Aces High is a high-flying game of ace pilots turning the tide of battle through their flying machines of death. Under the guiding hand of your AWACS game master, you’ll burn through your plane resources and your pilot’s emotions as you make tough decisions in the air and on the ground.

Aces High is built around a d6 engine, derived from the Powered by the Apocalypse framework originally developed by Vincent and Meguey Baker (go check it out, it’s good!) but heavily modified for our own purposes. At its core, you roll 2d6 (“two six sided die”) roll over for nearly all of your actions; and Built into the assumptions is the idea that player pilots are at the top of their game - only the best enemy aces can even hope to challenge you in the air. However, your actions matter - the war is massive, and you can only do so much at a time.

Between your AWACS sending you on sorties, there’s time aplenty to hang out with your fellow pilots, digging for more information on your current conflict, and training up to take on the next challenge.

Aces High is heavily inspired by the combat flight action genre, namely Ace Combat and Project Wingman. Don’t fret — you don’t need to have played these games to play and enjoy Aces High — the aim is to emulate a less realistic depiction of modern air combat in favor of dramatic moments, the joy of an arcade shooter, and banter between you and your fellow pilots.

We made Aces High because of our love for combat flight action games, but it’s also a love letter to.. There are a few core audiences we thought about when constructing Aces High, and we’ve broken them down into archetypes (which is to say, we’re reinventing the ideas Robin Law published). Don’t fret if you don’t fit neatly in these - we’ve had plenty of players enjoy our games:

• Jane Aceshigh: someone who’s just a normal gal that wants to be along for the ride; she’s here to hang out with her friends and feel like she’s playing her favorite plane in a plane game. She’s here equal parts for the story, the planes, but she mostly just wants a simple system to guide her along.
• Slash Edge: someone who lives for the set piece spectacle of the genre and the large stories it comes with and wants to play a character that has an impact on the world. They want the system to provide narrative weight to their actions and to be embroiled in tension.
• Ace Wright: someone who loves the color of the sky and all plane media – if given the choice, they probably would’ve easily chosen to become a fighter pilot themself. They’re here for the planes and the combat itself, not caring about the stories, and want a large variety of options in that form.
• Robert l’Ailtri: someone who is here for the mechanics themselves of Aces High – they don’t care about the flavor of the system but all of the ways they can manipulate and understand it. He loves the intricate details of the moment-to-moment gameplay.
• Sam Bradford: someone who is here for risky, dangerous combat like that from another genre (say, XCOM) and is fine with a hearty risk to her characters. Though, like Rob, she enjoys the minute-to-minute gameplay, she also wants a higher, longer-term strategy throughout the course of a campaign, and probably has spreadsheets and notes to keep track of everything.

Aces High is a tabletop roleplaying game in the best tradition of make-believe. Most of you will send your pilot careening into an imaginary war; one of you will sit (or stand) in safety and dream of the sky.

Have you ever dreamed of the sky?

I saw so many more things than my words could describe, but I tried anyway. I talked about the wide open sky, of the clouds splattered against the canvas, of the ground far, far below. I took a breath then, but one of my friends interrupted. She spoke that she was there too, about the 44,000 pound bird she was in, of the way the controls felt beneath her hands. Another one spoke then, speaking about the nervousness she felt, of the way she kept looking at the sky, searching for something.

I waited.

The last one spoke, too, asking into the dream of the things that were on the horizon.

Ah. I said nothing then, letting the dream speak, pulling them into its spell. And slowly, they started to dream too. They saw what I saw, left trails in each other’s memories, and when they looked across the table, they saw some other than their friend looking back at them.

Maybe your dreams are different than mine. That’s okay, though. Whether you’re new to this, old to this, or anywhere in between, let yourself and your friends feel the wind beneath your hands and dream of the sky. As long as there is joy, as long as you let yourself get swept away by the wind, as long as you can see the sky, as long as you can fly free, you’ll be alright.

Happy flying!

• Victoria Angelsong’s Team of Squires

Core Mechanics:

• Rolls
  • Pilot Stat rolls are now 2d6 + stat, in line with plane rolls. You can roll a mixed success on pilot stat rolls.
    

• Capacity is now 3d6k2 instead of 3d6.
  

• Mixed Successes are back to 7-11. Fulls are 12, 14+.
  

• MAP has been increased.
  

• Chargen
  • We’re renaming Reaction (the stat) to Reflex.
    

• Stats start at 1/1/1/1.
  

• Specializations
  • 7 Advancements total. Complete 5 to get your mastery.
    

• 3 Separate mastery tactics, of which you choose one.
  

• No more negative stat.
  

• Turns
  • You are no longer allowed to change your turn after you’ve submitted it.
    

• You can still use empty slots for REACTs.
  

• Consequences
  • Facing Consequences now just gives the GM more energy to play with.
    

• Mitigate can’t be used in response now. You have to use it preemptively.
  

• Enemy Units
  • Now function like simplified PCs.
    

• Ordnance
  • Now can be used on any attack maneuver with the [ORD] tag. Costs 1e and 1 cap.
    

• Energy
  • You now start with 5 + Speed before adjustments. Stall is 5 - Manu, Overstress is 10 + Speed + Manu.

New Mechanics:

• Stress
  • Calculated by your pilot stats. You can take Stress to do fun things, if you go over your cap you suffer mental illinois.
    

• Locked
  • Condition that indicates someone’s about to shoot you. You can get rid of it, or destroy the thing preparing to shoot you, but it’s very risky to do so yourself.
    

• Escalate
  • Keyword. Give the GM one energy.
    

• Defeat.
  • Keyword. Reduce your Locked stacks by 1.
    

• Plane Licenses
  • Like the miniseason, or like Lancer. You no longer get destroyed in progression if you lose a plane.

Progression Rework

• No more EXP. Progression is now advancement based, like specs.
  

• Levels are replaced by Deployments, which give you the same benefits on completion as level used to. Deployments are grouped by Tours, which give powerful and unique benefits before (aka ace perks).
  • There are 5 Deployments per tour, and each Deployment has Advancements you have to complete.

Action - The things you can do while in Aces High. Categorized into Attacks, Maneuvers, and Reactions.
Energy - Measure of your plane’s capacity to perform actions. Fluctuates as you spend and gain it as a result of performing Maneuvers.
Maneuver - Actions you may perform by spending Energy equal to their cost to cause effects.
Overstressed - If you gain Energy and then your total Energy hits above or equal to your (Speed + Manu + 10), you Overstress your aircraft.
Stall - If spending or losing energy would make your energy below or equal to [5 - Manu], you Stall. When you Stall, immediately end your turn and start the next turn at your Stall threshold. You cannot lose or gain energy while in Stall, but when you exit Stall at the start of the turn after the duration expires you reset your Energy to your stall threshold. While under Stall, you lose altitude. If something would cause you to gain Stall while already in Stall, you gain additional duration of Stall.
Base - A stat before it’s modified by any modules, perks, or other means.
Initial - Your stat total for a given stat before entering combat.
Current - Your stat total for a given stat currently.
Spend - Using a resource (like Capacity or a Pilot Stat) and decrease your remaining amount. Usually more temporary compared to Burn.
Burn - Similar to Spend. Using a more Permanent resource, like Coins, in an often non-renewable way .
Check - Whenever you’re prompted for a Check, roll the associated stat and 2d6.
Coin - An abstract measure of your luck as a pilot, Spent to do things like gain a guaranteed Perfect Success while on Mission and permanently Burnt to avoid Death, most of the time. When every coin is Burnt, so are you – you’re either dead or grounded.
Critical State - State you’re in after you lose your last survivability. Dangerous.
Bonus - A benefit given as a result of either a Perfect Success or certain abilities.
Buff - Any beneficial numeric modifier to a die roll.
Malus - Any detrimental numeric modifier to a die roll.
Advantage - Whenever you roll with Advantage, you roll twice and take the better result of the two.
Disadvantage - Whenever you roll with Disadvantage, you roll twice and take the worse result of the two.
Forward - Some Actions will give (+/-X) Forward. This means you add or subtract the listed number to your next roll. There might be a condition, for example, “+1 Forward to Attack” means you would add a +1 to your next Attack roll only.
Target - The numerical threshold that has to be met for a check to Succeed or Fail. Also known as “DC.”
Failure - Any Check that is 6 or lower.
Critical Failure - A Check that results in a two on die (that is, you get one on both dice rolled).
Mixed Success - Any Check that is between a 7 and 11, inclusive.
Full Success - Any Check that is 12, 14 or over.
Perfect Success - Any Check that is perfectly 13 or 21.
Test - Roll 2d6, but treat results lower than 8 as Failures and results higher than or equal to 8 as a Full Success.
Pool - A group of numbers.
Tags - Words attached to something that give it effects and functions.
Hold - Often used in relation to AWACS Moves, saving something (usually a Move) for later.

AWACS - Stands for Airborne Warning and Control System. These are those big airplanes with the huge radars on them. In Aces High, we use this as our term to also refer to the Game Master.
gLOC - G-force induced loss of consciousness. When you pull too hard in a turn in an aircraft, your blood starts to pool away from your brain and into your legs, causing you to pass out.
RP - Requisition Points (Not roleplay), a character-based currency—We try to spell roleplay out as much as possible.
Living World - A type of campaign where the in-character world and timeframe roughly aligns with the progression of time in the real world.

Aces High attempts to simulate the action heavy aerial combat of fictionalised conflicts. All of you but one are or will become skilled fighter pilots, trained in flying and operating combat aircraft, and weapons of war that bring destruction upon your enemies from on high. The one of you that is not will be an AWACS operator, a squadron’s eye in the sky, relaying active information of the battlefield.

The AWACS is the one who designs the missions that the players will deal with, the world and war in which these missions are set, and your fellow soldiers and civilians, both in the sky and on the ground.

The prospective pilots are the ones who tackle the missions, choosing where to engage, when, and how, making their mark upon the war and the world as it continues to unravel.

You are not just any pilots: you are meant to be the best of the best, monarchs of the sky and your actions will prove it, but remember: not every liege is just.

The game works best when you are an active and excited participant. You want your character to make their mark on the world, whether it be through accruing kills, defeating enemy aces, or fighting for peace.

You should know a little about what fighter jets are and what fighter pilots do, but you do not need to understand arcane concepts such as OODA loops or Basic Fighter Maneuvers, the game takes care of that for you. What you should have, though, is the ability to think on a tactical level about the battlefield, as well as what role your pilot best fulfills; be it raining destruction from on high or pulling interceptors off of your allies or just being the biggest, loudest, scariest person in the air.

Whether you want to play a rookie pilot who wants a callsign of their own or a conscientious objector pressed into service, you will fit Aces High, but the one thing it cannot accommodate is a pilot who refuses to fly.

And always remember: no risk, no reward. But history won’t remember the pilot who crashed and burned on their first flight.

Your very own flight: two to six players, plus your AWACS.

Each pilot of you should have:

• A copy of the rulebook
  

• A character sheet of your very own prospective pilot
  

• Two six sided dice. You are free to share, but do not share your cursed dice.
  

• A mission to execute. War is optional.
  

• A bottle of Jeremiah Weed is optional too, but snacks are non-negotiable.
  

• Pens or pencils and paper to write on

The AWACS should have:

• A copy of the rulebook
  

• Any notes they might need
  • Setting, non-player characters, enemies, secret documents…
    

• A mission in mind.
  

• Pens or pencils and paper to write on

An AWACS or player may choose to use any physical play aid they need or want. Aces High is generally played in the theatre of the mind, but prioritize your group’s clarity of information and enjoyment.

Battlefields are large and wide, and fighter jets go far and fast, while missiles fly incredible distances to hit their targets; keeping track of it all on paper can be daunting. When you play in the theatre of the mind, be mindful of where your plane generally is in relation to others, and the AWACS may institute checks to make you catch up to your allies or enemies if you’ve gone far afield, but generally you’ll be alright.

Regardless, keeping track of the targets the AWACS introduces and how much hurt you’ve put them through should be the job of the aces. And keep your notes! You’ll never know when knowledge of past enemies can serve you in the future.

Roll dice and make history.

More seriously, the rulebook is written with play in mind, putting the parts the pilots need first, then having the AWACS section afterwards.

• If you’re going to be the AWACS, focus on the AWACS Tools section. It covers what you need to prepare and do for the first game. You should know the pilots’ moves and specialisations at least in passing.
  

• If you’re going to be a pilot, read the player’s guide, about energy and know what specialisation you want to play.
  

• Something about prior PBTA Experience liz I leave this one up to you
  

• If you don’t have a war or a mission, refer to the future example mission that Victoria will totally design.

When you’re playing your pilot:

• Take control: of your pilot, of the plane, of the skies.
  

• Make history.
  

• Win the war.
  

• Play your pilot like they’re a real person.

Think like your pilot would think, do what they would do. Remember that you will be an ace: extremely skilled, extremely qualified. Fights will ask a lot of your pilot and your plane, and harm is unavoidable. Still, sickbays and spare parts should be ubiquitous. Spend a coin to avoid consequences if you need to.

Your goal is to overcome the odds in battle. Destroy the enemy, anticipate their response, and make them pay for ever intruding on your skies.

You’re not just the radar operator in the back, pointing out things the pilot see on their HUD. You are the bridge between the fictional world and the players, where all fictional and mechanical passes.

In that way, you are everything they see - world, cities, people, planes - so share that with them. Let them leave their mark on it, because the act of sharing is an act of love, but do so by the rules you let this book help you along the way with.

Honor the fact that the players are your friends first, and highly competent pilots second. Let the dice tell you their story, just as they let you tell them yours.

The act of AWACSing will ask a lot of you. Don’t be afraid to step back and take a breath.

Conflict is what drives the game of Aces High. Conflict between the pilots, between squadrons, but most importantly, a conflict between powers. This does not need to be a war; it can be border skirmishes between two powers, a proxy conflict between mercenary companies, or a nascent rebellion against the powers that be.

Or it can just be a good old fashioned war.

Whatever you choose, however, it must be bigger than the pilots. They are not the only ones fighting this conflict, but they are the heroes of their story, and likely the story of the entire war. They should have a motivation for fighting this conflict and executing missions: gold, glory or the general good.

As an AWACS, but also as pilots, it is good to be mindful of the setting your flight will be a part of. Are you mercenaries in a conflict kept under wraps or are you part of an air wing in a war between nations. What you choose should help set apart your game from others and provide motivations for your pilot. A rookie who hates war may have no place in a mercenary company, whereas a bloodthirsty veteran of dozens of wars will likely not fit into a story of the first war between nations in a generation.

Notes on Ace Combat as a genre.

• Lots of military tech
  

• Plane supremacy
  

• Video game logic

The most important thing to keep in mind when playing Aces High is that professionals aren’t professional. They chat, they brag, they fight and they party. Your pilot may be a self serious no nonsense soldier, but that does not mean everyone else is, and this lack of professionalism should be a driving factor between the interactions between members of a flight.

Part of the gameplay is simulating the stress of being a pilot: as a mission drags on, your pilot will become worn out, less responsive, irritable and more prone to passing out from the G-forces extended combat puts them under. We encourage you to roleplay this, but to also remember that outside of missions, on the ground, the war takes its toll too.

You may have heard of the phrase “it’s not the plane, it’s the pilot”.

That phrase is stupid.

The plane is as important as the pilot, as they are an extension of the pilot. Whether you’re a player who is just here for the rolling of the dice, someone who wants to create interesting builds, or someone who wishes to tell interesting stories with their pilot, the plane is an important choice.

But the choice isn’t static either. Over the course of a campaign, you will likely go through multiple planes as your flight proves themselves valuable enough to requisition more advanced equipment or perhaps because you got shot down and had to eject.

Whether you choose to high tail it for cutting edge technology or play the entire campaign in a third generation jet that you refuse to let go of, the aircraft you choose becomes a part of the story you craft and will be as key to succeeding as your pilot.

A few last words before we let you go into character creation. Flight is the collective name for all pilots on a mission. Squadron is the collective name for all pilots in a given campaign. We recommend having four to five pilots on a single mission or per flight.

Aces High was initially designed to be played in a living world environment, one where multiple flights worth of pilots make up an entire squadron and form up into individual flights to go on missions while the world goes on day by day. But the game is equally playable in a setting where you have a single flight’s worth of players and hang out weekly or biweekly or whenever schedules allow and run a mission and ground based roleplay as you go.

With that out of the way, we hope you enjoy Aces High and write many stories in the sky for you to remember.

1. Covering the Basics,
   

1. Assigning Pilot Stats,
   

1. Choosing a Specialization,
   

1. Getting a Background Perk,
   

1. Choosing an Aircraft,
   

1. Starting your Tour,
   

1. Picking up your Coins.

Aces High is a game built around conflict, so when you make your character be prepared for them to get into it. You can contribute well with nearly any combination of stats and specializations, but here’s a quick overview of the system before you get into it.

The core of Aces High is a 2d6 system with a scaling result chart. Whenever you make a roll, whether to keep your pilot’s temper in check or to fire a missile at a hostile aircraft, you’ll roll two six sided dice and add the relevant stat and any other modifiers to the result. Then, check the result against the table below.

On a Perfect Success, you get the best possible outcome you could ask for. This means that you receive some additional benefit as a result of your actions.

On a Full Success, you achieve what you were aiming to do. Nothing more, nothing less, and you’re not put into any negative situations as a result.

On a Mixed Success, you either get to do what you wanted to do, but at a cost. It’s a suboptimal result - you Face Consequences, but you’ve moved forward, at the end of the day

On a Failure, you don’t do what you set out to do. Something’s gone terribly wrong, so you Face Consequences no matter what.

On a Critical Failure, something went very wrong. You Face Consequences, and something bad above and beyond that happens to you as well.

Sometimes, a mechanic will ask for a Test roll. In that case, roll 2d6, but treat results lower than 8 as Failures and results higher than or equal to 8 as a Full Success..

Facing Consequences is the natural result of taking risky actions in and out of combat - usually, you’ll just give the AWACS more actions, but sometimes specific things will happen as a result. If you’re Facing Consequences on a pilot stat roll, for example, you might be asked to roleplay your emotions getting the better of you.

Rolls are either Checks, which just look at the result, or Spends, which reduce the stat by 1 after the roll is made. Most plane-related rolls are Checks, most pilot-related rolls are Spends. You also have a stat - Capacity - that lets you make 2d6 rolls 3d6, keep the highest 2 instead.

And finally, as a last resort, you have three Challenge Coins: you can Spend them to reroll, but be careful. Taking too many risks will Burn these permanently, and once they’re all gone, your career is over.

Most combat actions use Energy, which is an action point system that lets you perform Maneuvers. You get a baseline amount of Energy per turn, but getting more is primarily governed by Speed and Maneuverability. Don’t neglect your other stats - Capacity is hugely important too and your A2A and A2G keep you safe in their own way.

Your Specialization gives you access to an exclusive set of Maneuvers, as well as nudging you down a path of story progression through Advancements. Pick something that you both like the mechanical feel of and something you want to tell the story of, since both feed into the other.

Progression is primarily driven by playing your character to type, both by your Specialization choices and ones you’ve made yourself. Failure is a part of growth and part of life, so those progress you as well, but for the most part the rule is simple: play who you are, and grow. What that looks like is left up to you.

Advancements are the primary mechanism for progression. These will be listed as an objective with a checkbox, when you meet the condition, check the box off. Most advancements have some measure of ambiguity in them - it’s up to you and your AWACS to determine if you’ve fulfilled the requirements. If there’s confusion, default to yes. Advancements are always tied to a specific mechanic; you might complete the same advancement multiple times in separate places but they never reset.

• Always round down.
  

• You are never your own ally.
  

• Specific supersedes general.
  

• Capitalized words are important.
  

• When in doubt, ask your AWACS.
  

Characters in Aces High are fighter pilots with their own unique quirks and features. Before getting into the stats there are a few things to consider:

The nature of fighter jets means that very often the only option is to be under the control of a nationstate. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part you are of the nationality you are serving under, in whole or in part.

Depending on the setting, this may or may not have influence on the choices you can make regarding your name, callsign, aircraft, or any other element of your character. Your AWACS should provide you with enough specifics, if not, use the setting guide on page XX.

In all likelihood, a name won’t be too hard to come up with. A callsign may be more difficult, but if you have no idea the following will hopefully provide some guidance:

A callsign serves as an extension of the concept that professionals aren’t professional, your callsign will be the name your pilot bears in the sky, though some may choose to go by it on the ground as well. While on missions, it is likely you will be assigned a flight callsign, calling someone Diesel will always be more personal and direct than Hammer Five.

The three rules of callsigns:

1. If you don’t already have one, you will be assigned one by your “buddies”.
   

1. You probably won’t like it.
   

1. If you complain and moan too much about 1. and 2., you’ll get a new nickname you’ll like even less!

When creating your character, you likely will want to make up your own callsign. We do not discourage this, but it can provide for a nice scene if you go around assigning callsigns to each other when you make your characters. But you can also decide that you don’t get any until a good moment comes up in a mission. Regardless, please consider our personal fourth rule of callsigns:

1. There is always a hint of truth to callsigns.

If you aren’t familiar with callsigns or have a lack of inspiration, browse https://www.f-16.net/callsigns.html for a good look at the full breadth of what is possible.

