 3D+2: Dodge 4D; Martial Arts 4D+2 CON= 4D: KNO= 3D+2: INS= 4D: Search 5D; Stealth 3D; Profile 5D PRE= 3D+2: Command 4D PSI=4D: See below for standard powers. HP= 35. Scale: Character Height: 2.3 m Powers: High Templars may have a variety of mental powers, but the most common known to Terrans are listed below. • Psionic Storm: By studying in the Templar Archives, Templars may learn to unleash their psychic energies in devestating attacks on their enemy's brains. • Damage: Mental damage equal to the Templar's PSI Dice (usually 4D). Armor and standard shields provide no protection. Scale is also irrelevant. However, the target must be a living creature with a brain. This attack may be upgraded 1D per Ground Weapons Upgrade. • Scale: Character. • Range: 2/ 5 / 10 / 20 (see below for area of effect). • Wave Effect: the Psionic Storm affects all non-Protoss targets (even allies) within a 10 m radius of the primary target of the Templar's attack. • Cooldown: the Templar may only attempt the Psionic Storm once per 2 combat rounds. • Hallucination: In the Templar Archives, some High Templars have learned the ability to create life-like illusions that will fool enemy troops.
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Difficulty: Moderate to create illusionary duplicates troops / terrain in the area. Very Difficult to create more novel images. • Range: the illusion may be projected up to 300 meters away from the Templar. • Duration: 1 minute + 1 minute per Effect Value. • Summon Archon: two High Templars may merge together and become a powerful entity known as the Archon (see below). Armor: 15. May be increased by 5 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shield: 25. May be increased by 10 for each Shields Upgrade. Movement: 10 m. Resource Cost: 1 RP per High Templar. High Templars are among the Protoss warriors that have begun to truly master their psionic potential. They set aside all forms of martial training to attain a higher order of mental prowess. They are revered among the Protoss and the Templars fill their station with a strong sense of pride and responsibility. In times of great need, they willingly sacrifice themselves for the good of the Protoss people.
Dark Templar Role: Elite Stealth Warrior (Brood War Era only). STR= 4D: DEX= 5D: Dodge 5D+2; Martial Arts 6D; CON= 5D: KNO= 3D: INS= 3D+2: Search 5D; Stealth 5D; Profile 5D PRE= 3D+2: Command 4D PSI=2D+2: HP= 45. Scale: Character Height: 2.3 m Weapons & Powers: • Hyper-Psi Blades: Dark Templars have developed a modified Psi-Blade technology that radically enhances the damage done. • Damage: PSI x 3 damage. Add 1D to the total for each Ground Weapons Upgrade. • Scale: Character. • Range: Melee Combat only. • Permanent Cloaking: Dark Templars have mastered the ability to bend light around their bodies and are always invisible to normal visual detection. However, they may be detected by special systems, psychic powes, and other senses (sounds, smell, etc.). • Summon Dark Archon: Like the High Templars, two Dark Templars may merge together to create a powerful being known as the Dark Archon. Armor: 18. May be increased by 5 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shield: 40. May be increased by 10 for each Shields Upgrade. Movement: 20 m. Resource Cost: 1 RP per Dark Templar. The Dark Templars were exiled from the Protoss homeworld long ago for their refusal to follow the dogma of Khala. Instead, they have wandered the galaxy, learning new ways to channel their formidable psychic powers. These beings are enigmatic and distant, but are not the demons some would make them out to be. Indeed, upon learning of the attack on Aiur, the Dark Templars have returned to protect their homeworld and race from the onslaught of the infidels and lesser races. Whether their service will be appreciated by the Protoss hierarchy remains to be seen.
Archon Role: Heavy Assault Warrior STR= 1D: DEX= 4D: Dodge 5D CON= 2D: KNO= 5D: INS= 5D: PRE= 5D: Command 4D; Intimidate 6D PSI=5D: HP= 20. Height: 5 m Weapons & Powers:
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Psionic Shockwave: • Damage: 4D + PSI. Armor and most shields provide no protection against this attack. • Area of Effect: Full damage to all within 10 meters of primary target; -2D damage for each 10 meters from focal point. • Range: 5 / 15 / 50 / 100. • Cooldown: the Psionic Shockwave may only be unleased once every 2 rounds. Armor: 12. May be increased by 4 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shield: 200. May be increased by 20 for each Shields Upgrade. Movement: 10 m. Resource Cost: Archons may only be created by the mergine of two High Templars. Born from the merging of the psionic essences of two High Templars, the Archon is a devestating force on the battlefield. Psionic energy emanates from it, creating its powerful shield--entirely necessary to protect the Archon's fragile physical form. The nearly unstoppable force of the Archon's psychic attack make it an essential unit for the Protoss. Little is known of what happens to the Archons once they are no longer needed in battle. Some believe that they are sequestered in a special Protoss temple to protect the general public from their powers. Others believe that the Archon's swirling power slowly dissapates over time, until the Archon dimishes to nothing, rejoining the cosmic energy from which it drew its power.
Dark Archon Role: Heavy Assault Warrior STR= 1D: DEX= 4D: Dodge 5D CON= 2D: KNO= 5D: INS= 5D: PRE= 5D: Command 4D; Intimidate 6D PSI=5D: HP= 35. Height: 5 m Weapons & Powers: • Feedback: The Dark Archon may create a shield around itself that will reflect the energy of an attack upon it back at the original attacker. • Difficulty: Moderate (15) to create the shield. It may be kept "up" as an action each round (-1D). • Effect: Will reflect a number of dice equal to the Dark Archon's Psi dice back at the attacker. Damage dice in excess of the Archon's Psi will has on to the Archon. • Maelstrom: By focusing its Psi, the Dark Archon can overload the nervous systems of all living units within an area, paralyzing them for a short period of time. • Difficulty: Moderate (15). • Range: 10 / 30 / 60 / 90 • Duration: 2 rounds + 1 round per Effect Value. • Resistance: any unit may make an Extremely Difficult (25) Resistance roll to avoid the effects of Maelstrom. • Mind Control: the Dark Archon's most fearsome power is that of controlling the minds of others. • Difficulty: Difficult (20). • Range: 3 / 5 / 10 / 20. • Duration: 1 minute + 1 minute per Effect Value. • Resistance roll: Once per minute, the target may make a Difficult Willpower roll to break the Archon's control. When the target attempts this, a battle of wills occurs: the Archon may make another Mind Control roll to maintain the dominance (but will do so at -1D). The highest result will succeed. Armor: 20. May be increased by 5 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shield: 170. May be increased by 20 for each Shields Upgrade. Movement: 10 m. Resource Cost: Dark Archons may only be created through the merging of two Dark Templars. The mysterious Dark Archons have not been seen for thousands of years on Aiur. But dire times require that even the darkest of powers be invoked to defend the Protoss homeworld. Created by the merging of two Dark Templars, the Dark Archon appears as a swirling cloud of psychic energy. While it can do little in melee combat, its psychic powers make it potent addition to the Protoss forces. Though they now serve in the defense of the Protoss, Dark Archons are still widely distrusted by the Protoss hierarchy and the general populace. And for good reason.
Scout Pilot Role: Starfighter Pilot STR= 3D: DEX= 4D: Pilot: Protoss Scout 5D; Starship Gunnery 5D CON= 3D KNO= 2D+2: Tactics: Starfighters 4D; Starship Operations 3D+2; Science 3D; Mechanics 3D; Elecronics 3D; Planetary Systems 3D+2. INS= 3D+2: Search 4D; Survival 4D PRE= 2D+2: Command 3D+2. PSI=1D: HP= 35. Height: 2 m Vehicle: Protoss Scout (Long-range starfighter). Armor: 10 (Protoss Vac-Suit). Shield: 30. The light-weight shield emitter used by Scout Pilots cannot be upgraded. Movement: 10 m. Resource Cost: Automatic with the production of a Protoss Scout. Scout Pilots are chosen from the Templar Caste for their natural curiousity and their ability to focus their Psi into flying the impressive Scout Starfighters of the Protoss. It takes a rare individual to seemlessly merge their psionic energy with that of a machine, and these pilots are among that elite. In times of peace, the Scout Corps occupies itself with its primary mission: exploring along the edges of Protoss space and beyond, on long-range missions that may take years. But with the coming of the Zerg, the Scouts have returned to Protoss to defend their homeworld and serve their people as best they can. Most Scout Pilots carry either a small Phase Disrupter Pistol or arm themseves with a Psi-Blade. They tend to be a bit more open than most Protoss military units and are often curious of other races, even if they must fight them in self-defense.
Robots The Protoss make extensive use of robots to perform a wide variety of functions, including resource extraction, construction, and personnel transport. Robot brains come in a equally large variety of intelligence and autonomy ratings, depending on the robot's programming and required function. Finally, most robots have special equipment which allows them to take orders directly via mental transmissions from a Protoss controller.
Probe Role: Resource gatherer, worker. STR= 4D: Lifting 6D. DEX= 3D: Dodge 4D; Firearms: Particle Beam 4D; Flying 4D CON= 5D: Endurance 8D. KNO= 2D: Value: Natural Resources 5D; Engineering: 4D INS= 1D+2: Search: Resources 5D PRE= 1D PSI=0D HP= 35 Scale: Character Length: 2 m ("wingspan") Height: 1m Damage: • Particle Beams: Probes primarily use their particle beam emitters for mining and construction work. However, they may be used as short-range defensive weapons as well. • Damage: 3D+2. May be increased 1D for each Ground Weapons Upgrade. • Scale: Character. • Range: 1/ 3/ 7/ 10 • Drilling Effect: the probe may focus its beam on a piece of armor or other hard substance and reduce the Armor Value by 2 for each round, regardless of whether the beam pierces the armor. Armor: 10. May be increased by 4 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shields: 20. May be increased by 10 for each Shields Upgrade. Movement: 15 m hovering/flying. Flight ceiling = @ 10 meters. Resource Cost: 1 RP produces 4 Probes. Probes are semi-autonomous robots that service that perform basic services for the Protoss. They do everything from
extract resources to clean house. While they are usually relatively mindless, those that have been in service for a long time will develop personality quirks and have been shown to accumulate a surprising range of knowledge. Among its many tools, a Probe may manufacture and plant small beacons that permit the Protoss to teleport prefabricated buildings from their Homeworld to the site. Thus, Probes rarely need to engage in actual construction of buildings. They only need to plant the beacon and get out of the way.
Reaver Role: Mobile Artillery Unit Scale: Heavy Vehicle (4D over Character). Length: 12 meters long. Programmed Skills: Tank Ops: Reaver 6D; Sensors 5D; Communications 5D. Passengers: 0D. Some Reavers may be heavily modified to house a few passengers. Cargo Capacity: 10 tons, primarily materials to construct and arm Scarabs (see below). Manueverability: 0D. Speed: 15/30 (round). Hull Points: 100 / 75 / 50 / 25. Armor: 25. May be increased by 8 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shields: 70 Communications: Secure satellite communications. Sensors: Short Range Radar; External Optics. Weapons: • Scarab Launcher: Reavers may manufacture and launch small drones which fly at enemy targets and explode upon impact. • Damage: 9D. May be upgraded 1D+1 for each Ground Weapons Upgrade. • Area of Effect: Does full damage to all targets with 3 m. -2D damage for each addtional 5m from point of impact. • Control: The Scarabs are self-guided and hit with 6D accuracy. Scarabs that miss their targets will explode as near to the target as possible to cause at least some damage. • Range: 5 / 25 / 50 / 100 • Ammunition: 10 Scarabs. 3 more Scarabs may be produced and carried for each Increase Capacity Upgrade. Resource Cost: 2 RP per Reaver. Description: Reavers are large, buglike robots that provide heavy weapon support for Protoss troops. The robot brain itself is relatively simple, responding to the direct orders of a battlefield general. The Reaver may be set to a "search and destroy" mode, in which it will simply attack the nearest enemy units, but under this strategy, the Reaver will quickly run out of Scarabs.
Shuttle Role: Armored Transport Scale: Starfighter (6D over Character). Length: 30 meters long. Programmed Skills: Pilot: Freighter 6D; Communications 6D; Sensors 5D; Mechanics (Self-repair) 5D; Electronics (Self-repair) 5D. Passengers: Approximately 40 ground troops. Cargo Capacity: 200 metric tons. Approximately 4 units of ground troops (Reavers = 4 individuals).. Manueverability: 0D. Speed: Atmosphere: 50/70. Space: 4. Gravitic Drive Upgrades may increase the Atmospheric Speed by 10 and the Space Speed by 2 per upgrade. Hull Points: 70. Armor: 30. May be increased by 5 for each Air Armor Upgrade. Shields: 70. May be increased by 10 per Shields Upgrade. Communications: Secure electronic and psychic links. Sensors: • Passive: 7 / 1D • Scan: 15 / 2D • Search: 50 / 2D • Focus: 5 / 4D Weapons: None. Resource Cost: 1 RP per Shuttle. Description: Shuttles are robotic troop transports, pure and simple. The robot brain is fairly intelligent and capable of creative and independent thought in order to solve problems. The robot brain often develops a kind of maternal sense for the troops that it carries into battle. Regardless, shuttles will risk their well-being to transport troops to and
from battle sites. Also, most Protoss shuttles do have the capacity to be piloted by a biological unit (some situations require a living pilot).
Observer Role: Robotic Scouting Probe Scale: Character Length: 1.8 meters long. Programmed Skills: • STR= 2D • DEX= 4D: Flying 6D; Dodge 5D. • CON=2D • KNO=3D: Communications 6D; Sensors 6D; Mechanics (Self-repair) 5D; Electronics (Self-repair) 5D; Languages 5D; Planetary Systems 4D; Navigation: Space 5D. • INS=1D: Stealth 6D; Search (see Sensors). • PRE=1D: Cargo Capacity: roughly 10 kg for collected samples. Manueverability: 2D. Speed: Atmosphere: 70/100. Space: 6. Gravitic Booster Upgrades may increase the Atmospheric Speed by 10 and the Space Speed by 2 per upgrade. Hyperspace Modifier: 4x Hull Points: 25 / 19 / 13 / 7. Armor: 10. May be increased by 5 for each Air Armor Upgrade. Shields: 25. May be increased by 10 per Shields Upgrade. Communications: Secure electronic and psychic links. Sensors: Detects cloaked vessels as if they were not cloaked. Sensor range may be increased by 2 units for and resolution by 1D for each Sensor Array Upgrade. • Passive: 7 / 2D • Scan: 15 / 3D • Search: 50 / 4D • Focus: 5 / 5D Cloaking Device: Observers may automatically cloak themselves in battle situations. The delicate micro-cloaking device will not work if weapons or other major modifications are added to the Observer. Weapons: None. Resource Cost: 2 Observers per RP. Description: Observers are the primary eyes and ears of the Protoss in the far reaches of space and, with more frequeny, on the battlefield. Because of their micro-cloaking devices, Observers easily sneak behind enemy lines and gather intelligence. Because of their primary mission, these little robots can be quite inventive, curious, and quirky. Those in operation for long periods of time develop significant senses of self and autonomy.
THE PROTOSS: Structures & Upgrades Below are the primary Protoss structures and the facilities and upgrades they provide. It is very conceivable that that not every facility will have all the options mentioned below or that a facility may provide unique services not listed. Most Protoss structures are actually pre-fabricated back on Aiur and teleported to the site once a warp beacon is activated by a Probe. Structures have no internal power supply, but are run on the energy from the Protoss Psionic Matrix, which is channeled through the Nexus structure and relayed to outlying areas by Pylons. Once the local Pylon is deactivated, the structures will become inactive until powered again with a new Pylon. Protoss upgrades improve all the appropriate units served by the base where the upgrade is performed. Thus, even friendly units from nearby bases will be unaffected by enhancements made locally. The only exception is that if the nearby base was founded by the same Protoss as the first base, then all will share in enhancements made at either base. • • • •
Nexus: primary command and control facility. Pylon: psionic matrix power relay. Assimilator: Vespene gas extractor. Gateway: primary troop warp gate.
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Shield Battery: personal shield recharge station. Forge: primary engineering facility. • • •
Upgrade Ground Weapons Upgrade Ground Armor Upgrade Shields
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Singularity Charge Upgrade Air Weapons Upgrade Air Armor
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Upgrade Scarab Damage Reaver Capacity Expansion Shuttle Gravitic Drive
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Observer Gravitic Booster Observer Sensor Array
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Zealot Leg Enhancements.
