FREE/FALL
Chapter 1: Introduction

A5-1

The Pitch: The climate changed, the Med died, and Europe walled itself off, creating desperate pressure points like the vertical dam city of Al Presa. But humanity's conflicts and ambitions sprawl outwards. Megacorps carve up the solar system, their shadow wars fought with deniable assets on rusting orbital platforms, remote mining colonies, and everywhere in between. You run the shadows, taking jobs too dirty or dangerous for anyone else – specialists defined by your gear, chrome, and willingness to bleed, whether choking on station fumes or Al Presa's smog. Contracts come from fixers, desperate communities, corporate cutouts, or the enigmatic THESEUS Foundation. Navigate shifting objectives, corporate espionage, and unsettling events that hint at forces operating beyond human understanding. Capability is bought, spliced, or installed, but every edge has a price. How far will you fall when everything is on the line?

A Fractured Future

Welcome to 2048. Earth bears the deep scars of environmental collapse. The Mediterranean is a toxic graveyard, Fortress Europe guards its borders with lethal indifference, and cities like Al Presa cling precariously to life, monuments to desperation and resilience. An Ecopunk reality – survival amidst the ruins, resource scarcity driving humanity outwards.

But the struggle doesn't end at the atmosphere. Out in the black, Cyberpunk reigns. Orbital stations rust under corporate flags, asteroid belts teem with wildcat miners and hidden bases, and remote colonies serve as battlegrounds for corporate shadow wars. Technology is ubiquitous, augmentation is commonplace, and information is the deadliest weapon. From the polluted depths near Al Presa to the airless frontiers of the Belt, life is cheap, and survival depends on adaptation, grit, and the crew at your back. Hovering over all are the whispers surrounding advanced AI research and the opaque actions of the THESEUS Foundation, born from the ashes of the Copenhagen Incident.

The Game: High Stakes, High Risk

FREE/FALL is a cinematic tactical sci-fi RPG centered on elite mercenary crews – you – undertaking dangerous, high-stakes operations across this fractured solar system. You are deniable assets, specialists defined less by innate talent and more by the tools you wield and the augmentations fused to your bodies. Gameplay revolves around planning and executing missions, navigating complex social and political landscapes, managing critical resources, and dealing with the brutal consequences of life on the edge.

Capability, Cost, Consequence

Survival in FREE/FALL hinges on managing three core pillars:

1. Attributes (Body, Mind, Ghost): These represent your fundamental capacity – physical resilience (Body), mental acuity (Mind), and social/mental fortitude (Ghost). More importantly, they are finite resource pools. You spend Current Attribute points to push your limits, activate specific abilities, or negate incoming Harm. Managing these resources is survival.

2. Gear & Augmentations: This is where your capability truly lies. Weapons, armor, cybernetics, genhaus mods, and spliced traits grant powerful advantages and define what you can do. Having the right tool IS the skill. But capability comes at a cost. Significant gear imposes Attribute Binding, reducing your available resources and representing the constant physical, neurological, or cognitive strain. Every edge has its price.

3. Specialty: While technology is king, each character possesses a Specialty – an innate talent tied to their Class (Vanguard, Spectre, Wirehead, etc.). The Specialty provides a slight edge, allowing you to attempt specific actions more reliably, even without the perfect gear. It's a spark of inherent knack in a world dominated by chrome and code.

** Action & Resolution:** When the pressure mounts, you'll declare actions and assign dice from your pool (starting at 5d20, potentially reduced by Harm) against a Target Number set by the GM. Success often requires leveraging the right gear, potentially spending Attributes, or risking Harm to even attempt. Successes determine the outcome, from passing the line to critical results.

Harm System: Damage isn't just numbers. Harm – Physical, Psychic, or Compromise – fills one of three shared Harm Slots. Each filled slot reduces your dice pool, hindering your effectiveness. When you suffer Harm, you face difficult choices: take a Temporary setback, make it Permanent with lasting narrative consequences, or Break a vital piece of Bound Gear, sacrificing function to negate the trauma. Consequences are brutal and meaningful.

The Crew: Found Families in the Void

You don't operate alone. Your crew is your lifeline – specialists with complementary skills and gear. Success relies on coordination, shared resource management (including managing each other's Attributes and Harm), and a willingness to sacrifice for the mission... or each other. Bricolage – making do with what's available, whether tech or trust – is key.

