QUICK-START GUIDE

## INTRO

Alta Turre (TTRPG) is a dice-based TTRPG, complete with character stats, backstories, a fully realized environment, and plenty of opportunities for high-stakes RP. While all materials are available for free online, allowing any player or aspiring GM to start up a game of their own, some players may wish to have physical pieces and dice.

### DICE

Alta Turre: Freelancers utilizes the six most common roleplaying game dice. This includes:

* D4
* D6
* D8
* D10
* D12
* D20

While new features that have yet to be released may require the use of a D100 or other similar die, the current edition "Alta Turre: Freelancers" sticks to the dice listed.

### MINIS

Mini figurines are currently not available for Alta Turre: Freelancers, but are in development.

If you wish to create or mod your own minis, be sure that human and bipedal ATAS minis fit within a single tile of your battlemap, while the Peacekeeper Tank should occupy 4x6 tiles.

### MAPS

As the inaugural campaign of Alta Turre: Freelancers progresses, official battlemaps will be released. If you choose to make your own, keep in mind that Alta Turre: Freelancers is considered semi-canon, sharing some NPCs and locations with the Alta Turre videogame, but allowing for battlemaps of locations to be invented as a campaign requires.

### CHARACTER CREATION

Are you ready to build your own Freelancer? Use our handy CHARACTER CREATION GUIDE to walk through the process step-by-step.

## YOUR KIT

Your Kit consists of all of the items you carry with you, be it equipped, or in your backpack.

### EQUIPPED KIT SLOTS

Your equipped Kit slots are separated into four types, each of which able to hold certain items. These are as follows:

* Secondary (S)
	+ Sidearms
	+ Small Melee Implements
* Primary (P)
	+ Shotguns
	+ Carbines
	+ Heavy Rifles
	+ Medium Melee Implements
* Tactical (T)
	+ Precision Rifles
	+ Ordinance
	+ Large Melee Implements
* Equipment (E)
	+ All equipment items, including medical aid and grenades.

A player's equipped Kit slots are treated as though they are secured to the outside of their ensemble, ready for use.

### Backpack Slots

You backpack contains all of the items you carry with you that you aren't wearing, and don't have assigned to an equipped Kit slot. Each backpack has a capacity. Every item will list its storage size in its stat block. When adding an item to your backpack, be sure to keep track of the capacity you're using. The standard backpack comes with a capacity of 20. You may not exceed this capacity, even if you have not filled all ten backpack slots.

### Armor and Apparel

Your Armor and Apparel are what you wear, many of these items coming with special effects. A complete list of these items may be found [HERE].

### Biomech Slots

Your Biomech slots are your implants. Each slot may contain 1 Biomech component, not counting basic Optical Implants and your Link. A complete list of Biomech components may be found [HERE].

When seeking to implant new Biomech components, there are some costs that must be considered.

* Component Prices
	+ Biomech components come at a variety of price points, based on their complexity and rarity. Each component's stat block will list the MSRP for the given component. Used components may typically be sold at 50% to 80% of their original value.

* Biomech Surgical Rates
	+ A Biomech Clinic will charge an amount to install components, in addition to the cost of the components themselves. This amount varies by the complexity of the procedure required.
		- Light component installs, such as upgraded optical implants or simple grafts, typically cost around 1500 WECs to install.
		- More intensive installs, such as limb replacements or organ replacements, typically cost around 4000 WECs to install, as nerve endings need to be mapped and routed for the proper function of the new Biomech component.
		- Significantly intensive installs, such as full subdermal sheaths, typically cost around 8000 WECs to install, as this procedure must be performed with extreme care to prevent full rejection of the component.

* Immunosuppressants
	+ As a Biomech component becomes more intrusive to the body, immunosuppressants may become necessary to prevent the immune system from rejecting the component. If a Biomech requires immunosuppressants, the amount required will be listed on the item's stat block in the form of doses required per deployment. Doses of immunosuppressants may be purchased from Biomech Clinics for around 800 WECs per dose, but also may be discoverable throughout the city.

