Ar Zed Rules

This deepspace variation of the Fenris Punk rules uses 4 Character Attributes for character metrics and dice pools for rolling, though the majority of rolls will use the Ability Attributes. AC or DEF is an opposed dice pool roll rather than a threshold.

When playing in-universe, sorcery is nonexistent by default due to the distance from Earth, the only known source of magic. However, some monsters may be so incredible that they go beyond the realm of science into the supernatural.

Character Creation

First choose your Being and Archetype. Then calculate your Character Attributes. Then choose starting equipment and background details.

Being

The choice of Being has a direct effect on character creation in the Ar Zed rules.

Humans

Level 1 human characters start out with 14 build points to distribute among each Character Attribute. These must start at least 2 and at most 4, though one attribute may have an initial attribute of 5.

Humans can augment themselves with Cyberware.

When Pushing Rolls, humans have the option to spend 1 HP instead of increasing their Stress Level as long as they still have at least 1 HP left over.

Constructs

For the purposes of role playing, the average Construct is better than the average human at most things. Some Constructs are undercover and pretend to be human, others are obviously not human.

Level 1 Constructs follow the same rules as humans except in addition they also get a two Build Bonus sets of 3 to add to two Character Attributes. For example, they could add one set of 3 to DEX and the other set of 3 to STR. These two sets of 3 cannot go to the same Character Attribute and they cannot be distributed to more than two Character Attributes. This means Constructs can have higher initial Character Attributes.

Constructs still suffer from physical injuries and mental trauma.

Variant A

These Constructs do not have red blood, require sleep, food, water or air, but otherwise appear Human. They can still eat and breathe, but do not necessarily require it. Instead these Constructs must recharge either by appearing to sleep or by plugging into a power source. They track their Stress, roll stress dice, but only suffer from Panic when the result is 12 or higher. For injuries they have a much faster recovery. They can use Medkits, however, they cannot use an Autodoc.

Most people use Construct for the colloquial term for Variant A models because these were the first autonomous versions.

Variant R

These Constructs use Human rules for red blood, eat, breathe, and sleep, Stress, Panic, and Injuries.

Most people use Variant for the colloquial term for Variant R models.

Further Variant Nuances

Variants B through Q exist, but are not common.

Some Constructs cannot push a roll, others have no stress level, suffer from stress failures, or roll for panic. Some constructs have blood, others do not. Some have blood that is red, others have different coloured blood.

Constructs who are undercover as humans must keep track of their stress level or both role playing with the other players and characters.

To further complicat things, some Variant A Constructs have biotech, eg arms and legs, that have their own red blood. In some cases, these Constructs might need to eat.

TODO: Add quantitative rules for Construct nuances.

Monsters

Deepspace holds an untold variety of horrors. Even the weakest of these monsters are deadly to both humans and Constructs.

TODO: Add rules for specific monsters.

Archetypes

The following archetypes are pregenerated. The Example gives details for what every character's Archetype gets by default. The Customization has details about creating characters that do not use one of the Archetypes.

Example

These are example stats:

• Attribute Bonuses: three TBD
• Crafting: A daily crafting that automatically succeeds, given readily available supplies. The Ref has the option to make this be per session instead of only per day. This also requires that the character has access to materials to work with.
• Dead Switch: No default; some characters get one final action after they die, if they choose to use it. Not when they hit 0 HP, but specifically upon death.
• Equipment: An extra item.
• Flaw: Something the character does poorly.
• Perk: Something the character does well.
• Reaction: Up to one per round.

Customization

Starting characters are required to have the Attribute Bonuses, 1 Flaw and 1 Perk. For Crafting, Dead Switches, and Reactions, the characters only get 2 of the 3.

TODO: Add rules for building customized archetypes.

Grunt

• Attribute Bonuses: melee, marksmanship, stamina
• Crafting: None
• Dead Switch: Gets 1 final reaction upon their death for up to the duration of the current battle, assuming it still makes sense; if they died in a gun fight they could fire back one more time.
• Equipment: ShieldVest
• Flaw: Recovering from Panic takes twice as long or twice the effort.
• Perk: Can have a second attack during their turn if they successfully attacked.
• Reaction: Up to one per round.

Chief

• Attribute Bonuses: observation, marksmanship, manipulation
• Crafting: Can reinforce an area with 1d3 barricades or traps using nearby materials.
• Dead Switch: None
• Equipment: Motion Tracker
• Flaw: Additional -1 to STR rolls when injured if the total dice pool is at least 2.
• Perk: Gets a +1 bonus to small arms and close-quarters on their turn, but not for Reactions. This a bonus calculated on the fly, not to add to their attribute scores.
• Reaction: Up to one per round.

