Combat
When you do small skirmishes and adventure type things. How do you intend to stop the same people going on them over and over and ensure everyone gets a fair chance?
This is where A-COM comes in.
For many missions, you’ll have to register who’s going on them before you leave base. Using this register, we’ll track how many times people are going on missions, and can act from there, prioritising people who’ve been able to do less.
For example, if you’ve been on several combat missions back-to-back and they’ve all been fully subscribed, you’ll be taken aside by an A-COM member and get some enforced downtime so you don’t overwork yourself. If there’s an emergency situation or not enough people to fill a mission, you’ll be allowed to do that even if you’re on break! But you won’t be a priority to get onto missions for a little while.
It will of course be handled on a case-by-case basis; we don’t want to punish you and stop you going on a mission from a plotline you’re super invested in, but we will absolutely be making sure the less you’ve been able to do things, the more likely you’ll be able to get onto an oversubscribed mission.
How is ranged vs melee combat going to be balanced in the field?
We will always try to include a mix of ranged and melee combat, but we will also have encounters focusing more on either one – for example, an encounter where your guns are jammed due to interference and you have to rely on melee weapons, which creates Engineering game to work around the effect in addition to the base combat scenario.
We want both kinds of combat (and the way that they mix together) to be fun and varied rather than balanced per se. Balance in combat depends as much on what players bring and how they approach the scenario as it does on the crew – so we want to focus on fun ways to get engaged instead of chasing balance!
Is it just Nerf Darts, or are Nerf Balls allowed as well?
Any blasters that are compatible with Nerf Elite Darts, Rival Rounds, or Mega Rounds are usable at this game.
You must provide your own ammo. We will cycle this back to the players during the event, and you’ll be able to pick up what you’re missing at the end of the event.
Are there going to be situations where melee combat is more useful, or is it just a last resort?
There will always be situations where one combat style is more helpful than another, and where a group will have to use both to succeed.
How lethal is the game?
We are aiming for high risk, low lethality. The number of ways your characters can be dangerously incapacitated is quite high, but involuntary permadeath is much harder (although not impossible). (There may well be consequences depending on how your life is saved, however…). Combat-facing roles will naturally be more dangerous but battle is not the only way to lose your character.
As well as dying, characters can be permanently, involuntarily retired in other ways. For serious crimes they may be arrested by ACOM and sent back to Alliance-space for trial; this is a one-way trip and your character can be considered “as dead” in these cases.
Players may retire characters at any time but aren’t restricted to one active character. The plan is that you can alternate or rotate between different characters between events. We hope this frees you up to experiment and try new things without feeling locked into a certain character or playing a certain way. Rulings on how to avoid this being gamed for unfair advantages will follow in due course.
Is there a chance of characters being left behind on a mission/linear?
Not a very high chance. On the off chance you are left on a mission, at 0 HP, and for some reason the Emergency Teleporter can’t be used, we’ll talk through options with you based on the encounter. Unles you want that to be the end of your character, we’ll figure out a way for you to return, whether that’s prompting a rescue mission, an ally/enemy finding you and keeping you alive, or something else.
In most situations, you can immediately leave an encounter and return to base by using the Emergency Teleporter: put your fist to your chest, and you instantly teleport out.
If you are under fire, Should you be recoiling from the gunfire while roeplaying the damage. Do some weapons KNOCK you back by force of the blast?
There are no specific rules or calls for this beyond roleplaying your hits! Feel free to have fun with this one, and remember that cool roleplay improves the game for all. Think pro-wrestling, not reenactment.
Crew will be briefed to react to what the players are using for combat, and we expect players to do the same.
Is pistol whipping allowed? (Obviously just a stage-hit)
Provisionally yes, we will allow careful stage fighting between friends.
- Only do stage-fighting with people you personally are friends with and who you have discussed this with before hand.
- You do so at your own risk. If we get an unacceptable amount of injuries from this, we will ban it outright.
- Just because you see other people doing it, this does not give you an invitation to copy them or join in.
- You must be aware of your surroundings, both other people and hazards.
- THUMBS DOWN from either party means STOP IMMEDIATELY.
PPE with Nerf fighting?
We really recommend eye protection – that’s any form of glasses. Workshop goggles, spectacles, aviators, cyberpunk visors, anything!