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Templar Gateway. Khaydarin Amulet Psionic Storm Training Hallucination Training
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Scout Apial Sensors Upgrade Scout Gravitic Thrusters Carrier Capacity Expansion
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Khaydarin Core (Arbiter Energy Expansion). Recall Stasis
Photon Cannon: standard base defense installation. Cybernetics Core: advanced engineering facility.
Robotics Facility: robotics production plant. Robotics Support Bay: robotics research and development laboratory.
Observatory: data collection and storage hub.
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Citadel of Adun: Templar center and training grounds.
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Templar Archives: High Templar temple.
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Stargate: transwarp gateway for manned Protoss starships. Fleet Beacon: stargate stabilizer for capital-scale ships.
Arbiter Tribunal: stargate stabilizer for Arbiter starships and Judicator headquarters.
Nexus Type: Central Command Structure Body Points: 500 Armor: 40 Shield: 500 Facilities: • Probe manufacturing plant. Can manufacture about 1 Probe every 10 minutes at peak efficiency. • Resource storage. May store up to 1,000,000 tons of crystals and about 5,000,000 gallons of Vespene gas. • Psionic energy "anchor" for additional structures. • Command and control facilities. Communications: Global electronic link. Trans-warp psychic link. Upgrades: None. The Nexus is the first structure established for any Protoss base. Through its machinery, the Protos can link to the psionic energy matrix of Aiur. It also manufactures Probes, who are necessary to plant the warp beacons to import additional structures to the area. Nexus buildings will have some limited scientific and medical facilities as well.
Pylon Type: Psionic Matrix Relay Body Points: 200
Armor: 30 Shield: 200 Facilities: None. Communications: Psi-relays: focuses energy emitted through the Nexus from the homeworld and creates a sphere of energy that will power any Protoss structures within its radius for an unlimited duration. Upgrades: None. The floating, crystaline pylons act like powerplants for the Protoss, channeling the species' inherent mental energies to power the robotic factories and other facilities required on Protoss bases. If the pylon is destroyed, all the structures within its sphere will shut down until re-powered.
Gateway Type: Troop Transport Warp Gate Body Points: 250 Armor: 35 Shield: 250 Facilities: • Troop Support: Gateways also provide sleeping quarters, basic armories, and feeding stations for Protoss troops. Communications: Global electronic link. Trans-warp psychic link. Upgrades: None. Gateways are also one of the basic structures found in every Protoss outpost. The buildings house a large warp in the fabric of space-time, through which troops may pass to arrive from or return to Aiur. Because these buildings provide a direct route to Aiur, they are usually heavily monitored and guarded. The Protoss would rather destroy the structure than let it fall into enemy hands.
Shield Battery Type: Personal Shield Recharger Body Points: 250 Armor: 35 Shield: 250 Facilities: None. Communications: None. Upgrades: None. Shield Batteries passive soak up local psionic waves, convert them into shielding energy, and store it until it is needed by a Protoss unit. Units need only touch one of the output links of the Battery to triple the speed of their shield recharge.
Forge Type: Primary Engineering Facility Body Points: 275 Armor: 40 Shield: 275 Facilities: • Weapons Manufacturing: the Forge produces the primary weapons for the Probe, Zealot, Templars, and Dragoon. • Armor Manufacturing: the Forge smelts the armor for all the Protoss ground troops. • Shield Generators: the Forge also manufacturers all the shield generators needed by local troops and structures. • Photon Cannon Plant: Forge facilities may be used to manufacture the companants needed to build a Photon Cannon. Communications: Global electronic land psychic links. Upgrades: • Ground Weapons: refinements in the Forge can create more efficient and deadly weaponry for the Protoss ground forces. • Effect: +1D to damage of primary weapon(s) per Upgrade Level. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x. 2 RP. • Ground Armor: with a greater investment of resources, the Forge engineers may produce harder armor for Protoss ground forces. • Effect: Adds to the Armor Value of all ground units. Amount added depends on the unit. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x. 2 RP. • Shields: improvements made in the Forge can create better technology to boost Protoss shields. • Effect: Adds to the Shield Value for all Protoss units and structures served by the base.
• Cost: Current Upgrade Level x. 3 RP. The Forge is often the third structure to be built in a new Protoss base, particularly one that expects to see battle soon. It is essential for manufacturing weapons, armor and shield generators. The Forge is usually manned by a mixture of Protoss engineers and construction robots.
Assimilator Type: Vespene Extractor Body Points: 200 Armor: 30 Shield: 200 Facilities: • Vespene Extractors: deep ground drills and suction devices efficiently extract the Vespene gas and package it for delivery to the Nexus. The standard Assimilator will produce approximately 10 gallons per minute. Communications: Global electronic link. Upgrades: None. Assimilators are a necessary part of any advanced Protoss outpost. The valuable gas is needed for further construction and to supplement power imported through the Psionic Matrix. Assimilators are generally run entirely by robots.
Cybernetics Core Type: Advanced Engineering Facility Body Points: 300 Armor: 35 Shield: 300 Facilities: • Dragoon Operating Room: The advanced cybernetics-medical station in the Core may be used to join a Protoss solider with the metal exoskeleton of a Dragoon. This operation normally takes at least 1 hour, but may be rushed in times of greater need. • Cost: 5 RP per Dragoon. • Air Armory Research: The Core enginneers are primarily responsible for improving the weapons and armor of the Protoss air fleet. Communications: Global electronic and psychic link. Upgrades: • Dragoon Weapons Attunement: With time, the Dragoon may be trained to focus his Psi to get greater ranger from the Phase Disrupter. • Effect: Increases Range by 10 m per category. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. • Air Weapons Enhancement: the Core also researches the weapons used by the Protoss air fleet and provides them with improved technology to increase their damage. • Effect: Inceases most Air Weapons by 1D per Upgrade Level. Some units may have different values. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 2 RP. • Air Armor Enhancement: While the Forge focuses on the heavy armor of the ground forves, the Cybernetics Core looks for ways to strength the lightweight, aerodynamic plating of the Protoss fleet. • Effect: Increase the Armor Value of the Protoss air units by an amount unique to each unit type. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x. 2 RP. The Cybernetics Core is a common sight in Protoss bases, particularly because the Dragoons are so often needed. The Core is manned by a mixture of top Protoss scientists and robots.
Robotics Facility Type: Primary Robotics Manufacturing Plan Body Points: 300 Armor: 35 Shield: 300 Facilities: • Assembly Line: The Robotics Facility is resonsible for producing the large robotic crafts used by the Protoss. An unmodified Facility may build Shuttles at a rate of about 1 per 6 hours (this may be increased in times of great need). The facility is necessary to build Reavers and Observers as well, but additional structures are also required to produce those units. Communications: Global electronic and psychic link. Upgrades: None. The Robotics Facility is a common sight on Protoss bases where troop transportation is often required. It is also
found on almost all of the far-flung outposts, since it produces the Observers needed for deep space exploration. The Facility is primarily run by robots (fittingly enough), overseen by 1-2 Protoss Robotics Engineers.
Robotics Support Bay Type: Advanced Robotics Lab Body Points: 250 Armor: 30 Shield: 250 Facilities: • Research and Deveopment Labs: the Support Bay has the most advanced Protoss robotics labs available. Here, technicians work day and night to develop the more elegant and powerful Protoss robots. Communications: Global electronic and psychic link. Upgrades: • Scarab Damage: minor, but extremely complex adjustments made to Scarabs may increase their already awesome damage potential. • Effect: Increases Scarab Damage by 1D per upgrade. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. • Reaver Capacity Enlargment: by reworking some of the Reaver's internal designs, engineers can free up space to permit the Reaver to carry more Scarabs, and thus enhance the Reaver's battlefield utility. • Effect: Permits the Reaver to carry 3 more Scarabs per Upgrade Level. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 2 RP. • Gravitic Drive: engineers can revamp the standard repulsor drives of Shuttles and increase their speed. • Effect: Increases Shuttle speed in the Atmosphere by 10 m / round (@ 3600 kph) and in Space by 2 units per upgrade. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. The Robotics Support Bay is home to some of the finest minds in the Protoss population. These specialists are continually tinkering with Protoss technology to develop smarter, more efficient, and more dangerous robots.
Observatory Type: Data Collection and Storage Hub Body Points: 225 Armor: 25 Shield: 225 Facilities: • High Powered Telescopes: observatories have a variety of optics and radio-scopes for studying interstellar phenomena. • Observer Code: Observatories house the program code for developing robotic Observers and are required to prepare and launch Observers into service. • Data Library: Observatories record and store all local data from the time of their first observation. Thus, users may access information on matters as diverse as global weather, geological studies, local battles, passing wildlife and so on. Communications: Global electronic and psychic link. Optical and radio telescopes. Extremely fast and secure (encoded) data transmission capability. Upgrades: • Sensor Array Refinements: the information gather by Observatories may be used to refine the sensor arrays of Observers. • Effect: Increase the range of the different Sensor Levels by 2 units and the Sensor Dice by 1D per upgrade. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. • Gravtic Boosters: Observatories may dedicate some of their resources and processing power to enhancing the basic propulsion systems of their Observers. • Effect: Increases the Atmospheric speed of Observers by about 10 m/ round and their Space Speed by 2 units/round. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. Observatories are generally controlled by extremely intelligent robot minds that serve as scientists, archivists, and manager for small fleets of Observers. As such, Observatory robots tend to be extremely intelligent, fairly autonomous and somewhat individualistic (for a robot).
Citadel of Adun Type: Warrior Training Center Body Points: 210 Armor: 30
Shield: 210 Facilities: • Worship Coves: the Citadels offer a quiet, secure place for all Templars to meditate and worship communally. • Training Hall: every Citadel has extensive practice and training centers, necessary for Protoss warriors to keep their edge. • Briefing Rooms: Citadels often serve as planning and briefing rooms for Protoss assault forces. • Library: the Citadels house a modest library that includes much of the basic information on Protoss religion, history, science and literature. Communications: Global electronic and psychic link. Upgrades: • Zealot Powersuit Leg Enhancements: The Citadels have limited cybernetic facilities, designed to refit Zealot powersuits with enhanced leg motivators to increase their movement speed. • Effect: increases Zealot base movement by 10m per round. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. The Citadels often offer a serene haven in amongst chaos and carnage. Even the most hardened warrior must take some time to recollect his soul, and the Citadels are designed to provide Protoss soldiers with just that opportunity. They also serve as a central meeting place, training hall and study center.
Templar Archives Type: Sacred Library and Reliquary. Headquarters of the High Templars. Body Points: 300 Armor: 35 Shield: 300 Facilities: • High Templar Gateway: High Templars will not use the open and vulnerable Gateway utilized by the Zealots and other ground forces. They will only arrive at a base once a proper Archives has been established and the holy gateway opened. • Communion Circle: High Templars may use this room to communicate with their ancestors and learn more of the Protos powers, past and, quite possibly, even its future. • Sacred Hall: Kept within this hallowed hall are the most important books, artifacts and treasures of the Protoss. High Templars may visit this area only in times of great need. • Practice Dome: each Archive has an underground facility that is specially built to contain psychic energies. Here, the High Templars may practice their awesome powers without fear of harming innocents. Communications: Global electronic and psychic link. Upgrades: • Khaydarin Amulet: the sacred scriptures kept within the Archives reveal how Khaydarin crystals may be carved into a holy amulet that will more potently focuse the energies of the High Templars. • Effect: Increases Psionic Storm Damage by 1D, Hallucination duration by 1 minute, and range of both by 10m. • Cost: 2 RP. • Psionic Storm Training: High Templars may come to the Dome and learn how to focus their psionic powers into devestating attacks. • Effect: Grants High Templars served by this base the power of Psionic Storm. • Cost: 3 RP. • Hallucination: By undergoing a rigorous training, the High Templars may learn from their elders on how to create life-like illusions that will fool enemy troops and better advantage Protoss soldiers. • Effect: Grants High Templars served by this base the power of Hallucination. • Cost: 2 RP. The Templar Archives are indeed a holy place to all Protoss, even the Dark Templar. In fact, the Dark Templar will likely not deem a base worthy of their energy unless it has an Archives already constructed. Archives will be well guarded and it would be an extremely unlikely event for a non-Protoss to be allowed access.
Stargate Type: Starship Warp Gate Body Points: 550 Armor: 45 Shield: 550 Facilities: None. Communications: Global and transwarp electronic and psychic link. Upgrades: None.
Stargates are required to transport the warp-capable Protoss starships from high orbit over Aiur to a planet's surface. Alone, Stargates provide transport for Scouts and Corsairs. More facilities are required to stabilize the warp gate for larger ships (see below).
Fleet Beacon Type: Capital Ship Warp Gate Stabilizer Body Points: 300 Armor: 35 Shield: 300 Facilities: • Starship Repair Bays: Fleet Beacons also serve for repair and upgrade bays for the Protoss starfighter-scale ships. • Crew Quarters: Fleet Beacons provide for the day-to-day needs of the Protoss fleet. Communications: Global electronic and psychic link. Upgrades: • Apial Sensors: Beacon facilities may choose to upgrade their Scouts with more sensitive sensors. • Effect: Increase the unit range of Scout sensors by 2 and adds gives the pilot +1D to Sensors rolls per upgrade. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. • Scout Gravitic Thrusters: Scouts may be enhanced with the new gravitic thruster technology to increase their speed. • Effect: Increases Atmosphere Speed by 10m/round and Space Speed by 2 for each Upgrade Level. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 1 RP. • Increased Carrier Capacity: Carriers may be modified to increase the number of Interceptors they may carry. • Effect: Increases the number of Interceptors by 2 per Upgrade Level. • Cost: Current Upgrade Level x 2 RP. These valuable strutures are carefully constructed by the Protoss using the purest Khaydarin Crystals to focus the Psionic Matrix and stabilize Stargates in order to permit the passage of Capital-scale Protoss ships like the Carrier. Beacons are generally manned by Protoss naval personnel, repair crews, and a hefty staff of robotics.
Arbiter Tribunal Type: Space-Time Stabilizers for Arbiter Starships. Body Points: 400 Armor: 35 Shield: 400 Facilities: • Arbiter Bays: ever secretative, even from their own species, the Judicators like to keep their ships separate from the standard Protoss navy. Thus, Arbiters are generally stored and repaired in the bays of a Tribunal. • Judicator Chambers: the Tribunal also serves as a center for Judicators in Protoss outposts (which are often dominated by Templar soldiers). Once a Tribunal is warped to an outpost, it often becomes the center of administrative decision and justice for the base. Communications: Global and transwarp electronic and psychic links. Upgrades: • Khaydarin Core: by augmenting the Arbiter's engine core with pure crystals, the Protoss can increase the ship's energy capacity and overal performance. • Effect: Reduces the Cooldown Rate of the Arbiter's weapons by 1 round. • Cost: 3 RP. • Recall: by using space-folding techniques, the Arbiter may cut a rift into space-time and transport units directly to its location. This only works within a global range and requires a space-time anchor (a miniGateway) to be deployed by the Arbiter. • Cost: 3 RP. • Stasis: the Arbiter may manipulate space-time around a unit, removing it from the normal flow of spacetime. • Effect: the target unit is frozen and unable to act for 1D6 rounds. During that time, the unit cannot be harmed by attacks or other ill effects. • Cost: 4 RP Arbiter Tribunals appear as regal and stern as the Judicator Caste they serve. They are veritable fortresses, both physical and intellectual, and stir awe even among other Protoss. It is within the Tribunals that the most cutting edge warp technology is developed. One must wonder what secrets are held within.
THE PROTOSS: Equipment Below are some of the basic forms of Protoss equiment. The Protoss technology is far superior to that of the Terrans, so they are likely to have just about any of the standard Terran equipment available, and it's likely to be fairly improved in efficiency and design.
MELEE WEAPONS The Protoss have access to all the melee weapons listed in the Terran Equipment section. They also have a number of weapons that utilize their psionic powers, focusing them into powerful Psi-Blades. When deactivated, a standard Psi-blade appears only as a sword pommel with a Khaydarin crystal suspended at the blade end. The wielder must focus her energies through the crystal to create a blade of pure psionic energy.
