FTL, Accelerated Aging, and Hypersleep

 

FTL

Invented in the mid 2030's the tachyon inflection drive. By exciting local tachyons the drive aligns the ship's mass with tachyon energy, fooling the ship's matter into acting as tachyons while retaining its normal properties. While in a state of tachyon excitement the starship can move no slower then the speed of light. Higher levels of tachyon excitement lower the mass of the starship, allowing for acceleration, while decreasing the level of excitement slows the ship instead.

Hypersleep

Soon after the development of the tachyon inflection drive it became apparent that the theorized causality violating effects of super-luminal travel simply did not happen. Instead of time dilating as speeds increased towards the speed of light, time expanded once the light barrier was reached.

To keep the crew of a starship from aging at an accelerated rate, they would be put into hypersleep before activation of the tachyon inflection drive. First the body is placed into a medically induced coma. Next the body is injected with a host of drugs and micro-robots which effectively freeze the occupants current biological state on hold. Lastly temperature is lowered and the hypersleep coffin is filled with a neutral liquid medium.

Upon the start of the awakening procedure, the neutral liquid is removed, and temperature is raised. The occupant is injected with a second set of drugs and micro-robots who move through the body restarting its vital functions to normal levels. Lastly the body awakened from the medically induced coma, and the occupant begins to awaken as if from a long dreamless sleep.

Aging

It might not sound like a problem that is likely to crop up in too many games, but a character not using a hypersleep bay when traveling at FTL speeds is subject to a form of accelerated aging brought on by the inverse relativistic effects of time expansion. The effects are minor for short slow jaunts, but the faster an FTL drive the more time is expanded from a human occupants point of view.

***TABLE***

time expansion FTL rating

1.25      1 (.1 light year per day)

1.5        2 (.25 light years per day)

2           3 (.5 light years per day)

10         4 (.75 light years per day)

20         5 (1 light year per day)

30         6 (1.25 light years per day)

40         7 (1.5 Light years per day)

+10       8+ (+.25 light years per day)

***END TABLE***

Xeno-fauna samples

Hibernian Baba Yaga

On the frozen world of Hibernia the Baba Yaga is the apex predator. Appearing as a great chitinous hut sitting atop three large crab legs, the Baba Yaga hunts the arctic wastes of Hibernia, crawling closer and closer until it can lash out with its spear claw to pierce the shells of its favorite prey where, it will reel in the harpooned creature and batter it to death with one of its three great hammering crab claws.

Close Defense: 14

Ranged Defense: 12

Armor: 1d10+1

Hit Dice: 12 (60hp)

Initiative: +0

Movement: 15m

Attacks: 1/+2

Damage: 1d10 (hammer claw) 1d6 (spear claw; armor defeating 2)

Saves: 5

Alien Traits:

Chitinous: grants a +1 bonus to armor

Painless: grants an additional number of hit points equal to the Baba Yaga's hit dice.

Insulated: +2 bonus to Toughness Saves involving cold 

Aldeberani Blackwing

The aerial equivalent of the tiger on Bierce's fog shrouded world orbiting the red giant of Aldebaran. The Blackwing is a black feathered predator. At first glance it appears to be faceless, its atrophied eyes and closed maw hidden under a feathery facade. It has lean powerful muscles that drive its forearm wings skyward in the lower then standard gravity of Bierce's World. It prefers to stalk its prey through the tall sparse forests, waiting for the right moment to pounce, then the faceless mask becomes a gaping toothed maw, ready to snap necks and rend meat from bones.

Close Defense: 12

Ranged Defense: 12

Armor: 1

Hit Dice: 4 (16hp)

Initiative: +0

Movement: 20m Flight) 5m (ground)

Attacks: 1/+1

Damage: 1d6 (razor talons)

Saves: 5

Alien Traits:

Stalker: grants a+2 bonus to Reflex saves involving stealth

Echo Location: Can see in complete darkness using an ultrasonic pulse

Human Antagonists in Xenoterror

 The underworld expanded along with the rest of humanity out into the stars, and so run ins with with the seedy underbelly of the colonies can strike at nearly any time.

Low-life (mook)

Other then a few strictly regulated paradise worlds, people will fall through the cracks. Perhaps they are victims of political or social injustice, doing what they can to survive in a society that doesn't want them. Regardless of their origins, some have turned to violence either solo or joining larger gangs. They are the rank and file of the criminal underworld.

