Living Steel
Encyclopedia
Living Steel was a high-tech role-playing game
published by Leading Edge Games and based on their Phoenix Command
game system. The rules were presented first as a box set in 1987 and then republished in a single hardbound book in 1988, but they are now long out of print and their publisher defunct.
The game was notable for its highly unusual setting and (like all Phoenix Command-based games) the realism and complexity of its rules. The game background gave groups a very obvious and challenging arc of campaign goals but unfortunately the rules as published provided very little to help Games Masters
in planning a campaign.
Into this apocalyptic world have been released a small number of highly trained soldiers, survivors of a war 150 years in the past in which the tyrannical Starguild Imperium fought with the more enlightened Seven Worlds for control of the future of humanity. The Starguild won and placed the bulk of humankind into near-slavery but a few of the Seven Worlds soldiers survived and were placed into cryonic storage
to await the time when the dream of the Seven Worlds might be ready to rise again. Rhand, civilisation all but destroyed and cut off from the rest of the Starguild has been ajudged the place to begin this rebuilding of the defeated society.
Players in the game all represent one of these awoken Seven Worlds soldiers. The squad must secure a base, make contact with the surrounding population and begin the work of rebuilding and reeducation. Player Characters are usually armed with Powered Armour and a variety of other high-tech weapons and gadgets which make them extremely powerful. Set against this is the hostility of the game environment and the lurking threat of the Spectrals who are every bit as dangerous as a Seven Worlds soldier.
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
published by Leading Edge Games and based on their Phoenix Command
Phoenix Command
Phoenix Command was a role-playing game system published by Leading Edge Games, and copyrighted by Barry Nakazono and David McKenzie. Various versions of the system featured in the games Morning Star Missions, Living Steel, and Aliens Adventure Game.Phoenix Command had extremely detailed rules in...
game system. The rules were presented first as a box set in 1987 and then republished in a single hardbound book in 1988, but they are now long out of print and their publisher defunct.
The game was notable for its highly unusual setting and (like all Phoenix Command-based games) the realism and complexity of its rules. The game background gave groups a very obvious and challenging arc of campaign goals but unfortunately the rules as published provided very little to help Games Masters
Gamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
in planning a campaign.
The Setting
The game is set in 2349 on an isolated human populated planet called Rhand which has just suffered a devastating attack by an alien race called the Spectrals. In addition to bombardment from space, the Spectrals released a virus onto the planet which rendered some 80% of the population into dangerous sociopaths. The Spectral warship then crashed into the planets surface causing further widespread destruction. Society has stopped functioning and the survivors are competing viciously with each other and the remaining Spectrals for the essentials of life.Into this apocalyptic world have been released a small number of highly trained soldiers, survivors of a war 150 years in the past in which the tyrannical Starguild Imperium fought with the more enlightened Seven Worlds for control of the future of humanity. The Starguild won and placed the bulk of humankind into near-slavery but a few of the Seven Worlds soldiers survived and were placed into cryonic storage
Cryonics
Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals who can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation of people or large animals is not reversible with current technology...
to await the time when the dream of the Seven Worlds might be ready to rise again. Rhand, civilisation all but destroyed and cut off from the rest of the Starguild has been ajudged the place to begin this rebuilding of the defeated society.
Players in the game all represent one of these awoken Seven Worlds soldiers. The squad must secure a base, make contact with the surrounding population and begin the work of rebuilding and reeducation. Player Characters are usually armed with Powered Armour and a variety of other high-tech weapons and gadgets which make them extremely powerful. Set against this is the hostility of the game environment and the lurking threat of the Spectrals who are every bit as dangerous as a Seven Worlds soldier.