Traveller
Dark Hunter
The Dark Hunter RPG deals with harrowing encounters of all sorts with particularly vile, vengeful aliens of all kinds. It combines Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and Indiana Jones into a very fast paced game, with the following pattern: (1) exploration, (2) disaster, (3) cliffhanger, (4) amazing, near-impossible rescue. Repeat.
The original idea is taken from Calvin & Hobbes: http://homepage.mac.com/tigershark/spacemanspiff/
It is 1000 years after the last human empire was founded. And you missed the whole thing: the grandeur, the squalor, the high tech and the low -- but all of that is in the past. Now all who remain of civilized space are at war. The evil Zukud flooded in from several directions, enslaving and destroying everything in their path: evil alien empires, galactic marauders, robotic annihilation fleets ("Dark Hunters"); you name it, they came and shattered known space. But they haven't won yet. Fierce warriors keep the invaders off-balance and buy humanity the time needed to harden their defenses and rebuild their fleets. Intrepid Adventurers explore the rubble of the Milekkan race for advantageous knowledge of the Zukud, perhaps to find a way to vanquish the enemy and save humanity.
The game milieu is estimated to be at around TL18 -- high enough to provide powerful new craft, equipment, and effects. This is simply a very durable, high-performance Traveller environment.
Very durable. TL18 provides nice perks. See "Battle Skin" under Equipment for more details.
Starship technology has come a long way. Small craft may of course mount jump drives, and jump now takes one hour instead of one week. Starship capacitors have also come a long way, eliminating the need for extra fuel tankage for the jump drive. Moreover, starships last practically forever, and are very hard to damage. However, they do malfunction. But they're also relatively easy to repair, with the right equipment.
Due to the improvement in all types of armor, weapons have had a tough time keeping up. However, compared to today's Imperial technology, TL18 weapons are extremely powerful.
A lot has happened since the Imperium ended. For one, new alien agressors have moved in, vying for territory once occupied by the Major Races. These genocidal aliens have enslaved or eaten most of known space, with the exception of the tattered remains of the former empires. The holdouts are fortresses under seige.
To help player characters in a dark universe, there is some useful new equipment:
Battle Skin
Battle Skin is a protective suit which is actually a TL18 reflective body mesh. It's a vac suit that allows total mobility, enhanced Str/Dex/End (15's all around), full-function PRIS/engineering goggles, plus protection from nearly any kind of projectiles, energy or kinetic. It has a chameleon overlay, and internal g-dampening fields, so when a character is blasted 100 yards and hits a canyon wall, it absorbs nearly all damage and gently cushions the occupant's impact.
A character wearing Battle Skin takes 1 point per damage die, with a minimum of 1 point of damage. The exception is lasers, which bounce harmlessly off the suit's reflec.
Battle Skin is ablative as well, which means if you have a Grav-Pack you can reenter from orbit.
This is an add-on to Battle Skin that is essentially a combination grav-belt/thruster. Good on the surface or in space, this is a handy device to own. Make sure you have two, in case one breaks down. Each pack is rated for 7 G-days: 1 G for a week, or 7 G's for one day. You can achieve orbit with one of these.
The standard sidearm is the FGMP-18 'Scorcher' Mark I plasma pistol.
Design by ChaserCaffey, using FFS1.
Scorcher, Mark I
Type: Fusion Gun
TL: 18
Discharge Energy: 1.77 Mj
Wt: 2.67 kg loaded
Ammo: 10 (box magazine)
Bulk: 2 (large hand pistol)
Short Rng: 88.5m
ROF: SA1
Dmg: 15
Pen: 1/2-1-4
Recoil: 15 (!)
For those on especially hazardous duty, there is also the Scorcher Mark II
plasma rifle.
Design by ChaserCaffey, using FFS1.
Scorcher Mk II
Type: Fusion Gun
TL: 18
Discharge Energy: 35 Mj
Wt: 52.73 kg loaded
Ammo: 10 (box magazine)
Bulk: 5 (large sniper rifle or HMG)
Short Rng: 3400 m (effectively line-of-sight)
ROF: SA1
Dmg: 68 (Makes a serviceable antitank weapon)
Pen: 1/2-1-4
Recoil: 3
Also at one's disposal is a set of four (4) plasma grenades.