The THESEUS Factor: The Unseen Hand

Lurking in the background is the THESEUS Foundation. Publicly mandated by the Copenhagen Protocol to hunt down dangerous AI and rogue tech, their operations are often shrouded in secrecy, their motives inscrutable. They might be your clients, offering lucrative but ethically dubious contracts. They might be an obstacle, their agents appearing unexpectedly. Or they might be something else entirely. Encounters involving advanced (and often illegal) AI, unexplained technological phenomena, or missions demanding absolute secrecy under the Copenhagen Protocol tend to trace back to the foundation. Their true nature and goals remain one of the deepest mysteries in this fractured world.

How far are you willing to go when survival demands sacrifice, capability comes at a cost, and the truth is buried under layers of corporate spin and hidden agendas?

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Example Mission Hook: "Northern Lights"

Transmission Incoming: Encrypted comm-burst received. Decrypting...

Source: Theseus (encrypted signature verified)

Subject: Urgent Operational Directive - Code: NORTHERN LIGHTS

Greetings, Team.

Your established reputation for discreet and effective resolution precedes you. This assignment requires the utmost professionalism and adherence to specific parameters. As the situation evolves, remain alert for potential updates to operational directives.

Client: Unspecified (represented by Theseus)

Objective: Locate and board the transport vessel "Njord's Whisper." The primary objective is to extract all data logs and schematics related to the Quantum Neural Array (QNA) it carries. The secondary objective is to purge and disable the QNA itself post-extraction. Neutralize the crew as necessary to achieve these goals.

Location: Njord's Whisper's last known trajectory indicates a course towards the outer sectors of the Belt. Your navigation system is relaying real-time tracking data. Expect potential defensive countermeasures and hostile resistance.

Parameters:

• Data Acquisition (Primary): The critical objective is to secure complete data logs and schematics about the QNA from Njord's Whisper's systems.
• Asset Neutralization (Secondary): The Quantum Neural Array must be rendered inert after successful data extraction. Purge any remaining onboard data and permanently turn off its core functions. Exercise caution; the stability of this technology during neutralization is unknown.
• Crew Neutralization: Full termination of all Njord's Whisper crew members is authorized to ensure operational security and facilitate unhindered access to data and the QNA. No survivors are permitted.

Copenhagen Protocol (Non-Human Act, Threat Level 3): This operation falls under the Copenhagen Protocol, Level 3, due to the nature of the target asset. This designation mandates absolute adherence to the established guidelines for handling potential near-human intelligence threats, including the "no witnesses" directive. (Reference Info Box below)

Extraction: Once the primary (Data Acquisition) and secondary (Asset Neutralization) objectives are completed, utilize the designated extraction coordinates provided separately. Await silent pickup.

Intel: Initial scans suggest Njord's Whisper is equipped with standard corporate-grade weaponry and likely employs a security detail of at least four to six individuals. Their training level is estimated as moderate. Be advised, this assessment is preliminary, and chatter suggests potential third-party interest in the target vessel – remain vigilant.

Payment: Upon successfully extracting the specified QNA data and confirming the QNA's neutralization, the agreed-upon sum of <a href="https://pelilauta.social/sites/free-fall/redacted\">REDACTED\ credits will be transferred to your designated accounts. Failure to retrieve the primary data will result in significantly reduced compensation, potentially zero. Compensation adjustments based on evolving parameters are subject to Theseus's discretion.

Theseus Out.

End Transmission.

INFO BOX: THE COPENHAGEN PROTOCOL

The Copenhagen Protocol is a publicly acknowledged set of guidelines established by governing bodies and major corporations after the 2037 Incident to address the perceived threat of Non-Human Intelligences (NHIs) and advanced augmented entities posing significant risks.

• Core Principle: When an entity is deemed a critical threat (often by opaque actors like the THESEUS Foundation), a tiered protocol for assessment and elimination is enacted.

• Level 3 Designation: Indicates an assumed high-level threat allowing immediate, decisive, and often lethal action. While the protocol itself is public knowledge, the specifics of Level 3 operations are highly classified, frequently involving "no witnesses" directives to maintain control, prevent panic, and manage information related to potentially dangerous technologies or entities. Elimination of the designated threat takes absolute precedence.

Welcome to Your World: 2048

The year is 2048. Forget the history books your grandparents read; the world has changed, and not for the better. Decades of ignoring the planet's warnings have taken their toll. Earth is scarred, and humanity is scrambling to survive in the pieces left behind.