Psi-Knife Damage: Wielder's Psi: Psi-Blade Skill. Scale: Character Skill: Melee Weapons: Psi-Knife Difficulty: Easy (12). Concealability: Very Easy when deactivated. Note: The Psi-knife activates once the wielder holds it and concentrates (1 action).
Psi-Blade Damage: STR + Wielder's Psi: Psi-Blade skill. Scale: Character Skill: Melee Weapons: Psi-Blade; Psi: Psi-blade. Difficulty: Moderate (15). Concealability: Easy when deactivated. Note: The Psi-blade activates once the wielder holds it and concentrates (1 action).
Psi-Staff Damage: STR + Wielder's Psi: Psi-Staff skill. Scale: Character Skill: Melee Weapons: Psi-Staff; Psi: Psi-Staff Difficulty: Easy (10). Concealability: Moderate when deactivated. Note: The Psi-Staff activates once the wielder holds it and concentrates (1 action). The Psi-Staff resembles a Psi-Blade except it extends a beam from either end of its grip. The beams do not do cutting damage, but instead act as blunt weapon against a foe. They will never do more than enough damage to Wound a target (regardless of what damage or Constitution rolls result), but they are more potent as stun weapons (double Stun times suffered by targets). These weapons are used by Protoss sects that prefer to avoid mortal combat. They are also more commonly used for self defense among the general Protoss populace because of their non-lethal damage.
FIREARMS & MISSILE WEAPONS The Protoss are familiar with most of the archaic and "modern" Terran missile weapons, but see them as crude and clumsy. They generally prefer their own energy weapons for their elegance and nearly limitless psionic ammunition.
Psionic Bow Damage: 2D + Wielder's Psi: Psionic Bow skill. Scale: Character Skill: Missile Weapons: Psionic Bow; Psi: Psionic Bow Range: 3-7 / 20 / 40 Concealability: Very difficult. The Psionic Bow is a large weapon that resembles the Terran long bow. It actually fires thin, elegant arrows tipped with crystals. When the archer draws back the bow, he concentrates upon the arrow and transforms it into a glowing bolt of psychic energy. These weapons are rarely used by Protoss troops today, but the art of psionic archery remains alive as a meditative practice and hobby.
Psionic Shot Damage: 3D + Wielder's Psi Rating. Ammo: 100. Range: 3-7/25/50 ROF: 1 shot per round maximum. Concealability: Easy (7) This is the standard Protoss pistol. It is actually rarely used by the Templars, who prefer to meet their enemies in direct combat and cleave them apart with the devastating Psi-Blades. However, there are times when ranged weapons may be helpful, and Protoss soldiers will sometimes turn to Shots to do the trick.
Phase Disruptor Rifle Damage: 5D + Wielder's Psi Rating Ammo: 500. Range: 5-20 / 60 / 90 ROF: May Burst, but cannot provide Full Automatic fire. Concealability: Moderate (17). The Phase Disruptor Rifle is a smaller version of the weapons implanted into a Dragoon's shell. It delivers a charged beam of antimatter particles sheathed in a psionic shell. It is an extremely powerful weapon in the hands of an able Templar, but it is not a preferred battlefield weapon because Templars would rather directly engage their opponents and the Rifle can be temperamental and malfunction at inopportune times.
ARMOR Protoss have developed two major forms of protection: physical armor and psionic shielding. The first is like the armor donned by the Terrans, though the Protoss armor tends to be made of high quality synthetics and is more stylized. The second, shielding, is a technology apparently unique to the Protoss. It uses small mobile shield emitters to focus passive waves of psychic energy around the wearer into a powerful, invisible reflective shield.
Heavy Robes Type: Personal clothing. Scale: Character. Armor Value: 5 Cost: 20-500 credits, depending on style. Availability: Easy. Concealability: Very Easy (but usually unnecessary).
Protoss Flight Suit Type: Cybernetic Pilot Suit Scale: Character. Armor Value: 13 Availability: Common. Power: 12 hours of air supply. No power needed to operate the suit. Concealability: Very Difficult. Other: Flight suits are sealed environmental suits to be worn in space or atmospheres with toxic environments. Some suits may be suited with small jet packs for manuevering in low-gravity situations.
Cybernetic Powered Armor Type: Protoss Powered Armor Scale: Character. Strength: 5D Jumping Bonus: +1D Dexterity: Operator's Dexterity Armor Value: 20 / 15 / 10 / 5 (When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction. The wearer will suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At that point, the penalty increases to -2D. Finally, at 1/4 AV to 1 point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0, what is left of the armor will freeze up.) Shield: 40 Complexity: 5 Optics:Light Amp, Computer Link Communications: Comm Link, Broadband Receiver Vocal: Standard speaker. The Protoss Cybernetic Armor is the standard power suit worn by Zealot warriors into battle. It provides ample protection against most light arms attacks and harsh weather conditions, can endure deep space exposure, and will
feed and support its wearer for days on end. Each suit is equipped with a small mobile shield emitter which will continually recharge itself with the wearer's excess psionic energy.
COMPUTERS The Protoss have the most advanced computer technolgy of any known race. Not only is the raw power of their computers impressive, but their interface is equally advanced. Many Protoss computers are built with telepathic receivers that permit them to take commands directly from the user's thoughts. While this still requires a bit of training on the part of the Protoss user, it greatly speeds access time and processing.
MISCELLANEOUS GEAR The Protoss will likely have their own versions of any of the Miscellaneous Gear found in the Terran Equipment List, though it's likely to be a bit more advanced and stylized. Below are some pieces of equipment unique to the Protoss.
Communications Gear Telepathic Amplifier Type: Portable Long-Range Telepathic Communicator Skill: Communications Availability: Common. Notes: Most Protoss lack the ability to broadcast their thoughts long distances or the skill to focus on a single target with which to communicate. Amplifiers allow nearly global telepathic communications between individuals or small groups. They function very much a standard electronic commlink, but utilize brainwaves rather than the spoken word. More advanced Amplifers may be fitted with language translation matrices or secure encoding mechanisms.
Explosives Grenades Scale: Character. Damage: • Psi-Wave: 4D Psionic Damage (armor is useless). • Psionic Scream: Acts like a Stunning grade for any target with a brain and no PSI rating (even those with 1D in Psi will be unaffected). • Damage: 7D Stunning damage that last for 30 seconds. • Area of Effect: 10 m for full damage. Reduce Dice by 2D for each additional 5 m from point of impact. • Target may make an opposing Willpower roll to resist the effects, but will be at -1D to all other actions for the duration of the Scream.
Scanners Bio-Scanner Type: Handheld lifeform scanner. Skill: Sensors Availability: Uncommon. These handheld units are often used by Protoss scientists when studying new life forms. Because of the small size and limited resolution, the scanners are not perfectly precise and the user suffers -1D to Sensor rolls. They may be further confounded by terrain, ambient radiation interference, and local weather condtions. They have the following Sensor Ranges: • Passive: 100 meters • Scan: 1000 meters (1 km) • Search: 5 km • Focus: 10 meters.
VEHICLES Little is known of the Protoss vehicles outside of those used in battle. However, their advanced technology has undoubtedly been put to use to better civilian transportation. Most vehicles run on the ambient power of the Psionic Matrix on Aiur, requiring no fuel and producing no emissions. On outposts and other worlds where there is only a
limited Psionic Matrix power source, the vehicles are modified to run on rechargeable power cells or the Psi of the pilot. Finally, most vehicles are equipped with robotic pilots capable of driving, navigation, and self-diagnostics. These vehicles will usually also have standard controls for a biological pilot as well. Some other forms of transports may be found under the Robots section.
Skimmer Craft: Repulsorlift Passenger Vehicle. Scale: Personal Vehicle (2D over Character). Length: 3.5 meters. Skill: Willpower: Protoss Repulsorlift Piloting. Speed: 30 m per round. Cruising Speed: 70 mph. Top Speed: @ 200 mph. Hull Points: Civilian Models: 45 / 34 / 23 / 12. Military Models: 60 / 45 / 30 / 15. Armor: Civilian model: 10; Military model: 20. Shield: 50. Manueverability: 2D. Communications: Built-in Telepathic Amplifier. Sensors: None. Military models will sometimes have a short-range scanners. Weapons: None. Crew: 1. Passengers: Fits 4 (including driver) comfortably. Up to 8 may be squeezed in if no additional cargo is carried. Crew Skill: 4D for professional/militar pilots; 3D for most experienced civilians. Cargo: Cargo area "trunk" is approximate 2 meters wide, 1 meter deep, and 1 meter high.. Description: Skimmers serve as everything from the "family car" to small military transports. They are the most common form of Protoss transportation outside the battlefield.
Slipbike Craft: Repulsorlift Cycle Scale: Personal Vehicle (2D over Character). Length: 2.2 meters. Skill: Willpower: Repulsorlift Piloting Speed: 40 m per round. Cruising Speed: 90 mph. Top Speed: @ 300 mph. Hull Points: Civilian Models: 20 / 15 / 10 / 5. Armor: 6. Provides no armor protection to pilot. Shield: 25. Manueverability: 4D. Communications: Usually none. May have a built-in Telepathic Amplifier. Sensors: None. Weapons: None. Crew: 1. Passengers: 0. A passenger may sit behind the pilot, but he loses all Manueverability Dice and must reduce speed by about 20%. Crew Skill: 4D for professionals; 3D for most experienced civilians. Cargo: Very limited. About 1 cubic foot of space. Description: Slipbikes are elegant, sleek hovercycles powered by the brainwaves of their pilot (note that no Psi is actually needed to power the bike). While the pilot holds on to handlebars, the vehicle is actually steered by his Willpower. Many Protoss refuse to use these vehicles because they are both dangerous and frivolous, but they maintain a popularity with many of the younger generation.
SHIPS The Protoss have the most advanced space fleet of the known species, but only a few of their powerful ships are used in battle. Also, many of their ships are entirely powered by robotic brains, leaving Protoss citizens and soldiers free to do more important (or less dangerous) tasks.
Scout Craft: High Speed Starfighter Scale: Starfighter (6D over Character). Length: @ 13 meters in length. Crew: 1 Crew Skill: Pilot Starfighter: Protoss Scout 5D; Starship Gunnery 5D; Communications 4D; Sensors 4D; Astrogation 5D.
Robot Brain: Scouts are fitted with competent robot brains that can pilot the vessel, fire weapons, run scans, and perform minor self-repairs if necessary. Pilot Starfighter: Protoss Scout 3D; Starship Gunnery 3D; Communications 3D; Sensors 4D; Mechanics: Protoss Scout 4D; Electronics: Protoss Scout 4D; Planetary Systems 6D; Astrogation 5D. Passengers: 0. Cargo Capacity: Small. Enough for a few emergency supplies, a weapon, a change of clothes, etc. Consumables: 2 years supply of simple organic supplement and nutrient recyling, for long-term scouting missions. Hyperdrive Multiplier: 1x Manueverability: 4D. Space Speed: 12. May be increased by 2 for each Gravitic Thrusters Upgrade. Atmosphere Speed: 450 kph / 1500 kph. May be increased by 10 m /round or 200 kph for each Gravitic Thrusters Upgrade. Hull Points: 75 / 57 / 38 / 20. Armor: 25. May be increased by 5 for each Air Armor Upgrade. Shields: 100. Communications: Secure global telepathic and electronic communications. Sensors: (incapable of detecting cloaked ships). May be enhanced with the Apial Sensors upgrade. • Passive: 7 / 0D • Scan: 15 / 1D • Search: 25 / 2D • Focus: 2 / 3D Weapons: • Twin Fire-Linked Photon Blasters (standard) • Fire Arc: Front. • Skill: Starship Gunnery • Fire Control: 1D. -4D vs. aerial targets. • Space Range: 1 / 2 / 3 • Atmosphere Range: 50 / 150 / 300 • Damage: 2D (8 D vs. Character Scale targets). • Fire-linked Anti-Matter Missiles (standard) • Fire Arc: Front. • Skill: Starship Gunnery. • Fire Control: 1D. -4D vs. ground targets. • Space Range: 5 / 12 / 20 • Atmosphere Range: 200 / 500/ 750 • Damage: 2D (8D vs. Character Scale targets). Resource Cost: 2 RP per Scout. Description: For generations, Scouts have only been used as manned deep-space explorers and to keep a protective eye over species within the Protoss sphere. But with the onslaught of the Zerg and Terrans, these powerful fighters are also serving as efficient combat tools. Protoss Scouts actually have no physical controls, but are controlled directly by the pilot's thoughts. The Scout pilot, wearing a special cybernetic helmet and flight suit, becomes one with his vessel. The bond is often stronger than simply a master using a tool, as the robot brain becomes more accostumed to a particular pilot's brainwaves, it may develop an affinity for him that approaches actual sentiment.
Light Transport Craft: Cargo / Passenger Transport. Scale: Starfighter (6D over Character). Length: @ 30 meters in diameter (varies with the design of the ship). Crew: Skeleton: 2 (1 pilot, 1 co-pilot/operations specialist); Standard: 4 (1 pilot, 1 co-pilot, 1 operations specialist, 1 engineer). Crew Skill: Pilot Starship: Freighter 4D: Communications 4D; Sensors 3D; Mechanics 4D; Electronics 4D; Planetary Systems 4D Robot Brain: Most freighters are fitted with robotic brains that can pilot the vessel, fire weapons, run scans, and perform minor self-repairs if necessary. Pilot Starship: Freighter 3D; Communications 3D; Sensors 4D; Mechanics: Freighter 3D; Electronics: Freighter 3D; Planetary Systems 4D; Astrogation 4D. Passengers: Cargo Vessels: 10 passengers and their belongings; Passenger Vessels: 30 passengers and their belongings. Cargo Capacity: Cargo Vessels: 1500 metric tons; Passenger Vessels: 500 metric tons. Consumables: 6 months Hyperdrive Multiplier: 2x Manueverability: 1D.
Space Speed: 5 Atmosphere Speed: 50 / 70. Hull Points: 70 / 53 / 35 / 18. Armor: 22. Shields: 50.. Communications: Secure long-range communications. Sensors: • Passive: 5 / 0D • Scan: 12 / 1D • Search: 20 / 2D • Focus: 1 / 3D Weapons: None. Description: Freighters come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. They typically stay far from the battlefield, since they lack weaponry, heavy armor or maneuverability.
Shuttle Role: Armored Transport Scale: Starfighter (6D over Character). Length: 30 meters long. Programmed Skills: Pilot: Freighter 6D; Communications 6D; Sensors 5D; Mechanics (Self-repair) 5D; Electronics (Self-repair) 5D. Passengers: Approximately 40 ground troops. Cargo Capacity: 200 metric tons. Approximately 4 units of ground troops (Reavers = 4 individuals).. Manueverability: 0D. Speed: Atmosphere: 50/70. Space: 4. Gravitic Drive Upgrades may increase the Atmospheric Speed by 10 and the Space Speed by 2 per upgrade. Hull Points: 70. Armor: 30. May be increased by 5 for each Air Armor Upgrade. Shields: 70. May be increased by 10 per Shields Upgrade. Communications: Secure electronic and psychic links. Sensors: • Passive: 7 / 1D • Scan: 15 / 2D • Search: 50 / 2D • Focus: 5 / 4D Weapons: None. Resource Cost: 1 RP per Shuttle. Description: Shuttles are robotic troop transports, pure and simple. The robot brain is fairly intelligent and capable of creative and independent thought in order to solve problems. The robot brain often develops a kind of maternal sense for the troops that it carries into battle. Regardless, shuttles will risk their well-being to transport troops to and from battle sites. Also, most Protoss shuttles do have the capacity to be piloted by a biological unit (some situations require a living pilot).
