You and your friends know everything you need in order to

The S~e~tup
Your characters are teenagers in school. There’s a popular croud
at school, and they’re not in it. To be more specific, they’re a bunch
of nerds. They’re geeks, dweebs, all-around spazzes, and they’re the
key to victory in an intergalactic war. Let me tell you why.
There’s this sci-fi book series called Star Empire. It got turned
into a movie, a few video games, a short-lived TV show, and so
forth. It’s one of the things that draws you and your friends togeth-
er. You’re all fans. Some of you are what one might call “rabid” fans
– you own the technical manuals for the ships, you’ve got models in
your room, and so forth. As far as your parents are concerned, it’s
got you interested in science and reading, so they’ll shell out a few
bucks to take you to a bad movie now and then.
defeat the K’lor and restore peace to the galaxy. The maps you have
of D’nai space? They’re real. Those technical manuals for the Star
Empire ships? 100% accurate. The real-time strategy game? It uses
actual statistics gathered from the D’nai resistance campaign over
the course of fifty years of fighting.
The pièce de résistance, however, is the Star Empire arcade game.
The one they keep in the back of the local comic book shop. The
incredibly detailed one where you fly around in a starfighter and
blow up enemy ships, and it’s so old it still only costs one quarter.
That one is the rebellion’s crowning achievement, and it’s how they
found you.
Enter your high score, pal. You’re a winner.

And it’s real. It’s more than real, it’s a recruiting tool, and the
last hope of a peaceful people for freedom.

The K’lor Star Empire really has taken over the harmonious
worlds of the D’nai. Emperor Malkath really is the horrible person
the movies portray him as. The D’nai are totally enslaved save for
a small band of freedom fighters, who hatched a desparate plan for
Drama ove~r De~pth
success.
You’re playing a teenager in an interstellar war. Let’s face it:
this is not a highly believable scenario on any level. A key to
They’ve got a handful of starfighters, with immensely improved
enjoying space opera is to avoid considering what’s happening
technology. They’ve got a few dozen robotic soldiers. They have the
too closely. Start asking “why” and the GM will have to start
advantage of stealth, for now.
making up stuff about midiclorians, and no one wants that.
You’re a huge hero in a galaxy-wide revolution. Sit back and
And they’ve got you.
enjoy it.

Page 1
Charac~t~e~r
C~reation
The first thing you’re going to do is create a character. This will
be a more-or-less average geek from Earth in your century.
Here’s what you need to know to make your character:
★★ There are five kinds of character: the Starfighter, the General,
the Encyclopedia, the Strategist, and the Engineer. Your charac-
ter will be from one of these types, which are described starting
on page 7. Try not to duplicate types of character within your
group unless it’s absolutely necessary – diversity pays. If you
absolutely must, get an extra Starfighter.
★★ Character abilities are described by their Skills. Most of these
start off rated at 1. Each character type excels at one particular
activity. This is listed as their “Key Skill,” and starts at 3.
★★ Each character also has an Involvement score and a Confidence
score. Both of these start at 1, and will change as the game goes
on. These affect a lot of other rolls.
★★ Each character must have one of the Plotline described on page
10. Each character should have a unique plotline – no dupli-
cates.
I want to play as mys~elf!
Please do.
Page 2
Basic Game
Mechanics
Let’s do the quick version here first. You’ll get the full version
with bells and whistles later.
When you’re using one of your skills, you roll a number of six-
sided dice (d6) equal to the skill and count up the total. If you have
a modifier, you roll more or fewer dice, or have a number added or
subtracted afterwards. You want to roll as high as you can.
For instance, let’s say the Starfighter rolls to blow up enemy
ships in his first battle. He has 3d6 to roll. His Confidence is low,
which gives him a -1d penalty, so he rolls 2d6 instead. If he also had
a +3 modifier, he’d be rolling 2d6+3.
Most of the action will be part of a Mission: all of the characters
using their skills in complicated set-ups to take down part of the
K’lor fleet or empire. This is described starting on page 14, but it
uses these same mechanics over and over again.
What about social skills?
Social interactions in this game are handled by the GM
and players talking in-character. There are no social stats, and
the only guidelines we offer are that similarities help to make
connections between people, and confidence is contagious.
Skills
Skills are what describe your character. In Star Empire, these
skills are named for old video games, specifically the ones your
character is likely to have played.
Galaga
One of the original space fighter
games. The Galaga skill covers reflexes,
snap judgement, and careful movement.
In short, it’s everything you need to pilot
a starfighter. It’s the key to space battles.
You might also use Galaga to shoot an
alien ray-gun, dodge blaster bolts, or play
ping-pong.
Warc~raf~t
A game of tactics and strategy.
The Warcraft skill covers directing
an army, gathering resources and
intelligence, and succeeding on the
field of battle. You might also use
the Warcraft attribute to plan an
invasion, find the weak point in a
plan, or balance your budget.
Page 3
Snood
An addictive puzzle game.
The Snood skill lets you fit things
together until they work properly.
Electrical, mechanical, whatever.
You can create a working device,
or improve an existing one.You
might also use Snood to under-
stand tech manuals or pass science
class.
Zork
A text-based adventure.
When the details are everything,
count on someone who spots
and remembers them. You
might use Zork to remember
starship specifications, spot
changes in enemy formations, or
just remember where your keys
are.
Myst
A contemplative puzzle game.
The Myst skill lets you predict the
actions of others, though you still
might not get along with them.
You might also use Myst to play
poker, make people wonder what
you’re doing, or buy good Christ-
mas presents.
 will be highlighted by the GM when they occur – you can’t choose
Drives to simply decrease your score. Examples would be seeing corruption
in a rebellion leader, or finding out some other dirty secret. The
Characters in Star Empire have two Drives: Involvement GM will give you the option to decrease your involvement, increase
and Confidence. These make a difference in almost every area of it, or drop it to zero. It’s your choice how much the event shakes
gameplay. Characters start with a 1 in both Drives, and they change your character.
slowly as the game goes on to reflect how a character feels.
Involvement Table
Involvement Involvement Description Modifier
Don’t Care. Your character will have
Involvement measures how emotionally committed a character
0 to be dragged out of bed by another -2d
is to the rebellion. The higher this score is, the more your character
character in order to participate.
believes in the goals of those around him.
Testing the Waters. You can see that
Your Involvement modifier is added onto your dice roll for 1 things are happening, but you’re not -1d
every single rebellion event you’re involved in. Any attack on the committed yet.
K’lor, resource-gathering expedition, rescue mission, even some- Ready and willing. You can be counted
thing as simple as repairing vital equipment will receive this bonus. 2 on to put the rebellion near the top of +0
your priority list.
Involvement starts at 1 at the beginning of the game. Each time Gung-Ho. The rebellion is at the top
your character’s Plotline is activated, you add +1 to your score. Each 3 of your list. You’ll volunteer for any +1d
time Emperor Malkath appears, add another +1. You can give an- mission for which you’re qualified.
other character a pep talk to raise his Involvement by +1 for a single Deeply Committed. The rebellion
mission, but unless both he and the mission as a whole succeed, the comes before everything else. You’ll
Involvement will drop back down afterwards. 4 +2d
volunteer for every mission, even those
you’re not completely qualified for.
When you reach level 5 (Overinvolved) your next mission Overinvolved. Reaching this level
becomes a crisis event for you. See below for more on crisis events. 5 triggers a crisis event during your next *
Your score will drop afterwards. mission.

