by RockyMountainNavy, 8 May 2025
September 13, 1999. Alternately called “Breakaway Day” or “Last Moonrise,” this is day the Moon was blasted out of Earth’s orbit by a massive explosion of nuclear waste dumps on the Far Side. Do you ever wonder what happened to the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha?
If you have no idea what I am talking about then you may not be familiar with the 1970’s television series Space: 1999. If you know of what I speak they you likely are happy to hear that Mōdiphiüs Entertainment, in collaboration with Anderson Entertainment, is releasing Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game. The Space: 1999 RPG occupies an interesting…space in the pantheon of current RPG releases; the game is certainly a fan service product that will make any Space: 1999 fan happy as it is a true homage to the series.
As an RPG, however, the game appears aimed at non-RPG players. This means the implementation of the core game system, based on Modiphiüs’ 2D20 System, is somewhat simplistic. Further, like the episodic nature of the Space: 1999 TV series, the Space: 1999 RPG is perhaps best suited for episodic adventures and not story arc campaigning.
This is how Mōdiphiüs Entertainment describes the Space: 1999 TV series:
Space: 1999 is a live-action science fiction series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It ran for two seasons between 1975 and 1977, and offered a vision of humanity in the ‘far future’ of the year 1999…The story chronicles the adventures of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha as they encounter a strange and sometimes hostile universe. Their story is one of survival, exploration and wonder as they travel into the frontier of space in search of a new home. (p. 9)
In turn, Mōdiphiüs entices you into their RPG setting this way:
Moonbase Alpha needs your help. With the new Space: 1999 Tabletop Roleplaying Game core rule book you and friends can join the crew of Moonbase Alpha on their missions of exploration. Share their journey into the infinite frontiers of space and time.
Homage
Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game core rulebook is a 300-page product currently available in digital form with hardcover arriving soon. Let me be clear up front about the quality of the art in the book; it is simply gorgeous. Mōdiphiüs took full advantage of sponsorship from Anderson Entertainment and the resulting access to art, graphics, and images. From the signature front piece to the many interior illustrations, Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game is a beautiful homage to the series.
CGA – Characters, Game engine, Adventure potential
When I look at any roleplaying game, and especially an RPG like Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game based on a well-known IP, I look at three factors: Characters, Game Engine, and Adventure Potential. For Characters I look to see if the character generation system creates characters I see as credible in the setting. I evaluate the Game Engine to see what sort of gameplay it supports and if that gameplay is in keeping with the “style” of the IP. Further, I look at Adventure Potential to see what sort of adventures the game creates and if those are relatable to the original IP.
For the Space: 1999 RPG I believe the core rules make credible, if a bit underwhelming, characters. The Game Engine for the Space: 1999 RPG, being seemingly designed for neophyte RPG players to use, focuses on action with only a few narrative elements. Lastly, in terms of Adventure Potential, the Space: 1999 RPG seemingly is hesitant to fully embrace any particular style of adventuring meaning the Gamemaster and players are just as likely to bounce from cerebral stories to action or monster-of-the-week plots just as much as the more cerebral Season 1 differed from the more action-oriented Season 2 of the TV series.
Reading the introduction to the Space: 1999 RPG gives the sense that this game is targeted at new RPG players or groups that only lightly dabble in the genre. For example, the seemingly obligatory “New to Roleplaying?” chapter ends this way:
Who wins? You all do. All that matters is that everyone has fun and enjoys playing the game.
So, if it’s easy, why the big book? Well, to make characters and adventures, you are going to need some detail. What sort of characters fit the game? What can they do? Who might they meet? This book is packed with everything we can think of to give you every option you need to take your game anywhere you want to go. The book is your guide to help you tell a great story together.
If you want to get playing quickly, you can download the free Quickstart Guide Breakaway from the same place where you found this game. The Quickstart Guide gives you all the basic rules, and a ready-made adventure with characters to play it. Read the basics, pick a character and get playing. Then come back to this book to create more detailed characters and stories of your own. (p. 10)
Buried within this section is a theme that will be carried throughout the book; Mōdiphiüs strongly suggests that players start with the Quickstart Guide that is available for free. [My commentary on the Quickstart Guide, with several themes I will repeat here, is available at my blog.]
