Battlelords of the 23rd Century


Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century is a paper and pencil science fiction role-playing game designed by Lawrence R. Sims and first published in 1990. The game's newest tagline is Roleplaying in a Galaxy at War. The Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century license was later sold by Optimus Design Systems to SSDC, Inc. in September 1999.. In 2017, SSDC granted exclusive rights to produce games set in the Battlelords Universe to 23rd Century Productions, LLC. Subsequently, 23rd Century Productions, LLC. launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the Kickstarter Edition, also known as the Revised Edition, of Battlelords of the 23rd Century.

Setting

Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century is set in the year 2279. The territory of the Galactic Alliance,
spanning several galaxies, is the primary setting for the game. The Galactic Alliance is made up
of twelve races, and is run behind the scenes by huge mega-corporations seeking
to exploit the farthest reaches of space.
Player characters usually assume the role of Battlelords, mercenaries employed by the corporations to
further their business by any means, legal or otherwise. They face various challenges, including rival
mercenaries, Rebels, hostile alien lifeforms on unexplored worlds, and the alien race known as the Arachnids.

Races

There are many alien races in the Battlelords universe, but twelve are presented in the basic rulebook and form the basis for the Galactic Alliance.

Alliance Races

Hostile
The following races are hostile to the Alliance.
Their original homeworld suffered a catastrophe that made it unable to support life, so they colonized new planets. They are fanatically environmentalist, so they trade or raid for all the resources they need. They are rather hypocritical, as they despise other races for abusing their own planets, yet see nothing wrong with polluting, exploiting, or damaging the ecosystems of alien-controlled worlds.
The planet is ruled by a militocracy made up of 26 Clans. Each Clan is ruled by a leader selected from the premier raiders, warlords, and merchants of each Clan. Over them is an annually elected ruler assisted by a council of advisers made up of former rulers. Each Clan has its own military and they compete to see which Clan will bring home the most plunder.
Uncle Ernie seeded the race on Delphix-9 of the Netas Hydri star system in the And-3 galaxy, just as it was declared Alliance space but before it could be settled. When the Alliance first tried to colonize the planet, the Fott initiated a guerrilla war with them. Settlements were under constant siege and a war of attrition began. An Alliance fleet was dispatched to eradicate the Fott from orbit, but Human and Zen ambassadors were able to negotiate a conference that led to the Fott surrendering after signing a treaty. The Alliance set up an agency called the Fott Welfare Administration whose purpose is to educate, house, care for and feed its clients until they are judged able to be fully assimilated into Alliance society.
The Fott resent the Alliance and resist any attempt to govern or control them. They are organized in extended family-based social groups called Kin. Kins will feud with each other but will unite against non-Fott enemies. Fott live in rural agrarian communes in which they own the land and automated machines, subjugated laborers, and domesticated animals farm it for them. The Fott have resisted any attempts to get them to liberate their workforce and have threatened a civil war if the matter is pushed too far.
Fott are omnivores who love to hunt; if an animal is inedible, they will hunt it for sport. Fott display their hunting prowess by either stuffing and mounting the bodies of their prey or making craft items and furniture out of them. These trophies are displayed in their living quarters in a special area called a "den". They collect firearms, preferring gunpowder-based projectile weapons because they require great skill to use and it is easier to recover usable prey after a kill. Some Fott hunters use archaic projectile weapons like crossbows, slingshots, or muskets to make it more challenging.
Fott often find work as mercenaries because it allows them to legally work out their aggressions on outsiders and blow things up while they get paid to do it. Fott mercenaries will often collect and trade trophies like enemy weapons, spent ammo casings or power cores, dud or defused munitions, etc.; they often learn everything they can about the objects they collect. Since Fott are furry, there is an aversion to using flame-throwers or energy weapons.
Ferron is a "Shade World", a cross-dimensional planet in and out of phase with our dimension. As a side-effect of their evolution, the Kizanti have learned to dimensionally "displace" themselves, making themselves invisible and intangible at will. They carry a ritual marker they are attuned to that they leave behind while phasing to help center themselves for the return jump. This can be anything from a "pet rock" to a 1963 Pontiac Tempest.
The Kizanti were originally a primitive race of hunter/gatherers. They were protected by the Shade effect, which hid their world from outsiders. A Phentari expedition to the Karanies system discovered the world when it was in-phase and conquered and enslaved the population. Before they left, they massacred them so they couldn't tell Alliance authorities about their actions - a time called the Great Carnage by the survivors. Afterwards, a survival of the fittest mentality took over the race, which weeds out weak offspring so that only "true" Kizanti can live to pass on their genes. They spend their lives training as warriors and assassins, with little time for leisure activities. They have unknown patrons that provide training and support - probably in exchange for their services.
The Kizanti favor aggressive or provocative clothing that is designed to attract attention. They are adept at many types of weapons, but prefer using ritual high-quality bladed weapons that are covered in richly inlaid engravings. Warriors wear their hair in a short, stiff mohawk to indicate their status. Kizanti assassins have prosthetic earlobes, implanted contact lenses, and wear their hair long so they can pass for Human. Although the Kizanti have no unified racial language and have no indigenous written language, they speak and read a form of Eridani as a common tongue.
The following races are seen as neutral to the Alliance.
The following races are seen as friendly or are seeking Protectorate status.
They are usually loaned out as mercenaries or serve in other races' armies to gain experience, test current or theoretical Tann military doctrines, or learn the doctrines of other races. The Tann sometimes send military advisers or aid to a losing faction in a war or fight on both sides just to test their theories.

