dark nova roleplaying game quick-start guide

Austun Cliften (order #6013159)

1

Welcome to the Dark Nova Roleplaying Game

Quick-Start Game. This booklet is an

introduction to the Dark Nova Roleplaying

Game, a sci-fi roleplaying game set in the 24th

century. If youre an experienced player who

knows all this stuff, share it with someone who

hasnt played before. If youre interested in how

to play the Dark Nova game, read on.

WHAT IS A ROLEPLAYInG GAME? In a roleplaying game, each individual involved

pretends to be an imaginary character, much the

same as an actor plays a part in a film or a play.

The big difference is that in a film, the actors are

following a scriptbut in a roleplaying game, you and the other players are writing your own

lines as you play out a mission, and the ending

of the story is not determined until you get there.

One of the individuals in a Dark Nova game is

the Game Master (GM for short), the person

who knows what the mission is all about and

tells the players whats happening as the story moves along. Its always necessary for someone to be the GM, but this doesnt have to be the same person every time you play. The other

individuals are players, each one playing the role

of his or her own character. The mission

included with these rules, titled Oupost 13, is for one GM and up to six players. In the Dark

Nova game, there are five primary professional

archetypes your character can be, and six

occupations within each of those archetypes.

They travel alien worlds or among the stars

themselves, living by their wits, skills and potent

weaponry. To play Outpost 13, each player selects one of the characters from the sheets on

pages 6-11. If you want to play more missions,

you can use this character over and overyou dont have to use a new character every time you play a new game.

The GM should read over all of these rules and

the mission before starting play. The players

should read pages 1-11 and look over the

character sheets on pages 6-11but dont read any farther, or the surprises of the mission will

be ruined!

THE CHARACTER SHEET Take a minute to look at the character sheets on

pages 6-11. Make photocopies of those pages if

you want and make sure that every player in

your group has the sheet for the character he or

she wants to play. Heres what all the information on the character sheets means.

Name: The characters name, already written in. Player: Thats you, the player running this character. Put your own name here.

Occupation: Dark Nova characters fall into

general archetypes, within which are numerous

occupations. Each occupation has advantages

over the others. The archetypes in this mission

include Combat Arms (who are good at

warfare), Adventurer (a motley mix of rough-

and-tumble types who ply the spacelanes of

Fringe space), Tech (engineers and other

technically-skilled types), Academics (skilled

and well-educated types whos knowledge is invaluable), and Socialite (socially-adept types

who have connections and charm). At least one

occupation from each archetype is represented

Race: In the Dark Nova game, characters can

belong to different races. In this mission, most

of the characters are Human, but a few are not.

Laes is a Teek, a diminutive race of saurians-

evolved dinosaur-like creatures- known for their

hyper-intelligence and technical savvy, and

Hrraghnak is a Garoudan, a race of powerful

lupine hunter-warriors. There are many different

races in the dark nova world, each of them

having their own advantages, disadvantages and

abilities.

Level: Characters can be carried over from one

mission to the next (like a saved game). As they have more missions, they become more

powerful. Level is a measure of how powerful

the characters are. In this mission, all the

characters are level 1, which means they are still

inexperienced and can grow more powerful.

Attributes and Ability Scores: These numbers

are the heart of a characters description. They tell what the strong and weak points of the

character are. Attributes are the sum total of the

three primary characteristics of a person-

Physical, Mental and Social. Ability Scores are

the specific aspects of those characteristics, such

as how strong or intelligent the characters are.


2

PHY is the average of your Physical stats.

Strength is how strong your character is.

Agility is how quick and agile your character is.

Endurance is how tough your character is.

MEN is the average of your Mental stats.

Intelligence is how smart your character is.

Willpower is how mentally tough your character is.

Perception is how aware of his surroundings your character is.

SOC is the average of your Social stats.

Charisma is how suave or how good of a leader your character is.

Beauty is how physically attractive your character is.

Savvy is how socially astute and adaptable your character is.

Galactic Average ability scores range from 3 to

18, with 3 being the lowest (and weakest), and

18 being the best. Some races or augmented

characters will be higher or lower than this

range.

Your characters ability scores have an effect on how well he or she does at certain things. Weve done all the calculations you need to play the

mission, so dont sweat it. Armor: This line tells you what type of armor

your character is wearing.

Armor Rating (AR): This line tells you how

much damage the armor you are wearing can

take before it is breached.

Target Acquisition Class (TAC): This number

tells you how hard your character is to hit, either

due to agility, special equipment, or both. The

higher the number, the harder it is to hit them.

Hit Points: Hit points are a measure of how

much damage your character can withstand.

Wounds: This line is used to keep track of the

wounds your character has taken. If this number

gets to be more than your characters hit points, he or she is defeated and out of the game. Use a

pencil to tally your characters wounds, in case some of them get healed by Sam, the crews medic.

Weapons: This section tells the types of

weapons each character has, how many attacks

per round he has with it, and how much damage

each weapon causes. To find out what things

like 1d8 and 1d10 mean, see the Funky Dice section on the following page. Skills: This line tells what skills your character

possesses. Skills are essential parts of the

character, explaining what he can do. In the full

Dark Nova game, the characters will have a

tremendous number of skills, but for the

purposes of this mission only the critical ones

are listed. Skill checks are rated on a 3-30 scale,

and the rating of your characters skills in that range gives you an idea how good they are at it.

Equipment: This is a listing of other important

stuff your character may have. Ordinary items

like clothing and commlinks arent mentioned, but things that may be useful, like motion

sensors and medical gear, are.

Occupation Description: The characters each

belong to a specific occupation within the five

archetypes listed previously. These are briefly

covered here.

HOW THE GAME WORKS In the Dark Nova game, the Game Master and

the players team up to tell a story. The GM has a

script, also called a mission, that describes the

adventure they are embarking on. The players

have character sheets, which tell them what their

characters can do and what items they can use.

The GM sets the stage, usually by reading a

prepared bit of text, telling the players what their

characters see. This might be a brief description

of the area where the characters are, or

information passed on from an informant, or a

technical or tactical brief given by a client.

The players then can ask questions and tell the

GM what they want their characters to do. The

GM tells the players what their characters see

and hear. Heres an example of how that works: GM: You see a strange, rounded urn-like device

with a cluster of crystals inset into it like

buttons.

Player: I take a closer look to see if they are

decorative or might actually be a keypad panel

of some sort.


3

GM: They appear to be arranged in a pattern,

and each has an unfamiliar glyph carved into

them.

Player: I pick up the device and press the

crystals to see if they activate it.

GM: As you press the crystals the device begins

to hum and vibrate slightly. The hum begins to

increase in volume and pitch, not unlike a

microreactor powering up. A chirping beep

begins to sound, increasing in frequency as the

hum increases.

Player: Uh, how fast can I run again?

You get the idea. Sometimes there is some doubt

about if a particular action is successful, if you

hit an opponent, or how much damage you

cause. For that you need the funky dice (see the

following section). Sometimes the players will

roll the dice and sometimes the GM will roll the

dice, depending on the situation.

Funky Dice Weapons (and a lot of other things in the game)

come with a set of numbers, like 1d8, 2d6, and

1d4+1. What do the numbers mean? They

describe different types of dice used in the Dark

Nova game. The number after the d tells you how many sides the die has. Ad6 is the normal kind of die youre probably used to seeinga cube with each side representing a number from

1 to 6. Other dice come in different shapes and

have different numbers of sides: 4, 8, 10, 12, and

20.

A number in front of the d tells how many dice should be rolled, so 1d8 means roll one 8-

sided die, and 2d4 means roll two 4-sided dice.

A plus sign followed by a number means that the

number should be added to the roll: 1d8+1 means roll an 8-sided die and add 1 to the result.

A multiplication sign followed by a number

means that the results of the roll should be

multiplied by that number: 1d6x10 means roll a 6-sided die and multiply it by 10.

On rare occasions you will see a combination of

the two, but for the purposes of this mission you

will use one or the other for simplicitys sake. Sometimes, you might see a number like 1d3,

which doesnt have an actual die for it. Obviously, there is no three-sided die, but you

can generate the right number range by rolling a

six-sided die and dividing by 2, then rounding

up. Thus, a 1 or 2 equals 1, a 3 or 4 equals 2, and

a 5 or 6 equals 3. A roll of 1d2 would use a d4,

with a 1 or 2 equaling 1, a 3 or 4 equaling a 2.

