TEXT: SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENT
  
  CHARACTERS
  // SRD design notes start with two slashes, like this.
  All other paragraphs are player/GM-facing text.
  // Characters start with 6ish skill increases and/or
  credits’ in items, possibly combining “specialty”
  and “origin” (or “3 skill increases” as a stand-in).
  ►Choose your character’s specialty.
  FACE: Skilled in Reading People (d8), Deception
  (d8). Take an extensive disguise wardrobe.
  MUSCLE: Skilled in Intimidation (d8) and either
  Hand-to-hand (d8) or Shooting (d8). Take a
  sword, ﬁrearm, or cyber-arm.
  PSYCHIC: Skilled in Telepathy (d8, sense surface
  thoughts), Telekinesis (d8, as strong as your
  arms), or pick one at d10. Take a bottle of
  PsychOut (amplify powers; addictive).
  MEDIC: Skilled in Medicine (d8), Electronics (d8).
  Take a medkit and cyber-surgery tools (bulky).
  SNEAK: Skilled in Climbing (d8), Stealth (d8).
  Take climbing gear and night vision goggles.
  TECH: Skilled in Hacking (d8), Electronics (d8).
  Take repair tools and a custom computer (bulky).
  ►Choose your character’s origin.
  ALIEN: Invent 2 traits, like electric current, wings,
  natural camouﬂage, or six-limbed.
  ANDROID: You have an upgrade-ready cyber-
  body. Take synth skin (looks human) or a case
  (break harmlessly for defense). Increase 1 skill.
  HUMAN: Apply 3 skill increases (from no skill
  ➡d8➡d10➡d12). You can take new skills
  and/or increase skills you already have.
  ►Choose or invent skills (if prompted by origin).
  Climbing, Connections, Deception, Hacking,
  Electronics, Engines, Explosives, Hand-to-hand,
  Intimidation, Labor, Persuasion, Piloting, Running,
  Shooting, Spacewalking, Stealth, Tracking
  // New skills should be comparably narrow, or
  broadened to deemphasize a skill’s importance.
  RULES
  PLAY: Players describe what their characters do.
  The game moderator (GM) advises when an
  action is impossible, requires extra steps,
  demands a cost, or presents an avoidable risk.
  Players only roll to avoid risks.
  ROLLING: Roll a d6 skill die — higher with a rele-
  vant skill, or d4 if hindered by injury or circum-
  stances. If helped by circumstances, roll an extra
  d6; if helped by an ally, they roll their skill die and
  share the risk. Take the highest die.
  1–2 Disaster. Suﬀer the full risk. GM decides if
  you succeed at all. If risking death, you die.
  3–4 Setback. A lesser consequence or partial
  success. If risking death, you’re maimed.
  5+
  Success. The higher the roll, the better.
  If success can’t get you what you want (you make
  the shot, but it’s bulletproof!), you’ll at least get
  useful info or set up an advantage.
  LOAD: Carry as much as makes sense, but more
  than one bulky item may hinder you at times.
  ADVANCEMENT: After a job, increase a skill
  (none➡d8➡d10➡d12) and gain 1 credit (₡).
  DEFENSE: Say how one of your items breaks to
  turn a hit into a brief hindrance. Broken gear is
  useless until repaired.
  HARM: Injuries take time and/or medical atten-
  tion to heal. If killed, make a new character to be
  introduced ASAP. Favor inclusion over realism.
  RUNNING THE GAME: Lead the group in setting
  lines not to cross in play. Fast-forward, pause, or
  rewind/redo scenes for pacing and safety, and
  invite players to do likewise. Present dilemmas
  and problems you don’t know how to solve. Move
  the spotlight to give everyone time to shine. Test
  periodically for bad luck (e.g., run out of ammo, or
  into guards) — roll d6 to check for (1–2) trouble
  now or (3–4) signs of trouble. Oﬀer rulings to
  cover gaps in rules; double back during a break to
  revise unsatisfying rulings as a group.
