Getting Started

Overview
Earth 2308 is a game focused on player freedom and interaction with the greater setting and metaplot. Players can choose to create a character from any corner of Sol, with any personal goal. Although I designed this game to be run by myself for small groups, feel free to give it a try running it yourself. Generally, Earth 2308 is aimed at an audience of veteran RPG players, but it is mathematically simpler than many popular tabletop games, such as Shadowrun, D&D and GURPS and should be relatively easy to learn for newbies.

In order to run the game, one person must take on the role of Game Master (GM) and arbitrate the actions of Non-Player Characters (NPCs), referee the results of other players' actions, and generally control the world that the players interact with. It is highly recommended that anyone who wants to play discusses plot ideas with their GM beforehand so that they do not end up feeling like they are being forced to continue playing a character or story that they aren't invested in. The GM is responsible for creating places, people and things for the players to interact with, as well as for dropping story hooks for the players to follow if they wish, but ultimately it should be up to the players to drive and guide the story in order to maintain a sense of exploration, discovery and player agency.

The objective of this roleplaying system is threefold. First and foremost: to give players and GMs a mechanical and narrative framework to create unique and interesting pulp science fiction stories. Second: to provide players with a sandbox world within which they can pursue any plot line that appeals to them and which they can influence through their in-game actions; and finally, third: to make the consequences of that player agency feel as impactful as they would in real life.

Core Mechanics
Earth 2308 uses multiple six-sided dice to determine the results of actions. A six-sided die is called a "d6," and the number of dice is written before the "d." For example, "3d6" means 3 six-sided dice. The outcome of most situations is decided by an attribute roll. You roll as many six-sided dice as your attribute and add up the total, often with flat bonuses or penalties involved. In many situations, you will also add a number of dice equal to your listed skill level. For example, if a character has 3 Agility and Ranged 2, they will roll 5d6 to hit when attacking with a handgun. Any time two opposing rolls are made that land on the same sum, the roll with the greater number of dice wins automatically. If the number of dice is also equal, the roll with the greater flat bonus wins. Otherwise, both dice pools must be rolled again.

Battle
Combat in 2308 is very simple, and uses a "wounds" system to render combat quick, lethal and impactful. Tactics, overwhelming skill and overwhelming firepower are your best bets for victory. Read the Combat page for more information on the mechanics of fighting and bloodshed.

Campaign Difficulty
The Campaign Difficulty refers to how tough the Game Master makes the game for the players. This is separate from normal mechanical or narrative difficulty, which is generally decided by the content of the campaign, and can be thought of as metagame difficulty. While it is entirely acceptable for Game Masters to make their own decisions about how they want to run their game, the following Campaign Difficulty settings are the ones that I offer to my players before we start playing:

Story Mode
On Story Mode, the Game Master provides the players with assistance out of character, giving them helpful tips about how to handle the situations they find themselves in. If a character attempts an action that would be obviously self destructive or which has no chance of success, the Game Master stops the player and explains why the action would be harmful, then asks them to confirm whether they still want to pursue it. Characters always know the results of their actions immediately and all information tracked by the Game Master is freely available to the players. Players never have to worry about accidentally biting off more than they can chew, as encounters are toned down and balanced to provide a moderate challenge to the party, barring extreme exceptions (such as intentionally entering combat while knowingly outnumbered by a huge margin). The narrative of the game comes first and the focus is on collaborating to tell a story, even if that means fudging numbers or being overly forgiving to player characters to keep the game going. Story Mode is recommended for games that involve players who are new to tabletop gaming.

Normal Mode
On Normal Mode, the Game Master does not provide tips or assistance out of character. If a character attempts an action that would be obviously self destructive or which has no chance of success, the Game Master simply asks the player to confirm whether they still want to pursue it, without explaining why. Characters always know the results of their actions immediately, but information tracked by the Game Master is only available to the tracked character (you may know your own attributes, but not everyone else's - you would get a general description instead). Encounters are never toned down to "scale" with the party, and players must be wary of putting themselves in situations that they cannot handle. Striking a balance between tactical combat gameplay and collaborative storytelling, Normal Mode is the recommended difficulty setting for regular tabletop gamers.

Hardcore Mode
On Hardcore Mode, players essentially have no assistance and little information. The Game Master never warns players when they are about to attempt an action that would harm them or that they cannot possibly succeed at unless it is something that their character would know. Characters only know the results of their actions if they can perceive them - I.E., you won't know if you hit any targets when you fire blindly, you won't know how much ammunition is left in your weapon's magazine or how many rounds you use while firing in Automatic mode unless you have an ammo counter, you won't know how much damage you take from attacks without a medical scanner, etc. The Game Master will still provide general descriptions of things - you will know where you hurt and how much it hurts, you will know when your weapon's magazine feels much lighter than when it is full, but you will not be given specific numbers. This means that the Game Master tracks characters' Hit Points and the amount of ammunition in their magazines instead of the players. Information tracked by the Game Master is only available if acquired in game, such as by using a medical scanner to learn a character's Hit Points and Wound status, or removing a magazine from a gun to see how full it is. Hardcore Mode is very difficult and is intended for veteran roleplayers, but is also faster to play, more immersive, less effort for players (as they do not have to track their own values) and better at creating stories that are organic and pseudo-realistic.

