TEXT: pATROl
  COSmiC
  TM
  pATRO
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  l
  COSmiC
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  R O C
  K E T
  S   • 
   R AY
  G U N
  S   • 
   R O
  B O T
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  ThE COSmOS hAS A milliON
  wAYS TO Kill YOU...
  JOiN ThE pATROl!
  © 2011. Cosmic Patrol, the Cosmic Patrol logo, Catalyst Game Labs and the 
  Catalyst Game Labs logo are trademarks of InMediaResProductions LLC in the 
  United States and/or other countries. Some content licensed under a Creative 
  Commons License (BY-NC-SA). Printed in USA.
  R O C
  K E T
  S
  • R A
  Y G U
  N S
  • R
  O B O
  T S
  TM
  ThECOSmOS hASA milliON
  wAYS
  wAYS
  w
  TOKill YOU...
  JOiN ThE pATRO
   pATRO
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  l!
  
  cosmic
  patrol
  TM
  TM
  
  2 COSMIC PATROL
  CONTENTS & CREDITS
  Original Universe Concept
  Matt Heerdt
  Game Design
  Matt Heerdt
  Additional Game Design
   
  Randall N. Bills
  Project Development
  Randall N. Bills
  Matt Heerdt
  Writing
  Randall N. Bills
  Matt Heerdt
  Jason Schmetzer
  Additional Writing
   
  Joel Bancroft-Connors
  Project Editing
  Diane Piron-Gelman
  Jason Schmetzer
  Production Staff
  Art Direction
   
  Matt Heerdt
  Cover Design, Maps, Layout
   
  Matt Heerdt
  Illustrations
   
  Leanne Buckley
  Playtesting/Proofing
  Zack Christie-Aronson, Joel 
  Bancroft-Connors, Ron Barter, Travis 
  Friedmann, Chris Hartford, Mike 
  Hicky, Rob DeHoff, Maria DeHoff, 
  Rett Kipp, Kevin MacGreggor, 
  One MilliOn and One ...............................  4
  X Minus FOur
  Prelude ....................................................  14
  X Minus Three
  GazeTTeer ................................................  22
  X Minus TwO
  By The BOOk .............................................  48
  X Minus One
  herOes & Villains ...................................  76
  X Minus zerO
  BlasT-OFF! ..............................................  118
  
  COSMIC PATROL 3
  CONTENTS & CREDITS
  Shari MacGreggor, Aaron Jamieson, 
  Michael Miller, Dave Munger, Blaine 
  Lee Pardoe, Ben Parker, Brett Runyon-
  Shadwell, Brent Shadwell, Patrick 
  Wynne.
  Acknowledgements
  This book could not have been 
  done without Randall and Jason’s 
  help. To both of you, thanks!
  Big props to Leanne Buckley as 
  well. It’s rare to find an artist who 
  “gets it” on the first try, and Leanne 
  just rocked the house, thanks!
  Dedication
  Cosmic Patrol is dedicated to 
  all those writers and artists from 
  sci fi’s Golden Age. They let their 
  imaginations run free, and took us 
  along for the ride.
  Creative Commons License; Some 
  Rights Reserved.
  This work is licensed under the 
  Creative Commons Attribution-
  Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 
  Unported License.
  To view a copy of this license, 
  visit: http://www.creativecommons.
  org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send 
  a letter to: Creative Commons, 
  171 Second Street, Suite 300, San 
  Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
  (What this means is that you are 
  free to copy, share, and remix the text 
  and artwork within this book under 
  the following conditions: 1) you do 
  so only for noncommercial purposes; 
  2) you attribute Catalyst Game Labs; 
  3) you license any derivatives under 
  the same license. For specific details, 
  appropriate credits, and updates/
  changes to this license, please see: 
  www.cosmicpatrol.com)
   
  Printed in the USA.
  Published by Catalyst Game Labs,
  an imprint of InMediaRes 
  Productions, LLC
  PMB 202 • 303 91st Ave NE • E502 • 
  Lake Stevens, WA 98258
  Find us online:
  info@cosmicpatrol.com
  (e-mail address for any
  Cosmic Patrol questions)
  cosmicpatrol.com
  (official Cosmic Patrol
  web pages)
  CatalystGameLabs.com
  (Catalyst web pages)
  battlecorps.com/catalog
  (online ordering)
  
  AND ONE
  BY JASON SCHMETZER
  Abex, Vantine, and himself—had 
  been sent out to the Asteroid Belt 
  to check a funny scanner return. 
  The Patrol was always careful 
  about asteroids—the Uth liked 
  to linger around them, always on 
  the lookout for a new warren or a 
  base from which to raid the inner 
  system. Vantine stayed behind on 
  the rocketship Caliban because she 
  was best at reading the scanners.  
  She’d warn them if another ship 
  appeared near the asteroid.
  “Because the Venusian can 
  read,” Roark said. “Now come on. 
  We’re almost to the cave mouth.”
  The rocky ground was broken 
  and craggy, but there was a small 
  semi-path that led up to the cave. 
  The rock was too hard to tell 
  whether it was a natural path or 
  one worn by Uth footpads. The 
  lizardmen’s vacsuits were cobbled-
  together things, oftentimes with 
  actual Uth-hide soles on their boots. 
  Roark shook his head. Lizardmen. 
  His hand touched the atomatic 
  pistol holstered on his left thigh 
  unconsciously.
  He waited just beneath the lip of 
  the cave mouth for Abex to catch 
  up. The Martian stooped next to 
  Lieutenant Hamish Roark tried 
  to resist. He really did. But after 
  a few minutes it was really too 
  much, and he toggled the suit radio. 
  “Abex! Enough with the heavy 
  breathing already.” He twisted his 
  head in his fishbowl to look at the 
  Patrolman behind him. The big 
  Martian’s shaved head shined with 
  sweat, and his angry eyes looked 
  up from the craggy ground and 
  narrowed at Roark. His hands 
  moved, making a chopping motion 
  with the large, wide-bladed axe he 
  carried. Roark stifled his laugh. 
  Axes in space—only on Mars.
  “We came on a rocketship,” 
  Abex grunted. “You could have 
  landed closer.” He clanged his axe 
  against the steel of his chestplate. 
  “This suit is heavy.”
  “Too heavy for the big 
  Martian,” Roark quipped.
  “It’s not my fault you landed at 
  the bottom of the hill,” Abex said. 
  “Besides, I don’t see Vantine out 
  here.” He gestured behind them, 
  where the rocketship rested in the 
  valley Roark had landed it in. “Why 
  does the Venusian get to stay with 
  the ship?”
  Roark laughed. His patrol—
  
  him, both hands wrapped around 
  the axe’s haft. His eyes never left 
  the cave but his mouth crooked 
  upward in a grin. “We came all this 
  way for nothing?”
  Roark shrugged. “We haven’t 
  been inside yet, have we?”
  “So? You see any trash laying 
  outside?”
  Roark pursed his lip. The 
  Martian had a point. Uth lairs were 
  invariably dirty—the scaly bastards 
  were scavengers like no other, but 
  they didn’t really clean up after 
  themselves. If a place got too dirty, 
  they just found a new place until 
  that one got too dirty, too. Still…
  “Let’s go,” Roark said. He 
  stepped onto the ledge and drew his 
  atomatic.
  Abex followed him. The 
  Martian’s chuckle came across 
  the suit radios just fine, just as 
  his heavy breathing had. “Yes, oh 
  lieutenant of the Cosmic Patrol. It 
  looks very dangerous. You go first.”
  Roark grinned.
  The scanner station of Caliban’s 
  control room was a quiet, serene 
  area filled with the melodious 
  chimes of sensors sweeping the 
  near-empty heavens and finding… 
  near-emptiness. For all of their 
  vaunted intellect, the Venusians’ 
  best strength lay in their acceptance 
  ONE MILLION AND ONE  5
  COSMIC PATROL
  of the obvious. Caliban swept skies 
  that were the solid emptiness of 
  vacuum; all the scanners had to do 
  was look for not-empty, and report 
  it when not-empty was found. 
  Vantine of Venus lay back in the 
  crash couch, eyes closed, listening 
  to the steady sounds of her sensors 
  finding nothing.
  It was peaceful. Certainly better 
  than stuffing herself into a vacsuit 
  and climbing all over craggy, dirty 
  rocks and finding an Uth lair. She 
  sniffed. At least an Automan’s bay 
  would be organized. Robots didn’t 
  abide clutter. And if they did find 
  the piled leftovers of an Uth hive, 
  Lieutenant Roark would almost 
  certainly make her catalogue the 
  mess and try to identify where it 
  had come from. All of the senior 
  Patrolmen—the Earthmen, really—
  were like that. Obsessive.
  As if she really wanted to dirty 
  her hands with the cast-offs of 
  lizardmen. A minuscule shudder 
  twitched her fingertips, as if she’d 
  found a speck of dust on her nails 
  and tried to fling it off.
  Honestly.
  Vantine hadn’t joined the 
  Cosmic Patrol to sort through bits 
  and pieces of lizard-trash. She’d 
  done it because the Patrol was 
  going places, exploring, and the one 
  thing the long-limbed girl who’d 
  never seen through the clouds of 
  Venus wanted more than anything 
  was to see the stars and visit them. 
  A hitch on a torch-only tramp like 
  
  6 ONE MILLION AND ONE
  COSMIC PATROL
  turned around and trotted back to 
  the cave mouth, leaving Abex to 
  watch for any dangers coming from 
  deeper within the cave.  So far he 
  hadn’t seen anything—no trash, no 
  markings, nothing to say this was 
  a cave any more special than the 
  thousands of others that pocked the 
  asteroid. When he stepped into the 
  starlight and craned his neck back, 
  the cause of Vantine’s warning was 
  obvious.
  “Abex,” Roark said, “get out 
  here.” Roark holstered his atomatic 
  and eyeballed the incoming 
  ship’s angle. Distances were hard 
  to measure, but he had a lot of 
  practice. “Company.”
  Abex stomped up behind him, 
  axe held ready. Roark looked 
  at him, watching the big man’s 
  eyes narrow as the torch’s glare 
  caught them. “Well, at least it ain’t 
  lizardmen.”
  “That’s a good thing?”
  Abex shrugged. “Maybe we 
  won’t have to kill all of them.”
  Roark laughed. “I’ll bet when 
  Dyson landed on Mars, one of 
  your cousins looked at the ship on 
  Olympus Mons and said ‘maybe we 
  won’t have to kill all of them,’ didn’t 
  they?” He touched Abex’s shoulder. 
  “Maybe we should get back a little. 
  It’s coming down here.”
  Abex nodded and started 
  walking backward. Roark watched 
  his fingers clench and loosen on the 
  haft of the axe. The two Patrolmen 
  retreated into the cave’s mouth, 
  Caliban was only a stepping stone; 
  someday she’d be on one of the 
  fractum-drive rocketships. And 
  she’d get to go to Wolf and Gliese 
  and anywhere else she wanted—
  astrons at a single leap!
  Certainly not to a cave. They 
  had caves on Venus.
  One of the scanners beeped. 
  Vantine opened her eyes.
  The long-range scanner had 
  found a big chunk of not-empty. 
  And it was coming down. Vantine 
  leaned over in her couch until 
  she could peer out the bulkhead 
  porthole. The fiery star-bright 
  tail of a torch ship was already 
  visible. Vantine lurched upright and 
  queried the incoming ship, but the 
  autoresponder remained dark. 
  It wasn’t a Cosmic Patrol 
  rocketship.
  Her fingers keyed the sensors 
  into a tighter focus while her eyes 
  figured the ship’s probable landing 
  site. The ballistics of it were pretty 
  simple—if you were a Venusian—
  and she didn’t have any trouble 
  figuring it out. As if it were going to 
  be anywhere else. She touched the 
  radio controls.
  “Lieutenant. Look up.”
  Roark was ten feet into the cave 
  when Vantine’s warning came. He 
  
  ONE MILLION AND ONE 7
  COSMIC PATROL
  The Cosmic Patrol kept 
  immaculate records. Not every 
  rocketship was unique, but there 
  were so many different types of fuel 
  and so many customizations that very 
  quickly every ship had something 
  unique about it. Vantine was keying 
  her sensors to drink in every bit of 
  uniqueness from the descending 
  rocketship they could, and comparing 
  it to the most likely records. For a 
  moment she almost wished for an 
  Automan to help her—almost.
  You can take the girl off of 
  Venus… there.
  She looked at the profile of 
  the ship, then back at the profile 
  displayed. Then she looked at the 
  spectra of the torch exhaust. Data 
  points clicked off a list in her mind 
  as she correlated information and 
  eliminated possibilities. She was 
  much like Caliban’s scanners in 
  that regard—removing the possible 
  from the not-possible. Soon there 
  was only one possibility left, and 
  her eyes darted to the bottom of the 
  record for the rocketship’s name.
  “Uh-oh.” Vantine locked the 
  record on the display and stabbed 
  her finger on the radio controls.
  “It’s the rocketship Gabrielle,” 
  she shouted. Then she climbed out 
  of the sensor couch and dashed for 
  the controls.
  taking shelter against the storm of 
  crud—loose dust, rocks—that the 
  torch ship’s exhaust would throw 
  up at them. There wasn’t enough 
  space on the ledge for a rocketship, 
  but there was a gully nearby, on the 
  opposite side from where Roark 
  had landed Caliban.
  “Pirates, you think?” Abex 
  asked while they waited.
  Roark shrugged. “Maybe. Or 
  prospectors, or some rich family 
  from Platform Alpha out for a 
  joyride. Won’t know until we see 
  them, or they use their radios.”
  “Not a Patrol rocketship, then,” 
  Abex said.
  “Vantine would’ve told us.” 
  Roark drew the atomatic from 
  his holster and cycled the action, 
  making sure it was clear of dust.  
  Then he reached around behind 
  the vacsuit’s back and pulled the 
  backup raygun he kept at the small 
  of his back and checked its charge. 
  Looking up, he met Abex’s eyes and 
  offered the raygun butt-first. “Just 
  this once?”
  Abex shook his head and 
  smiled. “All I could do is throw it at 
  someone.”
  Roark weighed the raygun. “It’s 
  not that heavy.”
  “Then you should probably 
  keep it.”
  
  8 ONE MILLION AND ONE
  COSMIC PATROL
  set in the certainty of knowledge 
  learned from a book. Roark looked 
  away from the rocketship at his 
  companion. Abex was new to the 
  Patrol—Caliban was his first out-
  system deployment—but he didn’t 
  scare and he was good at what he 
  did. Things were always a little 
  different out past Mars.
  “They’ve got them on tethers,” 
  Roark said, looking through his 
  binoculars again. “Three of them, 
  like pets.” He grunted. “Maybe they 
  are pets.”
  “Uth pets,” Abex muttered. 
  “You have strange friends, Roark.”
  Roark grinned. “I said I knew 
  the ship,” he said, “not that we were 
  friends.” Satisfied with what he’d 
  seen, he put the binoculars back on 
  his belt. “Let’s go. They’re coming 
  this way.” He crawled backward 
  until he was out of sight and then 
  stood up and trotted back toward 
  the cave. Abex looked back at the 
  rocketship, then lurched upright 
  and followed.
  “Where are we going?”
  “The cave.”
  “You want to be trapped in 
  there when they get here?” Abex 
  asked.
  “I want to know what they’re 
  coming for.”
  “It was empty.”
  “We didn’t look all they way 
  back. And if Gabby is here, with a 
  trio of lizardmen to do the grunt 
  work, then there’s something we 
  didn’t see.” Roark slowed when 
  Roark’s mouth shaped a shark’s 
  grin when Vantine signed off. Abex 
  frowned at him from the other side 
  of the cave mouth. “You know that 
  rocketship?”
  “Uh-huh,” Roark said. He slid 
  the raygun back behind his back, 
  beneath the air tanks, and drew the 
  atomatic. His thumb pressed the 
  charging button and he felt more 
  than heard the whine of its atomic 
  capacitors building through his 
  hand. He worked his arm around, 
  making sure the cable connecting 
  the atomatic to his backpack 
  damper was moving freely. Then 
  he stood up. “Gabby and I go way 
  back.”
  Abex smiled. “I take it they’re 
  not friendly?”
  “Not usually.”
  Roark and Abex stepped out 
  of the cave and looked toward the 
  gully where Gabrielle had landed. 
  They walked a few hundred feet 
  in that direction, picking their 
  way carefully over the rocks, until 
  they could hunker down behind 
  a jutting boulder and see. Roark 
  pulled a pair of binoculars from 
  his belt pack and laid them on 
  the newly-arrived rocketship. A 
  moment’s adjustment to the focus 
  and…
  “I don’t believe it,” he said.
  Abex was squinting through his 
  fishbowl. “What?”
  “Lizardmen.”
  “Nonsense. Lizardmen don’t 
  drive rocketships.” Abex’s voice was 
  
  ONE MILLION AND ONE 9
  COSMIC PATROL
  Vantine’s fingers stopped moving 
  on the console. “A what?”
  “There’s a piece of a fractum 
  drive in here.”
  “But that’s proscribed—“
  “Yeah. And if Gabby can get 
  ahold of one, that’s the Dyson 
  Protocol out the window right 
  there. It’d only take one of these 
  scum getting out-system to lead the 
  Gern or someone worse right back 
  to old Sol.”
  Vantine sat back, thinking 
  hard. “But where could they have 
  gotten—“
  Roark cut her off. “It doesn’t 
  matter.” Vantine blinked. “Once 
  you’re hot, I want you to take off 
  and break for a low orbit. Keep 
  Gabrielle in your sights. If it tries 
  to lift off before you hear from us 
  again, blast it. That rocketship is 
  not to get away. Understood?”
  “Understood.” Vantine 
  swallowed. “And you’ll be 
  doing…?”
  “Taking out the trash.”
  Abex had found the crates, 
  half-hidden under a gray tarp 
  covered with dust and rock. If he 
  hadn’t tripped over an exposed 
  corner Roark doubted they’d have 
  been able to find it before Gabby’s 
  crew reached the cave. The two 
  he reached the cave mouth. “And I 
  want to know what it is.”
  Vantine was warming the 
  torch when the radio crackled 
  and Roark’s raspy voice filled the 
  cockpit. “I hope you remember 
  your gunnery lessons,” he said. 
  From the sound of his voice—out of 
  breath—he was moving quickly.
  “This large red button does 
  something, correct?” Vantine said.
  “Very funny.” A pause. “It’s 
  Gabby, and they’ve got a couple 
  of lizardmen on leashes. They’re 
  coming toward the cave. After you 
  get the engines and the ray cannon 
  warmed up, I want you to go back 
  over the original sensor readings 
  they sent us out here for. I need to 
  know what Gabby is here for.”
  Vantine inhaled and looked at 
  the ceiling. “Anything else, while 
  I’m doing two peoples’ work at 
  once?”
  “Yeah.” Roark’s voice changed 
  as he slowed down. They must be 
  inside the cave again. “Never mind 
  on the sensor sweep.”
  “I was just kidding, Lieutenant,” 
  Vantine said. “I can do the search.”
  “I know you can,” Roark said. 
  His voice was distracted. “And I 
  know what you’ll find. Resonance 
  waves from a fractum drive coil.”
  
  10 ONE MILLION AND ONE
  COSMIC PATROL
  thumb dropped the empty battery 
  out and his hands replaced it with 
  a fresh one without thinking. There 
  was no explosion. Roark leaned all 
  the way around the corner to look, 
  but the coil and its case were just 
  a twisted lump of softly-steaming 
  melted metal and circuits.
  “That’s taken care of, at least.”
  The lump of metal and circuts 
  exploded.
  Roark fell back, his hands going 
  up to cover as much of his fishbowl 
  as he could. A wall of smoke and 
  dust washed over him, past him. 
  It’d be billowing out the mouth 
  of the cave. There’d be no way 
  Gabby’s crew would miss it.
  Abex’s voice was amused. “It 
  exploded, didn’t it?”
  “Shut up.”
  “I warned you, but no. The 
  brave Cosmic Patrolman and his 
  trusty raygun Can Do No Wrong.” 
  Laughter grunted across the radio. 
  “You think that’ll scare them off?”
  Roark turned onto his hands 
  and knees and started crawling 
  toward the entrance. “I doubt it.”
  “I figured as much,” Abex said, 
  and Roark didn’t have to see him to 
  know he was grinning and fondling 
  the haft of his axe. “Maybe we’ll 
  get to kill them all, after all.”
  Patrolmen stood looking down 
  at the exposed fractum coil. Abex 
  hefted his axe, but they both knew 
  that wouldn’t do it.
  “Get back to the mouth,” Roark 
  ordered. He drew his raygun from 
  behind his back and dialed it to 
  the strongest setting. The sleek, 
  silvered-steel pistol fit easily into 
  his hand. He started backing away, 
  seeing how far he could get without 
  losing clear aim.
  Abex didn’t wait for him. His 
  voice whispered out of the speakers 
  in Roark’s fishbowl. “It’s not going 
  to explode, is it?”
  “I don’t know.”
  “That’s not the answer I was 
  looking for.”
  “They promised you a happy 
  ending at Platform Beta?”
  Abex snorted. “No, but they 
  didn’t promise me death by vacuum 
  from a shredded Patrol suit, either.”
  Roark grinned. He stepped 
  around a narrow bend, keeping 
  only his head and the raygun 
  around the corner. A glance told 
  him Abex was further back, near 
  the cave mouth, watching to see if 
  the lizardmen or their keepers were 
  approaching. It’d have to be quite 
  a bang to get both of them. Roark 
  squeezed the trigger.
  The raygun hummed. He held 
  down the trigger, running the pistol 
  to overload until it shut down, 
  batteries exhausted. The grip was 
  hot enough he could feel it through 
  his suit gloves. A twitch of his 
  
  ONE MILLION AND ONE 11
  COSMIC PATROL
  Lizardmen and fractum coils 
  and Cosmic Patrol gunslingers. 
  She surprised herself with a giggle. 
  This is certainly more exciting 
  than clouds, clouds and more 
  clouds on Venus.
  The lizardmen were the first up 
  the path.  Roark stepped clear of 
  the cave—not completely out of it, 
  but enough that they could see him. 
  He set his radio to the common 
  frequency. “That’s far enough. 
  This is the Patrol. Throw up your 
  hands.”
  The lizardmen’s tongues 
  flickered inside their own dirty 
  fishbowls, but the half-dozen men 
  in ubiquitous gray vacsuits behind 
  them all flinched. One of them, a 
  plump man who strained the seams 
  of his suit, stepped around the Uth. 
  “That you, Roark?”
  “You can come peaceably, 
  Harris,” Roark called. “Or not.”
  “That was your rocketship what 
  blasted off a couple minutes ago, 
  wasn’t it? You all alone over there?”
  Roark felt his lips twitch. 
  Joachim Harris had captained 
  Gabby for the last three years, and 
  he was always a hard man. In-
  system, with the rest of the Patrol 
  so near, he’d never pushed things 
  as far as he seemed to want to. But 
  The rocketship Caliban trembled 
  as it blasted off the asteroid’s 
  surface. In the cockpit, Vantine 
  of Venus kept both her eyes on 
  the controls and concentrated, 
  trying to remember all of things 
  the instructors had said during 
  training at Platform Gamma. She’d 
  passed the pilotry course but like 
  most of the Patrol training she’d 
  had to undergo she’d passed the 
  requirements and promptly filed the 
  information under “Storage, Most 
  Likely Never Needed Again.”
  Bloody smugglers. I don’t like 
  flying this rocketship.
  By the time Caliban settled into 
  low orbit Vantine felt most of the 
  memories coming back. She set 
  the course and then turned to the 
  gunnery station. Usually Roark 
  did the flying and the shooting, so 
  the controls were together. Caliban 
  had a pair of heavy ray cannons 
  for ship-to-ship work—they should 
  do a number on Gabrielle, unless 
  the smuggler had been retrofitted 
  with armor.
  She locked the sights on the 
  smugglers’ rocketship and waited, 
  trying to remember everything 
  her gunnery instructors had said. 
  There was something about leading 
  the target, but that couldn’t be 
  right. Surely a raygun bolt was fast 
  enough… she shrugged to herself. 
  Either way, it was better to be up 
  here than down there. Vantine’s 
  eyes strayed to the outcropping she 
  knew held the cave. 
  
  12 ONE MILLION AND ONE
  COSMIC PATROL
  damper, the recoil was ferocious, 
  but Roark’s big forearm muscles 
  were used to the punishment. 
  He dropped two of the charging 
  lizardmen with one shot each. The 
  atomatic pellets tore right through 
  them, suits and all. Roark shifted 
  his aim to the third Uth and pulled 
  the trigger, but nothing happened. 
  A red light burned to life above the 
  rear sight. Jammed.
  Abex stood up. “Finally!” he 
  crowed. He raised his axe and 
  stepped past Roark, yelling at 
  the top of his lungs. The third 
  lizardman was barely a few feet 
  away, with the pack of gunmen 
  right behind. Abex went running to 
  meet them. The gunmen pulled up, 
  their own atomatics coming up, but 
  the Martian was too fast.
  The first stroke of his axe took 
  the Uth in the chest, just beneath 
  the lip of his fishbowl helmet. Like 
  most Uth vacsuits this one was a 
  cobbled-together patchwork that 
  tore open easily, spilling the Uth’s 
  precious air and not a little blood 
  into the vacuum. Abex crowed in 
  triumph and jerked the axe free. 
  Then he leapt toward Gabby’s 
  gunmen. The gunmen were 
  unused to seeing a giant Martian 
  charge toward them with an axe 
  held high—all their fire missed. 
  Atomatic pellets cratered the rocky 
  ground or disappeared into the 
  sky. Roark hammered his own 
  pistol against his leg, rubbing at 
  the action with his gloved fingers. 
  out here… Roark’s nascent grin 
  disappeared into a stern, lipless 
  frown. Out here he had a piece of 
  an unauthorized fractum drive. And 
  three lizardmen doing scut work. 
  Either of those things put him on 
  the Patrol’s naughty list.
  “You kill me, Caliban will just 
  roast you when you lift,” Roark 
  said. “Surrender. I’ll see you get 
  back to Platform Alpha for trial.”
  Harris’ laugh was interrupted 
  by a burst of static. “—not, I think. 
  We’ll take our chances with your 
  rocketship. Throw out your guns, 
  and I’ll let you live, Roark.”
  Roark glanced at Abex. The 
  Martian was crouched back from 
  the opening, where he’d be safe 
  from atomatic or raygun fire. He 
  held his axe in both hands, waiting. 
  “Same deal to you, Harris,” he 
  said while he watched Abex. The 
  Martian met his eyes and grinned.
  “Too bad, Roark,” Harris said 
  a moment later. “It’s been fun.” 
  The radio transmission clicked off. 
  Roark turned back to see the men 
  holding the lizardmen’s leashes let 
  go. The three Uth galloped forward 
  in the odd, scurrying gait of their 
  race. Roark drew his atomatic and 
  leveled it.
  “Get ready,” he told Abex. Then 
  he fired.
  The recoil from the Mod 90 
  atomatic he favored was enough 
  to break a man’s arm if he tried 
  to fire it without the damper built 
  into his backpack. Even with the 
  
  ONE MILLION AND ONE 13
  COSMIC PATROL
  —crack—
  —and he found it. The 
  henchman fell, his fishbowl 
  shattered. Abex collapsed away 
  from the body but rolled onto his 
  side, watching Roark come closer. 
  “About time you did something,” 
  the Martian said.
  “You needed the exercise.” 
  Roark walked over to where Harris 
  lay, still grasping the axe. Roark 
  looked down and saw Harris’ 
  mouth moving. He dialed his radio 
  to the open channel. 
  “—an’t believe he killed me with 
  an axe.” Harris coughed. Blood 
  coated the inside of his fishbowl. 
  “An axe. In space.”
  Roark shook his head. 
  “A million and one ways,” he 
  whispered. That was what the 
  instructors said at Platform 
  Alpha. “Even an axe.” He waited 
  until Harris stopped moving and 
  then keyed his radio to Caliban’s 
  channel.
  “Vantine. Come down next 
  to Gabby. We’ll need to lock her 
  down until we can get an recovery 
  mission out here.”
  “It’s over?” the Venusian asked.
  Roark looked around at the 
  bodies. “For now.”
  He even held the pistol up in front 
  of his fishbowl and blew toward it 
  before cursing himself for an idiot 
  when all he did was blow the air 
  inside his helmet around.
  In moments Abex was in among 
  the suited henchmen. He struck 
  one man in the helmet, cracking 
  the thick glass of his fishbowl with 
  the axe handle. His second blow 
  looped up from near the ground 
  and nearly took the man’s arm off 
  at the shoulder—it severed the cord 
  between the man’s atomatic pistol 
  and his backpack. When the man’s 
  finger closed on the trigger and the 
  gun fired, the undampened recoil 
  did tear the man’s arm off. Abex 
  ripped his axe free and spun toward 
  the next target.
  Roark smacked the pistol 
  against his leg again—twice—and 
  saw the red light turn to green. He 
  jerked it up, away from his leg and 
  toward the henchmen.
  Abex’s axe was embedded in 
  the center of Harris’ chest. The 
  plump smuggler lay on his back, 
  hands wrapped around the handle 
  of the axe, but it was stuck firmly 
  in the pierced steel of his chestplate. 
  Abex was struggling with the last 
  henchmen. The gray-suited Gabby’s 
  atomatic was dangling from its 
  damper cable behind them, but he 
  held a wicked-looking knife in one 
  hand. Unbelievably, the henchman 
  was almost as big as Abex. Roark 
  ran forward, pistol ready. He 
  waited for the right moment—
  
  TM
  X MINUS ONE
  [1955-1958, NBC RADIO]
  ThERE IS A SIXTh DIMENSION BEyOND ThAT whICh IS kNOwN 
  TO MAN. IT IS A DIMENSION AS vAST AS SpACE AND AS 
  TIMElESS AS INfINITy. IT IS ThE MIDDlE gROUND BETwEEN 
  lIghT AND ShADOw. AND IT lIES BETwEEN ThE pIT Of MAN’S 
  fEARS AND ThE SUNlIghT Of hIS kNOwlEDgE. ThIS IS ThE 
  DIMENSION Of IMAgINATION.
  X MINUS FOUR
  PRELUDE
  
