Albedo: The Role-Playing Game


 * See the Albedo RPG disambiguation page for additional roleplaying games set in the Albedo universe.

Albedo: The Role-Playing Game is a pen-and-paper roleplaying game based on the Erma Felna storyline of Albedo Anthropomorphics.

First Edition
The original 1988 edition of the Albedo RPG was designed by Paul Kidd, illustrated and edited by Steve Gallacci, and published by Thoughts & Images. It was packaged as a boxed set of softcover booklets:
 * Book 1: Player's Manual (40pp) setting character generation rules
 * Book 2: Equipment Description (32pp) equipment and vehicle combat rules
 * Book 3: Referee's Manual (40pp) combat and task resolution
 * Sample scenarios (16pp): "The Catapult", "Troubles on Tlakatan", and "The Party"

The distinctive feel of the game arose from two mechanical considerations. Firstly, the lethality of the combat system tended to make gunplay frightening rather than recreational; players would rarely seek out violence for its intrinsic entertainment value. Secondly, psychological as well as physical capabilities were captured in game mechanics; in both combat and social situations, a character's nerve and motivation could be as important as skills and equipment.

Second Edition
A second edition by Craig Hilton and Paul Kidd was published in 1993 by Chessex. The new edition was packaged as a single 176-page paperback. Rules changes from the first edition included the generation of character attributes by point-allocation rather than by random roll.

Supplementary Material
Various support materials for the second edition were released by Chessex:
 * Zho-Chaka, a 32-page planet-based scenario published in 1994
 * The Drift, a 64-page space-based scenario published in 1994
 * The Albedo Ship Sourcebook, published in 1995

The gaming magazine Vortext printed several articles by Steve Gallacci about the Albedo setting:
 * "EDF Uniform Insignia" in Vortext #3
 * "Getting from Here to There" in Vortext #7, describing jump drive technology

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