Setting Rules

New and Updated Rules

Astrabound uses the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition core rules as its foundation, but the setting changes and expands several rules to better support science-fiction action, dangerous worlds, Astra, transhuman technology, and long-range exploration.

The rules in this chapter are part of Astrabound play and are used as the standard rules for the setting.

Bound and Entangled

Astrabound updates the standard handling of entangling effects, restraints, and escape attempts.

The entangle power does not use the Strong Power Modifier in this setting.

Entangled

An Entangled victim:

• cannot move
• is Vulnerable as long as they remain Entangled

Bound

A Bound victim:

• may not move
• is Distracted
• is Vulnerable
• cannot take physical actions other than trying to break free

Breaking Free

Trying to break free from being Bound or Entangled is an action using:

• Strength at −2, or
• Athletics

Breaking Free from a Device

If a character is restrained by a physical device such as a net, manacles, handcuffs, or similar restraint and fails to break free, they cannot try again until the situation changes in some meaningful way, as determined by the GM.

Destroying the Restraint

A Bound or Entangled victim may try to destroy the restraint with an accessible and suitable weapon, if the circumstances allow.

Weapon attacks against the entangling material:

• hit automatically
• may use Wild Attack for +2 damage

Webs, ropes, nets, and similar materials are usually Hardness 4.

If the attack succeeds, the character is freed from that restraint. In an area-effect entanglement, each victim must be freed separately unless the freeing attack is itself an area effect.

Example: Flynn is snared in a shock-net and becomes Entangled, leaving him unable to move and Vulnerable to incoming fire. On his next turn he can try to break free with Athletics, or slash the net apart if he has a weapon positioned well enough to reach it.

Desperate Attack

A Desperate Attack is a wild, risky attempt to land a hit at the cost of damage.

Before rolling a Fighting attack, the attacker may choose to gain either:

• +2 to Fighting, or
• +4 to Fighting

If the attack hits, subtract the same amount from the damage roll.

This choice is made per attack, before rolling, and cannot be combined with Wild Attack.

Example: Astrid is dueling a fast xeno assassin with a very high Parry. She chooses a Desperate Attack +4, giving herself a much better chance to connect, but if she hits, her damage is reduced by 4.

Limited Actions

A character may perform only one limited action on their turn.

This restriction applies whether the actions are the same or different.

The same rule applies to limited free actions. A character may perform only one limited free action on their turn.

If a device allows different mode changes as limited free actions, the character still only gets one.

Example: Zayko’s visor can switch to thermal view as a limited free action, and his comm unit can trigger a tactical marker as another limited free action. On that turn, he must choose one of those effects. He cannot do both.

Giant Foes

Some worlds in Astrabound hold creatures so enormous that explorers can run between their legs, climb their bodies, or disappear beneath their attention.

If one creature is two or more Scales smaller than another, the smaller creature may try to climb onto the larger one with an opposed Athletics roll.

• If the smaller creature wins, it becomes attached and moves with the larger creature on that creature’s turn.
• If the larger creature wins, the smaller creature falls or is shaken off and suffers any appropriate falling damage.

If the smaller creature reaches an appropriate position, at the GM’s discretion, it ignores up to 2 points of Called Shot penalties on melee attacks against the larger foe.

Example: Flynn scrambles up the flank of a colossal jungle beast while Astrid keeps it distracted. Once he reaches a vulnerable seam beneath its plated neck, he ignores up to 2 points of Called Shot penalties when striking there.

Stream Template

Any power or effect that normally uses a Cone Template may instead use a Stream Template.

The Stream Template is:

• 1" wide
• 12" long

If not using miniatures, the GM can usually assume it affects up to three foes.

Example: Tabitha uses an Astra effect that normally fills a cone, but in a narrow ship corridor the GM applies the Stream Template instead, letting the power lance straight down the passage.

Setting Specific Rules

Astrabound uses the following rules from various Savage Worlds books that are considered optional rules to complete the setting.

Betrayal

Astrabound uses the Betrayal rule.

Characters may not Soak Wounds caused by The Drop, and they may not spend Bennies to resist a Knockout Blow.

This reflects the sudden brutality of treachery, assassination, and surprise violence from those the victim trusted or never saw coming.

Example: A trusted station official turns on Astrid during a negotiation and strikes from behind. Because the attack benefits from The Drop, she cannot Soak the resulting Wounds.

