Future Imperfect chapter 1

Back to Main Page
Chapter 1: The Basics

Terms

In Future Imperfect, there are a few terms used throughout the book. The players will be referred to as Crew, the GM as Master and player characters as Heroes. Enemies may be referred to as antagonists, henchmen, masterminds or villains. Character will mean any individual in the universe.

The Core Belief

Future Imperfect is not like every game on the market. This book and entire family of products is built on a single mission statement (expressed as a user story): As a player of tabletop roleplaying games, I want an immersive and consistent science fiction gaming experience, so that each session is as close to the best game for this Crew (group of players) as possible.

Those of you experienced with agile development will notice the format is the same as those used in software development sprints. Those of you with strong backgrounds in such will be saying to them self that those requirements are pretty soft. While the authors of this book agree, quantifying user experience in a tabletop RPG is very difficult. Put simply:

Future Imperfect strives to deliver the best game for your Crew every time. How do we do that? We do it by recognizing that the game is made up of players, and no principle or outside force (especially a set of rules and abstractions made by strangers) should get in the way of that experience. The Master should do his best to deliver the game the players want, every session, every scene.

This does not mean being weak or a pushover. More on this in Chapter: XX Crafting Stories.

What you need

Besides some pencils and paper there are three things you need to play Future Imperfect: dice, cards (action cards or a standard 54 card deck with jokers) and poker chips.

Dice

Future Imperfect is a collaborative exercise, so we need some way of randomizing certain actions such as determining whether or not your Hero hears the alien creeping up behind him. We achieve this with dice and cards. Future Imperfect requires the full array of standard RPG dice (4-, 6-. 8-, 10-, 12- and 20-sided dice). These are abbreviated as d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20. If there's a number in front of the type of die, such as 2d6, it means you should roll that many dice. If you see "5d8," for example, you should roll 5 eight—sided dice.

Sometimes there's a number added to or taken away from the roll, like "2d12+2.” You always apply the modifier after you roll the dice.

Cards

Future Imperfect also uses decks of 54 playing cards. The game comes with one or more special sets, but you can also use any set of playing cards with jokers, with the included table for conversion (see Appendix 1). Special card decks are also available for some types of characters or action mini-games (discussed in Chapter XX).

The most common set of special cards are called "Action Decks". One deck will be shared by the Master and Crew. Further instructions on how to use them follow here, with a more in depth discussion in Appendix 1. Certain character types (those with psionic powers, for example) need their own decks (Ability Decks). Be sure to be properly prepared, before starting the game, with the appropriate number of card decks. The Master should also have an extra deck or two for extras to use as Ability Decks.

Ability decks are to be shuffled when directed by the cards or at the end of a scene (see the appropriate description).

The Action Deck

The action deck is 54 cards, with results in each corner as well as different sections of the card face. Each card contains many colored numbers and symbols (if you are colorblind the same color always correlates to a specific location on the card, so color perception is not necessary) as well as many sets of values, each with their own use cases. That may sound complicated, but in the appendix we show you how to use any standard poker deck with Jokers as an action (or ability!) deck. And because each deck has all of the results and modifiers printed right on it, even complicated actions with many variables are easily described.

Chips

Future Imperfect uses standard poker chips for a great number of purposes described throughout the book. The standard mix at the beginning of any story arc is 50 white chips, 25 red chips, and 10 blue chips. Put all of these into a big cup or "Story Bin" so you can draw them out of the bin without looking at them. Once you've set up the crew's Story bin, put unused chips away.

Only under special circumstances do you ever add new chips to the bin. Whenever you spend a chip (again, more later), toss it back into the Story bin.

Traits & Skills

Heroes, extras, and other characters are mostly made up of Traits and Skills. Traits are things like Strength, Reflexes and Acuity. These are expressed as a column and row (such as III-2), which correlates to a size and number of dice when necessary. A really strong alien might have a V-2 (2d12) Strength, while an elderly IRSOL probably has a II-1 (1d6) or even a I-1 (1d4).

Skills are the experiences your Hero has collected during his life, quantified by a set of numbers. These are rated from 1 to 5 initially and tell you how many Trait dice to roll when using that Skill.