In most modern air forces and navies, all pilots are officers. Commissions are earned, and pilots generally don’t gain their wings until they’ve made at least First Lieutenant or an equivalent. Just as much, the higher rank an officer gets, the less frequently they fly, the more frequently they pilot a desk. Though you can choose to ignore this, remember: something has gone terribly, terribly wrong if a general has to hop into her plane.

Your pilot is likely also part of some kind of unit - Squadron, etc. Ask your AWACS for those details, or use the setting guide on page XX.

Traits are character descriptors. Write three down, they should, all together, be able to describe your character to your AWACS quickly. These can be beliefs, convictions, quirks, personality traits, or anything in between.

Make sure to write something down that you can roleplay consistently. We suggest at least two should be things that will or should come up nearly every session; so think about the emotion that you primarily want to evoke in the other characters and write those down. One other trick for thinking about it is writing down things that someone else would use to describe your character - you can even get your other players to help with this during character creation.

However, they shouldn’t all be things about your character that will never change, either. Threading the needle is tricky, but remember that war is hell and nobody stays immutable through the duration of a conflict. You’ll have the opportunity to change these traits as you play through your game for benefits.

Yet what is a Pilot?

Your pilot has four stats - Temper, Nerve, Reflex, and G-Resist. These are four facets of their personality that are the most important to the game, governed by how good they are at keeping that facet of their personality under their control.

These aren’t physical descriptors, and the specifics of how they influence your pilot’s behaviour are for you to make sense of as the situation develops. You might describe a low Nerve pilot as constantly nervous, or calm but traumatized from past experiences, or a prodigy - just easily distracted. We think you should have some stake in just what happens to your character and how they respond, but with the understanding that nothing survives first contact with the enemy.

In Aces High, a pilot’s four stats each represent a pool of points. When you make pilot stat rolls, you reduce the pool by 1.

Your pilot stats all start at 1, and you have 4 more points to allocate between any of them. Later on, you’ll choose a specialization that’ll give you another boost. You can’t buy down stats.

Temper manages the fight side of the fight or flight response. A low Temper suggests a proclivity to giving in to the desire to fight faster than is perhaps reasonable, and as a result, a low Temper character often overextends and overcommits to a fight faster than a higher Temper character might. A low Temper might be a result of being hot-headed or cocky, while a high Temper is often a result of experience, awareness, and some measure of humbleness.

Nerve manages the flight side of the fight or flight response, and it is one’s ability to not get overwhelmed by situations. This could be due to keen observational skills, a good analytical mind, or sheer experience. Someone with a lot of Nerve will never be caught flatfooted, and always able to respond to a situation. Someone without a lot of Nerve might instead find themselves panicked or distracted, causing them to fail the action they intended to take, or they might fold too easily, giving up a winnable fight.

Reflex manages a pilot’s simple ability to be able to act on stimuli and take in information. It’s how quickly a pilot’s able to notice, or not notice, for example, a SAM site locking them up and begin taking action. This could be due to pure reaction speed, fast processing of information, or even just having seen all this before. Low Reflex might imply slow reactions, or simply just not having had your morning coffee.

A character’s physical stamina is measured within their G-Resistance, representing how easily they’re affected by things like g-LOC. A character with low G-Resistance probably doesn’t enjoy roller coasters too much; one with a high G-Resistance may be an adrenaline addict. Failing a G-Resistance check usually comes with losing actions or getting put in a bad scenario as a result of your poor stamina.

Choose Multitooler (Multirole Specialist) if..

• You have any combination of pilot stats.
  

• You like
  

• You want to

Choose Knife Fighter (Interceptor Specialist) if..

• You spend your downtime talking through complicated emotions.
  

• You like stacking effects onto your attacks.
  

• You want to focus on other planes.

Choose Hammer-Dropper (Strike Specialist) if..

• You spend your downtime taking care of yourself and your buddies.
  

• You like taking hits and still going.
• You want to support your allies on the ground.

Choose Disc Jockey (EWO Specialist) if..

• You spend your downtime preparing your next hit single.
• You like selectively deploying buffs for max impact.
• You want to bring the noise.

Choose Acrobat if..

● You spend your downtime staying flexible.

● You like making lots of maneuvers and working with your allies.

● You want to show off your maneuvering skill and stunt on people.

Choose Ambush Predator if..

● You spend your downtime away from crowds.

● You like patiently setting up the perfect shot.

● You want to lie in wait until the perfect moment.

Choose Braggart if..

● You spend your downtime being the best (disputed).

● You like baiting enemies with your words and actions to exploit their eagerness.

● You want to be the loudest person on and off the battlefield.

Choose Cloudhead if..

● You spend your downtime being positive.

● You like being the person keeping an eye on everyone else and covering them.

● You want to have a family you’re in charge of.

Choose Duelist if..

● You spend your downtime as a noble of old.

● You like fighting someone head on - damn the consequences.

● You want to be a knight, for all the good and bad that entails.

Choose High-Roller if..

● You spend your downtime betting on yourself.

● You like gambling.

● You want to hope for the perfect roll on every roll.

Choose OODA-Looper if..

● You spend your downtime refining your business acumen.

● You like being a nERD.

● You want to play your pilot to the max.

Choose Reconnoiter Reporter if..

● You spend your downtime pinning string to corkboards.

● You like knowing everything and piecing the story together.

● You want to keep guessing and collecting information.

Choose Redline Racer if..

● You spend your downtime going on joyrides.

● You like going fast.

● You want to push your plane’s speed to the limit.

Choose Sibyl if..

● You spend your downtime dabbling in the arcane.

● You like making deals with the devil for great power at great price.

● You want to be mysterious and unknowable.

Choose Storyteller if..

● You spend your downtime reminiscing.

● You like telling stories from the cockpit for your allies.

● You want to be the one people go to when the unexpected happens.

In addition, for SSES3: Sotoa, there are a number of additional specs available. These are:

Archon

• A shielding defender, drawing fire and keeping their wingmen safe.

Coryphee

• A dancer, shifting stances as the situation warrants for maximum effect.

Aerial Cowboy

• A gunslinger, shooting fast and shooting hard.

Truck Driver

• A maniac, piloting their plane with reckless abandon.

Tactician

• A shrewd leader, ordering their allies around for maximum effect.

Oracle

• A card-drawing seer, tipping fate in their favor.

The Novice

• A FNG, here to learn the truth of war.

Hidden One

• A zealot assassin, adept at singling targets out for elimination.

Air Controller

• A commander, leading other assets in battle from their cockpit.

Once you’ve chosen your Specialization, apply the pilot stat adjustment that comes with each one to your pilot stats. Then, take a look at the list of Tactics and choose two to start off with. Some are passive effects, some are Maneuvers; feel free to come back to this later when you’ve chosen a plane, or pick ones you like the name of. 

Most Specializations just have a stat bonus of some kind, but some of the more esoteric ones come with further changes to your character. They’ll be listed here. These apply once, when you gain the Specialization. 

The pre-flight checklist consists of downtime activities to perform on the ground, in addition to the basic ones on page (XX). These are suggestions on what your pilots may get up to between missions, and provide benefits for completing. See them as guidelines, not limits, on what you can do outside of planes.

The mechanical meat of a given Specialization. These unlock new abilities to use on mission. Once you have one, you have it forever. Unless they say so, they’re always on. 

Each Specialization has its own list of Advancements, of which you can complete once per mission. Whenever you mark one off, you can choose to gain a Specialization Tactic or a Perk. When you’ve gained all your spec tactics, choose one of the three Mastery tactics and gain it immediately.

Each specialization also has three mastery tactics, which represent three possible paths you could take your Specialization based on the story and your character. When you’ve gained every Tactic, you choose one mastery tactic. Normally, you can’t gain the ones you didn’t choose. 

Pilot Perks, alongside Specializations, make up the bulk of the customization options that a pilot faces. They come in three core varieties: Base Perks, Background Perks, and Ace Perks. Base Perks are gained as part of the Genesis Deployment or instead of a Specialization Tactic, your Background Perk is given to you as part of character creation, while Ace Perks are capstone rewards for Tours. The Base and Ace perk list is on page XX.

A Background Perk is an optional second perk that players may start the game with. It should be designed to encourage a specific type of hamfisted, tropey dialogue that Ace Combat and the genre is known for.

Instead of choosing one, work with your AWACS as part of your pilot creation process to make one that fits where they came from and where they’re going - usually they have relatively minor mechanical effects, but fit well with backstory and are highly flavorful. Appendix (LETTER) has a list of common designs to help you design one.

The only time you can gain a Background Perk, barring AWACS exceptions, is during character creation. Remember that this is an optional system, and not every game will use these.

With your pilot created and ready to fly, the next step is to pick a plane: a pilot isn’t really a pilot without an aircraft after all. Planes, and plane upgrades (“Modules”) are purchased with Requisition Points (“RP”). You start with 50 RP.

At the core of Aces High, just as much as the pilots, are the aircraft. All aircraft have four stats, two pools, seven module slots, three perks to choose from, and come in a wide variety of options that are divided between four roles and eight licenses.

Though your pilot can fly any Aircraft with any Specialization, you will likely want to choose a plane that synergises well with your choices so far.

A combined measure of avionics and armament, an Aircraft’s A2A stat measures how well an airframe can face off against other aircraft and aerial targets.

Just like A2A, A2G represents the avionics and munitions an Aircraft has that allows it to rain death from above or provide close air support.

The measure of an agility of a plane, and represents how easily a plane can navigate a dogfight or difficult terrain as well as weave through enemy fire.

A measure of pure, raw, speed and engine responsiveness. An Aircraft’s Speed makes getting into and out of situations easier, as well as improves chasing down and dealing with targets.

In addition to their stats, Aircraft have two resource pools to draw from.

A measure of all of the stores of fuel, flares, and munitions on an Aircraft, Capacity is used as a resource to improve your odds. There are other things that allow you to spend your Capacity too, and it is the most freeform - and thus powerful - of your resources.

Survivability, on the other hand, is how much damage you can take, and is a measure of the combined strength of an Aircraft’s airframe alongside the ways it seeks to protect its pilot. It’s assumed that you only use your Survivability when you’ve fully expended your Capacity; however, it’s your funeral.

A plane with or at 0 Survivability can take exactly one last hit before Entering a Critical State. This is an extremely dangerous place to be - consider Withdrawing before it happens.

When it comes to Aircraft, there are four unique Roles: Multirole, Interceptor, Strike, or Electronic Warfare. Each Role has a unique Maneuver that it can use in Combat exclusive to it.

• You’re a Jack of all trades, and still masters of some.
  

• Multirole Aircraft are the do-anything option by and large, and have the most appeal to broad strokes. By being the less specialized, they’re arguably the most capable, but this comes at the cost of having the most average stats and techniques.
  

• If you choose this Role, be ready for anything, but be prepared to be outshone and outdone.

• You focus on ruling the skies.
  

• Be it through Speed, Maneuverability, or a mix of the two, as well as advanced avionics specialised for air to air combat, they often are the top dog in their domain; however, as a result they are liable to struggle in taking out ground targets while having limited Capacity.
  

• If you choose this Role, be ready to make the skies your kingdom, striking down anyone who’d dare intrude.

• You focus on decimating ground targets.
  

• While most aircraft are rarely seen by ground troops, there are no aircraft whose effects are as felt on a battlefield as that of Strike Aircraft. To the enlisted troops that witness them, the payloads they carry often come across as either minor miracles in their time of need or as gods of death and destruction – or so Strike Aircraft pilots would like you to believe. By and large, they’re usually slower and less maneuverable, but excel in Capacity and sheer Survivability that allows them to exceed in their chosen Role.
  

• If you choose this Role, be prepared to rain death from above, but be ready to be the first in the line of fire of return fire.

• You’re a bard of aviation.
  

• Electronic Warfare Aircraft have one key focus: jamming enemy radars. This allows them to either give buffs to their allies or to debuff enemies through the selective disruption of radar waves, either those of your enemies’ missiles or of their RWR in the sky, or of your enemies’ground based defenses, be they SAMs or CIWS.
  

• If you choose this Role, be ready to be your ally’s best friends and enemies’ worst nightmare, with everything that entails.

Now that you’ve chosen a role, it’s time to choose a license. 

Choose MacMillan Modern Warfare if..

• You like to monitor the situation.
  

• You want to be the last thing your enemies never see.

Choose MacMillan Advanced Warfare

• You like ordnances that seem excessive at first.
  

• You want to be a tactical nuke, only tougher to scare.

Choose General Resources Professional Resources Surplus if..

• You like fire.
  

• You want to rule the skies.

Choose General Resources Trading if..

• You like large explosions.
  

• You want to give any amount for air to ground.

Choose Grunder Sud if..

• You know it’s not the plane, it’s the pilot.
  

• You want to live on the edge of sanity.

Choose Grunder Nord if..

• You know it’s not the pilot, it’s the plane.
  

• You want to test the limits of feasibility in plane design.

Choose Arm if..

• You like to stay alive.
  

• You want to support your allies.

Choose Hammer if..

• You like to be in control.
  

• You want to sow chaos among your enemies.

Tours are part progression, part character arc - choose your tour because you feel it describes the person your character is, or who they want to be. At each moment, it tells the story of how you’re seeking something, driven by something, or something you hold dear. Each Tour is written with one of each of these traits, as you go on it you’ll look at your character and reflect on how you interpret each one and whether or not they’ve changed you. No matter what, war changes a person.

There are six tours, and one more hidden tour you can’t start character creation with. Choose one to start on. 

• ..seek pride
  

• ..are driven by conviction
  

• ..value honor

Knights use Temper to access their power. You might..

• ..have a code of honor that goes beyond even the laws of war
  

• ..let wounded troops retreat so you can fight them at full strength
  

• ..show mercy even at great personal risk

• ..seek strength
  

• ..are driven by discipline
  

• ..value community

Soldiers use Nerve to access their power. You might..

• ..fight for a nation over any sense of loftier ideals
  

• ..firmly believe that there is no honor in war, without falling into ruthlessness
  

• ..stand by your unit’s side, no matter what

• ..seek glory
  

• ..are driven by wealth
  

• ..value dominance

Mercenaries use Reflex to access their power. You might..

• ..only be there for a paycheck
  

• ..exploit the flow of the battlefield to maximize your profit
  

• ..try and stamp your mark on history

• ..seek purpose
  

• ..are driven by curiosity
  

• ..value opportunity

Monarchs use G-Resist to access their power. You might..

• ..fashion yourself as the ruler of the sky
  

• ..care less about whatever goes on groundside
  

• ..find a reason to fight, buddy

• ..seek thrill
  

• ..are driven by excitement
  

• ..value liberty

Phoenixes reject the primacy of a single stat in favor of a more holistic approach. You might..

• ..chafe at not being able to do things your own way
  

• ..look for the most exciting part of the battlefield
  

• ..keep trying new things, in the air and on the ground

• ..seek allies
  

• ..are driven by friendship
  

• ..value equality

Garudas reject the power of their own emotions in favor of their bonds with others. You might..

• ..sacrifice yourself to empower your allies
  

• ..reach out to enemies and give them chances
  

• ..make sure everyone in the squad is tight-knit

A Deployment is a smaller part of the larger story arc of a tour, telling the story of one, maybe two individual missions. They represent the thing that’s changing you right now, the thing you’re focusing on improving about yourself, the thing you’re striving for as the war continues.

Each tour is made up of five deployments; and each deployment gives you a bonus when it’s completed by completing 5 out of 7 advancements, always including the one specifically assigned to the deployment. These Advancements are listed on Page XX. For now, choose your first deployment - if you don’t have a better idea, pick the one that increases your lowest pilot stat.

• ..gain 1 Temper
  

• .. by snapping, overreacting, or overextending when you fail a Temper check

• ..gain 1 Reflex
  

• .. by panicking, freezing up, or getting overwhelmed when you fail a Reaction check

• ..gain 1 Nerve
  

• .. by disconnecting, lagging, or stalling out when you fail a Nerve check

• ..gain 1 G-Resist
  

• .. by blacking out, getting sick, or getting weakened when you fail a G-Res check

• ..gain 50 RP
  

• .. by facing consequences even when you make a roll with Capacity.

• ..gain 1 Pilot Perk
  

• .. by completing that Perk’s specific Advancement. Perks are listed on Page XX.
  

• This Deployment must be completed twice consecutively to get the benefit.

• ..gain access to Advanced Maneuvers for your airplane.
  

• ..by rolling a Perfect or a Failure in it.

Stress is a pair of tracks that represent the accumulated strain of being a pilot. You have two tracks, one Physical and one Mental. Add your Nerve and Temper to get your mental Stress, and your Reflex and G-Res to get your physical Stress. When you lose or gain a point in any of these stats, immediately update your stress tracks as well.

Stress can be increased in a number of ways to provide benefits – but be careful, once you’ve filled a Stress track, you suffer a Break, which permanently lowers your stats in that track. You can keep taking stress above the track max, but the more you do so the worse your stats get.

Whenever a Stress track goes over, for each time that happens, you suffer a Break (either Mental or Physical, depending). When you suffer a Break, permanently lower the two stats in that Stress track by 1. You can suffer as many Breaks as you wish, as long as your stats stay above 0. Once either stat in a track hits 0, you can’t mark that Stress anymore.

You can lower stress during a Tour by changing a trait – taking an action that diverges with a stated Trait, then crossing it out and writing a new one in its place. Each trait can be changed up to one time per Tour, and each time this happens, reduce your Stress in one track by 3. Once you’ve done this, you can’t use that Trait for Deployment advancements for the duration of the current Tour. This is called “flipping” a trait.

• Maximum Exertion
  • [REACT - 0] Mark a point of Physical Stress. Reroll a d6 you just rolled. Give 1 Escalation to the AWACS. Fatigue.

• Lock In
  • [REACT - 0] Mark a point of Mental Stress. Add Capacity to a Pilot Stat Roll.

• Spend a point of stress on both tracks. Complete any deployment advancement; you can only do this once per mission.
  

• Spend a point of stress on either track whenever you make an Attack against something giving you {Locked}. Ignore the {Locked} Bane for that Attack.

Whenever you finish a Tour, reset your Stress. For now, your Stress starts at 0 in both tracks.

Finally, each pilot starts with three Coins. These represent your luck and determination and are what elevates you above other pilots. When you’ve burned them all, you’ve run out of luck and you’re grounded - retired, but still alive.

Coins can be Spent on mission to reroll Checks or gain useful hints, or Burnt permanently to keep you flying when you enter Critical state. When a mission ends, you recover all Spent Coins.

Something about finishing character creation and being ready to deploy/fly. Chargen ends here.

Example of play goes here.

//Todo: This.
Fluff about the fact that once you’ve created a character and chosen planes, you have to work with the other aces to do all the team stuff.

WIP.
Squadron naming - examples from IRL ussr/usa and how mercs differ

WIP.
Talk about squadron/company has relations to other groups, positive and negative.

WIP.
Part where you talk about how you might not have your entire squadron go up at once and it’s broken into several flight names that usually relate to the Squadron theming.

Todo

WIP.

WIP.

WIP.

WIP.

Aces High is a game of highly trained pilots tearing through the sky, bending the world to their will by the power of their flying machines. It means that the game is built around the feeling of Ace Combat, where the players drive the world through their actions.

The core gameplay loop of Aces High is framed as a series of missions. These can be either part of a longer campaign or one-off deployments, but each mission is generally one sortie - takeoff to landing, start to finish.

As an AWACS, your job will be to present an interesting series of challenges for your pilots on missions and respond to their actions in a way that drives the story forward. These can be the various enemy types as obstacles, these can be situations that drive wedges between the pilots, but ultimately you play the world. Ultimately, this means your primary job is to describe what happens as a result of the player actions, arbitrating rules along the way and turning it into a seamless narrative.

It’s traditional to brief the players at the start of a sortie. You can make this as detailed or not as you want - “we have incoming!” sets the tone just as well as a ten minute presentation. Let the players talk amongst themselves, but make sure to keep the pace moving so things don’t drag and people stay engaged.

Once you’re all in the air, players start driving the action. Aces High assumes a primarily theater of mind mode of play, where ranges and distance are a little bit in flux, but some visual aids can prove helpful.

Outside of encounters, Aces High operates much like it does off-mission. Players are free to take actions (mostly) as they wish, exploring the situation set up for them by the AWACS up until shots are starting to get fired. Once that happens, the mode shifts to a slightly more formalized format. Combat is organized into rounds, during which each player takes one turn. Each player’s turn, they are allowed as many actions as their action budget and energy allow. While there is a maneuver list provided, some actions will fall outside of it. In those cases, the AWACS should adjudicate based on their best judgement and following the convention set by the listed rules for similar actions. As a guide, the core actions are checks against the pilot stat you think is most relevant and an energy cost you feel is appropriate.

The start of a mission is mostly focused on organization and getting to the combat area. Here, we recommend organizing your team into pairs of two with a cool flight name. In normal combat operations, the odd numbers are the leaders of each pair of wingmen, so in an example of Lake 1, 2, 3, and 4, Lake 1 and Lake 3 would be more senior to 2 and 4, with Lake 1 being the flight lead.

You may face a few simple checks when getting to the area of combat operations, but unless the mission is specifically designed to not be combat oriented, expect it to mostly be mechanically simple and more roleplay-oriented.

        There are four levels of difficulty in Aces High. Whenever a rule refers to the difficulty as a number, use the 1-4 scale below.

