This template shows the areas that should be considered when designing a world in which player characters are to be generated.
A.1.1 Characters
A.1.1.1 Statistics
What differences, if any, are there between the physical and mental abilities of characters from this background and those of an average human? Determine any modifiers to be applied when generating statistics.
A.1.1.2 Skin/Eye/Hair Colour
Decide what modifiers, if any, should be applied when generating the colouring of characters generated in this background.
A.1.1.3 Common Skills
Decide the common options for transportation and weapons skills. Determine any modifiers for common skills, such as literacy.
A.1.1.4 Professions
Decide what professions should be excluded and re-rolled when generating family background, and which are available as careers. Decide which profession tables should be used to generate the common career paths in this background.
A.1.1.5 Ageing
Decide whether any modifiers should be applied to the age at which a character leaves home and the age at which childhood education begins. Decide the average lifespan of a person in this culture. Decide the age at which stat reduction due to ageing begins. Determine any modifiers that should be applied to the character's parent's health due to the above.
A.1.2 Magic
Decide whether magic and/or psionics is available. If magic is available, decide what branches of magic are practiced, what techniques are used, what form it takes and what rationale is used to explain it. It magic considered to be a branch of religion, or is it suppressed and outlawed by the ruling class?
A.1.3 Technology
A.1.3.1 State of the Art
Decide the level of industrialisation present. Note the current states of the art in the seven branches of technology. Decide which items, if any, on the seven branches of technology below the current state of the art are not available.
A.1.3.2 Vehicles
Consider which, if any, of the vehicles in the Depot are in common use.
A.1.4 Mechanics
A.1.4.1 Currency
Decide the name and denominations of the commonly available currency. Draw up a price list of commonly available items. Decide common salaries and levels of savings.
A.1.4.2 Specialised Mechanics
Identify areas which require special attention and additional mechanics not covered in the basic game, e.g.. hacking rules for cyberpunk backgrounds.
A.2 Fantasy
A fantasy background is one in which magic is relatively common, but industrialisation is unknown and technological devices are basic. Humans live alongside other humanoid races such as Elves and Dwarves. Most fiction that uses this type of setting borrows heavily from European myth, but other sources are possible, such as Arabian, Chinese or Ancient cultures.
A.2.1 Characters
A.2.1.1 Statistics
Human characters may be generated as normal without any modifiers to stats. Player characters may also be Elves or Dwarves. This should be decided with the consent of the GM from the outset. The GM may wish to consider the use of other races described in Appendix E, the Bestiary, as a basis for player characters. In this case the stats quoted in the Bestiary should be taken as a guide for generating such characters. Possible examples are; E.2.4 Centaur, E.2.9 Giant and E.2.20 Orc.
Elves
Elves are slim humanoids with pointed ears who typically inhabit wooden areas. Their favourite weapon is the bow. They have an ancient and refined culture and are fond of singing and poetry. Stats for Elves should be generated using 2d6+ the modifiers in table below, in place of the usual 2d6+8.
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Dwarves
Dwarves are short, heavily built and usually bearded and inhabit hilly and rocky areas. Dwarves often build underground holds or live in natural cave systems. Their favourite weapon is the axe. They are fond of drinking and tale-telling and covert gold above all else. Stats for Dwarves should be generated using 2d6+ the modifiers in table below, in place of the usual 2d6+8.
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A.2.1.2 Skin/Eye/Hair Colour
No modifiers are required for human characters. Elves and Dwarves are based on European myth, and therefore their skin colour will usually be white, unless the GM allows otherwise. Hair and Eye colour may be generated for Elves and Dwarves as normal.
A.2.1.3 Common Skills
The most common transport skill will be Ride Horse. The most common weapons skills will be in swords for characters with a family status of Gentry or Bureaucrat, and knives or bows for other characters. Most characters will be illiterate, and no modifiers are required for Literacy.
Certain skills are inappropriate for a society without industrialisation and should be excluded from a fantasy background. These include Electronics, Demolition, Computing, Communications and Bioengineering.
A.2.1.4 Professions
The Technical profession should be excluded and re-rolled when generating family background, and is not available as a career. The Academic profession may be used to generate scholars (which may include monks), sages, scribes and philosophers. Merchants and royal advisors can be generated from the Commerce profession, Soldiers and guards can be generated from the Security profession, sailors from the Transport profession, woodsmen and rangers from the Wilderness profession, thieves and highwaymen from the Underworld profession and artisans from the Craft profession. The other professions should all be freely available.
A.2.1.5 Ageing
No modifiers are required for the age at which a character leaves home and the age at which childhood education begins. The average lifespan in a fantasy background is 70. This reflects the traditional "three score years and ten" and in no way attempts to model the short life spans in a society without modern medicine. Magical healing may well be available in a fantasy background to make up for this lack. Ageing rolls start at 35. A modifier of +10 should be applied to a character's parental health rolls. Elves and dwarves may well have longer lifespans than humans, and elves may be immortal, and as such are not subject to ageing rolls. It is up to the GM to determine the exact lifespans of these races within their game world.
A.2.2 Magic
Magic should be available in all of it's forms, including Psionics, in a fantasy background. Organised priesthood's may practice it as a matter of course, rulers may have magicians as advisors, hedge witches may be found in rural villages, and shaman will be powerful amongst more remote tribes. The most powerful magicians are likely to be solitary individuals who guard their knowledge closely.
A.2.3 Technology
A.2.3.1 State of the Art
The states of the art shown in the table below reflect the minimal level of technology available in a fantasy background. Telescopes will be rare, and prosthetics should be limited to eyeglasses, ear trumpets and wooden legs, which will also be rare. GM's wishing to introduce anachronistic (and to the characters, spectacular) technological devices should consider the use of black powder or vehicles powered by steam.
| Information | Telescope |
| Materials | Box |
| Medical | Prosthetics |
| Military | Greek Fire |
| Power | Horse |
| Transport | Sails |
| Survival | None |
A.2.3.2 Vehicles
The following vehicles from the depot may be commonly encountered in a fantasy background. D.2.1 Wagon, D.2.2 Chariot, D.3.1 Gig, D.3.2 Trireme Galley.
A.2.4 Mechanics
A.2.4.1 Currency
The basic unit of currency in a fantasy background is the Gold Piece (G). This may be divided into ten Silver Pieces (s) and each Silver Piece may be divided into ten Copper Pieces (c).
