The Space Gate Chronicles
Version 0.2 By Ryan Dallaire Feb 2023
It is a parody of Stargate. Rules-lite and uses player facing rolls. It is meant for one-shots and has limited character advancement. It is a rewrite of the Gravity Sliders prototype I made.
Players are members of an international military organization that uses an alien device to travel to other planets. The device creates a wormhole they can jump into to travel to another planet. Another alien race is oppressing the people on many planets.
Player Rules
Character Stats
Stats vary from 1 to 4 (they each start at 1) and you get to distribute 5 points between them when you make your character.
Bold shooting, fighting, performing, dodging, sprinting
Subtle sneaking, lying, hacking, balancing
Clever technology, aliens, science, persuading
Health endurance, resisting, how many times you can be hit before going down. Your health stat is special in that it has a Max value and a Current value. The current value decreases as you take damage but can be healed back up to your max. You always use the current value to build your dice pool for Health.
When Trying To Do Something
You roll a pool of D6 based on your stat
You always have at least 1d6, but your stat can add more dice to the pool. Your skills can also add a die if they apply to the thing you are trying to do. The GM can also add a die for excellent equipment or situational benefits.
You roll your dice pool, and if you got at least one 5 or 6, then you succeed.
Real Trouble
If the situation is making something even more difficult to do, you remove a die from your pool. You could also remove a die if you have broken or improvised equipment.
If your pool has no dice in it, you cannot attempt the roll.
Example: Take Down The Guard Two guards are watching a player character who was captured. Another character is hiding behind a pillar sneaking up towards them.
The hiding character wants to knock out a guard. The guards are unaware of them and not wearing armour, so there are no situational penalties. The player rolls their Subtle minus the guard’s defense. If they succeed, the guard is knocked out and no longer a threat. If they fail, the guard takes 1 damage and stumbles forward.
At the same time, the character that was captured wants to charge at the other guard and restrain him before he can go for help. The other guard is aware of them and has a weapon so they will get -1D6 to the roll. They roll their Bold minus 1D6 and minus the other guard’s defense. If they succeed, the other guard is restrained (for now) and that character is stuck restraining them until someone helps them tie the guard up. If they fail, the other guard shakes them off and can either make a run for it or make a melee attack against the character.
Resting For The Night
Resting for the night in a safe location will heal characters back to their max Health. There is also time to repair gear and ask questions of NPCs that are resting with you or enemies that were captured. Characters who lost all their Health but were dragged to safety only regain 1 Health after the rest but can regain more if someone has a med-kit to use on them.
Obstacles
Sometimes you need to succeed multiple times to get past an obstacle. When you roll your dice pool, use all the 5s and 6s you got to work towards passing the obstacle. Usually multiple players can each make an attempt and sometimes you can make multiple attempts. This means someone rolling a dice pool of only 1d6 can only get 1 success at a time, but someone rolling a pool of 3d6 could potentially get 3 at once.
Example: Open The Jammed Door The player characters need to escape from the crashed spaceship, but the door is jammed. It is a heavy door and it was a violent crash, so they will need 3 successes to get it open. Each character can make a roll to try and pry it open. Character 1 has a Bold of 2 and rolls, but they don’t get a success. Character 2 has a Bold of 3 and rolls two successes. Finally character 3 rolls with their Bold of 1 but the GM gives them +1D6 for their Mechanics skill. They roll 1 success, which is enough for the players to get the door open and escape.
Skills And Investigating
Characters have Skills that they can use to investigate the situation and gather information. They can also be used to add a die to your dice pool when making a check that relates to the specific skill. Background Skills can be filled up front, or can be filled in while playing. They explain things like: I know all about… I always carry my… I’m a natural born… Example skills:
Computers, Biology, Explosives, Piloting, Mechanics, martial arts, xeno-technology, linguistics, mountain climbing, Debating, etc…
When Investigating
There is no roll required, you just describe how one of your skills could allow you to gather the information and it is up to the GM to decide if it works.If there is a risk of something bad happening while investigating, the GM will ask you to make a dice pool roll using one of your stats. This roll is only for if you avoid the negative effects.
Investigating can take multiple forms. You could be hacking into a computer to access information, using your knowledge of explosives to understand how a building was destroyed, or even using martial arts to beat the info out of a goon you captured.
Example: Get The Security Codes To get into the bunker under the building, the player characters need a security code. They know the factory boss has it on his computer, so they sneak into his office.
One character uses the computer to get the information they need. He has the Computers skill, so he hacks in and gets the codes. But he has to make a roll to see if he sets off any alarms in the process. They roll their Clever and add an extra D6 for their Computers skill. They get a penalty of -1D6 because they are trying to get past the security system. If they succeed, they get the codes and don’t set off any alarms. If they fail, they get the codes but their access was logged and the aliens will eventually figure out that the codes were stolen.
