Universe: The Role-Playing Game of the Future is a science fiction role-playing game published by Simulation Publications, Inc (SPI) from 1981 to 1983. It was praised for its innovative and tightly organized rules for such sci-fi RPG concerns as generating planets, applying character skills to in-game situations, and resolving the initial moments of alien encounters; however, it was also criticized for its cumbersome encounter/combat system and its lack of compelling background material. Universe was also noted for its "striking" Interstellar Display, a poster-sized, astronomically accurate map of all stars within 30 light-years of Earth.
Universe was SPI's answer to Game Designers Workshop's award-winning Traveller sci-fi RPG. Universe co-developer Gerry Klug (who was an experienced Traveller referee) set out "to 'fix' all the ill written and illogical rules [he] felt had been perpetrated on the science fiction role-playing community".
The first edition of Universe, published in March 1981, was released as a boxed set. A year later, the second edition consolidated most of the game components into a single softcover book, published by Bantam. SPI planned several adventures and supplements for Universe, but in 1983, financial difficulties led to SPI being bought out by TSR, Inc (creator of Dungeons & Dragons). TSR, which had its own sci-fi RPG (Star Frontiers), soon ended development of Universe. The last official mention of Universe was in July 1984, in the "StarQuestions" Q & A feature of TSR's Dragon magazine #87.
Setting
Universe is set in the mid-24th Century. Humankind has explored and colonized many star systems within 20 light-years of Earth. Some of the star systems closest to Earth are quite prosperous and populous, some having a billion or more inhabitants. Settlements further out amount to tentative colonies or even mere research facilities. Very few stars beyond 25 light-years have been colonized or even explored. Native extraterrestrial creatures are fairly common, but no intelligent alien civilization has yet been encountered.
The Universe is governed from Earth by the "Federation of Planets". The Federation has exclusive control of spaceports as well as substantial law enforcement and military power, but refrains from intervening in planetary matters unless there is piracy, violent insurrection, or heinous exploitation of nascent colonies. Most colonized planets have retained the language and some of the national character of the planet's original pioneers (e.g. Chinese, Norwegian, "Arctican", etc.). The Earth itself is described as once again beautiful, green and flourishing.
A small minority of humans possess powerful psionic abilities such as mind-reading and telekinesis. These powers, enabled by a rarely occurring combination of genes that were scientifically "awakened" in the 21st century, make psions indispensable to interstellar travel. This is because a spaceship's hyperjump engine must be triggered by an onboard psionic "navigator". These psionic individuals ("psions") form an introspective and aloof community, viewed by many in the general populace as elitist and somewhat freakish.
System
Character Generation and Professions
Character generation in Universe is a semi-random process of rolling dice, consulting a succession of tables, and making decisions based on the results. Universe is a "classless" RPG; characters are not limited to certain abilities based on a genre-inspired character class assigned to the character.
Childhood and Adolescence
The process starts with determining the character's homeworld type and family background, as well as the values of his four childhood "Potential Multipliers" (Physique, Coordination, Intellect, and Social Background). The player then chooses which Fields of Study the character pursues in his adolescence, such as Theoretical or Applied Science, Business, the Humanities, "The Body", Military, etc. The chosen fields of study combine with the character's four Potential Multipliers to influence the character's final Characteristic Ratings.
Universe'''s nine Characteristics are Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Agility, Intelligence, Leadership, Aggression, Empathy (i. e. essentially "people skills"), and Mental Power (i.e. general willpower, although a very high Mental Power rating confers psionic abilities). Characteristic Ratings range in value from 1 to 12.
Professions
After choosing Fields of Study and determining Characteristics, the player chooses one of 23 Professions for the character. These include several military, scientific and technician professions, as well Diplomat, Interstellar Explorer or Trader, or Civil Inspector (a Federal auditor tasked with preventing private exploitation of developing colonies). Also available are such colorful professions as Space Pirate, Spy, Zero-G Miner, and Thinker (i.e. "member of the exclusive psionic community"). The player's choice of Profession influences which Skills may be chosen for the character.
The character's ultimate level of success upon leaving the Profession is given as a Benefit Level, which is influenced mainly by time in service. Higher Benefit Levels equate to higher Rank (e. g. Ensign, Scout Commodore, Constable), more Skill Points to "buy" higher Skill levels, and/or increasingly valuable cash totals, pensions, or equipment - including robots or even a spaceship in rare cases. Unlike its influential predecessor Traveller, in Universe career advancement is not an iterative process; the length of service and the final Benefit Level are both given by a one-time die roll/table lookup.
