Lightspeed Corebook.pdf

Lightspeed

Science Fiction Role-Playing using Instant Fuzion

By Christian Conkle

L i i ightspeed

Science Fiction Role-Playing using Instant Fuzion

By Christian Conkle

Introduction

Lightspeed is a Role-Playing Game set in the galaxy of

the 27th Century. The players play Federation Rangers,

interstellar lawmen on the Galactic Frontier. Federation

Rangers are a cross between the French Foreign Legion,

the Texas Rangers, and Bounty Hunters. This setting is

unique in that the characters are not military, yet fly

advanced combat spacecraft. They wield authority, yet

they are not standard police because they fly where they

are needed, responding to trouble wherever it develops.

They answer to no one except Astro Police Support who

keeps track of them and sends them on missions. Astro

Police Rangers are typical Player Characters: tough,

independent, and unpredictable.

Future supplements will also detail Starships, Mecha, the

Hypernet, Quantum Psychics, and other topics.

If elements of Lightspeed seem familiar, that is intentional.

Lightspeed attempts to be all inclusive, drawing inspiration

from many Science Fiction films and novels and putting

them together into a coherent whole. The purpose of this

is to make Lightspeed as generic as possible, allowing

players and gamemasters to set their characters and

stories against any backdrop they desire. Within you’ll find

elements of Star Trek, Star Wars, Aliens, Bladerunner, X-

Files, Predator, Japanese Anime, Cyberpunk fiction,

Lovecraftian fiction, and other Science Fiction games.

The scope of this product only allows the players to create

Human Federation Rangers, but future supplements will

expand the rules to allow players to play such diverse

roles as Federation StarForce Officers, Alien Species, Old

Earth Empire Mercenaries, Droids, Clones, Colonists,

Mecha Pilots or Independent Freighter Captains.

Lightspeed uses the Instant Fuzion rules. Fuzion is a

meta-system developed by R.Talsorian Games and

HERO Games and is available for free from

http://www.thefuze.com. Instant Fuzion is an easy-to-learn

simpler version of Fuzion that emphasizes simplicity and

instant play.

Lightspeed

Science Fiction Role-Playing using Instant Fuzion

By Christian Conkle

The Galaxy

In the 26th Century, the Milky Way Galaxy has been

mapped and explored by man using the marvelous

invention: The Hyperspace Drive.

Citizens of the Empire live in squalid misery with no

human rights. They view the Federation with jealous eyes.

It is the Empire's ultimate goal to conquer the Federation

and take it's wealth.

The Milky Way Galaxy is roughly 100,000 light years from

core to rim and contains roughly 200 billion star systems.

The majority of these systems lie in the dense Core

region. The Galaxy is divided into four equal quadrants:

The Orion Quadrant, the Sagittarius Quadrant, the

Centaurus Quadrant, and the Perseus Quadrant.

The Centaurus Quadrant is home to many new Federation

colonies and countless small independent governments. It

is on the edge of explored space and most of the new

planets are being discovered there. For this reason, it is

called the Frontier. The Centaurus Quadrant is home to

pirates and bandits and is considered a wild area of

space. Many independent freighters try their luck against

both the Empire raids and Bandit piracy to deliver goods

back and forth between the colonies and the Federation

and the Old Earth Empires.

The Orion Quadrant is the home of Sol System and Earth.

The star systems around Earth were the first colonized

and are now heavily populated Core Worlds. These

colonies are still owned by the traditional governments of

Earth such as the U.S., China, France, Japan and others.

Collectively, these worlds and their governments are

called the Old Earth Empires. They are constantly

embroiled in petty wars and strife but still maintain uneasy

relations with both the Interstellar Federation and the Pan-

Solar Empire.

In all, the Galaxy supports an estimated 48.5 Trillion

human inhabitants on over 1.6 million worlds and

expanding. Core worlds are heavily populated world with

populations exceeding ten billion. These are usually

heavily industrialized and were some of the first worlds

colonized during man's expansion into space. There are

less than 1000 Core Worlds in the Galaxy. Core Worlds

are usually not self-sufficient and rely on supplies and

resources from the outer Colony Worlds. Colony Worlds

are relatively recently discovered worlds that are self-

sufficient. Some Colony Worlds have been settled for over

400 years, yet still maintain a relatively small population of

five billion or less. Recently colonized worlds on the

Frontier are heavily dependent on other worlds for

technology and supplies. Their populations usually

number less than one million.

