The Game
The Galactic Game is played by conversation. The GM describes a situation, each player
says what their character does, and the dice settle anything in doubt. You do not need
to know the rules to start: say what you want to happen, and the GM tells you what to
roll.
- 1 The GM describes Where you are, what you can see, and what is about to happen.
- 2 You decide Each player says what their character does. Your character's choices are yours alone.
- 3 The dice settle it When the outcome is uncertain and it matters, someone rolls. Then the GM describes again.
What you need
- A set of dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20. The d20 decides almost everything.
- A character for each player, made in the Workspace or taken from the ready-made four.
- One person to be the GM, with the Gamemaster's Manual to hand.
- A few hours, and an agreement on what the campaign is about. The Rules call this session zero.
The Prime Plane
The game is set in the Prime Plane of Legends of Tolria,
a galaxy of worlds at every stage of technology. A party can start with bows on a
feudal world and end with a starship. How advanced a world or an item is goes by its
tech tier:
Tech tiers | Tier | Name | What it holds |
|---|
| I | Pre-Industrial | Steel, bows, plate. Alchemy at its most practical. |
| II | Industrial | Powder and pressure. Matchlock to breech-loader, brass and wire. |
| III | Modern | Cased ammunition, electronics, vehicles, atmospheric flight. |
| IV | Spacefaring | Energy weapons, powered armor, cybernetics, FTL hulls. |
| V | Esoteric | Mythar relics and Rift-tech. Found and fought over, and almost never for sale. |
The galaxy is divided among the factions below, each described in the
Factions catalog, and the GM's Manual
covers how a party's standing with them changes.
- Aurelion Ascendancy A post-biological empire whose aristocrats carry their minds from one body to the next.
- Axiom Combine A machine intelligence that inherited a dead species and governs its systems in its place.
- Black Meridian Syndicate A criminal network holding the only safe route through an ion nebula.
- Covenant of the Ebon Creed A mechanized theocracy that sterilizes living worlds and converts whoever is left.
- Echelon Corporation A corporate conglomerate that rules through infrastructure ownership and debt enforcement.
- Frontier Everything outside the named powers, governed locally or not at all.
- Halcyion Federation A democratic union of autonomous worlds, formed to hold back Aurelion expansion.
- Myrrhiam Bloom A fungal hive intelligence that crosses space as dormant spores and consumes the worlds it reaches.
The Core Roll
Every roll in the game works the same way. Roll a d20, add what applies, and compare the
total to a target number. If you meet or beat it, you succeed.
d20the roll + Modifierfrom an ability + Proficiencyif trained ≥ TargetDC or AC
Ability check
You try something uncertain: pick a lock, read a liar, hack a door. Meet the GM's DC.
Attack roll
You attack. Meet the target's Armor Class (AC) to hit, then roll damage.
Saving throw
Something happens to you: a blast, poison, a charm. Meet its DC to resist.
How hard is it? The GM sets the DC.
- 5Trivial
- 10Easy
- 15Moderate
- 20Hard
- 25Very hard
- 30Near impossible
Advantage and disadvantage
When the situation favors you, you have advantage: roll two d20 and
keep the higher. When it hinders you, you have disadvantage: keep
the lower. Having both cancels out.
Natural 20 and natural 1
A 20 on the die always succeeds and a 1 always fails, on every d20 roll. Each adds
something: a lucky break on a 20, a cost on a 1. A 20 on an attack is a
critical hit: roll the damage dice twice.
Proficiency
Your proficiency bonus is +2 at level 1 and rises to
+6 by level 20. Add it when you are trained in what the roll uses: a skill,
a weapon, a tool or a saving throw.
In full: Resolution,
Proficiency and
Saving Throws in the Rules Sourcebook.
Your Character
A character is three choices and some numbers. The
Workspace walks you through them and
does the arithmetic; the steps below are what it asks.
- Ancestry. What you were born as: size, speed, senses and traits.
80 ancestries, counting sublineages.
- Origin. Your life before the campaign: two skills, a starting kit and a
feature. 26 origins.
- Class. What you do. It sets your hit points, training and features, and at
level 3 you choose a subclass.
- Ability scores. Assign the standard array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8), spend
27 points or roll. Your ancestry adds +2 to one score and +1 to another.
- Skills and gear. Choose your class skills, add your origin's, and take your
origin's kit.
- Finish the sheet. Hit points, Armor Class, attacks and, if you cast, your spell
save DC. The Rules list each formula.
The six abilities
STR Strength
Force, melee weight and carrying.
Athletics
DEX Dexterity
Agility, aim and avoiding hits.
Acrobatics, Piloting, Sleight of Hand, Stealth
CON Constitution
Endurance and hit points.
No skills; sets hit points
INT Intelligence
Study, deduction and machines.
Arcana, History, Investigation, Lore, Nature, Religion, Technology
WIS Wisdom
Attention and instinct.
Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, Survival
CHA Charisma
Presence and persuasion.
Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion
The number added to a roll is the modifier: the score minus 10, halved
and rounded down. A 16 gives +3, a 10 gives +0 and an 8 gives -1.
The 16 classes | Class | Hit die | Main ability | Plays as |
|---|
| Barbarian | d12 | Strength | A melee class on a d12 hit die that fights in a Rage for weapon resistance and bonus damage, with Reckless Attack and unarmored defense from Dexterity and Constitution. |
| Bard | d8 | Charisma | A full channeler who casts through performance and gives allies Bardic Inspiration dice, with half proficiency on every unskilled check. |
| Cleric | d8 | Wisdom | A full channeler who prepares spells from the whole Cleric list, casts with Wisdom, uses Spell Divinity for short-rest effects and chooses a Divine Domain at 3rd level. |
| Druid | d8 | Wisdom | A full spellcaster who prepares Druid spells with Wisdom, including weather and healing spells, takes beast forms with Wild Shape, and gains terrain benefits from a chosen Inner Grove biome. |
| Engineer | d8 | Intelligence | A half-channeler who casts spells through an Apparatus, spends Charges instead of spell slots, and gives allies field modifications. |
| Gunslinger | d10 | Dexterity | A non-channeler who fights with firearms, with Trick Shot riders, free reloads, extended range and the highest single-target ranged damage among non-casters. |
| Monk | d8 | Dexterity and Wisdom | An unarmored martial artist who spends Ki on extra strikes, stuns, defense and movement. |
| Paladin | d10 | Strength and Charisma | A heavily armored half-channeler who spends spell slots on Divine Smite and adds Charisma to the saving throws of nearby allies. |
| Pilot | d8 | Dexterity or Intelligence | A non-channeler who specializes in vehicles and mounts, with a Bonded Vessel that grows with the campaign and features that improve whatever craft the Pilot is in. |
| Psion | d8 | Intelligence or Charisma | A full channeler who casts with the mind, spending Psionic Points instead of spell slots on telekinesis, telepathy, foresight and projection. |
| Ranger | d10 | Dexterity or Wisdom | A Wisdom half-channeler with martial weapon training, Favored Enemy damage, favored terrain benefits, Extra Attack, and spells for tracking, warding, and speaking with beasts. |
| Rogue | d8 | Dexterity | A skill class that adds Sneak Attack damage once per turn, gains Expertise in four skills, and uses Cunning Action to dash, disengage or hide. |
| Sorcerer | d6 | Charisma | A full channeler who knows a few spells, casts them with Charisma by spending Spell Points, and reshapes them with Metamagic. |
| Warlock | d8 | Charisma | A Charisma caster with a few Pact Slots, all cast at the highest slot level and refreshed on a short rest, plus Eldritch Invocations and Mystic Arcanum. |
| Warrior | d10 | Strength or Dexterity | A non-channeler trained in every weapon and armor, with a Fighting Style, Second Wind, Action Surge, up to four attacks per Attack action and Indomitable rerolls. |
| Wizard | d6 | Intelligence | A full channeler that prepares spells from a Spellbook, with the largest spell list in the game, and specializes in one of fifteen Channels at 3rd level. |
Exploring and Talking
Most of a session is not a fight. You search a derelict, bargain with a dock boss or
race a clock, and the rules for those are short.
Exploring a place
A dangerous place runs in exploration turns of about 10 minutes.
The GM describes, each character takes one activity (keep watch, search, move
quietly, work on something), and the GM says what changed. Anything with a deadline moves on
each turn.
Tasks that take several rolls
Slicing a terminal while a trace closes in is a progress track of 2,
4 or 6 steps. Each success fills a step, and each attempt has to try something new.
Resting
A short rest is an hour: spend hit dice to heal. A
long rest is 8 hours, 6 of them asleep, once a day: hit points
and spell resources come back.
Asking for something
Say what you want and how you ask. If the person would agree anyway, they do. If
they never would, they refuse. Otherwise you roll Persuasion, Deception or
Intimidation against their attitude:
| Attitude | DC |
|---|
| Friendly | 10 |
| Indifferent | 15 |
| Hostile | 20 |
Leverage, something they want or fear that your party found,
lowers the DC by 5. Two pieces at most.
In full: Exploration,
Social Interaction and
Resting; for the GM,
Extended Tasks.
Combat
When a fight starts, everyone rolls initiative: a d20 plus Dexterity.
Creatures act from highest to lowest, one turn each, and a round of everyone's turns
takes about six seconds.
On your turn you get
Movement
Up to your speed
Split it however you like around everything else on this list.
Action
One
The turn's main thing. Attack, cast a spell, dash, or anything below.
Bonus action
One, if you have one to take
Never free-standing: something has to grant it.
Reaction
One per round
On anyone's turn, and only when its trigger happens.
Free interaction
One object
Draw a weapon, open a door, pull a lever. The second one costs an action.
What an action buys
- Attack
- One attack with a weapon or an unarmed strike.
- Cast a Spell
- Cast a spell whose casting time is one action.