A character's savings and monthly salary are given by the formulae below:
Character's Monthly Wage = G1 * Rank
Character's Savings = (Monthly Wage * Willpower)/15
Price List
| Longbow | G2 |
| Broadsword | G4 |
| Ballista | G150 |
| Knife | 2s |
| Bottle of Wine | 2s |
| Flagon of ale | 1c |
| Trousers and tunic | 2s |
| Leather boots | 8s |
| Average Horse | G5 |
| War Horse | G10 |
| Riding tack (saddle, bridle, etc..) | G3 |
| Room at Country Inn (with meals) | 1s/day |
| Room at City Inn | 2s/night |
| Average meal | 5c |
| Travelling rations | 1s/day |
| Flint & Steel | 2c |
| Backpack | 5c |
| Torch | 1c |
| Oil Lamp | 2s |
| 10 metres of rope | 1s |
| 12 candles | 2c |
| Candle lantern | 1s |
| Grappling hook | 2s |
| Cloak | 2s |
A.2.4.2 Specialised Mechanics
There are no specialised mechanics required for a fantasy background.
A.3 Wild West
Wild West takes TWURPS into the gun tottin', horse ridin' world of the cowboy Western. It covers the period around the early 1880's, when many western films were set. The American West at this time was a "land of opportunity", though it ranged from relative civilisation to outright lawlessness. The GM can choose from a vast selection of books and films for further period detail and inspiration.
A.3.1 Characters
A.3.1.1 Statistics
All characters will be human, and there are no statistic adjustments required during character generation.
A.3.1.2 Skin/Eye/Hair Colour
All skin colours are possible for this period due to the high levels of immigration and varied cultural mix, however skin colour will largely define the character's position in society. It is suggested that skin colour be chosen once the player has decided on a concept for their character. Eye and hair colour can then be generated normally.
A.3.1.3 Common Skills
Characters with a family status of Gentry or Bureaucrat should have a base Literacy skill of 40+Intellect. Those of Craftsman and Labourer status will have 20+Intellect. Servant and Pauper status will be just Intellect.
Within the context of the American West, the family status determination reflects the relative wealth and position of the family, rather than any hereditary status. Gentry, for example, would indicate that the family was wealthy, perhaps through owning cattle, railroad stocks or a successful mine. The other categories are self explanatory.
The most common Transportation skill is Ride Horse, though Drive Team is a possible alternative choice. Common weapons skills are Single Action Revolver, Repeating Rifle and Shotgun for firearms, and Knife for melee weapons. Native American characters could choose Repeating Rifle, Short Bow , Tomahawk or Knife.
Certain skills in the TWURPS list are not applicable to the Wild West setting due to the level of technological development, and should not be used. These are Bioengineering and Computing. Electronics skill should be restricted to the design and construction of telegraph apparatus. Communications skill is retained and covers the operation of a telegraph or use of optical signalling, such as semaphore or smoke signals, depending on the character's circumstances.
A.3.1.4 Professions
For characters of European extraction, Magician and Psionic should be excluded and re-rolled. The GM may choose to include Mystic (e.g. fortune teller) as a background if desired, though this could be covered by Entertainer if the mysticism is faked for entertainment purposes. For Native American characters, Academic, Entertainer, Transport, Underworld, Psionic and Technical professions should be rerolled. As with Europeans, the GM should decide on whether the Mystic and Magician professions are available (i.e. whether magic actually works). If not, the Religious profession covers shamans, medicine men and similar.
Railroad executives, cattle ranchers and local politicians may be generated from the Commerce profession. Lawmen (local and federal), hired gunfighters, Pinkerton detectives and Army characters come from the Security profession. Wagon and stagecoach drivers, horse breakers/trainers and train drivers can be generated from Transport. The Wilderness profession covers many relevant areas, including cowboy, mountain man, Indian brave, prospector and buffalo hunter. Showmen, actors, reporters and saloon girls can be generated using Entertainer. Gamblers, con artists, rustlers and other ne'er do wells can be generated using Underworld. Preachers and Indian shamans use Religious. The only likely Wild West occupation from the Academic profession is that of teacher. There were many Craft occupations available, ranging from blacksmith to undertaker. Barbers (who also did dentistry and some medical services), doctors, apothecary and Army surgeons would come from the Medical profession. Railroad engineers and surveyors, telegraph operators and inventors would come from Technical.
A.3.1.5 Ageing
Characters in the Wild West were often forced to grow up fast and learn essential skills early on. Childhood Education should start at age 13, and the age of leaving home should be generated using 1d6+12. An additional +15 modifier should be applied when determining parental health. The average lifespan (excluding deaths by violence) was 65 years, so ageing starts at 30.
A.3.2 Magic
It is up to the GM whether Magic and Mysticism actually work in this background. If they do, they are likely to be limited to fortune tellers and mediums, or Native American shamans and medicine men. Refer to the Professions section above for more information.
A.3.3 Technology
A.3.3.1 State of the Art
The table below shows the state of the art available in the American West. Note that the east coast was more technologically advanced, and occasional examples may be seen of portable items above the levels shown below.
| Information | Telegraph |
| Materials | Steel |
| Medical | Prosthetics |
| Military | Dynamite |
| Power | Steam |
| Transport | Waterscrew |
| Survival | Tethered diving suit |
A.3.3.2 Vehicles
The following vehicles from the Depot appendix may be encounter in the Wild West background; D.2.1 Wagon, D.2.3 Stagecoach, D.2.4 Buggy, D.2.6 Bicycle and D.2.8 Steam Train.
A.3.4 Mechanics
A.3.4.1 Currency
The common currency is the US Dollar ($). 1 dollar is divided into 100 cents (¢).
A character's savings and monthly salary are given by the formulae below:
Character's Monthly Wage = $10 * Rank
Character's Savings = (Monthly Wage * Willpower)/15
The GM should adjust a character's monthly wage upwards for particularly hazardous jobs, e.g. lawman or civilian scout for the Army.
