It was the illumination ship Ustyug Annunciation, representing the High Soviet of the Icons of our Holy Lord, that found it. The object was drifting in the Kuiper belt as it had done for aeons. Its pockmarked surface had not known any light save starlight for immeasurable ages. It had not been unknown, but for hundreds of years it had simply been a large piece of astronomical debris tagged as BF2003 92 in the survey databases. The awed monastronauts on board were the first humans to ever set their eyes on it up close.
They could hardly believe what they saw. Was this the first true tangible evidence of the existence of the Lord, to hold up to the eyes of the unbelievers? Was this the irrefutable evidence that God still was invested in the creation, that God would again engage in intercourse with his people as in the olden days?
Fifty years later and the Tchemno Soviet, the Dark Council of the church, have still not released the news of the find to humanity. Even within the higher echelons of the Icons of our Holy Lord there are only whispers of a true, reality changing, find, but no one seems to know what it is.
On the top secret space station Pakravitjel, which has aggragated around the object since the first fateful monastronauts moored their ship to it, work continues apace. Researchers led by Tchemno Soviet-approved Religious Comrades try to establish the worldly implications of what the monastronauts found while others try to divine how it affects humanity’s role in the creation. But work has been disrupted by a weird pattern of accidents and rumors say researchers have been asked to meetings with the Religious Commissariat, never to return.
At the edge of the solar system, far from the warmth of the sun, the players take the roles of researchers, crewmembers and monastronauts trying to survive the hostile environment of mundane and religious bureaucracy whilst pursuing the question: What is the Angel?
A Roll is made whenever the character tries to do something that meets resistance, not when he or she tries to do something anybody can do without problem.
A Roll is simply the player describing what the character tries to do, explaining what stat and, if applicable, specialization he or she uses and then rolls two D6. The result is then checked against the success table:
Success table.
2-6: Fail
7-9: Partial success
10+: Success
Using a stat gives +1 to the Roll and using a specialization attached to that stat gives an additional +1 for a total of +2 to the Roll.
After the player has rolled he or she together with the GM narrates the outcome. A success simply means that the character succeeded with whatever he or she tried to do. A partial success means the character succeeded but some kind of trouble happened. The character managed to put on the space suit in time but it is running low on oxygen. The character managed to seduce the overseer but the overseer will probably blurt it out during comrade confession. The character managed to get the work schedule of B group from the mainframe but could not conceal her tracks. Whatever it is it is definitely not good.
The result of a Roll can be manipulated by the use of Shadow as detailed below. This is done before establishing the effect of the roll.
The game is played in scenes. Think of it as in movie terms. Each time a player makes a roll he or she crosses out a scene box. If somebody fills out their eighth box the scene is over. All scene boxes are cleared and the GM sets a new scene.
Oxygen: If a scene is set in EVA or using breathers in no atmosphere each Roll crosses out two boxes. Also moving from one zone to another crosses out one scene box.
The stats describe the character, what his or her strengths are. They can affect Rolls as described above. Stats do not say who the character is or how the character will react in any given situation, that is for the player to decide.
There are four different stats, each stat also has two specializations.
The Body stat is used for all Rolls that have to do with bodily or physical challenges. The specializations of Body are: Fight/Shoot and Stealth.
Fight/Shoot is all about violence: Fight is all about close quarters fighting and Shoot is the use of ranged weapons.
Stealth is the art of moving around unnoticed.
The Verve stat is used for most Rolls that deal with social interaction. It shows if the character is smooth in polite company, if the character has report with people but also if he or she can blend in with a group. The specializations of Verve are: Bluff and Manipulate/Seduce.
Bluff is all about the fast talk.
Manipulate/Seduce is the art of making people do what you want. Manipulate is all about knowing which buttons to press to get what you want without giving anything in return. Seduce is all about winning someone's affection.
The Bureaucracy stat is all about navigating the dangerous pitfalls of Pakravitjel's administrative jungle. It is also used when engaging with the computer systems onboard. The specialisations of Bureaucracy are: Contacts/Knowledge and Secrecy.
Contacts/Knowledge is simply the art of knowing how it all goes together and who to talk to. Contacts is rolled for when you really need a contact to be at a certain place or that the guard that just noticed your illegal entry in the hydroponic garden to be your old friend Vladyslav. Knowledge is a deeper knowing of who is who on Pakravitjel, how the bureaucracy works and covers all shades of legality and all levels.