Corsair Role: Combat Support Freighter (Brood War Era only) Scale: Starfighter (6D over Character). Length: 30 meters long. Crew Skills: Pilot Starship: Corsair 5D; Communications 4D; Sensors 4D; Robot Brain: Pilot Starship: Corsair 4D; Mechanics (Self-repair) 5D; Electronics (Self-repair) 5D. Crew Size: Skeleton: 2; Standard: 4 Passengers: An additional 4 people may be accomodated for a short period. Cargo Capacity: 10 metric tons. . Manueverability: 1D. Speed: Atmosphere: 40/60. Space: 6. Gravitic Drive Upgrades may increase the Atmospheric Speed by 10 and the Space Speed by 2 per upgrade. Hull Points: 80 / 60 / 40 / 20 Armor: 25. May be increased by 5 for each Air Armor Upgrade. Shields: 100. May be increased by 10 per Shields Upgrade. Communications: Secure electronic and psychic links. Sensors: • Passive: 10 / 1D • Scan: 25 / 2D
• Search: 70 / 2D • Focus: 6 / 4D Weapons: • Neutron Flare-Disruption Web: Corsair pilots channel their Psi through neural emitters on the ship to project a white web of static at ground units (the attack will not work against air units, even in space). • Damage: 0D. Rather, the units within the web lose all weapons guidance capability and suffer -8D to any ranged attacks attempted. The effects last for 1D6 rounds per Web. Targeted units may make a Difficult (20) Electronics check each round in order to clear the static. • Area of Effect: the Web spreads over an area 50 m in diameter. • Skill: Starship Gunnery • Range: 10 / 100 / 300 / 600 • Neutron Blasters: Corsair pilots can also use the ship's emitters to fire charge bolts of psionic energy at other airborne vessels. this weapons is of extremely limited effect, and Corsair pilots usually leave dogfights up to other units. • Damage: 3D. • Skill: Starship Gunnery • Range: Atmosphere: 10 / 100 / 200 / 500. Space: 3 / 6 / 8 Resource Cost: 2 RP per Cosair. Description: Corsairs are one of the primary units of the Dark Templar fleet, developed to protect the Dark Templar carriers from ranged missile attacks. These vessels are a rare sight, only recently discovered by most Protoss with the return of the Dark Templar warriors. Their function and complete capabilities remain a mystery to most.
Arbiter Role: Judicator Heavy Freighter Scale: Starfighter (6D over Character). Length: 70 meters long. Crew Skills: Pilot Starship: Arbiter 5D; Starship Gunnery: Arbiter Weapons 5D; Communications 4D; Sensors 4D; Robot Brain: Pilot Starship: Arbiter 4D; Mechanics (Self-repair) 5D; Electronics (Self-repair) 5D. Crew Size: Skeleton: 4 (+5 Difficulty); Standard: 8 Passengers: An additional 20 people may be accomodated for a short period. Cargo Capacity: 10,000 metric tons. Manueverability: 0D. Speed: Atmosphere: 20/40. Space: 4. Hull Points: 120 / 90 / 60 / 30 Armor: 35. May be increased by 7 for each Air Armor Upgrade. Shields: 150. May be increased by 20 per Shields Upgrade. Communications: Secure electronic and psychic links. Sensors: • Passive: 30 / 2D • Scan: 65 / 3D • Search: 100 / 4D • Focus: 10 / 6D Weapons & Special Systems: • Cloaking Field (standard): All Arbiters are designed to permit the pilots to psionically bend space-time around them, creating a veritable cloaking field that shrouds all friendly units within 200 meters of the Arbiter. The Arbiter itself must remain visible however and cannot be cloaked by any power, even another Arbiter. • Stasis Warp: Arbiter gunners may also channel their psychic power to generate a space-time distortion field around one target. The warp actually locks the target in place for 1D6 rounds, during which time the unit cannot attack nor be attacked. The Stasis Warp may not be used on more than one target at a time. If a new target is fired upon, the former target is freed. • Range: Atmosphere: 10 / 100 / 200 / 300. Space: 2 / 5 / 7 • Recall: Some Arbiters can create small rips in space-time that serves as a small warpgate. Friendly units may pass through this gate and will appear on the ground below the Arbiter. This teleportation power only extends over 1000 kilometers at most. No more than 1 unit (equivalent to 10 Zealots or 5 Dragoons) may pass through the Recall gate per round. Resource Cost: 4 RP per Arbiter. Description: The Arbiters carry the stern Judicators onto the battlefield. Though they are slow ships, the Arbiters provide essential support to the Templar warriors. The arrival of an Arbiter can only emphasize the importance of a battle to the Protoss Conclave.
Carrier Role: Battle Cruiser and Command Ship Scale: Capital (12D over Character). Length: 200 meters long. Crew Skills: Pilot Starship: Carrier 5D; Communications 4D; Sensors 4D; Robot Brain: Pilot Starship: Carrier 4D; Mechanics (Self-repair) 5D; Electronics (Self-repair) 5D. Crew Size: Skeleton: 8 (+5 Difficulty); Standard: 25 Passengers: An additional 200 people may be accomodated for a short period. Cargo Capacity: 100,000 metric tons. . Manueverability: 0D. Speed: Atmosphere: 30/50. Space: 4. Hull Points: 280 / 210 / 140 / 70 Armor: 40. May be increased by 10 for each Air Armor Upgrade. Shields: 200. May be increased by 50 per Shields Upgrade. Communications: Secure electronic and psychic links. Sensors: • Passive: 100 / 3D • Scan: 200 / 3D • Search: 500 / 4D • Focus: 40 / 6D Weapons: Carriers have no weapons of their own, but carry a fleet of robotic Interceptors that can wipe out opposition targets. • Interceptors: Standard Carriers house up to 8 Interceptors within their bays. These small vessels wreak havoc on ground and air forces, doing substantial damage while generally avoiding being hit. • Type: Robotic Air Superiority Fighter • Scale: Starfighter. • Programmed Skills: Pilot Starship 6D; Starship Gunnery 6D; Search/Scan: 6D; Tactics: Interceptors 5D. • Manueveribility: 5D. • Speed: Atmosphere: 70 / 100. Space: 12. • Hull Points: 40 / 30 / 20 / 10 • Armor: 20. May be increased by 3 per Air Armor Upgrade. • Shields: 30. May be increased by 10 per Shields Upgrade. • Communications: Secure psionic-electronic link with each other and the command ship. • Sensors: Visual scanning only. • Weapons: • Twin-Linked Disrupter Cannons: • Damage: 4D • Scale: Starfighter • Range: Atmosphere: 30 / 60 / 90. Space: 4 / 6 / 10 • Resource Cost: 1 RP per 4 Interceptors. They must be produced in a Carrier, and a standard Carrier cannot control more than 8 Interceptors at one time. Carriers may be upgraded with 2 more Interceptor Bays per Carrier Capacity upgrade. Resource Cost: 6 RP per Carrier. Description: The mighty Carrier warships are often the last Protoss starship to be seen in battle, if only because of their great importance and expense. But when they do come lumbering over the horizon, allies take heart and enemies do well to take pause. While the Carriers themselves do not support weaponry, the tiny Interceptor fighters they house can devastate enemy fleets.
Robots The Protoss make extensive use of robots to perform a wide variety of functions, including resource extraction, construction, and personnel transport. Robot brains come in a equally large variety of intelligence and autonomy ratings, depending on the robot's programming and required function. Finally, most robots have special equipment which allows them to take orders directly via mental transmissions from a Protoss controller.
Probe Role: Resource gatherer, worker. STR= 4D: Lifting 6D.
DEX= 3D: Dodge 4D; Firearms: Particle Beam 4D; Flying 4D CON= 5D: Endurance 8D. KNO= 2D: Value: Natural Resources 5D; Engineering: 4D INS= 1D+2: Search: Resources 5D PRE= 1D PSI=0D HP= 35 Scale: Character Length: 2 m ("wingspan") Height: 1m Damage: • Particle Beams: Probes primarily use their particle beam emitters for mining and construction work. However, they may be used as short-range defensive weapons as well. • Damage: 3D+2. May be increased 1D for each Ground Weapons Upgrade. • Scale: Character. • Range: 1/ 3/ 7/ 10 • Drilling Effect: the probe may focus its beam on a piece of armor or other hard substance and reduce the Armor Value by 2 for each round, regardless of whether the beam pierces the armor. Armor: 10. May be increased by 4 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shields: 20. May be increased by 10 for each Shields Upgrade. Movement: 15 m hovering/flying. Flight ceiling = @ 10 meters. Resource Cost: 1 RP produces 4 Probes. Probes are semi-autonomous robots that service that perform basic services for the Protoss. They do everything from extract resources to clean house. While they are usually relatively mindless, those that have been in service for a long time will develop personality quirks and have been shown to accumulate a surprising range of knowledge. Among its many tools, a Probe may manufacture and plant small beacons that permit the Protoss to teleport prefabricated buildings from their Homeworld to the site. Thus, Probes rarely need to engage in actual construction of buildings. They only need to plant the beacon and get out of the way.
Reaver Role: Mobile Artillery Unit Scale: Heavy Vehicle (4D over Character). Length: 12 meters long. Programmed Skills: Tank Ops: Reaver 6D; Sensors 5D; Communications 5D. Passengers: 0D. Some Reavers may be heavily modified to house a few passengers. Cargo Capacity: 10 tons, primarily materials to construct and arm Scarabs (see below). Manueverability: 0D. Speed: 15/30 (round). Hull Points: 100 / 75 / 50 / 25. Armor: 25. May be increased by 8 for each Ground Armor Upgrade. Shields: 70 Communications: Secure satellite communications. Sensors: Short Range Radar; External Optics. Weapons: • Scarab Launcher: Reavers may manufacture and launch small drones which fly at enemy targets and explode upon impact. • Damage: 9D. May be upgraded 1D+1 for each Ground Weapons Upgrade. • Area of Effect: Does full damage to all targets with 3 m. -2D damage for each addtional 5m from point of impact. • Control: The Scarabs are self-guided and hit with 6D accuracy. Scarabs that miss their targets will explode as near to the target as possible to cause at least some damage. • Range: 5 / 25 / 50 / 100 • Ammunition: 10 Scarabs. 3 more Scarabs may be produced and carried for each Increase Capacity Upgrade. Resource Cost: 2 RP per Reaver. Description: Reavers are large, buglike robots that provide heavy weapon support for Protoss troops. The robot brain itself is relatively simple, responding to the direct orders of a battlefield general. The Reaver may be set to a "search and destroy" mode, in which it will simply attack the nearest enemy units, but under this strategy, the Reaver will quickly run out of Scarabs.
Observer Role: Robotic Scouting Probe
Scale: Character Length: 1.8 meters long. Programmed Skills: • STR= 2D • DEX= 4D: Flying 6D; Dodge 5D. • CON=2D • KNO=3D: Communications 6D; Sensors 6D; Mechanics (Self-repair) 5D; Electronics (Self-repair) 5D; Languages 5D; Planetary Systems 4D; Navigation: Space 5D. • INS=1D: Stealth 6D; Search (see Sensors). • PRE=1D: Cargo Capacity: roughly 10 kg for collected samples. Manueverability: 2D. Speed: Atmosphere: 70/100. Space: 6. Gravitic Booster Upgrades may increase the Atmospheric Speed by 10 and the Space Speed by 2 per upgrade. Hyperspace Modifier: 4x Hull Points: 25 / 19 / 13 / 7. Armor: 10. May be increased by 5 for each Air Armor Upgrade. Shields: 25. May be increased by 10 per Shields Upgrade. Communications: Secure electronic and psychic links. Sensors: Detects cloaked vessels as if they were not cloaked. Sensor range may be increased by 2 units for and resolution by 1D for each Sensor Array Upgrade. • Passive: 7 / 2D • Scan: 15 / 3D • Search: 50 / 4D • Focus: 5 / 5D Cloaking Device: Observers may automatically cloak themselves in battle situations. The delicate micro-cloaking device will not work if weapons or other major modifications are added to the Observer. Weapons: None. Resource Cost: 2 Observers per RP. Description: Observers are the primary eyes and ears of the Protoss in the far reaches of space and, with more frequeny, on the battlefield. Because of their micro-cloaking devices, Observers easily sneak behind enemy lines and gather intelligence. Because of their primary mission, these little robots can be quite inventive, curious, and quirky. Those in operation for long periods of time develop significant senses of self and autonomy.
THE ZERG ZERG HISTORY After the Xel’Naga failed in their experiments to make the Protoss into the pinnacle of genetic evolution, they abandon their first born and travelled the galaxy for thousands of light-years. Finally, they discovered the planet of Zerus and took an interest in a small, semi-parasitic lifeform they called the Zerg. Though little more than a worm, the Zerg managed to survive in the hostile atmosphere by burrowing into host creatures and using them to feed, mate and alter their local conditions. Each time the Zerg assimilated a new species, it added that species genetic substrate to the Zerg’s own, growing code. Overtime, the Zerg began to choose only the most advanced genes, discarding the others. Eventually, the Zerg managed to assimilate and infect every species on its own planet that it deemed worthy and to eradicate all other life lest it pollute the Zerg genome. The Xel’Naga witnessed how the Zerg managed to drive the evolutionary development of the species it infected. Within a few generations, highly disparate species came to resemble one another: all developed variations of the Zerg common features: carapace, spines, claws and fangs.
Hoping to control the Zerg development, and avoid the factionalism that led the Protoss to apparent ruin, the Xel’Naga created a single sentience that would serve as the Zerg’s collective consciousness. This entity, the Overmind, was capable of instantaneously communicating with and controlling any of the Zerg breeds anywhere on the planet. Soon, the Overmind became self-aware and conscious of its Xel’Naga masters. The Overmind quickly developed a hierarchy to manage the growing swarm of beasts over which it ruled. It began to develop new, completely unique Zerg breeds, and produced the Cerebrates--semi-autonomous “lobes” that carries out specified functions for the species. While these Cerebrates had unique personalities and functions, they remained unquestioningly enslaved to the Overmind’s will. The Overmind developed an entire hive structure, complete with Queens, Overlords, warriors and drones. It linked all its kindred through a tele-empathic link and fed them all on a genetically engineered bio-matter known as the Creep. The Overmind was single-mindedly concerned with pushing the Zerg swarm to further evolve into the apex of natural perfection. To do so, it realized it would have to leave Zerus and journey the stars. Working in secret from its Xel’Naga observers, the Overmind managed to attract a space-faring race of behemoths to the planet’s surface. It quickly assimilated the species and with it, the ability to travel the stars. The Overmind soon launched its children into the stars, directly at its Xel’Naga masters. The Zerg swarm overran the Xel-Naga world ships, destroying them and assimilating the parent race. Soon, nothing was left of the ancient race except space debris and a few units of its genetic code, stored in the growing Zerg genome. When it assimilated the Xel’Naga, the Overmind learned much of the galaxy and of the Xel’Naga’s first child-race, the Protoss. Overcome with a desire to reunite with, and assimlate, the Protoss, the Overmind launched the Zerg into space. For decades, it travelled from system to system, assimilating worthy species and devouring all others. The Overmind came to realize that its substantial genetic bank had no provision for countering the Protoss’ psionic prowress. So, it sought to assimilate another psionically talented species. Finally, it found a rather unpromising, young species that, by chance, happened to have some small psionic potential that might be captured and improved upon by the Zerg mastery. And so, the Overmind set it sights, and loosed its children, upon the planets of men.
THE BROODS Though a unified whole, the Zerg may be subdivided into different groups, referred to as Broods, that act under the authority of the various Cerebrates. Each Brood has particular functions and characteristics best suited to execute its duties. Though little is known of the Broods and their Cerebrates, Terran explorers have managed to learn a little. They have named each Brood after mythological beasts from Earth’s history.
The Command Wing Tiamat Cerebrate: Daggoth Estimated Size: 6.5 million Primary Directive: Command Fleet Brood Color: Red Tiamat is actually a massive living fleet of Zerg carrier-breeds, warriors, and functionaries. Rumor has it that the Overmind travels in the heart of the fleet’s biomass. Daggoth is a master of space tactics and only rarely deploys his swarm to a planet’s surface. As the overlord for the largest Brood, Daggoth’s authority is practically limitless, save for that of the Overmind. He is strong-willed and autonomous, often forming his own opinions as to what is best for the Zerg, and willing to prod other Cerebrates into joining with his opinion.
Fenris Cerebrate: Nargil Est. Size: 5500 Primary Directive: Hunter Swarm Brood Color: Green Despite its small size, the Fenris Brood serves a vital function for the Zerg. It is charged with scouting for new species to assimilate. Its honed tracking skills are also used to track down (and exterminate) abberant Zerg dissedents and other escaped enemies of the Swarm. Quick, clever, and brutal, the hounds of Fenris have chased many a foe until it simply died of exhaustion and fear.
