A gritty science-fiction RPG of survival, hard choices, and dangerous frontiers
You don’t need permission to run the Veil. You just need the nerve to try.
Veilrunners is a solo or co-op science-fiction tabletop RPG set in the Corvus Reach — a fractured region of space where corporations rule from a distance, ancient ruins whisper half-truths, and the unknown pushes back hard. You play a crew of independent operators known as Veilrunners, taking dangerous contracts at the edge of civilization, chasing credits, answers, and sometimes redemption.
You can play fully solo, co-operatively with friends, or with a traditional GM if you prefer. The game is built from the ground up to support all three styles without compromise.
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What Makes Veilrunners Different
Designed for Solo & Co-Op Play
Veilrunners doesn’t treat solo play as an afterthought. Missions, encounters, and events are driven by clear procedures, escalating tension, and meaningful choices. Co-op groups share decision-making and risk without needing a dedicated GM.
Gritty, Grounded Science Fiction
This isn’t space fantasy. Tech is functional. AI is powerful and dangerous. Combat is fast and lethal. Exploration feels tense and uncertain. Courage and preparation matter more than gear.
Mission-Driven Gameplay
The game includes over 120 missions, all playable solo or co-op, ranging from salvage runs and rescue ops to corporate black projects and first-contact disasters. Every mission is structured, replayable, and full of narrative hooks.
The Eidolon Protocol Mini-Campaign
Included in the core PDF is a multi-mission narrative arc: The Eidolon Protocol. This mini-campaign slowly pulls your crew into a deeper mystery tied to AI, forbidden research, and something that should never have been found beyond the Veil.
How You Play
You don’t play a single hero — you command a small crew aboard a battered starship, each specialist chosen for what they bring to the table when things go wrong. Together, you take on risky contracts from governments, corporations, and people with nowhere else to turn. There are no character levels. Progress is earned through survival, hard experience, and long-term consequences. Every decision matters.
Each mission unfolds through a structured exploration loop. Your crew boards the starship, resolves events during travel, and may face space battles with pirates, mercenaries, or worse. Upon arrival, you advance through the site room by room, triggering encounter checks, searching locations, and advancing a Mission Track that represents time and exposure. As the Mission Track rises, so does the Threat Level, directly increasing encounter frequency and danger. Every action — fighting, searching, healing, or forcing progress — pushes these tracks forward, creating constant pressure and meaningful tradeoffs.
Combat is fast, lethal, and abstract, resolved without grids or miniatures. Each round, characters choose from a focused set of tactical actions such as attacking, stabilizing allies, recovering, or withdrawing. Damage degrades characters over time, with wounds imposing penalties and creating cascading risk rather than resetting between encounters. Player characters can employ a range of combat tactics to shift the odds in their favor, while enemies follow clear behavior rules and morale thresholds—making breaking contact or retreating a core mechanical outcome, not a failure state.
Combat effectiveness is driven by skills, equipment, and room scale, not predefined roles. Weapon choice matters: close-range weapons are devastating in CR rooms, while long-range weapons dominate LR rooms, with each suffering clear penalties outside their optimal range. Tactical positioning emerges from the environment itself rather than movement grids. Leadership provides concrete advantages — a skilled leader can enable decisive moments by granting additional actions, allowing the crew to press an attack, stabilize a situation, or turn a failing engagement back in their favor.
Procedural Missions & Events
Veilrunners is built around a deep network of mission, encounter, and event tables that drive play forward without requiring a GM. Missions are generated from faction-based tables, defining objectives, locations, and rewards, while layered encounter and event systems introduce hazards, complications, discoveries, and escalating threats. Events are not filler — they can change the course of a mission, introduce new dangers, or create hard choices that ripple forward. This structure makes every run unpredictable while remaining tightly controlled and playable in solo or co-op sessions.
Life Between Missions
Survival doesn’t end when a mission is complete. Back in port, crews repair damage, recover from injuries, manage debt, upgrade capabilities, and choose their next contract carefully. Time, money, and reputation all matter. Decisions made in combat and exploration directly affect what’s possible later, reinforcing a campaign loop built around risk management and long-term consequences. These portside phases provide breathing room between high-tension missions while ensuring progress is always earned, never assumed.
A Living Frontier
The Corvus Reach is a grounded, lived-in frontier, shaped by corporate power, fragile alliances, and constant risk at the edges of civilization. Factions pursue their own agendas, locations bear the marks of who built them and why they were abandoned, and recurring threats evolve as campaigns unfold. The Reach is divided into three distinct regions: The Hub, the center of civilization and corporate control; The Rim, lawless, dangerous, and rich with opportunity; and The Veil, a largely unexplored region dominated by the presence of the Shroud — a mysterious anomaly whose influence warps technology, minds, and those who linger too long. This depth of world-building is revealed through mission briefings, encounters, discoveries, and long-term consequences, allowing crews to uncover the setting through play. The result is a world that feels coherent, reactive, and built for long-running campaigns.
Optional Physical Components
Veilrunners can be played entirely with the PDF, dice, and paper — but optional Map Cards are available for players who want a tactile table experience. These cards support exploration, combat range, and room types without bogging the game down.
👉 Optional Map Cards: Available Here
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Available Now
Veilrunners RPG – PDF Edition is available now.
👉 Get Veilrunners on DriveThruRPG:
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This release is PDF-only.
A softcover and hardcover print edition are planned for January / February 2026.
Who This Game Is For
- Solo players who want a complete, tension-driven sci-fi experience
- Co-op groups who want to play without a GM
- Fans of grounded sci-fi like Alien, Firefly, and hard-science thrillers
- Players who enjoy meaningful choices, risk, and consequences
If you’ve ever wanted a science-fiction RPG that respects your time, supports solo play properly, and still delivers atmosphere and danger — Veilrunners was built for you.
