A Very Merry Magic Mecha Space Christmas

Merry Christmas!  I thought it would be fun to put out the basics f an idea I had a while back. I hope you like it.

Inspired by a conversation started by +Cole Rape, I will merge the setting from Aether Sea, with bits from Sails full of Stars, Camelot Trigger, and some stuff pulled from the System Toolkit. I will also be adding in some world building, because I cannot help myself so there will be some new stuff going here. Lets see what happens, yeah?! This is probably going to get a bit complicated.

To play this hack you are going to need access to Fate Core,  Aether Sea, Sails Full of Stars(at least the Alchemy Rules), Worlds in Shadow, and the Fate System Toolkit.

My core idea for this is to start with the setting, races, and magic of Aether Sea, but use the skill pyramid from Fate Core rather than the approaches of FAE. This will alter the magic rules a bit so we will have to work out how best to do that. I would also like to bring in Alchemy from Sails Full of Stars and add in mecha from Camelot Trigger. Then of course add in some touches of my own. This is going to be a bit of a doozy, so strap in folks.

In the impossible future of a forgotten yesterday mankind went to the stars,  not with the cold hand of technology but the passionate power of magic and the wisdom of alchemy. The encountered many peoples in that undiscovered horizon, and all were like men in some way. After the initial squabbles and discord came the celestial concordance and the great peace. Exploration, either of outer space or the inner self, became the focus of all civilized life. Sure there were those who sought to dominate or destroy, but the magics and good will of the Concordance always won them over. Until now.

Four years ago an exploration craft disappeared in the Dark Nebula. Shortly thereafter came the shadows. They had technologies and magics beyond anything yet encountered. They did not negotiate, they did not demand, they simply came in their silent black ships and massive Armored Suits and took what they wanted. Where they walked all intelligent life vanished. Finally one was captured, though it looked like an Elf, it was a twisted and sinister creature called a Drow. In its own language the name means Herald. The Drow were merely the beginning, for this captured Drow told of the Unspeaking One's who ruled over all the lesser people. Now we finally face the horror spoken of that day. Today we marshal our forces against the implacable might of the Mind Flayers.

The Folk
In order to get the Folk of Aether Sea to work in normal Fate I think I will need to use one of the methods mentioned in the Fate System Toolkit. I think I will use the Racial Skills from the Toolkit. Come up with an aspect related to being one of the Races of Aether Sea.

Human: They are very social and honest. You may use Human for anything regarding getting others to like you, making or using contacts wherever you are, or dealing with politics.
Goblin: Scavengers and survivors, they are manipulative and cunning. You may use Goblin to manipulate others, hide, distract others, or scrounge for materials or deals.
Orc: Strong and honorable, with a reputation for violence. You may use Orc to provoke an angry or fearful response from others, moving swiftly on foot, and enduring fatigue or pain.
Dwarf: They are a short, tough, and tradition bound people. Use Dwarf to resist attempts to change your mind, Working with stone or machinery, and properly interpreting prophecy.
Elf: They are arrogant, long lived, masters of plants and biology. Use Elf to recognize useful flora and fauna, know your way through the woods, or aid in controlling biomagic and biotech.
Troll: They are big, strong, and deep thinkers. Use Troll for feats of strength, singing traditional songs and stories, and learning and remembering new stories and songs.

Magic
You still need to have an aspect relating to your training in the magical skills, if you want t be more than a dabbler in magic. The magic system works the same as normal, but rather than choosing an approach you must choose a relevant skill for the effect you are seeking to accomplish.

Mecha

The mecha are new to the setting, we will be using the rules from Camelot Trigger. It was the Drow that first used Mecha in open conflict. Though the peoples of known space defeated the Drow Invasion, they learned a costly lesson, and mecha have become the central tactical concern of the way war is waged. Each of the Folk build different kind of Mecha, I will go over the styles here.

Elven magitech is organic in nature and it is considered weird and alien to most. It uses living plant material, and is focused around speed and long distance damage.

