A Roleplaying Game by Jim McGarva 1 (order #9182652) More Kickstarter Backers Credits and Thanks Joseph Parsley, Dan Gerold, Ewen Cluney, Nate Horn, Nathan Campbell, Duane Moore, C. Birdsong, Jack Milton, Jared Ritter, Drew Wendorf, Matthew Blasi, Morgan Westbrook, Evan Waters, Jake Peters, William Artists M Wilson, Seth Flagg, Josh Medin, Daniel Asher Resnick, Mark Green, Yuri Kavalerchik, William Hendershot, Kyla Austin Jay Marsh, Stephen Holowczyk, Glazius, David Plummer, Matthew Coverdale, Stephen Baynham, Richard Hunt, J. A. Aczel, Steven Siddall, Johannes Knieling, Belinda Kelly, Kevin Lanzikos, Ian Magill, Sam Anderson, Cory Rewcastle, Kennant, James Mendez Hodes, Shelton Layout Windham, Brendan McCann, Andrew Stoneman, Charley Daily, G Barratt, slothagent, Richard Easterling, Sylvester Krapa, Stacie Winters, Design Help Jeff Healy, Jackson Book, Jordan Bradley, Evan Schauer, Matthew Cleary, Cosmonaut Fiona Marie, Kyla Austin Moss Haley, Lou Goncey, Matthew McCauley, Graeme Lindsell, Patrick Grunt Work Tarantino, Christopher Hartwick, Blarghedy, Edward Damon, Jago, Webb Myers, Jamie Manley, Sandy Keith, Philip Beverley, Jens H., Karl Jim McGarva Schmidt, C. Kettering, Chris Conley, Robert Schiewe, Andrew Hill, samuraipope, Trevor Bart, Xavier RAOULT, Josh Louie, Greg Walters, Walter King, Andrew Haufe, Andrew Lloyd, Matt Whycalibur, Omer Golan-Joel, FishFood, Alan Graham, Gabriel Countblanc, James Byrne, Proofreading Coffee Run, Lindis Chetwynd, Steve Wallace, Beau Bogart, Steven Kei Jim Jacobson, Chris Longhurst, Jim McGarva Kenobi, Charles Boucher, kreg mosier, NPC Chris, DevoutlyApathetic, Mikko Västi, Surodhet, Peter Ramos, Seth Brodbeck, Chris Ryan, Adam Tolson, Alexis “poetfox” Long, Nick Dumas, Ian Johnson, Fabian S., Will Eusebio, Rose Bailey, Cody Vandenberg Jr, Zachary Knox, Vasja Volin, Icons Diana Bell, Jordan Lapp, Justin Hukle, Jules Dauvois, thespaceinvader, All Power Icons made by Freepik (www.freepik.com) Marius “ObMeiste” Johansen, D. Moraski, Ben Watson, Kevin Tyler, Mark S, Mark Buckley, Paul Strack, Trevor McDonald, Thomas Santilli, from www.flaticon.com are licensed under CC BY 3.0 Mark Lorriman, Zachariah Willoh, Brandon Hebel, Everett Owen, Aron (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Smith, Jeff Pitrman, Kevin Carboni, Shawn Hauk, Jeffrey Scott Osthoff, Mathew Zhao, Jon Carter, ClayMan, Stefan Wood, Andrew Carter, Zach Cullimore, Alejo G. Marello, MigBird, NPC Aaron, Curtis Plunk, Harrison P. Gross, Christian Høgh Pedersen, Mike Olson, Dave M-G, Playtesting Richard Schwerdtfeger, Michael Klauda, The Wyzard, Kevin, Adam Charles Boucher, Eric Liaw, Jacob Saunders, Gabriel Butche, Donald, Josh Cline, RealWolf, Ken Finlayson, Dan VK, Selganor Yoster, Lorenzo Bonilla, Lakshman Godbole, Mike Davies, Justin Vander Schaaf, Joseph Parsley, Brennon Murphy Armin Sykes, Peter Ravnholt, James LaRue, The Ol Dirty Zachary, Strike! had many playtesters. Thanks to all of you who played and Forrest Fleming, James Allen, anonymous, Matt Plastow, Trevor W., gave suggestions and feedback. Pete Eppestine, Adam Albee, CreepyFudge, Mike Ranalli Jr., Dustin D Rippetoe, Alasdair Corbett, A.·. de M.