Contents

Contents

Chapter 1 Actor Generation

Sample Archetypes

Chapter 2 Skill System

Attack Checks

DC Checks (DCs)

Soak Damage Checks

Opposed Ability Skill Checks

Skill Focus

Chapter 3 Attack Skills

Strength (Melee)

Agility (Ranged)

Potentia Animi, Stellar Empowerment, and Gravimancy

Intellect (Potentia Animi)

Judgment (Stellar Empowerment)

Presence (Gravimancy)

Chapter 4 Abilities & Ability Skills

Chapter 5 Backgrounds

Chapter 6 Combat Rules

Personal Combat

Planetary Vehicle and Starship Combat

Chapter 7 Personal Replicator Modules (PRMs)

Chapter 8 Personal Craft

Chapter 9 Stellar Guide Section

Running the Game

Setting

Civilizations

Settlement

Social Interactions

Gravity

Universal Back-Up (UBU)

Encounter Building

Gaining and Spending Experience

Chapter 1 Actor Generation

All Ability Scores start with 1 Star, and all Skills and Backgrounds start with 0 Stars. No Ability may exceed 5 Stars at Actor generation, and no Skill or Background may exceed 3 Stars at Actor generation except for your Species Specialty Skill which may be increased to 4 Stars.

First, choose a sentient species:

Apply species modifiers.
When creating your own species, perform the following steps:
– Add 1 Star to any two Ability Scores (these become the species Primary Ability Scores).
– Choose two Ability Scores as secondary Ability Scores, with the remaining two becoming Tertiary Ability Scores (this is relevant for experience allocation).
– Add 1 Star to any single Non-Attack Skill. This becomes your Species Specialty Skill.
– Add 1 Star to any single Background.

Second, choose an Archetype

Apply Archetype modifiers.
When creating an Archetype, perform the following steps:
– Choose one Primary Archetype Ability. Add 2 Stars to this Ability.
– Choose two Secondary Archetype Abilities. Add 1 Star to each of these Abilities.
– Choose one Attack Skill. Add 3 Stars to that Attack Skill.
– Choose one Ability Skill. Add 3 Stars to that Skill.
– Choose three other Skills. Add 2 Stars to each of those Skills.
 – Choose three additional Skills from any of your Abilities. Add 1 Star to each of those Skills.
– Choose two Backgrounds. Add 1 Star to each of these Backgrounds.

Third, round out your Actor:  

Apply the following modifiers:
– Add a total of 4 Stars to any of your Abilities, distributed however you want (increase one Ability by 4 Stars, increase four Abilities by 1 Star each, or anything in between).
– Add a total of 6 Stars to any of your Skills, distributed however you want (increase two Skills by 3 Stars each, increase six Skills by 1 Star each, or anything in between). These points may be spent on either Attack Skills or Ability Skills.
– Add a total of 3 Stars to any of your Backgrounds, distributed however you want. No Background may be raised above 1, unless species and archetype have the same Background.

Fourth, calculate Integrity Points:

You start with 4 Integrity Points then add twice your Fortitude Star rating and add your Health Pool Star rating.

Finally, choose your equipment:

Select three Skills. You start the game with PRMs for these skills.

Sample Archetypes

Soldier

Abilities: +2 Agility, +1 Strength, +1 Fortitude

Skills: +3 Ranged, +3 Stealth, +2 Health Pool, +2 Melee, +2, +2 Soak Pool,, +1 Athletics, +1 Perception, +1 Intimidation

Backgrounds: +1 Affiliation (Military), +1 Cybernetics

Ace Starfighter Pilot

Abilities: +2 Agility, +1 Fortitude, +1 Judgment

Skills: +3 Piloting, +3 Ranged, +2 Soak Pool, +2 Dodge, +2 Perception, +1 Computers, +1 Health Pool, +1 Engineering

Backgrounds: +1 Affiliation (Galactic Space Force), +1 Fame

Stellar Guardian

Abilities: +2 Judgment, +1 Fortitude, +1 Presence

Skills: +3 Stellar Empowerment, +3 Insight, +2 Persuade, +2 Perception, +2 Perform, +1 History, +1 Health Pool, +1 Soak Pool

Backgrounds: +1 Affiliation (Stellar Patron or an organization associated with your Stellar Patron), +1 Star Chosen

Potentia Animist

Abilities: +2 Intellect, +1 Judgment, +1 Agility

Skills: +3 Potentia Animi, +3 Computers, +2 Engineering, +2 Science, +2 Legerdemain, +1 Insight, +1 Dodge, +1 Piloting

Backgrounds: +1 Companion AI, +1 Cognitive Enhancers

True Gravimancer

Abilities: +2 Presence, +1 Strength, +1 Fortitude

Skills: +3 Gravimancy, +3 Persuade, +2 Health Pool, +2 Melee, +2 Athletics, +1 Soak Pool, +1 Bluff, +1 Politics

Backgrounds: +1 Contact, +1 Cognitive Enhancers 

Chapter 2 Skill System

Event Horizons allows Actors to influence the galaxy around them through the use of Skills. Some Skills are Attack Skills, designed for use during combat. There is one Attack Skill for each Ability except Fortitude. The rest of the Skills are Ability Skills and are used to perform tasks or accomplish feats based on their type.

The Skills in this system represent proficiency in a variety of interrelated tasks. Each Ability Skill and Attack Skill covers a wide array of options. You do not need a different piloting skill to use each kind of ship; Agility (Piloting) covers all piloting tasks. Strength (Melee) covers all melee weapon usages, so you do not need to learn to use each weapon individually. Attack Skills can be used to perform any task or action described under those Skills, so someone with at least Star 1 Intellect (Potentia Animi) can use any of the Potentia Animi actions listed in that entry without spending experience to learn each one separately.

To use any Skill in the game, an Actor rolls a number of dice equal to the Skill’s Star rating counting each result of 4, 5, or 6 as a success. Then the Actor adds a number of successes equal to the relevant Ability’s Star rating. If the target has no Stars in the Skill, the target still adds its Ability Star rating as successes. One die in each dice pool is a Stellar Influence Die. This die has special properties. On a roll of 1, it removes a success from the current Skill Check you are making. On a roll of a 5 or 6, it counts as a success, and you may roll the Stellar Influence Die again, ignoring results of a 1. This may lead to as many successes as the stars allow. An Actor making a check with no Stars in the Skill still rolls a Stellar Influence Die, but the die does not add successes to the check in this case.

There are four types of Skill checks in Event Horizons: Attack Checks, DC Checks, Soak Damage Checks, and Opposed Ability Skill Checks.

Attack Checks

When making a check with an Attack Skill, an Actor hits their target if they have any successes, and the target loses 1 Integrity Point for each success. An Attack Check with no successes results in a miss. When performing another use of an Attack Skill, see the specific rules concerning those Skills.

DC Checks (DCs)

Some tasks require multiple successful Skill Checks over time to complete the task. Other actions require a single Skill Check. Below is a difficulty table for an idea of how difficult checks should be. In general, tasks that require multiple successful checks should require one or two fewer successes than checks that require only a single roll.

DC Type and typical successful candidate

1 Basic. Any species in the galaxy can perform this task nearly every time.

5 Common. A normal wolf attempting to hide.

10 Expert. An experienced pilot with a PRM piloting their personal craft.

15 Advanced. A master martial artist, with a PRM, and cybernetics boosting their strength.

20+ Stellar: Only through true mastery can someone reliably achieve such feats.

In the case of a DC Skill Check, the Actor rolls the appropriate Skill, comparing the number of successes to the DC number required for the task at hand. Some Skills may allow a second check immediately, while others may have consequences for failure.