• Clear Skies missions are easy missions.

• Moderate Breeze missions are the default difficulty - the players versus regular enemy units, and the one this game expects most of the time.

• Gale missions are harder, for when rival squadrons and weaker enemy Aces start to appear.

• Calamitous missions are rare, usually reserved for the strongest of Aces and for Superweapons.

The Balance of Power (BoP) is an abstraction of the flow of battle \- how well each side is doing, morale, objectives, and otherwise how the mission is going. Every mission will make use of this scale, which goes from \-8 to \+8 in increments of 1\. When you start a mission, the AWACS will brief you with the following information: 

• At least one player objective; which increases the BoP by some amount in favor of the players.
  

• At least one enemy objective; which decreases the BoP by some amount and therefore against the players.
  

• The point on the scale where you start.

The scale uses the four mission difficulties, with Storm going from -8 to -4, Gale from -4 to 0, Breeze from 0 to 4, and Clear Skies from 4 to 8. Each mission usually only uses 8 points on this scale, with the difficulty to match. By default, a mission starts at 0, with Breeze on one side and Gale on the other. A particularly hard mission might start at -3, and go from -7 to +1.

At the end of either side is disaster. If the indicator ever hits either side, that side immediately gets an Order From Above, with orders to retreat and otherwise try to salvage the situation dramatically. If, for some reason, a side chooses to stay, expand to use the entire scale.

In general, try to design objectives that represent appropriate shifts in the battlespace for the sitrep. It can be a little trick, since it’s rarely a purely HP based thing and more like “mission goals”.

If the mission parameters change dramatically as a result of a Mid Mission Update, the objectives may get updated, but otherwise they stay fixed until mission completion.

For example:

You may decide to have Side Objectives, which award bonus RP on completion. These are like AC7 ace spawns. One every two missions is about appropriate.

Mid Mission Updates change the parameters of the clock in one way or another. These can be difficulty changes during a mission as bosses spawn or phase change, a different set of objectives as the situation changes, or something else. Avoid overusing these, as well as changing things too drastically.

These are primarily out of combat moves, and a fallback in case the combat is unimportant or doesn’t want to be resolved. For the purposes of advancements and the like, these are also pilot stat checks. 

Pilots start with three each energy per scene. A scene is built with a statement: the pilots are [situation] and need to [goal]. For example:

The pilots are locked out of their hangar, which is guarded, and need to sneak inside to get back to their planes.

The pilot’s food resupply truck has broken down a few miles from base, and they need to retrieve it.

The pilots are invited to a diplomatic event, and need to not make a fool of themselves.

Energy represents a pilot’s capacity to do cool things. Once you’re out, you can still act - but you’re mostly letting your fellow crew take the spotlight and reacting to things instead of taking the initiative. You gain energy at the start of the scene and never any time else. Actions represent the pilot trying something when there’s a chance of failure - whether inherently, or because of outside pressures.

When you start a scene, each pilot starts with between 1 and 4 energy. This represents how much time they have to accomplish their [goal] before the [situation] changes. If they accomplish their [goal], the [situation] changes as a result.

Each action a pilot takes costs one energy. There are eight basic actions, which each have an associated pilot stat. When you roll +Stat, add that stat as a bonus. When you roll -Stat, take that Stat as a penalty.

• Don’t Take the Bait (Temper)

  • Stay in control, whether of your emotions or of your position in the air. Roll +Temper.
    • On a failure, lose your cool. Act out.
      

  • On a mixed success, stay in control, but either lose it later or lose something else.
    

  • On a success, stay cool.

• Go Aggressive (Temper)

  • Make a risky attack, with words, yourself, or your plane. Roll +Temper.
    • On a failure, swing and miss. Take the backlash.
      

  • On a mixed success, land your shot. Take a bruise in return.
    

  • On a success, win your little fight. They back down.

• Succeed Under Fire (Nerve)

  • Do something while someone’s shooting or shouting at you. Roll +Nerve.
    • On a failure, get too shaken up to finish your task.
      

  • On a mixed success, complete your task, but not perfectly.
    

  • On a success, hold your nerve. Get it done without shaking too much.

• Disengage (Nerve)

  • Get out of an awkward spot, socially, physically or in combat. Roll +Nerve.
    • On a failure, get stuck in.
      

  • On a mixed success, get out, but take some kind of hit on the way out.
    

  • On a success, get out clean.

• Notice Something (Reaction)

  • With your Mark 1 Eyeballs, Radar, intuition, or with the help of your allies. Roll +Reaction.
    • On a failure, miss it entirely.
      

  • On a mixed success, notice it, but miss a detail or get too focused.
    

  • On a success, see everything.

• Bulldoze Ahead (Reaction)

  • Despite the evidence or lack of any, push on. Maybe it’s a bad decision, but you’ll be damned if you change course now. Roll +Reaction.
    • On a failure, get bogged down in the mess.
      

  • On a mixed success, push through, but come out the other side bruised and battered.
    

  • On a success, you get through without being punished for your unawareness.

• Hold on Tight (G-Res)

  • Something’s got you down, or something’s trying to separate you from something. Hold on, stay grounded, stay standing. Roll +G-Resist.
    • On a failure, it slips away from you.
      

  • On a mixed success, you manage to hold on, but you lose something else to do so.
    

  • On a success, you get through it all with your arms full.

• Push On (G-Res)

  • Give it your all for something. Exhaust your last reserves and make a desperate push. Roll +G-Resist.
    • On a failure, collapse within touching distance of your goal.
      

  • On a mixed success, barely get there, but at a cost.
    

  • On a success, you get over the finish line.

• Make a Snap Decision

  • Make a decision whenever you don’t have time to fully consider the issue or don’t have all the information. Your AWACS will tell you one stat to add as a bonus and one stat to take as a penalty.
    • On a failure, you missed something important. Take a large setback, but now you know which direction to go.
      

  • On a mixed success, you do something “right.” Make some progress towards a positive result for you, but take a minor setback.
    

  • On a success, you definitely do something “right.” Make a big step towards your goals.

• Lend a Hand

  • Help a fellow pilot out on something they’re doing. Help bonuses don’t stack.
    • On a failure, expose yourself to danger without helping.
      

  • On a mixed success, give them +1 Forward, but get into danger as a result.
    

  • On a success, give them a +1 Forward.

These actions aren’t singular and represent pilots accomplishing something across a few minutes or more each. For example, if a pilot decides to Go Aggressive against a pair of guards, a success would mean they take out both guards. If the food supply truck is in the middle of a desert road, walking there would be one Endure a Hardship roll. Getting out of being cornered by a foreign spy trying to extract information from you would be one Disengage roll. In general, be fairly generous with how much an action roll accomplishes. You don’t have to solve the entire scene in two rolls, but neither should it always stretch pilot energy to their limit.

Whenever you make a roll, instead add or subtract the relevant pilot stat to the roll before consulting the success table. This does Spend a pilot stat, but resolve Consequences as you would normally. The AWACS may additionally ask for pilot stat rolls as part of their normal Moves as Pilots react to things happening. Where it would make sense, you can still use Capacity for rolls. If you roll a Perfect Success, take +1 Forward.

The process of choosing a Move should be negotiated somewhat, where the pilot should describe to the AWACS their approach and intent, and then the AWACS should suggest the most appropriate Move. If the pilot disagrees, they may make their case, but AWACS has final say. When choosing a Move as an AWACS, lean the most on the pilot’s in-character descriptions and then their stated approach and intent. Of course, don’t rely exclusively on in-character descriptions to minimize possible miscommunication.

While Aces High is meant to primarily be played in planes, sometimes there’s a need for the pilots to do the dirty work with their own hands.

In those rare instances, use the previous simple system to provide some guidance.

Pilots have one Survivability and three Capacity always. In this instance, Capacity represents various equipment you’re carrying on you - guns, tools, rations, etc. They have no other stats besides their pilot stats.

        Landing back at home base is often a triumphant moment, and a space to let your pilots chatter amongst themselves and maybe some NPCs about their accomplishments. However, if someone is returning in critical state, landing is a dangerous proposition and should be treated as such. Additionally, depending on the mission and where home base is, it may be tricky. 

Once the players land, the game shifts away from the more formalized mission mode of play as the pilots take time to recover, regroup, and get ready for the next operation. Roleplay post mission is slower, more relaxed, and more focused on emotions and characterization – usually.

If you’re in critical state, landing is a tricky proposition. With help from the base, you can nearly always land safely, but you suffer major narrative consequences as a result of trying to land your damaged plane safely.

        The formal process after landing is divided into five steps, but you can be flexible with the specifics as you feel is appropriate for your game and narrative circumstances.

1. Progression
   1. Finalize your Advancement markings. If you get multiple Specialization Advancements during a mission, now is when you choose one to make permanent. You can get as many Deployment Advancements as you earn during one mission.
      

1. Hand out any bonuses to RP as a result of completed Bonus Objectives.
   

1. If you’ve completed a Tour or Deployment, choose a new one. Work with your AWACS and fellow pilots if needed.
   

1. Debrief
   1. The AWACs has a chance to talk about narrative implications and results of the last mission, update you on news, get you new planes, etc.
      

1. Logistics phase
   1. If you have the Aces High Logistics Expansion, things happen here. Otherwise, refill your plane and stat pools.
      

1. Downtime
   1. Players take their two Downtime Activities. These are detailed below.
      

1. Briefing
   1. The briefing starts for the next mission. There’s always something to do, after all.

Between the normal things you do while not in the air, like eating, sleeping, hoping for war to end, and paperwork, there’s usually enough time after a mission to engage in something more “meaningful” before your next sortie. No matter how much time you have between missions, mechanically, you only have the time to do two Downtime Activities at most between missions - one as the initiator of the activity, and one as the partner. The bonuses between multiple Downtime Activities don’t stack.

Whenever you do a Downtime Activity, choose a partner for it to gain the bonuses alongside you. There’s an additional Contest for each downtime as well, with additional boons - but also maluses.

Losing a Contest does not mean you are worse at it than your partner - maybe your character was helping them learn; just treat it, mechanically, as if they did.

Note that the names – and flavor! – of these Downtime Activities are just there to give something to easily refer to – you can change up the concepts as much as you want, so long as it still somewhat makes sense.

I had reach, she had flexibility.
A test of your reflexes to some extent, a good spar is just as much a measure of your Temper and your ability to stay in control. Both participants in a spar roll Temper until they empty their pool - whoever gets the most total successes wins. Then, you both gain +1 Temper on their next Mission.

Afterwards, the winner loses -1 G-Resist on their next mission, to represent the physical exertion, while the loser - no matter how good a loser they are - takes a -1 Nerve to represent a mildly bruised ego. In exchange, however, both participants gain +1 to Reaction for the next mission.

The only winning move is to play.
Both participants in a chess match roll Nerve until they empty their pool - whoever gets the most total successes wins. Then, you both gain +1 Nerve on their next Mission

Afterwards, the winner loses -1 Reaction on their next mission, to represent the mental toll of having too quick a wit, while the loser - no matter how smart they are - takes a -1 to their Temper to represent a mild confusion as to where they misplayed. In exchange, however, both participants gain +1 to their G-Resist for the next mission.

It’s not cordite you’re smelling anymore.
Both participants in a shooting match roll Reaction until they empty their pool - whoever gets the most total successes wins. Then, you both gain +1 Reaction on their next Mission

Afterwards, the winner loses -1 Temper on their next mission, to represent the headache your rifle gave you, while the loser - no matter how strong they are - takes a -1 to their G-Resist to represent a soreness in their muscles from holding the rifle slightly wrong. In exchange, however, both participants gain +1 Nerve to their for the next mission.

It’s only your knees.
You both lose whenever you go on PT, until the other downtime activities, but you can still try to outlast the other person: both participants roll G-Resist until they empty their pool - whoever gets the most total success wins. Oh, and you both gain +1 G-Resist.

Afterwards, both participants take a -1 to either Temper or Reaction, but they gain a +1 to either Nerve or an additional +1 to G-Resist.

There’s always more than you think there is.
Work with your AWACS to advance the story - either do a small thing regarding the overall campaign story, or something smaller that’s more character focused. Either way, there should be a small, but tangible narrative result.

You are the Airborne Warning and Control System: a massive plane-mounted radar and control center that is at the same time surveillance, command, control, communications and MAYBE ONE MORE THING HERE. It’s common for fighter jets under the protective umbrella of an AWACS to turn their radars off, and rely solely on the information being fed to them, for their own safety and because the AWACS has a better radar than they do. In some ways, you serve this function for your players. You are the primary author of the world, and they rely on you to keep them safe.

The ROE of being an AWACS is the mechanisms in which you interact with both the goals of the Pilots and yours of being an AWACS.

As a reminder, this is the Pilots’ Plan:

• Take control: of your pilot, of the plane, of the skies.
  

• Make history.
  

• Win the war.
  

• Play your pilot like they’re a real person.

And this is your plan:

• Make the stakes felt
  

• Work with your Pilots to win the war, but don’t coddle them
  

• Not every fight is a fair one – but there’s always a way out

WIP.

While not coddling them, of course, is a big part of working with your pilots to Make the Stakes Felt, there’s obviously different ways to interpret what is and isn’t coddling.

That said, a big thing to always make sure of is that both you and your Pilots understand what’s going on – if something has you give them a useful hint, for example, and they don’t understand how it’s useful, you probably will have to tread a line of telling them more to make sure they understand and you’re working with them while not telling them too much.

WIP.

WIP.

WOP.

Narrative Consequences are a bit more nebulous, since they’re so context dependent. Instead of reproducing exactly the scope of actions you as the AWACS can take, we’ll leave it to your best judgement as to the various story consequences your Aces may face while in your missions. In general, follow the story.

This applies to boons as well. Boons aren’t necessarily bound by the current escalation but rather should fit the story and the benefactor it came from. Ambiguous boons aren’t assigned to either category, and can be either Narrative, Mechanical, or some combination of the two by AWACS discretion.

Narrative Boons are a formalized way for the Ace to get narrative benefits for their pilot. They take one of three forms, usually:

• Roleplay perks
  • These are things that don’t have mechanical consequences but have benefits in roleplay, like more comfortable beds, nicer base rations, a clean bathroom, etc. Allowing the players a larger space to play with while not on missions.
    

• Material benefits
  • Experimental ordnances, new modules, new planes, RP, extra pilot stats, new allies, more allies. These are technically mechanical boons, but ones that come about from the narrative.
    

• Information
  • news, intel reports, enemy intercepts, motivations,things that elucidate more about the why of the world and the war. Be careful to not turn these into just lore drops.

Mechanical boons are similar to Mechanical Consequences, but they’re a bonus instead. You can’t regain Survivability or Capacity this way normally, but Exhaust Maneuvers would be an example of a Mechanical boon.

Whenever things change, express it through a Move.

AWACS Moves are questions. They ask something that the players decide how to answer. If they don’t answer it – intentionally or unintentionally, you can progress the story by resolving the consequences of their non-answer. If they do, then their answer usually dictates where the story goes and you just have to resolve the consequences of what their answer specifically was.

AWACS Moves are also not in-character game actions. You’re not banned from using their name as part of play, but it’s almost always better to take the Move’s concept and then describe it solely in in-world terms to increase immersion for your players. It’s also more accurate that way, as the Moves are named thematically and generically.

Your turns are either asking questions, or answering. For example, I might use Threaten on one of my pilots, threatening an enemy aircraft getting on her six. Then, they take their turn, not taking any action to deal with the question posed by the threat (“what do you do?”). My next turn could involve playing out the consequences of that answer (they Face Consequences.)

The general guideline is to be fond of your players. Don’t be too strict on the specifics of their answer – play the world fairly and consistently and as realistically as you want, but it’s more fun for everyone usually if you’re a little on their side. Let them be cool, they’re high-flying pilots after all.

The idea of turns is much more flexible outside of combat, and you should mostly be using your best judgment on when to act. Present big questions first – where do you go? How do you takeoff? How are you approaching the battlefield? - backing them up with as much description as you feel you need. Then, when either the pilots do something to warrant moving the story forward or when their chatter starts to flag, keep it rolling.

You can take turns whenever you want, so Moves are in general to be used to cover most instances of things you do while an AWACS. Adjust what moves you take on your turn based on what makes sense for the story. You can always pass your turn.

This is the basic list of AWACS Moves. Further details, including advice, is contained in Appendix E.

• Reveal an incoming threat,
  • - Threats can come from many places
    

• - Physical: Enemy maneuvering into position, the ground, an obstacle, an enemy acquiring a target lock, of collateral damage.
  

• - Story: to allies, to the objective, to personal values, to the war effort, to favorite things, to visibility, to something staying secret.
  

• - As a question, present it as “if you do nothing, the threat will manifest.”
  

• - In combat, this often looks like “an enemy is locking onto you” or “this enemy is lining up an attack run here.”
  

• - Out of combat, this often looks like “the person on the other side of the radio is no longer believing your communications” or “your opponents are about to learn valuable information”
  

• - then have the target Face Consequences.
  • - Face Consequences, as per the Escalation. With non-player targets, describe what the story dictates.
    

• Notes
  • This is the most common AWACS move – we’re in a war, after all. Remember that not every threat is a missile, and that the most dangerous threats can be intangible.

• - Ask a question
  • - What do you do?
    

• - How do you feel about this?
  

• - Does this remind you of anything?
  

• - Is this related to your backstory? What would you do if __ happens? Is this right? Don’t you want to know more?
  

• - Their beliefs, motivations, etc
  

• - Then play out the answer
  • - This is more of a roleplay prompt, often – the pilot may not answer. But you should ask early and often, and draw out the character from behind the person playing them.
    

• - Ideally, you want to challenge the pilot on something related to current happenings.

• - Foreshadow reinforcements,
  • - Always foreshadow timescale with this move.
    

• - You can put time pressure on an entire mission by presenting a large Reinforce.
  

• - Note that this doesn’t necessarily have to be enemy units to the current Zone – it can mean enemy forces elsewhere get stronger, it can mean the situation at home got a little better because of the pilots’ actions, it can mean that a spy has snuck into home base.
  

• - then add them to the relevant Zone.
  • - Can be good, can be bad.

• - Hide something,
  • - Information: number of targets, spies, origins, allegiances, details, radio signals
    

• - Physical Objects: Targets - clouds, trees, chaff, flares, terrain, require fly defensively to target, allies.
  

• - Techniques: jamming, clouds, trees, lies, chaff, flares, terrain, smoke.
  

• - Doesn’t have to be literally hide - can actually be “revealing something, but imply hidden information” like presenting a lead to chase or presenting conflicting information. It’s both “make the truth unclear” and “cover from sight.”
  

• - In combat, this often looks like “the target is flying into a cloud bank” or “target is under jamming protection:
  

• - Out of combat, this often looks like “this person seems evasive in his answers” or “the radio you intercepted is encoded”
  

• - then reveal the new truth.
  • - The answers to these questions can be campaign-long events.
    

• - Main goal of this move is to push players to investigate and ask their own questions.
  

• - The answer can raise new questions, but be careful to not lead players on, they may get bored instead.

• - Start losing something,
  • - Most commonly, this is a vital target escaping from the battlefield or out of sight. This can be running away from the pilots, or having something like an incoming cruise missile breach their line.
    

• - However, it can be something like their current callsign, their good reputation, creature comforts in the base, or anything literal or metaphorical they own.
  

• - Then let it get away.
  • - Where it makes sense, the question of “can I get that back” should be answerable in the positive with sufficient effort spent.

• - Attempt to separate someone from something,
  • - Divide teams so they can be isolated
    

• - Cut someone off from their support (allies, information, communication, escorts)
  

• - Political, personal, physical
  

• - Separate someone from their community - in the air, at home
  

• - Then use that division
  • - Break teamwork maneuvers working
    

• - Isolate and kill
  

• - Scare them, get them to argue, stoke conflict
  

• - In extreme situations, have what was once an ally become an enemy

• - Offer an opportunity, with a cost
  • - High value target, bonus objective
    

• - Enemy ace creates an opening at a cost
  

• - Tell them outright the consequences of an action and ask if they want to continue
  

• - Personal baits - illegal alcohol on base, test weapons, new modules, new parts, fuel refills
  

• - Then make them pay that cost
  • - High value targets are protected, extra objectives take time. That opening requires sacrifice.
    

• - Energy cost - fly defensively
  

• - How will you make those trades? Classified information? Target avoidance or selection?

• - Give an order,
  • - Conflicting, moral quandary, doubt
    

• - Can come from anywhere in the chain of command, even all the way up. What if your unit is disbanded unless you complete an impossible task?
  

• - Then expect them to follow it
  • - Demand discipline, appeal to their morals, characters, etc

• - Put someone somewhere,
  • Physical - in front of an enemy, down the barrel of a gun, stuck in a locker
    

• Political - between politicians, officers, the intelligence services and country
  

• Emotional - between a friend and a lover, between what is right and what is wrong
  

• This move has a special use – when a player asks if they can take a particular risky action, you can use Tunnel Run to describe the collateral damage that action may face. Bargain would be your prompting, Tunnel run is in response to a pilot question.
  

• - Then make them regret being there.
  • Hit em.
    

• Collateral Damage.
  

• Make there be a clear choice to be made, with relatively rewards or punishments for either choice

• Grow a threat
  • This has a specific use with Escalation, to prevent your pool from emptying after a turn.