Close Defense: 10

Ranged Defense : 10

Armor: 1 (gang leathers)

Hit Dice: 1 (1hp)

Initiative: +0

Movement: 10m

Attack: 1

Damage: 1d4

Saves: 5

Skills: Intimidate 1

Smuggler (general)

Though truly privately owned starships are far and few between, the supply of confiscated contraband grows larger very year, a which is no doubt merely a fraction that passes from planet to planet. Smugglers are the lynchpin of the interstellar underworld getting valuable commodities from Earth out to the colonies, and then taking xeno fauna and flora back to earth for collectors, and corporations alike.

Close Defense: 12

Ranged Defense : 12

Armor: none

Hit Dice: 2 (4hp)

Initiative: +0

Movement: 10m

Attack: 1

Damage: 1d4

Saves: 5

Skills: Sneak 2, Shipwright 1,

Enforcer (elite)

Assassins, legbreakers, and lieutenants these are the made-men of the underworld. These are the trusted henchmen who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty for their boss. If a gang of low-lifes can't get the job done, an enforcer will take on the matter with a personal touch of brutality, targeting friends and family if they have to.

Close Defense: 14

Ranged Defense : 14

Armor: 1d4

Hit Dice: 4 (16hp)

Initiative: +0

Movement: 10m

Attack: 1, +3

Damage: 1d6

Saves: 6

Skills: Athletics 3, Intimidate 2, Sneak 1.

Gang Leader (master)

The top of the heap as far as the colonies are concerned. The gang leader fought their way to the top, and held it against all comers. They most likely sit in the center of a large criminal enterprise connected to one of the larger mafia organizations on Earth. But so far away from Earth the gang leader has nearly free reign in how to rule their little plot of the underworld.

Close Defense: 12

Ranged Defense: 14

Armor: 1d4+1 (concealed ballistic vest)

Hit Dice: 6 (20hp)

Initiative: +2

Movement: 10m

Attack: 1; +2

Damage: 1d8 handcannon, 1d6 grenade

Saves: 6, Toughness 8, Charm 7, Will 7

Skills: Intimidate 3, Carouse 2, Athletics 2, Sneak1, Search 1, Scrounge 1

Synthetic Class

Synthetic

Replicants, Androids, Boomers, they have many names but are all referring to the same general thing. A machine made in the image of a human being. They are increasingly a part of everyday life. The biggest manufacturers of synthetics are the Company, Tyrol Corp, and Techno-Dynamics Systems Corporation, each of whom can create androids that are almost completely indistinguishable from a human being.

Built from a carbon fiber skeleton with vat grown muscles synthetics are surprisingly strong, but also more fragile then the human body. Their human replica brain is able to process, compute, and collate information much faster then any organic. Despite the fact that they can think, imagine,deduce, learn, feel emotion, and form opinions and hobbies, common wisdom states that this merely mimics human consciousness. Those who spend enough time with a synthetic have their doubts about this supposed wisdom.

level   xp            hd       skills   attack    special Saves

1        2250        1d4+2  6         +1       Machine Body       +1Power, +1 Logic, +1 Free(x2)

2       4500         +1d4  +2        +1        Perfect Memory

3       9000        +1d4  +1        +1                                        +1 All

4       18000      +1d4  +1        +1

5       36000       +1d4  +1        +1       Predictive Algorithms +1 Power, +1 Logic

6       72000        +2      +1        +1

7       144000      +2      +1        +1                                      +1 All

8       288000      +2      +1        +1                                      +1 Power, +1 Logic

9       576000      +2      +1        +1

10+   1152000    +2      +1        +1       Frame Overhaul     +1 All

skills: Synthetics begin play with 6 skill points, plus those gained from Intelligence and Wisdom bonuses. Synthetics may take skills from the general, social, mechanical, and academics categories.

Starting Gear: Synthetics begin play with a budget of $800 to purchase weapons, armor, and equipment.

Saves: At first level add + to her Logic, Power and two other saves of her choice.

Special Abilities

Machine Body: Synthetics are both stronger and smarter then the average human. They gain an extra +1 bonus to their Strength and Intelligence bonus, as well as an extra +1 bonus to their Power and Logic saves.

Perfect Memory: Everything a synthetic sees, hears, or feels, they remember in perfect vivid detail. The synthetic can perfectly recount and reproduce anything the see or hear gaining a +2 bonus to any skill roll to do so.

Predictive Algorithms: Being able to process physical stimuli much faster then human beings allows the android to create a working defensive algorithm to help them avoid damage to their fragile frame. The synthetic may add one half of their Intelligence bonus when taking the Defense action in Combat. In addition they also gain a flat +1 bonus to their normal Close and Ranged Defenses.