Price List
| Colt Peacemaker Revolver | $25 |
| Winchester '73 Rifle | $40 |
| Box of 100 shells | $2 |
| Gatling Gun | $1,500 |
| Hunting Knife | $2 |
| Pocket Watch | $5 |
| Bottle of Whisky | $2 |
| Glass of Beer | 5¢ |
| Stetson Hat | $2 |
| Cowboy Boots | $8 |
| Holster and gunbelt | $4 |
| Average Horse | $50 |
| Fine Horse | $100 |
| Horse tack (saddle, bridle, etc..) | $35 |
| Boarding house (meals included) | $1/day |
| Cheap hotel | 25¢/night |
| Average hotel | 75¢/night |
| Fine hotel | $2/night |
| Average meal | 50¢ |
| Trail rations | $1/day |
| Hired gunfighter | $6/day |
A.3.4.2 Specialised Mechanics
Fast Draw Shootouts
The quintessential scene in any western will be the good guy and the bad guy squaring off against each other, hands hovering over pistols, ready for a fast draw. Some specialised mechanics are needed to cover this situation. These apply only to a standoff where both parties are ready and waiting to draw. Normal initiative rules should be used for all other forms of gun play.
Opponents in a shootout should both make opposed rolls on their Gun Skill to determine who draws and shoots first. Whoever has the highest initiative gets a +10% bonus per point of difference. The GM may apply a modifier up to +/-20% to cover the circumstances (e.g. one participant has the sun in their eyes). Whichever person succeeds in their roll by the greatest amount shoots first. If the roll is failed, the character fails to draw in time. If the roll is fumbled, the character might drop their gun or shoot himself in the foot. A normal Strike Chance roll should then be made to determine if the first shot hits. The opponent who draws second may still get a shot if they are still capable.
Example:
Marshall Beckett (Initiative 32, Single Action Revolver 65%) finally catches up with the notorious outlaw "Mad Dog" Dixon (Initiative 36, Single Action Revolver 40%) on the street in Dodge City. Dixon, desperate and determined not to be arrested, flicks his coat away from his gun and faces off against the US Marshall. Beckett, who was not expecting Dixon to go quietly, has positioned himself with the sun at his back. Beckett has 65% gun skill, giving him an effective skill of 65%. Dixon has 40% gun skill, with +40% for his higher Initiative, however the GM assigns him -10% for having the sun in his eyes. This gives him an effective skill of 70%.
Both men go for their guns. Dixon rolls a 39, which succeeds by 31%. Beckett rolls 47, which succeeds by only 18%, so Dixon shoots first. His basic Strike Chance is 88%, to which the GM applies the same -10% for having the sun in his eyes, giving 78%. Dixon rolls a 93 and misses. Beckett, shooting second, has a Strike Chance of 110% with no modifiers and rolls a 40, which is a hit. Dixon suffers a Maim to the shoulder and falls to the ground clutching the wound. It's not always the first shot that counts, it's usually the last one.
A.4 Victorian
The Victorian background covers the second half of the nineteenth century, and is concerned largely with the British Empire. With minimal changes it can be extended to cover several decades either side of this period.
Victorian society was heavily divided along class lines, and this is reflected below in the importance of family status in determining the available education, skills, professional ranks, money and even lifespan. The GM should bear this in mind when generating player characters, and make sure that the player is happy with the implications of their character's family status before proceeding.
A.4.1 Characters
A.4.1.1 Statistics
The vast majority of characters will be ordinary humans. No stat modifiers are required during generation.
A.4.1.2 Skin/Eye/Hair Colour
Most characters will be British, and in this background, that means their skin colour will probably be white. Players wishing to run non-British characters should decide their character's nationality and choose an appropriate skin colour. Eye and hair colour can be generated normally once skin colour has been decided.
A.4.1.3 Common Skills
Character with a family status of Gentry or Bureaucrat should have a base literacy skill of 50+Intellect. Other characters will have no additional modifier for Literacy.
Common Transportation skills include Horse or Buggy for the Gentry, and Bicycle for those from a different status. Common weapons skills include various types of rifle for the Gentry (usually used for hunting and sport), and knives for those from a different status.
The GM may wish to limit the availibility of Bioengineering and Computing skills, unless they are running a Steampunk background (see below). Electronics skill could be similarly limited, although it could be taken to cover the construction of electrical devices such as electric lighting, telephones and telegraphs.
A.4.1.4 Professions
For British characters, Magician and Psionic should be excluded and re-rolled when generating family background. Mystic however is a quite acceptable background. The Commerce profession can be used to generate diplomats from the Foreign Office, administrators from the Colonial Office, or clerks and accountants. Mechanics may be generated from the Craft profession, and Engineers or inventors may be generated from the Technical professions. Mystics may be mediums or spiritualists. Missionaries may be generated from the Religious profession. Military characters may be generated from the Security or Transport professions. The Wilderness profession may be used to generate explorers or big game hunters. Policemen or detectives could be generated from the Security or even the Underworld professions. Criminals and anarchists can be generated from the Underworld profession.
Characters with a family status of Gentry or Bureaucrat will enter a profession at Rank 2, effectively ignoring ranks 0 and 1, and then proceed with promotion as normal. When a character with a family status of Craftsman, Labourer, Servant or Pauper attempts to achieve a Rank of 3 or greater, an additional modifier of -20 should be applied to every promotion roll.
A.4.1.5 Ageing
For characters with a family status of Gentry, Bureaucrat or Servant, average lifespan is 70 (start ageing at 35). An additional +10 modifier should be applied when determining parental health. For characters with a family status of Craftsman, Labourer or Pauper and who live in working-class areas, average lifespan is 60 (start ageing at 25). An additional +20 modifier should be applied when determining parental health. Characters with a family status of Gentry or Bureaucrat should have no modifiers applied to the age at which a character leaves home and the age at which childhood education begins. Characters with a family status of Craftsman, Labourer, Servant or Pauper should roll 1d6+8 to determine the age of leaving home. In reality such characters will probably still be living at home at such a young age, but this is the age at which they start work. Childhood education for such characters should begin at age 12. Therefore it is quite possible for a characters from a working-class background to start a profession without having any childhood education and possessing the common skills at their base values only.
A.4.2 Magic
Magic and Psionics should be virtually unknown in a Victorian background, with the possible exception of shaman and magicians from technologically undeveloped countries. Mysticism however was a popular Victorian pastime. Whether magical and mystic skills actually work in this background is up to the GM.
