CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION 6 The Secret War 127
Acronyms 8 Technical Roleplaying 128
Timeline 9 Non-Player Characters 130
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Fact Sheets 10 Aliens (Optional) 137
2 YOUR TEAM 13 7 ORBITAL SOCIETY 142
Whose Side Are You On? 13 Orbital Installations 142
Select A Campaign 15 Surface Installations 147
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Create a Character 18 Setting Up An Outpost 151
Determine Characteristics 20 Operating a DSV 153
Personality Type 21 Treaties & Regulations 154
Career Skills 22 Law Enforcement 157
Skill Descriptions 25 Money 158
Military and Spacer Ranks 28 Art 158
Finalise Your Character 29 Earth Orbit Network 160
Your Space Suit 30 Asteroid Mining 161
Progression 32 Military Forces 166
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Space Suits
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HARDWARE
Weapons & Armour
Airlocks & Spacewalks
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8 SPACE TRAVEL
Launch & Re-Entry
Operating Reaction Drives
Travel Times
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Fuel 173
Rovers 46 Troubleshooting 174
Computers 48 Revenues and Costs 178
Orbital Vehicles 50 Encounters 179
Launch Vehicles 56 Running Space Combat 181
Deep Space Vehicles 59
Modules 73 9 SPACECRAFT DESIGN 182
Types of Spacecraft 182
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4 THE COLD WAR 78 Design Orbital Craft 182
A Century of Rivalry 78 Design Deep Space Vehicles 183
China’s Lunar Power Stations 79
Towards the Orbit War 80 10 WORLDS 191
The Nuclear Exchange 81 Planetary World Profiles 191
Formation of the Earth Union 83 Mercury 193
The Belt War 83 Venus 199
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Showdown Over Mercury 85 Earth 206
Jupiter and Beyond 86 Luna 213
War on Titan 86 Mars 221
The Belt 231
5 FACTIONS 91 Jupiter 236
Scientific 92 Saturn 246
Political 94 Uranus 264
Security and Intelligence 96 Neptune 270
Corporations 100 Kuiper Belt 275
Associations 105
Criminal 109 11 RESOURCES 277
Movies & Books 277
6 RUNNING ORBITAL 113 Character Sheet 285
What Do We Do? 113 Ship Sheet 286
Mission Generator 117
World Events – What Next? 124 12 FASTPLAY RULES 287
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1 INTRODUCTION
"In spite of the opinions of certain narrow-minded people, who would shut up the human race
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upon this globe, as within some magic circle which it must never outstep, we shall one day
travel to the moon, the planets, and the stars, with the same facility, rapidity, and certainty
as we now make the voyage from Liverpool to New York."
Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon, 1865
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Jules Verne was right. The human race made it out into space, to the Moon, to Mars and
beyond to the outer planets. Not just to visit and measure, but to work and live and
reproduce. Mankind stepped out of the cradle and out into the interplanetary nursery that is
the solar system. But. There is always a ‘but’; the misguided, almost blind, optimism that
plagued many of the philosophers, cosmologists, scientists and space advocates throughout
the 20th century disguised the darker truths of human nature. Perfect beings, angels, saints
and Peace Prize winners were not the new colonists. Those wonderful 1970’s paintings of vast
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space habitats, with lakes and gardens and forests and smiling happy Americans so beloved
by Gerard O’Neill and his fans, proved unattainable, and when the reality of life in space hit
home, human nature kicked in.
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Orbital 2100 (or just ‘Orbital’) is a TL 9 setting for the Cepheus Universal RPG and the
2D6-based science fiction game it is derived from. Although set in Earth’s near future, it is
neither a cyberpunk dystopia nor a trans-human melting pot, it is the future of space
colonisation envisaged by planners of the 1980s, albeit with a healthy dose of realism. Quotes
from historical figures litter the book, they reveal the subtext, the real story of what is going
on, how things are developing and what may be the inevitable end. Many of these figures
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commented on the first space race and the Cold War that kicked it off. Our future history is
built on the foundations of a new cold war, fought between the Lunar colonists and the
people of Earth. Fear and national competitiveness spur on the exploration and settlement of
the solar system, for without this political imperative, humans would be content to sit in their
own nest and wait for that life-killing asteroid to strike.
