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"They wield authority, yet they are not standard police because they fly where they are needed, responding to trouble wherever it develops. They answer to no one except Astro Police Support who keeps track of them and sends them on missions. Astro Police Rangers are typical Player Characters: tough, independent and unpredictable."

MetalMan's Review of "Lightspeed" by Christian Conkle

Lightspeed operates under the Instant Fuzion mechanics. If you are unfamiliar with Instant Fuzion, you may want to download your free copy of the system. As it is a commercial-based rules system, I will not be discussing the mechanics of the game in this review. If you are interested in them though, I would recommend you downloading a copy as it is a decent mechanics system that is very open to "tweaking". Lightspeed has been tweaked with a many modifications to the rules. The nature of these changes are sometimes major and will be covered in this review only to the extent that they modify the base Instant Fuzion mechanics (Yes. I am aware of all the plug-ins but I don't have the time to go through all of them so I cannot comment on if any where used in Lightspeed or not).

The Premise:
The Astro Police Rangers are a combination of the French Foreign Legion, Texas Rangers and Bounty Hunters. They are the wandering authority of the Astro Police charged with maintaining order on the frontier of Federation space. Armed with a Peacekeeper starfighter and a handy blaster pistol, the Rangers stand steadfast against lawlessness from all sides.

What Ya Get:
Lightspeed is available in both PDF and HTML formats. The PDF file comes in at 37 pages. As my preference is for the Adobe Acrobat format, my review will be based on it. If you view/download the HTML version, your experiences with it may differ from my review. Two additional rulebooks are available for the Lightspeed game from the website. The PsiRangers and the StarForce book that expand on the Lightspeed setting. Both are easily up to par with the main Lightspeed book. They also use a modified version of Instant Fuzion for them to maintain the flavor of the game.

Cost:
Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Gratis. Free.

Appearance:
Lightspeed is quite impressive. It is laid out in a standard two-column text format and is very well organized. It also sports black & white illustrations on par with what you would find in your typical GURPS book. As an aside, the author of Lightspeed is also responsible for all of the illustrations as well. Marvelous work for a one man job. Lightspeed gets very high marks for appearance and the PDF files have been kept small so that each one can easily fit on a standard floppy disk with little degradation of image quality from the PDF file compression.

The Game:
The most important information to make known up front is that Lightspeed makes an attempt to be all-inclusive. If you've seen it on any science fiction movie or in anime, odds are good that its in Lightspeed. Mechs, Predator-like races, Lovecraftian mind-control creatures... they're all in there. My initial reaction to this was not favorable, but, after looking over the rules, its not bad. Approach Lightspeed as very light space opera and it will be more platable for you. Concentrate more on the action and don't come expecting intricate political maneuvering or realistic detailed technology. Lightspeed seems to harken back to the tone of Star Frontiers a bit. This is not a bad thing. Certainly not for anyone wanting to introduce a group to science fiction roleplaying that is hesitant to do so. Lightspeed will be "familiar" to them and they'll be comfortable with the conventions of the setting if they've watched any sci-fi movies or TV series at all.

Lightspeed starts with an overview of the four divisions of the galaxy: The Federation, The Pan Solar Empire, The Old Earth Empires and the Frontier. Each of these are then given a more detailed description including the history, structure of authority and governance, quality of life, and military capability. Games stats for typical equipment (usually military) found in each of these sectors are also given. Each of these sections details a typical NPC of that sector. The section of the Federation is beefier than the others as they also include information on the Astro Police Rangers.

Astro Police Rangers are discussed in more detail in that thay are given sections talking about their role in the Federation, their recruitment, duties, available resources, pay and support services. A sample NPC Ranger is presented as is the stats for a standard Peacekeeper starfighter. Other vehicles are available for Ranger use are also given game stats including one really cool grav-bike.

After the galaxy information is concluded, ten alien species are examined. Some are more common than others and range from friendly to outright hostile. The Droid Nexus, The Kk'kk*zz* (yes. that's their name and no, I did not have a spastic seizure), non-terrestrial humans, The Reticulans, The Saure, The Hunters, The Yaziri, The Nerfel, The Worm and Gremlins are detailed with enough information to make them useful in the game. No information is really given if a player wants to play one of these races. It appears that the Rangers are exclusively Federation human. Generic information on galactic technology and society wrap up the setting information for Lightspeed. There isn't anything groundbreaking here but it does give you an idea of how to tailor settings that your Rangers will find themselves in so that they will be consistent with the game world and tone.