In addition to standard Biomech components that must be installed by a technician, you may find the opportunity to install a Neuro Dock. Neuro Docks are components that allow for the modular attaching and detaching of suitable Biomech parts, the dock itself being grafted into your body's nervous system and then interfacing with the component. As a player with a Neuro Dock establishes a collection of matching components, they may swap these out when visiting their base of operations, without the need for a technician. The immunosuppressant cost of items attached to a Neuro Dock is negated.

## BASICS OF GAMEPLAY

Throughout a campaign of Alta Turre: Freelancers, you will find that it's easy to delineate gameplay into four categories. Let's approach each of these one at a time.

### Exploration

Sometimes, you won't have an immediate objective at hand. In these moments, it's time to get out and explore the city. This section of gameplay is typically a blend of skill checks and roleplay, situations arising as you seek out whatever your heart desires and interact with NPCs along the way. Exploration is the lowest-stakes gameplay on its own, but it serves to bridge the moments between other types of gameplay.

### Conversation

Conversation is crucial. You'll need to rely just as much on your skills as a player as you will on your Freelancer's attributes. While a strong REP or STL roll can be helpful, choosing to say the right things or ask the right questions can be even more important. Get into the head of your Freelancer, try to live in their shoes and act as they would. A GM will typically reward strong conversational skills, even if your rolls are mediocre.

### Investigation

The big city is a cold mistress, her heart infested with a parasitic swarm of deception and greed. You'll often be called upon to flex your skills as a detective. While this may sometimes take the form of conversation, it often also includes examining locations and physical evidence. Remember to check every nook and cranny, lift every rug, tap every drawer for false bottoms. Sometimes a crucial piece of information is inches away from you, just out of sight. This type of gameplay tends to be similarly roll-heavy to combat, but allows you to take your time in ways that combat or conversation might not. Be thorough, and be clever.

### Combat

Combat may be the most complex type of gameplay in Alta Turre: Freelancers. It certainly has the most rules. When in combat, your movement and actions are all regulated in order to keep track of who's acting and in what order.

#### Kick-Off

Any combat encounter begins when the action kicks-off. At the moment of kick off, the turn order will be decided. If you began combat by surprising an enemy, you get one turn before combat properly begins.

To determine the turn order, every player and NPC involved in combat will roll a D20, using their RFX modifier to adjust their roll. The highest number goes first, turns following in descending order by how high each involved party rolled. If there's a tie in the kick-off, those who tied will roll once again without any modifiers to determine where they land.

For example, let's say that there are 5 people, A, B, C, D, and E, involved in combat. The rolls were as follows.

* A - 19
* B - 16
* C - 16
* D - 14
* E - 9

In this instance, B and C would roll against one another. If B rolls a 6 and C rolls a 20, the turn order would be: A, C, B, D, E.

#### Anatomy of a Turn

A Freelancer's turn will consist of an opening phase, followed by their main phase, followed by a closing phase.

##### Opening Phase

In the opening phase, any effects that were supposed to trigger or wear off at the start of this player's turn do so. Some special abilities may be used as a part of this phase, as per the abilities' descriptions.

##### Main Phase

A Freelancer's main phase typically consists of 3 actions. The following options may be chosen, each consuming 1 action.