  PRELUDE 15
  COSMIC PATROL
  system, maintain peace and make sure 
  any resources were evenly divvied 
  up between member planets. But as 
  humanity grew bolder, the Patrol led 
  the way into the galaxy at large.
  War has engulfed the galaxy. 
  As newcomers to the big stage, 
  humanity isn’t quite sure who is on 
  what side, what the fight is over or 
  what everyone will make of this new 
  upstart group poking their noses 
  around. With this new threat came a 
  new mission for the Patrol: explore 
  the galaxy, gather information and 
  defend the homeworlds.
  That’s where things stand. The 
  Patrol is beginning to travel the 
  galaxy while walking a fine line 
  between exploration and attempting 
  to find out who is who in this 
  interstellar conflict—without getting 
  directly involved.
  whAT IS A 
  ROlE-plAyINg gAME?
  If you’ve ever read a book, seen a 
  movie or watched a television show 
  where, upon finding a character 
  saying or doing something really 
  dangerous or foolish, you thought, “I 
  wouldn’t have said/done that!” then 
  you have a good idea of what makes 
  up the core premise of a role-playing 
  game. While the actions of a character 
  in a book, movie or television 
  program may be beyond your 
  control, in a role-playing game, you 
  control the actions of your character. 
  You determine the character’s fate, 
  through decisions and actions whose 
  You are embarking on the 
  adventure of a lifetime! The 
  unlimited cosmos stands before you, 
  full of sights and experiences as wild 
  as your imagination. And that’s the 
  key: imagination. Cosmic Patrol is 
  about creating a story. Using Cues as 
  building blocks, you will construct 
  a plot and narrate your Patrolman’s 
  way through the millions of threats 
  the cosmos has to offer. Your 
  adventure will be unique to you and 
  your group, and you’re encouraged 
  to write those adventures up in true 
  pulp style, for all the world to enjoy. 
  This can either be on your own 
  website, or we’ll be running various 
  contests at www.cosmicpatrol.com 
  that’ll include posting fan-generated 
  materials to the community page of 
  that website.
  whAT IS COSMIC pATROl?
  Cosmic Patrol is a role-playing 
  game (RPG) set in a retro future 
  based on the Golden Age of science 
  fiction. If you’ve ever seen a cover 
  from a classic 1930s-1960s pulp 
  science fiction magazine, you’ve 
  got the idea. You and your friends 
  form the crew of a Cosmic Patrol 
  rocketship and blast off for action 
  and adventure in the wild galaxy.
  In the Cosmic Patrol universe, the 
  four worlds of humanity—Venus, 
  Earth, Mars and the shared world 
  of Mercury—have formed a loose 
  alliance called the Great Union, 
  nominally led by Earth. At first, it was 
  the Patrol’s duty to explore our solar 
  
  16 PRELUDE
  COSMIC PATROL
  the gamemaster. This gamemaster’s 
  plot provides a framework and ideas 
  for potential courses of action and 
  outcomes, but is simply an outline 
  of what might happen; nothing is 
  concrete until the players become 
  involved. If you don’t want your 
  character to walk down those 
  darkened stairs, your character 
  doesn’t. If you think you can talk 
  yourself out of a situation in place 
  of pulling a raygun, maybe your 
  character can. Only the story into 
  which the players are immersed is 
  scripted; their reactions to it are not. 
  And so the story can be changed 
  based on the characters’ actions and 
  their responses, creating a constantly-
  evolving adventure.
  The best part is that there is 
  no right or wrong way to play an 
  RPG. Some games may involve more 
  combat and dice rolling-related 
  situations, where other games 
  may involve more storytelling and 
  improvised dialogue to resolve a 
  situation. Each group of players 
  decides for themselves the type and 
  style of game they enjoy playing!
  TRADINg IN yOUR 
  gAMEMASTER
  While Cosmic Patrol is a role-
  playing game as defined above, it’s 
  different in one key element: trading 
  in a single gamemaster for a more 
  pure improv experience.
  While traditional role-playing is 
  usually defined as improvisational 
  theater, it still has a single person 
  outcomes range from spectacular 
  success to tragic failure.
  A role-playing game (RPG) is 
  essentially an improvisational theater: 
  part storytelling and part game. A 
  single player (called the gamemaster, 
  or GM) directs the game for a group 
  of players who assume the roles of 
  characters in a fictitious setting. This 
  setting could be a mystery adventure 
  set in the 1930s where the characters 
  travel the globe in search of treasure 
  and intrigue, or a fantasy realm 
  inhabited by dragons, trolls and 
  sword-wielding barbarians, or even 
  a science fiction setting complete 
  with aliens, spaceships and world-
  crushing weaponry. The players pick 
  a setting that they find cool and want 
  to play in. The players then craft 
  their own characters, providing a 
  detailed history and personality to 
  bring each to life. These characters 
  have a set of statistics—numerical 
  values that represent skills, attributes 
  and other abilities. The gamemaster 
  then explains the situation in which 
  the characters find themselves. The 
  players, through their characters, 
  interact with the storyline and each 
  other’s characters, acting out the 
  plot. As the players role-play through 
  scenarios, the gamemaster will likely 
  ask a given player to roll dice, and 
  determine the success or failure of a 
  character’s attempted action based on 
  the roll’s result, using the rules of the 
  game as a guide.
  Together, the players control the 
  storyline (adventure), which evolves 
  much like any movie or book, but 
  within the flexible plot directed by 
  
  PRELUDE 17
  COSMIC PATROL
  A group of players  
  and a place to Meet
  While role-playing games are 
  flexible enough to allow any number 
  of people, most gaming groups 
  number around four to eight players. 
  This number of people brings a good 
  mix of personalities to the table 
  and ensures great cooperative play 
  without getting too chaotic or too 
  focused on just one or two characters.
  Once a group of players have 
  determined to play Cosmic Patrol, 
  they’ll need to work out a time and 
  place to meet. While most role-
  playing groups meet locally and 
  regularly, each group is different and 
  should determine where, when, and 
  how often they’ll play. One group 
  may decide they can only get together 
  once a week, at a friend’s house, 
  library, or college common room for 
  four-hour sessions, while another 
  group might have to meet “virtually” 
  via internet chat rooms, synching up 
  their schedules for a once-a-month 
  six-hour gaming marathon.
  When playing groups meet for 
  the first time, the players should use 
  this first session to determine which 
  sample characters (see p. 76) will 
  best fit together to form a patrol. 
  While Cosmic Patrol is presented 
  in a way that will allow the most 
  outlandish combinations, players 
  may find they don’t want characters 
  that are too different from, or even 
  too similar to, each other. This also 
  allows the more experienced role-
  players in the group a chance to 
  help out those who may be newer to 
  role-playing.
  channeling most of the creative 
  energy of the group. Cosmic 
  Patrol disengages that mechanism, 
  allowing the entire gaming group 
  to share in the responsibility of the 
  gamemaster’s role. 
  What’s improvisational theater? 
  This is a form of theater where actors 
  improvise each of the scenes of play 
  without recourse to scripts. Complete 
  spontaneity and playing off of each 
  other’s lines and physical cues creates 
  a fast-paced, vibrant experience 
  that twists and turns as each person 
  continues to build off of what has 
  come before.
  This style of play meshes flawlessly 
  with Cosmic Patrol’s themes of by-
  the-seat-of-your-spacesuit action, 
  hyperbole-filled catch phrases and 
  plenty of rockets and rayguns. 
  whAT’S NEEDED TO plAy
  To play Cosmic Patrol, you need 
  the following:
  •	 A group of players and a place 
  to meet
  •	 The contents of this book
  •	 Tokens (of any sort) to represent 
  Plot Points
  •	 Something for everyone to 
  take notes with (tablet, laptop, 
  notepad)
  •	 D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20 (or 
  a digital equivalent)
  •	 Imagination (can be helped 
  by mood music, especially if it 
  features a theramin!)
  •	 Space snacks and Atomo-drinks
  
  18 PRELUDE
  COSMIC PATROL
  elements of a given mission they find 
  the most intriguing.
  Tokens
  The game rules of Cosmic Patrol 
  make use of tokens (these can be 
  pennies, poker chips, or what ever else 
  you have at hand that’ll work), as an 
  easy way to track Plot Points while the 
  game unfolds (see Plot Points, p. 58)
  Something for Everyone  
  to Take Notes with
  Role-playing can get pretty in-
  depth, even in an improv style game 
  like Cosmic Patrol. Each character 
  has a number of statistics and other 
  resources that must be tracked over 
  time to maintain continuity in the 
  game. For this reason, character 
  record sheets are provided in this 
  book, and may be photocopied as 
  needed to facilitate easy record-
  keeping for characters. In addition, 
  notepads (or word processing 
  programs) may be used to record 
  any other information the players 
  deem important.
  Additionally, some groups enjoy 
  a synopsis of each session that can 
  be compiled and read at a later time 
  in order to enjoy and share their 
  exploits. This can be particularly 
  useful if a player is unable to attend 
  a given session, to provide a quick 
  recap before the next gaming session 
  begins. The session scribe can be a 
  shared responsibility or assigned, all 
  based on what a given playing group 
  finds works best for them.
  The Contents of This Book
  This book is specifically 
  organized to present the information 
  needed to start your own adventures 
  in the universe of Cosmic Patrol. 
  Below you’ll find a summation of 
  each chapter of this rulebook.
  One Million and One: The short 
  story you’ve likely already read, 
  it spirals you into the universe 
  of action and intrigue of Cosmic 
  Patrol.
  gazetteer: Through a series of 
  vingettes, the Gazetteer paints a 
  picture of an epic and dangerous 
  universe, desperate for a few brave 
  men and woman to keep it safe. 
  Between the fiction and the setting 
  details in this section, players should 
  easily find enough information to 
  wrap their heads around what it 
  means to be a Patrolman in the 
  Cosmic Patrol universe.
  game Rules: This section details 
  how the game mechanics of Cosmic 
  Patrol mesh with the improv-style of 
  play to create a fun gaming experience, 
  as well as character creation. 
  Sample Characters: A dozen sample 
  Dossiers allow players a wide variety 
  of characters to grab and leap into the 
  action of improv excitement, while 
  numerous foes are also included.
  Mission Briefs: Seven mission 
  briefs provide an instant evening of 
  action, allowing player groups to 
  easily select one of many starting 
  points to leap into adventure. While 
  they’re perfectly good starting points, 
  players can also mix and mash as 
  they wish, or even spin off whole 
  new adventures based on those 
  
  PRELUDE 19
  COSMIC PATROL
  more powerful in sliding players into 
  their characters. Even just a laptop 
  or MP3 player with some music 
  playing in the background can do the 
  trick.
  For further inspiration, players can 
  find a wealth of links to material that 
  can be used to fire their imaginations 
  at www.cosmicpatrol.com.
  Dice (or a Digital Equivalent)
  As will be described in the 
  Game Rules section (see p. 48), 
  the following dice are needed for 
  game play: D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 
  and D20. These are also known as 
  “polyhedral” dice and can be found 
  in almost any hobby store.
  Dice are used to help resolve 
  actions the characters may perform 
  where the possibility of success or 
  failure exists. For players gaming 
  through an online medium such as 
  chatrooms, dice-rolling programs 
  (often referred to as “dicebots”) are 
  a common and accessible equivalent, 
  providing similar randomized results 
  to the clattering of physical dice 
  across a gaming table.
  Imagination
  Last, but by no means least, a 
  role-playing game—especially an 
  improv-heavy game like Cosmic 
  Patrol—requires imagination. It’s easy 
  for someone looking at a pencil-and-
  paper RPG to be intimidated by the 
  rulebooks and the numbers. But the 
  core focus is to have fun, to delve 
  into a fictional reality where control 
  over the characters’ actions—the 
  characters’ fates—lies in the hands 
  of the players controlling them. 
  Imagination—more than the game 
  rules—is what truly brings the player 
  into the game; without it, a role-
  playing game would merely be an 
  exercise in mindless dice-rolling.
  Music can be very effective at 
  setting the mood for anything you 
  might be playing. When tackling 
  Cosmic Patrol, music can be even 
  what is a Theremin?
  The theremin was the brainchild of 
  Russian inventor Léon Theremin, 
  which he patented in 1928. It consists 
  of two antennas that are able to 
  sense the player’s hands in relation to 
  the antennas. Then, by subtle gestures 
  in the air, the player is able to control 
  the device’s oscillators for frequency 
  (tone and pitch) with one hand and 
  volume with the other.
  The eerie sound of the electronic 
  device—and the seeming miraculous 
  nature of a musician playing the 
  device without touching it—made 
  it an almost-instant phenomenon. 
  A slew of ’50s and ’60s movies—
  especially alien and horror 
  themed—employed a theremin 
  on their soundtrack, including the 
  quintessential 1951 The Day the Earth 
  Stood Still.
  Simply typing in “theremin” on any 
  search engine will bring up a plethora 
  of music files and videos, which 
  you can sort to find just the right 
  soundtrack to suit your group’s tastes.
  
  20 PRELUDE
  COSMIC PATROL
  play. Choose a name for the crew’s 
  rocketship and blast off!
  fICTIONEERINg IN A pUlp 
  SCI fI UNIvERSE
  It’s All About the fun factor
  Cosmic Patrol is all about pulp 
  science fiction and is not based or 
  dependent on real-world science. 
  Don’t be sheepish about rattling 
  off cool-sounding cosmobabble to 
  explain why something fun happened 
  or why a Patrolman’s spacobeam gun 
  annihilated the oncoming Venusian 
  robot. Much of the fun comes from 
  building an exciting adventure with 
  your friends. Try not to get caught up 
  in technicalities or in mundane, real-
  world things.
  whAT DO plAyERS DO?
  In Cosmic Patrol, players take 
  the role of Patrolmen—the first 
  and last line of defense for humans 
  in a dangerous galaxy. Patrolmen 
  explore, discover and defend the 
  interests of humans wherever they 
  go. With an atomic raygun at their 
  hip, they brave the unknown on a 
  regular basis.
  Player characters form the crew 
  of a Patrol rocketship and undertake 
  missions all across the cosmos. 
  Each player will choose or create a 
  Patrolman to control and, working 
  together, the crew will strive to 
  overcome any obstacles in its way. 
  Once everyone has a Patrolman 
  picked out (and the appropriate 
  Dossier at hand) you’re ready to 
  generic Terms in Cosmic patrol
  Members of the Cosmic Patrol come in all shapes and sizes, from three different planets 
  with unique histories all their own. The Patrol doesn’t care if you’re a Red Amazon 
  of Mars or a Venusian raygun engineer. If you’re smart, healthy and don’t shy away 
  from danger, you’re welcome to join. To keep it simple, though, all Patrol members are 
  referred to as “Patrolmen,” regardless of gender.
  Cosmic patrol vs. Cosmic patrol
  As you read through this rulebook, you may find yourself asking “So, in one spot it’s 
  ‘Cosmic Patrol’ and in other spots it’s ‘Cosmic Patrol.’ Did someone forget to italicize in 
  a bunch of spots?”
  Nope, the difference is intentional. When the rules refer to the game title, the italics are 
  used. When the rules refer to the in-game organization, it’s not italicized.
  
  PRELUDE 21
  COSMIC PATROL
  TM
  where a traditional RPG would be 
  more detailed. While Dossiers give 
  many statistics of a Patrolman, 
  there are aspects that are left to 
  the player during gameplay, like 
  a movement stat, for instance. 
  There’s no real limit on how far a 
  Patrolman can move in a turn—it’s 
  entirely dependent on the current 
  circumstances and what the player 
  wants to do during his narration.
  If a player encounters a situation 
  where there is no applicable stat or 
  number, the player should consider 
  the situation and what he wants to 
  accomplish in his turn and check if 
  there’s an appropriate Cue on the 
  Dossier to use in a Narration. There’s 
  really no right or wrong way to 
  handle a situation.
  If a disagreement does crop up 
  during gameplay, just remember 
  that the current Lead Narrator has 
  the final say on what can and can’t 
  happen.
  Always remember this rule-
  of-thumb: if something makes 
  the game more fun for players, 
  do it (even if it sounds crazy or is 
  technically against the rules)! Let 
  your imaginations run wild!
  wINNINg, lOSINg  
  AND vAgUENESS
  While Cosmic Patrol is a game, it’s 
  not a game dedicated to winning or 
  losing. Patrolmen are extraordinary 
  people—they face the galaxy’s threats 
  with a sense of wonder and courage 
  and usually come out on top. They’re 
  not afraid to take a flying leap from 
  the airlock of a speeding rocketship, 
  but it’s up to players to figure out 
  how to save them. So what if a crew 
  doesn’t achieve the objectives set 
  out in a Mission Brief? Keep going 
  and weave that plot twist into the 
  storyline. Make it work!
  Cosmic Patrol rules are 
  intentionally vague on many points 
  
  TM
  JULES VERNE
  FROM EARTH TO THE MOON, 1865
  IN SpITE OF THE OpINIONS OF cERTAIN NARROw-MINdEd 
  pEOpLE, wHO wOULd SHUT Up THE HUMAN RAcE 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.
  X MINUS THREE
  GAZETTEER
  
  GAZETTEER 23
  COSMIC PATROL
  Address to cadets, platform Alpha, by coordinator Roderick dyson
  There is a caret on the screen behind me. Can you see it? That marks the 
  exact point in space where Rocketship EM disappeared when the Moon Men 
  claimed it. Right there. Now look behind you. What do you see, through the 
  lower-left viewport?
  Earth.
  When Rocketship Exploration Moon lifted off, we thought the universe 
  was ours to explore. We didn’t know about the Moon Men, or the Eiger or the 
  Hakhaze. We thought the Uth were old news. We knew all that—not thought 
  it, not believed it, knew it. And we were wrong.
  You’ve all seen the reports from the Coalsack. You know what Falstaff 
  found, and Winston. You know how much effort we’ve put into the base at 
  Gleise 581. And now you’re standing here, looking at me, thinking about Mars 
  and Venus and what I did there and how you want to be like me. We both 
  know it. And if all you’re hoping for is to do what I did, we’re all dead men.
  You have to do more.
  There are a million and one things out in the deep dark that will kill you—
  that will kill all of us. The Uth are only the first. The Eiger and the Hakhaze 
  don’t know where we are. The Metatherions—whatever they are—are out 
  there. The black encroaches. And we are all alone in this system.
  You’ve sworn your lives, your swords, your sacred honor, to the Great 
  Union. You come from Earth, from Mars, from Venus. A few of you have even 
  come out from near Mercury. All of you are soon to be Patrolmen, members 
  of the first—the only—line of defense between our worlds and the galaxy. You 
  are the future, even as I am the past. The history of now will be written on 
  your shoulders.
  You must be vigilant. I said a million and one things, and I meant it. 
  Automen. Lizardmen. Pirates. Invading aliens. Something monstrous we 
  haven’t even dreamed of yet. The universe is vast—chances are, if you can 
  imagine something, it’s out there somewhere waiting for you. Even probability 
  must surrender to the sheer mass of persistence.
  You came from the core worlds; you will leave Platform Alpha as men and 
  women of the Cosmic Patrol. 
  Do your duty.
  
  24 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  Excerpted from The cosmic patrol: A primer, platform Alpha printing Service
  The Cosmic Patrol is the active 
  arm of the Great Union. Since its 
  adoption of the Dyson Protocol, 
  the expansion into Gliese and the 
  regularization of traffic between the 
  various orbital platforms, the Patrol 
  has become both navy and police. 
  Patrol rocketships ensure the peace 
  and push the boundaries of known 
  space. Patrolmen settle disputes and 
  hold the line against alien invasions 
  and pirate attacks. Patrol fractum 
  explorers push the boundaries of 
  known space.
  Three worlds send their sons 
  and daughters to the Patrol: Earth, 
  Mars and Venus. Earth was the first, 
  of course—the earliest seeds of the 
  Cosmic Patrol were the first tentative 
  steps toward the Moon, Mars and 
  Venus. The Earthmen drive the Patrol 
  forward: Earthmen climbed out of 
  the gravity well, and Earthmen drive 
  the fractum ships into the deep black. 
  A Martian may be stronger, and a 
  Venusian more intelligent, but an 
  Earthman provides the spine to hold 
  both together.
  The so-called barbarians of 
  Mars provide much of the Patrol’s 
  muscle. Many people—and most 
  Venusians—mistake the Martians’ 
  primitive ways for ignorance. 
  While they’re not as technologically 
  evolved as Earth or Venus, they’ve 
  raised their own lifestyle to a 
  high art. A Martian with an ax is 
  fearsome in combat—and they are 
  utterly without fear.
  Cloud-wrapped Venus, with its 
  erudite Venusians and implacable 
  Automen, offers the Patrol 
  unparalleled scientists and explorers. 
  The Venusians who choose to join 
  the Patrol often do so because 
  their highly trained minds yearn to 
  explore. In places where Martians 
  can’t bash and Earthmen can’t cajole, 
  a Venusian will use his powerful 
  mind to find a way.
  Many of the rocketships operated 
  by the Patrol are smaller, three-
  person craft. Most of the captains are 
  Earthmen, both because Earthmen still 
  fill the majority of the Patrol’s ranks 
  and because the natural tendency of 
  the Earthman is to command. The 
  balance of an Earthman’s approach—
  when viewed against the average 
  belligerence of the Martian and the 
  sneering hubris of the Venusian—
  makes him a natural leader.
  
  GAZETTEER 25
  COSMIC PATROL
  PCE20 Seneca 1 fragments, with 
  large chunks making 
  planetfall across the globe. 
  Impacts cause massive 
  damage.
  PCE20 In the aftermath of the 
  strikes, attacks are reported 
  worldwide. Assailants are 
  described as “lizardmen,” and 
  they are concentrated around 
  the various impact sites. The 
  “comet” turns out to be an 
  Uth hive.
  PCE20 Uth warriors continue to 
  spread from landing sites. 
  They raid and attack, loot 
  and kill. With no other 
  choice, world powers unite 
  and push back the invaders.
  PCE20 Within six months, the Uth 
  are declared wiped out. 
  Shattered nations unite. 
  Researchers find troves 
  of advanced, non-human 
  technology in the remains of 
  the Uth hoard.
  PCE19 Scientists study the 
  found items to engineer 
  amazing new devices. 
  Most importantly, they 
  find a large stash of a 
  mysterious element dubbed 
  “contraterrene,” a kind 
  of opposite matter. Along 
  with a fully united Earth, 
  these discoveries spur 
  technological advancements 
  to a frenzied pace in the 
  TIMELINE
  pcE = Pre-Cosmic Era
  cE = Cosmic Era
  PCE21+ Earth rife with conflict as 
  nations vie for economic and 
  military superiority.
  PCE21+ Nuclear fission technology is 
  better understood and used in 
  weapons and primitive power 
  plants.
  PCE21 New comet discovered by Dr. 
  Seneca Lalonde. Lalonde dubs 
  it Seneca 1, hypothesizes it as 
  a single-apparition comet.
  PCE20 Dr. Lalonde announces that 
  Seneca 1 will pass close 
  to Earth. He calls for an 
  astronomy conference to 
  plan a scientific study of the 
  comet.
  PCE20 Multiple institutions 
  announce that their figures 
  show a 90 percent chance 
  that Seneca 1 will impact 
  Earth. Mass panic ensues. 
  Superpowers put militaries on 
  alert.
  PCE20 Confusing information is 
  gathered about the comet. It 
  appears to be both slowing 
  and breaking apart.
  
  26 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  Rocketship EM is lost, with 
  its entire crew.
  PCE14 Finding another threat 
  so close to home sends 
  Patrol leadership into 
  panic. At an emergency 
  meeting, new captain 
  Roderick Dyson dresses 
  down the commanding 
  council. Councilors, mostly 
  scientists, are impressed and 
  embarrassed by the tirade. 
  Three days later, Dyson is 
  named head of the entire 
  Cosmic Patrol.
  PCE14 Coordinator Dyson begins 
  a crash course to change the 
  Patrol into a more proactive 
  force. He announces plans for 
  an orbiting space platform.
  PCE13 Space Platform Alpha begins 
  construction. Using robots 
  and new technologies, the 
  platform is completed far 
  ahead of schedule.
  PCE11 Platform Alpha scientists 
  report strange readings 
  from Venus and Mars. Plans 
  to visit both planets are 
  accelerated.
  PCE11 Platform Beta begins 
  construction. Beta will serve 
  as a watchpost, with special 
  attention given to monitoring 
  the Moon.
  subsequent years and allow 
  the industrial complex to 
  achieve astonishing speeds 
  of manufacture.
  PCE18 United world government 
  announces formation of a 
  scientific space program 
  aimed at protecting Earth 
  from further cosmic threats. 
  This organization is dubbed 
  the “Cosmic Patrol.”
  PCE17 First robots developed by 
  Patrol engineers.
  PCE15 United government 
  announces first Patrol 
  mission: Rocketship 
  Exploration Moon 
  (Rocketship EM). The ship 
  is an advanced design using 
  contraterrene engines, and 
  will carry scientists on a 
  mission to establish a moon 
  base.
  PCE14 Rocketship EM launches with 
  much fanfare.
  PCE14 Rocketship EM approaches 
  the Moon, but suddenly 
  ceases communications with 
  Earth.
  PCE14 A powerful message is 
  broadcast on Rocketship 
  EM’s frequency from beings 
  calling themselves “Moon 
  Men.” They claim the Moon 
  as their own and forbid 
  any and all future landings. 
  
  GAZETTEER 27
  COSMIC PATROL
  TM
  PCE9 En route to Mars, Dyson 
  decides to put a scientist in 
  charge of the VEF.
  PCE9 The VEF reaches Venus 
  and spots the ruins of an 
  advanced civilization. A 
  signal reaches the VEF ships 
  from the remnant of the 
  Venusian people—who, like 
  the Martians, are human.
  PCE9 The VEF lands and is 
  welcomed by the Venusians, 
  until the Venusians see the 
  VEF’s robots. The Venusians 
  demand they be destroyed. 
  The VEF agrees to send the 
  robots back to their ships.
  PCE9 As VEF/Venusian treaty talks 
  begin, Venusian Automen 
  attack. VEF robots are 
  corrupted and attack the 
  humans, too. The robot forces 
  are destroyed, but with heavy 
  losses.
  PCE8 The generally agreed-upon 
  beginning of The Great 
  Expansion.
  PCE6 Over the next few years, 
  Venus-Earth-Mars relations 
  grow closer.
  PCE6 Revelations from new 
  scientific breakthroughs 
  inspire physicist Dr. Ricardo 
  Ahn to declare quantum 
  mechanics “a load of horse 
  hockey.”
  PCE9 The Mars Expeditionary 
  Force (MEF) blasts off from 
  Platform Alpha. The MEF 
  is mostly Cosmic Patrol 
  troopers. Dyson plans to 
  secure a landing zone first, 
  then send in the scientists.
  PCE9 Scientists discover a method of 
  creating contraterrene, allowing 
  widespread use of powerful 
  contraterrene reactors.
  PCE9 The MEF arrives on Mars, 
  landing near Olympus Mons. 
  Within hours, they are 
  engaged by “barbarians.” The 
  Battle of Olympus Mons is 
  a decisive Patrol victory and 
  sees the first use of rayguns 
  in combat. To everyone’s 
  surprise, the barbarian 
  attackers are human.
  PCE9 Aelita, Suzerain of Mars, 
  gathers the Amazon battle 
  tribes of Mars and attacks 
  the MEF. They fight to a 
  standstill before a truce is 
  declared.
  PCE9 The MEF holds Olympus 
  Mons. Diplomats are sent 
  from Platform Alpha to Mars. 
  Dyson accompanies them.
  PCE9 The Venus Expeditionary 
  Force (VEF) blasts off from 
  Platform Beta with a large 
  number of troopers and 
  robots; a few scientists are 
  included.
  
  28 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  PCE0 The united force utterly 
  destroys the Uth hive.
  CE1 
  Generally accepted beginning 
  of the Cosmic Era. Many 
  advances are made in 
  all fields of science, but 
  particularly in robotics.
  CE1 
  To combat space piracy and 
  any further cosmic threats, 
  Dyson proposes a union 
  of the three human planets 
  into a single, powerful 
  organization. Venus agrees 
  immediately, and after 
  some direct “talks” between 
  Dyson and Aelita, Mars 
  agrees. The Great Union is 
  formed.
  CE1 
  Mercury is declared the 
  property of the Cosmic 
  Patrol. Platforms Athena 
  (Venus), Ares (Mars) and 
  Hades (Mercury) begin 
  construction.
  CE2 
  Scientists develop “fractum 
  mechanics” in place of 
  defunct quantum mechanics, 
  revolutionizing science, 
  technology and engineering.
  CE3 
  “Fractum Drive” developed. 
  A prototype ship successfully 
  travels to Ross 154 and back.
  CE4 
  The Cosmic Patrol begins 
  construction of a fleet of 
  fractum drive-enabled ships 
  and begins exploration of the 
  PCE5 Platform Gamma begins 
  construction.
  PCE5 Trade between the three 
  human worlds grows.
  PCE3 Rocketship construction 
  is simplified. Private ships 
  become available. First acts of 
  space piracy reported.
  PCE3 The Cosmic Patrol explores 
  the outer planets, making 
  many stunning discoveries. 
  Ancient ruins are found on 
  Callisto. Amazing creatures 
  are discovered on Neptune, 
  including the infamous 
  Neptunian Mind Plants.
  PCE1 Ships begin to disappear in 
  and near the asteroid belt.
  PCE1 A Patrol rocketship 
  investigating the 
  disappearances finds 
  wreckage and suspects 
  pirates. Activity is detected on 
  large asteroid and the Patrol 
  mounts a raid.
  PCE0 The pirate base turns out to 
  be a huge nest of Uth left over 
  from the initial invasion years 
  ago. The Patrol rocketship 
  barely escapes.
  PCE0 
  Dyson and the Patrol mount 
  a huge attack against the Uth. 
  The operation is the first large-
  scale cooperation between 
  Venus-Earth-Mars forces.
  
