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Lightspeed

Written and illustrated by Christian Conkle.

Fuzion Roleplaying Rules by David Ackerman-Gray, Bruce Harlick, Ray Greer, George MacDonald, Steve Petersen, Mike Pondsmith, Benjamin Wright.

Edited by Christa Cloninger.

Playtesters: John Aegard, Kara Alber, Neil Baumgardner, Jonathan Combs, Christa Cloninger, Todd Es-tabrook, Paul Fields, Brendan Hill, Kevin Iacobacci, Dusty Low, Jeffrey Low.

Special Thanks to: Mark Arsenault, Benjamin Baugh, Mark Chase, Jeff Dodd (for being the Bounty Hunter), Dustin Evermore, Sean Patrick Fannon, Paul Fields, Jeffrey Low, Jim Milligan, Jared Nielsen, Lisa Pondsmith, Gary Washington, and all the members of the Fuzion Mailing List. Also Special Thanks to: Gavin Dady, Todd Zircher, and Colin Dunn.

For more Lightspeed, check out http://www.lightspeed-rpg.com

2006, Christian Conkle. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. FUZION is the FUZION Lab Group’s trademark for its multi-genre game system. Used under license.

L i g h t s p e e d Science Fiction Role-Playing Game

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Lightspeed Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to Lightspeed .... 3 What is a Role-Playing Game.....................................4 What do I need? .........................................................4 How do I play?............................................................4 What else does the Referee/Gamemaster do?...........4 How do I GM?.............................................................4 A Typical Role-Playing Session..................................4 About Lightspeed........................................................5

Chapter 2: The Interstellar Era ................. 7 Galactic Society ..........................................................8 Galactic Technology ...................................................8 Timeline of the Interstellar Era ..................................15 Interstellar Federation ...............................................17 AstroPol ...................................................................20 Pan Solar Empire......................................................27 Old Earth Empires.....................................................31 Megacorporations .....................................................32 The Galactic Frontier ................................................33 Galactic Crime ..........................................................34 Alien Contact.............................................................40

Chapter 3: Creating a Character .............48 What is a Character? ................................................48 Step-by-Step Process...............................................48 Step One: Determine the Level of Play for the Story .................49 Step Two: Determine the Type of Story and Characters ...........50 Step Three: Create a History and Personality for the Character .............................50 Step Four: Assign Numerical Values to the Character’s Attributes .....................................53 Derived Characteristics.............................................55 Optional Possibilities: Skills, Talents, Perks, and Complications .................56 More Points: Complications ......................................56 Option 1: Skills..........................................................60 Master Skill List.........................................................60 Option 2: Talents ......................................................65 Option 3: Perks.........................................................66 Step Five: Equip the Character.................................68 Character Templates ................................................77

Chapter 4: Advanced Character Options....................................80 Advanced Option 1: Alien Species............................80 Advanced Option 2: Educational Packages..............84 Advanced Option 3: Advanced Occupations and Memberships ...............87 Example Character .................................................101

Chapter 5: Never Tell Me the Odds!......103 Game Time: Phases, Rounds, and Initiative...........104 Movement and Scale..............................................105 Setting the Scene ...................................................105 Actions....................................................................106 Task Resolution......................................................108 Hitting the Target ....................................................110 Presence Attacks....................................................111 Computer Hacking..................................................111 Lifting and Throwing ...............................................112 Damage and Injury .................................................113 Healing and Recovery ............................................115 The Environment ....................................................115 Damaging Items......................................................116 Example of Man-to-Man Combat ............................117

Chapter 6: Shields Up! Fire All Missiles!.................................... 119 Vehicle and Spacecraft Actions ..............................120 Movement and Range ............................................121 Size and Scale........................................................121 Sensors ..................................................................122 Hyperspace ............................................................124 Maneuvers..............................................................124 Initiative and Firing Position....................................126 Open Fire!...............................................................128 Evasive Maneuvers ................................................129 Vehicle/Spacecraft Damage ...................................129 Collisions and Crashing ..........................................131 Example of Starfighter Dogfighting .........................132 Multiple Combatant Engagements..........................134

Chapter 7: Creating a Story .................. 135 Rangers ..................................................................136 StarForce Officers...................................................137 Bounty Hunters.......................................................138 Corporate Espionage Agents..................................139 Mercenaries............................................................140 Independent Merchant Spacers..............................140 Criminals.................................................................141 Non-Player Characters ...........................................142 Tougher Adversaries ..............................................142 Balance: Rule of X (Optional) .................................142 Rewards for Success..............................................143

Chapter 8: Enemies and Allies ............. 144 Notes on the character data presented in Lightspeed .........................................144 Civilians ..................................................................145 Law Enforcement ...................................................153 StarForce ...............................................................155 Imperials .................................................................160 Fringers ..................................................................162 Criminals.................................................................166 Hostile Aliens..........................................................170

