3-16 (free version)

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CARNAGEAMONGSTTHESTARS

BYGREGORHUTTON

AROLE-PLAYINGGAMEFORTHEOCTOBERRONNIES

USINGTHETERMSCOSMOS ANDFIGHT

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Little Green MenVrakkkk-kkkk-kkkkk. Corporal Tollmans Energy Cannon

converted the group of huddling creatures into a cloud of swirlingspace dust. Vrakkkk-kkkk-kkkkk. Another group, and another,and another. e cannons gunnery computer was beepinginto Tollmans earphones at a rapid tempo. ese little green

bastards were getting murdered. e Kill Counter on top of thecannon increased by the millisecond. Impassively counting the

carnage. e rhythmic beeping was trance-like and hypnotic.

Vra-wheeeeeeee. e energy beam sheared off, missing the targetand detonating a pile of rocks instead. Suddenly, from all aroundlittle green men started to race closer and closer.

Tollmans mind flashed back to a time long before

She was maybe 10 and theyd been playing e Game. In e

Game you went into this really dark cave. All the other kids werealready in there and they had sticks and stones. ey poked,prodded, bashed and frightened you while you tried to make it to

the back of the cave. You had to get there, overcoming your fearand panic, and grab some moss, slick and wet to touch, from thevery furthermost cave wall. en you had to run over the wetfloor of the cave avoiding the tripping feet and thrown rocks to

break out free into the light.

If you did that then they let you join their gang. It had takenTollman five or six attempts to get to the back of that cave. But

when she did she had learned not to panic or be frightened evenwhen the unexpected happened. She was cool under pressureand had learnt to keep it simple. It was something that had

served her well in the Force too.

Never panic, itll get you dead.

Back to the present Tollman lowered the cannon and swept aseries of ravening beams of energy through the fast-approachinghordes. ey fell into clouds of dust. Motes drifting intricatelythrough the alien atmosphere of this hell-hole of a planet.

Vrakkkk-kkkk-kkkkk. e last little green bastard evaporatedinto a cloud of constituent atoms. e Kill Counter stopped at

97. e tip of the cannon was glowing white hot and the whine of

the cooling fans was the only sound left.

Sergeant Brand looked over the top of the trench, Corporal,

status?

All Clear, Sergeant. A series of trenches ahead and then weredone here. After that, she paused, its not so clear.

Brand nodded at the Lieutenant next to him in the trench. efirst hurdle had been cleared.

On a cosmic beach,

Ill see you there. Advert for the 3:16th Expeditionary Force

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The World of Tomorrow: is a role-playing game set in the far future. Its an SF settingwhere everyone plays members of the elite :th ExpeditionaryForce. is force left Terra over , strong many years agowith an explicit mission.

eir whole mission was to fight, and defeat, everything in theUniverse that they could find. Alien civilizations, intelligences

and life of any kind were to be wiped out to protect the futuresafety of the people home on Terra.

Terra is a prosperous place. No one works any more and thereis no disease, no hate and no crime or trouble. People are sterileand have to seek the permission of the Terran Council to havechildren. Successful applicants have medical modificationsmade that allow for procreation and the children themselvesare sterilised at the onset of puberty. ey leave childish thingsbehind them and become a citizen of Terra.

Life expectancy is now essentially a meaningless statistic. How

long do you want to live for? You only leave this life when youwant to, and who would want to? Paradise is reality.

When the Council formed the Expeditionary Forces they foundit easy to recruit. After all they offered a life of excitement andadventure. See the cosmos, travel and live life to the full. Dontdrop yourself in a suicide booth, serve your fellow Terrans byjoining the Force. Child permits were raised as necessary tomeet the demand, and everyone rejoiced in the plan.

Later adverts featured wholesome troopers drinking cocktails

on a cosmic beach on the edge of known space an ideal thatmany wanted to live. Terra, for some, was too safe and toofamiliar. So they sought adventure in the Force.