  
  1
  Acker
  2
  Black
  3
  Cruz
  4
  Dallas
  5
  Engel
  6
  Fox
  7
  Gee
  8
  Haak
  9
  Iyer
  10
  Joshi
  11
  Kask
  12
  Lee
  13
  Moss
  14
  Nash
  15
  Park
  16
  Qadir
  17
  Singh
  18
  Tran
  19
  Ueda
  20
  Zheng
  SURNAME
  1
  Ace
  2
  Bliss
  3
  Crater
  4
  Dart
  5
  Edge
  6
  Fuse
  7
  Gray
  8
  Huggy
  9
  Ice
  10
  Jinx
  11
  Killer
  12
  Lucky
  13
  Mix
  14
  Nine
  15
  Prof
  16
  Red
  17
  Sunny
  18
  Treble
  19
  V8
  20
  Zero
  NICKNAME
  1
  Arion
  2
  Blackjack
  3
  Caleuche
  4
  Canary
  5
  Caprice
  6
  Chance
  7
  Darter
  8
  Falkor
  9
  Highway Star
  10
  Moonshot
  11
  Morgenstern
  12
  Phoenix
  13
  Peregrine
  14
  Restless
  15
  Silver Blaze
  16
  Stardust
  17
  Sunchaser
  18
  Swift
  19
  Thunder Road
  20
  Wayfarer
  SHIP NAME
  GEAR
  DETAILS
  // If something in the real world would cost less
  than a few hundred US dollars, the only cost is
  the time it would take to get it.
  ►Take a comm (smartphone) and ₡2. Most items
  and upgrades cost ₡1 each. Ignore microcredit
  transactions like a knife or a meal.
  ARMOR: Vest (break once for defense), battle
  armor (₡2, bulky, break up to 3×), hardsuit (₡3,
  bulky, break up to 3×, vacuum-rated, mag boots).
  CYBERNETICS: Cyber-ear (upgrade with echolo-
  cation, long-range, vocal stress detector), cyber-
  eye (upgrade with infrared, telescopic, x-ray),
  cyber-limb (upgrade with strong, fast, compart-
  ments, implanted tool or weapon), cranial jack,
  healing nanobots, toxin ﬁlter, voice mimic.
  TOOLS: Flamethrower (bulky), low-G jetpack,
  med scanner, mini drone, repair tools, survey pack
  (climbing gear, ﬂare gun, tent; bulky).
  WEAPONS: Grenades (4, any of fragmentation,
  ﬂashbang, smoke, EMP), pistol, riﬂe (bulky),
  shotgun (bulky), stun baton, tranq gun.
  ►Starships have basic versions of these func-
  tions; upgrades cost ₡10 each. In emergencies,
  players pick a function to do or help with.
  COMMS: Upgrade with eavesdropper, jammer,
  tachyon burst (no lag in-system).
  CRAFTS: Comes with escape pod. Upgrade with
  ﬁghter, shuttle (reentry-rated).
  DRIVE: FTL jump and sublight speeds. Upgrade
  with longer jumps, faster speed, greater agility.
  EQUIPMENT: Vac suits for crew. Upgrade with
  armory, heavy loader, mining gear, tow cable.
  HULL ARMOR: Break harmlessly for defense.
  Upgrade with reentry-rated, sun shielding.
  SENSORS: Upgrade with deep-space, life-sign
  scan, planetary survey, tactical vessel scan.
  WEAPONS: Deﬂector turrets. Upgrade with laser
  cutter, military-grade turret, torpedos.
  // Characters’ personal details often need to be
  customized for speciﬁc settings (especially when
  aliens and fashion are involved). Here are some
  options usable for a range of sci-ﬁ settings.
  ►Invent or roll for personal details.
  1
  Anxious
  2
  Appraising
  3
  Blunt
  4
  Brooding
  5
  Calming
  6
  Casual
  7
  Cold
  8
  Curious
  9
  Dramatic
  10
  Dry
  11
  Dull
  12
  Earnest
  13
  Formal
  14
  Gentle
  15
  Innocent
  16
  Knowing
  17
  Prickly
  18
  Reckless
  19
  Terse
  20
  Weary
  DEMEANOR
  
  // THE BACK PAGE: If you’d like to mimic the style of
  the original microgames this SRD is based on, the
  back page (or the left half of one side of a letter-
  sized sheet of paper) can ﬁt 4 tables of 20 items
  each. A GM can use these to generate ideas for an
  improvised session, like, “[Name] has hired you
  for [Job] at [Location], but there’s a [Twist]!” An
  example table is oﬀered below.
