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// First Light · Available August 2026

THE
RED
SHIFT

You are capable. You are dangerous. But you are owned.

Sci-Fi TTRPG/2–5 Players/Daniel Coonrod & Zeta Gardner
Section 01.1 // The Brief

The Corp owns the stations. The shipping lanes. The law. And, through debt or blackmail or conditioning, a piece of you.

The Game

A streamlined Team vs. Threat dice-pool engine built for rapid-fire action.

> LeverageA score of 0–10. How much the Corp owns you. The question isn't if you'll take the job. It's what you'll give up to slip the noose.
> FocusSpend it to push past your limits. Drained, you're just a person in a suit, and the things outside don't care.
// Section 01.2

The Stories

Operations live in morally gray areas and rarely come out clean.

01 / OBJECTIVE
Heists & Extractions

Data vaults, cryo-bays, orbital platforms. A document, a person, or a prototype that was never meant to exist. The Infiltrator slips past security while the Hacker loops the feeds, and the Soldier holds the line when it goes sideways.

02 / ALLEGIANCE
Corporate Warfare

You're deniable assets in a cold war between giants. Monday you blow up a shipment. Tuesday you protect the people you came to kill, because a rival offered a better deal. Not heroes, not villains. The dirty hands that keep the boardroom clean.

03 / THE DARK
Survival Horror

Not every threat is human. Derelicts hide experiments that escaped containment. AI that no longer takes orders. Relics that whisper thoughts you almost understand. The lights flicker out, comms die, and the sensors can't find what's in the dark with you.

Section 02 // The Engine

The System

Team vs. Threat

Fast-paced action. A streamlined dice-pool engine. No initiative, no grids. Just decisions and consequences.

Nine Roles

From the Soldier to the Psion, each with its own Power tree across five ranks. Build the operator the job needs.

Leverage

The Corp owns you, 0 to 10. Every mission is a chance to break free, or to sink deeper into the debt.

A Living Universe

Seven S-Corps, independent factions, alien artifacts, and a signal nobody can decode.

// Section 01.3

Core Themes

Freedom vs. Control

Your Leverage is a number, and it only climbs. Every favor, every upgrade tips the scale. What would you sacrifice for true freedom?

Competency Under Stress

You're professionals with the tools to plan and outthink. But competency is no guarantee. Supplies dwindle, Focus drains, and sometimes you win by inches.

Cost of Business

Every heist costs someone something. The Corps see people as commodities. You know better. Will that change what you do?

Section 03 // Operators

Choose Your Role

Your role sets your core skill and what you bring to the crew. There's no wrong pick. It just shapes how you spend your turns at the table.

Role Core Skill What You Are
SoldierCombatFront-line muscle. Holds the line.
EngineerEngineeringTech specialist. Builds and breaks.
MedicMedicineKeeps the crew breathing.
InfiltratorInfiltrationA ghost. Goes where others won't.
FacePersuasionTalks past locked doors.
ScoutPerceptionEyes and ears. Sees the ambush coming.
SurvivorSurvivalLived through worse than this.
HackerTechnologyOwns the systems. Loops the feeds.
PsionWillBurns Focus to bend the impossible.
// Signal Intercept — Personnel Assignment Log

“All of you have services provided by the company that require payment. We are calling in your debts by offering you this unique opportunity.”

She smiled, showing immaculate teeth. “You may call me Ms. Nyota. You will answer to me, and me alone. Let's get started.”

Take the job →
The Red Shift cover: a line of operators filing into the dark, one figure breaking free
The Operator Manual · First Edition

Get the Book

FormatHardcover · 6×9 · 100pp
IncludesPDF + VTT-ready
Hardcover + PDF$25.00
PDF only$12.00
Available for purchase August 1st, 2026
Free Quickstart · Play tonight

You don't have to wait for August. The free Quickstart has the rules, a ready crew, and a mission — everything you need to run your first session right now.

The question isn't whether you'll take the job. It's what you're willing to sacrifice to slip the noose.

Design & Writing Daniel Coonrod & Zeta Gardner  ·  Art Zeta Gardner  ·  Lore Daniel Coonrod & Jason Hazel