To play the Space: 1999 RPG does not take much, as summarized on a single page of the core rulebook.
[Which Comes First – Chargen or Core Game Mechanism?]
[A perennial question that most every RPG core rulebook must deal with is the order of introducing rules. Do you show how to generate characters first or introduce the core game mechanism? In other words, is it possible for players to create characters without understanding the core game mechanisms or should the players have at least a basic understanding of the core game to enable creation of player-characters that will have a reasonable chance of survival in the game? The Space: 1999 RPG answer is to, in effect, split the baby with a two-page spread that gives a single-page summary of the core game mechanism and a summary of the character generation process.]
Everyday Alphans
The character creation system for the Space: 1999 RPG certainly can create characters that seem appropriate to the setting; albeit a bit underwhelming. I am personally fond of RPGs that place generally ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and let them hero their way out of the situation…or not. I think this stems from my initial exposure to RPGs being Classic Traveller. In the Space: 1999 RPG there is this interesting passage on “Are We the Heroes?” found on page 100 that provides insight into the designers thoughts on heroes in RPGs:
Your characters are the protagonists of the story you are going to tell, but that doesn’t mean they are all heroes, at least not yet. As they adventure along the frontiers of space, they are going to be tested and this may well reveal hitherto unseen depths of bravery and resourcefulness, but they don’t have to start that way. In fact, seeing the story of a humble stores clerk who faces down alien attacks and critical threats to Alpha to grow into a hero is a great saga. But, at the same time, if you want to start play as a dynamic pilot, an ace scientist or a fearless commander, that’s also fine. Put simply, it’s up to you to decide if your character is a hero, or if they have the right stuff to become one. (p. 100)
In addition to the Skill-Attitude-Focus-Talents for a character in the Space: 1999 RPG there are two other factors of concern: Spirit and Hope. Spirit substitutes for “hit points” found in many RPGs; when Spirit is exhausted the character is likewise exhausted and needs rest. Spirit can be recovered through a Hope scene where the player-character takes the spotlight to replenish their Spirit. While both Spirit and Hope sound like highly narrative elements of play the rules as written keep their use simple.
The point-buy character generation system of the Space: 1999 RPG will deliver characters to the gaming table that are adventure ready, though in many ways underwhelming. For example, look at the sample character in the core rulebook shown below. There is nothing wrong with this character; it is created fully in keeping with the rules but in some ways is uninspiring to me. In a core rulebook intended to draw players in this seems like a missed opportunity.
Skill With Attitude
This is how Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game explains the 2d20 system:
As you might expect in the 2d20 system, when you attempt an action you roll 2d20 to see if you succeed. So the first thing to do is pick up two d20s and calculate the target number needed. The target number is the sum of the skill that most suits the task and the attitude that most suits the nature of the task. Usually, the Gamemaster decides the skill and the player decides the attitude. But certain situations may predefine the most appropriate attitude.
Each d20 that rolls equal to or less than the target number is considered a success. If you roll a 1, that die counts as two successes (a critical success). If you roll a 20, that die gives you a complication.
Before you roll, the Gamemaster decides the task’s Difficulty (a value ranging from 0–5, but usually at least 1) which is how many successes you need to get to succeed. If you get more successes than you need, you gain Momentum points, one for each success beyond what was required to equal the Difficulty.
If you need help on a test you can spend Momentum points to gain more dice. However, the Gamemaster can spend Threat to aid non-player characters and make the player characters’ actions harder. (p. 137)
Let’s break that down a bit further. Character have Attitudes (rated 4 to 8) and Skills (also rated 4 to 8) which means the target number will usually range from 8 to 16. Character skills may have a Focus, which means any roll made using that skill+focus combination scores a Critical Success (2 successes) on any roll under their Skill level. Traits, Complications, or Assets can increase or decrease the Difficulty Number which itself ranges from 0 “Simple” to 5 “Epic.” A character might also have a Talent that can be brought into play. The Difficulty Number is the number of successes needed.
Using an example from the Breakaway Quickstart Guide, “As the mission begins Akiko (Pilot) should make an Average (D1) Bravery + Flight test to position the survey Eagle in the best place.” Akiko has [Attitude] Bravery 5 and [Skill] Flight 7 for a target number of 12. Rolling 2d20 the results are [18] and [1]; the [18] is a failure but the [1] is a Critical Success (2 successes) meaning Akiko not only passes the test but adds 1 Momentum to the Momentum pool.