Conviction

Astrabound uses Conviction as a major dramatic reward for triumph, tragedy, and pivotal personal moments.

A Conviction token is not a Benny and cannot be spent as one.

Conviction may be kept between sessions until used.

When spent, Conviction adds a d6 to all Trait and damage totals until the beginning of the character’s next turn.

That die can Ace.

A character may maintain Conviction from round to round by spending a Benny at the start of their turn before it expires.

Once it lapses, the effect ends.

Triumph and Tragedy

Conviction is awarded when a character experiences a personal moment of real significance.

It is tied to the character’s:

• goals
• losses
• flaws
• loyalties
• victories
• sacrifices

Triumph

A character gains Conviction by overcoming a major obstacle connected to their motivations.

This should be a meaningful victory beyond routine success.

Examples include:

• defeating a major enemy
• saving a loved one
• solving a defining mystery
• completing a vital mission
• recovering something central to the character’s story

Tragedy

A character may also gain Conviction through loss, grief, personal collapse, or hardship.

Examples include:

• losing a loved one
• failing a crucial duty
• being disgraced or cast out
• losing an important job or command
• giving in to a destructive flaw
• being betrayed by someone important
• being framed or ruined

This is meant to encourage dramatic storytelling around personal flaws and emotional consequences.

It is not a reward for bad real-world behavior. It is a tool for spotlighting heroic struggle in fiction.

Example: Astrid fails to save a long-time ally during a station collapse. The GM awards her Conviction because the loss strikes directly at her sense of duty and reshapes how she approaches the next mission.

Downtime

Between expeditions, dangerous crossings, political crises, and alien ruins, Astrabound characters sometimes have a few days or a week to breathe.

When the GM declares downtime, each character may choose one downtime activity.

Each activity provides a specific benefit and should be accompanied by a short vignette or description of how the character spends that time.

Unless an option says otherwise, its benefit can only be gained once per downtime, regardless of how long that downtime lasts.

Downtime may not always be available. It generally does not apply in places that are too dangerous, too cramped, too unstable, or too uncomfortable to meaningfully rest or focus.

Some activities also require a functioning community, local contacts, or proper facilities.

Carouse

The character spends downtime socializing, reinforcing contacts, making new friends, or deepening local ties.

This may involve:

• drinks in a crowded starport district
• sightseeing on an exotic world
• races, games, festivals, or public gatherings
• networking among smugglers, merchants, colonists, or officials

A character who wants to Carouse spends:

• $50 at Novice
• $100 at Seasoned
• $200 at Veteran
• $400 at Heroic
• $800 at Legendary

In return, the character gains a local favor that may be called in later.

The exact value of the favor depends on Rank, reputation, and the local community.

Example: Flynn spends his downtime drinking, trading stories, and gambling in a rough orbital port. Later, he cashes in that goodwill to get a dockmaster to hide the crew’s ship from customs for a few critical hours.

Center

The character spends time focusing on what brings inner peace.

This could include:

• coding
• art
• reading
• writing
• music
• meditation
• volunteering
• ritual practice
• leisure
• meaningful time with someone they care about

A week spent this way grants the character Conviction.

Example: After a brutal mission, Zayko spends his downtime in meditation and controlled Astra exercises, recentering himself before the next crisis. He gains Conviction.

Earn

The character uses downtime to make money.

This might come from:

• repairing machines
• hacking jobs
• arena competition
• consulting
• science work
• teaching
• transport work
• salvage processing

The character makes an appropriate skill roll, or an attribute roll for more mundane labor.

• Success: gain the campaign’s Starting Funds
• Raise: gain twice the campaign’s Starting Funds
• Failure: gain nothing and embarrass yourself somehow
• Critical Failure: gain nothing and suffer Fatigue from overwork or an accident

If the job was dangerous, a Critical Failure also causes d4 Wounds.

Example: Astrid takes a short-term security contract training station guards between missions. She succeeds on the relevant roll and earns the campaign’s Starting Funds before the next leg of the journey.

Rest

A character who has suffered Wounds or exhaustion may use downtime to recover.

Use the normal Natural Healing rules during the week. Other characters, medics, or doctors may provide Support as appropriate.

Whether the healing rolls succeed or fail, a full week of proper rest also grants one Benny.

Example: After a nearly fatal boarding action, Flynn spends the week flat on his back in the ship’s medical bay. He follows normal healing rules and gains a Benny simply from getting real rest and coming back steadier.