The Mechanics:
Character creation is per the Instant Fuzion rules with twenty points being given for primary characteristics. Derived characteristics as unchanged as well. Skills are a massive overhaul of those in the base IF mechanics. "Everyman Skills" are introduced that all characters get free due to the common nature of them in the setting. 35 points are given to select skills from an impressive skills list that is subdivided by the corresponding characteristic. These are additionally modified by the Ranger training characters are given upon recruitment. The only rule imposed here is that no character can start with a skill greater than 8. All Ranger characters are given a blaster pistol, flight suit, datapad, cuff-tape dispenser and a Peacekeeper starfighter. They additionally get 500 credits to purchase equipment from the equipment list. The important additions to this section are Damage Class (DC), Killing Defense (KD), Power (POW) and Structural Damage Points (SDP). Damage Class determines the damage inflicted by any given weapon. Killing Defense is the amount of damage reduced from an attack. Power is the characteristic and the skill level of a computer system that determines how "good" it can perform a given task. Structural Damage Points is simply the amount of damage a vehicle can withstand before it is destroyed. Once a character is equipped, he then has to "trick out" or modify his Peacekeeper. 5000 credits are given to do this. The section is ended by giving an example of it by creating a full character from scratch.

Initiative is handled in order of decreasing Mental characteristic scores. Movement is based on the use of hexes and character movement is based on what rate they say are moving (this also affects actions they may try to take while moving). Task resolution is handled as per the IF rules but offers the addition of a non-opposed task roll versus a difficulty number established by the GM. A page of combat maneuvers and modifiers follow and they deviate extensively from IF (although I think for the better). Damage and healing comes next and it adds in the distinction between lethal and stunning damage. Environmental damage is also given consideration with DC "benchmarks" that the GM can use. Healing is equal to a characters Physical characteristic multiplied by two/day if they are able to get proper medical treatment. It is reduced otherwise.

Starship combat takes up the next five pages. It is amazingly detailed yet workable. This is what starship combat in WotC's Star Wars should have been. To cover all the rules would inflate this review even more than in currently is, but I will touch on the high points. Two ships closing towards each other to engagement range will jockey for positions and tactical advantages based on piloting rolls as they "size up" their opponent. Winners of these rolls will accumulate discretionary points for use in combat to help out their rolls once combat has been joined. Once combat starts it is simply a matter of making opposed piloting rolls to fire at your target. Modifiers are presented to these rolls based on range, movement and size. The amount of success on a roll determines the number of hits scored if multiple/dual weapons are used. If damage is inflicted on the target, a hit location table is used to determine damage in case the GM wants to simulate crippling shots to various components of the ship. Collision/Ramming rules are also included in case you want to at least take someone out with you.

An example of man-to-man combat follows in which the rules for movement, firing and absorbing damage is clearly illustrated. After that, a similiar example is given for starship combat which show the accumulation and use of discretionary points as well as using multiple weapons in a dogfight. Lightspeed wraps up with pages of adventure ideas, guidelines for NPC creation, experience reward rules and conversion notes in case you want to move Lightspeed over to the Total Fuzion system.

Overall Impression:
Lightspeed is an impressive product that demonstrates the devotion of the gaming community to their favorite game mechanics. While I don't think Lightspeed is appropriate to a true science fiction game (by that I mean hard SF), it is very well suited to space opera. Player characters as law enforcement is a refreshing change away from "adventurers" and does tend to make the GM's job easier as motivation becomes as simple as "you wanna get paid don't you? ... this paycheck isn't going to write itself." I'd recommend getting the PsiRangers and StarForce books as they enhance the setting as well as the rules and they're small quick downloads... and, hey, its free.

MetalMan signing off.

