Night Tripper

v. Ansible 1.11 August 25th, 2026

• Foreword
• The Long Fall
• Game Modes
• Core
• Character Creation
• Skill Descriptions
• Logistics and Ports
• Social Manipulation, Reaction and Status
• Skirmishes
• Equipment
• Starships and Travel
• Speculative Trade
• Ship Engagements
• Complex Tasks: Projects and Crafting
• Skill Improvement
• Interstellar Cartography
• Trade Goods
• People, Places, and Jobs
• Encounters
• Inspirations and Recommendations

Foreword

Night Tripper is a box of toys. Play with them as written only as long as they serve your goals and your fun. Hack, expand, and repurpose them without hesitation.

Night Tripper is not original. If you are familiar with the earliest 2d6 interstellar role-playing games, you'll recognize a lineage. Night Tripper aspires to that spirit of improvisation, open-endedness, and malleability.

Roleplaying is best done with people you know, like, and trust. Talk with your group about safety and off-limits content. Both credit and responsibility for what happens at your table belong to you.

Start playing before you are ready (you already are), and let your friends lead you places you couldn't have imagined without them. Over time, your worlds will sharpen from broad sketches into vivid details.

The Long Fall

Ancient beyond memory, the Commonwealth's kiloparsec reach exceeds its grasp.

In the time of its long decline, stars at its edges slip towards isolation. Once-connected worlds struggle between themselves to survive the decay of a sclerotic empire.

Isolation and strife beget danger and opportunity.

"Most people's experience of the fall of Rome was that one day a nearby bridge collapsed and no one came around to fix it."

- Unknown

Game Modes

Campaign

Several players create characters and pursue their own goals in a star cluster sketched out by a referee. Ideally, the referee follows the players' lead and responds to them, not the other way around.

The characters might start without a ship of their own, scraping by to make their way from world to world. If they do start with access to a ship, they'll be looking for patrons and trade routes to cover their monthly payments.

You can also frame a campaign more tightly. For example, the players could decide ahead of time to be a group of explorers, religious pilgrims, or a mercenary company.

Quickplay

When time is tight and prep is light, a referee can roll up a single world and outline an opportunity for profit. Roll encounters and patrons on the fly. Roll up new worlds as needed. Great for unplanned sessions, one-shots, and other roleplaying emergencies.

Solitaire

Grab your favorite solo ttrpg oracle, create a character (or a few!) by yourself, and shove them out into the universe. Lean into encounters and reactions, and keep a log of your journey. Solitaire play is fun on its own, but can also be used as a way to detail a cluster before refereeing a campaign. Additional generators and tools like the excellent The Perilous Void will be particularly handy here.

Module

Use Night Tripper's rules to run any classic 2d6 sci-fi adventure module, or an adventure for another system you feel comfortable converting.

Braunstein Play-by-Post

Take advantage of Night Tripper's weekly turns by using these rules for a real-time, PvP-heavy game on Discord.

Core

Fundamentals

A collection of rules and procedures for creating and playing interstellar adventure campaigns.

For one referee and any number of players. Two to four players at one time is best.

The referee creates several worlds stocked with opportunities to pursue, dangers to surmount, and organizations pursuing their own ends. During play, the referee describes environments and the actions of non-player characters and creatures. The players describe their characters' actions, and the referee adjudicates outcomes. If a disagreement comes up and the rest of the table thinks the referee is full of it, the referee is wrong.

To play, you will need at least three six-sided dice, a few index cards, pencils, and paper.

Night Tripper only uses six-sided dice. In the rules, die rolls are abbreviated as 1D, 2D, 3D, etc., meaning, respectively, roll one, two, or 3 dice and add them together.

Certain rules call for a 3-sided die (1D3). In these cases, roll 1D. A roll of 1--2 is 1, 3--4 is 2, 5--6 is 3.

Some tables call for a "D66." Use 2D, designate one die for the tens digit and the other for the ones digit. For example, read a roll of 3 and 4 as 34.

A Dice Modifier, abbreviated "DM," is a number added or subtracted from a die roll. "DM+2" means "add 2 to the dice total."

Task Throws

When a player character takes a dangerous or uncertain action, their player rolls 2D. If the total is greater than or equal to a Target, the character succeeds. Otherwise, they fail.

If an action is impossible or if the PC lacks the necessary tools or knowledge, they fail automatically.

Task Throws are best reserved for actions with too many variables or too much complexity to be easily adjudicated by discussing the imaginary situation. For example, quickly hot-wiring a grav-cycle or winning a rapier duel.

Targets

There are four Targets.

• 6: Routine. A straightforward task with serious consequences for failing, or a challenging task mitigated by situational factors.
• 8: Challenging. A challenging task for a professional, or a routine task done under duress.
• 10: Difficult. A challenging task made more difficult by situational factors. A trained professional will fail most of the time.
• 12: Daunting. A real long shot. Someone at the highest skill level will still need some luck.

For most tasks, the Target is [8]{.big-8}. The referee adjusts up or down to the next Target based on the situation.

Example factors that reduce the Target: Having the high ground in melee combat, climbing a cliff on a planet with low gravity, spreading a damaging rumor about someone already mistrusted by their community.

Example factors that increase the Target: Swimming against a current, spreading a rumor in a community where you are mistrusted, repairing an anti-gravity field emitter while someone is shooting at you.

Impact

A successful Throw has Impact equal to the total result minus the target. Impact is used when it is necessary to know just how successful a character is at a task. For example, determining how damaging an attack is, or measuring progress on a long-term project.

Skills

If a character has a Skill applicable to the task at hand, they add their Rank in the Skill as a DM to the Task Throw. If a task is highly specialized or technical, a skill rank of at least 1 may be required to attempt the task. For example, a character with no medical training is not going to succeed at brain surgery, no matter how lucky they are.