COMBAT The players are running characters who often

find themselves in a fight. The universe of Dark

Nova can be a very dangerous place, full of

predatory aliens, pirates, criminal syndicates,

and so many other threats. Your characters tend

to work at cross-purposes to these groups, and as

a result . . . we have combat.

The players roll the dice when their characters

are doing things. The GM rolls the dice for the

things he controls- like the characters he plays,

called non-player-characters or NPCs- or when

he wants to keep the results secret from the

players. If theres any question about who rolls, the GM decides (making decisions is part of the

job). In combat, players always roll for their

characters.

Combat is divided up into rounds, and characters

can attack a predetermined number of times with

a weapon each round. When all of the players

and NPCs have gone for the round, a new one

starts and the number of attacks available

refreshes. When combat starts, each player

needs to say what weapon his character is using.

Hrraghnak, for example, may use her pulse rifle

or her grenades. Both have advantages and

disadvantages. Each of the players needs to

make an attack roll, trying to get a particular number or higher on 1d20 (a 20-sided die). In

general, Combat Arms occupations are best at

combat and Socialite and Academic ones the

worst. Characters with high Physical ability

scores do better than those with lower ones.

Each player gets to roll to see if his or her

character scores a hit. In this mission, we

summarize all of this and tell you what number

each of the characters needs in order to hit. If

you miss, there is no penalty, except that the

opponent is still there and can attack your

character in return.

On a hit, your characters weapon causes a certain amount of damage. The pulse rifle, for

example, causes 2d8x10 points of damage to an

opponent. This is subtracted from their Armor

Rating first, and once the Armor Rating reaches

zero, it is subtracted from the hit points until

they also reach zero. The GM keeps track of

damage to the NPCs.


4

After the characters each get a chance to hit, the

GM makes attack rolls for the NPCs. Again,

weve done the calculations already in this mission, and we just give you the number

required. If a character is hit, the opponent does

an amount of damage determined by another die

roll. The player marks this damage as wounds on

his or her character sheet.

EQUIPMEnT The Dark Nova game is set in a science fiction

world, effectively our worlds future three centuries from now. Dark Nova characters use

energy weapons instead of gunpowder guns, fly

in skycars and starships instead of ground cars,

and fight pirates and aliens instead of the daily

commute. In the game, we throw around a lot of

words describing stuff from a much higher

technological level than what you may be used

to dealing with.

Weapons

Weapons in Dark Nova are divided into civilian-

grade (civ-grade) and military-grade (mil-spec)

levels of power. The power of a civilian-grade

weapon is comparable to a 12 gauge shotgun at

close range firing .00 buckshot mixed with a

slug, and is almost always lethal in one or two

shots.

Mil-spec weapons are designed to combat the

heavy armor worn by 24th century soldiers and

are very powerful, being a hundredfold more

potent than civ-grade weapons. The average mil-

spec sidearm has as much firepower as 21st

century heavy artillery, and is impossible to

survive without armor or substantial

augmentation.

Mil-spec heavy weapons can often unleash

kiloton or higher yield firepower- albeit much

more focused than an omnidirectional 21st

century nuclear weapon- and are understandably

highly restricted.

There are several types of weapons in Dark

Nova within these two categories. Ranged

weapons are predominantly energy weapons,

usually based on tried-and-true particle weapon

technology.

Particle Beam (PB): Uses a focused EM field

tube to contain a stream of charged particles that

travels from the emitter to the target at near-

luminal velocities (i.e. .999999% of the speed of

light). As the charged particles have some mass-

minute though it may be- travelling at

hypervelocity speeds, they cause significant

kinetic impact on the target. This can knock the

target back, depending on the size of the pulse

and the target it strikes. Additionally, the

charged particles release explosive energy upon

impact, causing thermal, radiant and explosive

damage.

Particle Projection (PP): Particle projection

weapons comprise the bulk of commonplace

weaponry of the 24th century. They use

magnetic acceleration to project self-contained

packets of protons cocooned within an EM field

that lasts for a few tenths of a second. Upon

impact, the field disperses and releases the

charged particles into the target with tremendous

force. Particle projection weapons have

significantly higher levels of kinetic impact from

the larger packet of hypervelocity charged

particles. Whereas a particle beam is like being

hit with a light-speed pencil, a particle

projection weapon is like being hit by a twenty

kilo boulder hurled at a tenth that speed.

Needless to say, it knocks target back and has

much greater explosive, radiant and thermal

damage.

Plasma (PL): Plasma is the product of a fusion

reaction, pure energy in its most primal state.

The stuff stars are made of- literally- and the

base component of particle weapons, plasma is

commonly found in the cores of fusion reactors.

Pure unfiltered plasma is very powerful, but also

dissipates very rapidly. The shotgun of the Dark

Nova universe, plasma weapons are area affect

weapons no matter whether they are pistols or

cannons.

Plasma Grenade (g): A plasma grenade is a

small sphere of fusion plasma contained within

an EM field inside a cooling shroud. The

grenade is activated when a command is given-

either to detonate immediately, or to do so after

a pre-designated time frame. Once the command

triggers detonation, the EM field disbands,

releasing the compressed plasma in a vicious

explosive outrush. The resulting fusion

explosion is tremendous, with an area of effect

of 10 meters radius.


5

Armor

Hard armor is made of a composite of materials

layered into plates of various thickness. These

materials are a mixture of hyper-dense (and thus

phenomenally heavy) atomically-bonded turine

or carbon with intervening layers of energy-

dispersing carbon nanotube aerogel. These

plates are worn over an energy-ablative

nanofiber suit that absorbs and redirects thermal,

radiant and kinetic energy into nanobattery

power cells spread throughout the suit. This suit

also has a synthetic myomer-like layer that acts

as an artificial muscle enhancement. This is

designed to compensate for the weight of the

armor, rendering its weight and heft neutral

while being worn (as well as giving the wearer

the strength to haul the armor on).

Reinforced Concealed Armor: This armor uses

the same energy-ablative nanoweave that goes

into the suits worn under heavier armor

combined with thin, flexible plates of ablative

armor material over vital areas. While nowhere

near as durable as conventional armor, it is

designed to be virtually undetectable.

Outer Tactical Vest (OTV): One of the most

common types of armor worn by law

enforcement, this upper-body set of hard armor

is thinner and lighter than the chest-and-back

plates of full-coverage hard armor. Providing a

second-chance protection against a pulse

weapon shot, it is not designed to stand up to

prolonged abuse. It is comprised of a chest and

back plate with bicep and shoulder pauldrons to

protect the upper arms.

Light Body Armor (LBA): Light armor is

designed to provide a basic level of protection

without compromising maneuverability. The

under-armor suit is thicker than normal,

providing a base-line body-wide protection

supplemented by thick, segmented armor plates

covering the vitals. It is environmentally-sealed,

meaning it can seal instantly to protect the

wearer against a sudden drop in pressure,

radiation or hostile atmosphere.

Medium Body Armor (MBA): The heaviest

armor in this mission, an MBA uses hardened

plate armor to cover 90% of the wearer's body,

all of which are layered over a standard under-

armor bodysuit. This fully-enclosed

environmentally-sealed body armor is capable of

handling EVA, and is very durable in a fight.

Energy Shields: Shields are a mixture of

ablative (absorbs the incoming energy damage)

and deflective (re-directs it), and are the first line

of defense against incoming attacks as well as

navigational hazards. They are commonplace on

vehicles and mandatory on ships.

Personal Shield Generators are a type of

energetic defense often worn with armor. These

are small shield generators, either built into

armor or worn at the waist, that create globular

shields around the character. Like the shields on

vehicles and ships, these deflect and ablate

energy that hits them, countering energy

weapons and most kinetic weapons.

Equipment Gear is as important as skill in the Dark Nova

universe. A character can be a brilliant engineer,

but without the proper tools she can do little

more than kick the sealed access panels in

frustration.