If you've got more than one target, or your Scorcher is empty, you'll want to use these.
One of them will take a good chunk out of a starport, leaving a modest crater.
You must be wearing Battle Skin when throwing these, because you'll be thrown
100 meters or more when one of these goes off.
Start with your real name, or an assumed name.
For instance, Robert -> Rober.
For instance, Doodad -> Dodad.
Old New
a o
e e or none
o e
u w
b d
c h
f z
g k
h p
j n
k g
l x or s
m b
n j
p q
q u
r r or y
s w
t l
v n
w h
x y
y z
z t
Roll characteristics as normal, except for Dexterity, which is 3d6 (but not to exceed 15). Automatically put character through Naval Academy (with honors) and Officer Flight School, then transfer immediately to the Army for career resolution.
Roll for a title:
Roll: 2 die rolls. Compare using the lowest value first.
1 1 ..the Avenger
1 2 ..the Barbarian
1 3 ..the Conqueror
1 4 ..the Defender
1 5 ..the Enforcer
1 6 ..the Fearless
2 2 ..the Great
2 3 ..the Hunter
2 4 ..the Intrepid
2 5 Baron..
2 6 Commander..
3 3 ..the Magnificent
3 4 ..the Oppressor
3 5 ..the Punisher
3 6 ..the Rogue
4 4 Dread Pirate..
4 5 ..the Terminator
4 6 ..the Warrior Prince(ss)
5 5 ..the Trader
5 6 ..the Commando
6 6 ..the Explorer
Roll once on each of the tables below:
Body: (1d6)
1. +2 Str
2. +2 End
3. Weapon+4
4. Brawling+4
5. Athletics+4
6. Melee+4
Mind: (1d6)
1. +2 Int
2. Pilot+4
3. Engineer+4
4. Medic+4
5. Gunnery+4
6. Sensors+4
Spirit: (1d6)
1. +2 Dex
2. Perception+4
3. Tactics+4
4. Strategy+4
5. Survival+4
6. Hunting+4
Determine the character's starship characteristics. All starships come with standard sensors, computers, stealthing, and armor.
Combat rules are per Classic Traveller and Mayday.
Fuel requirements are per Classic Traveller: 10% hull volume per jump rating, and 1% hull volume per maneuver rating. The power plant is integral to the hull and assumed to be of sufficient size to run all aspects of the ship. All ships are airframed and can scoop fuel with no volume or cost penalty. All ships run on unrefined fuel. Ships can fill their fuel tanks in one hour.
TL18 jump capacitors are simply amazing. They can hold a charge pretty much forever. This has led to a very important advance in starship construction: many starships have no tankage for jump fuel. Instead, they power up the jump drive as they skim. Since jump drives require 10% hull volume in fuel per jump number, it may take some time to fully charge the jump capacitors from a skimming run. However, the space savings is usually of great benefit.
Roll to determine specific starship features.
Drive volumes are per Classic Traveller Book 2 or High Guard.
Power plants have no volume or price.
Body: (1d6) Notes
1. 10 tons +4Gs
2. 30 tons +4Gs
3. 100 tons **
4. 300 tons **
5. 1,000 tons ** -1G
6. 3,000 tons ** -1G
7. 10,000 tons ** +4Gs
8. 30,000 tons ** +4Gs
9. 100,000 tons ** -1G
10. 1 mtons ** -1G
11. 10 mtons ** -1G
12. 100 mtons ** -1G
$ +4Gs to maneuver drive rating.
** Larger ships receive 1 Drone per 100 tons displacement.
+ -1G to maneuver drive rating.
Jump drive rating: (1d6)
1. 5
2. 4
3. 4
4. 3
5. 3
6. 2
7. none
8. none
9. none
10. none
11. none
Maneuver drive rating: (1d6)
1. 3 G
2. 4 G
3. 4 G
4. 5 G
5. 5 G
6. 6 G
Electronics: (1d6)
1. AI-equipped
2. Twice the normal sensor range
3. Solar collector-powered
4. Twice the normal stealthing
5. Automatic target locking
6. Emergency beacon & survival/demolitions kit *
7. Virus software **
* Drones with this kit can potentially be used as space mines.
