​ 2019 - Noah Patterson 

Copyright ©
 
A Micro RPG Game

 
MicroRolePlayingGames.Blogspot.com 
 
ISBN: 9781671136229 

   

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 CONTENTS 
 
 
  Section  Page 

1  Basic Training  4 

2  Order of Operations  6 

3  Enemy on the Radar  8 

4  To Battle Stations  11 

5  Fire Weapons  13 

6  Enemy Fire  16 

7  Test Warp Engines  19 

  Game Sheets  20 

   

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 Charge Stations! 
A Science Fiction Roll+Write War Game for 1 Player 
Designed By Noah Patterson 

Commander’s Log - Solardate 11.12.30 

Due to an unforeseen systems malfunction while passing through an anomaly our warp drive has lost all 
power. Additionally, it has managed to power down all of our weapons systems on board the U.S.S. 
Frontiersman. Usually, such a malfunction would be little more than a minor setback. It may even prove a 
useful piece of scientific and engineering research as the crew works on solving the problem and 
figuring out why the anomaly effects out ship in the first place.  
 
However, things seem a bit more dire for us at the moment. The anomaly was right on the outer reaches 
of Kornathian space and we’ve been set adrift near one of their warparties. They have no desire to stop 
and discuss the situation, or work out terms of peaceful negotiation. Instead, they have opened fire 
upon us.  
 
I, as the commanding officer of this ship, can not simply let this be. I have men and women aboard I need 
to protect. As such, we will continue to work on fixing the warp drive and powering up our weapons, all 
the while we will fight off these unwanted attacks. It seems our choices are either to get the warp 
drive back up and running, so we can light jump out of here, or defeat the capital ship that is leading the 
warparty against us. 

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 -Commander Teeg Philopher 

SECTION 1: BASIC TRAINING 

 
1.0: Mission Report 
Charge Stations! is a science fiction roll+write game where a single player takes command of the U.S.S.
Frontiersman. It is up to the player to repair the ship all while fighting off incoming attacks. This is done by
rolling handfuls of six-sided dice (D6s) which represent the ship’s crew members and assigning them to various
tasks around the ship.

1.1: Equipment 
In order to play Charge Stations, you’ll need the following materials
- A Copy of the Game Sheet: Multiple copies are provided here at the end of the rules for you to write
directly in the book if you’ve purchased a printed copy. If you have a digital copy, simply print one of
these game sheets out directly.
- A Pencil with Eraser: You will be writing and erasing a lot. Make sure you have a good eraser.
Alternatively, you can use an erasable pen or marker if you laminate one of the game sheets for multiple
playthroughs.
- 7 (or more) six sided dice. You may end up rolling as many as 7 or more dice at a time!

1.2: Understanding the Game Sheet 

The game sheet includes 4 main sections on it (see the diagram example on the next page for reference or look
at the sheets at the back of the book).
1. Enemy System Scan:​ ​This is the stats for the Enemy Capital Ship. The red boxes are the ship’s main
power systems charging up. The blue boxes are the enemy ship’s shields.
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 2. Targeting Systems:​ This area keeps track of how many enemy fighters are
around you on each side of your ship (Red Boxes) as well as the strength of
your own shields for each side of the ship (Blue Boxes).
3. Ship Systems:​ This panel is a list of ALL your ships current systems
including:
a. Life Support​: This system has two subsystems. If BOTH these
systems reach 0, you lose.
i. Life Forms​: This is how many crew members are currently in
good health on board. This helps you determine how many
teams you can “command” to perform activities around the ship.
ii. Integrity​: The integrity of the ship is a measure of how well it
can sustain said life forms aboard. If integrity ever reaches zero, the ship is in dire
straights and could be destroyed at any second without a very fast fix.
b. Engines​: This system has two subsystems.
i. Impulse​: Your onboard impulse engines help you evade incoming attacks from enemy
ships.
ii. Warp​: Your warp engines begin the game broken. However, the stronger you build them
up, the more likely you will be able to make a warp jump out of the system.
c. Weapons​: This system has two subsystems.
i. Phasers​: Phasers are your basic on board weapons. However, seeing as this is a science
ship, they aren’t super powerful. The more you charge them up, the stronger they hit.
ii. Torpedos​: Torpedos are stronger than phasers and are loaded aboard the research ship
mainly as mining tools. However, they work well as weapons in a pinch.
4. Damage Report: ​This panel helps you randomly determine where damage goes on your ship when
attacks make it past the shields.

1.3: Preparing for Battle 

Before beginning the game, follow these steps.
1. Place the Game Sheet (or game book if writing directly on one of the sheets provided) on the table or in
the play area with dice and pencil/pen nearby.
2. Mark the blue #7 box for both subsystems in Life Support (Life Forms and Integrity)
3. Mark the blue #7 box on the Impulse subsystem under the Engines. Warp subsystems begin with no
power.
4. Weapons systems begin with no power.

