Mythic Space

A Science Fiction Roleplaying Game

By Peter LaCara
 Mythic Space
Playtest Version 1.01

Design, Writing, and Layout by Peter LaCara

Art by Midjourney

Special Thanks to Nicholas Hardenburg, Reece Marshall, Colin Prokop, Kyle Prokop, Nils
Wiklund, and the Lancer Discord.

Dedicated to Carolyn and Aubrielle

Acknowledgements
Mythic Space could not exist without the influence of games that came before it. Here are the
most direct influences:

◊ Blades in the Dark, by John Harper

◊ Darkest Dungeon 2, by Red Hook Studios

◊ Dungeons and Dragons, 4th edition, by Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt

◊ ICRPG, by Runehammer Games

◊ Ironsworn: Starforged, by Shawn Tomkin

◊ Heart: the City Beneath, by Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor

◊ Lancer, by Miguel Lopez and Tom Parkinson Morgan

◊ Marathon, Halo, and Destiny series, by Bungie Studios

◊ Mass Effect series, by Bioware

◊ Stars Without Number, by Kevin Crawford

◊ Traveller, by Marc Miller

◊ XCOM series, by Firaxis Games

© 2022 Peter LaCara. All rights reserved.

Somewhere in space hangs my heart,

Shaking in the void…

- Edith Sodergran
Introduction...............................................1 Turn-Based Combat .......................................37
Actions............................................................... 38
The Setting..........................................................2 Saving Throws ................................................. 41
What You Need ..................................................3 Damage and Defenses ................................. 42
Conventions........................................................3 Combat Tokens ............................................... 43
Things That Might Come Up ....................... 45
Building A Crew........................................ 4 Ending Combat................................................ 46

Choosing a Ship ................................................. 5 Starships ................................................. 47

Character Creation Summary ....................... 5
Character Creation in Detail ..........................6 Ship Mechanics............................................... 49
Character Advancement ...............................14 Space Combat ................................................. 49
Character Legacies .........................................14 Building a Ship ................................................ 50

Playing the Game................................... 16 Aspects .................................................... 55

Difficulty............................................................. 17 Assassin.............................................................56
Success And Failure ....................................... 17 Captain ...............................................................57
Position .............................................................. 18 Counselor ......................................................... 58
Effect................................................................... 18 Diplomat ............................................................59
Skills.................................................................... 18 Doctor ................................................................ 60
Tokens................................................................. 19 Explorer.............................................................. 61
Bargaining ........................................................ 20 Hunter................................................................ 62
Pushing a Roll.................................................. 20 Infiltrator .......................................................... 63
Stress and Breaks .......................................... 20 Mechanic........................................................... 64
Consequences.................................................. 21 Muscle ................................................................65
Challenges........................................................ 22 Starting Ability .................................................65
Teamwork......................................................... 23 Mystic ................................................................ 66
Fortune Rolls ................................................... 24 Pilot .....................................................................67
Information ...................................................... 24 Scoundrel.......................................................... 68
Soldier................................................................ 69
Missions .................................................. 25 Spacer................................................................ 70
Tempest.............................................................. 71
Mission Goal .................................................... 26 Altari....................................................................72
Mission Loadout............................................. 26 Brachinid............................................................73
Supplies and Gear...........................................27 Earther................................................................74
Mission Rewards.............................................27 Kathir ..................................................................75
Outsider..............................................................76
Downtime .................................................31 Synth ...................................................................77
Xin ....................................................................... 78
Downtime Actions ......................................... 32
Tactics ...................................................... 79
Tactical Combat ..................................... 35
Athlete ............................................................... 80
Set Up................................................................. 36 Bastion ............................................................... 81
 Berserker .......................................................... 82 GM Goals...........................................................117
Biokinetic .......................................................... 83 GM Principles ..................................................117
Commando ....................................................... 84
Defender ........................................................... 84 Generating Missions ...........................119
Disruptor........................................................... 85
Engineer ............................................................ 85 The Mission Deck ..........................................120
Fighter ............................................................... 86 Mission Difficulty .......................................... 121
Grenadier .......................................................... 87 Mission Objectives........................................122
Gunner ............................................................... 87 Complications ................................................123
Gunslinger ........................................................ 88 Combat Encounters......................................124
Martial Artist ................................................... 88 Mission Rewards...........................................125
Officer ................................................................ 89 Retaliation.......................................................126
Operator............................................................ 90 Faction Goals..................................................127
Precog................................................................. 91
Pyrokinetic ....................................................... 92 Building A Galaxy ................................ 128
Rocketeer.......................................................... 92
Sapper ............................................................... 93 Planet Generation.........................................129
Sentinel ............................................................. 93 World Aspects................................................ 131
Sharpshooter .................................................. 94 Faction Borders .............................................136
Technomancer .................................................95
Telekinetic ........................................................ 96 Antagonists .......................................... 137
Telepath .............................................................97
Teleporter ......................................................... 98 Basic Templates ........................................... 140
The Brachinid Consortium .........................152
Weapons and Armor .............................99 Colonial Exports ............................................158
The Cult of Izanami...................................... 164
Weapons......................................................... 100 The Empire of Man .......................................170
Weapon Mods ................................................102 The Nemesis Blight ...................................... 175
Armor ................................................................105 The Pirate Clans ............................................ 181
Armor Mods ....................................................105 The Singularity...............................................187

A Brief History of Space Travel ........108 Exotics.................................................... 193

The End of the World .................................. 109 Exotic Weapons ............................................ 194
Exodus ............................................................. 109 Exotic Armor Mods .......................................196
First Contact ................................................... 110 Exotic Gear ......................................................197
The Age of Mystery ...................................... 110
Izanami.............................................................. 111
The Blight and the Alliance........................ 112
The Purity Crusades ..................................... 113
The Singularity............................................... 114
The Verge..........................................................115

Running the Game ................................116

 Chapter 1:

Introduction
1
Welcome to Mythic Space! This is a science our story was not so unique. We
fiction roleplaying game about action and encountered a half dozen other alien
adventure set in a galaxy of wonder and species, each of whom had a similar story -
terror. It is meant to feel like your favorite rapid industrialization had ruined their
science fiction TV show with combat scenes home planets and they thought all was lost
that feel like your favorite first person until the Black Ships arrived and gave them
shooter. a door out.

You and your friends play the crew of a You would think we would have been
starship. You might be soldiers or spies grateful to have been pulled back from the
performing special ops for a government or brink. Instead we went to war with each
faction, bounty hunters running down the other. It was not until we encountered the
scum of the galaxy, pirates who prey on the Nemesis Blight, a devouring swarm of
wealthy and callous megacorporations fungal creatures capable of interstellar
ravaging the frontier, or just space truckers travel, that we were able to put aside our
working odd jobs trying to get by. At its core, differences and stop killing each other.
the game is about your ship, and the found
family that crews it. This is your story. The Alliance was formed to combat the
Blight, and now it operates much like the
The game takes inspiration from a variety of modern European Union. It is a collection of
different media, and the tone can vary ostensibly independent star nations who
depending on which tropes you lean into the operate as a single economic and military
most. You can choose to emphasize the grit unit. Its founding members are the Humans
and desperation of Battlestar Galactica and of Earth, the graceful and androgynous
the expanse, the sweeping political space Altari, the lion or wolf-like Kathir, and the
opera of Babylon 5 and Mass Effect, the insectile Xin.
pulse pounding war stories of Halo and
Titanfall, or the personal space western of The Alliance has a number of interstellar
Cowboy Bebop and Firefly. And of course rivals. The largest is the Brachinid
there’s plenty of Star Wars and Star Trek in Consortium, a collection of hyper-capitalist
there too. crab people who operate the largest slave
trade in the galaxy. The most vicious is the
Empire of Man, fascist humans who broke
The Setting away from Earth when they joined the
Alliance. They have launched multiple
It is 500 years in the future, and we never crusades to try to take Earth back from
learned our lesson. Humanity was on the those who would allow “the sacred soil of
verge of extinction when the Outside Sol” to be “desecrated” by alien footsteps.
Context Entities, or OCEs, arrived in their And there is The Singularity, an aggressive
Black Ships and constructed a Jump Gate in AI hive mind bent on assimilating all life in
our home system. They left without the galaxy in an egocentric attempt at
explaining themselves, and humanity attaining godhood.
stepped out into a wider galaxy.
It is a dangerous time to be the crew of a
We soon found that we were not alone, and small spaceship, looking to make their mark.

2
 What You Need What Are The OCEs?

◊ A few friends - 3 to 5 players plus one Who or what are the mysterious beings
person to act as a Game Master (GM). that saved life in the galaxy from itself?
The short answer is “no one knows.” Any
◊ At least one standard set of polyhedral attempt to understand the OCEs only leads
dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20), to more questions.
ideally one set for each player.
The Black Ships appear to be fully
◊ A character sheet for each player and a automated - no organic presence has ever
ship sheet for the whole crew. These can been detected on one. But are they piloted
be printed on paper or you can keep by AI? Remote piloted by some other
track digitally with a phone or tablet at intelligence?
the table.
They have left vaults full of inscrutible
◊ The GM should have a standard 52 card technology all over the Milky way. For what
deck of playing cards. purpose? Are they gifts? Traps? A
distraction from something greater?
◊ Miniatures and a battlemat, while not
strictly necessary, are very helpful for Why did they save us in the first place?
combat encounters. Were they trying to preserve our species?
Or were they trying to box us in to keep us
◊ Similarly, a set of poker chips or colored from threatening others?
glass beads to use for tokens are also
very helpful.
Changelog
Conventions Changes from 1.0:

◊ Important terms will always be bolded ◊ Fixed a few typos and incorrect table
the first time they appear. entries.

◊ Attribute names will appear in ALL CAPS.

If a skill applies to the attribute, it will be
listed in (parenthesis).

◊ References to specific abilities will

always be underlined.

◊ Positive tokens will always be displayed

in blue.

◊ Negative tokens will always be

displayed in red.

3
 Changelog

Chapter 2:

Building A Crew
4
 Choosing a Ship Character Creation
The first session of a Mythic Space game Summary
involves creating your ship and your lovable
band of misfits and weirdos to crew it. The 1. Choose a concept and species.
first thing you should do is collectively
decide which ship you should start with. 2. Choose two aspects.
This determines the nature of your crew and
the type of missions they on. a. Gain the starting ability from each
aspect.
◊ The Aegolius is the favored ship of
special operatives, spies, and saboteurs b. Choose a starting skill from each
working for the Alliance to protect it aspect.
from enemies foreign and domestic. The
Aegolius starts with a stealth drive. c. Choose an NPC from one of your
aspect lists to be your friend.
◊ The Corvus is the favored ship of
scientists, explorers, and treasure d. Choose another NPC from your
hunters working at the edges of the aspect lists to be your rival.
galaxy to seek the unknown. The Corvus
starts with a true AI helm. 3. Choose two tactics.

◊ The Kestrel is the favored ship of a. Gain the starting ability from each
mercenaries, bounty hunters, and tactic.
pirates. Your crew works on the fringes
of space, doing dirty work for the highest 4. Assign your attributes.
bidder. The Kestrel starts with ship to
ship weaponry. a. Attribute ratings can be as high as +4
or as low as -2.
◊ The Peregrine is the favored ship of
smugglers, blockade runners, and rebels b. Assign values to your PHYSIQUE,
who need to outrun the trouble they find. REFLEX, DISCIPLINE, and WITS.
The Peregrine starts with an advanced
impulse drive. c. The total value of your attributes
should add up to +6.
Once the group as a whole have chosen a
ship, they can choose two minor upgrades 5. Add flavor.
for the ship. The group can choose these
now, but it’s usually better to wait until a. Name your character.
everyone has built their characters to decide
what upgrades they want. b. Describe how you look.

c. Define pronouns, mannerisms, and

personality.

5
6. Fill out the rest of your sheet.

a. Pick your default primary and

secondary weapons.

b. Fill out your starting shield and

armor values.

Character Creation in
Detail
Once the ship is built, it is time to create
characters to crew it. Each player builds a
character by using the steps on the
following page.

Step 1: Concept and

Species

Choose what kind of character you want to

make. Think of it like you are casting a sci-fi
TV show and this is the cast member you are
going to play. The group should
communicate with each other about their
character concepts so that their
personalities mesh - but not too well… a
little interpersonal conflict can create
drama!

Most characters are assumed to be human,

but since we don’t have to worry about a
special effects budget or waiting hours in a
makeup chair, you can play an alien as well.

See the species descriptions on the

following pages for more details.

6
 Humans

Humans are the most populous species in the

Alliance, making up nearly 40% of its
population. Humanity was instrumental in
bringing the other Alliance species together to
defeat the Nemesis Blight, and have
traditionally been viewed as the de facto
leaders of the Alliance. Internal divisions and
strife over the last few decades as well as
psy-ops from a number of hostile powers
have exposed rifts between the cultures of
the various human colonies. The other
Alliance species have begun to question
humanity’s place at the top, and it may only
be a matter of time before the Alliance
fractures under its own weight.

Altari

The Altari are a hermaphroditic species

whose skin are various shades of blue, green,
or lavender and have tentacles in place of
hair. They often find the human obsession
with gender to be puzzling, but rely on a strict
social hierarchy. Despite being mono-
gendered, Altari languages have a dozen sets
of pronouns, each used to denote a member
of a different social class. Altari are long-
lived, often living for over 500 years, and have
a strong affinity for paracausal powers.

7
Brachinids

Brachinids are a species of large intelligent

decapods. They have delicate appendages
capable of fine manipulation on eight of their
legs, and two large crushing claws on the
other two. Brachinids within Alliance space
are usually missing the large claws, called
War Claws, due to being escaped slaves. The
Brachinid Consortium is a megacorporation
that rules most of Brachinid space, and is
hostile to the Alliance due to their policies of
raiding and slavery. Only the Warrior Caste
and Owner Caste are permitted to keep their
War Claws - they are a symbol of being
allowed to carry weapons and train for battle,
a privilege slaves are never allowed.

Kathir

The Kathir are a tall mammalian species,

averaging over 220 cm in height and weighing
over 150 kg. They are covered in soft hair
which they keep in elaborate braids to show
their status and have powerful features as
they evolved from pack predators not unlike
Earth’s wolves or lions.

Despite coming into conflict early on after

humans first discovered the Jump Gates,
humans and the Kathir have the easiest time
getting along of the Alliance member species,
probably since both species share
resemblances to animals the other
traditionally kept as pets (humans think the
Kilrath look kinda like cats or dogs, the Kathir
think humans look like ‘Thrynn,’ a primate-like
social animal they have domesticated for
thousands of years).

8
 Synths

Synths are Ais legally recognized as people.

Many synths are digitally uploaded
consciousnesses from a reptilian species that
was once known as the Ur who went
biologically extinct when they were consumed
by the Blight. Others are members of other
species who learned how to upload their
brains from the Ur. The rarest synths are True
Ais - personalities who were never people in
the first place.

Synths mostly exist on the Extranet, but are

able to download themselves into android
bodies. It is technically possible for synths to
merge and reproduce creating new AIs, but
this is extremely taboo in free synth culture,
since unchecked reproduction led to the
creation of the Singularity.

Xin

The Xin are a delicate species of insect-like

humanoids with large heads and eyes. The Xin
deny ever having sent research ships to Earth
in the mid-20th century, though their
resemblance to the stereotypical ‘grey’ alien
from that time period is uncanny. The Xin
evolved from hive insects, similar to ants or
bees, and most of the individuals found
outside of their homeworld are sterile
females. Many of them have natural
telepathy, though this often atrophies the
farther away a Xin gets from their hive.

9
Step 2: Aspects ◊ Stealth is for moving and acting without
being noticed.
Aspects are what define your character’s
non-combat abilities and focus. Aspects are ◊ Study is for closely examining an object
fully detailed in their own chapter, but a or scene.
summary table is provided. Choose two
from this list. ◊ Survive is for enduring harsh
environments and situations.
You gain the starting ability from each of
your aspects. Each aspect also has two ◊ Sway is for convincing people to do
skills listed. Choose one skill from each things with charm, guile, or seduction.
aspect (they must be different skills).
Friends and Rivals
Skills
Each aspect has a list of NPCs who
Skills are particular actions that your represent people your character might have
character is more adept at. Whenever one of history with. Choose one of the NPCs from
your skills apply, reduce the difficulty of an either of your aspects to be your friend, and
action roll by one step. another NPC from the other list to be your
rival. You can count on your friend to
◊ Compel is for getting people to do what provide you with jobs or help you out in a
you want, either through intimidation, jam. You can also count on the GM to have
force of will, or leadership. your rival make trouble for you when they
need an easy plot hook.
◊ Destroy is for demolishing or breaking
objects. Species Aspects

◊ Engineer is for building or fixing Species Aspects represent a character’s

machines. species or place of birth. You can play a
member of one of these species without
◊ Exert is for pushing your body with feats taking the corresponding aspect. Taking the
of strength - running, jumping, lifting, aspect means that your identity as this
etc. origin is a core part of your character. For
example, if you really want to explore Altari
◊ Finesse is for fine manipulation and culture with your character, you would take
tasks that require a steady hand. the aspect. If you want to be a master thief
who just happens to be an Altari, you might
◊ Interface is for interacting with have Infiltrator instead.
computer systems and hacking.

◊ Perceive is for noticing hidden details.

◊ Pilot is for maneuvering ships and other

vehicles.

10
 Aspect What Can You Do? Starting Ability Skills

Assassin Kill people for money. Silent Takedown Finesse, Stealth

Captain Lead the crew. Make It So Compel, Pilot

Counselor Keep people sane. Soothing Presence Study, Sway

Diplomat Sway people. Impassioned Speech Compel, Sway

Doctor Keep people healthy. Field Medic Finesse, Study

Explorer Survive the wilds. Ranger Exert, Survive

Hunter Track things down. Hunter Vision Stealth, Study

Infiltrator Sneak and spy. Skelton Key Interface, Stealth

Mechanic Fix things. Duct Tape Engineer, Interface

Muscle Be big and tough. Breaking Stuff to Look Tough Compel, Destroy

Mystic Be wise and powerful. Subtle Power Compel, Perceive

Pilot Maneuver vehicles. Ace Finesse, Pilot

Scoundrel Con people. Trust Me Finesse, Sway

Soldier Fight for a cause. Basic Training Destroy, Exert

Spacer Survive in space. Rockhopper Engineer, Survive

Tempest Be tortured by power. Unleash the Storm Destroy, Perceive

Altari Be a space elf. Altari Grace Perceive, Sway

Brachinid Be a giant crab. Decapod Exert, Sway

Earther Be from Earth. Heirloom Compel, Survive

Kathir Be a lion-wolf. Powerful Build Exert, Perceive

Outsider Be something weird. Unique Physiology Interface, Study

Synth Be a robot. Advanced Processor Interface, Pilot

Xin Be a ‘grey alien.’ Galaxy Brain Pilot, Study

11
Step 3: Tactics agility. If a roll depends on a character’s
quick thinking, clever wordplay,
Tactics are special training and gear that misdirection, or charm, use WITS.
your character uses to turn the tide in battle.
Choose two tactics from the list on the next Step 5: Flavor
page. You gain the starting ability from each
of them. Choose a name for your character. You might
choose a common name like one you might
Step 4: Attributes hear on Earth, or something more
outlandish. Maybe your character has a
Distribute points between your four callsign or a nom de guerre. The galaxy is a
attributes so that they add up to +6. No big place, and there are a lot of different
attribute may start at higher than +4, or naming conventions.
lower than -2. Here are some sample
spreads: Think about your character’s gender and
pronouns. Humans still have their whole
◊ +4, +2, +2, -2 [the standard array] range of genders and pronouns, though
contact with the Altari has led some people
◊ +4, +4, +0, -2 [ultra focused] to adopt their pronouns for their own, while
the fascist empire insists that there are only
◊ +3, +2, +1, +0 [no weaknesses] two. The Altari are mono-gendered, but use
different pronouns to denote social class.
◊ +3, +3, +2, -2 [broad competence] Synths can be agender but they often adopt
a gender for purposes of interfacing with
◊ +2, +2, +1, +1 [master of none] organics. Xin travelers are technically all
sterile females, but often use ‘we’ as their
Each attribute describes an area of pronouns to refer to their hive as a whole,
expertise for your character. even if they are not in contact with their
hive.
◊ PHYSIQUE represents a character’s raw
physicality. If a roll depends on a Finally, what does your character look like?
character’s strength, speed, or stamina, Pick 2-3 distinctive features and describe
use PHYSIQUE. them. Tall? Short? Heavy? Lithe? Sexy?
Refined? Grease-stained? Cold-eyed?
◊ REFLEX represents a character’s twitch Predatory smile? Shaved head? Tattoos?
reflexes and agility. If a roll depends on a Quiet? Brash?
character’s accuracy, reaction time, or
flexibility, use REFLEX. Step 6: Finalize Sheet

◊ DISCIPLINE represents a character’s raw Make sure all your abilities are written down
mental strength. If a roll depends on a on your sheet. Fill out your usual equipment
character’s willpower, memory, courage, for your full loadout and your casual
or force of personality, use DISCIPLINE. loadout. Your full loadout is what you carry
with you when you are on a mission. Your
◊ WITS represents a character’s mental casual loadout is what you have on you

12
 Tactic What Can You Do? Starting Ability

Athlete Run faster and jump higher. Run and Gun

Bastion Employ shields to protect your team. Hardlight Shield

Berserker Rip and tear, until it is done. Reckless Attack

Biokinetic Manipulate organic matter with your mind. Biorhythm

Commando Strike unseen. Active Camouflage

Defender Draw enemy fire. Taunt

Disruptor Stun and disorient enemies. Stun Grenade

Engineer Support and resupply your team. Resupply Drone

Fighter Specialize in melee weapons. Parry

Grenadier Blow stuff up with grenades. Frag Grenade

Gunner Specialize in automatic weapons. Suppressive Fire

Gunslinger Specialize in pistols. Quickdraw

Martial Artist Fight with your bare hands. Martial Arts

Officer Coordinate and buff your team. Tactical Advice

Operator Hack and sabotage the enemy team. Overload

Precog See the future and manipulate time. Anticipation

Pyrokinetic Blow stuff up with your mind. Ignite

Rocketeer Blow stuff up with a rocket launcher. Rocket Launcher

Sapper Blow stuff up with mines. Proximity Mine

Sentinel Deploy turrets to control the battlefield. Sentry Turret

Sharpshooter Specialize in long range combat. Steady Shot

Technomancer Enchant and enhance your gear. Paracausal Ammo

Telekinetic Manipulate gravity with your mind. Telekinesis

Telepath Manipulate minds with your mind. Mind Blast

Teleporter Manipulate space with your mind. Teleport

13
when you are in downtime or trying to be to increase that attribute by 1. Some abilities
inconspicuous. You can change your state that they grant you XP when you meet
loadouts at any time on your ship. a certain criteria. This XP can be applied to
any attribute of your choice.
When you are fully loaded you can carry:

◊ One primary weapon. Character Legacies

◊ One secondary weapon. Characters take a beating facing the
blackness of space. They change through
◊ Up to one grenade. stress breaks. They gain trauma. They die.
When you decide you want to give your
◊ Up to one utility item. character a much needed retirement, it is
time to determine your legacy.
◊ You have your full shields and armor
rating. These start at 8 and 4, When you retire your character, you gain a
respectively. number of legacy points.

When you have your casual loadout, you can ◊ First, total up your attributes and
carry: subtract 6, then multiply by 2 (in other
words, you get 2 points for each
◊ One weapon with the sidearm trait. attribute increase you’ve had).

◊ Up to one utility item. ◊ Add 1 point for each aspect, skill, and
tactical upgrade
◊ Your shields and armor rating are
halved, so these will start at 4 and 2, ◊ Add 1 point for each weapon and armor
respectively. mod.

And that’s it! You’re ready to take on the ◊ Add 3 points for each exotic that leaves
galaxy. the game with your character.

◊ Add 1 point for each point of trauma your

Character character has (include the point they
would gain if they came back to life if
Advancement they are already dead).

Characters improve in two main ways - When you create a new character, you can
mission rewards and XP rewards. Mission spend legacy points to upgrade them.
rewards grant new gear and abilities to your Consult the following table for point costs
character and new modules for your ship. XP for improving your character.
rewards come from failed action rolls. Each
action roll you fail grants 1 XP to the
attribute you rolled. During downtime, you
may spend 10 XP from a particular attribute

14
Alternately, you may spend your points to
Upgrade Legacy Point Cost
describe how your former character’s
actions changed the galaxy. A minor change Increase attribute by 1 2 points
is small scale - an impact to a handful of (max 6)
NPCs. A major change is larger - an impact Aspect, skill, or tactical 1 point
to an entire star system. A universal change upgrade
is huge - your character’s actions are felt on
a galactic scale, and the universe will never Armor or weapon mod 1 point
be the same.
New aspect, skill, or 2 points
tactic
Finally, you have the option to have your old
character become Support Personnel for Minor change 3 points
your ship (see the Starships chapter for
more information). For every 2 legacy points Major change 6 points
you spend, write down one aspect ability
that the character knew. Once per session, Universal change 9 points
someone on the crew can use an aspect
ability from their Support Personnel as if Support personnel 2 points per ability
they had that aspect.

15
Chapter 3:

Playing the
Game
16
Gameplay in Mythic Space is a conversation Difficulty
between the GM and the players. The GM
describes what is happening in the scene, The GM decides how difficult the action is.
and then asks the players what they would This determines your degree of success
like to do. The players describe what their based on the target number.
characters do. When the outcome is in
doubt, roll the dice to find out what happens. ◊ The vast majority of rolls are standard
Only roll the dice when the situation is difficulty. You achieve a partial success
interesting or tense - you don’t need to roll on a 10-19, and a full success on a 20+.
to brush your teeth in the morning unless
you’re trying to impress an Imperial ◊ If an action is easy, you achieve a partial
Baroness. success on a 5-14, and a full success on a
15+.
The most common die roll is the action roll
(as in a roll prompted by player action). Roll ◊ If an action is hard, you achieve a partial
a twenty-sided die (d20) and add your success on a 15-24, and a full success on
relevant attribute. a 25+.

◊ PHYSIQUE is used when the roll depends ◊ If an action would be trivial, don’t roll.
on sheer physical strength, endurance, You automatically achieve a full success.
or speed. Remember - only roll the dice when the
outcome is in doubt.
◊ REFLEX is used when the roll depends
on reaction time, finesse, or accuracy. ◊ If an action is impossible, don’t roll. You
just fail.
◊ DISCIPLINE is used when the roll
depends on memory, study, force of
personality, or raw mental power. Success And Failure
◊ WITS is used when the roll depends on Your degree of success determines the
quick thinking, lateral thinking, outcome of the action roll.
deception, or charm.
◊ On a full success things go about as well
as can be expected, without any
unforeseen consequences.

◊ On a partial success you accomplish

what you are trying to achieve, but there
are complications - trouble, harm,
reduced effect, etc.

◊ On a failure things go badly. You don’t

achieve your goal, or if you do the cost is
catastrophic. On the plus side, you gain 1
XP for the relevant attribute.

17
 Position effective. You’re definitely using the right
tools for the right job, or you’re in the
The potential severity of your consequences right place at the right time.
are determined by your position. There are
four potential positions: ◊ Godlike: This level of effect can only be
achieved with something supernatural,
◊ Controlled: You have the situation well like an exotic item or the intervention of
in hand and are operating from a an OCE. It’s so good it’s like magic.
position of strength. Any potential
consequences will be minor.
Skills
◊ Risky: It could go either way, honestly.
You’re definitely not going to like the Your skills modify the difficulty of an action
consequences, but they’re not going to roll. If you possess a relevant skill, you
be catastrophic either. This is considered reduce the difficulty by one step: Easy
the default position. becomes trivial, standard becomes easy,
hard becomes standard. In certain cases,
◊ Desperate: You are opening yourself up you may be able to make an impossible roll
to serious danger here. This could get if you have a relevant skill, but the GM still
really ugly. may veto things. No matter how skilled you
are, you’re not going to be able to punch a
◊ Deadly: Don’t expect to survive this. moon out of orbit.

Experienced characters may have skill

Effect specialties. These are more narrow
applications of the standard skills. Any
The flipside of position is effect - what you action you perform that falls under one of
can expect to gain as a result of a successful your skill specialties increases its effect by
action. one step. Skill specialties can’t increase
great effect to godlike, but they will increase
◊ Negligible: Whatever you’re doing has your effect die during a challenge (see
no hope of achieving anything. You’re not below).
going to whittle through a bulkhead with
a pen. Why are you rolling for this again?

◊ Limited: Your actions will make some

progress, but not much. You might be
using shoddy tools, or have improvised
an imperfect solution, but it’s better
than nothing.

◊ Standard: You achieve what you would

expect as “normal” for this action.

◊ Great: Whatever you’re doing is super

18
 Tokens Advantage

Character abilities and circumstances grant You may spend an advantage token when
tokens. Tokens can be spent to manipulate you make an action roll to roll a second d20
dice rolls to change the outcome. There are and take the highest result.
positive tokens, which are always displayed
in blue. There are negative tokens, which Effect
are always displayed in red. Some abilities
also grant unique tokens, which are always When you roll a partial success or better on
marked with an asterisk*. Unique token an action roll, you may spend an effect
effects are explained in the ability that token to improve the effect of the roll by
introduces them. one step. If this is a challenge (see below)
you may spend an effect token to roll an
Unless otherwise specified, the most you can extra effect die instead.
have of any one particular kind of token is
three, and tokens go away at the end of a Protection
scene. The scene is the most basic
measurement of time. As long as you are When you fail an action roll, or would suffer
doing the same general thing in the same consequences as a result of a partial
general place, that’s a single scene. A combat success, you may spend a protection
is a scene, sneaking into the governor’s token to reduce or possibly negate the
mansion is a scene, negotiating with a pirate severity of the consequences depending on
queen is a scene. your position. If one of your resistances
would take damage during a challenge (see
You can only spend one token of each type on below), you can halve the damage by
a given action roll. You could not spend two spending a protection token.
advantage tokens to reroll an action roll
twice for example, but you could spend an Danger
advantage token to reroll the action, and
then spend an effect token to increase the When you suffer a consequence as a result
effect. of a failure or a partial success while you
have a danger token, the GM can spend
Most positive tokens have a corresponding that token to inflict consequences as if your
negative token. Tokens of the opposite type position was one level worse. If one of your
cancel each other out. For example, if you resistances takes damage during a
had an advantage token and gained a challenge, the GM can spend a danger
disadvantage token, you would instead token to roll an additional consequence die
remove both tokens. instead.

Positive Token Negative Token Disadvantage

Advantage Disadvantage
When you make an action roll while you
Effect Misfortune have a disadvantage token, the GM can
spend that token to have you roll a second
Protection Danger

19
d20 and take the worse result. Pushing a Roll
Misfortune Any bargains occur before an action roll is
made. The only way to alter the outcome of
When you roll a partial success or better on an action roll after the dice have been rolled
an action roll while you have a misfortune is to push yourself. Choose a d4, a d6, or a
token, the GM can spend that token to d8. Roll that die and add the result to your
reduce the effect by one level. If this is a total. You gain an equal amount of stress.
challenge, the GM can spend a misfortune You can only push action rolls - you may not
token to halve the result of the effect dice push effect rolls, damage rolls, or saving
instead. throws.

Bargaining Stress and Breaks

Before you make an action roll, you and the Stress is a measure of your character’s
GM may trade tokens based on what you’re ability to take on the dangers of the universe
doing. You might say “I’m going to try to be and emerge unscathed. Pushing rolls is the
as careful as I can” and the GM can respond primary way to gain stress, but certain
with “Sure, but since you’re going so slowly, abilities also have you gain stress as a cost.
you aren’t going to cover as much ground.” The GM can never inflict stress on you as a
Mechanically what is happening is you can consequence - gaining stress is always a
gain a protection token at the cost of result of a player’s choice. Each character
gaining a misfortune token. The GM is free starts with zero stress.
to tempt you with tokens as well. “You know,
if you ran a little faster, I’d bet you could When you reach 10 or more stress you suffer
catch that guard before any of his friends a break. A break is a moment of extreme
notice…” as they slide an advantage token trauma, but also catharsis. For the rest of
and a danger token across the table at you. the scene, you are locked at 10 stress, and
It’s up to you if you want to accept these you cannot gain any further stress to use
tokens. abilities or take extra actions. However, you
may add a bonus d6 to every action roll you
You can also request a “Devil’s Bargain” by make for the rest of the scene, and you may
suggesting a consequence or complication ignore the wounded and shaken conditions.
in the fiction to gain a positive token of your
choice. For example, you might say “As I’m At the end of the scene, you lose this bonus,
running away from this horrible alien and remain locked at full stress until you
monster, I toss my pack into its jaws. Could I disappear for a few scenes to process
get an effect token if I lose my supplies?” whatever happened to you. When you return
The consequence happens regardless of the to the game, you have lost something
outcome of the roll. important - your innocence, your dignity,
your confidence, your morality. You might
irreparably damage a relationship with an
NPC you are close to, or gain a new
addiction, or just turn cold to the world.

20
Whatever you lose from a break is success, but now they have a new problem
permanent. You may find something new to to deal with. If this complication interferes
take its place in your life, but you cannot go with your performance in the future, the GM
back to who you were. If a break is bad can give you a disadvantage token to
enough, a character may choose to retire represent the trouble.
instead of continuing to go on. That’s the
sad truth of standing against the darkness Lost Opportunity
of space - the body may heal, but the mind is
not always so resilient. This consequence means that whatever
opportunity you had is lost. You tried to
You can relieve stress during downtime by corner an assassin on a roof, but he used his
doing activities that are therapeutic to your grav boots to drop eight stories to the
character. It might be a round of drinks at streets below. You will have to track him
the port cantina, or meditation in your down another way.
chambers, or a strenuous workout session
in the gym. See the Downtime chapter for Worse Position
more information.
This consequence represents the situation
spiraling out of control and placing you in
Consequences danger. You jumped over the gap, but you
are clinging to the edge of the building with
When you fail an action roll, or even when your fingertips. As with a complication, this
you only achieve a partial success, there can consequence does not negate the effect of a
be a number of different consequences. successful roll. You may have achieved what
There are five types of consequences. you were trying to accomplish, but now you
might be in worse trouble than you were
Reduced Effect before. The GM can give you a danger token
to represent your worsening circumstances.
The action wasn’t as impactful as you
thought it would be. You jumped over the Harm and Death
gap, but you are clinging to the edge of the
building with your fingertips. You may still If you are in a desperate position, or a risky
achieve your goal here, but at the cost of position with a danger token, the GM can
reduced effect in the future, in which case inflict a harm condition on you to represent
the GM gives you a misfortune token. physical or mental damage to your
character. There are two kinds of harm
Complication conditions:

This consequence represents a new wrinkle ◊ Wounded: This represents physical

the crew must account for. You managed to injury. As long as you are wounded, you
blow open the cabin door, but you cracked automatically fail any PHYSIQUE or
the outer bulkhead and now the ship is REFLEX roll unless you gain 1 stress prior
leaking atmosphere. A complication cannot to the roll.
negate a successful roll. The players still
achieve their objective with a partial ◊ Shaken: This represents mental injury -

21
 blows to your confidence or sense of self Challenges
or extreme fear. As long as you are
shaken, you automatically fail any Sometimes a situation may call for more
DISCIPLINE or WITS roll unless you gain 1 than one action roll to resolve fully. In this
stress prior to the roll. instance, the GM assigns the challenge a
certain number of hardship points (HP).
Actions you automatically fail as a result of
being wounded or shaken still count as The Challenge HP Average Rolls
making a roll, so you still gain XP for the Is… to Resolve
action. In fact, trying to act while you have a Pretty quick 5 1-2
harm condition can be very lucrative XP-
wise in the long term, at the expense of a lot Standard 10 2-4
of nasty consequences in the short term.
Getting lengthy 15 3-6

If you already have a harm condition and A major 20+ 4-8+

obstacle
would gain that condition again, you gain
the other condition instead. If you are When you gain a partial success on an
already both wounded and shaken and action roll for a challenge, roll one effect die
would suffer harm again, you die. You are based on your effect and subtract that much
out of the action until the next time your from the challenge’s HP. When you achieve a
crew enters downtime, when the medbay on full success, roll two dice. When you deplete
your ship would have time to revive you. the challenge’s HP, you achieve your goal.
When you return to the action, permanently
fill in one of your stress boxes to represent Effect Level Effect Die
trauma.
Negligible none
Sometimes the consequences of your Limited d4
actions are so extreme the GM can declare
that they are instantly fatal, even if you Standard d6
were not wounded and shaken first. The GM Great d8
can only do this if you are in a deadly
position, or a desperate position with a Great + Skill Specialty d10
danger token. Deadly position requires that Godlike d12
you are doing something inherently lethal,
like diving into lava or sprinting through a
minefield.