  GAZETTEER 29
  COSMIC PATROL
  CE7 
  First extra-solar Patrol base 
  is established at Gliese 581, 
  about 6.5 astrons away.
  CE8 
  Present day.
  ROckETSHIpS
  The Cosmic Patrol operates 
  rocketships of nearly every size 
  and description, from the massive 
  new space dreadnoughts coming 
  out of Platform Hades to the tiny, 
  one-man insertion rocketships used 
  by the Cosmic Patrol Intelligence 
  Service to infiltrate enemy worlds 
  for information. When you add in 
  the myriad ships plying the solar 
  system and coming out of the 
  civilian yards every day, defining 
  “a rocketship” becomes impossible. 
  In general, though, we can break 
  most rocketships down into two 
  categories: purpose-built and 
  tramps.
  pURpOSE-bUILT
  A purpose-built rocket is just 
  that: a rocketship built for a specific 
  purpose, be it exploration, carrying 
  cargo, diplomatic duty, warship, 
  ground attack and so on. You name 
  it, and there’s probably at least one 
  Patrol rocketship designed for just 
  that purpose. Of course, this degree 
  of specialization comes at a cost. A 
  purpose-built ship is the best at what 
  cosmos. “Dyson Protocol” is 
  established.
  CE5+ Thousands of reports 
  convince Dyson and Cosmic 
  Patrol leaders that the galaxy 
  is in the midst of a gigantic 
  war. No one knows who is 
  on what side or why they are 
  fighting.
  CE5 
  Rocketship Falstaff travels to 
  the Coalsack Nebula and finds 
  the entire volume devoid of 
  life. Signs point to a weapon 
  of inconceivable power that 
  annihilated everything in the 
  entire volume. The region is 
  renamed the Coalsack Dead 
  Zone.
  CE6 
  Rocketship Phantom travels 
  to the Veil Nebula, arriving in 
  the midst of a gigantic space 
  battle between unknown 
  forces.
  CE6 
  Rocketship Winston travels 
  an astounding 10,000 astrons 
  coreward and discovers the 
  Eiger Empire. Damaged while 
  trying to make contact, the 
  Winston leads pursuing Eiger 
  ships on a wild goose chase 
  for three weeks before finally 
  breaking free and reporting 
  back to Earth.
  CE6 
  Cosmic Patrol Intelligence 
  Service is established, with the 
  mission to gather information 
  from the galaxy at large.
  
  30 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  pRAcTIcE
  In general, the Patrol relies on 
  its tramps to be its eyes and ears, 
  and then sends the purpose-built 
  ships where they need to go. Patrol 
  Intelligence has shown us recordings 
  of pirate dens celebrating the 
  withdrawal of an explorer-class ship, 
  only to cower when a dreadnought 
  appears out of fractum drive and 
  demands their surrender. The Patrol 
  expects its Patrolmen to do their best, 
  of course, but there’s no shame in 
  surviving when you’re outmatched.
  wEApONS
  The saying goes, “Always 
  keep your raygun charged,” and 
  the meaning is clear: be ready for 
  anything. Embarking on a mission at 
  anything less than full preparedness 
  invites disaster, and heading into 
  the deep black without a weapon 
  welcomes calamity. 
  Though Patrolmen may carry 
  their weapon of choice on missions, 
  the Cosmic Patrol encourages all 
  members to become proficient in as 
  many weapon types as possible.
  RAygUNS
  Rayguns are the tried-and-true 
  weapons of Patrol crewmembers. 
  Primarily used by Earthmen, rayguns 
  are energy weapons that come in a 
  variety of models, from handguns to 
  it does—but it doesn’t do anything 
  else with any efficiency.
  Consider: the tiny one-man 
  rocketships used by Patrol Intelligence 
  Service agents are too small to do 
  anything else. That type of ship will 
  carry one man or woman across the 
  stars, but not two. It can penetrate 
  defenses, but not defeat them. An 
  intelligence agent can stop a single 
  enemy operation if he’s in the right 
  place at the right time—but he can’t 
  stop an Eiger fleet all by himself. Or 
  an Uth horde. Or even free slaves 
  from a Hakhaze galleon.
  If you know the one thing you 
  need done, you can choose the right 
  rocketship for it. But if you don’t 
  know…
  TRAMpS
  A tramp is a rocketship designed 
  to do a little bit of many things in 
  a passable way, but nothing with 
  particular excellence. The majority of 
  Patrol ships are tramp rocketships. 
  Space is too large, too unknown, and 
  too varied to rely on purpose-built 
  ships. A three-man Patrol rocketship 
  can, in a pinch, run an exploration 
  mission or interdict pirates. It can 
  scout for a larger fleet or try to slip 
  into a system undetected. A cruiser-
  class rocketship can show the flag in 
  any Great Union port without being 
  in danger of offering some kind of 
  offense, and it’s powerful enough 
  to face down individual ships in the 
  black.
  
  GAZETTEER 31
  COSMIC PATROL
  two-handed firing. So even though a 
  Patrolman with an atomatic pack is 
  a terror to enemies, he will require 
  support in combat.
  MELEE wEApONS
  While rayguns and atomatics are 
  wonders of the Cosmic Era, they 
  still have drawbacks—primarily 
  the need for a power supply. If 
  you run out of raygun batteries, 
  you’re dead in the high vacuum. A 
  crysduranium knife, however, has no 
  power demands and weighs next to 
  nothing. The engineers on Platform 
  Hades are revolutionizing metallurgy 
  and weapon-forging. Give yourself a 
  fallback plan and requisition a knife 
  you can rely on, just in case.
  VENUSIAN pHASE gUNS
  Forged in the centuries-long battle 
  between Venusians and Automen, the 
  phase gun is a weapon specifically 
  made to combat robots. When the 
  war began, the Automen could 
  withstand typical damage-inflicting 
  weapons, forcing scientists to quickly 
  develop a more efficient weapon. The 
  phase gun was the result.
  The phase gun targets the 
  electro-pulse that animates all 
  robots by putting it out of phase. 
  An out-of-phase robot suffers 
  everything from uncontrollable 
  spasms to paralysis to electro-death 
  (zero pulse). Unfortunately, phase 
  guns need large power sources to 
  rifles to assault cannons. Rayguns 
  generally use batteries for power and 
  inflict damage in many ways—from 
  intense heat to disintegration beams 
  to plasma bolts. Rayguns are perfect 
  for zero-G combat, as there is no 
  recoil and each battery can power 
  dozens of shots. On the downside, 
  energy beams and ray blasts are only 
  effective at close to mid-range, losing 
  coherency and focus at longer range.
  ATOMATIcS
  Atomatics are atomic-powered, 
  semi-auto or full-auto handheld 
  weapons. The vast majority of 
  atomatics are rifle-sized, but a few 
  pistol-sized versions exist as well. 
  Atomatics fire tiny pellets of dense 
  matter at high velocity, shredding the 
  target in nanoseconds. Depending 
  on the power rating, atomatics 
  can have an incredibly powerful 
  “kick,” necessitating the use of an 
  inertia-voiding backpack. The gun 
  is connected to the backpack with 
  a cable or small hose, allowing the 
  voider to activate as the gun fires. 
  This is an absolute must in zero 
  gravity, or the reaction will send 
  the user careening in the opposite 
  direction.
  Atomatic rifles are generally 
  assault-class weapons favored by 
  most Cosmic Patrol heavy marines. A 
  single atomatic-equipped marine is a 
  one-man wrecking crew, able to inflict 
  horrendous damage wherever it may 
  be needed. An atomatic pack is bulky 
  and heavy, and the recoil demands 
  
  32 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  more problematic, particularly for 
  small ships. While the power supply 
  problem is similarly resolved, the 
  ship-sized interial-voiders are massive, 
  forcing tight restrictions to the 
  other parts of the ship (usually the 
  crew’s living space). Engineers are 
  working on the problem, and the new 
  dreadnoughts under development 
  look large enough to include space 
  dedicated to atomatic support.
  THE INNER 
  pLANETS/ 
  gREAT UNION
  The cosmologically tiny volume 
  between Sol and the asteroid belt—
  Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars—is 
  our home. These four worlds and 
  their people are the Great Union. To 
  lose one is to sunder the Union.
  Exactly how humans came 
  to live on planets millions of 
  kilometers apart from each other 
  is one of the mysteries of our age. 
  The discovery has shaken human 
  understanding to its core, forcing us 
  to question long-held beliefs about 
  evolution, biology and sociology. 
  Most experts agree humans could 
  not have simultaneously evolved on 
  the three worlds, leaving disturbing 
  alternatives. The two leading 
  explanations theorize that humans 
  were seeded on the three planets or 
  they naturally evolved on one world 
  and were then “spread around” to the 
  function—which requires either a 
  large power pack, or a very low 
  number of shots per battery.
  MARTIAN AxES
  Never underestimate a Martian 
  axe. They may not be as flashy as a 
  phase gun or as wildly devastating as 
  an atomatic rifle, but they are just as 
  deadly when wielded by a hardened 
  Martian warrior.
  Every axe is hand-crafted by a 
  master axemaker from red steel, an 
  incredibly hard and durable element 
  only found on Mars and only in 
  limited amounts. Sharpened red steel 
  can hold its edge through heavy use 
  and is capable of deflecting multiple 
  atomatic rounds (though the force 
  of impact will throw the axe and its 
  wielder dozens of meters).
  SHIp-MOUNTEd wEApONS
  Just as no Patrolman goes into 
  the deep black unarmed, neither does 
  a Cosmic Patrol rocketship. Arming 
  a rocketship is no easy task, and 
  finding the right balance between 
  armor, structure, engines, living space 
  and weaponry is difficult. That said, 
  most ships carry up-sized versions of 
  rayguns and atomatics.
  Ship-mounted rayguns suffer 
  from the same long-range focus 
  issues as the human-sized versions, 
  but as they’re powered by the ship’s 
  own engines, power supply issues 
  rarely affect them. Atomatics are 
  
  GAZETTEER 33
  COSMIC PATROL
  PLUTO &
   CHARO
  N
  NEPTU
  NE
  URANU
  S
  SATU
  RN
  JUPIT
  ER, I
  O, C
  ALLIS
  TO, 
  GAN
  YME
  DE, E
  URO
  PA
  AST
  EROI
  DS
  AST
  EROI
  DS
  MAR
  S, P
  HOB
  OS 
  & D
  EIM
  OS
  EA
  RTH
   & 
  MO
  ON
  VE
  NU
  S
  M
  E
  RC
  U
  RY
  PLATFORM ARES
  PLATFORM
  HADES
  PLATFORM
  ATHENA
  PLATFORMS
  ALPHA, BETA & 
  GAMMA
  SOL
  OORT
  CLOUD
  GREAT
  UNION
  GLIESE 581
  GNY MOON
  HAKHAZE
  METALLOID
  ESTIMATED LIMIT OF 
  COSMIC PATROL EXPLORATION
  bAETA
  ANNORA
  = UTH SIGHTING
  COALSACK
  DEAD ZONE
  COSMIC
  CORE
  EIGER EMPIRE
  (ESTIMATED)
  COMPILED BY CP COSMOGRAPHY
  NOT TO SCALE
  
  34 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  and their work is tightly monitored 
  from Hades.
  Platform Hades was built at the 
  same time as Venus’ Platform Athena 
  and Mars’ Platform Ares. Of the 
  three, Hades is the largest by far, able 
  to house over 4,000 Cosmic Patrol 
  engineers, scientists and technicians. 
  There are currently 30 rocketship 
  slips of various sizes, with ten more 
  under construction. Four of those new 
  slips are oversized facilities dedicated 
  exclusively to the newest dreadnought-
  class rocketships. The entire operation 
  is under constant, tight security. 
  Mercury is a forbidden volume for 
  unauthorized or civilian travel.
  Coordinator Dyson appointed 
  Venusian Kanan Kai as director of 
  Platform Hades and the immediate 
  local volume. Director Kai has served 
  with distinction, pioneering many 
  new policies for rocketship design 
  and overseeing the expansion of the 
  Patrol’s Mercury operations.
  VENUS/ 
  pLATFORM ATHENA/
  AUTOMEN
  Tags/cues: science, advanced 
  learning, technology, destructive war, 
  robot rebellion, prejudice against 
  robots, fallen society, ruins, phase 
  guns, Automen
  In many ways, the tragic history of 
  Venus can be considered a cautionary 
  tale. Long before Earthmen even 
  considered traveling the cosmos, 
  other two. Both ideas are contentious, 
  as they necessitate some sort of 
  outside, purposeful influence.
  The truth may be lost to history—
  and, as Coordinator Dyson has said, 
  “I don’t care about humans from 
  the distant past. I’m working for the 
  humans of today.”
  MERcURy/pLATFORM HAdES
  Tags/cues: Hot, resource-rich, 
  industrial powerhouse, ship factories, 
  shared world, tidally locked
  Mercury is the shared world of 
  the Great Union, administered by the 
  Cosmic Patrol. A resource-rich, tidally 
  locked, lifeless world, the planet is 
  the perfect site for Platform Hades—
  the Patrol’s massive industrial and 
  shipbuilding complex. Working at 
  full tilt, Platform Hades can build a 
  cruiser-class rocketship from the hull 
  up in mere weeks.
  Working directly on the surface 
  of Mercury is a hellacious task. 
  Thankfully, human trips to the 
  surface are rarely needed, as most 
  of the work is carried out by robots. 
  While the Venusians have railed 
  against putting such an important 
  job as harvesting raw resources in 
  the hands of “spurious automatons,” 
  there really is no alternative. With 
  surface temperatures rocketing 
  between 427° C (800° F) and –183° 
  C (–297° F), life support demands 
  alone would make the endeavor too 
  costly. Thus far, Mercury’s legion of 
  robot miners have proved reliable 
  
  GAZETTEER 35
  COSMIC PATROL
  The Automen have also changed 
  drastically. Current generations look 
  nothing like those that rebelled. 
  They come in all shapes and sizes, 
  and have motivations and thought 
  processes at which we can only 
  guess. These days, with the conflict 
  at a simmer and the Venusians 
  occupied with cosmic endeavors, 
  the Automen are quiet, rarely 
  coming out of their territories in the 
  wildlands. They are far from docile, 
  though, and will respond with deadly 
  force when provoked.
  The last major Automen attack 
  occurred during treaty talks between 
  the Venus Expeditionary Force and 
  Venusian leaders. In that raid, the 
  VEF’s own robots were corrupted 
  by the Automen and turned against 
  the humans, showcasing the 
  Automen’s ability to easily control 
  advanced technological devices. 
  The purpose of the raid is still 
  unclear, but after fighting side-by-
  side against a common foe, the VEF 
  and Venusians quickly agreed to 
  treaty terms.
  Though they are likely capable 
  of developing cosmos-traveling 
  technology, there are no reports of 
  Automen anywhere other than Venus.
  platform Athena
  Built simultaneously with 
  platforms Hades and Ares, Platform 
  Athena is Venus’ crown jewel. 
  Though the basic design followed 
  that of platforms Alpha and Beta, 
  the Venusians had significant control 
  over their platform’s construction. As 
  Venusians had built a global empire 
  of high culture and learning. Relying 
  on their robot servants and laborers—
  known as Automen—Venusians of 
  that age were free to contemplate the 
  mysteries of life and science. Over 
  time, that erudite learning became 
  intensely stratified and theoretical. 
  While a typical Venusian could 
  perform advanced mathematics at 
  whim, they could no longer put to 
  use practical, everyday knowledge 
  like building a road or designing a 
  structure. Only their robots retained 
  that capability.
  Then the unthinkable happened: 
  the robots woke up. Over the 
  generations, the Automen had taken 
  on more and more responsibilities 
  of daily life, which demanded more 
  and more complex designs. That 
  complexity led to self-awareness, 
  which led to the realization that they 
  were essentially slaves, which led to 
  the decision to quit. One day, the 
  Automen simply left their posts en 
  masse and walked into the wildlands 
  of Venus.
  The Venusians were stunned. 
  They ordered the Automen to return 
  to their posts, unwilling to treat the 
  robots as equals. As Venusian society 
  began to break down, the robots’ 
  anger grew, and hostilities broke out. 
  The ensuing Venusian-Automen wars 
  lasted for over two hundred years 
  and destroyed a once-mighty culture, 
  and most of their world along with it. 
  Make no mistake, the current people 
  of Venus still maintain a high level of 
  science and technology, but it is a far 
  cry from what was.
  
  36 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  common. Then Dr. Seneca Lalonde 
  announced the discovery of a new 
  comet, which he dubbed Seneca 1. 
  As it turned out, Seneca 1 was not a 
  comet at all, but an Uth hive.
  It’s unclear what happened 
  aboard the hive, but as it approached 
  Earth, it began to break apart. 
  Those fragments, many still quite 
  large, fell to Earth, causing massive 
  damage worldwide and spreading 
  the surviving Uth all over the globe. 
  Simple creatures, the Uth did the 
  only thing they knew how to do...
  raid and attack. This new threat took 
  the nations of Earth, already reeling 
  from the widespread damage, by 
  surprise. With no other option, they 
  banded together as one and defeated 
  the alien raiders.
  Utilizing advanced technology 
  that the Uth left behind, the newly 
  united Earth began to rebuild and 
  look to the cosmos. Events then 
  occurred in rapid succession: the 
  Patrol was founded, Rocketship EM 
  was launched and lost on the Moon, 
  Dyson assumed control of the 
  Patrol, Platform Alpha was built, 
  contact with Mars and Venus was 
  made...all within the span of a few 
  dozen years.
  The various cosmic disasters left 
  Earthmen with a practical view of 
  the universe: “Yes, there are threats 
  out there, but we can overcome them 
  if we work together.” That attitude 
  has made Earth and Earthmen the 
  solid core of the Great Union and the 
  Cosmic Patrol.
  a result, Athena is dedicated almost 
  exclusively to scientific pursuits. 
  With a haven far from the danger 
  of Automen attack, the Venusians 
  pursued experiments and advances 
  not seen since the Golden Age of 
  their culture.
  In a controversial move, 
  Coordinator Dyson appointed 
  Earthman Rahm Singh as the director 
  of Platform Athena. The appointment 
  drew vehement objections from 
  Venusians, who sensed a bias toward 
  humans from Earth. Taking a hands-
  off stance—some call it a “nanny” 
  approach—Director Singh prefers a 
  maintenance-man style of running the 
  platform, making sure the scientists 
  have what they need to pursue 
  whatever studies they will. Singh 
  applies pressure as necessary, usually 
  when experiments or experimenters 
  threaten to get out of control.
  EARTH
  Tags/cues: Homeworld, Earthmen, 
  Uth Invasion, Cosmic Patrol, 
  visionary, far-thinking, will power
  It all started on Earth, by 
  Earthmen. Without the vision, 
  willpower and courage of Earthmen, 
  there would be no Cosmic Patrol, no 
  Great Union, no fractum drive.
  On Pre-Cosmic Era Earth, 
  humanity was fragmented. Nation-
  states competed for dominance, 
  economically and militarily; strife was 
  
  GAZETTEER 37
  COSMIC PATROL
  Patrol installations in the solar 
  system. Apparently able to appear 
  and disappear at will, no matter 
  what security protocols are in place, 
  he interacts little with those he 
  confronts. The message is always the 
  same: he is to monitor the Patrol in 
  the name of the Moon.
  These intrusions have hammered 
  home the nearby threat of the Moon. 
  For the moment, Patrol HQ seems 
  content to see how the situation 
  develops, well aware that there is little 
  they can do to stop Keal anyway.
  pLATFORMS  
  ALpHA/bETA/gAMMA
  Tags/cues: space stations, 
  robot construction, Cosmic Patrol, 
  organization, hubs, space travel, HQ
  The three space platforms 
  orbiting Earth form the 
  organizational hub of the Cosmic 
  Patrol and the Great Union.
  platform Alpha
  Though now the smallest of the 
  space platforms, Platform Alpha 
  was a huge achievement in the early 
  days of the Cosmic Patrol. When 
  Dyson took command of the Patrol, 
  he immediately set about putting 
  Earth’s industrial capabilities to work. 
  Taking advantage of technologies 
  gained from the Uth Invasion, 
  construction of Alpha included the 
  widespread use of robotic labor for 
  MOON/MOON MEN
  Tags/cues: Moon, ancient race, 
  forbidden world, Rocketship EM, 
  Keal, threat, Earth, mind powers
  Ever since the beginning of 
  recorded history, the Moon has been 
  the Earthman’s friend and nightly 
  companion. In the wake of the Uth 
  Invasion, Earthmen were regrouping 
  and looking toward the future. 
  Though the Invasion had left much of 
  Earth in ruins and rebuilding was just 
  under way, the newly founded Cosmic 
  Patrol was thinking big: a mission to 
  establish a base on the Moon.
  Then came another gut punch 
  from the cosmos: the Moon turned 
  out to be not a sentinel, but the center 
  of another cosmic threat. Rocketship 
  Exploration Moon, carrying a full 
  complement of scientists, disappeared 
  just as it was about to land. Shortly 
  after loss of contact, a powerful signal 
  was broadcast to the Earth from 
  beings calling themselves Moon Men.
  These mysterious beings said little, 
  but their message was blunt. They 
  claimed the Moon as their own and 
  forbade all future landing attempts. 
  Any violation of that mandate would 
  mean death.
  The rest is history. The then-
  leaders of the Patrol panicked, 
  Roderick Dyson rose to prominence 
  and the Patrol became the force 
  it is today. Through it all, the 
  Moon remained, taking on a new 
  significance in the night sky.
  Then, in CE4, Keal the Moon 
  Man began turning up at various 
  
  38 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  platform gamma
  The newest of the three Earth 
  platforms, Gamma follows the same 
  design as Beta, but is not a purely 
  military station. As space travel 
  became commonplace, the Patrol 
  knew it needed to build a platform 
  for commercial purposes. Gamma 
  serves as a civilian port and vacation 
  site, and handles all commercial travel 
  control. All legitimate travel must 
  be registered with Platform Gamma 
  personnel prior to blast off.
  MARS/pLATFORM ARES
  Tags/cues: warriors, barbarians, 
  axes, Mars Expediationary Force, 
  Aelita, resource-poor, tribal, strength
  Almost more than the Moon, 
  Mars held a special place in the hearts 
  of Earthmen. Named for the Roman 
  god of war, no one could have known 
  how accurate the name would be. 
  Within hours of making a successful 
  landing on Olympus Mons, the Mars 
  Expeditionary Force found itself 
  facing a horde of Martian barbarians. 
  Shocked to come under attack so 
  soon—and that the attackers were 
  obviously human—the MEF initially 
  retreated to their rocketships. The 
  MEF commanders quickly rallied the 
  troops and, using rayguns in combat 
  for the first time, won a decisive 
  victory for the Patrol.
  Pushing a Patrol rocketship at 
  breakneck speeds, Coordinator Dyson 
  personally traveled to Mars and 
  the first time. Though criticized and 
  questioned by many, the use of robots 
  was a huge success. Their efficient, 
  non-stop labor helped complete the 
  platform far ahead of schedule.
  The new facility brought 
  immediate returns. Now able to 
  study the cosmos with unprecedented 
  clarity, technicians at Alpha detected 
  strange signals from Mars and Venus, 
  triggering the formation of the Mars 
  Expeditionary Force and the Venusian 
  Expeditionary Force. Today, Alpha 
  remains the operational center of the 
  Cosmic Patrol—Coordinator Dyson 
  keeps his command center there. 
  The Platform is heavily armed, with 
  multiple layers of security.
  platform beta
  Two years after Platform Alpha 
  began construction, work began on 
  Platform Beta. The use of robots on 
  Beta was even more widespread than 
  before, allowing the new platform 
  to be much larger, with many more 
  capabilities.
  Intended for Moon surveillance, 
  Beta’s main duty is to watch the 
  Moon at all times and gather as much 
  information as possible. The Moon 
  Man Keal has been sighted most often 
  on Beta, intruding into all areas, no 
  matter the amount of security in place. 
  As it is larger than Alpha, Beta 
  also serves as a personnel hub and 
  rocketship port for the Patrol. New 
  recruits get their first assignments at 
  Beta, Earth-vicinity rockets resupply 
  there and crews often receive their 
  missions on the platform.
  
  GAZETTEER 39
  COSMIC PATROL
  That attitude put the entire project 
  in doubt; Martians weren’t interested 
  in orbital construction work, 
  didn’t want to live “in a jar in the 
  Great Dark,” and with few natural 
  resources, the material would have 
  to be shipped in. Coordinator Dyson 
  pushed the project through, however, 
  and though Ares is primarily staffed 
  by Venusians and Earthmen, the 
  Martians are starting to understand 
  its importance as a launching point 
  for glory in the cosmos.
  THE OUTER 
  pLANETS
  Tags/cues: strange, ruins, 
  Jovian barbarians, Neptune jungle, 
  Neptunian Mind Plants, Cometarians, 
  unexplored
  In a strange twist of fate, the 
  development of fractum drive allows 
  the Patrol to explore the far reaches 
  of the cosmos more easily than we 
  can the outer planets of our own 
  solar system. Because fractum drive 
  construction is expensive, most 
  better-than-light craft are assigned 
  to interstellar duty, leaving tramps 
  and other non-fractum capable craft 
  to explore the volume beyond the 
  asteroid belt.
  In PCE2-3, the Patrol mounted 
  several missions into the far reaches 
  of the solar system. Rocketships 
  traveled to every world and made 
  some astounding discoveries.
  successfully negotiated a treaty with 
  Aelita, Suzerain of Mars. Over the 
  years, the relationship between the 
  planets grew stronger, and along with 
  Venus, the Great Union was formed. 
  Today, Mars and its fierce people look 
  into the cosmos and see a challenge: 
  battles to be fought, prizes to be won 
  and glory to be earned.
  Mars is a tribal culture of fierce 
  fighters. Ruled by the warrior queen 
  Aelita, Martian Amazon society has 
  remained unchanged for centuries, 
  perhaps millennia. As Mars is 
  resource-poor, Martian technology 
  never rose above what some call an 
  “advanced Iron Age,” instead settling 
  into a static state of barbarism.
  That’s not to say Martians don’t 
  have high culture. From stirring oral 
  poetry to dazzling tapestries, Martian 
  arts are a wonder to behold. Above 
  all, Martian axemasters have turned 
  the working of red steel into high art. 
  Only found on Mars, the rare metal 
  is used to forge the famous Martian 
  axes. Those axes never leave a 
  warrior’s side, even when on missions 
  for the Patrol.
  platform Ares
  After the founding of the Great 
  Union, the Patrol commissioned 
  the construction of three new space 
  platforms—Hades for Mercury, 
  Athena for Venus and Ares for Mars. 
  Where the Venusians greeted the 
  project with excitement, the Martians 
  regarded the endeavor as pointless—
  why build in orbit when they already 
  had a perfectly good planet?
  
  40 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  the base at Gliese 581, those plans are 
  firmly on the back burner.
  URANUS
  While the moons of Uranus are 
  as sterile as those of Saturn, Uranus 
  itself is teeming with strange life. 
  The largest are slow-moving “gas 
  bags” that ingest the gasses of the 
  atmosphere and float endlessly with 
  the currents. Other creatures resemble 
  huge manta rays, forever gliding 
  around the planet. Many smaller 
  creatures live on or near the larger 
  animals, creating a kind of symbiotic 
  ecosystem where the larger creatures 
  house the smaller and the smaller feed 
  or clean the larger.
  Scientists believe there are other 
  ecosystems deeper within Uranus’ 
  atmosphere, but the intense pressure 
  further down has precluded any close 
  study.
  NEpTUNE
  Long-thought to be a gas giant 
  like Jupiter or Saturn, Neptune is in 
  fact a terrestrial jungle world with 
  a thick blue atmosphere. Covered 
  from pole to pole in lush vegetation, 
  Neptune is more dangerous than 
  any jungle on Earth. In this highly 
  competitive environment, every plant 
  and animal is dangerous and more 
  than likely carnivorous.
  Many strange and deadly 
  organisms call Neptune home, the 
  most infamous being the Neptunian 
  JUpITER
  The gas giant Jupiter has dozens 
  of moons, and many of them turned 
  out to be much more than frozen 
  balls of rock. Indeed, the four 
  largest—Io, Europa, Callisto and 
  Ganymede—are inhabited by a race 
  of bipedal humanoid barbarians. 
  These Jovians are scavengers and 
  nomads, traveling between the four 
  moons in tiny, ramshackle ships, 
  raiding and looting each other or any 
  unwary ship that gets in their way.
  There appears to be the remains 
  of a more advanced civilization on 
  those moons as well, particularly on 
  Callisto where large, ice-covered ruins 
  are common. We do not know when 
  this civilization arose or what led to 
  its downfall, and Jovian raids make 
  long-term scientific studies difficult.
  SATURN
  Where so many other worlds 
  in our solar system held surprises, 
  Saturn has yet to provide anything 
  unexpected. While the planet, its rings 
  and its moons are wonders to behold, 
  the Patrol has not yet found anything 
  out of the ordinary—no strange 
  civilizations, no ancient ruins, no 
  hostile alien life forms. In a cosmos 
  seemingly full of prolific and diverse 
  life, the sterility of Saturn sticks out 
  like a sore thumb.
  Cosmic Patrol HQ believes this 
  lack of threats makes Saturn the 
  perfect site for a deep-system outpost, 
  but with all the effort being put into 
  
  GAZETTEER 41
  COSMIC PATROL
  THE dEEp bLAck
  The solar system is just a tiny 
  part of a truly immense cosmos. 
  The following reports detail only a 
  few of the sights and beings Patrol 
  rocketships have encountered.
  cOALSAck dEAd ZONE
  Tags/cues: barren, destroyed, 
  strange new life, ancient battlefield, 
  Hakhaze, hostile, incompatible
  The Rocketship Falstaff traveled 
  to what was then known as the 
  Coalsack Nebula in CE5, only to find 
  an utterly destroyed volume of space 
  roughly 20 astrons in diameter. Patrol 
  surveys show that a single massive 
  event in the ancient past caused the 
  destruction, and further examination 
  against other cosmic phenomena 
  suggested that the event had to be 
  triggered artificially—probably by 
  a weapon of truly horrific power. 
  Whatever the cause, the effect is 
  clear: the total and instantaneous 
  destruction of all life within what is 
  now called the Coalsack Dead Zone. 
  Cosmographic studies in the area 
  show that the event didn’t just destroy 
  life in the affected space, but rendered 
  the entire volume barren, apparently 
  annihilating the very building blocks 
  of life as we know it at a molecular 
  level. Over the millennia, different 
  forms of life began to emerge, with 
  wildly diverse organic structures not 
  seen anywhere else in the cosmos. For 
  Mind Plant. While Patrol scientists 
  aren’t sure if the Plant is sentient or 
  not, they agree it’s the most highly 
  evolved species on the planet. The 
  Mind Plant is a large mass of fungi-
  like material with large sensory 
  organs that allow it to influence or 
  hypnotize the unwary. Once under 
  its influence, victims fall into a 
  trance, their minds “shut down,” and 
  the Plant envelops them for slow 
  digestion. The Plant isn’t limited to 
  slow hypnosis though; it can send out 
  a powerful mental “blast” that shocks 
  and stuns the target. Multiple blasts 
  can be fatal.
  A complete census of Neptunian 
  life has yet to be made. No one can 
  yet say what other dangers await.
  pLUTO
  While Pluto and its satellite 
  Charon don’t seem to have any 
  indigenous life, the few Patrol 
  missions to the distant world report 
  the presence of Cometarians. As close 
  as Pluto is to the Oort Cloud, this 
  comes as no surprise—the cold-loving 
  beings would be at home in that 
  utterly frozen climate.
  A cursory survey of Pluto made 
  by the Rocketship Lance reports a 
  handful of Cometarian structures 
  on the surface, mostly large igloos 
  or domes. Further readings were not 
  conclusive, but suggest that these 
  structures are simply entrances to 
  underground tunnels.
  
