Recently, I purchased d100 Space, a solo sci-fi RPG by Martin Knight. It's based on the popular d100 Dungeon line of games. I've never played those, as I have very little interest in generic fantasy games. However, sci-fi and solo are two great tastes that taste great together, in my own opinion.
The basic premise of the game is that you play a new starship captain, who has headed out into the galaxy seeking fame and fortune. You can mine, trade, fight in space and on "away missions", and most of the other things that one would typically expect from a game that is, in many ways, like Elite Dangerous as a pen-and-paper game.
The game may be a bit more "crunchy" than many solo games, rules-wise, but after a couple of read-throughs it seems pretty straightforward. There are four tutorial missions that get a player accustomed to the situations and tasks one will encounter routinely during play.
The game is available in PDF or Print-On-Demand format from DriveThruRPG or through the MK Games website. I've watched some very informative play-through videos, and have an idea of what will help me to have the best starting chance to succeed. So, let's give it a try!
First, we need to create a Captain. You have three characteristics: Strength (Str), Dexterity (Dex), and Intelligence (Int). For anyone who's played any kind of RPG, these should be self-explanatory. While a high Strength may be very helpful during away missions, and Dexterity is important for ranged combat and some other tasks, the most important characteristic for a starship captain has got to be Intelligence. It governs so many of the things one will do in space, as you will come to see in this play-through series.
You assign 50 points to one characteristic of your choice, 40 to another, and finally 30 to the remaining one. I have decided to begin with 50 Int, 40 Dex, and 30 Str.
Your second choice is what career the character comes from. You can be a Marine, a Smuggler, or a Techno. Again, kind of self-explanatory. Each career modifies your starting characteristics, as well as awarding points in certain Skills. You can choose a career, or roll randomly on Table C (Careers). There are a lot of tables in the game, and the great thing is, they tend to match the first letter of whatever they represent. Want to know if the door you're trying to get through is locked, welded shut or booby-trapped? Roll on Table D, of course!
Anyway, I'm choosing the Techno career, to represent a Captain with a high degree of technical competence. This grants me +10 Int, but -5 to Dex and Str. So now I'm at 60 Int, 35 Dex, and 25 Str. I also get 5 points in two skills: Implants, and Lucky. Implants governs the ability to use cybernetic implants, which are fairly common in the game (more on that later). Lucky is sometimes used as a modifier to Tests (task checks). We will shade in the star icon next to Int, Implants, and Lucky. This icon governs how much experience we get from performing certain actions and task checks.
Next, you choose the Captain's race. There are three options: human, alien, or Cyboid ("Human/alien organisms, fully integrated with technology which they rely on to keep them alive" according to the book). As before, you may choose freely, or roll randomly on Table (you guessed it) R.
Cyboids sound kind of like The Borg to me, only without the mindless collective consciousness. This choice seems to fit well with my overall theme of a highly intelligent individual. Being a Cyboid grants +5 Int and -5 Dex, so now the character is 65 Int, 30 Dex and 25 Str. The character gains 5 points in the Aware skill, and shades the star next to that skill.
Because the Captain has an Intelligence of 50 or more, he unlocks an ability. The ability is Cybercon, a 10-slot cybernetic console where Implants can be added. This is perfect for a Cyboid Techno, isn't it? I am looking forward to acquiring some Implants, which will allow the Captain to gain bonuses to Tests, or gain other benefits during an Away Mission.
Additionally, any Captain has learned a couple of other skills aside from those granted by career and race. You may choose any two skills you don't already have, and add +5 points to each (you do not shade the stars as you would with career or race skills). The remaining skills I haven't mentioned yet are: Agility, Command, Dodge, Escape, Hacking, Strong, and Traps. I definitely want Hacking, as I can see the character being good at overcoming security systems and getting into computers and such, so I take +5 in that skill. For my other choice, I'm going with Traps to help overcome certain doors and other geographical encounters.
Next, we receive certain equipment. Roll on Table A and Table W to determine the Captain's starting armor and weaponry. I rolled 69 and 32, so I have an Energy Shield (ES3) and an Electrolaser pistol - in addition to dealing damage, it stuns the target and reduces their Attack value. These seem pretty thematic to the character. I'm glad my weapon was a pistol, as the energy shield is held in one hand and cannot be used at the same time as a two-handed weapon. And a level 3 shield is pretty powerful!
We then get some standard equipment: 10 Oxygen (O2), 10 Night Vision, 10 Rations, 10 Decoders, and 10 Power Cells. These items will be used during Away Missions (the "ground" exploration portion of the game). Additionally we get three small medpacks, which we can store on our six-slot utility belt and/or in the small equipment pack. I'll put two on my belt and one in the pack.
Only a few last things to do! The Captain starts with 20 Health Points, 4 Rep (reputation), 3 Karma, 3 Life, and 200 credits. And, of course, one VERY important choice - a NAME! You can call your Captain whatever you like, but I think it's more fun if you come up with something thematic, even if it's a bit over the top. This is space opera, after all! So call your Captain something like Spaceman Sparks, or Rex Rockets, or whatever. For my Captain, I'm choosing something that suggests that he is part of a cybernetic race, so he has a unit designation rather than a proper name. Let's go with Echo-Niner.
There we have it! The Captain is all rolled up and ready to play. Only one thing is missing. What would a starship captain be without... a starship? Fortunately (and naturally), you begin with a Fast Attack Craft - a fairly versatile medium-sized ship with good overall stats. Let's look at the stat line:
Tech Level (TL) is how sophisticated the ship is - more complicated ships are harder to control.
Cargo Space (CS) is useful when mining, gathering other resources, or trading.
Drive Thrusters (DT) indicate the agility of the ship, useful when performing complex maneuvers in-system.
Fuel Tanks (FT) are how much fuel the ship has, used when making FTL jumps.
Fuel Scoops (FS) are used to replenish fuel in space .
Life Support (LS) is how many crew and passengers the ship can accommodate.
Jump Speed (JS) is the maximum number of light-years the ship can travel in a single jump.
Power Generator (PG) is used to replenish power when in space.
Power Level (PL) is the maximum amount of power the ship can store.
Weapon System (WS) affects how much damage the ship can cause in space combat.
Shield Generator (SG) is the amount subtracted from any damage dealt to the ship. Further damage is subtracted from PL, and then finally LS (which may result in crew casualties).
Mods (M) is the free space to install modifications such as a mining laser, bigger cargo hold, etc.
Credits (C) is the purchase value of the ship.
There is one derived statistic, the Control Modifier (CM). This is a bonus or penalty to performing most ship-related Tests, and is the difference between the Captain's Int and the ship's TL. So the CM in our case is 65-10= 55. As more mods are installed and the ship's TL increases, that CM may change.
So now Echo-Niner has a ship. What shall we call it? Something that fits the theme... related to electricity, perhaps. Let's call the ship Faraday.
There you have it! We have a Captain, and a starship, and in the next episode, we're ready to begin the preliminary Operations that will help us learn the proverbial ropes. See you next time!