Involvement will decrease if your character becomes disillu-

sioned with the rebellion. The rare events when this might happen

Page 4
Confidence

Confidence measures how much your character believes in his Confidence Table
own capabilities. The higher this score is, the deeper your character’s Confidence Description Modifier
faith that he can overcome the odds.
Shattered. Your character will hide from
opportunities to prove himself, and will
Your Confidence modifier is added onto your dice roll for every 0 -2d
need major encouragement from the
action that has to do with your Key Skill, whether the roll is made
other characters.
during an official rebellion mission or not.
Overwhelmed. You feel like you aren’t
Confidence starts at 1 at the beginning of the game. Each time 1 really prepared for this, and your -1d
your character achieves a personal victory during a mission, you add performance is shaky because of it.
+1 to your score. Level-headed. You have a good idea of
2 +0
your strengths and weaknesses.
When you reach level 5 (Overconfident) your next mission Self-Assured. You’re willing to stretch
becomes a crisis event for you. See below for more on crisis events. 3 for things that normally seem out of +1d
Your score will drop afterwards. reach, and it pays off for you.
Cocky. You’re almost too confident.
Confidence will decrease if your character fails regularly. Every 4 Others will begin to find you annoying, +2d
consecutive failure after the first brings a -1 penalty to your score. especially since you always do so well.
For instance, if you fail twice in a row, your Confidence drops by Overconfident. Reaching this level
one point. If you fail four times in a row, your Confidence drops by 5 triggers a crisis event during your next *
three points. Failing just once is a pain, but failing a lot really hurts. mission.

These modifiers kill me Why humans?

Before the first few missions, the characters will probably The D’nai need humans partly because they can’t train
need a pep talk. Without one they’re going to have a great deal without arousing K’lor attention, and partly because they’re
of touble defeating the enemy. simply too short to operate the controls of a K’lor starfighter!

