FREE/FALL: 2048

Public Playtest Primer // v6.0

1. THE PITCH

The climate changed, the Mediterranean died, and Europe walled itself off. Beyond humanity's cradle, the cold space does not care.

It is 2048. Humanity is caught between the suffocating heat of the Gravity Well and the freezing vacuum of the Void.

You are a deniable asset. You are a mercenary operator working the shadows of a fractured solar system. From the vertical slums of the dam-city Al Presa to the rusting orbital platforms of the Belt, you take the jobs too dirty, too dangerous, or too illegal for corporate militaries.

You are not defined by a character level or a hero's journey. You are defined by your Gear, your Augmentations, and your willingness to bleed.

In FREE/FALL, capability is bought, spliced, or installed. But power is never free. Every piece of chrome, every high-grade weapon, and every jagged line of code you carry extracts a toll on your body and mind.

The question isn't just can you survive the job. It's what will be left of you when the job is done.

2. THE WORLD: A BRUTAL DUALITY

The Gravity Well (Ecopunk)

Earth is a testament to survival amidst collapse. The Mediterranean is a stagnant, algae-choked graveyard trapped behind the massive Gibraltar Dam. Fortress Europe guards its borders with automated lethal indifference.

  • The Vibe: Heat, humidity, biological decay, repurposed trash (Bricolage), scarcity, and the desperate hustle of millions trying not to fall.

The Void (Cyberpunk)

Break orbit, and the struggle shifts. Space is the domain of the Megacorps and the Block Nations. Orbital stations rotate under corporate flags, housing sterilized labs and overworked indenture-contractors.

  • The Vibe: Cold, vacuum, radiation, hard recycled air, blinding neon, corporate sterility vs. industrial rust, and the terrifying silence of the black.

3. HOW TO PLAY: THE CORE SYSTEMS

FREE/FALL is a cinematic tactical RPG built on resource management and consequences. You don't just roll dice; you manage your own degradation.

Power Has a Cost: Attribute Binding

In most games, armor makes you tougher. In FREE/FALL, armor makes you heavier.

  • The Rule: Your character has three core attributes—BODY, MIND, and GHOST.

  • The Twist: To use powerful gear, you must BIND these attributes. Wearing powered armor might "Bind 2 Body." Running a military-grade ice-breaker program might "Bind 3 Mind."

  • The Consequence: While that gear is active, your maximum pool for that attribute is reduced. You are literally trading your physical and mental "bandwidth" for mechanical power.

The Roll: The Dice Pool

When you act, you roll a pool of d20s.

  • Success: You are looking for dice that hit the Target Number (TN).

  • Harm: As you take damage, you lose dice. The more hurt you are, the less capable you become.

Survival: The Sacrifice

When you take a hit—whether it’s a bullet, a neural spike, or blackmail—you face a choice. You can't just lose HP. You must choose how you survive:

  1. Take the Trauma: Fill a Harm Slot and lose dice from your pool immediately.

  2. Bear the Scar: Accept a permanent narrative injury to stay in the fight.

  3. Break the Gear: Sacrifice a piece of Bound gear to negate the harm. Let the armor shatter so you don't have to. Let the cyber-eye burn out to save your brain.

4. THE THREAT: THESEUS

Looming behind the corporate wars is the THESEUS Foundation. Born from the ashes of the Copenhagen Incident (2037)—a catastrophic failure of AI containment—Theseus is the terrifying, bureaucratic shield against the "Post-Human Threat."

They are the boogeymen. They are the cleaners. And sometimes, if you're unlucky, they are your employers.

5. MISSION BRIEF: "NORTHERN LIGHTS"

Incoming Encrypted Transmission...

SOURCE:

$$REDACTED$$

// PROTOCOL: BLACK TARGET: Transport Vessel Njord's Whisper, drifting near the Jovian Trojan belts.

OBJECTIVE:

  1. Board the vessel.

  2. Extract hard-line data logs regarding the "QNA" (Quantum Neural Array).

  3. Purge the QNA unit. Total neutralization.

RISK: Vessel appears dark. Thermal signatures suggest automated defenses active. Crew considered compromised by Class-3 contaminants (AI/Logic Virus).

ROE: No witnesses. The Copenhagen Protocol is in effect. If it thinks, kill it. If it moves, break it.

Welcome to the Edge. Check your seals. Load your software. Bind your armor. Try not to bleed out.