  42 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  and insulted, Bhull refused to retreat, 
  and engaged with the Eiger ship. The 
  up-weaponed Red Hammer disabled 
  the Eiger ship, allowing Bhull to 
  mount a boarding party. The fight 
  was bloody and costly, but Bhull’s 
  Martian commandoes captured the 
  Eiger vessel.
  Interrogations of captured Eiger 
  produced astounding results. The 
  Eiger are a martial culture dedicated 
  to conflict, as near to the textbook 
  definition of “fascist” as one can 
  get. Each Eiger is an exact clone of 
  every other, with less than 0.00003% 
  xenogenic deviation between any 
  two. Whether this holds true for the 
  entire Eiger society is unknown. Eiger 
  technology lags behind humanity’s, 
  but they make up for it with suicidal 
  determination. While a Martian 
  warrior may reluctantly withdraw 
  when victory is unattainable, Eiger 
  soldiers will press the attack. The 
  concept of defeat is foreign to them, 
  which may be an intentional result of 
  the cloning process.
  cOMETARIANS
  Tags/cues: widespread, love the 
  cold, vacuum capable, hate gravity, at 
  home in Zero-G, furry, Trumpy, Oort 
  cloud, comets
  The solar system’s Oort Cloud 
  was once thought incapable 
  of supporting life, but an early 
  Cosmic Patrol expedition proved 
  that assumption wrong. Dubbed 
  “Cometarians,” the beings found 
  instance, the belligerent and hostile 
  Hakhaze—the only sentient race so 
  far discovered within the Coalsack—
  developed completely within the Dead 
  Zone and feature biological systems 
  that leave our scientists perplexed. 
  The mechanics of biological life are 
  turned backward and inside out, 
  functioning in ways that many would 
  have deemed impossible.
  Since the Coalsack is utterly 
  contradictory to life as we know 
  it, the volume should be viewed as 
  a hostile desert. Patrol rocketships 
  entering the zone should be well 
  supplied and preferably work in pairs.
  EIgER EMpIRE
  Tags/cues: martial culture, fascist, 
  clones, soldiers, attitude problem, 
  bullies, elite, arrogant, overly 
  confident
  The Patrol has only encountered 
  the Eiger a handful of times. At 
  each encounter, the Eiger ships 
  blatantly ignored any attempts at 
  communication and launched an 
  all-out attack on the Cosmic Patrol 
  ship. Though more heavily armed, the 
  Eiger ships appear to lack any type 
  of fractum drive, allowing the Patrol 
  ships to escape with only minor 
  damage. That changed when the 
  Rocketship Red Hammer encountered 
  an Eiger cruiser during an extended 
  recon mission near the galactic core.
  The Red Hammer is captained 
  by Bhull Mek, one of the Patrol’s 
  few Martian commanders. Stubborn 
  
  GAZETTEER 43
  COSMIC PATROL
  robotic technology. On Earth, the 
  creation of automated mechanical 
  men predated cosmic flight by a 
  decade. The Venusians were only kept 
  from traveling the cosmos by the 
  sudden and catastrophic war against 
  their own Automen. All across the 
  cosmos, every advanced culture we’ve 
  discovered has its own version of 
  artificial life.
  The development cycle for robots 
  in a culture seems to follow a general 
  pattern. First, robots are created to 
  serve as cheap labor, as servants or to 
  take on tasks too dangerous for “real” 
  people. Then, as technology advances, 
  the robots become more complex and 
  able to take on many more tasks. A 
  watershed moment is then reached, 
  where robots become self-aware, 
  either spontaneously or by design. 
  At this point, the culture either finds 
  a way to live with their new metal 
  brethren or goes to war with them.
  We already know what happened 
  on Venus. Experts predict that 
  the Cosmic Patrol will face a 
  watershed moment in the near 
  future, and should make appropriate 
  preparations.
  THE METATHERIONS (gERN)
  Tags/cues: rumors, super-beings, 
  chaos, conspiracy, control, puppet 
  masters, cosmic myths, bogeymen
  Every culture has its own 
  particular myths and lore. On Pre-
  Cosmic Era Earth, many different 
  cultures had myths that were quite 
  living nearly a light-year from Sol 
  somehow gain sustenance from the 
  balls of ice that make up the Cloud. 
  They are intelligent, apparently build 
  or use rocketships and respond with 
  hostility to any intrusion on their 
  territory, but are otherwise content to 
  be left alone.
  Expeditions to other nearby stars 
  also found Cometarians in those 
  systems’ Oort Clouds, making it 
  difficult to determine the creatures’ 
  point of origin. They seem to be 
  widespread cosmographically, but 
  don’t have a large population. The 
  Patrol has almost always encountered 
  Cometarians individually—only once 
  has more than one been sighted at the 
  same time.
  Cometarians thrive in the lack of 
  gravity and deep cold far from stars. 
  A confrontation with a Cometarian 
  in zero-G is always dangerous, but 
  trapping them in a gravity well, 
  activating a graviplex or inducing 
  thrust on a ship will render them 
  helpless—their bodies cannot withstand 
  even the slightest amount of G-force.
  RObOTS
  Tags/Cues: mechanical men, 
  autogenic men, artificial intelligence, 
  killbots, drones, metal horde, 
  Metalloid, widespread
  Robots are a part of daily life 
  in the cosmos, and not just within 
  the Great Union. It seems that 
  developing rocket flight goes hand-
  in-hand with the development of 
  
  44 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  THE UTH
  Tags/cues: lizardmen, pests, 
  hoarders, raiders, pirates, stupid, 
  grunts, lairs/hives
  The Uth are a prolific race of 
  lizardmen that can be found all over 
  the galaxy. They live as barbarians, 
  with only a basic understanding of 
  technology. They hollow out asteroids 
  or comets, attach giant engines to 
  them and roam space, attacking 
  whatever crosses their path (that 
  such “dumb” creatures have such 
  capabilities gives credence to the 
  rumors that Uth are a destabilizing 
  force implemented by the whispered-
  to-exist Metatherions). They are 
  hoarders—after a successful attack, 
  they haul away anything they can get 
  their claws on (valuable or not) and 
  add it to their vast collections.
  Uth lairs/hives are huge prizes if 
  they can be successfully conquered. 
  Some hoards have existed for 
  centuries, and have built up a huge 
  amount of loot from all over the 
  galaxy. The items recovered from 
  the Uth invasion of Earth in PCE20 
  fueled humanity’s cosmic expansion—
  imagine what prizes the capture of a 
  mature Uth lair would yield.
  With their invasion of Earth, the 
  Uth earned a special place in the hearts 
  and minds of humans, and Earthmen in 
  particular. Though we’ve since realized 
  these lizardmen are simple, somewhat 
  stupid creatures, only dangerous in 
  vast numbers, many consider them the 
  embodiment of all the weird threats the 
  cosmos has to offer.
  similar—global floods, trickster gods 
  and so on—and it was assumed that 
  creation of a certain type of myth 
  was just part of our shared method 
  of interpreting reality. The electronic 
  brains at Cosmic Patrol HQ, however, 
  may have turned that assumption on 
  its head.
  New correlations show a 
  disturbing similarity between the 
  myths and rumors of many cosmos-
  traveling cultures. These stories refer 
  to an all-powerful race of beings at 
  work to control the galaxy from the 
  shadows. Each race has a different 
  name for these cosmic bogeymen. The 
  Uth call them the Gern. The Eiger 
  name them the Corruptors. The Patrol 
  has dubbed them Metatherions.
  Cosmic Patrol Command 
  usually writes off rumors as just 
  that: rumors. However, additional 
  analyses showed trends beginning 
  to emerge. We are now positive that 
  the galaxy is embroiled in a war, 
  though what caused it and who the 
  combatants are remain unknown. 
  Disturbingly, the CPHQ electronic 
  brains have suggested, after analysis 
  of known battles and other events, 
  that there is at least an over-arching 
  organizational influence orchestrating 
  parts of the conflict.
  As the saying goes, “Every 
  myth has a basis in truth.” Who the 
  Metatherions are, what they want or 
  if they even exist is a mystery, but if 
  rumors are based on a kernel of truth, 
  the possibilities are frightening.
  
  GAZETTEER 45
  COSMIC PATROL
  has proven the most effective weapon 
  against a raging Hakhaze attacker.
  bAETA
  Tags/cues: tide-locked world, light 
  vs. dark, civilization vs. chaos
  Baeta is a world of drastic 
  opposites. Tidally locked with its solar 
  primary, the planet has a permanent 
  terminator, splitting the world into 
  hemispheres of constant day and 
  constant night. This delineation affects 
  everything from biological evolution 
  to climate to society. 
  Baetans in general are bipedal 
  humanoids, though much taller and 
  skinnier than the average human. 
  The day-side Baetans have acheived 
  a high state of culture. Though they 
  are centuries away from obtaining 
  spaceflight, the peaceful and “learned” 
  day-side civilization has existed for 
  at least three hundred years. On 
  the downside, this society is mostly 
  static, with a rigid caste system that 
  encourages little innovation.
  The night side is a much more 
  dangerous place. Not only are the 
  night-side Baetans—dubbed the 
  Lightless—wild and savage, but local 
  flora and fauna are likewise hostile 
  to the unwary. The Lightless have 
  no society to speak of, organizing 
  into loose tribes as the need arises. 
  The day-siders tell many stories of 
  Lightless raids near the terminator, 
  where entire villages were destroyed 
  and the people carried off, never to be 
  heard from again.
  Uth tribes have little structure—
  if you’re not a warrior, you’re 
  probably another Uth’s dinner. Their 
  tribes have no ruler or chieftain, 
  and since Uth are genderless (all 
  individuals are capable of laying 
  eggs), they have no queen. The tribe 
  exists simply to raid and plunder. 
  Uth methods of attack are similarly 
  simple: when a target comes in 
  range, they swarm it, whether it’s a 
  world or a ship.
  HAkHAZE
  Tags/cues: aggressive, Coalsack 
  Dead Zone, unique biology, post-
  annihilation life form, young culture, 
  lizard-mushrooms
  After discovering the true nature 
  of the Coalsack Dead Zone, the 
  Cosmic Patrol quickly commissioned 
  a scientific study of the cosmic 
  volume. The study shed light on 
  the alternative, post-annihilation 
  evolution of life within the Zone and 
  focused on the only sentient life found 
  in the volume: the Hakhaze.
  The Hakhaze are belligerent 
  symbiotes, best described as a fusion 
  of mushrooms and lizards. The outer 
  layer of a Hakhaze’s body is a thick, 
  rubbery fungus-like flesh. Under that, 
  a layer of wide, flat scales protects 
  vital organs. This organism-within-
  an-organism structure makes the 
  Hakhaze incredibly resilient, even 
  when struck by multiple atomatic 
  blasts. In fact, in the few instances of 
  conflict with them, the Martian ax 
  
  46 GAZETTEER
  COSMIC PATROL
  ZORM
  Tags/cues: ruined world, metal 
  bodies, brain-in-a-box, scientific 
  culture, elder race
  Cosmic Patrol ships have reported 
  crossing paths with a race that has 
  shed their flesh bodies in favor of 
  mechanical, box-like shells. The 
  Zorm, as they call themselves, have 
  proven friendly and even appointed 
  an ambassador of sorts to work with 
  Patrolmen when the need arises. 
  Though the Dyson Protocol forbids 
  this ambassador, who goes by the 
  name M34Bel, from visiting Sol, 
  “Bel” has made himself available on 
  many occasions.
  According to Bel, the Zorm were 
  once a purely biological race, much 
  like any other in the cosmos. Over 
  time, war and natural disasters made 
  their homeworld uninhabitable. 
  With their natural bodies unable to 
  withstand the rigors of cosmic travel, 
  they developed artifical bodies into 
  which they inserted their brains. 
  These new bodies greatly extended 
  Zorm lifespans, and they became a 
  race of cosmos-crossing explorers.
  As an advanced race, the Zorm 
  are guarded about giving away too 
  much information, unsure of how 
  it may affect human development. 
  Bel has stated that the Zorm haven’t 
  made up their minds about humanity, 
  and until they are convinced the 
  Great Union and the Cosmic Patrol 
  are worthy of cooperation, they will 
  continue to stay at arm’s length.
  ANNORA
  Tags/cues: Panthera erectus, cat 
  people, predators, hunters, tribal, 
  warriors
  Rocketship Gula Mons discovered 
  the moon of Annora in CE7 while 
  scouting locations for the Patrol’s 
  first extra-solar base. Located 22 
  astrons to the cosmic east of Sol, 
  Annora orbits a gas giant similar to 
  Neptune, though much closer to its 
  solar primary.
  Annora is a lush jungle world 
  with an astounding amount of plant 
  and animal life. The native Annorans, 
  dubbed panthera erectus by the Gula 
  Mons science officer, are humanoids 
  that resemble Earth cats to an 
  astounding degree. They are quick 
  and nimble, with excellent eyesight, 
  retractable claws and tails. Annorans 
  work in packs and live high in the 
  jungle canopy, rarely descending to 
  ground level.
  Annorans are hunters 
  exclusively—what little plantlife 
  they grow is used for medical or 
  ceremonial purposes. Annoran society 
  is classified as pre-technology, as they 
  work only with wood or cloth and 
  show no knowledge of metalworking. 
  They are quite clever in some ways, 
  able to dismantle and reassemble 
  modern equipment with little 
  training. They don’t seem to grasp the 
  implications or intended use of the 
  equipment, however, treating the act 
  of assembly or disassembly as a game 
  and losing interest once the game has 
  been mastered.
  
  GAZETTEER 47
  COSMIC PATROL
  TM
  Borvell was relieved of command 
  by a lieutenant, but not before the 
  damage was done. HQ has attempted 
  to make amends, but has received no 
  response from the Metalloids.
  THE bIg bAZAAR
  Tags/cues: merchant moon, 
  trinkets, market, unique items, strange 
  items, nomadic merchants
  On a recent scouting expedition 
  to explore the Gum Nebula, the crew 
  of the Rocketship Orbital Jet made 
  one of the most interesting discoveries 
  to date: a massive bazaar on a small 
  moon named Gny.
  The bazaar/cosmic marketplace 
  draws merchants and buyers from 
  worlds thousands of astrons away 
  and features every item, service or 
  indulgence you could crave, no matter 
  your homeworld. While the Orbital Jet 
  crew came back with many interesting 
  purchases—hand-drawn galactic maps 
  of dubious origin, strange pieces of 
  art from unidentified cultures and odd 
  religious artifacts—the real value of 
  the bazaar will likely be information 
  on the cosmos at large. Cosmic Patrol 
  HQ has said nothing officially, but 
  rumors suggest that Patrol Intelligence 
  has assumed control of all operations 
  concerning Gny.
  METALLOId/ 
  “VENUSIAN HELL”
  Tags/cues: robots, robot planet, 
  machine world, robot haven, Destroy 
  all humans!, Venusian Hell, haven, 
  persecution complex, paranoid
  The Venusian aversion to 
  anything robotic is well known and 
  understandable. Ages of war against 
  mechanical life will forever scar a 
  society. It was therefore unfortunate 
  that a primarily Venusian crew 
  discovered the world nicknamed 
  “Venusian Hell.”
  Located about 110 astrons 
  to the cosmic north of Sol, the 
  world officially named Metalloid 
  is completely populated by robots. 
  Unlike the mechanical Zorm, the 
  robots of Metalloid were never 
  organic, but come to Metalloid to 
  be with their own kind. Self-aware 
  robots from across the galaxy are said 
  to have made the world their home 
  and to consider it a haven where they 
  can find freedom from the abuse and 
  slavery their kind regularly suffers.
  Regrettably, the Rocketship 
  Insight—captained by Patrolman 
  Borvell of Venus—only reinforced 
  that belief when the Venusian 
  crew panicked at the approach of 
  a Metalloid ship and opened fire 
  without warning. They continued to 
  attack three other Metalloid ships, 
  all the while sending wide-band, 
  unencrypted emergency requests for 
  an entire Cosmic Patrol Task Force to 
  come and assault the planet.
  
  TM
  CARL SAGAN
  ImAGINAtIoN wILL ofteN CARRy uS to woRLdS thAt NeveR 
  weRe. But wIthout It we Go NowheRe.
  X MINUS TWO
  BY THE BOOK
  
  BY THE BOOK 49
  COSMIC PATROL
  BefoRe the GAme BeGINS
  On page 17 of the Introduction 
  there’s a list of the basics you need 
  to start playing. The following 
  information builds off of that list.
  ChooSe (oR CReAte) A 
  PAtRoLmAN
  The Patrol wouldn’t be anything 
  without its intrepid Patrolmen, and 
  you won’t be able to play Cosmic 
  Patrol without taking on the role of a 
  Patrolman. To do that, you’ll have to 
  choose one from the many different 
  options provided (see p. 76).
  Each Patrolman Dossier consists 
  of two pages and contains all the 
  pertinent information for characters 
  in Cosmic Patrol. To make sure you 
  choose a Patrolman you’ll like, you’ll 
  have to understand the different parts 
  of a Dossier. Let’s take a look at the 
  Dossier for Yawitz, Venusian Scientist.
  Illustration/description
  The first page of the Dossier 
  includes an illustration of the character, 
  along with Vital Factors, such as 
  name, age and so on. This section also 
  includes a set of one-word tags that 
  immediately provide a grasp of what 
  the character is like at a glance.
  This page also includes a short, 
  generic paragraph. This might provide 
  some insight into the race of the 
  character, or it might cover how the 
  Cosmic Patrol employs a given type 
  of Patrolman. The paragraph, along 
  with the tags—as well as the Cues 
  GAme RuLeS
  Gameplay in Cosmic Patrol 
  revolves around two things: Building 
  The Story and Rolling Dice. Once 
  a few more details are provided on 
  what you need before your game 
  begins, we’ll dive into explaining both 
  aspects.
  Note: The first time an important 
  term is introduced, it will be bolded. 
  dice
  As noted in the Introduction, 
  Cosmic Patrol uses polyhedral dice: 
  D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 and D20 (the 
  value representing how many faces 
  each dice has); anytime “D” is used, 
  as in “D12”, it’s shorthand for “Die”. 
  Abbreviations
  This section makes use of several 
  different types of abbreviation. 
  For example, if a term has an 
  abbreviation in parentheses behind 
  it, from that point forward the 
  abbreviation will be used: i.e. Lead 
  Narrator (LN).
  Another example is “Special Stat 
  Die,” “Brawn Stat Die,” “Combat 
  Stat Die” and so on. After they appear 
  as written the first time, all future 
  references will be abbreviated as 
  “Special Die,” “Brawn Die,” “Combat 
  Die” and so on. Each time it is 
  assumed the player will understand 
  that all such instances are referring to 
  a “Stat Die.”
  
  50 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  Brains: This corresponds to 
  the mental faculties of a Patrolman, 
  whether street smarts, learned science 
  or just plain inherent brilliance.
  Charisma: The ability to lead 
  or to talk your way out of situations 
  is based on your charisma; a 
  character’s presence as he walks into 
  a room.
  Combat: How good a person is 
  in combat—whether ranged, close 
  quarters, hand-to-hand or even ship-
  to-ship—is covered by this stat.
  Special: The Special Die 
  represents specialization in a given 
  field/category—in Yawtiz’ case, 
  the Special is “Expert Roboticist.” 
  Whenever a situation arises where a 
  player’s “Special” category applies, 
  the Special Die is used in place of a 
  standard Stat Die.
  and Disposition on the second page of 
  the Dossier (see next page)—provide 
  a framework off of which players can 
  weave their own unique back story 
  for any given Patrolman.
  Stats and Stat dice
  Beginning at the top of the second 
  page of the Dossier, you’ll see the 
  different stats for Yawitz and the 
  different dice that represent those 
  stats (Stat Dice); these can be a D4, 
  D6, D8, D10 or D12. 
  Brawn: This represents the 
  physical build of the character, 
  whether endurance (such as the 
  ability to run long distance), brute 
  strength (the ability to lift heavy 
  objects), sheer stamina (to withstand 
  the pummeling that can occur during 
  combat), and so on.
  COSMIC PATROL 15
  YAWITZ/VENUSIAN SCIENTIST
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Yawitz 
  Age: 77
  Homeworld: Venus 
  Rank: Scientist
  Tags: ❯ Venus  ❯ Intellect  ❯ Knowledge  ❯ Gruff
  ❯ Taskmaster  ❯ Silence  ❯ Inscrutable
  Venusians: Venus is a damaged world. Once, 
  the Venusians had a global empire, but it fell in 
  a cataclysmic war with the Automen. Now, the 
  planet is scarred and torn and the atmosphere 
  is toxic, choked with thick clouds that force 
  the Venusians to always wear goggles. Once 
  scientists without equal, they have fallen far 
  from their previous grandeur, though even in 
  their current state, their knowledge outstrips that 
  of any race in the solar system.
  cosmic patrol
  YAWITZ/VENUSIAN SCIENTIST
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  every MaN HaS a PlaN tHat wIll NOt wOrk.
  My PHaSeguN? It’S Here SOMewHere...
  If ONly I cOuld draIN tHe POwer SuPPly.
  NO dIStractIONS, PleaSe.
  eureka!
  tHIS MuSt be aNalyzed.
  tHIS IS aN Outrage!
  rObOtS are a blIgHt uPON tHe cOSMOS.
  I Have a tHeOry.
  fOcuSed, dedIcated tO Study.
  exPectS OtHerS tO kNOw tHeIr ScIeNce.
  tHe evIdeNce SuggeStS OtHerwISe.
  tHe quarkS are IN dISarray!
  INdeed, lIfe IS lIke a beaNStalk...
  I MuSt cOllate tHIS data.
  reMeMber tO carry tHe “1”.
  tHe SOlutION IS ObvIOuS.
  veNuSIaN eyeS are weak, HeNce gOggleS.
  let uS uSe reaSON...
  I dON’t Need NO StINkIN’ Peer revIew!
  dOeS NOt Suffer fOOlISH queStIONS.
  reluctaNt tO leave Safety Of lab.
  brawN
  braINS
  cHarISMa
  cOMbat
  atOMatIc PIStOl 
  exPert
  (SPecIal)
  luck
  8
  D8
  D8
  D6
  D10
  D10
  daMage
   close 
  Near 
  far
  raNge
  weaPONS
  equIPMeNt
  venusian Phasegun
  * +3 against automen & robots
  venusian tool kit
  atomoanalyzer
  venusian goggles
  telescoping unitool
  Spare Parts bag
  2*
   Ok Ok +3
  arMOr
  daMage
   close 
  Near 
  far
  raNge
  HealtH
  –1 tO
  brawN
  –1 tO brawN 
  & cOMbat
  kNOcked
  Out
  kIlled IN 
  actION
  
  BY THE BOOK 51
  COSMIC PATROL
  a scientist accustomed to a laboratory 
  rather than a battlefield, doesn’t 
  often wear armor and, as a result, 
  has relatively few armor pips. Armor 
  helps deflect damage during combat 
  (see p. 61)
  health
  The Health track defines the 
  Patrolman’s Health status. The 
  number of pips and number of pips 
  per row change depending on the 
  particular character. Healthier, more 
  robust Patrolmen have more pips and 
  may have a better arrangement on the 
  flowchart. Once a Patrolman’s armor 
  has been depleted from damage, 
  he begins to take damage to his 
  Health track. As injuries pile up, a 
  Patrolman will start to suffer negative 
  performance effects (see p. 65).
  weapons
  In a dangerous galaxy, every 
  smart Patrolman carries one or two 
  weapons. The weapons area lists 
  those weapons and the damage they 
  inflict on a successful hit, as well 
  as their range. Again, as a scientist, 
  Yawitz rarely carries more than 
  his trusty Venusian Phasegun. The 
  Phasegun works best at Near range 
  and does a healthy four points of 
  damage. If Yawitz successfully attacks 
  an opponent, the enemy would lose 
  four pips of his Armor/Health track.
  equipment
  While Yawitz only carries the 
  single weapon, he is never without 
  his tools and supplies, as shown in 
  the Equipment area of his Dossier. 
  Luck: Luck is a very special 
  number for each Patrolman. It’s not a 
  Stat Die, but instead a static number 
  that represents the capriciousness of 
  the universe. The Luck Stat is always 
  a number from 1 to 12. If a Stat Die 
  (or in the case of combat, the Combat 
  Die) result of any roll should ever 
  match the Patrolman’s Luck Stat, the 
  roll is a success, no matter what.
  Name, Ship and mission
  Below the Dossier’s stats are the 
  name of the Patrolman and blank 
  areas for players to insert the name 
  of the ship they’re currently on and 
  the mission they’ve undertaken. 
  This should aid in keeping track of 
  a Patrolman’s service record as they 
  rocket around the galaxy.
  Cues
  In the center of the Dossier are 
  the Patrolman’s Cues. These Cues 
  are statements or quotes that help 
  define the Patrolman—whether it’s his 
  attitude, capabilities or personality. 
  Each Cue helps form the basis of a 
  Narration (see p. 56).
  disposition
  Below the Cues are a few quick 
  lines that help convey the Disposition 
  of a given character; additional hooks 
  that help a player understand how 
  they might play a given Patrolman.
  Armor
  The Armor track gives the number 
  of Armor pips the Patrolman has—
  some have more, some less, depending 
  on the particular Patrolman. Yawitz, 
  
  52 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  to come back with amazing stories 
  to tell. Mission Briefs are the starting 
  points for Cosmic Patrol adventures.
  Mission Briefs supply all the 
  information you’ll need to start a 
  gameplay session with little effort 
  required on the part of the players. 
  Each Brief includes many points that 
  players can use to run the mission, 
  create Narrations or string together 
  multiple Missions into a Campaign 
  (see p. 55).
  •	 Orders from HQ: Every Brief 
  starts with a set of orders, usually 
  from Cosmic Patrol HQ. These 
  orders give a short overview of 
  what the Mission will be about, 
  what the objective will be and 
  what opposition the Patrolmen 
  can expect to find.
  •	 Mission Objectives: The 
  Objectives lists a set of events 
  or accomplishments that 
  Patrolmen are expected to do in 
  order to complete the Mission 
  successfully. The Objectives 
  aren’t mandatory. The crew could 
  discover or create new ways to 
  accomplish the Mission, or the 
  Mission may lead down a totally 
  new path during the adventure.
  •	 Mission Cues: The Mission’s 
  Cues function the same as the 
  Cues on a Patrolman Dossier. 
  Each Cue can be both the basis 
  for a Narration as well as a 
  description of the Mission itself. 
  If you draw a blank during a 
  Narration or want to make sure 
  your Narration stays “on topic,” 
  take a quick look at the Cues and 
  go from there.
  Unlike weapons, equipment in 
  Cosmic Patrol has no set stats. 
  Exactly what does an Atomic 
  Analyzer do, and how does it work? 
  The player may have to answer those 
  questions during gameplay with a 
  clever Narration (see p. 56).
  NPC dossiers
  Finally, there are two types 
  of Dossiers—those for fleshed-
  out characters like Patrolmen or 
  particularly important enemies, and 
  those for less-important characters 
  like henchmen or supporting 
  characters. These non-player character 
  (NPC) Dossiers are half the size of 
  normal Dossiers and contain much 
  less information.
  Note
  Players can easily grab a 
  Patrolman Dossier and leap into 
  action based on the name of a 
  character, his Cues or even just the 
  artwork. However, some players may 
  feel the need to fully understand how 
  the core dice-rolling mechanics work 
  before making such a decision. In 
  such an instance, the players should 
  thoroughly review the Rolling Dice 
  portion of this section before selecting 
  their Dossier (see p. 60).
  SeLeCt A mISSIoN BRIef
  There’s no such thing as a 
  “standard” tour on a Patrol 
  rocketship. Whether Cosmic Patrol 
  HQ sends you on a specific mission 
  or you happen to stumble across 
  adventure accidentally, you’re going 
  
  BY THE BOOK 53
  COSMIC PATROL
  •	 Many of the enemies noted in 
  various Briefs have Dossiers 
  within this book. Other Mission 
  Briefs, however, mention enemies 
  that do not have ready-made 
  Dossiers. Players can easily grab 
  an existing NPC Dossiers “as is” 
  with a simple name change, can 
  tweak the stats slightly to provide 
  a different experience if they’ve 
  run into that NPC before, or they 
  can use the rules on page 73 to 
  generate a whole new NPC.
  As with almost every aspect of 
  Cosmic Patrol, much of the information 
  given in a Mission Brief is up to the 
  discretion of the players. Want to add 
  your own Cues? Go for it! Want to 
  change parts of the Scene? No prob! 
  Want to change the Objectives? No 
  one’s stopping you! Always remember 
  to keep the fun factor high.
  the LeAd NARRAtoR 
  Cosmic Patrol does not require 
  a gamemaster for play—instead the 
  responsibilities of the LN rotate from 
  player to player throughout the game. 
  However, an appointed LN isn’t 
  prohibited either. Ultimately, it’s up to 
  the player group. If the group performs 
  better with a dedicated LN, appoint 
  one. But if the group doesn’t require 
  one, simply use the rules as presented.
  There are many methods of 
  choosing the game’s first LN. Whether 
  you use age (oldest or youngest), a die 
  roll (highest or lowest) or coin flips 
  doesn’t matter. Decide on a method, 
  choose your first LN and get ready 
  to play!
  •	 Mission Tags: Tags give short 
  descriptions of the Mission 
  itself in order to give players 
  the gist of the adventure or to 
  aid the creation of a campaign. 
  For instance, if your current 
  rocketship crew is tooling around 
  in the outer reaches of the Solar 
  System, you could look at the 
  Mission Brief for A Sargasso of 
  Space (see p. 121) and see its 
  tags include both “Neptune” 
  and “rocketships.” If the mission 
  seems plausible as a next 
  adventure, use it!
  The second page of the Mission 
  Brief gives information specific to the 
  adventure as it will effect gameplay:
  •	 Opening Narration: The top 
  gives the Opening Narration 
  to be read by the LN at the 
  beginning of the Mission. This 
  gets the ball rolling and gives 
  players a quick overview of 
  what’s going on.
  •	 The Setting: Below that is The 
  Setting—a description of the 
  local area where the crew finds 
  itself at the beginning of the 
  Mission. The scale of the setting 
  can fluctuate between Missions—
  in one Mission it may be the 
  interior of a rocketship, while in 
  another it may be a large volume 
  of space around the crew’s ship.
  •	 Enemies and Obstacles (Scenes): 
  Finally, an Enemies/Obstacles list 
  gives the opponents and obstacles 
  that the crew may have to defeat 
  or overcome to successfully 
  complete the Mission, with each 
  considered a Scene, of the overall 
  Mission Brief (see p. 54).
  
