24X X

SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENT

RULES CHARACTERS
PLAY: Players describe what their characters // SRD design notes start with two slashes, like
do. The game moderator (GM) advises when an this. Other paragraphs are player/GM-facing text.
action is impossible, requires extra steps,
// Characters start with 6ish skill increases and/or
demands a cost, or presents an avoidable risk.
credits’ in items, possibly combining “specialty”
Players only roll to avoid risks.
and “origin” (or “3 skill increases” as a stand-in).
ROLLING: Roll a d6 skill die — higher with a rele‐
► Choose your character’s specialty.
vant skill, or d4 if hindered by injury or circum‐
stances. If helped by circumstances, roll an FACE: Skilled in Reading People (d8), Deception
extra d6; if helped by an ally, they roll their skill (d8). Take an extensive disguise wardrobe.
die and share the risk. Take the highest die.
MUSCLE: Skilled in Intimidation (d8) and either
1–2 Disaster. Suffer the full risk. GM decides if Hand-to-hand (d8) or Shooting (d8). Take a
you succeed at all. If risking death, you die. sword, firearm, or cyber-arm.

3–4 Setback. A lesser consequence or partial PSYCHIC: Skilled in Telepathy (d8, sense
success. If risking death, you’re maimed. surface thoughts), Telekinesis (d8, as strong as
your arms), or pick one at d10. Take a bottle of
5+ Success. The higher the roll, the better.
PsychOut (amplify powers; addictive).
If success can’t get you what you want (you
MEDIC: Skilled in Medicine (d8), Electronics (d8).
make the shot, but it’s bulletproof!), you’ll at
Take a medkit and cyber-surgery tools (bulky).
least get useful info or set up an advantage.
SNEAK: Skilled in Climbing (d8), Stealth (d8).
LOAD: Carry as much as makes sense, but more
Take climbing gear and night vision goggles.
than one bulky item may hinder you at times.
TECH: Skilled in Hacking (d8), Electronics (d8).
ADVANCEMENT: After a job, increase a skill
Take repair tools and a custom computer (bulky).
(none ➡ d8 ➡ d10 ➡ d12) and gain 1 credit (₡).
► Choose your character’s origin.
DEFENSE: Say how one of your items breaks to
turn a hit into a brief hindrance. Broken gear is ALIEN: Invent 2 traits, like electric current,
useless until repaired. wings, natural camouflage, or six-limbed.

HARM: Injuries take time and/or medical atten‐ ANDROID: You have an upgrade-ready cyber-
tion to heal. If killed, make a new character to be body. Take synth skin (looks human) or a case
introduced ASAP. Favor inclusion over realism. (break harmlessly for defense). Increase 1 skill.

