Running the Game

Table of Contents

Preparing a Campaign

Before your first session, pick one of the star systems from the Spacer’s Almanac (or invent your own). This will serve as the backdrop and setting for your adventures, at least in the beginning. Travelling to other systems is possible - and likely, if your campaign runs long enough - but it’s an undertaking that takes time and resources. Unless you’re planning to open with an interstellar jaunt, it’s safe to assume that your first couple of adventures will be contained to the system you start the players out in.

The information in the Spacer’s Almanac is designed as a jumping-off point, a collection of planets and factions to ground your campaign. It covers the most notable elements, but it doesn’t necessarily record every settlement, asteroid, moon, or even planet in the system - all that blank space is there for you to fill in. It’s mostly there to give you context: about as much information as someone might find in a dossier or encyclopedia entry about the system, in-universe.

Before preparing your first mission, take some time to read through that dossier. Get a feel for the system’s major players, imagine what it’s like to live on this moon or that space station, and think about where you might like to set that first adventure.

Preparing a Mission

TODO

Principles and Actions

Once you’ve done your prep, you’re ready to run the game. The players have their own rules and principles to follow when they play this game; as the GM, you have your own rules to follow as well. We divided them up into principles and actions. Your principles are the bedrock advice you can fall back on to guide your decision-making and set the tone of the world, while your actions are the levers you can pull to actually do so.

GM Principles

Never prep plot. Prep locations, notable NPCs, events that are currently happening or that might happen, and situations. Don’t decide what will happen, or how the story ends. Don’t steer the game toward certain outcomes or events; play to find out what happens. Let everything flow from the fiction.

Tell the truth. Always try to convey the fictional world honestly, and say what your prep demands. Be aware of the potential fiction vs. the established fiction. Potential fiction is the cloud of possibilities that exists in your head, notional ideas like “this facility probably has some high-tech security systems” or “the courtyard is cluttered with statues”. You can freely incorporate these ideas into the ongoing scene to answer questions or address the results of rolls.

Once these details have become established fiction, they’re part of the game. They exist in the world, and can be leveraged by the players. Be a supportive and fair advocate of the integrity of established fiction, so the world doesn’t seem contrived.

Be a fan of the characters. The player characters live in a world that is hostile and selfish; they have no shortage of enemies. They don’t need the GM to be an adversary, too. Be interested in the characters, excited about their victories, and enthusiastic about their goals.

Paint the world with a scalpel. The rich and the powerful of the Foundation live in a world that’s separated from ordinary people by an almost impossible divide. They know their power depends on turning everyone else against each other and distracting them with arbitrary divisions. The player characters live on the fringes and in the cracks of this society; show them what that looks like. Cut the world into slices, show the players the fine lines that surround them, and dare their characters to cross them.

Make it real, then make it haunted. The Foundation is a place you could imagine humanity actually ending up, in the far future. Their problems and challenges are recognisable in the present day, and the power dynamics they struggle against have been enforced by the advancement of technology, not erased by it. But they also live in a world ruled by forces that are beyond understanding or control: the mysteries of otherspace, unpredictable psionic powers and bizarre aliens that defy every attempt to understand them. Space is haunted and it is weird; show that to the players.

Remind them where they are. The Foundation doesn’t look the same everywhere; not even close. In the mansions of the oligarchs and the offices of the megacorps, it’s all clean lines, glittering lights and futuristic tech. Elsewhere in the Foundation, technology is clunky, noisy and heavily used. Surround the players with a world that’s making do with the offcasts of the rich and with the last generation’s cutting edge, then show them the disparity when they step out of that world. The future is here: it’s just not evenly distributed.

Think about the big picture. While the players are engaged with the obstacles and threats in front of their characters, think about what’s going on elsewhere. Are there characters or factions that might have a reason to come here and get involved? Are there events ongoing that could affect what’s happening here? Bring in offscreen problems or details to show the players that everything is interconnected and make the world feel real.