Dumb Luck

Astrabound uses the Dumb Luck rule.

A player may spend one Benny, and only one, even after a Critical Failure.

The failure still happens in some form, but the reroll can still generate success.

The player and GM should describe how the mishap somehow produces a useful result despite going wrong.

Possible examples:

• a lock is broken, but also pops open
• a dropped weapon discharges into the right target
• a failed Taunt causes a fight that still distracts the enemy
• a blundered leap knocks loose the bridge controls needed to escape

Example: Flynn rolls a Critical Failure while firing on full auto and drops his weapon. He spends a Benny through Dumb Luck, rerolls, and scores two hits. The GM rules the weapon bounces off a rail, sprays wildly, and still catches two enemies in the chaos.

Energy Management

Operators of power armor, walkers, vehicles, and starships may divert power from one system to another.

If the machine has:

• a functioning power source, and
• working electronics

then the operator or onboard AI may choose one system to boost by reducing power to others.

Diverting power is a limited free action.

Once power is diverted, the effect lasts until the end of the operator’s following turn.

The operator may:

• degrade one other system for a partial boost
• degrade two other systems for a greater boost

A machine must actually have the relevant system in order to divert power from or to it.

Propulsion

Boosting power to Propulsion grants:

• +2 Handling if power is diverted from one other system
• +4 Handling if power is diverted from two other systems

Diverting power from Propulsion causes:

• −4 Handling

Shields

Boosting power to Shields grants:

• +2 to shield Soak rolls if power is diverted from one other system
• +4 to shield Soak rolls if power is diverted from two other systems

Diverting power from Shields causes:

• −4 to shield Soak rolls

Weapons

Boosting power to Weapons grants:

• +4 damage to energy-based weapons if power is diverted from one other system
• +8 damage if power is diverted from two other systems

If using Heavy Metal, this becomes:

• +1 Wound
• or +2 Wounds

Diverting power from Weapons causes:

• −4 damage
• or −1 Wound with Heavy Metal

Example: During a cruiser duel, Astrid diverts power from propulsion and auxiliary shielding into the ship’s beam cannons. The ship turns worse for a moment, but its energy weapons hit far harder until the end of her next turn.

Extreme Environments

Astrabound characters travel through wildly different worlds, atmospheres, and gravity conditions. These environments matter and are handled directly in play.

Acclimation

Characters may acclimate over time to unusual atmospheres, gravities, and pressure conditions.

Acclimation usually takes:

• one week of constant exposure

It may take less, even as little as one day, with intense training, prior experience, or special circumstances, as the GM decides.

Once acclimated to a condition, reduce the penalty from that condition by 2.

Examples:

• a −2 gravity penalty becomes 0
• a −4 thin atmosphere penalty becomes −2

After acclimating, that condition becomes the character’s new normal until they acclimate again.

That means a character acclimated to low gravity may suffer penalties when returning to normal gravity, and one acclimated to low pressure may treat standard pressure as high.

Example: Flynn spends a week on a heavy-gravity world and acclimates to it. When he later returns to a normal station habitat, his body now treats that more familiar gravity as different until he readjusts.

Atmosphere

Atmosphere refers to the chemical content of a world’s gas or liquid environment and whether it supports life.

Breathable

A breathable atmosphere is effectively normal and has no special effects.

Characters can survive there without special equipment.

Thin

Thin atmospheres contain the right gases for life, but not enough of them.

A character must make a Vigor roll every four hours spent in thin air.

Apply a penalty of:

• −2 for scarce oxygen
• up to −4 for extremely thin air

Beyond that, the character cannot breathe at all.

A character who cannot breathe may hold their breath for 2 + Vigor rounds, then must make a Vigor roll each round or take Fatigue. This can lead to Incapacitation and unconsciousness for 2d6 hours.

A victim recovers one Fatigue:

• after one hour of rest
• or after 10 minutes with a breathing apparatus

Breathable atmosphere becomes thin at high elevation:

• around 5,000 feet it begins to matter
• rolls are at −2 around 10,000 feet
• rolls are at −4 above 15,000 feet

Hazardous

Hazardous atmospheres do not support human life.

They may contain:

• high carbon dioxide
• methane
• hydrogen
• ammonia
• other non-breathable compounds

Those without breathing gear must check Vigor every round, minute, or hour depending on severity, as the GM decides, or suffer Fatigue that can lead to death.

Recovery is only possible once breathable air is restored, and one Fatigue is removed every 10 minutes.