- Dash
- Move again, up to your speed.
- Disengage
- Your movement provokes no opportunity attacks this turn.
- Dodge
- Attacks against you have disadvantage; DEX saves have advantage.
- Help
- Advantage for an ally: one check, one attack, or their death saves.
- Hide
- Stealth check to become unseen.
- Improvise
- Anything the rules do not cover. The GM sets the check.
- Influence
- Ask a creature to stand down, surrender, parley or hold fire.
- Ready
- Name a trigger now, spend your reaction when it happens.
- Search
- Look for something. Perception, or whichever skill fits.
- Shove
- Athletics against the target: push 5 ft, or knock prone.
- Grapple
- Athletics against the target: it is Grappled.
- Use an Object
- Interact with a second object, or use one that needs an action.
Hitting and hurting
Roll to hit against the target's AC. On a hit, roll the weapon's damage and add the same
ability modifier. Damage comes off hit points.
Falling and dying
Hit points keep going below 0, and where you land decides what happens:
- 1 or moreUp and fighting.
- Exactly 0Unconscious but stable.
- Below 0Dying. Each turn, roll a d20: 10 or higher is a success. Three successes stabilize you; three failures kill you.
- Minus your maximumDead.
Healing counts up from where you are, so a character at -6 needs 7 points to stand.
An ally's Help action gives your next death save advantage.
In full: Combat,
Damage & Defenses,
Hit Points & Dying and the
conditions, such as Prone and Frightened.
The Rift and Starships
Spells, a plasma rifle's overcharge and a hyperdrive all draw on the same power,
Rift Energy. A caster draws it through one of fifteen Channels, and from
Tier IV a party may also have a ship to run.
Casting spells
Your class sets your spellcasting ability and what casting costs: spell slots, a
pool of points, Ki, Charges or pact slots. All of it comes back on a long rest.
There are 561 spells, from
cantrips, which cost nothing, up to 9th level.
Save DC = 8 + proficiency + casting modifier
Spell attack = proficiency + casting modifier
Rift Affinity
Every character has a Rift Affinity from 0 to 10, set by class
and raised by ancestry, origin and features. It decides which Rift relics work in
your hands. At level 20 and Affinity 6, a caster can attempt a 10th-level
apex spell, at a price.
Concentration
Some spells last only while you concentrate. You hold one at a
time, and taking damage calls for a Constitution saving throw to keep it.
Crewing a ship
A ship is a sheet the party shares, with hull points, shields and a post for each
job aboard. A post is held best by someone trained in its skill:
- Pilot Piloting. Shortens every lane run.
- Engineer Technology. Keeps more hull between you and vacuum.
- Gunner Perception. Brings another mount to bear.
- Navigator Investigation or Lore. Reads the lane before it reads you.
- Medic Medicine. A hard crossing costs the crew less.
- Quartermaster Persuasion or Deception. Finds room that was not there.
In full: Rift Energy and
Starship Operations; for the GM,
Voyages.
Growing and Going Further
Characters grow from level 1 to level 20. A level comes from what the party gets done,
by milestone or by experience, whether it talked, sneaked or fought its way there.
Each level
- A hit die and more hit points, and your class's features for that level.
- A subclass at level 3.
- An Ability Score Improvement or a feat at levels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 19.
- Level 2 takes 300 experience, or one finished job by milestone.
In full: Advancement.
Between jobs
Money is the Galactic Mark (gm), worth one gold piece. Between jobs you can craft,
repair, train or work a trade, as Downtime describes.
Your first session
The Relay Job is a short adventure
for the four ready-made characters: a dead relay, an operator who will not leave
and a salvage crew on the way. It runs every rule in this handbook once.
Where to go next
- Rules Sourcebook Every rule of play, in full.
- Player's Manual Ancestries, origins, classes, feats, gear and spells.
- Gamemaster's Manual Running the table, worlds, travel and the starter job.
- Bestiary Every creature, with its stat panel.
- Codex Every catalog, searchable and filterable.
- Workspace Builds characters and keeps the sheet.
- Tabletop Maps, tokens, fog and initiative in the browser.
- Starchart The galaxy the game is set in.
Words to know
- DC
- Difficulty Class, the number a check or saving throw has to meet.
- AC
- Armor Class, the number an attack roll has to meet.
- Modifier
- What an ability score adds to a roll: the score minus 10, halved, rounded down.
- Proficiency
- Training. Add your proficiency bonus to rolls you are trained for.
- Advantage
- Roll two d20 and keep the higher. Disadvantage keeps the lower.
- Hit die
- The die your class rolls for hit points, and spends to heal on a short rest.
- Channel
- One of the fifteen ways a caster draws on Rift Energy.
- Rift Affinity
- A rating from 0 to 10 for how much of the Rift you can hold.
- Tech tier
- How advanced a world or an item is, from I to V.
- gm
- The Galactic Mark, the game's money, worth one gold piece.
Played fifth edition before? The differences are listed under
Coming from fifth edition.
