;; Fallen Imperium Rules -*- outline -*- ;; $Id: rules.txt,v 1.3 2000/11/30 21:04:01 yandros Exp $ FALLEN IMPERIUM Rules Compendium * 1.0- Introduction. ** 1.1 - Basic Scenario. About 2650 years ago, the many inhabited systems of the galaxy united under the banner of the Imperium. The Imperium brought prosperity, peace, technological advancement and trade on a scale unheard of. Life was good. For 2400 years, humanity thrived and expanded through the many systems that they encountered. The Imperium regulated trade and industry, brought health care to backwater systems, laid the foundations for widespread interstellar trade and defense. No one is really sure what went wrong. All of the sudden, the Imperium that had taken care of humanity was no more. Imperial trade ships and relief supplies ceased, diplomacy amongst the systems crumbled and an era of war and depression gripped all of the systems. The lack of interstellar communication only hurt humanity's chance of making it through the coming collapse. Since communications could happen only via ship-to-ship couriers, years could pass before members of the former Imperium could learn of the plight of other systems. The stellar-states of the former Imperium found themselves cut off from their neighbors, and most of them, their economies interdependent with each other, collapsed under the new social pressures. Life has looked bleak for humanity ever since. Over 200 years have passed since the fall of the Imperium. The stellar-states have managed to scratch out an existence, but at the cost of most of their technological glory. The only remains of the Imperium are the fleets of the Spacer's Guild. Formerly known as the Imperial Stellar Authority, they were the only Imperial agency with the galaxy-spanning cohesion necessary to ride out the Fall. During the time of the Imperium, the ISA maintained the space travel lanes, kept astrogation coordinates up-to-date at all jump points and provided space travel for those stellar-states who could not afford their own fleets. Without the use of an ISA transfer point and jump beacon, interstellar space travel is impossible. Thus, with the Imperium gone, they now rule the space lanes. Still, a few ships still try to survive without falling under control of the Spacer's Guild. Some call them pirates, others call them "independent businessmen." In any case, the Spacer's Guild frowns on any unregulated travel, using excessive taxes, docking fees and coercion to get the independents to fall in line. The Imperium, always one to maintain order within its member stellar-states, employed the use of Mentats in their regular administration. These agents of the Imperium were sent to populations that showed signs of rebellion, sedition or "behavior that did not suit the well-being of the Imperium." Everyone has heard a story of Imperial Inquisitions, where entire planetary populations were subjected to "Imperiam Rehabilitation", all in the name of order. By the time of the Fall, most of known humanity feared and despised the Imperial Mentats. Without the fear of Imperial retribution looming over their heads, the stellar-states retaliated against all known Mentats with brutal vengeance. To this day, people still fear and loath anyone who displays psionic talent. These days, they go by different names, like Psionics, Mentalists, Spooks and Teeps. Most stellar-states, and even the Spacer's Guild, have standing bounties on any individual who displays psionic talents. And so it goes. Humanity struggles to break from complacency and a lack of self-reliance, bred after over 2000 years of stagnation. Some stellar-states are just now showing progress towards stability, while others have gone forgotten for decades. The Spacer's Guild maintains some communications and contact between systems, but without a united purpose, most systems have just stop caring about the rest of the galaxy. Perhaps someday humanity will learn to step forward once again into the stars. ** 1.2 - A typical event. Let's say that you have never played a LARP before and are interested in playing. Well, that's great. We like new players. So what do you need to do? First, you need to read these rules. You're already doing that, so that's good. While you read this, you'll learn the basic rules of the game, as well as gather an understanding of the spirit behind the Rank System, which is what this rules system is called. Second, you will need to generate a character. Perhaps in other games you have had characters given to you, whose goals and personality are already defined. In this game, you have full control over what kind of character you want to play, including their motivation, goals and personality. Once you have come up with something you like, you can go to the Character Creation section and refresh your memory on how to generate a character. After you are done, just contact the GM (Game Master) with all this information. You should receive confirmation of your character shortly after. Third, you need to look the part. Get together with your friends and put together a costume. This is a hard science-fiction universe (Think "Blade Runner" over "Buck Rogers"), so try to dress the part. Since there are hundreds of systems in the known galaxy, you can get away with pretty much whatever kind of dress you would like. Try to avoid wearing current-day logos, popular culture icons or anything that will break the atmosphere of this alien setting. Nike logos, Reebok sneakers and a Red Sox jacket are examples of something that will just make other players groan. Fourth, if you need them, you will have to find weapons for your character. All weapons are represented by either Nerf projectile weapons or foam boffer weapons. These rules won't cover the construction of boffer weapons, so you'll have to ask around for how to make them. Read the rules on Combat for details on what is allowed in this game. Fifth, show up to game. A typical event will last four to six hours and run one day. Try to show up at least an hour before game starts. You should have already been notified of the location of the Game Room. The Game Room is where any logistical and out-of-game actions need to take place. It will typically be near the center of the game area. There, you will be able to leave all of your non-game items while you play, get information on the layout of the game area, learn of any updates in the rules and such, and pick up your Character Packet. Your Character Packet will contain a copy of your updated character, as well as any plot-relevant information that your character has learned since the last event. Once you've read it, you'll have a better idea of what your character is getting into at this event. I'll say this now just to get it out of the way. We are not responsible for anything lost, stolen, broken or otherwise messed up in any way. We're running the game to give you all some fun, and don't want to deal with the extra responsibility of watching your belongings. Sixth, have fun! Once game starts, play your part and share in the roleplaying fun with everyone else. Talk