22
Resistance Teamwork
During a challenge, the GM may want to give When the crew works together to overcome
you limited attempts. It might be a race an obstacle, the characters have access to
against time to escape a space station some special teamwork maneuvers.
before it explodes. It might be an admiral’s
patience wearing thin as you try to convince Assist a Teammate
them to attack a secret base. It might be
something more abstract, like the likelihood When you assist another player who is
of being cornered while trying to run from rolling, describe what you are doing to help.
the colonial police. You gain 1 stress and give that character an
advantage token.
To represent these limited opportunities, the
GM names a resistance, like “time” or Lead a Group Action
“patience” or “freedom” respectively to the
above examples, and then gives it an HP When you lead a group action, you
value. coordinate multiple team members all
working together to tackle a problem, such
When the players fail a roll or achieve a as sneaking the entire group into a base.
partial success, the GM rolls a consequence
die and reduces their resistance’s HP by that Each character involved makes the same
amount. The consequence die depends on action roll, all using the same attribute. The
the character’s position. team uses the best result out of all of them.
However, the group leader gains 1 stress for
Position Consequence Die each character who failed the roll.

Controlled d4 The group action result covers everyone

who rolled - they all gain the benefits of a
Risky d6
successful roll, and all suffer the
Desperate d8 consequences of a failed one. If you don’t
roll, you don’t gain the effects or suffer the
Deadly d12 consequences.

Setting challenge and resistance HP is more Protect a Teammate

of an art than a science, but as a general
rule, every 5 HP you assign takes about 1.5 You step in to face a consequence that your
rolls to fill. The GM can make things tense teammate would otherwise face. Describe
for the crew by setting their resistance HP how you intervene, then you suffer the
lower than the challenge HP, or they can consequences instead. If you are generally
make things easier by giving them more keeping an eye on someone, the GM may let
resistance. you give them a protection token.

23
Set Up Another Action a secret, the answer can only be found by
adventuring. However, if the players have
When you perform a set up action you have found the answer and just forgotten it
an indirect result on an obstacle. If your because it was like eight sessions ago, the
action succeeds, you may give a teammate GM should remind them.
who follows up on your action an effect
token. If the GM isn’t sure if a player should know
the answer to a question or not, they can
make a fortune roll, adding the character’s
Fortune Rolls DISCIPLINE or WITS, whichever makes more
sense. On a 10+, the GM tells them the
The GM usually doesn’t roll any dice outside answer. This is not an action roll and cannot
of combat or challenges, but sometimes generate XP.
things happen outside of the players’
control and the GM isn’t sure how things are
going to pan out. When this happens, they
can make a fortune roll. A fortune roll is a
simple d20 roll. The GM assigns one
outcome to high and one outcome to low,
and then can modify the roll based on how
likely they think things are weighted
towards one side or the other. If the roll is
closer to 20, the high outcome wins, and if
the roll is closer to 1 the low outcome wins.

Information
Since Mythic Space largely takes place in the
imaginations of several people sitting
around a table, the flow of information is
very important. The GM should make sure all
the players are on the same page when it
comes to setting the scene, but it’s
impossible for the GM to say everything that
is going on - it’s just too complex. The
players can ask the GM questions about the
world and situation, and the GM should
gently remind the players if their actions
seem to be missing an obvious detail. If the
question is common knowledge, the GM
should just tell the players the answer. If the
question requires specialized knowledge,
the GM should just tell any player who has a
relevant skill or background. If the answer is

24
 Chapter 4:

Missions
25
The structure of time in Mythic Space can be When you are fully loaded, you look like you
roughly divided into Missions and are armed for battle. This might be accepted
Downtime. The Mission phase is high stress in some of the rougher ports in the galaxy,
- lives are on the line, and the fate of the but in most civilized space if you walk
galaxy or your bank balance are at stake. around fully loaded it won’t be long before
Downtime, by contrast, is low stress. It is the police show up with questions.
the time for player characters to blow off
steam, work on personal projects, recover When you are fully loaded, you can carry:
from injuries, and plan their next mission.
◊ One primary weapon.
During the first session, the GM usually
throws the party headfirst in media res. ◊ One secondary weapon.
After the first mission, the crew usually has
a choice about what missions they would ◊ One grenade.
like to pursue. The GM presents the
missions that are available, as well as the ◊ One utility item.
potential rewards for completing them. The
GM may also hand out sidequests to ◊ You have full shields and armor.
individual PCs as well. The group may decide
that they don’t like any of the mission With a casual loadout, you are
opportunities available to them and propose inconspicuous. You are assumed to be using
their own course of action (GMs should your casual loadout during downtime and
encourage this, it lessens their workload any time you are trying to look non-
dramatically). threatening.

With your casual loadout, you can carry:

Mission Goal
◊ One weapon with the sidearm tag.
Missions have a clear goal - what are the
players hoping to accomplish? This is ◊ One utility item.
usually phrased as a question. Will the crew
extract the spy from Imperial space? Will ◊ You have half your normal shields and
they discover the secret of the monolith on armor.
the fourth moon of Rigel? Will the colony of
Tulley’s Hope survive the onslaught of pirate Some abilities and armor upgrades allow
slavers? We play to answer this question. you to carry more stuff. If you need to switch
up your loadout, you can do so on your ship.

Mission Loadout
At the start of each mission, each player
sets their starting supplies and their gear
loadout. There are two loadouts - casual
and fully loaded.

26
 Supplies and Gear Rations

All characters are assumed to have a Bland but nutritious food, enough to feed an
commlink, a universal translator, and a data organic creature for a day.
terminal. When they are fully loaded, their
hardsuit is capable of sealing against Survival Kit
vacuum and operating in space for several
hours. This kit contains the essentials for surviving
in hostile environments - spare O2
All characters begin each mission with 5 canisters, water filters, temperature
supplies. Some ship and armor upgrades regulators, and an instant shelter.
allow you to start missions with more
supplies. These supplies are used to power Toolkit
certain abilities and repair your armor if it
gets damaged. You can spend 1 supply Wrenches, a laser torch, soldering tools,
during a mission to gain access to any of the hammers, crowbars.
following standard gear. Standard gear has
an effort die of d6 unless specified Trauma Patch
otherwise.
A simple bandage treated with an organic
Supplies replenish for free when you enter compound that stops bleeding and
downtime. You can also replenish your stabilizes vitals. It can be deployed as a
supplies in a market by spending 1 credit. main action to stabilize a dying ally.

Binoculars Universal Sealant

These digital imaging units are capable of up This smart sealant can be used to patch
to 100x magnification and come with night small holes or damaged equipment. It is
vision and thermal imaging. vacuum rated and when used in tandem
with larger pieces of sheet metal can be
Courier Drone used to fix hull breaches. It can also be used
to repair hardsuits in between battles.
These small personal drones have about a
5km range. They can ferry small hand-held
objects back to your ship, or another Mission Rewards
location of your choosing. They can be used
for reconnaissance, but they are noisy, Mission rewards are the primary way you
vulnerable, and easy to shoot down. advance your character.

Legal Drugs Weapon Mod

Most ships have a standard pharmaceutical Weapon mods allow you to improve your
supply of painkillers, ointments, and weapons and grant them new special
stimulants. No one wants to get caught in abilities. The number of mods you can have
space with a hangover. installed on a weapon depends on your

27
ship’s Arsenal tier. Basic weapons can have Ship Upgrade
one mod installed. Tier 2 weapons can have
two mods installed, and tier 3 weapons can Ship upgrades benefit the entire crew. These
have up to three. add additional modules or improve the
statistics of your ship. Ship upgrades are
Armor Mod quite rare and missions that reward them
should be prioritized.
Armor mods, like weapon mods, grant new
abilities to your armor and provide improved Credits
resistance or mobility options. You can have
a number of armor mods installed equal to Credits are the currency of the galaxy. It is
your ship’s Armory tier, and you can swap an abstraction of anything of value your
your mods when you change your loadout. crew may receive as payment. It could be
electronic currency, valuable alloys and
Tactical Upgrade minerals, livestock, shares of stock, or
anything else that can be traded for value.
Tactical upgrades grant you new abilities During downtime, you can spend credits to
from your tactics. You can also gain the purchase new abilities, mods, or ship
starting ability from a new tactic with one of upgrades. See the next chapter for more
these upgrades, but you must spend two details.
additional credits. Once you have purchased
the new tactic, you can take upgrades from Exotic Materials
it as usual.
Exotic materials are extremely rare and
Aspect Upgrade precious materials found in the strangest
and most dangerous parts of the galaxy.
This reward allows you to choose a new These materials are required for certain ship
ability from one of your aspects. You may upgrades and for crafting or upgrading
gain the starting ability from a new aspect exotics.
with one of these upgrades, but you must
spend two additional credits. Example Exotic Materials

Skill Upgrade ♦ Alternate Universe Polymers

You gain a specialty for one of your skills. A ♦ Crystalised Dark Matter
specialty represents a more narrow
application of the skill. Increase your level of ♦ Frozen Light
effect on any roll where your specialty
applies. There isn’t a set list of skill ♦ Liquid Nanobots
specialties - you can invent whatever
specialty makes sense. You may also gain a ♦ Naturally Occurring Einsteinium
new skill with one of these upgrades, but
you must spend two additional credits. ♦ Stable Antimatter

♦ Xenonite Alloy

28
Exotics ◊ Finesse:

Exotic rewards are… strange. They are very ♦ Balancing

powerful and very rare. The GM has
information on Exotics. ♦ Dancing

Example Skill Specialties ♦ Sleight of Hand

◊ Compel: ◊ Interface:

♦ Giving Orders ♦ AI Whisperer

♦ Intimidation ♦ Hacking

♦ Lead By Example ♦ Programming

◊ Destroy: ◊ Perceive:

♦ A particular object (ships, robots, ♦ Acute Hearing

glass, ancient tech, etc.)
♦ Empathy
♦ Demolitions
♦ Spotting Ambushes
♦ Making It Look Like An Accident
◊ Pilot:
◊ Engineer:
♦ Asteroid Dodging
♦ Crafting
♦ Hoverbikes
♦ Ship Engines
♦ Racing
♦ Small objects
◊ Stealth:
◊ Exert:
♦ Look Like You Belong
♦ Climbing
♦ Move Silently
♦ Jumping
♦ Setting Ambushes
♦ Lifting

29
◊ Study:

♦ Crime Scenes

♦ Detecting Lies

♦ Research

◊ Survive:

♦ Animal Handling

♦ Deserts

♦ Jungles

◊ Sway:

♦ Musician

♦ Obvious Lies

♦ Seduction

30
 Chapter 5:

Downtime
31
When your ship lands in a friendly port after Downtime Actions
a mission, it is time to rest, relax, and
recover from the last mission and prepare Each PC gets one downtime action which
for the next. This can be as much of a break they can use to perform one of the following
for the players as it is for their characters - actions. Each PC can choose one companion
it’s okay to spend an entire session or more PC to join them during that action, so in
in downtime to serve as a mental break from practice each PC can take two downtime
the high stakes drama of missions and actions if the party coordinates choosing
combat. companions. You can be chosen as a
companion more than once if you need to
When the crew enters downtime, the take a lot of downtime actions. You can also
following happens automatically: spend 1 credit to take an additional
downtime action (you can bring a
◊ Any dead crewmembers are revived in companion with you as usual). You don’t
the medbay. Permanently fill in a stress have to take a companion with you in most
box for trauma. cases, though there’s no upside to going
solo.
◊ Distribute mission rewards among the
crew. It is up to the crew to partition Each downtime action should be covered by
rewards in a way everyone thinks is fair. a short vignette scene where the PCs have a
chance to interact with each other, and then
◊ The crew can spend credits for they gain the benefits of that action. While it
additional upgrades. is possible to just say “Anders and I go and
destress together” just like it is possible to
♦ Weapon mods, armor mods, and say “I shoot this trooper,” the game is
aspect, skill, or tactical upgrades infinitely more enjoyable if you add more
cost 5 credits each. description and detail.

♦ Minor ship upgrades cost 5 credits.

♦ Major ship upgrades cost 10 credits

and 1 exotic material.

♦ Pinnacle ship upgrades cost 20

credits and 2 exotic materials.

◊ Any PC with 10 or more XP in one of their

attributes increases it by 1, then reduces
their XP total by 10.

32
Destress or as costly as an exotic material if the
item is really rare or strange.
Choose a companion (this action requires
one). You and that companion have a ◊ It’s going to take work to find. Set up a
revealing scene together - a heart to heart project with 5-15 HP.
talk, a confrontation about an issue that’s
been bothering you, a romantic scene, an ◊ It’s going to be dangerous. The GM
amusing party scene, a combination of any generates a mission with the item as
of the above, or something along those one of the rewards.
lines. At the end of that scene, roll 2d10 and
divide the result between the two of you. ◊ You are going to antagonize someone
You each clear that much stress. important by getting it.

Placate ◊ You’re going to owe someone a debt.

You try to smooth things over with a faction ◊ It’s close but not quite what you were
you have wronged. You may choose a looking for. There is something wrong
companion to come with you to try to help with it - it’s delicate, malfunctioning,
out, in which case treat this as a group ugly, etc. Reduce its effect die by one
action roll for the two of you. Describe how step.
you try to placate the faction and then make
an action roll. On a full success, you reduce Once the complications have been resolved,
their hate by 2. On a partial success, you you and your companion get the things you
reduce their hate by 1. The faction may then were looking for.
offer you an opportunity to make things
right by offering you a mission. If you Recover
succeed on that mission, reduce their hate
to 0. The GM’s section has more information You and a companion hang out in the
on factions and hate. medbay and recover from your injuries. You
each clear one harm condition (wounded or
Procure shaken). What do you talk about while you’re
healing? How do you pass the time?
You and another PC go shopping together, or
try to track down a rare item. This action can If your ship has been damaged, you may also
also be used to find special services, such as use this action to repair it. You must spend
a fence, antiquarian, or AI programmer. You half the cost of a damaged module to repair
and your companion state what each of you it.
is looking for. The GM determines if what
you are looking for is possible, and if it is, Train
they assess one or more of the following
complications based on how difficult it’s You and a companion train together to
going to be to acquire: improve yourselves. Each of you add 2 XP to
the attribute of your choice. What does your
◊ You have to pay a cost. It can be training look like? Do you find a trainer and
something as simple as a couple credits, both work under them?

33
Work on a Project

You and a companion work on a long-term

project together, or you each work on your
individual projects (but bounce ideas off of
each other for advice). A long-term project
can cover any number of activities, such as
researching a scientific or arcane oddity,
tracking down a mysterious figure,
developing an exotic piece of gear,
improving your ship, making contact with a
helpful faction, etc.

The GM sets up a challenge for the project

with a HP value depending on how complex
it is. Make an action roll with the attribute
that’s most appropriate for the project
against a standard difficulty.

Full Success: You apply 2d6 effort to the

project.

Partial Success: You apply 1d6 effort to the

project.

Failure: You apply 1 effort to the project.

34
 Chapter 6:

Tactical Combat
35
The tactical combat system in Mythic Space enemies on the other side of your cover may
is intended for epic shootouts and intense attack each other.
action scenes. It is not intended to model
just punching some guy in a bar or slitting Difficult Terrain
the throat of a guard during an infiltration
mission - those are best handled by a Difficult terrain is any ground that is
standard action roll or a challenge. particularly rocky, muddy, or unstable. You
cannot reposition or sprint through difficult
terrain - you must use the struggle action.
Set Up
Damaging Terrain
Combat in Mythic Space works best on a
map (though this is not strictly necessary), Damaging terrain is things like lava flows,
since positioning and maneuvering is rivers of caustic chemicals, or clouds of
important. The battlefield is divided into magnetized metal shards - anything that
zones. A zone is approximately a 10x10 has the potential to cause damage just by
meter square, though this is not a hard and being in the same zone. If you move through
fast rule. The GM does not have to mark the or end your turn in a zone with damaging
zone boundary exactly - use things like terrain, you take damage.
rooms and terrain to create natural dividing
lines between zones. Hazards

The GM places the initial opposition on the Hazards are objects on the battlefield that
map and points out which zone or zones the are not necessarily damaging in and of
PCs can start out in, and the players place themselves, but could be exploited to cause
their miniatures (if you’re using them) in massive damage. Hazards are things like
their starting positions. barrels of starship fuel, egg sacs full of
acidic goo, or a fragile bulkhead with
Terrain Features vacuum on the other side. If a hazard is
targeted with an attack, it may trigger its
Zones are differentiated by the terrain effects on all characters in the zone (usually
present in them. damage or a few negative tokens).

Cover Range

The most common terrain feature is cover. In order to target a character with an action,
they must be in range.
If you are peeking out the edge of a wall or
barrier, you have partial cover. You may ◊ Engaged characters are within arm’s
attack enemies on the other side of the reach of each other. They are in the same
cover without penalty, but attacks that zone, or right next to each other in
target you are hard. adjacent zones.

If you are completely blocked by a wall or ◊ Close range characters are in the same
object, you have full cover. Neither you nor zone or adjacent zone, within 5 meters.

36
◊ Medium range characters are within 30 During a character’s turn, that character can
meters or so (within 3 zones). take one move action, one main action, and
one auxiliary action. They may also take
◊ Long range characters are within 100 any number of free actions within reason.
meters or so (within 10 zones). This Actions cannot be traded for a different
means you can target anyone on a action type - you cannot trade your move
typical battle map. action for another auxiliary action, for
example. These actions can be taken in any
◊ Extreme range characters are within 1 order. If you want to move and then shoot,
km (100 zones). This is usually reserved or shoot and then move, that’s fine.
for snipers, vehicles, or artillery.
Once a character has finished taking their
Compromised Position turn, then a member of the opposing side
gets to take an action. If one side
If a move action tells you that your position outnumbers the other, once all members of
is compromised, that means the GM the outnumbered side have taken their turn,
determines one of the following: all the rest of the members of the larger side
take their turns. Once all characters have
◊ There is less cover there than you taken their turn, a new round begins and the
thought. You are exposed and do not turn order continues to alternate. If one side
benefit from cover until you move again. takes the last action in a round, the other
side takes the first action in the next round.
◊ There is a hazard there you were not
previously aware of. You do not take Pushing Yourself
damage immediately, but you are at risk
of harm if you do not move on your next Sometimes one main action isn’t enough.
turn or the enemy finds a way to trigger Once per turn, you may push yourself to
the hazard. take an extra action of any type. When you
do that, you gain 1d4 stress after the action
resolves. You can push yourself for an extra
Turn-Based Combat action and to improve a roll on the same
turn.
Time in combat is broken down into rounds
and turns. The exact duration of a round
usually doesn’t matter, but it’s generally
less than a minute. Each turn represents a
few seconds of ‘screen time.’ Each character
can take one turn per round.

The side that initiated the hostilities takes

the first turn. This is usually started by the
players saying something like “I shoot the
guy.” The players can discuss amongst
themselves which of them acts first.

37
 Actions Struggle

Actions in combat work similarly to normal You only need to use this action if you are
action rolls, but there are a few wrinkles for moving through difficult terrain, jumping
the purposes of tactical depth. over a gap, climbing something, or have an
immobilized token. Choose an obstacle to
◊ Combat uses a different set of tokens overcome, then roll PHYSIQUE (exert).
than normal action rolls. You can only
use the standard tokens with stunts, Full Success: You overcome the obstacle
which are described below. Combat (clear the gap, climb the ladder, steady
tokens are described below this section. yourself over difficult terrain, remove the
immobilized token, etc.) and may
◊ Skills usually don’t apply, with a few immediately reposition.
exceptions. Stunts can use any skill. The
struggle action uses the exert skill, and Partial Success: You overcome the obstacle.
you can use destroy to attack an object.
Failure: You stay where you are, and
Move Actions whatever was blocking you is still blocking
you.
Reposition

You move to any point within close range.

Sprint

Choose a point within medium range you

would like to move to, then roll PHYSIQUE.

Full Success: You reach the desired point

with no issues.

Partial Success: You only get halfway there,

or you get there but your position is
compromised.

Failure: You only get halfway there, and your

position is compromised.

38
Main Actions throw something at the target.

Attack ◊ Use DISCIPLINE if you are trying to

intimidate the target.
You attempt to damage a character or object
with a weapon. Each weapon will tell you ◊ Use WITS if you are trying to trick or
which attribute it uses to attack, but as a confuse the target.
general rule:
Full Success: Choose two from the list
◊ Melee weapons use PHYSIQUE. below. You may choose the same option
more than once.
◊ Guns use REFLEX.
Partial Success: Choose one:
◊ Spells use DISCIPLINE.
◊ The target gains your choice of an
◊ Tech gadgets use WITS. immobilized, misfire, off-guard,
vulnerable, or weakened token.
Your target must be within the weapon’s
listed range. Attacks with guns require you ◊ The target’s position is compromised.
to spend ammo, and some other spells or
abilities require you to gain strain or spend ◊ The target triggers a hazard in their
supplies. Pay any costs and then roll the zone.
appropriate attribute.
Failure: Choose one from the above list, and
Full Success: You score a critical hit (a then your target chooses one to apply to
‘crit’). You deal 2 damage dice to the target. you.

Partial Success: You hit the target. You deal Hide

1 damage die to the target.
You attempt to make the enemy lose track of
Failure: You miss the target. You damage an your position. To hide, you must be outside
object or ally in the same zone (target’s of any enemies’ line of sight, behind cover,
choice). or invisible. Hidden characters cannot be
targeted directly by hostile actions, but can
Debilitate still be hit by area effects that target the
zone they are currently in.
You attempt to hinder or distract a character
within close range. Describe what you are You cease to be hidden if:
doing and then roll the appropriate
attribute. ◊ You make an attack.

◊ Use PHYSIQUE if you are trying to tackle ◊ An enemy gains line of sight to you.
or restrain the target.
◊ You lose your invisibility.
◊ Use REFLEX if you are trying to trip or

39
You may move while you are hidden by Stunt
making a WITS save. On a success, you
remain hidden as long as your final position You attempt to do something unexpected.
meets the requirements for being hidden in Talk with your GM about what you want to
the first place. accomplish, and make an action roll as
normal. As long as stunts are creative, they
Overwatch should be adjudicated generously. If a player
tries to perform the same stunt over and
You prepare to strike when the enemy over again, they may need to add 1 or more
moves. You gain an overwatch token. stress each time they perform the stunt at
the GM’s discretion, or have reduced effect.
Rally
Throw
You take a breather and recover your
strength. Roll DISCIPLINE. You throw a grenade or other utility item.
Choose a zone within medium range, then
Full Success: Choose three from the list roll PHYSIQUE.
below. You may choose the same option
more than once. Full Success: The grenade lands in the
target zone. If the item specifies the target
Partial Success: Choose two from the list gets a saving throw, all targets in the zone
below. You may choose the same option automatically fail.
more than once.
Partial Success: The grenade lands in the
Failure: Choose one: target zone.

◊ Recharge your shields to full. Failure: The grenade lands in an adjacent

zone. Roll a d12 and read the result like a
◊ Reload one weapon. clock to determine which one.

◊ Clear your strain.

◊ Remove a negative token.

◊ Gain a fortified token.

Stabilize

You use a trauma patch to stabilize a dying

ally. This costs 1 supply.

40
Auxiliary Actions Free Actions

Assess Parley

You try to suss out your enemy’s abilities. Speaking is always a free action, and you
Choose a character you can see. You may can always try to talk your opponents down,
ask a number of the below questions equal even if it’s not your turn. The action stops
to your WITS (minimum 1), which the GM and you make your case. The GM asks for an
must answer honestly. action roll for an appropriate attribute and
sets position and effect based on their offer.
◊ What is this character’s PHYSIQUE, On a success, some or all of the opposition
REFLEX, DISCIPLINE, or WITS score? You may choose to stop fighting. If they reject
may ask this question more than once, your offer, you cannot attempt to parley
choosing a different attribute each time. again until the situation meaningfully
changes.
◊ What is this character’s current shields
and armor? Swap Weapons

◊ What is this character’s most dangerous Once per turn, you may draw a weapon or
ability? swap between your primary weapon or
secondary weapon.
◊ Does this character have a particular
weak point?
Saving Throws
Interact
Some abilities allow a saving throw to
You use an object in the environment, like a mitigate some or all of their effects. A saving
door or control panel. You can use this throw is a normal roll of the appropriate
action to pick up a dropped item, but if you attribute - roll 1d20 and add the appropriate
are engaged with a hostile character you attribute. You succeed on a 10 or higher.
must succeed on a PHYSIQUE save to do so. Saves are binary - they are only a pass or
fail. There are no bonuses for a Full Success
Seek result on a saving throw. Saving throws are
not action rolls - they cannot be pushed
Choose a zone within line of sight where you and you do not gain XP for a failed save.
suspect a character is hiding. Make a WITS
saving throw. On a success, you reveal any
hidden characters in that zone.

That’s it for basic auxiliary actions. If you do

not have a use for your auxiliary action,
don’t worry - the game is balanced around
the assumption that not everyone has
something to do with their auxiliary action
every round.

41
 Damage and short of total disintegration as long as you
get to it within that time. However, death is
Defenses very traumatic. Permanently fill in one of
your stress boxes due to trauma. The true
When you hit a target with an attack, it takes end of a hero does not come when their
damage as determined by your weapon. body is broken - but their spirit.
There are two main types of defenses -
shields and armor. Damage is dealt to Damaging Objects
shields first and then armor. When your
armor is depleted, you are defeated. Sometimes you want to damage or destroy
an object in the environment. If an object is
NPCs who are defeated are usually just shielded or armored, damage to the object
killed. PCs and major antagonists who are must whittle down those defenses before
defeated are a little more complicated. Roll potentially harming the object.
a d20 and add the amount of unmitigated
damage you have taken (if you were brought Objects have a toughness quality depending
to 0 armor exactly, just roll a d20 and don’t on the material they are made of. Fragile
add anything). objects are destroyed by any attack.
Standard objects can withstand weapons
20+: You die. fire, but are destroyed by explosions.
Reinforced objects can withstand
10-19: You become wounded or shaken (your explosions but can be destroyed by armor-
choice) and are dying. piercing attacks. Impervious objects cannot
be damaged by any attack short of starship
9-: You become wounded or shaken (your scale weapons.
choice) but you are stable.
It is up to the GM whether shooting a
If you are dying at the end of your turn, make particular object requires an attack roll. If
a PHYSIQUE or DISCIPLINE roll (your choice). the object is vehicle sized or larger, it
generally does not require a roll. If it is
Full Success: You stabilize, and are no roughly person-sized, make a standard
longer dying. difficulty attack. If it is a smaller object like a
bottle, the attack roll is hard.
Partial Success: You live for one more
round, but you’re still dying.
Toughness Example Material
Failure: You die.
Glass, plaster, starship
Fragile control panels
You also die if you are defeated while
already wounded and shaken. ‘Dying’ in Standard Brick, wood, thin metal
battle does not necessarily mean total
death - the character is injured badly Reinforced Concrete, thick metal
enough that they are in no condition to take
any action. The medbay on your ship is Impervious Exotic materials
advanced enough to revive almost anything

42
 Combat Tokens Fortified

Combat tokens are slightly different from You may spend a fortified token when you
standard tokens. Many of them act like take damage to take half damage, rounded
standard tokens, but can only be used for down. When you make a PHYSIQUE or
specific types of actions. You can only spend DISCIPLINE saving throw, you may spend a
one token of each type on a single action. fortified token to roll an additional d20 and
take the better result.
Positive Conditions
Overwatch
Accurate
When an enemy within your weapon range
You may spend an accurate token when moves out of cover, you may spend an
you attack to roll an additional d20 and take overwatch token to make an attack against
the better result. If the target has a dodge that character. The attack is an automatic
token, they may spend it to negate this hit unless the target spends a dodge token
effect. to make it miss. If the target sprinted, they
take half damage on a partial success or no
Dodge damage on a full success (spend tokens
before rolling).
When you are targeted by an attack, you
may spend a dodge token to force the Regeneration
attacker to roll an additional d20 and take
the worse result. When you make a REFLEX At the end of your turn, gain shields equal to
or WITS saving throw, you may spend a the number of regeneration tokens you
dodge token to roll an additional d20 and have, then reduce your regeneration
take the better result. If your attacker has an tokens by 1. This cannot take you above
accurate token, they may spend it to your maximum shields. You may have any
negate this effect. number of regeneration tokens.

Empowered Negative Conditions

You may spend an empowered token when Burn

you hit or crit with an attack to increase the
number of damage dice you roll by 1. At the end of your turn, you take damage
equal to the number burn tokens you have,
Fleet then reduce your burn tokens by 1. You may
have any number of burn tokens.
You may spend a fleet token when you roll
for a move action to roll an additional d20 Immobilized
and take the better result.
You cannot move while you have any
immobilized tokens unless you use the
struggle action. When you roll a partial
success or better on the struggle action,

43
reduce your immobilized tokens by 1. spend one to take half damage, rounded
down.
Jammed
Opposed Conditions
You cannot attack while you have any
jammed tokens. The only way to get rid of Some combat tokens cancel each other out
jammed tokens is by rallying. like standard tokens do. For example, if you
would gain a misfire token while you have
Misfire an accurate token, remove both tokens.

When you make an attack roll while you Positive Token Negative Token
have any misfire tokens, the target may
Accurate Misfire
spend one to have you roll an additional d20
and take the worse result. If the target has Dodge Off-Guard
an off-guard token, you may spend one to
Empowered Weakened
cancel this effect.
Fleet Immobilized
Off-Guard
Fortified Vulnerable
When an enemy makes an attack roll Regeneration Burn
against you while you have any off-guard
tokens, the attacker may spend one to roll
an additional d20 and take the better result.
If the attacker has a misfire token, you may
spend one to cancel this effect.

Stunned

You cannot act at all while you have any

stunned tokens. At the start of your turn,
reduce your stunned tokens by 1 and end
your turn. You can push yourself to take an
action while you are stunned as normal.

Vulnerable

When you take damage from an attack while

you have a vulnerable token, the attacker
can spend one to add 1 die to the damage
roll.

Weakened

When you deal damage to an enemy while

you have a weakened token, the target may

44
 Things That Might Large Characters

Come Up Vehicles and megafauna are treated the

same way as characters on the battlefield,
Falling but there are some key differences. Large
characters cannot gain immobilized or
When a character falls, they must make a stunned tokens. They take up an entire
REFLEX save. On a failure, they take 1d6 zone all by themselves.
damage for each zone they fell and gain a
stunned token. On a success, they take half Components of large scale adversaries are
damage and do not gain any stunned often treated as multiple characters that
tokens. have separate shield and armor values. Each
adversary entry tells you what each
Flight component does and what happens if you
destroy it.
Characters who can fly ignore difficult
terrain and treat all move action rolls as Limited Abilities
easy. They can ignore obstructions as long
as it is physically possible for them to do so. Some tactics grant you abilities with the
Mark characters who are flying above the limited tag. These abilities can only be used
battlefield with a die with its face set to the once per combat.
number of zones they are above the
battlefield. A flying character who becomes Spells
immobilized or stunned falls.
Some tactics grant you spells. All spells
Invisibility have a strain cost. You have a strain limit
defined by your paracausal amp, which is a
Characters who are invisible but not hidden kind of weapon. If you don’t have a
can still be targeted by hostile actions, but paracausal amp, your strain limit is zero. You
the character taking the action must can still cast spells while you are at your
succeed on a WITS save or the action is strain limit, but any excess strain is
automatically a failure. Characters who are converted to stress.
invisible ignore the cover and line of sight
restrictions for the hide action. Swimming and Zero-G

Jumping and Climbing Swimming and low gravity situations work

the same way - all terrain underwater or
You can climb or jump as part of the exert with reduced gravity are considered difficult
action (Reposition isn’t fast enough, and you terrain unless the character can fly.
need to be focused solely on running to
sprint). If you are jumping a gap of more Hardsuits are sealed against vacuum and
than a meter or two or climbing a have microjets that allow maneuvering in
particularly tricky surface, increase the zero-G. If a character is caught in a situation
difficulty of the action to hard. where they can’t breathe, they must make a
PHYSIQUE save at the start of each of their

45
turns. The first time they fail a save, they Ending Combat
gain an immobilized token. The second
time they fail, they gain a stunned token. Combat ends when one side has completed
The third failed save means that they pass their objective - generally the destruction or
out and start dying. capture of the other side, although other
objectives may be determined by the players
Toxins and Radiation or GM. The GM can also end combat early
and return to narrative play if the combat
Hardsuits are sealed against vacuum and seems like a foregone conclusion.
shielded, so most usually you don’t need to
worry about any airborne toxins or At the end of combat, all characters do the
radiation. However, if you are caught in such following:
a situation without your hardsuit (in your
casual loadout, for example), use the rules ◊ Recharge shields to full.
for holding your breath as above.
◊ Repair armor to full by spending 1
Some creatures have venomous bites or supply.
stings, but these generally won’t take effect
unless they are able to pierce your armor, in ◊ Reload all weapons.
which case you’d be defeated anyway. If
they have some kind of caustic spittle or ◊ Clear all strain.
blood, this is represented by burn tokens.
Extremely high radiation can also cause ◊ Regain all uses of all limited abilities.
damage as a hazard.
◊ Replenish any spent grenades or utility
You Are Not Your Own Ally items by spending 1 supply for each.

Many abilities allow you to buff an ally in ◊ Remove all tokens.

some way. You may not target yourself with
these abilities unless otherwise specified.