A.4.3 Technology
A.4.3.1 State of the Art
| Information | Telephone |
| Materials | Steel |
| Medical | Prosthetics |
| Military | Automatic Machine Gun |
| Power | Batteries |
| Transport | Waterscrew |
| Survival | Tethered diving suit |
A.4.3.2 Vehicles
The following vehicles from the Depot appendix may be encountered in a Victorian background; D.2.4 Buggy, D.2.6 Bicycle, D.2.7 Steam Traction Engine, D.2.8 Steam Train, D.2.29 Martian Tripod, D.3.8 Steam Launch.
A.4.4 Mechanics
A.4.4.1 Currency
The common currency of the Victorian background is the Pound Sterling (£1). £1 is divided into 20 shillings (1/-), 1 shilling is divided into 12 pennies (1d) and 1 penny is divided into a ha'penny (1/2d) and a farthing (1/4d). A character's savings and monthly salary (in £) are given by the formulae below, where the Multiplier used is based on family status; Gentry 10, Bureaucrat 5, Craftsman 2, Labourer 1/10, Servant 1, Pauper 0.
Characters Monthly Salary = 10 * Rank
Character's Savings = Multiplier * d100
Price List
| Binoculars | £4 |
| Microscope | £5 |
| Telescope | £2 |
| Machete | 8d |
| Knife | 1/- |
| Lockpicks | 18/- |
| Carpet bag | 2/- |
| Camera | £4 |
| Food, per day | 6d+ |
| Suit of clothes | £1+ |
| Carbide lamp | 1/- |
| 100 feet of rope | 2/- |
| Two-man tent | £3 |
| Case of 100 sticks of dynamite | £5 |
| Pistol | £1 |
| Rifle | £2 |
| Maxim machine gun | £150 |
| Bicycle | £5 |
A.4.4.2 Specialised Mechanics
Steampunk
Steampunk applies the logic of a runaway technological revolution to the Victorian era. While the social and political background are basically Victorian, they are modified by all manner of weird and wonderful devices only dreamt of at the time. Characters with the right skills and tools available should be positively encouraged by the GM to invent anachronistic devices and vehicles, preferably steam-powered. See section 4.1.2 Inventing Devices for rules on creating devices above the current state of the art. The kind of devices that might turn up in a Steampunk world include large (probably mechanical) computers, steam-powered war machines, spaceships, aircraft, large airships, submarines and even time machines.
A.5 Contemporary
This covers any contemporary background, set around the year 2000 in the developed world. This section should act as a baseline for GMs who running games in the present day, and can be adjusted for any specific differences.
A.5.1 Characters
A.5.1.1 Statistics
All characters are human, and there are no modifiers required to statistics during generation.
A.5.1.2 Skin/Eye/Hair Colour
Skin, Eye and Hair colour should be generated normally.
A.5.1.3 Common Skills
The common Transportation skill is Drive Car, though Ride Motorcycle is a possible alternative choice. Depending on the country or region in which the game is set, common weapon skills will be pistol, rifle, shotgun or knife. The base percentage for Literacy is 60 + Intellect.
A.5.1.4 Professions
The GM may choose to exclude Magician, Mystic and Psionic. Refer to the list of Types of Profession in section 1.10.1 of Characters for examples of specific careers.
A.5.1.5 Ageing
No modifiers are required for the age at which the character leaves home and the age at which childhood education begins. In developed countries, the average lifespan is 80 (start ageing at 45).
A.5.2 Magic
Magic, Psionics and Mysticism are unknown in a contemporary setting, though the GM may choose to incorporate them if desired.
A.5.3 Technology
A.5.3.1 State of the Art
| Information | Videophones |
| Materials | Hypersonic Airframe |
| Medical | MRI Scanners |
| Military | Taser |
| Power | MHD Turbine |
| Transport | Ion Rockets |
| Survival | Faraday Cage Suit |
The State of the Art may vary depending on region and exact date chosen by the GM.
A.5.3.2 Vehicles
There are many vehicles in the Depot Appendix of a contemporary origin, however some typical examples are D.2.16 Saloon Car, D.2.17 4x4 Offroader, D.2.20 Ferrari Sports Car, D.3.24 Super Yacht, D.3.27 Attack Submarine, D.4.8 Jet Ranger Helicopter, D.4.13 Executive Jet, D.4.19 Osprey Tilt Rotor, D.5.2 Space Shuttle, D.5.5 International Space Station (incomplete).
A.5.4 Mechanics
A.5.4.1 Currency
Currency, salary levels and typical prices are best determined by the GM based on the country in which the game is set and by reference to current information.
A.5.4.2 Specialised Mechanics
No specialised mechanics are required.
A.6 Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk backgrounds are typically set in the 21st or 22nd centuries. Multinational corporations have more power than national governments, implant technology is commonplace and artificial intelligence and commercial space travel are a reality.
A.6.1 Characters
Characters born in low-gravity environments such as the Moon or Mars should be generated with the following modified statistics in place of the usual 2d6+8; Might 2d6+6, Height 2d6+11, Build 2d6+5, Stamina 2d6+6, Agility 2d6+10. If using the primary stats only, generate using the following; Strength 2d6+7, CoOrdination 2d6+9, Constitution 2d6+7. Others stats should be generated with the usual 2d6+8.
A.6.1.2 Skin/Eye/Hair Colour
No modifiers are required for such an ethically diverse society. In fact, the GM may consider allowing the players to choose their characters skin, eye and hair colour, as medical treatments to alter these features will probably exist..
A.6.1.3 Common Skills
The most common transportation skill is Drive Car. The base percentage for Literacy is 60 + Intellect. Common weapon skills include various types of knives and pistols.
A.6.1.4 Professions
Magician should be excluded and re-rolled when generating family background. All other professions are permitted, although the GM may choose to exclude Psionic (see below). Corporate employees may be generated using the Commerce profession. Corporate security and state police characters may be generated using the Security profession. Corporate assassins and freelance criminals may be generated using the underworld profession. Hackers may be generated using the Technical profession. Survivalists may be generated using the Wilderness profession. Net stars may be generated using the Entertainers profession. Astronauts may be generated using the Transport profession. In this case, the most common Hostile Environments cascade skill will be EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity), which will cover the operation and use of space suits.
A.6.1.5 Ageing
No modifiers are required for the age at which a character leaves home and the age at which childhood education begins. In developed countries, average lifespan is 90 (start ageing at 55). An additional modifier of -10 should be applied when determining parental health.