Page 5
Crisis Events
Overconfident or overinvolved characters are due for a reality
check. During their next mission they will become a liability to
the group somehow, and the GM will arrange for this (some sug-
gestions are below). Because of their feelings, the characters will be
unable to back down or retreat in any way, and are guaranteed to fail.
They’re at a stage where they can’t acknowledge the possibility of
failure, and it’s going to bite them in the ass.
After a crisis of involvement, most characters will withdraw to a
more comfortable emotional distance. Roll 1d6 and set the charac-
ter’s Involvement to half of that (1, 2, or 3).
After a crisis of confidence, most characters will become
strongly disillusioned with their own prowess, ending up withdrawn
and depressed. Set Confidence to 0.
As a player it might seem pretty lame to have to play through
something where you already know the result. Think of it this way:
how many times do you get to ham up your character going down
in flames and know that you get to keep playing afterwards? This
isn’t a punishment, it’s an opportunity to have some fun.
Sample Crisis Events
Here are some examples of good crisis events, along with some
effects in game terms to reinforce them. When rolling during a
crisis characters use unmodified rolls. Remember that the character
involved cannot escape, and is guaranteed to fail (but live through
it) no matter what.
Page 6
The GM should not tell the players what crisis event is going to
happen until the mission starts. It’s a surprise.
Starfighter:
★★ The enemy has unlimited reinforcements (+10 ships per wave)
★★ Facing self-repairing ships (destroy half of what the roll shows)
★★ Facing illusionary ships that conceal deadly mine field
General:
★★ Enemy robots are immune to your weapons. (Score half points.)
★★ Facing impossible terrain that breaks up his battle lines.
★★ Facing an opponent with twenty battle lines already drawn.
Encyclopedia:
★★ Facing ships or robots he never read about. (Always roll zero.)
★★ Enemy has made modifications. (GM steals cards from game.)
★★ Failure of memory leads to making things up. (Reverse any
positive modifiers you might give to others.)
Engineer:
★★ Stuck with terrible parts. (Remove a key card from every hand.)
★★ Missing important pieces. (Only draw half as many cards.)
★★ Hidden saboteur. (Face cards “explode” when used, reversing
any positive effects when you use them.)
Strategist:
★★ Enemy plan always turns out the opposite of your guess.
★★ The enemy plan never lines up. (Map is missing pieces.)
★★ The enemy is directly controlled by Malthak, and who keeps
altering their strategy. (GM rearranges your map pieces often.)
Charac~t~e~r S~tarfight~e~r
Types Key Skill: Galaga

In The Rebellion: You’re the one and only person qualified to

There are five types of character, each of which has been
pilot the improved fighters that the D’nai created.
recruited by the D’nai for a specific purpose and through a specific
method. The following pages talk about these in detail.
Back on Earth: You played a lot of arcade games. And computer
games. And any console games you could find that required a quick
During a mission, which is the “action” part of gameplay,
hand. Your favorites were the space shooters, but you liked anything
each character has a specific role. The Starfighter and the General
precise and fast. In school this helped you... basically nowhere.
engage in a two-pronged attack in spae and on the ground. They are
You’d be great at sports if your body could keep up with your hands
supported by the skills of the Engineer and the technical knowledge
and your mind.
of the Encyclopedia. Meanwhile, the Strategist looks for patterns in
the enemy’s movements that lead to long-term victory.

Whe~re’s the FPS Kid?

We considered adding someone who loves first-person

shooters (like Halo, Half-Life, Doom, etc.) to control a robot
warrior on the front lines. The idea was neat, but ultimately we
felt that it fell more into “science fiction” rather than “space op-
era.” If you really like it, you might create your own for a sixth
player. A magnetic dart set might make for a good minigame.