GM Actions

Provide an opportunity. When the players are looking for something to do, step in and provide an opportunity to keep the game from stalling out. The GM doesn’t prep plot, so you don’t need to decide what the players will do next or plan out their activities. Give them a thread to pull on, an obvious way to get closer to their goals, or a situation they might want to do something about. Then see what they do.

Follow the players’ lead. When the players know what they want to do, they’re the ones presenting the opportunity. Ask clarifying questions until you have enough basic information to create the scenario. It’s up to them whether they want to investigate further or go straight into the action.

Ask a question. Whenever you have a question and the answer isn’t obvious, ask it. Asking questions is the heart and soul of running a roleplaying game. You might:

You don’t have to choose between conveying the fictional world honestly and telling a collaborative story with the players. You can do both. If you’re making something up anyway, you might as well ask for help. You don’t have to do it alone.

Adjust the resolution. Time passes at the speed necessary to answer the questions that arise in play. Feel free to zoom out and trim off the time that would otherwise be dedicated to fruitless planning, unnecessary hesitation or tedious legwork. You might resolve a long journey with a brief description, resolve a problem along the way with a single action roll, or make an engagement roll to see how the initial approach goes. Then, when they reach their destination, “zoom in” on the first obstacle: Ok, you can see the entrance to the alien ruin - about 500 feet up a sheer cliff face. How are you going to get in?

Telegraph trouble. If there’s a hazard or threat that’s about to hit, show it to the players and ask what they do. If they’re about to do something risky, tell them what the consequences might be and ask what they do. Action is usually driven by the players, so when something threatens their characters, they get to decide how and if they respond to it. Telegraphing trouble also makes it easier to come up with consequences when it’s time to follow through, because they follow naturally from the trouble you telegraphed. The sniper notices you drawing your gun, and the barrel of her rifle swivels towards you. What do you do?

Follow through. If you’ve telegraphed a threat, you can go ahead and follow through when it hits - by changing the situation or inflicting a consequence. When a player rolls a failure or partial success on an action roll, you follow through by inflicting a consequence and asking if they want to resist. You can also follow through if a threat is ready and able to manifest without clear interference - for example, if the players completely ignore it, if they have no way to stop it, or if a progress clock fills up. You manage to shepherd the civilians to safety, but the sniper isn’t feeling generous. She puts a bullet through your leg to slow you down. Would you like to resist that?

Initiate action. Normally you have to telegraph trouble before it strikes, but dangerous NPCs and unexpected threats can seize the initiative from the players and change the fiction, or even inflict consequences on player characters directly. You can also initiate action when the fiction demands it - for example, you can have an allied NPC do something to help the players in a fight. In that case, either decide how it resolves according to the fiction, or use a fortune roll to disclaim decision making. Even as you consider looking for a safer way in, the entrance to the ruins suddenly slams shut behind you. Going back won’t be as easy as getting in.

Tick a clock. Draw a progress clock whenever it feels right, and use them to help track progress in the fiction. You can telegraph trouble that isn’t yet obvious to the player characters by creating a new clock to represent an impending threat. You can follow through on a threat without having it fully manifest by ticking a clock. Progress clocks are a good way to represent less straightforward threats, to keep track of more abstract hazards, or to move the fiction along without being heavy-handed. When in doubt, tick a clock.

Running NPCs

Even though they don’t make action rolls like the player characters do, there are several ways for non-player characters and their capabilities to manifest in the fiction.

If an NPC is getting involved with an action roll - either helping or hindering your efforts - then their presence factors into risk and effect, influencing factors like potency, scale and quality. If you have backup in a fight, then it might give you an advantage in terms of scale; if you’re outnumbered by the enemy, it’s likely to be the other way around. The exact capabilities or “stats” only matter insofar as they influence risk and effect - being outnumbered by trained soldiers is very different from being outnumbered by disorganised thugs, after all.

When an NPC is acting on their own, or when NPCs are contending with each other, it’s fine to just judge how things go if it’s obvious. If you want to disclaim decision-making, you can make a fortune roll with their quality rating to see how they fare. If there are multiple characters (or groups) involved, you can make a fortune roll for each side and compare the results to create a narrative about how their conflict unfolds.

