‘ENTURF SOU~ZEBOOK I

appearing left and onths. Strangely enough, all of them vanished while passing

And now, an unscheduled merchant ship claims to be repairing its malfunctioning plasma drive near the mysterious moon. A team of exo-armor . Is there more ta

ai .I. The Europa Incident is the second sourcebook detailing the Jovian Chronicles universe for il. It includes additional background mat optional rules and more!

This book also contains a complete adventure recom- mended for 3-6 beginnerlevel players, although it is possible for two groups [up to 4 players each) to play at the same time. Also included are seven complete exo- armorSample desiqns, in fileaddition to the deadly Lucifer

IANUS PUBLICATIONS 5000 Iberville, Studio Montreal, Ouebec Canada H2

JOVIAN CHRONICLES & EUROPA INCIDENT a lanus Publications, Inc. MEKTON II and the Mekton logo are registered trademarks oi Sample file C R E 0 1 T s

Sample file TABLE OF CONTENTS

GM tips and suggestions ...... 5

The worlds of 221 2 ...... 8 CEAO5CT Wyvern ...... 73 ...... 8 CXSOl B Lucifer Cybersat ...... 75 ...... 9 ...... 10 STRIKE ...... 10 Uller ...... 78 Companies and Corporations ...... 11 Javelin ...... 79 Aero Corp ....

Maelstrom Electronics ...... 13 Nakasu Fusion Co ...... 14 Dessa Ltd...... 14 NAAC ...... 14

Military Ranks ...... 17 Jovian Armed Forces ...... 18 Home Defense Force ...... 19 CEGA Naval Forces ...... 20 CEGA Armed Forces ...... 21 Free Republic Rangers ...... 22 Martian Federal Army ...... 23 Suggested PCs and lmpoltant NPCs 24

New Tech Systems ...... 31 Money ...... 34 History of the exo-armor ...... 35 Sample file Optional Rules for Combat ...... 40 Vehicle spec sheets ...... 42 EAT02 Mentor Mk 111 ...... 42 EAL-CT Pathfinder ...... 44 EALURC Pathfinder ...... 46 EAL-ST Pathfinder ...... 48 EA09 Cerberus ...... 50 CEA05CT Wyvern ...... 52 CEA05MS Wyvern ...... 54 CXSOl B Lucifer Cybersat ...... 56

Playing the Europa Incident ...... 58 The Plot ...... 59 Scene 1 ...... 60 Scene 2 ...... 61 Scene 3 ...... 62 Scene 4 ...... 63 Scene 5 ...... 64

I' I' ' EAL04RC Pathfinder ...... 66 EAL04CT Pathfinder ...... 67 EALUST Pathfinder ...... 68 1NTRODUCTlON v

The Jovian Chronicles sourcebook introduced the reader to a fascinating not- so-far future where Man has not only explored but settled the various planets of the solar system.

The Europa Incident offers yet more information on the world of the twenty- third century, with a summary of the political situation two years after the Jovian Chronicles campaign [which was included in theSample first book). file It takes a closer look at several companies which were only

mentioned in the first sourcebook, explaining what they do and how they influence the politics of the various countries. We also get a glimpse of the inner working of the planetary forces, with

ranks and medals briefly outlined for each.

There is still much to be said about the solar system of the twenty-third century, for it is just as complex as society was at the end of the twentieth [and probably even more sol.

4 INTRODUCTlOtl

This book includes more information about the Jovian Chronicles' universe and a 5- part adventure. A good thing to do would be to summarize the background for the players before starting a game in the Jovian Chronicles setting. This will put the players "right in the action"; a short recap of the previous gaming session will do for experienced players.

Atmosphere, intrigue and action should be a trademark of any game in the Jovian Chronicles setting. As before, scientific plausibility will take a back seat to playability, coming into play if and only if the story requires it.

Music is an almost mandatory part of role- playing in this particular universe. It will Why has the timeline been advanced by two years? Simply to allow the Game Master to add an extra flavor to your game and need introduce more situations and adventure seeds than before - not to mention several new only minimal preparation - a tape deck exo-armor designs. Indeed, the interplanetary incident of 221 0 was the catalyst for sweeping and one or two tapes. The choice of music changes in a society that had been more concerned with survival than political meddling for is of course left to the gaming group, but the last century. Interplanetary travel is much more common, as are border clashes and should be fast-paced and stimulating. diplomatic incidents. In short, many more opportunities for action and adventure. Moody music will be better for tense The incident also had far-reaching repercussions in the military: the striking demonstra- moments, however. tion of the effectiveness of the exo-armor weapon systemSample has unsurprisingly file started an One last note: when properly done, sound arms race. More designs and modifications were conceived and marketed in the last two effects can be extremely effective. Some years than in the previous fifty years! Exo-armors, considered mere curiosities since their electronic gadgets can reproduce sounds introduction in the JAF in 2163, suddenly proved themselves more adaptable and deadly with amazing accuracy; if one is available, than any other combat system before them. Even the behemoth spaceships were not safe by all means use it. The effect can be anymore.

Several companies are switching part of their production to exo-armor assembly lines to profit from this. New designs can be introduced at the Game Master's wish, although players should still not be allowed to design their own machines: after all, even with advanced design computers, an exo-armor is still an immensely complex and expensive piece of equipment. Variations are not unheard of, though, and need not always look like the designs they were based on ...

The various characters and machines in this book use the Mekton II rules, so the players must be familiar with them. You don't absolutely need a copy of Jovian Chronicles to use this book and play the advenhre contained within, but it would be useful - a great deal of the information included herein complements what was discussed in the first book. Having a copy of Mekton Techbook handy is also advisable, since many mechani- cal designs use systems described in this book. Spaceships use a modified version of the ship system described in Mekton Empire, but since spaceships are often more a plot device than actual combat vehicles the GM can easily cover this by himself.

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