Fading Worlds

Overview

Run Day: Tuesday
Run Time: 8pm CET/7pm UTC/GMT
System: Fading Suns

It was a normal day at sea until a freak accident activated a forgotten branch of an alien FTL travel network, flinging the SV Christopher Columbus across space, along with her crew and cargo, and without leaving a way back. Now stranded at the very least several dozen light years from home, the crew must find a way to survive, understand their surroundings and, hopefully, discover a way back to Earth. This is unlikely to be a simple matter.

System Details

The game will be using the Fading Suns system, which fundamentally uses a D20 roll-under system. Stat + Skill = what you need to roll under, the higher the roll is without going over, the better it is. Every three points, rounded down, separates success categories from each other, resulting in:

1-2: Barely Satisfactory, 0 Victory Points
3-5: Mediocre, 1 Victory Point
6-8: Good, 2 Victory Points
9-11: Really Good, 3 Victory Points
12-14: Excellent, 4 Victory Points
15-17: Brilliant, 5 Victory Points
18-20: Perfect, 6 Victory Points

Hitting the exact Target Number doubles your Victory Points/successes(a critical success). A 19 is always a failure, and a 20 is always a critical failure. If your TN is somehow above 20, 18 is your target for a critical success, and every three points over 20(rounded up) result in +1 Victory Point/Success being added to your actual result:

21–23: +1
24–26: +2
27–29: +3
30–32: +4
33–35: +5
And so on.

Normally the difference is largely a storytelling one(or it could be relevant if there's a contested roll of some sort), but each category of success above "barely satisfactory" adds another die of damage to damage rolls in combat.

Speaking of combat, first up is initiative. Initiative is equal to the skill rating in the skill you're going to be using, the higher, the better. If two characters are tied for initiative, their Wits scores are the tiebreaker. Anything that penalizes the skill rating, for instance, multiple actions or adverse conditions, also penalizes the initiative rating.

Two actions in the same round result in a -4 penalty to both actions, three actions in the same round result in a -6 penalty to all three actions. Multiple actions cannot be copies of the same action, except when using firearms or energy weapons with a rate of fire that permits more than one attack per round. Dodging doesn't have to be declared at the start of the round, but you either have to do nothing, or declare multiple actions, to have a free action left for dodging.

Damage is determined by weapon, level of success and modifiers like special actions(bursts, for instance), special ammo or high strength in melee. The damage value of a given attack is the # of D6 rolled, and every D6 that comes up from 1 to 4 is a point of actual damage. Armor works the opposite way, # of armor points is how many D6's you roll when hit, and each D6 that comes up 1-4 is a point of rolled damage(not a damage die) negated. Some armor also has penalties due to being cumbersome or bulky.

Taking more damage in a single attack than your Endurance results in losing your next turn due to being stunned by the injury.

Wyrd points can be spent for a reroll on any action, or to fuel certain abilities.

Inciting Passion/Staying Calm

Inciting Passion is a simple D20 roll-under with the TN being your Passion, you can do it any time there's something that would reasonably inspire great emotion in your character. Like he's facing down an enemy, something he really cares about is at risk, one of his friends is about to get killed or etc. You declare this goal and then make the Passion roll(depending on what's at risk, you may get bonuses to the TN, like a +5 if your life is at risk, a +1 if one of your friends is endangered, etc.). For every tier of success you get on the roll, you get a +1 to anything related to what inflames your character(for instance, if one of your friends is in danger, and you pass the TN on the roll with a 9, you'd get +3 to every roll, no matter what the skill, until you manage to save your friend). Inciting Passion also costs a Wyrd Point.

Staying Calm is similar, except that the character rolls Calm instead of Passion. Similarly to Inciting Passion, it must be a situation the character feels strongly about(rather than the bonus being fluffed as the character going ALL OUT, it's fluffed as him staying unnaturally calm and resisting the stress or fury that'd otherwise make him screw up), similar bonuses are also gained to the roll, so it's not a raw roll against Calm in most cases. Staying Calm also costs a Wyrd Point.