Secrecy is the heart of Bureaucracy and also closely tied to the use of the Pakravitjel’s computer systems. It is the art of hiding the increased heating costs of Hab module 3 due to deficient insulation in the educational budget. It is the ability to funnel small amounts from thirteen different projects to fuel your own investigations. It is about hacking the mainframe and putting the blame on Igor Vassiljovich in Hydroponics.
The Faith stat is all about the Church of the Icons of our Holy Lord. It covers knowledge of church politics as well as standards of religious practice. It covers the knowledge of everything from who holds evening mass to who might be in possession of apocryphal texts. The specialisation of Faith are: Admin/Contacts and Blackmail.
Admin/Contacts is simply the deeper art of knowing how the church goes together and who lords over which domain. Admin is knowing who is who in church administration and which Holy Book of Icons passages can be quoted to your own advantage. Contacts is rolled for when you really need a contact to be at a certain place or that the brother-chaplain taking your scorned lover’s comrade confession is your poker buddy Aleksina.
Blackmail is the humble art of using the whispered rumors inevitably leaking out from comrade confessions. No one tells the truth to the brother-chaplains but if you put the omitted details together a picture forms.
The characters belong to the lowest echelons of Pakravitjel:
The Monastronaut corps only accept those who are in their prime; both physical and religiously as only the worthy may pilot the Church’s space ships. But even that illustrious crowd has its alphas and its omegas.
Required stat: Body
Pakravitjel Hierarchy:
Ravnykh - Senior Brotherpilot - Junior Brotherpilot - EVA-Brother/Testing-Brother/Maintenance-Brother
The vacuumtoilets do not clean themselves. That and a thousand other menial tasks are for Pakravitjel’s unfortunate to do. Unless they manage to climb above.
Required stat: Bureaucracy
Pakravitjel Hierarchy:
Senior Director - Function Director - Specialist - Team Leader - Menial/Rabotnik/Penance-taker/Gardner
The members of the clergy vary from the truly religious to the power hungry lampreys found at any concentration of power. And where power subsides some end up on top and others below.
Required stat: Faith
Pakravitjel Hierarchy:
Synod Brother - Father - Deacon - Brother-Chaplain/Religious-Comrade/Brother-Missionary
The researchers on Parkavitjel all come out of the Icons of Our Holy Lord’s best colleges and universities. They know how to balance curiosity with wariness of the long grasp of the Religious Commissariat. Yet, in the presence of humanity’s largest conundrum, some forget to keep a low profile letting others ascend the ladder of scientific primacy.
Required stat: Verve
Pakravitjel Hierarchy: Department director - Senior researcher - Assistant researcher - Researcher/Technician/Programmer/Professional
On board Pakravitjel life is hard with religion the only sanctioned exception from the drudgery of life. This would have been hard enough but there is a shadow looming over it all that no amount of votive candles can keep abay. Only spoken of in hushed tones it is referred to as the Shadow as it is believed to be the reason for the so far statistically improbable amount of suicides and psychotic episodes among the crew. Some say it emanates from the Angel. Others say the Religious Commissariat are to blame.
Every time a player fails a roll he or she can choose to succeed instead by crossing a shadow box. Also instead of crossing out the last scene box and thereby ending the scene a player can cross a shadow box.
Each crossed shadow box gives a cumulative -1 on Rolls.
Refresh: Between each scene players can have a flashback scene describing something hard their character has had to do to cover up their dark secret. This clears the character’s shadow but can only be done once per player per session.
Few living on Pakravitjel have a clear conscience or a clean record. Each player has to choose a dark secret their character hides. The GM should use this against them.
Examples:
Addict
Atheist
Catholic
Faked aptitude/application test
Queer
Sleeper agent
Prison escapee
Arkhip Boleslav does not show up for evening mass. He is a relative to one character and owes substantial credits to the rest. His cell is empty but his hearing aid, which he never leaves, lies unused on his cot.
Timofey Matbed, the rabotnik mobster in charge of moonshine production, has heard rumors of successes in the Signal/Interference-project. Now he wants the characters to find out more, or suffer consequences.
Oksana Agafya approaches the characters. She has heard that they might have contacts with the underground paper Pakravitjel Pravda. She has disturbing news that should be distributed.
Rumors abound that the latest resupply ship is off schedule. Yelena Marfa offers the characters a cut if they help her hide a pallet of canned beans.