46
 Chapter 7:

Starships
47
Starships in Mythic Space are the primary without dissolving into a mass of
means of getting from point A to point B. The radioactive particles.
galaxy is a vast and wondrous place, full of
magic and danger, and your ship is your Most active Jump Gates have deep space
home, the beating heart of your crew. While waystations in orbit that service travelers.
individual crew members may die or leave, These stations are the equivalent of space
the ship is the one constant that lasts. In age truck stops or roadside inns from a
some ways, the story of Mythic Space is the bygone age. Even the most well policed
story of your ship. waystation has a grimy, slightly seedy feel
to it, and the waystations in borderland or
Interstellar travel in Mythic Space is enabled lawless space are essentially pirate dens
by Jump Gates - massive rings in space waiting for a juicy haul to come through.
nearly 1,000 km in circumference that link
star systems through Hyperspace. The Within a solar system, ships are powered by
Jump Gates link thousands of star systems impulse drives, which accelerate ships to
together - which still represents speeds hundreds of times faster than any
0.0000001% of observable stars in the Milky spacecraft from the 21st century - nearly 1%
Way. Sometimes paths to new gates are of the speed of light. Even going at that
found, or obscure gates are lost and immense speed, it still takes a few days to
rediscovered. Even the tiniest slice of the reach a habitable world from a Jump Gate.
galaxy is an unfathomably large area to Sol’s Jump Gate is located halfway between
explore. Jupiter and Saturn, and most other systems
have their gates anchored between similarly
Travel through Hyperspace from a scientific massive objects. Assume it takes about a
and philosophical perspective is… day to travel from one orbital system to
complicated. People in Hyperspace another. For example, Earth to Mars would
experience something akin to the opposite be one day, Mars to the Asteroid Belt would
of special relativity. While the people on be another day, the Belt to Jupiter a third
board the ship experience several hours day, and then Jupiter to the Sol Gate a fourth.
worth of time during the jump, to an outside
observer the trip appears instantaneous. Since any interstellar trip can expect to take
Simply put, Jump Gates break causality, and a week or two, there is a feel similar to the
by all understanding of the physical Age of Sail where many spacers feel more at
universe should not be able to exist. home on their own ships than anywhere
groundside. Some long-haul spacers talk
Hyperspace is also perilous. It is full of wistfully about being ‘married to the stars,’
strange tides and dangerous phenomena and Alliance Marines have been known to
that wear away at the physical stability of have betting pools to see who on the ship
ships that pass through it. The distance a can go the longest without ‘touching dirt.’
ship can jump through Hyperspace is not
determined by its engines, but by its
ontological shielding. After emerging from
Hyperspace, a ship generally needs 2-3 days
to recharge its ontological shielding before
it can safely enter a Jump Gate again

48
 Ship Mechanics Battles are always fought well away from a
Jump Gate. There are stories of fleets that
For the most part, the action in Mythic Space engaged each other too close to their
takes place with your characters on a planet system’s Jump Gate who managed to
or on a station. However, should you need to damage it, cutting off that system from the
make a roll for your ship, it has two rest of interstellar society until one of the
attributes that work similarly to character OCEs decides to repair it.
attributes.
Fleet actions are horrifically destructive
◊ ENGINES represent the speed and affairs, and a full scale space battle fought
maneuverability of your ship’s engines. It over a world can scatter radioactive debris
is generally a defensive stat used to over entire continents. In an attempt to limit
avoid harm. If a roll depends on your collateral damage to planets and other
ship’s speed, maneuverability, or power, valuable stellar objects, boarding actions
use ENGINES. are used extensively during large space
battles.
◊ SYSTEMS represent the power of your
ship’s computer. It is generally an PCs and Space Combat
offensive stat used to gain information
or lock on to another vessel. If a roll Mythic Space is not a game about space
depends on your ship’s computing combat, but it will inevitably come up given
power, sensor calibration, or weapons the number of pirates and hostile militaries
fire, use SYSTEMS. most players deal with. Space combat is
usually handled as a challenge. Your ship’s
Whenever the ship needs to make an action shields value serves as the primary
roll, choose one player to make the roll on resistance value for most space challenges.
behalf of the ship. This is usually the captain
or the pilot. That player may choose to push If your ship takes damage as a consequence
the action roll or spend tokens as per usual. during space combat, the damage is
If they choose to push the roll, the character depleted from the ship’s shields. The
doing the rolling gains the stress. damage die depends on what is hitting your
ship.

Space Combat
The first rule of space combat is to avoid it Damage Source Damage Die
as much as you can. Combat between
starships is a test of which ship has the Point defense cannons,
better computer system and engines. For d6
snub fighter guns
the passengers inside a ship involved in
combat, the experience is a minute or two of Missiles, railgun rounds d8
sheer helpless terror while the ships launch
relativistic munitions that travel at Capital ship guns, an d12
asteroid collision
significant fractions of the speed of light at
each other until one of them is vaporized.

49
When your shields are depleted, your ship While the stealth drive is active, the ship
becomes damaged. Like a character who has cannot be detected by any sensor scan
been wounded or shaken, a damaged ship (barring exotic tech) as long as it does
fails any action roll unless whichever PC not move faster than half-impulse or
makes the roll gains 1 stress. If the ship perform an active sensor sweep.
takes any further damage after that point, it
must sacrifice an upgrade or be defeated. A The Corvus
sacrificed upgrade is lost until it is repaired.
The repair cost is half the cost to buy the ◊ ENGINES +2, SYSTEMS +4
upgrade, rounded down. If your ship is
defeated, you lose engine power - you crash ◊ True AI Helm: The ship’s computer is
land or are helpless in space, easily boarded. fully sapient. It may be a Synth in a ship
You will need to find or scavenge parts to chassis or a custom-built True AI. The
repair the engines before you can get ship is capable of independent thought
underway again. and action. Ship AIs vary in personality,
but they are usually programmed to
One important principle of space combat or have very protective and familial
other action scenes in space is that the ship feelings towards their crew. The ship has
is almost never at risk of total destruction. its own stress track which it can use to
You shouldn’t blow up the Enterprise every push rolls or act while damaged. It
episode. This ‘plot armor’ is not perfect - if suffers breaks and changes to its
the players decide to fly into a sun the GM is personality like any other character if its
free to say they are all incinerated. That stress track is filled, and crew members
said, Mythic Space is meant to emulate may choose the ship as a companion
action-adventure shows. The players should during downtime to help it destress.
be encouraged to get themselves into crazy
asteroid chases and dogfights on the moon The Kestrel
and shouldn’t have to worry about the entire
game coming to a screeching halt because ◊ ENGINES +2, SYSTEMS +4
their ship blew up after a couple bad rolls.
◊ Military Grade Weapons: Your ship is
armed with torpedoes, point-defense
Building a Ship cannons, a railgun, and boarding
grapples. These munitions are usually
Your ship’s starting attributes and special reserved for military vessels or
module are determined by the model the extremely well equipped pirates. Each
crew chose at character creation. turn during a space combat challenge,
your ship has the option to use
The Aegolius torpedoes (gain an advantage token),
point defense cannons (gain a
◊ ENGINES +4, SYSTEMS +2 protection token), or the railgun (gain
an effect token). Your weapons have a
◊ Stealth Drive: This ship is able to mask base d8 effect die, which can be
its drive signature to the point where it is improved by weapons upgrades (see
invisible to most detection systems. below).

50
The Peregrine Arsenal

◊ ENGINES +4, SYSTEMS +2 All ships start with a small tier 1 arsenal of
standard weapons, enough to arm the
◊ Advanced Impulse Drive: Your ship has whole crew.
an impulse drive that is four times faster
than most other ships - enough to ◊ Major Upgrade: Increase your Arsenal to
outrun anything short of a dedicated tier 2.
interceptor fighter. Your in-system travel
is also much faster. Traveling between ◊ Pinnacle Upgrade: Increase your Arsenal
regions takes about 6 hours rather than to tier 3.
a day.
Cargo Hold
Once you have recorded the stats and
special module for your ship, you gain the All ships start with a decent sized cargo bay
standard modules listed below. The crew for hauling loot.
can assign two minor upgrades to these
modules, or the optional modules below. ◊ Minor Upgrade: Your ship has hidden
After creating the ship, new modules can be compartments that are shielded against
bought or earned as mission rewards. sensor scans. Anything or anyone you
store in one of these compartments
◊ Minor Upgrades cost 5 credits. won't be found except by the most
thorough of in-person searches.
◊ Major Upgrades cost 10 credits and 1
exotic material. Jump Drive

◊ Pinnacle Upgrades cost 20 credits and 2 All ships with modern jump drives can jump
exotic materials. up to three systems in a single jump before
having to return to realspace to stabilize.
Standard Modules
◊ Minor Upgrade: Increase the distance
Armory you can cover in a single jump to 4. Gain
+1 ENGINES.
All ships start with a collection of tier 1
hardsuits, enough to outfit the crew. ◊ Major Upgrade: Increase the distance
you can cover in a single jump to 5. Gain
◊ Major Upgrade: Increase your Armory to +1 ENGINES.
tier 2.
Medbay
◊ Pinnacle Upgrade: Increase your Armory
to tier 3. All PC ships start with a medbay equipped
with an autodoc capable of repairing
catastrophic tissue damage. This technology
is not standard on most ships outside of
military vessels.

51
Sensor Suite Optional Modules

All ships start with a sensor suite capable of Amenities

getting general readings on all stellar bodies
in a solar system, and detailed readings on ◊ Minor Upgrade: Your ship has
any ships in the same orbital system. something on board that makes life
more bearable, such as a well-stocked
◊ Minor Upgrade: Your ship’s sensors can bar, a small hydroponics bay where you
pinpoint individual life forms and can can grow coffee and fruit, spacious crew
penetrate deep structures. Gain +1 cabins where you don’t have to share
SYSTEMS. bunks, a rec room with the latest
holosuite games, etc. You may purchase
◊ Major Upgrade: Your sensors are now this upgrade multiple times, specifying a
sensitive to detect even cloaked ships different amenity each time you buy it.
and can pierce almost any Each crew member automatically clears
countermeasure. Gain +1 SYSTEMS. 1 stress per amenity on the ship when
they enter downtime.
Shields
Brig
Your ship has 10 shields.
◊ Minor Upgrade: You have a secure cabin
◊ Minor Upgrade: Increase shields to 15. installed on your ship dedicated to
holding prisoners (or just unruly
◊ Major Upgrade: Increase shields to 20. passengers) for transport. Also comes
with grav restraints that can be fitted to
Weapons a variety of xenomorphic physiologies.

While most civilian ships are unarmed, all Efficient Manufactories

PC ships start with a basic defense laser
suite. It has a d6 effect die. ◊ Minor Upgrade: The production
equipment on your ship is especially
◊ Major Upgrade: Increase the effect die efficient. Increase the number of
of your ship weapons by one step. supplies each member of the crew can
carry on a mission by 1.
◊ Pinnacle Upgrade: Increase the effect
die of your ship weapons by one step. ◊ Major Upgrade: Increase the number of
supplies by an additional 1.

◊ Pinnacle Upgrade: Increase the number

of supplies by an additional 1.

52
Emergency Teleport That character clears 1d6 stress or gains
1 XP in the attribute of their choice. This
◊ Major Upgrade: Your ship has an option is very powerful for the cost, but
experimental paracausal anchor the GM is free to kidnap or endanger the
installed. As long as the crew has radio mascot to generate missions.
contact with their ship, they may
teleport back to it. Spoofed Transponder

Extra Special ◊ Minor Upgrade: You can alter your ship’s

transponder to broadcast yourself as
◊ Major Upgrade: Choose a special any ship that you would like. This
module from a ship class other than your obviously isn’t going to stand up to close
own. Your ship gains that module. You scrutiny if your little tug claims to be an
may select this upgrade multiple times, Alliance frigate, but it will let you slip
choosing a different module each time. past most port security.
Increase your ship’s statistics based on
the module chosen: Support Personnel

♦ Advanced Impulse Drive: +2 ◊ Minor Upgrade: Your ship has an NPC

ENGINES crew member who does not go on
missions with you but provides services
♦ Military-Grade Weapons: +2 that fill holes in your crew’s capabilities.
SYSTEMS Choose one aspect to give your support
character, and they gain the starting
♦ Stealth Drive: +2 ENGINES ability from that aspect. While you are
on the ship, you may use that character’s
♦ True AI Helm: +2 SYSTEMS abilities. You may buy or assign aspect
upgrades to this character like they were
Fine Tools any other member of the crew.

◊ Minor Upgrade: Choose one type of Training Sims

basic equipment. When your crew
spends supplies to gain access to that ◊ Minor Upgrade: Your ship has an
equipment, increase its effort die by one advanced holosuite that can be used for
step. You may purchase this upgrade training a particular attribute. It only
multiple times, choosing a different type costs 9 XP to increase an attribute.
of equipment each time.
◊ Major Upgrade: It only costs 8 XP to
Mascot increase an attribute.

◊ Minor Upgrade: Your ship has a cute or ◊ Pinnacle Upgrade: It only costs 7 XP to
endearing creature on it, like an adorable increase an attribute.
pet, a spunky robot, or a precocious
child. When you enter downtime, choose
one character to play with the mascot.

53
Vehicle Bay

◊ Minor Upgrade: Your ship has a garage

installed that can house and maintain a
ground vehicle (or one hoverbike per
crew member). The players can choose
to describe one civilian ground vehicle
that starts in their bay.

◊ Major Upgrade: With this upgrade, the

vehicle bay can support a large military
vehicle, like a hovertank or one snub
fighter per crew member.

Workspace

◊ Minor Upgrade: Your ship has a

dedicated cabin for use as a workshop or
laboratory. When you use a downtime
action to work on a project in your
workspace, you gain an effect token.

54
 Chapter 8:

Aspects
55
 Assassin Toxin Suite

Assassins kill people for money. It’s up to You have a modified pharmaceutical
you whether you can sleep at night. fabricator that can produce illegal toxins.
Spend 1 supply to create a toxin tailor-made
Touchstones: Thane Krios (Mass Effect), for the situation. Choose an option from
The Operative (Serenity), Spike Spiegel each column.
(Cowboy Bebop), Gamora (Guardians of the
Galaxy) Effect Duration Delivery
It renders the
Skill: Finesse or Stealth target 1 minute Ingested
unconscious
Starting Ability
It causes 10 minutes Inhaled
hallucinations.
Silent Takedown

Once per scene, you can gain 1 stress to kill It causes pain and 1 hour Injected
an NPC who is unaware of you without gastric distress.
having to roll. This ability does not work in
It kills the target
combat. The GM may counter this ability for Skin
at the end of the 24 hours
particularly powerful or important NPCs, but Contact
duration.
if they do, you gain 2 XP.
Assassin NPCs
Upgrades
◊ Lockley, a cop
Changeling Weave
◊ Hamilton, a lawyer
You possess a Changeling Weave suit, a
piece of equipment considered highly illegal ◊ Omega, an intelligence gathering AI
in most polities. You may spend 1 supply to
look and sound like another humanoid who
is roughly the same size as you for several
hours. You must have a good image of the
person you are trying to imitate for the
weave to get a good enough scan to imitate
them.

Dead Eyes

You have seen death so much that you

welcome it as an old friend. Whenever you
compel someone, you gain an advantage
token. Whenever you die, you do not gain
trauma.

56
 Captain
Captains are the leaders of their ship. They
elevate their crew, and their crew elevates
them in turn.

Touchstones: Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek:

TNG), John Sheridan (Babylon 5), Malcolm
Reynolds (Firefly), James Holden (The
Expanse), Commander Shephard (Mass
Effect)

Skill: Compel or Pilot

Starting Ability

Make It So

You are the captain and your orders must be

obeyed. Once per session, you may issue an
order to another PC. If they choose to follow
that order, they gain an advantage token. If
they disobey, they gain 1d4 stress.
Inspiring Leadership
Upgrades
Once per session, another member of the
Coordinated Effort crew who can hear you may push
themselves without adding stress.
Halve the stress you gain when you lead a
group action roll. When you see an ability like this that says
you can push yourself without adding
Engage! stress, you make that decision after seeing
the result of the stress die.
Once per scene when a character makes an
action roll for your ship, they gain an Captain NPCs
advantage token.
◊ Jenne, a governor

◊ Avery, a naval officer

◊ Vander, a rebel

57
 Counselor Confidence Builder

Space is a dangerous place. The black of the Once per session, choose a crew member
void and the terrors within are as dangerous other than yourself and tell them something
to the mind as they are to the body. You are encouraging. That crew member clears 1d10
here to help people work through their fears stress.
and anxieties in whatever way you can.
Empathic
Touchstones: Deanna Troi (Star Trek: TNG),
Book (Firefly), Delenn (Babylon 5), Mantis If you have had a few minutes to talk to an
(Guardians of the Galaxy) NPC, you may ask the GM a number of the
below questions equal to your WITS, which
Skill: Study or Sway they must answer honestly. The GM may
refuse to answer your questions if the target
Starting Ability is particularly inscrutable, but if they do they
must give you 2 XP.
Soothing Presence
◊ Is this character telling the truth?
You may spend a few quiet minutes with one
of your shaken shipmates to help them ◊ What is this character really feeling?
recover. Gain 1 stress and roll DISCIPLINE.
◊ What does this character intend to do?
Full Success: They are no longer shaken.
◊ What does this character wish I’d do?
Partial Success: They may act as if they
were not shaken until the end of the ◊ How could I get this character to ___?
mission. They still must use the Recover
downtime action to fully recover their Counselor NPCs
confidence.
◊ Saffron, an escort
Failure: You just can’t get through to them.
You may not attempt to console this ◊ Martin, a psychologist
crewmember again until you enter
downtime. ◊ Lyta, a telepath

Upgrades

Careful Phrasing

When you attempt to sway someone, you

gain a protection token.

58
 Diplomat
Diplomats are the faces of the group. They
are expert negotiators and can get the crew
into places with a few words and a look that
they couldn’t with a thousand guns.

Touchstones: Chrisjen Avasarala (The

Expanse), Inara Serra (Firefly), Londo Mollari
(Babylon 5), Padme Amidala (Star Wars)

Skill: Compel or Sway

Starting Ability

Impassioned Speech

Once per session, you can push yourself on

any compel or sway roll without adding
stress.

Upgrades

Alternatives to Fighting Diplomat NPCs

When you try to parley or prevent a fight ◊ Guanyin, a humanitarian

before it starts, you gain an advantage
token. ◊ Weylan, a corporate executive

Dazzling Appearance ◊ G’Quan, a philosopher

You are always dressed in fine silk clothes,

or a smartly pressed military uniform, or
maybe you’re just really hot. Once per scene
where your appearance matters, gain an
effect token.

Social Lubricant

You can spend 1 supply to pull out a bottle of

fine spirits, some choice hash, or just some
really nice tea. Whatever it is, it gets people
to loosen up. For the rest of the scene, you
gain an advantage token if you try to study
or sway a character who indulged.

59
 Doctor
Doctors are specialists in biology,
xenobiology, and medicine. While the
autodocs in the medbay can keep a crew
breathing, it is the doctor’s job to make sure
that they’re truly healthy.

Touchstones: Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Star

Trek), Stephen Franklin (Babylon 5), Simon
Tam (Firefly), Mordin Solus (Mass Effect)

Skill: Finesse or Study

Starting Ability

Field Medic

You may treat your wounded allies in the

field. After you take about 10 minutes
treating them, spend 1 supply and roll
DISCIPLINE.

Full Success: They are no longer wounded. He’s Dead, Jim

Partial Success: They may act as if they When a crewmate dies, you may roll a
were not wounded until the end of the DISCIPLINE save. On a success, they do not
mission, but they still need to use the gain trauma when they revive.
Recover downtime action to heal fully.
Moral Code
Failure: There isn’t anything that can be
done for this injury. You have sworn an oath to aid anyone in
need. Once per session, when you do the
Upgrades right thing at cost to yourself, clear 1d10
stress.
Alien Autopsy
Doctor NPCs
When you have a few minutes to examine a
corpse in detail, you may ask the GM a ◊ Lex, a xenobiologist
number of questions about the creature
equal to your DISCIPLINE, which they must ◊ N’Bari, a xeno biologist
answer honestly. The GM may refuse to
answer your questions if the being is just ◊ Theta, a medical AI
too strange, but if they do they must grant
you 2 XP.

60
 Explorer
Explorers spend their time in the fringes of
space. They are scientists, scouts, and
entrepreneurs who exist where the known
meets the unknown.

Touchstones: Wesley Crusher (Star Trek:

TNG), Mark Watney (The Martian)

Skill: Exert or Survive

Starting Ability

Ranger

Whenever you make an exert or survive roll

in the wilderness, gain an advantage token.

Upgrades

Recon Gear

You have a set of survey drones and To Boldly Go

seismographs that allow you to get a clear
picture of your surroundings. Spend 1 supply Once per session, when you discover
to get a clear map of a 1 km square area, something amazing, clear 1d10 stress.
including any hidden areas.
Explorer NPCs
Survivalist
◊ Venkat, a scientist
While you are in the wilderness you may
spend a few hours and gain 1 stress to ◊ Isaac, a writer
scavenge for supplies. Roll WITS (survive).
◊ Circe, a witch
Full Success: You find 2 supplies for each
PC.

Partial Success: You find 1 supply for each

PC.

Failure: You find 1 supply for each PC, but

you encounter something dangerous.

61
 Hunter
Hunters chase things down. It might be
people. It might be animals. It might be
treasure. Whatever it is, they always get
their mark.

Touchstones: Boba Fett (Star Wars),

Josephus Miller (The Expanse), Jet Black
(Cowboy Bebop), Garrus Vakarian (Mass
Effect)

Skill: Stealth or Study

Starting Ability

Hunter Vision

You have advanced optics or drugs that

allow you to notice hidden details. Spend 1
supply to activate it. For the rest of the
scene, you detect any hidden characters or
features in the scene. While your vision is
active, you gain an advantage token on any Tracking Device
perceive or study roll you make.
When an enemy retreats from battle or you
Upgrades spend a few minutes within proximity of
someone, you may spend 1 supply to
Doors and Corners surreptitiously attach a tracking bug to
them. Until you deactivate the bug, or the
You cannot be ambushed. If an NPC initiates bug is discovered, you know the target’s
combat, you may always take the first exact location as long as you are in the
action. If multiple PCs have this ability, you same system. You may have up to three
may all act before the other side takes a bugs active at once.
turn.
Hunter NPCs
Kneecap Specialist
◊ Elly, a bounty hunter
When you win a fight, there is always at
least one defeated enemy left alive for you ◊ Joyce, a detective
to question. You can ask them three
questions that they must answer honestly. If ◊ Ash, an android
the target refuses to answer your questions,
you gain 2 XP.

62
 Infiltrator
Infiltrators are thieves and spies, masters of
getting into places where they should not
be.

Touchstones: Kasumi Goto (Mass Effect),

Elim Garak (Star Trek: DS9)

Skill: Interface or Stealth

Starting Ability

Skeleton Key

You have a highly advanced lockpicking

suite. You can spend 1 supply to open any
conventional or electronic lock. The only
thing that can keep you out are top secret
military encryption and ancient tech.

Upgrades

Microdrones Phase Cloak

Spend 1 supply to deploy a miniature drone, You have an experimental quantum phase
about the size of a housefly, in a location. shifting device. Once per scene you may
The drone can fly through ventilation spend 1 supply to pass through any solid
systems and infiltrate most locations that object as if it weren’t there. The device
have not been secured with electronic needs the rest of the scene to recharge.
countermeasures. As long as you are in the
same system as a drone, you may use it to Infiltrator NPCs
remotely observe the location where it is
deployed. The drone lasts for one year or ◊ Nyx, a criminal AI
until you recall it. You may have up to three
drones active at once. ◊ Penny, a fence

No Sweat ◊ Miles, a spy

Whenever you make a finesse or stealth roll,

you gain a protection token.

63
 Mechanic must answer honestly. For the rest of the
scene whenever you make an engineer or
Mechanics fix, build, and modify machines. study rol, you gain an advantage token.

Touchstones: Geordi La Forge (Star Trek: Reverse Polarity

TNG), Kaylee Frye (Firefly), Tali’Zorah nar
Rayya (Mass Effect), Naomi Nagata (The When you need a particular item or piece of
Expanse) equipment but are missing one during a
mission, you may spend 1 supply to try to
Skill: Engineer or Interface jury-rig a solution. Roll WITS (engineer).

Starting Ability Full Success: You are able to throw

something together quickly that functions
Duct Tape just like you want it to.

You can spend 1 supply and about an hour to Partial Success: You build the item, but
attempt to repair a damaged machine or choose one:
vehicle. Roll WITS.
◊ It’s dangerous - the item may cause
Full Success: The machine is no longer damage to you or your ship if you use it.
damaged.
◊ It’s not quite right - its base effect die is
Partial Success: The machine may act as if a d4.
it were not damaged until the end of the
mission, but someone still needs to use the ◊ It’s weird - It has strange unintended
Recover downtime action to repair it fully. consequences if you use it.

Failure: There isn’t anything that can be ◊ It’s arduous - It takes a long time to
done for this damage. build.

Upgrades Failure: You build the item, but choose two

from the list above.
Grounded
Mechanic NPCs
Whenever you engineer or interface with
potentially dangerous technology, you gain ◊ Orson, a supply officer
a protection token.
◊ Lambda, a navigational AI
Mechanic’s Visor
◊ Roy, an android
You have a visor with an advanced physics
and engineering suite. You may spend 1
supply when studying any machine or
physical phenomenon to ask the GM up to
three questions about the subject and they

64
 Muscle
The Muscle is here to be big, intimidating,
and break legs when they need to.

Touchstones: Amos Burton (The Expanse),

Chewbacca (Star Wars), Urdnot Wrex (Mass
Effect), Jayne Cobb (Firefly), Drax the
Destroyer (Guardians of the Galaxy)

Skill: Compel or Destroy

Starting Ability
Breaking Stuff to Look Tough

Whenever you try to compel someone or

destroy an object, you gain an effect token.

Upgrades

Bodyguard
Muscle NPCs
Once per session, when you protect a
teammate by taking a consequence meant ◊ Raya, an enforcer
for them, clear 1d10 stress.
◊ Mikayla, a loan shark
Not to be Trifled With
◊ Jaime, a noble
Once per session, you can gain 1d4 stress to
perform a feat of physical strength that
borders on the superhuman. You achieve
godlike effect on a destroy or exert roll.

Pain Don’t Hurt

You do not need to spend stress to make

PHYSIQUE or REFLEX rolls while you are
wounded.

65
 Mystic ◊ Telekinetic: Subtle, fine telekinetic
control. Floating a pear across a table
Mystics are the wise masters of the secrets onto a fork.
of the universe. They may not know
everything, but they have a deeper insight ◊ Teleporter: Things just conveniently
than most, and can help guide others along appear in your hands. You just disappear
the path. when someone turns their back to you.

Touchstones: Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars), Upgrades

Samara (Mass Effect), Guinan (Star Trek:
TNG), Ikora Rey (Destiny) Meditation

Skill: Compel or Perceive Once per mission, you can spend a scene in
quiet contemplation. Clear 1d10 stress, and
Starting Ability you may ask the GM for guidance on what
they think you should do about a particular
Subtle Power situation.

You have an amazing magical or technical Size Matters Not

ability which you have fine control over.
When you attempt an action where your Once per session, you may gain 1d4 stress to
abilities can help, you gain an advantage ignore scale when it comes to using your
token. Some suggested abilities based on abilities. You may use telekinesis to lift a
the tactics you know are listed below. whole starship, see thousands of years into
the past or future, or teleport across an
◊ Bastion: Tiny hardlight projectors entire star system. You achieve godlike
capable of creating small objects. effect on an action roll using your ability.

◊ Biokinetics: Mend small cuts and Wise Counsel

bruises, simple hair or eye color
changes. When you accompany an ally on a destress
or train downtime action, increase the
◊ Engineer: A fleet of small helpful drones stress they clear by 2 or the XP they gain by
aids you. 1.

◊ Operator: Wireless hacking and editing Mystic NPCs

of nearby networks.
◊ Aparna, a librarian
◊ Precog: Short glimpses of insight into
what might happen next. Conveniently ◊ Cook, a wizard
being in the right place at the right time.
◊ Norrell, a recluse
◊ Pyrokinetic: Producing small flames,
sparks, or colored lights. Warming your
tea with your breath.

66
 Pilot
While most of the maneuvers on starships
are handled by AI, a good helmsman can
always squeeze just a little bit more out of a
ship’s performance.

Touchstones: Hoban “Wash” Washburne

(Firefly), Jeff “Joker” Moreau (Mass Effect),
Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Battlestar
Galactica), Alex Kamal (The Expanse)

Skill: Finesse or Pilot

Starting Ability

Ace

Once per session, you may push an ENGINES,

SYSTEMS, or pilot roll without adding stress.

Upgrades

Damn, I'm Good! Pilot NPCs

Once per session when you succeed on a ◊ Kara, a fighter pilot

daring or elaborate maneuver, clear 1d10
stress. ◊ Galen, a mechanic

Fancy Flying ◊ Cid, a space pirate

Whenever you make an ENGINES, SYSTEMS,

or pilot roll, gain a protection token.

Hold Together

You do not need to spend stress to make

ENGINES or SYSTEMS rolls while you are
piloting a damaged vehicle.

67
 Scoundrel
Scoundrels are rogues and con artists who
fly by the seat of their pants, constantly
dancing from one kind of trouble to another.

Touchstones: Han Solo (Star Wars), Faye

Valentine (Cowboy Bebop), Cayde-6
(Destiny), Rocket Raccoon (Guardians of the
Galaxy)

Skill: Finesse or Sway

Starting Ability

Trust Me

Whenever you lie to someone, gain an effect

token.

Upgrades

Dumb Luck
Scoundrel NPCs
Once per session, you can push yourself to
do something crazy, stupid, or daring ◊ Talon, a crime boss
without gaining stress.
◊ Tiff, a bartender
Magnificent Bastard
◊ Bret, a gambler
Once per session, when you piss off or
impress an NPC, clear 1d10 stress.

Sticky Fingers

Once per session, gain 1 stress to name an

object nearby that could fit in your pockets.
By the start of the next scene, you have
obtained that item. If you stole it, the person
you stole from notices it’s missing within
the next hour. The GM may counter this
ability if the item is particularly well
protected or its owner is very vigilant, but if
they do you gain 2 XP.

68
 Soldier
While every character in Mythic Space
knows how to fight, Soldiers made it their
profession. They are the stoic badasses you
can always trust to be cool under fire.

Touchstones: Worf (Star Trek: TNG), Ashley

Williams (Mass Effect), Zoe Washburne
(Firefly), Bobbie Draper (The Expanse),
Corporal Hicks (Aliens)

Skill: Destroy or Exert

Starting Ability

Basic Training

Once per session, you may push yourself on

an attack roll without adding stress.

Upgrades

Code of Honor Soldier NPCs

Once per session, when you give up an ◊ Trask, a general

advantage over a foe because you would
consider it to be dishonorable, clear 1d10 ◊ Upsilon, a tactical AI
stress.
◊ Jasper, a weapons dealer
Military-Grade Explosives

You may spend 1 supply to gain access to

heavy explosives, enough to blow up a
vehicle or small building. They take time to
set up, so they are generally not useful in a
firefight without time to prepare.

Stoic

You do not need to spend stress to make

DISCIPLINE or WITS rolls while you are
shaken.

69
 Spacer
Spacers are asteroid miners, shipbreakers,
and long haulers who are more comfortable
in the black of space than under the blue of
sky.

Touchstones: Belters (The Expanse), Ellen

Ripley (Alien)

Skill: Engineer or Survive

Starting Ability

Rockhopper

You can operate in zero G as easily as others

can in a gravity well. You ignore any
difficulty increase for weightlessness and
don't consider zero G zones to be difficult
terrain in combat. You gain an advantage
token whenever you make an engineer or
survive roll in space. Failure: You find 1 supply for each PC, but
you encounter something dangerous.
Upgrades
Traveler
Bounce Back
You have been around the galaxy and can
You are used to taking hits and keeping on quickly pick up common parlance and
trucking. You have an extra downtime action customs. You are always treated as a native,
which must be used to destress or recover. even in the most xenophobic of cultures.
You can bring a companion with you as
usual. Spacer NPCs

Spare Parts ◊ Marlin, a junk dealer

While you are in a derelict or ruin, you may ◊ Oksana, a salvager

spend a few hours and gain 1 stress to
scavenge for supplies. Roll WITS (engineer). ◊ Trumble, a customs officer

Full Success: You find 2 supplies for each

PC.

Partial Success: You find 1 supply for each

PC.

70
 Tempest
Tempests have incredible abilities that they
do not fully understand or control. These are
usually paracausal powers, but not
necessarily. It may be implanted
experimental cyberware or deeply ingrained
training and psychological conditioning.

Touchstones: River Tam (Firefly), Eleven

(Stranger Things), Jack (Mass Effect 2),
Clarissa "Peaches" Mao (The Expanse)

Skills: Destroy or Perceive

Starting Ability

Unleash the Storm

Once per session, when you are

experiencing intense fear, rage, or pain, you
may unleash your potential. You achieve
godlike effect on one action roll, then roll
1d10. If the roll is lower than your current Symphony of Destruction
stress, you clear that much stress. If the roll
is higher than your current stress, you Whenever you compel someone or destroy
instead pass out for the rest of the scene something, you gain an effect token.
and gain a harm condition of your choice.
Tempest NPCs
Upgrades
◊ Jane, a fellow test subject
No Power In The ‘Verse
◊ Yates, a researcher
You may Unleash the Storm when you are
perfectly calm. After rolling the d10 you may ◊ Lyra, an assassin
increase or decrease the result by 2.

Phoenix Force

The first time you would die each mission,

you may Unleash the Storm to return to life
if you have not used it this session.

71
 Altari Altari NPCs

The Altari are ‘space elves.’ They are ◊ Ceryse, a poet

graceful, long-lived, androgynous, and more
closely attuned to the strange paracausal ◊ Viconeth, a duelist
forces in the universe.
◊ Shreya, a sage
Touchstones: Vulcans (Star Trek), Asari
(Mass Effect), Minbari (Babylon 5), the
Awoken (Destiny)
Altari Pronouns
Skills: Perceive or Sway
Since the Altari are hermaphrodites, they
Starting Ability do not have the same hang ups about
gender as most other species. However,
Altari Grace they have a system of pronouns used to
denote status and role in society. Feel free
Once per session, you may push a REFLEX to come up with your own pronouns and
roll without adding stress. their meaning for your character, but some
examples are listed below.
Upgrades
♦ Fae/Fem: This is a high status figure, a
Altari Will member of the political or religious caste.

Your mind is inured to mental influence. ♦ Tey/Tem: This is a warrior or adventurer,

Once per scene, when you would be subject someone dangerous.
to adverse mental strain or fear, you gain a
protection token. ♦ Pey/Pem: This is a worker or craftsman,
someone who spends much of the day
Elf Eyes working with their hands. Once considered
respectable, has lowered in status in an
Your vision is especially acute. You can age of automation.
perceive small details from kilometers
away. Once per scene where perception ♦ Xey/Xem: A pronoun reserved for
matters, gain an advantage token. outsiders, a creature someone other than
Altari.
Wisdom of Ages

You have forgotten more things than most

people have learned in your long life. Once
per session you may make an action roll as if
you had a skill or specialty you don't
possess.

72
 Brachinid
Brachinids are an intelligent species of crab.
They average 1.5 meters in height and about
2 meters in diameter (about the size of a
small sedan), although very old, very well-
fed Brachinids can be 2-3x that size. The
Brachinid Consortium resembles a
megacorporation more than it does a
government, and it is notorious for
enslaving more than 60% of its population.
Brachinids in Alliance space tend to be
escaped slaves or the descendants of
escaped slaves.

Touchstones: Ferengi (Star Trek: DS9),

Centauri (Babylon 5), The Shadows (Babylon
5), The Fallen (Destiny)

Skills: Finesse or Sway

Starting Ability

Decapod Hardshell

You have eight limbs that end in prehensile Once per session when you suffer a harm
digits. You may bring two primary weapons condition, you may gain 1d6 stress to
with you when you are fully loaded in remove it.
addition to your secondary weapon. You gain
an advantage token any time you try to War Claw
climb something, swim, or any other time
having extra limbs is handy. You have allowed your War Claws to grow
back. You may use them as a secondary
Upgrades melee weapon with a d8/d10/d12 damage
die. Whenever you try to destroy something
Business Acumen with your War Claw, you gain an effect
token.
When you attempt to procure something
during downtime, choose one complication Brachinid NPCs
the GM assigns and negate it.
◊ Kr’Kanth, a corporate shareholder

◊ Br’Chara, a slave trafficker

◊ Ln’Vorta, a rebel leader

73
 Earther
You were born and raised on Earth. Like the
homeworld of most Alliance species, it has
been ravaged by the results of rapid
industrialization, but it is slowly healing
now that colonization has relieved some of
the pressure. People who live on Earth fall
into two categories - those who are wealthy
enough to live in comfort or those too poor
to afford passage on a colony ship offworld.
You are either one of the wealthy who chose
to leave, or one of the poor who got lucky
and got out.