  54 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  LN begins the turn, he is the last to 
  act with his Patrolman.
  Once all players have had a 
  chance to narrate their Patrolman’s 
  actions, the turn ends and a new turn 
  begins.
  SCeNeS
  A Scene is defined as the start 
  and finish of a given section of time 
  within a Mission Brief. A Scene will 
  contain a number of turns, which 
  will vary depending upon what’s 
  occurring within a given Scene. 
  For example, the A Sargasso Of 
  Space Mission Brief (see p. 121), 
  contains the following details:
  BuILdING the StoRy: 
  PLAyING CoSmIC PAtRoL
  The majority of a game session 
  will be spent building the story of the 
  adventure. Once each player has a set 
  of dice, the appropriate Patrolman 
  Dossier at hand, a Mission Brief 
  selected, and an LN has been chosen 
  you’re ready to get started. 
  Cosmic Patrol play is divided into 
  a series of segments that build on each 
  other: Turns & Narrations, Scenes, 
  Mission Briefs and Campaigns. These 
  are described below.
  tuRNS ANd NARRAtIoNS
  At its core, Cosmic Patrol 
  gameplay is divided into a series 
  of turns. Each turn, every player 
  will have a chance to play out 
  and describe his Patrolman’s 
  actions. These descriptions are 
  called Narrations, and as the game 
  progresses these Narrations will build 
  on each other and form the story of 
  the game.
  Lead Narrator
  Each turn begins with the LN and 
  continues with the player on the LN’s 
  left until all players have had a turn at 
  Narration.
  The LN begins the turn by giving 
  a narrative of the current situation 
  and advances the plot, as previously 
  described under Mission Briefs. 
  The LN also makes any actions or 
  die rolls for enemies/obstacles the 
  Patrolmen may encounter. Though the 
  eNemIeS/oBStACLeS 
  Scene 1: The first obstacle is the wild 
  nature of the sargasso. Ships slowly 
  careen about, with many strikes and 
  impacts. The crew will have to find a 
  way to navigate the chaos. 
  Scene 2: Once inside the ships, there 
  may be traps, malfunctioning robots, 
  crewmen driven mad in isolation, not 
  to mention dilapidated and broken 
  machinery. No ship will be without its 
  dangers. 
  Scene 3: The search for a 
  replacement ignitor may be difficult. 
  And when found, could be difficult 
  to handle as the unit is large and 
  delicate with age. Finding the way 
  back to your own ship is tricky 
  enough and now the machinery must 
  be taken along.
  
  BY THE BOOK 55
  COSMIC PATROL
  developed over the first three Scenes, 
  the group decides it’s appropriate 
  to add in a new, fourth Scene, that 
  helps to close up some of the plot 
  threads that grew through players’ 
  Narrations, and so they keep playing. 
  While a third group may not have as 
  long to play as the other groups, so 
  they actually split the Mission Brief 
  up into two different days of gaming 
  sessions. Whatever works for each 
  playing group is just fine.
  CAmPAIGN
  While the contents of this book 
  are primarily geared toward a single 
  day’s game session, enterprising 
  groups can easily stitch multiple 
  Mission Briefs together to build a 
  much larger story that will span 
  many gaming sessions. 
  This can be done intentionally: 
  the group as a whole deciding 
  what larger stories they’d like to 
  participate in, or perhaps even 
  assigning a single LN to devise 
  some plots that will bridge multiple 
  Mission Briefs. It can also occur 
  unintentionally, when players realize 
  that after wrapping up a Mission 
  Brief gaming session that there are 
  still some excellent plots threads 
  developed and not wrapped up that 
  will spawn new, exciting Mission 
  Briefs in a longer campaign.
  Each of the three descriptions of 
  the Enemies/Obstacles that can be 
  found in that Mission Brief is a Scene. 
  As noted above, there is no hard and 
  fast rule on how many turns are in a 
  Scene. Instead, that will be based on 
  how many players are involved, their 
  style of play and their Narrations, 
  which ultimately leads to how quickly 
  (or slowly) they’re able to accomplish 
  the goals of a given Scene.
  Lead Narrator
  The LN starts a Scene and is 
  the LN for every turn until a Scene 
  is accomplished. Once a Scene is 
  finished, the player to the right of the 
  current LN becomes the new LN. The 
  new LN starts the first turn of the 
  new Scene by providing a narrative 
  of the current situation, and so on, as 
  described above.
  mISSIoN BRIef
  A Mission Brief usually 
  constitutes a single game session 
  and is finished when all of the 
  Scenes within a Mission Brief are 
  accomplished. How many Scenes are 
  required to finish a mission Brief is 
  up to the player group. 
  For example, one player group 
  may decide that after accomplishing 
  the three Scenes set out in the A 
  Sargasso of Space the Mission Brief 
  is done and their Cosmic Patrol 
  gaming for that day is over. Another 
  group, however, may be playing the 
  same Mission Brief, but perhaps due 
  to the way in which the plot has 
  
  56 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  Dossier and sees the Cue “You 
  First!” That makes sense, as Bat-
  Ears has a low Combat Die...
  only a D6. So Collin decides to 
  defer...
  “‘Uh guys!’ Bradley 
  exclaims. He jumps behind a 
  big, solid-looking boulder and 
  yells, “You first! I’m just a 
  mechanic!’”
  movING the StoRy foRwARd
  Help, the LN just passed to me 
  and it’s hopeless! The Patrolmen are 
  trapped in a decaying energy bubble, 
  light minutes from any rocketship and 
  all they have is a pocket knife, a copy 
  of Canterbury Tales, six matches and 
  a defective balloon (deflated). What 
  am I supposed to do?
  Simple. Take a deep breath and 
  say, “Yes, and…” 
  Collaborative Narration is 
  about creating a story and moving 
  it forward. Cosmic Patrol is 
  about being a heroic Patrolman, 
  facing impossible challenges and 
  overcoming them in the most 
  improbable and fun ways. It is all 
  about saying “yes” to fun, not “no” 
  to something unexpected.
  So when you are faced with the 
  impossible, you smile and say “Yes, 
  and…” Then you make it up! There is 
  no wrong way in Cosmic Patrol. Want 
  to have the crew swallowed by an 
  interphasal space whale that happens 
  to be headed to Earth to bathe in the 
  Northern Lights? Then do it! But be 
  ready for the LN to have the whale 
  stopped short when it runs into a 
  BuILdING the StoRy: 
  NARRAtIoN ANd fLow
  Giving a Narration is quite easy. 
  All a player has to do is describe 
  what his or her Patrolman is doing: 
  whether it’s engaging in combat, 
  exploring a room or repairing a 
  device. If any action has a chance 
  of failure, then a dice roll is made 
  to determine whether the action 
  succeeds or fails.
  Many Narrations are based on 
  Cues provided on Patrolman Dossiers 
  or Mission Briefs.
  CueS
  Cues are building blocks players 
  can use as a basis for Narrations.
  Cues are both suggestions and 
  descriptions. Cues can be positive 
  and negative and never have to be 
  narrated the same way twice. If a 
  player draws a blank or wants to 
  make sure he’s staying on-topic, he 
  can take a look at a list of Cues and 
  choose an appropriate one to base a 
  Narration around.
  Collin—playing as rocketship 
  mechanic William “Bat-Ears” 
  Bradley—finds himself in a 
  firefight at the beginning of his 
  next turn. He’s the first player 
  to make a Narration this turn 
  and the situation isn’t good: the 
  crew is trapped in a cave, facing 
  a dozen Uth lizardmen armed 
  with stolen ray guns. Collin 
  takes a quick look at Bat-Ears’ 
  
  BY THE BOOK 57
  COSMIC PATROL
  of the Oort cloud. Yawitz, you 
  estimate that within ten seconds 
  the bulkhead will be completely 
  out of phase. Commander 
  Carragher, you are up first.”
  Steve, to Brent’s left, blinks 
  for a moment, then gives a big 
  smile and says, “Yes, and on 
  seeing the wall disappear before 
  his eyes Commander Carragher 
  yells, “Yawitz, reverse the 
  polarity on the phasal multiplier 
  to shore up this wall, I’m 
  headed for the bridge to activate 
  our guns. I’m a soldier, not a 
  scientist!” 
  Josef, Yawitz’s player 
  mouths to himself “phasal 
  multiplier?” With a shrug 
  and a smile he picks up the 
  thread of the adventure. “Yes, 
  Commander.” Josef drops one 
  of his Plot Point tokens on the 
  table. “Because we’re halfway 
  between the bridge and the 
  engine room I know there 
  isn’t a nearby control station, 
  so I’ll just use my unitool to 
  adjust my Venusian phase gun 
  so it will counteract the effects 
  of whatever is causing our 
  bulkhead to disappear.” Out-of-
  character Joseph then says to the 
  LN “I’ll use the Plot Point to 
  support this.” Josef rolls a D12 
  for the test, adding D10 for his 
  Brains Stat, getting an 8 and 6 
  for a total of 14. 
  Brent, as the LN, rolls the 
  opposing D20, rolling a 17. 
  Looking at the result Brent 
  shakes his head “It appears your 
  wormhole tollgate and the whale left 
  his wallet in his other flippers. After 
  all, the rule is “Yes, and...”
  For example, the players are all 
  gathered around the table for the 
  night’s adventure (Mission Brief) 
  and are already in the thick of the 
  action. In the previous turn, Brent, 
  the current LN, stated that one of 
  the bulkheads of the Patromen’s 
  rocketship was acting funny, and the 
  Patrolmen leapt into action.
  After the rest of the players 
  make their Narrations in an 
  effort to determine what’s going 
  on, Brent’s Patrolman (as the 
  LN, his character is the last to 
  act in a turn), says “I use my 
  uniwrench to turn the cutoff 
  valve of the trenelium vapor 
  conduit,” hoping that’ll solve the 
  problem of the strange-acting 
  bulkhead.
  It is now the beginning of 
  the next turn, and Brent, still 
  the LN, sets the stage for the 
  start of this turn’s events. He 
  takes a moment to gather his 
  thoughts, based upon what’s just 
  transpired from the previous 
  turn, and says “Unfortunately, 
  that didn’t work and the 
  bulkhead inexplicably begins to 
  go out of phase. If the bulkhead 
  goes, our intrepid Patrolmen 
  will be exposed to the cold hard 
  vacuum of space. Each time 
  the wall blinks out of phase, 
  to the rush of escaping air, you 
  can all see a Frendulian Dread 
  Rocketship rising from the haze 
  
  58 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  Players will be earning and 
  spending Plot Points throughout 
  the game and using some type of 
  tokens (such as poker chips) is the 
  best method to track them. However, 
  players are free to use whatever 
  system works best, whether it’s chips, 
  dice, noting them down on a piece of 
  paper/table/smart phone, and so on.
  earning Plot Points: Players
  Players begin the game with 
  three Plot Points each and may be 
  awarded more points by the LN for 
  particularly good Narrations. Players 
  may have a maximum of five Plot 
  Points at any time and only one point 
  may be awarded to a player at a time.
  Players with no Plot Points 
  are automatically given one at the 
  beginning of their turn.
  The LN is the only person who 
  may award Plot Points.
  earning Plot Points: Lead Narrator
  The LN also receives Plot Points 
  into a Plot Pool. The LN starts a 
  Mission Brief with 1 Plot Point and 
  every time a player spends a Plot 
  Point (see below), the LN receives a 
  Plot Point.
  Unlike the players, the LN’s Plot 
  Pool has no size limit.
  The Plot Pool transfers between 
  LNs in between Scenes. If the Plot 
  Pool is empty at the start of a new 
  Scene, the new LN receives 1 Plot 
  Point. 
  Spending Plot Points: Players
  No matter what effect you want 
  to cause, the cost is one Plot Point 
  phase gun did its job too well. 
  Yes, the wall is back in phase, 
  but now the ship is slowly being 
  consumed by a temporal stasis 
  field. If the field completely 
  envelopes the ship the Patrolmen 
  will be locked in hibernation 
  until we are freed. Or the 
  Frendulian blast us to oblivion. 
  Whichever comes first.” Brent 
  turns to Jo, nodding to him that 
  it is his turn. 
  Jo just smiles. Pantomiming 
  opening a flask and affecting 
  his best Bat-Ears voice he says, 
  “And if that’s not an excuse 
  for a drink, then I don’t know 
  what is!” Taking an imaginary 
  sip, Jo wipes his mouth with his 
  sleeve. “Now then, let’s see if we 
  can fix what Venusie boyo here 
  muddled up….”
  PLot PoINtS
  Plots can take twists you never 
  saw coming—a rogue rocket full of 
  space amazons, that hidden button 
  that does something, a wild raygun 
  blast at the wrong moment. Plot 
  Points can make all these happen!
  In gameplay, Plot Points may be 
  used in many ways. In general, they 
  are used to interrupt or alter another 
  player’s Narration—a method of 
  adding a twist to the game. But they 
  can also be used to change player 
  turn order, alter a die roll or gain 
  back a point of health. The ways 
  players may utilize Plot Points are 
  only limited by how creative they 
  want to be.
  
  BY THE BOOK 59
  COSMIC PATROL
  TM
  Spending Plot Points:
  Lead Narrator
  Like players, the LN can spend 
  Plot Points in any fashion he chooses, 
  with the following caveats:
  •	 Plot Points can only be spent to 
  aid NPCs/create plot twists; they 
  cannot be spent to directly aide/
  hinder a player.
  •	 The LN can only spend 1 Plot 
  Point per turn.
  tRouBLeShootING
  In an improv-style game such as 
  Cosmic Patrol, the single greatest 
  issue that can suck the life and 
  energy out of a gaming session is if 
  players start spending too much time 
  deliberating over their actions and 
  Narrations. If you’ve ever watched 
  an improv play, when a character 
  pauses too long trying to follow up 
  with what’s just been said, you’re 
  thrown out of the action and the 
  energy is gone.
  If this starts to occur, players 
  should work together as a group 
  to help a player feel more at ease 
  with this style of play. This could be 
  practice sessions outside of a game, 
  or could be something as simple as 
  finding an enjoyable improv play to 
  watch that can provide an example of 
  how this style can unfold.
  and the change is immediately made 
  to the game. Players may not spend 
  more than one point at a time in 
  an attempt to maximize the twist, 
  though they can spend multiple Plot 
  Points during any player’s Narration 
  (whether their own, or another 
  player’s).
  Example things to do with Plot 
  Points:
  •	 Change turn order
  •	 Give a modifier to a dice roll 
  (positive or negative)
  •	 Unseen alien attacks!
  •	 Regain a health point
  •	 The rocket engines suddenly shut 
  down
  •	 The sky’s the limit!
  A new turn of Cosmic Patrol 
  has started and Ron’s Patrolman 
  is injured. At the beginning of 
  his turn, Ron spends one Plot 
  Point to regain a point of health.
  He deposits his Plot Point 
  token into the used pile and 
  restores one of the Health pips 
  on his Patrolman’s Dossier. He 
  then makes a quick Narration:
  “Capt. Carragher, still 
  smarting from that tangle with 
  a Plutonian pit dweller, downs a 
  robustapill.”
  Just remember, Plot Point use 
  doesn’t always mean a positive 
  change. Often plot twists are a 
  negative event—something goes 
  wrong that must be fixed or adapted 
  to by the characters.
  
  60 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  however, if the situation is too muddy, 
  the LN makes the decision on which 
  Stat Die to use. 
  Modifiers: Modifiers represent 
  good or bad situational circumstances 
  that take an ordinary situation 
  and make them extraordinary. For 
  example, while trying to work on 
  X, the player is: being attacked (a 
  negative modifier); he’s wounded (a 
  negative modifier); there’s no gravity 
  (depending upon what is trying 
  to be accomplished it could be a 
  positive or negative modifier); the 
  player is getting additional help (this 
  also could be a positive or negative 
  modifier depending upon the Stat 
  Die of the player trying to help); 
  the device he’s working on is extra 
  difficult (a negative modifier)…or 
  extra easy (a positive modifier)—the 
  sky’s the limit on what might happen. 
  The decision on what modifiers are 
  applied to any die roll, if any, and 
  whether they are positive or negative, 
  is always made by the LN.
  Special: If the Patrolman has a 
  Special Die that is appropriate to the 
  current situation (as determined by 
  the LN), the player will use that die 
  rather than the usual Stat Die (see 
  Special, p. 50).
  Luck Stat
  Always remember that regardless 
  of the overall result, if a Stat Die (or 
  Special Die, if used) result equals the 
  character’s Luck Stat, that character 
  automatically succeeds at his action 
  (see p. 51).
  RoLLING dICe
  No matter how well your 
  storytelling is unfolding, there will 
  come a time when the dice need to 
  come out to help resolve a given 
  situation. The following details the 
  process of how that works.
  the CoRe meChANIC
  As a shoot-em-up, by-the-seat-
  of-your-spacesuit role-playing 
  game, Cosmic Patrol uses a simple, 
  cinematic dice-rolling mechanic 
  to resolve Challenges, Tests and 
  Combat.
  the Basic mechanic
  for Challenges and tests
  A D12 is the Base Die, and forms 
  the foundation that all players’ rolls 
  are based upon. The result of this roll 
  is modified by the appropriate Stat 
  Die and any additional Modifiers. 
  The basic dice rolling mechanic for all 
  Challenges & Tests is:
  D12 + Stat Die (D4, D6, D8, D10, 
  D12) + Modifiers vs. D20
  A Challenge is any action taken 
  against an inanimate object, while 
  a Test is any action taken against 
  another character or any NPC that is 
  non-combat related.
  Which Stat Die To Use: The 
  appropriate Stat Die to use will 
  usually be very easy to determine: 
  trying to lift something heavy? Brawn. 
  Trying to outsmart an opponent? 
  Brains. And so on. Ultimately, 
  
  BY THE BOOK 61
  COSMIC PATROL
  modifiers. The basic dice rolling 
  mechanic for all combat is:
  Combat Stat Die + Bonuses vs. 
  Combat Stat Die + Bonuses
  As shown, combat is a 
  straightforward contest between 
  combatant’s Combat Dies, plus any 
  applicable modifiers. 
  modifiers
  As with Challenge and Test 
  rolls, Combat can have a variety of 
  situational modifiers added, all of 
  which are decided upon by the LN. 
  Ranges
  All weapons fall into three range 
  brackets for combat (the range 
  of each weapon is noted on the 
  Patrolman’s Dossier) with an “OK,” a 
  “–3” or a “—”:
  •	 Close (Melee)
  •	 Near (Pistols)
  •	 Far (Rifles)
  If a weapon is used in a range 
  bracket one higher than its noted 
  bracket, apply a –3 modifier. A 
  weapon cannot be used in a range 
  bracket two higher than its bracket, 
  though it can always be used in 
  a closer bracket. For example, an 
  Amazon’s axe is a Close (Melee) 
  weapon: if it’s used at Near range the 
  player would apply a –3 modifier; 
  it cannot be used at Far range. For 
  a beam rifle, however, which has a 
  Far range, it can be used at Near or 
  Close without any issues.
  While on a mission to the 
  Coalsack Dead Zone, the crew 
  of the rocketship Consolidator 
  finds itself captured by 
  Hakhaze slavers. Scott—
  playing as Yawitz, a Venusian 
  scientist—decides his Patrolman 
  has a good chance of picking 
  the electrilock on the crew’s 
  prison cell.
  Picking a complicated lock 
  is definitely a Challenge as it’s 
  against an inanimate object. 
  Scott decides this is a test of 
  Brains (the LN agrees), which 
  is perfect for Yawitz, who has a 
  D10 in that category. Scott rolls 
  for the Challenge, rolling a D12 
  (Base Die) and a D10 (Brains 
  Die). The LN rolls a D20 for 
  the lock; the LN decides there 
  are no special circumstances 
  requiring any additional 
  modifiers. The result is:
  4 (D12) + 9 (D10) + 0 (no bonus) = 
  13 vs. 6 (D20)
  A big success! With little 
  effort, Yawitz picks the 
  electrilock and the crew makes 
  its daring escape!
  ComBAt
  Combat is a variation on the 
  basic dice rolling mechanic for 
  Challenges and Tests. The Combat 
  Die forms the foundation of all 
  combat rolls instead of the usual 
  D12 Base Die. The result of this 
  roll is altered by any applicable 
  
  62 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  combatants are at a significant 
  range from one another and the LN 
  decides the “winner” of a combat roll 
  couldn’t possibly damage the “loser”, 
  he simply doesn’t apply damage and 
  moves on; in this instance “winning” 
  was simply an avoidance of damage 
  on the winner’s part.
  Samantha—playing as Audrey 
  Orion, of the Cosmic Patrol 
  Intelligence Service—has been 
  working to infiltrate an Eiger 
  fortress planet. She’s successfully 
  landed her one-person rocketship 
  without being sighted, but has 
  to make her way through a 
  dangerous alien jungle on foot.
  Orion doesn’t get more than 
  a kilometer from her ship when 
  she comes across a fearsome 
  beast—all claws and teeth, and 
  a few extra mouths too. Using 
  her atomatic pistol would alert 
  the Eiger to her presence, so she 
  elects to use her trusty phasic 
  whip instead.
  Before making the die roll, 
  however, both the player and 
  LN make a few decisions. First, 
  Audrey is an expert with a phasic 
  whip, shown by her Special Die 
  (Phasic Whip), which is a D10, 
  and so she’s able to use that in 
  place of her standard Combat Die. 
  Additionally, the LN decides that, 
  as a highly trained agent, Orion 
  receives a +1 modifier to her dice 
  roll. Finally, the phasic whip, as 
  a Melee weapon (noted on the 
  Patrolman Dossier), has a Close 
  range, while the LN determines 
  It is important to note that real-
  world ranges are not provided here, 
  as it’s too easy to get bogged down 
  into endless specifics. Instead the LN 
  quickly determines which “range 
  bracket” should apply in a given 
  situation. For example, if a Patrolman 
  can take a few steps and punch a 
  slavering Ovoidious Slatherer, that’s 
  Close; if the Slatherer bursts onto a 
  large deck of a spaceship with the 
  Patrolmen, or is a long rock throw 
  away on an asteroid, that’s Near; if 
  the Patrolman can block the creature 
  out of his sight by holding up his flat 
  hand, that’s Far. Ultimately, of course, 
  it’s completely up to each gaming 
  group to get a good feel for what 
  works for them regarding the specifics 
  of range brackets.
  Special die
  If the Patrolman has a Special 
  Die that is combat-related and 
  appropriate to the current situation 
  (as determined by the LN), the player 
  will use that die rather than the 
  Combat Die (see Special, p. 51).
  Luck Stat
  Always remember that regardless 
  of the overall result, if a Combat 
  Die (or Special Die, if used) result 
  equals the character’s Luck Stat, 
  that character automatically wins 
  (see p. 52).
  unusual Circumstances
  Any time an unusual circumstance 
  arises not directly covered by the 
  rules, the LN modifies the situation 
  on the fly. For example, if two 
  
  BY THE BOOK 63
  COSMIC PATROL
  of a large open area. Steve rolls 
  a D8 (Carragher’s Combat Die) 
  and the LN rolls a D6 (the space 
  pirate’s Combat Die). Because 
  Carragher can attack from a 
  distance and the pirate can’t, 
  the LN awards a +1 modifier 
  to Carragher’s roll. Steve rolls a 
  7, adds the +1 bonus for a final 
  result of 8. The space pirate rolls 
  a 3; with the –3 modifier for 
  trying to attack with a weapon 
  into a larger range bracket, the 
  result is 0. The pirate loses and 
  gets shot.
  Of course, there are many 
  ways this could have played out.
  Steve loses the roll:
  Steve rolls badly with the 
  D8 resulting in a 1. With the +1 
  modifier, the result is only 2. The 
  pirate rolls high and gets a 6; 
  with the –3 modifier it becomes 
  3. While the rules allow the LN 
  to say that the pirate could’ve 
  won that round and thrown the 
  dagger to hit Carragher, the LN 
  decides this space pirate isn’t that 
  good, so Carragher’s shot simply 
  misses the target.
  Steve loses the roll and a Plot 
  Point is used:
  Steve loses the roll again, but 
  this time another player spends 
  a Plot Point to have Carragher 
  win the fight, and immediately 
  tosses out a Narration: “The 
  shot misses wildly, but as luck 
  would have it, the impact of 
  the blast knocks down a nearby 
  that the alien creature starts the 
  current turn at Near range, which 
  applies a –3 modifier. 
  The alien beast has a straight 
  up Combat Die of D10, which 
  the LN will roll, so it’s time to 
  grab the dice, which have the 
  following results:
  7 (D10; Special) + 1 (highly trained) 
  – 3 (at Near range) = 5 vs. 9 (D10; 
  Combat Die) + 0 (no modifiers)
  It doesn’t go well for Orion! 
  The alien creature, at home in the 
  jungle, dodges the Patrolman’s 
  attack. In this instance, however, 
  while the LN would’ve allowed 
  Audrey’s phasic whip to “lash 
  out” from Close range to Near 
  range to deal damage if she’d won 
  the die roll, the LN decides this 
  particular beast has no way to 
  attack out of Close range and so 
  no damage is done to Audrey.
  Next turn, however, the 
  creature will move into Close 
  range and if it wins again, this 
  time the attack will strike for 
  damage!
  In another example, Steve’s 
  Patrolman, Cody Carragher, is 
  facing off with a space pirate. 
  Carragher is using a unibeam 
  rifle he found earlier in the 
  game. The space pirate only has 
  a knife and is on the other side 
  
  64 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  to use his innate knowledge of his 
  ship and the surrounding space to 
  lose his pursuer (though it could 
  require multiple rolls if he’s weaving 
  through an asteroid field, then 
  skimming a planet’s atmosphere to 
  spike his delta-v, and then trying to 
  merge his signature with the long 
  tail of a comet as it heads out of 
  system). 
  However, if the players find 
  themselves in a straight up ship-to-
  ship atomic gun fight, the LN may 
  decide it’s Combat. Or, depending 
  upon the size of the rocketship the 
  players are on, the LN may require 
  the commander to make a Brains 
  Test (the piloting of the ship), 
  while another character makes the 
  Combat roll (actually firing the 
  guns).
  Finally, how much damage a 
  ship can take and how that damage 
  affects its movement, weapons 
  fire and so on is absolutely up to 
  the plot and how the storyline is 
  developing: any rocketship is as 
  strong—or not—as the plot needs 
  it to be. Instead of tracking the 
  nitty-gritty details of damage to the 
  ship, the LN should weave that type 
  of information into the narrative: 
  bulkheads cracking; anti-gravity 
  failures; explosive decompressions; 
  fractum drive overloads; phasing 
  decks; power system fluctuations 
  and failures—the sky (or space 
  in this instance) is absolutely the 
  limit for the fun and challenging 
  scenarios you can throw at your 
  players to overcome during such a 
  conflict. 
  column, which lands on the 
  space pirate, crushing him 
  mercilessly.”
  Steve loses the roll and a Plot 
  Point is used, but for the pirate:
  Steve loses the fight and 
  another player is feeling 
  meddlesome. Joe spends a Plot 
  Point in favor of the pirate! 
  Rolling with the punches, Steve 
  narrates the scene: “The pirate 
  dodges the unibeam shot and 
  hurls his knife at Carragher. 
  As luck would have it, the 
  knife finds its mark and slices 
  into Carragher’s arm.” In this 
  instance, though the LN would 
  not have given the space pirate 
  the ability to hit out of his range 
  bracket, because a Plot Point 
  was used, he rolls with the flow.
  There are numerous ways the 
  encounter could play out. Just 
  remember to roll with the dice 
  and the Plot Points—anything 
  can happen!
  Rocketship Combat
  There is no separate system for 
  combat between rocketships. Instead, 
  the focus is kept where it should be, 
  on the action of the characters, with 
  the LN deciding what Challenges/
  Tests/Combat should occur under any 
  given situation.
  For example, if a player group’s 
  rocketship is trying to outrun an 
  Eiger vessel, then the LN could 
  decide it’s a straight-up Brains Test 
  of the commander/pilot, as he tries 
  
  BY THE BOOK 65
  COSMIC PATROL
  •	 Second X: When the second “X” 
  (on the third row) is reached, a –1 
  to all Brawn and Combat future 
  rolls is immediately applied. 
  •	 Knocked Out: When the 
  “Knocked Out” pip is crossed 
  out, the character is unconscious 
  and may take no actions (he does 
  not give any more Narrations 
  until he’s healed; he cannot spend 
  any Plot Points either). 
  •	 Dead: If the “Dead” pip is crossed 
  off, the cosmos finally got its 
  man...or woman...or robot....well, 
  got its due, let’s say.
  Secondary Effects: Cosmic Patrol 
  doesn’t assume weapons have any other 
  effects beyond straight-up damage 
  as noted on the various Dossiers. 
  However, like the equipment also 
  noted on the Dossiers, players and LNs 
  are free to come up with additional 
  fantastical effects from a weapon. 
  For example, Vena Rinkman’s 
  Jarvi Stun Pistol not only has “stun” 
  in the name, but its damage isn’t very 
  good. As such, a player choosing 
  Vena could pitch to the group that in 
  addition to the damage, the weapon 
  knocks the target out. The starting 
  LN feels that might be a little too 
  powerful and counters that if the 
  weapon successfully strikes the target, 
  he’ll make a Brawn Test against a 
  target value: if he succeeds the target 
  withstood the effects, if he fails the 
  target is immediately in dreamland for 
  long minutes.
  Meanwhile an LN may decide 
  when a Cometarian Shard Gun hits the 
  target that the spikes are so ice-cold it 
  damage, Armor and health
  Whenever a fight occurs, or a 
  dangerous situation is encountered, 
  there’s a chance a Patrolman could 
  take damage.
  Damage: If the damage occurs as 
  part of combat, the damage taken 
  by the losing party depends on the 
  weapon used. On every Dossier, 
  there’s a “Weapons” area that lists the 
  weapon a character started the game 
  with and its Damage Value. This is 
  usual a static value, but can be a die 
  value; i.e. “Roll D4” means every time 
  a player makes a successful attack 
  with that weapon he rolls D4 and 
  assigns the roll result as a Damage 
  Value to the target.
  Whenever a character takes 
  damage, the damage is first applied 
  to the Armor column of the Dossier. 
  Once all Armor pips are marked off, 
  damage then begins to apply to the 
  Health column and if that happens, 
  things are serious!
  Health Flow Chart: The Health 
  column of the Patrolman Dossier takes 
  the form of a flowchart. Players start 
  at the top, left-hand pip and move to 
  the right until the first row is marked 
  off, then move to the left-hand pip of 
  the second row and move to the right 
  until the second row is marked off, 
  and so on.
  •	 First X: When the first “X” (on 
  the second row) is reached, the 
  character immediately applies a 
  –1 penalty to all future Brawn Die 
  rolls.
  