Medkit: A nanite-based medical kit. Medical

nanites are microscopic robots a few atoms in

size that repair damaged or altered cells within

the body, healing the character. This kit can treat

one patient at a time, healing them for 3d6+2 hit

points every round.

Collapsible Hover Stretcher: A stretcher that

collapses into a 18 bar when not in use that contains an antigravity field to float from 4" to 6'

above the ground. Can carry 5 tons and can be

extended to carry four patients simultaneously.

Motion Detector: A handheld device that scans

for disturbances in a projected gravitic detection

field in a fashion similar to a radar-based motion

detector. It accurately determines the number,

location, and general direction of all moving

objects or persons within 50 meters.

Maglock Keygen Card: The 24 century

equivalent of lockpicks, these systems generate

the complex series of passcode keys required to

open a maglock. Adds +6 to Lockpicking skill

rolls.

Nanite Inhibitor Field Generator: A device that

emits a specialized field which destroys nanites

within 20 meters per use, and has enough power

for four uses.

Multi-Optic Headset: Sunglass-like headset

with low-light, thermal, Chemical Residue Trace

(CRT) imaging, pattern mapping, infrared,

ultraviolet, magnified (x30 max) vision, and the

ability to record up to ten hours of video or stills.


6

Character Sheet Name: Ryker Teague Player: _______________________

Occupation: Freetrader (Adventurer)

Race: Human

Level: 1

Attributes and Ability Scores

PHY-

Strength 14

Agility 16

Endurance 16

MEN-

Intelligence 12

Willpower 11

Perception 13

SOC-

Charisma 13

Beauty 12

Savvy 15

Armor: Light Body Armour (LBA)

Armor Rating: 500

Target Acquisition Class: 17

Hit Points: 37

Wounds: __________________________

Weapons:

Weapon # Attacks Dmg

Hawkeye Plasma Pistol 2 6d12+10(PL)

Vibroknife 2 1d6x10(VB)

Skills:

Pilot Starship: 22 Smuggling: 20

Parts Scrounging: 16 Surveillance: 14

Equipment: Vessel- Rourkes Revenge

Occupation Description: Freetraders are

men and women who dislike the yoke of

governmental controls and prefer the

freedom of open space where they can make

their own destinies. They are armed

merchantmen, smugglers and spacers whose

ships and crew are well-trained and well-

armed. Their specialty is getting goods from

point A to point B, in spite of the dangers,

and in spite of whether people at point A

want the goods departing, or if people in

point B want them arriving.

Ryker Teague is a Freespacer, having been

born and raised on an independent colony in

non-national space. Not being a part of any

of the larger nations of the Terran Alliance,

Ryker- like most Freespacers- has no

particular loyalties to or biases against any

of those nations, making him a truly neutral

merchantman.

Freespace: Freespace is the term used to

describe the huge swaths of known space

that are made up of independent star

systems. In most cases, Freespace is

comprised of a single system, or as many as

a half-dozen neighboring systems, each

independent or under a single non-national

governance. These systems are owned and

governed by corporations, syndicates,

guilds, etc., and not by any country in the

classical sense. These colonies are often

located along the edges of larger nationally-

saturated territories (largely because the big

nations annex independent systems deep

within their own territory, usually through

political or economic methods, but on

occasion through good old-fashioned brute

force), but some stretches of space are full

of them. Freespace is almost completely

deregulated, where just about anything but

slaves are legal to buy and sell. Many firms

are based out of Freespace as a result.


7

Character Sheet Name: Samantha Sam Nielson Player: _______________________

Occupation: Combat Medic (Adventurer)

Race: Human

Level: 1


PHY-

Strength 14

Agility 15

Endurance 16

MEN-

Intelligence 16

Willpower 13

Perception 17

SOC-

Charisma 9

Beauty 16

Savvy 11

Armor: Light Body Armor (LBA)

Armor Rating: 500


Hit Points: 38

Wounds: __________________________

Weapons:


PPR40 Pulse Rifle 4 2d8x10(PP)

Hawkeye Plasma Pistol 2 6d12+10(PL)

Skills:

Paramedic, Tactical: 19 Field Surgery: 17

Tactics: Small Unit: 15 Biology: 14

Equipment: Medkit (heals 3d6+2 hit points

per round), collapsible hover stretcher

Occupation Description: Combat medics

are soldiers or mercenaries who specialize in

tactical medical care. While they are just as

capable at combat as their comrades-in-

arms, the focus of the combat medic is to

extract and treat wounded soldiers and

mercenaries. Providing out-of-hospital care

under combat conditions and often in austere

environments requires far higher levels of

training and capabilities than a conventional

ambulance medic.

Samantha is a former paramedic for the

North American Union Colonial Marine

Corps. After hearing about the Hardin

Massacre- wherein an NAU commander

orbitally bombarded civilian populations of

the breakaway Free Systems Alliance- she

resigned her commission and went

independent. She has served as a tactical

medic for several mercenary firms,

including Varangian Guard, Spartan Group

and PMSC. She is taking a break from high-

threat ops by signing on with a Freetrader

crew as their medical officer, hoping to

make easy money and enjoy a less-stressful

working environment hopefully.

Mercenary Firms: Mercenary firms of the

24th

century are effectively private militaries

used by Freespace systems to protect against

outside aggression. They are descended

from the PMCs of the 20th

and 21st century

but with an offensive mandate as well as

defensive. Freelance mercenaries are not

uncommon, but are usually specialists who

are in high demand in other arenas. Most

mercenaries belong to a mercenary firm or

to a guild of one sort or another. Merc firms

are all licensed, insured, and follow strict

guidelines and standards of conduct that

bely the term having been such a dirty word

only a few centuries prior.


8

Character Sheet Name: Hrraghnak Player: _______________________

Occupation: Mercenary (Combat Arms)

Race: Garoudan

Level: 1


PHY-

Strength 22

Agility 18

Endurance 21

MEN-

Intelligence 12

Willpower 13

Perception 17

SOC-

Charisma 12

Beauty 12

Savvy 12

Armor: Medium Body Armor (MBA)

Armor Rating: 1,000


Hit Points: 65

Wounds: __________________________

Weapons:


PPR40 Pulse Rifle 4 2d8x10(PP)

4 Plasma Grenades 1 per 3d12x100(g)

Skills:

Tactics, Small Unit: 17 Gunnery: 19

Stealth: 21 First Aid: 15

Equipment: Motion Detector (gives number

and location of everyone within 50 meters)

Occupation Description: Mercenaries are

the most common Combat Arms occupation.

While they can have moral and ethical codes

ranging from apathetic to staunchly

idealistic and noble, warfare and conflicts

are their career. They are combatants-for-

hire and are all skilled, disciplined, licensed,

and follow strict rules and guidelines of

operation.

Hrraghnak is a member of the Hruagna tribe,

which is one of many tribes within the Angji

faction of the Garoudan race. The Angji were on

the losing side of a religious civil war, and fled

into Terran space to avoid being genocided out

by the brutal Garouja. Her tribe settled in the

Human nation of the Free Systems Alliance

which had just won a war for independence from

the North American Union.

Hrraghnak is young, barely an adult at 16, but

old enough to become a mercenary. After

serving a year with the famous mercenary firm

Spartan Group, she has set out on her own to

build up her fortune and reputation.

Ryker recently hired her on as his primary

gunner and counter-boarding specialist

(something like a marine), something she has

excelled at. While she is not a true novice, she

has only been in a few direct-engagement

firefights. The thrill of the Hunt hooked her,

though, and she feels she has found her calling.

Garoudan: Despite being lupine in appearance,

Garoudan are actually closer to feline

genetically. They are huge, with females being

larger than males at around 76 to 8, and males being from 7 to 76 in height. Garoudan are very religious, holding the Hunt as a sacral part

of their religious practices. They make excellent

warriors, but are also quite adept at art,

philosophy and the sciences. They have

phenomenal senses of smell, hearing and sight.