A.6.2 Magic
Magic is usually unknown in Cyberpunk backgrounds. However, the GM may wish to occasionally use psionic characters. Such characters are likely to be isolated individuals; mutants or the product of corporate experiments.
A.6.3 Technology
A.6.3.1 State of the Art
| Information | Bio-chips |
| Materials | Mimetics |
| Medical | Implants |
| Military | Laser longarms |
| Power | Fusion |
| Transport | Airbreathing Rockets |
| Survival | Artificial Gill |
See section 5.13.1 for mechanics on interplanetary space travel.
A.6.3.2 Vehicles
The following vehicles from the Depot appendix may be encountered in a cyberpunk background; D.2.26 Electric Car, D.2.27 Mag Lev Train, D.2.28 Panzer Air Cushion Vehicle, D.2.32 Cyborg, D.3.29 Stealth Attack Boat, D.4.22 Military Special Operations Tilt Rotor, D.4.23 Advanced Multi-Role Fighter, D.5.3 Manned Manoeuvring Unit (MMU), D.5.6 Orbital Maintenance Vehicle (OMV), D.5.7 Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), D.5.8 Trans-Atmospheric Vehicle (TAV).
A.6.4 Mechanics
A.6.4.1 Currency
The common currency of the cyberpunk background is the New Yen (Y). A character's salary and savings (in New Yen) are determined by the formulae below;
Character's Salary = 40,000 * Rank
Character's Savings = (Salary * Intellect)/150
Price List
| Inter-city MagLev train ride | Y500 |
| Interstate tilt-rotor flights | Y5,000 |
| Intercontinental hypersonic flight | Y10,000 |
| Transatmospheric orbital flight | Y150,000 |
| Accommodation per night | Y250+ |
| Pistol | Y1000+ |
| Electric Car | Y50,000+ |
| Mobile phone/net link | Y100 |
| Personal VR rig | Y500 |
| Implant operation | Y100,000+ |
| Vacuum Suit | Y75,000 |
A.6.4.2 Specialised Mechanics
Zero-Gravity Movement
Some modifications to the combat movement rules are required when combat takes place in a zero-gravity environment. Characters can only change direction or speed by touching a wall. When in direct contact with a wall, characters may move at their normal rate. Otherwise a character will continue to move in the same direction and at the same rate as the previous round. When the GM thinks it necessary, such as when a character is hit, a percentile roll to retain control should be made. This should be against either the character's Hostile Environments (EVA) skill or using the following formula, whichever is higher;
(7 - current speed in hexes) * CoOrdination
Failing the roll means that the character cannot do anything except try to make the roll again on the following round. Using a weapon that has significant recoil (such as a pistol) will tend to propel the firer backwards at 1 hex/round. The character should make a roll as described above to avoid this (or use a laser!).
Hacking
The computer system to be accessed should be mapped by the GM beforehand. Many systems have similar structures, and a single system map, once written, may be reused several times. A system is made up of five types of component, listed below. The components are linked according to the GM's system map by data lines. A character can access one specific component in a system at a time, and may transfer to other linked components via the data lines.
1. Operational/Management System (OMS, or Ops system). Every system has one, and only one, OMS. The OMS controls the rest of the system. Crashing the OMS will crash the rest of the system. The states of the other components can be monitored by someone accessing the OMS.
2. Subsystems. Subsystems control specific parts of the overall system. For example, a subsystem may control all security functions. All subsystems will be connected to the OMS and to any other components controlled by that subsystem. A system which has its own power supply (as opposed to one run off a national power grid) will have a Power Distribution Subsystem (PDS), which will control the power supply to the rest of the system and be connected to all other subsystems and the OMS.
3. Databases. Databases store information. They are usually linked to one or more subsystems.
4. Input/Output (I/O) Ports. I/O ports are used to access the system, i.e. to get information from the system or to put information into the system. They may be terminals, control screens, Virtual Reality devices, direct interface jacks or other devices. I/O ports are linked to a specific subsystem or to the OMS, according to their intended function.
5. Slave Devices. A slave device is any form of equipment controlled by the system, such as a printer, hologram projector, security camera etc. Slave devices are usually connected to one specific subsystem. Slave devices include communication devices such as satellite uplinks and vidphone modems, which are gateways to other computer systems.
Accessing a System
To access a system, the character must find an I/O port or an active communications slave device. Accessing is done by making a Computing skill roll. If the component where access is attempted is iced (see below), an opposed roll is made against the ICE. A successful access will place the character at a particular point on the system map corresponding to the component they were using to make the access. A user can leave the system from any point on the system map at any time.
Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics (ICE)
Any of the components of a system may be iced. The GM should decide when mapping the system where the ICE is, the type of ICE and the effective skill percentage of the ICE. When ICE is encountered, any unauthorised character should make an opposed skill roll against the skill percentage of the ICE. The skill level of the ICE will usually be the computing skill percentage of the character who wrote the ICE program. Normally ICE will attempt to dump the character out of the system and notify the OMS of the illegal access. Black ICE will go further; it will attempted to destroy the unauthorised user's equipment. If the user is using a direct computer interface, Black ICE can "flatline" (kill) them. According to the GM's background, Black ICE may be illegal.
It is not necessary to specify damage values when fighting ICE. Usually a single good strike result on the opposed roll table will suffice to take out an opponent. Combat in cyberspace is fast and vicious. When an unauthorised user enters a component and encounters ICE, they may chose to back out immediately down the same data line. This avoids the ICE, but there is a chance (a critical unopposed roll) that the ICE will spot them and report to the OMS anyhow.
Two techniques exist for combating ICE; "Sleazing" and "Icebreaking". Sleazing involves making the ICE believe that you are a legitimate user. The advantage of sleazing is that the ICE will not inform the OMS of your presence immediately if you mess up. The disadvantage is that the ICE doesn't go away, and you will encounter it again if you come through the same route in the system again. Icebreaking involves taking the ICE on directly and attempting to destroy it. The advantage here is that the ICE (on that component) will be gone for good if you get it right. The disadvantage is that the OMS will probably be informed if you don't destroy the ICE on the first attempt. Specialised Sleaze and Icebreaking programs are available, and if you use one of these, the skill level of the program (which may be higher than yours) will be used against the ICE instead of your Computing skill percentage.