Page 7
G~ene~ral
Key Skill: Warcraft
In The Rebellion: The robot soldiers of the D’nai are yours to
command. They can absorb resources to create more of themselves,
and can fire their weapons with great accuracy, but they’re not very
smart. They need you to lead them.
Back on Earth: You played a lot of real-time strategy games,
including (of course) the Star Empire strategy game. In school you
were always the kid with a plan – you had a solid GPA, because the
only time you turned in things late was when you played the game
too much to remember your homework.
Page 8
Encyclope~dia
Key Skill: Zork
In The Rebellion: You’ve got the enemy ships and formations
memorized. You know their codes, their methods, their approaches
to everything. You might not get the glory, but without you there,
no one else will either.
Back on Earth: You read all the Star Empire books, about ten
times each. Every little detail stuck in your head. It was all so
cohesive, as if someone had really been there. Your homework came
out the same way: every little detail right, even if the overall product
wasn’t always the best.
Engine~e~r
Key Skill: Snood
In The Rebellion: You can take anything apart and put it back
together, better. You’re on the scene with the General’s robot sol-
diers and the Starfighter’s ship, tweaking them and repairing them.
Back on Earth: You were the handyman (or woman) around
your house. Oh, sure, it didn’t always work right the first time, but
soon enough you figured out not to crosswire the toaster or over-
clock the DVD player, and everything worked out fine in the end.
You always came into science fairs with some great project that you
had to fix halfway through... or had to extinguish.
Page 9
S~trat~egis~t
Key Skill: Myst
In The Rebellion: Of all the people in the rebellion, you under-
stand the K’lor and what they want. You can get inside their heads
(figuratively, you’re not a Strategistic) and guess their plans before
they put them in action.
Back on Earth: You were the geek-to-normal-kid translator. You
alone, in your group of friends, had contacts outside the group. Not
many of them, and you couldn’t really call them friends, but still.
You also mediated a lot of the disputes that popped up within your
group.
Plotlines
Each character must have one of the following Plotlines. These
will get “activated” as the game goes on, bringing certain plot ele-
ments into play. They serve as a flag for the GM, telling him to get
your character involved in particular types of sideplots.
Remember, each time your Plotline gets activated, you gain
+1 to your Involvement score. The GM chooses when to activate a
Plotline, but you reap the benefits (and you can always suggest that
a particular time might be appropriate).
Each description below gives the basic gist of the Plotline, some
supporting characters who will probably be involved, the way the
Plotline initially gets brough up, and how it will come back into
play. All of these notes are only suggestions, not requirements.
No Plotline should be taken by more than one character. If
you use the Love Triangle Plotline in your game (which we recom-
mend), you’ll need three characters to take the three pieces. The best
choices are the characters with the Unforseen Reunion, Personal
Loss, and Captured! Plotlines, to give them more screen time.
More Plotlines
To create more plotlines, just come up with a major recur-
ring theme for a character, something that helps to define
their place in the game. You don’t need to worry about having
something that comes up too often or too rarely, since quickly
increasing your Involvement is self-balancing.
Page 10
An Unfors~e~en Reunion
The Gist: One of your relatives disappeared a while ago,
anywhere from six months to twelve years. Turns out he or she is
working for the D’nai.
Supporting Characters: Long-Lost Relative, Rebellion Leader
Initial Activation: A chance encounter, or the relative seeks out
the character.
Recurrences: The relative stops by again to give a pep talk. The
relative is in danger and needs help. The relative dies.
Capture~d!
The Gist: After overextending yourself on the battlefield you
get captured by the K’lor. This Plotline doesn’t work well for the
Strategist or Encyclopedia, since neither of them is likely to be on
the front lines.
Supporting Characters: Emperor Malkath
Initial Activation: A Crisis Event that makes you lose your cool.
Recurrences: The rescue mission. Flashbacks to being tortured or
brainwashed, or acting on said brainwashing. Seeing how the D’nai
treat their prisoners.
Earth Girls are Easy Targ~e~ts
The Gist: The K’lor send a spy to Earth to find your weak point.
They kidnap the girl you have a crush on.
Supporting Characters: Cute Girl
Initial Activation: The Emperor or one of his goons taunts your
character by threatening Cute Girl.
Recurrences: Rescue missions. Flashbacks to earlier interactions.
Further scenes with Cute Girl after the rescue (if you can’t take her
back to Earth right away).
Love Triangle (A)
The Gist: You love or have a big crush on Character B.
Supporting Characters: The B and C characters.
Initial Activation: As soon as you reveal or admit this longing,
though not necessarily to Character B.
Recurrences: See notes under C.
Love Triangle (B)
The Gist: Character A loves you, but you have the hots for
Character C.
Supporting Characters: The A and C characters.
Initial Activation: As soon as you admit your longing for C. You
don’t have to know how A feels yet.
Recurrences: See notes under C.
Love Triangle (C)
The Gist: Character C loves you, but A loves C.
Supporting Characters: The A and B characters
Initial Activation: blah
Recurrences: The Love Triangle Plotlines tend to all recur togeth-
er. The traditional way these work is that A and B lust secretly for
a time, then reveal to other people, then reveal to those they love,
and then things get really complicated. Any time you can come to
the rescue of someone you love counts as a recurrence, as does any
time you are rescued by someone you love. Handled properly a love
triangle can be a real source of tension and drama. Or you can run
it like a farce; your call.
Page 11
Pe~rsonal Loss
The Gist: Someone you care about deeply is threatened, and
may die.
Supporting Characters: Alien Engineer or Cute Girl.
Initial Activation: You grow emotionally attached to a support-
ing character.
Recurrences: You spend a lot of time with the character, either
now or in a flashback sequence. The character’s life is threatened.
The character dies.
Sibling Rivalry
The Gist: Your older brother who went off to the Marines and
you hadn’t heard from in forever? He got recruited by the K’lor.
Now he’s the Emperor’s right-hand man and the leader of his armed
forces.
Supporting Characters: Older Brother Marine
Initial Activation: An encounter on the battlefield or the news
coming down from rebellion command.
Recurrences: Further battlefield encounters. A chance to break
the brainwashing. The final showdown.
T~emptation
The Gist: The Emperor tries to recruit you by sending his assas-
sin/strumpet.
Supporting Characters: Evil Sexy Alien
Initial Activation: The E.S.A. gets your attention, either on the
battlefield or through covert communications.
Recurrences: Further contact where she tries to seduce you,
either sexually or through the promise of power. Other characters
face her on the battlefield. The final showdown.

