Welcome to Hard Void

You and your team are strapped into the drop ship seats, the lights go red as you’re told to brace for impact. With a thunderous crash explosions go off of blowing a hole through the hull of the capital ship your team has been sent to take down from the inside. You are released from the safety harness of the seat and ready your rifle. The ramp doors drop open, the invasion has begun. Will you succeed in your mission? Will you survive to the end? Grab your gun, use your wits, and feel empowered with strange psychic energies! Utilize your creativity to create unique solutions to the problems ahead of you as just moving and shooting wont cut it.

As a Player you take on the role of a Hard Void Marine, a specialist from Earth sent to destroy any and all threats to the safety of mankind. You are a super armored bad-ass with a big combat rifle and powers channeled by your surgically enhanced brain to utilize wild psychic powers to overwhelm your enemy and turn the tide of battle. As a Hard Void Marine you will die. Often. That’s fine! You’re not the only Marine there, among you and your friends are many nameless marines that you assume control of that just so happens to have the skill set and stats you had! Welcome to the world of Rouge-lite Table Top Role Play!

The Game Master

As a GM you are to play the big bad evil guy, you are the ship, you are the troops, you are the annoying AI driving the players crazy as they run down the corridors fighting for their life inch by inch. Your job is guiding the players along their mission to complete their objectives and culminate in an epic boss battle at the very end to secure their victory! Included in this module are a full set of tables to generate a mission, a ship, an enemy, and a sneaky Ace up your sleeve to turn the tides in your favor as well as a guide to creating the ultimate final boss, the most dangerous challenge players will face. For a faster start there will be four pre-made Marines at the end of the module for the players to pick from if they do not wish to create their own. Pickup and Play is the main goal of Hard Void.

The Soul Core Engine

Created from my own near two decades experience in table top gaming, the Soul Core Engine is designed to be a bloat free system designed to build and play stronger, and new characters  built off the backs of your old ones. Mechanically the Soul Core Engine utilizes a percentile based system to resolve player challenges based on two main core stats of the players Body and Mind, and two combat stats of traditional Combat mastery and Psychic Combat mastery.

Players are meant to die, and they are meant to fail but utilize mechanics designed to push your luck to try more than once to succeed in an action, as well as a limited currency system designed to allow the player to decide when its their time to shine and enhance their roll higher or lower in favor of success. Players will be required to use this ability sparingly and wisely as they are one time use, and can only be given as a reward for creative problem solving and creating scenes that everyone at the table goes "Wow, that's bad ass!"

Hard Void is the test bed of a simplified version of the Soul Core Engine. Designed in mind to be a casual pickup and play game, optional narrative and progression features will be included with the module. After its release, the game engine will be expanded on and tuned for more suitable use in much larger scoped games with expanded skills, abilities, psychic powers, and unique new ways to improve your character after death.

The Soul Core Engine is CC BY-NC

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

What to expect?

A game of Hard Void is meant to be played with some friends, some beer or drink of choice, and some dice. An average game is expected to last 2-3 hours, meant for 1 GM and up to 4 players.

All you need to play Hard Void is Paper, a Pen or Pencil, 2 D10 dice, and 1 D6. The GM needs the same, but needs one D6 per player, this will be used to determine initiative in combat stated later in the rules.

Hard Void is a free game* and will remain a free game, with the option to donate to support the Soul Core Engine's future development.

* Hard Void is apart of the Queer Game Jam Bundle, and is apart of 34 other titles that is being sold together as one big happy bundle of gaming for $10. The game will still remain free on it's itch.io page.

Hard Void will be updated regularly based on play tester feedback. Play testers who contribute feedback will be greatly appreciated!

There is a personal note in the rule book to read on your own time regarding Hard Void and its future. I hope you enjoy the read, and are excited to play your first game of Hard Void.

See you on deck Marine!