to people, make friends, make enemies, take chances and risks. Be whatever you want to be in-game, but always remember to have fun. Everyone is here to enjoy themselves, so please do your part. After a few hours, you'll be surprised at how quickly the game went. However, like all good things, the game has to come to an end. Once we reach the end of game time, the event is over. No game actions can happen. Seventh, meet up for post-game. This will probably happen in the Game Room. We'll talk about the game, laugh at good stories and say goodbye. Once the game area is cleaned up, the event is over. If you feel like helping out, or if your character has an established location, you can clean up the game area and bring everything to the Game Room. Eight, write to us about your experience. Write to the GM about what you liked, what you did not like, what your character is interested in, anything that you want us to know. This information will directly affect what happens to your character in between events and influences the final outcome of your Character Packet for the next event. And yes, you do get to play the same character again and again. * 2.0 - BASIC CONCEPTS ** 2.1 - The Spirit of the Game "Fallen Imperium" is a Live-Action Roleplaying Game (LARP), which means that most of your involvement revolves around interaction with other players. We are all in this to have a good time. Sometimes, though, we can get carried away with the excitement and may forget our manners. We expect everyone to behave nicely towards each other and have faith that the players will play with everyone's fun in mind. We hope you all have a great time. ** 2.2 - NPCs In order for this game to run, we need to share the real space we are using with people who are not interested in this game. We refer to these people as Non-Player Characters (NPCs). Some of these people are not understanding of the eccentricities that go into Live-Action Role Playing. They may not take very kindly to people running around with foam boffer weapons and shooting at each other with toy guns. We don't want to bother anyone, so please be considerate of these people. If an NPC enters the Game Area, avoid performing any game actions that may make them uncomfortable. A quiet in-game conversation with another player is fine. A raging gunfight is not. Use your best judgement. ** 2.3 - Game Area and leaving game. We try to minimize the interaction with NPCs, since it disrupts the continuous flow of the game. Consequently, we try to limit the space in which the game takes place. This real space, known as the Game Area, is defined before the event starts and should be available in the Game Room. Typically, the Game Area will consist of one or more floors of a couple of buildings, including the empty rooms in that area. Please pay attention to the Game Area and try to stay within its boundaries. No game action can take place outside of the Game Area. Should you need to leave the Game Area for any reason, please come to the Game Room and leave all of your game items and props before leaving game. Not only will this make it less likely for you to annoy random NPCs, but it is a good way for the GM to know if you have left the Game Area. ** 2.4 - "Hold","Resist","Freeze" and other silly things to say. There are times when a player needs to communicate certain situations to other players. Rather than having a lenghty explanation ensue, which will do nothing but break the flow of the game, we have established a couple of catchwords to use. "Hold" is called whenever game action needs to be stopped. This is often used when game actions will harass an NPC, someone has an accident or there is an unsafe situation present. When someone calls "Hold", all game action within earshot should stop. Players should stop what they are doing and pay attention to the person who called the "Hold". At that time, the caller should then explain the cause for the Hold and begin to resolve the problem. Once the problem is resolved, players should return to their places before the Hold and wait for the caller. At that time, the caller should resume game action by calling "Resume". You should never call a Hold because of a problem with your understanding of the rules. If you do not know a rule, you cannot use that rule or are at the mercy of the player who is using said rule against you. Learn the rules and save yourself the heartache. "Resist" is a player's way to indicate that an ability has no effect on them. If someone calls "Resist" to your game action, then you know that they are not affected by what you are doing. Repeating said action to distract the target player is considered rude, so don't do it. "Freeze" is immediately followed by the character's name, player name or an indication of any or all players. If you hear someone direct a "Freeze" at you, you must immediately stop and wait for instructions. You must then follow the instructions given to you by the caller. This is often used to represent the use of special abilities. Don't worry, a "Freeze" command is almost never allowed during combat. "Oppose" is used to indicated an Opposed Test. Read the Skills section for more information. There may be more catchwords used in the future. You will be informed of them before the event starts in the Game Room, when you are given your Character Packet. * 3.0 - THE RANK SYSTEM ** 3.1 - What is the Rank System? The Rank System is a LARP system designed to do away with logistical difficulties that are common with most LARP games. The Rank System does not involve any use of arithmetic during high-action game time, requires no tags or other messy paperwork, yet still allows for non-deterministic game play. We hope that this game system takes a lot of the headaches that tend to break the game action of most LARPs. The Rank System is based on one simple premise. In any heroic setting, there are people who are just better than you are. Conversely, most heroes are better than the average person. Some villians are better than some heroes, and viceversa. On the average, the better person wins, be they a hero or a villian. That's just the way things work. The trick, then, is to cheat the odds. All characters have a Rank, which is represented by a number. Your Rank indicates your level of importance and your impact on the universe as a whole. The higher your Rank, the more chutzpah you have, the brighter your PC glow shines and the whiter your teeth are. Most characters will have a Rank number of 1 to 5, with the higher number indicating greater power. A Rank 1 character is nothing more than a flunkie who is best served as cannon fodder. Think of your average Red Shirt from Star Trek or Stormtrooper from Star Wars. A Rank 3 character is a competent member of society, a force to be reckoned with by the average man. A Rank 5 is serious news, a person who has that look that makes you want to avert your eyes. Messing with them is a sure path towards humiliation and death. Ranks higher than 5 are reserved for pivotal historical figures, shining beacons of light and other cool people, such as