Character Bonus & Flaw
Each character gets to pick one of the following bonuses:
Soldier - get +1 to Max Health
Scientist - gain 2 new skills
Specialist - gets 2 extra pieces of human gear
Medic - start with a Med Kit, and you get 4 uses per kit
Alien - can pick 1 extra piece of alien gear
A character flaw is something that negatively affects your character at certain points. The GM can use your flaw to give you -1D6 to your dice pool if the flaw applies to the situation. Example flaws: a phobia, a pet peeve, a big ego, etc…
Rewards
If you are playing a prolonged adventure, the GM will give out rewards as you progress through the story. Here are the different types of rewards:
- Be issued a new piece of gear
- Max Health increased by 1
- Get another Skill
- Be issued a piece of alien tech
Action Scenes
Action Scenes go back and forth between the players & allies and the enemies & environmental effects. On a turn you can take 2 actions, those actions can be split up allowing you to wait until an ally does something before you take your second action. Then play moves on to the next character.
Attacks: Roll Bold. If you succeed you deal damage to the target.
Defending: Roll Bold. If you succeed you dodge/block the attack and take no damage.
Some enemies might cause you to remove dice from your pool when attacking them or when defending against their attacks.
A character that was hit by a stunning weapon can only take one action on their turn to do a Health roll to resist the effect.
Action Guide
When it is your turn, you can do the following actions:
Attack - Perform an attack against a target using a weapon.
Aid - Help someone else with a task they are performing. Usually this means giving them +1D6 to their roll. Need to justify how you are helping.
Use an item - Interact with an object in close range, reload a weapon, pick a lock, etc. These will sometimes involve a roll to succeed.
Move - Move up to 6 meters. (but some environments slow you down). Roll Subtle if you need to balance or squeeze through an area.
Draw or Stow an item - From/to your bag/belt.
Perceive - Roll Clever to spot threats or clues.
Talk - Speak to characters. Roll Clever if you are trying to deceive, persuade, etc.
Remember - Roll Clever to try and recall something your character might know.
Hide - Roll Subtle to try to hide behind something.
Damage Guide
Most weapons deal 1 damage when you successfully roll. Heavy weapons can deal more damage if you roll multiple dice and get multiple successes. Some enemies might have technology to limit the damage you can deal to only 1 per attack.
Armour Guide
Bullet-proof Vest +1 to your Max Health
Env Suit +D6 to resist environmental effects
Alien Armour +1 to Max Health, Damage limited to 1, Move slower, armour battery lasts for 8 hours.
Range Guide
Close Range 0-2 meters Medium Range 13-50 meters
Short Range 3-12 meters Long Range 51+ meters
Gear
Each player character gets some basic gear:
Clothing, a Pistol, a Flashlight, 2 Rations, Spare Ammo.
Restocking
In between missions the player characters can restock the gear they used (except Energy Cells). And will often be given a reward (see Rewards section).
Reloading
After you use a weapon (in or out of battle) you have to reload it. It takes Spare Ammo if it is a weapon from earth or an Energy Cell if it is an Alien Weapon. Battery powered equipment also needs to be recharged after their time limit using Spare Batteries.
Items
You get 1 of the following:
| Name | Description | Name | Description |
| SMG | Medium Range, reload, loud | Binoculars | See long range |
| Pistol | Short Range, reload | Flashlight | Battery lasts 12 hours. |
| Sniper Rifle | Long Range, heavy, reload, loud | Radio | 2 way comm, long range. |
| Grenade | Short Range, 3 Damage | Rations | 1 day of food and water |
| Spare Ammo/ Batteries | Reload a weapon from earth. Or recharge a battery. | Med Kit | Heals Health, 2 uses |
| Bullet-proof Vest | +1 Max Health while wearing. | Env Suit | +D6 to resist envir effects. |
| Repair Kit | Repair earth tech, minor dmg | Night Vision Goggles | See medium range, Battery lasts 4 hours |
| Knife | Close Range | Trip Mine | Triggered, 3 Damage |
| Climbing Gear | +D6 to rolls for climbing | Laptop | +D6 to interact with tech |
Special equipment: (you can’t pick these but can find them)
| Alien Zapper | Short Range, Stun or dmg, reload | EM Field | Immune to stuns, lasts for 4 hours |
| Alien Staff | Medium Range, heavy, reload, loud | Alien Armour | Slow, +1 Max Health, 1 damage limit, battery lasts 8 hours |
| Energy Cell | Reload/recharge alien tech. | Stealth Field | Invisible, lasts for 15 minutes, can’t move while active |
Obstacles and Enemies
Traps, minions, captured civilians, weird alien fauna, etc…
| Name | Human Civilian | Health | 3 |
| Attack | 0 | Defense | 0 |
| Damage | 1 | Special | |
| Gear | Clothing |
| Name | Alien Thug | Health | 4 |
| Attack: | 0 | Defense: | -1 |
| Damage: | 1/stun | Special: | |
| Gear: | Alien Uniform, zapper weapon |
| Name | Alien Leader | Health | 6 |
| Attack: | -1 | Defense: | -1 |
| Damage: | 1+ | Special: | |
| Gear: | Alien Uniform, Staff weapon |
| Name | Alien Beast | Health | 2 |
| Attack: | -1 | Defense: | 0 |
| Damage: | 1 | Special: |
GM Reference
What Skills To Focus On
The skills that the players choose, should be the ones you focus the stories on. So if no one takes linguistics as a skill you don’t need to have the players figure out how to communicate with the aliens they encounter, except in situations where it is important for the story. If a player takes the mountain climbing skill, you should make sure that the story will include mountain climbing.