·., Sam Raker, Ross H, Petri Leinonen, Derrick Cook, Daniel V., Bryan Rantala, A. Dykstra, Keith Trost, Ross Bowman, Mike Harvey, Jacob Randolph, ron beck, Rolland Development Therrien, Jed Scarbrough, Bez Bezson, D. W, Paul Echeverri, Shaun Elsasser, Guillaume “Nocker”, Bernard McGarva, Paul Ueltschi, Xmiq, Gabriel Butche, Yuri Kavalerchik, Jacob Saunders, David Yellope, Daniel Sawyer, Q, Jonathan “gradenko_2000” Lapitan, Earth Seraph Edna TechieKatie, Bryce Duzan, Sean M. Dunstan, H. M. ‘Dain’ Lybarger, These people checked my work for balance and clarity, contribut- Simon Edwards, Brian Hon, Nick Irish, Jesse Burstyn, Patrick W., Brad Osborne, Paul Sharpe, Avery Cahill, MaximusPrime, Alston Chu, James ed ideas, and gave advice when I needed it, which was often. Ballard, Cam Banks, Zhuang Zhou David, Nicolas Crost, Tom Hatfield, Jon Rosebaugh, Eli Baskir, William Hadden, Budobtharis, Gordon Wiley, Magnus, Steve Sensiba, Laurence Venn, Zack Wenning, Jason Zolina, Gavin Mutter, Charles Glasgow, Laura Ewing, Nihar Nilekani, Kickstarter Backers Keith Rice, Matt Rutch, Svend Andersen, James McConnaughy, Jamie Thank you to all the people on Kickstarter and otherwise who Keane, Joshua Westphal, Chris Woodside, Joseph Arnett, Clement Chow, bought this book! Without you, this game would always have been Brian R. Bergdall, Ben Karnow, Wendigo James Logan, Our Hero Andy, Chris, Andrew Peterson, Remo di Sconzi, Howard Kaegi, Arthur Le, just a messy document sitting on my hard drive. Hanne Rheinhard, Emong, Darth Cibeous, Eric Liaw, Nicholas Cadigan, Dan Christman-Crook, Dani Lynette, Grant Greene, Cargo Manshark, Fonts of Wisdom Dr. Frankensteins Timothy Streasick, Christopher Reed, Jesse Roberts, Maston Don, Vega Baby, Nathan Mooney, Darcy Larmour, David Nadj, Hans Binder Knott, Chris McEligot Jim Jacobson James Reed, Lawrence Kowalkowski, R R Clark, Brenton Malinski, Grant Chen Elkay Alexandra Logan, ThermobaricTom, Richard Mercer, Geoff Watson, DeadlyReed Chris Gallant Steve Lord, Garth Dighton, Zach Sylvain, Zesephes, R Lee, Hans Visser, Paul Kolo, Luca Beltrami, Striking Yak, Jared Juetten, Julian Kuleck, Chris Ryan Isaacson I. Smith Longhurst, Dave Campbell, Stras “Striker” Acimovic, Kevin Ham, Kate Whitman Johnson Richard Luoma Ashwin, Lindsey Wilson, David R West, Andrew Luczak, Mike Wawalrus, David Brandt Chris Sakkas, James Holdridge, BCU, Asen R. Georgiev, Markus Viklund, Bob Richardson, D. Barbella, Stuart Sergeant, Jeffrey Moore, Zean Rivera, Lawgivers Bardakus Maximus Will you really include whatever I put here? Jim: Yes., Frank Williams, Patrick Holzman Nezbleu Duncan Thomas, Travis Pritchett, Josh Grabiec, Clayton Wick, Matthew Roman Chayka Stubin Long Lind, Tobias Mcnabb, Robin “Jarval” Farndon, Robert Kosek, Joshua Sorenson, Owen Meldrim Moore, Derek “Pineapple Steak” Swoyer, Jack Don Shaffer Serf McSerfington Dandy, Mat G, sentrygun, Ben Dugas, Russ Brown, Nicholas “Anthony” gourdcaptain Arroyo, Daniel Maberry, Nathan Deno, Marc Curlee, Marshmallow, Jack Norris, John Schuhr, Keith Thomson, Jake Newton, Luris, Jason “Jadasc” Schneiderman, Christoph Flandorfer, Janne H. Korhonen, Matthew Croco, Neall Raemonn Price, Matt Donaldson, Michael Marvin, Daanyaal Strike! is ©2015 Jim Mcgarva du Toit, Ubiratan Pires Alberton, Michael Tree, Brennan Dawson, Dirk www.strikerpg.com Stanley, Vincent Baker, Pamela Collins. 