Endurance

Endurance measures a character's physical stamina and resilience. Track a character's current and maximum endurance. They'll have 7/9 or 8/12 endurance, for example.

Status

A PC's Status is a combination of their reputation, prestige, and rank within an organization or subculture. PCs can add their status to find people and adjust reactions among NPCs who share a similar background.

Conditions

Bad things happen to PCs. They might get drunk, or poisoned, or get a broken leg, or a chest wound. These are Conditions. Write conditions on a PC's character card. A condition makes any relevant Task Throws more difficult. For example, if a PC has the Condition "Broken Leg", any Tast Throws to run, jump, climb, etc will have a more difficult Target.

Non-Player Characters

NPCs are defined by their skills and equipment. If no specific skills are listed for a given NPC, assume skill rank 1 in tasks related to their profession and in any weapons carried.

Character Creation

Use an index card to keep a record of your character.

1. You are 20 years old, with 20 maximum Endurance.
2. Roll a birth month.
3. Select a background or roll 1D to leave it to fate. Your status is 0. Gain two Skills from that background's Skill lists at rank 1. Roll on one of the tables for the first Skill, then choose one other Skill from the background. Players take turns developing their characters' backgrounds to gain Skills and find out about their characters' lives before play begins. Take the following steps on each background turn:
   1. Roll 2D on the Background Events table. On any result other than death, apply the results.
   2. Roll for one or two Skills, as prompted. Choose one of the Background's skill lists, or the Personal Development skill list, which all backgrounds share. Roll 1D. On a 1-5, gain the indicated Skill at Rank 1, or increase its Rank by 1 if you already have the Skill. On a 6, choose one of the five Skills to gain or increase. Italicized words are equipment. Add equipment to your possessions if you don't already own it.
   3. Age 1D years.
      1. If you enter a new decade (30s, 40s, etc), lose 1 Endurance, then roll 1D. If the result is less than the tens digit of your age, roll a misfortune and finish character creation.
   4. Decide if you will take another turn. If not, roll a misfortune and finish character creation.
4. Get starting credits. Add your status plus the tens digit of your age. Roll that many dice, add them together, and begin with that many credits.
5. Get a terminal. A terminal is a portable personal computer that enables a user to connect to local networks. Terminals vary wildly across cultures and tech levels. Terminals can be embedded in jewelry or clothes, implanted in the body, or be a more obvious piece of hardware with a screen. Decide what yours looks like.
6. Consipire. Before the game starts, discuss goals with the other players to help drive the initial action. Give the referee something to respond to. If you start with a ship (and a mortgage on it), you may want to figure out how to make next month's payment.

Skill ranks may not be raised higher than 4. When you would raise a skill to rank 5, select a different skill from the same list instead.

Skill list items in brackets are other lists, either weapon types or personal development. Roll on those tables as indicated.

If a list item has a skill followed by a slash and a bracketed skill list name, gain the listed skill if you don't already have it. If you do have the skill, either increase its rank by 1 or roll on the list in brackets.

Instead of providing a skill rank, some results increase Endurance.

Birth Months

Based on the Commonwealth calendar. The traditional zodiac signs are based on constellations visible from Heimat [H6 P7 A6 T6 AC-0001].

Background Events

Backgrounds

1. Laborer

Most of humanity's trillions never leave the system of their birth.

Salt Mining

1. +1 Endurance
2. Pistol / Gun Combat Pistol
3. Strength
4. Mechanic Mechanic Kit
5. Medical Medical Kit

Ship Breaking

1. Helm
2. Agility Vacc Suit
3. +1 Endurance
4. Mechanic Mechanic Kit
5. Scattergun / Gun Combat Scattergun

The Harvest

1. Strength
2. +1 Endurance
3. Medium Melee / Melee Combat Machete
4. Outdoor Survival Survival Kit
5. Long Rifle / Gun Combat Long Rifle

2. Scout

Though now much atrophied, the Commonwealth Survey Corps still deploys its adventuring academics to worlds beyond and between charted clusters.

Applied Planetology

1. +1 Endurance
2. Outdoor Survival Survival Kit
3. Long Rifle / Gun Combat Long Rifle
4. Drive
5. Flyer

Study & Research

1. Computer
2. Medical Medical Kit
3. +1 Status
4. Mechanic Mechanic Kit
5. Field Tech Field Tech Kit

Interplanetary Travel

1. Agility Vacc Suit
2. Mechanic Mechanic Kit
3. Helm
4. Computer
5. Field Tech Field Tech Kit

3. Soldier

As power atrophies, new conflicts arise, and very old resentments reignite.

Surface Operations

1. Carbine / Gun Combat Carbine
2. Drive
3. Strength
4. Agility
5. +1 Endurance Combat Armor

Boarding Actions

1. Scattergun / Gun Combat Scattergun
2. Medium Melee / Melee Combat Cutlass
3. Agility Armored Vacc Suit (Armor 4)
4. Gunnery 1D Hullmelt Charges
5. Helm

Special Training

1. Field Tech Field Tech Kit
2. Medical Medical Kit
3. Computer
4. Mechanic Mechanic Kit
5. Flyer

4. Merchant

Instability begets opportunity.

Doing Business

1. Speculative Trade
2. Etiquette
3. Rumor Monger
4. Pistol / Gun Combat Pistol
5. Computer

Dodging Pirates

1. Pistol / Gun Combat Pistol
2. Agility Vacc Suit
3. Helm
4. Gunnery
5. Medium Melee Melee Combat Cutlass

Spending The Profit

1. Strength
2. Agility
3. Flyer
4. Drive
5. Gambling

5. Noble

Your parents, or more distant forebears, eased your home world's transition into the Commonwealth. For their efforts, they were awarded a modicum of power and your world a quantum of sovereignty.