Emperors, Generals or Megacorporate Mascots. ** 3.2 - Privilidges of Rank All players must prominently wear a color-coded badge on their front, center torso. We use the color spectrum for Rank colors, so it should be intuitively easy to recognize Rank hierarchy, as follows: Rank 1 - Red Rank 2 - Orange Rank 3 - Yellow Rank 4 - Green Rank 5 - Blue Rank 6+ - Violet Higher Rank has its privilidges. First, having a higher Rank probably means that you have higher ranked Skills than those of lower Rank. Skills are always good. Second, a character with higher Rank has certain advantages in Combat with those of lesser Rank. Read the Combat section for more details. Third, and most important, a character of higher Rank cannot be killed by one of lower Rank. This isn't as powerful as it sounds, but it's still pretty powerful. Your color-coded badge will have a series of vertical silver stripes over it, one for each Rank you have. These stripes will look not unlike military decorations or the like. Even though the color of the badge indicates your overall Rank, the stripes indicate your current Rank. If a character has less stripes on their badge than their color indicates, assume that they are haggard, worn down and not looking so good. Read on. ** 3.3 - Loss of Rank and Fleeing There are ways to temporarily lose Ranks during the game. In game, this usually happens when you put your well-being on the line and come out of the experience a bit worn out. Voluntarily losing a Rank is refered to as "Burning" a Rank. There are certain abilities which require a character to Burn a Rank. If you know you can do this, then you know. When you lose Ranks during game, your character is for the duration of the event of that lower Rank. Since you are more vulnerable at lower Rank, losing Ranks is considered a dangerous deal. Under no circumstances can you lose your last Rank, so you will always be of at least Rank 1. Obviously, this means you cannot Burn your last Rank. All characters have the ability to FLEE. If you have been incapacitated or rendered unconscious during game, you may immediately Burn a Rank to FLEE. This indicates your ability to get out of danger and live to fight another day. If you FLEE, you immediately raise your hands in the air and walk away from whatever encounter lead to your fall. You cannot encounter any other player in-game and you cannot be followed. You may immediately head to either a place you know to be safe or some out-of-the-way location in the Game Area. The idea is to take yourself either to sanctuary or as far from other players as possible, so travel with this in mind. Once there, you may return to game and interact with other players. This ability, though, does not heal the torso injury you suffered. Until healed, you must behave as described in the Combat Section. Yes, this is a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, but it does have its restrictions. First, you cannot FLEE from a Locked location nor can you travel through a Lock, unless you already have access to that Lock. Read the Other Important Information section for more details. Second, you cannot return to the encounter which required you to FLEE. You are "out of the fight", so to speak. Use common sense here. If a Lynch Mob caused you to FLEE, you cannot encounter the Lynch Mob again. If you FLEE from a gunfight, you cannot go back to fight. You can still encounter people who were part of the encounter, provided that they are not still part of said encounter. In the end, just remember that you are now one Rank lower than you were before, so think twice about looking for trouble after you FLEE. * 4.0 - SKILLS ** 4.1 - Skill Ranks. Skills are the "meat" of any character. They indicate the capabilities, abilities and prowess of the character. A character accumulates Ranks in their different skills. The more Ranks you have, the more abilities from that Skill are available to you. As you read the Skill Descriptions, you will see that the abilities that become available are better at higher Ranks. When you have an ability, you may use it as many times as you want, whenever you want, provided you obey the instructions listed on the Skill Description. When refering to a person's number of Ranks in a Skill, we do not refer to the Rank number. Rather, each Rank number has its own descriptive adjective to use. When talking of a character's skill, or learning of Skill requirements for a Task, we refer to this adjective. So, for example, a Rank 1 Academic is refered to as a "CLUEFUL Academic." We ask that you speak of skill Ranks in terms of these adjectives. 0 Ranks - NOVICE. You have an everyday competency in this Skill. You are not even remotely special, nor can you claim to have ever had any training. Some Skills have a 0 Rank ability, which means that anyone can perform this ability. Read the Skill Descriptions to learn more. 1 Rank - CLUEFUL. Your rudimentary experience in this occupation has taught you a few tricks of the trade. You can perform simple tasks, as indicated by the skill description. You can claim to have performed this Skill as a passtime, took a basic course in it or have a natural, untrained affinity. 2 Ranks - COMPETENT. Your continued training has resulted in a well-rounded understanding of this field. You can claim to do this for a living, have studied in a University or have worked your whole life to become good at this Skill. 3 Ranks - EXPERT. This is the level of proficiency you get only from working in the field for a while. You have not only received extensive training, but you also have a couple of years of experience under your belt. 4 Ranks - VETERAN. Even more experienced than the previous Ranks, you have survived and learned most of the tricks of your trade. Your skill is exceptional and can often perform tasks that will leave others in the dust. 5 Ranks - MASTER. Your mastery of the intricacies of this Skill mean that you have forgotten more about this field than most people will ever know. People will cross star systems to consult your expertise. Since these are just descriptive adjectives that are used in-game, you can lie about your level of competency in a Skill. Call yourself a MASTER Mechanic if you want, but you better have a way to back up your claims. ** 4.2 - Opposed Tests Some abilities may be opposed if the target also has the Skill in question. Usually, a target will oppose an ability that will have an undesireable outcome for them. The Skill Description will indicate whether or not a particular skill can be opposed. If someone performs an ability on you and you want to prevent them from succeeding, you may call "Oppose". At this point, both players may compare their Skill Ranks. You may claim to have a Skill Rank that is lower than your actual Rank for purposes of Opposed Test. Whoever has the higher Rank decides whether the ability works successfully or fails. In the case of a tie in Skill Ranks, both players engage in one round of Rock-Paper-Scissors. The winner is considered to have won the Opposed Test. For sanity's sake, when counting down to rock-paper-scissor, show