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Prepare yourself to enter the exciting universe of Metabarons: The Roleplaying Game. This hand-out will help you learn to play the game in only a few minutes. Read it, then ask the gamemaster any questions you might have about roleplaying or how this game works.
By Peter Schweighofer
Roleplaying Basics
In roleplaying games, the action takes place in every-ones imagination. You dont use a board or move tokens around. Instead, a person called the gamemaster leads the story, describing each scene and setting to the players, who visualize the situation themselves. The players imagine what the scene looks like and how theircharacters would respond to the situations they encounter. Thenthe players tell the gamemaster how they want to react.
Example: The gamemaster explains, Youre walking through a sub-level of Arcol 271, down grimy, garbage-strewn corridors caked with the humid odor of stale breath and machinery. A rather dapper looking fellow emerges from a dark alley and asks if youd like to make a few extra kublars. He beckons you down the alley. You followyou can always use some extra moneyand you quickly find yourself surrounded by several tough-looking thugs. Its obvious your characters walked into some sort of trap. You might try persuading or fast-talking the dapper looking fellow to let you go. You could try intimidating the thugs by drawing a weapon and coolly threatening them. Or perhaps you just want to pull your sidearm and start shooting awayand hope your character survives this encounter.
The players and gamemaster work together to create their own story, with the players characters as the heroes. The game rules help determine what your character is capable of doing, while the gamemasters plot creates settings, adversaries, and incidents to propel you along toward the storys exciting climax. Everyones A Winner. Nobody wins or loses in a roleplaying game. Youre not competing against the other players or the gamemaster. The characters must work together as a team to accomplish their goals, using their various strengths and expertise to everyones benefit. The players work with the gamemaster to create an entertaining story. Immerse Yourself in Your Character. You must rely on your imagination to fully enjoy the game. You might adopt your characters accent and mannerisms while speaking in the game. You should only act out scenes when they are non-threatening (for example, if your character tries conning someone, you could have fun fast-talking him while playing your part). Remember, this is just a gamenever act out violent scenes or make any physical actions others might consider dangerous or threatening. Use Your Imagination. In the game your character can do whatever you can imagine someone like him doing in that situation. If you can imagine it in the real world, or in the Metabarons universe, it can happen in the game. Dont worry about going off the board, because there isnt one. Your gamemaster knows how to keep the game story focused toward your goal. Keep Things Moving. A good story doesnt slow down, it just accelerates toward the exciting climax. Dont worry about the rules. Just tell the gamemaster what youd like your character to do, and the gamemaster will tell you what skills youll need and when to roll them.
Each player gets a sheet that describes their character (the character sheet). This sheet shows your characters strengths and skills. The gamemaster tells you when to roll the dice for certain skills depending on what you want your character to do during the game. The gamemaster uses the rules to interpret these die rolls to see which actions succeed and which fail. Die codes define your characters abilities and skills. Each die code represents the number of six-sided dice you roll when your character uses an attribute or skill (1D, 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D, etc.), and sometimes an added bonus of +1 or +2 you add to the entire roll.
Example: The scout Martius has an Agility die code of 2D+2, so if he tried juggling four balls at once, hed roll 2 dice and add 2 to the total to get his score.
You follow this same procedure for skills, which are more specific rolls for certain tasks associated with each attribute. For instance, the astrography skill is a more specific use of your characters Knowledge attribute. All skills beneath a given attribute begin at that attributes die code. Some skills are marked with higher die codes, representing areas the character improved through training or experience. If the gamemaster asks you to roll a skill you havent improved (youll see it has no new die code next to it), just look up the associated attribute and roll that attributes die code. The higher you roll, the better your character accomplishes the task at hand. When your character tries doing something, the gamemaster chooses a difficulty number based on the tasks complexity. When competing against a gamemaster-controlled character, you must beat this opposing characters skill roll. The gamemaster doesnt usually tell you the difficulty number you need to equal or beat to succeed. He wont 2
usually tell you which tasks are easier and which are harder, though he might give you hints (Hmmm, hitting that passing aircar with the magna-line is going to be pretty hard.). Difficulty Number Example: Martius the scout is on his way to Klovat, a remote planet he intends to explore. He wants to find some specific information about this world. Since Klovats a remote planet, the gamemaster decides the player running Martius must roll 20 or higher to find the information he needs. Since Martius has an astrography skill of 6D (pretty good!), he rolls 6 dice and adds them up. He gets a 25 and beats the difficulty number. The gamemaster fills Martius in on the information he remembers about Klovat.
