General Rules

At its core, Liminal Stars is a table-top roleplaying game that uses a D12 System. Roll higher than your character's stat that pertains to the action at hand, and you are successful. Of course, it can't be that simple there are many modifiers that can be applied to rolls.

The four Core Stats of Liminal Stars are:

Physique - how strong and physically fit a character is. Physique affects checks to resist damage or use physical force.

Grace - How graceful and agile a character is. Grace affects checks such as feats of acrobatics or stealth.

Acumen - How smart your character is. Acumen affects checks to use technology or think complexly.

Charm - How much do others like your character. Charm affects people skills, such as checks to persuade or deceive.

Core Stat Generation

By default, a character has a natural 10 in each of the four stats (Leaving you with only 16% chance of success on an unmodified check). But don't worry we will bring your chance of success up soon! Next apply any stat modifier from your species. Finally roll 2D4 for each stat and subtract the rolled value of the dice from that stat.

Let's create a character to demonstrate. I want to be a fearsome Valivar Space Pirate, so what kind of stats would this character have?

We Start with 10 Physique, 10 Grace, 10 Acumen, and 10 Charm. But wait the Valivar species gets modifiers of -1, -1, +1, +1; respectively. This brings us to,

9 Physique, 9 Grace, 11 Acumen, and 11 Charm. But we aren't done yet, let's roll 4 pairs of D4 (16 dice. 2 for each stat). 

6,4,3,5. Personally I like to apply the modifiers as I roll them as it gives more of a sense of character diversity and randomness.  You are welcome to apply the rolls as you see fit (I can't stop you) Applying these rolls in order gives us final stats of:

3 Physique, 5 Grace, 8 Acumen, and 6 Charm. Our Space Pirate actually has great stats for his chosen career as they are very strong with a 75% chance of success on unmodified rolls, and a 58% chance of success on feats of acrobatics.

There are also Supporting Stats these stats can be added to some rolls; secondary stats are generated simply by rolling a D4:

Skill - can be subtracted from roll to make close ranged attacks both unarmed and with melee weapons.

Accuracy - can be subtracted from rolls to attack using ranged weapons such as guns, bows, and thrown weapons.

Observation - can be subtracted from rolls to observe the world around you.

Knowledge - can be subtracted from rolls that would require a knowledge of a scientific or technical nature.

Extra Stats

Extra stats are not used for action and skill checks, but no less important.

Health: The health stat is a measure of how much damage a character can take before falling. Roll 2d6 and add 6 to the result.

Shield Rating: a measure of how much strong of an attack the shield can deflect. A shield can absorb damage from incoming attack where SR >= Power (as defined on the attacker's weapon).

Shield Durability: Shields have their own health which is subtracted from before your health.

Energy: A vital resource. Energy does not replenish on its own but rather from certain actions. When not in combat a character can take a one turn rest to fully restore their energy. During combat some abilities and items may allow a character to regain energy.

Movement: Characters can move 5 units (consider a movement unit to be 1 meter or one space on a tiled game board) plus [12-Grace].

Palix: The currency most commonly used in Palioxis. It is a decentralized currency and can be managed from a space suits integrated wallet.

Fame and Infamy

A character's actions will earn them either fame or infamy (at the Space Lords discretion) The effects of fame can be grouped into three categories: 

Risk: The more famous you are, the more attention you attract from both friends and foes. You may have to deal with paparazzi, stalkers, rivals, enemies, or even assassins who want to exploit, challenge, or eliminate you.

Responsibility: The more famous you are, the more expectations you have to meet from your fans, sponsors, allies, or the public. You may have to maintain your image, uphold your values, fulfill your obligations, or face the consequences of your actions.

Reward: The more famous you are, the more opportunities you have to achieve your goals, advance your career, or enjoy your lifestyle. You may have access to more resources, information, contacts, or perks that can help you in your quests.

Another reward for accumulating fame is 'Fame Perks' these perks can be good or bad; and are randomly assigned after reaching certain milestones. Some examples might be discounts on goods and services, or your very own #1 fan.

Actions

On a characters turn they can make a number of actions, usually, but not always completed in the order below.

1. Movement Action, A character can move up to the number of spaces listed on their character sheet.

2. Interactive Action, These are actions that require your full attention, such as participating in combat, or interacting with the environment.

3. Instant Actions, Actions such as speaking, drawing your weapons, or activating ETMP modules are considered to be instant actions. A character can make up to 3 instant actions in one turn.

Additional Actions

Some actions might not fit nicely into the categories above, or might be restricted, such as actions that will end your turn.

Engaging in dialogue with an NPC will always result in the end of your turn at the end of the dialogue.

Changing weapons from your inventory to your equipped slots will always end your turn.

Declaring a reaction action will suspend your turn in the turn order, and interject it when your condition is met. (i.e; Karl declares that he is going to watch down a hallway in case an enemy comes out, Karl's turn is then suspended until the moment when the an enemy enters his line of sight. If the reaction is not triggered, the character has to wait until the start of their next turn to make any further actions.)