2 (order #9182652) Contents Tactical Combat 87 How to Read a Power 88 The Basics 4 The Attack Roll 89 The Basic Rules 5 Winning and Losing 92 Conditions 7 Glossary 95 Recovery 8 Creating Your Character Part 2 98 Skills 9 Reskinning 98 Opposed Rolls 9 Combat Example of Play 100 Linked Rolls 10 Classes 101 Helping 10 The Necromancer 101 Action Points 10 The Duelist 104 Wealth 12 The Archer 106 Example of Play 14 The Martial Artist 108 What Now? 15 The Warlord 111 The Magician 113 Creating Your Character 16 The Bombardier 116 Advancement 17 The Shapechanger 119 Advancement Chart 18 The Summoner 122 Backgrounds 18 The Buddies 127 Background Walkthrough 24 Simplified Classes 129 Origins: Species and Cultures 25 Roles 130 The Characters’ Stuff 28 Blaster 131 Relationships: Friends and Foes 30 Controller 133 Kits 32 Defender 134 General Advances 32 Leader 135 The Gunslinger 33 Striker 136 The Psychic 34 Feats 137 The Wayfarer 36 The Boss 38 Team Monster 140 The Scholar 40 Combat and Monster Design 141 The Protagonist 41 Sample Monsters 144 The Tinker 42 Dr. Frankensteins’ Monsters 150 The Seer 44 Titans 154 The Spy 45 Unfair Enemies 158 The Flame 46 Monsters From Scratch 161 The Fountain 48 Tactical Combat Variants 168 The Brute 49 The Sorcerer 50 The Toolbox 172 Mini-Kits 51 Sample Scenario 172 Custom Advances 55 Other Worlds 172 Reputations 55 Masters of the Four Elements 172 Star Strike! 180 The Role of the GM 56 The Company 183 Before the Roll 57 Villains 185 The Results 59 Adversarial Play: Invasion! 188 Creating Settings 64 Adversarial Play: Dangerous Delves 191 Planning the Session 67 Essays 198 Useful Practices 67 Diversity in Strike! 198 Pacing Rolls 70 Horror in Strike! 199 Optional Rules and Variants 71 Strike!… in Space! 200 Lessons from Earthbound 201 Detailed Subsystems 75 Non-Combat Hacking 202 Team Conflict 75 Phase 1: Select Actions 76 The End 203 Phase 2: Resolution 76 Ludography 203 Customizing the Opposition 79 Materials 203 Team Conflict Example of Play 82 Index 204 Chase 84 3 (order #9182652) The Basics The Players: Character Concepts Before you can get started, you must have a character. The rules Fundamental Questions for character creation come later, but the first thing to start with Why play this game? Because you want to roleplay with your is a strong concept. Your concept is allowed to say something friends and end up with a story that none of you would have made about the setting, even to the point of challenging the setting’s on your own. assumptions. Your character can be totally unique. For example, in a fantasy world without telepathy, your character can be the Okay, but why play this game? Because you want to spend your only telepath. In a setting without androids, you can be the only time describing cool stuff and not thinking about rules or num- one. While you can challenge setting assumptions with your con- bers or stats. Because you want tactical combat that plays quickly cept, you cannot violate the genre or tone of the game. If you are and makes the field of battle important.