on three. Not four, not five, but three. You may perform Opposed Tests every time the skill is used on you, even if your character is unconscious, bound or incapacitated. However, when targeting an unconscious character, you have one chance for success on an Opposed Test. If you fail, you may no longer use that ability on the character until they regain consciousness. Once awake, you may target them with the ability as much as you want. ** 4.3 - Skill Description. The following is a list of Skills that are available to all characters. There may be more Skills available, but you will have to look for them in-game. *** ACADEMIC Science Officer, Professor, Scientist You have training in the fields of research and science. With your know-how, you can analyze foreign objects or devices, perform experiments and learn more about the great unknown. The ACADEMIC skill does not give you any abilities, but Ranks in this skill are essential when performing ACADEMIC Tasks. Read the Other Important Information section for more details on Tasks. Special abilities may become available at higher Ranks. *** DOCTOR Med-Tech, Surgeon, Combat Medic, Biotech Researcher You have training and a knack for healing people and animals. With some time and equipment, you can tend to injuries, perform surgery and explore the intricacies of the sentient form. CLUEFUL - You may perform FIRST-AID on an unconscious character. This allows them to awaken from unconsciousness and heals injuries to the torso. This does not heal any injured limbs the target may have. To use this ability, you must place both hands directly over the target and perform a five-count. COMPETENT - You may MEND an injured limb, restoring it to full functionality. You must use this ability once for every injured limb. To use this ability, you must place both hands directly over the injured limb and perform a ten-count. EXPERT - You may perform surgery, which is as a DOCTOR Task. Some special conditions, situations or items may require someone to need surgery. When you need a surgeon, you really need a surgeon. Trust me. Read the Other Important Information section for more information on Tasks. VETERAN - These abilities are reserved only for those who attain the Rank. *** GAMBLER Huckster, Card Shark, Gentleman Your luck has gotten you far in this world. The advantages of card-counting, sleight-of-hand and bluffing definitely help. You can gamble with the best of them and have a trick (or card) or two up your sleeve. For every Rank of GAMBLER that your character possesses, you may "call out" for one specific card during a hand. At any point during the betting rounds of a card game, a player with GAMBLER may ask all other players in the card game for a specific card. Make sure you specify suit and rank. If any other player has that card in their hand, they must hand that card to the asking player. The GAMBLER then replace the taken card with another one from their hand. If no card player has that card in their hand, you lose. You cannot use this ability to ask for a card which is revealed (face-up) during the hand. You also cannot "call out" for a card which has already been asked for by a player. A player may forfeit all remaining Ranks of GAMBLER during that hand to "fish" from the discard pile. Simply call out "fish" and look through the discard pile. You may take one card of your choice into your hand and replace it with one from your hand. Other players may still "call out" for that card if it hasn't been asked for already. *** JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES Rogue, Daredevil, Handyman, Soldier of Fortune You've always had the knack for figuring things out quickly. Fortune smiles on you above almost anyone else. Given enough time, and a little mojo, you can figure out almost any problem. Just don't push your luck. The JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES skill allows you to Burn one Rank to add as many Ranks from this skill to any other skill. You may use this bonus to add your skill to either a skill you have or one you don't have. This bonus is good for only one Task, Knowledge Slip or use of an ability. Abilities which are continuous, such as the ability to use weapons, are not affected by this skill. *** MECHANIC Grease Monkey, Technician, Tinkerer, Technophile The love of your life are the many machines and gadgets that you've built. Given enough time, you can disassemble a machine and put it back together better than ever. The smell of axle grease and lubricant are your fragrances of choice. The MECHANIC skill does not give you any abilities, but Ranks in this skill are essential when performing Mechanic Tasks. Read the Other Important Information section for more details on Tasks. Special abilities may become available at higher ranks. *** PILOT Fighter Jock, Freighter Captain, Spacer's Guild Pilot Your hands behind the stabilizers of a starship are the stuff of legend. Just pick a heading, hit those thrusters and sail into the great unknown. Knowing the in's and out's of a starship's innards doesn't hurt either. The PILOT skill gives you the ability of OPPORTUNITY. The only way for goods and people to come into the game are through the few starships which operate in the area. Therefore, whenever plot-related items or people need to come into game, those who have the best opportunities find themselves with the job. This may lead to good pay, new and wondrous technology or something even more interesting. The higher your ship's PILOT Rank, the more opportunities will come your way. The PILOT skill may be used in place of any other Skill when performing Tasks which target a starship or its components. Read the Other Important Information section for more details on Tasks. Special abilities may become available at higher ranks. *** PSI Your mind has grown to its potential, allowing you to brush the minds of others. With a single thought, another person's thoughts, feelings and memories are yours for the perusing. No wonder people hate your kind. PSI abilities which target you can be OPPOSED. CLUEFUL - You may ask another player one question which they must answer with "Yes" or "No". You must call "Freeze" on the target before informing them of this ability. You cannot use this ability during combat, since the concentration it requires is too intense. COMPETENT - You may ask another player one question which they must answer truthfully. You must call "Freeze" on the target before informing them of this ability. You cannot use this ability during combat, since the concentration it requires is too intense. EXPERT - You may ignore ranged shots and weapon blows by maintaining concentration. To use this ability, you cross your arms in front of your body and turn your head down towards the floor. Your hands must be empty while you use this ability. You cannot speak or communicate in any way. Call "Resist" anytime you are attacked while using this ability. VETERAN - These abilities are reserved only for those who attain the Rank. *** THIEF Scoundrel, Cutpurse, Cat Burglar, Knave Why work when you can