Future Imperfect uses fairly broad Skill descriptions, so you often need to choose a "specialization". The fighting skill does not exist by itself, it requires a specialization such as brawling, knives, or swords. The same is true for a skill like science —you need to specialize in biology, chemistry, or engineering.

Abstraction

The key to consistency in application of the rules is abstraction. Does this situation relate to one skill, or another? Likely, it could be either. In cases like this, judgment of the Master is necessary, but Crew input is welcome and even encouraged. As the Master, feel free to adjust the difficulty based on the skill the player wishes to use. For example, a Hero with medicine might have a difficulty of 7 to determine time of death of an alien corpse, while an investigator with a specialty in forensics could have 5. Both skill are applicable, but they are not equal in this case.

In general, the Master should strive to avoid telling players no. Sometimes it is inevitable, but in many cases an onerous difficulty number accomplishes the stated goal more effectively. Consider what these things actually mean: That is not possible vs That is extremely difficult, would you like to risk an attempt? Which one of those fosters the core belief of Future Imperfect (play the game the players want to play)?

Training

When the Master calls for a check of one of your Hero's basic Traits (what is a check? Stay tuned), roll a number of Trait dice equal to its "Training". Trainings function just like Skills: they tell you how many of your Trait dice to roll whenever you need to test check Trait.

Trait tests are usually used when the Master wants to test a Hero's raw abilities, such as his Strength or Acuity.

For instance, Antares Darkeye, a notorious space pirate, has a Dexterity of IV-4, so he rolls 4d10 to make a Dexterity check.

Mixing Skills

Skills have a default trait association, but this is by no means the only possible usage. When the Master asks for a Skill task (such as a climbing) just use the physical trait associated with climbing (because climbing is a physical skill). But sometimes he might ask you for a climbing/Knowledge roll. This means he wants to see how much your character knows about climbing, not how well he can actually scale a cliff.

Interpreting Die Rolls

A character's Trait value tells you what kind of dice, and the Skill or Training tells you how many to roll. Your result is the highest number you get on any die face when you roll all your dice together. So if you roll 3d6 and get 2, 3, and 5, your result is a 5.

Allison McGee is sliding down a hill on her sleek and reliable hovercycle, although she is headed into the clutches of a particularly nasty bug. The Master wants a standard (5) Ride: Cycle check. Allison's riding is 2d8. She rolls and gets a 3 and a 4, not good enough for a success.

If there are any modifiers, they are applied after the dice are rolled. Negative modifiers are penalties of some sort, and positive modifiers are bonuses.

Unskilled Checks and Tasks

If the Master requests a skill check or task for a skill your Hero does not possess, it is considered unskilled. In lieu of Skill dice, roll your character's Trait dice (using its Training as its Skill level), but divide the highest result by 2. Alternatively, if your character has a related skill, roll that instead, with a penalty of 2. Specializations within a Skill are always related, such as shooting pistols, flamers, and rifles. Other Skills may be related depending on the situation. Work with your Master to figure out if a Skill might be used in place of another. Only Skills may be considered related, never Traits.

Exceptional Success

Trait and Skill checks are open-ended, this means if you roll the highest possible number on any of your dice, you can roll that die again and add the next roll to that die's current total. The maximum number on a die is called the "Max". You can keep rolling the die and adding it to the running total as long as you keep getting the Max.

If you should get the Max on several of your individual dice, roll them one at a time and choose to either keep the number rolled or discard that result and roll the next Max die. Once you leave a die behind, it can no longer be used. This is only relevant with Skill and Trait Tasks, always roll for all Max on effect rolls.

Allison is hanging on to the hillside for dear life after her hovercycle's unfortunate demise. The Master wants a climbing total. Allison has 2d8 climbing and rolls two 8s. Lucky dog. She now has two Max results on the table, but can only keep the highest. Rumi (Allison's player) picks up the first 1d8 and rolls it, getting an 8. These dice are hot, another max! She rolls the last 8 again and gets a 3 for a grand total of (8+8+3=) 19. Her other max result is still sitting there, but she reasons that the chance of her doing better than that is slim (under 8%, in fact), so she is satisfied with this result and chooses not to risk rerolling the final max. Allison scampers up the hillside deftly, just as the thing below devours her hovercycle and snaps at her boots.