For years they have recruited Terrans for the ExpeditionaryForces and sent troopers out into space. e players all playcharacters that joined the elite :th unit.

e player characters will experience a series of scenariosstrung across the vastness of the cosmos. And perhaps one daythey will return to Terra.

I was so happy when the Councilgifted me permission for a child.Now that he is joining the 3:16thI couldnt be a prouder parent.

Arabella Vegrant, Terran citizen and mother to a Trooper

About Role-Playing

A role-playing game is a group experiencewhere you portray characters in animaginary setting. In 3:16 you aredescribing soldiers fighting their way acrossthe cosmos.

Here are a few general role-playing gameterms that you should know.

d10A ten-sided die, it generates a numberfrom 1 to 10.

2d10Two ten-sided dice rolled and addedtogether, e.g. a roll of 5 on one die and 7on the other gives a result of 12.

d100Two ten-sided dice rolled togetherand the result is read as a percentage. Oneten-sided die gives the tens and the otherthe units, e.g. a roll of 5 on the tens dieand 7 on the units die gives a result of 57.

A roll of on the tens die counts as ,so on the tens die and 4 on the unitsdie is read as 4 or just plain old 4 to youand me. A roll of on both dice gives thescore meaning .

GM (GameMaster)A participant in thegame who describes the Universe and allthe creatures and non-player characters.

NPC (Non-Player Character)A characterthat is not played by a player, but by the GM

instead.

PC (Player Character)A character that isplayed by a player.

PlayerA participant in the game that playsa character.

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Character CreationYour going to need to create a character to play : so here arethe basic things you need to know.

NameWrite in your characters name here. Be inventive. No, Im notgiving you a list this time. Take a look at the sample charactersgiven in this document if you need to see what I came up with.

ReputationWrite in your reputation. What do you see your characteras? Are they hot headed? Cool under fire? Crazy? Smart?Honourable? Sleazy? Trustworthy? Loyal to a fault? A Pig?

Abilitiesere are two abilities that characters in : possess: FightingAbilityand Non-Fighting Ability.

Both abilities are rated between and for player characters: is very bad, while is the best of the best.

Ideally players should start play with their abilities between and 8 in value. is allows the characters some room fordevelopment over several scenarios.

Note that sometimes aliens will have ratings above , but youneednt worry about that.

Fighting Ability (FA)is governs anything that involves fighting. So firing a rifle ora heavy weapon, throwing a knife, or beheading someone withyour bare hands are all examples of FA. Fighting in other words.

Non-Fighting Ability (NFA)is covers anything, and I mean anything, that isnt fighting.Catching things, understanding strange alien glyphs, climbing,piloting ships, survival knowledge, spotting clues, combatengineering, tactics, being sociable or just plain digging a trenchare all examples of using NFA. Not fighting in other words.

Allocate Points to FA and NFAI recommend that you start with points (Level ) todistribute between FA and NFA. e default is FA and NFA ,but you could choose to have 8 and if you so wished.

Strength and Weakness SlotsYou will see that you have spaces (called Slots) to write inStrengths and Weaknesses on your character sheet. Dont writein any just now, you only fill these in when you use one in game.

Levels, FA, NFA and Slots

Although a character has the potentialfor Strengths and Weaknesses, younormally start with only slots available ineach of Strenths and Weaknesses.

See the table below relating Level, which isyour total of FA and NFA, and slots.

Level (=FA+NFA) Strengths Weaknesses

4 4 8 4 4 9 4 5 5 4 8 8 8 9 8 8 9 9 9 9 *

*e th Weakness for a member of : isalways Hatred for Home.

is is a realisation that the trooper has

reached the end of their mission there isnothing left to kill but Terra.

It compells them to head homeward to seekbloody revenge.

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RankAs you are all playing characters in a military unit then you haveto decide who is playing what role in the group. Every grouphas a number of Troopers. In addition there is a Lieutenant, aSergeant and a Corporal, although the GM may feel that theLieutenant should be an NPC.

Each rank gets different equipment and training. Note that

the higher ranks give orders to the lower ranks. is isnt justan influence or discipline issue. e characters have had theirDNA altered to reinforce the loyalty that all Troopers feel totheir superior officers.