Dwarven magitech is tough, durable, riveted steel and cold iron. They focus around endurance and using the terrain for defense and as a force multiplier. A small squad of Dwarven mecha can hold off a much larger force with the proper terrain.

Orcish Magitech is very basic and brutal. It has what it needs and nothing more. It is the most durable tech. It is tough and focused entirely around doing the maximum damage per strike. Their is very little to differentiate one mecha from anther. This is mostly due to the tactical advantage of one's opponent never knowing what weapon system they will be facing.

Goblinoid Magitech is cobbled together and unique in form and function. You can never tell what you will be facing with e a Goblin Mecha. They work a lot like the Wreck Armor from Camelot Trigger.

Humanish Magitech is focused around communication and intelligence gathering. The mechs focus on leadership and electronic countermeasures. There is a simplicity of design and elegance of structure with their mecha.

Trollan Magitech is focused around endurance, toughness, and strength. Their mecha are large and baroque structures. They make them from mystically treated stone carved with the deeds and stories of their family clans and filigreed in gold and silver.

Drow Mecha are constructed from the bones of giant beasts enchanted with necrotic energy, they are slight and wickedly fast, and focus on stealth and close in combat.

Mind Flayer mecha are combiner armor, as seen in Camelot Trigger. They use their psychic abilities to work together with their giant combined mecha. This is only one of the many dangers they bring to the table. Their mecha focus on draining the energy from their opponents.

And their is the basics f a combined setting that I think it would be fun to play around with.

Happy Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Far Marches: Travel

A while ago a built the beginnings of a Travel and Exploration system for Fate Core. It worked...OK, but it never quite hit the mark I was aiming for and so I kept working in it. It sat in the back of my mind for a couple years. Every now and again I would sit down and try to figure a better way to get the results I wanted.

I think the reason it was so muddled was that I was trying to do too much with too little. A subsystem, perhaps, needs a little more meat on the bones or else it just falls over. The other day while I was out on one of my walks an idea struck me. It was not that different from the existing system, but I think it adds a little more tactical depth to the system, making it closer to a mini-game, rather than a necessary part of a larger game. This pleased me, so I thought I would try and work out what that would look like here.

Before you start with this mini-game you need to decide if this will be exploration or travel. They each have different explanations and different goals. Travel is trying to get from point A to point Z by travelling through all, or some of the points between them. The goal is Point Z as quickly and safely as possible. You could add a ticking clock or some such to it, but at its base that is travel. Exploration also has a goal, you are out to find something, though that can be as nebulous as what is over the next hill. Exploration is a bit more leisurely in pace, but more dangerous in practice. I am still working on making this really work. I have been digging into the Louis And Clark Expedition a bit to try and nail down what this sort of thing would look like in reality, and what it looks like in narrative. The fiction is usually focused on Travel more than exploration. I mean take a look at The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings , The Prydain Chronicles, and numerous other fantasy works. People are always going somewhere, they rarely just set out to explore as an end to itself. Though I think Maybe Sword and Planet Novels would be closer to exploration, as a great deal of that genre is about explaining and understanding the worlds and cultures of a new world. Maybe exploration should be its own mini-game separate from travel. I will think on this.

First divide your map into zones that stand between the characters and their goal. I think a hex map would work great for this, but if you want the zones to be a little more nebulous and free wheeling by all means lets go with that. I actually have three different ways of visualizing this and I will try and show examples as we go, or at the end, or somewhere in here. Fingers crossed that this will make sense to someone other than me. OK you got your zones? Good.

Each Zone represents an area that would take about a day to cross on foot(somewhere between 15 and 30 miles depending on the terrain type). Each zone will also have a terrain type aspect: Arctic, Desert, Forest, Jungle, Mountain, Swamp, Water(Ocean, Sea, or Lake), and probably a couple others I have not thought of. Make sure to include the terrain type in the aspect for the zone. It could have more than one type, but for now lets just limit it to one type. So we have the edges of our Zones. The edge is either at the edge of a day's travel or the edge of a terrain type, whichever is nearer. I hope that makes sense.