Supporting
Charac~t~e~rs
The Main Characters are important, but they aren’t everything.
Without a support structure they’ll crash and burn, with no one
there to fix their toys. They also need interesting people to interact
with. Here are a few that we suggest, some of which we’ll be refer-
ring back to from time to time. Each uses the following template:
Name: What you call them. Feel free to change it.
Job: What they do.
Personality: Just a few notes, feel free to expand.
Think: Another character from science fiction whose personality
can help you get a handle on this one.
Hit List: Hey GMs: this is a war. Some characters are probably
going to die. Here’s where we suggest offing them.
Alien Engine~e~r
Name: Brilano Tagat
Job: Fixes and upgrades captured technology for the rebellion.
Responsible for the super-upgraded fighters that the Starfighter will
be flying.
Personality: Cordial but not deep, but very friendly to the
Engineer and anyone who shows a genuine interest in his work.
Think: Scotty
Hit List: Somewhere just past the halfway mark. This can be a
real kick to the head for the Engineer.
Page 12
Big Damn Hero
Name: Todar Bronthak
Job: The rebellion’s “public face,” Jodar stars in all the Star
Empire books and movies. Actually kind of a tool.
Personality: Full of himself.
Think: Zap Brannigan
Hit List: Not soon enough, sadly. If he’s stupid enough to stage
a mutiny, he’ll probably live until the end, or until he goes up
against the Older Brother Marine to try to join the bad guys.
Comic Book Store Guy
Name: Bob Smith (actually B’or Relan)
Job: Recruiter for the rebellion. First contact for the main
characters, telling them about the D’nai and their plight.
Personality: Friendly and a little bit weird, which all makes
sense when you find out he’s a two-foot-tall alien in a human suit.
Known for giving people quarters to play the Star Empire video
game in the store’s back room.
Think: Obi-wan Kenobi
Hit List: First one to go. Hey, he’s Obi-wan. As soon as people
start liking him, off the guy.
Cut~e Girl
Name: Jodi Robinson
Job: High-school student. Popular and attractive.
Personality: A little bitchy on the surface, but not a bad person
underneath. By the time she shows up (kidnapped because one of
the characters has a crush on her), she’s been exposed to a lot of
weird alien stuff and needs help.
Think: Claire from The Breakfast Club.
Hit List: Only near the end, if at all. Threatening her life is
a-ok, though.
Evil Empe~ror
Name: Malkath
Job: Emperor of the K’lor Star Empire
Personality: Evil mastermind through and through. Emphasise
both parts. He’s evil as hell, not afraid to torture or lie whenever it
might be effective. He’s also a mastermind – he’s not stupid, and got
his power because he knows people and how they think.
Think: Oh, pick an evil emperor. Palpatine, Nero, Caligula...
Hit List: The end of the game, one would hope.
Evil Sexy Alien
Name: Alira M’beada
Job: Left hand of Emperor Malkath. Professional temptress and
assassin.
Personality: Evil seductress and looks it all over. She’s smart and
savvy enough to act calmly and deliberately.
Think: Poison Ivy
Hit List: The Emperor himself will probably kill her if the MCs
don’t. As soon as it’s clear she’s failed him, she’s out the airlock.
Long-Lost Relative
Name: Pam or Kevin (insert one of the MCs’ last names)
Job: Works for the rebellion, doing almost what one of the MCs
does, but not as well.
Personality: A little frazzled, but parental and caring. She or he
was taken from Earth a few years ago, when the D’nai thought they
had who they needed. It turns out that it took another generation
for everything to be exactly right.
Think: Any sitcom parent when they’re having a good moment
Hit List: Should survive until near the end, possibly giving his
life to further the cause. Might live.
Page 13
Older Brothe~r Marine
Name: Lt. James (insert one of the MCs’ last names)
Job: US Marine and the right hand of Emperor Malkath.
Military leader and crack pilot.
Personality: Very serious, a little unbalanced, and very much
unhappy with his younger brother or sister who happens to be one
of the PCs. The K’lor do some recruiting on Earth too, as it turns
out. James went missing in Afghanistan when the K’lor offered him
the chance to bring order to a whole galaxy, and the chance to bring
it to Earth later. He’s at least 50% brainwashed.
Think: Master Chief turned evil
Hit List: When the players can get him, preferably in the last
quarter of the game. Redemption is a possibility.
Re~bellion Leade~r
Name: Urano Meltax
Job: Leader of the D’nai rebellion
Personality: Confident but careful. A commander who’s used
to being obeyed, but remembers how to gain the admiration and
respect of his fellows. One of the D’nai higher-ups who won’t
discount the MCs just because they’re kids.
Think: Commander Riker at his best
Hit List: Might live to see the end of it.
Furthe~r Backstory
If you want to get into more backstory about your char-
acter than the plotlines provide, feel free – but you can also
just leave it there. Many characters in space operas are all but
one-dimensional at the beginning of the story, and grow as it
goes on. Feel free to do that with your character too.