* Move
	+ A Freelancer's default movement range is 30 feet, or six 5 foot tiles of a battlemap. Some abilities may increase or decrease this.
* Transition Cover
	+ If beginning an action in the In-Cover condition, a Freelancer may use an action to transition to another piece of cover within their movement range. Moving in this fashion prevents any enemies from triggering abilities on that Freelancer that would be triggered by standard movement.
* Attack
	+ Attacking includes the use of a firearm, the use of a melee weapon, or the deployment of a Crack.
* Use Equipment
	+ Any equipment item may be used as a main-phase action.
* Transition Weapons
	+ While transitioning from one equipped weapon to another is typically a bonus action, you may do the same at the cost of one action if a bonus action is not available.
* Re-Fit
	+ Re-fitting is the act of transferring one piece of equipped kit to your backpack, with the option of replacing it with an item that may fill the same slot. Re-fitting will consume 2 actions.
* Stock an Evasion Token
	+ Evasion tokens may be used as a reaction. This means they may be redeemed while not on your turn whenever you become the target of an enemy. Redeeming a token will grant you +5 to your Evasiveness for the duration of the turn on which you activated the token. You must declare the use of a token BEFORE the enemy targeting you rolls chance-to-hit. Unless otherwise stated by your subclass abilities, you may only stock 1 evasion token at a time.
* Stock a Prepared Attack
	+ A Prepared Attack may be stocked as the last action of your main phase. This allows a player to steady their weapon and prepare to fire upon a location as a reaction to an enemy entering said location. The size of the intended location is typically a 3x3 tile square, but a GM may increase or decrease the size of this zone as a situation demands. If a player performs this action with a melee weapon, they must be within or adjacent to the intended strike zone. A Prepared Attack expires in the opening phase of the player who stocked it, regardless of whether it has been used or not. This ability requires line of sight to the intended location, or the use of an item granting sight comparable to line of sight. A successful Prepared Attack is guaranteed to hit, regardless of the evasiveness of the target.
* Stock a Prepared Action.
	+ You may reserve one action from your turn to use at a later time in a turn-rotation. If you have not used this action by your next opening phase, it decays. A Prepared Action may be used either as a reaction to being targeted, or as a stimulus agreed upon at the time of stocking this action.

Some equipment or abilities may state that they are used as a "bonus action." This indicates that the equipment item or ability may be used at any point in your main phase in addition to your three actions. Only one bonus action may be taken per turn.

##### Closing Phase

In the closing phase, any effects that were supposed to trigger or wear off at the end of this player's turn do so. Some special abilities may be used as a part of this phase, as per the abilities' descriptions.

#### Attacks and Damage

While Cracks state their effects in their description, firearms and melee weapons each operate on their own set of rules.

##### Firearms

Firearms may be used at any range, so long as you have line-of-sight to your target.

When attacking with a firearm, you must first roll chance-to-hit, which is performed by rolling a D20 and adding your Finesse or Brawn modifier, as specified by a weapon's "scaling." In order to hit, your chance-to-hit roll must exceed a target's evasiveness. If this roll exceeds a weapon's critical threshold, and the target is within that weapon's effective range, a critical hit occurs. Critical hits multiply the damage of an attack by 2.

Once you've landed a hit, you then roll the burst die specified in a weapon's stat block. This roll roughly represents how many shots in a string of fire connect with the target.

Once you have this number, you multiply it by the multiplier of the weapon's category. These multipliers are as follows:

* Sidearms
	+ x1
* Shotguns
	+ x2
* Carbines
	+ x2
* Heavy Rifles
	+ x4
* Precision Rifles
	+ x8
* Ordinance
	+ Ordinance damage is calculated per-item, with no added multiplier.

You now have your final damage output. Your GM will let you know if the damage was mitigated by armor, and how much damage was applied to the target. If your chance-to-hit roll with your appropriate modifier exceeds the critical threshold of your weapon, this is considered a critical hit, and will double your final damage number.

If you are directly adjacent to an enemy when firing, and you are using a firearm without a minimum effective range, you may deal maximum damage. This is calculated as a critical hit with the maximum possible roll on your burst die. Firearms with a minimum effective range are guaranteed to hit in this circumstance, but will not receive the benefit of maximum possible damage being guaranteed.

##### Melee Weapons

Melee weapons must be used while in a tile adjacent to your target, including diagonally adjacent tiles. Melee weapons do not require a chance-to-hit roll, as you are within arms reach of your target. Instead, a D20 is rolled, adding your Finesse modifier to see if you exceed a melee weapon's critical threshold.

Damage is calculated by rolling a melee weapon's flurry die, this number roughly representing the number of strikes in a flurry of melee attacks. Once you have this roll, it will be multiplied by the multiplier of each melee weapon's category. These multipliers are as follows:

* Small Implements
	+ x2
* Medium Implements
	+ X4
* Large Implements
	+ X6

If you did not exceed the melee weapon's critical threshold, this will be your final damage output. If you did, multiply this number by 2.

##### Damage Types

Most weapons will deal damage as one or more of several damage types, each with some special conditions. A full list of damage types can be found [HERE].