Virtual Realities
Normally a user will see a system in VR as a series of floating 3D graphics (components), connected by straight tubes of light (data lines). However some systems have "tailored" VRs on some or all of their components. To the user in VR, a tailored component can appear as real as anything in the outside world, and can take almost any form. Tailored ICE programs also exist, which normally appear in VR as moving figures which the unauthorised user must combat (see above).
A.7 Science Fiction
In this context, Science Fiction is taken to mean the traditional background of a large interstellar empire where travel between the stars is fairly commonplace.
A.7.1 Characters
A.7.1.1 Statistics
Ordinary human characters can be generated without any modifications to stats. For humans born on low-gravity worlds, the modifiers described in section A.6.1.1 in the Cyberpunk background can be used. However, the presence of antigravity technology will tend to make such characters rare. The GM should decide what if any alien races are present in the universe, and decide modifiers to be used when generating alien characters. For example, if an alien race has an average strength of 20 instead of the usual human average of 15, then characters of that race should be generated with 2d6+13 instead of the usual 2d6+8 for strength. Generally speaking, humanoid races should have stats ranging between minimum's of 5 and maximums of 30. Non-humanoid races may well have stat ranges greater than this. See Appendix E, the Bestiary, for ideas. The GM should also decide what if any differences exist between alien races and humans that may not be directly reflected in the stats. For example the main sense of an alien race may not be sight, or they may have a high proportion of naturally psionic individuals (which could be reflected in a higher chance than normal of generating a character with the Natural Talent of Psionic).
A.7.1.2 Skin/Eye/Hair Colour
These may be generated as normal, or if the technology exists, decided by the player or GM. They may vary widely for alien races and the GM may for example specify that all members of a particular alien race have silver hair, or just allow alien characters to be generated in the same way as humans.
Where antigravity technology is available, the most common Transport cascade skill is likely to be Grav Flyer (Depot D.4.25). The most common weapons skills are likely to be in Needle, Laser, Plasma or Disruptor pistols, depending on what is available. The base percentage for Literacy should be calculated as 60 + Intellect. If Hypnotic Teaching is widely available, characters will be able to gain skills at vastly accelerated rates. The GM may well wish to limit the availability of this technology in some way, or remove it from the technology lists altogether, rather than have the extremely high skills levels that this technology makes possible.
A.7.1.4 Professions
The Magician and possibly the Mystic family backgrounds should be ignored and re-rolled during character generation, and excluded from the possible character professions, as should Psionic if the GM has not decided to include Psionics in the background (see A.7.2). The Academic profession can be used to generate university or corporate researchers or scientists. The Commerce profession can be used to generate corporate or imperial bureaucrats. Military or police characters can be generated from the Security profession. Space merchants, smugglers, pirates or pilots can be generated using the Transport or Underworld professions. Starship engineers can be generated from the Technical profession. Planetary colonists can be generated using the Wilderness profession.
No additional modifiers need be applied to the age at which a character leaves home or the age at which childhood education begins. Lifespan in a high-tech culture should be at least 120 years (start ageing at 85 and apply an additional modifiers of -40 when determining parental health). If antiagathic treatments are common, then most people will be virtually immortal. This is an important factor to decide when designing a science fiction background, as the social and political implications of an effectively immortal population are enormous. Unless this is to be an essential feature of the background, the GM may prefer to make antiagathics rare or prohibitively expensive, or just strike them from the technology lists altogether.
Magic should be rare or nonexistent in a science fiction background, with some possible exceptions. Psionics may be present. Some alien races may have psionic abilities as a matter of course. If human psionic abilities have been discovered and developed, they are likely to be institutionalised in some way. Psionic characters may be tested for and cultivated in specialised cadres. On the other hand, there may be a great deal of prejudice against psionic characters, born out of fear of their abilities, and such characters may find themselves outlawed or imprisoned. Some aliens may be so powerful that the mechanics of the magic system is the best way to model their abilities. Such aliens should not be described as "magical", but as "beings of pure energy" or "from another dimension", or some similar phrase. In practice they will behave as magical spirits, from Faerie to Lord level, as the GM feels is appropriate.
A.7.3 Technology
A.7.3.1 State of the Art
| Information | Temporal communicators |
| Materials | Force fields |
| Medical | Mind transference |
| Military | Disruptor pistol |
| Power | Antimatter |
| Transport | Multiverse transporters |
| Survival | Artificial Gill |
The table above assumes that all the technology described in Chapter 4 is available in the science fiction background. The GM may of course decide that not all of this technology should be available and limit the state of the art and possibly strike certain items off the technology lists. In a large interstellar empire, the level of available technology may vary widely between planets, allowing a large variety of possible settings. The GM should carefully consider how widely antiagathic medical treatments and hypnotic teaching are available, as described in A.7.1.5 and A.7.1.3. They should also consider whether subspace, instantaneous and temporal communicators are available. In an interstellar society which has no such devices, the fastest means of communication between planets will be by ship. Socially, such an empire may be feudal or more like Earth in the age of sail. Whether the empire uses some form of sub-light drive to travel between planets, or a hyperjump or inertialess drive, is also likely to have a big impact on the type of society possible. See section 4.1 for more guidelines on designing a technology. See section 5.13 for mechanics on space travel.
A.7.3.2 Vehicles
The following vehicles from the Depot may typically be encountered in a science fiction background. The comments above on available transport technology should be considered when deciding which vehicles to use. D.2.31 Powered Armour Suit, D.2.33 Android, D.4.24 Utility Ornithopter, D.4.25 Grav Flyer, D.4.26 Grav Bike, D.4.27 Grav Tank, D.4.28 Suborbital Gunship, D.4.29 Drone, D.5.12 Interstellar Ramjet, D.5.13 Generation Starship, D.5.14 1G Starship, D.5.15 Torch Ship, D.5.16 Tactical Fleet Transport, D.5.17 Attack Shuttle, D.5.18 Space Fighter, D.5.19 Space Fighter Carrier, D.5.20 Corvette, D.5.21 Sprint Missile, D.5.22 Interstellar Transport, D.5.23 Inertialess Starship, D.5.24 Shuttlecraft, D.6.1 Time Machine.