Accenting

A character can choose to "accent" a roll which, quite simply, adds a penalty or bonus to the roll itself at the cost of a Wyrd point. Penalizing the roll makes it easier to succeed, and can be fluffed as the character taking his time or aiming for a sure result rather than a risky one. Of course, this also limits how good it possibly CAN be, simply because if you accent it so hard that you can only get a 1, you won't get any victory points. Adding a bonus to the roll ensures that you'll roll higher, but risks failure, a relatively simple trade-off.

"Accenting" in combat also imposes a -3 initiative penalty and can only perform one action for that round.

Lastly, a roll penalized by "accents" only gets 1 victory point per four successes, while a roll with an accent "bonus" gets a victory point for every two successes.

Penalized Victory Points
1–4: +0
5–8: +1
9–12: +2
13–16: +3
17–20: +4

Bonus Victory Points
1–2: +0
3–4: +1
5–6: +2
7–8: +3
9–10: +4
11–12: +5
12–14: +6
15–16: +7
17–18: +8

Chargen

Characters are, as in most games, made out of stats and skills. All Body and Mind stats start at 3, each pair of Spirit stats has one of the two starting at 1, the other at 3, Wyrd is equal to the higher of Passion or Calm, and all Natural skills start at 3, while everything else has a base rating of 0. Aside from these base ratings, characters receive:

20 points for stats(cap of 8 at chargen)
30 points for skills
20 extra points for the former two categories or for advantages

Extra Point Costs
Stat point(Psi and Theurgy count as stats): 3 Extra
Skill Point: 1 Extra
Wyrd Points: 2 Extra

Psi, Theurgy, Combat Actions and Advantages are also bought with Extra Points. The costs for a given Psi ability, Theurgy rite or Combat Action is the same as the level of the ability, rite or Combat Action. Advantages have variable costs.

Stat List

Body Stats
Strength(Strength ratings of 6 or higher give bonus melee damage, +1 damage at 6STR, and a further +1 for every 2 points of STR, . Some weapons require a minimum Strength to wield.)
Dexterity
Endurance(Base Vitality is (Endurance*2) +5)

Mind Stats
Wits
Perception
Tech

Spirit Stats
Extrovert/Introvert
Passion/Calm
Faith/Ego

Skill List

Natural Skills
Charm(Extrovert/Wits)
Dodge(Dexterity)
Fight(Dexterity/Strength)
Impress(Any)
Melee(Dexterity/Strength)
Observe(Primarily Perception)
Shoot(Dexterity)
Sneak(Wits/Dexterity/Calm)
Vigor(Dexterity/Strength/Endurance)

Learned Skills
Learned skills with indented subcategories usually require each subcategory to be learned separately, the exceptions are Warfare and Social
Academia(Wits)
Acrobatics(Dexterity)
Archery(Dexterity)
Artisan(Wits)
Arts(Introvert)
Beast Lore(Wits)
Crossbow(Dexterity)
Disguise(Perception)
Drive(Dexterity)
-Aircraft
-Beastcraft
-Landcraft
-Spacecraft
-Watercraft
Empathy(Perception)
Focus(Introvert)
Gambling(Wits)
Inquiry(Wits)
Knavery(Extrovert)
Lockpicking(Dexterity/Tech)
Performance(Extrovert)
Physick(Wits)
Remedy(Wits)
Ride(Dexterity)
Science(Wits/Tech)
-Anthropology
-Archaeology
-Astronomy
-Biology
-Chemistry
-Cybernetics
-Engineering
-Genetics
-Geology
-Meteorology
-Physics
Search(Perception)
Sleight of Hand(Dexterity)
Social
-Acting(Extrovert)
-Debate(Wits)
-Leadership(Extrovert)
-Oratory(Passion)
Stoic Body(Calm)
Stoic Mind(Calm)
Streetwise(Wits)
Survival(Wits)
Tech Redemption(Tech)
-Craft Redemption
-High-Tech Redemption
-Mech Redemption
-Think Machine Redemption
-Volt Redemption
Throwing(Dexterity)
Tracking(Perception)
Warfare
-Artillery(Perception)
-Demolitions(Tech)
-Gunnery(Dexterity)
-Military Tactics(Wits)