Now each zone has three possible paths to the next adjacent zone. You have the Easy Path, the Hard Path, and the Hidden Path. Each path will have a given skill attached to it(Or Profession, or Attribute if you are using those options, This doesn't really work with Approaches). Each path will have a difficulty attached to it. The Easy Path starts at a difficulty of +2(Fair). However if you take the easy path the next Zone's exits will have its difficulties increased by +2, this is cumulative. If you take the Hard Path The difficulty is +4(Great), However wit will not increase the difficulty of future travel. The Hidden Path is hidden, The players need to find it before they can use it. You can only use a few skills to find it, things like Lore(for research done ahead of time), Investigate, or Notice will allow you to find it. This difficulty is very high +6(Fantastic), to find it(there is a reason no one uses this path, after all) and the difficulty for getting through it is also +6. However if you can pass through the Hidden Path it behaves like the Hard path, but if Succeed with style you may create an aspect on the next Zone and gain a free invoke of it.

Alrighty, we have the zones, the difficulties for travel between them and what success means for each path. Now we must determine what happens when you fail at the roll. If you fail you have a dangerous encounter. I would like to build a random table to deal with these encounters, as I think that would be a bit of fun. Also there is a lot of fun that can be had playing around with random tables in Fate. So what I would do it something along the lines of this, You have a table for each zone, full of random dangerous encounters, these would be based on the setting and the terrain, and would have all sorts of cool things. It would let the nature of the world be a little bit unpredictable, while still keeping it within the bounds of your setting(Also that reminds me, I need to work out a setting building system for this type of game, as it is fairly specific in tone and setting, but it still needs definition by each table). I think I will devote a whole post to the terrain random encounter tables and how to make them and use them, as that seems like it could take up a lot of idea space and I want to focus on the basics this travel mechanic first.

As each zone is a day's travel, that would imply that you would likely rest between zones. Maybe I should make the zones smaller to increase the amount of problems that accrue before you can rest. Also resting should matter and be interesting so here is an idea for how that would work. So you need to find a good place to rest. If you fail at that then you do not gain your stress back and you have a negative encounter the difficulty for finding a good spot to rest depends on whether you took the Hard Path or the Easy Path. On the Easy Path it is more difficult to find a secluded spot, as monsters and bandits also find this to be the easy path. The Hard Path is much easier to find a secure place to rest. You also need to have supplies, Usually this would be a survival or resources roll to ensure you find supplies or prepared them ahead of time. If you do not have supplies then the rest does not restore stress. Also someone must stand guard, and that person does not get rest. Also during a rest period you can initiate a backstory moment. I don't really know what that is yet, but I think it sounds like a good idea.

And that is my idea for travel mechanics in the Far Marches. I would appreciate any thoughts or comments on how to make it work better, or possible pitfalls here.  I think I am on the right track, but a lot of this is pretty far afield, so thoughts are welcome.

Also +Megan Bennett-Burks and I just finished a Kickstarter for A Far Off Land, A Fate RPG in Two Worlds. It is a game about special people chosen by Eldritch beings to travel between the worlds and protect or destroy both. They are shape shifting masters of primordial magics, and they hold the fate of two worlds in their hands. If you missed the kickstarter and would like to check out the game, you can still get it. Check out the Beta Document.

Mythic Jade: Tales Of Long Ago

Long ago, when mankind was new to the world, the world was filled with magic. The Godwar had ravaged the land. The blood and bones of dead gods infused the land with magic never seen before or since. The Godwar had terrible effects on the world, once verdant lands became deserts, volcanoes erupted, filling the sky with clouds of ash. The 7 Witch Queens Pulled their islands into the skies above the ash, while the Serpent Men hid away beneath the surface of the world, building crystal cities deep down where it was warm and safe. Those humans left became the wandering tribes. Even now, a thousand years later this is how it stood. One Hundred Twenty-Five years ago the four gods of Mu called out to the wandering peoples. They were called to the great central island in the middle of the inland sea. This became the Nation of Mu, held aloft by the heroic lineages and the four gods. Now this fledgling nation faces a threat beyond that of rival nations and gods. In the last couple of years individuals have been awakening to godlike power. Not many people, mind you, but all it takes is a few. Now the the Five Lineages must send out their strongest warriors to quell these Godseeds. Now these Buckriders, as they are known, travel the land hunting Godseeds, Moss People, Black Sorcerers, and other threats to the stability of the Kingdom Of Mu. You are one of these Godseeds, the soul of a dead god reborn in the flesh of man. Hunted unto death for the crime of existing you stand on the precipice. By your hand you could raise up a mighty nation, or condemn the world to damnation eternal. 