At Court

1. Medium Melee Melee Combat Rapier
2. Riding Spurs
3. Scattergun / Gun Combat Scattergun & 1D clay pigeons
4. Etiquette
5. Rumor Monger

Dragoon Service

1. Lasergun / Gun Combat Laser Gun
2. Agility Armored Vacc Suit (Armor 4)
3. Strength
4. Epic Poetry Notebook
5. Long Melee Melee Combat Collapsible Halberd

Leisure

1. Gambling
2. Drive
3. Agility
4. Strength
5. Flyer

6. Underworld

Those who thumb their noses at the rule of law, despite all the law has provided for them.

Starport Scum

1. Pistol / Gun Combat Pistol
2. Brawling / Melee Combat Wood Club
3. Short Melee / Melee Combat Knife
4. Gambling
5. +1 Endurance

Smuggling & Piracy

1. Computer
2. Forgery
3. Pistol / Gun Combat Pistol
4. Helm
5. Agility Vacc Suit

Confidence & Carousing

1. Forgery
2. Etiquette
3. Gambling
4. Drive
5. Rumor Monger

Personal Development & Combat Skills

Personal Development

1. Strength
2. Agility
3. +1 Endurance
4. +1 Status
5. Etiquette

Gun Combat

1. Pistol
2. Scattergun
3. Carbine
4. Long Rifle
5. Laser Gun

Melee Combat

1. Strength
2. Brawling
3. Short Melee
4. Medium Melee
5. Long Melee

Misfortunes

The reason why the life you have led is over now.

Skill Descriptions

This list is permanently and necessarily incomplete. Characters can become skilled at any task, and careers may have skills not listed below. Given uses for skills are examples. The referee adjudicates the use of skills during play.

A character with Rank 1 in a Skill is proficient enough to perform it at a professional level. Rank 4 is a rare level of mastery.

Beyond adding a DM to Task Throws, skill ranks indicate a level of general knowledge and experience with a subject. A character with any ranks in Helm, for example, will be able to find their way around most common starships without much trouble. A character with Drive can credibly talk shop with street racers.

Agility

Used for feats of speed and coordination like sprinting, jumping, sneaking, and moving deftly in low gravity.

Drive

Driving and basic maintenance of land vehicles, watercraft, and low-altitude antigrav vehicles. Roll for tricky maneuvers, races, and chases.

Flyer

Piloting and basic maintenance of aircraft, including jets, dirigibles, and entothopters.

Etiquette

Understanding of and the ability to manipulate the complex and arcane social rules of noble families and other elites. Can be used to create leverage and obligations, flatter, embarrass, etc by hacking social code. Not useful for merely winning arguments or convincing people. Useless amongst everyday working people.

Field Tech

Expertise in field emitter technologies, including laser guns, anti-grav fields, and the complex field mechanisms inside gate cores. Much advanced technology is reliant on fields. Doing work on field emitter devices and technology requires a field tech kit. Can be used to craft such devices.

Helm

Piloting space vessels, both starships and smaller craft incapable of interstellar travel. Used in ship engagements.

Rumor Monger

Use Rumor Monger to spread beneficial rumors or to gather information from a local whisper network. Most often as a weekly task. Add Rumor Monger to weekly throws to find patrons or hire specialists.

Forgery

Used to craft fake physical or digital documents, including cargo manifests, weapon permits, identification, etc. Make a Task Throw with the forger's skill rank when the document is inspected. When forged documents are inspected, make a Task Throw using the quality of the document as a DM.

Gambling

Used for gambling games that are highly influenced by skill, for example poker or gackbammon. If you spend a week in port haunting gambling dens and casinos, make a Task Throw with Target 8 and add your gambling skill rank. Win the Impact in credits. If you fail, lose credits equal to 8 minus the result. If you win repeatedly, you may be suspected of cheating.

Gunnery

Calculating firing solutions and target vectors for starship laser turrets and other vehicle-mounted weapons. Primarily used in ship engagements.

Mechanic

Maintaining, repairing, and jury-rigging mechanical devices and engines. Does not apply to field-tech devices like graviton emitters or air raft engines. Can be used to craft vehicles or other mechanical devices.

Medical

Knowledge of first aid, anatomy, and surgical techniques. Add Skill Rank to Task Throws to use a medical kit to stabilize unconscious or dying characters.

Outdoor Survival

The ability to navigate, forage, find shelter, and keep yourself alive in the wilderness.

Computer

Writing computer programs, infiltrating and navigating networked systems, and accessing locked devices. Also used to operate sensors during ship engagements.

Speculative Trade

Knowledge and skill to track market forces between worlds. Before selling cargo in port, make a Target 8 Task Throw with this skill and add the throw's Impact to the price roll.

Strength

Used for feats of raw physical strength like climbing, swimming, or lifting burning wreckage off your friends.

Weapon Skills

Used when attacking with a specific type of weapon. For more details, see skirmishes.

Logistics and Ports

Time

Play proceeds in one-week turns. It takes one week to make a gate core jump between adjacent star systems. It takes one week to perform a significant action in a port or other settlement.

One month is four weeks, and one year is 12 months. The referee keeps a calendar of the current week, month, and year.

Zoom in on a particular moment in time as needed to resolve an action or encounter, or for an extended period for a detailed adventure. If you need to determine on which day of the week an event occurs, roll 1d6 + 1.

Communications

Worlds with a Tech rank of 6 have access to Ansible technology and can communicate instantly, regardless of distance. Otherwise, information moves at the speed of interstellar travel, one parsec per week. For example, if a sender 1 parsec from a Tech 6 world sends a message to a recipient 3 parsecs from a more distant Tech 6 world, the message will take 4 weeks to arrive.