Soak Damage Checks

Whenever a target takes damage from Melee or Ranged, the target rolls a Fortitude (Soak Pool) Check to reduce damage taken. For each success the target reduces damage taken by 1.

Whenever a target takes damage from Potentia Animi, Gravimancy, or Stellar Empowerment the target gets to roll a Fortitude (Resistance) Check to reduce damage taken. For each success the target reduces damage taken by 1.

Opposed Ability Skill Checks

Some Skills Checks are made in opposition to one another. Pulling an item out of another’s hand, hacking a computer while an AI is trying to deny you entry, or lying to someone requires an Opposed Ability Skill Check. When making an Opposed Ability Skill Check, both opponents make Ability Skills checks, and the one with the highest total number of successes wins. In the case of a tie, the defender wins (if it is difficult to determine which is the aggressor and which is the defender, the person who initiated the check is the aggressor).

Skill Focus

Some Skills require Skill Focus to maintain their effects. While most commonly affected in Attack Skills, any long term use of a Skill in intense situations would require Skill Focus. Skill Focus represents an individual devoting their mental energy to the continual use of a Skill. While maintaining Focus on a Skill, an Actor may not use the Skill for anything other than the task at hand, though they may use other Skills. Whenever an Actor maintaining Skill Focus loses Integrity Points they lose Focus unless they succeed at a check with that skill (the DC is equal to the number of Integrity Points lost). An Actor may only maintain Focus in one Skill at a time. 

Chapter 3 Attack Skills

There is one Attack Skill for each Ability except Endurance: Strength (Melee), Agility (Ranged), Intellect (Potentia Animi), Judgment (Solar Focus), and Presence (Gravimancy). A list of actions are included with the description of each Skill, but they are not comprehensive; you may attempt any feat for which you and your Stellar Guide can devise a mechanic. Attack Skills for ship combat are discussed in the Ship Combat section.

Strength (Melee)

Whether striking with an appendage, a laser-ax, or a bottle you just picked up, this is the Skill for melee attacks. Attacks made in this manner deal 1 point of damage per success, and this damage can be soaked with Fortitude (Soak Pool). Strength (Melee) Checks may only target adjacent opponents.

Grapple – If you wish to grapple a character, make an Opposed Strength (Melee) Skill Check against the target’s Strength (Melee) Skill or Agility (Dodge) Skill. If you win, the target takes a penalty to all dice pools equal to the difference in their number of successes (Soak Damage Checks and checks targeting the grappler are not affected). To escape the grapple, the target must make Strength (Athletics) or Agility (Acrobatics) Check. Each success on this check reduces their dice pool penalty by 1, and if the penalty is reduced to 0 then they have escaped the grapple. Until the target escapes, you may use your action to deal damage equal to the dice pool penalty. This damage may not be soaked.

Disarm – You may disarm a character of a held object that is not directly connected to a user (including but not limited to PRMs) by making an Opposed Strength (Melee) Check against the target’s Strength (Athletics) Skill. The target adds 2 successes to their check. If you win, you may knock the object 1 hex away per success in excess of the target, or you may grasp the item provided you have a free appendage.

Bleeding Strike – You may make a brutal melee strike by making a Strength (Melee) Check and removing 2 successes from the check. If you hit then you deal damage as normal, and for each success the target receives 1 point of unsoakable damage at the end of each Scene. To staunch the bleeding, a character must make a Judgment (Medicine) Check or Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Check. Each success on this check reduces the damage per Scene by 1, and if the damage is reduced to 0 then they are no longer bleeding. Multiple bleeding effects stack when applying damage, but require separate Skill Checks to staunch.

Agility (Ranged)

This Skill represents your ability to wield ranged weapons, from pulse rifles and smart missile launchers to bows and throwing knives. Attacks made in this manner deal 1 point of damage per success, and this damage can be soaked with Fortitude (Soak Pool).

Ranged Disarm – You may attempt to shoot an object that is not directly connected to a user (including but not limited to PRMs) out of a character’s appendage by making an Opposed Agility (Ranged) Check against the target’s Strength (Athletics) Skill. The target adds 2 successes to their check. If you win, you may knock the object 1 hex away per success in excess of the target.

Penetrating Shot – You may aim for vitals, ignoring armor by making an Agility (Ranged) check and removing 2 successes from the check. If you hit then you deal damage as normal but the target may not soak the damage.

Potentia Animi, Stellar Empowerment, and Gravimancy

These Skills can be used to inflict damage on a target like using a weapon, but the damage is soaked with Fortitude (Resistance) instead of Fortitude (Soak Pool). Each one of these skills can also be used to perform other extraordinary feats as listed in the description of each skill. The target of one of these actions can make a Fortitude (Resistance) check, and each success removes one success from the aggressor’s check.

Each power can be used within line-of-sight at a maximum range based on the Skill’s Star rating.

Star Range

1 10 meters (5 hexes)

2 100 meters (50 hexes)

3 500 meters (250 hexes)

4 1 kilometer

5 1,000 kilometers

6 10,000 kilometers

7 100,000 kilometers

8 1,000,000 kilometers

9 10,000,000 kilometers

10 Within a Star System
 

Intellect (Potentia Animi)

Nearly all users of Potentia Animi come from sentient species.

Attack – You can change the fundamental probability of electrons around you, drawing forth electricity that lashes out at a target. Attacks made in this manner deal 1 point of damage per success, and this damage can be soaked with Fortitude (Resistance).

Control Device – You may gain control of a non-Incipient, non-Quak’rii device that is not directly connected to a user (including but not limited to PRMs). The DC for this check is variable, based on the device’s level of technological complexity as well as any quantum countermeasures, and is determined by the Stellar Guide on a case-by-case basis.

Comprehend Technology – You can attempt to discern the purpose of a technological device and how to use it safely. For each success, you learn a property of the device and how to use that property safely (unless there is no safe usage).

Detect Technology – You can detect all technological devices within the maximum range of your Intellect (Potentia Animi) Skill. In the case of extreme ranges, this information becomes overwhelming and is often useless. This power may be used at a shorter range if desired. For each success beyond the first you learn one bit of information about one of the detected pieces of technology. Incipient technology causes neural feedback when examined with this Skill, providing no useful information.

Charm AI – You may manipulate the quantum states of an AI’s hardware to favor you, by making an Opposed Intellect (Potentia Animi) Check against the target AI’s Intellect (Computers) Skill. If you exceed the target’s total number of successes, it remains friendly to you for as long as you maintain Skill Focus. A charmed AI views you as a close friend, but will not take actions that are obviously detrimental to itself or its allies. For example, a charmed AI operating a ship’s guns may stop firing on your vessel, but it would not begin firing its allies’ ships to protect you.

Quantum Prediction – You can look forward into the future. For each success on your Intellect (Potentia Animi) Check, you may add or remove one success from any ally’s or opponent’s check, up to your Potentia Animi Star rating. You may use this ability for as long as you maintain Skill Focus and have unused successes remaining.

Enhance Technological Missiles – You can improve the effectiveness of one ranged weapon by making an Intellect (Potentia Animi) Check. For each success, add +1 to damage dealt by attacks with the weapon. After each attack made with the weapon, reduce the bonus by 1, to a minimum of +1. The weapon is enhanced for as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Judgment (Stellar Empowerment)

Attack – Like the star you connect to, you can sear a target with gouts of flame. Attacks made in this manner deal 1 point of damage per success, and this damage can be soaked with Fortitude (Resistance).

Detect Life – You may detect the presence and quantity of life within the maximum range of your Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Skill. For each success beyond the first, you can learn one detail about one of the detected lifeforms beginning with that lifeform’s species.