Mission
Mechanics
A game of Star Empire alternates between interpersonal scenes
and missions. Interpersonal scenes involve interaction between the
characters, and possibly a handful of supporting characters. Mis-
sions involve the characters going up against the K’lor for a specific
task, such as crashing a hyperdrive gate, rescuing an important
character, destroying a weapons depot, or the eventual assault on
the Emperor’s throneworld.
Interpersonal scenes rely entire on roleplaying. However, when
characters go on a mission against the K’lor, there’s an extended
system used. Each attribute uses its own unique resolution system
that depends on both player skill and character skill.
During a huge battle, everyone will be using their skills simul-
taneously (or nearly so). The Starfighter will be blowing enemy
ships away, the General will be marshalling troops on the ground,
the Encyclopedia and Engineer will be working to back those two
up, and the Strategist will be trying to figure out the enemy’s big
plan. It’s a little chaotic, but it all works together at once. Every
individual victory contributes to the overall triumph.
Note that it’s possible for someone who isn’t an expert in the
field to play a different game. If you’re playing the Strategist and
your General has been kidnapped, you might end up playing his
game. You won’t have the skill to finish well, but sometimes you’ll
be able to pull off a victory anyway.
Page 14
Starfighter: A Dime A Dozen
What you need:
A lot of coins (thus the name of the game).
Pencil and paper for the player.
The reference sheet on page 20 is highly recommended.
How to play:
The Starfighter has the first move. He picks three tactics that
he’ll use against the formations the enemy ships will appear in. You
can find formations and tactics in the Appendix. Write the guesses
down on three small pieces of paper and turn them over so no one
can see.
The GM goes next. He sets up a number of enemy fighters
(coins) in a formation. The number of coins should be three to five
times the Starfighter’s Galaga skill. For instance, a Starfighter with
a skill of 5d6 will be up against anywhere from 15 to 25 ships. The
higher numbers should be used if the Engineer and Encyclopedia
are providing good support all the time.
The Starfighter reveals his first tactic and rolls his Galaga skill.
Note that the tactic and the actual formation will combine to tell
you a set of modifiers – sometimes the Starfighter’s skill will be
changed, sometimes there will be maximum or minimum rolls, and
so forth.
Compare the Starfighter’s roll to the number of coins in the
formation. If it’s higher, he removes a coin from the formation for
each point of victory. If it’s lower, he loses 1% of his shields for each
coin still in the formation, but no more than 10%.
The GM then rearranges the formation and the Starfighter
flips over his next tactic, rolling Galaga again, taking damage and
removing coins. After this happens a third time, that’s the end of
one “wave.”
 The GM leaves between waves to play with the General, who
also needs his attention. The Starfighter writes down three new
tactics while waiting for the GM to come back.
Special Notes:
All Starfighters begin knowing two tactics: Stick & Weave, and
Strafe. Every time their Galaga skill goes up a point, they learn one
new tactic of their choice.
How to win:
When all the coins are destroyed, the space battle ends in vic-
tory for the Starfighter. If the Starfighter’s shields are ever reduced
to 0%, his ship is in horrible danger. He must immediately concede
the battle, activate his cloaking device, and flee.
Boss Ships
If you want a boss ship at the end of your mission, leave
out a few of the coins at the beginning so that you can make
them into the Boss later on. Bosses fight similarly to individual
wings of ships, but its “formations” are the blasts that it sends
out. The formation still changes after each roll the Starfighter
makes, but Boss attacks always follows a specific pattern. The
Starfighter can’t hurt the boss until he can predict its three-
wave pattern every time. Successful rolls on his part only keep
him from losing shield power.
Page 15
G~ene~ral: Robot Wars
What you need:
A pencil and some paper.
How to play:
The General and GM both start off with 100 points of sleek,
metallic robotic troops. These troops are rated as to their Range,
their Programming, and their Shielding (R, P, S).
The General rolls his Warcraft skill each round. He can deploy a
total troop value that round equal to his roll. It’s his choice how this
value gets spread out between F, D, and P. For instance, a General
with four dice might get 14 and deploy troops worth R7, P3, S4.
The GM deploys a number of troops equal to four times the
General’s number of skill dice. (If the group is missing an Engineer
or Encyclopedia, reduce this number to 3 points per die.) The same
General from the example above would a GM with 16 points of
troops. He might deploy R5, P5, S6.
All values are written down secretly and then compared. The
General should roll and choose values three times while the GM is
off dealing with the Starfighter to help the game move quickly.
Each troop rating “targets” a value that the opposing side has.
Range targets Shielding, Shielding targets Programming, and Pro-
gramming targets Range. Compare the highest value from each side
to its target in order to check for troop loss. If the targeted value is
lower, the opposing side loses troop value equal to the difference. If
the targeted number is higher, nothing happens.
In our example, the general’s high score is R7, which beats the
GM’s S6. The GM loses one point this way. The GM’s high score
is P6, which compares to the General’s D3. The General loses three
points this way. These points come out of the general stock of
troops, not out of the current round’s totals.
 The GM plays three rounds of Robot Wars with the General,
and then moves on to deal with the Starfighter, who also needs his
attention. He’ll be back soon.
Special Notes:
Stacking most of your troops into one particular type causes
grave weaknesses in your defenses. If your highest number is more
than double your lowest number, take double damage when your
low number is targeted.
R-P-S also stands for Rock-Paper-Scissors.
How to win:
Reduce the other side’s total troop points to zero , thus running
them entirely out of troops.
Encyclope~dia: Memory
What you need:
A game of Memory. We’ve provided one in the Appendix.
How to play:
Lay out all the cards face-down, randomly.
The Encyclopedia rolls his Zork skill when the mission starts
and notes the number of points he got. Failing the roll has no
particular ill effects.
The Encyclopedia flips over one card. Each time he does, for
every three points on his dice roll, he can flip over another different
card. If any of his cards match the first card, he can leave that one
and the first card right-side up and turn the others upside down
again. If nothing matches, all of the cards from this run get turned
face-down again.
Page 16
When all cards are right-side up, the Encyclopedia wins and can
give pick one of the following effects:
★★ You’ve guessed what battle formation the K’lor will be using.
Tell the GM what formation he has to choose at the beginning
of the next wave. You can tell the Starfighter as well.
★★ You’ve remembered a weak point in K’lor starships. The Star-
fighter doubles his damage for his next roll.
★★ You’ve remembered a hidden secret about the battlefield that
the General can use. He can shift two points worth of troops
from his Firepower, Programming, or Defense values into one
of the other values.
★★ You’ve remebered a weak point in K’lor battle robots. The
General can deal double damage this round.
★★ You’ve identified the weak point in your own robots. The
General can stack all his troops into a particular type without
suffering double damage this round.
★★ You’ve remembered what GNDN means on the D’nai engineer-
ing specifications. Better tell the Engineer. He can play twos as
wild cards next time he puts down a hand.
★★ You’ve remembered that some of the starfighter’s superweapons
can be re-routed through each other’s circuits. The Engineer can
switch one superweapon result for another, deploying homing
bursts instead of the triple shot (for example).
★★ You’ve remembered a fact about K’lor psychology. The Strategist
can leave one extra piece out of her puzzle.
★★ You’ve remembered the secret plans that were in the Lost
Episode of the TV show. You can help the Strategist with her
map puzzle until you’ve placed 2 pieces.
Engineer: Build-A-Hand
What you need:
A standard 54-card poker deck (Jokers left in)
How to play:
The Engineer draws five cards from the deck.
Each time the Starfighter starts a new wave, he rolls his Snood
skill and draws an extra card for every three points he rolls. Failing
the roll has no particular ill effects.
He’s trying to create the best poker hand possible by picking
1-5 cards out of however many he ends up with. Aces are either
high or low, but you can’t use them as both at the same time. Jokers
are wild. When the Engineer finds a hand he likes, he puts down
just the useful cards – there’s no need to fill out to a full five cards.
Re-roll Snood every time there’s a new starfighter wave.
The high card in the hand determines who the hand can help:
red cards help the Starfighter, black cards help the General. If there
are two tied cards of different colors, it’s up to the Engineer which
one to use. The table of helpful results is on page 21.
How to win:
You can’t exactly “win,” because every turn you’ll have some-
thing useful to help the other player. However, if you don’t create
at least a Full House by the end of the mission, it’s considered a
personal failure.
Page 17
Strategist: Puzzle
What you need:
The Map Puzzle (see appendix)
How to play:
Unlike the other characters, the Strategist isn’t really playing a
game. She’s putting together a puzzle. The puzzle can be found in
the appendix. It’s the same puzzle every time. It takes a long time to
put together the first time, but afterwards she should be able to do
it faster and faster.
The Strategist’s skill allows her to ignore pieces, putting together
most of the puzzle and calling it “good enough.” She rolls her Myst
skill at the beginning, and can leave out one piece for every five
points she rolls. Failing the roll has no particular ill effect.
When the Strategist completes her puzzle, she gives a substantial
benefit to everyone involved in a mission: +1d6 on every roll for
the rest of the mission. She doesn’t have to use that on the current
mission, however. She can save these bonuses until the team really
needs them. Not completing the puzzle is a personal failure.
Is this a map of the empire?
Why yes, yes it is.
We encourage the GM to drop place-names into the game
from the map, and to describe the characters’ travels through
the hyperspace lanes that are the red lines on the map.
It’s not all of the Empire, though, so you can also include
places that don’t show up here. That’s just a local map.
Final Mission De~tails
All missions have a specific goal in mind. In order to achieve
this goal, you need the following achievements:
★★ At least three personal victories
★★ One of those must be either the Starfighter or the General
If both of these conditions are met, the mission is triumphant,
and the rebellion gains an advantage. If not, the mission ends in
failure and setback. It’s ok when this happens – it’s part of the story,
so don’t get too upset.
One way to keep track of the Rebellion’s progress is to use an
uncut copy of the Puzzle Map. Each victory is a star system that
the rebellion has a foothold in; each failure denies a system to them
until they can win elsewhere. It’s the GM’s job to keep the story
moving along, so forcing a win or loss somewhere will occasion-
ally be necessary – there’s no point in having things be completely
stagnant. If you prefer to do this kind of thing “behind the scenes”
ratherthan by rigging the odds, you could say that another branch
of the rebellion had a great victory or fell before the Empire’s forces.
That way the players can keep a certain amount of integrity to their
own victories and losses.
Expe~rienc~e
Points
The characters in Star Empire grow and change a lot. After all,
they’re teenagers – growing up is what they do.
Keep track of your character’s Experience Point total. You can
spend these to increase your skills, or to change your Involvement
and Confidence (though there are easier ways to do that).
Dedication and hardship are life’s great teachers. Thanks a lot,
life. You gain one Experience Point for each of the following things:
★★ Showing up each game session
★★ Each time you fail in a mission (personal failure, not group
failure)
★★ Each time you go through a crisis event
★★ Each time a Plotline does something annoying to your charac-
ter.
On average you should be getting about 2 XP per game. This
table shows how much new points of skill cost:

Skill Cos~ts
Dice 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Cost in XP -- 4 5 4 3 2 2 2

Increasing or decreasing your Involvement or Confidence scores
costs 2 XP per point of change. If your score has reached 5, you
can’t change it with XP – you must go through a crisis event.

Page 18
The Endgame Cre~dits
Eventually the main characters will lead the rebellion to the Thank you very much to my wife, Emma, who helped me come
Empire’s homeworld, and beyond that to confront the Emperor at up with the basic idea and develop it, and also helped test and
his final hiding place. They’ll root out and destroy the machinery rebuild some of the minigames.
that kept the Empire running, and return control over this sector of
space to the D’nai and their allies. This game was designed for the Genre Redesign Madness
contest in 2008. Writing, layout, and art were all done in ten days.
And after that... what then?
The main font is Adobe Garamond Pro, with Space Age for the
Here are some questions to help you think through the ending headers. Everything was laid out with Adobe InDesign CS3.
of your game. They’re a little beyond the scope of the game itself
(that is, you can’t really play through them as a mission), but it’s Star map courtesy of Revo’s Flare Brushes.
nice to think about a place to end things.
Background: Eta Carinae from the Hubble, public domain
★★ Do the characters return home?
★★ How much time has passed? Cover:
★★ Has it been only a few months, or have the rigors of superrela- Angel Nebula picture taken by Steve Mandel
tivistic space travel turned weeks into years? Ship by TauCeti Deitchmann
★★ What have their parents done?
★★ Can your characters ever go back to high school, knowing that Line drawings by Emma White
they’ve saved the universe and now they’re sitting through a
Geometry class?
★★ Will they return with the D’nai in tow?
★★ What will Earth think of the existence of aliens?
★★ Will the world’s governments be surprised, or did some of them
know all along?
★★ If you don’t go home, where will you go next?

May the stars guide your path.

Page 19
S~tarfight~e~r Tactics vs. K’lor Formations

“The K’lor are very regimented fighters. Make their discipline into their downfall.”

Starfighter tactics are across the top, K’lor formations on the left.
Read this chart as follows:
±1d, ±2d: add or subtract one or two dice from the Starfighter’s skill before the roll.
Min=X: Each die rolls at least an X. Increase anything lower to an X.
Max=X: The maximum roll on each die is X. Reduce anything higher down to X.
n/a: no effect

Tactics and Formations Table

Stick & Weave Zigzag Strafe Figure 8 Side Defense Firefighter
Attack V -1d Max=5 +2d +1d Max=5 n/a
Endless March +1d +2d Max=5 -1d -2d -1d
Wing Formation Max=5 -1d +1d +1d Max=5 +2d
Phalanx -2d +2d +1d +1d Max=5 +1d
Evasion Loop +2d +1d -1d -1d Min=2 -2d
Double Cross +2d +1d -2d +1d Min=2 -1d
Replacement Ring -1d -2d -2d -2d +2d +2d
Ram’s Horns Max=5 Min=2 +1d -1d Min=2 -1d

Explanations

Stick & Weave: Stay in one place as much as possible, dodging when necessary.
Zigzag: Move back and forth in a confined area.
Strafe: Very large side-to-side movements while firing.
Figure 8: A Zigzag plus forays forward and retreats backward.
Side Defense: Concentrate on a single side of the battlefield.
Firefighter: Wherever trouble shows up, go there and shoot it.

Page 20
The Engineer’s Toolkit Starfighter Superweapons

Here’s all the information related to the Engineer’s job. “The ship you will be flying has been upgraded significantly from
its original specifications. Dr. Tagat is a genius in miniaturization – he
Engineer’s Table has this thing packed full of gadgets from nosecone to thrusters. Unfor-
tunately, we can only power one of the superweapons at a time, and
Hand Red Black
even then, not for long. You’ll be relying on agility and sharp eyesight
Ace High Speed Boost: +3 dmg +3 troops more often than not.”
Pair Shield Repair: +5% Deploy +1 troop
Two pair Turbo Shot: +5 dmg Deploy +2 troops Superweapons deal +5 damage against most formations.
Three of a kind Triple Shot +3 Defense However, each superweapon has two formations against which it
Straight Beam Laser +3 Firepower is particularly effective. Attacks against these formations with the
appropriate superweapon yield an extra +5 damage, for a total of
Flush Homing Bursts +3 Programming
+10. The weapon’s charge only lasts for one attack roll.
Four of a kind Bomb +10 troops
Straight Flush ATK Pods: x2 dmg Sabotage: 2x dmg
Superweapon Table
Five of a kind Sheild Refill Infiltration
Formation Right Superweapon
Attack V Triple Shot
Explanations:
Squad Formation Homing Bursts
Any damage bonuses (+3, +5, x2) last for a single turn only. Phalanx Beam Laser
Troop bonuses give the General extra troops in reserve, not in Evasion Loop Bomb
the current round. Replacement Ring Bomb
Shield repair can raise a Starfighter’s shields over 100%. Ram’s Horns Homing Bursts
Triple Shot, Beam Laser, Homing Bursts, and Bomb enable a
Double Split Triple Shot
starfighter’s superweapon for a single turn. See below.
Infiltration allows the General to see the GM’s point totals Endless March Beam Laser
before assigning his own this round.

Page 21
K’lor S~tarfight~e~r Formations

Attack V Endless March Wing Formation Phalanx

Evasion Loop Double Cross Replacement Ring Ram’s Horns

 C~
entauri
Tau C~
e~
ti Sol

Si
rius

Rana Altai
r

Kantor Bral Sabi

n

Pfauth

K’
Lor
Prime

S~
eme~
th

Fy

Byri
on

VEne~
th