Fast-forward
If a combat or an obstacle is trivial it should be skipped. The GM should narrate what happened and keep the story moving. For example, the characters way out number an enemy or skip the roll for an action when there is no penalty for failure or time pressure.
Death Of Characters
When a player runs out of Health, they become unconscious and are out of the game for now. Depending on the needs of the story, you can have their character get captured by enemies and healed to 1 Health, or if the player characters or allied NPCs drag them away, allow the character to Heal to 1 Health after a night’s rest. If a player decides to sacrifice their character to save the other characters, it is best to honour that and let their character die.
Exploring A New World
When the players arrive on a new planet through a portal. They can learn the landmarks in the area around the portal, but as they explore they must make tests to avoid obstacles, traps, and to not get lost. The tests can use any of the character stats and can use skills. Most of them will only require 1 success but major obstacles might require more.
Planet Generation
The list below is the details the player team was given when they were recruited for the mission. Roll on the table 3 times (or choose). The planet…
- Has a stable climate
- Has intelligent indigenous life
- Has safe environment (acid rain, lava flow, etc)
- Has stable geology
- Isn’t controlled by the bad guys
- Has friendly local fauna
Diplomacy
To change the mind of another group of people, there will be a number of successes required to successfully convince them. The types of rolls and the skills you use will depend on how the players describe their arguments. It is best to limit the number of rolls each player can do to ensure that everyone contributes.
Chases
During a chase, characters need to track their relative positions with each other. Make sure to include rolls for jumping gaps, climbing walls, and avoiding debris. You will mostly want to consider the players as a group and have them fail/succeed as a group.
GM Twists
Ways for the GM to mix things up.
Weren’t you counting? A character suddenly finds their weapon is out of ammo. Or it malfunctioned.
Curse your inevitable betrayal! An NPC the players thought was on their side is discovered to be a double agent.
Stop, or my mom will shoot! A civilian the players are supposed to be protecting gets in on the action.
Surprise Attack! An enemy has snuck up on the players and they had no chance to detect them, but the first attack of the enemy barely misses its target.
Talk about luck. An enemy attack hits a piece of gear instead of the character. That piece of gear is damaged and will have to be repaired.
I went to school too! An enemy uses a skill that they wouldn’t be expected to have.
How could there be a pyramid here? A device/structure turns out to be an ancient alien device. It is almost magical because of how advanced it is.
Of course it’s that guy! A big baddie shows up just in time to taunt the players characters and escape.
What’s that buzzing? An area is affected by an alien device making it hard to focus. Everyone in the area gets -1D6 to all rolls until the device is destroyed.
Basic Setting
Space Gate Network
Made by some ancient civilization, the gates were left on the surface of every habitable planet they visited. Made out of an unknown metal, they seem to be indestructible. The gates have 3 dials that need to be turned to the correct values to create a portal to a particular planet.
Oppressive Alien Species
The Heliarchs are a race of beings that have taken over large portions of the galaxy and have enslaved many other species, including humans. They have visited earth multiple times in the past and kidnapped some humans to use as slaves on other planets. Their spaceships look like monoliths, the kind of monoliths that many ancient humans built.
Planet #1
A once thriving world of forests and rivers. Massive areas of the planet’s surface have been destroyed by the Heliarch attacks. Most of the valuable resources have been stripped and the population of indigenous species has been wiped out after their slave labour was no longer needed. The planet was once called Azura.
Arrival
The players arrived at the Space Gate in the middle of the remains of a city. They can quickly identify that the Heliarchs were responsible for the destruction on this planet(maybe by identifying the debris left by the attackers or maybe recognizing the damage for the type of weapons they use).
Story Hooks
- Players detect a signal from some kind of technology that is still active on the planet.
- Players see signs that some people might still live here.
- Players spot some Heliarch soldiers doing some final sweeps of the ruins for survivors or for resources.
Planet #2
A simple planet mostly covered in grassland. The humans who are enslaved here are forced to grow crops for the Heliarchs. They worship the Heliarchs as gods.
Arrival
The players arrive at the Space Gate on the outskirts of a farming village. They will likely be approached by the local population. Near the gate are barrels of food ready to be picked up by the Heliarchs.
Story Hooks
- The locals try to arrest the players as heretics.
- The players arrive one day before the Heliarchs will arrive and take the food.
- A Heliarch monolith ship has landed nearby and has alien technology.