Baelrog Cerebrate: Gorn Est. Size: 6000 Primary Directive: Terror Squad Brood Color: White The Baelrog Brood manages to make even other Zerg uncomfortable. Known for not only their savage battle tactics, but their voracious cannibalism, the Baelrog are bred and trained to attack without hesitation, mercy or selfconsideration. Foes have been known to flee at the first sign of the pale white carapaces of the Baelrog Zergling charge.
Primary Strikeforce Garm Cerebrate: Zasz Est. Size: 10,000 Primary Directive: Primary Assault Force Brood Color: Orange Led by Zasz, the Zerg’s greatest terrestrial tactician, the Garm are often the first to engage an enemy species. Favoring hit-and-run raids, stealth operations, and acts of sabotage, Zasz delights in befuddling his enemies even as he brings down the killing stroke. Zasz’s cleverness exceeds his battlefield role, however. He is inexplicably driven to learn all he can of his siblingCerebrates, claiming it is to advance the Swarm’s efficiency. But Zasz often comes across as obsequious, and some of the Cerebrates distrust him.
Jormungand Cerebrate: Araq Est. Size: 3 million Primary Directive: Primary Support Force Brood Color: Purple The Jormungand overwhelm opponants with its seemingly endless supply of warriors. Producing new Zerglings even in the midst of a pitched battle, Araq’s forces leave few survivors. It is from the Jormungand that the other Broods recruit most of their elite warriors.
Surtur Cerebrate: Kagg Est. Size: 2.6 million Primary Directive: Heavy Support Force Brood Color: Blue Where the Jormungand kill all enemies before them, the Surtur eradicate all forms of life. Once-green fields are transformed into smoking, ashen wastelands. The Surtur strains have been bred for a ferocity matched only by the Baelrog and share that Brood’s cannibalistic tendancies. Kagg’s forces dwell deep within the Tiamat Fleet, likely near the Cerebrate, and released only in the most crucial situations.
THE BREEDS Below is a list of the main Zerg breeds encountered by enemies and victims of the Swarm. There are doubtless other breeds, both mutated species assimilated into the Zerg genome and original Zerg strains.
Larva Genus: Original Zerg Strain STR= 1D: DEX= 1D: CON= 4D: Resistance 5D. KNO= 1D: INS= 2D: PRE= 1D HP= 32 (Eggs have HP = 40). Scale: Character Length: 2 m Height: 1m Damage: None. Larva have no attacks and will only attempt to flee combat. Armor: 6 (Eggs have an armor of 20). Can be increased by 4 per Ground Carapace Evolution. Movement: 5 m Larva are spawned by Zerg Hives and carry within them the entire Zerg genetic code. At a command of the Overmind, they may pupate into an egg stage, and then transform themselves into any Zerg breed as along as the local conditions are right (there are adequate resources to nourish the pupating larva, etc.). By themselves, Larva show little intelligence and no free will. They rarely travel more than a few meters from the edge of the hatchery that spawned them.
Drone Genus: Gashyrr Wasp STR= 5D: Digging (Burrowing): 8D DEX= 1D+1: Brawling (Attack with front spines) 2D+2; Running 4D. CON= 5D: Endurance 6D. KNO= 1D:
INS= 1D+2: Search: Natural Resources: 6D. PRE= 1D HP= 25 Scale: Character. Length: 3 m. Height: 1.8 m. Damage: • Spines: Drones may spines a short distance at attackers. • Damage: 5D. May be augmented 1D per Missile Attacks Evolution. • Range: 2 / 5 / 10 / 15 • Chewing: Drones may chew at armor and reduce its strength even if they cannot pierce it. For each round the Drone chews on a piece of armor, reduce its Armor Value by one. Armor: 10. May be augmented by 5 per Ground Carapace Evolution. Movement: 15 m / round. Drones are the worker-breed of the Zerg. Primarily, Drones mine and transport resources and nourishment to the Hatcheries, from which they are funneled through the Creep to feed other Zerg. Like Larva, Drones carry an expansive, yet usually unexpressed genetic code. At the command of the Overmind or one of its Overlords, the Drone can lodge itself in the Creep and create a new Zerg structure. They are entirely necessary for the establishment of new colonies. Drones show some signs of independent intelligence, necessary to problem solve when extracting resources or choosing the best place to pupate into a new structure. Drones are excellent diggers and can burrow themselves deeply into the ground within 1 round (more for harder soils). They often burrow to avoid detection or attacks.
Overlord Genus: Gargantis Proximae STR= 10D: Lifting 14D. DEX= 1D+1: Flying 3D. CON= 10D: KNO= 2D+2: Tactics 4D. INS= 4D: Search 5D. PRE= 1D: Command 4D HP= 90 Scale: Starfighter Length: 30 m Height: 10 m Damage: None. Armor: 30. May be increased by 5 for each Flyer Carapace Evolution. Movement: 15 m / round (flying) in atmosphere. Space = 4. Incapable of hyperspace travel. Some may be Evolved for greater speeds (+10 m Atmosphere, + 2 Space for each Pneumatized Carapce Evolution). Cargo: None. Through the Ventral Sacs Evolution, the Overlord can be altered to carry up to 2 units (40 Zerglings, 20 Hydralisks, 10 Ultralisks) in special growths under its belly. (This is roughly equal to 100 metric tons of space). Communication: Limited Telepathy: Range = @ 1000 km. Overlords serve as local proxies for the Overmind and the Cerebrates, giving commands to larva and overseeing the functions of a Creep colony. They also serve as field commanders for Zerg units in battles, hovering behind the front lines and directing the Zerg onslaught. Some more evolved Overlords are actually capable of picking up Zerg field units and carrying them into battle, much as the Terran Dropship does. Overlords are equally comfortable within atmospheres or in space. Finally all Overlords have such finely tuned innate senses, they cannot be fooled by cloaking vessels. When one is detected, the Overlord will telepathically communicate its location to all nearby Zerg units.
Zergling Genus: ZZ'gashi Dune-runners. STR= 4D: Jumping 7D; Digging 7D. DEX= 5D: Brawling: 6D; Running 7D; Dodge 6D. Zergling Dexterity may be increased 1D per Metabolic Boost Evolution. CON= 5D: Endurance 7D; Resistance 6D. KNO= 1D+1: Tactics: Small unit (Zergling swarm): 4D. INS= 4D: Search 5D; Stealth 5D. PRE= 1D: HP= 25 Scale: Character Length: 2.4 m
Height: 1.8 m Damage: Because of their high Dexterity, many Zerglings will attack 2 times or more in a combat round. • Fangs: 5D. May be augmented by 1D per Melee Attack Evolution. • Sickle-claws: 7D. May be augmented by 1D per Melee Attack Evolution. • Quick Damage: 4D+9 Armor: 10. May be increased by 5 for each Ground Carapace Evolution. Movement: 20 m. Movement may be increased by 5m/round with Metabolic Boost Evolutions. The Zerglings make up the primary ground-based military and scouting force for the Hives. They have an extremely simple genetic code and are little more than wild beasts with a few genetic enhancements. Some Zerglings show unusual intelligence and independence, however these individuals are usually quickly detected by the Overlords, reported to the Overmind and then thoroughly dissected in an attempt to capture their genetic superiority. Zerglings prefer to move in packs, much like Terran wolves. They show a wide range of social behavior, including dominance displays, play and territoriality. They rarely attack alone and the sighting of one Zergling is a good indication that a much stronger force awaits just around the corner. Finally, some more evolved Zerglings are excellent diggers and may burrow themselves into the ground within one round to avoid detection or attacks.
Hydralisk Genus: Slothien. STR= 6D: Digging 7D. DEX= 3D: Throw (Project Spines): 5D; Brawling: 4D; Running 5D; Dodge 4D. CON= 6D: Endurance 7D KNO= 3D: Tactics 4D. INS= 3D: Search 4D; Stealth 4D. PRE= 1D: HP= 50 Scale: Passenger Vehicle (2D over Character). Length: 5 m Height: 3 m Damage: • Sickle-claws: 5D. • Projectile Spines: • Damage: 7D. May be augmented 1D per Missile Attacks Evolution. • Quick Damage: 4D+9 • Range: 1-5 (Point Blank) / 15 (Short) / 30 (Med) / 60 (Long). Range may be extended by an additional 10 meters per Grooved Spine Evolution. Armor: 23. May be increased by 7 for each Ground Carapace Evolution. Movement: 15 m. Movement may be increased by 5m/round with Muscular Augments Evolutions. Once a peaceful herbivore on the planet Slothien, the Hydralisk has been manipulated by the Zerg to become one of its more fearsome warriors. Highly intelligent and terrible to behold, the Hydralisk razes creatures and structures alike with its armor-piercing spines and claws. Many more evolved Hydralisks have learned how to quickly burrow themselves into the ground (within 1 round) to avoid detection and attacks from enemies. When submerged, the Hydralisk may make Instincts rolls to detect nearby enemies, choosing just the right moment to spring from the ground and ambush them.
Ultralisk Genus: Brontolith STR= 8D: DEX= 3D: Brawling: 6D; Running 4D CON= 8D: Endurance 9D; Resistance 9D. KNO= 1D+1: INS= 4D: Search 5D; Stealth 5D. PRE= 1D: HP= 300 Scale: Heavy Vehicle. Length: 3.5 m Height: 5.2 m Damage: • Bone Scythes: • Damage: 12D. May be increased 1D for each Melee Attacks Evolution. • Quick Damage: 4D+24 Armor: 30. Armor may be improved by 5 points for each Ground Carapace Evolution the Ultralisk undertakes. Movement: 7 m.
Ultralisks were derived from a massive, but peaceful, animal eons ago. Now, these lumbering beasts serve as the heavy-armor corps for the Swarm. With their thick armor and humongous scythes, they withstand huge amounts of punishment and lay waste to their enemies. They are still fairly stupid and must usually be controlled by an Overlord.
Mutalisk Genus: Mantis Screamer STR= 5D: DEX= 5D: Flying 7D; Throw (Propel Symbiote): 5D; Brawling: 6D; Dodge 5D+1 CON= 8D: Endurance 7D; Resistance 6D. KNO= 2D: Tactics: Small unit (Mutalisk squad): 4D. INS= 4D: Search 5D; Stealth 5D. PRE= 1D: HP= 90 Scale: Starfighter. Length: 10 m (nose to tail). Height: 2-3 m thick. Damage: • Glave Wurm: Mutalisks may propel a symbiotic worm that lives within it at enemy forces. The worm is incredibly hard and covered with armor-piercing edges. • Damage: 9D. May be increased 1D for each Flyer Attacks Evolution. • Quick Damage: 4D+15 • Range: Atmosphere: 5 (Point Blank) / 25 (Short) / 50 (Medium) / 100 (long). Space: 2 / 4 / 6 • Fire Control: 0D (Use Throwing skill above). Wurms may be launched at ground and aerial units alike. Armor: 20. Armor may be improved by 5 points for each Evolution the Mutalisk undertakes. Movement: Atmosphere: 40; Space: 6. Mutalisks are the huge, winged nightmares that make up the Zerg's primary air force. These screaming, clawed terrors may project a symbiotic lifeform they culture within their gut. This worm shoots forward towards the enemy, exploding on impact and sending the symbiote's armor-piercing spines in all directions. Mutalisks work well in small groups, much as a Terran squad of fighter pilots would. Mutalisks also function as well in space as in an atmosphere and have no apparent need to breathe or feed upon the Creep. Some Mutalisks are chosen by the Overmind to undergo a transformation into a massive Guardian (see below).
Guardian Genus: Evolved Mutalisk STR= 8D: DEX= 2D: Missile Weapons: Spitting (5D) CON= 8D: Endurance 7D; Resistance 6D. KNO= 1D+1: Tactics: Small unit (Zergling swarm): 4D. INS= 2D: Search 3D. PRE= 1D: HP= 110 Scale: Starfighter. Length: 8.5 m Height: 5.5 m Damage: • Acidic Spittle: Guardians can hurl large gobs of acidic mucuous down upon enemy units. • Damage: 9D first round. Reduce damage 1D each following round. Regardless of whether the acid pierces armor, it will reduce its Armor Value by 3 for each round of exposure. Damage may be increased by 1D for each Flyer Attacks Evolution the Guardian undergoes. • Quick Damage: 4D+15 first round. Reduce by 3 for each round thereafter. • Splashing Effect: The gobs spray out upon impact, doing -1D damage for each 3 meters from the impact site • Range: 1-10 (Point Blank) / 40 (Short) / 80 (Medium) / 160 (Long). • Fire Control: 0D (Use Spitting skill above). The gobs of spittle are not very aerodynamic and are useless against other airborne units. Armor: 30. Armor may be improved by 5 points for each Flyer Carapace Evolution the Guardian undertakes. Movement: Atmosphere: 35. Space: 4. Guardians are an evolved form of the Mutalisk, developed by the Zerg to counter ground troops from the air. It's heavy armor lets it withstand more damage than its predecessor, but it is slowere and less versatile. Guardians appear to be less intelligent than Mutalisks as well, but this may be due to their larger, slower bulk.
Scourge Genus: Unknown. STR= 2D+2: DEX= 6D: Dodge 8D; Flying 7D CON= 2D: . KNO= 1D: INS= 3D: Search 5D; Stealth 4D. PRE= 1D: HP= 30 Scale: Character Length: 1.5 m Height: 1 m Damage: • Biogenic Bomb: catalytic chemicals within the Scourge cause it to explode forcefully when it impacts with an enemy unit. • Damage: 14D • Quick Damage: 4D+30. • Explosive Range: Reduce damage by 2D for every 5 meters from the site of impact. Armor: 8. May be increased by 4 per Flyer Carapace Evolution. Movement: Atmosphere 45 m. Space = 6 Scourge are relatively small, bat-like creatures that hone in on enemy starships and collide with their hull. Upon impact, the Scourge explodes, destroying itself and dealing harsh damage to the enemy. For some reason, the Scourge will only lock in on flying targets, though the Overmind is experimenting with genetic combinations to render the Scourage more versatile against ground forces. As you might expect from a mindless kamikaze beastie, Scourges are neither very intelligent nor independent. They obey the will of their Overlord without question or hesitation, sending themselves headlong into battle.
Queen Genus: Arachnis Brood-Keeper. STR= 7D: DEX= 3D: CON= 9D: . KNO= 5D: INS= 4D: Search 5D; Stealth 4D. PRE= 4D: HP= 90 Scale: Heavy Vehicle Length: 10 m Height: 10 m Damage: • Parasite: the Queen may release a tiny, insect-like parasite that will attach itself to an enemy unit and transmit all the unit sees back to the Queen. The Parasite can only be detected by a close inspection of the infected unit (Moderate Difficulty). It may only be removed with a Moderate Medicine: Surgery attempt or by killing the host. A failed surgery attempt will also kill the host. Recently, Terran physicians have developed a nano-technological antibody to destroy the parasite, but it is not yet commonly available (First Aid Difficulty 10 to apply). • Production Rate: the Queen may produce 1 Parasite per 10 minute period. She may not create another until the first is released. This rate may be halved with the Gamete Meisosis Evolution. • Parasite Lifecycle: the Parasite must attach to a host within 5 minutes of its release, or it will die. It cannot transmit images to the Queen until it has attached to a host. • Spawn Boodlings (Spawn Broodling Evolution required): some Queens may also spray enemy units with spores that implant themselves into animal tissue and metamorphose into a pair of ravenous Broodlings, dealing 7D damage (no armor protection permitted) to the host upon birth (the Broodlings will usually attack the host if it is still living when they are born). The Broodlings may be evolved through the Flyer Attacks Evolution to deal 1D more damage to the birth host per Evolution. Broodling spores only remain viable for 2D6 rounds once released. • Range: 3 / 10 / 25 / 40. Strong winds may reduce the range of the spores. • Armor Eating: The spores will quickly eat through any inorganic material they come into contact with in order to get to living tissue. They will reduce the Armor Value of a target by 4 per round for 2D6 rounds. This value may be increased by 1 for each Flyer Attacks Evolution the Queen
undergoes. If the spores pierce the armor, they will infest the target. If they fail to find living tissue within that time, they will die and become inert. • Production Rate: the Queen may release the Spores no more than once every other round. • The spores will hatch within any animal tissue, including Zerg if they happen to attach to one. • Ensnare: some Queens may eject an extremely viscous spraw of mucous that will hinder the movements of the strongest of ground units. All movement rates of trapped units will be reduced by 10 m (no faster speed is possible) for 2D6 rounds. The Queen's web will ensnare friend and foe alike. The web's viscosity may be increased with the Flyer Attacks Evolution, further reducing the target's movement by 5 m per Evolution. • Range: 4 / 10 / 30 / 60 • Infestation: some Queens have become intimately familiar with Terran technology and have learned how to infest it with Zerg spores. In doing so, the Queen turns the structure to the Zerg, infecting an humans within it. These hapless victims are turned into mindless servants of the Swarm. Armor: 30. May be increased by 6 per Flyer Carapace Evolution. Movement: Atmosphere 30 m. Space = 5 Queens are a special breed designed by the Overmind to manage the complex functions of a large Hive. Though they do not lay eggs, they can spawn Broodlings. Queens are highly intelligent and show a viciously protective nature against any who would attack the Swarm under her care. Like Overlords, they follow the Cerebrates and the Overmind without question.