Momentum and Threat are the metacurrency of the 2d20 game engine powering the Space: 1999 RPG. Players earn and spend Momentum while the Gamemaster uses Threat. A common use of Momentum and Threat is to buy extra d20s for a test. This is obviously important given more challenging tests will require more successes than 2d20 can deliver meaning one must be very luck (roll [1]’s for Critical Successes) or use the right skill for the Focus bonus or have lots of Traits, Assets, or Talent to bring to bear.
As I explore look at the 2d20 game engine and the Space: 1999 RPG, I sense that the game may be better suited for a lighter Season 2 tone of adventuring rather as compared to the more dark Season 1. Then again, perhaps I am jumping to conclusions too early and need to see if a 2d20-powered Space: 1999 adventure can be its own “Season 3” which finds the balance between the previous two.
Space Adventure Potentials
When it comes to adventuring in the universe of Space: 1999 I am unsure what to really make of the core rulebook. Space: 1999 itself is…complicated when it comes to the stories it told in the two seasons it was on television. The first season was in many ways dark and raised serious questions about what it means to be human. The second season, with a new showrunner, took a lighter tone and became more of an episodic adventure-of-the-week where action dominated. This two-season dichotomy is mentioned, though with less emphasis than I feel the split shows, in the Introduction chapter of the Space: 1999 RPG in the episode guide:
YEAR ONE – Year One involves the beginning of the Alphans’ journey, and tends to feature strange anomalies and mysteries. As well as the usual main characters, it often features Victor Bergman as Moonbase Alpha’s chief scientific advisor.
YEAR TWO – The second season of Space: 1999 featured two new characters: Maya, a shapeshifting alien from the planet Psychon; and Tony Verdeschi, Alpha’s head of security. However, Victor Bergman no longer appears, his character having died in an off-screen accident, according to a deleted sequence in the first episode. Many of the adventures are more action-oriented, but still carry the same variety as Year One. (pp. 13-17)
One of the better descriptions of “the meaning” behind Space: 1999 I have read is the introduction to the 2012 Archaia Entertainment graphic novel Space: 1999 – Aftershock and Awe (which, by the way, is referred to on page 9 of the rulebook as the ‘Aftermath’ graphic novel and therefore can be considered canon). In the introduction to the graphic novel, John Kenneth Muir provides background to the Space: 1999 TV series that I am going to quote at length given its value in understanding what, at least to older fans of Space: 1999, think of when they hear the name:
Under the guise of colorful science-fiction storytelling, Space: 1999 offered social commentary about issues that affected our world during the disco decade. When the series was first produced, America was still at war in Vietnam, as American President had been toppled in a scandal, and the world was mired in a desperate Energy Crisis. Various 1999 episodes gazed at issue of ethnic cleansing/genetic conformity (“Alpha Child”), scientific ethics (“Missing Link”), spiritual faith (“Collision Course”), and the futility of war and fear-based thinking (“War Games.”)
On a larger scale, Space: 1999 as an overall series concerned man and his technology. The relationship was clearly a two-edged sword, since technology could bring man both wonders…and disaster. Science Digest recognized this undercurrent in the program and wrote that “Space: 1999 is a visually stunning space-age morality play that chronicles the downfall of 20th century technological man…That Space: 1999 is a brilliant piece of 20th century technological art, film-making is readily evident at a glance. What is perhaps less obvious is that the producers are using technology and art to talk about other issues.” (November, 1975, pages 89-91).
Critic Dick Adler, writing in The Los Angeles Times, suggested that the series writers deserved an Emmy Award for their efforts. He also concluded that “where Star Trek seems to be almost completely a product of the optimistic, recklessly liberal 1960s, full of worries about America’s role in the world, Space: 1999 is a wiser, more realistic look at the limited options for survival which now face us all.” (Aftershock & Awe)
Muir continues a bit further on by writing:
Because the series’ stories were so meaningful and relevant, because the characters of John Koenig, Victor Bergman, Helena Russell, Alan Carter and others were likable and recognizably “human” rather than evolved, perfected ideals of som far-future age, and because the special effects and sets were gorgeous and standard-setting Space: 1999 – its title notwithstanding – has not exceeded its expiration date. On the contrary, the universe of the series is ripe for more Swiftian-style social commentary, more mind-blowing revelations, and more adventures in darkest space. (Aftershock & Awe)
[“Swiftian-style social commentary” – Go ask ChatGPT about that!]