When the players arrive in the Area of Operations, take a look at the situation. The starting energy your players get has a big influence on how much they’re able to do, so think carefully about how challenging the mission is supposed to be and how the players’s general situation and approach influence their position.

• Start them with 5 Energy baseline.

Then, ask the players how they approach the AO. Once they respond with their general outlook, take a look at the situation again.

• If the players are in an ADVANTAGEOUS position, add one energy
  

• If the players are in an EQUAL position, add 0 energy.
  

• If the players are in a DISADVANTAGEOUS position, subtract one energy.

WIP

Escalation is an abstract measure of enemy force commitment and danger. It represents the specific actions being taken by enemy forces as well as their relative ability to act at a given moment in time. Similar to Energy, it functions as a pool that is gained and spent during combat to take AWACS Moves.

        The AWACS only uses Escalation as a system during combat – outside of it, they have free reign to apply Moves as they feel is appropriate for the current situation. They gain and spend it to take actions with enemy units in combat, providing the AWACS with the ability to respond to player actions, shape challenges, and manipulate the scene.

At the start of combat, the AWACS can set the scenario as they wish, without using Escalation to do so. They gain their first Escalation on their first turn, meaning that if the players act first, the AWACS can’t take an action until they get given Escalation.

        The AWACS gains escalation whenever the players give them Escalation as part of Facing Consequences, as part of their turn, or whenever certain conditions are met. 

• Whenever a player Faces Consequences, gain 2. On a critical failure, increase the number by 1. A player may reduce this number through Mitigates or Defeats.
  

• Whenever they start a turn, gain Escalation equal to the difficulty plus 1. (2, 3, 4, 5)
  

• Whenever a player uses a Maneuver with the Escalate Keyword.
  

• Whenever the pilots take actions that would escalate the situation
  • These should be warned of in advance – they include things like “killing neutral targets” or “bringing dangerous weapons” or “taking actions allies would strongly disagree with”
    

• Whenever certain enemies or environments take actions
  • A volcano goes off, an early warning radar gets tripped, an enemy shows up..

        At the most basic level, the AWACS spends Escalation to activate units or other entities under their control. You spend one Escalation per thing, and each unit has a number of actions it can take per turn. You can also spend one to..

• Have a unit act when it’s not your turn.
  

• Roll on the mid flight event table.
  

• Bank your escalation for a later turn.

The AWACS must spend their pool on their turn or it is lost when their next turn starts, unless they Raise the Stakes to prevent this. Additionally, whenever a Player rolls a Perfect Success, they reduce the AWACS’s Escalation Pool by 1, even to the negatives.

Aerial combat is highly lethal.

It is up to you if you take this reality into your campaigns or make it resemble the air combat that media like Ace Combat and Top Gun depict instead.

• Limit the regeneration of Coins to be 1 per mission.

//Todo – describe what Liz and Z talked about w/ regards to Yes Anding being more in the basis of acting improv and really good at keeping momentum going while No Butting can lead to more character-focused moments instead. Both have merit and allow for a type of player agency that may not really be found in a military-esque cog in the machine type setting Aces High kinda wants. Consider: “yes, but” and “no, and” instead, as all success comes with some kind of cost and failures still progress the story

todo

todo

WIP.

The core of combat in Aces High is focused on making Attacks, to incentivize a push-forward, active style of gameplay.

To build in a frantic, Ace Combat-esque style of combat, all attacks - friend and foe alike - usually only deal 2 Survivability damage; this means that both you and most enemies can only take a few hits before they go down.

The exceptions to this, of course, are stronger enemies, such as Aces which require multiple attacks to down & are where players will be more likely to have to take advantage of their speed and maneuverability.

Every Pilot Stat can be used or have a check made against it when a pilot makes an attack. This can be thought of positioning your attacks around where it would take place within the OODA Loop, as described by the infamous Colonel John Boyd.

A basic way to interpret how the OODA Loop relates to Pilot Stats can be thought of as such:

• Observe: Nerve
  

• Orient: G-Resist
  

• Decide: Reaction
  

• Act: Temper

Each part of the OODA Loop is used when making any decision, but by describing your character’s actions in relation to one of these steps, you make it easier for your AWACS to know what to throw back at you. Think of it as flavoring to make it easier to tell a story, and not a hard line of what it means. By orienting your attack as trying to be part of this loop, you make it easier for the AWACS to determine what additional steps it may require you to take or what consequences, if any, you may face on a poor result.

At the start of the mission, pair people off into wingman teams of two. If you have an odd number, decide if a trio or 2 - 1 set is better.

Use the fiction or the above system to decide whether players or enemies act first. If the enemies act first, make a GM Move, then you may or the players may decide which pair of players goes next. Then make a GM Move, then pass it off to the players again. The players may decide which pair/tri/solo player acts next, but you always act between them. You or the players can decide to Hold a Move, which means to pass your turn but save the turn to use at a later point in the round. Normally, each pair acts once before someone takes another turn, but the players may decide to allow one pair to go multiple times.

Be flexible with the pairs as the situation changes, the Teamwork Maneuvers are designed around two-person flights to sync with each other, and if the players are going after objectives together it’s better to pair them for everyone’s ease.

While Aces High is mostly played in theatre of the mind, it does make use of Zones, which are variable spatial areas. Normally, each mission is one Zone, but particularly large missions may be multiple. The Area of Operations (AO) contains the primary Zone, and everything surrounding it. Most targets will be inside the primary Zone, while reinforcements will arrive from outside it. The return line is also the border between the AO and outside it.

Pilots have free engagement on everything within the Zone they are in, and only some weapons have the range to shoot outside of the current Zone. Change Zones by using the Reposition Maneuver.

Almost all aircraft need some amount of horizontal movement to produce lift, so it’s assumed that planes are always moving forward some amount. That said, how much is ultimately dependent on an aircraft’s Speed stat. You may think of it similar to how we’ll describe Range, but ultimately, we recommend playing movement a bit looser and just asking for a Speed check if it seems a bit too far.

Altitude is also flexible - some things care about being specifically high or low - play it by ear.

• Observing is all the time before a player starts their turn. The player watches the others play out their turns, and the changing situation.

• The start of a player turn. They may get an update on their fictional positioning, and all effects that resolve at the start of a turn resolve now.

• The player decides on the best course of action. This may involve asking the AWACS or their fellow players questions, working out strategy with their wingman, or deciding what best fits their character.

• The player decides on their Maneuvers to take and submits it to the AWACS. Importantly, once submitted, they can’t change the turn. There are no takebacks in the fast paced chaos of battle. For legitimate accidents or minor mistakes and misunderstandings, it’s often more reasonable for the AWACS to allow minor changes, but it should be rare to preserve the intended game feel.
  • Sidebar: Why? Reacts should feel like reacts, you don’t have time to adjust, expediency.

After you resolve all the results of your Act step, all effects that say “this turn” or “until the end of your turn” resolve. Then, the next turn starts.

On a Failure, Mixed Success, or as the direct consequence of an action that says to Face Consequences, the player Faces Consequences. When you Face Consequences, you give the AWACS 2 Escalation.

You may Mitigate preemptively to reduce the amount you give the AWACS the next time you Face Consequences. Mitigate expires at the end of turn. You may Negate reactively to nullify AWACS Escalation gain.

Unless it specifically calls for something else, rolls in Aces High are 2d6 \+ modifier, against the success chart on page XX. When rolling a Pilot Stat Check, after each roll, reduce the relevant Pilot Stat by 1 until the next mission. This signifies fatigue. 

You can also spend Capacity, a plane stat, to improve your rolls. You must declare you are spending it before you make the roll, and when you do, instead of rolling 2d6 roll 3d6 and keep the best two.

Energy is the abstract way to represent the current airspeed of your aircraft and its potential to do things while in the air. If you lose too much of it, you’re at a disadvantage – dogfighting is about, to some extent or another, managing it. Maneuvers represent all the actions you actually take during a dogfight, and convert energy and other resources into things happening.

Energy is spent to use Maneuvers. Maneuvers have costs listed next to their name.

You start each mission with [SPEED] Energy, plus whatever your AWACS assigns.

You start each turn by making a Positioning Maneuver.

Each turn you may make up to [4] Maneuvers.

If your Energy goes below or equals [5 - MANU] you Stall.

If your Energy goes above or equals [SPEED + MANU + 10], you Overstress.

If a Maneuver has an Energy cost, said cost cannot be reduced below 0. Some Maneuvers have listed costs of 0, which are free – they still count towards your Maneuver limit unless stated otherwise. If something would reduce a Maneuver’s cost, it only affects the Cost or Tag section. You may apply cost reductions to X Maneuvers, which resolve based on the value of X before cost reductions.

If you gain Energy and then your total Energy hits above or equal to your (Speed + Manu + 10), you Overstress your aircraft. Whenever you Overstress your aircraft, take one survivability damage per Energy point causing the Overstress.

If spending or losing energy would make your energy below or equal to [5 - Manu], you Stall. When you Stall, immediately end your turn and start the next turn at your Stall threshold. You cannot lose or gain energy while in Stall, but when you exit Stall at the start of the turn after the duration expires you reset your Energy to your stall threshold. While under Stall, you lose altitude. If something would cause you to gain Stall while already in Stall, you gain additional duration of Stall.

Maneuvers represent tactical movements performed by fighter aircraft during dogfights. Whenever you see them, they’ll have information about them between square brackets, including tags such as REACT, ATTACK, and CAP, and what their Energy cost is.

When the mission starts, gain Energy equal to [Your Speed + a value assigned by your AWACS based on your approach and mission difficulty]. Energy is spent to do Maneuvers, which represent tactical movements performed by fighter aircraft during dogfights. When you perform a Maneuver, you spend Energy equal to its listed cost and then resolve the Maneuver before performing your next action.

[REACT] Maneuvers are unique in that they can be used to modify events before they resolve. You may use one normally, or use one in response to something else happening, in which case you resolve the [REACT] first, then the other event. [REACT] Maneuvers are formatted with a clause after “Whenever” which states the preconditions for using it, if any, before their effects.

At the start of your turn, you must make a Positioning Maneuver. Positioning Maneuvers do not have an Energy cost but otherwise are treated as other Maneuvers; as they are intended to set the amount of energy you start with. “At the start of turn” effects apply before you make your Positioning Maneuver.

Some Maneuvers will give you other Maneuvers. Usually, those Maneuvers will also say “Exhaust.” Those Maneuvers are single use, and you lose the ability to perform them. Exhaust maneuvers are retained until used, and if you gain multiple of the same Exhaust, treat them as separate. If a Maneuver states “Exhaust” in the resolution and not the Tag list, then you start the mission with that Maneuver in your Maneuver list and Exhaust it when you use it. Those Maneuvers are not “tagged with [EXHAUST]”.

Every turn, you may normally perform up to 4 Maneuvers, as long as you have sufficient energy to pay for them. Maneuvers tagged with [EXHAUST] or [POS] don’t count towards this limit.

Basic Maneuvers can be used by any aircraft at any time. You can unlock Advanced Maneuvers for any plane by completing the Mastery Deployment Any maneuver not specifically tagged an Advanced Maneuver is a Basic Maneuver. Some Maneuvers refer to allies. You never count as your own ally.

Occasionally, some mechanics will grant you maneuvers with specific conditions. These will be formatted as Maneuver Name (Condition). For example, Closure (Bait) indicates that that specific Closure is limited to the Bait Maneuver.

Maneuvers are formatted as NAME [TAGS,TAGS - COST], with effects on the next line, or in table form as follows:

The effect line will sometimes have Keywords, which are shorthands for standard effects.

• REACT - Maneuver that can be used Whenever the condition is met and in response to other things happening, to modify them.
  

• POS - Positioning Maneuver. You take one at the start of your turn and only then.
  

• CAP (X) - Has a value in X. Spend that much Capacity to use this Maneuver.
  

• STRESS (PHYS OR MENTAL) - Also requires you to mark that Stress track to use.
  

• MAP - Multi Attack Penalty. For every other Maneuver you’ve used this turn with this tag, take a -2 penalty on this Maneuver.
  

• TRICK - This Maneuver doesn’t take a Maneuver slot.
  

• EXHAUST - See Above
  

• X - Variable energy cost. Can be used for X = 0, but may not have effects.
  

• AOA - Can only be used if you have the AOA tag on your airplane.
  

• ATTACK - An Attack.
  

• ORD - Only applies to [ATTACK]s. Indicates you can use Ordnance on this Maneuver.
  

• DEFEND - Defensive maneuver. Usually has a Keyword.
  

• ROLE - Role Maneuver. Always available if your current plane has the same Role tag.

• Defeat - Remove 1 stack of Locked.
  

• Negate - If you would grant an AWACS Escalation, instead don’t.
  

• Attack - Roll 2d6 + either A2A or A2G, and check your result on the success ladder.
  

• Escalate - Grant the AWACS 1 Escalation.
  

• Fatigue - This Maneuver can’t be used until the end of your next turn.

You may pay an additional 1 Energy and 1 Capacity to instead apply Ordnances you have on your plane to an Attack with the ORD tag. When you do, that attack is made with the ordnance instead, applying all of its tags and effects.

Eyes Open is a special Maneuver. It’s an X-costed Reaction that has the following text:

• You try to do something outside of a traditional maneuver, or there are special circumstances such as you lining up a shot down a tunnel – your AWACS will tell you the Energy Cost and any additional costs, such as a Pilot Stat Check.

It exists to cover all the possible actions that you could do that cover alternative approaches and so that you’re not explicitly limited to the actions that are enumerated. Rather, when you have a goal in mind and the rules don’t have you covered, it functions as a starting point to work with your AWACS to get the result you. For example, if you target an enemy but want to fire at the ground instead for a warning shot, or fly alongside a plane and wave your wings, those could be Eyes Open Maneuvers.

For the AWACS, look at the mechanical effect of similar actions as a guideline for how much a given Eyes Open should cost - and add Capacity and Pilot Stat Checks as you feel is appropriate. If you’re not sure, always undercost it - reward players for thinking a little outside of the box. That being said, the current Maneuver list covers a lot of scope, and it’s often better to default to an extant action than invent something new mid-session.

Conditions are effects on your plane or character. They usually have durations, and are indicated in text with {} brackets. Most conditions also have a source. If that source is destroyed, you lose the condition.

• Locked
  • At the end of your turn, take Survivability damage equal to the Locked amount and clear this Condition. If you make an Attack against a source giving you Locked, you take that number of Locked if you Face Consequences. You may spend a point of stress to prevent this.
    

• Stacks intensity.
  

• Mitigate
  • Until the start of your next turn, the next time you would grant the AWACS Escalation, reduce the number by 1.
    

• Stacks intensity.
  

• Advantage
  • Roll your next roll twice, and take the better result.
    

• Overwatch
  • {Overwatch}: Choose a target. Until the start of your next turn, whenever that target Faces Consequences, you may lose {Overwatch} to make an Attack.
    

• Slow
  • Reduce your speed by 1.

When you first Enter a Critical State, you face a test of fate with your Coins. You only do this once while in a Critical State, right as you start. When you face the test of fate, you get a choice: Fix or Risk the Odds.

• If you choose to Fix the Odds, you Burn an Unspent Coin (or, if you can’t, Burn two Spent Coins) and may immediately Bail Out. Roll once on the Injuries table, and lose a license level of your AWACS’s choice.
• If you choose Risk the Odds, Spend every remaining Coin; for each Coin you just spent, flip a coin. If they all come up heads, recover a burnt coin. If they all come up tails, your character dies, but you get to take one last action before you crash and burn. On any other result, roll once on the Injuries table and keep on flying.

If you Risk the Odds and you’re still up, you have two options:

Bailing Out is the mechanical term for using a plane’s ejection seat, mostly to cover aircraft that may not have them. Your pilot is safe - likely needing to be found by Search and Rescue, but alive. You always Burn a Coin - spent or unspent - to represent the compressive force on your spine that ejecting from an aircraft does.

Alternatively, you can Stay with the Craft. Your aircraft then properly enters a Critical State: all stats all become -1, but you may continue to act normally, including taking the Withdraw action. When an aircraft is in Critical State, however, normally safe actions may pose new, unexpected risks. Staying with the Craft is a dangerous risk/reward preposition, and not one to be taken lightly.

Character Injuries are described by the following table. Injuries in Aces High are a bit more “fantastical” in that, by and large, most of these would probably ground a pilot for the rest of their life. That, we decided, was boring. Instead, you just have to suffer. Some of these wounds can be healed; however, if you leveled up during the mission that caused them, you cannot use that level to heal them.

Character Death is supposed to be rare, and almost usually either a result of player choice or a lot of bad decisions. That said, it does happen. Mechanically, Death is separate from the Grounding that happens when you’re out of Coins. That said, if you’ve burnt all of your Coins without ejecting, Death may still find you nonetheless.

Remember that a character being grounded is not them dying – their story still continues, if just not in the air; a dead character has no more future.

After a character dies or is grounded, your new character starts again from the beginning. Any unspent RP will be retained and may be given to them.

If your old character is Grounded, your new character may get the following Bonus Perk in addition to their Background Perk.
Benefactor’s Support
You’ve got the support of a Benefactor – a recently grounded pilot. You can call upon their aid once – but it will probably come at great consequence to your Benefactor.

If your old character is Dead, your new character may get the following Bonus Perk in addition to their Background Perk.
Catch-Up Courier
You’ve got a lot of ground to step into, filling the shoes of the dead. Until you either reach Level 5 or the level of the dead pilot, you gain an additional XP whenever you would gain an XP and you may engage in one more Downtime Activity.

When you finish a Tour by completing five deployments, you start your next one. There are 6 normal tours and then the 7th secret tour; Wolf. 

While on Wolf, you lose any benefits of your specialization (stats, downtimes, tactics, but not perks. You can gain Advancements, it just doesn’t do anything). However, you gain access to a secret Tactic: as a REACT, CAP(1) - 1, choose a Tactic anyone else on your flight has or you had previously. You gain it until the end of the mission.

Whenever you finish a Tour, you gain an Ace Perk. In addition to the old list of Ace Perks, each tour also has a new specific Ace Perk. You may only gain each one once.

• Knight
  • Ace Defensive - Choose a Pilot Stat when you gain this perk. [REACT - 1] Make that Pilot Stat Check. On a Full or better, Defeat, Defeat. On a Mixed, Defeat. On a Failure or worse, nothing happens.
    

• Soldier
  • Ace Style - Choose a Pilot Stat when you gain this perk. [REACT - 0] Whenever you make an Attack, hit an additional target. Fatigue.
    

• Mercenary
  • Ace Approach - Choose a Pilot Stat when you gain this perk. [REACT, TRICK - 0] Whenever you Spend or Check a Pilot Stat, you may use your Ace Type stat instead. Additionally, you may use the chosen stat instead of one other when you calculate your Stress track.
    

• Monarch
  • Ace Flexibility - Choose another Specialization’s Tactic and gain it.
    

• Phoenix
  • Ace Rebirth - Recover a burnt coin.
    

• Garuda
  • Ace Relaxation - Choose another Spec’s DT and gain it.
    

• Wolf
  • Ace Ability - Choose a pilot stat when you gain this perk. You can, as a [REACT - 1], replace a plane stat with it until the end of your turn. Fatigue.

As a reminder, the deployments are Fury, Vigor, Patience, Endurance, Requisitions, Genesis, Mastery. You finish a Deployment by marking any 6 advancements out of the list of 10, plus the one for your specific deployment.

1. Act in line with your tour
   1. The three traits for each tour are listed here, Aces High Alpha Playtest Guide Rev. .33. Any one of them is fine.
      

1. Act in line with a character trait
   1. Follow one of the ones you’ve listed, and isn’t unavailable because you flipped it.
      

1. Act in line with your Specialization
   1. Take an action that follows your Spec; this is up to AWACS discretion but should be more significant than “used a tactic”. Completing a Spec Advancement always counts (even if you’ve already completed it.)
      

1. Take part in a post-mission debrief
   

1. Max out your stress
   

1. Survive a Critical State
   

1. Complete your Deployment Advancement.
   1. Each deployment has a unique one, listed Aces High Alpha Playtest Guide Rev. .33 here. The Perk ones are listed with the perks themselves, in the appendices.

Normally, you can only complete these while on mission, and unlike Specialization Advancements you can complete as many as you can per mission. The two exceptions are #2, Act in line with a character trait, which you can complete during DTs, and #4, Take part in a post-mission debrief, which can be completed anytime before the next mission.

Perks have their own advancement now, for when you take the Genesis deployment. Whenever you gain a Specialization Tactic, you may choose to gain a Perk instead. This bypasses the specific advancement.

Traits should change over time. Honestly, most of the rules for this are elsewhere. 

Your plane progression is managed via Requisition Points, or RP.

You can acquire RP through completing your Requisitions Tour as well as at AWACS discretion at key points throughout a campaign. Many Specializations, as well, unlock new ways to generate and spend RP. You may also give your RP freely to anyone you wish, but that may come with its own consequences.

Licenses represent deals with specific manufacturers to provide parts, planes, weapons, and everything else an enterprising fighter pilot might need. There are eight licenses currently.  
Each License has a number of levels, starting at 0\. At each level, they have some mix of Modules, Aircraft, Upgrade Packages, and Ordnances. Each level costs some amount of RP to purchase. Once you’ve purchased a level, you have free access to all the equipment contained therein to use unless you lose that license level. 