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The cold war setting of Orbital drives everything; exploration, settlement, technological
development, it is the political will and the energy behind life in the solar system. A lot is
happening and there are humans scattered all across the moons and planets. Many of the
adventures that could take place in a another sci-fi setting can happen here too, just
remember that travel times are longer, ships more fragile, communications a little easier, and
a polarized political world complete with mistrust, espionage and puppet governments
dominates the stage. For the player characters the game starts in 2098 just after a deal to
stop escalation spiralling into total war. It looks like peace, and in this slight thaw Lunar and
Earth Union citizens have begun to trade, and co-operate on projects. But the Cold War is still
frosty. Both sides are using this thaw to ramp up their espionage campaigns, and to get
access to the stations, spacecraft and colonies of their rivals. It’s just a pretence of peace ...
and trust is an illusion.
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Orbital 2100 was originally written as a setting book for Mongoose Traveller. Changes in the
licence then resulted in a second edition of this book, which was made compatible with the
Cepheus Engine RPG in 2016. That makes this book the third edition, and it incorporates
some new rules, it adds an entire character creation section, it incorporates aspects of player
character espionage and black ops, and adds in tools that allow this technically-orientated
roleplaying game to be more easily played at the table. It has also been made compatible
with Zozer Games’ Cepheus Universal which provides a science fiction rules-set that copes
easily with all types of tech levels and settings, from warp drives to Martian tripods. Note that
in 2025, Zozer Games published Orbital Cold War – an alternate future setting with Skylab
and Soyuz capsules, where the US-Soviet Space Race has continued into the early 1990s. It
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was inspired by Orbital and a number of its features have made their way back into this
book.
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OTHER POSSIBILITIES
The setting in Orbital is offered as a ready-made backdrop in which to set near future
games. There is plenty more here than setting, though, from rules for rovers, space suits,
rockets and activity in zero-G, to the write-ups of moons and planets. Several gaming
possibilities spring immediately to mind:
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The Game of the Movie – There are plenty of movies that could make decent scenarios,
in fact there are plenty that would turn out better in the hands of a group of players. With
Orbital you can run that movie, or its 'sequel', as a one shot. Try 2001: A Space Odyssey,
Mission to Mars, Ghosts of Mars, Apollo 18, Red Planet or The Expanse.
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Back in the Day – Every setting has a TL 9 past somewhere along the way. It is possible
to create a series of adventures in the past, to set a campaign there, or, as happened in
numerous Star Trek episodes, for spacecraft from the past to come through a temporal rift to
reach the current setting date, or vice versa!
Mixing Old with New – Of course many of the Classic 2D6-based SF scenarios, seeds,
NPCs and encounters published over the decades still work in Orbital.
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It is natural to ask the question, if, when you can run many already existing SF situations and
adventures within the Orbital universe, why would anyone bother going back to TL 9 at all?
Are we not just narrowing our options? Yes we are, and that’s the point. Spaceflight is very
much like it is today, it is hard and dangerous and not to be taken for granted. That adds an
extra dimension to any scenario, and connects the sci-fi shenanigans with real world
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spaceflight – something I love. I remember waiting patiently in March 2011 to watch the ISS
pass through the night sky, and was stunned to see two fast moving points of light where
there should have been one. I realised at once that the space shuttle Discovery had undocked
from the ISS for the last time and that I was looking at them both. Orbital is for those
players like me, who always wanted to go into space and who want to pretend for a couple of
hours that they really are about to land on an asteroid, ride a rover across Mercury’s burning
surface, or try to fix an out-of-control satellite during an EVA. Maybe I just want my space
travel to be a bit more difficult...
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USING THIS BOOK
Players will find the Fact Sheets on pages 9-11 useful to have, as well as a copy of the
Character Sheet on page 15 (this is also included as a fillable PDF with your download, or
on the Zozer website).
An introductory scenario called Under the Asteroid can be found with this PDF download.
This is designed to give both Game Master and players a chance to get used to both the
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Cepheus Universal mechanics, and the more specific type of problem solving gameplay
associated with Orbital and other technical-orientated roleplaying games. It comes with pre-
generated characters and a layout of the Horizon spacecraft that is included in the scenario.
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ACRONYMS
Mirroring the real world of spaceflight and aviation, Orbital has its share of acronyms and
TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms), whether it’s the MARVINS, the PLSS or DSV. All of the setting
specific abbreviations are listed here, along with a brief explanation.