Rank Weapons Other Equipment Close Combat Training Lieutenant Sidearm, ElectroSword, PK Bomb Medical Kit, Computer Martial Arts Training Sergeant Sidearm, Rifle, Knife, Grenades Medical Kit, Binoculars Martial Arts Training Corporal Energy Cannon, Knife, Grenades Entrenching tools Hand-To-Hand Training Troopers Energy Rifle, Knife, Grenades Entrenching tools Hand-To-Hand Training

Write in your Rank when you have decided on it, and list theequipment, weapons and training on the character sheet.

KillsKills is the number of creatures you have killed in your career.Roll a d for every point of FA your character has. So if youhave points in FA then you roll d and total that up. Youshould get something about ish if you have an FA of .

Youve killed that many critters before the game has started.Use this box to keep a track of how many you kill in your career.

Award yourself medals when you reach significant milestones inmurder.

Double this initial number of Kills if you start the game with theEnergy Cannon (i.e. you are the Corporal).

Example Characters

Name Lieutenant Drake Sergeant Brand Corporal Tollman Trooper Vegrant Trooper CollinsRep Cold, calculating Hard, uncompromising Dedicated, honest Soft, lazy Stupid, crazy

FA 4 8NFA Kills 9

All have slots available for Strengths and slots available for Weaknesses.ey have the Weapons, Equipment and Close Combat Training listed above.

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MistakesHeh, Casey. Im going to join 3:16.

ose were the words that had broken his heart. Tollman andCasey had been lovers for three years at the end of school. Shedidnt think it was going to last anyway, being realistic. After all,

everyone expected Casey to go to the Terran Council. She hadntknown that hed ripped up his application to stay with her.

Oh his voice had wavered as the meaning of what shed said

hit home.

Tollman recalled that his voice had trailed off, and the fire in

his eyes dimmed noticeably, though he tried to hide it. An off-ness appeared from nowhere, an awkwardness that was almosttangible. Looking back she realised that Casey looked at her likeyou would look at someone who was dead, he knew what 3:16

was all about. Tollman hadnt understood that then. But she didnow.

In 3:16 you fought until you died, and you didnt come back.Ever. ey told you in the adverts that you returned a hero, allworldly wise and full of stories of far flung galaxies and nebulae,but when you thought about it no one ever did. ose were the

rules. Leave, kill and die.

It was her biggest mistake.

She had been in 3:16 for so long that shed almost forgotten Terra,but every now and then shed do something stupid and it wouldalways remind her of the last days she spent there. Miserable

while she waited to go to 3:16. Wanting to be free of damnedTerra.

She now saw that shed been pretty happy and thrown it all away

to take some cosmic holiday with guns. But the truth about 3:16is that its really an extended funeral, and if youre lucky you gotto see all your brothers killed first.

No use regretting past mistakes, or present ones...

Tollman snapped back to the present and apologised to the

Lieutenant. Soon she was starting to dig the trenches for the

squad. Hard work, for sure. She would never speak out of turnagain. After all, Tollman knew in her heart that this was the kindof shit that you had to put up with when you were in 3:16. And it

wasnt the Lieutenants fault that she was here.

e Lieutenant would have been justified in stripping her of herrank, and beating seven shades of shit out of her right there in

front of the squad. But that wasnt necessary, everyone makesmistakes and if youre smart you learn from them.

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Playing The GameNow that you have created a character you will need to knowthe rules for playing the game.

Most of the game is narration. e GM describes the gameworld around the player characters, and acts out the parts ofNPCs. e players all narrate what their characters are doingand saying, and the narrative goes on like this.

Sometimes there are conflicts. And in a game about fightingcreatures all across the Universe, where would we be withoutconflict?

ConflictsIn a conflict both sides say what theyd like to do.

So in a brawl it might be that both sides say they are attemptingto kick the living crap out of each other, with varying degrees ofanatomical description.