Stellar Weapon – You can manifest a burning melee weapon.  For every three successes on your Judgment (Stellar Weapon) Check, choose one ability from the list below. You may not choose the same ability twice in a row.

– The stellar weapon can reach targets an additional 2 meters away

– Add +1 damage to attacks made with the stellar weapon

– A target hit by the stellar weapon takes 1 point of unsoakable damage at the end of the next Scene.

Though a stellar weapon has the appearance and reach of a melee weapon, attacks with it are made using your Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Skill. The weapon persists as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Contact Stellar Patron – You may attempt to mentally contact your stellar patron in search of guidance by making a Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Check. For each success, you may ask a yes-or-no question of your Stellar Patron. When you contact your Stellar Patron from within its star system, you reroll the Stellar Influence Die on a result of 4 or higher. Stellar Patrons responses are always truthful, but may be “unknown” or “unclear” rather than “yes” or “no.” The Stars are not all-knowing, but they can sense everywhere in the galaxy that their light shines. After taking this action, you may not take it again for one week.

Heal – You can heal damaged characters. For each success on your Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Check the target regains one Integrity Point. You can distribute these successes to one or several targets in any manner you please.

Stellar Sight – You may attempt to remotely view a place illuminated by your Stellar Patron, seeing and hearing as if you were there. Places where your Stellar Patron’s light does not penetrate, such as inside buildings and underground, cannot be viewed. When you use Stellar Sight within your Stellar Patron’s system, you reroll the Stellar Influence Die on a result of 4 or higher. With a single success on your Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Check, you see and hear a place up to 10 kilometers away. For every three additional successes, extend the maximum range at which you can view by one step: planet, system, sector, quadrant, galaxy, extragalactic. You may continue viewing as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Patron’s Guidance – You can empower yourself and others with the wisdom of your Stellar Patron. For each success on your Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Check, you add one success to any ally’s check or your own check (once per check). You may use this ability for as long as you maintain Skill Focus and have unused successes remaining.

Stellar Fire – You may create a number of hexes of stellar fire equal to your Judgment Star rating plus your Stellar Empowerment Star rating by making a Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Check and removing 1 success from the check. For each success, you can create an additional hex of Stellar Fire, or you can increase the damage it deals by 1. Anyone that passes through the fire or begins its Act there takes 0 damage. Each hex of stellar fire must be connected to another hex of stellar fire. The stellar fire remains as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Burning Core – You can burn a target with the heat of the core of your Stellar Patron by making a Judgment (Stellar Empowerment) Check and removing 4 successes from the check. If you hit then you deal damage as normal but the target may not soak the damage.

Presence (Gravimancy)

Through sheer force of personality, gravimancers have accessed ancient powers that tap into the greatest of gravity wells within distant black holes.

Attack – You may use the pull of gravity to damage targets, tearing at them with extreme force. Attacks made in this manner deal 1 point of damage per success, and this damage can be soaked with Fortitude (Resistance).

Push/Pull – You can manipulate gravity to move Actors and objects. For each success on your Presence (Gravimancy) Check, you can move a target of up to 2 meters in size 1 hex. Targets larger than 2 meters can be moved by spending an additional success for every 2 additional meters of size. You can distribute these successes to one or several targets in any manner you please. If the target is moved into another Actor or object, you can spend additional successes to deal damage to both the target and the obstacle equal to the number of successes spent.

Ground – You may create a number of hexes of extreme gravity equal to your Gravimancy Star rating by making a Presence (Gravimancy) Check and removing 1 success from the check. For each success, you can create an additional hex of grounded area, or you can increase the dice pool penalty it inflicts by 1. Actors in the grounded area move at 1/4th their normal speed and take a -0 penalty to all dice pools (Soak Damage Checks and checks to move out of the area are not affected). Each hex of grounded area must be connected to another hex of grounded area. The grounded area remains as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Gravitational Flight – You can fly using the forces of gravity to pull you around and allow you to levitate by making a Presence (Gravimancy) Check. You gain a fly speed of 2 per success. You may continue flying as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Repellent Gravity – You may create a field of massive gravitational force pushing Actors and objects away from you. For every three successes on your Presence (Gravimancy) Check, choose one ability from the list below. You may not choose the same ability twice in a row.

– Add 1 success to your Strength (Melee) Checks to grapple

– Add +1 Die to your Soak Damage Checks

– Remove 1 success from Attack Checks targeting you

Gravity Hammer – You can empower a melee weapon to strike with enhanced mass by making a Presence (Gravimancy) Check. For each success, add +1 to damage dealt by attacks with the weapon. After each attack made with the weapon, reduce the bonus by 1, to a minimum of +1. The weapon is enhanced for as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Pull Object – You may attempt to use gravity to pull an object that is not directly connected to a user (including but not limited to PRMs) from another’s grasp by making an Opposed Presence (Gravimancy) Check against the target’s Strength (Athletics) Skill. The target adds 1 success to their check. If you win, you may pull the object 1 hex away per success in excess of the target. If you pull the object into your hex and have a free appendage then you may have the object fly to your grasp.

Chapter 4 Abilities & Ability Skills

Abilities represent an Actor’s baseline aptitudes. Ability Star ratings range from 1 to 5, with 5 being complete mastery of that trait. An Ability’s Star rating is the number of successes that an Actor always adds to Skill Checks in that Ability’s domain.

Ability Skills are an Actor’s talents and proficiencies, whether naturally present instincts (as is the case with many non-sentients) or the results of training and experience. Actors with no stars in an Ability Skill can still use it; one simply adds the number of successes from their Ability, and rolls the Stellar Influence die.

Strength – This represents your physical strength.

Athletics – This is your facility with physical activities, such as climbing, swimming, jumping, or lifting. Those who have lives of manual labor are often trained in this skill, as are those species who are native to environments where climbing or swimming is required. Add your Athletics Star rating to the number of hexes you can move in an Act. An attached PRM might be an exoskeleton or swimming accents.

Agility – This represents your nimbleness and dexterity.

Acrobatics – This is your ability to balance, jump, climb, or otherwise make a check to do something requiring a large amount of physical dexterity. Species that make their homes high in trees or professional gymnasts are those most likely to be trained in this skill. An attached PRM might be a gyroscope that helps you keep balance or a neurolink device that amplifies natural coordination.

Dodge – This is your ability to get out of the way. During combat, you can avoid attacks by making an Agility (Dodge) Check. For each success, remove 1 success from Attack Checks targeting you. Those who have combat experience are most likely to develop this skill. An attached PRM might be a holographic decoy projector or a personal accelerator that allows the Actor to shift positions quickly.

Legerdemain – This is your ability to pick pockets, open mechanical locks, or perform sleight of hand and other tricks requiring extreme manual dexterity. For Opposed Ability Skills, roll against Judgment (Perception). A thief or a street illusionist are the most likely people trained in this skill. An attacked PRM might be an automated limb that effortlessly takes items from a target’s pocket as you pass by or coins that become transparent mid-flip when you throw them into the air.

Piloting – This is your ability to pilot starships and other vehicles. Many people throughout the galaxy are trained in this skill, from farmers piloting industrial agricultural equipment on countless planets to Horizon Drifters who choose not to rely on AI to pilot their personal craft. An attached PRM might be a neural halo that allows a pilot to control their ship without their limbs, or even a direct link that plugs directly into the ship’s systems.

Stealth – This is your ability to avoid detection, not just hiding from sight, but also tailing someone or blending into a crowd. Assassins and detectives are both individuals that often are experts in this skill. An attached PRM might be a chameleon suit that blends in with your surroundings or a device that allows you to change your clothing and physical features to blend in with a group.