ABODE
AIMCON
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Deployment Equipment
Ares International Mining
Consortium (see Outpost Mars)
LAN
LEO
LLO
LLV
Local Area Network
Low Earth Orbit
Low Lunar Orbit
Light Launch Vehicle
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AKV Autonomous Kill Vehicle LOPS Lunar Outsystem Patrol and Security
AP Action Penalty LPO Low Planetary Otbit
SRAM Anti-Satellite Missile LSC Large Scale Space Colony
ASEAN Association of South-East Nations LSD Lunar Security Detachment
CML Counter Measures Launcher MARVIN Martian Resource Recovery In-Situ
COM Configurable Operations & MLA Module Lander Aeroshell
Messaging MLV Medium Launch Vehicle
DISEC Defence Intelligence Section NASA National Aeronautics and Space
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DSV Deep Space Vehicle Administration
D_V Deep Space Vehicle, second letter NTR Nuclear Thermal Rocket
denoting mission (eg. DKV) OMP Orbital Module Platform
ESDA Earth Space Development Agency OPSEK Orbital Piloted Assembly and
ETM Eckard Tactical Management Experiment Complex
EU Earth Union ORVIN Oxygen Recovery In-Situ
EVA Extra Vehicular Activity PLSS Personal Life Support System
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FSC59 Fairline Space Convention on PSPA Portable Solar Panel Array
Compatibility & Co-ordination (2059) RTG Radiothermic Isotope Generator
GAN Global Area Network SARA Space Activities Regulatory Agency
GEO Geosynchronous Orbit SETI Search for Extra-Terrestrial
GMF Generator, Magnetic Field Intelligence
He3 Helium-3 SGS Spin Gravity Station
HELL-V High Energy Laser Lift Vehicle SHS Single Hull Station
HESH Hostile Environment Shielding Suit SWN Space Workers Network
HLV Heavy Launch Vehicle THAAD-X Terminal High Altitude Area
IAU International Astronomical Union Defence (NeXt Generation)
IPN Interplanetary Network UN United Nations
IPS Interplanetary Services VHLV Very Heavy Launch Vehicle
ISS International Space Station VIPER Venus Intervention and Priority
L5 Lagrange Point 5,also L1, L2, L3 Emergency Reaction Force
and L4
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TIMELINE
1989 President Bush announces Space Exploration Initiative.
1991 Dissolution of Soviet Union, official end of the First Cold War.
1998 Al Qaeda leader Bin Laden killed in airstrike.
2009 Flight 926 EMP Incident.
2010 Manned Chinese mission lands on Luna.
2011 American base on Luna.
2015 Chinese outpost on Luna.
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2017 International manned mission to Mars, first person on Mars is Kyle Schaeffer.
2018 Frontier Foundation established; Eurodyne founded.
2020 Colonisation of Mars begins.
2027 First Near Earth asteroid mining (by Chinese crews); US Marines deployed to Mars.
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2028 Manned mission to Venus; San Francisco earthquake.
2029 European Union dissolved, replaced with European Community; Microwave energy beamed
from Luna to Earth.
2030 AIMCON begins mining on Mars.
2032 Ore mass driver built on Luna to aid construction of Lagrange habitats.
2034 Chinese crackdown on Hong Kong; US Marines adopt recoilless gyrojet firearms.
2035 Chinese prospecting mission to Belt begins a mining rush.
2042 Martian Rangers established; Tijuana Cartel establishes border empire.
2044 Orbit War, official start of the Second Cold War.
2045
2046
2047
2048
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Start of East Asian War.
Australia caught supporting Luna with technical exports; Reiner-Gama founded.
East Asian War ends with a limited nuclear exchange.
Lima Conference sets out a world government – the Earth Union.
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2052 Belt War begins between Earth Union and Luna forces.
2055 Belt War ends after fighting in the asteroids and on Mars; Earth establishes SARA, its solar
system law enforcement arm.
2059 IAU establishes Fairline Convention on spaceflight regulation; mining begins on Venus.
2060 AIMCON becomes Tharsis; Greens launch a coup to seize power on Mars; First fusion power
station at Daejon, South Korea.
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2064 Vanderveen L4 space habitat completed.
2067 Earth Union begin mining Mercury for Helium-3; Luna build aerostat cities in Venusian
atmosphere.
2068 Luna attempts to stop Helium-3 mining on Mercury.
2070 Manned missions to Jupiter and Saturn.
2072 Start of the Red Legion insurgency on Mars.
2078 Changxi L5 space habitat completed.
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2080 Mercury gains independence.
2082 Luna colony established on Titan.
2083 Lisbeth Stratton is the first human clone.
2084 Southern Cross begins mining helium-3 from Saturn’s atmosphere; the Caloris Basin mining
rush on Mercury.
2085 Aerostat 3 crashes on Venus.
2090 Manned missions out to Neptune and Uranus; Union of American Space Labour is
established; Base established to study the Io Flux Tube.