Toxic

Toxic atmospheres are actively poisonous.

Anyone not in a sealed spacesuit must make a Vigor roll every round or:

• become Stunned
• take a Wound

This continues until they die or escape the environment.

Example: Astrid’s suit integrity fails in a sulfur-rich refinery atmosphere. Every round outside a sealed environment becomes a race between survival and rescue.

Gravity

Astrabound campaigns often move between stations, low-gravity moons, crushing worlds, and drifting hulks in zero-g.

All individuals suffer −2 to Agility and Agility-based skills in gravities different from what they are used to until they acclimate.

Characters with the Gravitic Acclimation Edge always ignore this penalty.

Gravity also changes Strength, Pace, and jumping distance as shown below.

Gravitational Effects

Gravity	Jump	Str	Pace
Super Heavy	×0.5	−2	−4
Heavy	×0.5	−1	−2
Normal	—	—	—
Low	×2	+1	+2
Zero-G	See Below	+2	+4

Zero-G Effects

Movement and combat in zero gravity are especially difficult because of momentum and disorientation.

If a character Critically Fails a physical Trait roll in Zero-G, they lose control and begin tumbling.

They may recover by making an Agility roll as a free action on a later turn, assuming they have some way to stabilize themselves.

A tumbling character is:

• Distracted
• unable to recover until they stop tumbling

A character who jumps from a stable platform moves at a Pace equal to their Strength in inches per round until they strike something larger or apply thrust.

Physical attacks and firearm shots, except lasers and gyrojets, push the attacker backward:

• 1" from ordinary blasts
• 2" from large-caliber weapons or very forceful melee strikes, at the GM’s discretion

Example: Flynn fires a heavy slugthrower in zero-g without bracing. The recoil sends him drifting backward across the cargo hold while the target keeps coming.

Pressure

Vacuum

Vacuum contains little or no atmosphere.

Most organic beings require artificial breathing in vacuum. The pressure difference also causes severe decompression injuries.

If a character lacks a sealed suit, or if the suit is breached, they must make a Vigor roll every round or suffer a Wound from decompression.

Low Pressure

Low pressure causes blood vessels to expand and rupture.

Characters need pressurized suits to operate safely.

If such a suit is breached, the victim must make a Vigor roll every minute or suffer a level of Fatigue. This can lead to death.

A victim recovers one Fatigue every 10 minutes once returned to standard pressure.

High Pressure

Dense atmospheres can be almost as hard to endure as thin ones.

A being must use proper breathing support or make a Vigor roll every hour.

Failure causes a level of Fatigue that can lead to Incapacitation, though not death.

Victims recover one Fatigue every 10 minutes once returned to standard atmospheric pressure.

Crushing Pressure

At this level of pressure, the environment can physically crush people and machines.

Anything with either:

• +4 Toughness bonus, or
• +4 Heavy Armor

can survive.

Anything else suffers one Wound each round while exposed.

Fast Healing

Astrabound uses the Fast Healing rule.

Wild Cards make natural healing rolls once per day instead of once every five days.

Species with Regeneration may still heal once per hour as normal for that ability.

Bumps and Bruises

Wild Cards recover one level of Fatigue from Bumps & Bruises every four hours instead of every twenty-four hours.

Example: After a brutal bar fight and a failed escape through maintenance shafts, Flynn is battered and tired, but in Astrabound that kind of non-serious Fatigue clears more quickly than in standard play.

Gritty Damage

Astrabound uses the Gritty Damage rule.

Whenever a Wild Card suffers a Wound, roll on the Injury Table and apply the result immediately.

Only roll once per incident, no matter how many Wounds were caused by that single attack.

If a character takes two Wounds from one hit, they roll once on the Injury Table.

Injuries suffered this way are removed when the Wound is healed.

Injuries caused by Incapacitation may still be temporary or permanent as usual.

Example: Astrid takes a single Wound from shrapnel during a breach. Even though she stays in the fight, the Injury Table is rolled immediately, reflecting the harsher and more lasting consequences of violence in Astrabound.

Hacking

Computers are everywhere in advanced Astrabound societies, and hacking is often central to infiltration, espionage, sabotage, rescue, and survival.

Using an unprotected and connected device is usually a single Hacking roll.

A hacker might do simple things like:

• unlock or seal a door
• cycle lights
• spoof a sensor
• provide Support
• perform a Test through environmental control

More complex intrusions require:

• a computing device
• the Hacking skill
• a connection to the target network

If the network is online, the hacker may access it from any stable connection.