Other types of conflict could be governed by NFA, such asrunning after, or fleeing from, hordes of alien creatures, orarguing a point of reasoning with a planetary intelligence.

e character with the highest Ability score in a conflict is theActing Character (AC). Other characters in a conflict arecalled Reacting Characters (RCs).

e AC tries to roll equal to or under their Ability score tonarrate a turn.

A roll of 10 always fails. A roll of 1 always succeeds.

If successful the player then narrates the turn, and rollsfor outcome if necessary (how many creatures you kill forexample).

e RCs dont get narrative control until the AC fails. If the ACkeeps succeeding then they keep the narrative going until theychoose to stop or they fail.

When the AC fails then the character with the next highestAbility score becomes the AC. e previous AC moves toacting after the lowest RC in the conflict.

Example:Tollman has an FA of 7 and the Green Bastards have

an FA of only 5. erefore, Tollman is the AC. If her player rolls7 or lower then Tollman is successful. e roll is 5 success.

e player then rolls for the outcome. Tollman has an EnergyCannon which causes d100 Kills. e dice are rolled 98.Tollmans player narrates the outcome describing the slaughter of98 Green Bastards with ravening beams of death spouting from

her Energy Cannonthe high tempo beeping ringing in her ears.

How long is a Turn?

A turn is a variable length of action.Roughly it is to seconds of game time.

So in combat it could be describing theoutcome of some fire combat or a bar brawl

I swing my boot at the creatures headand try and cave its skull in.

e creature looks like its trying tododge your boot and bring its clawedhand raking across your body

Example declarations of intent.

Failure?

Had Tollmans player failed, by rolling an8, say, then the Green Bastards would havebecome the AC and attempted to roll orunder on a d. If successful they wouldhave caused Tollman one wound. edescription of the injury could be quitegruesome too. ese Green Bastards aredamn angry at all their fellows being killed.

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Scenesere are two different types of scenes in :. ey are presentscenes and flashback scenes.

Present Scenesis is what is happening in the current scenario. e gamebegins with your characters in the middle of their tour with:. So all the present scenes describe what is happening in the

game world at the present time. For example, everyone is on analien planet fighting a large number of Green Bastards.

Almost all of the narrative will be in Present Scenes.

Flashback Scenesese are scenes are specific to one character and allow theplayer to flesh out their character. More importantly they allowthe player to dictate the narrative on returning to the presentscene. For example, Tollmans player narrates her characterscave experience to regain the narrative in the fight with the

Little Green Men.

She had failed on her roll as AC and rather than give thenarrative to the Little Green Men she chose to use a Strengthslot to narrate a Flashback scene.

Flashback scenes are from before the present, i.e. they areeither pre-: or in the earlier days of the characters cosmicexploration. Each flashback should accentuate a differentStrength or Weakness.

You must narrate a Flashback if you want to use a Strength orWeakness in the game. Once you have narrated the flashbackyou write in the Strength or Weakness on your character sheet.at slot is then permanently used up.

Flashbacks featuring Strengths mean you win in the present.

Flashbacks featuring weaknesses mean you lose in the present,

however you get to narrate how you lose.

You can use either a Strength or a Weakness slot to grab thenarrative at any point. As you only have a limited number of

Strength slots you will want to sometimes use a Weakness slot.

One example could be that you are killed by a large alienmonster. Rather than use a Strength slot to gain the narrativeand kill the creature, you elect to use a Weakness and narrate aloss, but on your terms.

So in Flashback you describe an episode of fear in your past,returning to the present you drop your weapon and cower awayfrom the creature. You describe it poisoning you and renderingyou unconscious before taking you off, alive, to its lair.

Trooper Vegrantlifted the skull fromthe floor. It lookedalmost human.

Below it a collectionof bones lay in anuntidy pile. Anda helmet. On thehelmet it said 2:39.

Vegrant droppedthe helmet in shock.e 2:39th had beenhere? And killed?

Behind him aciddripped from acreatures maw...