** This is transceiver equipment which tries to infect and
destroy enemy electronics systems via malicious data
transmissions.
Performance: (1d6)
1. Black globe-equipped
2. Twice the potential gun allowance
3. Twice the standard armor factor
4. Twice the acceleration *
5. Twice the jump range *
6. Spinal gun-equipped
7. Tractor beam-equipped
* This may result in ships with exceptional performance.
Drones: Drones are automated reconnaisance ships which have
considerable weaponry. They also carry a 1-person emergency
low berth/small craft couch per 5 tons.
Ships have 1 drone per 100 tons. Determine the type of
drones with the following procedure:
Body: (1d6)
1. 2 tons
2. 5 tons
3. 5 tons
4. 5 tons
5. 10 tons
6. 20 tons **
Maneuver drive rating: roll on the Maneuver drive table above.
Electronics: roll on the Electronics table above.
Performance: roll on the performance table above.
Note: if the Performance roll is "Twice the jump range",
then roll for drone Jump ability instead.
** 20-ton drones carry one 2-ton drone each. Roll for these
sub-drones' Maneuver, Electronics, and Performance ratings.
Robert's character is named "Yeder" (R->r or y, o->e b->d), and his title is "the Punisher". Yeder the Punisher has these special abilities: Athletics+4, Gunnery+4, and Perception+4.
Yeder the Punisher's starship displaces 3000 tons, has jump-5 engines, 4G maneuver drives, is equipped with on-board AI, and has twice the standard armor. His ship has 30 drones of the following type (anyone want to trade?):
Drones (30):
2 tons
16-G maneuver
Automatic target lock
David's character is "Donid the Defender" (AHC???); Brawling+4, Gunnery+4.
Donid the Defender's ship displaces 1000 tons, has Jump-4 engines, 4G maneuver drives, is equipped with on-board AI, and has twice the standard armor. His ship has 10 drones of the following type:
Drones (10):
2 tons
18-G maneuver
Emergency beacon & survival/demolitions kit ("space mine")
Dan's character is "Dojix the Trader". He has these special abilities: Brawling+4, Sensors+4, Strategy+4.
Dojix the Defender's starship displaces 30 tons, has Jump-3 engines, 9G maneuver drives, has an emegency beacon and survival/demolitions kit, and comes with a Black Globe generator.
Ron's character is "Dread Pirate Rejox". He has these special abilities: Weapon+4, Gunnery+4, Tactics+4.
Dread Pirate Rejox's starship displaces 300 tons, has Jump-5 engines, 6G maneuver drives, and has twice the normal sensor range. His ship has 3 drones of the following type:
Drones (3):
10 tons
7-G maneuver
Twice the normal stealthing
Twice the standard armor factor
Charles' character is "Hoyew the Avenger". He has these special abilities: +2 Str, +2 Int, and Hunting+4.
Hoyew the Avenger's starship displaces 100 tons, has Jump-4 engines, 6G maneuver drives, automatic target locking, and a Black Globe generator. His ship has one drone, of the following type:
Drone (1):
20 tons *
9-G maneuver
AI-equipped
Twice the standard armor factor
* The drone itself has its own drone:
2 tons
6-G maneuver
Emergency beacon & survival/demolitions kit
Black globe-equipped
Displacement: 64 tons, streamlined
Maneuver : 4G
Jump : 3
Fuel tankage: 7 (emergency reserves)
Crew : 2
Staterooms : 5
Turrets : 3
Cargo : 30
This ship is a small freighter/smuggler starship.
Displacement: 4 tons, streamlined
Maneuver : 8G
Jump : 3
Fuel tankage: none
Crew : 1
Fixed lasers: 16
This ship is a one-man fighter.
Displacement : 1 million tons, unstreamlined
Maneuver : 12G
Jump : none
Fuel tankage : none
Crew : none
Spinal gun : Meson
Tractor beam : Present
Batteries (100kt): 6
Batteries (10kt) : 9
Batteries (1kt) : 9
Batteries (100t) : 9
Batteries (10t) : 10
Other : self-replicating factory on-board
This ship is a robotic Zukud dreadnought. Its mission is to destroy human colonies.