Roll Difficulty
Whenever a player rolls dice in order to complete an action, there is always a target number that the dice roll must meet or exceed in order to be successful. This number is referred to as the Roll Difficulty, or RD of a roll. The lion's share of rolls will have their Roll Difficulty decided by either a player or the Game Master rolling an opposing roll. For example, the Roll Difficulty of a kick to the nuts would be decided by the defender rolling a number of six-sided dice equal to their AGI attribute and adding any relevant bonuses. Many circumstances have their Roll Difficulties described on this wiki, while others are decided by the Game Master. Feats which are easily accomplished by the character in question do not normally need to be rolled for.

Confounding Factors
For Game Masters, deciding how many dice to give an opposed roll can be tricky. This is most often the case with various uses for Skills and for when players are forced to deal with Hazards and other obstacles. In these instances, it is recommended to give the roll a number of dice equal to the number of Confounding Factors influencing the attempt. A Confounding Factor is the number of circumstantial complications that would make something more difficult to accomplish.

Take for instance a character who wants to use the Jumping skill to cross a gap. You should consider things such as the surface of the terrain they are standing on, the distance between the surfaces or any difference in height and the general situation the character finds themselves in. For example, if it were a short gap in a calm situation on solid ground, you would give the roll a Roll Difficulty of 1d6. If they were being shot at, you would increase it to 2d6. If the ground is also wet and slippery, you would increase it again to 3d6, and so on. You may also raise or lower Roll Difficulty as you see fit depending on the circumstances, such as increasing the RD by one or more dice based on the length of the jump.

Progression
As players make their way through a campaign, completing one story after another, their characters will slowly begin to grow in strength. Characters all begin the game at Level 0, and gain a single level each time they complete a significant stretch of campaign narrative or finish a story arc. Characters add their level to any Vigor rolls they make to resist death.

In most cases, leveling up will involve skipping through time in-game and creating an in-character justification for the character's improvements, for example, having a character spend a semester at school in order to improve their Academics Skill. Whenever you gain a level, you get: After reaching Level 10, additional levels will no longer grant Advantage points, and you will gain only 1 Skill point instead of 2.
 * 1 Advantage point, which you cannot save up to spend on Gifts. Only Advantages can be taken after the game begins.
 * 2 Skill points, which you can spend to increase any skill by 1 rank. You cannot spend both skill points to improve the same skill.

To get started, head to the Character Creation page.

Creating Vehicles
While robots have their own parts and pieces available for character creation on the Robot Factory page, vehicles are instead created using the three vehicle pages. Vehicles are highly modular and, much like Armor, are created from a base chassis with modifications made to it. There are three main, distinct types of vehicles with different rules:
 * Standard Vehicles are vehicles with wheels or tracks, as well as common atmospheric fliers. This includes things like cars, trucks, turbocopters, SAVs, tanks and more.
 * Mechs are vehicles with vaguely humanoid shapes that use some form of walking or running for locomotion. They are the only type of vehicle capable of using Cover.
 * Spaceships are vehicles which are meant to travel through space.

Skills
A representation of a character's degree of training or talent in a given area. There are five types of skills: Combat, General, Athletic, Social and Knowledge. Combat Skills reflect a character's ability to fight with various weapons as well as their ability to evade enemy attacks. General Skills are practical skills that can be applied to produce various effects, such as picking a locked door or treating a critical wound, as well as professional skills. Athletic Skills are those which are used to accomplish physical feats, such as climbing, jumping or swimming. Social Skills are used to influence how other characters view you or to make deductions about other characters in social situations. Knowledge Skills are skills which represent a character's understanding of a specific trade skill or field of study and are used for crafting and modifying things, as well as for obtaining information from the GM.

See the Skills page for a list of skills, their descriptions and associated rules.

Advantages
A representation of a character’s unique positive traits. They include social, physical and mental abilities, as well as specific applications of skills, talents, and important knowledge. Advantages are usually less broadly applicable than Skills, applying narrower bonuses, but having a greater impact. Advantages may also unlock Abilities a character can use. Humans begin with 5 advantage points, mutants and cyborgs with 3, androids with 2, and robots with none.

Gifts
Similar to advantages, but take three advantage points to obtain. Gifts are powerful boons that can dramatically influence the course of the game, and likely have a great influence on a character’s personal identity.

Disadvantages
A representation of a character’s vices, faults and restrictions. They include physical and mental handicaps and disabilities, chronic diseases or drug addiction and social restrictions. Characters receive an extra advantage point for each disadvantage they have, up to a maximum of two. More disadvantages can be taken if desired, but will not provide any benefit.

See the Advantages page for a list of Advantages, Gifts and Disadvantages, along with their descriptions and associated rules.

NOTE: You cannot take opposing advantages / disadvantages, nor can you use cybernetics, mutations or psychic powers to negate the penalty from a disadvantage. You may attempt to “fix” your disadvantage after the game has started.

Abilities
Abilities are special actions that a character can perform once unlocking them. In most cases, activated Abilities require the expenditure of resources, such as Stamina, Willpower or Power to use, while passive abilities apply their effects at all times. The most common Abilities are unlocked by Advantages, such as Weapon Training and Unarmed Combat. Other Abilities are unlocked by Type-specific mechanics, such as a Mutant's mutations, a Cyborg's cybernetic parts, and a Robot's mechanical components. Examples of Abilities include a Mutant's Telekinesis, the First Aid Ability Desperate Savior, and the Knife Ability Find The Gap.

Abilities all have their own pages, but are also listed on the Abilities page.