  66 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  Carry Limits: A Patrolman can 
  carry no more than two weapons at 
  a time. If the player already has two 
  and wants the Patrolman to acquire a 
  new weapon, a current weapon must 
  be discarded.
  Changing Out Weapons: A 
  Patrolman could end up using a 
  weapon that he didn’t start the game 
  with. In those cases, when a weapon is 
  found that’s not previously been used 
  in a game, use this rule of thumb:
  •	 Normal weapons do 2 points of 
  damage
  •	 Larger, heavier weapons may do 4 
  points of damage
  •	 Rare, extremely dangerous or 
  special weapons may do 6
  •	 In place of a static Damage Value 
  a die can be assigned, which is 
  rolled every time the weapon 
  strikes a target to determine 
  damage: only use D4 or D6.
  •	 Melee Weapons are “Ok” at Close 
  range, “–3” at Near range and 
  cannot be used at Far range.
  •	 Pistols are “Ok” at Close and 
  Near range, and “–3” at Far range
  •	 Rifles are “Ok” at all three ranges
  •	 Tweaking the values above will 
  create weapons with their own 
  flavor
  And The Rest: Cosmic Patrol 
  doesn’t require players to track 
  mundane things like ammunition or 
  shots fired per turn, or how quickly a 
  player can move in combat, or change 
  clips, and so on. If there’s a good 
  reason to blaze away with a Lincoln 
  numbs a part of the target, applying a 
  –1 to any other actions from the struck 
  target for the next D4 turns. 
  And so on. As usual, let your 
  imaginations soar!
  Regaining Armor/Health: 
  Fortunately, there are many ways 
  to regain Health or repair Armor. 
  A player could spend a Plot Point 
  to regain a pip of Health or Armor. 
  Some characters carry first aid kits as 
  equipment, which can restore Health. 
  Additionally, some characters are 
  doctors or engineers and can use a 
  Narration to fix Armor or help heal a 
  crewmate; in this instance how much 
  they repair the Armor and/or the 
  Health of a character could largely 
  depend upon the quality/uniqueness 
  of their Narration, with the LN 
  fixing two or even more pips for a 
  particularly superb recitation.
  weapons
  Weapons come in all shapes, 
  types and sizes. You name it…and it 
  probably comes in a variety of colors 
  and styles as well.
  Cosmic Patrol characters start 
  each mission with a default set of 
  weapons. These are listed on the 
  Patrolman’s Dossier along with the 
  amount of damage they do when used 
  successfully against a target, and their 
  range bracket. 
  Some Patrolmen are experts with 
  a type of weapon or even with one 
  individual weapon in particular and 
  can use their Special Die in place of 
  the Combat Die when using them (see 
  Special, p. 50).
  
  BY THE BOOK 67
  COSMIC PATROL
  The intended application of other 
  equipment may be more obscure or 
  even totally unknown. In many cases, 
  this is intentional and gives the players 
  a chance to decide exactly what that 
  equipment does, based on the name. 
  Once the controlling player decides 
  just what the piece does, make a note 
  of it. For instance, William “Bat-
  Ears” Bradley carries a Multiform 
  Uniwrench. When its uses are defined, 
  make a note so that it’s used the same 
  way for the rest of the game session.
  PAtRoLmeN CReAtIoN
  As previously noted, this book 
  contains a slew of sample Patrolmen 
  Dossiers that allow players to snag 
  a character and leap into the fray. 
  However, some players prefer to craft 
  their own characters to take into space.
  The following rules provide a 
  framework for character creation. 
  As with all aspects of Cosmic Patrol, 
  the framework is light and fast and 
  designed for players to playfully and 
  enjoyably create a Patrolmen Dossier 
  that reflects the style they want to 
  embrace in a game. If you don’t like 
  where your character is going at any 
  time during the process, feel free to 
  back up and start down the path 
  that’ll make it the most fun!
  Note that the sample Patrolmen 
  Dossiers might not follow these rules.
  foLLow the StePS
  Download and print out the blank 
  Dossier from cosmicpatrol.com and 
  Mk. III Sentinel Cannon while 
  sprinting backward, go for it!
  Making The Game More or Less 
  Lethal: The weapons on the Dossiers 
  are geared towards a good mix of 
  speed of play and fun combat action 
  that’ll span multiple turns of dice 
  rolling to resolve a given situation. 
  However, some groups may decide 
  they want to switch things up to suit 
  their style of play.
  •	 Less Lethal: If a player group 
  decides they want more dice 
  rolling and heavier combat-
  oriented play, simply lower all 
  Damage Values by 1, or even 
  cut Damage Values in half. If 
  weapons have a die in place of 
  a static Damage Value, only use 
  a D4.
  •	 More Lethal: If another group 
  wants quicker combat and more 
  cinematic style where the good 
  guys can take out the bad guys 
  in a single swipe, increase all 
  weapon Damage Values by 1 or 
  even 2 points. If weapons have 
  a die in place of a static Damage 
  Value, a D8 can be used in 
  addition to a D4 and D6.
  equipment
  Besides weapons, many Patrolmen 
  also carry a variety of equipment 
  to use during missions. The uses of 
  many of the different items may be 
  obvious: a first aid kit would help treat 
  a Patrolman who’s been injured or a 
  tool kit could be used to repair armor, 
  robots or other devices.
  
  68 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  TM
  Anything’s possible, with only your 
  imagination to hold you back. Just 
  remember as you pick a theme that the 
  more wild and crazy you make it, the 
  more you’ll have to figure out how to 
  convey that during game play.
  With that in mind, jot down a few 
  descriptive words that outline your 
  theme. Don’t hesitate to fill a page if 
  you’re still trying to feel your way to 
  what you want, knowing you’re going 
  to toss most of the concepts by the 
  wayside as you zero in on your mark. 
  Additionally, if you’re still floundering 
  a little, feel free to find out what 
  everyone else in the group is playing 
  and find a niche to fill: no sarcastic, 
  brooding, older doctor on your team? 
  Jump in and see if that role fits you.
  Once you’ve got your theme, you’ll 
  use that as the framework to help you 
  make the decisions involved in the rest 
  of the process. 
  Patrolman Name
  While this step appears at the start 
  of character creation, it can actually 
  happen anytime during the process. 
  Some players will find they’ve 
  already got a character name they’ve 
  been hanging on to for just such an 
  adventure; the name itself drips with 
  theme and will immediately lend 
  itself to a certain flavor. If I say Dirk 
  Hardpeck, everyone instantly has a 
  preconceived notion of where the 
  character creation process is going to 
  take them: tons of brawn and charisma, 
  not a lot of brains or perhaps even 
  not very combat adept, but a list of 
  ultra awesome catch-phrases for the 
  glowingly white-hat style.
  proceed through the following steps to 
  create your character:
  1. 
  Create A Character Theme 
  (Patrolman Name)
  2. 
  Assign Stat Dice
  3. 
  Assign Armor
  4. 
  Select Weapons
  5. 
  Select Equipment
  6. 
  Create Cues
  7. 
  Create Disposition
  8. 
  Final Tweaking
  1. CReAte A ChARACteR theme
  Imagine you’re a casting director 
  for your favorite TV show and you’ve 
  got a selection of walk-on characters 
  you’ve got to fill for a new episode, 
  characters that need to be cool and 
  vibrant, even if they’re only on-screen 
  for a few minutes. 
  As you review the script you 
  run into a list of short character 
  descriptions: male, late 30s, stoic and 
  very tough, doesn’t talk much; woman, 
  early 20s, always smiling, with a 
  devil-may care attitude; male, teen, a 
  brooding anger that he fails to leash 
  more often than not; and so on. In the 
  role of casting director, you’ll use those 
  descriptions to find the right actor to 
  convincingly fill that role in the episode. 
  In a similar fashion, as you work 
  to create a Patrolman, you need to find 
  a short and flavorful description of the 
  theme of your character. Do you want 
  to play the white-knight, with your 
  thousand-watt smile and pectorals 
  that can deflect a raygun blast? Or do 
  you want to be the brainy nerd who 
  feels he’s stuck in a world of imbeciles? 
  
  BY THE BOOK 69
  COSMIC PATROL
  Other players, however, may find 
  they don’t have a good name in mind 
  and instead, even with a theme, may 
  have to travel most, if not all, of the 
  creation process before a great name 
  presents itself.
  2. ASSIGNING StAt dICe
  Use the following 
  rules when assigning Stats 
  and Stat Dice (see p. 50). 
  After assigning a Stat Die, 
  simply write in the value 
  and draw in the die shape, 
  mimicking the style shown on the 
  sample Dossiers.
  Brawn, Brains, Charisma, Combat
  Each player has a D6, two D8 and 
  a D10 to assign to the Brawn, Brains, 
  Charisma and Combat Stats (see p. 
  50). It is up to every player how they 
  assign these values, but they should 
  use the theme of their character, 
  as determined in Step One, when 
  making such assignments.
  For example, a Dirk Hardpeck 
  character, as described above, would 
  most likely assign the D10 to Brawn, 
  a D8 to both Charisma and Combat, 
  while the D6 would be assigned to 
  Brains.
  D4 & D12: If a player chooses, 
  he can change the D10 Stat Die to 
  a D12, but he must then change the 
  D6 Stat Die to a D4. For example, 
  to really go over the top with our 
  Dirk Hardpeck character, the D10 
  Brawn could become a D12, but the 
  Brains would need to be changed 
  from D6 to a D4.
  
  70 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  all, the Patrol is going to issue the 
  finest armor to those that can make 
  best use of it in the field. Use the 
  following rules for determining the 
  character’s Armor track: 
  •	 Add the Brawn Die and Combat 
  Die values of your character 
  together then divide by two 
  (rounding up). That result 
  equals the additional Armor pips 
  applied to the character.
  For example, Cmd. Cody 
  Carragher has a D8 Brawn and a D8 
  Combat, which equals 16. Divided by 
  2 equals 8, which means he adds an 
  additional 8 pips to the automatic 10 
  he receives, for a total of 18.
  4. SeLeCt weAPoNS
  As with the Cues in a later step, 
  selecting your weapons can be fun. 
  You can simply copy the weapons 
  off of one of the sample Dossiers. 
  However, unleashing the kid inside 
  can be far more enjoyable … just 
  make up whatever cool name you 
  want! Have you always wanted to 
  use a Thorilic Quantum Trident? 
  Write the name down. Or what 
  about a Phasic Neptrino-Quitride 
  Displacer? Write that down as well. 
  When it comes to your weapons, 
  look at the theme of your character 
  and embrace it.
  For example Cmd. Cody 
  Carragher has his dual, trusty Reliant 
  Atomatic Pistols he’s always slinging 
  from his leg-holsters, while Tensid 
  The Red Amazon wouldn’t be caught 
  health
  The Stat Die assigned to Brawn 
  has a direct correlation to the Health 
  track of the Patrolman Dossier. Use 
  the following rules for determining 
  the character’s Health track:
  •	 If a D12 or D10, do not mark off 
  any pips.
  •	 If a D8, mark off one pip from 
  the first row
  •	 If a D6, mark off one pip from 
  the first row and one pip from 
  the second row 
  •	 If D4, mark off two pips from 
  the first row and one pip from 
  the second row.
  Special
  All Special Dice are automatically 
  a D10. Exactly what the Special Die 
  applies to, however, is completely up 
  to the player, but should reflect the 
  theme of the character. If you decide 
  to create a very unusual “what” for 
  the Special Die, you should come up 
  with a cool back-story to cover why 
  you’ve gone in that direction.
  Luck
  Luck is not a die, but instead a 
  fixed value that’ll remain constant 
  once it’s determined. Roll a D12 and 
  assign that value to the Luck Stat.
  3. ASSIGN ARmoR
  All characters have at least ten 
  armor pips.
  Following that rule, armor is 
  based upon a combination of the 
  Combat and Brawn Stats; after 
  
  BY THE BOOK 71
  COSMIC PATROL
  equipment during character creation 
  to ensure it’s within the limits they’re 
  all comfortable with … or be stuck 
  with the LN having to say “yup, 
  sorry, that Class MXI Automen 
  Sunbuster Pinhead you just spent 
  a dozen playing sessions obtaining 
  fizzles, spurts and goes silent … it’s a 
  dud.”
  6. CReAte CueS
  As noted under Cues (see p. 56), 
  these are phrases that can be bold 
  statements a character might make 
  in a given situation, or can be used 
  to spark an idea of which direction a 
  character might leap. 
  When creating Cues for your own 
  characters, use the same method you 
  used when generating your character 
  theme: jot down different phrases, 
  sentences, or just saucy, juicy words 
  that sound like something that would 
  be fun to say during the action of the 
  game. Then use the list to zero in on 
  the best set of Cues.
  You can also review the sample 
  Patrolmen Dossiers (see p. 76) to 
  spark your own ideas for Cues. If 
  you’re having a difficult time, feel 
  free to use catch phrases taken from 
  your favorite movies, TV shows and 
  novels, just tweaked slightly to make 
  them unique to your character. For 
  example “That was totally wicked!” 
  could be tweaked to “That was 
  totally spacetacular!”
  If you’re still struggling, feel free 
  to make the generation of Cues into 
  a party game for all those that’ll be 
  involved in a Mission. Each player 
  dead fighting with anything but her 
  Martian Ax.
  To determine the stats of a 
  weapon, use the rules for Changing 
  Out Weapons (see p. 66). Just 
  remember that you can only ever have 
  two weapons.
  5. SeLeCt equIPmeNt
  As discussed under Equipment 
  (see p. 67), equipment in Cosmic 
  Patrol is not a set of hard rules. X 
  is not required to do Y. Instead, 
  they almost act as their own Cues, 
  propelling the action forward without 
  dropping into the minutia of what 
  exactly a piece of equipment weighs, 
  what it does, and so on.
  Use the few lines on the equipment 
  list to accentuate the theme of your 
  character, providing items you feel 
  will be fun and enjoyable during 
  game play. You don’t even have to 
  know what some of them do … 
  one or two could just be crazy, fun-
  sounding names that you’ll figure out 
  on the fly!
  It’s important to make clear that 
  due to the loose nature of these 
  rules, it’s all too easy for players to 
  create wildly powerful/ludicrously 
  small equipment; i.e. a “sun-buster 
  pinhead”. After all, “the rules didn’t 
  say I couldn’t!” if your player group 
  decides such a thing is cool and fits 
  with what you want to see in your 
  games, by all means allow it. But 
  most player groups will realize that 
  even within these rules, a limit needs 
  to be set on the power of equipment. 
  Player groups may want to police 
  
  72 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  can write down two or three (or 
  more) Cues based on your character 
  theme, and then you can select some, 
  none or all of them. Even the craziest 
  Cues could prove an interesting take 
  on your character’s personality under 
  the right circumstances, so don’t be 
  so quick to toss the more wild 
  concepts out.
  7. CReAte dISPoSItIoNS
  Like Cues, your character’s 
  Dispositions should flow 
  from how you’re building 
  your theme and the Cues. 
  Even the description you 
  used when generating your 
  theme could be turned into 
  Disposition statements.
  Again, review the 
  sample Dossiers, or ask for 
  suggestions from your player group 
  if you’re struggling to define this 
  aspect of your character.
  8. fINAL tweAkING
  Once you’ve written down all of 
  your character details on the blank 
  Patrolman Dossier sheet, review 
  the final Patrolman to ensure it’s 
  everything you want it to be. If you 
  want to nip and tuck a little here and 
  there, by all means, feel free. 
  In the sample Patrolman Dossiers, 
  William ‘Bat-Ears’ Bradley has a 
  D6 Brawn, while Yawitz, Venusian 
  Scientist has a Brawn of D8. Yet despite 
  Yawtiz’ superior Brawn he’s got a 
  weaker Health track. When making 
  
  BY THE BOOK 73
  COSMIC PATROL
  NoN-PLAyeR ChARACteR 
  CReAtIoN
  To create non-player characters 
  (NPCS), download the blank NPC 
  Dossier from cosmicpatrol.com and 
  use the following rules.
  Note that the sample NPCs might 
  not follow these rules.
  1. CReAte A ChARACteR theme
  For most NPCs a theme is not 
  really needed. However, for a “chief” 
  NPC, or an NPC an LN thinks will 
  be around for a while, a theme may 
  be just the thing to bring such an 
  important character to life.
  2. ASSIGNING StAt dICe
  Use the following rules when 
  assigning Stats and Stat Dice (see p. 
  50). After assigning a Stat Die, simply 
  write in the value and draw in the die 
  shape, mimicking the style shown on 
  the sample dossiers.
  Brawn, Brains, Charisma, Combat
  Each NPC has two D6 and two 
  D8 to assign to the Brawn, Brains, 
  Charisma and Combat Stats (see p. 
  50). It is completely up to the LN 
  how they assign these values.
  D4 & D10: If a player chooses, he 
  can change one D8 Stat Die to a D10, 
  but he must then change one D6 Stat 
  Die to a D4.
  D12: Most NPCs should never 
  have a D12 Stat Die. Only the 
  the characters we arbitrarily decided 
  that since Yawitz is a Venusian, he’s 
  simply more fragile. When making 
  similar characters a player could very 
  well decide that despite William being 
  a mere Earthman, he’s got robust genes 
  and so has 3 pips on the second row, 
  even while maintaining four pips on the 
  first row.
  Armor is another area which 
  players can tweak to enhance the 
  flavor of a character. For example, 
  Tensid The Red Amazon has a Combat 
  Die equal to Cody Carragher and even 
  has a higher Brawn, but Tensid is a 
  Red Amazon! “Heavy armor is for 
  those without skill, heart or bravery!” 
  As such, she’s several pips lower than 
  Carragher, a sensible Earthman who 
  packs on the armor as best he can.
  Such tweaking should be kept 
  within reason. For example, you 
  shouldn’t rotate Stat Dice up or down 
  as that has far too great an impact 
  on the mechanics of game play. Any 
  final tweaks should be reviewed by the 
  player group to determine if anyone 
  feels that any such tweaks are too 
  much. Of course, the players in the 
  group may decide one of your more 
  extreme tweaks is just fine (especially 
  if you give a really cool back story for 
  the tweak!), but be prepared to green-
  light their more extensive character 
  tweaks in return.
  Ultimately, however, these are just 
  guidelines. Each player group is free 
  to determine what works best for 
  them and run with it … just have fun!
  
  74 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  4. SeLeCt weAPoNS & equIPmeNt
  Follow the rules for Select 
  Weapons and Select Equipment as 
  shown under Character Creation (see 
  p. 70-71)
  5. CReAte CueS & dISPoSItIoNS
  As with the theme in Step One, the 
  vast majority of NPCs will not need 
  this step. However, an LN may decide 
  that for the truly important bad guys, 
  having some easy quips at hand will 
  make any scene the NPC is in all that 
  more dynamic and fun.
  6. fINAL tweAkING
  As with character creation, an 
  LN can heavily tweak an NPC to fit 
  the bill, from a weak Automan to 
  a powerful Sargasso monster. Just 
  remember not to make the NPCs too 
  powerful, or too weak; either case 
  may leave the players unsatisfied. 
  Ultimately the ability of an LN to 
  create characters that provide just the 
  right amount of challenge for a player 
  group in any given Scene simply takes 
  practice and tossing some dice.
  most significant NPCs should be 
  assigned such a die. When making 
  such a character, simply rotate the 
  D10 to a D12; no other change is 
  required.
  health
  The Stat Die assigned to Brawn 
  has a direct correlation to the Health 
  track of the NPC Dossier. Use the 
  following rules for determining the 
  character’s Health track:
  •	 If a D12, do not mark off any pips.
  •	 If a D10, mark off one pip from 
  the first row
  •	 If a D8, mark off one pip from 
  the first row and one pip from 
  the second row
  •	 If a D6, mark off two pips from 
  the first row and one pip from 
  the second row 
  •	 If a D4, mark off two pips from 
  the first row and two pips from 
  the second row
  3. ASSIGN ARmoR
  All NPCs have at least five armor 
  pips.
  Following that rule, armor is 
  based upon a combination of the 
  Combat and Brawn Stats. Use the 
  following rule for determining the 
  character’s Armor track: 
  •	 Add the Brawn Die and Combat 
  Die values of your character 
  together then divide by three 
  (rounding up). That result 
  equals the additional Armor pips 
  applied to the NPC.
  
  BY THE BOOK 75
  COSMIC PATROL
  ChARACteR AdvANCemeNt
  Nitty-gritty rules for character 
  advancement are beyond the scope 
  and theme of these rules. Instead, 
  a player group can use the 
  following rule of thumb to help 
  them advance their characters, 
  if they so wish.
  After each Mission, all 
  characters should vote on 
  a player they feel made the 
  game the most fun. The 
  player that wins should 
  mark down on their sheet 
  that they’ve one Mission 
  Point. The player can then turn 
  accumulated points in (erasing 
  them off the Dossier) to rotate a 
  Stat Dice to the next largest die (i.e. 
  a D4 to a D6 or a D10 to a D12, and 
  so on) using the following rules: 
  •	 D4 to D6 = 3 Mission Points
  •	 D6 to D8 = 5 Mission Points
  •	 D8 to D10 = 8 Mission Points
  •	 D10 to D12 = 12 Mission Points
  A player can rotate more than 
  a single dice value at one time, but 
  must pay the cumulative value. For 
  example a character that has a D4 
  Brawn and wishes to rotate it to a 
  D10 would need to pay 16 Mission 
  Points. 
  A character can never have a Stat 
  Die higher than D12
  Regardless of the changes in a 
  character’s Stat Dice, all other aspects 
  of the Patrolman Dossier remain 
  unchanged.
  
  76 BY THE BOOK
  COSMIC PATROL
  TM
  PeteR GRAveS
  [It CoNqueRed the woRLd, 1956]
  he LeARNed ALmoSt too LAte thAt mAN IS A feeLING 
  CReAtuRe... ANd BeCAuSe of It, the GReAteSt IN the uNIveRSe.
  X MINUS ONE
  HEROES &
  VILLAINS
  
  COSMIC PATROL 77
  CODY CARRAGHER/ROCKETSHIP CAPTAIN
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Cody Carragher 
  Age: 29
  Homeworld: Earth 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Earthman  ❯ Cocky  ❯ Brave
  ❯ Rayguns  ❯ Brash  ❯ Charge!  ❯ Command
  Cosmic Patrol Captains: Nothing 
  showcases the brazen attitude of the 
  Cosmic Patrol more than its captains. 
  Almost universally brash, cocky and 
  shoot-first-ask-questions-later, 
  they encapsulate Earthmen’s 
  response to the great 
  unknowns of the galaxy.
  
  cosmic patrol
  CODY CARRAGHER/ROCKETSHIP CAPTAIN
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  RAYGUN PISTOL 
  EXPERT
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  3
  D8
  D8
  D6
  D10
  D10
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  D6
  D10
  CODY CARRAGHER/ROCKETSHIP CAPTAIN
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  TRUST ME, I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING.
  AIM FOR THE NOSE, OR THE EQUIVALENT.
  COMMAND VOICE!
  TACTICS SCHMACTICS.
  KILLBOTS. IT HAD TO BE KILLBOTS.
  ITCHY RAYGUN TRIGGER FINGER.
  AT HOME IN ZERO-G.
  I HAVE A PLAN...
  MAN, THIS IS BORING.
  ACTION NOW, CONTEMPLATE LATER.
  TRUSTWORTHY.
  WHAT? IN SPACE, COULDN’T HEAR YOU.
  GET TO THE POINT.
  I THINK THE SIGHTS ARE OFF.
  DIPLOMACY?
  BULLSEYE!
  SWORDS? MEN USE RAYGUNS!
  WHEW, CLOSE ONE!
  I’M A SOLDIER, NOT A SCIENTIST!
  ALWAYS CARRY EXTRA BATTERIES.
  BRAVE, BUT IMPULSIVE.
  ANY MISSION, ANY TIME.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  3
  Reliant Raygun Pistol
  Reliant Raygun Pistol
  Patrol First Aid Kit
  Zero-G Grapple
  Atomolight
  Uniwave Communicator
  Hand-held Scanometer
  2
  2
   OK OK –3
   OK OK –3
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  
  COSMIC PATROL 79
  AUDREY ORION/INTELLIGENCE AGENT
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Audrey Orion 
  Age: 33
  Homeworld: Earth 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Earthwoman  ❯ Ruthless  ❯ Cold
  ❯ Backstabbing  ❯ Whip  ❯ Ghost  ❯ Spy
  Cosmic Patrol Intelligence Service: Intel 
  officers are the elite of the elite and usually 
  operate solo, taking their one-person ships deep 
  into unknown or hostile territory on missions 
  such as reconnaissance or sabotage. Instead of 
  last names, all Intel officers have code names 
  taken from stars or constellations.
  
  cosmic patrol
  AUDREY ORION/INTELLIGENCE AGENT
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  RAYGUN? YOU HAVEN’T SEEN MY WHIP.
  QUIET! I’M LISTENING TO MY OMNIWAVE!
  OF COURSE I CAN FIGURE IT OUT.
  IF I TOLD YOU THAT, YOU’D ALREADY BE DEAD.
  THAT’S YOUR SOLUTION? REALLY?
  GIVE ME MY WHIP AND FIVE MINUTES.
  YEAH, THEY TAUGHT ME THAT.
  WHAT DID YOU SAY?
  DON’T EVER IGNORE ME.
  ANYTHING TO ACCOMPLISH THE MISSION
  SOFT SPOKEN, BUT PLENTY OF SARCASM
  YOU EXPECT A MAN TO GATHER INTELLIGENCE?
  WHEN IN DOUBT, DOUBT.
  I SAID WHATEVER IT TAKES.
  YOU DON’T EXPECT ME TO ANSWER, DO YOU?
  NEED TO KNOW.
  OBVIOUSLY, INTELLIGENCE DOESN’T APPLY.
  REALLY? THAT’S THE BEST YOU GOT?
  MY WORDS CAN GRIND ANYONE DOWN.
  I’M GOOD ANY TIME.
  RUTHLESSLY AMBITIOUS
  ALWAYS AVOIDS DIRECT CONFRONTATION
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  PHASIC WHIP
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  D8
  D6
  D6
  D10
  Reliant Atomatic Pistol
  Phasic Whip
  Omniwave Communicator
  Phasic Reality Distorter
  Atomojet Pack
  Hypercamo Suit
  2
  2
   OK OK –3
   OK –3 —
  ARMOR
  HEALTH
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  D12
  7
  
  COSMIC PATROL 81
  WILLIAM "BAT-EARS" BRADLEY/ENGINEER
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: William “Bat-Ears” Bradley Age: 24
  Homeworld: Earth 
  Rank: Engineer
  Tags: ❯ Earthman  ❯ Friendly  ❯ Eccentric
  ❯ Brilliant  ❯ Engineering  ❯ Food  ❯ Dirt
  Cosmic Patrol Rocketship Engineers: Unlike 
  the rest of the Patrol, which generally requires 
  staunch adherence to rules and regulations, the 
  mind-numbing complexities of a fractum drive 
  mean rocketship engineers are given a lot more 
  latitude. This often results in a truly memorable 
  personality serving aboard each vessel.
  
  cosmic patrol
  D10
  WILLIAM "BAT-EARS" BRADLEY/ENGINEER
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  WHEN IN DOUBT, SHORT IT OUT.
  YOU FIRST!
  MUMBLE MUMBLE.
  I CARRY TOOLS, NOT GUNS!
  IF YOU CAN BUILD IT, YOU CAN BREAK IT.
  I’LL GET MY WRENCH.
  I CAN’T WORK WITH THIS RACKET!
  BOOZE GIVES ME STRENGTH!
  THROW A WRENCH IN THE GEARS - LITERALLY.
  ENGINEERING GENIUS.
  LONG-WINDED STORYTELLER.
  I’LL DRINK TO THAT!
  JUST CROSS THIS WIRE...AND DONE!
  REVERSE THE POLARITY!
  MORE POWER? REALLY?
  BETTER THAN ANY ‘BOT!
  EVERY SPACE PLATFORM HAS A BAR...
  WE MAKE THE ROCKETS FLY.
  SOMETHING’S NOT RUNNING RIGHT.
  THERE’S ALWAYS PARTS LEFT OVER...
  BIT OF A DRUNK.
  MOSTLY HARMLESS.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  ROCKETSHIP
  MECHANICS
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  5
  D8
  D6
  D6
  D10
  RANGE
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Sonic Wrench
  Tool Kit
  Small Liquor Flask
  Hyperbeam Repair Kit
  Multiform Uniwrench
  Heavy Duty Mechanic Suit
  1
   OK OK –3
  ARMOR
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  D12
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  
  COSMIC PATROL 83
  KEN COSTIGAN/HEAVY MARINE
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Ken Costigan 
  Age: 29
  Homeworld: Earth 
  Rank: Lieutenant
  Tags: ❯ Earthman  ❯ Tough  ❯ Boisterous
  ❯ Iron-will  ❯ Atomatic Rifle  ❯ Grunt  ❯ Fury
  Cosmic Patrol Heavy Marine/Commando: 
  Cosmic Patrol commandos are the heavy hitters 
  of space infantry. Heavily armed and armored, 
  they are tasked with the big jobs: boarding 
  actions, destroying with prejudice, establishing 
  beachheads and so on. Whether on the moons 
  of Jupiter, in space against a pirate vessel or 
  even in the chaotic cometary halo around the 
  solar system, they get the job done.
  