If the network is isolated, the hacker must first infiltrate the site and connect from a terminal, node, or internal system.

Breaking into a secure system is resolved as a Dramatic Task.

Hacking Difficulty

Security	Penalty	Task Type
Light	−2	Challenging
Medium	−4	Difficult
Heavy	−4	Complex
Ultra	−6	Complex

Failure

Failure consequences depend on the target system.

The system might:

• boot the hacker out
• lock down for hours
• shut itself down
• trace the hacker’s location
• dispatch security teams
• trigger alarms or automated defenses

Example: Zayko gets into a station archive but fails the final Hacking segment. The system boots him, locks all nearby doors, and flags the crew’s exact position to internal security.

Logistics

Astrabound does not track every mundane resource in fine detail. Crew meal counts, medical inventory, and routine ammunition use are abstracted unless they become dramatically important.

Instead, the setting uses broader supply levels for ordinary long-term necessities.

Two areas are tracked in more detail:

• Energy
• Repairs

Supply Levels

For any resource that matters, usually:

• ammunition
• food
• fuel

assign one of the following supply levels:

• Very High
• High
• Low
• Out

After a major fight or long trip, reduce the supply by one level.

Whenever the party can properly resupply, increase or restore it.

Missiles, torpedoes, grenades, and similar high-impact munitions should still be tracked individually.

The purpose of Supply Levels is to drive choices and create pressure, not bookkeeping.

Example: After a week in deep space, the crew’s food drops from High to Low. They can continue hunting pirates, but now the next stop may need to be a half-mapped colony world instead of their intended destination.

Energy

Vehicle and starship Energy is measured in days of fuel and power.

This is the number of days of normal operation stored in the craft’s:

• fuel cells
• reactor
• core
• or equivalent power source

A Huge starship might have 15 days of Energy under normal use.

Fuel costs $100 × the ship’s Size per unit and is usually bought at a spaceport.

If the GM wants fuel prices to vary, use the Supply and Demand system below.

Repairs

Crews may repair ships, vehicles, and walkers in the field if they have the right tools and access to parts.

Vehicular repairs require:

• a Repair roll
• minus the vehicle’s current Wounds
• and a number of person-hours equal to its Size

Each success and raise repairs:

• one Wound, or
• one Critical Hit, player’s choice

One raise may instead be spent to halve the required time.

A Critical Failure on a vehicular Repair roll means the machine now requires an advanced facility, such as a garage, dry dock, or starport, for any further repairs.

Facility repair fees are $1000 × vehicle Size per Wound or Critical Hit repaired, plus the cost of any special parts.

Example: Flynn and Tabitha patch the crew’s walker in the field after a dust-world skirmish. They can fix some damage with time and tools, but a Critical Failure would mean the machine needs a real bay and specialist support before it can be trusted again.

More Skill Points

Astrabound characters begin with 15 skill points at character creation instead of 12.

This reflects the setting’s higher baseline of education, technological familiarity, and broader training expectations.

It also helps characters support skills common in advanced campaigns, such as:

• Driving
• Piloting
• Electronics
• Hacking
• Repair
• Science

No Power Points

It is important to note we are using this Setting Rule. However, powers are still written in the Powers section to conform to the Savage Rules standards, thus the rules below are as well. This is to allow other supplements and companion books to function with few changes.

In Astrabound, not every gift, discipline, or strange force is fueled by a visible reserve of mystical energy. Psions, gene-touched sensitives, void mystics, relic attuned adepts, and other beings with an Arcane Background do not always measure their abilities in tidy pools of expendable power. Instead, they draw on training, focus, instinct, will, and whatever dangerous force answers when they reach beyond the ordinary.

Rather than spending Power Points, characters with Arcane Backgrounds simply choose the power they want to activate and make an arcane skill roll. The penalty to the roll is the power’s total cost in Power Points, including base cost plus all Modifiers, divided by 2. Round up.

Casting protection (1 point) with More Armor (+1) and the Hurry modifier (+1), for example, has a cost of 3 Power Points. Half, rounded up, is 2.

Success means the power activates as usual. A raise grants any additional bonuses stated in its description.

Failure means all current powers are canceled and the caster is Shaken. Critical Failure results in Backlash.

In Astrabound, that failure might represent psychic feedback, neural overload, a relic circuit burning too hot, a void-current slipping free, or a momentary collapse of the caster’s control.