2095 Earth Union invades Titan, sparking Titan War; Tartarus, a rogue planet, is detected moving
through the Solar System.
2098 Titan peace deal finalised – escalation stops.
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2 YOUR TEAM
Player characters must have a purpose, a reason to be together and to perform the missions
that they are assigned. Typically they will be employed by one of the factions within the
setting. This chapter looks at each of the relevant occupations and suggests how they provide
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different types of game experience.
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WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Where does the character come from? Remember there is a Cold War raging between the
Lunar Republic and the Earth Union – mixed crews of Lunars and Unionists will be rare. The
PCs will either by on the side of Earth or the side of Luna, as the campaign dictates or the
players decide.
e THE EARTH UNION
The Earth Union is a powerful, united
Earth, governed by a well-meaning global
bureaucracy. However, this many-layered
THE LUNA REPUBLIC
The Lunar Republic is a low population
society that relies on individual
responsibility and action. Although co-
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government is inefficient and wasteful. operation between individuals and clans is
Everything is done in triplicate, with necessary to get anything done – this will
multiple layers of oversight, interference only be temporary until the task is
and officialdom. Risks and responsibilities completed. Individuals are self-reliant, but
are shared, and the individual and their also competitive. Resources are thin on the
achievements are lost in the bureaucracy. ground, so little is made to go a long way.
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When it acts, it does so slowly, but with Lunars fear reprisals from Earth due to the
plenty of resources. Unionists believe that Orbit War many years ago. They believe
Luna abused its power to blackmail the Earth wants to conquer Luna and
people of Earth, that Lunars are ungrateful incorporate it into its bureaucratic system,
and dangerous colonists who aim to take then dominate all of the inhabited worlds of
control of the rest of the solar system the solar system – even those currently
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using revolution and terror. independent. Luna wants to build an
alliance of worlds through persuasion or
coercion.
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Neither the Lunars nor the Unionists are established as the games’ ‘bad guys’ until the players
decide which side they’re on. A team of players can represent either faction with a clear
conscience. Each side views its rival in a different way. Just be aware that the faction that the
players’ choose will become the de facto ‘good guys’ and the opposing faction therefore
becomes the de facto ‘bad guys’. Of course, in reality and in play, things may not turn out to
be so clear cut!
Once the decision has been made, each character can determine their place of birth and
where they grew up. Choose, or roll 2D6.
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2D6 LUNA BACKGROUND
2 Orbital Colony
3 Not a Luna - Independent (roll again)
4-8 Luna
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9 The Belt
10 Titan
11 Europa
12 Venus
2D6 UNIONIST BACKGROUND
2-3 Not Unionist - Independent (roll again)
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4 Orbital Colony
5 Earth Slum
6 Earth Metropolis
7 Earth Industrial Zone
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8 Earth Rural
9 The Belt
10 Venus
11-12 Janus & Epimetheus
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1D6 INDEPENDENT
1 Mercury
2 Venus
3-4 Mars
5 The Belt
6 Mimas
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BACKGROUND DESCRIPTIONS
The Belt – Colonised by the Chinese, the Asteroid Belt was wracked by war and now both
Earth and Luna have established important asteroid bases there. Meanwhile many freedom-
loving Belters want self-determination– a movement that dreams of a political ‘Cascadian
Nation’.
Earth Industrial Zone – A large metropolis that is still trying to decentralise, it remains
overcrowded, with traffic congestion, crime and urban stress. Factories here provide the
materials used by the rest of Earth’s population. Examples include Manila, Cairo, Sao Paulo,
Los Angeles and the Pearl River Megacity.
Earth Metropolis – A citizen of one of Earth’s decentralised cities using renewable
technologies that are clean and self-sustaining. It has extensive low-rise suburbs, and like the
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rest of the city, relies on fusion power. Parks and greenspaces are often incorporated into the
remodelling projects.
Earth Rural – Beyond the metropolitan zones are small towns and villages that grow food,
and engage in light industry. Their population numbers are higher now that cities are being
decentralised, and these non-urban communities are often self-sustaining. They are good
places to grow up.
Earth Slum – Overcrowded high rise tower blocks, living on food rations and struggling to
find personal space and a job that pays well.
Europa – An icy moon of Jupiter hiding a sub-surface ocean, and a flagship Luna colony. The
colonists live within submarine cities hanging from beneath the icy crust.
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Independent – The character grew up on an independent world, roll on the Independent
table to see which one.