take from others? Your eye for opportunity and sculdudgery allows you in this day and age of decay and desperation. Whether it is a swift blow to the neck or a dip into a moneypurse, you can make a living off of taking advantage of others. THIEF abilities which target you can be OPPOSED. THIEF Ranks can also be used to perform THIEF Tasks. Read the Other Important Information for more details. CLUEFUL - You may CONCEAL small objects on your person, making them unfindable when searched. These objects must be entirely concealed from view and on your person, thus limiting their size. Also, you can REVEAL any hidden items on a searched target, even those which they CONCEAL. Furthermore, once you use this ability on a person, they must immediately hand to you all game items on them, thus bypassing the restraints of described searching. COMPETENT - You may SNEAK around the Game Area. To use this ability, you must first be out-of-sight of any other players. Then, you must choose a location that you wish as your destination. You then place both your arms, empty-handed, over your head and walk, not run, towards your destination. For the entire duration of your journey, you are not affected by other players nor can you interact with other players. You are effectively out of the game. You may call "Resist" to any game ability which would normally affect you when in-game. The only action you can take from then on is walk to your destination. You cannot stop this effect until you reach your destination, regardless of what you see or hear. Once there, you can return to game after you lower your arms. This skill does not allow you to spy on other players, only to get from one place to another without encountering other players. EXPERT - You can WAYLAY another character, knocking them unconscious as if they were incapacitated in combat. To use this ability, you must have a melee weapon. Take the pommel of your boffer weapon and gently tap the target on the back of their upper torso while calling out "WAYLAY". This attack works only if your entire body is behind the target. Most importantly, you must surprise the target with this maneuver. They must be completely unaware of your attempt to perform a WAYLAY. Please follow the spirit of this ability. If you were surprised by a WAYLAY, be a good sport. If there is any doubt whether or not you surprised your target, the WAYLAY fails. You may FLEE after being hit with WAYLAY, although a succesfull WAYLAY does not injure the target's torso. VETERAN - These abilities are reserved only for those who attain the Rank. *** WARRIOR Lawman, Soldier, Bounty Hunter, Thug When the going gets tough, the fists do the talking. When fists won't cut it, a blaster is your best friend. If the blaster don't cut it, always use heavy ordenance. Diplomacy is for wimps. The WARRIOR skill allows you to use different weapons which exist in the game. The higher your Rank, the more weapons exist at your disposal. Please read the Combat section for more instructions on available weapons. Special abilities may become available at higher ranks. NOVICE - You can use one dagger-sized, one-handed Melee Weapon. CLUEFUL - You can use one Blaster. You can use one sword-sized, one-handed Melee Weapon. COMPETENT - You can use two Blaster simultaneously during combat. You can use two sword-sized foam Melee Weapon. You may use one Heavy Weapon. EXPERT - You may use any combination of Melee Weapon, Blaster or Heavy Weapon. You can still use only two weapons in combat at the same time, though. VETERAN - These abilities are reserved only for those who attain the Rank. * 5.0 - Character Generation and Development ** 5.1 - Your character concept. What to play? Well, by now you hopefully have a rough idea of what this universe is all about. The genre is definitely science-fiction, but there are strong overtones of cyberpunk and "dark future" genres. Almost anything goes, really. Think of your favorite character from a movie. How about your favorite novel character? Anything goes, really. All you have to do is remember a couple of important requirements. First, your character is starting at the lower-end of the universe. Make sure your starting skills can match your character concept. Why would you want to play a fighter ace if you could not start with the corresponding PILOT skill? Or how about a "master thief" who is only a COMPETENT Thief? Keep your concept conceivable and within the bounds of beginning characters and you'll find the game much more enjoyable. Second, all character concepts must be approved by the GM before you can play the game. Although we are lenient with what we allow in the game, we ask that you keep your character idea within the realm of reason. If you ask to play a god, we will probably say no. Same goes for Emperors, Ancient Wizards and Megacorporate Mascots. The closer to earth your character concept ends up, the better your chance of having it approved. Third, this game does not use plot-controlled characters. Half of the fun comes from watching everyone come up with unexpected and cleverly insane solutions to situations. However, there needs to be a conduit to introduce plot concepts into game. Therefore, should your concept match a needed element in the game plot, we will ask to incorporate some of our ideas into your character. Your character will fundamentally be the same, except they may start with affiliations or knowledge that they would otherwise not have. There are advantages to starting with these affiliations, such as extra opportunities, resources or clout. However, they are part of your concept now, so their consequences will affect your character. You don't have to have any of these plot elements incorporated into your character concept if you don't want them. After all, the world always needs free agents. However, if you want plot, goals and obstacles, let us know. Once you've selected a character to play, send us a brief, 20-line description of your character. This will give us something to work with, so as to accomodate story lines and plot to suit the overall mix of characters in the game. Over time, you will have opportunities to add notes to your character concept, but for now a simple description will be fine. After all, how can you have a final description for your character if you haven't played them yet? Once your character has been approved and you have a ready character, the GM will give you a three-letter identification string. This will identify your character as different from all others. Some examples of these string are OFQ, CHW, COP and DOC. This string is useful for situations where it is important to identify your character without informing the rest of the game. You might see this ID String on a Knowledge Slip, or as part of a Task, or on a Lock. Read the Other Important Information system for more details. This is not game information, so you may not share this with other players. It is consider very rude to compile lists of ID Strings, or to make inferences based on ID Strings you may remember, so please do not do it. ** 5.2 - Starting Skills. Every