Fortitude – This represents your physical constitution, and general health.

Health – This adds 1 Integrity Point per Star. Everyone in the galaxy has some level of this skill. PRMs cannot be attached to Health.

Soak Pool – This your ability to mitigate physical damage you take, usually during combat from the Melee and Ranged attack skills. Anyone who experiences danger finds a need for this skill. An attached PRM could be armored skin or repulsor shields.

Resistance – This is your ability to mitigate damage from Stellar Empowerment, Potentia Animi, and Gravimancy attacks. An attached PRM might be an energy field that disrupts such attacks.

Intellect – This represents how smart your Actor is.

Computers – This is your ability to use computers. Programming, hacking, searching data or simply operating software, this is the Skill that covers everything computers. Those who are adept in the cyber world such as hackers, system administrators, and even ship comms officers are some of those who frequently use this skill. An attached PRM could be glasses with a heads-up display connected to a traditional tablet.

History – This is your knowledge of galactic history. For each Star in this Skill, choose one faction, organization, system, species, Stellar Patron, or other area of interest that has a large body of knowledge surrounding it. When making Intellect (History) Checks related to the chosen topics, you ignore 1’s on the Stellar Influence Die, and you reroll the Stellar Influence Die on a roll of 4 or higher. Historians and diplomats are trained in this skill. An attached PRM might be a neuro-index on the topic at hand connected to a tablet that contains the data.

Politics – This is your knowledge of and ability to manipulate politics around you. This Skill allows you to both understand the machinations of a political body and influence it through your actions, provided you have access to power or legitimacy within the political body. While every politician is trained in this skill, many regular people have some political capacity acquired while navigating various galactic bureaucracies. An attached PRM might be ocular-displays that list motives and backgrounds of people around them or a datapad with reference information about a governing system.

Engineering – This is your ability to repair things and work with technological hardware. Mechanics, engineers and inventors are those most likely to be trained in this skill. An attached PRM is often some form of toolkit.

Science – This is your general knowledge of science such as biology, psychology, sociology, physics, or astroneurology. Those studying the Incipient artifacts are often the most sought after users of this skill in the galaxy. An attached PRM could take the form of a scanner, analyzing device, or a database of scientific knowledge.

Judgment – This represents your observational and intuitive nature.

Insight – This is your ability to discover the general emotional sense of a target, or to determine whether someone is lying. For Opposed Ability Skills, roll against Presence (Bluff). Diplomats and human resources personnel are among those who are often trained in this skill. An attached PRM might be a device that analyzes species’ communication expressions or a one that monitors vocal tones for deception.

Medicine – This is your ability to diagnose and treat injuries and other medical conditions. Doctors and nurses are those most commonly trained in this Skill. An attached PRM might be a medkit or an instant DNA reactor. You can make a Judgment (Medicine) Check with an attached PRM to heal a character. The target regains 1 Integrity Point for each success. After taking this action, you cannot heal the same target with this Skill for one minute.

Perception – This is your ability to notice details, from clues scattered around a crime scene to the person sneaking in the corner. You can notice a hidden character by making an Opposed Judgment (Stealth) Check against the target’s Agility (Stealth) Skill. An attached PRM might be lenses that allow one to see great distances or minute details, or a heads-up display that alerts its user to movement.

Presence – This represents your power of personality. 

Barter – This is the Skill used to negotiate contracts, sales, purchases, and anything else that requires two parties to come to terms over a transaction. An attached PRM could be a datapad with value databases or direct access to supply records.

Bluff – This is your ability to deceive. It is opposed by Judgment (Insight), provided the target decides to make a Skill Check. Most people never even think to question a lie if it makes enough sense or is of no consequence, but big lies require big checks.

Intimidate – This is your ability to scare someone. Generally, targets of an intimidate check view the user negatively in future Encounters. An attached PRM might be voice modulators that make the Actor’s voice resonate in the skulls of sentients or a menacing outfit.

Performance – This is your ability to sing, play instruments, write poetry, paint, or pursue whatever other artistic endeavor you desire. Choose a number of forms of performance equal to your Performance Star rating. When making Presence (Performance) Checks related to the chosen forms, you ignore 1’s on the Stellar Influence Die, and you reroll the Stellar Influence Die on a roll of 4 or higher. An attached PRM could be a musical instrument or costume.

Persuade – This is your ability to use words to get others to come to your way of thinking. See Changing NAC Attitudes. An attached PRM could be elaborate clothing or a voice- and eye-control device to make the Actor more appealing.

Chapter 5 Backgrounds

Backgrounds are traits that represent people who owe you favor, ownership of a ship, membership in an organization, notoriety, or other features that are not a part of the Actor themselves.

If a situation calls for a check with a Background, the Actor rolls a number of dice equal to the Background’s Star rating. Backgrounds have no relevant Ability, so no successes are added. One die in each dice pool is a Stellar Influence Die, as usual.

(* – may be chosen more than once, each one represents a separate entity)

Affiliation * – This is your membership in an organization, anything from a military force to a corporation, a crime syndicate to an academic institution, and everything in between.

Star Effect

1 Other members of the organization react positively to you and may offer you a safe haven for free or a modest price.

2 You’ve achieved a small measure of success within your organization. Members of lower Star rating in the organization will take your orders (provided they are not outside the norms for that individual).

3 You’re among the lower leadership for your organization. Members of lower Star rating in the organization immediately follow your directions provided they are in line with the organization’s philosophy.

4 You are among the upper echelon of leadership for your organization. You may have entire regions under your direct control with minions spread out across systems doing your bidding.

5 You are among the top decision makers of your organization, potentially even the one in charge. Members of lower Star rating in the organization are constantly trying to appease you to gain promotions within the organization, and you probably have a personal retinue of specialists that travel with you based on the type of organization you lead.

Furthermore, every Affiliation has an Affiliation Reach Star rating unrelated to your Star rating in the Affiliation Background.

Star Power

1 Their reach is small, a city on a planet or moon or a single space station.

2 Their sphere of influence stretches throughout an entire star system.

3 Their reach has spread throughout a star cluster of dozens to a few hundred star systems.

4 Their reach extends across hundreds to thousands of systems.

5 This organization is known galaxy-wide and has an immense amount of galactic influence.

Celebrity – You are well known for some aspect of the Performance Skill, be it for singing or painting or any combination of things you can imagine for your Actor. When recognized by a Non-Actor Character, the Actor may roll a Celebrity Check. For each success increase the target’s view of your Actor by 1.

Star Effect

1 People across one city are enthusiastic fans of your work.

2 People on one planet are fans of your work.

3 The sentients of one system are ardent supporters of your work.

4 Beings from an entire quadrant of the galaxy have come to cherish your work.

5 Your name and your work are known galaxy-wide.

Cognitive Enhancers – This Background allows you to increase your mental prowess. For each Star of Cognitive Enhancers, increase your Intellect, Judgment, or Presence Star rating by 1. Stars gained from Cognitive Enhancers do not count when determining the experience point cost to increase your Ability Star rating.

Companion* – This is a loyal servant that accompanies you. This may be a guard animal, a singing drathomaak from the red swamps of Duromere, a loyal bodyguard, a sibling, a drone, or whatever you can imagine. Companion Abilities start at Star rating 1 with additional statistics determined by your Companion Star rating as seen below. Companions start with (Companion Star rating – 1) Integrity Points then add twice their Fortitude Star rating and add their Health Pool Star rating. All Companions, sentient or non-sentient, have UBU.