Frame Overhaul: Their skeleton removed and replaced, muscle tissue re-woven and re-tightened. This lengthy overhaul lessens the fragility of the synthetic making them tougher and more durable. Re-roll the synthetics hit dice as d6's, and they also gain a +2 natural damage reduction, compatible with all armor.

Classes in Xenoterror

There are five basic classes in Xenoterror, each filling an archetype commonly seen in the inspirational material.

 

Jarhead
Though technology has advanced, mankind remains the same. Corporations and governments will always need soldier to protect their interest, and fight their senseless wars. That is the life of a jarhead, they could be a member of a national military on detached service, or a private military contractor acting as a hired gun for the Company. Specially trained in all manner of combat, anywhere, anytime, against any foe, the Company says 'jump' and the jarhead asks 'whats the pay?'


Spacer
Without brave men and women to pilot starships, and endure the hardships of repeated use of long term hypersleep, mankind would have never been a successful wave of colonization from Earth. These starfarers can travel the breadth of civilized space, seeing the wondrous sights of the cosmos. By necessity this new breed of Spacer had to become jacks-of-all-trades, picking up new and unusual skills as chance and circumstance required. One can never know exactly what sort of tricks a canny Spacer will have up her sleeve.

Suit
Liaison to the Company, a suit has worked to master the cutthroat game of corporate politics. Junior executives often jump at the chance to join the Frontier Optimization Task Force, where they can stand out from the crowd of sycophants to hopefully be noticed by the board. Equal parts sleazy and charming, the suit knows all the right things to say to grease the wheels, fork out bribes, and dig up the dirt for blackmail material, just in case.


Synthetic
Replicants, Androids, Boomers, they have many names but are all referring to the same general thing. A machine made in the image of a human being. They are increasingly a part of everyday life. The biggest manufacturers of synthetics are the Company, Tyrol Corp, and Techno-Dynamics Systems Corporation, each of whom can create androids that are almost completely indistinguishable from a human being.
Built from a carbon fiber skeleton with vat grown muscles synthetics are surpsingly strong, but also more fragile then the human body.Their human replica brain is able to process, compute, and collate information much faster then any organic. Despite the fact that they can think, imagine,deduce, learn, feel emotion, and form opinions and hobbies, common wisdom states that this merely mimics human consciousness. Those who spend enough time with a synthetic have their doubts about this supposed wisdom.


Techie
In both space and the far of colonies of Earth a single malfunction can spell doom for dozen or even hundreds of lives. It is up to the vigilant mechanics and engineers of the Company yo repair and maintain the delicate systems that allow humankind to keep its foothold in the hazardous depths of space.

Xenoterror; an OSR scifi horror RPG

Hi everyone, this is my first post of what I hope will be many as I work through the creation of the Xenoterror RPG.

Xenoterror is a science fiction roleplaying game. It depicts a retro-futuristic world of 2151 as depicted in sci-fi and horror movies of decades gone by. The corporations seem to run everything, national governments are either dependent on them or subservient. Humanity is spreading through the stars colonizing worlds and terraforming them, irregardless of the interests of indigenous species. Looming over all of this is the long and powerful reach of the Company.

You will be taking the roles of cogs in the great corporate machine, starship pilots, junior executives, mechanics and engineers, dispossessed veterans of disgraced wars, and android assistants and spies. All working for the never named (that's a right reserved for each individual Game Master) Company, the PCs go out into the outer territories to make the desires of the Company a reality. 

Humanity has yet to find signs of intelligent alien life, all that is out there in deep space is primitive animals ready to be displaced by earthly fauna, or rounded up and exploited for whatever unique biochemical processes they may contain. Unknown to humanity at large is that alien life is out there, and more dangerous then can possibly be imagined. As the saying goes 'In space, no one can hear you...”

That in a nutshell is what Xenoterror is about, pitting your hapless and unprepared PCs against unbelievable alien horrors from the cold depths of space, all the while balancing survival instincts and better judgment against the coffers of the corporations and the safety of humanity.


To give an idea where this game is coming from, if Xenoterror had a mommy, it would be Machinations of the Space Princess, where it gets the majority of its rules and systems. Its Granmommy would be Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

I'm pretty up front about my inspirations, and I think Xenoterror will fill an open niche in the scifi OSR market. Most scifi OSR games are pretty solidly Space Opera and Sword & Planet inspired, with the occasional Star Trek thrown in. Xenoterror however will be a bit more grounded and gritty, with a nice focus on the backstabbing culture of the corporate run future.