Cerebrate Genus: Unique Zerg strain. Agent of the Overmind STR= NA DEX= NA CON= 13D. KNO= 8D: Tactics 9D; Sciences 10D; Sciences: Genetic Engineering 13D. INS= 6D: PRE= 6D: Command 10D. HP= 120 Scale: Starfighter to Capital Length: 10 m (rough approximation, of the "brain core" of the Cerebrate. Cerebrates are usually incorporated into a larger bio-ship or structure). Height: 10 m (as above) Damage: None. Cerebrates direct minions to do their bidding and are usually protected by a multitude of the most elite of the Swarm. Armor: 40. It is possible that the Cerebrate "brain" itself is not armored at all, but it will always be within a heavily armored shell. Movement: NA The Cerebrates were created early by the Overmind to perform special functions for the Swarm. Each Cerebrate exists for a particular purpose (to "defend the Hive", "explore for new species", "wipe out a new species", etc.) Cerebrates have a high degree of indepedence and may establish bases and even carrry on military campaigns with little oversight by the Overmind. However, ultimately, all Cerebrates are genetically incapable of acting against the Overmind. Yet, with time, each Cerebrate's degree of autonomy and self-awareness is going. It is conceivable that some may develop different views of what is best for the Swarm and which path to take to genetic supremacy. If such disharmony were to take seed within the Zerg, the results would be highly unpredicatable and undoubtedly bloody.
The Overmind Genus: Unified sentience of the Zerg STR= NA DEX= NA CON= 20D. KNO= 13D: Tactics 15D; Sciences 17D; Sciences: Genetic Engineering 20D. INS= 9D: PRE= 10D: Command 15D. HP= 200 Scale: Capital Length: NA. The Overmind is housed within a massive bio-ship and exists in no single place. Damage: None. The Overmind itself has no physical means of attack. However, all Zerg are under its immediate and total control. It is protected by the very best strains of the Zerg breeds. Armor: 50. Movement: NA The Overmind was originally created by the Xel'Naga to serve as a semi-sentient collective consciousness of the
Zerg. Little did the Xel'Naga know how quickly the Overmind would expand its own self awareness and powers. Within only a few years, the Overmind became highly intelligent and ruthlessly autonomous. It soon developed the Cerebrates, assimilated all life on Zerus, and connived to incorpoescape its planetary cage to expand into the stars. The Overmind turned its voracious horde on its Xel'Naga creators, destroying their world-ships and assimilating all their knowledge of genetic engineering and other star-faring races. With that, the Overmind turned its attention to expanding throughout the galaxy and seeking out the its sibling race, the Protoss, for a final communion through their assimilation. The Overmind is single-mindedly dedicated to increasing the genetic perfection of the Zerg. It has only noticed the humans because of their latent psionic potential and sees little other value in their meager genetic codes. The Overmind's actions have increased the Swarm to millions of individual creatures, all of whom follow it without question. Yet, there is some question as to whether it will be able to maintain control over all the Zerg spread throughout the galaxy as the Swarm continues to grow. Of course, any genetic and behavioral abberations that might lead to too much autonomy among its servants will be met with swift annihilation. After the Battle of Aiur (Broodwar Era): The Protoss hero Tassadar sacrificed himself to kill the Zerg Overmind Battle of Aiur, the Protoss homeworld. This left many Zerg without direction, turning only into mindless beasts bent on slaying all other life. The power vaccuum appears to have been filled somewhat by the more autonomous Cerebrates, Queens and Overlords. It also appears that a former-Terran Ghost who was infected by the Swarm, known once as Sarah Kerrigan, has taken control of the Zerg as their new Empress. Whether her control will be total, however, remains to be seen.
THE ZERG: Structures & Upgrades All Zerg structures are actually living entities created from the complex Zerg genome. They serve as the biological organs of the Swarm, responsible for feeding, birthing, and evolving the Zerg breeds. Zerg structures (with few exceptions) must be built upon a thick mat of bio-matter known as the Creep, which feeds the new structures and intimately links them to the will of the Overmind or its local commanders. Finally, as living things, the structures can heal themselves over time. Zerg upgrades may also be called Evolutions. Like those of other species, they depend upon the availability of certain structures, units and resources. Once an Evolution has been completed, it will affect all existing units and any new units of the same type produced by the same colony. Because each Zerg colony has a very minor genetic variation from all others, the Zerg born in another colony will be unaffected by the advancement.
Hatchery Type: Primary Larva Spawning Grounds / Resource Metabolizer Body Points: 1000 Armor: 40 Regeneration Rate: 5 pts / round. Facilities: • Larval Spawning: the Hatchery synthesizes large eggs that hatch into Zerg Larva. • Egg Fields: when ordered to pupate into another Zerg breed, the Larva enter a new egg stage to pupate. These eggs are secured around the Hatchery, where they can be feed by the Hatchery and better guarded. • Digestive System: the Hatchery also metabolizes natural resources brought to it and then disperses those nutrients through the Creep to where they are needed within the colony. • Limited Genetic Code: by themselves, Hatcheries produce Larva capable of mutating into only the most basic of Zerg strains: Drones and Overlords. Additional structures are needed for the proper genetic manipulation required for more advanced breeds. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: • Burrowing: through the Hatchery, the Overmind may teach its children how to bury themselves in any substrate to better ambush prey.. • Effect: all Zerg able to Burrow may bury themselves in one melee round. Difficulty is generally Very Easy (5), but may be modified for particularly hard substrates. • Cost: 3 RP. Like all Zerg structures, the Hatchery is a living entity. It's internal walls are bulbous and slime covered, with the steam of its breath clouding the inner passageways through its bowels. Though it does not need the Creep to survive
(it builds its own), it is intimately connected to the living essence of the Zerg community and serves as the primary birthing grounds and feeding mechanism for a colony. Until higher order breeds come to command the colony, the Hatchery is the central "command" structure for the Overmind's presence or proxy.
Lair Type: Advanced Hatchery Body Points: 1500 Armor: 45 Regeneration Rate: 10 pts / round. Facilities: • Extended Genetic Expression: Lairs provide greater access to the Zerg genetic code, permitting Drones and Larva to mutate into more advanced Zerg breeds and structures. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: • Overlord Ventral Sacs: the Overmind may choose to mutate its Overlords to have tough ventral sacs in which the beast may carry troops or cargo. • Effect: Overlords may carry up to 2 units of ground troops. • Cost: 1 RP. • Overlord Antennae: Overlords may be manipulated to grow strong, sensitive antennae that expand its sensory range. • Effect: Increases all sensor ranges by 2 units and adds 1D to the Overlord's Sensors skill per Evolution. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. • Pneumatized Carapace: Overlords may be treated to carry pockets of Vespene gas under their carapace, increasing their buoyancy and overall speed.. • Effect: Increases Overlord Atmospheric Speed by 10 m and Space Speed by 2 units per Evolution. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. The Lair is simply a Hatchery that the Overmind has chosen to invest more resources and genetic stock in. For that, the Lair provides greater access to the genetic machinery of the Zerg, permitting the construction of more advanced structures and breeds for a new colony.
Hive Type: Advanced Hatchery Body Points: 2200 Armor: 45 Regeneration Rate: 10 pts / round. Facilities: • Full Genetic Expression: Hives have access to nearly the entire Zerg genome. However, other structures must still be built to properly mutate lower breeds into more advanced Zerg forms. Upgrades: None. The Hive is the pinnacle of Hatchery evolution, providing a colony with the broadest possible range of Zerg genetic stock from which to build the most advanced structures and breeds.
Extractor Type: Vespene Mining Tendril Body Points: 150 Armor: 25 Regeneration Rate: 2 pts / round. Facilities: • Vespene Extraction Organs: Extractors sit atop Vespene geysers and catch the emitted gasses in small sacs that are carried by Drones to the Hatcheries. Upgrades: None. Extractors are an essential element of all Zerg colonies, providing the rich Vespene gasses needed by the Overmind to expand the colony and produce more advanced Zerg breeds.
Creep Colony Type: Creep Production Organ Body Points: 100 Armor: 30 Regeneration Rate: 2 pts / round. Facilities:
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Creep Glands: the Creep Colony absorbs nutrients from local resources and transforms them into the biomatter of the Creep. It exudes Creep in concentric circles from its base for up to 500 m. This is a fairly odiferous and noisy process, not unlike a massive stomach at work. • Creep Sensory Link: Creep Colonies not only extend and feed the Creep, but they sense the presence of any animal or object that touches the Creep and transmits that knowledge back to the Zerg colony. As such, they are excellent early detection units. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: the Colony does not upgrade other units, but it may itself be mutated into more useful forms. These new forms will continue all the functions of the basic Creep Colony, but provide the Zerg with greater defense. • Spore Colony: once established, the Creep Colony may be evolved into a sensitive detection and anti-air unit weapon. • Sensor Growth: Automatically detects cloaked units as if they were not cloaked. Gains the following Sensors, which it uses at 6D: • Passive: 3000 m / 3 Space • Scan: 10 km / 10 Space • Search: 25 km / 25 Space • Focus: 1 km / 1 Space • Corrosive Spores: the Spore Colony may eject balls of corrosive spores at air targets. • Damage: 4D. • Corrosive Effects: Even if the sores do not pierce the target's armor, they will reduce its Armor Value by 1. • Scale: Starfighter (6D over Character) • Skill: 6D • Range: Atmosphere: 100 / 300 / 500 / 1000. Space: 1 / 2-5 / 10 / 20 • Cost: 1 RP. • Sunken Colony: Colonies may also be evolved into octopus-like creature with multiple tendrils that are hidden beneath the Creep. These tendrils may erupt up through the ground to attack invading ground units. • Tendril Attack: • Damage: 6D (Armor Piercing) • Scale: Tank (4D over Character) • Attack Skill: 5D • Range: 10 / 30 / 50 / 100 • Cost: 1 RP. Creep Colonies are an essential part of any Zerg base, exuding the Creep like a layer of skin over the terrain. But is in their evolved forms that the Colonies become vital to base survival. While valued by the Zerg, the Colonies are recognized as expendable and will not necessarily be heavily guarded or defended.
Spawning Pool Type: Zergling Breeding Grounds Body Points: 600 Armor: 35 Regeneration Rate: 5 pts / round. Facilities: • Zerg Genome: Spawning Pools provide the gene strains needed to produce the Zerglings, the most basic attack unit of the Swarm. Some of these genes require greater resource and time investment, but may produce faster, more dangerous Zerglings. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: • Metabolic Boost: supercharges the already fast metabolism of the Zerglings. • Effect: Adds 1D to the Dexterity and 10 m / round to Movement of all Zerglings for each Evolution. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 2 RP. • Adrenal Glands: enhances the combat reflexes of Zerglings. • Effect: Provides the Zergling with 1 additional attack per round (no additional action required). • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 2 RP. The Spawning Pool is seen in nearly every Zerg colony. It appears as a steaming, bubbling, viscous pit with large egg-like bulbs sometimes bobbing to the surface. This is actually the amniotic fluid of the Colony, used to feed the Zergling zygotes growing in the pool. The zygotes are extracted and merged with a ready Larva, infusing it with the proper genetic sequences to begin pupation. During this stage of the development, the zygotes actually split into twins, thus producing two Zerglings for every single Larva invested.
Evolution Chamber Type: Zerg Genetic Laboratory Body Points: 600 Armor: 35 Regeneration Rate: 5 pts / round. Facilities: • Experimental Spawning Grounds: the Evolution Chamber is a direct extension of the Overmind, with various sensors and tendrils growing from the walls. These are used to conduct various genetic experiments and grow new Zerg strains. Once a viable strain is discovered, the Chamber will nurture it, test it, then dissect it for futher study. • Proving Grounds: new and modified Zerg breeds are brought into a secure chamber where their new abilities may be tested in a secure, confined space. Tested subjects are almost always killed after the test, so the Overmind may learn more through their vivisection. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: • Sharpen Blades (Melee Attacks): the bone blades of the Zergling, Ultralisk and Lurker may be improved through this Evolution. • Effect: Adds 1D to the Melee Attack damage for each affected unit. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. • Enhance Projectiles (Missile Attacks): the missile weapons of the Drone, Hydralisk and Defiler may be augmented. • Effect: Adds 1D to the Missile Attack damage for each unit. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. • Harden Ground Carapace: the Overmind may invest energy into reinforcing the armor of its ground units. • Effect: Adds to the Armor Value of all ground units. The amount depends on the particular unit type affected. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. The Evolution Chamber may be considered the bubbling, dark laboratory of the mad scientist that is the Overmind. The Chamber can simultaneously breed new strains, test their abilities, and hack them apart for study. Bits and pieces of discarded experiments clutter the ground, blood freely flows along the halls until absorbed by the living floor, even loyal Zerglings scream in pain as they are dissected alive and without anaesthetic.
Hydralisk Den Type: Hydralisk Cocooning Womb Body Points: 600 Armor: 35 Regeneration Rate: 5 pts / round. Facilities: • Hydralisk Genome: the Dens hold the key elements of the Hydralisk genetic code necessary to transform Zerg Larva into marauding Hydralisks. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: • Muscular Augments: Hydralisks may be treated to have improved running musculature. • Effect: Increases Hydralisk Movement by 10 m per round per Evolution. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. • Grooved Spines: Carefully reworks the Hydralisk spines that are projected as weapons to enhance range in combat. • Effect: Increases the Hydralisk's missile weapon range by 10 m in each category per Evolution. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. Like the Spawning Pool, the Hydralisk Den is found in nearly every Zerg Colony. Its progeny, the mighty Hydralisk, is a staple unit for the Swarm and necessary to nearly every conquest and defense endeavor. The Dens are said to resemble the nests that the Slotheins built before being corrupted up the Zerg. Now, they are large, domelike masses of heaving steam, slime and stench. Within their walls, Hydralisk gametes are growin in thick cocoons attached to a central feeding stalk. When the Overmind commands it, these gametes are taken to the Hatchery and merged with Larva, which then pupate into Hydralisks.
Nydus Canal Type: Long Range Colony Artery Body Points: 650 Armor: 40
Regeneration Rate: 5 pts / round. Facilities: • Transit Corridor: the Canals are a mysterious Zerg adaption taken from a species known as the Worldbeast, which lived submerged in a planet and extended its root-like organs for thousands of miles in any direction. With the Canals, the Zerg can link the core colony with small outposts, resource extractors, or military units that would otherwise be unreachable because of terrain or sheer distance. Not only do the subterranean passages provide protected travel, they transport creatures at hypersonic speeds via highly adapted cilia on the passageway walls (Speed = @ 100 m / round). Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: None. Like all Zerg structures, the Canals are living organs of the Colony. Indeed, the strong hair-like cilia that line the walls will grip any creature or object they touch, but they will not harm it. Rather, they await the command of the Overmind to transport goods back to the Colony. However, the Canals remain for some time once a Colony has died, or at least retreated from the Canals entrance. These dead arteries form underground passageways that may extend for thousands of miles beneath a planet's surface. The cilia decay quick once the Canal is dead, but the walls may remain strong for hundreds of years.
