Welcome to the Alpha Dawn campaign! This campaign will mostly use the Star Frontiers Expanded Game rules. The variances from the Expanded Game rules are as indicated below:
- Most of the tasks are now based on a characteristic. For example, The OPERATING MACHINERY subskill under the Technician skill had a Success Rate of 50% + skill level in the Expanded Game rules. In this system, the 50% base chance has been replaced with 1/2 LOG + 15. Thus, someone with a LOG of 40 would have a Success Rate of 35 + skill level.
- Most of the skills from Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space(SFAC3) have been added to the skill list. The skills follow the same skill/task concept of the Expanded Rules. For example, Disguise skill has two tasks under it, Disguise Self and Disguise Other, with different Success Rates. The six "primary" professions (Computerist, Environmentalist, Medic, Psycho-Socialist, Roboticist and Technician) of course, each have several tasks (or subskills) under them.
- A further refinement from Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space is that skills can be bought up to level 8 instead of level 6.
- Each character starts with an "edge". This is something unique to the character. It could be an object of alien technology or a strange talent. Edge ideas can be found the Rules and Information section of the website but you are also free to come up with your own ideas and work with the referee to get approval.
The character generation process is entirely automated in this website. To get started, click on Create Character, use the default validation code of "test" and create a character or two to try it out. This will create some test characters that will automatically be deleted after a period of time. Note that test characters MAY NOT be turned into player characters.
When you are ready to create your real character, ask the referee to provide you with a validation code. The referee will give you two validation codes. You can use them to create two separate characters. After doing so, you will need to choose which one will be your permanent character and let the referee know which one to keep and which one to delete. He will then delete the extra character.
BE SURE TO GIVE EACH CHARACTER (TEST OR REAL) A DIFFERENT NAME. Otherwise the database may get confused.
After going through the character creation process, you will end up in the Character Sheet. Immediately fill in your name next to "Player" and the email address you want to use for this game next to "Player Email". Then fill in a Birth Date. The game will be starting on Day 58, Month 1, Year 600 (600158). A year is 4 months of 100 days each. For example, if you want to create a 25 year old character, you could have a birth date of 575387 (Day 87, Month 3, Year 575). Since you will be starting with very few skills and they will be of low level, you will probably want to play a relatively young character.
You will see your available experience points (Available EXP) in the upper right of the character sheet. Use these to purchase skills. During creation, you chose a Primary Skill Area (PSA). For those with a Technological PSA, I strongly suggest you purchase one of the main technological skills (Computerist, Roboticist or Technician). For those with a Biosocial PSA, I strongly suggest you purchase one of the main biosocial skills (Environmentalist, Medic or Psycho-Socialist). For someone with a Military PSA. They should choose at least one weapon skill.
Everyone should also look at the skill called Combat Luck. This is a device that I have used in multiple games and find it very useful. It is a hedge against really unlucky dice. Even if you don't start with this skill, I fully expect everyone will want to have at least a couple of levels of it eventually.
Also in the upper right of the character sheet, you will see your Money. Go ahead and spend as much of this as you would like and then let the referee know what you bought and how much you spent. The referee will make the adjustments to the database to deduct what you spent.
Background Story
The campaign will be using the Crash on Volturnus adventures as the campaign setting but will not be following the original adventures precisely. Instead, the referee will use the adventures as a basis for the campaign. Thus, even if you are intimately familiar with every detail of the Crash on Volturnus series, you will be in for numerous surprises as the adventure progresses.
One thing that remains much the same is the beginning of the adventure. The adventure will start on the starliner Serena Dawn as it enters the Zebulon system and establishes orbit around Volturnus. It will be up to you to come up with your character's background and establish why they are on the Serena Dawn. The Serena Dawn is a starliner operating out of Pale in the Truane's Star system. The route to and from the Zebulon system was only recently mapped and made publically available. One of the planets in the Zebulon system is very habitable. The Serena Dawn is taking a load of passengers to Zebulon, along with cargo destined for a UPF outpost on the planet. It is an exciting tourism opportunity where the passengerswill be able to see a newly discovered world that has not been explored. Passengers include scientists, both amateur and professional, students and other adventurous souls who want to see an unspoiled planet.
Your character could be one of the passengers, perhaps an Environmental Studies student. Or they could be a low ranking crew member helping to maintain the equipment on the ship. Or perhaps they were hired to one of the guards who would accompany the passengers down to the surface and make sure they weren't eaten by an indigenous species. There are multiple options for why your character might be on the Serena Dawn. You may or may not know any of the other player characters prior to the adventure. Or maybe you want to start with a shared concept - two buddies in your final year of apprenticeship: one a computerist and the other a roboticist.
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