Earth: A Broken Home

Imagine a planet gasping for breath. That's Earth.

The Mediterranean Sea? It's a toxic soup, a graveyard of dead dreams and poisoned waters. Don't go for a swim. Seriously.

Moral and fiscal bankruptcy turned the States into corporate monstrosities. The Corporate States of North America claim to oversee most of the former USA and Mexico and many of the geopolitical chokepoints the USA has historically vied for. And when we say oversee, we mean precisely that. The CSNA is more an army or a police force than a state, one with a corporate committee on top, not the citizens.

Europe decided to play hermit. They call it Fortress Europe, a continent that slammed its doors shut, surrounded by walls, drones, and a lethal "keep out" sign. Getting in is a pipe dream for most; getting out is a one-way trip if you're not one of them. 

And then there are places like Al Presa. Picture a colossal dam, not just holding back water, but with a city clinging to its sheer face – a vertical sprawl of desperation and grit. Al Presa is one of many "pressure points" on Earth, where millions are crammed together, trying to make a life on the edge of disaster. The air might be thick with smog, the water questionable, but it's home to those with nowhere else to go. Life here is challenging, a daily grind in the shadow of the massive structure that keeps the poisoned Med from swallowing everything. You'll find a maze of crowded "Verticals" (neighborhoods stacked on top of each other), the industrial grime of Blackhorn Port (BHP) just offshore, and the eerie, lifeless expanse of the "Dead Pool" to the east, a testament to unchecked pollution.

Al Presa isn't unique. Across the globe, other regions have become lawless, forgotten zones. Think of places like the former New Orleans, now a chaotic, CSNA-patrolled disaster area sometimes called the "Third Orleans." These are wild frontiers on Earth itself, where corporations conduct shady business in the ruins, and survival often means joining a gang or hoping the heavily armed "peacekeepers" don't mistake you for a target.

This is the Ecopunk reality of Earth: making do with scraps, breathing filtered air, and always being aware that the environment is hostile.

Beyond the Blue: The Expanse

But ever restless and greedy, humanity didn't stay put when Earth started to choke. We clawed at the stars, with the megacorporations planting their flags first. The solar system isn't just a frontier; it's their heavily contested playground, their private battlefield.

Out in the cold, unforgiving black, it's a raw Cyberpunk reality.

Rusting orbital stations: Gigantic metal islands tumbling through space, proudly flying corporate colors. They're crammed with overworked employees, desperate traders, and shadows like you, hiding from something or someone.

Asteroid belts teeming with violent activity: Wildcat miners gamble their lives for the next big strike, hidden bases serve as launchpads for deniable ops, and pirates prey on anyone foolish enough to look like an easy mark.

Remote colonies on forgotten moons and godforsaken planetary habitats: Tiny, fragile bubbles of humanity, often caught in the brutal crossfire of corporate shadow wars, their lives worth less than the resources under their feet.

These megacorps are the new empires, and their hunger for resources, technology, and absolute power is insatiable. Their wars aren't declared on news feeds; they're fought in the silence of space and the grimy alleys of off-world settlements by deniable assets—people like you.

Technology: Your Best Friend, Your Worst Enemy

In 2048, technology is as standard as air and just as vital for survival. It’s in the recycled air you (might) breathe, the synthetic food you (might) eat, and, most crucially, it can be woven into your very fiber.

Cybernetics: Swapping out soft flesh and brittle bone for gleaming steel and hyper-efficient circuits is a fashion statement. Need a limb that can punch through steel, eyes that pierce the darkest shadows, or a direct neural link to your favorite killing machine? If you’ve got the creds and the stomach for the surgery, there's an aug for that.

Neurolinks: Why bother with keyboards or screens when you can jack your consciousness directly into computers, networks, or even the sensory feeds of others? Raw and unfiltered information flows like a raging river – if you’re skilled enough to tap the stream and not drown in the data.

Genhaus Mods & Splicing: Machine augmentation not your style? Or do you want to mix and match? Tweaking your DNA for superhuman abilities, or even splicing in desirable traits from the animal kingdom, is a high-risk, high-reward game. Heal like a regenerating beast, see in pitch darkness, or develop other… uniquely marketable talents.

This tech isn't just a tool; it defines what you can do, who you can be. In the shadows, having the right gear, the slickest chrome, or the newest, most unstable augmentation is the skill. But remember, every upgrade, every enhancement, every digital edge comes at a steep price – not just in hard-earned credits, but often in slivers of your body, fragments of your mind, or even the tattered remnants of your soul.