character starts with four Ranks to put into skills. You may distribute those Ranks in any of the skills available to starting characters. However, you cannot start a character with more than two Ranks in a skill. Consequently, no character starts with greater than a Rank Two character. Other than that, you can distribute your starting Ranks however you want. Example: Timmy decides to play "Buck Dexter", space ranger extraordinaire. He then decides to take two Ranks of PILOT and two Ranks in WARRIOR. Example: Jeff decides to play "Jack" a jack-of-all-trades average joe. He then decides to take one Rank of WARRIOR, one Rank of MECHANIC, one Rank of THIEF and, to keep with his namesake, one Rank of JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES. Example: Gwen decides to play "Cassie O'Donnell", a butt-kicking combat medic. She then decides to take two Ranks of DOCTOR, one Rank of WARRIOR and one Rank of ACADEMIC. Any of the before-mentioned characters is a perfectly acceptable starting selection of skills. Go to it! ** 5.3 - Character Development. After every event that you attend, you will receive one Rank which you may put into any of the available skills for your character. You can take a brand-new skill if you like, or you may add one Rank to another skill you possess. However, you cannot have a skill that is greater than two Ranks than all your other skills. Thus, if your highest Skill Rank is four, all your other skills have to be at least at Rank two. The exception to this rule is when picking up new skills. You can always take a new skill if you want, but you must from then on place all your earned Ranks into this skill until it reaches within the difference. Example: Timmy has played "Buck Dexter" for a while and now has the following skills: PILOT 4 WARRIOR 2 MECHANIC 2 Timmy now wants to acquire the DOCTOR skill. Timmy can place a Rank into Doctor, but all Ranks that Timmy earns from then on for this character must go into DOCTOR until it is within two of Buck's highest Skill Rank. As you place Ranks into skills, keep track of your highest Skill Rank. After all, your highest Skill Rank determines your overall character Rank. Thus, the more you specialize, the higher your character's Rank, but the less versatility your character will have. ** 5.4 - Retirement We discourage from having any characters of greater than Rank Five in the game. There is a whole big galaxy to explore, so why would these people stick around here? When there is a large enough difference between characters, it can make the game not fun for some. Therefore, we encourage you to start a character once they have grown large enough. Although there is currently no policy regarding character retirement, should you decide to retire your character, we will find some way to make it worth your while. * 6.0 - Combat Sometimes, over the course of your encounters in the world of "Fallen Imperium", you'll find that you and others can't quite agree on different issues. When this happens, there's really only one thing you can do: rub them out. To this end, we've devised a combat system designed to allow people to resolve their differences violently and permanently. ** 6.1 - Combat Fundamentals. To do away with messy ideas like hit-points and such, this game employs a much deadlier combat system. As far as hit locations are concerned, your body is divided into five locations, which are your torso and each of your four limbs. Each of these locations ceases to function after being hit with one blow. Depending on which location is damaged, you will suffer different effects in-game. If you take a blow to one of your arms, that arm is no longer functional. You cannot carry any items, use any weapons nor perform any Tasks with that arm while it is injured. In fact, you cannot perform any Tasks while either of your arms are injured. You must walk with your arm firmly placed against your body, as if you had your hand in your pants pocket. The only exception to this rule is that you may use an injured arm to help with reloading your weapons, should it be necessary. If both your arms are injured, you must drop any items you are carrying and can no longer use your arms for anything, not even to scratch your nose in-game. You can still open doors, but this is mostly as a convenience to the player. If you take a blow to one of your legs, that leg is no longer functional. You cannot hold your weight up with that leg, you cannot run nor can you walk. The most you can do is hobble slowly, as if you are limping. No, you cannot dodge with an injured leg. If both of your limbs are injured, you must drop to the floor wherever you are and cannot move. Someone else can move you if they have all of their limbs uninjured and their hands empty. Both of you can then move at a walking pace. If you take a blow to your torso, you must fall to the ground and you go unconscious. It is at this time that you must decide whether or not you will FLEE. If you do, then act as instructed under those rule. Otherwise, you remain unconscious for five minutes, or until someone awakens you. If you know you can awaken a character, then you know. Once those five minutes have elapsed, you are awake and can move around and act with the same restrictions as if both of your arms and one leg were injured. This is to say that until your torso is healed, you cannot perform any Tasks, wield any weapons, move faster than at a slow hobble, nor carry or operate any items. Yes, you can open doors and such. In case it isn't obvious, a DOCTOR is a character's best friend. They can perform FIRST-AID to awaken someone who is unconscious and heal torso wounds, and they can can MEND a character's injured limbs. If you think that combat is harsh and deadly, then we've done our job. Combat is meant to be really deadly, as most people wander around with nasty-looking weapons that can melt holes through plate steel. If you get into a fight, just be really careful. Otherwise, stay out of trouble! ** 6.2 - Forms of Combat and Weapon Types There are two Forms of Combat, which depend on which type of weapon you use. The first is Melee Combat. Melee is done with foam-boffer weapons, which you can make by asking other players and the GM. Melee combat is done up close and personal. The second is Ranged Combat. Ranged Combat is done with foam dart weapons, such as Nerf foam dart guns. Ranged combat tends to happen at a distance, well out of Melee combat. Each form of combat has its merits and flaws. It is up to you to figure out which method you prefer. Melee Combat requires players involved to use foam-boffer weapons. All Melee weapons require approval from the GM before they can be used in the game. Reasons why a weapon may fail inspection are exposed PVC core, foam edges which are not soft enough, a core which "whips" too much or any exposed pipe foam. Basically, assume that accidents happen and someone may get hit hard by this weapon in a vulnerable place, like the head. If the weapon could in any way cause an injury, it will not be allowed in the game. Because of space restrictions and