Companion to the Jovian Chronicles

Life in 2210...

Welcome back to the world of the Jovian Chronicles!

The Jovian Chronicles Companion is a supplement for the science fiction game universe of the same name. As its name implies, the book is a companion volume to the main rulebook, offering additional insights and ideas on subjects that could not always be fully covered due to a lack of space. The solar system of the twenty-third century is vast and complex after all, and it is hard to provide much more than glimpses of it through these few pages.

The Companion contains advanced rules and specific cases for those who want to take their Jovian Chronicles characters and campaigns a step further. It also features additional background information, much of it visual in nature, and the long-awaited, complete Silhouette vehicle and weapon design systems. Design, not construction, because statistics are chosen and not decided by a set of formulas that may or may not match the concept you have in mind. There is no such restriction in these rules, allowing both Gamemasters and Players to field the vehicles they need for the story and not just close approximations. The design rules also handle only the "nuts and bolts" game part, leaving you free to describe your new creation in as much detail as you like.

Most of the material found in this volume will only apply in certain situations. For example, it would be excessive to constantly calculate the effects of gravity or radiation on the characters, and it is quite unlikely that new vehicles will show up every hour of the game. Any and all of the advanced rules can be safely ignored by the Gamemaster should the group prefer it.

1.1 Goal of the Companion

The Companion is intended to provide Jovian Chronicles players with a variety of advanced rules to incorporate in their campaigns and to further enrich the lush background of the solar system. It also contains tools that will make it easier to build a campaign, such as pre-generated character career packages and overviews of the armed forces and national stereotypes of all the major nations in the solar system.

What the Companion is not intended to be is a straight-jacket of overly complex rules that stifle all creativity. While the Jovian Chronicles universe is intended to be a somewhat realistic portrayal of a future where humanity has moved to space, too much realism (and thus too many rules) can slow the action to a crawl. For this reason, all of the contents of this book were designed to stand on their own, without specifically requiring other advanced rules or specific props. Every attempt has been made to cover or at least mention all important facts about life in space, but word count considerations prevented the inclusion of much interesting material. The bibliography on page 136 recommends numerous books and information sources that will be extremely useful to those wishing for a campaign that is closer to life.

1.1.1 Book Content

The Companion is divided into four main sections, each concerned with a different aspect of the game. The first one supplies additional world information through the history of the Jovian Chronicles universe. Beyond its entertainment and setting value, resourceful Gamemasters can use it to generate scenario ideas - brave Gamemasters can even play campaigns in the early days of this history, when humanity first undertook the conquest of space. This is especially suited to player groups that are keenly interested in current space exploration programs (stats can be easily developed for most existing vehicles).

The second section of the book is concerned with character-oriented information and is itself divided into two parts. The first covers the character generation process, offering suggested character and national stereotypes as well as pre-generated career packages that accelerate the process of creating a new character. Perks and Flaws for characters are also supplied to allow Players to further customize their game persona. The second part supplies advanced rules for hazards such as radiation exposure, zero-g environments, disease, etc. While a bit complex for everyday campaign use, any of these can be used to increase the level of drama in a particular situation or character.

Vehicle-oriented information forms the bulk of the third section. It features special rules for vehicles, advanced terrain types (both on planetary surfaces and in space) and their effects, as well as weather and hostile conditions rules. Gamemasters can also insert these unusual terrain types to create challenges for their Players to use or overcome in their campaign.

Last, but not least, an engineering chapter contains the various design rules and guidelines that are used to define the characteristics of the vehicles, weapons, special systems, and installations featured in the game. It also includes a few items and technologies that do not yet exist in the Chronicles (some of them may never actually be discovered) but are currently investigated or theorized by twenty-third century scientists. These esoteric characteristics may be used by individual Gamemasters to either customize their own version of the Jovian Chronicles universe or to create a distinct anime-styled campaign world of their own. The research into these nonexistant technologies can also be the center of a theme that a GM can weave in his campaign.

1.2 Hooks and Tips

While the Mechanical Catalog provides Gamemasters and Players with a variety of new options for their campaign, it is important that the focus of a roleplaying game remain on the characters involved in the game.

This book offers lots of new ideas and rules. It may be tempting to use them all, but this is likely to slow the pace of the game to a crawl. It is better for Gamemasters to keep them for special occasions when such unusual conditions will further the plot. For example, the detailed atmosphere rules shouldn't be used in normal combat, but would sure come in handy for that "marooned in space" scenario. Idem for the radiation rules: any astronomy student will tell you that living in the violent radiation storms that extend throughout the Jovian regions of space is a bad idea, yet we ignore these concerns for the sake of the overall story. The Gamemaster should use only what he needs, and discard the rest. The story is what is important here - the rules and technology should just support it, and not the other way around.

1.2.1 The Vehicle Construction System

The construction system herein allows many possibilities for the Gamemaster. Since the system has no built-in limits, the Gamemaster (or even the Players) can come up with exactly the vehicle or ship needed for a specific scenario. Unfortunately, that freedom is a double-edged sword: it is easy to go overboard and create mechanical monsters that completely unbalance the game. It is also easy to become obsessed with the numbers themselves, either seeking to produce the "perfect unit" (point-wise) or, perhaps more troubling, to over-engineer the details of a given design, down to the kilowatt required for the reading lamps or the last kilogram of reaction mass.

For those who wish to play a "hard science" SF campaign, the tonnage listings of structure and propellants can be readily number crunched. In the interest of simplicity and speed of play, however, most of the stats and rules have been allowed a considerably large margin of error. For anyone who wishes a completely realistic simulation, the stats provided should be used as guidelines which the accuracy-concerned Gamemaster can flesh out as needed.

1.2.2 The Weapon Construction System

Yet another powerful tool, the Offensive and Defensive System Design rules will allow the Gamemaster to create any type of weapon or special system required by a given design. Combined with the Perks and Flaws, this offers almost limitless possibilities. Again, a disclaimer and a word of caution must be offered. No point system can accurately represent the capabilities of a given weapon in a single number, and attentive players will no doubt soon find combinations of characteristics that can transform the smallest revolver into a pint-sized tank gun. It is important here to play according to the spirit of the rules, not the letter. The world and the story impose the limitations, not the rules.

1.2.3 Construction Systems for Plot Development

The Gamemaster may choose to limit the number of new designs in his campaign, and has every right to do so -- the astronomically high costs associated with developing a ship or exo design keep this pastime the purview of the various nations and a few, very, very wealthy corporations. The Players are entirely likely to be too busy piloting or riding one of these to put in the time required to design one. The most they are likely to be able to come up with are a few scratch-built vehicles under desperate conditions (and all the lemon rolls attendant with such a design).