  // ADDING TO RULES: This SRD is presented
  extremely brieﬂy, based on the assumption that
  players more experienced with RPGs can teach
  the basics to newcomers. Expand as needed. My
  own principles for new 24XX rules is that they
  should NOT (a) require adding or subtracting dice
  or modiﬁers, (b) require tracking another cur-
  rency (unless the rule replaces tracking broken
  items and/or credits), or (c) add more than 1 new
  “tag” with a term you might need to look up (like
  “bulky”). Strive for self-explanatory additions, or
  vague additions players might enjoy interpreting.
  // FINDING JOBS: Many teams don’t need to look for
  paying work (e.g., those following military
  orders). If your game does use this setup,
  though, dangerous jobs should pay more, as they
  demand 1–3 credits in “expenses” for medical
  treatment, ﬁxing/replacing broken gear, re-
  rolling unsavory jobs, or getting through dry
  spells with no jobs. Also, in the table above, the
  phrase “risk debt” is intentionally vague, but may
  be worth clarifying or alluding to elsewhere (like
  having a loan shark in your contacts table).
  // JOBS: The list of jobs (or missions, situations,
  quests, etc.) should be tailored for your setting,
  and also suggest scenarios where every charac-
  ter’s skills will be useful. Many jobs can be sum-
  marized as either “deal with an unusual threat,”
  “investigate something seemingly inexplicable,”
  or “retrieve a thing from a location for a person.”
  They serve as “gameable lore” — elements that
  hint at a setting, ready-made for use in play.
  ►Roll d6 to try to ﬁnd a job. Spend ₡1 to re-roll.
  1–2
  Nothing. Spend to re-roll, or ri�� de�t.
  3–4
  �o�nd � �o�, ��t there�� � ��t�h.
  5–6
  �hoo�e �et�een � �o��.
  // THE PREMISE: Explain the basics of the
  game’s setting. If it’s not made clear elsewhere,
  give a reason for the characters to stick together,
  and hint at what they’ll spend their time doing.
  ►Roll d20 for a contact, client, rival, or target
  1
  Arcimboldo, quirky tech dealer & tinkerer
  2
  Aurora, wealthy collector of unique items
  3
  Blackout, quiet evidence removal specialist
  4
  Bleach, wry janitor android turned assassin
  5
  Bron, dour security chief with a metal arm
  6
  Bullet, no-nonsense android gun runner
  7
  Carryout, cocky courier with fast cyber-legs
  8
  Fisher, eager street kid looking for a crew
  9
  Ginseng, people-loving drug dealer
  10
  Hot Ticket, extremely cautious fence
  11
  Kaiser, grinning loan shark in a silver suit
  12
  Osiris, tired, street-level sawbones
  13
  Powder Blue, android ﬁxer, generous rates
  14
  Reacher, sharp mercenary tac squad leader
  15
  Rhino, thickheaded, bighearted bodyguard
  16
  Sam, plucky journalist, likely to get killed
  17
  Shifter, hard-working chop-shop owner
  18
  Walleye, businesslike information broker
  19
  Whistler, smiling cabbie/getaway driver
  20 “X,” unﬂappable broker for an unnamed corp
  // LICENSE & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: See that tiny
  text along the bottom of the page? That’s where I
  cram the version number and credits (or
  acknowledgements, if it’s confusing to use the
  same term used for currency in this game). You’re
  welcome to put this text elsewhere in your game,
  but it needs to be included somewhere.
  // The games I make with these rules are copy-
  righted, so please don’t just copy and paste the
  text or logos from those. The text and layout this
  SRD and template are released under a Creative
  Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY), so
  you’re welcome to adapt this for your own games.
  // Please do not use any text from this game, the
  20XX logo, or my name in any product that pro-
  motes or condones white supremacy, racism,
  misogyny, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or
  other bigotry against marginalized groups.
  Version 1.1. Text & layout by Jason Tocci under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0). Art CC BY BEEPLE.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/2400 System/24XX_SRD_v11_singles.pdf