Game Designers Note: Why not just reroll all Max results and take the highest? You can, if that is how you want to play, but we don't recommend it. The reason is simple: speed. Multiple Max results are relatively rare, but can slow the game down, and be more confusing than you might first think. Give it a try, and if you decide that you still like rerolling all of your Max results, by all means, play the game you want to play.

The essence of all games of import is choice. Keep what I have or take a risk? You decide. A well done RPG is more than a storytelling exercise, it is a game at it's core. Difficult choices make the game worthwhile. The story is interesting, the mechanics make it more so.

Critical Failures

If more than half of your dice come up 1 (or if the action card result is CF), you have achieved a critical failure, and something unusually bad happens, at the Master’s discretion, and the task fails automatically. Players should also be encouraged to narrate consequences of critical failures on their own. Be creative! Appreciate the result as a complication rather than a failure. Additionally, you cannot spend Fate Chips (Chapter XX) to reroll or add to your dice. Ignore any Max results during a critical failure.

Checks and Tasks

In Future Imperfect, dice and cards can work synergistically to determine success as well as interesting details that occur within the game universe. In the real world, as well as in great fiction (and games), some things are pretty simple, while others are more complicated undertakings. To this end, Future Imperfect provides two resolution systems to be used as necessary to simulate the game world. For simple situations, like changing a weapon magazine or climbing a cliff face, use the Check system. For more complicated endeavors, where multiple external and personal factors could be at play, the Task system is here to help you bring these situations to life. Give them the depth and coverage they deserve!

Checks

That furrow in your brow tells me you are wondering what the hell the difference is between a Check and a Task. Good question, to be answered presently. As previously mentioned, Checks are simple things in the abstract. They may not be simple to do, per se, but the outcome is a binary result, and other external factors are unlikely to come to bear. Anytime you would roll some dice, check the result, then move right along you are likely to be dealing with a Check. The Master will tell you the skill and trait, as well as the difficulty, you prepare the dice, roll them and read them as above, then check the following table. If you meet or exceed the Task Number (TN), you have succeeded.

Not all gamers want to play the same game. The kind of adventure your Master has in mind could be John Carter of Mars high adventure just as easily as Neuromancer street level action. One of the most fundamental choices that must be made about the game you will play is the scope. Future Imperfect can be played (at least) two ways: Pulp and Gritty.

Difficulty Description	Pulp TN	Gritty TN
Easy	3	4
Standard	5	6
Challenging	7	8
Difficult	9	10
Incredible	11	12

Pretty simple, right? Exactly as it was meant to be. Keep the game moving, keep the action foremost and let the players play. In this case, the dice roll and get out of the way, facilitating a fast paced game.

Just as her father dies, he whispers a plea into Allison's ear. He wants her to go to Denoba VII and protect an accused prisoner from certain doom. Allison is a Hero; of course she will set off for Antares.

The Master asks Allison’s player for a Standard area knowledge check to know the location. Since this is a pulp scoped game, the TN is 5. She throws her dice for results of 3, 7 and 8. Success! The journey to Denoba is ready to begin.

And now some words on descriptions. Players should describe what it is they are attempting as clearly as possible. If it succeeds, if it fails, the player has every right to participate in the description. However, the Master is the final arbiter of exactly how most elements of the universe interact, sometimes even the Hero (you can't effectively disbelieve gravity) can't control everything about himself. The best case is when the Master and Crew work together to paint the surroundings in the most vivid canvas they can create.

Best case...your mileage may vary. Some groups prefer to describe their action and let the Master describe the effect. Others prefer the Crew take the lead and describe as much as possible. As a group, know the game you want to play. The philosophy behind Future Imperfect encourages creating a shared game world, remember the number one rule: work together to create the game your group wants to play. How else can you achieve maximum enjoyment?

Scope: Under the Hood

How much difference does this choice make? Why wonder, here is a chart showing the approximate difficulties for checks and tasks at the various scope levels.

