Jovian Chronicles

In March 2018 we presented the Jovian Chronicles Bundle, featuring the 1997 Second Edition of the Jovian Chronicles SFRPG from Dream Pod 9. In the 23rd Century the Solar System trembles on the brink of war. Earth’s militaristic CEGA forces are ready to recapture the Motherworld’s restive colonies — from the Mercurian Merchant Guild and the zaibatsu corporate states of Venus to the powerful Confederation on the moons of Jupiter. With an exciting, original setting that combines hard science fiction and anime-style action, Jovian Chronicles puts you at the center of the struggle for the Solar Nations.

Jovian Chronicles superficially resembles a standard mecha game. But its vision of a Solar System teeming with life — of O’Neill cylinder colonies, arcologies on terraformed Venus and Mars, and “Trojan State” asteroid settlements in the orbit of Jupiter — is compelling for its scientific authenticity. Sure, pilots wear giant battlesuits out of Gundam and drive giant capital ships a la Macross, but the Solar Nations of the year 2210 appeal to every fan of in-System hard sf.

Originally published in 1992 by IANVS Games as a pair of supplements for R. Talsorian’s Mekton, Jovian Chronicles reappeared in 1997 as a full-fledged game line from Dream Pod 9, publisher of Heavy Gear and Tribe 8. This “White Edition” (for the cover design) uses the Silhouette Core system seen in Heavy Gear. Last year DP9 released Jovian Wars, a fleet-scale tactical miniatures game in the same setting.

This comprehensive bargain-priced collection, featuring the 1997 White Edition of Jovian Chronicles, included everything you need to climb into your exo-armor suit, board an Alexander-class Destroyer, and set out for interplanetary adventure. There wereeight titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $56.50) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks:

Silhouette CORE Deluxe Edition (retail price $12): The Dream Pod 9 universal rules set that also underpins Heavy Gear (previously presented in our April 2017 Heavy Gear Bundle).
Jovian Chronicles Player’s Handbook 2E (retail $12): This complete 258-page rulebook (1997) details the Solar Nations, organizations like SolaPol and ZONet, the pilots and agents of the Jovian Confederation, and daily life in the planetary settlements and Orbitals.
Four vital equipment and vehicle guides: Mechanical Catalog 1 and Catalog 2 (total retail $13.50), Spacer’s Guide (retail $5), and the Space Equipment Handbook (retail $5).
Two Planet Sourcebooks: Earth (retail $5) and CISLunar Space (retail $6).

Those who paid more than the threshold (average) price also got our entire Bonus Collection with eleven more supplements worth an additional $76.50, including the Jovian Chronicles Companion (retail $7.50); four more Planet Sourcebooks (Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, total retail $23); all three Ships of the Fleet volumes (1: Jovian Confederation, 2: Jovian Confederation, and 3: CEGA, total retail $19) cataloguing spacecraft from the Jovian Confederation and Earth’s government, CEGA; the campaign sourcebook The Chaos Principle (retail $6); and the Jovian Chronicles Gamemaster Handbook & Screen (retail $6). After launch we added The Art of Jovian Chronicles Volume 1 (retail $15), a gorgeous full-color 220-page gallery of cover art, characters, exo-armors, vehicles, spacecraft, and more from the entire Jovian Chronicles line.