Welcome to Parallax, the spacefaring biopunk roleplaying game, based on the world of the Parallax novels by Lauren Cipollo and Matt Conant!

In Parallax, players build characters who are trying to survive and perhaps even thrive in a system that opposes them from the start. How do you take down the corps that own you when you literally have to keep paying them rent?

Character creation begins with selecting one of twelve unique Variants. Are you a Core Terran, seeking your next cybernetic? Perhaps a Sparker, engineered to live in outer space? Or maybe a Tender, non-sentient customer service robots rewarded when they service their Three Rules. Maybe you want to play a Cygnan, space druids spliced to harvest mechanical energy and feed it back to organic life.

Next, select your Occupation. Peacekeepers are the police and the military combined. Maybe you’re one of the good ones, maybe you’re not. Routers work for corps too, hacking rival corporations for credits and secrets… until they’re caught, tossed off-grid and disavowed. Or maybe you’re a Drifter, and you’re used to being off-grid.

Your corporation (or lack thereof) will determine a lot about you. Your corp isn’t just who you work for. They’re your landlord, your medical provider, your insurance company, transit, communications, entertainment, all in one! Oh, and your lawyer, if you need one. But you won’t need that. Choose with Munitions Nanotech (MiNT) for first looks at the new weaponry, or the Wheel Banking Corp for the best interest rate on that debt you’ve racked up. Or like most, go with Terran Systems, where Every Day You Live, You Win ™.

Dice rolls work in a modified Powered by the Apocalypse system, rolling 2 dice, ranging from d2 to d12, where a 7 or higher will get you… at least some of what you want. Each roll involves a Skill Die, taken from your stats, and a Tool Die, taken from your weapons, your ship, your commlink, or your Reputation, just to name a few.

Your Reputation affects nearly every social roll. So you can do all the charm and espionage you want, but if your corporate Rep drops too low, you’ll find your ID doesn’t get you through that off-planet security checkpoint anymore. So keep your friends and your enemies close.