Where it says 0, it means approximately 1-2%, due to the nature of the open ended card system. Excel doesn't know how to handle it.

Tasks

In most games, Tasks are the foundation of exciting scenes. When a Hero needs to do something great, almost certainly that is a task. In most cases Tasks are much more than a binary result. There are potential complications, deviations and unintended results. By utilizing the Task system, you can roll dice once, choose one card, and resolve a series of events without needing to roll again.

To resolve a task is a simple process. When performing a task, take the top card from the Action Deck and compare the number in the appropriate column to the TN on the difficulty table above. This number must be equal to or greater than the TN to achieve success. Consult the other sections of the card as necessary to resolve related situations, such as damage, hit location and hitting bystanders.

Need some examples? Keep reading, the rules that follow will have plenty of tasks described in them.

Escalating Success

During Checks and Tasks, when you exceed your Task Number by 5 points, you get an extra success level. This is called a "bump". Bumps are sometimes used to show your character has achieved something above and beyond the norm. Heroes are achievers, they escalate often. Work with the Master to make the details of your bump come to life!

Result

Success: You achieved success with complications, or have made progress toward full success.
One Bump: You manage to accomplish your goal and avoid complications.
Two Bumps: You achieve some measure of extra success, as determined by the Master and you.

Most tasks require two successes to be completely successful. These successes may be accumulated in a single roll, or over multiple rounds. Achieving only a single success is not failure, hence the name. However, it is generally a good first step.

Harry Greenhill wishes to assemble an explosive device as quickly as possible, so he can evacuate the premises. The Master informs him this will be a 7 TN Dexterity and Demolitions check. He throws his dice and gets an 8. This is a success, but no raise. He is partway done, but will need at least one more action to complete the device.

Contested Checks and Tasks

Occasionally, your Hero may attempt a task that is also being attempted by another individual. If this is the case, the Master relays the difficulty (usually 5) and all parties make their check (or task, Master discretion). There are three possible types of contested checks and tasks: races, contests or competitions.

In a race, the object is to be the first to successfully complete the task. In this case, successive rolls are made until at least one party succeeds (exceeds the TN). If multiple parties succeed on the same battery of attempts, the one with the highest result succeeds first. In the event of a tie, give all parties an opportunity to secretly play a chip. Reveal these chips simultaneously. Whoever has played the highest chip spends it and wins. All other parties lose, and any wagered chips are not spent. If no party plays a higher chip than other successful parties, a contested (contest, see below) Trait roll should be performed, Reflexes for a physical task or Acuity for an intangible task.

Sometimes a race will be accumulation of successes or raw numbers. The procedure is otherwise unchanged.

In a contest, parties are attempting to achieve the best result. All parties roll the appropriate Skill or Trait, and the highest result is the winner (regardless of success or failure, there is no TN). In a tie, each draw an Action card and compare Impulse (upper left). Highest number wins.

A competition is exactly like a contest except that ties are possible.

In some cases, the Master may declare that escalations have value in the contested roll. Escalations are counted from the opponent's total.

Allison gets to Denoba just in time. Now she has to convince a crowd of rowdy locals not to bust through her and the few IPA deputies that have stayed on duty in the face of such overwhelming odds.

The Master asks for a persuasion total. Allison gets a 7 and the leader of the mob gets a 5. The citizens back down, but since she didn't bump they haven't given up just yet.

Using Action Cards

Action Cards are what set Future Imperfect apart from every other RPG on the market. With a single draw, action cards can provide all of the necessary information to simulate countless situations that may occur in your game, all with amazing detail. Many games have rules that cover some or even all of the situations these cards can handle, but none of them handle the resolution so smoothly. No referencing tables, no looking in books, no memorizing information. Everything is clearly printed right on the card.

Card Layout

Each card is broken down into three sections, the outer edge, the upper results (causes) and lower results (effects). Each of these areas of the card contain information that can be used to determine events in the game.

Outer Edge

The outer edge of the card contains information on timing as well as action outside of the intended effect. The area in the picture below that is not grayed out is the outer edge.