RUNNING THE GAME: Lead the group in setting HUMAN: Apply 3 skill increases (from no skill
lines not to cross in play. Fast-forward, pause, or ➡ d8 ➡ d10 ➡ d12). You can take new skills
rewind/redo scenes for pacing and safety, and and/or increase skills you already have.
invite players to do likewise. Present dilemmas
► Choose or invent skills (if prompted by origin).
and problems you don’t know how to solve. Move
the spotlight to give everyone time to shine. Test Climbing, Connections, Deception, Electronics,
periodically for bad luck (e.g., run out of ammo, Engines, Explosives, Hacking, Hand-to-hand,
or into guards) — roll d6 to check for (1–2) trou‐ Intimidation, Labor, Persuasion, Piloting, Running,
ble now or (3–4) signs of trouble. Offer rulings to Shooting, Spacewalking, Stealth, Tracking
cover gaps in rules; double back during a break
// Characters who start with broader skills should
to revise unsatisfying rulings as a group.
start with fewer skills, or with less useful skills.
 GEAR DETAILS
// If something in the real world would cost less // Characters’ personal details often need to be
than a few hundred US dollars, the only cost is customized for specific settings (especially
the time it would take to get it. when aliens and fashion are involved). These
options are usable for a range of sci-fi settings.
► Take a comm (smartphone) and ₡2. Most items
and upgrades cost ₡1 each. Ignore microcredit ► Invent or roll for personal details.
transactions like a knife or a meal.
SURNAME
ARMOR: Vest (break once for defense), battle
1 Acker 6 Fox 11 Kask 16 Qadir
armor (₡2, bulky, break up to 3×), hardsuit (₡3,
2 Black 7 Gee 12 Lee 17 Singh
bulky, break up to 3×, vacuum-rated, mag boots).
3 Cruz 8 Haak 13 Moss 18 Tran
CYBERNETICS: Cyber-ear (upgrade with echolo‐ 4 Dallas 9 Iyer 14 Nash 19 Ueda
cation, long-range, vocal stress detector), cyber- 5 Engel 10 Joshi 15 Park 20 Zheng
eye (upgrade with infrared, telescopic, x-ray),
NICKNAME
cyber-limb (upgrade with strong, fast, compart‐
ments, implanted tool or weapon), cranial jack, 1 Ace 6 Fuse 11 Killer 16 Red
healing nanobots, toxin filter, voice mimic. 2 Bliss 7 Gray 12 Lucky 17 Sunny
3 Crater 8 Huggy 13 Mix 18 Treble
TOOLS: Flamethrower (bulky), low-G jetpack,
4 Dart 9 Ice 14 Nine 19 V8
med scanner, mini drone, repair tools, survey
5 Edge 10 Jinx 15 Prof 20 Zero
pack (climbing gear, flare gun, tent; bulky).
DEMEANOR
WEAPONS: Grenades (4, any of fragmentation,
flashbang, smoke, EMP), pistol, rifle (bulky), 1 Anxious 11 Dull
shotgun (bulky), stun baton, tranq gun. 2 Appraising 12 Earnest
3 Blunt 13 Formal
► Starships have basic versions of these functions;
4 Brooding 14 Gentle
upgrades cost ₡10 each. In an emergency,
5 Calming 15 Innocent
players pick a function to do or help with.
6 Casual 16 Knowing
COMMS: Upgrade with eavesdropper, jammer, 7 Cold 17 Prickly
tachyon burst (no lag in-system). 8 Curious 18 Reckless
9 Dramatic 19 Terse
CRAFTS: Comes with escape pod. Upgrade with
10 Dry 20 Weary
fighter, shuttle (reentry-rated).
SHIP NAME
DRIVE: FTL jump and sublight speeds. Upgrade
with longer jumps, faster speed, greater agility. 1 Arion 11 Morgenstern
2 Blackjack 12 Phoenix
EQUIPMENT: Vac suits for crew. Upgrade with
3 Caleuche 13 Peregrine
armory, heavy loader, mining gear, tow cable.
4 Canary 14 Restless
HULL ARMOR: Break harmlessly for defense. 5 Caprice 15 Silver Blaze
Upgrade with reentry-rated, sun shielding. 6 Chance 16 Stardust
7 Darter 17 Sunchaser
SENSORS: Upgrade with deep-space, life-sign
8 Falkor 18 Swift
scan, planetary survey, tactical vessel scan.
9 Highway Star 19 Thunder Road
WEAPONS: Deflector turrets. Upgrade with laser 10 Moonshot 20 Wayfarer
cutter, military-grade turret, torpedos.
 // THE PREMISE: Explain the basics of the
► Roll d6 to try to find a job. Spend ₡1 to re-roll.
setting. If it’s not made clear elsewhere, give a
reason for the characters to stick together, and 1–2 Nothing. Spend to re-roll, or risk debt.
hint at what they’ll spend their time doing. 3–4 Found a job, but there’s a catch.
5–6 Choose between 2 jobs.
// THE BACK PAGE: If you’d like to mimic the style // FINDING JOBS: Many teams don’t need to look
of the original micro RPGs this SRD is based on, for paying work (e.g., military units). If your
the back page (or the left half of one side of a game does use this setup, though, dangerous
letter-sized sheet of paper) can fit 4 tables of 20 jobs should pay more to cover 1–3 credits in
items each. A GM can use these to generate “expenses” for medical treatment, fixing/
ideas for an improvised session, like, “[Name] replacing broken gear, re-rolling unsavory jobs, or
has hired you for [Job] at [Location], but there’s a getting through dry spells with no jobs. Also, in
[Twist]!” An example table is offered below. the table above, the phrase “risk debt” is
intentionally vague, but may be worth clarifying
// ADDING TO RULES: This SRD is presented
or alluding to elsewhere (e.g., put a loan shark in
extremely briefly, based on the assumption that
your “Contacts” table).
players more experienced with RPGs can teach
the basics to newcomers. Expand as needed. My // JOBS: The list of jobs (or missions, situations,
own principles for new 24XX rules is that they quests, etc.) should be tailored for your setting,
should NOT (a) require adding or subtracting and also suggest scenarios where every charac‐
dice or modifiers, (b) require tracking another ter’s skills will be useful. Many jobs can be sum‐
currency (unless the rule replaces tracking marized as either “deal with an unusual threat,”
broken items and/or credits), or (c) add more “investigate something seemingly inexplicable,” or
than 1 new “tag” with a term you might need to “retrieve a thing from a location for a person.”
look up (like “bulky”). Strive for self-explanatory They serve as “gameable lore” — elements that
additions, or vague additions players might enjoy hint at a setting, ready-made for use in play.
interpreting.
// LICENSE: This SRD is released under a Creative
► Roll d20 for a contact, client, rival, or target Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY). This
means you’re welcome to use this text and layout
1 Arcimboldo, quirky tech dealer & tinkerer
in your own game, provided you do the following.
2 Aurora, wealthy collector of unique items
3 Blackout, quiet evidence removal specialist // GIVE CREDIT: See that tiny text along the bottom
4 Bleach, wry janitor android turned assassin of the page? That’s where I cram the version
5 Bron, dour security chief with a metal arm number and credit for licensed content (like the
6 Bullet, no-nonsense android gun runner cover art). You’re welcome to put it elsewhere in
7 Carryout, cocky courier with fast cyber-legs your game, but be sure to include it somewhere
8 Fisher, eager street kid looking for a crew — like, “24XX rules are CC BY Jason Tocci.”
9 Ginseng, people-loving drug dealer
// USE 24XX, NOT 2400: You can say your game is
10 Hot Ticket, extremely cautious fence
“compatible with 2400” or “for use with 2400,” but
11 Kaiser, grinning loan shark in a silver suit
please don’t use stuff directly from 2400, or
12 Osiris, tired, street-level sawbones
name your game so it looks like it’s part of my
13 Powder Blue, android fixer, generous rates
2400 series (unless you have explicit approval).
14 Reacher, sharp mercenary tac squad leader
15 Rhino, thickheaded, bighearted bodyguard // NO BIGOTRY: Please don’t use any text from this
16 Sam, plucky journalist, likely to get killed game, the 24XX logo, or my name in any product
17 Shifter, hard-working chop-shop owner that promotes or condones white supremacy,
18 Walleye, businesslike information broker racism, misogyny, ableism, homophobia,
19 Whistler, smiling cabbie/getaway driver transphobia, or other bigotry against
20 “X,” unflappable broker for an unnamed corp marginalized groups.
Version 1.31 • Made by Jason Tocci under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0) • Art by Beeple (Mike Winkelmann)