potential hazards, we currently do not allow any weapons greater than 30 inches long. The idea here is to make Melee Combat occupy smaller spaces so as to not accidentally hit anything for which we could be made liable. Until we have a larger, more open space to use, this restriction sticks. This restriction precludes the use of two-handed foam weapons, such as greatsword, polearms or staves. Ranged Combat requires players to purchase for themselves a Nerf foam dart gun. All Ranged weapons require approval from the GM before they can be used in the game. If you have any doubts whether or not a particular model of toy gun is allowed in the game, ask the GM for instructions. At this time, we will not allow any other manufacturer product other than Nerf or Nerf-compatible toy guns in the game in order to keep ammunition consistent within the game. If you have any questions, ask the GM. As you may have noticed in the Skill description for WARRIOR, there are two types of Ranged Weapons mentioned. The first type is a Blaster. A Blaster is any weapon which fires single-shot foam darts. This does not include foam arrows, as those kinds of projectiles fall under a different category. In order for a weapon to be considered a Blaster, it must fire only one dart at a time and require some kind of pause in between each shot. If the Nerf gun has the potential to fire multiple darts at one time, or single darts in quick succession, it cannot be used as a Blaster. The second is a Heavy Weapon. All Nerf guns which fire multiple foam darts at a time or in quick succession or which fire foam arrows is a Heavy Weapon. If there is any doubt as to whether a Nerf gun falls under one category or another, it will probably fall under Heavy Weapon. There are two types of foam projectiles used with Ranged Weapons. The first are foam darts, which are about four inches long and have a rubber tip at one end. The second are foam arrows, which are about nine inches long and have foam fins around the shaft. Foam darts represent Blaster fire, while foam arrows represent micro-missiles. Each type of projectile is treated differently. Foam darts follow the "one shot per hit" rule we previously mentioned. All characters are assumed to have unlimited ammunition for foam dart guns. A foam arrow, however, is much deadlier. If you are hit anywhere on your body or costume by a foam arrow, you fall unconscious and react as if hit in the torso. Unless an ability specifically mentions foam arrows, no ability which allows you to transfer wounds or "Resist" blows can counter a hit from a foam arrow. Unlike Blaster ammunition, though, micro-missiles are rare. Foam arrows cannot be reloaded like foam darts can. If you have foam darts for your weapon, you can use each projectile only once. If you find a foam dart and there is any doubt as to whether or not it is a genuine micro-missile, then assume that it is not genuine. ** 6.3 - Combat and Rank. Remember when we said that Rank had its privilidges? Well, here is why. If you are hit by someone of lower Rank that you, you may declare the hit to affect any of the five valid hit locations instead. So, if a Rank Four mercenary is shot in the torso by a Rank One flunkie, the mercenary can instead take a left arm hit. Your character is just good enough to almost get out of the way of the incoming blow. This might not seem like a big deal, but at least you don't have to fall unconscious or Burn a Rank to FLEE. There are only a few restrictions to this rule. First, you cannot relocate a blow to a hit location which is already injured. This limits the number of times you can use this ability. Second, this ability does not work against foam arrows. Micro-missiles are just plain nasty. ** 6.4 - Killing Blow, Death and Dying. Sometimes you're just not satisfied with giving someone a slap on the face. Sometimes you just want to get rid of them once and for all. If you encounter an unconscious or helpless character, you may kill them by calling a Killing Blow. A helpless character is defined as someone who is immobilized or cannot move their arms or legs. To do this, you must have a weapons in your hand and you must stand directly over the unconscious or helpless character. Point the weapon at their torso and call out "Killing Blow One, Killing Blow Two, Killing Blow Three". That's it, you've killed them. They are done. End of story. Hopefully you can see how a character with a high Rank can avoid this fate if they FLEE. If someone you care abou is about to receive a Killing Blow, there is something you can do about it. If you are within arm's reach of the character performing the Killing Blow, simply point a hand or weapon at them and call out "Prevent". Their attempt at a Killing Blow fails as you physically prevent them from delivering the final blow. If there is any doubt in the timing of an attempt to stop a Killing Blow, then the benefit goes towards the victim. Since death is final, we don't want any mistakes in timing here. Remember that the character you are killing actually belongs to another player. Be courteous and count the Killing Blow clearly and at a slow pace. Performing a Killing Blow quickly because someone within ten feet is rushing to stop you is considered very, very rude. The GM will tend to be very strict about this rule. And remember, when there is any doubt, the benefit will go towards the victim. If you have just been killed, please try to stay in the location of your character's death for at least fifteen minutes. Yes, this is boring, but it gives other players the chance to find your corpse. After fifteen minutes, you can assume that your body has been carried off and looted by homeless people and street urchins. Please go to the Game Room and leave all of your game items with the GM. There should be a location reserved for these items. Also, try to discretely inform the GM of your demise. After that, you are effectively done for the event. Sorry. Start thinking of your next character concept. As far as you know, death is permanent. If your character dies, there is no going back. Don't feel too bad, though. There's always next event. Above all else, be a good sport. Its just a game and its not personal. A dead character cannot perform any abilities of any sort, unless you specifically know otherwise. * 7.0 - Other important information ** 7.1 - Searching Sometimes there's something you want that someone else has. If you want to take it from them, you can search them. You can search another player only if they are unconscious or helpless. As a guideline, remember that if you can search someone, you can also Killing Blow them. Read the Killing Blow, Death and Dying section if you need to review these guidelines. To search another player, you must be within arm's reach of them and have one arm free. Simply point at them and say "I search you!" At that point, the character you are searching may asked for a described search. You must then describe the exact process by which you search them. Phrases such as "I search your boots","I look in your pant pockets","I take your backpack" are