Lightspeed
Lightspeed Capsule Review by MetalMan on 07/04/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Astro Police Rangers! Drop the blaster, scumbag, and assume the position! Product: Lightspeed Author: Christian Conkle Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Free RPG Line: Cost: FREE Page count: 37 Year published: 2000 ISBN: SKU: Capsule Review by MetalMan on 07/04/01 Genre tags: Science Fiction Far Future	"They wield authority, yet they are not standard police because they fly where they are needed, responding to trouble wherever it develops. They answer to no one except Astro Police Support who keeps track of them and sends them on missions. Astro Police Rangers are typical Player Characters: tough, independent and unpredictable." MetalMan's Review of "Lightspeed" by Christian Conkle Lightspeed operates under the Instant Fuzion mechanics. If you are unfamiliar with Instant Fuzion, you may want to download your free copy of the system. As it is a commercial-based rules system, I will not be discussing the mechanics of the game in this review. If you are interested in them though, I would recommend you downloading a copy as it is a decent mechanics system that is very open to "tweaking". Lightspeed has been tweaked with a many modifications to the rules. The nature of these changes are sometimes major and will be covered in this review only to the extent that they modify the base Instant Fuzion mechanics (Yes. I am aware of all the plug-ins but I don't have the time to go through all of them so I cannot comment on if any where used in Lightspeed or not). The Premise: The Astro Police Rangers are a combination of the French Foreign Legion, Texas Rangers and Bounty Hunters. They are the wandering authority of the Astro Police charged with maintaining order on the frontier of Federation space. Armed with a Peacekeeper starfighter and a handy blaster pistol, the Rangers stand steadfast against lawlessness from all sides. What Ya Get: Lightspeed is available in both PDF and HTML formats. The PDF file comes in at 37 pages. As my preference is for the Adobe Acrobat format, my review will be based on it. If you view/download the HTML version, your experiences with it may differ from my review. Two additional rulebooks are available for the Lightspeed game from the website. The PsiRangers and the StarForce book that expand on the Lightspeed setting. Both are easily up to par with the main Lightspeed book. They also use a modified version of Instant Fuzion for them to maintain the flavor of the game. Cost: Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Gratis. Free. Appearance: Lightspeed is quite impressive. It is laid out in a standard two-column text format and is very well organized. It also sports black & white illustrations on par with what you would find in your typical GURPS book. As an aside, the author of Lightspeed is also responsible for all of the illustrations as well. Marvelous work for a one man job. Lightspeed gets very high marks for appearance and the PDF files have been kept small so that each one can easily fit on a standard floppy disk with little degradation of image quality from the PDF file compression. The Game: The most important information to make known up front is that Lightspeed makes an attempt to be all-inclusive. If you've seen it on any science fiction movie or in anime, odds are good that its in Lightspeed. Mechs, Predator-like races, Lovecraftian mind-control creatures... they're all in there. My initial reaction to this was not favorable, but, after looking over the rules, its not bad. Approach Lightspeed as very light space opera and it will be more platable for you. Concentrate more on the action and don't come expecting intricate political maneuvering or realistic detailed technology. Lightspeed seems to harken back to the tone of Star Frontiers a bit. This is not a bad thing. Certainly not for anyone wanting to introduce a group to science fiction roleplaying that is hesitant to do so. Lightspeed will be "familiar" to them and they'll be comfortable with the conventions of the setting if they've watched any sci-fi movies or TV series at all. Lightspeed starts with an overview of the four divisions of the galaxy: The Federation, The Pan Solar Empire, The Old Earth Empires and the Frontier. Each of these are then given a more detailed description including the history, structure of authority and governance, quality of life, and military capability. Games stats for typical equipment (usually military) found in each of these sectors are also given. Each of these sections details a typical NPC of that sector. The section of the Federation is beefier than the others as they also include information on the Astro Police Rangers. Astro Police Rangers are discussed in more detail in that thay are given sections talking about their role in the Federation, their recruitment, duties, available resources, pay and support services. A sample NPC Ranger is presented as is the stats for a standard Peacekeeper starfighter. Other vehicles are available for Ranger use are also given game stats including one really cool grav-bike. After the galaxy information is concluded, ten alien species are examined. Some are more common than others and range from friendly to outright hostile. The Droid Nexus, The Kk'kkzz (yes. that's their name and