Star Companion Statistics

1 +3 Ability Stars, 1 Background Star

Star 2 Attack Skill, Star 2 Skill, Two Star 1 Skills

2 +5 Ability Stars, 2 Background Stars

Star 2 Attack Skill, Two Star 2 Skills, Three Star 1 Skills

3 +7 Ability Stars, 3 Background Stars

Star 3 Attack Skill, Star 3 Skill, Two Star 2 Skills, Four Star 1 Skills

4 +9 Ability Stars, 4 Background Stars

Star 3 Attack Skill, Star 4 Skill, Star 3 Skill, Two Star 2 Skills, Four Star 1 Skills

5 +11 Ability Stars, 5 Background Stars

Star 4 Attack Skill, Star 5 Skill, Star 4 Skill, Star 3 Skill, Three Star 2 Skills, Five Star 1 Skills

A Troupe may have a number of companions equal to 6 minus the total number of Actors. For example, a Troupe of 3 Actors could have 3 Companions among them. No companions may accompany a Troupe of 6 or more Actors on an active Episode.

Companion AI* – A companion AI is an Artificial Intelligence that is located in a device that you keep on your person. As such, the AI can perform any Skill in which it has Stars. Companion AIs may not learn Attack Skills. A companion AI has only three Abilities: Intellect, Judgment, and Presence. Companion AI Abilities start at Star rating 1 with additional statistics determined by your Companion AI Star rating as seen below. Companion AIs may not choose attack Skills, but they may use their Intellect (Computers) to operate any vehicle or starship weapon to which they have access, or to pilot a craft if given permission.

Star Companion AI Statistics

1 +3 Ability Stars, Star 3 Intellect (Computers)

Star 2 Skill, Two Star 1 Skills

2 +5 Ability Stars, Star 3 Intellect (Computers)

Two Star 2 Skills, Three Star 1 Skills

3 +7 Ability Stars, Star 4 Intellect (Computers)

Star 3 Skill, Two Star 2 Skills, Four Star 1 Skills

4 +9 Ability Stars, Star 5 Intellect (Computers)

Star 4 Skill, Star 3 Skill, Two Star 2 Skills, Four Star 1 Skills

5 +11 Ability Stars, Star 5 Intellect (Computers)

Star 5 Skill, Star 4 Skill, Star 3 Skill, Three Star 2 Skills, Five Star 1 Skills

Contact * – This is someone you can go to for information. Each Contact has their own Non-Actor Character sheet. Star 1 Contacts are generated with the same rules as a new Actor. For each additional Star you may spend 50 experience points improving the Contact’s Abilities, Skills, and Backgrounds.

Cybernetics – This Background allows you to increase your physical aptitude. For each Star of Cybernetics, increase your Strength, Agility, or Fortitude Star rating by 1. Stars gained from Cybernetics do not count when determining the experience point cost to increase your Ability Star rating.

Exceptional Skill – For each Star of Exceptional Skill, choose an associated Skill. You gain a +1 dice pool bonus on checks made with that Skill. You cannot choose the same Skill twice in a row.

Fame/Infamy – You are known for a great act of heroism, sacrifice, or other noble gesture, or you are known for your association with something nefarious or your participation in a dastardly deed.

You can increase the Troupe View of those who recognize your Fame and view it favorably by making a Fame Check. For each success increase the Troupe View Star rating by 1.

Those who recognize your Infamy give you a wide berth and no small measure of respect. When a Non-Actor Character recognizes you, make an Infamy Background Check, and consult the table below.

Successes Effect

1 Wary. The NAC avoids any conflict.

2 Worried. The NAC attempts to calmly leave the area, within reason.

3 Afraid. The NAC is complacent and seeking any way out.

4 Frightened. The NAC is visibly scared and willing to do anything to escape or survive.

5 Terrified. The NAC begs openly for its life, whether or not they have been threatened.

Mentor – This is a person who set you on your way and has been a guiding force in your life. They offer advice when they can, and potentially more direct aid in dire situations (at the DM’s discretion). A mentor has their own Non-Actor Character sheet. A Star 1 Mentor is generated with the same rules as a new Actor. For each additional Star you may spend 50 experience points improving the Mentor’s Abilities, Skills, and Backgrounds.

Nobility – Your family has a noble lineage. Nobility does not grant access to resources or favors outside the reach of your home star system. None of the effects listed below imply sole rulership of a region. It represents the sum total of your influence. Noble councils reserve the right to decide who is seated among them, and they can revoke Nobility Star ratings of 4 and 5.

Star Effect

1 Your domain is a populous city or region on a planet.

2 Your seat of power is a planet.

3 Your region of control is an entire star system.

4 You have a seat at your quadrant’s noble council.

5 You have a seat at the galactic noble council.

PRMs – You have acquired through some means additional PRM (Personal Resource Modules). These PRMs are in addition to any others that you have from another source. For each Star of PRMs you have a PRM for one additional Skill.

Star Chosen – A specific star has taken a special interest in you, and from its burning core guides your actions. For each Star in this Background, you may reroll one check of your choice per Episode.

Chapter 6 Combat Rules

There are two types of combat in Horizon Drifters, Personal Combat and Ship Combat. Personal Combat is a battle between individual beings acting and moving independently. Ship Combat is a conflict involving Planetary Vehicles or Starships.

Combat is divided up into six-second Scenes. At the end of each Scene, a new Scene begins, continuing until the Encounter is played out to its conclusion.

Personal Combat

To determine the order of action during combat, all participants make a check with their choice of Attack Skill. List each Actor’s and NAC’s number of successes from highest to lowest noting whether each result was rolled by an Actor or by an NAC (Actors win ties); these are initiative slots. Actors and Non-Actor Characters each have one Act in a Scene taken in one of their side’s initiative slots, beginning with the highest and proceeding to the lowest. This check is made once at the beginning of a combat Scene, but participants can Act in different initiative slots belonging to their side from round to round.

During their Act in a Scene, an Actor may use a Skill, move, or both. They may speak freely during this time, but the Stellar Guide should feel free to place reasonable limits on the duration of speech during an Act.

Each Actor may move a number of 2-meter hexes equal to the total of their Strength, Athletics, Agility, and Fortitude Star ratings.

Actors regain their Fortitude Star rating in Lost Integrity Points each minute beginning when they have not lost Integrity Points within the last ten minutes.

If an Actor is reduced to 0 Integrity Points, the Actor and all of their PRMs disappear and begin the process of reassembly in a Quak’rii Universal Back-Up facility. Personal craft in use when an Actor’s UBU is activated decide for themselves whether to initiate the back-up process, their AI ensuring they neither abandon their mission, nor strand other Troupe members.

Planetary Vehicle and Starship Combat

The order of actions in Ship Combat is determined in a similar way to Personal Combat, with a few exceptions. When rolling the check, Piloting, Computers, or Engineering may be used in place of an Attack Skill. A craft’s pilot has priority over other crew when choosing initiative slots. Only a craft’s pilot can move their craft, and they can do so in any initiative slot taken by a combatant on board their craft.

There are three roles in space combat: Pilot, Captain, and Crew. The role of Pilot and Captain of a single-person craft can be filled by the same person while the craft’s AI fills the role of Crew.

The Pilot

The Pilot is in charge of moving the craft, and is the person with the ultimate decision on where the craft goes. A Pilot may move their starship a number of hexes equal to its movement speed each Scene.

A pilot is always considered to be maneuvering when actively piloting a craft. At the end of a Scene, if neither the pilot nor the craft’s AI is actively piloting and no autopilot is engaged, the ship moves the same distance it moved during the previous Scene in the last direction it moved, provided there are no obstructions or gravitational forces in the area. The pilot may take any any action listed.