Example: Astrid’s psion reaches for a defensive field in the middle of a firefight, layering extra strength and speed into it. The total cost of the power and its modifiers becomes the penalty to her arcane skill roll, divided by 2 and rounded up. If she fails, every power she is currently sustaining drops at once and the strain leaves her Shaken.

Maintaining Powers

Characters can maintain those powers that allow it as long as desired, but each one maintained inflicts a -1 to all further arcane skill rolls.

In the Astrabound setting, this can reflect cumulative mental strain, overstressed implants, unstable resonance, flickering field harmonics, or the simple fact that holding one miracle together makes the next one harder.

Example: Flynn’s mystic is already sustaining two active effects while trying to invoke a third. He takes a -2 penalty to his next arcane skill roll because both maintained powers are taxing his focus.

Power Preparation

A caster may prepare powers by concentrating for an entire round, with no movement or other actions, and must not be Shaken or Stunned.

If successful, he ignores 2 points of penalties on all powers cast on his next turn. If he does not enact any powers on his next turn, the preparation is lost.

In Astrabound, this preparation might be a psion slowing their breathing and aligning thought patterns, a relic adept synchronizing with an ancient device, or a void-channeler carefully attuning themselves before opening the floodgates.

Example: Michaels knows the breach team is about to hit the vault door, so he spends a full round centering himself and preparing his gift. On his next turn, he ignores 2 points of penalties on the power he unleashes into the corridor beyond.

Salvage and Trade

Explorers, mercenaries, pirates, and scavengers all eventually wind up with cargo they need to sell.

Salvage

Salvage includes:

• captured weapons
• looted ships
• damaged vehicles
• drifting hulks
• alien caches
• spare parts

A Networking roll in any sizable settlement lets a seller unload all salvage.

• Success: sell it all for one-quarter listed price
• Raise: sell it all for one-half listed price

This roll may only be attempted once per week.

Reduce the offer:

• by 25% for damaged ordinary equipment, at the GM’s discretion
• or by the ratio of Wounds on a ship, walker, or vehicle

A wrecked craft is usually worth a flat 10% of original value as scrap or parts.

Example: Astrid brings in a captured pirate shuttle with two Wounds out of four. It sells for roughly half its normal salvage value before any Networking result is applied.

Trade

Trade goods are measured in cargo spaces of 125 cubic feet, or a 5' × 5' × 5' container.

For ships, vehicles, and walkers, this is one unused Mod space.

Trade goods are usually ordinary cargo like food, ore, timber, fuel, or manufactured goods.

Commodities

Goods	Value
Food	$1000
Fuel	$2000
Industrial Parts	$1500
Manufactured Goods	$800
Ore	$1400
Technology	$1800
Timber	$800

Commodity Notes

Food: Fruits, vegetables, frozen meat, spices, grains. Fuel: Low-tech fuels like oil or gasoline, plus common chemicals. Industrial Parts: Machinery, generators, utility systems, and components. Manufactured Goods: Low-end electronics, furniture, books, housewares, sporting goods. Ore: Common ores such as coal, copper, lead, or iron. Technology: High-end consumer goods such as displays, audio systems, computers, and PDDs. Timber: Precut lumber and processed boards.

Supply and Demand

A settlement’s demand for each commodity usually changes about once per month.

Roll once for each type of commodity if the GM does not already have a market plan.

Buying where a good is abundant and selling where it is needed can be highly profitable.

Supply and Demand Table

d20	Commodity Value
1–2	None: worth half listed value
3–5	Low: worth 75% of listed value
6–12	Normal: worth listed value
13–15	High: worth 150% of listed value
16–18	Very High: worth twice listed value
19	Extreme: worth three times listed value
20	Desperate: worth five times listed value

Example: Flynn buys fuel cheap on an industrial moon where supply is overflowing, then sells it to a remote outpost where demand is Very High, doubling the return on that cargo space.

Transhumanism

Astrabound includes consciousness transfer technology, though it is rare, unstable, and ruinously expensive.

The Drakneri are the acknowledged masters of this science. There are also scattered legends that some Celestar traditions once performed similar transfers through means not entirely technological.

Transference

Transference is the process of placing a character’s consciousness into a host body, usually an android body but sometimes something stranger.

The process normally takes place in a high-tech facility over several hours.

Dissonance

Each transference causes Dissonance, representing loss of identity and growing separation between mind and body.

