Characters in SO:C RPG are divided into three spheres: Baseline, Gear and Reach.
- Their Baseline is their physical and mental capabilities as determined by their genetics, education and background.
- Their Gear is equipment, implants and nanotech, both generic and specific to their class.
- Their Reach is their social, political and economic acumen and influence.
All classes are configured differently across there three spheres. The game features 40 character classes with their own distribution across the three spheres. For example, a Mage-Knight wielding terrible nanotech weapons may be very powerful in Gear, whereas an Aristocrat with expansive noblesse connections may have far surpassing Reach. A Martial Artist with decades of training, or an Artist with genius-level skill with his art may boast an exceeding Baseline.
All capability levels are mapped across 6 tiers which make full use of the whole polyhedral dice set. Whether you are using an innate skill, or a tool, or a vehicle, your tier of aptitude not only provides you with better dice, but also with special uses and rotes associated with that capability, that sets you apart from the rest, and provides several unique customisation options, to ensure that no two characters of even the same class are ever the same.
Added to this, is the freeform multi-classing system to make your character even more unique: You can take each of your levels from any class you wish. Combining different classes make your dice pools into a matrix, increasing in dice quality and quantity at the same time, depending on your choice.
The initial game also comes with 60 detailed Colony Worlds, a huge arsenal of gear and vehicles and starships, and an interesting selection of NPCs to liven up your adventures. Influences from dozens of major science-fiction novels and movies are easily discernable to the trained eye.
One of the most exciting potentials of the Solar Ocean: Colonies games is that they can work together. A game can begin in the RPG scale, and a 4X Tabletop Scenario-based session or two can be thrown in between to facilitate large-scale developments. Your RPG characters can be used in the 4X context as Hero Assets, level up there, and gain new capabilities and resources, which can then be ported back into the RPG game.
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