DarkSpace Hardcover Core Rules by DMing the World

Adventures in the Dark of Space

Journey into the shadows and darkness of space for fortune and glory! Will you play a blue collar scavenger, a hardened mercenary, a swashbuckling adventurer, or explore the boundaries of what it means to be human?

DarkSpace is a sci-fi rules hack for the rules-light Shadowdark RPG and requires a copy of those rules to play.

SPECIES

DarkSpace
 works with all existing Shadowdark ancestries as well as introducing 20
 SPECIES TRAITS that you can use to build your own alien species or play
 as familiar species from your favorite science fiction properties.

DarkSpace
 also introduces Androids as both a playable species and as a playable 
archetype with the         Multi-Function Android.

archetypes

Classes
 in DarkSpace are focused more on classical archetypes and less on 
profession. As such, they are referred to as Archetypes. DarkSpace 
introduces 7 NEW ARCHETYPES - Strong, Quick, Tough, Clever, Wise,  
Charming, and the Machine-Based.

backgrounds

Your
 Background is as much a part of who you are as your Archetype and gives
 you advantage in certain situations. Choose from 20 PRE-MADE 
BACKGROUNDS like Outlaw, Roughneck, Hacker, Medic, or come up with your 
own.

Combined
 with your Archetype you have 140 different character combinations like a
 Strong Pilot or a Quick Soldier to fit whatever flavor of sci-fi you 
want to play.

the triad

THE
 TRIAD represents the metaphysical abilities sometimes found in science 
fiction. Whether through a mystical connection, scientific 
experimentation, or natural psionic abilities you have the ability to 
manipulate aspects of reality. Each rules-light TRIAD POWER affects a 
different aspect of reality: Body, Mind, and Soul.

Motivation

Adventures
 in DarkSpace are less about the struggle between Law and Chaos and more
 about what it takes to survive in the cold vacuum of space and on 
strange alien worlds.

Alignment is replaced by Motivation. Are you VIRTUOUS and hold to traditional virtues like justice, courage, and honor? Are you VILE and have embraced the darker aspects of ambition, manipulation and greed? Or maybe you’re just a SURVIVOR and choose to adapt, overcome, and do whatever is necessary to survive.

Motivations provide character insight that in turn  gives you a small starting bonus and a way to earn Luck Tokens.

starfaring

Traveling
 in space isn’t like dusting crops, but it’s also not complicated in 
DarkSpace. DarkSpace includes LIGHTWEIGHT RULES for both SL (sublight), 
and FTL (Faster Than Light) travel. Random encounters and mishaps for 
travel through space are also included.

SHIP-TO-SHIP COMBAT is as simple as character to character battle is in Shadowdark. Track your ship's weapons, systems, features, and cargo on its own character sheet and take on the various roles needed to fly it.