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WeaponsWhen fighting your way in the harsh worlds of : you willneed weapons. ese are described in the following way:

Weapon Name Effect RangeDescription

ElectroSword d kills Close Combat

is is a long diamond layered slashing, stabbing and cuttingweapon that vibrates with a powerful energy. It can be used inclose combat and can easily slice through thick metal.

Energy Rifle d kills Medium Rangee standard issue of the :th. ese guns have effectivelylimitless ammunition and can carve down hordes of alien lifeforms given the opportunity.

Energy Cannon d kills Medium RangeEvery squad has a cannon in its arsenal. ese heavy duty deathdealers are the sort of thing bad, bad people dream about at

night. ey do tend to make the operator a prime target forenemy attacks though. Heavy and hard to run with.

Knife kill Close Combatis is a carbonsteel or diamond layered slashing, stabbingand cutting weapon. It can be used in close combat or thrown

metres or so. Good for cutting ropes, vines and feelers.

Grenades d kills Close RangeA troopers best friend when trying to clear narrow spaces andbuildings. e disadvantage is that in really cramped spaces thetroopers themselves may fall victim to their own grenades.

PK Bomb Kills All PlanetaryPlanet Killer, one use only. Kills everything in a planetarysystem. If this weapon is deployed its time to fold up thecharacter sheets and start back at the beginning. Deadly.

Rifle d kills Long RangeA slug-throwing rifle that has a tremendous range and greatstopping power. Less deadly than an Energy Rifle but with agreater range and a more satisfying crack when fired.

Sidearm kill Close Rangeis is a laser or energy pistol, or perhaps a slug-throwingrevolver. In any case this weapon can take out one enemy atClose Range (about metres, close enough to see the whites oftheir eyes, or count the suckers on their tentacles). e sidearmhas effectively unlimited ammunition.

Energy Rifle

Energy Cannon

ElectroSword Knife

Grenade

Ranges

Close Range: Within closing distance.Anything up to metres. Weapons thatare limited to Close Range can also be usedin Close Combat(hand-to-hand fighting).

Medium Range:About metres or so.e target has to be visible with the nakedeye and give a reasonable profile to aim at.

Long Range:Within a km or so. e targetcan be spotted with a scope and the slugshave the power to travel that distance.

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Close Combat TrainingIn addition to the ranged and close combat weapons thatmembers of : have available to them, there are also fightingstyles for hand-to-hand combat.

Like Close Combat with weapons the effective range issomething like metres.

Hand-To-Hand Training kill MeleeAll members of the Expeditionary Force are trained in fightingin close combat both with, and without, weapons. Basic HHtraining allows you to kill someone with your bare hands oran improvised weapon within one turn (i.e. - seconds).Narration should describe the blocking and landing of blows, orgrappling, choking and breaking your opponent.

Martial Arts Training d kills MeleeMore advanced training for close combat is in the form ofMartial Arts. e actual art learned varies from place toplace, and from trainer to trainer. ey all have one things in

common: they are very fucking deadly. Give your martial artsstyle an exotic name and pepper the narrative with vibrant anddeadly moves and blows. My Sfit-Chabeats yourFratd-Kong!

ArmourNow all of this stuff is all well and good. Youre giving out killsby the diceload but what about when a creature hits you? Well,if that happens you first check to see if your armour stoppedthe blow. ey dont equip you with armour for no good reason.is stuff will keep you alive more often than not.

3:16 Armour Roll 6 or below to save when struck.

On a roll of or below you are uninjured and the armour savesyou. Of course, your opponent still has the narrative and maytry again next turn. But there is always the chance they will fail.

e armour also protects you from falling debris and so on.

Whats the armour like?

Well, the armour has overlapping plates of steel and ceramic

composite, topped off by a helmet, with a communicator andrespirator. Its tough, lightweight and is resistant to most things.

For fighting in a vacuum you have a full-body suit that protectsyou from environmental damage and provides you with lifesupport. e suit is powered and is able to give you unimpairedmovement. It has an array of sensors and information banks.

Some suits even have jet-packs or limited thrusting rockets thatcan bestow the ability to fly or hover.