The upper left corner contains the Impulse. Impulse is the most granular timing handled by the action card system. There are 54 impulses, numbered 0 to 53. Timing begins at the highest impulse and counts down. In other words, the impulse number always determines play order. Since action rounds are 10 seconds long, one impulse is approximately .19 seconds (10 seconds/54 impulses).

Rather than counting down 54 impulses each action round, the Master will count time in steps, located in the upper right of the card. Steps are the standard measure of action time. There are 15 steps, from 0-14. There are 4 each of steps 1-12, and one each of 0 and 5. Steps represent card values such as 3 or King.

Within each step there are four fragments, these are located in the bottom left of the action card. These fragments are used to break ties within steps, among other things. Steps represent card suit, in reverse alphabetical order (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades). The two aces are fragments 0 and 5.

In the bottom right of the card is the toggle section. We have chosen to represent this as Yes/No, but it could be any binary result such as left/right, up/down, 0/1 etc. The toggle represents color, with red being no and black being yes.

Between the step and toggle sections is the unintended targets lineup. Before firing a weapon, if unintended targets exist (see Chapter XX, Combat), declare what number of priority each will have, from 1 up to 10, with no duplicates (generally number order, but not required). If any fired round misses, check the unintended targets column starting at the top (this is #1). If a figure in the column has an X over it, and a target with that number exists, that target is hit. Repeat this procedure for each round that misses. A target can only be hit by a single stray round. Note that unintended targets may be hit even if the intended target is hit, provided that at least one round did not hit the intended target.

Between the impulse and the fragment is the additional effects section. If it says bonus here, and this card is drawn as action draw (beginning of the action round, not an event or task resolution), you may keep it in addition to two cards you would normally keep. If you only drew two (or less) cards, there is no extra bonus. If the card says discard, and this is an action draw, then you must discard this card along with your highest (as determined by impulse) other card. The black joker is the bonus card, the red one is the discard.

On the lower edge between the fragment and toggle is the shuffle section. If it says shuffle here, then shuffle the deck immediately after resolving this event. Note that it does not matter what the toggle says, when the shuffle result is pulled the deck is always shuffled. Both jokers are shuffle results.

Upper Results

The upper results section is also referred to as the "causes". This is because the results here are used to determine whether something happens, as opposed to how well. There are four sections: skill results, hit locations, burst effects and extra effects.

The Skill Results are the test numbers generated for events and tasks. The Roman numerals across the top row represent the column of the assigned trait, while the Hindu-Arabic number in the column outside the outlined squares is the skill level (or training, if a trait). Simply cross-reference the column and row, and use the number indicated. If there is an asterisk next to the number (such as the 9 in I-3) then also draw another card and add that value to the result. Continue this process until you no longer get asterisk values. If the result reads CF (such as IV-5) then you have critically failed.

You may notice that the results are not linearly distributed across the card. This is because each column/row pair is randomized individually. The results in the I-2 column are generally better than the results in the I-1 column (sample the card set to prove it, or consult the tables in Scope: Under the Hood above), but this is not true on each card individually. For this reason, all modifications should either be a straight add/subtract (such as -2 to your result for using a related skill when the actual skill is not possessed) or applied before drawing the card. These results are akin to the following procedure (for column I): roll d4, notate result in I-1; roll 2d4, notate highest result in I-2; roll 3d4, notate highest result in I-3 etc. Each result set is independent of the others.

The hit location section is used whenever a bipedal (or similar) creature is being attacked. The standard hit location is the rectangle with the rounded corners. Hit locations can be bumped with skill or because of circumstance (see Chapter XX, Combat). When unintended targets are hit, the first target is hit in the standard location (even if the intended target was also hit), the second is hit one bump up, the third one bump down, and the fourth would be two bumps up.

Burst effects indicate how many rounds from an automatic weapon find their target. The naked number to the left is the size of the burst, the number inside the burst icon is the number of rounds that hit the intended target.

If any text appears in the extra effects section, below Skill Results, follow those directions. In the case of Extra Damage, this means draw another action card and add that result to the damage result. Continue to follow this procedure until a card that does not say Extra Damage is drawn.

Lower Results

The Lower Results section of the card is also called "effects", because it is where the extent of a task or event is measured. There are four sections in the lower results: Effect, ablation, breakage and clock face.