Chapter 9: Starships and Vehicles....... 172 Notes on the vehicle data presented in Lightspeed .........................................172 Commercial Spacecraft ..........................................173 Military Spacecraft ..................................................178 StarForce Spacecraft..............................................180 Ranger Spacecraft..................................................189 Imperial Armada Spacecraft ...................................190 Alien Spacecraft......................................................198 StarForce Vehicles .................................................199 AstroPol Vehicles....................................................199 Imperial Vehicles ....................................................202 Miscellaneous Military Vehicles ..............................204 Civilian Vehicles......................................................205

Appendices............................................ 206 Appendix 1: Space MOVE to Real World Figures .............................................206 Appendix 2: Useful Formulae .................................207 Appendix 3: Glossary..............................................207 Appendix 4: Conversion Notes ...............................208 Appendix 5: Online Resources ..............................208 Appendix 6: Useful Tables......................................209

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This book contains new and original works of art that are protected by Federal Copyright Law. No artwork may be printed or published in any form, for any reason, without written permission from the author. The use of this artwork in any product not produced by the author is a violation of Federal law. Offenders will be pursued in Federal Court.

This book may be printed for individual and group use for the purposes of gaming and role-playing. Copies of the printed book may be made and distributed on an individual basis, as long as no money is transacted in any form or manner through said distribution. With exception of the previous statement, no part of this book may be reproduced in part or whole, in any form or by any means, without permission from Christian Conkle, except for brief quotes for use in reviews. All incidents, situations, institutions, governments, and people are fictional and any similarity, without satiric intent, of characters or persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

AT Votoms the RPG, Bubblegum Crisis the RPG, Mekton Zeta, Mekton Zeta Plus, and Dragonball Z Anime Adventure Game, are trademarks of R. Talsorian Games, Inc. WildStrike! is a trademark of HERO Games. Usagi Yojimbo the RPG is a trademark of Gold Rush Games. Fuzion TM is a trademark of The Fuzion Labs Group. Fuzion TM is copyright 1997 by The Fuzion Labs Group. All trademarks and copyrights used without permission. This document is by no means a challenge to any copyright, trademark, or authorship.

I have the utmost respect for the creators of the original Fuzion TM rules and subsequent Fuzion TM games and only wish to improve upon their outstanding work.

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Lightspeed Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1:

Introduction to Lightspeed

Lightspeed is a Role-Playing Game set in the Gal-axy of the 27th Century, a period known as the In-terstellar Era. This is a time of exploration and ad-venture. The conflicts of the Core Wars are over and the Galaxy is at peace, though old animosities simmer below the surface and new rivalries threaten to flare into conflict.

The Galaxy of the Interstellar Era is vast and its possibilities are limitless. In this game, the players, with the help of a sort of referee/director called a Game Master, craft a story of epic proportions. The players experience the promise and peril of the story vicariously by controlling the actions and de-sires of a character that they, themselves, create.

In Lightspeed, there are no limits on the types of characters you can play. Some of the choices out-lined in detail in this game include AstroPol Rang-ers, Federation StarForce Officers, Bounty Hunters, Corporate Espionage Agents, Mercenaries, Inde-pendent Merchant Spacers, or even Criminals! These are only the tip of the iceberg. Using the FuzionTM rules for character creation, players can create any type of character they can imagine.

Lightspeed also offers several specialized rules to enhance your Intergalactic gaming experience. Us-ing the FuzionTM game rules provided, Game Mas-ters can adjudicate brawls and fistfights, blaster bat-

tles, vehicle chases, starfighter and starship com-bat, computer hacking, and more!

By using the FuzionTM game system, Lightspeed joins a family of several excellent games ranging from SengokuTM , a game of feudal Japan, to Cham-pions: New MillenniumTM , a game of super-powered action, to Dragonball ZTM , a game of outrageous martial arts fighting. FuzionTM games run the gamut of settings and styles and characters and rules made for one FuzionTM game can be easily port to any other FuzionTM game, creating infinite possibili-ties. If the game is marked FuzionTM Powered, it can be used with Lightspeed.

If elements of Lightspeed seem familiar, that is in-tentional. The Lightspeed universe attempts to be all-inclusive, drawing inspiration from many Science Fiction films and novels and putting them together into a coherent whole. The purpose of this is to make Lightspeed as generic as possible, allowing players and Game Masters to set their characters and stories against any backdrop they desire. Within you’ll find elements of many of your favorite genres of Science Fiction.

So strap on your blaster pistol, rev up your ion en-gines and blast off to adventure at the speed of light with Lightspeed!

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