Worlds with a Tech rank of 3 or higher have a communications network accessible from any terminal

Money

One Commonwealth Credit (cc) is enough money for basic food and lodging in port for one week. Costs of less than 1cc are ignored, and assumed to be included in lifestyle spending.

Ports & Settlements

Worlds with a Technology characteristic of 3 or higher have a dedicated starport. At Technology 5 or higher, the port may be an orbiting highport, a city in its own right dedicated to interstellar travel and trade. On worlds with Technology 2 or lower, only rudimentary landing areas and basic services are available.

Use the following procedures when a group of PCs arrives at a port or spends a weekly turn in a starport or other settlement. ### Port Arrival When the PCs arrive in a port, take these steps.

1. If docking a ship, the PCs pay a 2cc docking fee.
2. Check for an authority encounter. Throw 2d6 and add the world's Authority. On a 12+, a group of 1d6+1 local law enforcement personnel accosts one or more of the PCs at the least convenient time, including during the following week if the players stay in port. They request identification, cargo manifests, and other documentation. If the PC's are not up to anything illegal, these encounters are usually routine. However, a negative reaction roll may result in mistaken identities, overreach, or harassment. Officers are equipped with light armor and weapons appropriate to the Tech rank of the world.
3. Sell any trade goods, if desired.
4. Purchase trade goods, if desired.
5. Leave port and continue traveling, if desired and if the PCs have access to a starship. Otherwise, begin a weekly turn.

Weekly Turn

1. If berthing a ship in port, the PCs pay a 2cc berthing fee. Includes basic ship maintenance.
2. Each PC pays for their lifestyle costs: 1cc for basic, 5cc for comfortable, 10cc for luxury.
3. For each week after the first, check for an authority encounter, as above. The encounter may occur at any point during the week.
4. Check for a port encounter. An encounter occurs on a 1d6 roll of 1-3. Roll on the port encounters table. The encounter may occur at any point during the week.
5. Commission any starship repairs.
6. Each PC may perform one of the following tasks for the duration of the week:
   • Find a patron or opportunity
   • Gather information
   • Find a person or specialist
   • Receive medical care
   • Train a skill
   • Another appropriate activity
7. Purchase trade goods, if desired.
8. Book passage on a ship, if desired. See Interstellar Travel.
9. The PCs recover Endurance based on their lifestyle spending.
   • Basic: 1d6 Endurance
   • Comfortable: 2d6 Endurance
   • Luxury: 3d6 Endurance
10. The referee updates the campaign calendar by one week.

Starship Repair Costs and Durations

Berthing fees are waived for the duration of ship repairs. * 5 credits per rating of each damaged component (e.g., it costs 10 credits to repair Guns 2). All damaged components are repaired within one week.

• Per disabled component: 10 x rating in credits. 1 week per disabled component

• Damaged gate core: 50 credits. + 1 week

• Disabled gate core: 75 credits.+ 2 weeks

Finding Patrons & Opportunities

PCs may throw 8+ to hear about an opportunity or meet a Patron. A Patron is any NPC interested in hiring the PCs for a job.

Opportunities can be anything from rumors about derelict ships to wealthy Patrons willing to pay for a dangerous task. Multiple PCs may make the throw each week to increase their chances of finding an opportunity. Appropriate skills, such as Rumor Monger, can be applied to this throw. The referee can use the tables in People & Opportunities to create an opportunity ahead of time or on the fly, if needed.

Opportunities need not be local to the current world; the PCs may get information about an opportunity elsewhere.

Finding People

A PC can throw 8+ to seek out a specific NPC or a type of person, including specialist professionals, additional crew, and buyers or sellers of illegal goods. The throw's Target is 10 if the local Population is 1-2, and 6 if it is 5-6. The referee may impose additional situational bonuses or penalties. For example, when searching for a field tech expert on a low-tech world.

When hiring for a specific skill, a successful throw will find an NPC with a maximum Skill Rank equal to half the Impact of the throw, rounded up. An Impact 0 grants Skill Rank 1. The NPC's Skill Rank cannot be higher than 4.

Hired NPCs will, at a minimum, expect their Skill Rank squared in credits each week. For very unusual or dangerous tasks, they may demand as much as triple.

Healing & Recovery

At the end of each week in port, PCs regain Endurance, up to their maximum. Restored Endurance is dependent on lifestyle: Recover 1d6 for a basic lifestyle, 2d6 for a comfortable lifestyle, and 3d6 for a luxury lifestyle.

Minor wounds heal on their own after a week, during which the PC may engage in other activities. Serious wounds require medical care to heal. While being treated for a serious wound, a PC is unable to engage in activities in port or strenuous adventures.

Most worlds do not provide free care to offworlders. Care cost and healing times for serious wounds are based on the local Tech rank:

Tech 1-2: 1 month, 1cc

Tech 2-4: 2 weeks, 3cc

Tech 5: 1 week, 5cc

Tech 6: 1 day, 8cc. The PC may heal early in the week and still engage in a port activity.

Social Manipulation, Reaction and Status

NPCs want to maintain their livelihoods and protect their status quo. If PCs want to convince an NPC to take a risk for them, they will have to come up with sufficient leverage.

When a PC makes an offer or attempts to convince an NPC of something that they might reasonably agree to, the referee can roll on the reaction table to see how the NPC responds.

Regardless of any reaction or bribery roll, NPCs are not mind-controlled and will not undertake actions that are obviously suicidal, absurd, or obviously against their best interests.

Reactions

When the players encounter non-player characters or other ships, and the referee is unsure of the NPC's attitude towards the PCs, roll 2d6. The result is their initial disposition towards the PCs, and can change during the course of an encounter. This table can also be used to determine how an NPC reacts to an offer made by a PC.

2: Violently hostile. Immediate attack.

3-5: Aggressive. May make demands or be provoked into attacking.