A.7.4 Mechanics
A.7.4.1 Currency
The common unit of currency in a science fiction background is the Credit (C). A character's salary and savings (in Credits) are determined by the formulae below;
Character's Salary = 1,000 * Rank
Character's Savings = (Salary * Intellect)/15
Price List
| Cell repair treatment | C500 |
| Intercontinental flight | C100 |
| Interplanetary flight | C1,000 |
| Interstellar flight | C10,000 |
| Accommodation per night | C10+ |
| Pistol | C100 |
| Rifle | C300 |
| Grav Flyer | C1,000+ |
| Personal communicator/computer | C100 |
| Interplanetary spaceship | C100,000+ |
| Starship | C1,000,000+ |
| Vacuum Suit | C750 |
A.7.4.2 Specialised Mechanics
Enviroments
The number of possible settings for a science fiction game are endless. It is impossible to describe them all, but what follows are some guidelines on the kinds of environments that may be encountered in such a background.
Nebulae
The space between the stars is not entirely empty. In fact, most of the mass of the galaxy is taken up by huge clouds of dust and gas. These are known as nebulae. Some are many light-years across. The gas in the nebulae is mostly hydrogen and helium, the stuff that stars are made of. Some nebulae are in the process of collapsing, and the material within them is coming together to form new stars.
Stars
Stars come in many different sizes. The largest are hundreds of times the diameter of the Sun. Giant stars emit large amounts of radiation and are unlikely to have habitable planets. Others, the red dwarfs, are much smaller than the Sun and much cooler. For this reason they too are unlikely to have habitable planets. In the middle range are stars from about one-third the size of the Sun to about one and a half times the Sun's size, which are sufficiently similar to the Sun to be able to support human life. These sun-like stars range in colour from white to yellow to orange and red.
Star Remnants
Stars don't last forever. Eventually they burn up their supplies of nuclear fuel and die. When this happens most stars go through a short period of expansion, after which the star will collapse into a extremely dense planet-sized object called a white dwarf. If the star started out life as a giant, then it will go out with a much bigger bang. This explosive death is called a nova. After the nova, the old giant will collapse into a neutron star. A neutron star is only a few kilometres across, but the material of which it is made is even denser than that of a white dwarf. A pinhead of this material may weigh a million tons. The largest stars collapse in on themselves even further after the nova, to form a black hole. The material of a black hole is so dense that that nothing, not even light, can escape from it. Some theories suggest that black holes are capable of bending space sufficiently to form gateways ("wormholes") through which spaceships can pass to other parts of the universe, or to other universes entirely.
Star Systems
A star system is made up of one or more stars and any associated planets, moons, asteroids and comets. Many star systems contain more than one star. Any planets in such a multiple system are likely to have their orbits disturbed as the two or maybe more stars orbit about each other. This is likely to cause massive climate changes. Even in a star system with just one star, as in the case of the Sun, it is possible for a planet to have an orbit that takes it much closer to the star in one part of it's year than another. This is called an "eccentric" orbit. If a planet has an eccentric orbit, any native life will be adapted to a wide variety of shifting climatic conditions, or be capable of long periods of hibernation.
Asteroids and Comets
Asteroids are irregular chunks of rock that wander a star system in eccentric orbits. They may be remnants from the original gas cloud from which the rest of the star system formed or they could be the results of later collisions. They range in size from a few metres to hundreds of kilometres across. Occasionally one may collide with a planet, with devastating results. Comets are also small wandering bodies, but they contain more ice than rock. When their orbits take them closer towards a star in the system, the ice is burned off and forms a long tail of gas that may be millions of kilometres long.
Gas Giants
Gas giants are large planets with no solid surface. They are typically hundreds of times larger than the Earth. They are usually made up of hydrogen and helium gas. Towards the centre of the planet, the gas is compressed into liquid and eventually metallic form. They often have strong magnetic fields and emit large quantities of radiation, which makes approaching them hazardous. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are example of gas giants. Some gas giants may be made entirely from metallic elements such as iron in gaseous or liquid form. A hydrogen gas giant would have to be in the outer part of a star system to avoid having it's atmosphere burned away by the star, but a metallic gas giant may be able to survive with an orbit much closer to a star.
Terrestrial Worlds
Terrestrial worlds have a solid surface, and possibly an atmosphere. Earth is actually quite a large world, and most will be smaller and have a lower surface gravity. In order for human-like life to exist, there must be a source of water on the world, either in the form of ice or liquid oceans, and a source of energy in the form of heat. Assuming that the life evolved naturally on the world, the two most likely sources of energy are the local star and volcanic energy. If the energy source is the local star, the world should have a reasonably stable orbit at the right distance from the star in order to avoid too many rapid climatic changes. If the main energy source is volcanic, the orbit is less important. The volcanic energy could be generated by the worlds own molten core or by tidal effects. If the world is in orbit about a much larger planet, such as a gas giant, then tidal stresses could cause volcanic activity where they wouldn't otherwise occur. Life that evolved depending on volcanic energy is likely to be clustered around volcanic vents on the surface or the floor of the oceans.
Atmospheres
The other major consideration in a planetary environment is the atmosphere. Does the planet have an atmosphere, and if so what is it made up of and is it breathable? The smaller a planet is, the lower the surface gravity is likely to be and less chance it has of having an atmosphere. Some worlds may only have an atmosphere in the low-lying regions, while the mountain tops may be in vacuum. Other worlds may have atmospheres so deep that the pressure is equivalent to the ocean floor on Earth. Even if the atmosphere is of the right pressure to be breathable, it may not contain sufficient oxygen or contain toxic or corrosive compounds. In order to have a large oxygen content such as the Earth's atmosphere, they will have to be a large quantity of plant life or a similar source for the oxygen. Many planets will require specialised survival skills and equipment. Characters used to such an environment will have Hostile Environment skills specific to that environment.
Generating Star Systems
The following mechanics may be used to randomly generate star systems, or be used as guidelines for the GM when designing systems.
Stellar Neighbourhood
If the star system is in an area of average population (e.g. not in a rift or at the core of a galaxy), then there will be 2d6 stars within 10 light years. The nearest star will be 1d6+1 light years away.
Number of Stars
Roll d10. On a 1-7, there is 1 star in the system, on 8 or 9 there will be 2 stars, on a 10 there will be 3 stars. If there is more than one star in the system and they don't have individual names, they are designated by the name of the system followed by "Alpha", "Beta" or "Gamma", in descending order of size.