9

Character Sheet Name: Laes Player: _______________________

Occupation: Greasemonkey (Tech)

Race: Teek

Level: 1


PHY-

Strength 8

Agility 15

Endurance 10

MEN-

Intelligence 24

Willpower 13

Perception 17

SOC-

Charisma 12

Beauty 13

Savvy 16

Armor: Outer Tactical Vest (OTV)

Armor Rating: 400


Hit Points: 20

Wounds: __________________________

Weapons:


Renovator Pulse Pistol 2 3d12+10(PP)

Skills:

Mechanics: 20 Computer Operation: 15

General Repair: 20 Starship Engineering: 18

Jury Rigging: 21 Electronics: 16

Netjacking: 17 Salvage: 17

Equipment: Nanite Inhibitor Field Generator

Occupation Description: Greasemonkeys have

an innate knack for mechanics that is expressed

in a pragmatic, often chaotic and/or quirky

manner. They are masters of the unorthodox

quick-fix using at-hand materials rather than

proper methods.

Unlike engineers, Greasemonkeys tend to prefer

coming up with innovative- and sometimes

insane- solutions through outside-the-box

thinking. The scary part is- it usually works.

Laes has always been obsessed with

technology like most of his race, but in

the practical application of engineering

science he is a bit more eccentric. Of the six lobes of his brain, the more

creative- and also hyperactive- lobe has

tended to be the dominant one. This has

caused him to be ostracized to some

extent by his more disciplined

colleagues.

Laes has taken his extensive knowledge

of Terran-based technology and

combined it with his innovative- if

unorthodox and occasionally dangerous-

methods to earn himself a place on the

crew of the Rourkes Revenge as the engineer.

Teek: Teek are a diminutive (3-36) saurian race that hails from a world with

continent-wide jungles. They evolved to

sentience and tool-use in order to survive,

and that drive has led them to become

instinctual inventors and tinkerers. Obsessed

with technology and machinery, they are

masterful engineers and techs. Oddly, they

have no true central government, but have

proliferated throughout many other races territories. Teek have six lobes in their brain

and- not unlike Terran dolphins- they do not

sleep in the normal manner, but instead rest

two lobes at a time. Unfortunately, this can

cause radical personality changes, depending

on which lobes are active at the time.


10

Character Sheet Name: Katherine Kat Martin Player: _______________________

Occupation: Freelance Intelligence Analyst

(Academic)

Race: Human

Level: 1


PHY-

Strength 10

Agility 16

Endurance 15

MEN-

Intelligence 17

Willpower 17

Perception 17

SOC-

Charisma 9

Beauty 14

Savvy 15

Armor: Reinforced Concealed Armor

Armor Rating: 150


Hit Points: 35

Wounds: __________________________

Weapons:



Skills:

Intelligence Analysis: 19 Cryptography: 20

Military Intelligence: 19 Surveillance: 22

Detect Concealment: 21 Netjacking: 16

Equipment: Maglock Keygen Card

Occupation Description: Intel analysts are

skilled in understanding and interpreting enemy

actions to compile an overall strategic profile of

their opponents, piecing together information to

determine changes in target capabilities and

probable courses of action. Freetraders often

provide transport and a base of operations for

such analysts in exchange for a cut of the profit

and their skills as strategic thinkers for when a

situation gets out of hand.

Kat is a former intelligence officer from

the powerful mercenary firm Spartan

Group. Irritated by the limitations of

desk work for a large corporation, she

has taken her skills and connections

independent, setting out on her own to

forge her own destiny. Along the way

she has made more than a few enemies,

and found that being on the move is the

best course of action until she can

consolidate a solid power base. So, she

serves aboard the Rourkes Revenge as diplomatic liaison and intel gatherer,

keeping Ryker up to speed on events

around them lest the crew be caught

unawares.

Humans: One of the strangest races in

known space as there are three parallel-

evolution human species: the Terrans,

Khurians, and Naradi. No one has ever

been able to explain how the same

species could evolve separately on three

different worlds, thus spurring

speculation of genetic seeding or

manipulation by a long-gone race. The

large number of near-human species in

existence- such as the Namaran and

Kyaren- lend support to this argument,

but it is still hotly debated in

anthropological and philosophical

circles. Humans are noted for their

incredibly stubborn wills, adaptability,

and Machiavellian cunning. Between the

three Human species, they are the most

widespread race in known space.


11

Character Sheet Name: Miles Carter Player: _______________________

Occupation: Field Journalist (Socialite)

Race: Human

Level: 1


PHY-

Strength 13

Agility 17

Endurance 14

MEN-

Intelligence 12

Willpower 13

Perception 14

SOC-

Charisma 15

Beauty 14

Savvy 19

Armor: Reinforced Concealed Armor

Armor Rating: 150


Hit Points: 32

Wounds: __________________________

Weapons:



Vibroknife 2 1d6x10(VB)

Skills:

Persuasion: 17 Journalism: 21

Knowledge, Corporations: 17 Research: 20

Writing, Compelling: 19 Surveillance: 16

Equipment: Multi-Optics Headset

Occupation Description: Field journalists are

often freelance journalists who travel to the hot-

spots to get edgy stories. Despising Core World

media focus on political intrigue and scandals,

field journalists go where the real stories are,

traveling to the Colonial Territories and the

Fringe to find the juicy stories- wars, pirate

raids, alien marauders, colonial disasters and the

heroism that saves them, new races or worlds of

interest discovered, etc. Field journalists seek

these stories out for profit and recognition.

Miles Carter is the son of a Terran

privateer and a Khurian slave he rescued.

Of mixed heritage, Miles has a unique

perspective on the world- his mothers idealism and his fathers love of the stars combined to drive him to learn as much

about the universe as he can, and share it

with the world at large. It also drives him

to cover stories of heroism to inspire

others, and to expose corruption to bring

petty tyrants and slavers into the light.

Core Worlds and the Fringe: The Core

Worlds are the most heavily-settled

planets in the human sphere, each having

a population in the tens- even hundreds-

of billions. Most of these were the most

habitable of the colony worlds settled

during the first rush of settlement in the

22nd

century. Core Worlds are secure

systems that are often the seat of

governmental and industrial-economic

power. By contrast, the Fringe is the

outermost edge of human settlement,

comprised of poorly equipped, oft-

primitive, dangerous and sparsely-

populated colonies. In between the Core

Worlds and the Wild-West-like chaos of

the Fringe lie the Colonial Territories.

This makes up the majority of the human

sphere, comprising 88% of settled

worlds. The colonial territories vary in

makeup from populous worlds with

hundreds of millions of colonists to

rough-and-tumble colonies only one or

two steps up from a Fringe colony.


12

The Game Masters Section This part of the booklet is for the GM, and

contains information that the GM should

know, but the players should not. If you just

want to be a GM, keep on reading.

Otherwise, pass these rules back to your

GM.

WHAT THE GM DOES The Game Master is part director, part

storyteller, part central processing unit for the

game. The GM is responsible for telling the

players what their characters see, telling them

what the results of their characters actions are, and keeping the game moving. The GM runs all

the characters that are not controlled by the

players. (Thats not as hard as it might seem, because only a few of these characters are active

in the story at any single time.)

This part of the Dark Nova Fast-Play Game is an

introduction to being a GM. We walk through a

very simple mission, which you can run for your

friends. We cover the basics of combat and

movement. There are a lot of numbers and tables

in the Dark Nova game, but weve simplified everything for the mission youre about to runwe did the calculations so you dont have to. How do you tell who wins? Well, a roleplaying

game is different from a lot of other games

because there is no clear winner. Instead, the characters all grow and improve together, and

the players enjoy seeing their characters succeed

in one mission after another. The GM gets his

reward by helping that growth, challenging the

players as everyone gets together to tell a group

story. It is much like a series of novels, except

that the gaming group is simultaneously the

author and the reader. The longer the series

progresses, the more attached to the characters

you become, and the more powerful and capable

they grow.

RUnnING A GAMInG SESSIOn Some sections of the text of the mission are

inside boxes. These sections are usually

supposed to be read aloud to the players, and are

preceded by some line like If the characters do such-and-such, read the following aloud. This is information that you, the GM, are giving the

playerswhat their characters see and hear.

In addition, the players will have additional

questions about what their characters see and

experience. You might say, You see a door, and the players will respond, What does the door look like? You check the text of the mission to see if theres anything special about the door. If there is, you say something like Its a large blast door secured with a maglock. There

is an access console to the right of it on the

wall. If there isnt, you make something up. This is what the GM is allowed to do. The

players wont know if it was in the text or not (well, if you dont get carried away, that is). The GM is in charge of filling in the blanks. We

cant cover everything that might happen in the text of the mission (though were shooting for the major ones), so the GM is encouraged to

provide his own input into the game.