common descriptions during a search. At this time, as you call out your searching process, the target will go through the motions of checking those places and tell you if you find anything. This is meant to be a time-consuming process, since looting an unconscious person takes quite a bit of time. Obviously, the THIEF Skill allows you to ignore this time-consuming and messy process. Read the Skills section for more details. ** 7.2 - Knowledge Slips If a particular item or location has information that is waiting to be revealed, expect to find a Knowledge Slip attached to it. A Knowledge Slip is represented by a small manila envelope attached to the object or location in question. The outside of the envelope will have the word "KNOWLEDGE" written on it. Beneath that will be the Skill requirements necessary to open the envelope. If your character meets these requirements, you may open the envelope and read its contents. Usually, you will find a slip of paper with more information about the item or location. There may also be other Knowledge Slips inside, leading to further Skill requirements as you progress. Some Knowledge Slips will require Tasks to open them. Read the Tasks section for further details. ** 7.3 - Tasks Sometimes you need to get things done, either through blood, sweat and tears or good old-fashioned thinking. Since your characters are probably smarter than you are, Tasks are used to represent a character's attempt at performing a certain complicated feat, such as surgery, repairing machinery, picking a lock or scientific research. Characters usually learn of required Tasks after opening a Knowledge Slip. You need to be qualified to open the Knowledge Slip in order to perform the Task described inside. Such Tasks will typically in turn allow the character to open further Knowledge Slips. If an objective requires a Task of some sort, the word "TASK" should be clearly displayed at some point in the description. Otherwise, no Task is required. A character performs Tasks using the "deck of cards" mechanic. If you are not familiar with this mechanic, please ask the GM for the "Tasks" handout. In general, you should have a deck of cards handy if you at any point intend to perform a Task during the event. Players may not use a deck of cards from another player, since these may be modified in some way to suit that particular player. Therefore, if you do not have your own deck of cards, you cannot perform Tasks during that event. A deck of cards is not a game item, so it cannot be taken from another player. The only way to prevent another player from performing Tasks is to incapacitate them, immobilize them or injure one of their arms. Example: Buck Dexter, space ranger extraordinaire, is in a strange bar with a funny-looking black box he just acquired. On the outside of the box there is an envelope which reads: KNOWLEDGE --------- PILOT 3 or MECHANIC 3 Buck Dexter has the Skill PILOT 3, so he opens the envelope. Inside he finds a slip of paper which reads: "This is a trans-orbital, super-sonic, propulsion matrix. This can make the weakest of spaceships go faster than anything. You could install this on a starship with a MECHANIC Task." There are also two more Knowledge Slips which read: KNOWLEDGE _________ PILOT 4 or MECHANIC 4 TASK ---- MECHANIC 10 Buck Dexter is not adept enough to read the Knowledge Slip, so he ignores it. Hurriedly, he runs to his ship and attempts a MECHANIC Task with his deck of cards, using his MECHANIC 2 Skill. Even though it is difficult, he succeeds! He then opens the envelope which reads: "Congratulations, now your ship runs faster than any other in the galaxy! Please inform the GM at the end of the event that you have installed this device on your starship. Way to go!" However, if Buck Dexter had been able to open the extra Knowledge Slip (too bad he doesn't have PILOT 4), he would have learned the following: "This device was never known to be stable, which is why the Imperium scrapped this project. Each time you use it to travel between systems, there is a 50% chance you will completely destroy your propulsion system. Just thought you'd want to know this." Poor Buck! Let's hope he's as lucky as he is careless! ** 7.4 - Locks and Obstacles. Locks exist in order to prevent all characters from freely using an item or using a portal, like a door or hallway. Locks are represented by small manila envelopes, same as Knowledge Slips. The outside of the envelope will have the word "LOCK" clearly written on it. Whenever you see one of these envelopes, you know that there is an obstacle. A Lock prevents a character from using an item for its obviously intended use. A Lock on a book prevents you from opening it. On a weapon, it prevents you from firing it. On a box, it prevents you from opening it. On a device, it prevents you from accessing the Knowledge Slips or performing Tasks attached to an envelope. In short, the item is blocked until the Lock is bypassed. A Lock prevents a character from moving through a portal, such as opening a door or crossing a hallway. The Lock envelope should be clearly visible if it exists.If there is no obvious portal visible, such as a doorway, there will be a line of grey tape marking the floor. Thus, if you see a line of tape on the floor in your path, you must either find the Lock to bypass it or find another route. Some obstacles may not have an attached Lock, which means you cannot cross that boundary. Until you bypass that Lock, you are completely stuck. There are two ways to bypass the lock. First, you can crack the Lock with a MECHANIC or THIEF Task. The Lock should have a Difficulty Level written on it. If you can perform a Task at that level, you can crack the Lock. This means that you can open the door or use the object as you will, until you either close the portal or item. For a weapon, the Lock relocks itself if you no longer hold it at ready. For an item, this includes closing a book of box. Second, you can gain Access to a Lock. If you think you have Access to a Lock, you may open the envelope. There should be a list of three-letter ID Strings written on a slip of paper. If your ID String is on that list, you have Access to the Lock. You may then freely ignore the Lock as you will. If you have Access to a Lock, you may add or remove ID Strings from the list. However, if you do that, please mark the outside of the Lock with a small "X" in the top left corner to inform others that you have tampered with the Lock. Add an "X" everytime you tamper with the Lock, so that other players know to check the list for their ID String. * 8.0 - Final Remarks. These rules are far from complete, but we've tried to provide you with a solid base to start playing this game. Please remember that the spirit of the game is not to find loopholes in this rules system, but to have fun. If you think you've found a loophole in the rules, please inform the GM rather than abuse the rules. He'll probably give you a cookie or two. We hope that you enjoy playing "Fallen Imperium" and have fun at all of our events. Take care and see you in the future!