The majority of the Lower Results section of the Action Card is reserved for the Effects. These numbers represent how well some task or event resolved. This could be damage, psionic effects or anything else your Master and Crew can devise. Simple cross reference the row and column and use the number provided. Please also note the extra effects section in Upper Results as well, for it may adjust your result in some way.

The Effects table is linearly distributed within columns, unlike the Skill Results. In other words, a lower result in the same column is always equal to or better than the result above.

The ablation section is the top area of the right column beside the Effects. The section consists of a shield and 3 numbers, staggered like a stair step going up toward the right. The lowest number, to the left, is the result for penetration if the weapon PN (Penetration Number) is two or more less than the Armor Value (AV). In the middle is the result for if the PN is equal to or one less than the AV. In the upper right is the result for if the PN is greater than the AV. The possible results are P, A and D. The P result is Penetrate, ignore the armor and apply damage normally. The A result is Ablate, decrement the AV and apply the reduced damage value for the weapon, while the D result is Deflect, the weapon has no effect. Consult Chapter XX for more information.

Below ablation is the breakdown and reliability section. There is a broken wrench here, and below the two pieces may be a single letter: V, R, F or E. If the letter is equal to or to the right of the reliability of your equipment, a breakdown has occurred. If no letter is present, no breakdown is indicated. Consult Chapter XX for more detail.

In the lower right corner of the section is the clock face. This can be used for direction and times. For example, if a missed shot (such as a thrown grenade) may need to scatter, simply consider the intended target to be in the middle of the clock face, and the 6 to be toward the thrower, and scatter the projectile in the direction given. The odd numbers from 1-12 are evenly distributed, the even numbers occur one extra time compared to the odd (54 cards, not 48 or 60).

Game Designers Note: Regarding Action Cards, you might wonder why they are used instead of dice. Players like to roll dice, and they do a fantastic job at producing results that are quite random. This is all true.

Yet with dice, you need to know or consult a lot of places in the book to achieve detailed results. You might need to roll for this, then that, then this other thing. Some players remember stuff, other player do not. Did I hit? Where? How much damage? Then come the peripheral effects, which many systems ignore, and those that do not have players often ignoring it. By having all of it easy to use on a card, with no referencing required, you can get all the detail you want virtually instantly. Not only do you get exceptional results, you get them fast.

Another issue is that with exploding dice, unless you implement some kind of guard condition, you cannot roll the highest number (what we call Max) on a die. If you roll a 6 on d6, you roll again and add. This causes a hole. You can correct that by saying you do some other roll to see if you get to roll more, or by saying that you subtract one from the subsequent roll, but these are substandard solutions at best. The cards as written produce results that have the exact same average as the given exploding die, though not the exact same distribution.

One action card deck has approximately 189,000 skill/damage/hit location combinations. This does not include all of the extra effects such as breakdown and armor penetration. If your group is rolling dice at a rate of 10 tests per hour, and your sessions are 6 hours long, you would need over 3000 sessions to start duplicating results. Of course, since some combinations are much more common, duplication may occur before that, but the point is the cards are extremely flexible and cover a wide array of possibilities.

This leads to the next point. Some players have mentioned that they might come to think of some cards as better than other cards after playing a while. This may or may not be true, however there is no card that is universally good or universally bad. But, to combat this, we have created multiple card sets. This game comes with 2, and others are available. Switching them out from time to time could keep things fresher.

But in the end, do players not think certain die rolls are better?

Another thing action cards can do is something that cannot be done with dice: simulate result sets of any size. If we were constrained by the limitations of dice, column VI would need to be a d20. That is a significant jump from V to VI; untenable. But given the nature of cards, it is simple to create a result set modeled on 1-14, 1-16 etc. This amazing flexibility will allow the system to maintain extensibility on many fronts.

Even with those facts, some players will resist the change. This is inevitable. Remember the core belief: play the game you want to play! You can easily extrapolate the probabilities behind the cards and create tables to allow you to play the entire game with dice. If that is the game you want to play, I invite you to do so. If there is enough demand, we could even produce official versions of the game using those rules.