Threepenny Space Opera

Overview

In the far-flung future, humans have conquered the stars, and space exploration is the wave of the present. You don’t really care, though, because you’re not human. You’re close, though. You interact with humans all the time, in the Big Interplanetary Organization that you belong to, and they look a lot like you. There’s something just a little bit different, however…maybe you have a ridged forehead, or green skin, or antennae. In fact, if you were a woman, geeks would drool all over you and your pointy-eared hotness. You also might have some special alien abilities or hindrances. We’ll get to those later.

Character creation

Name: Come up with a name for your character.

Species: Name your character’s species. If you want, name their home planet, too.

Stats: Your character has two stats: Mind and Body. You get 2 points in one of them, and 1 in the other. If your character is from a rough, warlike species, you’ll probably want to make them Mind 1 and Body 2. If your character is of a more cerebral species, one that depends on science or art or deceit to survive, then you might want to make them Mind 2 and Body 1.

Skills: You can pick four things that your character is good at. Try to be fairly specific…instead of Being a captain, you could pick the skills Command, Astrogation, Negotiation, and Shooting a blaster. Really, the possibilities are wide open here. It’s your chance to really make your character who he or she (or it) is.

Game mechanics

Flipping: As you venture through space, you will encounter a number of situations where success isn’t assured. When this occurs, the Flipmaster (FM) must determine if it’s a challenge for the Mind or the Body. You flip a number of pennies equal to your character’s value in that stat. In addition, if the challenge involves a skill you possess, you flip one additional penny. If you get at least one heads, you succeed at the task.

Combat: You can run combat two different ways. There can be a series of flips as the characters attack, dodge, parry, etc., with the FM determining how each character is affected as the fight progresses. Or, just let the characters involved each flip for their Body stat (plus an extra if they have any relevant skills). Whoever flips more heads wins the fight.

Alien abilities: Whenever you get three tails on a single flip, you’ve failed pretty miserably. There’s an upside, though: You now get to establish a special power for your character, which may immediately help you in the adventure. Maybe it turns out you can breathe underwater, so that escape across the river is suddenly a lot easier. Or maybe you can read other beings’ thoughts in certain situations. (Don’t you wish you’d thought of that earlier?) Feel free to be creative.

Alien hindrances: It isn’t always great being an alien, though. Sometimes your character’s physiology becomes a problem. Whenever you get three heads on a single flip, the FM gets to make up a weakness for your species. There’s a good chance that specific bands of UV light make your character temporarily blind, or breathing too much oxygen takes away your short-term memory. Or maybe it’s just that nobody likes your species. Nobody. Again, creativity is key here.

Advancement: Seriously? Okay, if your character survives an adventure, you can give them one new skill.

Other notes: Honestly, you could probably play this game without an FM; just take turns telling the story and flip when appropriate. Also, be on the lookout for this game’s sequel (out soon): No Quarter, the fliptastic RPG of pirates and parrots. And coming later in the year: A Fistful of Silver Dollars, sure to be an immediate classic in the Western genre (and our most expensive game yet).

– source: http://www.d6online.com/forum/showthread.php?2337-A-%28very%29-rules-lite-RPG-that-I-wrote