The Blackout
At its height, the Directorate spanned over a hundred terraformed worlds and moons and countless colonies, enclaves and outposts throughout the entire sector.
Mankind’s dominion over the entire sector hinged on their most precious and advanced technology… the warp gate network. The colossal network of warps rings orbiting every world, enclave and colony provided both boundless power and nearly instantaneous travel to and from every world within Directorate territory.
The details have been lost in the mists of time, but the Directorate’s territories were far from being as idyllic as they appeared to their wealthiest and more powerful citizens. The planetary corporations that built and maintained the Warp Gates soon realized they controlled both the main source of energy and means of communication to all known human space. The first war was one for influence and wealth. two major conglomerates emerged, tearing apart the very soul of the human territories. No one knows at what point the hostilities became open, but the war was long and terrible. Most defenses were useless against enemies who could materialize in orbit within seconds. Worlds were bombed from orbit and pitched battles were fought for control of the gates, littering space with miles-long trails of debris.
Logs speak of one side gaining the upper hand and the war seemingly drawing to close… then, as the people of the Directorate territories breathed a collective sigh of relief and prepared to resume their lives, the Gates died.
Over 300 years later, survivors would call the day the Gates went offline the Blackout.
How to Play
Players
For a regular game of Blackout, it is recommended to have anywhere between four and six people, including yourself, that can participate in the campaign. One of you will be the Game Master and will help flesh out the world, stories and dangers your character may encounter and the others will be the players, each with a character that will become part of your freelancing crew.
Dice
Blackout uses only six-sided dice (d6), players will seldom use more than 12 six-sided dice at any given time. Alternatively, each player can have their own set of six-sided dice.
Other Materials
Each player should have pen and paper as well as a character sheet (which can you can find in the Character Creation section.) Additionally, depending on the type of combat that your group wants to try, you might need miniatures or tokens to represent characters and enemies, a printed hex grid or a tape measure.
Sessions and Days
Some abilities and skills work on a per session or per day basis. Whereas a game session is pretty self explanatory, a day refers to any amount of time elapsed between one full night’s rest (8 hours) and the next for the character.
Downtime
Downtime represents the time that elapses in between active missions, say for example when the characters starship is in transit or licking their wounds. Advancement happens during Downtime and includes things like characters finding and purchasing equipment, crafting gear or learning new abilities. Characters also need to rest during downtime, and failing to do so may result in them being fatigued. There will be more information on how to use Sessions, Days and Downtime during a campaign in the GM section of the rules.