   

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SECTION 2: ORDER of OPERATIONS

2.0: Gameplay Sequence: 

The game is played in 5 main steps each turn. These steps each have their own set of substeps or actions.
Each of these will be explained in greater detail later on. For now, here is a brief overview of the sequence.
1. Enemy on the Radar:​ ​The player will roll to spawn new enemies. 
a. Roll dice according to the RED Enemy Systems Scan Track. This determines how many enemy
fighters appear.
b. Draw in enemy fighters on the Targeting System Tracks around your ship.
2. To Battle Stations: ​The player will roll dice to make commands around the ship. 
a. Roll the entire Dice pool for your crew--determined by the number on the Life Signs Track.
b. Make commands by assigning dice as you wish to various ship systems.
c. Reroll any remaining dice you didn’t use.
d. Assign dice as you wish again.
e. Unused dice are lost.
3. Fire Weapons:​ The player chooses one or both weapons to fire. Each weapon may fire as many times
at each side of the ship and upon the enemy capital ship--so far as your weapons have charges.
a. Firing Phasers​:

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 i. The Phaser Track shows you how many dice you may fire with. The stronger the charge,
the more dice get rolled.
ii. Roll the dice and apply hits. Phasers hit on a roll of 6.
iii. Reduce phaser power level by 1.
b. Firing Torpedoes​:
i. Torpedos are fired on a 1 for 1 basis. You reduce the torpedos by 1 charge to fire with 1
die.
ii. Spend torpedos and roll dice.
iii. Apply hits. Torpedos hit on a roll of 4, 5, or 6.
4. Enemy Fire: ​Now, enemy fighters and the Capital Ship may fire.
a. Capital Ship Powers Weapons and Bombards
i. Raise the power rating on the Capital Ship by 1.
ii. If the power rating hits a new number, the Capital Ship bombards. Roll as many dice as
the number listed. Rolls of 4, 5, and 6 do damage to your shields and ship.
b. Fighters Fire
i. Each “side” of your ship gets fired upon by the currently present fighters. Count the
number of fighters and roll that many dice.
ii. Count up the number of hits. Fighters hit on rolls of 6.
iii. Roll for evasive maneuvers. The number on the Impulse Engines tells you how many dice
to roll. Each roll result of 6 blocks one incoming hit.
iv. Remaining hits are applied to the ship.
1. All hits are first take away from the shields on the side of the ship first.
2. Remaining hits are applied at random to the rest of the ship.
5. Test Warp Engines​: If the player has managed to CHARGE their warp engines up to full power (7)
they may now attempt to engage said engines by rolling as many dice as listed on the TRACK. They are
trying to roll a 6 on EVERY DIE to get the engines to engage and warp you out of there.

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SECTION 3: ENEMY on the RADAR 

 
3.0: Rolling for Enemy Fighters 
The very first step of each turn is to deploy more enemy fighters onto the playing field. The game begins with
none out to start with. During this step, check the Enemy System Scan Track (RED) to see how many dice to
roll. The more the enemy capital ship charges/powers up, the more enemy fighters it will send out against you.
The current (most recent) number marked on the track determines how many dice you roll.

For example, in the image above, the boxes are crossed off all the way to the “2” mark. This means you will roll
2 dice and add the result together. This final number is how many enemy fighters will appear on the Targeting
System Tracks.

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3.1: Deploy Enemy Fighters 
The next step is to deploy all the fighters you’ve rolled up for the turn. You always begin deploying in the
topmost region of the Targeting System Tracks. You then move clockwise around the 4 sides of the ship,
placing out enemy fighters as evenly as possible.

So, for example, if you rolled 2 dice and got a result of 5, that means you would put 5 ships out. Start at the top
section and mark off the 1 on the track. Then go all around in a clockwise motion marking off one on each track
until you get back around to the top where you add a second mark.

In this way, you end up with 2 enemy fighters in the topmost section and 1 in each of the others. The next turn,
if you didn’t end up destroying any enemy fighters, you would build onto the the preexisting enemy fighters,
beginning by adding 1 to the topmost track (bringing it up to 3) and continuing to add more ships in a similar
clockwise pattern.

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If a track on one side is ever full, skip it in the rotation (but still put out ALL the enemy ships you rolled up in the
other sections). If all the sections are full up, stop adding new enemies. You can never have more than 14 on
each side.

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SECTION 4: TO BATTLE STATIONS! 