Star Type
Roll d% on the table below for each star in the system.
| 01-10 | Giant |
| 11-12 | Main sequence Type F (White) |
| 13-20 | Main sequence Type G (Yellow) |
| 21-35 | Main sequence Type K (Orange) |
| 36-53 | Main sequence Type M (Red) |
| 54-93 | Red Dwarf |
| 94-98 | White Dwarf |
| 99 | Neutron Star |
| 100 | Black Hole/Wormhole |
Number of Planets
The number of planets in a star system is given by 2d6-2. If there is more than one planet in the system and they don't have individual names, they are designated by the name of the system followed by a roman numeral representing the number of the planet, counting outward from the centre of the system, i.e. I,II,III,IV,V etc. The lower half of the total number of planets is known as the inner system. The upper half is known as the outer system. E.g. a star system has nine planets. Planets I-V are in the inner system. Planets VI-IX are in the outer system.
World Type
Roll 1d6+2 on the table below for each planet in the system.
| 1 | Ring system | A flat ring of ice and rock particles, such as Saturn's rings. |
| 2 | Planetoid | Small world less than 1000 Km diameter. |
| 3 | Small Terrestrial World | 1d3 * 1000 Km diameter, surface gravity in G's is 1d3 divided by 10. |
| 4 | Medium Terrestrial World | 1d6+3 * 1000 Km diameter, surface gravity in G's is 1d6+3 divided by 10. |
| 5 | Large Terrestrial World | 1d10+9 * 1000 Km diameter, surface gravity in G's is 1d3. |
| 6 | Belt | A broad band of rocks, planetoids and small terrestrial worlds |
| 7+ | Gas Giant | Metallic if in inner system , hydrogen if in outer system. |
Orbit Type
Each planet has either a Stable or an Eccentric orbit. The chance of a planet having an eccentric orbit is 10% if the system has 1 star, 60% if the system has 2 stars and 90% if the system has 3 stars. For a Belt, the orbit type applies to any small terrestrial worlds which (at the GM's discretion) may exist within it.
Terrestrial Worlds
For terrestrial worlds, generate oceans, volcanic activity and atmospheric pressure and composition. Roll 2d6-2 and multiply by 10 for the percentage of the worlds surface covered by oceans or ice. There is a 25% chance of a world having some volcanic activity.
Atmospheric Pressure
For each terrestrial world, roll 1d6 on the table below. Modifiers to the die roll are; +2 if a Large World, -2 if a Medium World, -4 if a Small World.
| 1 or less | None | No atmosphere; all oceans will be ice covered or solid ice. |
| 2 | Thin | Too thin for humans to breath. |
| 3 | Low Lying | Earth-like pressure in deep valleys, elsewhere thin. |
| 4 | Standard | Earth-like pressure. |
| 5 | High Altitude | Earth-like pressure on high mountains, elsewhere thick. |
| 6 | Thick | Too dense for humans to breath. |
Atmospheric Composition
For each terrestrial world with an atmosphere, roll 1d6 on the table below.
| 1 | Carbon dioxide | Any oceans will be water or ice. |
| 2 | Helium/Oxygen | Any oceans will be water or ice. |
| 3 | Nitrogen/Oxygen | Any oceans will be water or ice. |
| 4 | Nitrogen/Methane | Any oceans will be liquid methane. |
| 5 | Chlorine/Ammonia | Any oceans will be liquid methane. |
| 6 | Hydrogen/Ammonia | Any oceans will be liquid methane. |
Moons
Terrestrial worlds have 1d3-1 moons. For terrestrial worlds, roll 1d3 on the world type table to determine the type of each moon. Gas giants have 2d6-2 moons. For gas giants, roll 1d5 on the world type table to determine the type of each moon. If a moon is a terrestrial world, generate its oceans, vulcanism, and atmosphere as per planets. If a planet has more than one moon and they don't have individual names, they are designated by the name or number of the planet followed by a letter, in descending order of size, i.e. A, B, C etc. If the GM wishes, small terrestrial worlds within a belt may be designated as "moons" of the belt.
Native Life
In order for a terrestrial world to have native life, it must either be in the inner system where there is at least one type F, G, K or M main-sequence star or else have some volcanic activity. It must also have at least some oceans. Unless it has some kind of atmosphere, native life will be aquatic or microbial.
Human Life
In order to support human life without elaborate life-support systems and enclosed colonies, a terrestrial world must be in the inner system where there is at least one type F, G, K or M main-sequence star. It must also have a stable orbit or be a moon of a planet with a stable orbit and it must have at least some oceans or ice. It must also have a low lying, standard or high altitude nitrogen/oxygen or helium/oxygen atmosphere.
An Example Star System
The system below was randomly generated using the mechanics above.
There are 12 stars within 10 light years of the system, and the nearest is 6 light-years away. The system has a single red main sequence type M star. The star has 4 planets, designated I, II, III and IV. Planets I and II are in the inner system and III and IV are in the outer. All the planets are in stable orbits. Planet I is a metallic gas giant with 4 moons and a ring system. The moon are designated I-A, I-B, I-C and I-D. I-A is a large terrestrial world, 16,000 kilometres in diameter with a surface gravity of 2G. There is some volcanic activity present. It has a high-altitude chlorine/ammonia atmosphere and 40% of its surface is covered with methane oceans. I-B is somewhat similar to I-A. It is a large terrestrial world, 13,000 kilometres in diameter with a surface gravity of 1G. It has a low-lying chlorine/ammonia atmosphere and 50% of its surface is covered with methane oceans. I-C is a small terrestrial world, 2000 kilometres in diameter with a surface gravity of 0.2G. It has a thin nitrogen/methane atmosphere and 40% of its surface is covered with methane oceans. I-D is a planetoid, less than 1000 kilometres in diameter. Planet II is a medium terrestrial world, 9000 kilometres in diameter with a surface gravity of 0.5G. It has a low-lying helium/oxygen atmosphere and 80% of its surface is covered by oceans of water. It has no moons but it does have a ring system. Planet III is a small terrestrial world, 3000 kilometres in diameter, with a surface gravity of 0.2G. It has no atmosphere and no moons. Planet IV is a hydrogen gas giant with no moons. There is a possibility of native life on moons I-A, I-B and I-C as well as on Planet II. Planet II is also capable of supporting human life.