Everybody wants to have made the plane that went 106 to 0, nobody wants to have made a butt of a joke. As a result, manufacturers are putting a lot of trust in you to not screw up with their equipment, you may lose license levels when you get shot down.

Aircraft. You know em. They’ve got stats and such. Airplane stats are capped at 5\. (for the main 4, at least.) 

Modules are replaceable upgrade parts to aircraft. Each aircraft statblock will list how many module slots it has available. 

Modules ordinarily can be switched out or removed between missions. Modules may not be traded between players. You can’t equip multiple of the same module on a plane.

Upgrade Packages are more comprehensive overhauls of a plane. You can only have one at any given time. 

In the real world, aircraft carry a large variety of weaponry into battle, from rockets and guns to bombs and missiles. Many TTRPGs have tried to quantify how these weapons work into a somewhat realistic manner.

The creators of Aces High have recognized this task to be impossible and to attempt it would drive its designers even more insane.

Instead, we treat it more on par with how games like Ace Combat or Project Wingman deal with their ordinance instead – a set of simplified, ubiquitous weaponry. Instead of trying to figure out the distinctions between what makes two seemingly identical weapons behave slightly differently, we simply categorize them into vague ideas of a weapon type.

Though games like Project Wingman show that being able to carry a wide variety of ordnance into battle is cool for the main character to do, allowing such would be boring for a TTRPG: you only carry one Ordnance to bring into battle.

Whenever you use a Resupply Point on a mission, you can switch which Ordnance you have.

Each Ordnance has its own set of Tags, much like Aircraft and Maneuvers. They sometimes are just for flavor, or sometimes have mechanical benefits. To use an Ordnance, use the Employ Ordnance Maneuver.

Choosing how to play Aces High is, honestly, probably something to think deeply about.

The first ever long-term playtest of Aces High was done in a Living World setting. To some extent, there’s probably a lot of the system that’s designed with that in mind. That doesn’t mean it’s the only use case for it, but it’s worth thinking about: a Living World approach allows for a large variety of pilots and mission types that may be harder for smaller groups to specialize into.

But with a smaller group, and a session-focused approach, the missions would probably feel more lively. There’s risks to it, of course, as there is to anything. Figure out what works for your play group and stick to it.

Aces High missions are individual deployments within the broader context of an operation or war. Most missions start and end at the pilot’s airfield home base, with takeoff and landing, but some individual missions may break this mold. Aces High is at best when the broader conflict is a shifting tapestry that individual missions are constantly affecting and affected by, so always try to situate your individual missions deeply within the setting and embedding hints and details about the wider landscape. Of course, this isn’t always possible, but we think your players will appreciate being able to interact with a wilder world outside of just their radar screen.

Your first two decisions are generally Escalation and Sitrep. This isn’t the only way to design a mission, but it provides a strong mechanical grounding that you can use to build flavor and world onto.

Mission Escalation should generally be Moderate Breeze, unless there are specific circumstances. As the players gain levels, you can start mixing in higher Escalation missions, but Breeze remains viable through the end. If you do use a higher Escalation, make sure to communicate to the pilots that there is massively increased risk. This works the best when you can set up a scenario where the players make an informed decision to increase the escalation by that many steps in order to achieve their own goals.

Sitreps are basic mission templates that describe the most common scenarios for fighter pilots to find themselves deployed to. Nothing about sitreps is prescriptive advice – rather, they exist to give AWACS an easy onboard to let their creativity flourish within a loose set of restrictions. You can and should combine features of different sitreps to get the mission you want to run – only you know what your table is like.

At this phase in mission design, you should ask yourself a couple of questions.

• What feeling do I want to evoke?
  

• How and where do I want to challenge the pilots?
  

• Where is this mission in the world, both literally and metaphorically?

You don’t have to write the answers to these questions down, but keep them or something similar in your mind as you prepare. Keeping a mission focused is helpful for both you and your pilots.

Evoking feeling

• Should the players feel in control or on the back foot? What’s the overall mood – upbeat, somber, desperate, cocky, or something else? How are their allies feeling about the pilots? How are the enemies? Are they heroes or villains? How do the pilots feel about themselves and each other, and should this mission reinforce or challenge that feeling?

Challenge

• Is this a test of their piloting skill? Teamwork? Strategy? Relationships they’ve built with allies? Are they under time pressure?

Situating Missions

• Beyond just physical place – which is important as well, is this the start of something new? The climax of an ongoing conflict? If the pilots succeed or fail, how does that change everything else? Is it foreign or familiar?

The most basic mission is a duel between squadrons, fought to the death. However, there are only so many storytelling opportunities from such a basic encounter.

Sitreps are basic sets of objectives and challenges that can help you flesh out a mission and introduce interesting twists. They cover a wide range of possible scenarios, but these aren’t hard and fast rules - you can and should mix and match as you feel like to make a more interesting experience for your players. Arguably, you don’t even need to consider them! But having a list can help with brainstorming, and it can help guide your design.

There are currently ten Sitreps.

• A more general category for flights that don’t have explicit hostile forces in play.
  

• Feeling
  • Pilots should be confident going in – most of these are meant for them to show off, after all. The alternative take is that some training exercises exist to humble particularly cocky pilots, and that can be a great tool to get some pilots to flex their roleplay muscles.
    

• If there’s a crowd, they should hear and feel their reactions.
  

• Challenge
  • Escalation is typically 0, due to lack of active hostile actors. Can be higher in some cases, such as high-performance airshow demos or particularly realistic training exercises. Minimal challenge shouldn’t mean boring, though, make sure there are things to do and you’re still asking questions of the players.
    

• Be wary – can be rather random if results are too heavily predicated on making certain Checks. You can push the players to do more daring things with the crowd, but also taunt them from the commanding officer’s side.
  

• Situation
  • More civilian oriented, and can be hard to fit in during an ongoing conflict as most campaigns are. Excellent for first missions and last missions, since the format allows for you to show off the world the players are in in more nuanced ways that don’t involve the barrel of a gun.

• Flights with unsure enemy numbers. Can be zero, can be so high as to immediately force a turn around and return to base from the pilots. In general, involves the pilots going someplace and keeping an eye out for and responding to threats as they appear, without having a designated target at the outset.
  

• Feeling
  • Keep the pilots at least a little on edge – pulling them in multiple different directions at once, or showing an impending threat, or even just using the lack of anything to keep them awake.
    

• You don’t need enemies on the field to threaten their resources – keeping their attention while on patrol loops can be a pilot check.
  

• Challenge
  • Can be any escalation, but more common at Escalation 3 and below unless you’re using the mission to surprise players with a new, unexpected threat. This can be a new weapon, rival, or even a new dimension to the conflict like a third front opening up.
    

• Responding to threats in a timely manner, especially if there are multiple Zones involved.
  

• Seed hints that the pilots can choose to follow up on – challenge them to stay on station or to chase story threads (but do make sure most of them actually go somewhere).
  

• Often the threat is less to a pilot individually but to their allies within the patrol area. Obscure is a great GM Move to use here, forcing the players to actively patrol rather than passively wait for threats to be described.
  

• Set a border along the Zone or multiple borders – part or all of the patrol can simply be trying to prevent any enemies from crossing the line(s).
  

• Situation
  • Great to allow the pilots to bounce off each other a little as they patrol.
    

• Can be anywhere, realistically, even far away from the conflict. Long range cruise missiles can be a threat the players need to deal with.
  

• Also good for exposition about the specific place they’re patrolling over.

• Any mission that involves escorting something from a place or to a place. VIP, enemy defector, sensitive technology or intelligence, medical flight, ground or naval or air or even themselves.
  

• Feeling
  • Since you have a second dimension to threaten pilots on, that being the thing they’re escorting, make sure to present credible threats to it and ideally force players to make tough decisions about their own health at the expense of the target.
    

• Tempo is a big factor here. Sometimes the escort should feel very safe, especially in response to the piloting style you want to encourage. Sometimes the escort should be overwhelmed, and sometimes backing off to build tension makes for an even better mission.
  

• Challenge
  • Any escalation. Good flexible mission that you can do at nearly any time.
    

• Some amount of variation goes a long way here. Sometimes threaten the pilots, sometimes present paper threats. Pulling too many “gotcha” scenarios will feel bad, so try to generally present clear and actionable threats they’re forced to plan around.
  

• One other way to challenge players is time – they can take safer routes at the expense of time or the other way around.
  

• Situation
  • Generally not right on top of the front lines, but on one side or the other.
    

• Correlated strongly with tipping points and major events, and with the broader story, but can range from “deliver this package to end the war” or “make sure this ice cream delivery gets to base on time.”

• Very close to Escort, but generally has more obscured information – either where the target is, who it is, and even importance or enemy deployment. Find something, get it back safely.
  

• Feeling
  • Should feel like a high pressure situation from the outset, and this can either taper off after the search or ramp up even more once the target is found, especially if it’s something multiple sides want.
    

• Can be very personal – perhaps a favorite NPC is missing in action, and thus lead to a sad mood.
  

• Challenge
  • Any escalation, though much harder to justify at 0 or 1. If you do
    

• Finding the target in the first place can be easy or difficult, either purely through knowledge of location or accessibility of location. People are often lost in strong weather events or far behind enemy lines. Targets don’t have to be static, either.
  

• Getting them out safely might be a question as well, but doesn’t always need to be.
  

• Making it a race between multiple interests can add a new dimension – should you focus on impeding the challengers? What if you let them find it and then pounce? Can you afford to let them get to it first? Can you keep your own rescue craft safe?
  

• Situation
  • Usually set in more dangerous areas.
    

• Similar to escort, can be as low or high stakes as the story demands.

• Describes missions that don’t necessarily have the explicit goal of destroying or killing some number of enemy targets, but rather are reconnaissance or use electronic means to disable or detect.
  

• Feeling
  • One of the more flexible mission types in feeling – you can have success making this a low stakes weather mission, or a high stakes signal capture mission.
    

• Challenge
  • Any escalation.
    

• Not every plane has the right equipment as part of their standard loadout – what sacrifices will they have to make to carry the right equipment? Will you have to give up your Ordnance for mission specific payloads?
  

• Should the pilots be detected? What happens if they are?
  

• Is there enemy jamming in play? How does that affect the players?
  

• How long do they have to linger in the right area to capture the signal?
  

• Anti-aircraft net sweeps also usually fall under this mission. Penetrating into layered defenses to take them out isn’t exactly trivial.
  

• Situation
  • Can happen in response to a player wanting more details about something – or whenever you want to reveal information about a place or thing.
    

• Can also be setup for a mission immediately following in the same area or about the same thing.

• Very often, but not necessarily, a furball (define furball here). Used for missions that have too many individual targets for it to be worthwhile enumerating every single one, or where ally health is the mission
  

• Feeling
  • Because of the greatly increased enemy count, it should feel like the pilots are trying to make a dent in a larger effort rather than carrying it individually. This can feel hopeless or heroic.
    

• Challenge
  • Any escalation. We recommend using a turn counter and making mission success predicated on hitting a certain lower escalation value by that turn counter, since individual enemies are not being tracked. Note that in this instance, Escalation 0 doesn’t mean “no targets” but rather more akin to “we’ve lost too many, we’re pulling out.”
    

• Due to the threat density, there are a lot of moving parts for the AWACS to keep track of. Much of this will rely on feeling about how the mission is going – but don’t be afraid to ask your players directly about this too.
  

• Situation
  • More common later in the campaign, as it requires a certain level of force commitment to even happen in the first place.
    

• Can definitely happen in the opening stages, however – surprise invasions often result in this sort of scenario where the goal is simply “get out the best you can” rather than winning.
  

• Also strongly correlated with turning points in how a conflict is going.

• Any mission that isn’t predetermined – aka missions without briefings of some kind or aren’t planned from the pilot point of view.
  

• Feeling
  • Immediate panic is the goal – pilots on the ground are in danger in a way that feels very helpless compared to in the air. Pilots should have to claw back from a position of disadvantage to one of advantage.
    

• Great at setting tone for an arc in general. Once this happens, pilots will be viscerally aware of the threat, especially if there was material damage to the thing they’re scrambling to protect. It doesn’t have to be their home base specifically!
  

• Challenge
  • Any escalation above 0. More common at higher levels.
    

• Getting in the air is a major one – depending on how much advance warning they had their planes might be under-equipped, and climbing to intercept altitude can take a rather long time.
  

• While killing pilots on the ground isn’t the greatest feeling for anyone at the table, they shouldn’t not be punished if they spend too much time dawdling. Making it a choice between fully fueling up or taking off a minute earlier can introduce tension early. Feel free to use a GM move for this.
  

• Situation
  • With modern radar, it’s less common to not have attacks detected from a reasonable distance out. However, this is where the choices made by pilots in the last couple of missions can come back. Did they fail to protect an allied base? Suddenly, there’s a hole in that defense network.
    

• The sitrep starts with the pilots on the back foot, so if they’re in a position of strength it’s not always the most realistic scenario. In that case, it can signal desperation on their enemy’s part.

• Missions involving the navy, either yours or theirs.
  

• Feeling
  • Cooperation between branches that are often rivals can make for a fun, competitive dynamic.
    

• Water is a dimension that pilots aren’t readily familiar with, generally. A slight feeling of alienation can do heavy lifting for mood here.
  

• Challenge
  • Any escalation.
    

• Naval ships are heavily defended and risky to attack, especially given the dangers of bailing out into possibly rough water in the middle of nowhere.
  

• Landing and taking off carriers is dangerous even for experienced pilots.
  

• Submarines are effectively untargetable and untrackable for most fighter pilots.
  

• Situation
  • Showing off dimensions to the war?
    

• New places
  

• As a prelude to another mission on another landmass

• Missions with one or a few important targets that are the focus of the mission – all others are incidental. This target is often obscured in some way.
  

• Feeling
  • Emphasize mission first – as long as the target is dealt with, everything else can be incidental.
    

• The target should have multiple layers of defenses – pilots should be peeling back layers like an onion as they try to get a clean chance for a shot.
  

• Targets of opportunity – orders from above, obscure, tunnel run
  

• Ordnance requirements
  

• Challenge
  • Any escalation.
    

• Survivability onion
  

• Decoys, tunnels, air defense net, unclear location.
  

• Restrictions on approach can go a long way towards making it easier for you to make it difficult – setting height limits or munitions limits or time limits all work. Don’t railroad the pilots into one very very specific approach if possible, however.
  

• Situation
  • High value plot targets, player goals
    

• Similar to the suggestion of players losing their defence grid, this could be the prelude to another mission

• Missions involving some kind of superweapon on any side.
  

• Feeling
  • Dramatic, bombastic, very often the climax of campaigns.
    

• Do or die, technological awe.
  

• Challenge
  • Escalation 5 and 6. Can be lower depending on the specific nature of the weapon, but is generally high regardless.
    

• Surviving, preventing this thing from doing more.
  

• This is where you have the most leeway to invent new and special mechanics, even ones that defy most known logic.
  

• Situation
  • Something has gone very wrong.

Whenever your pilots enter combat, you should be upfront with them about the types of enemies they’re facing - it helps them know how to deal with it, and prevents any nasty surprises. Ace Combat games love to throw the fact that enemy pilots are aces at their players, after all - Aces High should be no different.

Enemies have a set of traits:

• Domain (X)
  • Naval, Ground, Aerial
    

• HP
  • This one’s a number. This already handles what you want out of armor - if you want a standard enemy that can take more hits, then just up its HP and describe it as taking hits. Since there’s like three ordnance tags that care about armor, it’s infinitely much easier to say “this thing is armored” than care about a separate armor value reducing each hit (seriously, it’s more load)
    

• Armor
  • Tiered:
    • Soft (takes extra damage from burst/AOE)
      

• None (normal)
  

• Light (-1 damage reduction on all attacks except penetrating)
  

• Strong (immune to all attacks except penetrating)
  

• Damage Type
  

• Subunits and tags

• Peer enemies: 3 HP
  • Equal to the players.
    

• Outdated enemies: 1 HP
  • Definitively under the current escalation. Have downgraded consequences/escalation as appropriate.
    

• Cutting Edge Enemies: whatever number you like
  • Better than the players: aces, etc.
    

• HP:
  • Each standard attack with no modifiers or ordinances deals two damage. Light weapons deal 1.

Start with twice the current Pilot count in peer enemies. Trade in two under-peer enemies for each peer enemy you remove. Above-peer enemies have no guideline amount due to the variance, but use your gut based on their equivalence to a peer enemy.

Then, add up to twice the current escalation in reinforcements to a pool. Since these are foreshadowed with the Reinforce Move, you can control the trickle rate of these depending on how the fight is going and what the players do. You don’t always have to use this entire pool, but use enough to keep the fight interesting. Sometimes, the players should just outright win or outright lose (more win than lose).

• Squadrons
  • Roughly a peer enemy, but named.
    

• Jammers
  • Any escalation. Makes things harder and less straightforward.
    

• A broad group of enemies that include things like enemy EWO Aircraft. When they’re in the area, they may prohibit you from being able to spend Capacity, among other effects.
  

• Rivals
  • Cutting Edge. Has story reasons for challenging the players, requires teamwork to take down.
    

• The point where names start to matter.
  

• Aces
  • Always Cutting Edge. One is more than a match for a player, requires teamwork to take down.
    

• High Priority, tailart you don’t want to recognize. Any slip-up might spell disaster.
  

• Superweapons
  • Go nuts.
    

• A nation-to-world-scale threat, honestly. Expect a large combined-arms operation to have to help you take out these big boys, because you’re probably not going to do it alone.

        ~~Most missions are one Zone, where reinforcements arrive from outside it. Splitting a mission into multiple shouldn’t be an easy decision, since it introduces entirely new dimensions of play into the game. In general, only do it when travel time and splitting the flight is a significant element – even geographically large areas can be one Zone if the risk of splitting the flight isn’t a big factor.~~

• Ground
  • Defensive installations (bunkers, artillery)
    

• Anti-Air (missile launchers (static and mobile, radar and not), guns (static and mobile), radar
  

• high value targets (tanks, command and control structures, supply dumps)
  

• infrastructure (roads, bridges, airports, train stations/tracks)
  

• Ground based jammers
  

• Air
  • Interceptors, multiroles, strikes
    

• AWACS
  

• helicopters (offensive, transport)
  

• transport / refueling
  

• Mobile jamming (EWO, zeppelins)
  

• Navy
  • Landing ships and supply ships
    

• Patrol boats and light surface ships
  

• Destroyers, cruisers
  

• Battleships and carriers
  

• AEGIS (naval AA)
  

• Submarines

Much of the surface of this world is covered in water, even more than on earth. While there are still continental plates, many of them are smaller and covered with water. Because of this, many landmasses are islands. The largest of these islands have often hosted great nations that went on to dominate the nearby smaller islands due to their advantageous material conditions.

Over the centuries, however, much of the world has adapted to harvesting resources from the oceans. While wood is a highly limited resource and was invaluable for travelling, with the advent of steel steam ships, acquiring iron and coal became the primary driver of colonisation, exploration and exploitation. Deep sea mining is much more advanced than we are used to, and even today the resources gathered this way are used for planes and ships.

Over a hundred years ago, much of the northern hemisphere was under the control of the Republic of the Seven United Seas. While once a kingdom, after the deposing of the royal family, the Republic began to expand its control using ironclads and bombers. While a democracy in name; in truth much of the Republic was run from its central island of Caradiën by an oligarchy. Each island had its own dictator and their power in the Republic’s senate was proportional to the amount of tax they paid to the state’s coffers.

But in this new era of atomics and plastics, uranium and oil are key to energy independence, and these developments have led to the rise and fall of nations. Forty years ago, at the height of tensions within the Republic, a group of terrorists set off an atomic device in the Republic’s capital during one of the biyearly sessions. Much of the Republic’s upper strata was wiped out. Rulers of islands who did not attend for whatever reason seized the opportunity to break off, while other islands were left rulerless and formed their own states.

In the decades since, attempts have been made to reunite the Republic, but squabbling between dictators often turned diplomacy into war. The biggest contender as of now is the Republic of Vanadia. Following the ruling structure of the Republic of the Seven United Seas, its government is made up of a senate of representatives from the various islands it controls. While it is far from the size the old Republic was, it seems poised to conquer much of the northern hemisphere, and their eyes are now turned onto the Federation of Acken, a multicultural archipelago containing various peoples, and various invaluable resources, such as wood, uranium, and even the mysterious Quartz.

The Quartz, as it is known, is a crystalline formation with exceptional piezoelectric qualities. It can store and produce energy at nearly 100% efficiency through physical manipulation, allowing it to be used as a capacitor or battery. What’s more, the Quartz found in deep sea deposits and in landmasses that were once seas, like salt mines, have stored up untold amounts of energy. While the large-scale applications of this crystal are as of yet unexplored, their use in small scale devices is nearly limitless; from powering computers to lighting cigarettes.

The Federation of Acken is a multicultural nation of many contrasts. Though a thallasocracy stretching across part of the Eastern Seas, its many islands are made up of almost as many climates. From old growth forests with redwoods the size of skyscrapers to dry and mountainous regions with entire communities existing in hollowed mountains.