Displacement : 600 tons, streamlined
Maneuver : 16G
Jump : none
Fuel tankage : none
Crew : 6
Black Globe : yes
Turrets : LMSx6
This ship is a Zukud escort used to kill small spacecraft.
The Zukud are generally in craft that are very difficult to damage (11+ on 2d6); however, they are also extremely fragile in that if a shot does manage to damage the ship, it's a given that the ship will suffer antimatter containment breach and explode spectacularly. Thus it's important to inflict as many hits as possible upon these ships.
Enemy ships are generally quite fast, though not as agile, and they usually cannot travel through jumpspace. This leads one to the conclusion that the Zukud do not have jump drive technology; and this is one possible reason why they are so keen to capture human craft, and why one must never allow a ship to fall into enemy hands.
To generate a random enemy encounter, roll 2d6 for the number of ships. For each ship, determine the ship's characteristics using the system above, with the following modifiers:
Body: roll 2d6 instead of 1d6. Jump drive: roll 1d6+5. Electronics: roll 1d6+1. Performance: roll 1d6+1.
Large alien ships have fighters -- manned small craft -- rather than drones. This distinction is only a semantic difference.
Integral to the Zukud battle plans are the Starkillers: massive, self-replicating robotic dreadnoughts whose only goal is to destroy enemy fleets and planetary infrastructure. They are built on a variety of configurations, generally either favoring space combat or planetary bombardment.
Starkillers are the most feared of all Zukud craft, for they do not exist to enslave, and cannot be intimidated. They are built for one cold purpose: to destroy. The survival of humanity depends on destroying Starkillers before they can destroy one of the few remaining human worlds.
In tandem with Stalkers are the Dark Hunters: Zukud ships whose sole purpose is to escort Stalkers and specifically destroy the craft which may be capable of crippling Stalkers -- namely, craft usually piloted by humans, and by the player characters in particular.
Spacemen undertake missions that involve lots of personal hazard:
Mission: (1d6) Combat guaranteed
1. Exploration no
2. Delivery no
3. Reconnaisance no
4. Rescue no
5. Ambush yes
6. Direct Assault yes
Upon arrival, roll 1d6:
1. It's a trap! The enemy has surprise.
2. An enemy patrol is here. Neither side has surprise.
3. An enemy convoy is here. Character has surprise.
4. As usual.
5. As usual.
6. As usual.
Also roll 1d6:
1. Ground repairs required.
2. Ground repairs required.
3. Orbital repairs required.
4. Orbital repairs required.
5. No problems.
6. No problems.
If a problem is detected, roll for the component:
1. Weapons control down.
2. Maneuver drive down.
3. Jump drive down.
4. Life support down.
5. No problems. Never mind.
6. No problems. Never mind.
Alien worlds nearly always fall into two categories: jungle worlds and Monument-Valley-style desert worlds, although ocean worlds would probably be just fine, as they can harbor giant ruthless omnivorous squidlike things just fine.
One engimatic alien world is the homeworld of the Milekkan -- a hypothesized homeworld for an extinct race that had a long and bitter struggle with the Zukud. Their artifacts indicate a technology more advanced than human tech; therefore finding out more about them could be a key to survival.
The Zukud are insectoid aliens, either bony or bloated, with pincers and antennae. Their worlds generally are inhabited by very huge, ravenous insectoid beats, which are also probably kept as pets, which would also try to eat humans when given the opportunity.
Bloatoids
Zok Death Sloops
Hideous Blobs of Incredible Stupidity
Hideous Zorg Despotism
Zark Enforcer Ships
Vicious Zogwargs
Despicable Scum Beings
First Consonant: Z
First Vowel: (1d6)
1. a
2. a
3. o
4. o
5. u
6. u
Second Consonant: (1d6)
1. k
2. g
3. rk
4. rg
5. r
6. nd
Second Vowel: use First Vowel table.
Third Consonant: (1d6)
1. r
2. r
3. r
4. d
5. d
6. d
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