##### Weapon Effects

Some weapons will have special effects listed in their stat block that may affect their damage, or apply additional effects. A full list of weapon effects can be found [HERE].

### Conditions

At times you may find yourself under a condition, or you may inflict an enemy with a condition. Not all conditions are bad, but many have negative effects. A full list of conditions may be found [HERE].

### Leveling Up

Leveling up is handled by milestones, players needing to make significant character or narrative progress to gain a level, rather than basing level on XP. When a Freelancer levels up, they gain a few important boosts. For each level:

* Gain HP. Your maximum HP will be increased based on your class.
	+ Mercs gain 20 HP per level.
	+ Information Vendors gain 15 HP per level.
	+ Cryptechs gain 10 HP per level.
* Gain Attribute points. Each level brings 3 Attribute Points to be distributed as you see fit. Be sure to keep an eye on your modifiers, increasing them if your Attribute score demands it.
* Gain Skill points. Each level brings 2 Skill Points. These may be invested in current skills, or in new skills, as you see fit.
* Gain Proficiency points. Each level brings 1 Proficiency point. This may be used to gain an additional proficiency, should you have the capacity to do so, or increase your level in a Proficiency you currently have. You may also expend a Proficiency point to reassign a proficiency slot to a different Proficiency, though this will reduce your level in that slot by half (divide by two, round up).
	+ At Level 1, you may slot up to 3 Proficiencies.
	+ At Level 5, you may slot up to 4 Proficiencies.
	+ At Level 10, you may slot up to 5 Proficiencies.
* Gain Crack slots. If your class allows it, gain 1 slot in each Tier of Crack.
* Gain Crack charges. Each level increases your Crack Charges by 1.

### Encryption

Some systems may be Encrypted, preventing access to them without somehow handling the Encryption. There are two methods of handling Encryption, Hacking and Breaking.

#### Hacking

Hacking an Encrypted system is performed with a simple TEC check. A GM will determine the difficulty of this check as the situation requires. If in combat, a Hack costs one action to initiate, but it may not always succeed or fail within the same action. A Hack in progress does not require contact or focus with the access point of the Hack. Failed Hacks will commonly trigger alarm systems, as this is an inelegant method of handling Encryption.

#### Breaking

Breaking Encryption is a far more elegant process, requiring the use of a Net-Piercer or Terminal Lounger. The difficulty of an attempt to Break Encryption is determined by two factors, being the number of layers of Encryption, and the difficulty of each layer.

* Each layer of Encryption must be broken one at a time. Layers are typically broken by succeeding on a TEC check, but may require solving a puzzle in rare circumstances. The deeper you go into an attempt to Break Encryption, the more difficult the check for each layer becomes.
	+ Should a player fail to Break a layer of Encryption, they are returned to the previous layer, having to Break that layer once again. Should a player fail three times to succeed in Breaking a layer of Encryption within the same attempt, or should they be rejected from the system entirely by failing to break the most surface layer, alarms will typically sound. This may alert Cryptechs on the network, alert enemies in the vicinity, or summon some measure of ICE or AI.

### Cryptech Combat

In some occasions, two Cryptechs will go head-to-head on the net. Each Cryptech will have a selection of main-phase actions available to them.

* Deploy Cracks
	+ An action may be used to deploy a Crack either offensively or defensively.
* Purge
	+ A Cryptech may attempt to Purge their rival from a system during a head-to-head encounter. This is executed by performing an opposed TEC roll. The defending Cryptech attempting to avoid being Purged gains +5 to their check.
* Deploy Encryption
	+ A Cryptech may deploy a number of layers of Encryption between themselves and an opponent. Each layer deployed costs 1 action. The difficulty of a layer of Encryption is set by a TEC roll from the Cryptech deploying the Encryption. When deploying multiple layers of Encryption at once, each layer of Encryption beyond the first gains an additional +1 to its difficulty.
		- For example, deploying two layers grants the second layer +1, while deploying three layers grants the second layer +1 and the third layer +2
		- Layers of Encryption must be removed before either Cryptech may become a target to the other.