The GM plays the roles of particular characters

from time to time. In this mission theres a corporation- Acheron Planetary Services, Inc.-

that sends the characters in to investigate

Outpost 13, and a mad scientist who appears

towards the end of the mission. Additionally,

there are dozens of nanite-infected zombies, but they are largely mindless automatons and not

characters in the true sense.

At times like this, you are asked to act in character, as if you were Mr. Deacon, the corporate contact, or the mad scientist Dr.

Bernard. When youre in character, you might not know certain facts. (For instance, Mr.

Deacon has no idea what actually happened at

Outpost 13, although you- the GM- do.) Playing

the parts of these characters is your chance to do

a little roleplaying of your own. Youre ready to play. Youve read over the scenario, youre comfortable with the mission, and you even have a set of the funky dice.

So how do you really start?

Get your friends together, as few as one and

as many as six. If you have only one or two

players, you might want them to double up,

each playing two characters instead of just

one. Give them a choice of which character to

play. If more than one wants a particular

character, either let them hash it out among

themselves or else make multiple photocopies

and let them change the names, creating

duplicates of the same character. (Just remember

that in the mission, this new character will use


13

the same dice and stats as the one he was copied

from.)

Get comfortable someplace with enough flat

space to roll dice. Usually this means a kitchen

or dining room table, but if youre just as comfortable on the floor, sitting on bean-bag

chairs, go for it.

The players dice should be rolled where everyone can see them. The GMs dice may often need to be rolled in secret, where the

players cannot see them. This is because the

GM may have to roll the dice, then give the

players information based on that die roll, and

the players might get an unfair hint on how

their character succeeded (or failed) if they can

see the roll. In those cases, the GM should use

a book or piece of paper to shield the result

from others. This isnt cheating- the GM is supposed to be fair with his rolls, regardless.

Its generally a good idea to make combat rolls out in the open and let the players keep track

of their characters hit points. The GM should sit where the other players

cannot look over her shoulder (so they cant read whats coming up in the mission). Usually this is at the head of the table, with the

players on both sides. Leave enough space to

roll dice in front of you.

Once you get started reading the mission,

youll ask the players what their characters are doing. At first, you should go around the table,

asking each in turn. For a lot of decisions the

choice is fairly clear, and after a while the GM

doesnt have to ask everyone, but at first its a good idea to keep everyone involved. In combat,

you always ask each person what his character

is doing, even if he is not immediately

involved in the fighting.

Try to keep everyone from talking at once.

When youre reading a section aloud or answering questions, the players should listen

to you. Similarly, you as the GM should listen

to their comments and actions fully. Get

everyones input before going on with the next round or action.

It may be to your advantage to know in the

course of a mission where all the characters

are, exactly. If the characters in the front row

step on a booby trap pressure plate or tripwire to

a mine, or an enemy attacks the last character in

line, its very important to know who is where

ahead of time, so there are no arguments. Set up

a marching order to determine who is in front and who is in the rear. You can do this on a

sheet of paper, or you can arrange dice, counters,

or miniature figures to show who is where. This

is very useful when large combats with multiple

opponents break out.

A group of players may have a natural party

leader who states what the characters are doing

as a group. (For example: Were all going down the corridor.) Thats fine, but dont let the caller dominate the others or state their

actions for them. (For example: Bobs character will suicide-bomb the enemy pursuers with a

plasma grenade while the rest of us escape with

the data stores!) If this happens, turn to the other players and get confirmation.

(For example: So, Bob, do you really want to lay down your life here?) Sometimes a character may discover something

that the other characters might not know- an

example might be the character who is exploring

the next room on a vessel while the other

characters remain in the hallway. If that is the

case, ask that player to step aside, to a corner or

another room, and quietly tell him what his

character sees. That player in turn might have

his own actions, which might require a die roll

or two. Dont take too long, but give him the gist of what he sees or can do.

Last, players may disagree about the wisest

course of action for their group. Thats normal, and its not your primary task to steer them to one decision or another. Let them find their own

way of figuring out whos in front, who gets first dibs on items or weapons looted, who has the

best idea of how to fight the bad guys, and

whos going to sacrifice herself valiantly while the rest escape. Just remember that a player

controls her characters actions, and that she has the final decision on those actions. Thats about it for the basics. Get your friends and jump in!


14

TIME AnD COMBAT Time in the game is broken down into rounds like the rounds of a boxing match, only a lot

shorter. In a single round, your character can

generally do one particular thing: draw a

weapon, move around a bit, shoot a couple of

times, open a door, and so forth. During most of

the mission you dont have to keep close track of time. But there are certain situations, like

combat, when time becomes important.

When the characters are fighting, you need to

know what everybody is doing at any certain

time. Heres how you keep things straight: Decide what the NPCs you control are going to do: Who are they attacking?

How are they attacking? Are they

running away?

Ask each player what his or her character is doing. Usually allow a

character to do only one thing at a time.

(Most characters can do some things

more than once a round, such as firing

weapons, for example.)

After all the players have said what their characters are doing, let them

execute their actions. (In this mission,

the players always get to try to hit their

opponents first.)

Then execute your NPCs actions after the players have gone. If an NPC is killed before

they can act, remove them from the cue. Thats about it.

STARTInG A GAME SESSIon Lets say youre going to be the GM for this evening. Its always a good idea to read through the mission before you run it, just so you know

whats coming. You bring to the table this mission- a set of the funky dice, some scratch

paper, pencils, and some graph paper (if you

wantits not a necessity). If you can, photocopy the character sheets so the players can use them

without writing on the originals. It should take

about about two to three hours to play this

mission, more if you take your time, less if you

speed right along.

You should have between one and six players

for this mission, four to six being the ideal. If

you have only one player, let him run two

characters.

Most of the NPCs in this mission arent too tough, but there are a lot of them, and they could

be too much for just one character to handle. Its good if the players have a chance to read pages

1-5 of this booklet ahead of time, but thats not a necessity. You can fill them in on things as they

go along. It will just be easier for them if they

already have a handle on the basics.

Once you get settled, here is what you, the GM,

say:

What were going to do here is tell a story, a story that youre going to help create. Each of you has a character: a

mercenary, a Freetrader, etc. The story

takes place three centuries from now, in a

world very different from our own, yet at

the same time similar. Humanity has

spread out amongst the stars, and

discovered many other races in the

galaxy. Im going to be the Game Master, or GM. Ill describe what your characters see, and youre going to tell me what your characters do in response. Do well, and

your characters will be rewarded with

wealth and increased capabilities. Look at

your character sheets and we can run

down what the various numbers and items

mean.

Give the players a chance to review their

character sheets and ask any questions. You

should know most of the answers about what the

numbers mean from reading the first section of

these rules. The characters are assumed to know

each other somewhat, having been recently hired

on together, so let them look at each others sheets if they wish. In fact, the informational

excerpts on races, occupations and setting within

Dark Nova should be available to all players.

This would be a good time to explain about the

funky dice to the players if they dont already know. Dont worry about when you need to roll themwell tell you as the mission progresses.


15

BEGInnING THE MISSIOn Once the players are comfortable with their

characters, read the following aloud:

You are all recent additions to the crew of

the Freetrader vessel Rourkes Revenge. Ryker recently inherited the ship from his

retiring father, and you are the first crew

he pulled together. Youve been flying the spacelanes for a few months now,

transporting cargo throughout the many

nations of the Terran Alliance- a loose

coalition of the dozens of sovereign

nations of Terra, or Earth as it used to be

called.

It is 15 February, 2318, and you are

bored. Three weeks of conventional, low-

pay cargo runs to keep the jump drive

fueled with Corellium has led to a bit of

cabin fever. You crew on a Freetrader to

make a fortune, not haul spare parts and

food stuffs. You are all half tempted to

take the risk of delving into privateering,

but the licenses involved are too

expensive. The accounts are growing

smaller, the stores are dwindling, and you

are down to the last few jumps on your

last Corellium fuel rod. After that, youre grounded. You need work, and you need

it fast.