NPC Quality

You can summarise the overall calibre of an NPC by assigning them a quality rating. This is a number from 0 to 6 which gives you a general measurement of how formidable, dangerous or skilled the NPC is - especially in their area of expertise. Use your own judgement when applying quality, though; a quality 4 scientist isn’t necessarily going to be much good in a fight, no matter how brilliant they are.

When setting the quality rating of an NPC, you can use any kind of trait or rating that applies. If you hire a cohort, they already have a quality rating based on how much you paid for them. Elite soldiers sent to ruin your day by a Tier IV faction will probably be quality 4 - although that doesn’t mean every single member of the organisation is that formidable.

If no trait or rating applies, you can also use this list as a rough guideline for “threats” and combat-oriented NPCs:

You can use an NPC’s quality rating for a fortune roll when their quality is tested, as long it makes sense for the task at hand. A team of quality 3 scientists would roll 3 dice if they need to figure out a complex problem or manufacture drugs with limited equipment. If it’s a stretch, you might impose a dice penalty - for example, those quality 3 scientists only roll 2 dice to hack into a corporate mainframe.

When determining the risk and effect of an action roll to overcome an opponent, you can consider its quality rating if it makes sense to do so. If you have 2 dots in Assault and you’re trying to punch out a quality 3 bruiser, you might be outclassed. If you’re trying to talk circles around them, then their quality might not be the most important factor to consider.

Initiative

If an NPC is quality 3 or above, they are skilled. They may be able to take the initiative and force the players to react to them. It’s still only the player characters that roll, but the NPC gets to grab the spotlight and take control of the narrative, just like players do. For example, you might say: “She corners you at the top of the stairs and tries to wrestle you into cuffs. What do you do?”. The player then makes their action as usual, but they’ve been placed on the back foot and are forced to react to the situation.

If an NPC is quality 5 or above, they are a master. Masterful NPCs can inflict consequences directly on the player characters without a roll, making them dangerous to even engage. For example, if the player characters cross into the range of the system’s deadliest sniper, you might simply inform them that they have been shot in the head and ask whether they wish to resist the consequence. It’s up to them whether they want to accept the injury or spend stress to reduce it.

These rules apply to friendly NPCs as well as hostile ones. If you have a powerful ally on your side, they can act on their own and seize the initiative rather than just factoring into your action rolls. As usual, it’s up to the GM whether they simply narrate what happens or use a fortune roll to determine the outcome.

The Faction Game

The Foundation is a maelstrom of conflicting agendas and powerful groups with their own motivations, and it’s hard to get much done without treading on someone’s toes or playing into someone’s hands. Each notable faction in your current star system is ranked by Tier — a measure of wealth, influence, and scale.

Tier is an abstract rating, but it can also be used as a trait when making a fortune roll for a faction. It typically corresponds to the quality of the faction’s most elite or highly skilled members or operatives. For example, elite soldiers sent by a Tier IV government are probably quality 4.

Each faction is local to the star system you’re currently playing in. The Foundation Government may be an interstellar power with fleets of starships and billions of credits at their disposal, but that doesn’t mean they can bring it all to bear on some distant frontier colony. Out there, they might only be a Tier II faction - not even one of the big players.

Hold

In addition to Tier, each faction also has a hold. Hold represents how well a faction can maintain their current position on the ladder. If the faction has strong hold, then they are comfortable and secure in their power - and may even be considering expanding. If the faction has weak hold, then they are shaky and struggling to maintain their position. If the player characters are able to strike a devastating blow to a faction, or if a rival group makes a serious move against them, then the faction’s hold may be reduced from strong to weak.

If you have identified a faction’s weakness or vulnerability, you may conduct a special mission or operation to exploit it and reduce their hold. If this happens to a faction that already has weak hold, then they lose a Tier (and their hold remains weak).