Corporate Face

• Attribute Bonuses: Stem, observation, manipulation
• Crafting: Can either forge 1d6 fake documents or disguises per day.
• Dead Switch: In their final moments, they project 1d6 holographic illusions, confusing enemies and granting allies the chance to reposition or regroup.
• Equipment: Holodrone
• Flaw: Overconfidence makes it so when rolling, if all dice from the non-Stress Dice are below a 4, then the character must roll for Panic.
• Perk: When rolling for Panic, after knowing the result, optional -1.
• Reaction: None

Stowaway

• Attribute Bonuses: mobility, survival, observation
• Crafting: Can modify 1d6 mundane office supplies (paperclips, staplers, pens, string, coffee mugs) into simple tools or close-quarters weapons, such as lockpicks, caltrops, or darts.
• Dead Switch: None
• Equipment: Backpack full of 30 rations, 1 extra Comdeck, 1 AirQuality Sensor, and various Crafting supplies.
• Flaw: Wearing armour, except for environmental or hazard suits, -2 to DEX rolls.
• Perk: Can reroll all sneaking or hiding checks once, but must take the reroll.
• Reaction: Can move again if an observable hostile just made an attack.

Medic

• Attribute Bonuses: mobility, observation, caregiving
• Crafting: Can create 1d6 medkits per day.
• Dead Switch: None
• Equipment: 4 MedKits and 1 AirQuality Sensor
• Flaw: If the current Stress Level is 0, immediately gains one Stress Level when an observable friendly is attacked.
• Perk: Perform both the MedKit healing and stabilization options in a single action, but not as a Reaction.
• Reaction: When a friendly in base contact is hurt, can use a MedKit.

Officer

• Attribute Bonuses: marksmanship, command, manipulation
• Crafting: Can piece together 1d3 destroyed or fragmented records (e.g., battle reports, personnel files, radio transmissions) to reveal critical intel.
• Dead Switch: Choose from any of the existing Dead Switches.
• Equipment: 1 extra Pistol and 1 extra Frag Grenade.
• Flaw: Rusty from overspecialization. Choose one -1 Penalty for an Ability Attribute, which cannot be any of the Attribute Bonuses.
• Perk: When they succeed during their turn, they boost the morale of the next friendly character who observed the success by giving them a +2 bonus to their dice pools. This only affects regular actions, not reactions.
• Reaction: None

Pilot

• Attribute Bonuses: piloting, marksmanship, Stem
• Crafting: None
• Dead Switch: Can safely finish a landing or switch over to autopilot.
• Equipment: 2 extra Comdecks and 2 SubMics
• Flaw: Suffers a -1 DEX bonus to rolls (not attributes) when wearing armour, except for VacSuits.
• Perk: Gets a +1 DEX bonus to rolls (not attributes) when not wearing armour.
• Reaction: Can have a second attack during their turn if they successfully attacked.

Engineer

• Attribute Bonuses: rigging, stamina, close combat
• Crafting: Can create 1d3 improvised exposives, close-quarters weapons, or MugDrones.
• Dead Switch: The character's body, rigged with advanced explosives, detonates, delivering significant damage to any foes caught in the blast zone.
• Equipment: Salvage and repair backlog, 3 TBD broken but repairable Addons. Ask the Ref to either arbitrarily decide or randomly choose at time of repair.
• Flaw: Burnout Risk. Rolling a 1 with Focus Dice makes a Panic Roll as if rolling a 1 with Stress Dice. However, Panic still only uses the Stress Level. This is not a separate or additional Panic Roll; if the current pool rolled 1 with Stress Dice and a 1 with Focus Dice, only make one Panic Roll.
• Perk: Focus Dice Pool. They get a cummulative +1 bonus for a max of +5 when retrying something they just failed at in the previous turn. Reactions do not count. Doing something else restarts the count.
• Reaction: None

Scientist

• Attribute Bonuses: observation, survival, Stem
• Crafting: Can create 1d2 of any of the Crafting options of anyone else in the party, or friendly and cooperative NPCs currently present.
• Dead Switch: Transcending physical limits, the character uploads their consciousness to the network, providing teammates with critical intel and enemy weaknesses.
• Equipment: Holodrone
• Flaw: Wearing armour, except for environmental or hazard suits, -1 to DEX rolls.
• Perk: Gets a +1 bonus to medkits when self administered.
• Reaction: None

Character Attributes

The Character Attributes are a sort of score that cooresponds to the dice used or threshold before triggering some kind of an event or effect. More on that later.

Level

Characters often start at level 1. The Ar Zed rules do not necessarily use Experience Points or XP, but rather some kind of milestone based on achievement, acquisition, or plot checkpoint.