As if in answer to your prayers, you

receive a call on your job-offer comm

line. You gather together on the bridge as

the holoscreen comes to life, and find

yourself facing a typically handsome Core

World male face. His almost plastic good-

looks are marred by a worried frown,

however.

Now you, the GM, are going to speak in the role

of Mr. Deacon, the corporate contact. You can

give him an elitist voice with a high British

accent if you want, or just talk normally. Theres a little bit of acting involved here, but you dont have to do anything you feel uncomfortable

with. Continue reading aloud:

My name is Mr. Deacon, I represent a major mining interest in Freespace that

shall remain nameless for the time being.

I am in need of your services, and am

willing to be quite generous for your

timeand your discretion. I will reveal more mission details if you accept and

sign off on a contract with a standard

Non-Disclosure Agreement. Without

violating the NDA, however, I can tell

you that this mission is a dirtside

investigation of an incident with unknown

risk factors on a Freespace world still

undergoing terraforming. The atmo is

breathable, but there is no biosphere and

the weather patterns are unpredictable at

best. No hostile forces are believed to be

involved at this time. Are you interested?

At this point, the characters would most

certainly be interested, but give the players a

chance to roleplay their reactions. Once they

have agreed, read the following aloud:

Good to hear. I see your e-signature on the contract and NDA is valid, so lets get down to the brass-tacks of the matter. Two additional windows open in your

holoscreen as Mr. Deacon continues his

briefing. One shows a planet, its surface

obscured by thick cloud cover typical of a

Year Two terraforming operation. By the

fifth year, the world will likely have a full

biosphere of flash-cloned plants and

animals, and be very much like Terra, but

for now it is a desolate, storm-wracked

world. The other window shows a

schematic map of a small mining colony.

It has high walls to protect against the

storms, and is comprised of a series of

interlinked habitat modules that were

likely placed there before the world had a

breathable atmosphere. Mr. Deacon

continues-

We have lost contact with Outpost 13, one of eighteen mining outposts in the

Sekai system, and the only one on the

planet Telarus. It is our only manned

mining operation, pulling up Corellium,

with the other seventeen outposts being

automated Saberite and Turine mines.

Now, as you all well know, Corellium is

incredibly valuable due to its use in jump

engine fuel rods, and the fact that it

cannot be synthesized in a nano-vat due to


16

being a material form of exotic matter.

This makes any active mine a target of

potential raiders.

However, our survey probe has detected no signs of hostilities in the system- no

wreckage or energy signatures in orbit,

and our orbital defense platform grids are

still in place and active. The probe also

detected no damage to the colony itself.

As you also know, Corellium is used as a

fuel source because it is an energy

amplifier, having an output many

thousands of times greater in magnitude

than the energy put into it. It is also

potentially dangerous and will explode

with several kilotons or higher yield in

force if hit by stray energy or pulse

weapon shots. After pirates or raiders, our

second fear was an accident involving the

Corellium. However, the amount stored

on-site wouldve annihilated the colony and everything for a hundred miles in all

directions, an event easily detected by the

probe.

Lastly, our defense grid detected no emergency signals from the planet below.

The probe linked with the defense

platforms AIs and discovered that nothing unusual had occurred prior to the

comm blackout. We have visually

confirmed that the uplink relay is intact,

and the probe successfully handshake-

signaled it. However, comms seem to

have been cut off somewhere between the

colony and the uplink. There are back-up

portable transmitters that could have been

used to contact the defense grid and get a

signal out. This was not done, nor have

we sighted any personnel in the colony

itself. We need a manned-presence on the

ground to investigate and find out what

has happened there, and your vessel is the

closest one to the Sekai system.

The mission is simple- land on the STO pad, enter the colony, make contact with

the personnel if any can be located, find

out what happened, and report. If it is an

immediate threat to life and limb,

evacuate the personnel. Your vessel is

adequate to that task, and will be cleared

through the defense grid. If you accept,

you will be compensated with 50,000

credits each, and ten high-potency

Corellium fuel rods for your vessel, good

for a thousand jumps each. What say

you?

Now comes the players chance to respond to Mr. Deacons request. They may have other questions about the colony, the system, potential

hazards, and so on. Heres what he can tell them-

Outpost 13 was established before terraforming began. The Corellium vein is the

only one in the system, and was discovered by

the turine mining operation by accident. It has

been there for five years. Terraforming began due to the size of the vein- expected to produce steady amounts of

Corellium for twenty years. After the mine taps

out, the corporation plans on using the world as

the home for miners and support personnel for

the Turine and Saberite mining operations. The

terraformers are all functioning appropriately,

and no unusual activity or atmospheric issues

were detected by the probe. Still, I recommend

caution and an on-site atmo survey. There are no other operations or colonies on the planet, though Dr. Bernard- our nanotech

specialist for the colony- is doing some personal

research on new models of industrial nanites. I

am unaware of the nature of it, however, beyond

the fact that it was a small side-project.

Everything else in the colony is focused on

mining or support for the miners- restaurant, bar,

brothel, clinic, virtual sports, etc. There are no hostile nations or races nearby. The Sekai system is in a region of Freespace

near the territories of both the Tarsus Corridor

Alliance and Han-Zhou Empire, and is relatively

safe. Pirate activity in the region has been light,

and targeting shipping lanes exclusively, with no

dirtside assaults. We have already dispatched an emergency response vessel from Freeport Londinium, but

youd be able to beat their response time by four hours, making you our best bet. Youre only a twenty minute jump from the system with a

straight shot, no navigational hazards in the way.

Time is pressing, as you may need to evac the

colonists ASAP. Im afraid theres no time to acquire additional equipment or supplies.


17

Outpost 13 Once the players get everything squared away

with Mr. Deacon, the crew jumps to Telarus

with orders to investigate Outpost 13 and report

back. Read the following to the players:

The tunnel of swirling lights emerging

from a point of pure blackness in front of

you is thankfully calm. You see no

disruptive gravitic ripples in the walls of

the quantum tunnel, and a stable

wormhole is a good sign. With a flash of

blue-white light you jump out of

hyperspace back into normal space. A

distant dot expands in less than a second

into a planet filling your viewport as you

decelerate and fall into orbit. You notice a

dozen Identify- Friend or Foe tags light

up in your HUD, spaced in equidistant

orbits around the planet. The Rourkes Revenge is pinged by inquiry signals and

targeting sensors from the defense grid,

but your IFF codes identify your vessel as

a friendly one, and the targeting systems

unlock.

The planet below is a mass of swirling

clouds and flashes of lightning. It has one

moon, a crater-pocked blackrock body not

unlike Luna back in the Sol system. Mr.

Deacons nav data indicates an approach and landing pattern that bypasses the

worst of the storms generated by the

atmosphere processors. You easily slip

into the atmosphere, your anti-grav fields

and shields making the gusting winds and

buffeting updrafts little more than sensor

noise on your screens.

You do an initial flyover of the colony.

Deacons information proves to be accurate, and the colony structures appear

to be intact, if a bit run-down from the

harsh weather. You see no signs of a

fight- no blast points, no bodies, nothing

to indicate a fight happened. The

perimeter lights along the wall are on, as

are the lights of the command center. No

other illumination can be seen, however.

Thermal, ultrasound and Chemical

Residue Trace imaging show no signs of

life or movement.

The mine shaft is located on the far side

of the complex from the STO pad, and as

you pass over it you can see the main lift

shaft car is down in the depths of the

mine. A handshake attempt with the local

computer network doesnt take, indicating that it is offline.

Satisfied that there are no immediate

threats, you bring the ship in for a landing

on the Surface to Orbit landing pad

outside of the colony. The surface of

Telarus is barren and rocky, with no plant

or animal life to speak of. In the distance,

rising up like a mountain of carbon fiber

and turine-steel is the nearest of dozens of

atmospheric processors. Howling winds

buffet the vessel as you shut down the

defense shields, and rain pours down on

the hull in sheets that obscure the

viewport.

At this point the players can determine where

they wish to go and how. If they choose to

depart the vessel fully-armed and armored, feel

free to let them. They are investigating an

unknown situation, and hostiles may be present.