Agenda

At any given time, each faction has an agenda. This is a progress clock which works similar to a long-term project - you don’t need one for every faction, just the ones that are currently relevant. When the player characters enter the downtime phase, the GM might choose to advance one or two of these faction clocks as an escalation. If you’re not sure how much to advance them, you can always make a fortune roll using the faction’s Tier.

When the progress clock fills, that faction achieves their agenda - this may change their Tier or hold, affect another faction, or simply shake up the current situation and introduce new twists to the story.

Detailing a Faction

The details of a faction help to flesh them out, set them apart from each other, and turn them into a generator for plot hooks. Between sessions, decide on the following details for factions you’re interested in, or ones that are currently relevant to the story:

Bonds and Grudges

In this game, we’re following the exploits of a small party of punks and firebrands as they contend with the powerful forces that surround them. The player characters don’t have the kind of power and influence they’d need to negotiate with factions on an equal footing. However, they can attain status or notoriety with factions in the form of bonds and grudges.

A bond is a connection between your party and a faction. It represents a favour they owe you, a good turn they haven’t forgotten about, or a sense of loyalty and kinship the faction feels towards you. The GM might give you a bond with a faction when you complete a mission or adventure that helps their interests or indebts them to you. You can have a maximum of three bonds with a faction at any given time.

A grudge is the opposite of a bond. It represents the payback you’ve got coming to you, a slight they haven’t forgotten about, or a sense of enmity and antipathy the faction feels towards you. The GM might give you a grudge from a faction when you hurt their interests, become indebted to them, or build up too much heat. You can have a maximum of three grudges with a faction at any given time.

Bonds and grudges are always temporary - factions don’t have a long memory when it comes to individuals, and both will get spent and used up eventually. Having three bonds with a faction doesn’t mean that you’re steadfast allies. Having three grudges doesn’t mean that you’re at war. Factions don’t think of small-time players like your group in that way. It does give you a general idea of how that faction feels about you right now, though.

It’s quite valid to have both bonds and grudges with the same faction. From the perspective of a small group like your party, factions aren’t monolithic entities - they’re made up of people that all have their own agendas. It’s quite possible for certain forces within a faction to be quite fond of you even while others would like nothing more than to ruin your day. If you have 3 bonds and 3 grudges with a faction, all it means is that your group is divisive and controversial within the faction, and probably the subject of a bit of internal strife.

Spending Bonds

Bonds are a general sense of how a faction feels about you right now, but they’re also a resource that you can cash in. When you spend a bond, you leverage your connections with a faction to get some kind of favour from them. If you want something really big from the faction, you might need to spend more than one bond on it. The bond gets used up when you spend it because the faction considers they’ve repaid the favour, or because you’ve used up some of your goodwill with them.

The most common way to spend a bond is for a narrative benefit, which affects the fictional details of your situation. If you have a bond with the local government authority, you might spend it to call in a favour and get the impoundment order on your ship lifted, no questions asked. This could allow you to bypass an obstacle without rolling, or make the risk and/or effect of a roll more favourable.

If you’re asking for something big or controversial and it’s not clear that the faction would be willing or able to help, the GM can make a fortune roll with 1d for each bond you spend. Since you’re spending a bond, you’ll get something from the faction even on a failure - but the results of the fortune roll will determine how far they’re willing to go on your behalf.

If the favour you’re asking for is material in nature - like a tangible asset, the use of a vehicle or service in the local area, the assistance of an expert or a gang, or anything else that seems reasonable for the faction to provide you - then make a fortune roll with 1d per bond spent. The result of your roll indicates what value of asset or favour the faction is willing or able to provide you in exchange for a bond:

If the value you rolled doesn’t cover the thing you are asking for, then the faction can’t or won’t provide it for you, or they can’t cover the entire cost. You might need to settle for a cheaper equivalent or one with less features, a temporary or consumable version, or cover part of the cost yourself.

Spending Grudges

Just as players can spend bonds, the GM can spend grudges. When the GM decides to spend a grudge, it’s time to pay: the faction you’ve slighted has decided to interfere with you in some way, or they’re tired of waiting for you to make good on your promises and debts and their patience has officially run out. The grudge gets used up when the GM spends it because the faction considers the score to be settled (or part of it), or because they’ve decided it’s not worth spending any more resources to go after you.