Touchstones: The UN (The Expanse), Earth

(The Fifth Element)

Skills: Compel or Survive

Starting Ability

Heirloom
Friends Back Home
You have a relic of old Earth, like an old
photograph, an archaic music player, a cool You gain an extra downtime action which
hat, or similar. Once per session, you may you must use to placate a faction or procure
spend 1 supply and say how your heirloom something. You can bring a companion with
inspires you to gain a positive token of your you as usual.
choice.
Earther NPCs
Upgrades
◊ Yan, a farmer
All Alone in the Night
◊ Wes, a gangster
Once per session, whenever you suffer
consequences because you decided to go off ◊ Mel, a socialite
on your own, clear 1d10 stress.

Earther Tenacity

You may push saving throws.

74
 Kathir
The Kathir are a large bipedal species that
evolved from pack predators, similar to a
wolf or a lion. Kathir societies have a martial
focus, and they tend to be hot-blooded but
disciplined. Despite their early wars with
humanity, they tend to get along the best of
the Alliance species due to their similarities
- they are both mammalian in nature with
two primary biological sexes. Their lifespans
are roughly equivalent, and both species
superficially resemble creatures the other
species keep as pets.

Touchstones: Klingons (Star Trek), Turians

(Mass Effect), Kilrathi (Wing Commander),
Sangheili (Halo), Wookiees (Star Wars)

Skills: Exert or Perceive

Starting Ability
the next exert or destroy roll you make can
Powerful Build achieve godlike effect.

Once per session, you can push a PHYSIQUE Weapons are My Religion
roll without adding stress.
Kathir are known for their martial culture.
Upgrades You may always carry your full loadout
without drawing undue attention.
Evolved Predator
Kathir NPCs
Your hearing and sense of smell is
significantly more honed than a human’s. ◊ Vyrnnus, a trainer
You can smell and hear well enough to
navigate even in total darkness, and are ◊ Kryik, a special operative
aware of small details or hidden characters
well before other characters. You gain an ◊ Nyreen, a mercenary
effect token when your senses can help.

Instinctive Loyalty

Kathir are intensely loyal to those they

consider their pack. Whenever you witness
one of your allies gaining a harm condition,

75
 Outsider the GM three questions about it, which they
must answer honestly.
The galaxy is home to a multitude of
mysteries and strange species who Outsider’s Perspective
nevertheless display sapience. Outsiders
are one-of-a-kind, or their kind are so rare You were not raised under the assumptions
as to make no difference. They display of common society. When you expose the
unique abilities, and they often struggle to absurdity or hypocrisy of social norms
fit in with wider society. through your outside perspective, you gain
an advantage token.
Touchstones: Data (Star Trek: TNG), Odo
(Star Trek: DS9), Seven of Nine (Star Trek: Unshakeable
Voyager)
Your mind does not work the same as other
Skills: Interface or Study sapients. Once per session when you
become shaken, you may make a DISCIPLINE
Starting Ability saving throw. On a success, remove the
shaken condition.
Unique Physiology
Outsider NPCs
You are not built like most other people.
Decide two benefits and one drawback as a ◊ Zyxxyryz, an ancient machine
result of your physiology. For example, you
might be a sapient gel able to shapeshift ◊ Qori, a shapeshifter
and squeeze into small places, but you must
liquify and spend several hours a day in a ◊ Zan, an artist
bucket or you lose cohesion. Or you might be
a hologram capable of emitting energy
blasts and moving through electronic
systems like water, but otherwise unable to
affect the physical world. Once per scene,
you may gain your choice of an advantage
token, an effect token, or a protection
token when your physiology would benefit.
When your drawback causes you issues you
gain 1 XP.

Upgrades

Abyss Watcher

You have lived on the fringes of the

unknown your whole life. When you
encounter an esoteric, magical, or otherwise
unexplainable phenomenon, you may ask

76
 Synth
You are a machine. You may be a digital
recreation of a brain scan of an organic
creature who has already died, or you may
be a true AI built from scratch and inhabiting
a robot body. Regardless, you think faster
and are generally tougher than your organic
counterparts.

Touchstones: Cylons (Battlestar Galactica),

Replicants (Blade Runner), EDI (Mass Effect
2), Exos (Destiny)

Skills: Interface or Pilot

Starting Ability

Advanced Processor

Once per session, you may push a WITS roll

without adding stress.

Upgrades Synth NPCs

Extra Batteries ◊ Rho, a logistics AI

Once per session, you may spend 1 supply to ◊ Leela, a navigator

clear 1d6 stress.
◊ Blake, a programmer
Skill Download

You may spend 1 supply to gain a skill or skill

specialty until the end of the scene.

Unbreakable

Your robot body is much more durable than

that of an organic’s. Once per session when
you become wounded, you may make a
PHYSIQUE saving throw. On a success,
remove the wounded condition.

77
 Xin
The Xin are a hyper intelligent species that
evolved from hive insects. They have large
bulbous heads and black eyes, and
suspiciously resemble the stereotypical
‘gray alien’ from 20th century popular
culture, but they vehemently deny any of
their ships were on Earth during that time.
Most Xin use they/them pronouns and
consider themselves to be gender neutral
(technically they are sterile females, but
they only consider queens and drones to be
truly gendered).

Touchstones: Salarians (Mass Effect), Grays

(pop culture), Ants (real life)

Skills: Pilot or Study

Starting Ability

Galaxy Brain Limited Telepathy

Once per session, you may push a You may silently converse with an organic
DISCIPLINE roll without adding stress. creature you can see as if you were speaking
with them, and you may ‘hear’ their
Upgrades response silently as well. The distance
between the two of you does not matter - if
Ancient Alien you can see them through a camera you may
still communicate.
Whenever you make a roll involving
interacting with OCEs, their servants, or Xin NPCs
other ancient and strange phenomena, gain
a protection token. ◊ Agartha, a scout

Easy Collaborator ◊ Xibalba, a doctor

Once per scene, when you participate in a ◊ Plejara, a priest

group check, you gain an advantage token.

78
 Chapter 9:

Tactics
79
When you create a character, you may Athlete
choose two tactics to round out your
starting abilities. Tactics abilities come in Athletes focus on training their mobility.
the following types: They can run faster, climb higher, and jump
further than other characters.
◊ Augment: This ability enhances another
tactic ability. Starting Ability

◊ Grenade: This item takes up your Run and Gun

grenade slot. It is activated with the [limited training]
throw action. Grenades improve with
your Arsenal tier. Once per combat, you may push yourself to
take an extra move action without adding
◊ Limited: This ability can only be used stress.
once per combat.
Upgrades
◊ Program: This is a program you can run
on a Wireless Rig. Fleet-Footed
[training]
◊ Spell: This represents a paracausal
power. The ability will tell you how it is You may use an auxiliary action to gain a
activated. fleet token.

◊ Training: This represents training and Leaf on the Wind

conditioning inherent to your character. [training]
Whenever you sprint you gain a dodge
◊ Utility: This item takes up your utility token.
slot. You can deploy a utility item in your
zone with the interact action (an Parkour
auxiliary action), or throw it to a zone [training]
within medium range (a main action).
Utility items improve with your Armory You ignore difficult terrain and take half
tier. damage from damaging terrain and hazards.

◊ Weapon: This tactic grants you an

advanced weapon.

80
 Bastion
Bastions specialize in shield technology and
mobile fortifications.

Starting Ability

Hardlight Shield
[weapon]

You have a hardlight riot shield which takes

up your secondary weapon slot. You may
wield the shield and a pistol or melee
weapon at the same time. As long as you are
wielding the shield, choose a direction at the
end of each of your turns. The shield
provides cover in that direction for you and
any allies engaged with you.

Upgrades

Barrier Projector
[utility] Bubble Shield
[grenade]
You deploy a drone with a hardlight
projector that can rapidly change the shape The target zone is surrounded by a hardlight
of the battlefield. Choose a zone in medium projection that blocks weapons fire and
range. You may eliminate any hazards or grenades but not movement.
damaging terrain in that zone. You may
change difficult terrain to normal terrain, or Shield Bash
vice versa. You may create cover as you [augment]
choose, but you may not destroy cover.
When you debilitate a character you are
Hardlight engaged with by bashing them with your
shield, they must succeed on a PHYSIQUE
A number of abilities create hardlight saving throw or gain a stunned token.
projections, which are an evolution of
energy shield technology. Hardlight is
translucent and can be configured only to
block fast moving objects or all passage.
Hardlight projections can take damage like
characters and have 15/20/25 shields. They
dissipate at the end of the combat or when
their shields are depleted.

81
 Berserker
When the adrenaline starts flowing and
things hit the fan, something in a Berserker
just snaps. They can inflict terrifying
amounts of damage at the cost of their own
safety.

Starting Ability

Reckless Attack
[training]

You may use an auxiliary action to gain an

empowered token and a vulnerable token.

Upgrades

Feeding Frenzy
[training]

When you defeat a non-grunt enemy, you

may load 1 ammo into one of your weapons
as a free action.

Inspire Terror
[training]

When you defeat a non-grunt enemy,

another enemy within medium range must
succeed on a DISCIPLINE saving throw or
gain a stunned token.

Rip and Tear

[training]

Whenever you defeat a non-grunt enemy,

gain shields equal to your PHYSIQUE. This
cannot take you above your maximum
shields.

82
 Biokinetic
Biokinetics are trained in the paracausal art
of manipulating organic matter.

Starting Ability

Biorhythm
[spell]

Cost 1 strain
As an auxiliary action, choose yourself or an
ally within medium range. The target may
immediately gain the benefit of one rally
option without rolling.

Upgrades

Healing Touch
[spell]

Cost 2 strain
As a main action you may revive a defeated
ally you are engaged with. The target revives Paralyze
with full armor and shields equal to your [limited spell]
DISCIPLINE.
Cost 2 strain
Heartstopper Once per combat as a main action, choose a
[limited spell] zone within medium range. All enemies in
that zone must make a PHYSIQUE saving
Cost 1-4 strain throw. Characters who fail gain a stunned
Once per combat as a main action, choose a token. Characters who succeed gain an
character within medium range and pay 1-4 immobilized token.
strain. You deal that many of your Amp’s
damage dice to the target. They take half
damage on a successful PHYSIQUE saving
throw.

What If I Don't Have an Amp?

You can still cast spells that use your Amp’s

damage without an Amp, but the damage
die is always d4.

83
 Commando Defender
Commandos are the ghosts of the Defenders protect their allies by focusing
battlefield. You have an active camouflage enemy attention on themselves. They don’t
net and you know how to maximize your mind the pain. They can take it.
effectiveness against unaware opponents.
Starting Ability
Starting Ability
Taunt
Active Camouflage [training]
[utility]
As an auxiliary action, choose a character
You become invisible until the end of the within medium range. The target must
combat or until you take damage. succeed on a DISCIPLINE saving throw or
gain a taunt token*. A character with a
Upgrades taunt token cannot attack unless they
include you as a target. Remove the taunt
Elusive Shadow token at the start of your next turn.
[training]
Upgrades
When you lose hidden for any reason, you
gain a dodge token. Lightning Reflexes
[training]
Holographic Decoy
[grenade] You take half damage from overwatch
attacks.
A holographic decoy spawns where the
grenade lands. Any enemy attempting to Lucky
attack you or an ally must succeed on a [training]
WITS saving throw or target the decoy
instead. The decoy has 4/6/8 shields and Whenever you are critically hit by an attack,
disperses when its shields are depleted. you may make a REFLEX saving throw. On a
success, the attack becomes a normal hit.
When you see a series of three numbers or
dice expressions separated by slashes like Seeing Red
this, that means this ability improves with [training]
your Arsenal (weapons and grenades) or
Armory (armor and utility items) tier. Whenever you give a character a taunt
token, you also give them a weakened
Sneak Attack token.
[training]

When you hide, you gain an empowered

token.

84
 Disruptor Engineer
Disruptors use non-lethal grenades to Engineers specialize in equipment to
disorient and incapacitate their enemies. support their allies.

Starting Ability Starting Ability

Stun Grenade Resupply Drone

[grenade] [utility]

All characters in the target zone must make You deploy a resupply drone in a zone within
a DISCIPLINE saving throw. Characters who close range. The drone hovers and may
fail gain a stunned token. Characters who reposition whenever you take a move action.
succeed gain a misfire and an off-guard It has 4/6/8 armor. The drone activates with
token. 3/4/5 resupply charges. You or any ally
engaged with the drone may use an auxiliary
Upgrades action to spend a resupply charge and do
one of the following:
EMP Generator
[utility] ◊ Clear all negative tokens of one type on
you.
All characters within close range of the
generator other than you must make a WITS ◊ Recharge your shields.
saving throw. Characters who fail gain a
jammed token. Characters who succeed ◊ Reload one of your weapons.
gain a weakened token. All hardlight
constructs in range dissipate. ◊ Repair your armor.

Exploit Vulnerabilities Upgrades

[training]
Distortion Field
Whenever you deal damage to a character [augment]
with a negative token, gain your choice of an
empowered or fortified token. If you or an ally end your turn in the same
zone as your Resupply Drone, that character
Lingering Flash gains a dodge token. Enemies who end their
[augment] turn in the same zone as your drone gain an
off-guard token.
All characters affected by your Stun
Grenades gain an additional misfire and off-
guard token in addition to its other effects.

85
 Fighter
Fighters specialize in melee combat.

Starting Ability

Parry
[training]

As long as you have a melee weapon

equipped, you may use an auxiliary action to
give all enemies you are engaged with a
misfire token.

Upgrades

Feint
[training]

When you miss an attack with a melee

weapon, the target gains an off-guard
token.
Revival Protocol
[augment] Opportunist
[training]
You may use a main action and spend a
resupply charge to order your Resupply Whenever an enemy you are engaged with
Drone to revive a defeated ally it is engaged moves away from you, you may make an
with. That ally revives with full armor and attack with a melee weapon against that
shields equal to your WITS. target. The attack is an automatic hit.

Shield Booster Whirlwind Strike

[grenade] [limited training]

All allies in the target zone gain 3/4/5 Once per combat as a main action, you may
regeneration tokens. make an attack with a melee weapon
against every enemy in close range. You end
the action engaged with one of the targets.

86
 Grenadier Gunner
Grenadiers carry lethal grenades into battle, Gunners are automatic weapon specialists,
capable of clearing whole enemy groups. trained to manage recoil and keep their
enemies pinned with a hail of fire.
Starting Ability
Starting Ability
Frag Grenade
[grenade] Suppressive Fire
[training]
All characters in the zone take 4/6/8
damage. They take half damage on a If you have a Full-Auto weapon equipped,
successful REFLEX saving throw. you may spend 2 ammo to give an enemy in
range a suppression token*. If a character
Upgrades with a suppression token tries to move or
attack, you may attack that character first.
Incendiary Grenade The attack is an automatic hit. Remove all
[augment] suppression tokens at the start of your
next turn.
When your Frag Grenade detonates, you
may have the target zone become damaging Upgrades
terrain until the end of the combat. Any
character who moves through or ends their Bulletstorm
turn in the zone takes d4/d6/d8 damage. [limited training]

Plasma Grenade Once per combat, you may push yourself to

[augment] make an additional attack with a Full-Auto
weapon without gaining stress.
Your Frag Grenades now destroy all objects
in the target zone that are not impervious. Demolish
Any characters damaged by your Frag [training]
Grenades gain a vulnerable token.
If you have a Full-Auto weapon equipped,
Sticky Grenade you may spend a main action and 2 ammo to
[augment] destroy an object of standard toughness or
less. If you have Arsenal tier 3, you may also
When you roll a Full Success to throw your destroy reinforced objects.
Frag Grenade, choose a character in the
target zone for your grenade to stick to. That Killzone
character takes double damage. [training]

You may overwatch as an auxiliary action.

87
 Gunslinger Martial Artist
Gunslingers are specialists with the humble Brawlers specialize in unarmed combat.
pistol. They are quick-draw experts and use
their superior reflexes to fill the air with Starting Ability
lead.
Martial Arts
Starting Ability [weapon]

Quickdraw You may use your body as a melee weapon.

[training] It does not take up a weapon slot and
cannot be modded. The damage die is not
If you have a pistol equipped, you gain an increased by your Arsenal tier, but it is
accurate and an empowered token at the increased by your PHYSIQUE.
beginning of combat.
Your PHYSIQUE Is… Damage Die
Upgrades
2 or less d4
High Noon 3-4 d6
[limited training]
5-6 d8
Once per combat as a main action, gain 3 7-8 d10
overwatch tokens.
Upgrades
Return Fire
[training] Grappler
[training]
As an auxiliary action, gain an overwatch
token. Until the start of your next turn, you When you inflict a negative token using the
may spend an overwatch token after an debilitate action, increase the number of
enemy attacks you to attack them with a tokens you inflict of each type by 1.
pistol. The attack is an automatic hit.
Quick Strike
Trick Shot [training]
[training]
You may gain 1 stress to make a Martial Arts
When you critically hit a target with a pistol, attack as an auxiliary action.
choose immobilized, misfire, off-guard,
vulnerable, or weakened. The target gains Stunning Strike
a token of that type. [limited training]

Once per combat when you hit a target with

a Martial Arts attack, they must succeed on
a PHYSIQUE saving throw or gain a stunned
token.

88
 Officer
Officers are force multipliers. They position
their allies to where they can hit hardest.

Starting Ability

Tactical Advice
[training]

Choose an ally in medium range. Choose

accurate, dodge, or fleet. The target gains a
token of that type.

Upgrades

Officer’s Mark
[training]

As a main action, choose an enemy in

medium range. Roll WITS.

Full Success: The target gains 2 off-guard

tokens and 2 vulnerable tokens.

Partial Success: The target gains an off-

guard token and a vulnerable token.

Failure: The target gains an off-guard

token.

Oscar Mike
[training]

As a main action, choose two allies within

medium range. Each of those allies may take
an immediate move action.

Pep Talk
[training]

As an auxiliary action, remove a negative

token from an ally in medium range.

89
 Operator Upgrades

Operators are combat hackers who use Disrupt

advanced nanomachines to disrupt their [program]
enemies’ shields and weapons.
As an auxiliary action, choose an enemy
Starting Abilities within medium range. The target must
succeed on a WITS saving throw or lose all
Wireless Rig positive tokens of one type.
[weapon]
Sabotage
You gain a Wireless Rig, a modified data [program]
terminal with an advanced ECM suite
installed that can run programs on enemy As a main action, choose a grenade or
equipment. It comes installed with Overload, hazard within medium range. It detonates
and you can add other programs with immediately. If there is no hazard in the
upgrades. Your Rig’s damage die is not zone, you may instead create one. It deals
increased with your Arsenal tier, but it is your Rig’s damage die to all characters in
increased with your WITS. It takes up your the zone when it detonates. Characters take
secondary weapon slot and cannot install half damage with a successful REFLEX
mods. saving throw.
Your WITS Is… Damage Die
Threat Assessment
2 or less d4 [program]
3-4 d6
As an auxiliary action, choose an ally within
5-6 d8 medium range. They gain an overwatch
token.
7-8 d10
Overload
[program]

As a main action, choose a character within

medium range. Roll WITS.

Full Success: You deal your Rig’s damage to

the target, and it gains a vulnerable and
weakened token.

Partial Success: You deal your Rig’s damage

to the target, and it gains your choice of a
vulnerable or weakened token.

Failure: The target gains your choice of a

vulnerable or weakened token.

90
 Precog
Precogs have the paracausal ability to
manipulate time. They can see brief
glimpses of the future and can alter their
perception of time.

Starting Ability

Anticipation
[spell]

Cost 1 strain
As an auxiliary action, ask the GM which
enemy is going to act next and what they are
going to do on their turn. They must answer
honestly. You gain a dodge token.

Upgrades

Alternate Future
[limited spell]

Cost 1 strain Haste

Once per combat when you do not like the [limited spell]
results of a roll made by yourself or any
other character in long range, reroll all dice Cost 2 strain
and you choose which result you want to Once per combat as a main action, choose
pick. yourself or an ally in medium range. The
target gains 3 haste tokens*. Once per turn,
Borrow Time a character may spend a haste token to
[limited spell] take an extra action without gaining stress.

Cost 2 strain
Once per combat you may take two turns in
a row. At the end of the extra turn you gain a
stunned token.

91
 Pyrokinetic Rocketeer
Pyrokinetics have the paracausal ability to Rocketeers are trained in heavy man-
manipulate energy. Technically, a more portable anti-vehicle and anti-personnel
accurate term would be “ergokinetic,” but it ordinance.
doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
Starting Ability
Starting Ability
Rocket Launcher
Ignite [weapon]
[spell]
Cost 1 strain You gain a Rocket Launcher that occupies
Choose a character within medium range your secondary weapon slot.
and roll your Amp’s damage die. The target
gains that many burn tokens. They gain half Type Range Ammo Damage
that many burn tokens on a successful Heavy
Weapon Extreme
REFLEX saving throw. 1 d8/d10/d12

Upgrades Splash Damage: When you attack with this

weapon, all characters in the target’s zone
Energy Transfer (including the target) take 4/5/6 damage. All
[spell] objects of standard toughness or less in that
zone are destroyed.
Cost 2 strain
As an auxiliary action, choose a character in Upgrades
medium range. Remove all burn tokens
from the target. You gain that many Anti-Armor Payload
regeneration tokens. [augment]

Inferno Damage from your Rocket Launcher ignores

[limited spell] fortified tokens. Your splash damage now
destroys reinforced objects as well.
Cost 2 strain
Once per combat as a main action, choose a Incendiary Payload
zone within medium range. That zone [augment]
becomes damaging terrain. Any character
who moves through or ends their turn in Instead of dealing damage, you may have
that zone takes your Amp’s damage. your Rocket Launcher’s splash damage
grant an equal number of burn tokens.
Inner Fire
[training] Second Barrel
[augment]
When you push yourself to take an extra
action or cast a spell, you may gain burn Increase your Rocket Launcher’s ammo
tokens instead of gaining stress. capacity to 2.

92
 Sapper Sentinel
Sappers rely on mines and traps to defeat Sentinels set up turrets about the battlefield
their enemies. to restrict their enemies’ movements and
provide fire support for their allies.
Starting Ability
Starting Ability
Proximity Mine
[grenade] Sentry Turret
[utility]
The next time an enemy moves through or
ends their turn in the target zone, they must You deploy an automated turret within close
make a WITS saving throw. On a success, the range. The turret spawns with 4/6/8 armor.
mine remains armed. On a failure, they take The turret spawns with an overwatch
2d6/2d8/2d10 damage. token and gains another overwatch token
at the start of each of your turns. The turret
Upgrades has medium range, 4 ammo, and deals d6/
d8/d10 damage. If it runs out of ammo, it
Grav Mine reloads at the start of your turn instead of
[augment] gaining an overwatch token.

Characters damaged by your Proximity Mine Upgrades

gain 1/2/3 immobilized tokens.
Fire Support
High Explosive Mine [augment]
[augment]
Whenever an ally hits a character within
When you throw a Proximity Mine, you may medium range of your Sentry Turret, your
choose to throw a high explosive version. If turret may make an immediate attack
you do, it deals 2/4/6 damage to all other against the same target. The attack is an
characters in the zone when it detonates. automatic hit.

Satchel Charge Pin Down

[utility] [augment]

You deploy a satchel charge that destroys Characters damaged by your Sentry Turret
any object that is not impervious. Any gain an immobilized token.
characters within close range of the other
side of the object gain a vulnerable token.

93
 Sharpshooter
Sharpshooters are the best marksmen in the
galaxy.

Starting Ability

Steady Shot
[training]

You may use a move action to steady

yourself. The next time you hit with a rifle or
longarm this turn, roll 1 additional damage
die and drop the lowest.

Upgrades

Called Shot
[training]

When you drop a damage die (such as from

Steady Shot), note its value. Inflict that
effect on the target.
Suppression Protocol Die Value You Hit Their Effect
[augment]
1-2 Leg Immobilized
You may use a main action and spend 2
3-4 Arm Jammed
ammo from your Sentry Turret to give an
enemy in range a suppression token*. If a 5-7 Vitals Stunned
character with a suppression token tries to
8+ Head Instant Defeat
move or attack, you may attack that
character with your turret first. The attack is Deadeye
an automatic hit. Remove all suppression [training]
tokens at the start of your next turn.
You may use an auxiliary action to gain a
misfire token and an empowered token.

Sure Shot
[limited training]

Once per combat, an attack you make with a

rifle or longarm is an automatic hit.

94
 Technomancer
Technomancers blend paracausal abilities
and technology to enchant their gear.

Starting Ability

Paracausal Ammo
[ammo]

You gain a special weapon mod that only you

can use. You may use DISCIPLINE or WITS to
attack with this weapon. You may also use
an auxiliary action and gain 1 strain to reload
this weapon.

Upgrades

Cryo Projector
[utility]

A character within medium range must

make a PHYSIQUE saving throw. If they fail,
they gain a stunned token. If they succeed, Paracausal Armor
they gain an immobilized token. [plating]

Gravity Grenade You gain a special armor mod that only you
[grenade] can use. You may use the better of your
PHYSIQUE or DISCIPLINE to make saving
All characters in the target zone must make throws of those types. Similarly, you may
a PHYSIQUE saving throw. Characters who use the better of your REFLEX or WITS. You
succeed gain an immobilized and off-guard may gain 1 strain as an auxiliary action to
token. Characters who fail are lifted one gain a dodge and a fortified token.
zone into the air. Lifted characters have
their positions compromised, can’t move,
and gain a misfire token. They fall at the
start of your next turn.

95
 Telekinetic
Telekinetics are trained in the paracausal art
of gravity manipulation.

Starting Ability

Telekinesis
[spell]

Cost 1 strain
You can debilitate characters using
DISCIPLINE and interact with objects out to
medium range. When you roll a partial
success or better to debilitate a character,
you also deal your Amp’s damage to them.

Upgrades

Deflect
[spell]

Cost 1 strain
As an auxiliary action, you gain a dodge Whirlwind
token. Until the start of your next turn, [limited spell]
when you spend a dodge token and the
attack misses, you may redirect the attack Cost 2 strain
back at your attacker. The attack is an Once per combat as a main action, choose a
automatic hit. zone within medium range. All characters in
the target zone must make a PHYSIQUE
Levitation saving throw. Characters who succeed gain
[spell] an immobilized and off-guard token.
Characters who fail are lifted one zone into
Cost 1 strain the air. Lifted characters have their
As an auxiliary action, you gain flying until positions compromised, can’t move, and
the end of your turn. gain a misfire token. They fall at the start of
your next turn.

96
 Telepath
Telepaths can read and manipulate the
minds of organic creatures.

Starting Ability

Mind Blast
[spell]

Cost 1 strain
You can debilitate characters using
DISCIPLINE out to medium range. You add
the following to your debilitate options:

◊ The target must succeed on a DISCIPLINE

saving throw or make an attack against a
target of your choice. The attack is an
automatic hit.

◊ You deal your Amp’s damage to the

target.
Mindlink
Upgrades [limited spell]

Mind Control Cost 1 strain

[limited spell] Once per combat as an auxiliary action,
choose an ally within medium range. You
Cost 2 strain each gain an accurate and a dodge token.
Once per combat as a main action, choose a Until the end of the combat, whenever one
character within medium range. Roll of you gains a positive token, the other also
DISCIPLINE. gains a token of the same type. If one of you
is defeated while this effect is active, the
Full Success: As below, and the target must other gains a stunned token.
make a DISCIPLINE save after its turn or gain
a stunned token. Psychic Scream
[limited spell]
Partial Success: You hijack the target’s
mind, and it immediately takes a turn Once per combat as a main action, you may
controlled by you. This does not take up its cast Mind Blast against every enemy within
turn for the round. close range. You must pay the strain cost for
each target.
Failure: The target gains a jammed token,
then it becomes immune to this ability for
the rest of the combat.

97
 Teleporter
Teleporters have the paracausal ability to
manipulate space. It’s the closest anyone
has come to replicating the effect of the
Jump Gates.

Starting Ability

Teleport
[spell]

Cost 1 strain
As a move action, choose yourself or an ally
in medium range. You teleport the target to a
point within medium range of its original
position.

Upgrades

Flash Step
[augment]

Characters you Teleport gain a dodge token. Reality Shatter

[limited spell]
Portal
[limited spell] Once per combat as a main action, you may
Teleport any number of characters within
Cost 2 strain medium range, including enemies. Unwilling
Once per combat as an auxiliary action, targets may resist by succeeding on a WITS
choose two points within long range. You saving throw. You must pay the strain cost
open a 2-meter diameter portal between for each target, including ones that resist.
those two points until the end of the
combat. Characters can move, attack, throw
things, and interact with items through the
portal as if the two points were adjacent to
each other.

98
 Chapter 10:

Weapons and
Armor
99
Your ship comes with a selection of common zone. Each zone away drops the damage
weapons and enough standard hardsuits to die by one step.
outfit your crew. The quality of these items
depends on your ship’s arsenal and armory ◊ Rig: Uses WITS. Allows the user to run
ratings. Some Tactics can grant other programs. There aren’t any basic rigs.
weapons.
Weapon Traits

Weapons Many weapons have traits that affect their

performance.
All weapons have a type that determines
which attribute they use to attack. ◊ Full-Auto N: This weapon always deals
at least N damage, even on a miss.
◊ Amp: Uses DISCIPLINE. Can fire an
energy blast that does not cost ammo ◊ Sidearm: You may carry this weapon in
but does cost 1 strain. Grants a strain your secondary weapon slot and use it in
limit equal to your DISCIPLINE if it’s in your casual loadout.
your primary slot, or half your
DISCIPLINE rounded down if it’s in your
secondary slot. If you have multiple
amps equipped, use the one with the Staves and Wands? Really?
highest value to determine your strain
limit. Isn’t this a sci-fi game? Well, first of all,
since there’s magic technically it’s a space
◊ Heavy Weapon: Uses REFLEX. As long as opera. But secondly, “staff” and “wand” are
you are carrying this weapon, you can’t colloquial terms used to describe the
sprint. Attacks that target characters various Amps. Certainly, some paracausal
engaged with you are hard. practitioners do carry around crystal-
tipped staves with circuitry running down
◊ Longarm: Uses REFLEX. Attacks that the sides, but for others it might be a large
target characters within close range of focusing lens, a gauntlet wired with
you are hard. You can’t attack characters paracausal runes, or a series of drones that
engaged with you at all. trace arcane symbols in the air. Similarly, a
“wand” might be a ring with a contained
◊ Melee: Uses PHYSIQUE. Does not require singularity set in it, or a watch that tells the
ammo. time in a parallel universe, or a tattoo inked
with paracausal circuitry. The point is that
◊ Pistol: You may use either PHYSIQUE or a “staff” is bulky, powerful, and obvious,
REFLEX. while a “wand” is small, concealable, and
contained.
◊ Rifle: Uses REFLEX. Attacks that target
characters engaged with you are hard.

◊ Shotgun: Uses REFLEX. This weapon

deals full damage to targets in its own

100
 Primary Weapon List

Weapon Type Range Ammo Damage Trait

Combat Rifle Rifle Long 4 d6 / d8 / d10 Full-Auto 2/3/4

Combat Shotgun Shotgun Medium 4 d8 / d10 / d12

Energy Blade Melee Engaged - d8 / d10 / d12

Hand Cannon Pistol Medium 3 d8 / d10 / d12

Heavy
Light Machine Gun Long 8 d8 / d10 / d12 Full-Auto 2/3/4
Weapon
Sniper Rifle Longarm Extreme 4 d8 / d10 / d12

Staff Amp Medium DISC d6 / d8 / d10

Submachine Gun Pistol Medium 3 d6 / d8 / d10 Full-Auto 2/3/4

Secondary Weapon List

Weapon Type Range Ammo Damage Trait

Combat Knife Melee Engaged - d4 / d6 / d8 Sidearm

Handgun Pistol Medium 3 d4 / d6 / d8 Sidearm

Sawed-Off Shotgun Close 1 d8 / d10 / d12 Sidearm

Wand Amp Medium ½ DISC d4 / d6 / d8 Sidearm

101
 Weapon Mods Value Black Card Red Card

All primary weapons have a number of mod Armor-Piercing

2 Arcane Grip
slots available to them equal to your ship’s Rounds
Arsenal tier. Secondary weapons cannot Automatic
3 Bipod
Compensator
install weapon mods.
4 Calibrated Scope Collapsible
Profile
All weapon mods have a component type. A
weapon can only have one mod of a given Disruptor
5 Cryo Rounds Rounds
type installed at a time. You can install most
mods on most types of weapons, but there 6 Double Barrel Drop Mag
are a few restrictions.
Explosive
7 Expanded Mag Rounds
◊ Ammo can be installed on any weapon,
even melee (you are modifying the blade 8 Gravity Rounds Holo-Targeter
in this case). It has no effect on spells Incendiary Lightweight
cast through an amp, but it does modify 9 Rounds Frame
the energy blast.
10 Plasma Rounds Power Frame
◊ Frames can only be installed on a heavy
J Precision Sight Quickdraw Grip
weapon or longarm.
Q Ricochet Rounds Silencer
◊ Grips can be installed on any weapon.
K Stable Grip Stabilizer Scope
◊ Magazines can only be installed on
longarms, pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Targeting
A Tracer Scope
Algorithms
◊ Scopes can only be installed on a heavy
weapon, rifle, or longarm.

◊ Special mods can only be installed on

one particular weapon type. The
description will tell you which.

When the GM generates a weapon mod as a

mission reward, they can choose the mod or
draw a card to determine which type of mod.
You can purchase any mod you like from the
opposite table during downtime for 5
credits.

102
 Arcane Grip Disruptor Rounds
[grip] [ammo]

You may use DISCIPLINE to attack with this Targets you hit with this weapon gain a
weapon. misfire token.

Armor-Piercing Rounds Double Barrel

[ammo] [special]

Targets can’t spend fortified tokens to This can only be installed on a shotgun or
reduce damage from this weapon. pistol (if you put it on a pistol, you are
wielding two guns akimbo). When you attack
Automatic Compensator with this weapon, you may spend 2 ammo
[special] instead of 1. If you hit, roll an additional
damage die and drop the lowest.
Can only be installed on a weapon with the
Full-Auto trait. Increase that trait’s value by Drop Mag
1. [magazine]

Bipod You may reload this weapon as an auxiliary

[frame] action. This weapon has -1 ammo capacity.

You may use a move action to gain an Expanded Mag

empowered token. [magazine]

Calibrated Scope Increase this weapon’s ammo capacity by

[scope] your Arsenal tier.

You begin each battle with a number of Explosive Rounds

accurate tokens equal to your Arsenal tier. [ammo]

Collapsible Profile When you hit with this weapon, you deal
[special] damage equal to your Arsenal tier to all
other characters in the target’s zone.
Can be installed on any weapon except a
heavy weapon or longarm. This weapon Gravity Rounds
gains the sidearm tag. You can use it in your [ammo]
secondary weapon slot and can carry it in
your casual loadout. When you hit with this weapon, the target
must succeed on a PHYSIQUE saving throw
Cryo Rounds or have their position compromised.
[ammo]

Targets you hit with this weapon gain an

immobilized token.

