powerful 1st level Characters
From 1st level, TraVerse characters receive a full suite of abilities from their race, class, and background that make them feel like a fully-realized individual that is competent at the things they have chosen to focus on.
As characters increase in levels their builds evolve, learning new skills in response to their experiences, gaining new abilities to support their playstyle, and generally growing as they are shaped by their adventures.
action economy
TraVerse uses a simplified 2 Action + 1 Swift action economy, plus 1 Reaction to use between turns.
These actions can be spent in any way the player wants, with no restrictions, creating a fluid, intuitive system that feels natural to play.
initiative
TraVerse uses a unique approach to “zipper” style initiative that uses Initiative Leaders on both sides rolling against each other each round.
The winner acts first, followed by the loser, then either 2 player characters act, or a single enemy group, depending on the winning Initiative Leader.
This goes back and forth until all combatants have acted.
Tactical Choices
Because the Initiative Leader for either side always acts first, the decision of who takes on this role each round adds tactical depth – do you choose the character with the highest initiative bonus? Or whoever has a cool plan that requires them to act first? Or is someone in a danger that needs to act immediately or they may die?
This approach to initiative results in fast, unpredictable rounds that reward adaptability, battlefield awareness, and group strategy.
Backwards Compatible
TraVerse’s initiative system is backwards compatible with most traditional d20 games, allowing you to use it in your D&D or Pathfinder games withy little modification, bringing its signature unpredictability, tactical depth, and teamwork focused play to your heroic fantasy combats.
skill points
TraVerse uses a skill point based system to allow characters to train new skills.
Each rank in a skill adds a +2 bonus, with a maximum 2 rank limit in a single skill that increases by 1 at levels 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19.
Each Level Brings New Decisions
What this means is that each level when a character gains new skill points, they must make different decisions than at the previous level, creating a dynamic evolution of their skillset as they choose which skills to prioritize and which to delay.
lethal combat
When weapons are drawn, TraVerse’s game engine shines.
Firearms are Deadly
TraVerse firearms deal high damage, and characters caught out of cover tend to quickly learn how deadly they can be.
Melee is Brutal
Melee combat can be similarly brutal, with melee specialists (if they can survive getting into melee range) tearing apart unprepared marksmen who would rather keep their distance.
Everyone is Vulnerable
No magical resurrections. No superheroes. Just people in desperate situations with advanced technology trying not to die.
starships
The beating heart of any starfaring adventuring party, we take our starships seriously.
Each “hero” starship features a professionally-designed deck plan that incorporates real-world architectural fundamentals into its design.
Along with in-depth rules for ship systems, expansion bays, and weapons, this allows you to customize and adapt your starship’s capabilities to your party’s needs, truly making it yours.
starship combat
Starship combat is handled by an in-depth system that emphasizes teamwork and tactics, allowing players to use their skills, strategy, and simulated physics to dominate their enemies.
Facing and positioning is critical in ship-to-ship combat, as is resource management, leadership, and decision-making.
These elements combine to create a tense experience where everyone’s contributions matter, and victory (or simply survival) is achieved either together, or not at all.