In the time of the Republic of the Seven United Seas, most of Acken’s islands were separate and even outright hostile to each other, with their dictators using hundreds of years of rivalry to inflame tensions, something the Republic used to its benefit to prevent organised rebellion. Still, in those days of extreme centralisation, everything an individual island needed could be and had to be gotten from Caradiën, but after its implosion, the islands were more reliant on each other than ever before. Without their dictators and without the Republic, the many islands slowly found each other, expanding the Federation to those who needed it and those who had something to offer it.

Now, decades later, the Federation is shaky, but peaceful, and has been prospering economically internally and externally, leading to jealous eyes from its neighbours who see their political system as an affront to the old Republic and their resources better used for their own goals.

While made up out of hundreds of islands, its largest five are:

Uperia: The largest island, made up of old growth forest interiors and sprawling coastal cities. While once upon a time this island might’ve been the capital of a great empire, that is now ancient history. It still served as a regional capital in the old Republic, and as such has been repurposed to be the capital of Acken

Yuro: The second largest island, though depending on tide and sea level, Mitsjan can at times take that claim. North enough to have icecaps and glaciers, Yuro is a major source of freshwater in the region not captured from rain or desalination plants. It also contains a large prehistoric museum, from the many surprisingly well preserved beings in the ice.

Mitsjan: The industrial heartland of the eastern seas. Anything from ships to planes to cars to trains are produced here, with the many ores and minerals dug up from the mountains. Though during the Republic, much of this had to be sent to the capital in Caridiën, with Acken’s independence came newfound wealth. Whenever tensions between the islands rises up, Mitsjanders are quick to remind Uperians that the consumer goods they enjoy were likely made by Mitsjander hands. Since living space is at a premium, whenever mines are abandoned, they’re quickly cleaned up and fortified, allowing for entire communities to inhabit these locations.

IJrie: The rock upon which Acken is built, IJrie is the agricultural and fishery centre of the Federation. If you’ve eaten anything in Acken, it was likely produced here, which afforded the island a lot of leniency in the Republican era. Nowadays, it is mostly known as a conservative backwater, resisting attempts to more closely integrate the Federation

Unterjo: The southernmost island of the federation, Unterjo is shrouded in mystery to foreigners and even some Ackenites. Most of its population adhere to a local religion worshipping aquatic spirits, which Yuron scientists have neglected to compare to some of the prehistoric animals found in their icecaps to not raise tensions within the Federation. Below the surface the island is mostly made up of salt and quartz mines, which would have been exploited more readily, had the local dictators not converted to the religion, forgoing political power in the Republic to protect these holy sites, something made possible by the large uranium deposits located in the island’s waters.

Perhaps the most successful successor state of the Republic of the Seven United Seas is the Republic of Vanadia. While at the time of the old Republic seeming like nothing more than a backwater station, its Dictator surviving the attack on Caradiën allowed for a lot of stability in a decade of chaos. Stability it used to expand its influence among the nearby rudderless states.

To keep his position, the Dictator of Vanadia instituted many social reforms, paying for the islander’s welfare and healthcare from his own pocket, and even allowing representative democracy. Critics of the nation would point out that most senators are also paid for by the Dictator, causing some to believe that the elections are fraudulent, but it is equally likely that the Vanadian people truly support their leader, having seen their lives and livelihoods prosper in the decades since the fall of the old Republic.

To answer how this is sustainable is simple: Islands absorbed by Vanadia are often allowed to keep their autonomy in name, but lose the rights to their lands and waters, letting them live in a sort of semi-feudal state, where they rent the land they live on from Vanadia’s central government. How they use this land is up to them, but they’re quickly outcompeted by Vanadian corporations and settlers who exploit the land far more than is sustainable, and who are sent to these islands by lucrative settling incentives.

The centralist and colonialist mindset of the Republic has led to most islands of the Republic becoming barren and dry; stripped of forests, wildlife, and stripmined to acquire as much iron and coal and oil to feed Vanadia’s war economy, which is how it has managed to expand so rapidly in so little time. The damage done to the absorbed islands may take centuries to reverse and its indigenous population live in poverty. Meanwhile, the core islanders live at a wealth level unprecedented in the world.

Still, there’s one resource the Republic has as of yet been unable to acquire: uranium. Much of its newer deep sea mining platforms run on small scale renewables, but the bulk of them still require regular coal shipments to operate. Yet even the newer platforms receive regular shipments of petroleum based fuels, allowing for them to serve as forward operating bases for the navy and airforce of the Republic, something enemies of the nation see as a threat.

The Republic of Vanadia in Current Year is a strong nation with a large and advanced military. Their designs are cutting edge and the investment in both the air force and alternate sources of power are far above what the budget should be able to allow. Thus, its thirst for resources is unending, as is the Dictator’s desire to reform the old Republic. To come closer to that dream, the next nation on his warpath is the Federation of Acken, containing not only bountiful resources and great scientific minds, but also the enigmatic Quartz, something that promises to revolutionise the world.

They are highly flexible pilots, able to use their plane’s resources to adapt to any situation on a rapidly changing battlefield. They are often, but not always, technically minded, looking for minor optimizations to further push their unit’s performance even further and willing to serve any role needed in a squadron to achieve victory.

Gain: +2 to any Pilot Stat
Lose: -1 to any other Pilot Stat

Review the current statistics of your past operations with another pilot. After you do, one of you gets +1 Capacity while the other gets +1 Survivability for the next mission.

Go through a training exercise with up to three other pilots. After you do, assign a Pilot Stat to each pilot involved without repeating any - each pilot gets +1 to that stat for the next mission.

Go through operational costs with another pilot. When you do, you both suffer -1 Nerve and Temper until your next level up, but you both gain an RP when you level up.

Cover Your Blindspots [POS]
Gain 2 Energy and switch your A2A and A2G stats this turn. Exhaust.
Double Jointed [POS]
Gain 2 Energy and switch your Speed and Manu stats this turn. Exhaust.
Press A Weakness [REACT - 2]
Whenever an ally uses Snapshot, you may also Gain Snapshot. Exhaust unless you spend a Capacity.
Polished Machine [POS, CAP(1)]
Ignore the MAP tag this round.
Omnipresent [POS, CAP(1)]
Gain Interdiction. Exhaust.
Hi-Lo-Hi Profile
Start with +2 Capacity but lose -1 Speed. When you’ve spent 4 Capacity, gain +1 Speed.
Heavy Load
Start with +2 Capacity but lose -1 Maneuverability. When you’ve spent 4 Capacity, gain +1 Maneuverability.

• ☐ Make a difference in a battle on both the ground and in the skies.
  

• ☐ Use all three Ordnances you have on one mission.
  

• ☐ Use a teamwork maneuver with each ally in one mission.
  

• ☐ After you go through paperwork (Numbers game, CSM) with another pilot, have it make an impact on the next mission.
  

• ☐ Decisively cut through both land and sky at a crucial moment.
  

• ☐ Fail to actually cover your blindspots.
  

• ☐ 7

Choose 2:

• Gain your Finality Tactic:
  • OMNISWINGROLE
    • Whenever you Jettison the Excess, recover an Exhausted Multitooler Tactic.
      

• Recover a Burnt Coin.
  

• Gain one non-Finality Tactic of another Specialization.

They live life on the edge of a blade, taking daring offensive risks in combat and living life with open passion. There is no resource that is not better spent now, and every tomorrow is only a hope, so why not live a little? Make no mistake, however, they are often highly technically skilled pilots, adept at eking out the tiniest of advantages in the air.

Gain: +2 Reaction

Throw knives and talk out complex emotions as you do. You both may lose -1 Temper or Nerve. If you do, gain +2 Reaction.

Requires Throwing Knives with someone. You both may either choose to spend 25 RP or lose -1 Temper and Nerve on the next mission. You cannot do this right after Knife Throwing.

Requires having Sharpened a Blade with a Partner. Craft something and talk out more emotions. Both gain +1 Temper and Nerve on the next mission, as well as 75 RP. You cannot do this right after Sharpening a Blade.

Bloodletting [REACT, CAP(1) - 1]
Whenever you deal damage to an air target, you may deal the same amount of damage to it again.
Blades Edge [REACT, CAP(1) - 1]
Whenever you would suffer a Failure, you may flip a coin. On a heads, upgrade it to a Full Success instead. Exhaust.
Tip of the Spear [REACT - 6]
Whenever an ally Interdicts, you may join them. If you do, gain a Guaranteed Perfect Success Snapshot.
Razor Wire [REACT - 0]
Whenever you Face Severe or higher Consequences, you may gain {Advantage} on your next [ATTACK].
Icepick Precision [REACT - 2]
Whenever you’re off by one from a better tier of success, you may mark 1 Stress of either type to upgrade it.
35 Foot Rule [REACT - 1]
Whenever you fail an [ATTACK] roll, you may make a Speed Check. On a Mixed Success, ignore the consequences of the failure; on a Full Success, you instead get a Mixed Success.
Puuko [ATTACK, A2A - 1]
Make an Attack. After you use this Maneuver, flip a coin. If it’s tails, Exhaust, Escalate.

• ☐ Destroy two enemy fighters in one round
  

• ☐ Make Ace (kill five enemy aircraft).
  

• ☐ Make Ace of Aces (kill or assist in killing five ace-level aircraft).
  

• ☐ Overkill an enemy by rolling with a +7 modifier to your attack or by dealing damage to it again after killing it.
  

• ☐ Win an Air to Air duel while in critical state. Crash afterwards, either on landing or from the fight.
  

• ☐ Fall for someone’s false opening.
  

• ☐ Take a hit to deal one.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• PUNCHDAGGER
  • Whenever you use Alley Fighter, you gain Snapshot every 3 Energy spent instead.
    

• Point Towards Enemy [2]
  • Gain one extra Reaction Maneuver this round. This Maneuver doesn’t count towards your Maneuver limit.
    

• Make Your Own Luck [3]
  • Kill someone. Burn coins equal to their difficulty level above Rookie. Fatigue?

They find their homes in fire and iron, forging their reputations in the highest of heats and coming out the other side stronger for it. To make attack runs requires guts and the ability to keep going no matter what, and these pilots have both in spades, shrugging off hits to deliver precision munitions and then returning to base to gather their buddies for a good time before going out and doing it again.

Gain: +2 Nerve

Take a sauna with up to three of your buddies. Don’t be weird about it. You all gain +1 Nerve, then, you all roll 2d6. If the average result is a failure, you all made it weird, and get -1 Temper; on a Mixed, only you do; on a Full, no one made it weird, and on a Perfect, you all gain +1 Temper from the Perfect Sauna.

Go to the gym with a spotter and lift some heavy weights. Your partner gets +1 Reaction and G-Resist, while you may choose to either gain +2 G-Resist or Spend an RP. If you spend an 8 RP, you take a -1 to all Pilot Stats from the fatigue, but on your next level, gain +1 G-Resist for free.

Cook for your wingmen. You spend 5 RP, but you all gain a +1 bonus to two Pilot Stats of your choice from the delicious home cooking.

Just a Flesh Wound [REACT - 0]
Whenever you Face Consequences, you may gain +1 Forward.
Gun Runner [ATTACK, A2G - 1]
Make an Attack. After you use this Maneuver, flip a coin. If it’s tails, Exhaust and Face Major Consequences.
Reinforced Plates [REACT - 0]
Whenever you take 1 Survivability damage, you may spend two Capacity to negate it.
Armor Penetration [REACT, A2G, CAP(1) - 0]
Whenever you deal damage, you may double it. Fatigue.
Fire Fangs [REACT - 2]
Whenever you hit a ground target, you may Gain Snapshot; add your A2G to it.
Shark’s Smile [REACT, CAP(1) - 0]
Whenever you use Ordnance on an [ATTACK], you may gain 2 Energy. Escalate.
Clutch CAS [ATTACK - 2]
Make an Attack targeting the biggest threat to allied ground units.

• ☐ Shrug off large amounts of fire/far too many hits in your aircraft.
  

• ☐ Hear the cheers from allies after you’re called in to support them.
  

• ☐ While in a Critical State, keep going.
  

• ☐ Receive an award from ground troops you saved before.
  

• ☐ Be the most damaged aircraft, yet the last one to retreat.
  

• ☐ Make an attack run in the teeth of enemy fire.
  

• ☐ Dodge improvised anti-air fire (an enemy unit your attacks caused to fly into the air)

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• HAMMERFALL [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you Interdict, gain Snapshot twice.
    

• DANGER CLOSE [REACT, CAP(2), - 0]
  • Whenever a ground unit becomes threatened, gain Snapshot. Fatigue.
    

• ABLATIVE ARMOUR [REACT, TRICK - 0]
  • Whenever you would take damage from {Locked} at the end of your turn, you may instead Spend a Survivability and Defeat, Defeat, Defeat. Exhaust.

They rule the waves on air, land, and sea, filling the electromagnetic spectrum with a finely tuned cocktail that hinders enemy systems with an overflow of noise while boosting the signals of their allies. Their medium is the invisible and the message is simple: you listen to me.

Gain: +2 Reaction

Listen to some music on a boombox while you spar with your partner. If they like the song, you gain +1 Nerve and +1 G-Resist; if they dislike it, you lose -1 Temper but gain +1 Reaction and +1 G-Resist.

Record some noises around you or from other songs pointed out by your partner. You lose -1 Reaction and they lose -1 Nerve, as some of them were probably quite loud, but you and your partner may lose 1 Stress.

Find a way to sell an idea or something you recorded to your captain or to some people with money. If you’re successful, you both gain 20 RP but you lose -1 to all Pilot Stats. If you’re not, lose -1 Temper and Nerve, and gain an additional 10 RP the next time you level up.

Note: You may only use one [WAVE] buff at a time. You may choose whenever you perform the associated Maneuver.

Diss Track [1]
Diss the enemy on Open Comms, then choose an ally to recover a Pilot Stat. Exhaust.
Bit Waves [WAVE]
Whenever you Jam, choose someone. They gain one of the following benefits:
Saw: Change the range for a Perfect Success: 12 to 13 and 20 to 21.
Square: Change the range for a Full Success: 11 to 12 and 14 up.
Triangle: Change the range for a Mixed Success: 5 to 11.
Scatman’s Spirit [PASSIVE]
It’s a Scatman’s world. You count as an ally for your Ally Jams.
Ska Track On Deck
Play a song. You may spend a Nerve and Reaction a number of times equal to how many minutes long it is (round down). For each minute you paid for, you may Ally Jam during your POS for free. Exhaust.
Amplifier to 11 [WAVE]
Whenever you give a buff, you may spend 1 Capacity to also give it to another ally.
Sound Suppression [REACT - 1]
Whenever you Jam, or Overwatch, you may choose an enemy. The next attack against them has the effect of enemy jamming downgraded by one step.
Priority Channel [REACT - 0]
Whenever you give an Ally the benefits of a WAVE, you may give them the benefits of another. If you don’t spend a Capacity, Exhaust.

• ☐ Annoy someone with your noise.
  

• ☐ Save an ally by interrupting the highest-priority threat to them.
  

• ☐ Play an entire song uninterrupted over comms.
  

• ☐ Disable enemy defenses just in the nick of time.
  

• ☐ Jam all of the other noises to make the way for an ally’s assault.
  

• ☐ Become overwhelmed from a noise that’s not your own.
  

• ☐ Get a new callsign from your music.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• FOUR AND THIRTY THREE [POS]
  • Spend a Reaction and Nerve. Disable an Enemy Jammer for Temper turns.
    

• CLEAR THE WAVES [POS]
  • Gain 2 Energy. You may use 2 [WAVE] buffs at a time this turn.
    

• RHAPSODY IN THE SKY [POS]
  • The next jam you and all Allied EWOs make is free.

They are aerial performance artists, equally at home pulling five G’s as their plane spins on three axes to line up a shot and demonstrating slow speed maneuvers right on top of an airshow crowd.

Gain: +2 G-Resist

Spend time figuring out life struggles and how to address them with a friend or posse. You all gain +1 Nerve and Temper.

You and your partner have to jump through a lot of hoops in the process to get something. You take -1 to two of your Pilot Stats, and they take -1 to the other two, but one gains a Narrative Boon and the other 12 RP.

Work through some stretches with a posse. You all gain +1 G-Resist and Reaction from your newly limber limbs.

Pirouette [PASSIVE]
Once per turn, whenever you Gain a Maneuver from an Ally, gain Closure.
High Top [PASSIVE]
Whenever you spend time getting to a higher altitude, usually by Flying Defensively or Zoom Climbing, Gain +1 Forward.
Adagio [REACT - 2]
Whenever you make an [Attack], you may Gain Snapshot. Fatigue.
Aerial Silk [PASSIVE]
Increase your maneuver limit per turn by 1, but you lose -2 Capacity.
High Wire [PASSIVE]
Gain +1 Forward whenever you fail a Nerve or Reaction check.
Lion Tamer [ATTACK - 4]
Make an Attack, targeting a noncritical area deliberately. Downgrade the Success of this Maneuver by one Step. On a Mixed Success or better, they may retreat or surrender. If they don’t do either, your flight has to put them down instead – Exhaust this maneuver, but you and all your allies gain Snapshot. On a Failure or worse, Exhaust.
PARKOUR [PASSIVE]
Whenever you use one of your other Tactics, you may grant an Ally Meld. If they say no, you gain Snapshot instead. Fatigue.

• ☐ Fly through a tight space - through a tunnel, between skyscrapers, etc.
  

• ☐ Pull so many G’s you temporarily pass out.
  

• ☐ Dodge multiple incoming attacks in one turn.
  

• ☐ Tame three enemies on one mission.
  

• ☐ Succeed on a G-Resist check when you have 1 G-Resist remaining.
  

• ☐ Make someone drop something when you fly too close.
  

• ☐ Get too flashy for your own good.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• RINGMASTER [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you use Lion Tamer, you may grant an Ally the Maneuver, except it additionally has the [EXHAUST] tag.
    

• THE GREATEST SHOW [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you Maneuver Into Position, you may forego the usual benefits to show off and gain a minor narrative boon instead. Exhaust.
    

• MIRROR’S EDGE
  • Burn a coin. Face yourself. Flip a trait and lose all stacks of Locked. Exhaust.

They are the hunters and the sharpshooters of the sky, letting others take center stage so that they can line up the perfect strike.

Gain: +2 Nerve

Spend at least one night roughing it out with someone. You both gain 17 RP for what you saved on your per diem, but you both take a -2 to a Pilot Stat.

Spend some time improving or refining the accuracy of your or your partner’s weapon. You both gain Snapshot at the start of your next Mission.

Get into something with someone when you’re both positionally compromised (in a locker, say). You and your partner now lose a Capacity from doing it (you got stuck instead of doing your requisitions paperwork after all), and you either gain 10 RP if you get out by yourselves or you, your partner, and your savior gain two Mental and Physical Stress but 15RP each.

Rattlesnake Eyes [REACT - 1]
Whenever you would fail as a result of rolling Snake Eyes, you may gain a Guaranteed Perfect Success instead. Exhaust.
White of their Eyes [PASSIVE]
If you would end a turn without making an [Attack], the next turn you may use your next Ambush Predator tactic without paying its normal Energy cost.
Lyudmila’s Legacy [REACT - 1]
Whenever you destroy a target, you may gain 2 Energy.
Katya and Lydia [REACT - 0]
Whenever an ally Faces Consequences from Baiting, you may gain Snapshot. Exhaust.
Cutting Through Ivy [3]
At the start of your next turn, gain Snap Shot; it costs X and additionally says “Gain +1 to this maneuver a number of times equal to X. This Snap Shot counts as an Ambush Predator tactic and deals double damage.” Exhaust.
Signal to Attack [POS]
You and your allies gain Snapshot. It gains “Escalate, Exhaust at the end of this turn if not used.” Exhaust.
Ghillied Up [X]
Spend X Energy, where X is the [number of Exhausted Ambush Predator Tactics * 2], to Recover them all.

• ☐ Lie in wait for at least one turn.
  

• ☐ Save an ally with a well timed shot.
  

• ☐ Kill a high value target with an Ambush Predator Tactic
  

• ☐ Fly under the radar (literally, or figuratively) of a group of enemies.
  

• ☐ Surprise an ally with your sudden appearance.
  

• ☐ Win a battle against the odds via your wits and cunning.
  

• ☐ Use a Narrative Boon to surprise someone unexpected.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• HAVE A PLAN TO KILL EVERYONE YOU MEET [PASSIVE]
  

• Whenever a new enemy enters the AO, gain +2 Forward.
  

• DISHONOURABLE POCKET SAND [POS]
  • A distraction happens.
    

If you caused it, the AWACS holds narrative consequences. All Knife Ordnance gains “Agnostic, Gain +2 Forward when used” and loses Knife. If you did not cause it, All Knife Ordnance gains “Agnostic, Dangerous.”

• EXPERT OF CQC AND OSP [PASSIVE]
  • Lose your Ordnance. Gain +1 to each Plane Stat (ie. A2A, A2G, Manu, Speed).

They are the best of the best, the top of the game, the cream of the crop; or so they would have you believe. Bold and brash, the Braggart makes sure you know they’re around, whether it is just to tell you that they were better than you, or to tell you what to do. Still, their behaviour makes them likely to be of interest to the enemy, for who cannot resist shooting down a rising star?

Gain: +2 G-Resist

Spend time with your downtime partner sizing up the rest of the “competition”, whatever you see that as right now. You gain +2 Nerve or Reaction, and they gain the other.