Build Points

This is the same as the character MAX HP, below. Calculate it by summing the current Level, any Build Bonuses eg from your Being or Cybernetics, plus the initial 14.

Level + Build Bonus + 14

STR(ength)

Physical toughness, skills related to melee combat.

DEX(terity)

Physical quickness, skills related to ranged combat.

WIS(dom)

Problem solving, perception, observation.

CHA(risma)

Interpersonal interactions, lying, diplomacy.

Ability Attributes

Most of the character dice rolls will use Ability Attributes. The Character Attribute serves as the default value.

Characters have an Ability Bonus of 4, 3, and a 2 to assign to one of their 3 archetype Ability Attributes.

Character Attribute + Ability Bonus + Level + Penalty (negative)

• Rigging (STR)
• Melee (STR)
• Stamina (STR)
• Mobility (DEX)
• Marksmanship (DEX)
• Piloting (DEX)
• Observation (WIS)
• Stem (WIS)
• Survival (WIS)
• Command (CHA)
• Manipulation (CHA)
• Caregiving (CHA)

Derived Attributes

Derived Attributes apply to some triggering effects and opposed roles. These are calculated differently than Ability Attributes and typically have some kind of reactive rather than proactive nature.

MOV(ement)

Characters can move 4 plus the lesser of either STR or DEX. Typically this in only important for opposed tests, eg when catching up with or running away from someone.

4 + min(STR, DEX)

DEF(ense)

Some armour ratings are nullifed partially or completely by the attack, eg flaming acid versus a ballistic vest.

Cover Rating can vary depending on the terrain and the lighting. Armour Rating and Cover Rating are a spectrum and work the same for DEF but they conceptually come from things a character wears versus things a character is next to.

Characters do not automatically get to add their DEX. They must have a strong advantage in the situation, such as the ability to dodge bullets.

Armour Rating + Cover Rating + DEX (conditional/optional)

MAX HP

Typically this is a calculated, deterministic value which represents the maximum HP value a character can have. For more details, refer to Build Points.

Current HP

Typically this is a stateful, abstract value which represents health and luck. When a character reaches 0 or fewer HP, this triggers an effect from the Injuries table.

Stress Level

The Stress Level corresponds to the number of stress dice. Characters gain stress by either pushing a roll or from in game events.

To relieve a stress level, characters must:

• Rest for ten minutes in a way so the character is relaxed
• Sleep
• Use drugs

Starting Equipment

Assume all characters have clothes and at whatever bags or belts necessary to carry whatever else they have, except for their VacSuit, which must ethier be worn or stowed.

Everyone gets these:

• Comdeck
• Flashlight
• MedKit
• Rations
• Signature Item
• VacSuit

Everyone gets to choose one for each of the following:

• Addon
• Close-Quarters Weapon
• Small Arms Weapon

Leveling Up

Leveling Up happens after a major goal or milestone for the character. This can include but is not limited to gaining new cybernetics, completing a mission, surviving a disaster, or newly acquired wealth.

Each session the Ref should give the players at least one achievable goal for leveling up by the end of the session.

Characters get more 1 build point per level to distribute however they would like.

Action Economy

For the the first round, the turn order is based on chance. Players can agree to change their turn order at the begining of each subsequent round by swapping with anyone whose characters are able to speak to one another.

Dice Pools

Characters have two dice pools. One for the cooresponding Attributes and the other for Stress Level.

Players roll a number of dice equal to their attributes. Eg a player with an ability attribute of 10 in melee rolls 10d6. Any 6s rolled are a success. For opposed rolls, subtract the successes of the defender from the opposed roll of the aggressor. Any net successes over 1 count as additional damage/effect, can carry over to the next round if applicable, or forwarded to a cooperative or nearby friendly character.

Turns

Characters take their turns in order.

For each turn a character can make one action per turn which can include moving. Some actions such as hacking into a terminal can be nuanced where it requires limited or no movement.

Reactions

Reactions are special actions that happen during another character's turn. Not all characters get one reaction, by default. The Ref can also arbitrarily award a reaction. This can be one of the following:

• A melee action against anyone who fails to disengage contact with another character if either character exchanged a melee action within the last turn with each other.
• A marksmanship action against another character who was previously attacked by marksmanship by the character reacting and has not moved by the end of their next turn.

Pushing Rolls

Pushing a roll is a way to effectively re-roll a failed scenario. With each re-roll, the character must increase their Stress Level by one. Stress Level increases the probability of rolling a success, but it also has a tradeoff because it increases the chance of Panicking.

Panic

Roll a 1d6 plus your current stress level. Panicking does not mean an action or reaction automatically fails.