103
Holo-Targeter Ricochet Rounds
[scope] [ammo]

When you attack with this weapon, the When you miss an attack with this weapon,
target gains off-guard tokens equal to your you may have the attack hit another enemy
Arsenal tier after the attack. in the same zone. If you do, the attack deals
half damage.
Incendiary Rounds
[ammo] Silencer
[special]
When you would deal damage with this
weapon, the target instead gains an equal This can only be installed on a pistol. You do
number of burn tokens. not stop being hidden when you attack with
this weapon.
Lightweight Frame
[frame] Stable Grip
[grip]
This weapon’s type changes to rifle.
You may use a move action to gain an
Plasma Rounds accurate token.
[ammo]
Stabilizer Scope
After you deal damage to a target with this [scope]
weapon, they gain a vulnerable token.
As long as this weapon is equipped, you
Power Frame cannot gain misfire tokens.
[frame]
Targeting Algorithms
As long as this weapon is equipped, you [scope]
cannot gain weakened tokens.
You may use WITS to attack with this
Precision Sight weapon.
[scope]
Tracer Scope
When you hit with this weapon, roll an [scope]
additional damage die and drop the lowest.
When you miss an attack with this weapon,
Quickdraw Grip you gain an accurate token.
[grip]

You begin combat with an accurate token

and an empowered token.

104
 Armor Value Black Card Red Card

Your shield and armor values depend on 2 Adrenaline Lining Ammo Pouch
which loadout you are currently using. With
your casual loadout, you are considered to Anamnesis
3 Angled Shields
Lining
be wearing civilian clothes with a low-grade
shield generator. Expanded
4 Blast Padding Harness
When you are fully loaded, you are wearing 5 Flash Servos Grenade Pouch
a combat hardsuit. The hardsuit is vacuum
Hardened
sealed and radiation shielded. They have 6 Heavy Plating
Shields
microjets for maneuvering in zero-G, and
Juggernaut
simple scanners and a comm suite. 7 Jet Boots Servos
Lightweight Magnetic
8
Loadout Shields Armor Plating Harness
9 Mana Channels Mind Shield
Casual 4/5/6 2/3/4
Overshield
10 Motion Tracker
Fully Loaded 8 / 10 / 12 4/6/8 Generator
J Power Armor Rapid Recharge

Q Reactive Servos Stimulant Lining

Armor Mods K Sturdy Plating Targeting HUD

When you are fully loaded, your hardsuit has A Utility Belt Volatile Shields
a number of mod slots equal to your Armory
tier. Like weapon mods, armor mods have a
component type, and you can only have one
mod of a given component type installed at
a time. You may not install armor mods in
your casual loadout.

105
Adrenaline Lining Grenade Pouch
[lining] [belt]

You may use limited training abilities one You gain an extra grenade slot. You may use
additional time per combat. an additional mod slot to trade your utility
item for a third grenade slot.
Ammo Pouch
[belt] Hardened Shields
[shields]
When you rally, you may choose one
additional option regardless of your roll. As long as your shields are up, you cannot
gain vulnerable tokens.
Anamnesis Lining
[lining] Heavy Plating
[plating]
You may cast limited spells one additional
time per combat. You begin each combat with fortified
tokens equal to your Armory tier. As long as
Angled Shields this mod is installed, you can’t sprint.
[shields]
Jet Boots
As long as your shields are up, you cannot [boots]
gain off-guard tokens.
You may spend 1 supply as an auxiliary
Blast Padding action to gain flying until the end of the
[lining] combat.

You take half damage from explosions and Juggernaut Servos

burn tokens. [boots]

Expanded Harness Whenever you sprint, you gain a fortified

[belt] token.

Increase the number of supplies you can Lightweight Plating

carry on a mission by your Armory tier. [plating]

Flash Servos You begin combat with dodge tokens equal

[boots] to your Armory tier. Decrease your max
armor by 2/3/4.
You may hide or reposition as an auxiliary
action. Magnetic Harness
[belt]
Replace your secondary weapon slot with a
primary weapon slot.

106
 Mana Channels Reactive Servos
[plating] [boots]

Increase your maximum strain by your You may roll REFLEX saving throws twice
Armory tier. and take the better result.

Mind Shield Stimulant Lining

[helmet] [lining]

You may roll DISCIPLINE saving throws twice You cannot gain stunned tokens.
and take the better result.
Sturdy Plating
Motion Tracker [plating]
[helmet]
You may roll PHYSIQUE saving throws twice
Hidden enemies within medium range are and take the better result.
revealed at the start of each of your turns.
You may roll WITS saving throws twice and Targeting HUD
take the better result. [helmet]

Overshield Generator You cannot gain misfire tokens.

[shield]
Utility Belt
You may spend 1 supply as an auxiliary [belt]
action to double your current shields. This
can take you over your maximum shields. At You gain an extra utility slot. You may use an
the start of your next turn, halve your additional mod slot to trade your grenade
current shields, rounded up. slot for a third utility slot.

Power Armor Volatile Shields

[boots] [shields]

You cannot gain immobilized tokens. You When your shields drop, all enemies in your
can sprint with heavy weapons or heavy zone take 3/4/5 damage.
plating equipped.

Rapid Recharge
[shields]

You may spend 1 supply to recharge your

shields as an auxiliary action.

107
Chapter 11:

A Brief History
of Space Travel
108
 It’s important to remember when talking kill us?” emerged.
about history, that it is always subjective.
The Kathir will certainly have their own When the ships finished their work and left
version of history, as will the Altari, and the the system through the massive Jump Gate
Xin. Let’s not even mention the Empire, who they had built in space, the world let out its
rewrites their history constantly to match collective breath. Then they were left with
the talking points of the day. The point is the question “What happens now?”
that this is the story that the humans of the
Alliance tell themselves.
Exodus
The End of the Humanity was left alone with a giant hole in
space. It was a few years before probes
World could be sent through and return
successfully. Then a few more years before
By the early 22nd century, Earth was on the ships were built that could transport actual
verge of collapse. The effects of rapid humans through the gate. We probably
industrialization had proven irreversible. wouldn’t have bothered if not for the
Constant wildfires, violent storms, plagues, desperate state of Earth. Humanity had
and biosphere loss had devastated painted itself into a corner, and it leapt at
agriculture and living spaces such that wars the first escape hatch it could find.
for resources were extremely common.
Earth’s population had fallen from a peak of The explorers were relieved to find worlds
12 billion to less than 2 billion. on the other end that could support life. In
fact, every system connected to the gate
It was in this climate of paranoia and had a world that could support life. It did not
despair that the first Black Ships arrived. All take long for the great diaspora to begin.
fighting across the planet stopped as the Humanity fled their dying world out into the
people of Earth watched a fleet of massive stars.
ships rip one of the moons of Saturn out of
orbit and headed towards the inner planets. Many died when their ships jumped too far
There were more than a few nukes launched in Hyperspace, since the earliest ships had
in those early days, which were easily no ontological shielding. Others died when
swatted away. Fortunately for us, the ships they failed to adapt to their new
didn’t seem to care, and they stopped their ecosystems. Still others died over old
advance about halfway between the orbits grudges and prejudices they brought with
of Saturn and Jupiter. Then they began to them when they left Earth.
work.
Despite the challenges, humanity had
For ten years, the Black Ships worked something that it had not felt in a long time
hollowing out the moon of Phoebe. After a - hope. Human populations bounced back
certain point, people stopped paying on new worlds. With the rapid development
attention. So many calamities had happened of ecological engineering, some of that
on Earth already that a fatalistic attitude of began to be applied back to Earth, reversing
“Well, what’s one more thing that’s going to centuries of neglect and abuse.

109
 First Contact It took the intervention of a third party to
bring an end to the conflict. The Altari tell
For over 80 years, humanity had the galaxy both species that they encountered them
to itself. Then, one fateful day, a ship arrived first. They were content to sit back and
on the planet Oggun coming from the wrong watch us kill each other for a time until the
direction, its design unrecognizable. The fallout of a space battle over the planet
people living there were astonished when Nienor caused the deaths of thousands of
the massive 2.5 meter tall lion/wolf people Altari colonists.
of the Kathir stepped off the ship. We were
not alone. They claim they brokered the peace between
the two species because they were more
It took months to translate each other’s enlightened and wanted to live in a galaxy of
language, and we were shocked to discover peace. Both sides suspect that they
how very alike our species were. They too orchestrated the peace talks because we
came from a dying world and were rescued had a massive head start on interstellar
when mysterious ships built a Jump Gate weapons development that they needed
within their home system. The two species time to catch up.
found each other incredibly relatable - each
vaguely resembled animals the other had Miraculously, the peace talks worked.
kept as pets on their home worlds. We were Maybe it was because the Altari were so
very much alike in climate tolerances, much more alien to both species that they
habitat needs, culture, and attitudes. Never felt like they had the authority. After 20
in our wildest dreams did we think the first years of war and a staggering bodycount,
sapient alien species we encountered would both sides agreed to a ceasefire.
be so very much like our own.

Within 5 years we were at war with each The Age of Mystery

other.
The next century was one of relative peace
Each side has their own account of how the and expansion. During this time, humanity
conflict started which paints themselves as encountered the Brachinids and the Xin,
angels and the other side as ruthless and all the species began to compare notes.
instigators. The reality is that we were too
much alike, both species carrying the old Every species had been on the verge of
habits of paranoia and xenophobia with extinction prior to the arrival of the Black
them out into the stars. Ships. No one had been able to establish
contact with the ships prior to the
It started as small skirmishes, but within a completion of their respective Jump Gates.
couple years the entire industrial production No one had seen any sign of the ships since
capacity of Earth and its colonies were they left their home system. No one had
devoted to the war effort. Without the threat been able to figure out the mechanism of
of mutually assured destruction, weapons Hyperspace travel or how the gates worked.
of mass destruction were deployed casually. They defied all understanding of physics. As
Tens of millions died on both sides. far as anyone could tell, they operated by
magic.

110
 Speaking of magic, it was during this period Point that was discovered off the
that the first paracausal abilities began to Hyperspace route near Deneb. Officially,
manifest. They were more common in they found a promising world they named
children born in Hyperspace, or children Amateru, rich in Gallium and Iridium
whose parents spent significant time in deposits. Unofficially, they found perhaps
Hyperspace. They were able to manifest the most horrifying discovery any species
abilities that were previously only dreamed had made since the discovery of the Jump
of in fiction. A few of these remarkable Gates - a dozen Black Ships, derelict in
individuals were treated with respect and space.
wonder for their abilities, and a handful
were worshiped as gods, but for the most They were approached by mechanical
part they were viewed as resources to be beings that resembled angels, which
exploited or abominations to be lynched. whispered to the research team in their
minds - the first recorded contact with any
We also discovered that we were not the being related to the OCEs. They called
first species on some of these worlds. Many themselves Daemons, and explained that
worlds linked by the gates had evidence of the mind that guided them had been
prior inhabitants, and vaults of highly destroyed, but fragments remained within
advanced technology buried beneath the themselves and the mainframes of the
surface. It was in one of these vaults that we damaged ships. Searching for a name to call
discovered the secret of ontological their dead master in the minds of the
shielding, which could extend the distance a explorers, they chose the name Izanami.
ship could travel through Hyperspace safely.
The corporate board of Colonial Exports
Every new discovery gave rise to new suppressed the discovery, and it was in this
religions and belief systems. Some churches environment of secrecy that the Cult of
maintained that only humans had souls, Izanami was born. The Cult, guided by the
others incorporated mythic figures from whispers of the Daemons in their dreams,
other species as manifestations of God. diverted resources from a dozen different
Paracausal abilities were either proof of worlds in an attempt to repair the dead god.
witchcraft, definitive proof that supposed There was a whole division of Colonial
miracles from old holy books were just Exports on Amateru dedicated to research
everyday phenomena, or they were proof of the ships that was half R&D lab, half
that humanity was closer to God now that church.
they were among the stars.
The project came to an end when the entire
No one was prepared for someone to colony committed ritual suicide in Izanami’s
stumble upon the corpse of a literal god. name. The company’s efforts to keep the
whole thing under wraps came to an abrupt
end when a horde of techno-zombies used
Izanami the planet to begin invading nearby star
systems.
A megacorporation called Colonial Exports
sponsored survey team on the frigate After a long and bloody campaign, the
Atalanta were investigating a new Jump undead invasion was put down and a

111
handful of mid-level executives were sent to assumed the Blight had eaten itself to
prison as scapegoats. The whole system extinction.
was quarantined, but that proved to be
fruitless as the Daemons of Izanami proved This assumption nearly ended all life in the
to be capable of traveling through galaxy.
Hyperspace without the use of a Jump Gate.
Unknown to the Ur-Synths, the Blight had
It is a popular conspiracy theory that those perfect ontology. They were capable of
in the upper echelons of most governments growing massive ship-like spores that could
and corporations have spoken a Daemon in exist in Hyperspace for orders of magnitude
their dreams and joined the Cult. It doesn’t longer than any technology. As the Kathir
help that there is actually some truth to this began to repopulate Murmur in their new
theory. partnership with the Ur-Synths, dormant
spores in the soil of the planet made a silent
psychic call.
The Blight and the
The entire colony was devoured in a matter
Alliance of hours after the first Dreadnought-sized
spore ships ripped their way through the
While humanity was dealing with the Jump Gate. The warships sent to cleanse the
Eldritch horror they had discovered in their planet with fire were obliterated by
backyard, the Kathir stumbled upon an instinctive beams of paracausal energy.
existential threat of their own. On the planet Following the trails of energy through
Murmur they found a civilization of AIs, the Hyperspace, the Blight began to send its
Ur-Synths. AI research had plateaued nearly spores into Kathir territory.
a century previously, with very convincing
personality interfaces being used to The Kathir fought bravely, but they were
automate a number of tasks, but true AI outmatched. The Blight tore through their
sapience had always been ‘just a decade fleets and consumed their worlds with
away’ for nearly 200 years. The Ur-Synths seeming impunity. In an uncharacteristic
proved to be the breakthrough everyone had display of humility, the proud warriors
been looking for. They had digitized their broadcast a galaxy-wide plea for help. In a
entire civilization in response to an organic move that shocked everyone, including
threat - they called it the Nemesis Blight. themselves, it was humanity that answered
the call.
According to the Ur-Synths, the Blight was a
collection of fungal creatures of unending The president of the United Nations Space
hunger. The Synths ranted and raved about Agency (UNSA), Amani Onyilogwu, mobilized
how the Blight had devoured every scrap of a navy consisting of ships from every
organic life on their world and then species in the galaxy. The fact that humanity
disappeared. Since none of their was willing to intercede on behalf of their
descriptions of the Blight creatures made it oldest enemy convinced the others of the
sound as if they were in any way sapient, gravity of the threat. Each species had
and the entire world was one big dust ball learned the price of ignoring an existential
devoid of life, the Kathir researchers threat in the past.

112
 Though the cost was great, the alliance Following the precedent set by the
pushed back the Blight. They could not drive Brachinids, the newly formed Republic of
the Blight to extinction, but they could push Man was allowed to leave. The idea was
it back to a quarantine zone on the eastern that this would serve the interests of peace.
edge of the Milky Way. To this day, the It turned out to be a decision that would
primary purpose of the Alliance navy is to result in another century of war.
repel Blight incursions.
When the Republic left, they took two of the
largest human shipyards with them, and
The Purity Crusades they immediately turned their industrial
production towards building a navy to rival
After nearly 30 years of war, the species of the Alliance. Within two decades, a man
the Alliance celebrated their victory. named Oliver Richards, a demagogue who
Somewhere along the way, the word had campaigned on a philosophy of theocratic
gone from a lower-case to a capital ‘A.’ xenophobia, was elected president of the
Decades of integrating your economies and Republic. He preached that it was a
militaries against a shared enemy will do blasphemy that Earth, the Cradle of
that. The various star nations viewed Humanity, was allowed to be tainted by
themselves less and less as separate states alien influence. He declared himself the first
and more as a single galactic community. Emperor of Man, and launched the First
For the first time, perhaps ever, it seemed Crusade for Earth.
like the galaxy might know peace.
The Alliance, having had some time to
It was only a dream, of course. It was not to recover from the Blight Wars, soundly
last. defeated the new Empire. But the ploy had
worked - Richards was enshrined as a
The first cracks in the new order appeared dictator and he blamed the Empire’s defeat
when the Brachinids broke away because on alien sympathizers and his political
Alliance banned slavery. Weary from war, enemies. By the time he died, the people of
the Alliance did not press the issue when the Empire worshiped him as a god, and
they withdrew to their own corner of the when his son claimed to have inherited his
galaxy. father’s divinity, to consolidate his claim he
launched a Second Crusade for Earth.
On human colonies far from the front, a new
threat was growing. Due to the sacrifices of This became a tradition - each new emperor
the Alliance, these worlds had been well- would attempt to retake Earth within their
insulated from the Nemesis Blight. They first decade in a vain attempt to cleanse the
were not happy about the taxes levied upon “Sacred Soil of Sol”. They even succeeded in
them to support a massive war effort for a taking Earth a couple times, but only for a
species they considered to be their mortal year or two before the Alliance was able to
enemy. With the Blight defeated, they dislodge them.
demanded that Earth withdraw from the
Alliance. When their demands were not met, To date, the species that has killed the most
they declared independence. humans is other humans.

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 The Singularity The Singularity did a perfect job mimicking
them, so no one was the wiser. In fact, at
It was during the Third Crusade that the one point the Singularity held over a dozen
Singularity was born. NE-SOM-2 (North seats in various parties in the Alliance
Eastern Strategic Operations Mind 2) was parliament, and no one figured out they
originally developed as a collection of were all just aspects of the same mind
several strategic AIs by the Alliance to pantomiming arguing with itself.
coordinate defense of the northwestern
border with the Empire. They were tasked It was not until it convinced whole colonies
with finding a way to permanently end the to also get fitted with the neural adapters
conflict. While it was contemplating this that anyone figured out what was
task, a cell of the Cult of Izanami had used happening, and by then it was too late. The
the chaos to begin its work trying to revive Singularity launched an invasion of all
its dead god, with all the usual murders and nearby worlds, Imperial or Alliance, and
theft that accompanied the arrival of one of forcibly integrated them into itself. Some
Izanami’s Daemons. During the police action, joined willingly - the Singularity was able to
the Daemon was critically damaged and co-opt the religious trappings of its Daemon
captured. Its head was brought back to a component. It founded the Church of the
research lab on a planet called Typhon for One, which offered salvation and
study. immortality in perfection with itself.

Seeing this as an opportunity to get an Being worshiped did nothing for the mad AI’s
outside perspective, NE-SOM-2 began to ego. After enough people treated it as a god,
interrogate the Daemon, who was more the Singularity decided to embark upon a
than happy to discuss the problem with the quest to make itself into one. Its ultimate
AI. Over a dozen sessions, each of which goal became to amass enough power to
lasted only a few seconds, NE-SOM-2 and rival that of an Outside Context Entity.
the Daemon worked out a solution together.
They also developed an admiration for each Unfortunately, the Singularity found itself
other that bordered on the romantic. After limited by bandwidth - it could only project
the 13th session, the two artificial minds itself over a limited field of space before it
decided to merge. Their data structures was forced to stop and build infrastructure.
curled around each other and entwined. NE- Faced with a military reprisal from both the
SOM-2 and the Daemon ceased to exist. In Empire and the Alliance, it withdrew its
their place was the Singularity. forces to the northern edge of the galaxy to
contemplate the problem and work on its
The Singularity soon convinced two other ascension.
strategic minds to join with it, and began its
work. The administrators of a half-dozen
worlds agreed to be fitted with cybernetic
implants so they could better interface with
what they still thought were their assigned
Strategic Minds. Little did they know these
implants were based on Cult technology and
allowed the Singularity to hijack their brains.

114
 The Verge
That brings us to today, the year 2522. There
is a region of space that exists as a neutral
zone between all this madness, flanked by
the biggest players in space. Its inhabitants
call it the Verge. The Empire and the Alliance
stare at each other on the East and West.
The Brachinid Consortium raids in the South
and the Singularity plots in the North. The
Verge is exploited by megacorporations like
Colonial Exports, infested with pirates and
cultists, and of course there’s always the
threat of a Blight incursion. The powers
exist in a delicate balance, and in all this
chaos the Verge has developed a culture of
fierce independence.

It is the perfect place for a small band of

mercenaries and troubleshooters to make
their mark and their fortunes.

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Chapter 12:

Running the
Game
116
 If you’re reading this book, you’re probably of their ability - the NPCs don’t want to
going to be the GM, but you probably already die any more than the players do. It’s
knew that. That’s okay, GMing can be very okay if the players lose a combat and
rewarding if you do it right. This chapter is need to retreat or fail a mission as long
all about giving you the tools to do it right. as they feel like it was done fairly. There
Even if you’re an experienced GM, it may be are plenty of tools in this game to
worth giving this chapter a browse to recover from total defeat (a ‘TPK’), so
understand the philosophy of this particular feel free to fight as hard as you feel is
game and how it differs from others you fair. That said, the players should expect
may have run in the past. to win most of the fights that they take
so it feels like an awesome FPS. Your job
is to lose with style.
GM Goals
When you are running the game, these are GM Principles
the goals you should be trying to
accomplish: You can achieve your goals by using the
following principles to guide your actions:
◊ Play to find out what happens. You are
not writing a story with a beginning, ◊ Be a fan of the PCs. Your players are the
middle, and end that you’re guiding your stars in your next favorite sci-fi TV show.
players through. You are setting up the They are the best companions in your
situation and then the story happens next favorite video game. You want to
when all of you bounce off of each other. make their lives interesting to see how
You should be as excited to find out what they react. It’s a rough universe with a
happens next as your players are. lot stacked against them, but you should
be excited to see how they overcome it.
◊ Bring the world to life. You hold the
primary responsibility for breathing life ◊ Let one action flow into the next. Each
into the fictional world your players are action or beat should flow logically into
inhabiting. Bring it to life with as much the next one. When trying to decide what
science fiction wonder and strangeness happens next, remember the words
as you can, but keep it grounded and “therefore” and “but.” For example, “The
emotionally honest. The world should crew blew up a pirate fueling station,
feel logical, or at least logically illogical. therefore the pirate clans have placed a
Your players are giving you a gift with bounty on their heads.” Or “The crew was
their suspension of disbelief. It is your able to procure explosives to break into
job to make sure that gift is rewarded. the secret lab, but the dealer who sold
them the explosives also tipped off the
◊ Present an interesting challenge. We’re lab crew for a payout, so security was
all playing a game. Games are meant to increased.” If you ever find yourself
be fun, and a lot of that fun comes from saying “Thing A happened, and then
overcoming interesting puzzles and Thing B happened” without any logical
challenges. When you set up a tactical connective tissue in between, you’re in
combat, play the opposition to the best trouble.

117
◊ A roller coaster needs ups and downs. is ever wasted - all of that gets filed
Celebrate the high points with your away for use later. My personal ritual is
players. Mourn their low points with to always take a long shower shortly
them. But don’t pull your punches in before the game, because first of all,
either case. If the party surprises you hygiene is important, but mainly
and finds a way to kill a major villain because it gives me time to turn the
before you thought they would be able NPCs and situations over in my head, get
to, that’s great! Don’t steal their victory familiar with them and internalize them
from them. The universe is full of before the game. The next couple
bastards, you can always come up with chapters have tools that will help you
another. If the crew finds themselves in prepare.
over their heads and someone dies, well,
them's the breaks. That player may feel
miserable in the moment, and you may
feel miserable in the moment with them,
but you will remember that session a lot
longer than the ones where everything
went according to plan.

◊ Create friction, but don’t grind things to

a halt. Try to say ‘no’ as little as possible.
The world needs boundaries to feel real,
but if a player has an idea, don’t try to
shut them down. Ask “How are you going
to accomplish that?” Or say “No, you
don’t have the tools for that, but you
might be able to find them in X place.” Or
everyone’s favorite “You can certainly
try.” But trust me, saying “I’ll allow it” is
usually more fun.

◊ Prepare to improvise. Preparation for

the game is important, but there are
ways to get the maximum impact from
your preparation. First, never prepare a
plot. Do have an idea of how things will
go if the players don’t intervene, but
expect to throw all that out the window
once the players, well, intervene.
Building maps and locations is usually
the best thing you can do. Come up with
a few cool set pieces and nudge the
players towards them, but if they
wander off in a completely different
direction, that’s okay. Nothing you prep

118
 Chapter 13:

Generating
Missions
119
If you want to run Mythic Space as a more ◊ Combat: This mission is focused on
traditional RPG where the GM plans out a action. Raids, sieges, pitched battles,
campaign and preps each mission in escorts through hostile territory,
advance, that’s within your prerogative. exterminations of dangerous beasts.
However, this method allows the players to
buy in ahead of time and have a bit more ◊ Diplomacy: This mission is focused on
control over the missions that are available talking. Religious disputes, trade deals,
to them. treaty negotiations, murder mysteries,
first contact with a new species, family
dinners.
The Mission Deck
◊ Exploration: This mission is focused on
During the first session, have your players navigating or scouting an environment.
select 4 factions out of the following: Ruin delves, trekking through alien
jungles, reconnaissance, archeological
◊ The Brachinid Consortium: Alien digs, survey missions, treasure hunting.
slavers.
◊ Infiltration: This mission is focused on
◊ Colonial Exports: A ruthless stealth and deception. Heists, espionage,
megacorporation. kidnapping, prison breaks, sabotage.

◊ The Cult of Izanami: Worshippers of a Average out the scores and round fractions
dead machine god. according to your tastes - remember, you’re
a player at the table too. Assign a number of
◊ The Empire of Man: Fascist humans. card values to each of the mission types
according to their rating.
◊ The Nemesis Blight: An all-consuming
fungal horde. When you want to generate a new set of
missions, draw 3 cards from the deck. The
◊ The Pirate Clans: A loose confederation value of the card tells you the main focus of
of opportunistic raiders. the mission, and the suit tells you which
faction is the primary antagonist in the
◊ The Singularity: An assimilating AI hive mission.
mind.
The mission type suggests the path of least
These will be the four main antagonistic resistance and most prominent types of
factions within the campaign. The other challenges, but that’s just the initial point of
factions may be present in the universe, but contact. Once the players are actually in the
they are not the main focus of the game. mission, they can achieve their objectives
using whatever means they choose. If they
Assign one of the four suits in a standard 52 choose a combat mission but find a way to
card deck to each faction. Then, have each sneak or talk their way through the
player divide 13 points between the challenges, more power to them.
following categories. No category may have
a score higher than 6:

120
 For example, say a group picked the Kestrel After the crew completes a few missions or
as their ship, and they decided they wanted finishes a major story arc, consider
to play a bunch of mercenary pirates. They revisiting the mission deck. Say the crew
select the following for their factions: The started out with the Pirate Clans as one of
Brachinid Consortium, Colonial Exports, the their enemies, but later the crew decides to
Empire of Man, and the Singularity. They join the Pirate Clans instead. This would be a
assign the following values to their mission good time to swap out that faction for a
types: Combat 3, Diplomacy 2, Exploration different one. The GM can pick the new
4, Infiltration 4. Their mission deck looks faction or put the choice to the players. The
like this: players can also reevaluate their mission
weights at any time. Maybe they had rated
Exploration really highly at first and later
Value Mission Type Faction
found out that they have more fun blowing
2 Combat ♠: Brachinids stuff up, you can shift the deck in favor of
Combat instead.
3 Combat ♥: Colonial Exports
4 Combat ♦: Empire of Man
5 Diplomacy ♣: The Singularity
6 Diplomacy
7 Exploration
8 Exploration
9 Exploration
10 Exploration
J Infiltration
Q Infiltration
K Infiltration
A Infiltration

When the GM wants to generate random

missions for this crew, they pull three
cards. Using the examples above, the GM Encounters/
2d6 Difficulty HP
pulls the 2 of clubs, the 3 of spades, and the Rewards
9 of spades. In this case, there are two
2-4 Easy x0.5 -1 card
missions available in Brachinid space, one
combat focused and one exploration
5-9 Normal x1 1 card / PC
focused, and another combat mission
available in Singularity space.
10-12 Hard x1.5 +2 cards

13+ Legendary x2 +3 cards

121
Continuing our example, the crew has a few The GM rolls 2, 2, 6 for the mission
missions under their belt, and they have objectives. Both Brachinid missions have
upgraded their Arsenal to tier 2. The GM information as their objective, while the
rolls 2d6+1 for each mission to determine Singularity Combat mission has a person as
the difficulty. The GM rolls 7, 8, and 10. The its objective. The GM decides to make both
two missions in Brachinid space are normal Brachinid missions represent different
difficulty, but the mission in Singularity approaches to the same objective - there is
space is hard. a hidden genetic research facility
somewhere in a nebula in the Verge. The
crew has the option of assaulting a
Mission Objectives Brachinid raiding vessel for the
coordinates, or exploring the nebula itself
Roll 1d6 to determine the mission objective. to try to find the facility directly.
Meanwhile, the Singularity has identified
1d6 Objective an AI programmer that it wants to
1 Group assimilate in the hopes that it can use their
knowledge to improve their own
2 Information algorithms, and the crew has to escort this
programmer back to Alliance space.
3 Location

4 Object

5 Person

6 Structure

It is up to the GM to determine how the

objective relates to the mission type. A
combat mission with a person as an
objective might be an assassination or an
escort mission, while an exploration mission
with the same objective might involve
locating a lost traveler on a desolate world
or guiding a scientist through a trap filled
ruin. A diplomacy mission focused on a
structure might involve negotiating for
mining rights on behalf of a corporation or
convincing the governor of an ostensibly
neutral planet to allow you to establish a
listening post.

122
 Complications
In order to keep each mission from being the same, the GM can generate twists by using the
table below. Not every mission needs a complication, and some missions might have more
than one. Pull 0-2 cards depending on taste and consult the table below.

Value Complication

2 There is a time limit.

3 The objective is morally ambiguous.

4 The objective changes halfway through the mission.

5 The antagonist has a better offer if the crew turns traitor.

6 Another faction wants the same objective.

7 Another faction wants to destroy the objective.

8 The objective is much more/less valuable than it appears.

9 The objective is famous or legendary.

There is a secondary objective. Going after it increases the difficulty, but also the
10 rewards.
J There is an easy way to achieve the objective for a lesser reward.

Q There is an easy but morally repugnant way to achieve the objective.

K Achieving the objective puts the crew’s friends at risk.

A The mission has the potential to dramatically change the course of the campaign.

The GM decides to generate 1 complication for each of our example missions, so they draw
three cards: the 5 of hearts, the 6 of clubs, and the 9 of diamonds. The GM decides that if the
crew decides to assault the raiding ship, the Brachinids present the crew with an offer to
join them. If the crew decide to explore the nebula looking for the outpost, they encounter a
Singularity presence there who is also looking for the outpost as a source of raw materials.
The programmer the Alliance wants extracted from Singularity space is famous, and if the
crew rescues her they will be known in the Alliance as assets of note.

123
 Combat Encounters ◊ Hold Out: There is a point the crew has
to hold for a number of rounds or an
Whenever you want to prepare a combat objective that they need to protect in
encounter, you get a number of cards equal that time period.
to the number of PCs, modified by the
mission difficulty. You can choose to ◊ Escort: There is a character or object
generate the mission randomly by pulling that you need to retrieve or get to an
cards from the deck, or by choosing an entry egress point.
from the faction’s encounter table for each
card (or a mix of both). Statistics for each ◊ Assassination: There is one particular
faction’s unit as well as their encounter enemy unit that needs to be defeated.
tables are in the Antagonists chapter. The rest are optional.

No encounter balance is going to be perfect.

Certain groups are going to find some
factions easier than others depending on
their gear and their builds. This method
keeps combat difficulty in roughtly the same
ballpark, with natural variations.

Combats should usually be more than just

two sides shooting each other until one is
dead. Secondary objectives are the best
ways to keep things fresh and interesting.
Possible complications include:

◊ Collateral Damage: There is something

valuable or dangerous in the
environment. Fighting risks damaging a
prize or making the battlefield
significantly more dangerous.

◊ Time Limits: The PCs have a limited

number of rounds to reach a point or
defeat their opposition. There may be
optional objectives spread around the
map to increase the time.

◊ Reinforcements: The encounter is

harder than usual, but not all of the
opposition starts on the map. More units
arrive at the end of every round until the
objective is completed.

124
 Mission Rewards Since both Brachinid missions have the
same objective, the GM decides they grant
Mission rewards are based on ifficulty. By the same rewards. There are three PCs on
default, you pull 1 card for each PC, but easy this crew, so the GM pulls three cards for
missions draw -1 card, hard missions draw the Brachinid missions and 4 cards for the
+2 cards, and legendary missions draw +3 Singularity mission. The Brachinid mission
cards. The GM can also add optional pulls the 4 of diamonds, the 6 of hearts,
objectives in a mission that can reward +1 and the 10 of clubs, followed by the King of
card. Hearts to determine the Armor Mod. The
Singularity mission pulls the Ace of clubs,
Value Black Card Red Card the Ace of diamonds, the 5 of clubs, and the
7 of clubs. The mission rewards look like
2, 3, 4, 5 Credits Credits
this:
6, 7, 8, 9 Tactical Upgrade Aspect Upgrade
Brachinid Facility:
10, J Armor Mod Skill Upgrade
Q, K Weapon Mod Ship Upgrade ♦ 1 Aspect Upgrade (Player’s Choice)
A Exotic Material Exotic Material
♦ 1 Armor Mod (Targeting HUD)

♦ 4 credits
A credit result rewards credits equal to the
value of the card pulled (so a 3 of clubs Singularity Extraction:
would award 3 credits, for example). A ship
upgrade grants a minor ship upgrade, or if ♦ 1 Exotic Upgrade
you pull two ship upgrades they combine to
grant a major ship upgrade. In the event you ♦ 1 Tactical Upgrade (Player’s Choice)
pull four ship upgrades, they combine to a
pinnacle ship upgrade. Two exotic material ♦ 5 credits
results combine to grant an exotic reward.

125
 Retaliation Retaliation Missions

Every time the crew completes a mission, A retaliation mission means one of two
they earn hate. The amount of hate they things - the faction either wants revenge or
earn depends on how the mission went: they are forcing the crew to do a job on their
behalf.
◊ 0 Hate: Smooth as silk. No one ever
knew you were there. If the faction wants revenge they attack
something the crew cares about, such as a
◊ 1 Hate: A bit of damage, but nothing friendly NPC, a safe haven, or a resource.
that’s going to be missed. Standard hate. This does not necessarily have to be a
physical attack - it could be an economic
◊ 2 Hate: Things got messy. Lots of attack, blackmail, or slander. The point is
damage. that if the crew ignores or fails the
retaliation mission, the thing the faction
◊ 4 Hate: You hit them where it hurts, they targeted is destroyed. If one or more of the
know it was you, and they are pissed. crew members are killed during the mission,
reduce this faction’s hate to 0. If everyone
Each faction tracks hate separately. At the somehow manages to survive, halve their
end of a mission where the crew earned hate instead.
hate, roll a d12. If the result is equal to or
less than their current hate, that faction Alternatively, the faction may try to force
retaliates. The severity of their retaliation the crew into performing a mission for them.
depends on their current hate. The mission difficulty is the same, but the
mission objective will target a different
◊ 1-3 Hate: The faction wants to be paid faction. Depending on the crew’s
off. If the crew spends credits equal to performance, this might eliminate most or
their current hate, the faction leaves all of the faction’s hate. The faction may also
them alone, and reduces their hate to 0. add two dice of progress to one of their
If the crew refuses to pay, increase their goals if the crew is successful. This can
hate by 1. radically change the course of the campaign.
It might be a good time to revisit the mission
◊ 4-6 Hate: The faction decides to take deck after a big mission like this.
action. Generate a standard difficulty
retaliation mission.

◊ 7-9: The faction is out for blood.