The Powers That Be (And Aren't)

The world stage isn't empty. Several big players, often called the "Block Nations," try to pull the strings. They include powers like Brasilia, a resource-rich Russia, the walled-off European Union (EU), and the major players detailed below. These entities, along with the megacorps, cobbled together the current world order after everything went sideways.

Megacorporations are the undisputed kings of this fractured era, especially off-world. Their logos are branded on the stations, the ships, the gear, and often, the very contracts that dictate your life or death. They command private armies, wield unimaginable resources, and possess a collective moral compass that spins wildly whenever profit is on the line. They are the new global superpowers, and many Earth-bound nations are comfortably in their deep pockets or have become corporate states.

The Corporate States of North America (CSNA): Moral and fiscal bankruptcy turned the old USA into a corporate monstrosity. The CSNA now claims to oversee most of the former USA and Mexico, plus many geopolitical chokepoints the old US vied for. But don't call it a state; it's more an army or a police force with a corporate committee on top, not citizens. Real power isn't in any government building but in the boardrooms of the megacorps that carved up the nation. For the average person? Massive income gaps, a rigid class system, and human rights that only matter if they turn a profit. The CSNA's presence in space is significant, often acting as heavily armed "security" or "marines" for corporate interests, projecting power wherever their parent megacorps have assets.

The People's Republic of China (PRC): China always plays the long game, and its ambition stretches far beyond Earth's gravity well. While the megacorporations squabble over quarterly profits, the PRC operates with a more unified, state-driven agenda in the solar system, mainly under the banner of their ambitious 天龙 (Tianlong) Initiative. Through this project, they boast extensive extraterrestrial operations, from heavily fortified orbital platforms and secretive lunar bases to resource extraction projects throughout the Belt and beyond. Unlike the CSNA's often reactive, corporate-support role, China's space presence, fueled by the 天龙 (Tianlong) Initiative, is driven by a grand national strategy. Their advanced technology, highly disciplined operatives, and fiercely independent objectives make them a formidable and often dangerously unpredictable power. You might cross paths with their state-sponsored enterprises, shadowy intelligence services, or even their elite military units, all relentlessly working towards goals that may or may not align with anyone else's.

Fortress Europe: As mentioned, they're the ultimate isolationists, heavily defended and fiercely insular. They mostly keep to themselves, stewing behind their high-tech walls. However, their economic and technological shadow is long and influential, and they remain a key part of the "Block Nations" that desperately try to maintain some semblance of global order (or at least, an order that primarily benefits them).

The THESEUS Foundation: This is the ultimate wild card, the ghost in the machine. Born from the ashes of the Copenhagen Incident in 2037 (a mysterious and terrifying AI-related event that scared everyone powerful enough to understand it), THESEUS is publicly mandated to hunt down dangerous AI and rogue tech. They operate under the broad, almost limitless powers of the Copenhagen Protocol. The Foundation is generously funded by the big corporations and the Block Nations (like the CSNA, EU, Brazil, Russia, and China– funny how they all agree on this one thing). You might get jobs from them – lucrative, but constantly dripping with strings attached and leaving a universe of unanswered questions. Or you might find them an implacable obstacle, their unnervingly efficient agents appearing whenever advanced technology or bizarre phenomena are involved. Their true motives? That's one of the biggest, darkest mysteries in this fractured, dying world.

Your Place in It All

So, where do you fit into this mess? You're a specialist, a deniable asset, a ghost in the system – a mercenary. You're the one who gets things done when polite society averts its gaze and the corporations need clean hands. You and your crew take the jobs that are too dirty, too dangerous, or too damn secret for anyone else. Your capabilities aren't defined by a fancy diploma or a noble cause; they're forged in the steel of your gear, the gleam of your chrome, and your grim willingness to bleed – whether that's choking on recycled station fumes, navigating the treacherous, crumbling Verticals of Al Presa, or dodging corporate kill-squad bullets in some forgotten asteroid mine.

The objectives will constantly shift, loyalties will be bought and sold, and you'll inevitably uncover inconvenient truths that powerful entities want to keep buried deep. Every piece of cutting-edge tech you strap on, every morally ambiguous contract you take, every bloody line you cross has a cost.

The only real question is: how far are you willing to fall to survive, succeed, or find some sliver of truth in a world auctioned off its soul?