6-8: Wary, uncertain. Guarded but will reasonably communicate.

9-11: Curious, open to communication, potentially helpful.

12: Friendly, enthusiastic, will offer help within reason.

Bribery

When a PC tries to bribe an NPC with an offer in credits, throw 2d6 and consult below. Bribes have a base reasonable amount depending on the wealth and position of the NPC. For each multiple of the base amount offered, add +1 to the Bribery Throw.

If a request is potentially consequential or dangerous for the NPC, triple the base amount.

The referee should make the bribery throw secretly, in case the NPC decides to sell out the PCs.

Base Amounts

• Blue collar laborers, stevedores, teamsters: 1cc
• Cops, guards, customs agents: 3cc
• White-collar workers, small business owners: 10cc

Really wealthy people like oligarchs, corporate executives, and nobles usually exchange favors instead of straight-up cash. You can't afford what it would take to sway them. What can you offer them?

Bribery Throw

2-5: The NPC will take the bribe, then sell out the PCs later. If the dice roll snake eyes, this happens regardless of any bonus from payment. 6: The NPC refuses the bribe and will take action against the PCs if the lower of the two dice shows an odd number. 7: The NPC refuses the bribe but will otherwise be cool about it. 3-in-6 chance of accepting the bribe anyway if an earlier reaction roll was 9+, or if the PCs offer another multiple of the base amount. 8+ The NPC takes the bribe.

Status

PCs may add their status to reaction rolls when the NPC shares a similar background or career. Status can also be added to throws to find relevant specialists in port.

Skirmishes

When a fight is simple, resolve it with a single throw. If the outcome is a foregone conclusion, just say what happens. For more complex skirmishes, use these rules.

Rounds

When a skirmish breaks out, divide game time into rounds. Each character may perform one action in a round. Resolve actions in the following order: 1. Talking 2. Melee attacks 3. Movement 4. Miscellaneous 5. Ranged attacks, in the order shown on the ranged attack chart

Characters performing the same action do it simultaneously. Call out each action type in order, and announce which NPCs will act. The players may then announce if they are performing the current action.

Attack Throws & Damage

To attack, make a Task Throw with a Target of 8, adding the relevant weapon Skill Rank. Inflict damage equal to a roll of the weapon's damage dice, plus the Attack Throw's Impact.

PCs subtract damage from their current Endurance. If an attack reduces a PC's current Endurance by half, they suffer a minor wound. If an attack reduces a PC's Endurance to 0, they are out of action. Roll 2d6 on the Out of Action table, subtracting any remaining damage.

NPCs don't have Endurance. They are either Fresh, Hit, or Out of Action. They start a skirmish Fresh. If they take any damage not absorbed by armor, they are Hit. If they ever take 8 or more damage from a single attack, or are Hit a second time, they are Out of Action. Out of Action NPCs are dead, seriously wounded, or otherwise incapacitated according to circumstances and the intent of the attacker.

Armor

Worn armor negates all damage less than its armor value.

If a character takes damage greater than or equal to the armor's value, subtract the armor's value from damage. The character suffers any remaining damage, and the armor is destroyed.

Wounds

When a PC suffers a wound, compare the lower die of the Attack Throw to the wound location table. Wounds are Conditions that increase the Target for any Task Throws that rely on the afflicted part of the body. Minor and Serious wounds have the same effect, but Serious wounds are more difficult to heal. See Healing & Recovery.

Skirmish Actions

Talking

Say a few words before anything else happens. Maybe if you are diplomatic, you can stop this foolishness before it starts. You may talk and take another action. ### Melee Attacks Characters attack in order of weapon length. With longer weapons going first in open spaces where their reach can be brought to bear, and shorter weapons going first in close quarters.

Movement

Run about 10 meters over open ground. Enough to move between medium and short range, or short range and close range. Moving from medium to long range or longer requires multiple rounds. ### Miscellaneous Turn a crank, operate a computer, drive a gravcar or inject a hypo spray.

Ranged Attacks

Make ranged attacks in order from top to bottom on the Ranged Attack Chart. Ranged weapons deal different damage depending on range.

The weapons in the chart represent broad categories of firearms, with countless local variations. Add additional rows to the chart as needed in your campaign.

Ranged Attack Initiative, Damage, and Range Table

Wound Location

Out of Action Table

Equipment

Characters have space for ten items on their person, representing bags, pockets, webbing, belts, holsters, etc. Each item occupies one space, unless noted.

An item's Tech is the minimum Tech rank at which it is commonly available. If an item has a Legality rating, it is the maximum Authority at which it is commonly available. An item may be available outside of these bounds, but it will be hard to find and at least twice as expensive. A character may spend their weekly action to throw to find a supplier. Failed attempts to seek illegal goods will likely mean attention from law enforcement or underworld organizations.

Kits

Kits are self-contained collections of related items and take up three item spaces. Kits contain the necessary tools and supplies for their related skills. When a player rolls a Task Throw but lacks the corresponding kit, the referee may increase the Target of the Throw, or worse. Each time a kit is used, remove one of its spaces. When all three spaces are filled, the kit is used up and needs to be replaced.

Guns

Melee Weapons

Armor & Clothing

General Items

Vehicles

Starships and Travel

Ships may be purchased at any Tech 5 or 6 spaceport. After a down payment of 10% of the ship's cost, the remainder of the cost can be defrayed through debt, usually to the Trade Consortium, though even more predatory options exist.

Standard repayment terms are 0.5% of the full ship cost, paid every month over 240 months.

A ship capable of interstellar travel is called a Starship. Starships are equipped with Gate Cores that enable them to punch a hole from realspace into gatespace, travel vast distances in weeks, and come back out again.

A ship can only enter or leave gatespace a significant distance (0.5 light seconds) from worlds or other large bodies.