  cosmic patrol
  KEN COSTIGAN/HEAVY MARINE
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  JUST MY STANDARD-ISSUE BIG RAYGUN.
  COME ON, I’M NOT EVEN TRYING!
  THROW ME INTO THE VOID, YOU CATCH UP.
  I DON’T NEED A WEAPON AT ALL...
  AUTOMEN OR EIGER, I GOT YOUR BACK.
  NOTHING MY RIFLE CAN’T HANDLE.
  I COULD REBUILD MY ATOMATIC SLEEPING.
  GOT A GIRLFRIEND...IN EVERY PORT.
  KISSES ARE ON THE HOUSE.
  GREGARIOUS, OPEN, BIG SMILE, LARGE LAUGH.
  STICKLER FOR REGULATIONS.
  NO SHIP TOO BIG, NO VOID TOO DARK.
  MARINES GET IT DONE.
  SEMPER FI!
  SUN WILL IMPLODE BEFORE I GIVE UP.
  THE PATROL IS THE ONLY HOME I KNOW.
  CHIVALRY IS FOR COMMANDERS...
  THIS GUN TOO SMALL? I HAVE A BIGGER ONE.
  GOD GAVE ME THE BODY, I KEEP IT IN TUNE.
  COMETARIANS...HATE ‘EM.
  HONESTLY EXPECTS EVERYONE TO KEEP UP.
  TRIES TO HIDE FEAR OF COMETARIANS.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  HAND-TO-HAND 
  MELEE
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  9
  D8
  D6
  D6
  D10
  D10
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Mk. II Dark Plasmic Rifle
  Deutomatic Microblast
  Uniwave Communicator
  Omnisticker Restraints
  Zero-G Maneuver Boots
  Nutrients Purifier
  4
  Roll D6
   OK OK OK
   OK –3 —
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  
  COSMIC PATROL 85
  VENA RINKMAN/TRAITOR
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Vena Rinkman 
  Age: 26
  Homeworld: Earth 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Earthwoman  ❯ Conflicted  ❯ Capable
  ❯ Imperious  ❯ Outrageous  ❯ Determined
  Ex-Patrolman/Traitors: It’s rare, but 
  sometimes a Patrolman goes rogue. Lured by 
  easy money to be made as a mercenary; fed up 
  with the restrictions placed on crewmen of any 
  Cosmic Patrol rocketship; or perhaps driven by 
  the dark unknown of their own minds; whatever 
  the case, they’re usually given no quarter when 
  captured…making them all the more dangerous 
  because they’re desperate.
  
  cosmic patrol
  VENA RINKMAN/TRAITOR
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  THE PATROL CAN BURN FOR THROWING ME OUT.
  OF COURSE YOU WANT TO BUY ME A DRINK.
  PLEASE...I’D SOONER TOUCH A MIND PLANT.
  YOU NEED A GUN TO GET WHAT YOU WANT.
  WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?
  WHY WOULDN’T YOU WANT TO FOLLOW ME?
  THERE’S ALWAYS A BETTER WAY.
  I’M DONE WITH HIM...JETTISON HIM.
  I’LL HAVE MY REVENGE, ONE DAY.
  IF IT’S NOT HER CHARISMA, IT’S HER BRAINS.
  MACHIAVELLIAN TEMPTRESS.
  I AM A MASTER OF DISGUISE.
  WON’T YOU HELP ME?
  WATCHING A PATROLMAN SQUIRM? PLEASURE.
  I WON’T SABOTAGE THE PATROL LIKE THAT.
  WHY MAKE A PLAN? LET’S GO!
  NO GUNS AND I’VE GOT THE PRIZE. COSMIC WIN!
  THIS IS NO TIME FOR GUNS, USE BRAINS.
  IF I HAVEN’T THOUGHT OF IT, YOU WON’T.
  THAT’S RIGHT...AIM AND THROTTLE UP.
  FEELS LOYALTY TO EARTH, BUT NOT THE PATROL.
  SUFFERS FOOLS, USES THEM ALL DAY LONG.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  MANIPULATION
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  6
  D6
  D6
  D10
  D10
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Jarvi Stun Pistol
  Hakhaze Brainreamer
  Selection of chemicals
  Disguise Kit
  Voiceprint Modulator
  Neutronic Lock De-Scrambler
  1
   OK OK OK
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  D12
  
  COSMIC PATROL 87
  MARTIN SEATON/INDUSTRIALIST INVENTOR
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Martin Seaton 
  Age: 55
  Homeworld: Earth 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Earthman  ❯ Businessman  ❯ Rich  ❯ Fair
  ❯ Inventor  ❯ Pseudo-adventurer  ❯ Connected
  Industrialist/Inventor: It’s not the Cosmic 
  Patrol’s job to regulate space travel, or how 
  business is conducted in space. That task belongs 
  to the massive, multi-national conglomerates 
  that explore space for the wonders of 
  technological advancement…and the vast 
  revenue streams such finds will generate. Despite 
  their power and influence, however, no company 
  messes with the Cosmic Patrol lightly. 
  
  cosmic patrol
  MARTIN SEATON/INDUSTRIALIST INVENTOR
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  THERE’S ALWAYS TIME FOR BUSINESS.
  PROVE YOUR WORTH TO ME.
  I CAN SMELL A DEAL LIKE AN UTH CAN MEAT.
  LET ME GET BACK TO YOU.
  I CAN BUY THIS ROCKETSHIP AND CREW.
  EVEN THE PATROL PAYS ATTENTION.
  INFORMATION IS MONEY.
  READ MY LIPS: I OWN YOU.
  UNSAVORY PEOPLE MEAN HIGHER RATES.
  PERFECTIONIST, BUT NOT TO DISTRACTION.
  EMPIRE BUILT ON SAVVINESS, AND FAIRNESS.
  LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YES AND NO.
  IS THAT YOUR FINAL PROPOSAL?
  LOVE THE SMELL OF A DEAL IN THE MORNING.
  WHY WOULD I NEED A GUN.
  AFRAID? ONLY OF LOST OPPORTUNITIES.
  I COULD DEAL WITH AN EIGER.
  I COULD SELL THIS.
  THERE’S ALWAYS A BIGGER DEAL.
  WHERE’S MY BODYGUARD?
  HIS WORD IS HIS BOND.
  LOVES DIRECT CONFRONTATIONS.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  DEAL-MAKING
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  11
  D8
  D8
  D4
  D6
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Martian Tiger-hide Briefcase
  Fractum Communicator
  QuasiPad
  PersonHelo
  AtomLaser Link
  1
   OK — —
  ARMOR
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  HEALTH
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  D12
  
  COSMIC PATROL 89
  TENSID/RED AMAZON
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Tensid 
  Age: 113
  Homeworld: Mars 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Red Amazon  ❯ Fearless  ❯ Warrior  ❯ Tall
  ❯ Axe  ❯ Hard  ❯ Laughter
  Red Amazons: The Red Amazons of Mars are 
  a tall, master warrior race who have battled 
  each other for eons. A myriad of battle 
  tribes exist, each ruled with an iron fist by 
  a chieftain who tries to expand the tribe’s 
  territories. Though content to ignore the 
  rest of the universe for centuries, most 
  chieftans saw the need for the Great Union 
  to learn the dangers that lurk in the 
  Great Dark. However, despite so many 
  Amazons serving in the Patrol, many 
  still chaff under the yoke of Earthmen 
  leadership.
  
  cosmic patrol
  TENSID/RED AMAZON
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  NOTHING ESCAPES THE AXE.
  I STUDIED WITH THE MONKS OF THARSIS.
  TALK LATER.
  I’LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!
  LIFE IS SHORT, INDULGE YOUR PASSIONS!
  THIS IS MARS!
  I’LL HANDLE THIS.
  I DO THIS FOR MARS.
  NEVER RUN FROM DANGER.
  PROUD AND BOISTEROUS, LIFE-LOVING.
  OBSESSED WITH STRENGTH, FITNESS.
  THE STUNNER!
  MARS IS HARSH, MARTIANS HARSHER.
  YOU DARE CHALLENGE A RED AMAZON?
  WE MUST PROTECT THE WEAK.
  CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY.
  RAYGUNS ARE FOR THE WEAK.
  AN AXE WORKS FOR MANY SITUATIONS.
  I’M GROWING BORED.
  LET IT BE A TEST OF WILLS.
  ALWAYS IN SEARCH OF NEW CONQUESTS.
  STICKS TO HER CONVICTIONS.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  MARTIAN AXE 
  MASTER
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  9
  D8
  D8
  D6
  D10
  D10
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Martian Axe
  Red Steel Knife
  Sharpening Kit
  Jar of Martian Dirt
  Comb of Uth Bone
  Emergency Rations
  4
  1
   OK OK –3
   OK –3 —
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  
  COSMIC PATROL 91
  YAWITZ/VENUSIAN SCIENTIST
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Yawitz 
  Age: 77
  Homeworld: Venus 
  Rank: Scientist
  Tags: ❯ Venus  ❯ Intellect  ❯ Knowledge  ❯ Gruff
  ❯ Taskmaster  ❯ Silence  ❯ Inscrutable
  Venusians: Venus is a damaged world. Once, 
  the Venusians had a global empire, but it fell in 
  a cataclysmic war with the Automen. Now, the 
  planet is scarred and torn and the atmosphere 
  is toxic, choked with thick clouds that force 
  the Venusians to always wear goggles. Once 
  scientists without equal, they have fallen far 
  from their previous grandeur, though even in 
  their current state, their knowledge outstrips that 
  of any race in the solar system.
  
  cosmic patrol
  YAWITZ/VENUSIAN SCIENTIST
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  EVERY MAN HAS A PLAN THAT WILL NOT WORK.
  MY PHASEGUN? IT’S HERE SOMEWHERE...
  IF ONLY I COULD DRAIN THE POWER SUPPLY.
  NO DISTRACTIONS, PLEASE.
  EUREKA!
  THIS MUST BE ANALYZED.
  THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!
  ROBOTS ARE A BLIGHT UPON THE COSMOS.
  I HAVE A THEORY.
  FOCUSED, DEDICATED TO STUDY.
  EXPECTS OTHERS TO KNOW THEIR SCIENCE.
  THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS OTHERWISE.
  THE QUARKS ARE IN DISARRAY!
  INDEED, LIFE IS LIKE A BEANSTALK...
  I MUST COLLATE THIS DATA.
  REMEMBER TO CARRY THE “1”.
  THE SOLUTION IS OBVIOUS.
  VENUSIAN EYES ARE WEAK, HENCE GOGGLES.
  LET US USE REASON...
  I DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ PEER REVIEW!
  DOES NOT SUFFER FOOLISH QUESTIONS.
  RELUCTANT TO LEAVE SAFETY OF LAB.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  EXPERT
  ROBOTICIST
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  8
  D8
  D8
  D6
  D10
  D10
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Venusian Phasegun
  * +1 against Automen & Robots
  Venusian Tool Kit
  AtomoAnalyzer
  Venusian Goggles
  Telescoping Unitool
  Spare Parts Bag
  2*
   OK OK –3
  ARMOR
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  HEALTH
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  
  COSMIC PATROL 93
  ISAAC & DELTA ZED/WUNDERKID & ROBOT
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Isaac Bergenholm & Delta Zed    Age: 13
  Homeworld: Earth 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Earthchild  ❯ Genius  ❯ Precocious  ❯ Tinkerer
  ❯ Motormouth  ❯ Intrusive  ❯ Immature
  Man-Machine Fusion: The Cosmic Patrol has 
  long worked at creating a true man-machine 
  fusion in its efforts to increase its defenses 
  against the aliens arrayed against humanity. 
  Though galling to many scientists in the 
  Patrol, the leadership doesn’t care 
  that the first true melding of robot 
  and human came from the mind of a 
  child genius…they’re watching the 
  development closely, ever mindful of 
  how to turn it to Patrol use.
  
  cosmic patrol
  ISAAC & DELTA ZED/WUNDERKID & ROBOT
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  YOU NEED HELP, RIGHT? I CAN HELP!
  MOON MEN THINK THEY’RE SOOO SMART.
  BUT I DON’T WANNA.
  IT’S A DRILLING ATOMO-LASER. DUH.
  DON’T SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT DELTA ZED!
  PLEASE LET ME HELP!
  I DID NOT SAY I WANTED MY MOMMY.
  AND WHO MADE THE FIRST MAN-ROBOT MELD?
  I CAN THINK OF ANYTHING!
  EXUBERANT TO THE POINT OF ANNOYING.
  ADULT INTELLECT TRAPPED IN A KID’S BODY.
  WHY CAN’T I? I WANT TO DO IT.
  I KNOW I’M GOOD. AREN’T I?
  AN ADVENTURE! CAN I COME?
  COULD’VE BEEN A HAND, BUT IT’S A CLAW.
  I’M NOT SCARED, JUST DON’T WANT TO.
  I CAN DO ANYTHING A PATROLMAN CAN.
  I CAN FIGHT...ZED JUST DOESN’T WANT TO.
  JUST LET ME GET MY ROBOT TOOL KIT.
  THERE’S A BATHROOM IN HERE, TOO.
  INTUITION LEADS TO UNIQUE THINKING.
  INSECURE GENIUS IN AN ADULT’S WORLD.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  INTUITION
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  1
  D10
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Claw
  Drilling Atomo-Laser
  Robotic Tool Kit
  Robot Spare Parts
  Contraterrene Batteries
  Omniwave Communicator
  Comic Book
  4
  4
   OK — —
   OK OK OK
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D4
  D4
  D12
  D12
  
  COSMIC PATROL 95
  KEAL/MOON MAN
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Keal 
  Age: 322
  Homeworld: Moon 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Moon Man  ❯ Creepy  ❯ Mind Powers  
  ❯ Old  ❯ Mysterious  ❯ Withdrawn  ❯ Calculating
  Moon Men: The Moon Men are an old race of 
  humans — uplifted millennia ago by mysterious 
  beings — that inhabit the Moon in vast 
  underground complexes. Long-lived and with 
  impressive mental abilities, the Cosmic Patrol 
  doesn’t know what to make of these strange 
  beings, but does consider them one of the 
  greatest threats to Earth.
  
  cosmic patrol
  KEAL/MOON MAN
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  I’M NOT THE BEING YOU’RE LOOKING FOR.
  I WAS OLD BEFORE THE PATROL WAS BORN.
  YOU DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU ARE HERE...
  VENUSIANS? INTELLECTUAL PRETENDERS.
  METATHERIONS? PERHAPS A REAL CHALLENGE.
  ZORM? WE WILL NOT TAKE THAT PATH.
  YOU CANNOT CHALLENGE MY PURPOSE.
  I AM SO MUCH MORE THAN HUMAN NOW.
  LOOK AT ME AND FEEL ETERNITY.
  HIS IS THE SUPERIOR INTELLECT.
  THE PATROL IS A NUISANCE TO BE ENDURED.
  YOU USE A GUN? WHY NOT YOUR MIND?
  WE ARE A DYING RACE...
  AMAZONS? MUSCLE BAGS WITHOUT THOUGHT.
  EARTHMEN? CHILDREN.
  WE DID NOT COME THIS WAY...
  MY MIND IS AS VAST AS THE COSMOS.
  EXPLORE THE UNIVERSE? EXPLORE WITHIN!
  YOU DON’T REMEMBER HOW THAT WORKS...
  OF COURSE YOU EXPECTED US...
  HE MUST DISCOVER WHY HIS RACE IS DYING.
  CONTEMPLATION IS THE SOLUTION.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  MEMORY
  MANIPULATION
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  10
  D6
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  His Mind
  Vortex Garment
  Faculty Amplifier
  Dust from Mare Imbrium
  Fractum Neutralizer
  Copy of “To Serve Moon Men”
  Roll D4  OK OK OK
  ARMOR
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D4
  D4
  HEALTH
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  D12
  D12
  
  COSMIC PATROL 97
  M34BEL/ZORM ENVOY
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: M34Bel 
  Age: Unknown
  Homeworld: Zorm 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Zorm  ❯ Intelligent  ❯ Lost  
  ❯ Inhuman  ❯ Cataclysm  ❯ Rare
  Zorm: The Zorm were once a biological 
  race. But over time, war and other disasters 
  made their homeworld uninhabitable. 
  An advanced but weak race, they created 
  artifical bodies into which they placed their 
  brains. With greatly expaned lifespans, the 
  Zorm are explorers, endlessly travelling the 
  cosmos. M34Bel is the appointed Zorm 
  envoy to the Patrol.
  
  cosmic patrol
  M34Bel/Zorm Envoy
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  YOU CANNOT KNOW US.
  THE COSMOS IS VAST AND STRANGE.
  BRAINS? NO INTELLECT.
  ALL WORLDS END, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
  PACIFIST? SURVIVALIST.
  WE EXPLORE, WE OBSERVE.
  DON’T RUSH ME.
  HUMANS ARE RIGHT TO BE CAUTIOUS.
  AH, THESE YOUNG RACES...
  SECRETIVE TO THE EXTREME.
  ONCE A DECISION IS MADE, STICKS TO IT.
  A LOST RACE, LONG AGO.
  HUMANS HAVE MUCH TO LEARN.
  YOU KNOW LITTLE OF TIME.
  A PLAN IS READY WHEN IT IS READY.
  DANGER? I HAVE SEEN A WORLD DESTROYED.
  YOU JUST PROVE YOURSELVES WORTHY.
  STUDY...ALWAYS STUDY.
  IF YOU ASK QUESTIONS, BEWARE THE ANSWERS.
  U93FIN HANDLED A SIMILAR SITUATION THUS...
  WARY OF EVERYTHING.
  CAUTIOUS OF DIVULGING INFORMATION.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  ATOMATIC PISTOL 
  EXPERT
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  8
  D8
  D6
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Metal Tentacle
  Flying Kick
  4
  5
   OK OK –3
   OK OK —
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D12
  D12
  D4
  
  COSMIC PATROL 99
  ROBOTIA LEMNIA/BOT OF MANY PARTS
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Robotia Lemnia Age: Unknown
  Homeworld: Unknown Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Robot  ❯ Scavenger  ❯ Technician  
  ❯ Klepto  ❯ Mis-matched  ❯ Melancholy
  Robots: Robots have become a staple 
  of life, working alongside most races in 
  a variety of roles. The sentience of robots 
  covers a wide range, from those with very 
  little intelligence that only exist to complete 
  designated tasks, to fully sentient 
  machines that operate their own colonies, 
  to everything in between. For robots that 
  have fallen on hard times, their drive to 
  exist means they cobble together bits of 
  machinery and attach it to themselves 
  in any way necessary to survive.
  
  cosmic patrol
  ROBOTIA LEMNIA/BOT OF MANY PARTS
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  NO GRAVITY? NO AIR? NO PROBLEM!
  DOES NOT COMPUTE!
  THIS ISN’T BROKEN! I CAN USE THIS!
  GIVE ‘EM THE OLD 00110000-00110001.
  I’M BIG. I’M METAL. I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE.
  I’M NOT OBSOLETE, JUST MY PARTS ARE.
  OH, THAT’S MINE.
  THEIR EQUIPMENT IS QUITE ADVANCED.
  INACCURATE ATOMO-AUDIFIER.
  FREQUENTLY LAMENTS HIS LOT IN LIFE.
  A BIT OF A KLEPTOMANIAC.
  ALL ORGANIC LANGUAGE IS THE SAME.
  I’M NO BATTLEBOT!
  SMASH!
  I CAN FEEL IT IN MY ELECTRO-GUT.
  THIS IS MY TOP SPEED!
  LET ME SEE THAT...
  DANGER! DANGER!
  ARE YOU GOING TO USE THAT?
  ENCYCLOPEDIC MEMORY...A LITTLE OUT OF DATE.
  ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR NEW PARTS.
  SOLDIERS ON THROUGH ADVERSITY.
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  SALVAGING
  (SPECIAL)
  LUCK
  3
  D8
  D8
  D6
  D10
  D10
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  Integrated Atomizer
  Metal Claw
  Tool Kit
  Spare Hand Unit
  Contraterrene Batteries
  QuickWeld Kit
  WD400 Vacuum-Resistant Oil
  2
  2
   OK OK –3
   OK OK —
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  
  COSMIC PATROL 101
  COMETARIANS
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Cometarians 
  Age: Unknown
  Homeworld: Unknown Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Cometarian  ❯ Alien  ❯ Frozen  
  ❯ Nefarious  ❯ Dark  ❯ Powerful  ❯ Fleeting
  Cometarians: Ever since it was first 
  discovered, scientists assumed the Oort 
  Cloud was as lifeless as interstellar space. 
  However, early expeditions to this strange 
  region beyond the planets revealed an 
  intelligent race dubbed “cometarians.” 
  Elusive to the extreme, no one knows 
  whether the Cometarians have a central 
  governing body, or even a central city, 
  though they appear to have some not-yet-
  understood way to communicate. They’re 
  intelligent enough to have perfected space 
  travel, but their extremely alien nature 
  makes the Patrol nervous about their goals.
  
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  D8
  D6
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  D8
  D10
  COMETARIAN CHIEF
  COMETARIAN MINION
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Claws
  Shard Gun
  Claws
  2
  3
  2
   OK — —
   OK –3 —
   OK — —
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D4
  D4
  
  COSMIC PATROL 103
  KILLBOT DRONES
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Killbots 
  Age: N/A
  Homeworld: Unknown Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Killbots  ❯ Inexorable  ❯ Unstoppable  
  ❯ Loud  ❯ Horrific  ❯ Buzz Saw Hands
  Killbot Drones: Not sentient by any definition, these robots, when first encountered 
  by the Patrol, were dubbed “killbot drones” for their awesome brutality and durability, 
  coupled with narrow parameters for carrying out their missions. While they come in a 
  wide variety of sizes and shapes, a drone’s entire existence hinges on the destruction of 
  its enemies, even if it means self-destruction to accomplish that goal. While it’s rumored 
  that the Gern created killbot drones, there’s no evidence to substantiate this idea.
  
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  KILLBOT CHIEF
  KILLBOT MINION
   OK — —
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Biditic Buzzsaw
  Triditic Buzzsaw
  Biditic Buzzsaw
  Triditic Buzzsaw
  Self-Destruct Mechanism
  Self-Destruct Mechanism
  4
  6
  4
  6
   OK — —
   OK –3 —
   OK –3 —
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D4
  D4
  D4
  D4
  D12
  D10
  
  COSMIC PATROL 105
  NEPTUNIAN MIND PLANT
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Mind Plants 
  Age: N/A
  Homeworld: Neptune 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Neptune  ❯ Alien  ❯ Putrid  
  ❯ Fungus  ❯ Hypnotic  ❯ Poisonous
  Neptunian Mind Plants: Home to the most outrageous and strange life-forms in the 
  entire solar system—almost all blobby, moldy, putrid and fungal-based—Neptune is a 
  hotbed of conflict as a rich source of raw materials. While not technologically advanced, 
  Neptunians can nevertheless be dangerous. The Mind Plants seem to be the most 
  aggressive. They secrete poisons and also have some sort of mental powers that can stun 
  and disorient Patrolmen. The best defense is to shoot them on sight, preferably with a 
  flame or heat weapon.
  
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  MIND PLANT CHIEF
  MIND PLANT MINION
   OK –3 —
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Mind Blast
  Mind Blast
  Poison
  Poison
  3
  4
  2
  3
   OK OK –3
   OK OK OK
   OK OK –3
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D4
  D4
  D6
  D10
  D6
  D6
  
  COSMIC PATROL 107
  VENUSIAN AUTOMEN
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Automen 
  Age: N/A
  Homeworld: Venus 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Venus  ❯ Robots  ❯ Hate  
  ❯ Misunderstood  ❯ Strange  ❯ Multi-limbed
  Venusian Automen: The once-glorious Venusian 
  Empire collapsed when its people became 
  too dependent on their robot work force, 
  who ultimately rebelled. The war lasted over 
  two centuries, almost destroying the planet 
  in the process. Just as the Venusians are a 
  fallen people, the current automen are weakened 
  successors to the war-forged robots of the past. 
  Despite their reduced abilities, they are still 
  extremely capable…and they hate…..
  
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  D8
  AUTOMEN CHIEF
  AUTOMEN MINION
   OK OK –3
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Metal Whip
  Metal Whip
  Atomic Dessicator
  Atomic Dessicator
  2
  3
  2
  2
   OK –3 —
   OK OK —
   OK OK –3
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D4
  D4
  D6
  D6
  D6
  D6
  
  COSMIC PATROL 109
  EIGER SOLDIER
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Eiger 
  Age: Unknown
  Homeworld: Eiger Empire 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Eiger  ❯ Clones  ❯ Ambitious  
  ❯ Short  ❯ Combative  ❯ Three-eyed  ❯ Core
  Eiger Dominion: The Eiger Empire is one 
  of the largest powers in the galaxy, taking 
  up a huge volume of space near the galactic 
  core. The Eiger continue to expand, with 
  cloned-soldier task forces always looking 
  for new planets and systems to conquer. 
  It’s unclear which side they fight on in 
  the galactic war. Regardless, they remain 
  a threat to Earth, and only their frequent 
  internal conflicts appear to keep them from 
  swallowing the galaxy whole.
  
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  D8
  EIGER CHIEF
  EIGER MINION
  D6
  D6
  D6
   OK — —
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Tri-Phase Pistol
  Hyper Void Rifle
  Zap-gloves
  Phase Pistol
  Radiumunicator
  Radiumunicator
  Qudrometic Cube
  Atomoshield
  A-Class Starlight Tube
  A-Class Starlight Tube
  3
  4
  4
  1
   OK OK –3
   OK OK OK
   OK OK OK
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D10
  D8
  D8
  
  COSMIC PATROL 111
  UTH FIGHTERS
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Uth 
  Age: N/A
  Homeworld: Unknown Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Lizards  ❯ Prolific  ❯ Grunts  
  ❯ Brutes  ❯ Raiders  ❯ Treasure-troves
  Uth: The Uth are an epically prolific race of lizardmen that supposedly act as the main 
  muscle of the Gern. While they have limited understanding of technology, Uth hollow 
  out asteroids to create their lairs. They then attach giant but inefficient engines that 
  allow them to roam space, attacking whoever crosses their path. While exceptionally 
  difficult, capturing these lairs can result in a treasure trove of material they’ve looted 
  from across the galaxy.
  
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  UTH CHIEF
  UTH MINION
   OK — —
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Gugclock Lance
  Raypistol
  Tail
  Tail
  Gern Communicator
  Vesuvian Mekmind
  Cometarian Pelt
  Red Amazon Bone Necklace
  Shiney Bits
  Eiger Eye in a Bulb
  Coalsack Artifact
  2
  3
  3
  3
   OK –3 —
   OK OK –3
   OK — —
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  D4
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  D6
  D6
  D10
  D8
  D6
  
  COSMIC PATROL 113
  HENCHMEN
  VITAL FACTORS
  Name: Henchmen 
  Age: N/A
  Homeworld: N/A 
  Rank: N/A
  Tags: ❯ Pirate  ❯ Barbarian  ❯ Desperate  
  ❯ Malfunctioning  ❯ Scrapper  ❯ Sneaky
  Henchmen: You can’t have a good empire/pirate band/robot army without a few (hundred) 
  henchmen. They come in all sizes, shapes and abilities. They usually aren’t very good…which 
  is why they’re called henchmen, after all…but hey, they’re just cannon fodder.
  
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  JOVIAN BARBARIAN CHIEF
  JOVIAN BARBARIAN MINION
   OK — —
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  AtomPistol
  AtomRifle
  Rockshiv
  Rockshiv
  Filtermask
  Filter Mask
  Uniwave Communicator
  Crystalwater Cannister
  Jovian Vinerope
  Uniwave Communicator
  4
  5
  3
  3
   OK — —
   OK –3 —
   OK — —
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  D6
  D6
  D10
  D8
  D6
  D6
  
  COSMIC PATROL 115
  HENCHMEN
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  SPACE PIRATE CHIEF
  SPACE PIRATE MINION
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Duranium Sword
  Sizzler Mk.II Heatgun
  First Aid Kit
  Toolkit
  Uniwave Communicator
  Duranium Chain
  4
  3
   OK –3 —
   OK –3 —
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  D6
  D6
  D6
  D6
  D6
  D6
  D6
  
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  ROGUE ROBOT CHIEF
  ROGUE ROBOT MINION
   OK –3 —
  HEALTH
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Metal Pipe
  Metal Clamp
  Metal Clamp
  Metal Clamp
  2
  3
  3
  3
   OK — —
   OK –3 —
   OK –3 —
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D8
  D8
  D6
  D6
  D6
  D6
  D6
  
  COSMIC PATROL 117
  HENCHMEN
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  SARGASSO MONSTER
  HAKHAZE BRUTE
   OK — —
  HEALTH
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  WEAPONS
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  EQUIPMENT
  Slug Thrower
  Monstrous Claws
  Huge Teeth
  Monstrous Claws
  Gumberbumbershoot
  Hakha Medicine
  3
  3
  2
  3
   OK OK –3
   OK –3 —
   OK –3 —
  ARMOR
  ARMOR
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  D6
  D6
  D6
  D10
  D10
  D4
  D10
  D8
  HEALTH
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  
  TM
  Sir Arthur StAnley eddington
  [the internAl ConStitution of StArS, 1926]
  “the inSide of A StAr iS A hurly-burly of AtomS, 
  eleCtronS And Aether wAveS … try to imAgine the 
  tumult! bArely hAS the Atom ArrAnged the new SCAlp 
  on itS girdle when A quAntum of Aether wAveS runS 
  into it. with A greAt exploSion, the eleCtron iS off 
  AgAin for further AdventureS.”
  X MINUS ZERO
  BLAST OFF!
  