Spire Type: Zerg Flyer Breeding Grounds Body Points: 1500 Armor: 45 Regeneration Rate: 10 pts / round. Facilities: • Mutalisk Nests: Spires provide the genetic code Larva need to mutate into Mutalisks. • Scourge Clutches: Spires also house the small eggs that will develop into the screaming Scourge. • Evolution Node: Spires have also produce the chitinous plating and explosive parasites and other noxious projectiles used by Zerg flyers in attacking. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: • Flyer Attacks: the weaponry of the Mutalisks, Guardians and Queens may be enhanced in the Spire. • Effect: Increases each attack by 1D per Evolution unless otherwise noted. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. • Flyer Carapace: hardens the aerodynamic plating that protects all the Zerg aerial units. • Effect: Increases the Armor Value of all flying units by an amount unique to that breed. • Cost: Current Evolution Level x 1 RP. Spires tower over many Zerg colonies, often surrounded by small flocks of newly hatched Mutalisks or Scourge. They almost approach beauty in their grandeur--as much as any Zerg structure may be considered beautiful. Within their walls, Zerg organs pump, producing the gametes needed to bind to Larva and produce Zerg flyers.
Greater Spire Type: Advanced Spire Body Points: 700 Armor: 40 Regeneration Rate: 5 pts / round. Facilities: • Mutalisk Mutation Chambers: Greater Spires house special cocooning chambers into which a Mutalisk may crawl. It is then wrapped in a silky husky, covered with nutrient slime, and left to pupate into a greater form as a Guardian or Devourer. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: None. Greater Spires reach even higher than the Spires from which they evolve. These huge, top-heavy towers are essentialy to heavy assault forces of the Zerg--and to be feared by their enemies. From their dark, seeting depths, massive assault breeds are born.
Queen's Nest Type: Queen's Lair Body Points: 600 Armor: 40 Regeneration Rate: 10 pts / round. Facilities: • Queen Birthing Chamber: Queens may only be produced through the careful nurturing of special eggs that are created by the Nest.
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Queen Evolution Den: Queens may crawl into secure coves and attach themselves directly to the walls of the Nest. The Overmind then manipulates the Queen's body, introducing new powers through powerful mutations. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: • Gamete Meiosis: the Queen's reproductive system may be enhanced to more quickly produce Broodlings. • Effect: Permits the Queen to produce Broodling Spores at a rate of 1 spray per round. • Cost: 2 RP. • Spawn Broodlings: some Queens may develop special spawning sacs that will spray forth spores. These spores wil attach to living flesh, imbed themselves in the tissue and rapidly develop into ravenous Broodlings. • Effect: Spores either embed in the target or reduce the Armor Value of inanimate objects. See Zerg: Queen. • Cost: 2 RP. • Ensnare: forced mutations provide some Queens with the ability to spew forth a web of extremely viscous mucous to trap enemy units. • Effect: Grants the Queen the Ensnare ability. See Zerg: Queen. • Cost: 2 RP. • Infestation: some Queens become so familiar with Terran technology and biology, they discover how to infest Terran systems with Zerg spores. They take control of Terran structures and infest their inhabitants to become willing servants of the Zerg. • Effect: Grants the Queen the Infestatoin ability. See Zerg: Queen. • Cost: 3 RP. The Queen's Nest is one of the prime indicators of the importance of a colony to the Overmind. The Quees born there take over the local command of colony functioning with a kind of cruel matriarchal rule. Nests will be fiercely guarded and defended by all Zerg breeds in the colony.
Ultralisk Cavern Type: Ultralisk Breeding Grounds Body Points: 500 Armor: 30 Regeneration Rate: 5 pts / round. Facilities: • Ultralisk Radiation Core: Caverns are built with a fused technology of Zerg biological matter, crystaline laser emitters, and modified Vespene gasses to create the extremely hostile environment required to breed the mighty Ultralisk. The viable Ultralisk gametes are housed in protective husks and delivered to the Hatcheries, where they are merged with Larva who then transform into Ultralisks. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: None. Caverns appear mainly as large mounds covered with Zerg slime and Creep matter. Occasionally, flashes of lights and explosions will escape from the small entrance. No creature would survive the rigors inside without a quality protective suit or special biological adaptions.
Defiler Mound Type: Defiler Spawning and Evolution Chamber Body Points: 600 Armor: 40 Regeneration Rate: 10 pts / round. Facilities: • Defiler Womb: Defiler Mounds have a central birthing chamber in which the huge Defile gamete is nourished and protected. When it reaches maturity, it may be transferred to the Hatchery and merged with a Larva to create the terrible Defiler adult. • Defiler Pit: Deep within the Mound is a bubbling, toxic pool from which the Defiler gathers the nourishment to create its corrosive and poisonous venom. Communications: Primal telepathic link to the Overmind. Upgrades: • Metasynaptic Node: the Overmind may mutate his Defilers to expand the section of the brain that controls the secretion of the Defiler bio-toxins that control local insects and form its venom. • Effect: Permits the Defiler to launch its Dark Swarm or Plague attacks 1 time per round (rather than 1 per 2 rounds). • Cost: 2 RP.
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Plague: some Defilers may spew forth their natural toxins in a corrosive cloud. • Damage: 8D. Will continue to damage for 5 rounds, but will be reduced 1D each round after the first. • Area of Effect: Full damage to all targets within 10m. -1D for each 10 m from primary target. • Corrosive Effects: Will reduce Armor by 5 each round, even if the Armor is not pierced by the attack. • Scale: Character. • Cost: 2 RP. • Consume: some Defilers may cannibalize other Zerg breeds to reinvigorate themselves. • Effect: For every 1D of Constitution absorbed from the target, the Defiler regenerates 1D6 points of Health and Armor. • Cost: 2 RP. As hard as it may be to believe, the Defiler Mound is by far the most foul and disturbing structure in any Zerg colony. Not only is it covered in slime, emitting a foul stench, and pulsating with the rasping breath of the living colony, the Mound reveals the dark and corrupt nature of the Defiler itself. The bones and flesh of other Zerg breeds that have wandered too close litter the periphery and innards of the Mound. Deep within the Mound's recesses, a toxic stew bubbles, both bath and nourishing soup to the Defilers. Even Zerg treat these beasts with a mixture of awe and fear.
VIII. RESOURCE Starcraft is more than simply a game of battle-strategy. To overcome their enemeies, players must manage a myriad of resources, harvesting raw materials, assigning tasks to units, and deciding which structures to build. Starcraft D6 is mainly about story-telling and the adventures of individual characters. However, to import some of the “feel” of the original game, GM’s may decide to make resource harvesting and management part of the players’ experience. In the computer game, raw resources are represented by minerals and Vespene gas. Players build harvesting units and processing centers to turn the natural resources into new units, structures and upgrades. Wise resource management is essential to winning the game.
Resources Defined In Starcraft D6, “resources” include not only minerals and Vespene gas, but processed raw materials, manufactured products, and other natural resources--essentially anything that will be helpful to the production of a base. All of these resources are pooled together as Resource Points. Various units, structures and upgrades will have Resource Point costs. The Resource costs given in this game are approximations of the total resource requirement in the game (to roughly convert the cost of a unit, structure, or upgrade in the computer game to this one, add up the total Vespene and mineral requirements, divide by 100, and round up or down depending on the amount of time it takes to produce the unit in the computer game).
Awarding Resource Points GM's will generally allocate Resource Points at the end of each gaming session. RP's may either be allocated to individual players or to the team as a whole. As the players collect Resource Points, they must decide how to best allocate the RP’s to help their base. This gives the players an interest in the allocation of resources for their base and forces them to work together to expand a base's capabilities.
General Resource Point rewards are given below: • • •
2 RP/session for a each fully operational and actively harvested Vespene Refinery. 2 RP/session for each actively mined Mineral Field. 1 RP per 100 metric tons of raw materials captured or discovered (hijacked cargo vessel, captured enemy base, etc.). • 1 to 2 RP if players successful increase the efficiency of a base's harvesting or operations. • Additional RP's as the GM sees fit for successful actions by the players. Characters may capture the bases, vehicles or other resources of an enemy and convert those into Resource Points. Conversely, characters may lose RP's for failed actions, surprise enemy attacks and other setbacks.
Investments by Species
Terran Resource Investments # Per RP
Troops Militia (nonarmored) Marines Medics Ghosts Firebats Techs w/ SCV's
20 10 5 2 5 10
Vessels RP Battlecruiser 7 Dropship 2 Freighter 2 Wraith Fighter 2 Quad 0.5 Vulture 0.5 Arclite Tank (non-Siege) 2 Goliath 1 Valkyrie 3 Structures Command Center Supply Depot Refinery Barracks Engineering Bay Academy Bunker Factory Armory
Starport Science Facility Machine Shop Control Tower Physics Lab Covert Operations
Nuclear Silo Comsat Station Missile Turret
RP Upgrades 4 1 1 2 1 Infantry Weapons Infantry Armor 2 U-238 Shells Stimpacks 0.5 3 2 Vehicle Weapons Vehicle Armor Ship Plating Ship Weapons 3 3 EMP Shockwave Irradiate Titan Reactor 1 Ion Thrusters Spider Mines Siege Mode 1 Cloaking Field Apollo Reactor 1 Yamato Gun Colosus Reactor 1 Lockdown Ocular Implants Personal Cloaking Moebius Reactor 2 Build Nuke 1 1
Protoss Resource Investments Troops Dragoon
RP 2
RP
Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 2 1 Current Level x 2 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 2 Current Level x 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 3 2 4 2 2 1 3 2 2
Zealot High Templar Dark Templar Probe Observer
5 per RP 2 2 10 per RP 1
Vessels Arbiter Carrier Reaver Scout Shuttle Slipbike Corsair
RP 6 6 3 3 3 0.5 4
Structures Gateway Forge Cybernetics Lab Shield Battery Robotics Facility Stargate Citadel of Adun Robotics Support Bay Observatory Fleet Beacons Templar Archives Arbiter Tribunal Nexus Pylon Assimilator Nuclear Silo Comsat Station
RP Upgrades 2 2 Ground Weapons Ground Armor Shields 2 Dragoon Range Air Weapons Air Armor 1 4 Scarab Damage Scarab Capacity Gravitic Drive 4 3 Zealot Enhancement 1 2 Observer Sensors Gravitic Booster 5 Apial Sensors Scout Thrusters Carrier Capacity 3 Khaydarin Amulet Psionic Storm Training Hallucination Training 3 Khaydarin Core Recall Stasis 4 1 1 2 Build Nuke 1
Zerg Resource Investments Breeds Broodling Defiler Drone
RP 0 1 10 per RP
RP Current Level x 2 Current Level x 2 Current Level x 3 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 2 Current Level x 2 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 2 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 2 2 3 2 3 3 4 2 2
Egg Guardian Hydralisk Infested Terran Larva Mutalisk Overlord Queen Scourge Ultralisk Zergling Devourer
0 2 5 per RP 2 per RP 0 2 2 3 10 per RP 4 20 per RP 6
Structures Hatchery Creep Colony Extractor Spawning Pool Evolution Chamber Hydralisk Den Spire Greater Spire Queen's Nest
Nydus Canal Ultralisk Cavern Defiler Mound Lair Hive
RP Upgrades 3 Burrowing 0.5 Spore Colony (evolution) Sunken Colony (evolution) 0.5 1 Metabolic Boost Adrenal Glands 1 Sharpen Blades (Melee) Enhance Projectiles Harden Carapace 2 Muscular Enhancements Grooved Spines 3 Flyer Attacks Flyer Carapace 2 2 Gamete Meiosis Spawn Broodlings Ensnare Infestation 1 Gravitic Booster 4 Apial Sensors 2 Metasynaptic Node Plague Consume 3 Overlord Ventral Sacs Overlord Antennae Pneumatized Carapace 4
RP 3 0.5 0.5 Current Level x 2 Current Level x 2 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 2 2 2 3 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1 2 2 2 1 Current Level x 1 Current Level x 1
X. CYBERNETICS Cybernetics play a varying role for each species. The Terrans are just mastering cybernetic development and surgery, so cybernetics remain rare and expensive in most cases. Furthermore, many military-grade cybernetics are strictly regulated by authorities. The Protoss have long used cybernetics to enhance the capabilities of their warriors, but make rare use of implants for civilian purposes. Finally, the Zerg prefer to develop biological "technologies" and have never been known to use artificial implants. However, it is likely that the Overmind can develop mutations with analogous uses to the implants used by the other species. The Starcraft game materials make little mention of cybernetics, so the list below is just an estimation of what players and GM's might find useful for their game. Admittedly, it is a very basic list. I recommend that you find other sources, such as the game Cyberpunk and it's myriad of sourcebooks, to fill in the gaps. As always, which cybernetics are available are up to the GM. Design notes: These rules are imported from my Appleseed game and are essentially "homebrew" rules. Honestly, cybernetics in the old Star Wars game never worked very well. Likewise, in other gaming systems, cybernetics add layer upon layer of new rules, making character creation a very lengthy process. Finally, they always have the potential of imbalancing the game (every try to play a purely human Solo in Cyberpunk while surrounded by borged-out comarades?). I'm mainly concerned with keeping the system easy to use. So, that means some of the "realism" of the cybernetics will go right out the window. Cybernetics should not turn their bearer into a superman. Cyborgs can be taken down with relative ease by "normal" characters with the proper skills and equipment. That is the spirit in which I have developed cybernetics for this game. Finally, this is a work in progress. I will change it as I playtest. I invite you guys to do the same, and to let me know what changes you make. If someone has implemented a better system, let me know. INTRODUCTION Cybernetics are most often implanted because the person has suffered a sufficiently grievous injury that replacement is necessary. More advanced medical technology permits physicians to clone tisues and regrow lost body parts. However, cloning cells requires a great deal of time and expense and is often not available to most people. Cybernetics offer a relatively affordable option. Cybernetics are just machines. This means that they suffer the same defects and weaknesses as other highperformance machinery. They suffer from structural stress, long-term use, clogging from dirt, bad wiring, and malfunctions. Most cybernetics require constant maintenance. A fair estimate is that they require about 1-5% of their original cost in upkeep each month (GM's discretion). Obviously, this adds up over time. Most people with many implants sign up for long-term maitenance contracts to keep prices down. Game notes: One option for a GM who has characters with implants is to say that the implant goes inoperative when the character Complicates while using that particular implant. The implant will not work until Jury-rigged or repaired.
CYBERNETIC LIMBS When a person loses a limb and cannot have it cloned and regrown, they will often get the limb replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic. In spite of general misconceptions, most prosthetic limbs are relatively fragile things that do not grant the bearer super strength or other powers. Because they are usually made with a combination of biomechanical, ceramic, and electronic parts, they can be damaged nearly as easily as someone's real arm. When a person is fitted with a cybernetic limb they must also "built-up" in other ways. You can't just attach a chunk of metal to someone's shoulder--it would rip right out. So, a lattice work of supports are also implanted throughout the torso to provide additional support.