Opposed Roll Example: While exploring Klovat, Martius encounters a strange and rather angry creature in its nest. The glossglok lashes out at Martius with a barbed claw. Although the creatures attack takes him almost by surprise, Martius has just enough time to try avoiding the blow. The glossglok makes a brawling roll of 11 to attack Martius: this is the difficulty number he must equal or beat to dodge the attack. Martius has a dodge skill of 3D+2, so his player rolls 3 dice and adds 2 to the total. He rolls a total of 16 and manages to avoid the blow. The glossgloks barbed claw narrowly misses crushing Martius into shredded pulp.
Dont worry if this seems confusing right nowitll all become more clear one you start playing. The gamemaster keeps track of whos taking what actions and what skills everyones rolling. Dont be shy about asking the gamemaster questions while you play.
Actions In A Round
For most actions and roleplaying, its not always important to keep track of how much time passes in the game (game time, as opposed to real time). In certain situations like combat, however, game time is broken into several turns, or rounds. One round represents about five seconds in game time.
Example: When the glossglok lashes out at Martius and the scout dodges, that action takes one round (or about five seconds) in the imaginary game world, but in real time, it might take the player and gamemaster three or four minutes to figure which skills to use, roll all the dice, and resolve the action. Characters can make one action per round and roll the regular number of dice for the skill or attribute they use. Characters can try performing more than one action in a round, depending on what the player wants to do in a given situation. But the more your character tries doing, the more difficult every action becomes. Each time your character tries accomplishing an additional task past the one she can normally make in a round, she loses 1D from all her rolls that round. Example: Martius just leaped back from the glossglok and wants to shoot back before it can attack him again. To make sure he hits with his defense pistol, he decides to take two shots. His firearms skill is 3D+2since hes taking two shots this round, he rolls 2D+2 for each shot (two actions, 1D per roll).
Just to make sure he doesnt get hit with that barbed claw, Martius decides hes going to take only one shot at the glossglok and then dodge in the same round. His firearms skill is 3D+2, and his dodge is 3D+2. Since hes taking two actions in one round, he has a 1D penalty to both rollshe rolls his firearms at 2D+2 and his dodge at 2D+2. If he decided to take two shots and dodge (three actions with a 2D penalty to all rolls), hed make two firearms rolls at 1D+2 and his dodge roll at 1D+2. The gamemaster will remind you about penalties for multiple actions during the game as you describe what your character wants to do each round (Youre shooting twice at the glossglok and dodging, so youll have a 2D penalty to all your rolls.). Your character can also suffer from other penalties to his die codes to represent damage taken during combat. Characters who are wounded suffer a 1D penalty to all die rolls until healed. If wounded twice, the penalty rises to 2D. Characters who sustain enough damage to incapacitate them pass out unless they can make a Moderate (15) willpower roll: those who make this roll act with a 3D penalty to all rolls, can barely manage themselves, and need assistance from others. Mortally wounded characters are on deaths doorstep and require serious medical help; they 3 can do little on their own. The gamemasters helps keep track of damage your character sustains and the various penalties involved with injuries.
Wound Levels Stunned: 1D for all remaining actions this round and next round; a second stun moves the injury status to wounded. Wounded: 1D to all actions until healed; a second wound or stun on top of this makes the character wounded twice for a total of 2D on all actions. Incapacitated: The character is injured and knocked out for 10D minutes, but may try to stay conscious with a Moderate (15) willpower roll, making all actions with a 3D penalty. Mortally Wounded: The character is near death; roll 2D each round, the character finally dying if the roll is less than the number of rounds a characters been mortally wounded. Character Damage Chart Killed: The character is toast. Sorry. Damage Roll Greater Than Strength Roll By: Effect: First Aid 05 Stunned Characters can heal others or themselves with some basic field proce610 Wounded dures for treating wounds. Such attempts dont require a medbox (which 1115 Incapacitated usually adds +2D to first aid rolls). Simply roll first aid (or Technical) to 1620 Mortally Wounded treat wounds in the field: 21+ Killed Injury Level Stunned, unconscious Wounded, wounded twice Incapacitated Mortally Wounded Difficulty Easy (10) Moderate (15) Difficult (20) Very Difficult (30)
A successful roll heals the character up one level: for instance, a successful first aid roll on someone whos wounded would bring them back to stunned. A character using up a medbox adds +2D to her first aid roll. Characters with any dice in medicine (adv.) may also add those dice to their first aid roll.