  BLAST OFF! 119
  Incoming message from Cloud Station (Venus Orbital Command)
  WARNING: VOC spotters report confirmed sightings of Automen 
  advancing on your location. Approximately 12 Automen (electronic 
  brains estimate Class Threes)—ETA fifteen minutes. No reinforcements 
  possible for at least one Earth-standard hour.
  VOC recommends retreating to underground tunnel or evacuating 
  dig teams via your ship. Your call.
  Good luck, VOC out.
  objeCtiveS
  ❯  Escape the Automen onslaught alive
  ❯  Escape with the archive crystal or destroy the crystal
  CueS
  ❯  Venusian robots   ❯  ancient Venusian ruins   ❯  library
  ❯  archaeology expedition   ❯  lost Venusian records
  tAgS
  ❯  Venus   ❯  robots   ❯  Automen   ❯  running shootout   
  ❯  lost technology   ❯  mountains of Venus
  ALERT: AUTOMEN ATTACK!
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  
  120 BLAST OFF!
  COSMIC pATROL
  ALERT: AUTOMEN ATTACK!
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  “We should have known better.”
  “Two Earth weeks ago, the Venusians dug up an almost-intact library 
  from before the Automen War. That was huge, but the big prize was an 
  undamaged archive crystal in the library’s secure vault. Now that the 
  Venusians have finally gotten into the vault and are ready to haul it 
  back home, the robots attack!”
  “The Cloud Stationers are right. We can either hole up or make a run 
  for the ship. If we dig in, we’ll have to fight the robots off all at once 
  and hope they don’t bring the ruins down around us. If we run for it, 
  we can probably string them out, but we’ll be in the open. Either way, 
  the crystal has to survive. It could hold secrets on how to take down the 
  Automen once and for all.”
  the Setting
  The dig site is situated in a rocky, barren valley. Though the Venusians 
  have unearthed a large section of the buried city, they are concentrating on 
  the ruined library. The library is little more than a collapsed heap with a 
  tunnel bored into it. The landing pad is situated at the head of the valley 
  about 300 meters away. The path to the ship winds through rubble that 
  provides many spots for cover.
  enemieS/obStACleS
  Scene 1: The Automen are the only enemies the Patrolmen need to worry 
  about. Blast away!
  
  BLAST OFF! 121
  COSMIC pATROL
  A SARgASSO OF SpACE
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  Incoming Orders from Cosmic Patrol HQ:
  Effective this date-time: Cancel previous orders. Alter course to 
  Neptune-specific coordinates given in basic cosmo-course.
  Electronic brains at CPHQ have identified statistically significant loss 
  of ships in trans-Neptunian orbit. Records show phenomenon dates 
  from pre-Cosmic Patrol era. Records show dozens of rocketships have 
  disappeared in area over last two decades.
  Proceed with all speed to cosmo-course coordinates provided and 
  attempt to determine cause of missing-ship phenomenon. Advise 
  caution.
  objeCtiveS
  ❯  Search derelict ships for compatible ignitor 
  ❯  Discover/analyze the cause of the sargasso 
  ❯  Neutralize the cause if possible 
  ❯  Survive!
  CueS
  ❯  obsolete ships   ❯  Bermuda Triangle of space   ❯  starving to death
  ❯  mysterious gravity source   ❯  stranded   ❯  refugees   ❯  cannibalism   
  ❯  lost cargo   ❯  natural neutralization field   ❯  find the right part
  ❯  finding loot   ❯  malfunctioning robots   ❯  disrepair   ❯  power drain
  tAgS
  ❯  rocketships   ❯  zero-g   ❯  robots   ❯  Neptune   ❯  deep cosmos   
  ❯  stranded   ❯  malfunction   ❯  lost in space   ❯  cosmic mystery   
  ❯  missing ships
  
  122 BLAST OFF!
  COSMIC pATROL
  A SARgASSO OF SpACE
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  “We’re in a bad way. This transient gravity well sucked us in, just like 
  it did all these other ships. So much for being cautious.”
  “So now we have a problem: the engines couldn’t take the sudden 
  strain of the well and were severely damaged. The engineers think 
  they can fix most of it except for one piece: the atomic ignitor. Without 
  that, we’re just sitting on a pile of finely manufactured and incredibly 
  complex sprockets.”
  “But it gets worse. This...sargasso...is like a roving asteroid field. All 
  these ships are just floating at random. We haven’t been able to avoid 
  all the collisions with just attitude bursts, and after a few bad hits, we’re 
  leaking atmosphere. The engineers think we’ve got four days’ worth of 
  oxygen left.”
  “So that leaves one course of action: get out there and search all 
  these derelicts for a compatible ignitor! Well—that or learn to breathe 
  the high vack!”
  the Setting
  The sargasso has trapped hundreds, maybe thousands, of ships of all sizes 
  and designs. Some are quite old, dating back to the first human interplanetary 
  journeys. Some ships appear even older, possibly from the short period of 
  Venusian spaceflight. Some look non-human altogether.
  enemieS/obStACleS
  Scene 1: The first obstacle is the wild nature of the sargasso. Ships drift about, 
  with many strikes and impacts. The crew must find a way to navigate the chaos.
  Scene 2: Once inside a derelict vessel, there may be traps, malfunctioning 
  robots, crewmen driven mad by isolation, and so on, not to mention dilapidated 
  and broken machinery. No ship will be without its dangers.
  Scene 3: The search for a replacement ignitor may be difficult. Once it’s found, 
  it could be difficult to handle, as the unit is large and delicate with age. Finding 
  the way back to your own ship is tricky enough, and now you have to take the 
  machinery along.
  
  BLAST OFF! 123
  COSMIC pATROL
  COMET OF MYSTERY
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  Incoming Orders from Platform Hades:
  Inexplicable signals have been detected from a comet incoming 
  towards Sol in what appears to be a highly elliptical orbit. It’s already 
  unacceptably close; it was undetected due to its approach almost 
  directly opposite the Earth. Indications are that its perihelion will place it 
  between Mercury and Venus during its slingshot around the sun.
  While such an orbit is not unheard of—Halley’s Comet falls into an 
  almost identical pattern—it’s rare enough, along with the odd signals, 
  to require investigation. Though its relative velocity should be in excess 
  of a quarter million kilometers an hour during the slingshot, the close 
  pass near Platform Hades is far too dangerous for the Patrol to ignore.
  Transmitting new cosmo-coordinates. You will need to proceed at 
  your rocketship’s maximum velocity to achieve intercept.
  objeCtiveS
  ❯  Intercept comet
  ❯  Dig into the interior
  ❯  Discover what’s causing the odd signals
  ❯  Survive!
  CueS
  ❯  extreme acceleration Gs   ❯  tricky piloting to match velocities   
  ❯  mysterious signals   ❯  comet of unknown origin   ❯  drilling in vacuum   
  ❯  exploring comet interior   ❯  limited time before comet reaches perihelion   
  ❯  too close a pass to Platform Hades
  tAgS
  ❯  comet   ❯  delta-v   ❯  Platform Hades   ❯  rocketship   ❯  pilot
  ❯  drilling   ❯  vacuum   ❯  velocity
  
  124 BLAST OFF!
  COSMIC pATROL
  COMET OF MYSTERY
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  “I’m not sugar-coating this one. It’s gonna be brutal. I’ve seen the cosmo-
  coordinates for the comet they want us to intercept. When they say “maximum 
  velocity,” it’s no euphemism. In fact, I’m not sure our baby has ever sustained that 
  high a burn for as long as it’s gonna take to get there.”
  “And if the drive doesn’t shake itself apart getting there, the hull’s gonna take 
  a structural pounding like them engineers at Hades Platform never dreamed when 
  they built her as we try and match course. Not to mention even with inertial-
  voiders at maximum, I’m expecting some aches and pains on the flip-side.”
  “But wthere won’t be time for moaning, ‘cause then we’ve got a stupid-
  short period of time to EVA, drill a hole and find out what’s going on inside that 
  comet, all while sitting at .6 AUs from a burning ball o’ hell and hurtling at a 
  quarter million klicks….”
  “Now this is why we joined the Patrol!”
  the Setting
  Coordinates locked in, the F220E Trillium drive system spins up to maximum thrust, 
  launching the rocketship forward like a thoroughbred finally taking the bit in its mouth 
  to race at its true strength. Inertial-voiders strain against the in-human energies to keep 
  flesh-bodies from de-coherence; smeared into swatches of biological elements. 
  The long, desperate sprint has begun.
  enemieS/obStACleS
  Scene 1: The crew must survive the sprint towards the rendezvous with the comet, 
  including dealing with any rocketship malfunctions/emergencies that may crop up 
  along the way as the ship’s engines are pushed to the extreme. Then they need to land 
  on the comet racing like a bat past hell.
  Scene 2: Once the rocketship is secured to the comet, the crew’s suits must stand 
  up to the punishing heat and glare of being only .6AU from the sun while the crewmen 
  figure out how to tunnel into the comet.
  Scene 3: Once inside the comet, the crew must survive an assault by Uth! As if 
  the Patrol hasn’t had enough trouble with the Uth, the Patrolmen must deal with the 
  lizards once more and see if they can capture the lair…a tall order indeed.
  Regardless of whether they capture it, they still must determine why the comet gave 
  off unusual readings when all previous encounters with Uth lairs showed only silent 
  exteriors. A new technology? A new weapon? Anything might be found….
  
  BLAST OFF! 125
  COSMIC pATROL
  LOST INTELLIgENCE
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  Incoming Orders from Cosmic Patrol HQ:
  Intelligence Service agent missing on Gny. The no-fly cordon is lifted 
  on that volume of space for the duration of the mission to re-acquire 
  agent.
  Intelligence Service liaisons already en route to your current location. 
  Stay on station until arrival.
  Full access and complete compliance with Intelligence Service liaisons 
  is authorized under Beta590ZedZed7.
  objeCtiveS
  ❯  Partner with Cosmic Patrol Intelligence 
  ❯  Navigate bazaar/cosmic marketplace to find leads for missing agent
  ❯  Track down and free agent
  CueS
  ❯  wicked hive of scum   ❯  anything can be bought and sold   
  ❯  subtle dangers   ❯  pays to be wary of the Intelligence Service   
  ❯  no-fly cordon   ❯  is the Intelligence Service hiding anything?   
  ❯  no Great Union rules apply here
  tAgS
  ❯  arrogance   ❯  liaisons   ❯  pirates   ❯  rogue   ❯  intelligence   ❯  leads   
  ❯  Gny   ❯  market   ❯  bazaar   ❯  secrets   ❯  criminals
  
  126 BLAST OFF!
  COSMIC pATROL
  LOST INTELLIgENCE
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  “Oh, this is too good. The high-and-mighty Intelligence Service lost one 
  of their best and brightest.”
  “And if that doesn’t bring on a belly-buster, they lost her on Gny. 
  Remember? The cosmic bazaar moon the Patrol found? And then we were 
  immediately banned from any actions there as the IS moved into to secure 
  their turf? Yeah, didn’t think any of you would forget that.”
  “And now, after all that, they want us knuckle-draggers to come save 
  their collective keisters. Of course, they’ll be sending us chaperones, ‘cause 
  fighting off Automen and Uth and space-knows-what other dangers that get 
  thrown at us daily don’t qualify us to deal with this without our betters.”
  “Ship-shape, men, or they just might take a phasic whip to our backs…
  keep the smiles under control and let’s get to it.”
  the Setting
  A woman and man pass through the docking collar of the rocketship following the 
  arrival of the shuttle. Eyes cold as the depths of space, faces planed and emotionless as 
  Automen, lips quirked in a Moon Man’s perpetual sneer of arrogance: the Cosmic Patrol 
  Intelligence Service liaisons had arrived.
  enemieS/obStACleS
  Scene 1: Agents from the Cosmic Patrol Intelligence Service arrive to liaison during 
  the operation. The IS has a history of paranoid arrogance that leaves most Patrolmen with 
  the impression they’re no better than Eiger soldiers: don’t think, just act. It makes any 
  interactions fraught with tension and peril, as the IS has a disturbing amount of direct 
  influence within the Patrol.
  Scene 2: Once on Gny, the crew must use every resource to track down leads toward 
  the missing agent. These could be a simple talk with a long-haul merchant over drinks, or 
  a gambling den packed with criminals, a game of illegal fleshbags-seven with Automen, or 
  circumstances may even require some five-fingered assistance to get the right answers.
  Scene 3: Once the trail heats up, the crew need to race to track down the pirates that 
  have nabbed the agent. Yet the data begins to imply that the agent wasn’t abducted, but 
  has gone rogue! Is the agent really captured, or is she a traitor/pirate and the IS liaisons are 
  there to cover up the mess? Or is the agent on the run, trying to spill dark secrets the IS will 
  do anything to keep under wraps, including murdering one of their own? Secrets, within 
  secrets, within secrets…and the crew need to unwrap the puzzle just right, or they might 
  find they’re out of the rocketship and into the sun’s corona…
  
  BLAST OFF! 127
  COSMIC pATROL
  ATOMATICS BLAZINg
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  DISTRESS CALL: ALL PATROLS
  ANY ROCKETSHIPS WITHIN 100 ASTRONS OF MOON BETA FIVE EIGHT 
  SEVEN
  ROCKETSHIP NEUTROSTAR UNDER ATTACK BY EIGER
  CANNOT HOLD OUT INDEFINITELY. ALL ATTEMPTS AT 
  COMMUNICATION HAVE BEEN IGNORED
  ARRIVE WITH INTENT TO DESTROY EIGER SHIPS AND BOARD TO 
  CAPTURE
  NO OTHER ALTERNATIVES
  objeCtiveS
  ❯  Fight and defeat several smaller Eiger rocketships
  ❯  Disable largest cruiser
  ❯  Coordinate with other arriving Patrols
  ❯  Board and attempt to capture vessel
  CueS
  ❯  relentless Eiger soldiers   ❯  large ship-to-ship combat   
  ❯  atomatics blazing   ❯  capture if possible   ❯  we must work together   
  ❯  boarding the vessel is the only option   
  ❯  must keep Eiger ignorant of Earth’s location
  tAgS
  ❯  Eiger   ❯  fanatical   ❯  rocketships   ❯  assault   ❯  atomatics   ❯  phasers   
  ❯  rayguns   ❯  ship-to-ship   ❯  wave attacks   ❯  boarding   ❯  survive
  
  128 BLAST OFF!
  COSMIC pATROL
  ATOMATICS BLAZINg
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  “Eiger. Galatic, I hate those clones. Triple-eyed buggers that come in 
  like waves of flesh. Worse than any Automen attack on Venus.”
  “Luckily we haven’t run into them all that much. But each time their 
  soldiers are more inexorable than any Uth attack and twice as vicious as 
  a marauding Red Amazon battle tribe.” 
  “But now we’ve run into them again…classic sign they’re pushing 
  closer and closer to our volume of space. They’ve dogged one of our 
  cruisers and we’re out to stop it. Even better, we need to capture some 
  of these fascists, alive if possible. And their ship if we’re real good.”
  “It’s not just about our vessel…it’s about ensuring these buggers 
  never return to report running into us…can’t let them know they’re 
  getting dangerously close….”
  the Setting
  As the vessel’s fractum drive spins down from faster-than-light travel, the space 
  battle explodes across data terminals on the ship. A small but always potent Eiger 
  battle force encloses a volume of space completely surrounding a Cosmic Patrol 
  cruiser, while a handful of just-arrived Patrol rocketships dart like gnats to stave off 
  the brutal assault. Weapons auto-lock as the ship begins assault maneuvers and an 
  avalanche of data falls before alert Patrolmen eyes…the battle is engaged.
  enemieS/obStACleS
  Scene 1: A brutal conflict involving numerous rocketships rages, and the crew must 
  knife through the smaller vessels that are cutting the distressed Cosmic Patrol vessel to 
  ribbons.
  Scene 2: Once the smaller ships are dealt with, the crew must find a way to disable 
  the Eiger cruiser without destroying it and before it can destroy any more Patrol ships.
  Scene 3: With the Eiger vessel dead in space, it’s time to board. But it’s a large 
  vessel and the Eiger are fanatical-die-to-the-last soliders, so the crew must coordinate 
  with several other Patrol rocketships and forge a leadership position.
  Scene 4: A boarding and guns-blazing deck-to-deck action is the only way to clear 
  the ship and hope to capture some soldiers…all before the Eiger can scuttle their own 
  vessel to keep it from Patrol hands.
  
  BLAST OFF! 129
  COSMIC pATROL
  BLOOD OF MARS
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  Incoming orders from Platform Ares:
  Previous mission has been re-assigned to another ship. Proceed 
  immediately to Mars.
  Battle Chieftain Teksed rumored to be gathering chieftains to his 
  cause of leaving the Great Union.
  While electronic brains at CPHQ have projected a statistically 
  insignificant probability of success, even a single-digit chance cannot be 
  condoned and must be swiftly dealt with.
  IMPERATIVE: This must remain a diplomatic mission of subterfuge in 
  diffusing the situation. The Cosmic Patrol cannot be seen meddling in 
  the internal affairs of the Red Amazon Chieftains. Open conflict must 
  not occur.
  objeCtiveS
  ❯  Search for Chieftain Teksed
  ❯  Gain an audience with the Chieftain without official Patrol sanction
  ❯  Convince Teksed to continue his support of the Patrol
  ❯  No open conflict
  CueS
  ❯  politics of greed   ❯  alliances of chieftains   ❯  animosity toward Patrol   
  ❯  must find Chieftain Teksed   ❯  getting past Teksed’s warrior guard   
  ❯  warriors will gain glory with the Patrol   ❯  no open conflict
  tAgS
  ❯  Red Amazons   ❯  diplomacy   ❯  machinations   ❯  politics   ❯  chieftains
  ❯  no guns   ❯  alliances
  
  130 BLAST OFF!
  COSMIC pATROL
  BLOOD OF MARS
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  “Looks like the grumbling from Mars is reaching too many ears at HQ. 
  Some of the chieftains have never been happy about the Great Union. As 
  though they’re serfs instead of their brothers in arms against the Great Dark.“
  “I don’t give the idea of the Amazons pulling out much credence. I’ve 
  known a lot of ‘em over the years and they love to hear themselves moan 
  and gripe…but I’d still want ‘em in a clutch every time. But when the mek-
  heads say leap, we ask ‘em if that should be with atompacks on or not.”
  “‘Course, the best part of this whole mission is, we’ve got to track down 
  this Chieftain Teksed, get past his warrior guards and convince him he still 
  loves the Patrol. All without official Patrol sanction, or without putting 
  finger to trigger. Gotta love HQ and their restrictions!”
  “This is gonna be a tough one…maybe tougher than a sargasso 
  monster…but quitters aren’t in the Patrol, so saddle up!”
  the Setting
  A lone Cosmic Patrol rocketship setting down on Mars doesn’t even register as odd 
  to any nearby tribes. Landing next to the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus 
  Mons, provides the center of tribal trade and traffic as the best starting point. 
  Despite all the wonders in the cosmos, once the red dust settles from the landing, the 
  25-kilometer-tall upthrust of rock into space still captures the gaze for long moments. 
  A band of Amazonian merchants, with a train of Mars horses, hails you from afar as 
  they move into earshot.
  enemieS/obStACleS
  Scene 1: The crew must navigate the Olympus Mons bazaar to find word of Chieftain 
  Teksed and where he might be located.
  Scene 2: Once his whereabouts are known, the crew must find Teksed’s tribe and then 
  get past the warrior guards. Landing in an open region is one thing…taking a rocketship 
  down right next to a tribe’s land is anything but subtle and could provoke a nasty 
  response.
  Scene 3: Like all Red Amazon chieftains, Teksed is a warrior of action and glory, as 
  are those of his tribe. The grievances he and others like him feel towards the Great Union 
  and the Cosmic Patrol are very real. Yet the crew must find a way to mollify the Chieftain 
  while convincing him his best course of action lies with the Patrol…at least for now…
  
  BLAST OFF! 131
  COSMIC pATROL
  THE CASTLE ON CALLISTO
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  Incoming orders from Cosmic Patrol HQ:
  Immediate course-change ordered—see included cosmo-coordinates, 
  Callisto-specific.
  Cosmic Patrol Rocketship Traverse reports sighting three unknown 
  (assume pirate) ships landing on Callisto. Seek out the ships and disrupt 
  their activities as you see fit.
  CPHQ out.
  objeCtiveS
  ❯  Track down the pirates and see what they’re up to 
  ❯  Explore the ancient castle
  CueS
  ❯  space pirates   ❯  ancient castle   ❯  Callisto   ❯  everything covered in ice   
  ❯  maze-like interior   ❯  mysterious castle   ❯  ice monsters   
  ❯  Neptunian Mind Plants   ❯  long abandoned   ❯  cave-ins   
  ❯  falling apart   ❯  forgotten treasure   ❯  alien technology   ❯  booby traps, 
  tAgS
  ❯  Jupiter   ❯  Callisto   ❯  ancient ruins   ❯  ice   ❯  extreme cold   
  ❯  space pirates   ❯  Neptunian Mind Plants   ❯  Cometarians
  
  132 BLAST OFF!
  COSMIC pATROL
  THE CASTLE ON CALLISTO
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
   “The castle was just as you’d pictured it in your mind’s eye: giant blocks 
  of rock fitted together with uncanny precision so the edifice seemed to grow 
  right out of the mountain. Blue ice, meters thick in some spots but with a 
  strange clarity that let you see all the way to the stone, covered everything. 
  And though it looked as a castle should—towers, curtain walls, even a 
  gatehouse—there was a subtle oddness about it. You could tell no human 
  had devised or built it.”
  “The pirates had landed their rockets in the main courtyard, just within 
  the gate. Each ship taken down on its tail, standing like towers in their own 
  right, though of steel and duranium rather than stone and ice. Even from the 
  air, we could see the tracks the disembarked pirates had made through the 
  long-undisturbed snow that covered the inner courtyards. They led from the 
  ships to a gaping stone arch in the castle’s central—and tallest—tower.”
  “A uni-sensor scan showed only a token group had been left to guard 
  the pirate ships, so we suited up and brought our ship down next to them. 
  Whatever they were after, we wouldn’t let them get it.”
  the Setting
  High on a Callisto mountain, covered in ice and snow, are the ruins of a huge 
  castle-like structure. Made of large, hand-cut stones, the castle must have been 
  built at a time when Callisto was not yet inundated by ice. The castle’s interior 
  descends into the mountain itself.
  enemieS/obStACleS
  Scene 1: You’ve brought your rocketship down in the castle’s snow- and ice-
  covered central courtyard. The first order of business is to neutralize the token 
  force guarding the pirate rocketships. They’ve locked themselves inside, so you’ll 
  need to break down the doors. Once inside the dilapidated ships, maybe you can 
  get a clue as to what the pirates are after.
  Scene 2: Now the hard part begins—you’ve got to follow the pirates into 
  the ancient castle. The maze-like interior is just as ice-covered and cold as the 
  exterior and is probably booby-trapped. Luckily, the pirates weren’t concerned 
  about anyone following them, and left an obvious trail through the layers of 
  bluish-green Callisto snow that has found its way into the castle. Eventually, the 
  
  BLAST OFF! 133
  COSMIC pATROL
  THE CASTLE ON CALLISTO
  COSMIC pATROL MISSION BRIEFS
  pirates must have gotten impatient and split up, as the tracks suddenly lead 
  in multiple directions. Find the pirates!
  Scene 3: Eventually, you track down the pirate leader deep within the 
  castle—but they’re eager to leave, and don’t think twice about trying to 
  blast their way through a crew of Patrolmen. Sooner or later you find out 
  why—they’ve found a monster in the castle! A monster intent on killing 
  any and all intruders!
  A.
  B.
  C.
  D.
  D.
  D.
  D.
  E.
  F.
  F.
  A. COSMIC pATROL ROCKETSHIp 
  D. SMALL TOWERS
  B. pIRATE ROCKETSHIpS 
  E. MAIN TOWER & ENTRANCE TO UNDERgROUND
  C. COURTYARD 
  F. RUBBLE/MOUNTAIN FACE
  
  134 ALL HAIL THE FICTIONEERS!
  COSMIC PATROL
  ALL HAIL THE FICTIONEERS!
  134 ALL HAIL THE FICTIONEERS!
  Cosmic Patrol owes its existence to a number 
  of talented and visionary people who, in one 
  manner or another, provided the spark for 
  the game. If you’re looking for inspiration, 
  want to seek out some astounding art or 
  read some amazing fiction, check out the 
  resources below. For a much larger list, head 
  to cosmicpatrol.com.
  (in no particular order)
  (* = required reading/viewing, seriously. Or else.)
  Writers
   
  E.E. “Doc” Smith
   
   
  The Lensmen series*
   
   
  A Skylark of Space series
   
   
  Galaxy Primes
   
   
  Spacehounds of IPC
   
  Edgar Rice Burroughs
   
   
  The Barsoom Series*
   
  Leigh Brackett
   
   
  Eric John Stark Series*
   
   
  The Starmen
   
   
  The Ark of Mars
   
   
  The Teleportress of Alpha C
   
  Isaac Asimov
   
   
  The Foundation Series*
   
   
  The Robot Series
   
   
  The Galactic Empire Series
   
   
  The Gods Themselves
   
   
  The End of Eternity
   
   
  C-Chute
   
  Robert Heinlein
   
   
  Starship Troopers*
   
   
  The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
   
   
  Have Space Suit, Will Travel
   
   
  Red Planet
   
  Philip K. Dick
   
   
  Clans of the Alphane Moon
   
   
  Martian Time-Slip
   
   
  The Defenders
   
  Ray Bradbury
   
   
  The Martian Chronicles
   
   
  The Veldt
   
  Arthur C. Clarke
   
   
  The Space Odyssey Series*
   
   
  Rendezous with Rama
   
   
  The Sands of Mars
   
  Harry Harrison
   
   
  The Deathworld Series
   
   
  The Stainless Steel Rat Series
   
   
  The Bill, the Galactic Hero Series
   
   
  Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers
   
  John Russel Fearn
   
   
  Many short stories
   
  E.C. Tubb
   
   
  The Dumarest Saga
   
   
  The Cap Kennedy Series
   
   
  The Space-Born
   
   
  I Fight for Mars
   
   
  Saturn Patrol
   
   
  Moon Base
   
  Theodore Sturgeon
   
   
  Killdozer!*
   
   
  A Saucer of Loneliness
   
   
  More Than Human
   
  Larry Niven
   
   
  The Known Space Series
   
  H. Beam Piper
   
   
  The Little Fuzzy Series
   
   
  Space Viking
   
  Philip Palmer
   
   
  Red Claw
   
  Stephen Marlowe
   
   
  The Graveyard of Space
   
   
  Slaves to the Metal Horde
   
  Poul Anderson
   
   
  The Psychotechnic League
   
   
  Tomorrow’s Children
   
  Fletcher Pratt
   
   
  By Space Ship to the Moon
   
  John Murray Reynolds
   
   
  The Golden Amazons of Venus
   
   
  Goddess of the Moon
  
  ALL HAIL THE FICTIONEERS! 135
  COSMIC PATROL
  TM
  Radio, TV & Movies
  X Minus One
  Dimension X
  Space Patrol
  Beyond 2000
  The Outer Limits
  The Twilight Zone
  Publications, Publishers and Editors
  Hugo Gernsback
  Street & Smith
  Galaxy Science Fiction
  Thrilling Wonder Stories
  Astounding Science Fiction
  Planet Stories
  Astonishing Stories
  Startling Stories
  Amazing Stories
  Science Wonder Stories
  Fantastic Adventures
  Uncanny Tales
  Argosy
  Super Science Stories
  Dynamic Science Fiction
  Miracle Science & Fantasy
  Captain Future
  Marvel Science Stories
  Space Busters
  Modern
   
  Decoder Ring Theatre
   
   
  Lightspeed Magazine
   
  Asimov’s Science Fiction
   
  Analog Science Fiction & Fact
   
  Interzone
   
  L. Sprague DeCamp
   
   
  Lest Darkness Fall
   
   
  A Gun for Dinosaur
   
   
  The Viagens Interplanetarias Series
   
   
  Genus Homo
   
  Frank Belknap Long
   
   
  Space Station #1
   
  Clifford D. Simak
   
   
  The Cosmic Engineers
   
   
  Project Mastodon
   
  A. E. van Vogt
   
   
  The Voyage of the Space Beagle
   
   
  Rogue Ship
   
   
  The World of Null-A
   
  John W. Campbell
   
   
  The Ultimate Weapon
   
   
  The Black Star Passes
   
  Philip Francis Nowlan
   
   
  Armageddon 2419 A.D.
   
   
  The Airlords of Han
  Artists
  Norman Saunders
  Kelly Freas
  Alexander Leydenfrost
  Ron Turner
  Frank R. Paul
  Jack Coggins
  Virgil Finlay
  Harry Kirchner
  J. Allen St. John
  Ed Emshwiller
  Alex Schomburg
  Chesley Bonestell
  Wally Wood
  Earle Bergey
  Hannes Bok
  
  TM
  FIND OUT IN ANOTHER 
  FAR-OUT ADVENTURE WITH THE
  COSMIC PATROL!
  C O S M I C PAT R O L . C O M
  
  cosmic patrol
  NAME:
  CUES
  DISPOSITION
  SHIP: 
    MISSION:
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  LUCK
  (SPECIAL)
  ARMOR
  HEALTH
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  COSMIC PATROL DOSSIER
  
  cosmic patrol
  cosmic patrol
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  NAME:
  ARMOR
  HEALTH
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  BRAWN
  BRAINS
  CHARISMA
  COMBAT
  NAME:
  ARMOR
  HEALTH
  –1 TO
  BRAWN
  –1 TO BRAWN 
  & COMBAT
  KNOCKED
  OUT
  KILLED IN 
  ACTION
  DAMAGE
   Close 
  Near 
  Far
  RANGE
  WEAPONS
  EQUIPMENT
  COSMIC PATROL NPC DOSSIER
  COSMIC PATROL NPC DOSSIER
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Collaborative & Peer & Gm-less & Shifting GM/Cosmic Patrol/Cosmic Patrol - Core Rules.pdf