Cybernetic Arms: Cybernetic arms come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and quality. They may sometimes have other devices implanted in them (each arm is considered to have 2 "slots" for additions). Strength Value: serves as the Strength Attribute when this arm is used. Dexterity: Approximating the fine motor skills of the human body is not easy. Many of the cheaper cybernetics out there make no such attempt. But the higher level ones equal and even surpass human abilities. The Dexterity value applies not only to Dex-based skills but to all Attribute and Skill checks that require fine motor skills, such as Mechanics, Electronics, First Aid and Craftsmanship, that are attempted with the prosthetic. Armor Value: This is the layer of protection that surrounds the cybernetic unit. This is treated as normal armor and is cumulative with other armor worn over it. Durability: Represents the amount of damage the prosthetic can take before it will cease to function. Cost: initial cost to buy the arm and have it surgically attached at the rating. All costs are cumulative (Thus an arm with a Strength of 1D and Sensitivity of -3D will cost 6000 dollars). Maintenance: cost to keep the arm functioning that must be spent each month. For each month that passes without
maintenance, there is a cumulative 1 in 6 chance that the arm will malfunction when used. Thus, after 2 months, there is a 2 in 6 chance, etc. Maintenan Maintenan Strength Dexterit Cost ce Cost ce Value y per month per month 1D 5000 50 1D 1000 50 2D 10,000 100 2D 5000 100 3D 20,000 150 3D 10,000 150 4D 40,000 200 4D 25,000 200 5D 100,000 400 5D 50,000 400 6D 300,000 600 6D 150,000 600 7D 750,00 1000 7D 500,000 1000 1.5 8D 5000 8D 1 million 5000 million Armor Value 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Maintenanc e per month 500 none 750 15 1200 25 2000 75 5000 100 10,000 125 25,000 150 75,000 200 Cost
Maintenanc Durability Cost e per month 5 500 10 10 1000 25 15 2000 50 20 5000 100 25 10,000 150 30 50,000 300 35 100,000 700 40 500,000 1500
Cybernetic Legs: Cybernetic legs are almost always installed in pairs. It is difficult to balance a person with only one articifial leg. If this is the case, the character suffers -1D to all Dexterity rolls that rely upon movement. The legs may sometimes have other devices implanted in them (each arm is considered to have 2 "slots" for additions). Strength Value: serves as the Strength Attribute when this leg is used. Jumping Bonus: This is added to any jumping rolls that are made. Dexterity: Approximating the fine motor skills of the human body is not easy. Many of the cheaper cybernetics out there make no such attempt. But the higher level ones equal and even surpass human abilities. The Dexterity value applies not only to Dex-based skills but to all Attribute and Skill checks that require good balance, such as Stealth and Perform: Dance. Armor Value: This is the layer of protection that surrounds the cybernetic unit. This is treated as normal armor and is cumulative with other armor worn over it. Durability: Represents the amount of damage the prosthetic can take before it will cease to function. Cost: initial cost to buy the arm and have it surgically attached at the rating. All costs are cumulative (Thus an leg with a Strength of 1D and Dexterity of 3D will cost 15,000 dollars). Maintenance: cost to keep the arm functioning that must be spent each month. For each month that passes without maintenance, there is a cumulative 1 in 6 chance that the leg will malfunction when used. Thus, after 2 months, there is a 2 in 6 chance, etc.
Strength Value
Cost
Maintenanc e per month
1D 2D 3D 4D 5D 6D
5000 10,000 20,000 40,000 100,000 300,000
50 100 150 200 400 600
7D
750,00
1000
8D
1.5 million
5000
Jum Maintenanc p Cost e Bonu per month s -2D 1000 50 -1D 2000 100 0D 5000 200 +1D 10,000 500 +2D 25,000 1000 +3D 50,000 3000 100,00 +4D 7500 0 500,00 +5D 15,000 0
Dexterity
Cost
1D 2D 3D 4D 5D 6D 7D 8D
1000 5000 10,000 25,000 50,000 150,000 500,000 1 million
Maintenanc e per month 50 100 150 200 400 600 1000 5000
Maintenanc Maintenanc e Durability Cost e per month per month 5 500 none 10 500 10 10 750 15 15 1000 25 15 1200 25 20 2000 50 20 2000 75 25 5000 100 25 5000 100 30 10,000 150 30 10,000 125 35 50,000 300 35 25,000 150 40 100,000 700 40 75,000 200 45 500,000 1500 To whip up cybernetics quickly, see the One-Stop Shopping Chart. Armor Value
Cost
OPTICAL IMPLANTS Standard Implant Cost: 5000 A standard implant will replace one of the eyes of the person undergoing the procedure. It will provide the cyborg with standard human vision and have 2 "slots" in which other options may be fit.
Optical Options: Broad Spectrum Cost: 5000 A Broad Spectrum option allows the cyborg to see in visual ranges beyond what the standard human eye can see. This includes seeing Ultraviolet light, which provides a kind of vision in dark, outdoor conditions. It also increases the bearer's ability to distinguish between colors, allowing him to discern between different objects more easily. The bearer gets a +1D for all Seach and Tracking rolls that depend upon visual cues. Light Amp Cost: 2500 Light Amp permits the user to adjust light levels at will. This allows him to see in very minimal amounts of available light. The optic will also quickly compensate for flashes of bright light, giving the bearer +2D to Resistance rolls when attempt to avoid strobe or flash effects that would otherwise render him blinded. Magnification Cost: 5000 With Magnification, the bearer can adjust his lens to either see very small objects (as if using a microscope) or to magnify objects in the distance (as if using a pair of binoculars). At standard cost, the optic will magnify small objects by 50x and far away objects by 10x. The purchaser can seek better optics that will double these values, but at three times the cost. Extendable Eye Cost: 2500 An extendable eye may be stretched out from the bearer's body up to 1.5 meters. Usually, a cyborg with this option actually has a pair of "bunny ears" or antenna-like protrusion. Otherwise, it's a little disconcerting to see someone's eye come out of the socket and stretch for over a meter... Camera Cost: 5000 The camera option permits the bearer to use his eye as a kind of video and still camera. The information recorded may be broadcast to another location via a tiny internal modem (note that such transmission can usually be detected and easily traced). The quality depends on the cost of the optic. At 5000, it's pretty much equivalent to a standard
hand-held video camer. At 15,000 you have professional news quality. At 100,000 you can shoot Citizen Kane II with it. Computer Link Cost: 2500 A linked optic can display information transmitted from a computer via an internal modem or direct link (which is untraceable). This is useful to get a Heads-Up Display of data, maps, and other important pieces of information. Weapons Link Cost: 7500 With this option, the bearer can link a specially prepared weapon (add 10% to the weapon's cost) directly to his eye. This grants a +1D to all shots with that weapon.
AUDAL IMPLANTS Standard Implant Cost: 5000 The standard audal implant provides the bearer with normal human hearing (perhaps a bit better) and the ability to increase or decrease volumes at will. This gives the bearer a +1D to Search and Tracking rolls that depend on sound. A standard implant has 2 "slots" for additional options.
Audal Options: Comm Link Cost: 2500 The standard communications link acts like a phone or two-way radio receiver (but not a transmitter). As such, it is easily intercepted and traced. A secure link will cost about 10,000 dollars (Difficult Communications rolls to hack it) and fills an additional slot. A small vocal transmitter can be implanted for an additional 5000 credits (this is not considered to take up on of the "slots" on the character). Wide Frequency Cost: 2500 This upgrade gives the bearer hearing that far exceed normal human ranges. It more closely resembles that of a dog. The bearer can turn this on and off at will (otherwise he'd be barking whenever a siren was turned on). The bearer gets +2D to Searching and Tracking rolls that depend upon sound. Broadband Receiver Cost: 2500 With this addition, the character can use the implant to scan all unprotected cellular and radio waves. This includes a kind of "cyborg-emergency" channel that all cyborgs (apparently) tune into. Note that most cellular transmissions are protected by some level of encryption and the bearer of this implant cannot hack those without additional equipment. Quick Translator Cost: 10,000 The QT must be linked to a personal computer on the person's body. When it is, it will quickly translate any known human language. Note that the translater is not fullproof and in its haste it may mistranslate some words (a fun little twist for the sadistic GM). But, the listener will get at least the gist of the conversation. Decrypter Cost: 10,000 The Decrypter option permits the bearer to upload any signals intercepted or directly heard into a companion computer and attempt to break the code. For the Base cost, this will act as Security skill of 3D for breaking codes only. For each additional Die, add 5,000 x the new value. Note that this is cumulative. So a 5D decrypter will cost 10,000 (based) + 20,000 (level 4), + 25,000 (level 5). The Decrypter cannot exceed 6D. The time required to break the encryption depends upon the complexity of the code (GM's discretion). Recorder Cost: 2500 With an implanted recorder, the bearer can download any information that is intercepted or overheard to a memory package kept on the body (or to which the information is transmitted). The bearer can record 4 hours before having to upload the information. The recorder's memory can also have music (or other audio) uploaded into it and played back at the wearer's will.
ARTIFICIAL ORGANS Aside from the peg-legs and hand-hooks of old sea captains, artifical organs are probably the oldest form of cybernetics. Despite the war, they have come a long way since the 20th century. For game purposes, assume that any standard organ may be replaced with an equivalent artificial counterpart. Those implants will be fairly expensive, but will not require great amounts of maintenace. Furthermore, they do not bestow additional abilities on the bearer. The implants below are those rare items with do increase the bearer's abilities. Inhalation Filtration System Cost: 15,000
The IFS attempts to protect the bearer from any harmful substances in the air. It acts as a very advanced gas mask and is always operational. Normal toxic gasses and airborn allergens will have no effect on the bearer. However, new toxins that have not been identified by the IFS's creators may get though the filtration system. In these cases, the bearer has +2D on Resistance rolls against the "new" toxin. Nerve Amp Cost: 25,000 This is actually a series of implants which serve to increase the response time and sensitivity of the bearer's nerves. This results in slightly increased reaction time and hand-eye coordination. This grants a +1D to all Dexterity-based skills and and the character acts as if his initiative were 1 die higher. Cyborgs with this modification will often appear twitchy, emotionally volatile and nervous. Epidermal Filtration System Cost: 20,000 Like the IFS, the EFS serves to keep toxins out of the body. With the advances of biological and toxicological warefare, the danger of airborn weapons has increased signficantly. The EFS is not perfect, but can be the difference between life and death. It gives the bearer +2D to resist all airborn toxins that act through absorption through the skin. Blood Filtration System Cost: 50,000 Life the other FS's, BFS sifts through the bearer's blood and removes harmful elements that it can recognizes. This gives the bearer +2D to resist diseases and drugs that work in the bloodstream (this includes alcohol). The BFS must be "recharged" every month for a cost of 5000 dollars. Muscle Lacing Cost: 20,000 x new Strength level. Muscle lacing is a technique in which the surgeon's implant a series of biological and artificial materials that support and enhance the bearer's strength. The technique is still being developed and is not fullproof, but it can provide some significant increases. The costs are cumulative (thus a character going from a natural Strength of 2D to 5D must pay 3Dx20,00 +4Dx20,000+5Dx20,000 = 240,000 dollars! However, the lacing is not noticeable with most detectors, unless a close medical exam is done. The Lacing has an upkeep of 100 dollars per month. If the character's muscles are severely damage by other means (gunshot wounds, for example), the Lacing will have to be repaired or replaced (GM's discretion). Finally, the biological materials will disintigrate over time, meaning the entire system must be rebuilt after 5 years. Lacing cannot be used to upgrade prosthetic limbs. Brain Box Cost: 20,000 With a brain box, the bearer's brain is complete protected from physical damage. It is wrapped up in an extremely strong layer of metals and ceramics that will resist bullets, heat, cold and even a lack of oxygen (internal tanks will supply up to 1 hour of oxygen necessary to keep the brain alive). This is a good thing if the rest of the bearer's body is destroyed.
INTERFACE EQUIPMENT There are a wide variety of ways for people to interface with computers and other technology. The most standard are listed below. Brain Plug Cost: 10,000 This interface unit permits the user to plug his nervous system directly into a computer. It allows for instaneous transfer of information from the brain to the computer (and visa versa). It increases the speed of all Computer Op/Prog rolls by 50% (a character can do 2 such actions in a round without penalty). It also provides a +1D to all such rolls. It also permits completely secure transactions between the person and the computer. Finally, multiple bearers may connect to one another through some kind of server-CPU to instantly share thoughts. Note that Brain Plugs are not very common. This is probably because standard user-interfaces have advanced so far. It is a fairly invasive procedure and there needs to be a $50/month upkeep.
MISCELLANEOUS IMPLANTS FULL-BODY REPLACEMENTS Full-body replacements are extremely rare among Terrans. Even the Protoss only resort to them in dire circumstances (in fact, Dragoons are full-cyborgs created only after a Zealot's body becomes too crippled to be of use). They only occur when the victim has suffered such grievous harm that his body is destroyed and full replacement is the only way he will survive. Even then, he must have friends in high places (or a large personal fortune) to pay for the replacement. Full Borg characters should be extremely rare in Starcraft. They will usually be highly prized military models under the control of some covert power. GM's should exercise great caution in permitting characters to be full Borgs in Starcraft. (GM's may permit full Borgs at character creation. If you wish to, consult my Appleseed D6 game for rules on creating Cyborg characters).
The standard full borg will have 2 standard optic implants, 2 standard audal implants, a brain plug, a brain box, and all the various filtration systems. For an additional investment, the Borg can purchase install up to 8 optical implants and 8 audal implants. GM's may decide to permit fewer or more slots as appropriate. If this takes too long, consult the One-Stop Shopping Catelog below. Strength Value: This replaces the character's former Strength attribute completely. This value always starts at 1D. Sensitivity: Approximating the fine motor skills of the human body is not easy. Many of the cheaper cybernetics out there make no such attempt. But the higher level ones equal and even surpass human abilities. The Sensitivity modifier applies to all Attribute and Skill checks that require fine motor skills, such as Mechanics, Electronics, Craftsmanship and even Martial Arts, that are attempted with the prosthetic. Constitution Value: This replaces the character's former Constitution attribute completely. This value always starts at 1D Jump Bonus: This is added to any jumping rolls that are made. Armor Value: This is the protective value of the 'Borg's outer shell. It may be layered with additional armor. This costs 1% of the orginal cost to repair each point which is damage. Base HP: This replaces the former hit points that the character had. Roll Strength + Constitution (or Resistance) as normal to add additional HP's.
Strength Value
Cost
1D 2D 3D 4D 5D
20,000 40,000 80,000 150,000 500,000
Maintena nce per month 200 400 700 1200 2000
6D
1 million
5000
7D
5 million 10,000 10 20,000 million
8D
Constitution
Cost
Maintenanc e per month
1D 2D 3D 4D 5D 6D 7D 8D
10,000 20,000 50,000 100,000 200,000 500,000 1 million 5 million
100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10,000 20,000
Armor Value
Cost
Maintenan ce per month
Dexterity Value 1D 2D 3D 4D 5D 6D 7D 8D
Cost
25,000 50,000 100,000 250,000 750,000 1.5 10,000 million 7 million 20,000 15 40,000 million
Jump Cost
Bonu s -2D 1000 -1D 2000 0D 5000 +1D 10,000 +2D 25,000 +3D 50,000 +4D 100,000 +5D 500,000
Base HP
Maintena nce per month 400 800 1500 3000 5,000
Cost
Maintenanc e per month 50 100 200 500 1000 3000 7000 15,000
Maintenan ce per month
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
5000 10,000 20,000 50,000 100,000 300,000 750,000 1.5 million
none 150 250 750 1000 1250 1500 2000
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
10,000 20,000 50,000 100,000 500,000 1 million 5 million 10 million
100 250 500 1000 1500 3000 7000 15,000
ONE-STOP SHOPPING Adding up the value of various companants can be cumbersome, especially for GM's trying to come up with 'Borgs on the fly. The table below are intended to facilitate your cyborg-shopping spree. Implants The Implant Packages assume that the character has chosen 2 standard implants and fully outfitted them with options. Implant Constituents Cost Package Weapons Link, Light Amp, Broad Spectrum, Combat Optics 25,000 Magnification Broad Spectrum, Computer Link, Light Amp, Crook's Optics 20,000 Magnification Camera, Computer Link, Light Amp, Civilian's Optics 20,000 Magnification Secure Commlink, Wide Frequency, Broadband Combat Audio 20,000 Receiver Commlink, Broadband Receiver, Recorder, Civilian's Audio 15,000 Wide Frequency Combat Internals All Filtration systems, Nerve Amp 110,000 Assasin's 220,000 (assuming character went from 3D to 5D IFS, Nerve Amp, Muscle Lacing Internals Strength) VIP's Internals All Filtration systems, Brain box, Brain plug 115,000 Prosthetics Prosthetic Package Constituents Cost Combat arm 5D Str, 0D Sens, AV=20, Dura=20 117,000 Civilian arm 3D Str, 0D Sens, AV=5, Dura=10 31,500 Combat legs 5D Str, 0D Sens, AV=20, Dura=25, Jump +2D 132,000 Civilian legs 3D Str, -1D Sens, AV=10, Dura=15, Jump 1D 23,750 Full-body Replacements Perfect for the man who has everything (or nothing, as the case may be...) Body Type Constituents Cost Standard Combat 5D Str, 4D Dex, 5 Con, AV=30, HP=30, Jump +2D +Combat Optics, + Combat Audal, 1,130,000 Borg + Combat Internals Advanced Combat 7D Str, 6D Dex, 6D Con, AV=40, HP = 40, Jump +4D, + Combat packages. 4,755, 000 Borg