Ship Components

• Sensors: The range and power of the ship's sensors.
• Thrusters: Speed and maneuverability granted by the vessel's realspace drive and thrusters.
• Guns: The number and power of the ship's laser cannon turrets.
• Hold: The number of standard 20-ton cargo containers that fit into the ship's hold.
• Staterooms: The number of staterooms on board. Luxury passengers and officers will expect a private room. Crew on military vessels sleep four to a room.

*No Gate Core, incapable of interstellar travel

Interstellar Travel

One hex on the cluster map represents one parsec. A trip through Gatespace takes one week to move one parsec, with a ship entering Gatespace in a charted star system and exiting in an adjacent charted system. Ships cannot travel through empty hexes or remain in Gatespace to skip over systems and encounter rolls.

PCs with less than maximum Endurance heal 1d6 Endurance per week while traveling.

Starship Encounters

Each time a ship carrying PCs enters a system, including leaving port to travel to another system, they have a 3-in-6 chance of encountering another ship. Roll a starship encounter.

Booking Passage

PCs without their own ship may book passage between star systems. Throw 2d6 + the population of an adjacent destination system. On a 10+, a ship is heading that way this week and accepting passengers. Find the type of ship based on the result below. The players may select any result lower than the number rolled.

Available Ships: 10: Blockade Runner 11-12: Trade Cog 13+: Passenger Barge

Blockade runner: 10cc per passenger, no questions asked. Double the cost if expected to evade local authorities.

Trade Cog: 5cc per passenger, rudimentary patdown, weapons stored in ship's locker. 8 Passengers max. Will not risk the ship for you or knowingly engage in illegal activities.

Passenger Barge: 1cc per passenger, security scanned, pistols and melee weapons stored in the ship's locker. Other weapons are not allowed on board. Owned by a corporation that will check your identity against a database.

Speculative Trade

Most interstellar trade and shipping is carried out by immense mass haulers, contracted by the Trade Consortium. However, small independent vessels can turn a profit by speculating on expensive goods, buying low and selling high.

There are four broad categories of trade goods: Agricultural, Consumer Products, Contraband, and High-tech. Each category has a base price per load, modified by a die roll to get the current price.

Agricultural goods tend to be cheapest on worlds with high Habitability. Consumer Products tend to be cheapest on worlds with a high Population. High-tech goods tend to be cheapest on worlds with a high Tech Class. When the relevant attribute is low, goods tend to be more expensive. Contraband is the exception. Contraband is more expensive on worlds with a high Authority rank.

The first time buying or selling contraband on a world requires spending a weekly action to make a throw to find a buyer or seller.

Specific trade goods are detailed by the referee. In-game events such as sabotage, market manipulation, and war can alter trade prices dramatically. A particularly high or low roll on prices might indicate a larger market issue or potential adventure.

The Price Roll

The current price of a trade good load is 3d6 * 10% of the base price. A roll of 13, for example, indicates a current price of 130% base price. 13 credits per load when dealing in agricultural goods.

The roll is modified according to the rank of the relevant local world attribute. See the table below.

When selling goods, add 1 to the roll if the current location is more than 1 parsec distant from the goods' world of origin.

Treat results lower than 2 as 2, and higher than 20 as 20. ## Trade Good Base Prices

Trade Good Price Modifiers

Prices fluctuate, but not quickly. If the crew waits for one week, they may re-roll a single die of the good's price. They may continue to do this, re-rolling one die per week as long as they like.

Ship Engagements

At the beginning of the engagement, each side declares a goal. Combats are rarely to the death. Starship engagements are played in rounds.

During a ship engagement, either one or neither of the ships has the Advantage. Each round, ships exchange fire and attempt to outmaneuver each other, jockeying for the Advantage.

A ship accomplishes its goal if it has the Advantage at the end of a round and fulfills at least one other requirement. Requirements for common goals are listed below.

Either side may surrender at any point, granting the opponent their goal.

Starship Engagement Throws

A starship engagement is a series of Task Throws. If a crew member has the relevant skill, they may add their Skill Rank to the Throw. The Target for all Throws is 8, unless increased by a damaged ship component.

PCs are assumed to know basic starship operation even if they don't have any relevant Skill Ranks, and can make any Throw in ship combat with a DM of +0.

Each crew member may use their skill for one Throw each round. If there are fewer than 3 crew members on a ship, they make additional Throws with a DM of +0.

Procedure

• Sensor Contact Before the first round, each side Throws + Computer, with maximum Impact equal to the ship's Sensors rank. The side with greater Impact begins with the Advantage. If Impact is tied, or neither side succeeds, neither side begins with the Advantage
• Each round:
  1. Gunnery Phase
     • If one side has the Advantage, they shoot first. Otherwise, attacks and damage happen simultaneously.
     • Each side throws + Gunnery Skill Rank.
     • On a successful Throw, deal damage equal to the Impact of the Throw + 1. Maximum Damage is the attacking ship's Guns Rank.
     • If one side has the Advantage, they may sacrifice it to dodge, avoiding all damage this round. Declare a dodge after the Gunnery throw, but before rolling hit locations
  2. Maneuver Phase
     • Each side's pilot throws + Helm, with maximum Impact equal to the ship's Thrusters rank.
     • If one side scores greater Impact than the other:
       • If neither side has the Advantage, the winner gains the Advantage.
       • If the losing side has the Advantage, they lose it.
       • If the winning side has the Advantage, they keep it.
     • If Impact is tied or both sides fail the roll, the Advantage doesn't change. ### Damage For each point of damage a ship suffers, roll 1d6. On a 1-4, a ship component is hit. On a 4, the crew is hit. On a 5-6, the attacker chooses a target. The first time a component is hit, it is damaged. The second time, it is disabled. Damaged and disabled components will limit a ship's ability to function.