The Perseus Quadrant is home to the Interstellar

Federation. The Federation, as it is known, is a strong

union of former colonies that have all gained their

independence from Earth. The government is a

Republican Monarchy with a President being elected for

life. For the most part, the Federation is benevolent and

fair in their government and laws. Citizens of the

Federation enjoy a high standard of living.

The Sagittarius Quadrant is governed by the tyrannical

Pan Solar Empire. The Empire, like the Federation, is also

comprised of old colony worlds. Unlike the Federation,

they did not gain their independence. Instead, they were

conquered by the mad Emperor, who has ruled his

quadrant with an iron fist for more than 150 Solar Years.

The Worlds of the Empire have all been raped of their

natural resources to fuel the huge military-industrial

complex of the Imperial Armed Forces.

Federation Rangers are tasked to enforce Federation law

in the Frontier and on Federation Colonies and Associate

Worlds. They have no jurisdiction on Federation member

worlds. There, Federation Security maintain bases for

permanent law enforcement

Lightspeed

Science Fiction Role-Playing using Instant Fuzion

By Christian Conkle

Interstellar Federation

The Interstellar Federation is a Republican Alliance that is

governed by a democratically elected President.

Currently, the Federation is comprised of nearly 1,000

Member Worlds, 10,000 Associate Worlds, and over

15,000 Colonies.

Defense

The Federation advocates peace but recognizes that

factions outside it's control would use force in opposition

to the Federation's goals, interests, and ideals. Therefore,

the Federation maintains a sizable military defense force.

The Federation StarForce maintains both planetary

defenses through stationary garrison forces and mobile

defense through its several interstellar fleets.

History

The Federation was born out of a rebellion of former Old-

Earth Empire Colonies who banded together for mutual

protection and cooperation. The Federation was officially

formed in 2368, but existed as the Colonial Alliance for 40

years prior to that.

At this time, the Federation's most powerful opponent is

the Pan-Solar Empire. The Empire's goals and interests

conflict and often contradict those of the Federation, and

the Empire has pledged itself to the destruction of the

Federation. However, the Federation's military strength

has served as an adequate deterrent to Imperial

aggression. The peace is nevertheless an uneasy one,

and should the Empire gain an advantage over the

Federation, open hostilities would certainly ensue.

World Classifications

Member Worlds are full Federation partners. Each

Member World is responsible for electing an individual to

represent that world at the Federation Senate. Member

Worlds are granted the full protection of the Federation

Military and Member populations have access to

Federation government programs. A 21st century analogy

to Member Worlds might be the States of the United

States of America.

Associate Worlds are candidates for membership but are

not yet full Members. They are considered a part of the

Federation, but maintain independent governments. As

such, they are eligible for Federation military protection,

but are not eligible for Federation government programs.

They also have no governing representation at the

Federation Senate.

Colonies are recently settled worlds. They generally have

no unified government and, as such, have no

representation in the Federation Senate. They are

afforded Federation military protection, however, but are

not eligible for Federation government programs.

Quality of Life

Citizens of the Federation enjoy a high standard of living.

Federation citizens enjoy free health care, a stable

monetary and economic system, public services such as

well maintained communications and transportation

systems, emergency incident response for natural

disasters and fires, public education, retirement pension,

and many more.

Typical Federation StarForce Officer

Physical : 4 Mental : 6 Combat : 5 Move : 4

Hits : 20 Defense : 8

Skills : Acrobatics 2, Astrogation 4, Climbing 2, Computers

5, Evade 5, First Aid 2, Navigation 2, Hand-to-Hand 7,

Gunnery 4, Melee Weapons 4, Perception 7, Pilot Grav

Vehicle 3, Pilot Starfighter 5, Ranged Weapons 5, Shields

4, System Operation 6, and Tracking 3

Taxes pay for these government services. All citizens of

the Federation are required to pay taxes. Member World

citizens taxes are the higher than Associate World taxes,

but Associate World citizens are also usually expected to

pay a planetary government tax. Colonist pay the least

taxes but are afforded the least benefits.

Equipment : Stunner (10DC Stun only, +1 accuracy, 60m

range), Space Suit (5 KD), Datapad (2 POW), Analyzer

(Adds +2 to any Perception, Technology, Tracking or

Survival skills)..

Lightspeed

Science Fiction Role-Playing using Instant Fuzion

By Christian Conkle

Law Enforcement

deployment isn't unlimited, and it may take days to get

together more than 10 Rangers, and getting more than

200 Rangers at any given time is unlikely. Space is just

too big and the Astro Police is usually very busy.

Federation Laws are guaranteed by the Federation

Constitution and are enforced by The Federation Astro

Police. All Member Worlds are protected by the Astro

Police. All Associate and Colony Worlds fall under the

jurisdiction of the Federation Astro

Police Rangers.

