Dream Pod 9 has the following to say about their fantastic game setting:

What is Jovian Chronicles?

The Jovian Chronicles are the stories of one possible future, a time in which Mankind has expanded and settled the solar system, going as far as terraforming Venus and Mars. The Chronicles introduce a complete science fiction universe for roleplaying and tactical space combat, featuring giant spacecraft and epic space battles along with a blend of action/adventure and hard-science space colonization facts. The books are chock-full of the amazing yet plausible technical details that are so much a part of realistic science fiction settings. All those fascinated by the wondrous concept of space colonization will find more than enough to satisfy them in the Jovian Chronicles!

Jovian Chronicles is based on the Silhouette game engine, a streamlined, easy-to-use set of rules that is already described in Heavy Gear, Dream Pod 9's other highly successful science fiction game. Depending upon your gaming group's preference, the Chronicles can be played as either a roleplaying game, a tactical board game, or a smooth integration of both. Roleplayers can easily ignore the tactical sections of the rules, if preferred. But what is the world like?

The Jovian Chronicles recounts the story of the human race in the early 23rd century. The Chronicles can best be described as a "hard science fiction" universe. Science has not progressed to the point where one can teleport or go faster than light; a twentieth century person would recognize or understand just about any technological item used.

The total human population is around 9 billion; of those, only about 4-5 billion are found on Earth, the rest populating the various colonies of the Solar System. The slow rate of growth of the population is due in part to the incessant civil wars that plagued Earth roughly from the late 21st century up to the late 22nd and the strict birth control procedures applied to ease the demographic pressure on the environment.

The hard times on Earth in the 21st and 22nd centuries and the much more urgent problem of survival in the space colonies have restricted research to areas with immediate practical applications, such as warfare and recycling. Thus, while leaps were made in emergency medicine, weapons and spaceship design, little or nothing else received much attention.

The Edicts have also changed the way science is pursued. They are covenant written into the codes and laws of every place of learning in every nation in the Solar System. They prohibit all access to high-level information pertaining to bioengineering and nanotechnology, and likewise forbids research into these areas without specific government approval and constant public scrutiny. The Edicts also apply to research into artificial intelligence. While painful for scientists to enforce, they have kept the misuse of technology to a minimum. Although every nation maintains several "illegal" research facilities, these are always heavily safeguarded.

The technology of the twenty-third century is thus less advanced than most people in the twentieth century would have expected. There are no teleporters, no faster-than-light drives and most common technological items used would be recognized by a twentieth century human.

The number of different vehicles used in the solar system of the 23rd century is astounding. The knowledge that the space nations possess allows them to build any particular design in numbers if the demand for the design is great enough, whether it be from a military organization or the needs of the public. From the most advanced exo-vehicle used for war to a trading ship that plies the vast trade lanes to a simple space craft that ferries goods between stations, the machines used in space are vital to the well-being of all who live there.

The exo-armor (short for exo-skeleton, armored; sometimes referred to simply as exo or XO) is the ultimate evolution of the personal combat space suit of the early twenty-first century. Originally no larger than a man, it increased in size until some of the biggest models were nothing less than small ships. This was necessary in order to carry the enormous amount of fuel, armament, and electronics necessary to accomplish their assigned missions. The first exo-armor prototype was introduced by the Jovian Confederation on July 23, 2162.

A vehicle is called an exo-armor when its control system is a linear frame; a linear frame looks like an industrial exo-skeleton and completely supports the pilot, reproducing his every movement. An exo-armor's onboard drive computer interprets the motions and moves of the pilot and moves the armor's limbs accordingly, firing apogee motors as needed. This gives exo-armor an uncanny maneuverability as well as a strangely human grace. In addition, a trained pilot can actually use his body motions to shift the exo-armor's center of mass around and change the exo's position without expending propellant. All flight information (IFF, targeting, velocity, etc.) is displayed in the pilot's virtual reality helmet or headpiece, while the view from the sensors is displayed on multiple screens inside the cockpit.

ALL SYSTEMS GO is set in Dream Pod 9's Jovian Chronicles universe. Jovian Chronicles, the Jovian Chronicles logo and Silhouette are trademarks of Dream Pod 9, Inc. Exo-armor, Jovian Confederation, CEGA, Silhouette and all other names, logos and specific game terms are (c)1993, 2002; all Jovian Chronicles art and designs are Copyright (c)1994-2002 Dream Pod 9, Inc. No challenge to these copyrights and trademarks is intended.

Except where noted, all original content is copyright 2002 John Guilfoyle, Alistair Gillies, Chris Schaller, Robb Neumann, Dennis Kirkpatrick, Alex Altman and Bryan Lee. Page last updated on June 23rd, 2002.