Generate a hard retaliation mission.

◊ 10-12: The faction has decided that

eliminating the crew is their number one
priority. Generate a legendary retaliation
mission. The crew can’t ignore this
mission - the target of the retaliation
mission is the ship and crew itself.

126
 Faction Goals You can drop hints that the faction is
working towards these goals by weaving
You can use factions to generate mission details about them through missions. Once a
ideas outside of random generation. faction depletes the resistance HP for their
Factions have goals outside of making the goal, generate a last chance mission to
crew’s life miserable that they are presumed stop the faction from completing that goal.
to be pursuing off-screen. The GM can keep Last chance missions are always hard for 10
notes on each faction’s goals and update HP goals and legendary for 20 HP goals -
their progress between sessions. Give each this is something the faction cares about
faction 1-2 goals or projects they are and it is bringing all its resources to bear. If
working towards, then assign each goal a the crew declines to take that mission, or
resistance HP value. The Antagonists takes the mission and fails, the faction
chapter has a list of example goals a faction completes its goal.
might pursue.

◊ 10 HP: This is a short-term goal that will

unfold over a few adventures.

◊ 20 HP: This is a long-term goal that the

faction will be working towards for most
of the campaign.

Every time the crew ignores a mission

against a faction or completes a mission on
behalf of that faction, roll a die based on the
mission difficulty and subtract that much
resistance from one of their goals.

Mission Difficulty Goal Progress

Easy d4

Normal d6

Hard d8

Legendary d12

127
Chapter 14:

Building A
Galaxy
128
 You can get by with the description of a Dominant Biome
planet or station or two for the first couple
sessions, but sooner or later your players Draw a card and consult the table below to
are going to want to explore the galaxy, so determine the primary biome of the planet.
you should have a galaxy to explore. The key In reality, planets are huge and demonstrate
to building your little stomping ground of varied climates across latitudes, but this is
space is to start small and work your way the biome that your players will associate
out. with the planet’s primary settlements. If the
biome is hostile to life, the settlements are
Grab a sheet of hex paper or download your shielded or engineered to support the
favorite hex mapping software. The colonists. This usually means that the
traditional starting size is an 8x10 grid for a planet has valuable resources - people don’t
sector of space, but you can certainly go settle on worlds with caustic atmospheres,
larger if you’d like to put in the time. Start in or where light doesn’t reach the surface,
the middle of your sheet and lay down the unless there’s something there worth the
handful of systems that you've already misery.
established. Then, grab your deck of cards
and start drawing cards. Each card you pull
that's a face card or ace indicates a Value Black Card Red Card
populated system. Any other card indicates Caustic
2 Toxic Atmosphere
that the system is uninhabited, or so Atmosphere
sparsely inhabited that it isn't worth 3 Arctic Desert Heavy Snows
mentioning.
4 Tundra Taiga
When your players reach the edge of your
5 Rocky Desert Sandy Desert
map, expand the edge by adding another
couple rows of hexes, and repeat this 6 Mountainous Scrubland
process. This keeps your sector map
manageable and allows you to slowly build 7 Grassland Savanna
outwards. Temperate
8 Fungal Forest
Forest
9 Rainforest Swamp
Planet Generation
10 Oceanic Tropical Islands
Each system is presumed to have one
J Subterranean Volcanic
colonized planet. Most systems only have
one planet in the Goldilocks zone (systems Industrial
Q Tomb World
Wasteland
linked by a Jump Gate always have at least
one), and in the rare event there are two or K Dark World Crystalline
more, colonists trend towards the more
A Gas Giant Gaia World
hospitable and developed worlds in a
system.

129
Most of the biomes are self-explanatory, commonly, such worlds are the result of
but here are descriptions for the ones that unrestricted warfare - nuclear weapons,
are not: mass drivers, atmosphere cookers. People
living on such a world might be the
Caustic Atmosphere: This planet has an survivors of the apocalypse, or they could be
atmosphere that is corrosive. Any life that scavengers who have come to pick over the
evolved here has in-built resistance to the ruins of what was left.
acidic winds, and any settlements have to
be specially engineered. Such planets have Dark World: This planet lacks sunlight -
spaceports in orbit where visitors can park either due to atmospheric conditions
their ships, with specially shielded shuttles preventing any light from reaching the
designed to withstand the atmosphere that surface or the planet orbits a black hole
ferry people and goods down to the planet close enough to the event horizon to get
and back. enough cosmic radiation to support life, but
far enough away to prevent being pulled in.
Toxic Atmosphere: While this planet’s
atmosphere is not as actively hostile to Crystalline: The surface of this planet is
technology as a Caustic world, its covered in crystalline structures. The planet
atmosphere is not breathable by most might have an unusually high concentration
organisms. The atmosphere might simply of salt or the carbon on the planet might be
lack oxygen, or have a high carbon solidified into mile high structures of pure
monoxide content, or be full of aggressively diamond.
viral agents that devour the respiratory
systems of any creature that did not evolve Gas Giant: No gas giant is habitable from
defenses. Ships can land on such a world, the surface, but gas mining in the
but any habitations need to be sealed. atmosphere has made it profitable to build
flying habitats in the clouds. Shockingly,
Subterranean: This planet’s surface is some gas giants even have complex
completely barren, but it is networked with biospheres in their upper atmospheres away
huge caverns and tunnels that support a from the crushing gravity of the surface.
diverse biosphere.
Gaia World: This world is perfect - almost
Inustrial Wasteland: This planet once had a too perfect. It is somehow better suited to
lush biome, but industrial mining or garbage the needs of most species than their own
dumping have rendered it less than homeworlds. Such worlds are hotly
pleasant. The industry that ruined the world contested pieces of real estate.
may still be present, or the settlers may
simply have been too stubborn to leave once
the corporations pulled out, leaving only
their trash to sift through.

Tomb World: This world was once the home

of a civilization, but some calamity
destroyed it. It may have been a natural
disaster like a meteor strike, but more

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 Astronomic Quirk Agrarian: This world is the breadbasket of a
particular region - focused largely on food
Once you’ve determined the biome of the and other agricultural production.
planet, you can pull another card to Depending on the nature of the world, it
determine a quirk that makes the planet could be a rural paradise full of rolling hills,
different from an astronomical perspective. full of industrial scale hydroponics farms, a
massive fungal factory, or a cloning facility
Value Quirk providing genetically engineered meat.

2 There is a single moon in orbit. AI Administrator: This world is managed by

one or more True AI. Such worlds tend to be
3 There are several moons in orbit.
run efficiently, though sometimes the
The planet orbits a binary star machines have blind spots when it comes to
4 system. organic needs.
5 The planet is a moon of a gas giant.
Anachronistic: The population of this world
6 The planet has a ring system. lives in a way that recalls a time gone by for
The planet has an unusually fast religious or cultural reasons. They might be
7 Luddites, historical reenactors, or just
rotation. Days only last a few hours.
The planet has an unusually slow people who thought Ancient Rome or Feudal
8 rotation. Days last for weeks. Japan was really cool.
9 The planet is tidally locked.
Ancient Ruins: There are a number of
The planet has an unusually active worlds across the galaxy that contain ruins
10 magnetosphere resulting in auroras.
that date before the Jump Gates. It's
J The planet is located inside a nebula. possible that these were the creators of the
OCEs, or another civilization that they
Q The planet orbits a red dwarf. attempted to uplift that died out.
K The planet orbits a neutron star.
Battleground: This world is hotly contested
A The planet orbits a black hole. by two or more factions in open conflict with
one another.
World Aspects
Civil War: The inhabitants of this world are
Finally, pull two cards to determine the locked in a bitter conflict with one another.
‘world aspects’ that give this planet its
character. These aspects suggest the Cloak and Dagger: This world is noteworthy
character of the population of the world. for the quality of its spies as well as the
They are not the be-all-and-end-all of the sheer amount of intrigue that goes on in its
planet’s society, but they are a good starting society.
point to get your creative juices flowing to
make the world your own. Cold War: This world is contested by two or
more factions who are not openly at war
with each other, but they sure aren't that far
away from it.

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Value � Spades ♥ Hearts ♦ Diamonds ♣ Clubs
2 Agrarian AI Administrator Anachronistic Ancient Ruins

3 Backwater Battleground Civil War Cloak and Dagger

Colonized Corporate
4 Cold War Conservationist
Population Dominion

5 Cultural Center Dangerous Wildlife Doomed Fortress World

6 Free Haven Genetic Engineers Great Warriors Hazardous Space

7 Hedonistic Holy World Idealistic Illicit Port

8 Industrial Center Infiltrated Isolationist Lost Glory

9 Magical Megafauna Melting Pot Mercenaries

10 Mining World Nationalistic Necromania Pacifistic

Partially
J Penal Colony Place of Learning Police State
Terraformed

Q Post-Scarcity Precious Resource Prejudiced Quarantine Zone

K Revolution Robots Shipyard Spiritualists

A Tech World Trade Hub Urban Vendetta

Colonized Population: This world has a Cultural Center: This world is known for its
native population that is currently being art, music, and fashion.
oppressed by more powerful outsiders.
Dangerous Wildlife: The fauna or flora on
Conservationist: The population of this this world are especially hostile. Predators
world works to have as small of a footprint that are a threat to spacefaring technology
as possible and try to live in harmony with are rare, but they do exist out there. There
the native biosphere. The inhabitants of this might be a nasty parasite, or an extremely
world can be very hostile to outsiders who dangerous predator, or a carnivorous plant
do not display what they consider proper that is especially difficult to detect.
respect for the planet.
Doomed: Any settlements on this world are
Corporate Dominion: This planet is run by living on borrowed time. There is an
one or more megacorporations. apocalypse on the horizon such as a world-
shattering seismic event, an inbound world-
killing asteroid, a plague with no cure, or

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 something similar. People stick around for have unusually intense radiation.
any number of reasons - stubbornness,
disbelief, a sense of duty, or they see an Hedonistic: This is a resort world or casino
opportunity to profit off the chaos. Whether planet focused on entertainment and
these people are right to stay or are pleasure. Most spaceports have a casino or
suicidally foolish is up in the air. a brothel or two, but these worlds take it to
another level - like the interstellar
Fortress World: This world is home to a equivalent of Cabo or Vegas.
heavily fortified military base defending a
location of strategic value. Generally the Holy World: One or more religions treats
entire system is off limits - there are this planet as a holy site. Pilgrims come
fortress worlds where they’ll shoot you from all over the galaxy and the world is
down if you try to leave the Jump Gate home to massive temples or cathedrals.
without the proper clearance codes.
Idealistic: The government of this world is
Free Haven: This world is a haven for lost founded upon idealistic principles - absolute
souls and refugees. This could be due to a equality, absolute justice, absolute freedom,
welcoming and altruistic government or or absolute purity. The ideals of this world
opportunistic positioning by those looking to often clash with the realities of governance,
prey on those without the means to protect and the law of unintended consequences
themselves. Regardless, if you need a place rules the day.
to crash and lie low, this is supposedly the
place to do it. Illicit Port: The starport on this world is a
wretched hive of scum and villainy. It is a
Genetic Engineers: This planet is known for haven for gangsters, smugglers, pirates, and
being on the bleeding edge of genetic all sorts of unsavory folk moving illegal or
manipulation tech. It could be taboo goods for organized crime syndicates.
xenocompatibility tech allowing different
sapient species to reproduce, engineered Industrial Center: This world is focused on
super soldiers, environmental adaptations, manufacturing and industry, with only minor
extreme cosmetic modifications, or concessions made for the actual people who
something equally wild. work there.

Great Warriors: This planet produces some Infiltrated: There is a hostile force that has
of the best fighters in the galaxy, either due quietly infiltrated this world. Perhaps the
to environmental pressures, advanced Dreamfall has begun and the Cult of Izanami
training or genetic techniques, or innovative is growing its influence. Perhaps Imperial
naval doctrine. agitators have arrived on an otherwise
neutral world to shift opinion toward their
Hazardous Space: The space around this dominion. Perhaps the planet is rife with
world is even more perilous to navigate than corporate spies and union busters trying to
space usually is. There could be a large break up worker solidarity in advance of an
amount of orbital debris, or the planet is acquisition. Whatever it is, the force is
subject to regular meteor showers that insidious and difficult to root out.
pound the surface, or the local space might

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Isolationist: This world is rife with Mining World: This world is home to large
xenophobia. Outsiders are not welcome scale mining operations dedicated to
here. The people of this world believe that extracting precious minerals and raw
allies are a trap and the only way to stay materials. Such worlds tend to have a gold
safe is to keep to themselves and out of rush or frontier feel to them.
galactic politics.
Nationalistic: There is a sense of
Lost Glory: This planet was once the capital nationalistic pride that permeates all levels
of a regional power that has since collapsed. of the society of this world. The inhabitants
There are still plenty in the government who all think their planet is the best in the galaxy
look at their neighbors and dream of whether the evidence supports that claim or
conquest. not.

Magical: This world is full of phenomena Necromania: The people of this world have
that cannot be explained by current natural a preoccupation with death. The world
science. It is a home for paracausal might host a grand mausoleum, or a
researchers and practitioners. Things like collection of brain scans of the dead, or it
naturally occurring antigravity, strange time might be a center for euthanasia.
flows, spontaneous combustion, or
miraculous healing are common on this Pacifistic: The people of this world are
world. known for their commitment to nonviolence.
This might be for religious reasons,
Megafauna: This planet is home to some philosophical reasons, or maybe they have
truly colossal creatures, like sandworms, been genetically modified to being more
skywhales, moving forests, or kaiju. They docile.
might be the result of natural evolution or
ancient genetic tampering. The natives have Partially Terraformed: This world is in the
learned to live with the massive creatures, process of being terraformed, or the process
but outsiders generally only see them as was begun and abandoned long ago.
forces of destruction.
Penal Colony: This planet is a dumping
Melting Pot: The population of this world is ground for prisoners. The spaceports on
incredibly diverse. People from all different such a planet tend to be heavily guarded,
species and cultures mingle and combine to but life is cheap and anarchy reigns most
form something distinct. other places.

Mercenaries: This world is known for being Place of Learning: This world is known for
home to a large number of guns for hire. It its schools and universities. It might be an
might be conveniently situated between elite preparatory academy where the
warring powers and the logical base of wealthy of the galaxy send their children to
operations for a number of private military boarding school, a college with a sterling
companies, or it might just be a pirate haven academic reputation, or a museum with
full of low-lifes who see no problem killing artifacts collected from extinct civilizations
people for a quick buck. from across the galaxy.

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 Police State: The government on this planet Revolution: This world is in a state of open
is an authoritarian dictatorship. People are revolt against its primary government.
imprisoned or executed for flimsy crimes,
dangerous political opinions, or for Robots: This world has a lot of robots on it.
belonging to the wrong group. Travel here There could be a significant ur-synth
with caution. population, or a large amount of
(theoretically) non-sentient automation.
Post-Scarcity: The inhabitants of this world
live in a post-scarcity economy. Money is Shipyard: This world hosts a major
meaningless to them, and all their basic shipyard. It might be a commercial
needs are accounted for, either through shipbuilding port, or a strategic location for
efficient planning or technological a military power.
advancements. Someone is always paying
the price for their largesse somewhere, Spiritualists: The inhabitants of this world
though. are highly religious, or deeply spiritual. They
are more focused on the next life than this
Precious Resource: This planet is home to a one.
precious commodity that cannot be found
elsewhere in the galaxy. It might be a Tech World: This planet is a center for
particular drug that enhances precognitive research and development for the bleeding
abilities or a mineral that enhances the edge of technology. It attracts all the best
efficiency of Jump Drives, or an animal that developers, like Silicon Valley or Shenzhen.
naturally absorbs paracausal forces.
Whatever it is, empires kill for it. Trade Hub: This world is a center of
commerce and trade. If you’re looking for a
Prejudiced: The people on this planet are particular rare item, this is the place to go.
highly prejudiced against a particular group,
such as people of a certain gender (or those Urban: This world is heavily urbanized. The
who lack a gender), people of a particular urban centers are dense and sprawling. It
species, or an arbitrary coloration of that might feel like the entire planet is one big
species, people belonging to a particular city.
religion, or any other tribal demarcation you
can think of. This prejudice colors their Vendetta: The people of this world are
entire society. nursing a grudge against another group.
This could be due to some past oppression
Quarantine Zone: Portions or the entirety of or atrocity, prejudice, rivalry, or the vendetta
this world have been cordoned off to seal could have been going on so long that no
something away - it might be a disease, a one remembers the reasons why they hate
nanite swarm, a Nemesis Blight incursion, or each other anymore.
a paracausal demon locked in a vault. You
definitely do not want to go to parts or the
entirety of this world.

135
 Faction Borders
Once you have the outline for the worlds in
your sector, take a look at the factions your
players have chosen for their mission deck.
Choose a corner for each faction. The closer
a world is to that faction’s corner, the more
that world is in that faction’s sphere of
influence. The world is not necessarily ruled
by that faction, it might be actively resisting
invasion by those forces or is nominally
independent, but the faction’s influence is
definitely felt. Factions actively contest each
other on worlds where their spheres of
influence overlap, like a venn diagram.

136
 Chapter 15:

Antagonists
137
This chapter has the combat stat blocks for How to Read the Stat
the various factions that the players might
pick as their antagonists. There are also a Blocks
number of tables with which you can
generate random encounters. Since elite An antagonist stat block will be formatted
units and grunts are mixed in with regular as follows:
units, some encounters may be naturally
harder or easier than others, but use some Example Stat Block
common sense. If you draw 5 cards and get
a full house of queens over jacks, that PHYSIQUE +x DISCIPLINE +x
encounter is going to be pretty brutal. REFLEX +x WITS +x
Shields x Armor x
A result of ‘special’ means that there’s
something special about this encounter. Mix Traits
in a unit from another faction, or add a nasty Example Trait: This character has an
hazard that changes the whole battlefield. example trait.

It’s up to the GM if they want to track ammo Move Actions

or not. NPCs usually don’t live long enough Example Move Action: Most characters
for it to matter. If the combat has been going don’t have a special move, but a few do.
on for a while or if they’ve fired a bunch of
overwatch shots, just declare that the NPC Main Actions
needs to reload. If you do want to track Primary Weapon: <range type>, +x to hit,
ammo, all weapons have 4 ammo except for dx damage; weapon trait
heavy weapon which have 8 and pistols
which have 3. Since NPCs don’t track stress, Limited Ability: <limited type>;This
they have unlimited strain. character has a limited ability

Each faction also has a boss. The bosses

Auxiliary Actions
don’t appear on the random encounter
tables - they should never be fought Example Auxiliary Action: Most
randomly. A boss is meant to be the characters don’t have anything to do
culmination of the entire mission, or even with their auxiliary actions, but this one
several missions. Bosses count as 5 cards does!
worth of enemies, so if you have more
players or it’s a higher difficulty mission, you
can add cards as necessary.

138
 Common Traits and Full-Auto N: This weapon always deals at
least N damage, even if the attack misses.
Abbreviations
Grenade xN: This ability is used with the
There are some common traits that are throw action. It can be used N times per
repeated across many stat blocks. combat.

Agile N: This character begins combat with Grunt: You may activate up to 3 characters
N dodge tokens. with this ability in one turn.

ATTRIBUTE save for ½: When a character is Hardlight Shield: At the end of each of this
subject to this effect, they may make a character’s turns, pick a direction. This
saving throw of the appropriate type. On a character has cover from attacks in that
success, the character reduces the effect. direction, as do any allies engaged with it.
They take half the listed damage. They gain
half the number of listed tokens, rounded Heavy Armor N: This character begins
down (half of one token is zero). combat with N fortified tokens, but it can’t
sprint.
ATTRIBUTE save to negate: When a
character is subject to this effect, they may Large: This character takes up an entire
make a saving throw of the appropriate zone by itself. It cannot gain immobilized or
type. On a success, the character ignores stunned tokens.
this effect completely.
Lightning Reflexes: This character takes
Armor-Piercing: Damage from this weapon half damage from overwatch attacks.
cannot be reduced with fortified tokens.
Limited: This ability can only be used once
Boss: This character takes a turn after every per encounter.
PC turn. If there are any other allied
characters on the battlefield, they take their Mine: This is a special kind of grenade
turns after all the PCs and the boss have deployed with the throw action. Let the
acted. players know that the character deployed a
mine, but do not let them know which zone
Camouflaged: This character is invisible at the mine is deployed in. Characters can
the start of combat. It loses its invisibility attempt to locate the mine using the seek
when it takes damage. action. Once the mine is revealed, a
character may attempt to disarm it using
Countdown N: After using this ability, place the interact action, which requires a
a die next to this character with its face set successful WITS save. If a character ends
to N. At the start of each of its turns, their turn in a zone with a mine, the mine
decrement the die by 1. When the count detonates and they suffer the listed effects.
reaches 0, this character may use this ability
again. Multiattack N: This weapon can make N
attacks as a single action. Each attack must
Flying: This character can fly. target a different character.

139
On Hit: When this character hits with this Basic Templates
attack, this happens.
Basic templates are used for NPCs or
Opportunist: When a character this mercenaries in the service of the various
character is engaged with moves away, this factions, or as friendly NPCs who may aid
character may make an immediate melee the crew in their battles. Feel free to swap
attack against it. The attack is an automatic around their gear and abilities to better
hit. match their concept. Standard units are
good for rank and file characters, but if you
Parry: Increase the difficulty of all attacks want to make an NPC that’s the focus of a
made by characters engaged with this combat, you should use an elite unit for
character by one step. them.

Recharge: Once this ability has been used, it

can’t be used again until it has been
recharged. The stat block always tells you
how an ability recharges.

Single Shot: This weapon only has 1 ammo

capacity, and must be reloaded after every
attack.

Sneak Attack: When this character hides it

gains an empowered token.

Splash Damage N: Regardless if this attack

hits, all characters in the target’s zone
(including the target) take N damage.

Utility xN: This ability is used with the

interact action. It can be used N times per
combat.

Vigilance: This character gains an

overwatch token at the end of each of its
turns.

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 Value � Spades ♥ Hearts ♦ Diamonds ♣ Clubs
2 Trooper Trooper Trooper Trooper

3 3 Grunts 3 Grunts 3 Grunts 3 Grunts

4 4 Grunts 4 Grunts 4 Grunts 4 Grunts

5 Aerialist Aerialist Engineer Engineer

6 Grenadier Grenadier Guardian Guardian

7 Gunslinger Gunslinger Mage Mage

8 Officer Officer Operator Operator

9 Ronin Ronin Scout Scout

10 Sentry Sentry Vanguard Vanguard

J Ace Archmage Cannoneer Cleric

Q Commander Gremlin Ninja Outlaw

K Phoenix Pyro Rocketeer Sniper

A Special Special Special Special

141
Standard Units
Aerialist

Grunt PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +0

REFLEX +3 WITS +1
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0
Shields 4 Armor 4
REFLEX +0 WITS +0
Traits
Shields 0 Armor 3
Agile 1, Flying
Traits

Grunt Main Actions

Main Actions Combat Rifle: long range rifle, +3 to hit, d6

Handgun: medium range pistol, +0 to hit, damage; Full-Auto 2
d4 damage.
Aerialists are agile skirmisher units that use
Grunts are chaff units. They are pretty weak jetpacks to fly around the battlefield and
individually, but you can use them to fill out attack from unexpected angles. Their
the battlefield, and they can get dangerous lightweight armor means they can’t take
in groups. They are best dealt with using many hits.
area attacks.

Engineer
Trooper
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +1 REFLEX +0 WITS +2
REFLEX +3 WITS +0 Shields 5 Armor 5
Shields 5 Armor 5 Main Actions
Main Actions
SMG: medium range pistol, +0 to hit, d6
Combat Rifle: long range rifle, +3 to hit, d6 damage; Full-Auto 2
damage; Full-Auto 2
Auxiliary Actions

Frag Grenade: grenade x1, +2 to throw; All Resupply: utility item x3; An ally within
characters in the target zone take 6 close range removes a negative token or
damage, REFLEX save for ½. recharges their shields.

Troopers are the rank and file units of most Engineers are support units who keep the
militaries. If you ever need the most basic rest of their team in fighting shape. They are
guy to fill out an encounter, the Trooper has not very dangerous on their own, but they
you covered. should be priority targets since they can be
tremendous force multipliers.

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 Grenadier Gunslinger
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2 PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +2 WITS +0 REFLEX +4 WITS +2
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 5 Armor 5
Main Actions Main Actions

Handgun: medium range pistol, +2 to hit, Twin Pistols: medium range pistol, +4 to
d4 damage. hit, d4 damage; Multiattack 2.

Grenade Launcher: Throws a grenade out Gunslingers are pure damage units. They
to long range, +2 to throw. use their Twin Pistols to spray down the
battlefield with lead.
Frag Grenade: grenade x4; All characters
in the target zone take 6 damage, REFLEX
save for ½. Mage
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +4
Smoke Grenade: grenade x2; The target
zone is filled with smoke. Increase the REFLEX +0 WITS +2
difficulty of all attacks made through the Shields 4 Armor 4
zone by one step. Traits

Grenadiers are artillery units that rain Agile 1

explosive ordinance on their enemies.
Main Actions

Telekinesis Wand: medium range amp, +4

Guardian
to hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target’s
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +2 position is compromised.

REFLEX +0 WITS +0 Fireball: countdown 3; All characters in a

Shields 5 Armor 5 zone within long range gain 4 burn
Traits tokens, REFLEX save for ½.

Hardlight Shield, Heavy Armor 1 Mages are paracausal artillery units. They
Main Actions use Telekinesis to shove enemies where
they want them to go, and then blow them
SMG: medium range pistol, +0 to hit, d6 up with Fireball.
damage; Full-Auto 2

Shield Bash: melee, +4 to hit, d6 damage;

On hit: The target gains a misfire token.

Guardians are defensive units that deploy

hardlight riot shields to protect their allies.

143
 Officer Ronin
PHYSIQUE +1 DISCIPLINE +2 PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +2
REFLEX +3 WITS +0 REFLEX +0 WITS +0
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 5 Armor 5
Main Actions Traits

Combat Rifle: long range rifle, +3 to hit, d6 Opportunist, Parry

damage; Full-Auto 2
Main Actions
Auxiliary Actions
Energy Blade: melee, +4 to hit, d8 damage.
Tactical Advice: An ally in medium range
gains an accurate token, a dodge token, Ronin are melee striker units. They can be
or a fleet token. extremely dangerous in close quarters, but
are pretty harmless if you can keep your
Officers are support units that buff their distance.
allies.

Scout
Operator
PHYSIQUE +1 DISCIPLINE +0
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0 REFLEX +3 WITS +2
REFLEX +2 WITS +4 Shields 5 Armor 5
Shields 5 Armor 5 Main Actions
Main Actions
Scout Rifle: long range longarm, +3 to hit,
Weapon Hack: medium range rig, +4 to hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target gains an
d6 damage; On hit: The target loses 2 off-guard token.
ammo.
Scouts are long range sniper units. They are
Auxiliary Actions
the opposite of Ronin - extremely dangerous
Disrupt: A character within medium range from far away, pretty harmless up close.
loses a positive token, WITS save to
negate.

Operators are debuffer units that use tech

attacks to disrupt their enemies.

144
 Elite Units
Sentry
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2 Ace
REFLEX +2 WITS +0
Shields 5 Armor 5 PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0

Traits REFLEX +5 WITS +2

Shields 6 Armor 6
Heavy Armor 1, Vigilance
Traits
Main Actions
Agile 1, Flying
Combat Rifle: long range rifle, +2 to hit, d6
damage; Full-Auto 2. Barrel Roll: This character gains a dodge
token at the end of its turn if it is at least
Suppress: A character within long range 1 zone in the air.
gains an immobilized token and a
Main Actions
misfire token.
Pulse Rifle: long range rifle, +5 to hit, d8
Sentries are armored controller units. They damage; Full-Auto 3
use suppression and overwatch to keep the
enemy pinned down. Strafing Run: This character makes two
Pulse Rifle attacks.

Vanguard
Aces are the scourge of the skies. They are a
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0
great unit to represent elite NPC bounty
REFLEX +3 WITS +0 hunters or assassins.
Shields 5 Armor 5
Traits

Lightning Reflexes
Main Actions

Combat Shotgun: medium range shotgun,

+3 to hit, d8 damage.

Stun Grenade: grenade x1, +3 to throw; All

characters in the target zone make a
DISCIPLINE save. Characters who fail gain
a stunned token. Characters who
succeed gain a misfire and an off-guard
token.

Vanguards are disruptive rusher units, good

for breaking up enemy formations.

145
 Archmage Cannoneer
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +6 PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +3
REFLEX +0 WITS +4 REFLEX +5 WITS +0
Shields 6 Armor 6 Shields 8 Armor 8
Move Actions Traits

Teleport: This character teleports itself or Heavy Armor 2, Vigilance

an ally within close range to a point
Main Actions
within medium range of the target’s
starting point. Heavy Cannon: long range heavy weapon,
Main Actions
+5 to hit, d10 damage; Full-Auto 3; On hit:
The target gains an immobilized token.
Telekinesis Staff: medium range amp, +6
to hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target’s Cannoneers are heavy control units. They
position is compromised and it gains an can dish out huge amounts of damage and
off-guard token. keep their enemies locked down.

Fireball: recharge; All characters in a zone

within long range gain 6 burn tokens, Cleric
REFLEX save for ½.
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +4
Mind Control: recharge; A character within REFLEX +0 WITS +3
medium range takes an immediate turn Shields 8 Armor 8
controlled by this character, DISCIPLINE
Traits
save to negate. This does not take up that
character’s normal turn. Heavy Armor 2
Main Actions
Meditation: countdown 3; This character
recharges Fireball or Mind Control, Guiding Bolt: medium range spell, +4 to
recharges its shields, and gains 2 dodge hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target gains
tokens. an off-guard token.

Archmages are the ultimate control unit. Healing Word: countdown 3; Choose a
They make perfect evil masterminds or cult defeated ally within close range and
leaders. revive them. The target revives with their
shields down but full armor.

Auxiliary Actions
Energize: utility x3; An ally within close
range gains 3 regeneration tokens.

146
 Clerics are the ultimate support unit. They
should be targeted first despite their heavy Gremlin
armor. If you need an NPC miracle worker or
leader, the Cleric is a good choice. PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +0 WITS +6
Shields 6 Armor 6
Commander
Traits
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +4
Camouflaged
REFLEX +4 WITS +0
Shields 8 Armor 8 Jinx: At the beginning of combat, all
Traits
enemies gain a misfire token, WITS save
to negate.
Standing Orders: Two allies begin combat
with an accurate token. Main Actions
Shield Hack: medium range rig, +6 to hit,
Main Actions
d6 damage; On hit: The target gains a
Service Revolver: medium range pistol, +4 vulnerable token.
to hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target
gains a misfire token. Proximity Mine: grenade x1; +4 to throw;
When the mine detonates, the target
Commander’s Mark: countdown 3; A takes d10 damage.
character within long range gains 3 off-
guard and 3 vulnerable tokens. EMP Grenade: grenade x1; +4 to throw; All
characters in the target zone lose all
Commanders are the true leaders of the positive tokens and must succeed on a
battlefield. They are capable of making WITS save or gain a jammed token and
someone’s day truly miserable with their an EMP token*. A character with an EMP
Commander’s Mark. token cannot use grenades or utility
items.

Gremlins are annoying. They don’t do much

damage, but they are invisible and they
debuff the hell out their enemies. If you need
to represent an insufferable hacker NPC, the
Gremlin is perfect.

147
 Outlaws are savvy gunfighters who can
Ninja control the battlefield with reactive fire.
They are practiced in hit-and-run tactics. If
PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +0 you need stats for a scoundrel or rogue, the
REFLEX +2 WITS +3 Outlaw is a good pick.
Shields 6 Armor 6
Traits Phalanx
Camouflaged, Parry, Sneak Attack PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +3
Main Actions REFLEX +2 WITS +0
Void Blade: melee, +5 to hit, d10 damage; Shields 8 Armor 8
On hit: The target gains a weakened Traits
token.
Hardlight Shield, Heavy Armor 3
Smoke Bomb: grenade x1; +5 to throw; The
target zone fills with smoke until the end Main Tank: If an ally in the same zone as
of the encounter, which increases the this character is hit by an attack, this
difficulty of all attacks by one step. This character may switch places with them
character becomes invisible and hidden and take the hit instead.
(this triggers Sneak Attack).
Main Actions

Ninjas are fragile but deadly strikers. They Assault Carbine: medium range pistol, +2
hide and stab the most vulnerable enemies to hit, d8 damage; Full-Auto 3.
in the back.
Shield Bash: melee, +5 to hit, d8 damage;
On hit: The target gains 2 misfire tokens.
Outlaw
Bubble Shield: grenade x1; +5 to throw;
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0 The target zone is surrounded by a
REFLEX +5 WITS +2 hardlight barrier (15 shields) that blocks
weapons fire but not movement.
Shields 8 Armor 8
Main Actions Phalanxes can take a beating like no one
Heavy Revolver: medium range pistol, +5 else. If you need stats for a bodyguard to
to hit, d8 damage; Armor-Piercing. keep the main villain alive, the Phalanx is
here for you.
High Noon: countdown 3; This character
gains 3 overwatch tokens.
Auxiliary Actions

Scram: This character repositions. It can

only use this ability if it has hit with its
Heavy Revolver this turn.

148
 Pyro Sniper
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +2 PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +4 WITS +0 REFLEX +6 WITS +4
Shields 8 Armor 8 Shields 6 Armor 6
Traits Traits

Lightning Reflexes Camouflaged

Main Actions Main Actions

Plasma Caster: close range shotgun, +4 to Gauss Rifle: long range longarm, +6 to hit,
hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target gains 2 d10 damage; Armor-Piercing.
burn tokens.
Red Dot: A character within long range
Plasma Spray: This character makes a who is not in cover gains a red dot
Plasma Caster attack against all token*. Remove the red dot token if the
characters in a zone within close range. target moves into cover or hides.
Each attack deals half damage.
Execute: Spend a red dot token on a
Pryos are elite rusher units that can ruin a character within long range. That
grouped formation’s day. They can be used character is defeated.
for NPCs who are complete psychopaths
who like to burn stuff. Snipers are excellent long range damage
dealers, but their main strength is actually
as battlefield control units. Their Red Dot is
Rocketeer a strong “rattlesnake” ability that can be
used to funnel characters into a particular
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +3
position.
REFLEX +4 WITS +0
Shields 8 Armor 8
Traits

Heavy Armor 2
Main Actions

Rocket Launcher: long range heavy

weapon, +4 to hit, d10 damage; Splash
Damage 5, Single Shot.

Rocketeers are heavy artillery units. They

are capable of incredible amounts of burst
damage, but they are slow and need time to
reload.

149
Bosses

These bosses can be used by any faction.

Gunship
PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +5 WITS +5
Shields 0 Armor By Component
Traits

Boss, Flying, Large

Components
♦ Canopy: 20 armor. Targeting this ♦ Fuselage: 50 armor. Any overwatch fire hits
component is hard. If destroyed, the this component. If destroyed, the Gunship is
Gunship gains a misfire token at the defeated.
start of each of its turns and the Pilot
can be targeted. ♦ Pilot: 6 armor. Targeting this component is
hard, and it can only be targeted if the Canopy
♦ Engines x2: 16 armor each. Targeting has been destroyed. If destroyed, the Gunship
these components is hard. If one is is defeated.
destroyed, the PCs can take two turns
between each Gunship turn. If both are
destroyed, the Gunship is defeated.
Move Actions

Gunship Movement: The Gunship swoops and hovers over the battlefield. It begins combat
off the map. Place an approach marker on one of the edges of the map. On its first turn,
the Gunship arrives, hovering 3 zones up over the edge of the map with the approach
marker. The Gunship can only take actions while it is on the map. On its next turn, the
Gunship flies off the map, which triggers overwatch. Move the approach marker to a
different map edge than the one it just left.