Savvy fans likely realize that Muir barely mentions the second season of Space: 1999; the one that was more action-oriented. For today’s younger fans (or just those with a passing interest) of Space: 1999 the back-in-the-day viewpoint is almost certainly lost on them. That second group, a demographic that Mōdiphiüs must serve if they are to sell the game widely, likely grew up in an era where science-fiction stories often meant adventure. The designers of Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game are thus faced with a challenge—to serve fans like Muir with a loving homage to the memory of Moonbase Alpha while also drawing in new players with a promise of rip-roaring adventure. While Mōdiphiüs does not walk away from the first group—the beautiful homage is evident in every page—the use of the 2D20 System as the core game engine seems to be an attempt to serve the second.
The 2d20 game engine, as implemented in the Space: 1999 RPG, appears to be geared more towards an action-adventure style of play. This is somewhat in keeping with the original design intent behind the 2d20 game engine. As the 2d20 SRD tells:
This system is meant for creating and playing games that emulate and celebrate action-packed, story-driven fiction. It thrives when paired with a setting or theme where competent, determined, often larger-than-life protagonists face tense and perilous situations, and where collaboration and teamwork are vital to success.
It aims to pair the action of the story with a degree of mechanical impact, so that what happens in the narration has direct consequences in the game, and vice versa, and relies on players and Gamemaster alike being active participants in both the fiction and the gameplay. (2d20 SRD)
[Interesting that the 2D20 SRD talks about “larger-than-life protagonists” whereas the Space: 1999 RPG treats characters—at least initially—as not heroes. Is that a character generation to core game engine mismatch?]
Though the core game engine in Space 1999 – The Roleplaying Game is optimized for action adventuring, the core rulebook is a bit vague on what style of adventuring it actually advocates. In many ways it defaults the answer to the question to the players and Gamemaster as this extended passage titled “Different Expectations” in the Gamemaster section reveals:
People enjoy the series Space: 1999 for a number of different reasons. There is adventure, horror, science, laughter and action in almost every episode. But this might lead your players to think the game should be all about their favourite bits. A player who enjoyed ‘Dragon’s Domain’ might be looking forward to a game of horror and danger, while another player who loved ‘War Games’ might want alien species and action. So the Gamemaster cannot assume that what they enjoy about the series is the same for everyone, including themselves.
For this reason, the Gamemaster should lay out their plan for the themes of the campaign during character creation and ‘session zero’. If you want to run a horror-themed game, tell the players, so they can then make up characters that will work in such adventures. Don’t let them get geared up for one type of game, only for them to discover you are at cross purposes, even though you both watched and enjoyed the same series.
The reverse is true as well. If the Gamemaster doesn’t have a particular theme in mind, and is planning to run all manner of adventures, they should tell the players that. They can ask the players what their favourite themes are and make sure they have a good selection of those sorts of adventures in the campaign. Every adventure need not please everyone; in fact, giving different players their favourite theme each time lets you give everyone the spotlight in turn. But talk about what you all would enjoy so you can make sure everyone is getting the game they are expecting at some point. That way, even if one adventure isn’t to their taste, they know something they will enjoy more is coming next. (p. 197)
Later in the gamemaster section under “Adventure Themes” the core rulebook for the Space: 1999 RPG does offer five sample adventure themes:
-
- A New Planet
- Strange Anomaly
- Alien Species
- A Stranger Arrives
- Ghost Story (pp. 252-253)
The core rulebook for the Space: 1999 RPG suggests pairing the primary adventure theme with a subplot, of which five are provided. Given they are presented in non-alphabetical order I can only conclude that the order presented is the order the designer favors their use. The first subplot is “Romance.” I will leave that up to you, reader and maybe future player, to make what you want from that.