Some character conditions, injuries, game events, passage of time, or actions by other characters can stop panic.

• command
• one round passes
• use of second wind

Panic Table Zed

TODO: Refine the panic table.

Use the following or make up your own for the particular adventure.

Injuries

When a character reaches 0 or fewer HP, they either match the damage to an injury or roll a d66 to randomly calculate what injuries they receive. After that, if still living and not immediately fatal they roll for a second wind to regain 1d6 HP. Characters can use second wind on a limited basis, usually the better of either once per game session or once per in-universe day.

Weaponry

Close-Quarters

All close-quarters weapons use Melee and have a range of Engaged. They can also be thrown using Marksmanship with a range TBD by the Ref. Most close-quarters weapons are slow enough that defenders may add their DEX to their DEF roll, eg as a parry or a dodge.

Small Arms

All Small Arms use Marksmanship. Aside from special cases, such as collapsible or smuggling features, only the Pistol and Boomstick are concealable. All bonuses for Small Arms require the user has two hands or some kind of assistive device.

Light Weapons

All Light Weapons (LW) use Marksmanship. LW require the user has two hands or some kind of assistive device. Most LW weapons have some kind of area of effect from either a blast or a repetition of fire power. Some LW can use various types of ammo; the damage type listed assumes the most common ammunition. Some LW can be mounted standard or improvised to Small Arms, eg the Grenade Launcher has a variant that mounts to a Carbine or Rifle. Also note that Launchers can fire flares in a pinch.

Explosives

If not using a launcher, make sure your player can either toss the explosive farther than the Blast zone or have some cover. Not all explosives are launchable. Some explosives have no Blast under normal conditions.

Armour

Vehicle Armour

Vehicle Armour is complicated. It often uses Rigging instead of Melee.

Other Equipment

TODO: This is a stub.

• Comdeck : An all around computer, camera, flashlight, and communicator. Extensible via Addons.
• Fire Extinguisher
• Medkit : As an action this can do one of two things.
  1. Healing: A character can regain 2d6 HP.
  2. Stabilization: A character may stabilize an untreated Injury to prevent imminent death.

Addons

Addons are typically added to another piece of equipment to provide either bonus dice or entirely new features. Unless explicitly noted otherwise, Addons work with and require either a Drone or Comdeck by default. Some Addons work with Weapons or Armour.

• AirQuality Sensor
• Hologram Module : Commonly added to a MugDrone to build a Holodrone. making a MugDrone appear to be a human.
• Infantry Proximity Motion Module : Commonly added to a dedicated Comdeck to build a motion tracking device.
• Radiation Detector
• Stealth Module : An Armour or Drone addon to render the user invisible.
• SubMic : A special headset and microphone that allow the user to hear even when in a loud environment and also allows the user to quietly speak without speaking out loud. Also works for users who have no working voicebox.
• Sentry Module : Commonly used to pair a Machine Gun with a MicDrone to build a sentry drone.

Chambers

• Autodoc : When used, a human lies inside the Autodoc and any Recovery time for an Injury is reduced to 4d6 hours. Run time is always at least 4 hours. Autodocs can restore Humans who have been clinically dead for up to 10 minutes after time of death, as long as the character's head is intact. This includes recovery from Brain Trauma. Autodocs are designed for Humans. They do not work on Constructs, but might work on Monsters.
• Cryochamber : Used to put any Being into syspended animation, typically for lengthy space travel or for biohazardous quarantine.

Signature Item

Each character has a Signature Item. This can be one of the existing pieces of equipment, eg a lucky knife, or it can be something made up purely for character background such as a family photo or a gold coin. Players should let their Ref know what they choose.

For the game, characters who still have their Signature Item can interact with it to automatically reduce their Stress Level by one.

Drones

Drones usually refers to a type of physical, robotic machine that can travel somewhere to perform a task. An artificial intelligence can use a drone as a host, at which point they become similar in qualities to an android. Some mechs or vehicles in general can also operate as drones.

Drones, especially commercial and military models, typically use informal kitchen analogies to describe the size and carrying capacity. Some drones have the size of a mug of coffee, others a microwave oven. Most commercial drones fly using rotors. Typically, drones that walk or swim are less common.

Common Commercial Drones

Cyberware

This also includes biotech, cybernetics, and prosthetics. Two branches of this technology exist, the organic cyberware that uses living body fluids and tissue and the purely synthetic cyberware that uses artificial parts. Cyberware blurs the division between Humans and Constructs; they were typically technologically compatible with both.

Common Commercial Cyberware

Most commercial off-the-shelf enhancements provide features, but do not necessarily add to dice pools.

Environment

Cover

Use the following examples for Cover and Cover Rating as guidelines, not hard rules.