The Captain

The Captain communicates on behalf of the craft and its crew, and they encourage the crew onward. The Captain uses social Skills between ships, such as Intimidate, Persuasion, or Bluff. If the Captain does not make a social Ability Skill Check in a round, they may perform any Crew action or switch roles with the Pilot.

The Crew

The Crew role represents anyone else aboard the ship that is making checks, whether firing weapons, making repairs, or operating computer systems. Captains and Pilots can make any of these checks, but a Pilot that does so cannot actively pilot a craft in the same Scene.

An Actor may perform any of the following actions during ship combat by making Attack Skill, Agility (Piloting), Intellect (Engineering), and Intellect (Computers) Checks. 

Attack Skill Actions

Attack – An Actor may use an attack skill with a relevant PRM connected to the craft. Attacks made in this manner deal 1 point of damage per success.

Target Shields – Instead of damaging a craft, you can weaken or disable its shields by making an Attack Check and removing 2 successes from the check. For every 2 successes, reduce the target craft’s Shield Star rating by 1.

Target Weapons – Instead of damaging a craft, you attempt to disable one of its weapon systems by making an Attack Check removing 2 successes. For each success, a single weapon or linked weapon system becomes nonfunctional.

Intellect (Computers) Actions

Hide Ship – You can mask your craft’s presence from others by making an Intellect (Computers) Check. If you succeed, your craft is no longer automatically detected by others, and for each success beyond the first, reduce the number of successes on checks to detect your craft with sensor sweeps by 1. Moving more than 3 hexes in a Scene, firing weapons, opening a wormhole, or sending communications ends this effect, making your craft visible to other craft again.

Jam Communications – You may prevent another craft from making transmissions by making an Intellect (Computers) Check. If you succeed the target craft is unable to use its communication systems, and for each success beyond the first, reduce the number of successes on checks to pierce the jamming by 1.

Pierce Jamming –  You can resume communications when your craft’s comm systems are being jammed by making an Intellect (Computers) Check. If you succeed your craft regains all communication functions.

Scan – You can scan a craft by making an Intellect (Computers) Check. If you succeed, you determine the target craft’s type, weapons armament, number of passengers, defensive capabilities, and general type of cargo.

Sensor Sweep – You can find hidden craft by making an Intellect (Computers) Check. If you succeed, you detect a nearby hidden craft and can target it normally.

Intellect (Engineering) Actions

Boost Shields – You may divert power to improve the efficiency of your craft’s shields by making an Intellect (Engineering) Check. For every five successes, your craft gains a +1 dice pool bonus on Soak Damage Checks. This bonus remains as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Boost Thrusters – You may divert power to make the craft faster by making an Intellect (Engineering) Check. For each success, increase the craft’s speed by 1. This increase remains as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Boost Weapons System – You can divert power to make one of the craft’s weapons more powerful. Choose a single weapon system, and make an Intellect (Engineering) Check. For each success, add +1 to damage dealt by attacks with the weapon system. After each attack made with the weapon system, reduce the bonus by 1, to a minimum of +1. The weapon system is enhanced for as long as you maintain Skill Focus.

Repair Hull – You can repair damage to your craft by making an Intellect (Engineering) Check. For each success, your craft regains 1 Integrity Point.

Repair Shields – You can repair your craft’s shields when they are damaged by making an Intellect (Engineering) Check and removing 2 successes from the check. For every 2 successes, increase the target craft’s Shield Star rating by 1 to a maximum of its original Shield Star rating.

Repair Weapons – You can repair your craft’s weapons when they are disabled by making an Intellect (Engineering) Check and removing 2 successes from the check. For each success, a single weapon or linked weapon system regains functionality.

Squadrons

Starships of the same size and Star rating can form a squadron. Planetary vehicles of the same size and Star Rating may also form a squadron provided they are all designed to function in the same type of environment. A squadron can contain up to nine craft.

A squadron acts as a single unit in combat. When a squadron attacks, the squadron leader makes an Attack Check. For each success, the target takes 1 point of damage for every two craft in the squadron beyond the first (rounded up). When a squadron is hit by an attack, the squadron leader chooses one craft in the squadron to receive the attack’s damage.

Scaling

When targeting a craft with an Actor-scale weapon, add 2 successes to your Attack Check.

Double the amount of damage dealt by craft when attacking Actor-scale targets and double the amount of damage soaked by craft when hit by Actor-scale weapons.

Chapter 7 Personal Replicator Modules (PRMs)

Equipment in Event Horizons is less about having a golf bag of equipment with exactly the right tool for every job and is more about having equipment that represents how you see your Actor. The level of technology in the setting is limited only by imagination. Equipment is for the flavor of how you want to use your Skills to be used and your attacks to be made.

The galaxy exists in an excess resource economy. Basic goods and services are largely free throughout the galaxy, and a system of meritocracy determines how additional resources are distributed.

All sentients in the galaxy are given Personal Replicator Modules (PRMs) which allow them to create any item they may need based on their level of Skill. A PRM acts as gear of a Star rating appropriate to the Ability Skill for which the gear is designed. Turning a PRM from one piece of gear into another takes one minute per Star rating of the new piece of gear being created. A PRM will only turn into an item up to the maximum Star rating of its owner’s relevant Ability Skill, and will only work for the owner.

PRMs cannot be traded or transferred, and will return fully with Universal Back-Up. When PRMs form, they create a special connective field between themselves and their user, so they cannot be disarmed.

Star Effect

1 +1 Die Pool

2 +1 Die Pool, +1 Base successes 

3 +2 Die Pool, +1 Base successes

4 +2 Die Pool, +2 Base successes

5 +2 Die Pool, +2 Base successes, Stellar Influence Die successes count as 2 successes.

6 +3 Die Pool, +2 Base successes

7 +3 Die Pool, +3 Base successes

8 +4 Die Pool, +3 Base successes

9 +4 Die Pool, +4 Base successes

10 +4 Die Pool, +4 Base successes, Stellar Influence Die successes now count as 3 successes.

Ignore results of 1 on the Stelar Influence Die.

Chapter 8 Personal Craft

Each Horizon Drifter has a personal craft. This craft takes ten minutes to form, and can be reformed any time a Horizon walker chooses to do so. The craft can be as little as 4 meters wide and long and as much as 12 meters wide and long. Each time a Horizon Drifter forms a craft, it takes the shape and proportions they choose. These ships can operate independently in any environment. Ilchari ships as well as other living ships do not have the ability to change shapes, instead retaining a single, growing form.

From mechanized armored suits to starfighters to freighters to even simple but powerful tanks, the legions of craft the Horizon Drifters use are as diverse as the Drifters themselves.

A personal craft has a base 10 Integrity Points. The craft also has four attributes, Hull, Shields, AI, and Engine. Each attribute starts with one Star, then the owner adds two Stars to the craft’s attributes. After that, the owner chooses one of the following skills: Melee, Ranged, Piloting, Computers, Engineering, Potentia Animi, Stellar Empowerment, or Gravimancy. For each Star in the chosen Skill, add another Star to the craft’s attributes.

Hull – Each Star adds 3 Integrity Points to the craft and one point of damage reduction for Soak Damage Checks.

Shields – Each Star adds two dice on Soak Damage Checks.

AI – The craft’s artificial intelligence has an Intellect Star rating equal to this attribute’s Star rating and a Computers Star rating of 2 x this attribute’s Star rating. The AI can perform any crew task with its Computers skill.

Engine – Personal Craft have a speed of 8 + Engine Star rating. All starships have wormhole engines.