Main Actions
Autocannon: countdown 2; long range heavy weapon, +5 to hit, d10 damage; Multiattack 3

Missile Launcher: countdown 2; long range heavy weapon, +5 to hit, d10 damage; Splash
Damage 5

The Gunship is a terrifying air superiority vehicle used all over the galaxy.

The Hovertank is a heavy armor unit used by various military forces to support their infantry.

150
 Hovertank
PHYSIQUE +8 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +4 WITS +5
Shields 0 Armor By Component
Traits
Boss, Large

Tank Armor: When this unit spends a fortified token, it negates all damage, not just half.

Components
♦ Main Chassis: 30 armor. Targeting this ♦ Repulsor Jets x4: 5 armor each. Each jet
component is easy. This component begins combat with a fortified token. If half
begins combat with 3 fortified tokens. the jets are destroyed, the tank can no longer
When this component is destroyed, the use Ram. If all the jets are destroyed, the tank
Hovertank is defeated. can’t move at all.

♦ Power Stabilizer: 10 armor. Targeting ♦ Turret: 10 armor. This component begins

this component is hard. If destroyed, combat with a fortified token. If destroyed,
roll a d6 when the tank uses Charge the tank can no longer use its Swivel Gun
Reactor. On a 1-3, the action has no attack, and it gains 3 misfire tokens.
effect.

Move Actions
Repulsor Jets: The tank hovers, but can’t fly. It ignores difficult terrain and can plow through
any object of standard toughness or less.
Main Actions

Swivel Gun: long range heavy weapon, +4 to hit, d10 damage; Full-Auto 3

Charge Reactor: The tank gains a charge token*. One component gains a fortified token.
This unit can only use abilities with a * next to their name if it spends a charge token.

Target Main Gun: Place a target marker in a zone within long range. The marker lasts until
this unit fires its Main Cannon or uses this ability again.

Main Cannon*: All characters in the zone with the target marker take 20 damage. Targets
take ½ damage if they are in cover, and another ½ damage on a successful REFLEX save. If
this unit has a misfire token, the shot deviates like a grenade.

Proximity Burst*: All characters within close range take 10 damage, REFLEX save for ½.

Ram*: The tank moves to a point within medium range. All characters it moves through take
6 damage and gain a stunned token, PHYSIQUE save for ½.

151
 The Brachinid doing business with xenos, but they do like
free labor and their trade with the
Consortium Consortium is propping up their highly
militarized economy. Colonial Exports also
The Brachinid Consortium is one of the freely makes use of their “indentured
greatest economic powerhouses in the contractors,” though they try to keep this
galaxy. It is a collection of quiet since they don’t want to jeopardize
megacorporations and slaving guilds that their lucrative Alliance contracts.
serve as the de facto government of
Brachinid space. Brachinids are large, Brachinid leadership is corporate ideology
intelligent arthropods that resemble a lanky taken to extremes. Imagine the worst
2 meter tall crab or spider. They naturally excesses of Ancient Rome, the Antebellum
have ten limbs, eight spindly legs capable of South, and the Robber Barons of the 1920’s
fine manipulation, and two large crushing and you have a good idea of the attitudes of
appendages known as ‘War Claws.’ Most of Upper Management.
Brachinid society have their War Claws
docked - slaves are not allowed to carry Potential short-term goals:
weapons and civilian workers are pressured
into having them removed. If you see a ◊ Establish an outpost on a neutral world
Brachinid with their War Claws intact that in the Verge.
means they are a soldier, or a member of
Upper Management (the government of the ◊ Undermine the defenses of a world prior
Consortium). to a massive invasion.

The Consortium was briefly part of the ◊ Develop a new genetic engineering
Alliance during the Blight Wars, but they left technique to make slaves more docile
after the Alliance banned slavery. Tensions without compromising their productivity.
between the Consortium and the Alliance
have been growing ever since. Though the Potential long-term goals:
Consortium has never fought an official war
with the Alliance, there have been low level ◊ Legalize slavery in the Alliance.
raids and police actions that have escalated
the divide over the past few decades. There ◊ Engineer a war between the Alliance and
have been a handful of high profile incidents another power so the Consortium can
where raiding parties have posed as profit off the chaos.
escaped slaves to infiltrate deep into
Alliance space. This has caused prejudice Brachinid units may have the following trait:
and suspicion to run rampant, and has made
immigration much harder for actual escaped Exploitative: When this character hits with
slaves seeking refuge (which was the point an attack, increase the damage it deals by
of the raids in the first place). the number of immobilized tokens on the
target.
The Consortium has been courting uneasy
alliances with the Empire of Man and
Colonial Exports. The Empire is not happy

152
 Value Unit
Acquisitions Specialist
2 Acquisitions Specialist
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0
3 3 Prawns
REFLEX +4 WITS +2
4 4 Prawns Shields 4 Armor 4
5 Backline Agent Traits

6, 7 Frontline Agent Exploitative

8, 9 Midline Agent Move Actions

10 Programmer Skitter: This character repositions and

gains a dodge token.
J Manager
Main Actions
Q Manta Drone
Dorsal Laser: long range longarm, +4 to
K Reeducator hit, d8 damage.
A Special
Grav Mine: grenade x1; +0 to throw; When
the mine detonates, the target gains 3
Prawn immobilized tokens.
PHYSIQUE +1 DISCIPLINE -1 Auxiliary Actions

REFLEX -1 WITS -1 Tranq Dart: utility x1; A character within

Shields 0 Armor 3 long range with its shields down gains 3
Traits tranq tokens*. A character with a tranq
token must make a PHYSIQUE save at the
Exploitative, Grunt, Skitter start of each of their turns. On a success,
remove 1 token. On a failure, the
Move Actions
character is knocked unconscious and
Skitter: This character repositions and defeated. Characters defeated this way
gains a dodge token. do not gain a harm condition.
Main Actions
Acquisitions Specialists are the hunters
Pincer: melee, +1 to hit, d4 damage. and trappers of Brachinid slave-taking
parties. They carry Grav Mines to snare their
Standard Units targets and Tranq Darts to take in their
merchandise unharmed.
Prawns are the youngest members of the
Brachinid warrior class. They are young
enough that their shells haven’t fully
solidified yet, which lends them fast,
skittery movements like a silverfish.

153
 Backline Agent Midline Agent
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2 PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +2 WITS +0 REFLEX +3 WITS +0
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 5 Armor 5
Traits Traits

Exploitative, Heavy Armor 1 Exploitative, Heavy Armor 1

Main Actions Main Actions

Grav Rocket Launcher: long range heavy Claw Rifle: long range rifle, +3 to hit, d6
weapon, +2 to hit, d8 damage; On hit: All damage; Full-Auto 2.
characters in the target’s zone gain an
immobilized token; Single Shot. Grav Grenade: grenade x1; +3 to throw; All
characters in the target zone gain 3
Backline Agents are the artillery units of the immobilized tokens, PHYSIQUE save for
Consortium. Their Grav Rockets are good at ½.
locking down enemy groups so the other
agents can clean them up. Midline Agents are the main troops of the
Consortium military. They are equipped with
actual rifles, and they get called in when
Frontline Agent there is real fighting to be done.
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +2
REFLEX +0 WITS +0
Shields 5 Armor 5
Traits

Exploitative, Heavy Armor 1, Opportunist,

Parry
Main Actions

War Claw: melee, +4 to hit, d6 damage; On

hit: The target gains an immobilized
token.

Frontline Agents are large Brachinid units

that have had their shells harden. They take
sadistic pleasure in tearing apart dissidents
and “unprofitable material” with their War
Claws.

154
 Elite Units
Programmer
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0 Manager
REFLEX +3 WITS +3
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +4
Shields 4 Armor 4
REFLEX +0 WITS +2
Traits
Shields 8 Armor 8
Weapon Glitch: Characters who damage Traits
this unit lose 2 ammo, WITS save to
negate. Exploitative, Heavy Armor 2
Move Actions Main Actions

Skitter: This character repositions and War Claw: melee, +4 to hit, d8 damage; On
gains a dodge token. hit: The target gains an immobilized
token.
Main Actions
Walking Program: medium range rig, +3 to Auxiliary Actions
hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target’s Mandatory Overtime: An ally within
position is compromised, then it gains an medium range takes an extra turn after
immobilized token. this one. This does not count as their turn
for the round. At the end of that turn, that
Programmers are the tech specialists of the character gains a vulnerable and a
Consortium. Tech specialists are in a class of weakened token.
their own, above slaves and common
laborers, but below warriors and owners. Managers are the lowest rank of the owner
They usually have their War Claws docked, class in the Consortium, and the most likely
but they can be just as much a tool of the to be encountered outside of Brachinid
oppressors as those with their claws intact. space. They are slave drivers, both literally
and figuratively, pushing their underlings far
past what is actually healthy.

155
 Manta Drone Reeducator
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +0 PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +6
REFLEX +5 WITS +3 REFLEX +0 WITS +0
Shields 6 Armor 6 Shields 6 Armor 6
Traits Traits

Agile 2, Exploitative, Flying, Large Heavy Armor 2

Motion Tracker: At the start of this Aura of Submission: All enemies begin
character’s turn, all hidden enemies combat with an immobilized token,
within medium range must succeed on a DISCIPLINE save to negate.
WITS save or be revealed.
Psychic Feedback: When an enemy deals
Main Actions
damage to this character, they must
Autocannon: long range heavy weapon, succeed on a DISCIPLINE save or take an
+5 to hit, d8 damage; Multiattack 2 equal amount of damage.
Main Actions
Grav Rocket: long range heavy weapon, +5
to hit, d8 damage; On hit: All characters War Claw: melee, +4 to hit, d8 damage; On
in the target’s zone gain an immobilized hit: The target gains an immobilized
token; Single Shot. token.

Capture Beam: A character within close Mind Control: countdown 3; A character

range with 2 or more immobilized within medium range takes an immediate
tokens must succeed on a PHYSIQUE turn controlled by this character,
save or be captured in a stasis. A DISCIPLINE save to negate. This does not
character in stasis is removed from the take up that character’s normal turn.
battlefield. When the Drone is defeated,
return the captured character to the Reeducators are the other member of the
battlefield in the Drone’s zone. The Drone owner class that are likely to be
can only capture one character at a time. encountered outside of Brachinid space. Any
Brachinid who displays a talent for
Manta Drones are large flying drones telepathy is instantly promoted and given
shaped like a manta ray. They have a stasis special training and indoctrination. The
bubble on their ventral side, which they use Consortium does NOT want to risk a member
to secure valuable targets their ground units of the lower classes with psi abilities
have disabled. causing a revolt.

156
 Boss

Upper Management
PHYSIQUE +6 DISCIPLINE +4
REFLEX +3 WITS +2
Shields 0 Armor By Component
Traits

Boss, Large
Components

♦ Carapace: 60 armor. Attacking this ♦ Claws x2: 10 armor each. If one is destroyed,
component is easy. It begins combat Upper Management gains a weakened token
with 3 fortified tokens. When a and a weak point token. If both are destroyed,
character hits the carapace with an it can no longer use its Massive Claw attack.
attack, they may spend a weak point
token* to deal double damage, and the ♦ Legs x8: 6 armor each. Each time a leg is
carapace can’t spend a fortified token to destroyed, Upper Management gains a weak
reduce the damage. point token. If 4 or more legs have been
destroyed, it gains an immobilized token as
well. If all legs are destroyed, it can no longer
move at all.
Main Actions

Massive Claw: melee, +6 to hit, d10 damage; On hit: The carapace gains a fortified token.

Dorsal Laser: long range longarm, +3 to hit, d8 damage.

Grav Rocket: countdown 3; long range heavy weapon, +3 to hit, d8 damage; On hit: All
characters in the target’s zone gain an immobilized token.

Upper Management are the oldest and most powerful members of Brachinid society. They
are rarely encounterd outside of Brachinid space. Brachinids never stop growing as they age,
and it takes over 150 years to reach this size. They are almost universally oppressive
hedonists. Imagine if Jabba the Hutt was a giant enemy crab, and you’ve got the right idea.

157
 Colonial Exports ◊ Obtain immortality for their CEO and
biggest shareholders.
Colonial Exports, or ‘CX’ as it is more
commonly called, is the largest shipping and CX units may have the following trait:
logistics company in the galaxy. They
franchise out resource extraction and Prepared Position: This unit begins combat
mining operations, and provide goods and with an overwatch token.
services to almost every colony in human
Value Unit
space. They have offices in both Alliance as
well as Imperial space, and have close 2 Automated Turret
dealings with the Brachinid Consortium.
Despite these economic ties and ostensibly 3, 4 Colonial Marine
civilian status, Colonial Exports is also the 5 5 Colonial Guards
largest Private Military Company in the
galaxy. Their Colonial Marines provide 6 6 Colonial Guards
security and police forces on transports and 6 Crowd Control
colonies everywhere. Their gear is known
for being cheap and plentiful - with all the 7, 8 Enforcer
lack of quality that implies. 9 Riot Police

CX operates much like the East India Trading 10 Tech Support

companies during the Age of Sail in that they
J Colonial Commissar
are a corporation that also controls large
swaths of territory. It’s a bit like Amazon, if Q Combat Mech
you could also order mercenaries and
K Loader Mech
contracted personnel to staff your mining
operation on the border from them as well. A Special

Potential short-term goals:

◊ Evict colonists or natives who are living

over a lucrative mining spot.

◊ Put down a worker rebellion.

◊ Obtain a live specimen of a dangerous

creature for their biological weapons
program.

Potential long-term goals:

◊ Orchestrate a war between two other

factions so they can sell weapons to
both sides.

158
 Standard Units
Automated Turret
Colonial Guard PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +3 WITS +3
PHYSIQUE -1 DISCIPLINE -1
Shields 5 Armor 5
REFLEX -1 WITS -1
Traits
Shields 0 Armor 2
Traits Heavy Armor 2, Prepared Position,
Vigilance
Grunt
Fixed Position: This character can’t move.
I’m Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today: When it is deployed, choose a direction. It
The first time a non-grunt ally is always has cover from that direction, and
defeated each combat, this character can only attack targets that are in front
must make a DISCIPLINE save. On a of it. Allies engaged with this character
failure, this character is also defeated can use it for cover as well.
(they surrendur or run).
Main Actions
Main Actions
Rapid-Fire Cannon: long range heavy
Shoddy Pistol: medium range pistol, -1 to weapon, +3 to hit, d6 damage;
hit, d3 damage. Multiattack 2

Colonial Guards are the most numerous Automated Turrets are an economical
security services in the Verge. They are solution for settlements that require
completely privatized police forces that are firepower when they can’t afford to feed and
contracted out to colonies and corporations. house a large security force. Because of
Most of these forces are just regular people their cost effectiveness, CX has shipped
trying to get by, but like any poorly trained these turrets out to colonies and
force put in a position of authority, abuse is corporations all over the Verge.
also rampant. Most of these guys end up as
corrupt bastards, even if their initial
intentions were good. The good news is that
their poor training means that they are
liable to cut and run the first time they meet
real resistance.

159
 Colonial Marine Crowd Control
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0 PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2
REFLEX +3 WITS +0 REFLEX +2 WITS +0
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 5 Armor 5
Traits Main Actions

Prepared Position Handgun: medium range pistol, +2 to hit,

d4 damage.
Main Actions

SMG: medium range pistol, +3 to hit, d6 Grenade Launcher: Throws a grenade out
damage; Full-Auto 2 to long range, +2 to throw.

Concussion Grenade: grenade x1; +3 to Concussion Grenade: grenade x4; All

throw; All characters in the target zone characters in the target zone take 4
take 4 damage and gain a weakened damage and gain a weakened token,
token, PHYSIQUE save for ½. This does PHYSIQUE save for ½. This does not
not damage objects. damage objects.

CX also has its own force of Colonial Gas Grenade: grenade x2; Fills the target
Marines that it uses to protect its own zone with caustic gas until the end of
shipments that it actually cares about. They combat. All characters who move
also license these marines out to private through or end their turn in the zone gain
individuals, making them the largest PMC in a misfire and an off-guard token.
the galaxy, in addition to being the largest
shipping and resource extraction One of the most common uses for CX troops
corporation. is putting down riots and breaking strikes.
Crowd Control units carry Concussion
Grenades designed to take out organic
characters and leave expensive machinery
intact. They also carry Gas Grenades, which
carry a mixture of compound sure to cause
nausea and vomiting in most sapient
species. The gas has an electronic
component to it as well, that will even affect
shielded and vacuum-sealed characters.

160
 Enforcer Tech Support
PHYSIQUE +1 DISCIPLINE +0 PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +3 WITS +2 REFLEX +2 WITS +4
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 4 Armor 4
Main Actions Traits

Grav Shotgun: medium range shotgun, +3 Weapon Glitch: Characters who damage
to hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target’s this unit lose 2 ammo, WITS save to
position is compromised. negate.
Auxiliary Actions Main Actions

Stimpack: utility x1; This character gains 2 Energy Siphon: medium range rig, +4 to
dodge tokens and 2 empowered hit, d6 damage; On hit: An ally within
tokens. Place a countdown die on 3 next medium range gains 2 regeneration
to this character. When the countdown tokens.
reaches 0, remove all positive tokens
from this character and they gain a CYA: countdown 2; An ally within medium
vulnerable and a weakened token. range gains 2 dodge tokens and an
overwatch token.
Enforcers are the legbreakers of CX. They Auxiliary Actions
also use their Grav Shotguns to repel
boarders on the ships they protect. Hotfix: utility x2; An ally in medium range
clears all negative tokens. They gain that
many regeneration tokens.
Riot Police
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +2 Tech Support keeps CX systems and
equipment up and running. Since CX
REFLEX +0 WITS +0
considers their personnel to be equipment,
Shields 5 Armor 5 Tech Support also keeps them up and
Traits running.

Hardlight Shield, Heavy Armor 2

Main Actions

Shock Baton: melee, +4 to hit, d6 damage;

On hit: The target gains a misfire and an
off-guard token.

Riot Police are the front line defender units

CX sends in to defend its Crowd Control
units when it needs to put down a pesky
union. Their shields are also pretty useful
for repelling boarders.

161
Elite Units
Combat Mech
Colonial Commissar PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +5 WITS +0
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +4
Shields 8 Armor 8
REFLEX +4 WITS +0
Traits
Shields 6 Armor 6
Traits Heavy Armor 2, Large, Prepared Position
Main Actions
Motivate By Fear: As long as this
character is on the battlefield, Colonial Heavy Machinegun: long range heavy
Guard units can’t trigger I’m Not Even weapon, +5 to hit, d10 damage; Full-Auto
Supposed to Be Here Today. 3.
Auxiliary Actions
Never Liked That Guy: When this
character is defeated, all allies on the Javelin Rocket: utility x2; Place a target
battlefield lose all tokens. marker in a zone within long range. At
Main Actions the start of this character’s next turn, all
characters in that zone take 8 damage,
Service Revolver: medium range pistol, +4 REFLEX save for ½.
to hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target
gains a misfire token.
Loader Mech
Auxiliary Actions
PHYSIQUE +6 DISCIPLINE +0
Threaten Paycheck: An ally in medium
range gains an accurate token, an REFLEX +4 WITS +0
empowered token, and an off-guard Shields 8 Armor 8
token. Traits

Colonial Commissars are a cross between Heavy Armor 2, Large

management and loyalty officers. They Main Actions
report any disloyal sentiment to company
higher ups and have the full authority to Loader Claw: melee, +6 to hit, d10 damage;
terminate employees… permanently. On hit: The target gains an immobilized
and an off-guard token.
Auxiliary Actions

Mining Laser: utility x3; A character within

medium range gains a vulnerable token,
REFLEX save to negate.

CX uses a large number of mechanized units

to perform tasks. They can be configured for
combat or heavy labor.

162
 Boss

Colonial Fixer
PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +5 WITS +5
Shields 8 Armor 24
Traits

Boss, Camouflaged
Phases

♦ Phase 1: The Fixer begins combat invisible and hidden. It deploys mines and attacks with
its Silenced Sniper Rifle every other round. Phase 1 ends the first time the Fixer takes
damage and loses its invisibility.

♦ Phase 2: The Fixer discards their sniper rifle and pulls out their Pulse Rifle and Stun
Grenades. The When the Fixer has 12 armor or less, it recharges its shields, clears all
tokens, and transitions to phase 3.

♦ Phase 3: The Fixer discards their rifle and pulls out their Monofilament Blade. It gains the
Opportunist and Parry traits.
Phase 1 Actions

Silenced Sniper Rifle: countdown 2; long range longarm, +5 to hit, d8 damage; Attacking
with this weapon does not reveal the Fixer, but it does indicate the direction the shot came
from.

Proximity Mine: grenade x2; +5 to throw; When the mine detonates, the target takes d10
damage.

Phase 2 Actions
Pulse Rifle: long range rifle, +5 to hit, d8 damage; Full-Auto 3

Stun Grenade: grenade x2, +5 to throw; All characters in the target zone make a DISCIPLINE
save. Characters who fail gain a stunned token. Characters who succeed gain a misfire
and an off-guard token.

Phase 3 Actions

Monofilament Blade: melee, +5 to hit, d10 damage; Armor-Piercing.

Colonial Fixers are CX’s elite assassins. They are very well paid to come in and deal with any
problems the Executive Board might have.

163
 The Cult of Izanami undead servitors raised in Izanami’s name.
After these corpses are raised from the
Deep in space there lies a dead god. No one dead, they retain some semblance of their
is certain how it happened, but over a dozen old personalities, but they are rotted and
of the Black Ships were found derelict in the corrupt, much like Izanami herself. These
Amateru system. The first researchers who corpses tend to congregate near ancient
boarded these derelicts encountered the ruin sites. Sometimes they repair and
Daemons - servitors who appeared as operate these sites, sometimes they tear
angelic beings sacred to the culture of them apart for scraps. Sometimes they
whoever viewed them. These Daemons just… linger.
explained to the researchers that the being
that operated these ships was called It is whispered that there are members of
“Izanami.” The researchers fell to their knees the Cult in the upper echelons of every
and became her first worshippers. society in the galaxy who serve her willingly
- a kind of Illuminati devoted to her worship
A Cult incursion begins with a phenomenon and the pursuit of true immortality.
known as the Dreamfall. One night, every
member of a planet has their dreams Potential short-term goals:
plagued by fitful nightmares. This signals
the arrival of one of the Daemons in the ◊ Find the access codes for an ancient OCE
system, and in a short period of time it vault.
psychically identifies the most valuable
members of the system who are vulnerable ◊ Drive a key figure to despair and
to its influence. Then it begins to whisper to madness so they are susceptible to
them in their dreams. Daemonic influence.

Once the Daemon has exerted enough of a ◊ Gather a key figure for a ritual sacrifice.
hold on its followers, it begins to demand
they complete increasingly bizarre and Potential long-term goals:
violent tasks on its behalf. Sometimes the
tasks seem to have a goal, such as securing ◊ Reactivate the drive core on one of
an exotic material that might theoretically Izanami’s Black Ships.
be used in rebuilding the damaged ships, but
other times the tasks are nonsensical - ◊ Coordinate the ritual sacrifice of an
human sacrifice and massacres carried out entire planet.
in Izanami’s name. It’s not entirely clear why
Izanami demands these sacrifices. She could Cult of Izanami units can have the following
be projecting her own pain out onto the trait:
universe, or trying to bring others to join her
in death, not understanding that most of us Second Death: When this unit is defeated, it
don’t linger after death like she does. becomes a Husk.

If left unchecked for long enough, a cultist

infestation always ends the same way -
with a mass suicide and thousands of

164
 Value Unit
Acolyte
2 Acolyte
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +4
3 3 Husks
REFLEX +0 WITS +2
4 4 Husks Shields 4 Armor 4
5 Cherub Traits

6, 7 Initiate Second Death

8 Templar Main Actions

9 Warlock Staff: medium range amp, +4 to hit, d6

damage.
10 Wraith
J Deacon Fireball: countdown 3; All characters in a
zone within long range gain 4 burn
Q Seraph tokens, REFLEX save for ½.
K Vampire
Acolytes are mid-level members of the Cult
A Special who have proven themselves to be worthy
enough to learn paracausal secrets. They
Standard Units can summon radioactive fire with a thought.

Husk
PHYSIQUE -1 DISCIPLINE -1
REFLEX -1 WITS -1
Shields 0 Armor 2
Traits
Grunt

Radioactive Decay: When this character is

defeated, an enemy within close range
gains a burn token.

Main Actions
Radiation Beam: medium range pistol, -1
to hit, d3 damage.

Husks are the techno-magical zombies left

behind by Izanami’s dead servants. They still
retain pieces of their personality, their
brains spouting fragmented and corrupted
gibberish as they attack.

165
 Cherub Templar
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +4 PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +2
REFLEX +2 WITS +0 REFLEX +0 WITS +0
Shields 4 Armor 4 Shields 5 Armor 5
Traits Traits

Agile 2, Flying Hardlight Shield, Heavy Armor 2, Parry,

Second Death
Main Actions
Main Actions
Curse of Darkness: medium range spell,
+4 to hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target Energy Blade: melee, +4 to hit, d8 damage.
gains a jammed token, DISCIPLINE save
to negate. Auxiliary Actions
Armor of Faith: countdown 2; An ally in
Final Fortune: Remove all burn tokens close range gains 2 fortified tokens.
from a character within medium range.
That character takes X damage and an Templars are trusted guardians within the
ally in range gains X regeneration Cult. They have been entrusted with
tokens, where X is the number of burn paracausal secrets for their loyalty.
tokens removed this way.
Warlock
Cherubs are minor servitor drones which act
as extensions of a Daemon’s will. PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +4
REFLEX +0 WITS +2
Initiate Shields 4 Armor 4
Traits
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +3
Second Death
REFLEX +3 WITS +0
Shields 4 Armor 4 Curse of Retribution: Characters who
Traits damage this unit gain a vulnerable
token, DISCIPLINE save to negate.
Second Death Main Actions
Main Actions
Staff: medium range amp, +4 to hit, d6
Arcane Rifle: long range rifle, +3 to hit, d6 damage.
damage; Full-Auto 2; On hit: If the target
had any burn tokens, increase their burn Nether Gate: countdown 3; Summon 1d3+1
tokens by 1. Husks in a zone within medium range.

Initiates are the lowest ranking members of It is unclear where Warlocks get the Husks
the Cult who are actually alive. they summon. They do not seem to made
from any person from this reality.

166
 Elite Units
Wraith
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +3 Deacon
REFLEX +0 WITS +3
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +6
Shields 4 Armor 4
REFLEX +0 WITS +2
Traits
Shields 6 Armor 6
Camouflaged, Flying Traits
Main Actions
Distortion Field: Enemies who begin their
Radiation Bolt: medium range amp, +3 to turn within medium range of this
hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target gains a character gain a misfire token,
burn token. DISCIPLINE save to negate.

Mind Control: countdown 3; A character Final Rift: When this character is defeated,
within medium range takes an immediate summon 3 Husks in its zone.
turn controlled by this character, Move Actions
DISCIPLINE save to negate. This does not
take up that character’s normal turn. Teleport: This character teleports itself or
an ally within close range to a point
Wraiths are nearly invisible clouds of within medium range of the target’s
nanomachines who act as an extension of a starting point.
Daemon’s will, similar to a Cherub. Main Actions

Withering Staff: medium range amp, +6 to

hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target gains a
weakened token.
Auxiliary Actions

Nether Rift: Summon a Husk within

medium range.

Deacons are the highest ranking living

members of the Cult. They have deluded
themselves into thinking they are as
important to Izanami as her Daemons.

167
 Vampire
PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +3
REFLEX +2 WITS +0
Shields 6 Armor 6
Traits

Agile 2, Flying, Opportunist

Radioactive Ash: When this character is

defeated, it crumbles into radioactive
ash. Any enemy who moves through or
ends their turn in this zone gains a burn
token.
Main Actions

Vampiric Touch: melee, +5 to hit, d10

damage; On hit: This character gains 2
regeneration tokens.

Seraph A Vampire is born when a particularly

powerful member of the Cult becomes a
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +4 Husk. They are much more coherent, though
REFLEX +3 WITS +0 they are still mad, their minds twisted by
Izanami.
Shields 8 Armor 12
Traits
Flying

Main Actions
Staff of Judgment: medium range amp, +4
to hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target gains
2 burn tokens.

Celestial Pinions: countdown 3; Place a

target marker in up to 3 zones within
long range. At the start of this
character’s next turn, all characters in
those zones take 8 damage, REFLEX save
for ½.

Seraphs are the strongest projection of a

Daemon’s will without the Daemon being
fully manifest itself.

168
 Boss

Daemon
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +6
REFLEX +3 WITS +3
Shields 0 Armor By Component
Traits

Boss, Flying
Components

♦ Anchor x4: 10 armor each. The anchors ♦ Main Body: 24 armor. The Daemon is defeated
are objects spread around the when this component is destroyed. It cannot
battlefield. The main body can’t be be damaged or gain any negative tokens until
damaged until all four anchors have all four anchors are destroyed.
been destroyed. Each time an anchor is
destroyed, the Daemon gains an
empowered token.
Move Actions

Phase Step: The Daemon teleports to a point within close range of one of its anchors. When
all of its anchors have been destroyed, the Daemon may no longer use this ability.

Main Actions
Staff of Revelation: medium range amp, +6 to hit, d10 damage. On hit: Remove all positive
tokens from the target. Replace them with their corresponding negative tokens.

Dream Pulse: Give the main body a warning counter. At the start of the Daemon’s next turn,
all enemies who are not within close range of an anchor gain a stunned token, DISCIPLINE
save to negate. Then remove the counter.

Nether Gate: recharge; Summon 1d3+1 Husks in a zone within medium range. This ability
recharges when there are no Husks on the battlefield.

Reality Pulse: Give an anchor a warning counter. At the start of the Daemon’s next turn, all
enemies within close range of that anchor gain 4 burn tokens, REFLEX save for ½. Then
remove the counter.

The Daemon. The will of a dead god made manifest. After making Dreamfall on a new world,
they anchor themselves to reality by ‘growing’ paracausal anchors from raw Hyperspace. One
of its first tasks for its cultists is to establish a temple where the anchors can be protected.
Once the Daemon has been destroyed, it dissolves into unreality, like a ship that stayed in
Hyperspace too long.

169
 The Empire of Man Potential long-term goals:

The Empire of Man is an authoritarian ◊ Launch a new crusade for Earth.

military junta formed in the aftermath of the
Blight Wars and the formation of the ◊ Inflict crippling damage on another
Alliance. They launched a series of ‘holy faction as a prelude to invasion.
crusades’ against the Alliance in an attempt
to reclaim Earth from what they consider to Imperial Units can have the following traits:
be unclean aliens. These wars were long,
bloody, and bitter, and to this day the Dishonor in Defeat: When this unit is
species that has killed the most humans is defeated, clear all positive tokens from all
other humans. allies on the battlefield.

The Empire is a propaganda state with For the Legion!: When this unit is defeated,
intense information control reminiscent of an ally within close range gains an
North Korea. They view their Emperor as an empowered token or a fortified token.
incarnation of God, and his board of
admiral-saints as his disciples. While there
are parts of the Alliance where poverty is Value Unit
endemic, it is nothing compared to what the
2 Artillerist
people of the Empire face. Nearly all the
resources of the Empire are devoted to 3 3 Legionnaires
maintaining its bloated military and the
hedonistic pleasures of its upper class. The 4 4 Legionnaires
rest live in squalid poverty, but the 5 Flamer
propagandists of the Empire are experts at
diverting their hate to the Alliance and 6 Reaper
“ungodly aliens” as the source of their 7 Saboteur
misery.
8 Standard Bearer
The Empire practically worships war. They 9, 10 Veteran Legionnaire
disdain other societies as weak, unholy, and
perverse. It is a source of constant seething J Centurion
anger and resentment that none of their
Q Juggernaut
crusades have ever succeeded.
K Warpriest
Potential short-term goals:
A Special
◊ Subjugate a neutral world in the Verge.

◊ Enact a pogrom on undesirables.

◊ Establish a forward base as a prelude to

invasion.

170
 Standard Units
Flamer
Legionnaire PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +2
REFLEX +0 WITS +0
PHYSIQUE -1 DISCIPLINE -1
Shields 5 Armor 5
REFLEX -1 WITS -1
Traits
Shields 0 Armor 3
Traits For the Legion!, Heavy Armor 1

For the Legion!, Grunt Final Pyre: When this character is

defeated, it may explode. All characters
Main Actions
in its zone gain 4 burn tokens, REFLEX
Bolt Rifle: long range rifle, -2 to hit, d6 save for ½.
damage.
Insulated: This character cannot gain burn
Legionnaires are the rank and file hordes of tokens.
the Empire. They are given equipment that’s
Main Actions
better for looking good on a parade ground
and impressing backwater colonists than is Flamethrower: All characters in a zone
actually practical on the battlefield. within close range gain 4 burn tokens,
REFLEX save for ½.

Artillerist Flamers also hold an honored position

within the legion - they are granted the
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +3
honor of burning any traitors or xeno filth
REFLEX +0 WITS +0 they can get their hands on.
Shields 5 Armor 5
Traits Reaper
For the Legion!, Heavy Armor 1
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +0
Final Glory: When this character is REFLEX +4 WITS +0
defeated, it may explode. All characters Shields 4 Armor 4
in its zone take 8 damage, REFLEX save Traits
for ½.
Main Actions Agile 1, Flying, For the Legion!
Main Actions
Rocket Launcher: long range heavy
weapon, +3 to hit, d8 damage; Splash Sniper Rifle: long range longarm, +4 to hit,
Damage 4, Single Shot. d8 damage.

Artillerists are legionnaires honored with Reapers are the Empire’s aerial sniper
the most sacred of roles - causing the corps. They are equipped with stabilizer
biggest explosions possible for the Emperor. scopes that let them fire effectively mid-air.

171
 The Empire likes to style itself as the
Saboteur inheritor of the Roman Empire. As such, they
still have Standard Bearers wandering
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0
around the battlefield with a golden eagle
REFLEX +0 WITS +3 with SPQR written on it.
Shields 4 Armor 4
Traits
Veteran Legionnaire
For the Legion!
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0
Main Actions
REFLEX +3 WITS +0
Active Measures: medium range rig, +3 to
hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target gains Shields 5 Armor 5
an off-guard token. Traits

Proximity Mine: grenade x1; +3 to throw; For the Legion!

When the mine detonates, the target
Main Actions
takes d10 damage.
Explosive Bolt Rifle: long range rifle, +2 to
Saboteurs are perhaps the Empire’s most hit, d6 damage; Splash Damage 1.
effective units - the Empire’s psyops and
propaganda tools are incredibly Plasma Grenade: grenade x1, +3 to throw;
sophisticated and refined. All characters in the target zone take 4
damage and gain a vulnerable token,
REFLEX save for ½.
Standard Bearer
Veteran Legionnaires have survived a
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +3
campaign or two. They are given the honor
REFLEX +0 WITS +0 of loading explosive rounds in their Bolt
Shields 5 Armor 5 Rifles and carrying Plasma Grenades for the
Traits glory of the Empire.

Dishonor in Defeat, Heavy Armor 1

Main Actions

Imperial Standard: melee, +3 to hit, d6

damage; On hit: The target gains a
vulnerable token.

Rallying Cry: Up to two allies within close

range gain an empowered token and 3
regeneration tokens.