Janus & Epimetheus – A pair of tiny moons around Saturn that serving as a fuel processing
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centre from the Earth Union. Fuel is brought up from the Saturnian atmosphere.
Luna – An advanced and powerful nation that is independently-minded and space-orientated.
Having fought to remain free of Earth influence, Lunara have established colonies across the
solar system, and now encourage rebels and revolutionaries within Earth colonies to align
with Luna.
Mars – Earth’s colonial gem, a world of deserts and rich mineral ores. It’s people are
stubborn and hard-working and now free from Earth’s influence, though still on good terms.
Terraforming is the Martian policy, hampered by the canyon pirates, and the Red Legion
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terrorists who want a ‘pristine Mars’.
Mercury – A failed Earth colony, bought up by an Indian entrepreneur. A mineral strike 15
years ago brought in tens of thousands of unskilled Third World labourers. Luna attempts to
foment revolution on Mercury.
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Mimas – An icy moon of Saturn colonised by the Matsuyama Corporation, the inhabitants are
Japanese nationalists.
Orbital Colony – Life on one of three huge rotating space habitats, where jobs are technical
and well paid. Earth has Vanderveen colony, whilst Luna has both Revolution and the Sword
of Damocles (still under construction). All three are located between the Earth and Luna.
Titan – A moon of Saturn with a dense atmosphere, and seas and rivers of petrochemical
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fuels. Its Lunar government tried to take destabilise Earth colonies resulting in a military
invasion from Earth. Chinese gangs wage a guerrilla war within the settlements on Titan.
Venus – A deadly world, supporting a dozen aerostat floating cities as well as several
underground mines. Most of the aerostats are independent, and are aligned with Luna, one
(Eagle City) is Earth-aligned. Aerostat piracy is a danger.
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SELECT A CAMPAIGN
The Game Master (GM) and players should decide what type of campaign they wish to play.
Six suggestions are provided on the Campaign Type table: Spacers, Science Team, Secret
Agents, Belt Miners, Special Forces Team and Star Cops. Others are possible ... use the
Enforcer career to create a gang of thieves or con artists; use the Colonist, Colony
Administrator and Engineer careers to create a group of influential colonists who make all of
the import decisions.
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CAMPAIGN TYPES
SPACERS
PCs are independently-minded space crew, either from a commercial Careers
or military background. They fly spacecraft out into the black, Commercial Spacer
ferrying unique and specialized cargoes insane distances. Other Space Force
tasks involve rescue, recovery and salvage operations. Out in the far
Faction Examples
reaches of the system, they are on their own when things go wrong.
And things always go wrong... Trans-Solar
Fly By
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SCIENCE TEAM
Science teams and explorers can visit remote moons, land on newly Careers
discovered comets or drill for life on moons. Characters in this Scientist
setting may take passage on a chartered transport, or may have Engineer
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their own Deep Space Research Vehicle. The team will have a wide Surface Operator
range of skills and include scientists, engineers and the practically- Faction Examples
minded expedition experts – the surface operators.
ESDA
Space Science Bureau
SECRET AGENTS
The PCs are agents for a government secret service operating across Careers
the solar system. Agents travel incognito as passengers, carrying out
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Cold War espionage operations such as surveillance, assassination, Surface Operator
sabotage, theft, kidnapping, disinformation and other ‘black Faction Examples
operations’. Earth: DISEC
Luna: LSD
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BELT MINERS
Asteroid miners are a breed apart, independent, resourceful and Careers
distrustful of authority. They mine asteroids either to maintain a small Belt Miner
asteroid colony, or for profit. They have their own battered DSV Engineer
which serves as a home, an office, a factory floor and an ore Spacer
transporter. One day the miners will make that big ore strike – and Faction Example
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get rich. Cascadian Alliance
SPECIAL FORCES TEAM
Although the focus of the game is purely civilian, there is a great deal Careers
of military activity in the Cold War. PCs are elite commando forces Army
loyal to Luna or Earth. They conduct secret military operations Marines
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against rival forces, and have their roles to play in open warfare, too, Faction Example
perhaps assisting an ally world or faction. Earth: 88th Special Forces
Luna: Jiaolong Commandos
STAR COPS
Where there are humans there is crime of one sort or another. Both Careers
Earth and Luna have established an interplanetary security force to Law Enforcement
investigate crimes, apprehend criminals and maintain the security of Faction Examples
facilities, politicians, DSVs and other infrastructure. The PCs may be Earth: SARA
in uniform with their own DSV, or work incognito, uncovering plots Luna: LOPS
and investigating murders, spy rings and sabotage...
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