Weapons – Each personal craft can utilize any weapon skill that has a PRM plugged into the ship by its user. Ships can materialize rail guns, laser axes, star beam cannons, gravity pulses, quantum ruptures, or whatever else the player can imagine.

CIVILIZATION SAVER

All craft in the galaxy must have devices that prevent their weapons from firing in populated centers. No one anywhere in the galaxy is exempt from this requirement. Even the Horizon Drifters, the people who are at the heart of each conflict in the galaxy, are not permitted to have craft without such protections. Possession of such a craft in a place with a population center can result in a sentence of one thousand years of cold stasis.

Chapter 9 Stellar Guide Section

Running the Game

Event Horizons is more about roleplaying than it is about just killing enemies for loot. It is a game of galactic intrigue, where simply killing an enemy is often not enough to stop them, only delay them. For those who choose so, death is a mere inconvenience.

The game progresses through three types of Encounters: Social Challenges (roleplaying Encounters), Skill Challenges (those requiring Skill Checks to overcome), and Combat Challenges (those requiring combat). A number of Encounters strung together in a coherent story is an Episode. A group of Episodes with an overarching storyline is a Series. An entire collection of all Series and Episodes run by a Stellar Guide for a group of Actors is a Campaign.

You are the Stellar Guide (SG), and everything in the galaxy that isn’t your Actors is you. Your job is to guide everyone through the experience, escaping our everyday reality and having fun in your imaginations. Every enemy, every ship, every Stellar Patron, is you. You have to decide how every different aspect interacts with your Actors. Don’t let that overwhelm you, though, it’s a lot easier than it looks.

The most important job for a Stellar Guide is creating and telling a story, or to telling one of our stories created within our system. These rules won’t tell the story; that is your job. There is an entire Milky Way galaxy to explore and inhabit with creations of your choice. Go nuts! Your imagination is the limit! 

While we try to keep what we produce within the realms of plausibility based on current understandings of xenobiology (hardly a definitive science), nothing prevents you from inventing a race of single-celled creatures who are incredibly social and communicate through pheromones.

Science has surpassed magic in this setting. Travel between star systems is instantaneous. Death is optional. In many empires, people live in true utopias fearing only outside aggression. You want a hollow planet? Go ahead, stat it out. Give it special properties, so that gravity also allows the hollow planet to operate inward-out, and you’ve got twice the landmass to play with!

You are the galaxy your Actors will explore, so make it the galaxy you want!

When running Episodes and Series that are not your own, start by reading the Introduction aloud or by having one of the Actors read it. This will explain the scenario that the Actors are in, what this particular Episode is about, and will tie-in or recap relevant Episodes in the Series.

After this, it’s lights, camera, action! The next part will be presenting the Actors with a challenge chosen from Skill Challenge, Roleplaying Challenge, Combat Challenge, or Space Combat Challenge. Sometimes one will turn into another, and sometimes there will be more than one type of challenge taking place simultaneously. This will be explained in the text, along with any information or events relevant to the Challenge. Then you as the Stellar Guide analyze that information and narrate a story to your Actors explaining why they are partaking in that particular Skill challenge. Sometimes this is easy, such as when the Actors are in a Combat Challenge because people burst in and are attacking them. Other times, if Actors feel stuck, you may offer them clues or advice from any companion, contact, or other Non-Actor Character that the Actors have access to.

The game is meant to be a series of impactful and interrelated scenes. You do not need to spend time determining how long travel will take most of the time. Just say, “You get there,” when the Troupe decides to go somewhere. Usually, this will lead to another Challenge.

Depending on your group’s available time, you might want to play a short episode (30-45 minutes, 3-4 Challenges), a long episode (more than an hour and a half, a dozen or more Challenges), or even an entire Series (4 or more interconnected Episodes, many challenges with breaks for awarding experience at the end of each Episode) in one sitting.

But keep in mind, your Actors are there to act and you are a Guide for this experience. Think of yourself more like the director of a movie: let the action take you where it does. If the adventure involves a careful scenario and the Actors decide on a radical approach, just make up some numbers and narrate it!

Try to keep the numbers balanced to the Troupe’s capabilities, difficult but not so hard the Actors can’t succeed. Your Actors want to see their actions come to fruition, and this is a group effort. You are the director keeping everyone on task and momentum going.

Setting

Event Horizons is set in the middle of a galactic conflict with begrudging alliances and an implacable foe bent on total domination. Noble houses vie for territory and corporations seek trade alliances with any who might increase their profit margins. Remnants of an ancient, unfathomable sentient species can be found everywhere, in or on floating asteroids and deep beneath the oceans of planets. Countless sentient species exist among the stars, with countless more yet to be discovered. Technology, sentient stars, species learning to control the fundamental forces of the universe with their minds… the galaxy seems to have every type somewhere within its bounds.

The current age of the galaxy, known as the Age of Eternal Return, has gotten its name from Universal Back-Up which essentially eliminates death for those who choose it. However, due to the threat of a species of clones endlessly pouring out into the galaxy, it is a time of war.

This war has become known as the Endless War. With Universal Back-Up, the collective defenders against this incursion keep returning, and there seems to be a never-ending supply of Korruk clones and gear. Many species compel all of their members to commit to periodic service in the Endless War, such as the Ilchari’s mandatory 10 years of every 100. Such service is not always military in nature, and is most often suited to the skills of the “volunteer.”

Actors are encouraged to make their own Archetypes, Species, Affiliations, or anything else they desire. The only limits are the imaginations of the Stellar Guide and the Actors.

Civilizations

Each civilization in the galaxy has a reach. That reach depends on a variety of factors that are often subject to change.

Star Size

1 Influence in one star system.

2 Influence in a cluster of stars.

3 Influence in a spiral ring of the galaxy.

4 Influence in a quadrant of the galaxy.

5 Galaxy-wide influence.

Settlement

Settlements are any place where a group of sentients have a permanent habitat. A settlement’s Star rating is based entirely on its population, not on the technology or ability of the populace.

Star Size

1 2-1000 sentients

2 1001-10,000 sentients

3 10,001-100,000 sentients

4 100,001-1,000,000 sentients

5 1,000,001+ sentients

Social Interactions

Troupe View

All Non-Actor Characters have a Troupe View. This is determined either by the Stellar Guide or by the Episode being run.

Star Effect

1 Murderous

5 Confrontational

10 Indifferent

15 Friendly

20 Awestruck

These are guidelines that are specific to the situation and determined by the Stellar Guide. A confrontational NAC might not attack the Actors, but they may give them bad information about their queries, for example, an NAC may neglect to mention that the place the Actors are headed is under quarantine for a viral outbreak affecting even those with UBU protections. Likewise, a friendly shop clerk might offer to tell the Troupe secrets about the local criminal syndicate, but would be extremely unlikely to join the Troupe for the assault on the Syndicate hideout.

Certain Skills and Backgrounds can influence the NAC Attitude Star. Performing a successful task or favor for an NAC raises their Troupe View Star rating by 1 unless the Troupe or one of its members has committed some egregious slight against the NAC, such as attacking or robbing the NAC, killing a friend of the theirs, or other such crimes or actions. At the Stellar Guide’s discretion, a great act to aid the NAC may overcome this barrier, but that is entirely in the hands of the SG.

An Actor can make a Presence (Persuade) Check to change the attitude of an NAC one Star higher on the chart. The base DC for the check is the 15 – the NAC’s current Troupe View Star rating. The DC can be modified by a variety of circumstances, listed below. For each success in excess of the check’s DC, the NAC’s Toupe View Star rating increases by a 1, to a maximum increase of 5 per Scene.

During a Combat Challenge, where there are many Scenes in a short timespan, an individual’s Troupe View Star rating can be affected by a Presence (Persuade) Check only once.