The most straightforward advice from Mōdiphiüs on creating adventures for Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game is not actually found in the core rulebook but in a blog post. The post “Space: 1999 RPG Datafile #3: How to Make Your Game Feel Like an Episode” found on the Anderson Entertainment website to market the Space: 1999 RPG suggests two approaches to designing an adventure:
While you can play out completely new adventures, there is nothing wrong with adapting episodes from the two seasons of Space: 1999. There are two ways to do this. The first is to take the episode as it is and just replace the original characters with the player characters. Maybe it was your group instead of Koenig, Bergman and Russell who boarded Gwent in The Infernal Machine. Maybe it was two of your characters instead of Helena and Tony who are taken to Vega in One Moment of Humanity. If the players haven’t seen that episode, they won’t know what it is all about, and the gamemaster can run it like any other adventure. If they have seen the episode, the gamemaster might throw in a few twists to keep them off guard. What if Gwent is actually frightened of Companion instead of being his master? What if the androids of Vega are seeking to free themselves from the control of their apparent servants?
The other way to adapt an adventure is to have the player characters working on an unseen aspect as we do in Breakaway in the Quickstart Guide. For this sort of adventure, consider what else might be happening when the events you see on screen are going on. How did Carter get all the supplies together for Gwent? Were some dangerous to extract and collect? Did the Alphans manage to track Tony and Helena when they vanished, and if so, how? There are all manner of adventures happening in the shadows of every episode, especially when the whole base might be involved in dealing with a crisis. (“Space: 1999 RPG Datafile #3: How to Make Your Game Feel Like an Episode”)
While the Space: 1999 RPG has some rules for creating campaigns the reality is the content is more of a discussion than anything really tangible. A few campaign ideas are presented before Mōdiphiüs offers up adventures from other games in their library as possible inspiration. On one level the lack of campaign ideas fits the setting—or more specifically the IP. Space: 1999 is a TV series that was episodic in nature, as were most (all?) television series of that day. The first science fiction show on TV to have a multi-season story arc was Babylon 5 which premiered in 1993—or 18 years after Space: 1999 played the airwaves.
Where Eagles Dare
When looking at the fandom surrounding Space: 1999 perhaps the most well recognized and vocal members are those that are fans of the beloved Eagle Transporter. These fans seem to have little problem dropping over $500 USD for a special limited edition 36″ Eagle replica based on a Mattel toy of the late 1970s. With the Eagle Transporter being such a signature item for Space: 1999 one might expect the Eagle to be featured prominently in the rules for Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game. After all, just as ships are heroes in a series or movie so too in many RPGs iconic ships are often treated as characters in their own right.
Not in the Space: 1999 RPG. This is how the core rulebook for the Space: 1999 RPG describes technology and equipment:
Equipment works narratively in Space: 1999. It is either useful or not when performing an action and, if it is useful, it grants a specific bonus to the roll. Whether that item, called an ‘Asset’, can help you or not is defined by what you are doing and its nature. To help the Gamemaster decide if and how an asset might grant a character a bonus, each has a selection of keywords to describe what it does. (p. 45)
This is how the Space: 1999 RPG reduces the mighty Eagle to the keywords, “Workhorse, Easily Maintained, Resilient, Adaptable, Armed.” (p. 54)
Frankly, that is disappointing.
Space: 1999 Oddity
Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game is a spectacular homage to the TV series but as an RPG it is a bit of an oddity. While leveraging a very rich IP, the game between-the-covers creates uninspiring characters for use in a game engine that is seemingly simplified for RPG neophytes or newcomers. While the adventures the Space: 1999 RPG can create are really only limited by the imagination of players or the Gamemaster, the rules as written are again seemingly focused on narrow, episodic, action-oriented adventures. This is a bit dissonant from almost half the source material.
As a fan with some of their earliest television memories coming from Space: 1999, I love the fan service in Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game. As a long-time RPG player, however, I am less enthused. Simplistic characters and a strongly action-oriented game engine seemingly limit adventuring choices. Amongst a group of RPG players, maybe fans of the show but new to roleplaying games, Space: 1999 – The Roleplaying Game may be “just enough” to help them play an adventure or two; perhaps a one-shot at a Space: 1999 convention (complete with cosplay, for sure). For those RPG players looking for a longer campaign with a story arc, well, that adventure may be somewhere in the core rulebook but it is not readily seen.
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