Helmet

My right fist cleavesdown shattering itscrab-like face into

four equally sized

pieces, my otherfist sweeps backover the top of thetrench breakingthe necks of threeother crabmen inone single sweeping

strike... Narrating a Martial Arts success.

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Health and InjuryIf a PC is injured they simply increment one level for everyinjury. A PC starts off at White which means they arecompletely uninjured. If they are injured then they mark theirLife Monitor to show they are now Hurt.

e player should narratively describe the injury and anyimpairment that it causes. Green is a light injury that is more

a discomfort than anything else. Amber indicates a noticeablewound and the impairment could be a slight fracture or a deepgash. e character will get fatigued quicker with this type ofwound and needs rest and attention. Red indicates that thecharacter is seriously wounded and needs medical attention.

Health Description

White Not injured in any way.Green Hurt by a small amount of damage.Amber Impaired in some way.Red Bleeding like a stuck pig.

Black Dead.

Medical AttentionAny trooper can inspect another character and patch them upusing a medical kit. e injured character stays at their currentwound level but will get better by one wound box per day. Sosomeone at Red will be at Amber a day later then Green a dayafter that. ree days later they will be fully fit once more.

Such are the wonders of medical science in the Universe of :.

Promotion In The Field

If a character of more senior rank dies thena lower ranking character can be promoted.If the character is promoted they gain all theweapons and training of their new role.

Alternatively a new character can beintroduced to replace the senior rank if youprefer.

Medical Pack

Being Killed

I feel it is a good idea that PCs cannot be killed straight out under normal circumstances. Especially if the playerhas a really good character and doesnt want it to die. Well, there are a few things about this.

Every player has the chance to use a Strength or Weakness to alter the narrative. To save their character theycan describe a quality of toughness that makes them pull through against the odds and so on.

Im assuming that the player is out of Strength and Weakness slots if theyre being killed. Does any other playerwant to use a Strength or Weakness to narrate for them? Maybe they have Loyalty as a weakness and they takethe blow for their brother? Or they have a Strength that allows them to intervene? If that isnt going to happenthen its hard to see why you should keep the character alive. Maybe you should just let the character die?

On the other hand, : are the Elite of the Elite of the Elite, so if everyone is in agreement then the charactercan be revived after the scenario is done. So the character is able to fight again another day, just not today. eothers can patch you up and get you back on your feet, though they may have to be bionic. Write down somescars and disabilities in your characters description and youre good to go again. I think thats weak though.

Two times the gloves come off though.() During the Final Showdown on Terra, if you have one, then you can most definitely be killed. You go blackthere and youre done. Period.

() If the Lieutenant ever, and I mean fucking-ever, uses the PK Bombthen youre all done. Its a wrap. at thing is a guaranteed Planet Killer,and it does exactly what it says on the label. If youre on the planetwhen that fucker goes off then its over.

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Support ItemsNow the unit has some pretty hefty stuff that can be used topush scenarios along.

Orbital Bombardment Ignores ArmourShelling from space. Every enemy is killed and all PCs on theplanet take wounds. A desperate measure but the Lieutenantmight call this one in when everything is looking desperate.

E-Vac Allows PCs to escape a situatione PCs are removed from a hostile area, but suffer wound inthe escape. is wound can be prevented with an armour save.

Space Barge Transporte ship that : set off to explore in was a converted spacehotel liner. It has a multitude of gun turrets and rocket podsadded. Lets face it though, at some point the GM is going toset this thing on fire and kill off a load of the other troops in theunit. At that point the PCs will be looking for alternative meansof transport. It does have anti-star and anti-planet missiles too.

Drop Ship TransportA ship that can travel in planetary atmospheres as well asspace. is vehicle is bristling with cannons and all sorts ofcarnage-causing items. Use your imagination. It comes with anArmoured Personnel Carrier too. At a push it can be used astransport if anything were to happen to the Space Barge.