Complex Tasks: Projects and Crafting

Tasks involving multiple steps, long-term work, or multiple collaborating characters can be resolved as a Project, at the referee's discretion. The referee sets a project's Complexity and Interval.

Complexity is a measure of the required cumulative effort to complete the project, on a scale of 1-10. Interval is the time scale on which the project progresses. An Interval can be as short as a skirmish round, or as long as a year.

A character can make one Task Throw to work on a project each time the interval passes, adding a relevant skill rank, as usual. The target of a project Throw is always 8. Reduce the complexity of the project by 1 + the Throw's Impact. When the project's complexity reaches 0, the project is complete.

Example 1: Three player characters are on the bridge of a derelict science vessel. One of them is trying to access secret research data. The other two are in a gunfight with a black-clad death squad. The referee decides that finding the files on the computer is a project with complexity 5 and an interval of 1 skirmish round. The PC may use the Computer skill.

Example 2: A player character has installed themselves as god-emperor on a lost world with pre-industrial technology. They demand a grand palace be built in their honor. The palace is a project with a complexity of 10, and an interval of 1 year. Their court administrator can apply their skill (Administration 1) to oversee the project.

Crafting

Characters can use skills to craft items. Crafted items have a Quality, which is the DM applied to a Task Throw when that item is used. Crafting an item is a project with an appropriate Interval and a complexity equal to the intended quality of the item, at a minimum. The referee may adjust complexity up or down for particularly large or difficult-to-craft items.

A player character wants to use their Forgery 3 skill to craft a false cargo manifest of Quality 2. The referee rules it will be complexity 2 and a 1-week interval. The player rolls well and creates the manifest in one week. A month later, the PCs are accosted by law enforcement while smuggling illegal waterfowl. They present the false manifest. The forger throws 2D+2 (the quality of the manifest) to see if it passes inspection.

Skill Improvement

Characters can improve their Skill Ranks over time by gaining Experience in a Skill. Track Experience by drawing tally marks next to a Skill on your character card. When a Skill has Experience marks equal to its next Rank x 4, erase all the marks and increase the Skill Rank by 1.

The maximum Rank for any Skill is 4.

Failure

When a character with an applicable Skill fails a Task Throw, they gain 1 Experience in the Skill. A character can gain a maximum of 1 Experience per Skill in a month through Failure.

Training

Spend a week in port training. Choose a Skill and pay credits equal to the current Skill Rank + 1. After four weeks of training, gain 1 Experience in that skill. Training weeks need not be cumulative; however, only one Skill can be in training at a time. Getting three weeks of Training in Long Rifle then switching to get a week of Training in Medical negates the Long Rifle training.

The New Year Festival and Birthdays

Moments of reflection beget insight. If a character takes the first week of the year off to celebrate the New Year Festival, they get 1 Experience to add to a Skill of their choice. During the first week of a character's birth month, they get 1 Experience to add to a Skill of their choice.

Learning a New Skill

To learn a new skill, find a teacher who has the Skill at Rank 2 or higher. A teacher will normally expect their Skill Rank in credits each week. After four weeks of learning from a teacher, gain the Skill at Rank 0. Rank 0 indicates basic familiarity with the theory and practice of the skill, enough to continue learning, but not enough to provide a DM for Task Throws. A Skill Rank of 0 can be improved normally through the methods above.

Interstellar Cartography

The Commonwealth divides the known worlds into administrative clusters five parsecs in diameter. Each world in a cluster is ranked on four characteristics: Habitability, Population, Authority, and Technology.

To create an administrative cluster, begin with a blank hex flower, five hexes wide. One hex in the center, with two concentric layers of hexes around it.

Starting with the center hex and working your way outward, roll 1d6 for each hex. On a 4-6, the hex contains a star system with a notable world. Draw a circle in the center of the hex.

For each hex with a world, roll for each of the characteristics below, making adjustments for previous characteristics and adding detail as prompted or desired.

Write the characteristics of the world in its hex, abbreviating each characteristic with its first letter. For example: H1 P3 A5 T6.

1. Habitability: 1d6
   • On a 6, 1-in-6 chance of being 7. Habitability 7 worlds are megastructures capable of housing tens of billions comfortably.
   • On a 1, 2-in-6 chance of being 0. Habitability 0 worlds are airless planetoids or asteroid belts.
2. Population: 1d6
   • +1 if Habitability is 5 or greater
   • -1 if Habitability is 2 or less
3. Authority: 1d6
   • Minimum 1, maximum 6.
   • +1 if Population is 5 or greater
   • -1 if Population is 2 or less
4. Technology: 1d6
   • Maximum 6
   • +1 Population is 5 or greater
   • -1 if Population is 2 or less
   • +1 if Population is greater than Habitability
   • +1 if Authority is 5 or greater
   • -1 if Authority is 2 or less

Once you've made a basic map of several worlds and their attributes, flesh out each world with additional details. World details will inform each other, and details added to one world may lead you to change details on another. Let the process be iterative, and your worlds will feel more deeply connected to one another

Before the first session of a campaign, keep these details as brief as possible. Consider giving each world no more detail than you might give a single important room in a dungeon delving game, just one or two sentences each. The players might latch onto any particular detail and turn it into many sessions of play. Or they may ignore something completely. Follow their lead, add details as necessary between sessions.

World Characteristic Details

Habitability

Any world with less than 6 habitability will have at least one fault. Faults will be more extreme on worlds with very low habitability (1 or 2), and multiple faults may be present.

Faults

Population

For more granularity, roll 2d6 and multiply the result by the approximate population. For example, if a world's population rank is 3, and the 2d6 roll is 7, the population is 7 million.

Authority

Different weapons are outlawed at different Authority levels. Use the Rulers table to determine who holds power here.