The facility is shown on the map on Page 19,

and the area descriptions are on Page 20. Use the

information from this text and the map to

describe the area. A players map is in the back of this booklet for their use as well.

Ask each player what his or her character is

doing. Most likely their responses will be along

the lines of I am exiting the ship cautiously, looking for any threats. The perimeter walls are high, but are designed to protect against the

wind rather than attack. Both gates stand open.

When the first member of the crew enters the

area of the gate closest to the STO pad, read the

following to that player. The other players can

listen in:

You can see from your vantage point that

all of the doors to the outpost are secured.

Red indicator lights on the doors you can

see from your vantage point indicate that

they are all locked. You still see no signs

of struggle or attack. Several load-lifter

robots- required instead of AG field lifters

due to the unpredictable nature of

Corellium when exposed to energy- stand

powered-down in their cradles.


18


19

A. STO Pad- A large landing platform designed to handle Surface-to-Orbit shuttles and transports. The Rourkes Revenge fills 80% of the pad once it has set down. A flattened expanse of rock has been carved into a crude road to accommodate ground vehicles so common in primordial terraforming environments as

they transport material to and from the STO pad. On either side are wind-swept rocks and protrusions of

stone that cast wild shadows in the flashes of lightning

B. ATC system- Automatic Traffic Control system that guides drone shuttles and meat-body piloted transports to and from the STO pad. It cannot perform any other function or provide any other data except transport

schedules. However, it logs that the last transport departed three hours prior to the communications

blackout.

C. Perimeter Wall- These sixty-feet-high, ten-feet-thick walls are designed to protect the colonists from the powerful blasts of wind that sweep Telarus regularly. They have neither walkways nor perimeter towers as

they are not designed for defense.

D. Gates- These large gates open wide enough to accommodate the large load-lifter trucks that carry shielded crates of Corellium. Both gates are wide-open, and the controls to open and close them work. They are,

however, located in the command center.

E. Habitat Modules- These large apartment modules contain 20 small studio apartments and four large family apartments each. They are two-story rugged structures that can be dropped from orbit and grav-chuted into

place automatically. They interlink with fortified collars and passageways, and are more than tough enough

for the rough environment of Telarus.

F. Uplink Tower- the thirty-feet-tall transmitter tower that links the outpost to the Hyperpulse beacon satellite in orbit overhead. It does not appear to be damaged at all, and investigation of its systems reveals that it is

in working order.

G. Primary Power Plant- This is a bank of fusion micro-reactors with SafeCore technology that safely disperses the fusion plasma if a breach occurs. All appear to be in working order, but the monitoring system

reports that only a small amount of power is being drawn from them, far less than the colony would at full

operating capacity.

H. Infirmary- This is a small hospital that is able to handle most injuries, including four regeneration tanks to accommodate mass-trauma victims.

I. Mess Hall- This large cafeteria-like dining area can accommodate all of the colonists in a single sit-down meal comfortably. Includes multiple autochefs and service dispensers. Food is free- a perk of being a

miner- so all of the ordering is done via touch-screen menu and dispensed automatically.

J. Waste Reclamation Stations- As with any sealed station, ALL waste products- sewage, air, etc.- are reprocessed through nanovats and scrubber filters to be purified and converted back into food, clean water,

and fresh air. The system is self-contained to prevent accidents, as the nanites will reprocess ANYTHING-

living or dead- into food and water.

K. Load-Lifter Trucks- These massive cargo-hauling ground vehicles carry the large shielded crates Corellium is shipped in from the mine processing center to awaiting transports. They have a small, environmentally-

sealed cab that can carry one human-sized person comfortably, two if they squeeze in. They are

biometrically- encoded to their operators and will not start for anyone else.

L. Entertainment Center- A large auditorium almost as big as the Rourkes Revenge that houses a large threevee theater, various games, a small stage for traveling stage-actors, and several virtual games.

M. The Command Center- Perched atop and at one end of the Entertainment Center, this flying-bridge-like command and control hub monitors all mining activity below, the general operations of the facility, and

traffic control issues the ATC cannot handle. It is also the communications hub. The blast doors have been

lowered over the windows, and the crew cannot see in from the outside.

N. Mine Shaft- this is the 1,500 meter deep shaft of the mine, capped with an automated ore processing center that re-shapes the Corellium crystals into fuel rods, and the waste chips into jewelry.

O. Mine Shaft Lift- This elevator lift is large enough to accommodate a load-lifting ground-truck, and is currently lowered into the mine.

P. Family Housing- a larger hab module designed to accommodate families, this three-story structure contains twelve multi-room apartments.


20

It will require a character with a Netjacking skill

to access the doors to any of the buildings. He

must roll 3d10 and compare the result to his skill

rating. If the player rolls equal-to or less-than

their rating, they succeed. If they roll above the

rating, they fail, and must try again with a +1

penalty to the roll (meaning they add 1 to

whatever they roll, which makes it more difficult

to succeed.) If the characters succeed in opening

the main door, read the following:

The door opens to reveal a corridor

leading into the primary hab module.

Unlike the outside, there is evidence of

some sort of incident inside. Debris is

thrown about- clothing, furniture, coffee

cups, tools, etc. You see no bodies or

blood, but it looks like someone

ransacked the place.

You move through the module doing

room-to-room searches, snapping your

pulse weapon up as each door opens and

doing two-man visual sweeps before

entering. Most of the rooms are typical of

bachelor miners- appearing at first to have

been ransacked, but proving to be just

slovenly living upon closer inspection.

You find no bodies, no blood, and no

evidence of a struggle until you reach the last room.

As you sweep the top floor of the hab

module and reach the final door in the

unit, you notice the door has been forced

open and hangs at an odd angle. You hear

movement inside.

There is a threat to the characters in this room.

Rooting around in the debris is a crazed miner

who managed to escape the infection (see Page

23 for an explanation) and is looking for more

weapons. If characters enter the room at all, he

screams incoherently and attacks them wildly

with a pulse pistol. If the characters call out into

the room, he screams NO! YOU AINT GETTIN ME YOU SCRAGGIN BASTARDS! and then fires wildly at the door as he rushes out into the hallway. There is no

negotiating with him, he has lost his mind after

all he has seen. He attacks whoever is closest to

him, and if the characters do not defend

themselves he will kill them.

Each of the players needs to roll a particular

number or higher on 1d20 to successfully attack

the crazed miner:

Ryker can attack twice, needs a 12 or higher to hit on each attack roll. If he hits with his plasma

pistol, he does 6d12+10 hit points of damage per

attack. If he uses his vibroknife, he does 1d6x10,

but he cannot use his vibroknife against targets

that are not immediately next to him.

Hrraghnak and Sam both need a 10 or higher to hit. They have four attacks per round, and their

pulse rifles do 2d8x10 per successful hit. Sam

also has a Hawkeye plasma pistol as her

sidearm, but is most likely holding her rifle.

Hrraghnak has plasma grenades as secondary

weapons, but these have a large area of effect

and would hurt the crew as well.

Kat needs an 11 or higher to hit. She can attack three times, and despite being an Academic

occupation is actually adept with the pulse pistol

she carries. Her pulse pistol does 3d12+10.

Laes needs a 13 or higher to hit. He has two attacks and does 3d12+10 per successful hit with

his pulse pistol.

Miles needs a 14 or higher to hit. . He has two attacks and does 3d12+10 per successful hit with

his pulse pistol, or he can use his vibroknife for

1d6x10 damage.

The miner is using a Sierra pulse pistol, which is

a powerful weapon that is dangerous to the

players. It does 4d8+10 per successful hit, but at

two attacks can be combined into one to fire a

burst of shots, doing more damage. If used to

fire a burst, the player must use two of his base

number of attacks per burst-fire attack. The

damage that results from such an attack is

totaled up, and then multiplied by three (4d8+10

x3). It is less accurate when fired this way,

however.

The miner has two attacks, and opens up with a

burst. Roll 1d20 to try to hit a the closest

character. The minder needs different numbers

to hit the characters because the characters are

wearing different types of armor and have

different Agility scores.

To hit Sam or Laes, the miner needs a 14 or higher.

To hit Hrraghnak, he needs a 17 or higher. To hit Kat or Ryker, he needs a 15 or higher. To hit Miles, the miner needs an 16 or higher. If he fires burst, increase those numbers by two.