APC TransportBig on armour, huge of weapons, bigger on wheels. is vehiclecan flat out tear over a multitude of terrain types while blasting

critters on a field of fire.

e Barge... its on fire! Someonehas set the Barge on fire! Trooper Vegrant, on seeing the units Space Barge explode in a

fountain of flame off the cusp of Leo.

e view was serene

as the ship pulledaway from the star

system. You couldsee all the planets inalignment.

BWUMMMPPP!e star exploded ina huge flash as themissile hit its target.

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Killing Cosmic CreaturesMost creatures that you come across exist in their millionson their planets. Youll probably meet them in groups of and sometimes hundreds. For real trouble though you willsometimes meet a beast that is so-fucking-badass that youregoing to have to lay some serious wood on it.

e GM should give it an FA of and then it gets to rip the

PCs limb from limb. Either someone grabs the narrative or itfails with a . Anyone still standing gets to pop a cap in it andtake it out. Remember, it doesnt matter how big it is: one killmeans one kill.

And, yes, the Energy Cannon really does flat-out-kill up to NPCs in a single turn. Go for it, give those green and bluebastards what they got coming.

Situation and ScenariosScenarios for : are not just about monster hunts. Ill admit

that I like nothing better than recreating a bug hunt or thehorror claustrophobia of being stuck in a next of aliens.

But there could be more to your trips around the cosmos thanthese high-octane body counts.

e GM should try and make the scenarios inventive so that theplayers cannot just rely on using their FA to blast their way outof trouble. Some ideas that occurred to me are as follows:

e planet is actually an intelligent being. It seeks tocommunicate with the troopers in dreams and visions. Do theyend up figuring this out and blowing the planet with a missilefrom space. How do you out-think something with a brain thatis literally the size of a planet.

What if the PCs were to run into another unit from Terra.One that has gone rogue and is seeking to kill everyone there.Obviously the PCs should try and stop them. is scenario isinteresting in that it could be used to foreshadow the PCs maytake later in the game.

A series of bizarre jump gates are discovered in an abandoned

star system, yet the sensors on the ship say that there is life here.Mystery scenarios work just as well as long as the narrative andconflict is compelling enough. Perhaps the mysteries aggravatethe tensions within the group and conflict can be mined fromthe frustration that builds. Worse still, when they discover theyare being observed by a supreme alien intelligence. One thatcan be shot to pieces of course.

Worlds of wonder. is is a chance for you to see worlds noone else on Terra has ever seen. Use the whole magnificence ofthe cosmos, from star-forming regions to supernova remnants.From black holes to icy comets speeding through space.

Trooper Smile hadliked Zephyr whenhe first set foot onit. e winds were

clear and fresh andreminded him of hishome, so far away.

ey had namedthe planet Zephyrafter it winds, ofcourse.

But all the recordswould record

was that this wasTrooper Smiles finalresting place.

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AdvancementAt the end of a scenario increase the level of the PCs by . eycan then add one to either FA or NFA. It should also add a slotfor Strength or Weakness depending on the level (see the Tableon page 4).

Ending The Gamee end of the game should be on Terra, not some easily-

forgotten backwater rock.

When all of : are dead except for the PCs and they haveadvanced to Level the GM should give the PCs their finalWeakness. Let these battle-hardened veterans return to Terraand confront the society that sent them to conquer the whole ofthe Cosmos.

When the PCs find themselves standing at the edge of the localsuper cluster confronted by a void so incomprehensibly largetheyll turn back home to Terra. But probably not to a heroeswelcome.

Final ThoughtsIm running out of time to get this wrapped up, so Im puttingmy list here of things I didnt get around to.

I was going to write a piece about the uniform of the regiment,but I leave that up to your imagination. Medals too.

I wanted to put in a complete example of play but Ive beendone for time again. If its any consolation I did put someworked examples in but I spent the time doing the pictures.

I wanted to have a piece on the relationships betweencharacters. I dont think it should have a mechanic but Idreally encourage using each others Reputations and buildinginterpersonal conflict into the narrative. It also helps that beingpart of a military unit you still have to work together even if youdont get along this was kind of a feature of the Last Chancersnovel I read.