Astro Police Rangers are equipped with the latest

technology and gear. They pilot long-range Space

Fighters called Peacekeepers. Rangers tend to develop

strong emotional attachments to their Peacekeepers,

whose AI units keep Rangers company on long lonely

missions. Rangers receive an allowance to modify their

fighters to meet their personal specifications. Rangers

receive a uniform, a side-arm, a flight-suit, and some other

basic equipment. On top of that, Rangers are given an

equipment allowance to outfit themselves to their own

personal needs. Astro Police Support Stations have large

armories at their disposal, but they're not unlimited. If a

Ranger needs a powersuit, they can requisition it. If they

need a bigger ship for a short mission, they can requisition

that as well. Heavy Armor, Weapons, Engineering

Equipment, and other items are all available from Astro

Police Support. Astro Police Support offers loans on

equipment allowances for big items, but failure to pay will

result in garnishing of the Ranger’s wages.

Astro Police Rangers

Federation Astro Police Rangers

are the representatives of law

enforcement responsible for, per capita, over 500 cubic

light years of space. They usually work alone or in small

groups. They spend months at a time away from home.

They must be independent and interdependent at the

same time. Some of them come from the industrialized

and civilized Core Worlds, others come from the Rim

Worlds that were the first to be colonized, others might

come from the Frontier colonies and serve the planet they

grew up on.

Each Ranger is their own commanding officer. All

Rangers are equal. Their job, simply, is to uphold the law

on the Frontier. The Frontier is a region of space

spanning 150 million cubic light years. That means there

are, on average, 300,000 Astro Police Rangers are on

patrol at any given time. The Rangers are a brotherhood,

a sisterhood, a fraternity, and a sorority all in one. If one

Ranger is in need, they can call for help, no questions

asked. Likewise, if a Ranger fails the family, great

retribution awaits. Rangers police themselves and, failing

that, the Federation Starforce has authorization to deal

with renegades.

Recruitment and Training

Federation Astro Police Rangers are drawn from all walks

of life. Ranger recruitment is handled by Astro Police

Support. They focus on military personnel looking for a job

after the service, planetary law enforcement officers

looking for a promotion, graduating college students

looking for adventure, and even prisons where ex-cons

are given a chance to start a new life upholding the law.

Most Rangers come from low-income social groups and

often carry checkered pasts. Upon joining the Rangers,

any past transgressions are erased from the record.

The Frontier is a dangerous place. Each year, the Astro

Police Rangers suffer a 34% turnover, either through

death, injury, retirement, or disappearance. Out there one

will find bandits, planetary warlords, pirates, incursions by

Imperial Shock Troops, and even hostile aliens. None of

which share a healthy respect for authority or the law. As

a result, the average career life span of a typical

Federation Astro Police Ranger is 3 to 5 years, though

perhaps 15% last 20 years or more. If a Ranger survives

the first 3 years, their chances of surviving even more are

very high.

Astro Police Ranger training consists of two-months of

basic training at any one of the hundreds of Astro Police

Training facilities. The training is rigorous but not gruelling.

In addition to physical training, Ranger Recruits receive 80

hours of classroom training in law enforcement and basic

sciences. Rangers also receive training in flight

procedures for both the Peacekeeper Starfighter and

basic transport shuttles.

Upon completion of basic training, Rangers are barely

ready to carry out their duties. Accordingly, for the first 10

months of active duty, Ranger Recruits are assigned to a

Senior Astro Police Ranger as a Trainee. It is the Senior

Ranger’s duty to indoctrinate the Trainee and show them

around, giving the Trainee a taste of the work to come.

During this time, Trainees are considered full and equal

Rangers, though some minor hazing does occur.

At first glance, Astro Police Ranger recruitment seems

fairly lenient. The Law must be enforced, and the Galaxy

needs people to do it. Recruits are given tough training

and are told what is expected of them and what the

consequences of failure are. That is usually sufficient.

Astro Police Rangers are not alone, however. Astro Police

Support supplies and equips the Rangers, keeps track of

them, and handles communications and deployment.

They determine who goes where and what needs to be

done, then make sure a Ranger is able to do it. There are

Astro Police Support stations on nearly every colonized

planet on the Frontier. They also determine if a Ranger is

a renegade or not, so they are treated with proper respect

among the Rangers. Secondly, there are other Rangers. If

a Astro Police ever needs help, Astro Police Support can

have Rangers at their position in a matter of hours. Each

Ranger is expected to be able to lay down their life in the

support and protection of another Ranger. But Ranger

Upon completion of their training period, Ranger Trainees

are assigned their first “solo” missions.