no, I did not have a spastic seizure), non-terrestrial humans, The Reticulans, The Saure, The Hunters, The Yaziri, The Nerfel, The Worm and Gremlins are detailed with enough information to make them useful in the game. No information is really given if a player wants to play one of these races. It appears that the Rangers are exclusively Federation human. Generic information on galactic technology and society wrap up the setting information for Lightspeed. There isn't anything groundbreaking here but it does give you an idea of how to tailor settings that your Rangers will find themselves in so that they will be consistent with the game world and tone. The Mechanics: Character creation is per the Instant Fuzion rules with twenty points being given for primary characteristics. Derived characteristics as unchanged as well. Skills are a massive overhaul of those in the base IF mechanics. "Everyman Skills" are introduced that all characters get free due to the common nature of them in the setting. 35 points are given to select skills from an impressive skills list that is subdivided by the corresponding characteristic. These are additionally modified by the Ranger training characters are given upon recruitment. The only rule imposed here is that no character can start with a skill greater than 8. All Ranger characters are given a blaster pistol, flight suit, datapad, cuff-tape dispenser and a Peacekeeper starfighter. They additionally get 500 credits to purchase equipment from the equipment list. The important additions to this section are Damage Class (DC), Killing Defense (KD), Power (POW) and Structural Damage Points (SDP). Damage Class determines the damage inflicted by any given weapon. Killing Defense is the amount of damage reduced from an attack. Power is the characteristic and the skill level of a computer system that determines how "good" it can perform a given task. Structural Damage Points is simply the amount of damage a vehicle can withstand before it is destroyed. Once a character is equipped, he then has to "trick out" or modify his Peacekeeper. 5000 credits are given to do this. The section is ended by giving an example of it by creating a full character from scratch. Initiative is handled in order of decreasing Mental characteristic scores. Movement is based on the use of hexes and character movement is based on what rate they say are moving (this also affects actions they may try to take while moving). Task resolution is handled as per the IF rules but offers the addition of a non-opposed task roll versus a difficulty number established by the GM. A page of combat maneuvers and modifiers follow and they deviate extensively from IF (although I think for the better). Damage and healing comes next and it adds in the distinction between lethal and stunning damage. Environmental damage is also given consideration with DC "benchmarks" that the GM can use. Healing is equal to a characters Physical characteristic multiplied by two/day if they are able to get proper medical treatment. It is reduced otherwise. Starship combat takes up the next five pages. It is amazingly detailed yet workable. This is what starship combat in WotC's Star Wars should have been. To cover all the rules would inflate this review even more than in currently is, but I will touch on the high points. Two ships closing towards each other to engagement range will jockey for positions and tactical advantages based on piloting rolls as they "size up" their opponent. Winners of these rolls will accumulate discretionary points for use in combat to help out their rolls once combat has been joined. Once combat starts it is simply a matter of making opposed piloting rolls to fire at your target. Modifiers are presented to these rolls based on range, movement and size. The amount of success on a roll determines the number of hits scored if multiple/dual weapons are used. If damage is inflicted on the target, a hit location table is used to determine damage in case the GM wants to simulate crippling shots to various components of the ship. Collision/Ramming rules are also included in case you want to at least take someone out with you. An example of man-to-man combat follows in which the rules for movement, firing and absorbing damage is clearly illustrated. After that, a similiar example is given for starship combat which show the accumulation and use of discretionary points as well as using multiple weapons in a dogfight. Lightspeed wraps up with pages of adventure ideas, guidelines for NPC creation, experience reward rules and conversion notes in case you want to move Lightspeed over to the Total Fuzion system. Overall Impression: Lightspeed is an impressive product that demonstrates the devotion of the gaming community to their favorite game mechanics. While I don't think Lightspeed is appropriate to a true science fiction game (by that I mean hard SF), it is very well suited to space opera. Player characters as law enforcement is a refreshing change away from "adventurers" and does tend to make the GM's job easier as motivation becomes as simple as "you wanna get paid don't you? ... this paycheck isn't going to write itself." I'd recommend getting the PsiRangers and StarForce books as they enhance the setting as well as the rules and they're small quick downloads... and, hey, its free. MetalMan signing off.