The new body is the host. The original mind remains the character.

Dissonance increases by:

• 1 if the host is relatively similar to the original form
• 2 if the host is significantly different
• 4 if the host is dramatically different, such as an alien or animal body

After every transference, roll on the Dissonance Table and add the character’s current Dissonance to the roll.

Dissonance is cumulative.

After each Advance earned while inside the host body, reduce Dissonance by 1.

Mind

The character keeps their own:

• Smarts
• Spirit
• related skills

Body

The character takes on the host’s:

• Agility
• Strength
• Vigor

This may remove a Permanent Injury, assuming the host body does not have that injury.

Skills

The character keeps:

• their own Smarts-based skills
• their own Agility-based skills

If the host has a higher relevant skill, the character’s version increases by one die type.

If the character has Fighting d6 and the host has Fighting d10, the transferred character uses Fighting d8.

Edges and Hindrances

The character keeps Edges that require only:

• Rank
• Smarts
• Spirit
• or skills based on those attributes

The character gains the host’s Edges if they require:

• Rank
• Agility
• Strength
• Vigor
• or skills based on those attributes

If an Edge requires anything else, it does not transfer.

The character keeps all non-physical Hindrances.

Purely physical Hindrances such as One Eye, Slow, or One Arm do not carry over from the original body, but physical Hindrances of the host remain.

Price

The financial cost of transference is $10K × the Dissonance caused by that transfer.

If a transfer increases Dissonance by 4, the process costs $40,000.

This cost is intentionally severe. In the setting, only the Drakneri have mastered the process well enough for regular use, and even they treat it as elite and dangerous technology.

Example: Zayko’s consciousness is transferred into a markedly non-human host recovered from a Drakneri vault. The new body grants physical advantages, but the transfer causes major Dissonance and carries a high risk of mental fracture over time.

Dissonance Table

d20 + Dissonance	Result
1–12	No Effect
13–14	Flashbacks
15–16	Disassociation
17–18	Hindrance (Minor)
19–20	Hindrance (Major)
21–22	Coordination Disassociation
23–24	Physical Deterioration
25+	Shattered

Flashbacks

The character experiences vivid memories of prior form or life during stress.

Whenever they are Shaken, they suffer −2 on attempts to recover from Shaken.

If this result is rolled a second time, treat it as Hindrance (Minor) instead.

Disassociation

The mind loses temporary synchronicity with the host.

Whenever the character is Distracted or Vulnerable, they must make a Spirit roll to remove that state instead of removing it automatically.

This is a limited free action.

If this result is rolled a second time, treat it as Hindrance (Minor) instead.

Hindrance (Minor)

A lingering remnant of the host’s personality remains. The character gains a new Minor Hindrance reflecting that influence.

Hindrance (Major)

As above, but the character instead gains a Major Hindrance.

Coordination Disassociation

The mind and body begin to fall out of sync.

Randomly select one of the host’s skills that is higher than the core’s and reduce it by one die type permanently.

Physical Deterioration

The character lacks the host’s former discipline and the body begins to degrade.

Randomly select one of the host’s higher physical attributes and reduce it by one die type permanently.

Shattered

Mind, memory, identity, and body fall catastrophically out of sync.

The character suffers −4 to all skill rolls.

The only way to fix this is to obtain a new host.

Unarmored Hero

Astrabound uses the Unarmored Hero rule.

If a Wild Card chooses not to wear any armor, ignoring shields, they gain +2 to Soak rolls.

This reflects the fast, cinematic, pulp-inspired side of the setting, where some heroes rely on movement, instinct, and sheer impossible luck rather than plating.

Example: Tabitha goes into a duel in ordinary clothing rather than tactical armor. Because she is completely unarmored, she gains +2 to Soak rolls for that fight.

Wound Cap

Astrabound uses the Wound Cap rule.

A character can never suffer more than four Wounds from a single hit.

This also means a character never has to Soak more than four Wounds from one attack.

This keeps combat dangerous while reducing the odds that one wildly lucky hit instantly destroys a major character.

Large Creatures

The Wound Cap also applies to creatures that can normally take more than three Wounds because of:

• Scale
• Resilient
• Very Resilient

A Huge creature that can take five Wounds, for example, still cannot take more than four from a single hit.

The GM can overrule this in extreme and obvious cases, such as:

• enormous explosions
• falling from impossible heights
• catastrophic environmental destruction