Atlas moment is a space-age supplement for the worlds greatest roleplaying game, designed to take your campaigns out into the cosmos.
With hundreds of options out there for science fiction adventures, Atlas Moment strives to be like all of them- and none of them. Opting for a generalist approach to the genre, and as a supplement for the most popular tabletop roleplaying game, Atlas Moment isn’t tied to any particular franchise or independent property and instead offers an all encompassing science fiction sandbox for game masters and players to forge their own interstellar adventures, choosing which aspects to incorporate from the plethora of amazing content already out there. Don’t worry about teaching players a whole new set of rules with each new adventure, just take to the stars.
The Atlas program is the central thread that ties your universe all together. Named after the mighty titan cursed to carry the weight of the heavens on his shoulders, the program is the sandboxing element that allows game masters to mix and match their universe, choosing their canon, history, and central themes. Players are known as “Atlas Agents”, and have a role to play within the universes they find themselves in- but that part is up to you. There is no story included as part of this supplement, only the tools to craft your own comprehensive worlds. Players can craft their characters in the same way they would in dungeons and dragons with converted classes, races and backgrounds to suit the setting, with technology replacing magical aspects of the core content. Additionally, these mechanics have been extended to cover vehicles and spacecraft, providing everyone at the table their own chance to build, pilot, customise and upgrade their very own fleets while keeping in-line with familiar rules.
Every Atlas Program is unique to its game master, from meta, self aware comical cosmic misadventures, to gritty grimdark future-worlds of a galactic scale and beyond. No longer do you need to choose between Star Wars and Star Trek, you can have both and more. Play out fantasy hypothetical scenarios that alter the endings to your favourite franchises, build characters that match your favourite heroes and plop them into worlds completely alien to their canon, or create it all from scratch- the universe is your oyster.
The goal is to be an all encompassing science fiction pack that works with the dungeons and dragons system, to maximise personal voice and personal choice. Want to use core mechanics alongside the science fiction ones? Go for it. Want to take your existing characters and campaigns and space-ify them? You’re the boss.
The atlas program is for you.
It's important to remember that this is a supplement to dungeons and dragons 5th edition, so the gameplay loop remains largely the same. Players can create their characters (known as agents) like they could before, progressing and developing those characters as they did before by earning experience as they go along. The only difference now is that they will be choosing from a mixture of alien races, modern classes, and futuristic backgrounds. Out of the box Atlas Moment offers converted versions of all of the core fundamental options found in the player handbook, but moderately adapted to suit an science fiction setting. It's not entirely necessary that players know what aspects are converted from what, but anyone familiar with the system will likely be able to guess as functionally they remain largely the same, so there's no need to hide it either.
The key difference is context. Most things have been altered to fit in a science fiction setting, with one of the key differences being that the element of magic has been changed into an element of technology, including the source of power and the type. In the same way that something might be more or less magical in traditional D&D, the Atlas equivalent will be more or less technologically advanced, with hi-tech referring to advanced things like holographic displays and traversable energy fields, and analogue referring to low tech solutions like manual control panels and bulkhead doors. These things are supposed to blend together seamlessly in the world, and in the same way that a ranger might use a bow and dabble in some spells, the Atlas alternative- a pilot, could use a pistol, and have a reserve of high-tech gadgets. Functionally the same but more appropriate for an interstellar voyage to alien planets.
Building on this, something new (but not really) that this supplement brings to the table is a comprehensive system for building and operating vehicles and spacecraft. This is something that at face value might seem complicated, but in actual fact is once again a conversion of familiar mechanics. In short, vehicles and spacecraft are additional characters that the players can utilize for their adventures, but on a shared basis as opposed to belonging to an individual. They have their own stats, progress in the same way that agents do, and have their own inventories, classes, backgrounds and so on, they are just controlled by agents and NPCs in game.
There are a few more minor changes, tweaks and modifications to the game as a whole, but by now hopefully you have a decent understanding of what Atlas Moment is aiming for. The system was designed as an answer to the multitude of different science fiction systems available out there to play, that gives game masters a chance to combine all of their favourite parts of the worlds they know and love into one comprehensive system, without being tied to any particular property. A love-letter to the genre that lets everyone live out their cosmic dreams.