 
4.0: Rolling COMMAND POOL 
Next up, you will roll 1 die for each point of Life Forms you have aboard the ship. Each point is an abstract
representation of a team of crew members. You begin the game with your full complement of Life Form Points:
Which is 7.

That means, during the first turn of the game you will roll 7 dice for your dice pool. This is called your
COMMAND POOL. As you take damage, you might lose Life Forms and therefore have to roll less dice.

If you are EVER at 0 Life Forms, you don’t get any dice to roll for the turn. Instead, you MUST add 1 Charge to
the Life Forms Track instead.

4.1: Assign Commands 

Next up, you will examine your Command Pool you jut rolled and assign some or all of the commands as you
see fit among the ships various systems. Each number pertains to a different set of systems.
● 1-2: Weapon Systems
● 3-4: Life Support Systems
● 5-6: Engine Systems

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This is denoted on the “Control Panel” of each system readout (See the following image where the number
reminders are circled in RED on the panel).

When assigning a Command to a system, choose ONE of the two subsystems under that category to add a
CHARGE to.

For instance, if you rolled a 1 or 2, you can assign that command to the Weapons Systems. Choose either
Phasers or Torpedos to add a CHARGE to. To add a CHARGE, simply mark off the next highest box. At the
beginning of the game, neither phasers or torpedos have any charges. So, you begin by marking off the “1” slot
on the track.

Both Life Support Subsystems as well as the Impulse Engines begin the game fully charged and therefore
cannot be charged until they take damage. No system can be charged above a power rating of 7.

IF EVERY sub-system is fully charged, you may then instead add any and all charges to the shields by erasing
any damage previously done to the shields around the ship. You may not do this if not all sub-systems are
charged to 7.

Designer’s Note​: When charging the “Life Forms” it is assumed your medical staff is working to heal those
injured in battle, thus bringing more points worth of crew members into play to help out.

4.2: Re-Rolling COMMAND POOL 

If you didn’t roll the results you’d hoped for the first time DON’T WORRY. Any unused commands are rerolled
now. This gives you a chance to decide what is most important and then reroll those you wish to gain different
results from.

4.3: Assign Commands 

Finally, after rerolling, you may assign any commands from the new rerolled COMMAND POOL in the same
manner as above--adding charges to subsystems.

At the end of this step, any unused commands are lost. They can’t be saved for later turns.

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SECTION 5: FIRE WEAPONS! 

 
5.0: Choose Weapons and Targets 
Now is when the real fun begins. The player must fend off the incoming enemy attack. The player may fire one
or both of his/her weapons multiple times. It all depends on how many charges each weapon has. If a weapon
has no charges it may not be fired.

However, with each fire, you must also choose a target. There are five targets in the game.
- Fighters​: Each of the 4 sides of the ship (as shown on the Targeting Systems Tracks) has its own
Fighter Track in red. Each individual track may be targeted with an attack. Each “hit” from one of your
weapons will reduce the track by 1. (In the example below, the player chooses to target the topmost
Fighter Track. It has 10 fighters. Each successful “hit” would allow the player to erase 1 mark from the
Fighter Track. So, a roll with 3 successful hit results would reduce the fighters in this section to 7.)

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 - Capital Ship​: The enemy ship, as listed in the Enemy Systems Scan, can also be targeted. Each “hit”
from one of your weapons will take out one shield (blue box). Once ALL the shields are depleted, hits
are taken by erasing the marks on the red boxes. This not only reduces the charges from the enemy
ship, but once the Capital Ship is reduced to 0 it is destroyed. If the Capital Ship is destroyed you WIN
THE GAME (In the example below, the enemy ship has charged up past the 3 mark. The player, so far,
has managed to do 10 hits against the Capital Ship’s shields--and therefore crossed out 10 blue boxes.
They will need to inflict 14 more hits to the shields before they can attempt to reduce the marks in the
red boxes.)

There is no limit to the number of times you may attack a target in a turn--except by how many charges you
have to spend. You can choose to focus ALL weapons fire on one target if you wish.

5.1: Firing Phasers 

Phasers are a less powerful weapon aboard the ship. When firing phasers:
1. Check the current power/charge level of the Phasers.
2. Roll as many dice as the power level.
3. Each result of 6 counts as a hit against the enemy.
4. Once you’ve fired, you must reduce the power level by 1. You can continue firing for as long as you have
charges.

In the above example, the player has charged the phasers for 4. That means they may roll 4 dice for the attack.
After rolling and applying any hit results (any die that shows a 6) the player must then reduce the power level by
1. This brings if from 4 down to 3. The player may immediately fire again with 3 power--following the same
procedure.