A Character's Turn

1: The first step to a turn is to declare your action strategy, letting the Space Lord know how you intend to use your actions.

2: The Second step is to resolve the action declare in step 2. The Space Lord will declare the roll required to pass the action and rolls and outcomes can be resolved.

3: The Third and final step is to narrate the outcome of your turn.

General Gameplay

Ability checks are rolled from a D12 and stat modifiers are added according to the Space Lords discretion.

Ultimately, it is up to the players to decide what stat pertains to each skill, what makes sense for your group's gameplay style.

Complex Actions

Some actions are not as simple as to be resolved in one action, in these situations the Space Lord will determine a number of successes to be required to complete the action. Team members can work together to complete complex actions more quickly where cooperation would be fitting.

For example, Brokus, a Bouldrok could declare that they want to excavate an artifact. The Space Lord then declares that Gork must make 2 Successful actions to complete the excavation; However, if Gork makes two failed attempts the artifact will be destroyed.

A more competitive example, might be a race scenario. The racing character Now needs to make two successful rolls before their opponent can make two successful rolls.

Combat

When attacking an enemy first determine the roll required to hit. Generally, an attack will land on a roll of 6 or higher (on a D12). The chance of success is affected by either your Skill (Melee) or Accuracy (Ranged); and can be affected by external factors (such as distance, cover, or obstacles) at the discretion of the Space Lord.

A target in cover that is ATLEAST half the size of the target yields a penalty of -1 to incoming attack rolls. A target with FULL cover, large enough to conceal the entire target, yields a penalty of -2 to incoming attack rolls.

If the attack roll is a success, roll for damage. Next, Compare the attackers AP to the Defenders SR. If AP > SR damage is applied directly to health, if SR >= P damage is then applied first to SD.

Damage is first applied to SD, and then to health.

Critical Hits occur on a natural roll of 10. (There are some situations that can make the critical threshold lower) Critical hits always deal the weapons maximum potential damage.

The ETMP

The External Threat Mitigation Pack, or ETMP, is one of the key pieces of technology that makes the adventurous lifestyle of Palioxians possible. It provides a survivable atmosphere, armor, and energy storage.

ETMPs are generally backpack sized devices (Note: they can be as large as a large backpack or as small as a bulky belt, and for gameplay purposes they all work the same! Though worth considering that the smaller ones would very likely be more expensive to produce.)

It is worth noting that the ETMP will always reserve enough energy to provide life support. (So even if your energy reserve is 0; you still don't need to start reaching for that old oxygen tank.)

ETMP Modules

The ETMP can be further upgraded with modules! Each module is about the size of USB drive and can be connected to the ETMP to provide additional abilities. These abilities are varied some could let the wearer dash at incredible speed or walk on walls, while others might improve your aim or allow you release a jet a flame.

During their turn, a character can use as many ETMP modules as they have energy for. Even in combat situations.

When you declare use of a module subtract the required energy from the energy reserve on your character sheet; Then discuss the resulting action with your Space Lord.

Weapons and Inventory

Each character is able to equip two weapons at once, a primary and a secondary, or a main hand and off hand. Provided that the weapons are listed as being 'one-handed'. A 'two-handed' weapon requires the use of both your primary and secondary slot.

For purposes of wielding weapons, a character can wield either a ranged weapon, and a melee weapon. Two melee weapons, or two ranged weapon, again provided that they are all 'one-handed'

Any weapon that is equipped into the primary or secondary slots is considered to be in a quick release holder, allowing easy access to and drawing of the weapon as an instant action. If however, you want to change your equipped weapon to a different weapon in your inventory it will take a full turn that allows no other actions.

Ranged Weapons

Most of the weapons people use are ranged. They make it easy to fire at a target from a distance, and keep yourself safe.

Ranged weapons use the stats:

Dice: How many dice and of what kind does this weapon use for damage?

Power: How strong is the attack, as in how strong would a shield need to be to absorb or deflect it.

Range: The number of spaces that the weapon can attack from.

Damage Type: Damage types include projectile, energy, and radiation, as a few examples. The type of damage may have effects on targets.

Hands Required: How many hands does a character need to wield the weapon? Does it take up one or both weapon slots.

Melee Weapons

Some people prefer to get up close and personal for their combat, and for good reason. There are a few distinct advantages of melee weapons that make up for the lack of range.

Melee weapons are not affected by shields.

Characters using melee weapons can make two attacks per weapon, per turn. (So a character wielding two beam swords could make four attacks in one action!)

Melee weapon stats include;

Dice: How many dice and of what kind does this weapon use for damage?

Range: The number of spaces that the weapon can attack from. In the case of melee weapons, it will never be greater than 3.

Hands Required: How many hands does a character need to wield the weapon? Does it take up one or both weapon slots.