The Metabarons Roleplaying Game is available now at comic and hobby shops. For more information check out our web sites or e-mail us at westendgames@mail.com
westendgames.com / metabarons.com
TM
willpower: Personal ability to withstand stress and temptation. MECHANICAL: Aptitude for operating mechanical equipment. astro-nav: Plotting courses through space using a vessels navigational computer interface. comm: Effectively using communication devices and arrays. exoskeleton operation: Using personal exoskeletons which augment ones performance with mechanical aids. gunnery: Accurately firing weapons mounted on vehicles, space ships or within fortresses. piloting: Flying air- or space-borne craft, from aircars and fighters to transports and battleships. sensors: Operating scanner arrays to gather information about ones surroundings. shields: Deploying and redirecting shields aboard vehicles and vessels. vehicle operation: Operating non-flying vehicles traveling on or through the ground or a liquid medium. PERCEPTION: A characters awareness of himself and things around him, including the ability to interact successfully with others. bargain: Haggling for prices for goods and services being bought or sold. command: Effectively ordering and coordinating others in team situations (such as commanding a battleship crew).
Blue Box Thieves. All stats are 2D except: Agility 3D, brawling 4D, dodge 4D, firearms 4D, streetwise 3D, Mechanical 3D, Perception 3D, bargain 4D, con 4D, sneak 4D, Strength 3D, Psionics 0D. Move 10. Character Points 2. Tech vests, Viper pistols (4D damage). If the characters move once the snooty fellows revealed himself, he tries escaping as quickly as possible. If the characters attack before he appears, he holds back, waiting for a clear chance to step in and grab the box himself, or escape before hes discovered. Snooty Fellow. All stats are 2D except: Agility 3D, dodge 4D+2, Knowledge 4D, business 5D, cultures 5D, Perception 4D, bargain 5D+1, con 5D, sneak 5D, Psionics 0D. Move 10. Character Points 4. Defense pistol (5 shots, 3D damage), fine long coat, pouch with 20 kublars. If the characters seem reluctant to move even after the snooty fellow appears, allow one of the thieves (or even the snooty fellow) to notice them. The snooty fellow might do this simply to distract the thieves into attacking the characters while he makes off with the box. Once the characters defeat the thieves, they can take possession of the valuable blue box. They can easily blow off the electronic combination lock, but their client will definitely know they looked inside. To peek without damaging the lock requires someone to make a Difficult (20) security roll. Inside the now-unsealed box they find several tightly wrapped trays of delicious lupium, a culinary confection only the ultra-rich can afford. If they apprehend the snooty fellow, he admits to managing an upscale restaurant in Arcol 271s higher levels which caters to aristocrats and the corporate elite. He head the Merchants Guild vice-patrician had a weakness for lupium, and decided to intercept one of his regular shipments. For returning the lupium to Sub-Exec Hallofer, they each receive 5 kublars (more than most folks make in one day around here). For their actions in defeating the thieves and recovering the blue box, they each get 3 Character Points (4 if they successfully looked inside the box without breaking the electronic combination lock).
Weapons Cogan rifle: combat rifle often used by military forces (variable damage, 5D to 6D). Combat shock-knife: large combat knife whose damage is enhanced by an energy discharge on contact (STR+1D+2 damage). Defense pistol: small, easily concealed gun firing only 5 shots, often used for personal defense (5 shots, 3D damage). Suprapistol: standard military sidearm firing an enhanced round (5D damage). Sword: archaic blade weapon still used by the galaxysprimitive peoples (variable damage based on craftsmanship, usually STR+2D). Viper pistol: standard firearm, and one of a few people can legally carry (4D damage). Personal Equipment Hand vid-comm: hand-held device allowing audio and visual communication via a punch pad and vid-screen. Io board: interface board used for taking notes and running basic computer programs; io is short for input/output Kublars: standard form of galactic currency, 5 kublars equals what one hard-working corporate drone earns in a day. Range goggles: goggles worn over the eyes to magnify objects at a distance (provide +3D to long-range Perception and search rolls).
Equipment Information
Character Points: To help players keep track of their character points in a quick demo, ask each to set aside one die with the 5 side up. When they use a Character Point, they can turn this die to the next lower number. Once theyve gone past 1 theyve used up all their Character Points. Wild Die: Dont worry about using the Wild Die. If players ask, yes, the Metabarons RPG will include rules for using the Wild Die, but dont bother using it during the demo.
Game-Play Tips