21

Needless to say, its better if Laes and Miles stay out of the line of fire, and while Kat is an

excellent shot courtesy of her Intelligence

training, she is still poorly armoured and may

wish to stay behind cover while firing.

The miner is berserk, and attacks the characters

until he is reduced to 0 hit points. If all the

characters are reduced to 0 hit points, the game

is over.

Miner Hit Points: 16 TAC: 12 #ATT: 2 PHY: 10 MEN: 12 SOC: 12 AR: 150 (mining hard-suit) Weapons: Sierra Pulse Pistol (4d8+10) Notes: The miner has lost his mind and believes the characters to be a threat to him. To his delusional mind, they are nano-zombies and any attempts to communicate he believes are tricks to fool him.

Its likely that the characters will defeat the miner with minimum damage to themselves.

Any damage that was taken by the characters

remains until the characters go back to the ship

or Sam uses her skills and medkit to restore lost

hit points.

Defeating the miner gains experience points

(XP) for the surviving characters. The miner is

worth 5 XP for each of the characters involved

in the firefight. Have the players mark the XP

earned on their character sheets next to their

level.

Other than the pulse pistol he is carrying, there

is nothing of value on the miner or among the

debris, but if the players want their characters to

look, let them do so. If they investigate his body,

they find deep scratches on his wrists and

ankles, and marks on his armored coveralls that

indicate something clawed at his limbs pretty

extensively. No other evidence can be found.

When they decide to move on, they should want

to investigate the rest of the facility. The other

hab modules, mess hall and entertainment area

are all empty, with few signs of any struggle and

no other people, bodies or evidence.

When the characters reach the command center

doors, read the following:

Youve searched the colony without finding any evidence of what occurred

here. The insane miner you encountered

earlier is a clear sign that something bad

happened here, but you must determine

where the miners are and what happened

to them.

You reach the command center doors-

large, reinforced pressure doors designed

for facilities placed in vacuum or hostile

atmospheres in the event of a structural

breach elsewhere in the complex. The

door is hanging slightly ajar. As you

cautiously enter- hoping to avoid another

firefight with a lunatic- you are surprised

to see the command center orderly and

neat. You notice that the only other way

in or out of the command center is a set of

stairs descending into a separate section

of the facility you have not yet been able

to access. A sign above the stairs reads

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY!

You do a sweep of the command deck and

find most of the systems are locked down,

and someone has shot the

communications console into oblivion.

Judging from the close grouping of pulse

weapon shots, you are pretty sure it was a

burst from the Sierra carried by the crazed

miner. At least you now know why

communications ceased.

A quick survey of the other controls and

command consoles leads you to the

Biometric Ident Tracking System the

allows the colonial administrators to keep

track of their miners when they are down

below. You scan through maps of the

complex, finding a DECEASED-tagged

biomarker on the miner you were forced

to kill earlier. None of the other miners

are in the colony facility, however, so you

decide to check the mine shaft.

Sure enough, you find all of the colonists

down below on the massive lift platform.

They are moving about, and their ident

tags show ACTIVE, indicating that they

are all alive. However, the lift controls

have been overridden from this console,

trapping the colonists down below. Its a pretty good guess that the crazed miner

somehow trapped his colleagues in the

shaft and locked them down there. The lift

console is easy to operate, however

youre not sure what course of action to take next- raise it, or finish searching.


22

What is ACTUALLY going on The side research by Dr. Bernard into

nanotechnology was- in truth- a very disturbing

experiment attempted by a madman.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, Bernard secretly

desired to establish a procedure through which

nanotechnology could be used to end conflict

and create a hive-mind-like cooperation amongst

Humans. It sorta worked.

Unfortunately, the good doctors nanites got loose, and infected the entire colony- except for

the unfortunate miner the characters took down-

and turned them into zombie-like automatons

controlled by the nanite programming matrix.

The nanites first terminated all life functions,

killing the miners and personnel in the station

who werent sealed in envirosuits like the crazed miner had been. Next, after achieving full brain-

death, they re-started cardio-pulmonary

functions and reactivated key parts of the brain

to allow for basic motor functions and sensory

input. The miners are, in effect, walking corpses

on a form of life support controlled by the AI

computer in Dr. Bernards lab. The nanites have simple programming- infect,

override, control and spread. They are passed

through saliva and blood, thankfully, and are no

longer airborne. However, anyone who is bitten

on exposed flesh hard enough to break the skin,

or who gets the nano-zombies blood in their eyes or open wounds, has a 30% chance per

incident to become infected. If this happens,

they must use a nanite inhibitor within three

rounds (thirty seconds), or fall dead to the

ground and be removed from the game. If the

other characters do not destroy the body, it will

rise 20 rounds later as another nano-zombie.

If the characters raise the lift, they will release

the now-trapped nano-zombies that the crazed

miner managed to lure and imprison below. If

they choose not to, they can move on to Dr.

Bernards lab in the bottom floor of the building, accessible only from here.

If the players choose to raise the lift, continue

with the next section. If they choose to hold off

for the time being, and head downstairs, skip to

the section titled The Mad Scientist on Page XX.

When the characters raise the lift, go to the next

section.

The Pit To start this section of the mission, read the

following paragraph to the players:

The lift raises rather quickly from the

depths of the mine shaft. You watch on

the monitors as it reaches the surface, full

of people. Then, things get strange.

Rather than rush off of the lift, shout,

cheer, seek shelter from the cold rain and

wind, etc. as you would expect, the

miners simply shuffle off of the lift pad

aimlessly. Their behavior immediately

concerns you. In less than a minute they

have scattered throughout the complex.

The characters can remain in the command

center for as long as they like, but in 2d6+4

rounds (1-2 minutes) a group nano-zombie will

manage to work their way through the command

center door behind them and attack. If the

characters step outside to investigate, they are

immediately attacked by several nano-zombies.

Read the following aloud if this happens:

You whirl around to the sound of a

moaning scream and find yourself facing

several miners, arms outstretched and

reaching for you as they rapidly stumble

in your direction. As they perform a

parody of a run, their mouths open wide,

revealing blackened tongues and teeth

dripping with saliva. In fact, you notice

that they are all drooling like mastiffs. As

you recoil from them, you notice their

eyes- glazed over as if they had cataracts.

They rush into and attack you.

Nano-zombies (3d4) Hit Points: 24 TAC: 16 #ATT: 2

PHY: 13 MEN: 10 SOC: 10

AR: None XP: 3 each

Weapons: Punch 1d4, Bite 1d2 30% chance to

infect. If infected, character has three rounds to

use a nanite inhibiter field or he becomes a

nano-zombie and is removed from the game.

This fight should prove to be a lot more

challenging. The nano-zombies do not stop

attacking until they are all killed.

Ryker can attack twice, needs a 10 or higher to hit on each attack roll.


23

Hrraghnak and Sam both need an 8 or higher to hit. Hrraghnaks plasma grenades will work well in the open space of the courtyard or corridor

beyond the command center, instantly killing all

nano-zombies within 10 meters of the grenade

when it detonates.

Kat needs a 9 or higher to hit. Miles needs a 12 or higher to hit. The nano-zombies use their fists to strike the

characters, but try to bite them any chance they

get.

To hit Sam or Laes, the nano-zombies need a 15 or higher.

To hit Hrraghnak, the nano-zombies need a 18 or higher.

To hit Kat or Ryker, the nano-zombies need a 16 or higher.

To hit Miles, the nano-zombies need 17 or higher.

If he fires burst, increase those numbers by two.

The characters can either retreat down the

stairwell if they are in the command center (the

hallway outside is rapidly filling with more

nano-zombies), or- if outside- they can flee back

inside, as the area around them is likewise filling

with nano-zombies. If the characters are a bit

more cautious (and if the players listened to you

when you told them about the stairwell and

chose to investigate it first), then move on to the

next section.

The Mad Scientist When the characters descend the stairwell, read

the following aloud:

You reach the bottom of the stairs and

find a doorway hanging open. As

dark nova roleplaying game quick-start guide

Documents

dark nova game

new game

character sheets

new character

dark nova characters

game master gm

imaginary character

scifi roleplaying game