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5.2: Firing Torpedoes 
Torpedoes are a more powerful weapon aboard the ship, but they are harder to keep charged. To fire a
Torpedo:
● Spend 1 or more charges by reducing the power rating.
● EACH charge you spend earns you 1 die.
● Roll the dice you have purchased with charges. Each die result of 4, 5, or 6 counts as a hit!
● If you still have left over charges, you may spend more to attack again.

In the above example, the player has 4 charges. They choose to spend two charges, reducing the power/charge
level to 2. They roll the 2 dice. Afterward, the can choose to spend 1 or 2 more charges again to fire.

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SECTION 6: ENEMY FIRE! 

 
Once you’ve finished firing your own weapons, the enemy gets a chance to fire. The enemy fire step is split into
two sub-steps: First, the Capital Ship charges its weapons and potentially bombards you. Second, all enemy
fighters fire.

6.0: Capital Ship Charges and Bombards 

During this step, you will add 1 Charge to the Capital ship. Do this by checking off the next red box on the
Enemy Systems Scan Track (During the first game turn, check off the “1” box). THEN if you marked off a new
number on the track, the Capital Ship will make a bombardment attack against your ship. To do this:
1. Grab as many dice as the current number you just checked off.
2. Roll those dice. Each result of 4-6 is a HIT against your ship.
3. Apply damage to your ship. (as explained below under “Applying Damage”)

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In the example above, the enemy Capital Ship just added a charge and marked off the “2” box. This means the
ship rolls 2 dice to bombard your ship. One die is a 6 and the other a 2. That means you take 1 damage against
your ship.

6.1: Enemy Fighters Fire 

During this step, each individual Fighter track (on each of the four sides of the Targeting System Readout) will
fire one at a time. To do this:
1. Grab as many dice as the current number on the Fighter Track.
2. Roll those dice. Each result of 6 is a HIT against your ship.
3. Apply damage to your ship. (as explained below under “Applying Damage”)
4. Continue this process for each of the 4 fighter tracks.

In the example above, the topmost Fighter Track currently has 10 fighters. That means you roll 10 dice for the
enemy attack. You roll them and get a result on 4 of the dice out of the 10. That means your ship takes 4
damage.

6.3: Evasive Maneuvers 

BEFORE applying any damage to your ship, you may attempt to use your impulse engines to make an “evasive
maneuver.” This allows you to dodge incoming hits from the enemy before they can hit you. To do this:
1. Check the currently marked charge/power on the Impulse Engine subsystem. The number currently
marked is the number of dice you roll for the evasion.
2. Roll the dice. Each result of 6 negates or “blocks” a single incoming “hit” or damage.
3. Any unblocked hits come through to the shields/ship.

6.2: Taking Damage 

Damage to your ship is always applied first and foremost to your shields.
● For the Capital Ship, apply damage to the
shields on EACH SIDE of the ship evenly (in a
similar manner to adding fighters to the board).
Mark off available blue boxes all around your
ship, starting at the top and going clockwise
around. If you run out of blue boxes (shields)
surrounding yourship, the remaining damage
goes through to the ship’s systems.
● For the Fighters, this simply does damage to
the shields on the specific side they are firing

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 from. Check off as many blue boxes on that side as are available. Any leftover is applied to the ship’s
systems.
To apply damage to the ship’s systems, roll a single D6 and look at the “Damage Report” table at the bottom of
the game sheet. Each die result pertains to a different ship sub-system. Whichever sub-system you roll takes a
damage. Apply the damage by erasing one of the current Charges marked on the sub-system’s track, thus
lowering it. If there is still damage to be applied, continue rolling on the Damage Report table for each incoming
damage until you’ve applied it all to one or more of your ship’s subsystems.

If your Life Forms AND your Integrity sub-systems ever BOTH reach 0, your ship is destroyed and you LOSE
THE GAME.

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SECTION 7: TEST WARP ENGINES 

 
The final step of each turn is to test your warp engines (if able). In order to be eligible to test the engines, you
MUST have the Warp Track Charged up all the way up to the “7” slot at least one time. If you’ve managed to
charge the warp engines up to 7, you may test them now. To do this:
1. Take as many dice as charges on the sub-system (7 in this case).
2. Roll the dice.
3. You MUST get a 6 one EVERY die in the dice pool for the Warp Engines to kick on.
a. PASS: If you roll all 6s, you have successfully warped out of the battle area and WON THE
GAME!
b. FAIL: If you didn’t roll all 6s, reduce the Warp Track by 1. You MAY test the engines again next
turn at the lower Charge. In this way, you may continue testing at lower and lower charges (and
less dice) for higher chances of the engines kicking on. HOWEVER, if you ever reach 0 on the
track again--either by failing tests or taking damage to the system--you have overheated the
engines and MUST start over. This means you must charge the warp engines back up to 7 again
before you are allowed to test them again.

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