There are two main ways for the GM to spend a grudge:

Like bonds, the GM might spend multiple grudges if they’re planning to do something really nasty to the player characters. Also like bonds, the Tier of the faction determines how much trouble you’re in when the GM spends a grudge. It’s less of a problem if a Tier I faction sends a few thugs after you than if a Tier V faction sends a squad of elite operatives with high-tech gear.

A vigilant reader might notice that as written, grudges aren’t really a currency that the GM spends in the same way that players do. The game already gives the GM permission to introduce complications and tick progress clocks whenever they like. Just like progress clocks, grudges are a way for the GM to telegraph future badness and then follow through on it in a satisfying way.

Clearing Grudges

Grudges go away when the GM spends them, but the player characters might want to make amends with a faction and clear a grudge before it becomes a problem for them. In other cases, the GM might use a grudge to represent simmering resentment which must be dealt with before it boils over. For example, if you ask a faction for a favour and you don’t have any bonds to spend, the GM might give them a grudge to represent the fact that you’re in debt with them. If you don’t clear the grudge before the GM cashes it in, they’ll get tired of waiting for repayment and come after you.

Often, getting rid of a grudge is as simple as spending a bond. If you do some kind of service for the faction in question, they might be willing to overlook the difficulties you’ve caused them. Or maybe you have the ear of someone prominent within the faction, and you can get them to call off the hounds and settle your debts for you. If you don’t have any bonds to spend, then finding some way to help the faction out and get a bond with them might be all you need to do.

In some cases, the GM will decide that you need to do something specific to clear a grudge. Maybe you pissed off someone important, or maybe the faction is so angry that they’re not willing to work with you at all and won’t accept your overtures of peace. In that case, you’ll usually need to fulfil some kind of special mission or long-term project to make amends and clear the grudge.

The Magnitude Table

The magnitude table is provided as an optional tool to help the GM make judgment calls when setting risk and effect. You can use it to roughly judge different effects and power levels across a variety of different scales, like force or duration. For example, if a Tier III faction is sending reinforcements after you and you’re not sure how many they can muster on short notice, you might check the table and judge that they can probably mobilise 20-40 people over the next few hours.

You might also use these tables to roughly compare two sides in terms of quality or potency when setting risk and effect for a roll. For example, if you’re trying to pick a lock with a set of ordinary, easily obtained lockpicks (probably quality 2 or so, “streetware”) but you’re contending with an extremely sophisticated lock (quality 3-4, “high-quality” or even “state of the art”), then you’re going to have a disadvantage in terms of quality.

As described in the rules for setting risk and effect, you should always use your judgement and consider what the dominant factors are rather than blindly following the table. Does it matter that the other side outnumbers you if they’re funneled into a tiny hallway and you have a satchel of grenades? Use the levels as a guideline for setting the stakes in a way that seems appropriate to you.

               
Magnitude 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Scale 1-2 people 3+ people 12+ people 20+ people 40+ people 80+ people 160+ people
Area closet small room large room several rooms small building large building city block
Force weak moderate strong serious powerful overwhelming devastating
Duration a few moments a few minutes an hour a few hours a day several days a week
Range within reach a dozen paces a stone’s throw down the street several blocks away a few kilometers a dozen kilometers
   
Quality Examples
0 Broken, malfunctioning, crude, tattered, rusty, rickety, unsecured, incompetent, failing
1 Creaky, outdated, simple, barebones, cheap, amateurish, poorly maintained
2 Decent, streetware, respectable, solid, affordable, semi-professional, standard
3 Reliable, dependable, calibrated, professional, premium, high-quality
4 State of the art, sophisticated, expert, luxury, military-grade
5 Cutting edge, Top of the line, exceptional, rare, elite, advanced
6 Bleeding edge, prototype, unassailable, priceless, future tech, otherworldly