You (at least claim to) have been everywhere or know someone anywhere. Recount your tales and how they’re relevant to the current situation to someone; in doing so, you either learn more about the ongoing events outside of your base, more of the on-base gossip, or gain +1 Reaction.

Complain about missing out on something that you totally would’ve been better at than someone. They get -1 Nerve or Temper for having to listen to you complain, and you take a -1 to the other stat, but you both gain 15 additional RP when you finish your next deployment.

Influencer [REACT - 0]
Whenever you make an [Attack], you may explain your course of action and why it was probably the best. Any ally may Spend a Reaction to gain +1 Forward.
Bark Over Bite [3]
Choose an ally and an enemy target. That ally gains Meld against that target.
Mental Tempest [2]
Get on open comms and try to start shit. Spend a Temper and a Nerve, but any ally may join in and gain +1 Forward when they do.
Class Superstar [PASSIVE]
You carried too many chairs in grade school. Now you carry too much Ordnance. Carry an additional Ordnance on Mission at the cost of either -2 Maneuverability, -2 Speed, or -4 Capacity.
Home on the Stage [POS, CAP(1)]
Gain 2 Energy. Whenever you Bait or Draw Fire this turn, increase your Speed or Maneuverability by 1 until the end of your next turn.
Center of Attention [REACT, CAP(1) - 0]
Whenever you Draw Fire from your second target or above, you may Spend a Pilot Stat for each target beyond the first you Draw Fire from to ignore those stacks of Locked.
Showing Your Guns [REACT - 1]
Whenever you [Attack], you may Flip a Coin. On Heads, choose another Braggart Maneuver and perform it for free. On a Tails, Exhaust.

• ☐ Brag about how good you are. Fail right after.
  

• ☐ Follow through on your brags, and have another character actually appreciate it.
  

• ☐ Get teased on your brags – at the worst possible moment. Crash out as a result.
  

• ☐ Gain the attention of the biggest threat on the battlefield. Get swatted down for it.
  

• ☐ Make a name for yourself.
  

• ☐ Get flirted with as a result of your bragging – you do not, however, need to reciprocate.
  

• ☐ Find out you’re someone’s hero due to your claims

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• AUTOBIOGRAPHY [REACT - 0]
  • Whenever you Bait or Draw Fire, you may boast into comms. If you do, gain {Advantage} on the next Attack you make this turn; however, Face Consequences the next time you Face Consequences this turn.
    

• BARNUM AFFECTED [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you use a Braggart Tactic, an Ally may use your Maneuver slot instead of theirs to use a Maneuver.
    

• LEADED DIESEL [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you would have to Spend a Pilot Stat as a result of a Maneuver, you may instead spend a stack of Lock On or two stacks of Locked. Fatigue

They’re the eternal optimists. Not everyone may be a fan of their manic behaviour, but they warm up to others quickly, and when the chips are down, they are up, and they’ve got your back.

Gain: +2 Temper

At the start of each mission, pick someone to be familial towards. They’re your “family” now for this mission.

Look at (or try to) your choice of clouds (if day) or the aurora borealis (if night) with a friend. Gain +1 Temper and Nerve.

You and your partner may both either spend 5 RP or take a -1 to Nerve and Reaction to do research on a seemingly inane topic. In doing so, you either uncover more of the ongoing situation and gain intelligence or find a new way to do something on base and recover an RP in the process.

Try to find the upside to some of the stress or negative consequences a buddy is facing (be it from a story consequence or other downtimes). You may either choose to take on their debuffs in their stead or spend 5 RP to negate one of them.

Aloof Parent [1]
Spend a Reaction. The next time you would make an [Attack] as a result of Overwatch, make two instead.
Good Vibes [1]
Spend a Temper and give a positive, happy-go-lucky comment. Your family may recover a Temper or Nerve. Exhaust.
Bright Smile [REACT - 0]
Your smile fills your voice. Whenever a family member would Spend a Temper, you may instead. Fatigue.
Happy-Go-Lucky [PASSIVE]
Whenever you take Survivability damage, you and your “family” gain +1 Forward.
How Did We Get Here? [PASSIVE]
Whenever you assist a family member, you may ask them this Tactic’s name. When you do, you both suffer Major Consequences and gain 3 Energy.
Often in a Lifetime [REACT - 0]
Whenever you Overwatch, if the turn would end without you making an [Attack] as a result of it, recover a Nerve.
Water Flowing Over [PASSIVE]
Whenever an ally helps out you or a “family” member, they may become part of your family for that mission by spending any Pilot Stat.

• ☐ Save a family member from entering a Critical State.
  

• ☐ Have your “family” member enter a Critical State. Make a bad choice as a result.
  

• ☐ Have everyone on a mission be part of your “family”.
  

• ☐ Fight with your “family”.
  

• ☐ Make up with your “family”.
  

• ☐ Forget someone is in your “family”.
  

• ☐ Make an enemy in your “family”.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• HIGH ON LIFE [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you are on {Overwatch}, if an Ally would fail an [Attack], you may instead replace their Attack with yours. Negate their Consequences and lose {Overwatch}.
    

• WHAT HAVE I DONE [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you fail a Check, give your “family” +1 Forward.
    

• QU’EST-CE QUE C’EST? [PASSIVE]
  • Ask “What is this”? If no one says “Aces High” or the name of the campaign, gain Snapshot. Otherwise, give the entire team -2 Forward and Meld. Exhaust.

They’re the knights of the sky, like pilots of old, and they act it. Whether they live for the thrill of the fight or an honourable duel, there’s nobody better for a one on one battle.

Gain: +2 G-Resist

Practice the arcane art of some form of throwing hands with a Partner holding your target up for you. Trade your G-Resist scores.

Surreptitiously acquire some kind of armor with someone. Next mission, one of you gains +1 Survivability and the other loses -1 G-Resist.

Do some dancing with as many people that want to come. Everyone puts up to one Nerve or Temper into a pool; when you’re done dancing everyone bows or curtseys to each other and the pool is divided any way the participants wish.

Lancebreaker [PASSIVE]
Whenever you deal damage as a result of a Joust, increase it by 1.
Tilt Tactician [PASSIVE]
Whenever you Joust, gain Closure.
Armor Astir [PASSIVE]
Before a mission, you may trade 3 Capacity for 1 Survivability up to two times, as long as you have the Capacity to trade.
Riposte [REACT - 2]
Whenever you affect Consequences using a Reaction, you may gain Snapshot. Fatigue.
Remise [PASSIVE]
Gain an extra Reaction per turn, even above your normal Maneuver limit. You may only Joust or use Duelist Maneuvers with this Reaction.
Hearts of Steel [REACT - 2]
Whenever you would fail a pilot stat roll after Facing Consequences, reroll it. Exhaust.
Combat Patrol [POS]
Gain 2 Energy. This turn, you may use Joust whenever an Ally Faces Consequences, instead of just you.

• ☐ Falter on your code.
  

• ☐ Distract someone by challenging them to a duel
  

• ☐ Be so damaged you need help to land or immediately after landing.
  

• ☐ Be challenged by someone else during a mission
  

• ☐ Serve your commander with distinction
  

• ☐ Strike fear in the hearts of your opponents
  

• ☐ Charge into the dragon’s lair.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• WHEEL OF THE INFINITE [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you take Survivability damage as a result of a Joust, gain +1 Forward.
    

• SEVENTH PILLAR
  • Choose Death or Dismissal when you take this Tactic. If you choose Death, when you Enter a Critical State, you instantly deal 4 Survivability Damage to one target, but you can no longer Eject. If you choose Dismissal, whenever you Enter a Critical State, you may instantly Withdraw, but face Narrative Consequences.
    

• YOU, ON THE OTHER FACE OF MY COIN
  • Choose a target. You both deal double damage to each other until someone dies; if you are victorious, you then may either Retire or Reset all of your Advancements – and unlocked Tactics – except for this one. Gain 50RP.

Roll 1d6 for flavour text. It’s gambling time, baby – time to shake some dice up.

Roll two d6 when you pick this Specialization (that is, at Character Creation). Afterwards, consult The Chart To The Right.
You may Burn a Coin to reroll once.

Play a round of Poker with some of your wingmen. You may individually all bet up to 30RP. Gamble (at easiest, flip five coins – whoever has the most heads, wins). Winner takes all of the RP.

You and your buddies (up to three) are broke (have under 10RP). You may each take a -1 to each Pilot Stat as you scrounge around couch cushions; if you do, you each gain 3d6RP.

Make a Pool of up to 30RP and split it among up to three of your buddies. Anyone that participates gains a +1 to a Pilot Stat of their choice on their next mission, even if they didn’t receive any RP.

Double Down [PASSIVE]
Before you roll, you may Spend a Pilot Stat; if you do, anything below a Full Success is a Failure - but any Full Success is a Perfect Success.
Stand [REACT - 2]
Whenever you may reroll, you may choose to burn the reroll. Upgrade your next roll one step instead.
Hit [REACT - 1]
Whenever you roll, you may choose to roll again. If it’s better than your previous roll, upgrade it one step. If it’s worse, downgrade it one step.
Insurance [PASSIVE]
You may Spend Coins for your allies.
Bust [REACT - 1]
At the start of the mission, roll a d6. Every time you acquire that amount of stacks of Locked in a mission, recover a pilot stat.
Split [2]
Roll 2d6. Add one die result to your next Maneuver roll and the other to the Maneuver roll after that.
How About Caravan Instead? [PASSIVE]
Whenever you roll 7, 8, or 9, gain a bonus Temporary Coin, even above the maximum of three.

• ☐ Roll 2 back-to-back Perfect Successes
  

• ☐ Gain a Perfect Success - then a Failure as your next roll.
  

• ☐ Roll two 6s on two dice twice in a row.
  

• ☐ Roll snake eyes (a one on both dice) twice in a row.
  

• ☐ Face 3 Perfect Successes and 3 Failures on one Mission.
  

• ☐ Get accused of rigging the odds in your favor.
  

• ☐ Roll 11 11s within 11 missions.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• BLACKJACK [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you roll 21, recover someone’s Burnt Coin.
    

• BUYING BACK IN [PASSIVE]
  • Whenever you would Enter a Critical State, you may spend [21] RP. If you do, recover all Survivability and Capacity, but you still Burn a Coin.
    

• Hate. Hate. Hate. [REACT - 1]
  • Replace whatever you use to roll dice (physical, bot, program, etc) for your next roll, then reroll your last roll. Exhaust.

They’re the nerds of the sky. Nobody has read up on the theory of aerial combat as much as them, and they will let you know it. While book smarts are no substitute for real world experience, in a pinch, nobody can take advantage of teachable moments like them.

Gain: +2 Temper and Reaction
Lose: -1 Nerve and G-Resist

With up to three other buddies, you may each burn an RP. Whoever does gains a +1 to two Pilot Stats on their next mission. Bitch about downsizing.

Discuss how things are going with at least three other buddies. You pay all put any amount of your spare RP into a pool; then, add an additional 10 RP to it and distribute it back out amongst yourselves. Whoever gets the most RP back loses -1 Nerve on their next mission; the least, -1 Temper.

Find a willing sap to take a -2 to two Pilot Stats of their choice for their next mission. You take a -2 to the other two for your next mission. You both gain 10 RP now and an additional 15 RP on your next level up.

Reformer [PASSIVE]
You may use any Pilot Stat in place of another, but you spend three of it when you do.
Observer [REACT - 0]
Whenever you make a Nerve check, Give an ally +1 Forward. Exhaust unless you spend a G-Resist.
Orientator [REACT - 0]
Whenever you make a G-Resist check, Give an ally +1 Forward. Exhaust unless you spend a Reaction.
Decider [REACT - 0]
Whenever you make a Reaction check, Gain +1 Forward. Exhaust unless you spend a Temper.
Acter [REACT - 0]
Whenever you make a Temper check, Gain +1 Forward. Exhaust unless you spend a Nerve.
Boydian Analysis [REACT - 1]
Whenever you fail a Pilot Stat check, you may spend a different one and adjust your glasses to reroll. Exhaust.
Five-Sided Wars [REACT - 0]
Whenever you’re outnumbered and someone makes a bad decision, spend a pilot stat and explain why. If you convince them that, actually, you’re right, they gain +1 Forward.

• ☐ Empty your Nerve pool twice.
  

• ☐ Empty your G-Resist pool twice.
  

• ☐ Empty your Reaction pool twice.
  

• ☐ Empty your Temper pool twice.
  

• ☐ Empty every Pilot Stat pool on one mission
  

• ☐ Get Kick-Me slapped on your back.
  

• ☐ Get the anime-glare off your glasses when you adjust them. You have glasses even if you don’t.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• BE SQUARE [REACT - 0]
  • Whenever, you may spend one of each Pilot Stat. Gain +4 to a roll. Exhaust.
    

• Project Hail Mary [POS]
  • Choose Amaze or Question. On Amaze, comment on an ally’s exceptional maneuver or idea – they recover a Pilot Stat. On Question, ask the AWACS a question and spend one of each Pilot Stat. The AWACS either gives you information useful to the question or loses 4 Escalation.
    

• Messageboard Master [PASSIVE]
  • Gain a new Downtime: Keyboard Warrior. You and one partner spend any amount of Nerve, Temper, and Mental Stress. For every multiple of 7, gain a Narrative Boon, then make a Nerve Test. On a fail, face increasing Narrative Consequences as well from accidentally leaking military documents.

They’re curious, clever, and more than a little paranoid. Though an annoyance to their higherups, they are a menace to their enemies; their skills in gathering intelligence and putting the pieces together let them know what they’ll do before even they know it.

Gain: +2 Reaction

Bounce theories and shoot the shit with the other pilots. Each participant may put any amount of RP they have into a pool. Gain a Narrative Boon. The value of this boon should be related to the amount of RP put into the pool.

Sketch out a theory on paper or some kind of board. Walk someone through every single connection. On the next mission, you both lose -1 Temper or Nerve, but gain +2 Reaction.

Poke around documents or a conversation you maybe shouldn’t read or hear with someone. Gain a Severe Narrative Boon and a Major Narrative Consequence

Pushpin Idealism [2]
Get a hunch about enemy deployment, reinforcements, or tactics. Your AWACS will Flip a Coin. On heads, the AWACS tells you if your hunch is correct. On a tails, the AWACS tells you the opposite of the truth.
Dig For Details [1]
Call back to base for more information. You or an ally can gain Meld, but it can only be used in relation to the information you get. Exhaust.
Picking Pieces [2]
Weave together scraps of signals intelligence. Your AWACS tells you the next AWACS Maneuver they’re planning to make.
Multistream Misinformation [REACT - 2]
Whenever, you may activate your Radar Decoy. If you are Facing Consequences, you may Negate Consequences and Exhaust. If you aren’t, spend a Capacity and fool the enemy about your force size and disposition.
Wallflower Admiration [PASSIVE]
Whenever an Ally would fail a Pilot Check, you may spend that Pilot stat to allow them to reroll. Exhaust unless you spend another Pilot stat.
Infamous Rank [REACT - 2]
Whenever, you may choose an Enemy, spend a Reaction and identify their livery. Choose an Ally, they may reroll the last roll they made relating to that target.
For Your Ears Only [1]
Tell only one Ally something, which they may then pass to your other allies. They gain +2 Forward and you gain -1 Forward.

• ☐ Give a briefing to at least six people.
  

• ☐ Get two hunches right in a row
  

• ☐ Reveal a trap before it’s sprung
  

• ☐ Find nothing useful in a mission
  

• ☐ Cheer up your flight with some information
  

• ☐ Find out an uncomfortable truth
  

• ☐ Face consequences from above for your nosiness

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• WATERSHED MOMENT
  • Learn or understand the capstone truth of your theories at a critical moment. When you do, as a [REACT - 0], reveal this information to your flight. You all gain Advantage for the rest of this mission. Exhaust.
    

• Crossed Out, Redacted Files [PASSIVE]
  • Bury the truth. Abandon your Specialization, losing all of your Tactics as a result, but gain Extreme Narrative Boons for your character, 50RP, and a lingering sense of guilt.
    

• Butler’s Racket
  • Realize your side is in the wrong on open comms. Choose Insight or Import. If you choose Insight, and are able to convince the flight both of that and that you can fix it – gain a Narrative Boon and a small amount of RP, as well as Lock On for the entire flight. If you choose Import, you defect – make a new character of equal tours and with any leftover RP, but with a different Specialization (mark off three Advancements). Please work with your AWACS before choosing this option.

They aren’t the kind of pilot to keep the throttle at anything less than maximum. Preferring planes with the biggest engines and the most thrust that can fit in an airframes shell, they have on desire: to reach Mach Fuck at altitudes unheard of by any sane craft, entering and leaving the battle at hypersonic speeds.

Gain: +2 Nerve

Go on a drive with as many people as your personal vehicle can fit. You all lose -1 G-Resist, but gain +2 Reaction.

Play a reaction-based game with up to three other pilots. You all lose -1 Reaction, but gain +2 Nerve.

It’s race time. Gather bets in the form of RP (or planes, if you want to race for Pinks) from your opponents in the race, plus an RP from your ““sponsors”“, and make checks on each pilot pool until they’re empty. Whoever got the most successes, wins, and gets to choose how to distribute the RP.
Alternatively, play Aces Horse. Winner still distributes.

Watch Me Accelerate [REACT - 0]
Whenever you make a Speed check, choose an ally. They may spend a Nerve or Reaction to gain +1 Forward on their next roll.
Tear Apart the Interstate [REACT - 1]
Whenever you would roll a Failure or Mixed Success on a Speed check while flying at a low altitude, you may reroll.
Cheetah on the Planes
Once per turn, you may make a Speed check as part of making an [Attack]. If you succeed, gain a +1 Forward. You still Face any Consequences from the Speed check.
Supersonic Princess [CAP(1), REACT]
Whenever you make a Speed check, you may upgrade the roll’s success by one step, to a maximum of a Full Success.
Hyperdrive [POS]
Gain 1 Energy. Whenever you make a Speed check this turn, gain a stacking +1 Forward.
Breakneck Trainwreck [REACT - 1]
Whenever a Speed check would result in you Facing Consequences, you may spend a Reaction or Nerve. Delay them until the next Round.
Fuel of Addiction
Whenever you spend a Capacity while making a Speed check, you may reroll the extra die that Spending a Capacity gave you.

• ☐ Overheat your engines from going too fast
  

• ☐ Risk ripping off your wings from your sheer speed.
  

• ☐ Cross an entire country in one night.
  

• ☐ Be the first one into a fight thanks to your speed. Face Consequences from this fact.
  

• ☐ Spend all of your fuel (from going too fast, of course). Face issues as a result of this.
  

• ☐ Miss something important from your eagerness to get shit started.
  

• ☐ Escape harm from your excessive thrust.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• CAFFEINE
  • Whenever you spend Capacity, gain an additional +1 Forward to your next Speed check.
    

• MILLION DOLLAR CAR
  • You may spend 15 RP before a Mission to gain +1 Speed for that mission, even past the normal max of 5. You may do this up to five times.
    

• KICK ASS JAVA
  • Gain +1 Speed. Whenever you spend Capacity on a Maneuverability Check, you may use your Speed instead. If you do, gain {Slow} until the end of the mission.

They are the kind with a dark aura around them, the chilling thrill of the unknown, or perhaps they are just weird. These pilots mutter on about things few actually believe in, but what is the harm in trying? Just don’t accept any offers for your blood, first born, or your love. Just in case.

Gain: +2 Temper

Find some space and burn some sage or other aromatic to clear the air. Vent alongside your partner, bury any hatchets, and let it all out. You gain +1 Reaction and your partner gains +1 to whatever stat their specialization has a penalty. If they don’t have one, they gain +1 Reaction.

Do some sort of arcane reading on your Partner, be it tarot or palm readings. If they take the reading to be positive, they gain +1 G-Resist and Temper; if they take it negatively, they gain +1 Nerve and Reaction. You take a -1 to all Pilot Stats but get paid 20 RP for your reading.

You or your Partner encounter an ill omen. Do a ritual together to restore karmic balance to the both of you. Despite this, its effects linger on the both of you. At the start of the mission, you both face Minor Consequences, but you gain Meld.

To Return the Jesters [REACT - 2]
Whenever, you may give an ally +2 Forward. The AWACS Holds a Disadvantage. This Maneuver doesn’t count towards your Maneuver limit if you Spend a Capacity.
To Recognize the Dark [3]
Accept the darkness within you and cross the Rubicon. Burn 2 Survivability and gain +1 to each of your plane stats for three turns. Exhaust.
To Release the Known [1]
Bait a specific Enemy, but the Catch you grant only grants 2 Energy. If this is the second time in one mission, you may induce Stall in them.
To Repair the Forgiven [REACT - 1]
Whenever an ally Faces Consequences, you may Face them instead. They get a +1 Forward.
To Renounce the Dead [REACT - 1]
You may ominously mourn a loss on open radio. You get to deny an AWACS Move. They get to deny you a Maneuver later.
To Ratify the Unsure [0]
Tell a confusing joke or ask an insane question over the radio and stun someone out of their bad mood. Choose an Ally, they recover a Pilot stat of their choice. Exhaust.
To Rebuke the Heavens [REACT - 3]
Force fate to change at a crucial moment. Something terrible happens to you as a result. Exhaust.