Duties

The Astro Police are expected to enforce the law of the

Federation Constitution. If an Astro Police Officer or

Ranger sees a crime in progress, they are expected to

stop the crime, apprehend the perpetrators, and return the

perpetrators to either the closest local Law Enforcement

Lightspeed

Science Fiction Role-Playing using Instant Fuzion

By Christian Conkle

Authorities or to an Astro Police Support Base, whichever

is closer or more convenient.

Bases serve as temporary homes for the often transient

Rangers. Bases are a place where Astro Police Rangers

can refuel, re-supply, re-equip, drop off prisoners, make

repairs, catch some sleep, and relax between missions.

Bases are also armed against attack, mounting

sophisticated anti-Starship defense weaponry and

shielding. Most Astro Police Support Bases can withstand

attacks by several Starships until support arrives.

An Astro Police Ranger must always yield jurisdiction to

local Law Enforcement Authorities except in cases of

suspected corruption. In which case, a charge of

corruption must be filed and investigated, and should the

case be unfounded, the perpetrator will be extradited to

the Law Enforcement Authorities.

More often than not, local Law Enforcement Authorities

will yield jurisdiction to the Astro Police as their own

resources are typically below par. In fact, most Astro

Police investigations or interventions are requested by

local Law Enforcement Authorities.

Resources

Individual Astro Police Rangers are issued an protective

flight suit, a side-arm, a datapad, and a tape-cuff

dispenser. Rangers are given an equipment allowance to

outfit themselves to their satisfaction and requirements.

Rangers are also assigned a Peacekeeper long-range

Starfighter and an additional allowance to outfit it to their

personal requirements.

Available upon request from all Astro Police Support

Bases are Heavy Weapons, Demolitions, Engineering

Equipment, Transport Shuttles, Powersuits, and even

Mecha or Starships. Assignment is on a per-mission

basis, but Rangers can permanently requisition items by

taking out a “loan” to their equipment allowance from

Astro Police Support. The Ranger then pays off the loan,

eventually owning the item outright. Failure to pay results

in garnishment of wages.

Typical Astro Police Ranger

Physical : 5 Mental : 4 Combat : 6 Move : 5

Hits : 25 Defense : 10

Astro Police Support Bases

Skills : Acrobatics 2, Astrogation 4, Climbing 2, Computers

5, Evade 5, First Aid 2, Navigation 2, Hand-to-Hand 7,

Gunnery 4, Melee Weapons 4, Perception 7, Pilot Grav

Vehicle 3, Pilot Starfighter 5, Ranged Weapons 5, Shields

4, System Operation 6, and Tracking 3

There are thousands of Astro Police Support Bases

located throughout the Frontier. Bases run the gamut of

planetary installations, hollowed out asteroids, free-

floating space stations, or even mobile starships. All

Support Bases have hangar facilities for a minimum of 10

Peacekeepers or Transport Shuttles. Each base has

short-term detention facilities for a minimum of 1000

prisoners. Bases also have sleeping and recreation

facilities for a minimum of 100 Rangers. Base equipment

supplies vary, but generally store several impounded

starships, 10 to 20 Powersuits, 1 to 10 Mecha, and 10 to

20 Vehicles of various varieties.

Equipment : Blaster Pistol (5DC, +1 accuracy, 60m

range), Flight Suit (10 KD), Datapad (2 POW), Cuff-Tape

Dispenser (Physical: 9), Peacekeeper Starfighter (see

Peacekeeper Statistics).

Peacekeeper Starfighter

The Peacekeeper Starfighter is a rugged, durable, easily

maintained long-range starfighter perfect for Ranger patrols. No

two Peacekeepers are alike due to the Ranger practice of

allowing a pilot to modify, or “trick out”, their starfighter.

PEACEKEEPER STARFIGHTER: KD 4K, SDP 8K, MV-2,

MOVE 2km, Pass 1+1, Blaster Cannons (5K, +1 accuracy,

2.4km range), 2 Strike Missiles (12K each, 28.8km range),

Tractor Beam (15+3d6 vs target’s structure+3d6, success

indicates target is immobilized, -5 accuracy, 1.2km range),

Shields (6K), Options: Hyperdrive (100 LY per hour, 1000

LY range), Ion Drive (1 AU per day), Atmospheric re-entry

protection, passenger seat for prisoners, 500kg storage,

ejection seats, security system, sensors (70km range,

10000km communications), backup sensors (10km range,

3000km communications), Artificial Intelligence (Mental 2,

Combat 2).

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