Skills, Task Resolution and Advancement
There are over 100 Skills in Universe, classed into the categories Military, Psionic, Vehicle/Spacecraft, Scientific, Tech (i.e. repair skills), Interpersonal, and Environmental. Each Skill lists a maximum level (usually 6 to 9) and a governing Characteristic for the skill. A character can never increase his skill level higher than his rating in the governing Characteristic (e. g. The skill "Teaching" is governed by the Empathy characteristic, so a character with an Empathy rating of 5 may achieve a maximum Teaching skill level of 5).
Environmental survival skills were notable for being arranged on a grid/table with an automatic decrease for less familiar environments (allowing for a mountaineer with arctic training to be unfamiliar with a valley in a jungle).
The rulebook entry for each Skill lays out every task for which the Skill may be used, along with the exact Base Chance of success for each task. For example, the Geology Skill lists 6 tasks, including scanning a sample to find abundant minerals (70% base chance) or trace minerals (30%), and scanning an area to find all 3 m-wide tunnels and fissures (50%) or all tunnels and fissures of any size (20%). This degree of specificity is in deliberate contrast to previous RPGs such as Traveller, whose vague Skill descriptions and GM-improvised situational die modifiers were (according to the Universe designers) a hardship for the Gamemaster (GM).
Task Resolution
When a character attempts to use the skill during play, the GM looks up the Base Chance, to which are added the Character's rating in the Skill's governing Characteristic plus the square of his Skill level. This yields the "modified chance", which the player must attempt to roll under using percentile dice (see summary below).
Base Chance + governing Characteristic rating + Skill level squared = Modified Chance
Degree of Success/Failure
For most skills in Universe, the numerical difference between the Modified Chance and the actual percentile die roll is used to quantify the degree of success (or failure). These levels of success/failure are not merely loose guidelines; rather, most skills include specific formulas or tables for converting the "Modified Chance vs die roll" difference into concrete effects.
For example, in using the Recruiting skill, rolling under the modified chance means the "excess" points are added point-for-point to the recruited NPC's Characteristics and Skill levels - potentially producing a very capable recruit. In using the Hyperjump Table, rolling over the modified chance leads to increasingly deleterious jump errors (in terms of distance from target point and neurological damage to the Hyperjumping psion).
Skill AdvancementUniverse employs usage-based skill advancement. The only way for a character to increase their level in a given skill is to use that skill in play. Specifically, certain die results obtained when using a skill yield an experience point (EP) which may be assigned to that skill only. For frequently used skills (e. g. Firearms), the character receives an EP whenever a "0" appears on either of the percentile die when using the skill. For less frequently used skills (e. g. Disguise or Hyperjump Navigation), the EP is awarded whenever a 0, 1, 2, or 3 is rolled. The current EP total is noted on the Character Record sheet next to the Skill entry. Once the character has amassed a number of EPs equal to the current skill level plus one, the character gains the next skill level and the EP total for that skill is reset to zero. This skill increase happens immediately; the character does not have to wait for the end of the current play session (or some other arbitrary time period) in order to increase their skill level.
A character unskilled in a given skill may attain level 1 by amassing 8 EPs through use of the skill (in Universe unskilled characters may attempt most non-psionic skills). However, there is no method for increasing a character's Characteristic Ratings (Strength, Intelligence, etc.).
Spacecraft, Robots and Equipment
Equipment
Different levels of technological development are given as different "Civ Levels" from 1 to 8, corresponding to centuries of Earth's history, from 1600 to 2300. Thus a Civ Level 6 Geo Scanner is a 25 kg backpack-borne device that takes an hour to use, while the Civ Level 8 version is handheld at 7 kg, takes half as long to use, and additionally provides the user with a +2 to his/her Geology Skill level. A "portable business computer" weighs in at 10 kg.
Handheld laser weapons exist at higher Civ Levels, but they are not much more powerful than 20th Century projectile weapons. There are also stun-ray pistols and reasonably effective tranq-dart guns (both of which, if used against an alien with the wrong kind of body chemistry, can have wildly unpredictable effects).
Vehicles
Ground vehicles include a "Crawler" ATV that can use either wheels or telescoping legs, as well as the nuclear powered Mobile Lab - a three-section articulated menagerie-on-wheels. The "Amphibian" is a wheeled ATV that can travel over land and under water like a submarine.
Marine vehicles include a Flexi Craft, which uses "eel-like motion" to travel across the surface and the Reef Walker, which walks along the bottom of the sea on telescoping legs.
Air vehicles include the stereotypical turbine-powered flying car of the future; a 12 passenger, nuclear powered ornithopter; and low-altitude anti-grav flyers.
Robots