• ☐ Start a Coven.
  

• ☐ Negotiate several deals with the devil at the same time.
  

• ☐ Freak out a flight
  

• ☐ Have your third eye open and a reading come true
  

• ☐ Have a ritual save the day
  

• ☐ See a sign and warn your flight (accurately).
  

• ☐ Make a wish or prayer for good luck and either have it go very wrong or very right.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• SIX SIDED ORACLE
  • At the start of a mission, roll 4 d6s. You may replace any other d6 with one of your rolled dice. You lose all of your stored die at the end of the mission.
    

• Hot Topic Addict [PASSIVE]
  • When you gain this tactic, paint or decorate your aircraft with something non-regulation. Whenever you Mitigate, you may burn a Temper to make it a Negate instead. Exhaust.
    

• To End the World [REACT - 1]
  • Kill someone. Take a proportional backlash. Exhaust.

They’re veterans, perhaps of a past war, perhaps of something else. While their penchant for telling tales may come off as bragging, they’re always rooted in some kind of truth. Because of their age and their experience, they often take up some kind of leadership position within their squadron, even unofficially. When push comes to shove, stars and bars matter less than keeping a clear head and an open mind.

Gain: +2 Temper

Tell a group of people a story in the dark, with props of some kind - even if it’s just the shadow your hands cast on the wall. Everyone loses -1 Nerve and -1 Temper on the next mission, but may reduce their Mental Stress by 3.

Swap stories with someone about injuries and show off your scars - mental, or physical. You both gain +1 G-Res and +1 Temper.

Calm someone down after something’s happened to them - or if nobody’s in a bad state, tell someone a story from your home country. Afterwards, you both gain +1 Nerve and +1 Temper.

Postmodern Poet [REACT - 1]
Whenever, you may deliver some sort of “slam poetry” designed to motivate an ally. They may choose to spend an XP to recover a Pilot Stat.
Relatable Moments [2]
Reveal something awkward or cringe. Lose -1 Reaction when you do, but you and all allies may recover a G-Resist.
Wealth of Experience [1]
Refer back to a previous fight you were in that’s relevant to the situation at hand. Gain Lock-on. If your reference was from this campaign, you may Give an Ally Lock-On instead.
Three Act Structure [REACT - 1]
Whenever an AWACS makes a Move, you may Face an appropriate Consequence. On your first action to deal with the results of that Maneuver, gain a +1 Forward. If you help resolve that Maneuver, gain +1 XP. Exhaust.
Creation Myths [REACT - 1]
Whenever the AWACS uses a Move to foreshadow reinforcements, give your flight Lock On.
Behind the Veil
Whenever you make a Check to gain a hint about a situation, Roll with Advantage. Exhaust.
Mantle of Command
Lose -1 Reaction and Speed. Once per turn when you use a Storyteller Tactic, gain +1 Forward.

• ☐ Share an Embarrassing Moment and have no one laugh or try to change your Callsign.
  

• ☐ Create a new story to tell to your (future) child.
  

• ☐ See something you’ve never seen before.
  

• ☐ Watch another pilot grow up in front of your eyes
  

• ☐ Tell a story and have it fail to have the expected effect.
  

• ☐ Have someone come to you for advice.
  

• ☐ Reveal a trauma you’ve kept hidden.

Choose one Mastery Tactic:

• BLAZE OF GLORY
  • Enter Critical State. Take an extra turn after this one. Exhaust.
    

• OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS
  • Gain 3 Perks. Lose -4 total from your Pilot Stats.
    

• RECOMMENDED TRAINER
  • When you choose this Mastery, your character retires from active duty to train the next generation. For each unburnt coin you have, choose an ally: they gain a completed Deployment of your choice. Then, make a new character, gaining both perks from losing a character and completing one of your completed Tours.

Gain a Pilot Stat or 10 RP. You can take this perk any number of times.

Your character loves the danger of being on the edge of passing out from gLOC.
Whenever you make a Maneuverability check, you may describe the emotion and sensation your character feels. If you do, gain Lock On.

Your character can’t drive just 55.
Whenever you make a Speed Check, you may describe the emotion and sensation your character feels. If you do, gain Lock On.

You excel at getting into unexpected positions and striking from them.
Whenever you use the Eyes Open Maneuver, you may additionally spend a Temper. if you do, describe how you’re avoiding the fray, like by flying at treetop level or below (canyon run, anybody?). Avoid any additional costs of Eyes Open when you do.

You’ve somehow figured out how to gain access to enemy comms.
You may spend a Reaction or Nerve; when you do, choose an enemy and gain information based on their tier. Your AWACS will tell you what this information gives you. You may use this any number of times per mission, but each time you do, roll 1d6. On a 6, they figure out someone is listening in and change the channel; Exhaust. This threshold is lowered for every additional use.

You’re an expert in EWAR and jamming.
Whenever you spend a Capacity on an [Attack] against an AA target in an EWO aircraft, you gain Snap Shot (AA).

Your jamming waves collide with enemy ones.
Whenever you take a malus to hit a target protected by jamming, reduce the malus by 1.

EWO Aircraft are high priority targets, and you know that. In fact, you take advantage of that.
Whenever you Bait, Gain Closure; it can only be applied to [EWO] Maneuvers.

Make X Speed Tests. For each one you succeed, gain a perpetual stacking +1 to [Attack] rolls; however, also you lose a stacking -1 Maneuverability. If you fail a Maneuverability Check, Face Major Consequences for every stack and lose your stacks.

Make X Maneuverability Tests. For each one you succeed, gain a perpetual stacking +1 to [Attack] rolls; however, also you lose a stacking -1 Speed. If you fail a Speed Check, Face Major Consequences for every stack and lose your stacks.

Your character’s reputation in their air force precedes them, and those around you take notice.
Whenever an ally would fail a Pilot Stat Check, you may spend a Reaction to let them reroll.

You’re the base commander’s favorite, and as such you often get a bit more than maybe you need for your missions.
Whenever you would spend a Capacity, you may instead not; when you do, take an Escalation 1 Minor Narrative Consequence, for example having to explain yourself when you land to avoid losing the commander’s favor. Exhaust.

Give an order that puts your flight at risk. If they all follow it to the letter, you and the flight gain Meld. Face Major Narrative Consequences.

Give your flight an order. They all gain Lock-On, and if everyone follows it they additionally gain Closure and you get both benefits as well. Exhaust.

You and your squadron really do not want to be here.
Whenever you would fail a Temper or Nerve Check, start bitching instead; when you do, you may roll again. Flip a coin; on heads, you annoy your flightmates, on tails, Face a Major Narrative Consequence: you might get told to shut up or your Callsign may become Catty, for example. Exhaust.

All pilots are caffeine addicts. You, somehow, are worse.
You may drink way too much coffee before a mission; if you do, you gain 2 Reaction, even above the normal cap of 7. When you do drink too much coffee, you may spend the 2 extra Reaction in place of other Pilot Pools. Then, whenever you fail one of the following checks, bad things start to happen:

• Temper: The coffee gave you a headache. Spend a G-Resist or Reaction. Face E1 Minor Narrative Consequences.
  

• Nerve: The coffee made you irritable. Spend a Nerve. Face E1 Minor Narrative Consequences.
  

• G-Resist: The coffee upset your stomach. Spend a Reaction. If this is the second G-Resist check failed, you puke. Face E1 Major Narrative Consequences.
  

• Maneuverability: There is not a good feeling in your gut or bladder. Spend a Nerve. If this is the second Maneuverability check failed, you lose control of one of those two organs. Face E1 Major Narrative Consequences.

When you use a Supply Line, you lose both the benefits and drawbacks of Insane Coffee Addict.

People are just fond of you.
Whenever the going gets tough, you may crack a joke or say something inspirational; when you do, roll 2d6. On a 10 or up, any ally may recover one Spent Stat Point if they describe how their character responds. On a 6 through 9, any ally may expend one Pilot Stat to restore another. On a 5 or lower, it falls flat, and you spend a Nerve in embarrassment. Exhaust.

You’re evil and you know it.
Whenever, you may go on a villainous monologue on Open Comms; when you do, spend a Temper or Nerve and roll 2d6. On an 8 or higher, you succeed in trying to scare every enemy within communication distance, causing all allies to Gain Lock-On and Meld. On a 7 or lower, you fail to do so and take a Minor Narrative Consequence. Exhaust.

You know how to minimize damage to your aircraft.
X is equal to 2 + the amount of stats you have at -1 (whether or not they were caused by Non-Critical Area). Spend a Reaction or Spend a Coin. Negate a Consequence. Set a Plane Stat to -1. If you’ve used this perk this mission, if at any point all stats are -1, you run out of Reaction, or you Stall, you die.

You do your best work in moments of desperation.
While you Stay With the Craft, you may upgrade the success of any roll by 1 step (Failures to Mixed Success, Mixed Success to Full Success, Full Success to Perfect Success) by Spending a Pilot Stat or Spending a Coin.

Whenever you would go into Critical State, you may Spend a Coin to delay entering it by one round. Exhaust.

Military life has taught you how to sleep anywhere, anytime.
Whenever you return to a Resupply Line, you may refill one point in each Pilot Stat.

Whenever you would make a pilot stat check, you may choose to fail instead. Explain why you failed, and if there are no other consequences you Face Minor Narrative Consequences. However, you don’t spend that pilot stat, and gain a +2 Forward.

Some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. You, however, were born with a poker chip.
Whenever you roll 12 without any modifiers (that is, two sixes on the dice), you may count it as a Perfect Success or Recover a Luck Maneuver. Exhaust.

You don’t hope to get lucky. You just will it into existence.
Whenever you roll over 13, you may spend a Nerve. If you do, Gain Meld or recover a [LUCK] Maneuver. Exhaust.

Timing is everything.
Whenever you gain a third Perfect Success in one mission, recover two [LUCK] Maneuvers. Exhaust.

Sometimes, you gotta know when to let go.
Whenever you make a Check or attempt to Mitigate Consequences, spend a Reaction and flip a Coin. On a Heads, improve the results by one tier; on a tails, downgrade it by one tier but Recover a [LUCK] Maneuver. Exhaust.

You don’t believe in going out with a whimper.
Whenever you Risk It after entering a Critical State, for any Coins that come up Tails, you may Burn them. This removes them from the result. Gain a guaranteed Perfect Success Snapshot for each burnt coin. Recover all Luck Maneuvers.

Whenever you make a Pilot Skill Check, you may wager an additional point of that stat. If you succeed on that check, recover that pilot stat, up to a maximum of 3. If you fail, lose two. Exhaust.

Everyone’s your spotter.
Whenever you are on Overwatch, if an Ally would fail an [Attack], you may instead replace their Attack with yours. Negate their Consequences and exit Overwatch.

Requires completion of the Mercenary Tour. Choose a Pilot Stat when you gain this perk.

• [REACT - 0] Whenever you Spend or Check a Pilot Stat, you may use your Ace Type stat instead. This doesn’t count as a Maneuver. Additionally, you may use the chosen stat instead of one other when you calculate your Stress track.

Requires completion of the Knight Tour. Choose a Pilot Stat when you gain this perk.

• [REACT - 1] Make that Pilot Stat Check. On a full, clear 3 Locked. On a mixed, clear 1 Locked. Fatigue.

Requires completion of the Soldier Tour.

• [REACT - 0] Whenever you make an Attack, hit an additional target. Fatigue.

Requires completion of the Monarch Tour.
Choose a Specialization tactic from a specialization that isn’t yours. Add it to your tactics list.

Requires completion of the Phoenix Tour.
Recover a burnt coin. You may gain this Ace Perk more than once.

Requires completion of the Garuda Tour.
Choose the first listed Specialization downtime from a specialization that isn’t yours. Add it to your downtime list.

Requires completion of the Wolf Tour. Choose a Pilot Stat when you gain this perk.

• [REACT - 1] Replace one of your plane stats with the current value of the chosen Pilot Stat until the end of your turn. Fatigue.

Requires at least two EWO Perks.
Whenever you do an EWO Action, you may Spend a Capacity and additionally do a different EWO action for free without it counting as its own Maneuver. Exhaust.

You’ve seen pilots like those in every generation. You’ve felled many of them.
Whenever you hit an enemy aircraft, you may deal double damage. Exhaust.

You SPAMRAAM them all.
You may spend all of your Capacity and X Energy, where X is your current Energy. When you do, Gain a guaranteed Mixed Success Snapshot for each Capacity spent; each one additionally has the [A2A] tag Exhaust.

You bomb them all.
You may spend all of your Capacity and X Energy, where X is your current Energy. When you do, Gain a guaranteed Mixed Success Snapshot for each Capacity spent; each one additionally has the [A2G] tag. Exhaust.

Whenever you make a roll using an Aircraft stat, you may use a Pilot Stat instead. If you do, spend Two points of the Pilot Stat you used. Use Temper in place of A2A, Nerve in place of A2G, G-Resist in place of Manu, and Reaction in place of Speed.

Whenever you do something tagged with [AOA], you may gain Snapshot.

Whenever you make a check, you may roll 1d6. If you rolled a 1 through 3, upgrade the success of that roll by 1 step. On a 4 or 5, do nothing. On a 6, downgrade the roll one step. Exhaust.

Requires EWO Specialist
Choose any number of allies. They Gain Lock-On and Closure. Exhaust.

Whenever you make an Attack as part of Overwatch, you may choose to double your damage for that Attack against that target. Lose Overwatch.

Lose your Specialization and all associated benefits. Gain Master of None [REACT, CAP(1) - 1]: You may gain any non-mastery tactic that any member of your current flight may use until the end of your next turn.

Requires three OTHER Ace Perks.
Yes, that means not this one.
Whenever you Exhaust another Ace Perk, instead gain another usage of it at the start of your next turn. The AWACS Holds a Move. Exhaust.

AOA - An Aircraft and Maneuver tag used to represent aircraft capable of easily performing High Angle-of-Attack Maneuvers, such as recent Sukhoi variants.
Multicrew - A
Multiengine - A
VTOL - A
Naval - A
Stealth - A
Subsonic - A
X - When you use a Maneuver with X as a cost, choose the amount of Energy you spend on this Maneuver when you use it. X is equal to the amount of Energy you spent on this Maneuver before any cost reduction for the purposes of resolving that Maneuver.
Exhaust - When you use a Maneuver with Exhaust, you lose access to that Maneuver after you use it. If you gain multiple instances of the same Maneuver with Exhaust, each one is Exhausted separately.
Cap - As part of the cost of using this Maneuver, spend a Capacity. If a Maneuver has this tag more than once, spend capacity equal to the number of times it has the tag.
EWO - Interacts with electronic warfare and intelligence; granting the equipped plane the EWO Role Maneuvers.
React - A
Role - A

• Reveal an incoming threat,
  • - Threats can come from many places
    

• - Physical: Enemy maneuvering into position, the ground, an obstacle, an enemy acquiring a target lock, of collateral damage.
  

• - Story: to allies, to the objective, to personal values, to the war effort, to favorite things, to visibility, to something staying secret.
  

• - As a question, present it as “if you do nothing, the threat will manifest.”
  

• - In combat, this often looks like “an enemy is locking onto you” or “this enemy is lining up an attack run here.”
  

• - Out of combat, this often looks like “the person on the other side of the radio is no longer believing your communications” or “your opponents are about to learn valuable information”
  

• - then have the target Face Consequences.
  • - Face Consequences, as per the Escalation. With non-player targets, describe what the story dictates.
    

• Notes
  • This is the most common AWACS move – we’re in a war, after all. Remember that not every threat is a missile, and that the most dangerous threats can be intangible.

• - Ask a question
  • - What do you do?
    

• - How do you feel about this?
  

• - Does this remind you of anything?
  

• - Is this related to your backstory? What would you do if __ happens? Is this right? Don’t you want to know more?
  

• - Their beliefs, motivations, etc
  

• - Then play out the answer
  • - This is more of a roleplay prompt, often – the pilot may not answer. But you should ask early and often, and draw out the character from behind the person playing them.
    

• - Ideally, you want to challenge the pilot on something related to current happenings.

• - Foreshadow reinforcements,
  • - Always foreshadow timescale with this move.
    

• - You can put time pressure on an entire mission by presenting a large Reinforce.
  

• - Note that this doesn’t necessarily have to be enemy units to the current Zone – it can mean enemy forces elsewhere get stronger, it can mean the situation at home got a little better because of the pilots’ actions, it can mean that a spy has snuck into home base.
  

• - then add them to the relevant Zone.
  • - Can be good, can be bad.

• - Hide something,
  • - Information: number of targets, spies, origins, allegiances, details, radio signals
    

• - Physical Objects: Targets - clouds, trees, chaff, flares, terrain, require fly defensively to target, allies.
  

• - Techniques: jamming, clouds, trees, lies, chaff, flares, terrain, smoke.
  

• - Doesn’t have to be literally hide - can actually be “revealing something, but imply hidden information” like presenting a lead to chase or presenting conflicting information. It’s both “make the truth unclear” and “cover from sight.”
  

• - In combat, this often looks like “the target is flying into a cloud bank” or “target is under jamming protection:
  

• - Out of combat, this often looks like “this person seems evasive in his answers” or “the radio you intercepted is encoded”
  

• - then reveal the new truth.
  • - The answers to these questions can be campaign-long events.
    

• - Main goal of this move is to push players to investigate and ask their own questions.
  

• - The answer can raise new questions, but be careful to not lead players on, they may get bored instead.

• - Start losing something,
  • - Most commonly, this is a vital target escaping from the battlefield or out of sight. This can be running away from the pilots, or having something like an incoming cruise missile breach their line.
    

• - However, it can be something like their current callsign, their good reputation, creature comforts in the base, or anything literal or metaphorical they own.
  

• - Then let it get away.
  • - Where it makes sense, the question of “can I get that back” should be answerable in the positive with sufficient effort spent.

• - Attempt to separate someone from something,
  • - Divide teams so they can be isolated
    

• - Cut someone off from their support (allies, information, communication, escorts)
  

• - Political, personal, physical
  

• - Separate someone from their community - in the air, at home
  

• - Then use that division
  • - Break teamwork maneuvers working
    

• - Isolate and kill
  

• - Scare them, get them to argue, stoke conflict
  

• - In extreme situations, have what was once an ally become an enemy

• - Offer an opportunity, with a cost
  • - High value target, bonus objective
    

• - Enemy ace creates an opening at a cost
  

• - Tell them outright the consequences of an action and ask if they want to continue
  

• - Personal baits - illegal alcohol on base, test weapons, new modules, new parts, fuel refills
  

• - Then make them pay that cost
  • - High value targets are protected, extra objectives take time. That opening requires sacrifice.
    

• - Energy cost - fly defensively
  

• - How will you make those trades? Classified information? Target avoidance or selection?

• - Give an order,
  • - Conflicting, moral quandary, doubt
    

• - Can come from anywhere in the chain of command, even all the way up. What if your unit is disbanded unless you complete an impossible task?
  

• - Then expect them to follow it
  • - Demand discipline, appeal to their morals, characters, etc

• - Put someone somewhere,
  • Physical - in front of an enemy, down the barrel of a gun, stuck in a locker
    

• Political - between politicians, officers, the intelligence services and country
  

• Emotional - between a friend and a lover, between what is right and what is wrong
  

• This move has a special use – when a player asks if they can take a particular risky action, you can use Tunnel Run to describe the collateral damage that action may face. Bargain would be your prompting, Tunnel run is in response to a pilot question.
  

• - Then make them regret being there.
  • Hit em.
    

• Collateral Damage.
  

• Make there be a clear choice to be made, with relatively rewards or punishments for either choice

Maneuvers close to the ground pose an inherent risk, as failure means instant death in the real world. Sadly, instant death is notoriously not a fun game mechanic for a TTRPG. Instead, on a failed check that would result in an accident, consider the following optional rule: they instantly go to 0 Survivability, or, if they only have 0 Survivability, into a Critical State, instead of the much more realistic fireball.

Under this optional rule, RP is not spent when acquiring new Aircraft or Aircraft Perks, and instead remains a consistent total. This allows for easier transition between different aircraft and to make upgrading an earlier aircraft not feel like a waste of RP; however, you may only transition between aircraft once per level, to prevent being able to transition between aircraft too freely.

Perks cannot be switched out like Aircraft can. Once an Aircraft Perk is acquired, it remains until you acquire a new Aircraft. If you transition back to the Aircraft later, you can change perks.

Instead of granting a Perfect Success, Spending a Coin instead lets you reroll a Check.

Instead of granting a Perfect Success, Spending a Coin instead gives you a Full Success.

Whenever you gain 3 Perfect Success (you no longer need to have rolled for them), you gain a Coin; however, you now only have a maximum of 3 Coin slots. Any Coins gained beyond that are temporary for the mission there on.

Double your Capacity and Survivability, but you can’t spend Capacity to Avoid Consequences anymore.

Get fucked. 1RP to repair every 2 Survivability. Add in munition costs at 1RP for half your Capacity. Increase RP payouts to compensate.

You may buy or sell new planes once per level only.

Originally, all plane stats were in this document.

Doing so broke this document.

Now we have this for Generation 4 Aircraft.

And this for Generation 3 Aircraft.

To not risk breaking this document as well, the Aces High character sheet is also in its own Google Sheet: Aces High Playtest Character Sheet

Normal Text

-