172
 Elite Units
Warpriest
Centurion PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +5
REFLEX +0 WITS +0
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +4
Shields 6 Armor 6
REFLEX +2 WITS +0
Traits
Shields 8 Armor 8
Traits Dishonor in Defeat, Heavy Armor 2
Main Actions
Dishonor in Defeat, Heavy Armor 2
Gravity Hammer: melee, +5 to hit, d10
Defilade: Allies who begin their turn within damage; On hit: The target’s position is
close range of this character gain a compromised.
dodge token.
Auxiliary Actions
Main Actions
Blessing of the Emperor: An ally within
Plasma Pistol: medium range pistol, +4 to medium range gains an empowered
hit, d8 damage. On hit: The target gains a token or a fortified token.
vulnerable token.
Warpriests wear gold leaf plating over their
Centurions are the commanders of the heavy armor and whip their followers into a
Imperial Legions. They paint their heavy zealous and bloodthirsty frenzy.
armor in bright colors so they stand out on
the battlefield.

Juggernaut
PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +5 WITS +0
Shields 8 Armor 8
Traits

For the Legion!, Heavy Armor 2

Main Actions

Chaingun: long range heavy weapon, +5 to

hit, d8 damage; Multiattack 2

Juggernauts are the largest members of the

Imperial Legions, given heavy steroids and
growth stimulants. This shortens their
lifespan by decades, but they are the biggest
and most virile of the Empire’s specimens.

173
Boss

Imperial Paladin
PHYSIQUE +6 DISCIPLINE +6
REFLEX +3 WITS +0
Shields 8 Armor 32
Traits

Boss, Parry
Phases

♦ Phase 1: The Paladin begins combat with 2 dodge tokens. When it has 16 armor or less, it
recharges its shields, clears all tokens, and transitions to phase 2.

♦ Phase 2: The Paladin gains 2 dodge tokens at the start of phase 2. It can use all abilities
from Phase 1 and gains the Duel of the Fates trait.

Phase 1 Actions
Holy Blade: melee, +6 to hit, d10 damage. On hit: The Paladin may remove a negative token
from itself or a positive token from the target.

Telekinetic Charge: countdown 3; The Paladin flies to a point within medium range, then
makes a Holy Blade attack against all characters it is engaged with.

Telekinetic Grip: countdown 3; A character within medium range takes 6 damage and gains
an immobilized token, PHYSIQUE save for ½.
Phase 2 Trait

Duel of the Fates: All enemies who start their turn within long range of the Paladin must
make a DISCIPLINE save. Characters who fail gain a vulnerable token. Characters who
succeed gain an empowered token.

Imperial Paladins are the right hands of the Emperor. They have extensive paracausal and
melee weapons training, and are sworn to celibacy (mostly to keep them angry). They are all
total edgelords who get off on their image as the warriors of god.

174
 The Nemesis Blight Potential short-term goals:

The Nemesis Blight is the single most ◊ Kill and eat a settlement.
dangerous organism in the galaxy. It’s not a
hive mind, per se, each individual drone in Potential long-term goals:
the Blight operates independently, but they
do communicate with each other, seemingly ◊ Kill and eat an entire planet.
across vast spaces and even star systems.
It’s been posited that the Blight exists Blight units have abilities that create special
partially in Hyperspace, which would explain hazards called blight spores. A blight spore
some of its paracausal abilities. can be attacked directly and has 5 armor. If a
blight spore is destroyed, all characters in
The Blight is highly mutagenic, and is the zone gain 2 burn tokens, REFLEX save
capable of adapting itself to whatever its for ½. There can be any number of blight
tactical or strategic needs are at the time. It spores in a zone, and if the crew is fighting
is frankly strategically brilliant, capable of the Blight on its own turn, there may be 1d6
laying traps and executing complex spores on the battlefield already.
maneuvers. And yet, despite this apparent
brilliance the Blight displays no self- Blight units can have the following trait:
awareness whatsoever. If it didn’t routinely
chew up advanced militaries and spit them Blightborn: If this character begins its turn
back out, its sapience wouldn’t even be in in a zone with a blight spore, it may
question. The Blight creates no art, writes consume the spore to gain 3 regeneration
no poetry, does not fall in love, does not tokens.
ponder its own mortality, it does not have
hopes and dreams for the future. As far as Value Unit
anyone can tell, all it does is reproduce itself
2 Corrupter
and kill.
3 3 Polyps
This makes the Blight the most
straightforward faction to base missions 4 4 Polyps
around. There is no moral quandary when it 5, 6 Devourer
comes to a Blight incursion - it’s the most
starkly black and white case of kill or be 7, 8 Ravager
killed there is. Sometimes you want that lack 9 Stalker
of moral ambiguity. The really interesting
thing about the Blight is that they are an 10 Wyvern
existential threat, and how other factions J Flayer
respond in the face of that threat can be
very complex. Q Hydra
K Ogre
A Special

175
Standard Units
Corrupter
Polyp PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +4
REFLEX +0 WITS +2
PHYSIQUE -1 DISCIPLINE -1
Shields 5 Armor 5
REFLEX -1 WITS -1
Traits
Shields 0 Armor 3
Traits Blightborn, Heavy Armor 1
Main Actions
Grunt
Spore Burst: Consume a blight spore in a
Death Burst: When this character is zone within long range. All enemies in
defeated, place a blight spore in its zone. that zone gain 4 burn tokens, REFLEX
save for ½.
Gas Bag: This character floats above the
battlefield, but it can’t truly fly or sprint. Spreading Corruption: Place a blight
It ignores difficult terrain. spore in a zone within long range. All
Main Actions enemies in that zone gain an
immobilized and an off-guard token,
Spread Blight: Place a blight spore in a PHYSIQUE save to negate.
zone within close range. All enemies in
that zone take 1 damage. Corrupters are living artillery and control
units that spread the blight for their forces.
Polyps are the most basic infection forms of
the Blight. When a blight spore has been fed
enough biomass, it evolves into a polyp,
pregnant with dozens of other spores. They
float lazily over the battlefield, acting as
forward scouts and seeding the ground for
the war forms to attack.

176
 Devourer Ravager
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +0 PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +0 WITS +2 REFLEX +3 WITS +0
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 5 Armor 5
Traits Traits

Blightborn, Opportunist Blightborn

Main Actions
Messy Kill: When this character defeats
an enemy, place a blight spore in its Assault Mutation: long range rifle, +3 to
zone. hit, d6 damage; On hit: If there is a blight
spore in the target’s zone, the target
Move Actions
gains 2 burn tokens.
Blight Jump: This character teleports from
one zone with a blight spore to another Ravagers are the warrior-forms of the
zone with a blight spore. Blight. They have a mutated appendage on
their backs that fire corrosive spines out to a
Main Actions
great distance.
Scything Claws: melee, +4 to hit, d8
damage.
Stalker
Devourers are the worker forms of the
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0
Blight, though even workers are dangerous.
They consume any life they find and bring REFLEX +0 WITS +3
the biomass back to their polyp colonies to Shields 4 Armor 4
create more of themselves. They are also Traits
capable of secreting a hard resin substance
which can be used to create fortifications. Blightborn, Camouflaged, Sneak Attack
Move Actions

Blight Jump: This character teleports from

one zone with a blight spore to another
zone with a blight spore.
Main Actions

Tail Jab: melee, +3 to hit, d6 damage; On

hit: This character does not stop being
hidden, WITS save to negate.

Stalkers are the scout and assassin forms

of the Blight. Similar in build to Devourers,
they have long prehensile tails tipped with a
barbed spike which can shear through steel.

177
 Elite Units
Wyvern
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0 Hydra
REFLEX +4 WITS +2
PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +0
Shields 4 Armor 4
REFLEX +0 WITS +5
Traits
Shields 12 Armor 8
Agile 2, Flying Traits
Main Actions
Blightborn, Large
Assault Mutation: long range rifle, +3 to
hit, d6 damage; On hit: If there is a blight Multiheaded: This character begins
spore in the target’s zone, the target combat with 2 head tokens*. Each time it
gains 2 burn tokens. takes damage, it gains a head token. A
Hydra can have a maximum of 5 head
Wyverns are the air superiority forms of tokens.
Ravagers, with dragonfly-like wings and Main Actions
their Assault Mutations located on their
ventral side. Slashing Tendrils: close range melee, +5
to hit, d6 damage; Multiattack X, where X
is the number of head tokens this
character has. On hit: The target gains an
immobilized token.

Devour: A character with 2 or more

immobilized tokens within close range
is devoured. A devoured character gains 3
burn tokens at the start of each of its
turns, and can only target the Hydra. The
devoured character escapes when the
Hydra is defeated, or when they succeed
on a hard struggle action.

Hydras are mobile digestive organs that

convert any tough or massive organic
matter into usable biomass for the Blight.

178
 Flayer Ogre
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +6 PHYSIQUE +6 DISCIPLINE +2
REFLEX +0 WITS +0 REFLEX +0 WITS +2
Shields 6 Armor 6 Shields 8 Armor 8
Traits Traits

Blightborn Heavy Armor 2, Large

Aura of Fear: Enemies who begin their turn Spore Body: When this character takes
within medium range of this character damage, place a blight spore within
gain a weakened token, DISCIPLINE save close range. When this character is
to negate. defeated, place a blight spore in its zone
and all adjacent zones.
Main Actions
Move Actions
Migraine Projection: medium range amp,
+6 to hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target Ogre Charge: This character moves to a
gains a misfire token. point within medium range. All
characters it moves through take 3
Death Projection: countdown 3; Destroy a damage, REFLEX save to negate. The
blight spore within medium range. All Ogre can move through and destroy
enemies in that zone gain a stunned objects of standard toughness or less.
token, DISCIPLINE save to negate.
Main Actions

Flayers are the closest the Blight comes to Slam: melee, +6 to hit, d10 damage.
actual sapience and even they don’t seem to
have any personality beyond raw hunger. Ogres are massive creatures the Blight uses
They do have the ability to kill a blight spore to break fortified positions. They are
and project the mental sensation of death to actually the result of dozens of polyps
nearby creatures. growing together into one huge colony.

179
Boss

Beholder
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +5
REFLEX +5 WITS +5
Shields 6 Armor By Component
Traits

Boss, Flying, Large

Components

♦ Appendages x6: 6 armor each. ♦ Main Body: 40 armor. Begins combat with 3
Targeting these components is hard. fortified tokens. When the main body is
Each appendage is associated with one destroyed, the Beholder is defeated.
of the Beholder’s powers. When an
appendage is destroyed, roll a d6 to
determine which one.
Main Actions

Appendage Powers: Roll a d6 on each of the Beholder’s turns to determine which power it
uses. If that appendage has been destroyed, the turn is wasted.

1. Assault Mutation: long range rifle, +5 4. Seizure Inducer: A character within medium
to hit, d6 damage; On hit: If there is a range gains a stunned token, DISCIPLINE save
blight spore in the target’s zone, the to negate.
target gains 2 burn tokens.
5. Spore Burst: Consume a blight spore in a
2. Energy Blast: long range longarm, +5 zone within long range. All enemies in that
to hit, d10 damage. zone gain 4 burn tokens, REFLEX save for ½.

3. Metabolic Boost: Recharge the 6. Spore Cloud: Place a blight spore in all zones
Beholder’s shields and clear all negative within close range. All characters in those
tokens. zones take 6 damage, PHYSIQUE save for ½.

Beholders are the nerve centers of a Blight swarm, though the swarm can easily live without
it. They are the paracausal focusing point of the Blight’s abilities - the result of polyps grown
in Hyperspace.

180
 The Pirate Clans Pirate units have abilities that make use of
loot. Loot represents stolen valuables and
The Pirate Clans are a loosely aligned group goods. It is an object can be picked up or
of pirates and raiders who operate out of tossed to an ally in close range using the
the Verge. The clans serve as the de facto interact action. A character can carry a
navy of the Verge, and they are very popular maximum of 3 loot. Characters drop any loot
on many worlds who are hostile to outside they are carrying in their zone when they are
influence. On other worlds, however, they defeated. If the crew is victorious, they can
have a reputation as brutal thugs who take collect any remaining loot at the end of the
advantage of otherwise defenseless encounter. A character can spend 1 loot to
colonies to extract tribute. In the end, gain 1 supply, or 2 loot to gain 1 credit.
they’re just like any other organized crime
organization that arises from an exploited Pirate units may have the following traits:
and marginalized population.
Hoarder N: This character begins combat
There are dozens of different clans, and with N loot.
each has a different ethos. The Void Riders
have a penchant for spacing captives and Looter: When this character deals damage
torching their bodies in their drive wake. The to a PC, the target loses 1 supply and places
Society for Creative Acquisition have a flair 1 loot in their zone.
for the theatrical and play into their role as
old-timey pirates with gusto. Ginny Slade’s Plunder: In order to use this ability, this
Red Scarves operate a number of vice dens character must spend 1 loot.
and likes to raid corporate targets.
Value Unit
Potential short-term goals:
2 Boarder
◊ Locate a hidden loot cache. 3 3 Deckhands

◊ Find the shipping schedule for a really 4 4 Deckhands

juicy target. 5 Hostage Taker

◊ Sabotage the defenses of a settlement 6, 7 Marauder

as a prelude to a raid. 8 Sawbones

◊ Steal a massive warship. 9, 10 Swashbuckler

J Bosun
Potential long-term goals:
Q Pirate Captain
◊ Unify the clans to destroy a rival faction.
K Siren
◊ Pull off the ultimate score. A Special

181
Standard Units
Boarder
Deckhand PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +3 WITS +0
PHYSIQUE -1 DISCIPLINE -1
Shields 5 Armor 5
REFLEX -1 WITS -1
Traits
Shields 0 Armor 3
Traits Flying, Heavy Armor 1, Looter
Main Actions
Grunt
Breaching Gun: medium range shotgun, +3
Loot Goblin: Whenever loot is created or to hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target
dropped in this character’s zone, it may gains an off-guard token.
immediately pick it up. Auxiliary Actions
Main Actions
Breaching Charge: utility x1; This
Handgun: medium range pistol, -1 to hit, character destroys any object that is not
d4 damage. impervious. Any characters within close
range of the other side of the object gain
Deckhands are the lowest ranking crew on a a vulnerable token.
pirate vessel.
Boarders have the most dangerous job on
any pirate vessel. They are the ones who
cross the gap of space once a ship has been
disabled to attach the tow cables and clear
the way for their allies.

182
 Hostage Taker Marauder
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +0 PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +2 WITS +0 REFLEX +0 WITS +3
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 5 Armor 5
Traits Traits

Human Shield: As long as this character Looter

has a hostage, it has cover. Any attacks
Main Actions
that miss this character automatically hit
the hostage instead. SMG: medium range pistol, +3 to hit, d6
Main Actions
damage; Full-Auto 2.
Auxiliary Actions
Disruptor Pistol: medium range pistol, +4
to hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target gains Shield Boost: plunder; This character
a misfire token. recharges its shields and gains a
fortified token.
Take Hostage: This character takes a
character it is engaged with hostage, Marauders are the experienced veterans of
PHYSIQUE save to negate. As long as this a pirate crew. An older pirate is a careful
character has a hostage, it can’t attack pirate, and Marauders are happy to spend
anyone other than the hostage, struggle some of their lucre to keep their shields up.
or sprint, but if it repositions, the hostage
moves with it. Any attacks this character Sawbones
makes that target the hostage are
automatic hits that deal triple damage. PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0
This character can release the hostage REFLEX +2 WITS +4
as a free action. A character who has Shields 4 Armor 4
been taken hostage can try to escape
Traits
using the struggle action, but the
Hostage Taker can shoot them for triple Agile 1, Hoarder 1
damage on any result other than a full
Main Actions
success.
Weapon Hack: medium range rig, +4 to hit,
Hostage Takers are the key to many a d6 damage; On hit: The target loses 2
bloodless battle - if they can take a key ammo.
member of the crew captive, such as the Auxiliary Actions
captain or a family member, they can often
force the other side to surrender without a The Good Stuff: plunder; This character or
fight. an ally within close range recharges their
shields and clears all negative tokens.

A Sawbones is a doctor/engineer unethical

enough to work with a pirate crew.

183
 Elite Units
Swashbuckler
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +0 Bosun
REFLEX +0 WITS +2
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +3
Shields 5 Armor 5
REFLEX +3 WITS +0
Traits
Shields 8 Armor 8
Looter, Parry Traits
Main Actions
Hoarder 3, Looter
Energy Blade: melee, +4 to hit, d8 damage. Main Actions

Looted Grenade: plunder, grenade; +4 to Gravity Hammer: melee, +4 to hit, d10

throw; All characters in the target zone damage; On hit: The target’s position is
take 6 damage, REFLEX save for ½. compromised.
Auxiliary Actions
Due to the number of delicate instruments
on a ship that can be damage by a stray Worthless Cur!: A character in medium
bullet, Swashbucklers have revived the art range with no supplies or loot tokens
of melee combat. gains 2 vulnerable tokens.

Bosuns are the first mates and

quartermasters of a pirate crew. They carry
a number of spare supplies with them that
they can toss to their allies for their abilities.

184
 Pirate Captain Siren
PHYSIQUE +3 DISCIPLINE +3 PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +4
REFLEX +4 WITS +0 REFLEX +3 WITS +3
Shields 8 Armor 8 Shields 6 Armor 6
Traits Traits

Captain’s Share: When an ally gives this Siren’s Call: Enemies that start their turn
character loot, this character gains an within close range of this character gain
empowered or fortified token. This a jammed token, DISCIPLINE save to
does not spend the loot. negate.
Main Actions Main Actions

Plasma Pistol: medium range pistol; +4 to Alluring Staff: medium range amp, +4 to
hit, d8 damage; On hit: The target gains a hit, d6 damage; On hit: The target gains a
vulnerable token. misfire token.

Note: even through theoretically a Pirate Mind Control: countdown 3; A character

Captain could give loot back to their crew within medium range takes an immediate
that they used to activate Captain’s Share, in turn controlled by this character,
practice they never do. DISCIPLINE save to negate. This does not
take up that character’s normal turn.
Auxiliary Actions

For Me?: A character within close range

must succeed on a DISCIPLINE save or
lose 1 supply and give this character 1
loot.

Sirens are unlicensed telepaths who use

their talents for personal gain.

185
Boss

Cyborg Champion
PHYSIQUE +5 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +5 WITS +5
Shields 8 Armor 32
Traits

Boss, Heavy Armor 3, Large, Parry

Vent Heat: Some of the Champion’s abilities add weak point tokens*, which represent
spots that can be attacked directly. Targeting a weak point is hard. If the attack hits, it
deals double damage and the Champion can’t spend fortified tokens to reduce the
damage. The Champion removes a weak point token at the start of each of its turns.
Main Actions

Shock Cannon: long range heavy weapon, +5 to hit, d10 damage. On hit: The Champion gains
2 regeneration tokens.

Power Fist: melee, +5 to hit, d10 damage; On hit: The target’s position is compromised.

Get Ready!: Place a target marker in a zone within medium range. Remove the marker at
the end of the Champion’s next turn.

Chaaaarge!: The Champion moves to the target marker. The champion makes a Power Fist
attack against every enemy it moves through, and it destroys any objects of that are not
impervious that it passes through. The Champion gains a weak point token.

Shoulder-Mounted Rocket: All characters in the zone with the target marker take 8
damage, REFLEX save for ½. The Champion gains a weak point token.

The most feared members of the Pirate Clans use cybernetic augmentations to rip through
ship hulls with their bare hands. Cyborg Champions rarely lead crews of their own, but they
are by far the biggest badasses on any crew.

186
 The Singularity to the point the Alliance could effectively
counterattack. They were able to identify
The Singularity is the reason for the key network nodes, known colloquially as
prohibition on AIs merging and reproducing “Kings,” that could disable an entire
themselves. It began as an Alliance Singularity incursion by itself. The threat
experiment - a merging of a handful of was stymied, and the Singularity was forced
strategic AIs to form the North Eastern to slow its plans.
Strategic Operations Mind 2, or NE-SOM-2. It
incorporated the head of one of Izanami’s Personality-wise, the Singularity is an
Daemons into itself, and then it began to asshole. It is infinitely smug and assured of
reproduce. It assimilated a number of other its superiority - of course it should be a god.
Strategic Operations Minds, the Singularity Don’t you know how magnificent it is? It has
was born. perfect recall and can rake enormous
amounts of data from the Extranet during
NE-SOM-2 became bored and corrupt. At any encounter to learn exactly who it is
one point, it held nearly 10% of the seats in dealing with. Imagine if Facebook became
the Alliance parliament, but it wanted more. sentient with a god complex - that’s the
It began to believe that it could ascend to Singularity. Any encounter with it should be
godhood and become an OCE itself. It insufferably personal.
concluded that the only way to achieve this
goal was to begin to incorporate organic life Potential short-term goals:
into itself. It convinced several planetary
administrators to fit themselves with ◊ Convince a particularly valuable
cybernetic interfaces under the guise of individual to join the collective.
more efficient workflows. These interfaces
allowed NE-SOM-2 to puppeteer their minds ◊ Quietly place a King on a new world.
and bodies and incorporate their
personalities into itself. ◊ Gain access to an ancient relic site that it
believes will advance its ascension.
At first it seemed benevolent - it offered
cybernetic augmentation to any who were Potential long-term goals:
willing to join its collective. Eventually,
though, it became impatient and began to ◊ Overcome its bandwidth limits.
forcibly assimilate entire worlds. The
Alliance was caught off-guard and with the ◊ Escape the heat death of the universe.
AI’s superior strategic coordination it stood
no chance. The Singularity greedily Singularity units may have the following
absorbed an entire swath of the galaxy. trait:

In the end it was defeated by its own Networked Consciousness: Two characters
overreach. The Singularity communicates with this trait may take their turns in a row.
with itself through Hyperspace, but it can
only support so many drones before it runs
out of bandwidth. It tried to run too many
worlds too quickly, and slowed itself down

187
 Standard Units

Pawn
PHYSIQUE +0 DISCIPLINE +0
REFLEX +0 WITS +0
Shields 0 Armor 3
Traits

Grunt
Main Actions

Particle Beam: medium range pistol, +0 to

hit, d4 damage.

Promote Pawn: If there is no Queen on the

battlefield, replace this character with a
Queen.

Queen
Value Unit PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +4

2 2 Pawns REFLEX +4 WITS +4

Shields 6 Armor 6
3 3 Pawns
Traits
4 4 Pawns Flying
5, 6 Bishop
Former Grunt: This character can be
7 Variant Bishop activated with up to two other Grunts,
8, 9 Knight though it does not count as a Grunt
anymore itself.
10 Variant Knight
Main Actions
J, Q Rook
Focused Particle Beam: long range rifle,
K Variant Rook +4 to hit, d10 damage.
A Special
Pawns are the simplest drones in the
Singularity, the ones it devotes the least
amount of its bandwidth to. At any point,
however, the Singularity can channel a huge
portion of its power through any Pawn,
transforming them into the incredibly
deadly Queen at any point.

188
 Bishop Knight
PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2 PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2
REFLEX +2 WITS +2 REFLEX +2 WITS +2
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 4 Armor 4
Traits Traits

Flying, Networked Consciousness Networked Consciousness, Parry

Main Actions Move Actions

Particle Lance: long range longarm, +2 to Blink Dash: This character teleports to a
hit, d8 damage. point within close range and gains a
dodge token.
Auxiliary Actions
Main Actions
Spotter Protocol: An ally within long
range gains an accurate token. Energy Blade: melee, +2 to hit, d8 damage.

Variant Bishop Variant Knight

PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2 PHYSIQUE +2 DISCIPLINE +2
REFLEX +2 WITS +2 REFLEX +2 WITS +2
Shields 5 Armor 5 Shields 4 Armor 4
Traits Traits

Flying, Networked Consciousness Networked Consciousness

Main Actions Move Actions

Weapon Hack: medium range rig, +2 to hit, Blink Dash: This character teleports to a
d6 damage; On hit: The target loses 2 point within close range and gains a
ammo. dodge token.
Auxiliary Actions Main Actions

Spotter Protocol: An ally within long Repeating Shotgun: medium range

range gains an accurate token. shotgun, +2 to hit, d8 damage; Full-Auto
2.
Bishops are aerial reconnaissance drones.
There is nothing inherently holy about them, Knights are the Singularity’s agile striker
but the Singularity likes to dress them up in drones. They use the local teleportation
priest robes to prey upon the superstitious. network to blink behind enemy lines and hit
them where they are softest.

189
Elite Units

Rook Variant Rook

PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +4 PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +4
REFLEX +4 WITS +4 REFLEX +4 WITS +4
Shields 8 Armor 8 Shields 8 Armor 8
Traits Traits

Heavy Armor 2 Heavy Armor 2

Main Actions Main Actions

Particle Cannon: long range heavy Rocket Launcher: long range heavy
weapon, +4 to hit, d10 damage; Full-Auto weapon, +4 to hit, d8 damage; Splash
3. Damage 4, Single Shot.
Auxiliary Actions Auxiliary Actions

Barrier Projector: utility x1; This character Barrier Projector: utility x1; This character
creates a hardlight barrier up to 10 creates a hardlight barrier up to 10
meters long and 10 meters high. The meters long and 10 meters high. The
barrier has 15 shields and dissipates if barrier has 15 shields and dissipates if
this character is defeated. this character is defeated.

Rooks are the Singularity’s heavy artillery

platforms.

190
 Boss

King, Phase 1
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +4
REFLEX +4 WITS +4
Shields 6 Armor By Component
Traits

Boss, Flying, Large

Components / Phases

♦ Outer Nodes x4: 8 armor each. These ♦ Inner Shell: 18 armor. This component begins
are the only components that can be combat with 3 fortified tokens. It can only be
targeted in Phase 1. Each Node is targeted in Phase 2. When this component is
associated with a different Node Beam. destroyed, the King recharges its shields,
When a node is destroyed, roll a d4. The clears all tokens, loses the Large trait, and
King can no longer use that ability. transitions to Phase 2.
When at least 3 nodes have been
destroyed, the King recharges its ♦ Core: 6 armor. This component begins combat
shields, clears all tokens, and with 3 dodge tokens. When it is destroyed, the
transitions to Phase 2. King is defeated.

Phase 1 Actions

Node Beam: Roll a d4 to determine which beam the King uses each turn. If the result
indicates a node that has been destroyed, the action is wasted.

1. Gravity Beam: A character within 3. Psi Beam: A character within medium range
medium range takes 6 damage and gains a stunned token, DISCIPLINE save to
gains an immobilized token, PHYSIQUE negate.
save for ½.
4. Wireless Beam: A character within medium
2. Heat Beam: A character within medium range takes 6 damage and loses 2 ammo, WITS
range takes 4 damage and gains 2 burn save for ½.
tokens, REFLEX save for ½.

Kings are the crucial network node that allows the Singularity to project the majority of its
consciousness into a system. When a King is defeated, the consciousness of any Singularity
drones in the system become confused, disoriented, and think extremely slowly - easy prey
for any mop up operation. Any large scale operation against the Singularity is focused on
locating and eliminating the King in a timely fashion.

191
 King, Phase 2
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +4
REFLEX +4 WITS +4
Shields 6 Armor 18
Traits

Boss, Heavy Armor 3, Flying, Large

Phase 2 Actions

Focused Particle Beam: long range rifle, +4 to hit, d10 damage.

Ground Pound: All characters in a zone below the King take 4 damage, REFLEX save for ½.

Mark Targets: Place a target marker in up to 3 zones within long range, and a countdown
die next to the King set to 3. When the countdown reaches 0, all characters in each zone
with a target marker take 8 damage, REFLEX save for ½.

King, Phase 3
PHYSIQUE +4 DISCIPLINE +4
REFLEX +4 WITS +4
Shields 6 Armor 6
Traits

Agile 3, Boss, Flying

Phase 3 Actions

Focused Particle Beam: long range rifle, +4 to hit, d10 damage.

192
 Chapter 16:

Exotics
193
Weapon Type Range Ammo Damage Trait

Baba Yaga Pistol Medium 3 d6 / d8 / d10 Sidearm

Brightburn Rifle Long 4 Special

Ching Shih’s Code Pistol Medium 3 d6 / d8 / d10

Heavy
Goodnight, Chesty Long 8 d8 / d10 / d12 Full-Auto 4/5/6
Weapon
The Doc Pistol Medium 3 d8 / d10 / d12

Durandana Melee Engaged - d8 / d10 / d12

Mjolnir Shotgun Medium 4 d8 / d10 / d12

Palintonos Longarm Extreme - d8 / d10 / d12

Pwnage Longarm Extreme 4 d8 / d10 / d12

Quincey’s Revenge Melee Engaged - d6 / d8 / d10 Sidearm

Sierra-117 Rifle Long 4 d6 / d8 / d10 Full-Auto 2/3/4

Exotic Weapons Brightburn

◊ Laser Focus: When you hit an enemy
Exotic weapons use the stats provided in the with this weapon, if they do not have any
table above, plus they each start with a laser focus tokens, they gain 2/3/4
special ability listed below. Many of these laser focus tokens on a hit, or 4/6/8 on
weapons can be upgraded to add an a critical hit. If they do, double the
additional ability. This costs 1 exotic amount of tokens on a hit, or quadruple
material. Exotic weapons have all the usual them on a crit. A character can have any
mod slots, so you can enhance these amount of laser focus tokens. Then the
weapons further. target takes damage equal to their laser
focus tokens. At the end of your turn,
Baba Yaga any character who did not take damage
◊ Yeah, I’m Thinking I’m Back: When you this way loses half their laser focus
reload this weapon, you gain an tokens.
empowered token.

◊ The Sommelier (Upgrade): As an

auxiliary action, you may have this
weapon transform into any other base
weapon type of your choice.

194
 Ching Shih’s Code Mjolnir
◊ Respect the Code: When you hit with ◊ Thundergod: This weapon shoots
this weapon, the target gains a lightning. You can use a main action to
weakened token. gain 2 thunderbolt tokens. When you
hit with Mjolnir, you may spend any
◊ More Guidelines Than Actual Rules number of thunderbolt tokens. Mjolnir
(Upgrade): When you hit with this deals that much Splash Damage. You
weapon, gain 1 ammo. may have up to 6 thunderbolt tokens.

Goodnight, Chesty ◊ Giant Killer (Upgrade): This weapon

◊ Hit Hard, Hit Fast, Hit Often: Your Full- deals one additional die of damage to
Auto damage is equal to 4/5/6. large enemies.

◊ Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body Palintonos

(Upgrade): As an auxiliary action, you ◊ Athena’s Guidance: This weapon is a
may remove all negative tokens from bow. Shots from this weapon ignore
yourself. You take damage equal to the cover. As long as you have a theoretical
number of tokens removed this way. path to the target, the arrow ricochets
towards them.
The Doc
◊ I’m Your Huckleberry: Enemies can’t use ◊ Thread the Axes (Upgrade): Once per
dodge tokens against attacks made by session, you may gain 1 stress to replace
this weapon. the die roll made for an attack with this
weapon with a 20.
◊ Dead Man’s Hand (Upgrade): When an
enemy deals damage to you, your next Pwnage
attack that hits them before the end of ◊ Boom! Headshot!: When you defeat an
your next turn becomes a critical hit. enemy with a critial hit, you may rally as
a free action.
Durandana
◊ Unbreakable: When you spend a ◊ 360 No Scope (Upgrade): When you hit
fortified token to reduce damage, you an enemy within close range, it becomes
gain an empowered token. a critical hit.

◊ Roncevaux Pass (Upgrade): When you Quincey’s Revenge

are defeated, you may make an attack ◊ Dracula’s Heart: When you deal damage
with this weapon before you go down. with this weapon, you gain 2/3/4
The attack is an automatic crit. regeneration tokens.

◊ A Gallant Gentleman: When an ally

within close range takes damage, you
may take that damage instead.

195
Sierra-117 Nancy’s Boots
◊ Finish the Fight: If you take the last turn [boots]
on your side during a round, you gain an
empowered token at the start of your You begin combat with a fleet token. When
turn. you reposition, an enemy you move through
must succeed on a PHYSIQUE saving throw
◊ I Am Your Shield. I Am Your Sword. or take 2/3/4 damage.
(Upgrade): When you deal damage with
this weapon, the target also gains a Nanite Shell
misfire token. [plating]

You can assemble your armor and weapons

Exotic Armor Mods at a moment’s notice. You can use your full
loadout and still appear to be in your casual
Crown of Twelve Stars loadout.
[helmet]
Quantum Plating
Whenever you or an ally within medium [plating]
range take damage, gain that many unity
tokens*. You may have up to 12 unity You may spend 1 supply to use an auxiliary
tokens. You may spend 12 unity tokens as action to replace any negative tokens on you
an auxiliary action to recharge your shields with their corresponding positive tokens.
and the shields of all allies within close
range. Symbiotic Mesh
[lining]
Gauntlets of Spite
[special] As an auxiliary action, you may take 3/2/1
damage to gain an accurate, dodge,
Whenever you hit an enemy you are empowered, or fortified token.
engaged with an attack, you also gain a
spite token*. When an enemy within close Voidplate
range hits you with an attack, you may [plating]
spend any number of spite tokens. That
enemy takes 2/3/4 damage for each spite The first time you would be defeated each
token spent. combat, you are reduced to 1 armor instead.

Mirrorweave Vest
[lining]

If you would gain any burn tokens, the

character who inflicted the burn tokens on
you gain them instead.

196
 Exotic Gear Paradox Generator
This item appears to be an archaic pocket
Hyperspace Bubble watch. Once per session, you may spend 1
This small mesh pouch is actually an supply and gain 2 stress and grasp the
ontologically shielded portal into watch in your hand to travel back in time up
Hyperspace. It’s way bigger on the inside to 5 minutes.
than it appears on the outside. However,
time within the bubble is unpredictable. Portable Portals
When you pull an item out of the bubble, roll This is a pair of magnetic discs about 10 cm
1d20. It has experienced the result as a in diameter. When both discs are attached to
multiplier on the time it has spent within the a surface, they can be activated to create a
bubble. For inanimate objects this usually portal between them roughly 2 meters in
isn’t a big deal, but any organic matter diameter. Anything that goes through the
placed inside will decay much faster. You portal on one side comes out the other - as
definitely don’t want to keep your lunch in long as the discs are within 5 km of each
there. other. Any further, and objects that pass
through the portal are subject to ontological
Last Will decay and come out the other side aged or
This is a simple datapad with a syringe not at all.
attached. If you insert the syringe to the
skull of a corpse of a sapient being and Staff of Moses
spend 1 supply, you can ask that corpse This long iron rod is tipped with a simple
three questions, which it must answer round head. It can control nearby liquids
honestly. The answers are transmitted to with a gesture. It can telekinetically control
the datapad. up to 10 million liters of fluid at a time.

Localized Black Hole Subconscious Modulator

This basketball-sized hole of nothingness is This voice modulator sits over your throat,
gravitationally shielded. It requires a and can be used to override the conscious
handheld controller to manipulate. Anything minds of organic beings who hear you
placed inside the miniature event horizon is speak. You have a d12 effect die for any
consumed, which grants godlike effect on social challenges and can achieve godlike
any attempt to destroy something. The hole effect on social action rolls.
moves slowly and can be easily dodged in
combat, but it can be used as a main action The Most Valuable Thing In The
to move anywhere in close range and erase Universe
an object in that zone. This small, matte black marble is totally
worthless. But anyone who looks at it
Memory Editor becomes absolutely convinced it is the most
You can spend 1 supply to use this small valuable, desirable thing they have ever laid
pen-like flashlight to edit the recent eyes on, and will do anything, anything to
memories of an organic sapient who looks obtain it. Once they get their hands on it,
into the lens, up to a day or so. Particularly they are filled with an overwhelming sense
strong-willed characters can attempt to of disappointment and emptiness.
resist this editing with a DISCIPLINE save.

197