What about sexual relationships between the troops? I didnteven touch on that. Up to you, though I wrote about sterility.

I wanted a piece on game preparation. So, Ill just say that theGM should prep the players before the campaign and eachsession. Create an agenda, make clear what the conflicts andgoals are and set the tone. It always helps to be well prepared.

I also wanted to talk a bit about the level that the players startand advance at. At the moment its in media reswith the playersat Level . For a longer campaign start them at . To shortenthe campaign you can just reset the level after each scenario.Want to flash forward a bit? en put everyone up a few levels.

Some Antagonists

Blue Creatures

FA 4NFA

Green BastardsFA NFA

Supreme Intelligence

FA NFA

Rock MonstersFA 9NFA

Sea BeastsFA NFA

Strangling Wind-RayFA NFA 4

Some welcomehome, huh? Well,

were back Terra,and weve not come

for a social visit.

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InfluencesHere are the things that I feel have strongly influenced ::Kizos campaign of Traveller AD, from about 99 orthereabouts it was a big influence on doing d Kills; theUnion Jack Jackson strip in the Warlord comic; the filmsAliens and Starship Troopers, of course; a args FutureShock story in the AD comic about an army conqueringthe Universe and then slaying their now-lazy ancestors; Kill

Team: A Last Chancers Novel by Gav orpe is a Warhammer4K novel I read a little while ago about gritty warring soldiersin a grim future; Brave New World and other SF stories thatpaint an idyllic future with sinister motives underneath.

e system is pretty much really, really simple. Not anyinfluences that I can directly see. I guess Ive always liked theArmour Savings throw in games like Warhammer 4K, sothat has leaked in from there. e weapons are pretty muchinfluenced by Warhammer 4K and all the other SF games outthere too.

Its not rocket science but I like the vibe.

Design NotesWell, here I find myself making a second Ronnies entry. Pick two from cosmos, sphere, pain and fight.

I went for cosmos and fight.

e whole concept of the Ronnies is great for me: its getting me to actually commit 4 hours to a game andthen just throw it out there. So thanks again to Ron Edwards, and all the other participants not just thosewriting games but those that are commenting on the boards at http://www.indie-rpgs.com/.

I had originally thought about doing a God game using Cosmos and Fight. Oh, it was going to have politicsand bidding and then a showdown at the end where someone became the Prime force of Order in theCosmos. Dun-dun-dunnnnn. It was even going to be designed for a little set of three-fold booklets tied byribbons in the style of diplomatic papers

But, no, as enticing as it sounded it seemed weak and contrived in places. I realised that I wanted somethingthat went back to my roots in gaming. Something that I would really want to play, or that I had already playedand enjoyed.

Back in the day a guy I knew ran a Traveller game that was over the top and stupidly violent. He never tookthe concept to its logical conclusion, as he wasnt big on concepts really. No, he was more just big on fights. Sothis is partly for Kizo and his World Hunters. e Elite of the Elite of the Elite as Kizo used to say.

Mix that in with the fact Ive always wanted to do an SF game where you just kick ass amongst the stars, and Icould see what I really wanted to write with two of these four words.

So here it is. It is not very highbrow but Id love to get a few beers and just play through the entire campaignover a year or so, and see what I could get my Kill Rating up to.

On a cosmic beach, Ill see you there.

Gregor Hutton, Edinburgh, UK4 October http://gregorhutton.com/

Written, Illustrated and Typeset byGregor Hutton in 24 hours.

[email protected]

Typeset on an Apple PowerBook G4

using Adobe InDesign CS.

2005 Gregor Hutton

Typeset in Warnock ProandSerpentineSans

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NAME

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RANK

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REPUTATION

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FA NFA KILLSSTRENGTHS

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WEAKNESSES

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Weapon Name Effect Range

Description

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__________________________________________Close Combat Training Effect Notes

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Equipment________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Notes _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fallen Brothers _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Armour __________ or under to prevent damage

Life Monitor _______________________________

White Green Amber Red Black

OK DEAD

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