Below is a list of common modifiers, though the Stellar Guide can apply any modifiers they choose.

Modifier Circumstance

-1 Same or aligned affiliation

-3 Target has lower Star rating in same affiliation

+2 You’ve harmed someone friendly to the target

+3 You or your allies are in active combat with the target

+4 You or your allies have killed a member of the target’s group

+1 Your affiliation is opposed to the target’s

-1 A gift or favor is given to the target

-3 A large gift or favor is given to the target

-1 per Celebrity Star of recognized and liked Actor

+1/-1 per Infamy Star of recognized Actor, based on NAC’s perceptions

+2 per target beyond the first

Gravity

Gravitational bodies have a Star rating of 1 to 5. Nearly all sentients come from a Gravity Star 3 planet, so that is the artificial gravity setting for most places. When in a place of lower gravity than your natural gravity, add one success to any Strength Skill Checks made and subtract one success from Agility Skill Checks. For each step above 3, subtract one from any Strength Skill Checks but add one success to Agility checks. Gravimancers add 4 success to all Presence (Gravimancy) Checks success for each Gravity Star above 3. A gravimancer on a Gravity Star 5 planet is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Universal Back-Up (UBU)

Every citizen who wants it is given Universal Back-Up (UBU). Designed and maintained by the Quak’rii, UBU is a series of subatomic nanites that permeate every single atom of the Actor’s corporeal form and possessions. They create wormholes connected to the Quak’rii UBU network that exists across the galaxy, and when the user dies or activates them by thought, the process is activated transforming all of the atoms of the body into an energy field. At a Quak’rii UBU facility, the energy is then reconstructed into a new, healthy body with all the memories and possessions of the original. More important individuals return faster. Typical members of the galaxy come back in approximately one week’s time.

Universal Back-Up also has the effect of keeping everyone healthy and free of sickness. The system provides breathable atmosphere and sustenance to its users in nearly any environment, including the vacuum of space, for up to a full month before the user will have UBU triggered when the system finally fails.

Universal Back-Up also makes those who have it very mobile through a number of enhancers. As such, all Actors in Event Horizons with UBU have a base speed of 16 meters. Most other sentients without UBU have similar technologies, and only non-sentients have a lower speed.

Universal Back-Up also acts as a universal translator, able to turn sound, sight, pheromones, or nearly any other form of communication into something that others with UBU can comprehend through their own adaptive sensory organs.

Encounter Building

First, determine each Actor Star rating. Add an Actor’s highest Attack Skill, highest Endurance Skill and two highest non-Endurance Ability Skills then divide the total by 4.

Next, determine the Troupe Star rating. Add all Actor Star ratings then divide the total by the number of Actors in the Troupe. For every Actor less than 3 in a Troupe, reduce the Troupe Star rating by 1. For every 2 Actors beyond 3, increase the Troupe Star rating by 1.

A typical Encounter includes one Non-Actor Character with a Star rating equal to the Troupe Star rating +1, two NACs with Star ratings equal to the Troupe Star rating, three NACs with Star ratings equal to the Troupe Star rating -1, six NACs with Star ratings equal to the Troupe Star rating -2, ten NACs with Star ratings equal to the Troupe Star rating -3, or fifteen NACs with Star ratings equal to the Troupe Star rating -4.

Non-Actor Characters can be mixed and matched. For example, a Star 3 Troupe could face-off against a Star 3 NAC and three Star 1 NACs. Round up for NACs inclusion, such as if you wanted to have a Star 3 NAC and two Star 2 NACs against a Star 3 Troupe.

As always, Encounter building is more of an art than a math, so if you notice something particularly unbalanced about an Encounter you’ve built, consider making adjustments to it.

Non-Actor Characters may have access to personal craft as needed for their situation. When they do, build them using the same rules as Actors. NACs may also combine their ships under the same rules. NACs’ personal craft may or may not be attached to UBU, and therefore may be permanently destroyable as is the case with all Korruk technology.

Non-Actor Characters

Non-Actor Characters each have a Star rating from 1-10. All NACs start with a base of 1 Star in each ability.

Star Modifiers

1 +3 Ability Stars

Two Star 2 Skills, Three Star 1 Skills

2 +5 Ability Stars

Star 3 Skill, Two Star 2 Skills, Five Star 1 Skills

3 +8 Ability Stars

Two Star 3 Skills, Three Star 2 Skills, Seven Star 1 Skills

4 +10 Ability Stars

Star 4 Skill, Two Star 3 Skills, Four Star 2 Skills, Eight Star 1 Skills

5 +13 Ability Stars

Star 5 Skill, Star 4 Skill, Two Star 3 Skills, Four Star 2 Skills, Ten Star 1 Skills

6 +15 Ability Stars

Skill of each Star rating from 4 – 6, Two Star 3 Skills, Four Star 2 Skills, Ten Star 1 Skills

7 +18 Ability Stars

Skill of each Star rating from 4 – 7, Two Star 3 Skills, Four Star 2 Skills, Ten Star 1 Skills

8 +20 Ability Stars

Skill of each Star rating from 4 – 8, Two Star 3 Skills, Four Star 2 Skills, Ten Star 1 Skills

9 +22 Ability Stars

Skill of each Star rating from 4 – 9, Two Star 3 Skills, Four Star 2 Skills, Ten Star 1 Skills

10 +24 Ability Stars (all fives)

Skill of each Star rating from 4 – 10, Two Star 3 Skills, Four Star 2 Skills, Ten Star 1 Skills

NACs do not gain species modifiers to Ability Scores, Skills, or Backgrounds.

NACs have Integrity Points equal to (Star + (Fortitude*3 + Health Pool*2)

NACs have 2*Star rating Background Stars, with a maximum Background Star rating equal to their NAC Star rating (to a maximum 5 as is the case for all Backgrounds).

If the NAC is sentient they have PRMs equal to their Star rating. If the NAC is not sentient, they have 1 PRM.

No more than 1 NAC in an Encounter may have the Companion Background, though that NAC may take the Background as many times as they have Stars to do so.

Gaining and Spending Experience

Gaining Experience

For each Encounter in which an Actor participates (Combat, Skill, or Roleplaying Challenge) they gain 2 experience points whether or not they win or complete the Encounter successfully.

An Episode is 3-4 Encounters that are interrelated based on story. For each Episode completed the Actor gains 3 experience points.

For each session in which the Actor participates, they gain 2 experience points.

A Series is 5-10 Episodes that are an interconnected story arc. For each Series completed the Actor gains 10 experience points.

Finally, the Actors discuss the Play of the Game. This is the most notable use of a Skill, a great success, a humorous failure, a great line delivered during a Social Challenge, or something memorable that happened. Spend a few minutes after the game discussing this, and if everyone agrees that one is the best, that Actor gains 2 experience points. If the Actors think that more than one Actor earned Play of the Game, then all of those Actors gain 2 experience points, and potentially all Actors may earn this award. This is to reward roleplaying, not a competition. No Actor may gain more than 2 experience from Play of the Game.

Sometimes, an SG may award Actors a single Star in a Background to represent story achievements, such as gaining +1 Star to an affiliation after performing a great service for an organization.

Spending Experience

An Ability costs 10 x New Star rating experience points to increase by 1.

An Ability Skill costs 3 x New Star rating experience points to increase by 1.

An Attack Skill costs 5 x New Star rating experience points to increase by 1.

A Background* costs 10 x New Star rating experience points to increase by 1.

*These purchases need approval from the Stellar Guide and should be supported by story events and in-game actions. Some Backgrounds, such as affiliations, cannot be raised through experience.