Non-Player Races

The Galactic Alliance spans portions of several galaxies, including the Milky Way, Andromeda, Fornax, Spirax, M32, and the Magellanic Clouds. Details of two 'sectors' of the Fornax Galaxy are presented in the planetary atlas supplements, No Man's Land and Hell's Kitchen.

System

Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century features a d100 based system for resolving combat and skill checks.

Character Statistics and Skills

Each character has eight Vital Statistics scores. These are used to calculate the four Secondary Statistics scores. These scores are significantly influenced by the character's race. There are no character classes or character levels in Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century; the system is skill-based, with skills being increased with experience earned. Some races have "matrix abilities" which can also be advanced with character experience, while other races are more suited for physical combat or other occupations.

Growing Up

Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century features a detailed character generation process called I Was Just Growing Up. It not only encompasses the eight Vital Statistics and four Secondary Statistics, which are generated using d100 dice, but allows for determining events from the characters past. These are a mix of good and bad; granting a character several thousand credits worth of equipment or horribly maiming them. They are featured in several tables including a racial specific table and a job specific table which is chosen by the player.

Combat

Combat is resolved through the use of d100 attack rolls and detailed hit location tables; futuristic armor systems and massive critical hits feature prominently. Actions are resolved in half actions and full actions. Each character can perform two half actions or one full action in a 3-second round. These include but are not limited to; aiming, firing a single round, swinging a sword, dying quickly, diving for cover, running, and dying with a lengthy speech.

Other system features

As of 2007, the system does not feature rules for space combat. These rules are planned for forthcoming supplements.
Vehicle rules were added to the system with the publication of Engines of War in 2007.

History

Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century has been published in 6 editions since 1990:
23rd Century Productions, LLC now produces the newest version of the game and distributes the prior versions of the game.

Supplements: Pre-7th Edition

Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century has several supplemental books that further delve into the races and the universe. Some expand on the matrix abilities of the various races or add extra skills, others go into detail behind a race's past and customs. None of these books are required but they expand on the game providing depth, location, and motive for a player to draw upon.
There have also been two modules written for Battlelords of the Twenty-Third century. These modules were written for new players to get the party together and introduce everyone to the life of a mercenary.
The game inspired a collectible card game named Battlelords released in 1995.
SSDC has announced a series of novels and short stories set in the Battlelord's Universe. The first so far is Across the Wounded Galaxy, released in October 2017.