It’s not compulsory as we limit the FPS of blasters to a toy level, but it’s still a very good idea.
Research
Will there be buildable projects both on and off the Ardent?
Yes there will be!
The first obvious one is the Cloner – a device that will create clones of crew members in the unfortunate event that they die on a mission.
More projects will become available during the game from the first event, from short-term plot tasks to longer-term ship upgrades.
What about new tech and equipment?
If you want new equipment, we advise seeking out trades during the game with NPCs.
Having a freeform item research mechanic is extremely ref intensive, and can easily lead to disappointment or years-long tasks for a small payoff. Instead, we want to focus on plot-relevant research, so we can pre-write activities and focus on roleplay and engagement with the story of the game.
You will find new alien technology in the game that you need to experiment with to learn how to use and replicate, and alien Samples to study in the lab.
Leadership
Are the top tier of the hierarchy all going to be NPC’s? Or playable?
The very top tier is the Captain and Command Staff within A-COM, but they will remain on the ship for the majority of the game, only appearing to give out critial information. The A-COM Administrators will be with you in the base to help with mechanics queries, but they are enablers, not leaders.
Each of the four playable Divisions are led by a player hierarchy, not NPCs. We’re intending to promote players into these roles on a temporary basis during the game, with the goal to rotate who’s leading each division over time to allow more people to get to try out that role. These roles may temporarily be filled by NPCs while everyone settles in at the first event!
Is there acknowledgement of hierarchy expected or required?
(e.g., saluting or standing to attention when A-COM or Head of Division characters are present)
The short answer is no – the Ardent isn’t a military mission, and the crew aren’t beholden to military codes of conduct. A-COM are in charge as far as the spaceship goes, but they have the same authority as player characters (with the exception of the Captain and Command Staff).
With that being said, members of MATTOCK do have a bit more of that military-style discipline as a security team, and you might find it appropriate or interesting to roleplay that via salutes and standing to attention.
We are also drawing up some in-game recommended rules of engagement if combat-facing players would find that useful!
Physreps and Trade
Will there be phys reps of currency (Credits) and will they therefore be interchangeable between players for goods and services?
Yes there will be!
We are currently putting the final touches on the design for our currency, and then we’ll be getting it modelled and 3D printed!
The goal has been to get samples produced before we release the design, but we’re aware people need to know what they look like for designing things like trading price lists. I’ll commit here to getting at minimum some illustrated samples out this month (June 2025).
We will get the chance to both sell income resources and buy some from the ship’s commissary.
Will the prices of that stay stable throughout the event (regardless of demand) and will there be a set quantity we know we can get per event? Or will there be an option for a more expensive “emergency resupply”?
The answer is yes! All the items you see on the Starting Loadout section of character creation are purchasable in game, for the listed prices. You’ll also be able to sell them back to the ship for a set percentage of their original price (it will always be more profitable to sell them to other players instead of the ship to encourage player-to-player trade).
Resources are a slightly different matter (including those you gain from any Personal Income). Most of them will be available from the ship’s shop, but their price is not guaranteed. This will change based on availability and demand, and if the ship has a low stock of any resource, it’ll trigger plot pieces to encourage players to seek out a bulk supplier to restock the ship’s supplies. For the Planet Survery Personal Resource specifically, you may get resources that the ship doesn’t have in stock, but you don’t know what you’re going to get until you pick up your player pack at the event!
How will power cells be physrepped?
We’re still debating this, but like currency, we’ll get something out before the event. We’ve got to make sure they’re cheap to produce and easy to attach to all the items they’re needed for!
Is there any in game Ethical or Moral reason why you cant Gamble your credits, if someone comes up with a coolthentic futuresports game?
Gambling is ok; some planet backgrounds even have it written in. We won’t stop you gambling but there absolutely are unethical ways to gamble and it’ll be up to you to find out the limits.
If you can design or customise an existing game or sport, even better!
General
Will Refs be wearing any particular costume to denote them as a Ref that lets them blend in with the game?
Absolutely yes! It’s why we have A-COM with their white costume accents. This will not be Hi Vis jackets – though we won’t yet rule out using Hi Vis for safety crew.
We’re still producing the ref outfits, but they are intended to fully blend in with the game while being obvious the person is a ref. We’ll get examples posted online before the event.
Rule of cool?
Rule of cool!