Technology

A world with a low rank in technology may lack the heavy metals or other resources required for advanced manufacturing. These worlds import high-tech devices to fulfill certain important functions like water purification, communication, etc. Alternatively, a low-tech world might be under the yoke of an oligarchic ruling class that maintains order through tight control of weapons and information. Technology rating does not necessarily correlate to the intelligence of the people living there.

For each rank in tech, different technology is readily available:

• Rank 0: Pre-metallurgy. Stone and wood tools, simple structures.

• Rank 1: Pre-industrial. Human and animal-powered machines. Mills, mechanical and hand weapons.

• Rank 2: Industrial. Steam engines and basic electronics; lighting; firearms.

• Rank 3: Computational. Microprocessors, computer networks. Flying and orbital vehicles. Space stations.

• Rank 4: Basic interstellar. Fusion reactors, rotational gravity, artificial intelligence, suspended animation, autoprosthetics.

• Rank 5: Advanced Interstellar. Gate cores, artificial gravity, large energy weapons, antimatter reactors.

• Rank 6: High Commonwealth. Displacers, cloaking devices, personal shields.

Waypoint Stations

A cluster will often contain worlds, or groups of worlds, not adjacent to any other worlds. These worlds are inaccessible using normal Gatespace travel. To bridge the gap, add a Waypoint Station in an empty hex. Draw a + sign in the center of the hex.

Waypoint Stations are interstellar rest stops placed by the Commonwealth during its peak, equipped with the necessary field tech to enable gate core operation in the absence of the natural gravity wells provided by stars.

Roll for a ship encounter as normal when arriving at a waypoint station. If an adjacent world is sufficiently powerful, use its Authority & Tech levels to determine an encounter. Otherwise, roll 1d6 when placing the waypoint station to find its effective Authority rank, essentially how well its security forces are holding up. Waypoint stations have no other stats, with a minimal station crew and no manufacturing ability.

Waypoint stations offer ship berthing and maintenance, and facilities for a basic lifestyle if a crew decides to spend a week in a station for some reason. Usually, ship crews arrive in the vicinity, allow the gate core to cycle, and continue towards their destination. Waypoint stations feature Tech Rank 5 medical facilities for emergencies.

Trade Goods

Use these tables to randomize a world's imports or exports based on its characteristics, or to determine the contents of a ship's hold. ### Agricultural Goods

Consumer Products

Contraband

High-tech

People, Places, and Jobs

Use these tables to develop the elements of an adventure or a patron job. ## NPCs Roll once for a fellow passenger or other NPC. Roll twice to get a patron and their opposition.

Port / City Locations

Places where a random encounter, patron meeting, or adventure might happen.

Job Objectives & Targets

What does the patron want?

Locations in Space

Structures in space or a planetary wilderness (1d6)

1. Operational station or installation

2. Abandoned station or installation

3. Ancient structure or ruin

4. Derelict ship or vehicle

5. Operational ship or vehicle

6. Cave or other natural formation

Encounters

Use these to get started. Over time, replace them with encounters that better suit your particular corner of the Known Worlds.

Use the reaction table when an encountered NPC or starship's disposition to the PCs is not known or obvious.

Port Encounters

Assume skill rank 1 in any weapons carried, unless otherwise noted. Most won't be carrying illegal weapons without good reason, even if listed with them. Use law level, reaction, and good judgment.

Ship Encounters

When a ship encounter occurs, roll 1d6 on one of the encounter tables below, based on either the local Tech or Authority characteristic, whichever is higher.

Encountered ships have a 50% chance of either moving towards or away from the local world.

Use the Trade Goods tables to determine cargo on board ships as needed.

Pirates will take any opportunity to attack vulnerable trade vessels. Local patrols will usually ask for documentation and cargo manifests.

Tech or Population 1-2

1. Pirate Trade Cog
2. Trade Cog (2-in-6 chance pirates)
3. Cruiser (2-in-6 chance pirates, otherwise military)
4. Fast Sloop (3-in-6 chance smuggling contraband)
5. Mass Hauler
6. Local Patrol (4-in-6 chance Patrol Cutter, otherwise Gunboat)

Tech or Population 3-4

1. Trade Cog (2-in-6 chance pirates)
2. Cruiser (2-in-6 chance pirates, otherwise military)
3. Military Frigate
4. Mass Hauler
5. Passenger Barge
6. Local Patrol (3-in-6 chance Patrol Cutter, otherwise Gunboat)

Tech or Population 5-6

1. Cruiser (2-in-6 chance pirates, otherwise military)
2. Military Frigate
3. Trade Cog
4. Mass Hauler
5. Passenger Barge
6. Local Patrol (2-in-6 chance Patrol Cutter, otherwise Gunboat)

Inspirations and Recommendations

Things I've played and read that have their fingerprints all over Night Tripper.

Role-playing

• Traveller, by Marc Miller
• Sherwood by Richard Ruane
• Mothership by Sean McCoy
• Troika, by Daniel Sell
• Into the Odd, by Chris McDowall
• Tunnel Goons by Nate Treme
• Pacts & Blades by Lucas Rolim
• Any Planet is Earth by Classless Kobolds
• Torchbearer by Thor Olavsrud & Luke Crane

Blogs

• The Traveller out of the Box series by Chris Kubasik, especially The Casual and Improvisatory Nature of Early Traveller Play
• Luke Gearing's blog

Novels

• The Dumarest of Terra novels by E.C. Tubb.
• Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
• Ninefox Gambit by Yoon-Ha Lee
• A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

Video Games

• No Man's Sky by Hello Games
• Escape Velocity by Ambrosia Software
• Heat Signature by Suspicious Developments
• House of the Dying Sun by Marauder Interactive
• Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004) by Firaxis Games