Advantages

Behavior
Bold (2 pts: +2 Passion while acting when others hesitate)
Compassionate (2 pts: +2 Passion when helping others)
Curious (2 pts: +2 Extrovert when seeing something new)
Disciplined (2 pts: +2 Calm in combat situations)
Gracious (2 pts: + 2 Extrovert to guests)
Innovative (2 pts: +2 Tech when trying to invent something new)
Just (2 pts: +2 Passion when righting a wrong)
Loyal (2 pts: +2 Passion when following orders)
Suspicious (2 pts.: +2 to Perception when enemies about)
Unyielding (2 pts: +2 Endurance when pride is at stake)

Knacks
Ambidextrous (4 pts: no penalty for using an off-hand weapon)
Beastmaster (2 pts: +2 for non-combat interaction with animals)
Born Salesman (2 pts: +2 Extrovert when selling)
Compass (2 pts: +2 Wits when figuring out direction or location)
Crack Driver/Pilot (4 pts: +2 to all Drive skills)
Eloquent (2 pts: +2 Extrovert when swaying others through speech)
Fast Draw (2 pts: +2 Initiative drawing and firing a gun in same action)
Grease Monkey (4 pts: +2 with all Tech Redemption skills)
Hacker (2 pts: +2 with all think machine tasks)
Keen Ears (2 pts: +2 Perception with hearing only)
Keen Eyes (2 pts: +2 Perception with sight only)
Sensitive Smell (1 pt: +2 Perception with smell only)
Sensitive Touch (1 pt: +2 Perception to discern touched objects)
Sonorous (2 pts: +2 Extrovert when impressing others through speech)
Thrifty (2 pts: +2 Wits in matters involving money, supplies or resources)

Size
Dwarf (+5 pts: -2 Vitality, requires tailored clothing/armor)
Short (+3 pts: -1 Vitality)
Tall (3 pts: +1 Vitality)
Giant (5 pts: +2 Vitality, requires tailored clothing/armor)

Psi
Psychic Awakening(10 points): +3 Psi, +2 Wyrd, 1 first-rank Psi power. Base Wyrd is equal to Introvert or Extrovert, whichever is greater.

Theurgy
Theurgic Calling(10 points): +3 Theurgy, +2 Wyrd, 1 first-rank Theurgic rite. Base Wyrd is equal to Faith.

Combat Actions
Cost of 1 point per level of the combat action learned.

Characters

J. Rudolph Hammerworth, played by DisgruntledFerret

Liam Thomas, played by Druin

Holly Brackenfern, played by Zeplin666

XP

Total XP Awarded: 330
Bonus XP for "Cephirid Movie Fiction": 3 XP for DisgruntledFerret and Zeplin666
Bonus XP for "Describe A Crewmember": 3 XP for DisgruntledFerret and Zeplin666
Bonus XP for Rudolph for the BANANA BOT design: +2 XP for DisgruntledFerret
Bonus XP for Alien Amateur Art Interpretation: EVERYONE gets +3 XP
Bonus XP for The Grand CIA Plan: +3 XP for DisgruntledFerret and Zeplin666
Bonus XP for First Contact Shenanigans: +3 XP for DisgruntledFerret, Druin and Zeplin666
Bonus XP for deciding on the Large Hadron Cannon: +2 XP for everyone.

XP Costs

(Body, Mind, Spirit, Occult): 3×current rating
Learning new skill: 2 pts for level 1
Raising skills: 2×current rating
Combat actions: 1.5×level (round up)
Occult Powers: 2×level
Wyrd: 2×current rating

Equipment

Human Gear

Combat Actions, Psi Powers, Theurgy Rites

Advanced Skills

Locations/Information

Starmap, overview of the JumpNet as discovered so far. Invaluable for tracing a path back home… or further into the void.
Cold Harbour, first port of call for the Christopher Columbus.
Grubspire, second destination of the SV Christopher Columbus.

Characters/Creatures

SV Christopher Columbus, Crew and Cargo status
Cephirid Species
Lepidopt Species
Scourge Invaders

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