This is a campaign framework for Jadepunk. In it you play Godseeds, humans with the souls of dead gods in a stone/bronze age world of myth and magic. People in the world see you as either a useful tool in their own schemes, or a terrible threat to be destroyed. This is probably not going to be a complete setting or rules set, but it should serve as a fine jumping off point for your own games. This was heavily inspired by my love of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Otis Aldebirt Kline as well as awesome game settings like Exalted and Godbound. Let me know if you would like to see more from this or any of my other settings and hacks on this site.

Fine points of the setting
The earth is old, Mankind is new: While Mu and the Young Kingdoms may be the first civilizations of man, mankind has not always been. Long ago there were other peoples, other...beings. Remnants of these still exist in the lost places, ruins, and hidden realms. One such people are the Serpent Men who once ruled the land in the days of the old gods and the Cold Giants. They dwell within the Earth and are masters of Arcane Sciences and Powerful Magics. They are alien things who worship dead gods in the dark places of the world.

Without great care, civilization leads to decadence and corruption: The history of the world has shown the dangers of civilization, corruption and decadence. Heroes walk the line between the strength of barbarism and the hope of civilization. They stand witness to the changing times. They can build a better world, or through inaction watch it slide into ruin.

One person can make a difference: This connects with the last one. Mankind is new to the world, and even the old races who yet remain are limited in number. Any one person could be the linchpin in history. Every life matters, and those with the will can change everything.

Magic is rare, but natural: Magic is a part of the natural flow of things. It is created by life and death, the mass death of the old gods has filled the world with magic power. That said folks with magical giftings or even training in one or two spells are quite rare. Average folks have to get by with what they can make with their own hands. Magicians have access to great power, though not so much as The Sorcerers, Lineages, and Godseeds. Those with gifts are natural conduits for magical energy and are beyond mere mortals.

Technology is also rare, but powerful: Most technology is in the stone age. Mu has created bronze working, the Jackal Kings in the south raid the ruins of Zarhasthuum for Ghost Iron and other prehuman technologies, and the Serpent Men of Agharti sometimes trade in Ghost Iron weapons or armor. The dog, sheep, and bees have been domesticated, with individual tamings of other beasts happening occasionally. Agriculture in the lands outside of Mu is also quite primitive, though techniques are improving.

The gods are like us, powerful, ignorant, and afraid: Gods, spirits, and demons walk the primeval earth. They have their own agendas and their own desires. Sometimes they help people, sometimes they hurt them. They can be interacted with, and even defeated in battle or argument. Though they can be killed, that does not necessarily stop them. Among the god talkers and priests there are whispers. Whispers of beings from outside the world, beings even the gods fear. Those who speak to the Serpent Men sometimes tell the tales of the great blight that destroyed the land and wiped out the ancient peoples. Few give these stories much credence.

The Known Lands
The Island of Mu: The great homeland of Man’s civilization. They worship the four great gods(Ahti of the sea, Stribog of the sky, Pachama of the earth, and Anguta lord of death) who founded the island. Mu sits in the center of the world, across the shallow inland sea from all the surrounding lands. The only mystic university in the world is the centerpiece of the islands lone city. A great spire rises into the sky hundreds of stories above the rich earth. It is ruled by the Five Great Lineages, sometimes called the Five Houses. In the last century peace and prosperity have led to pride and corruption. Among the powerful politics and treachery are a way of life. Often the little people get crushed in the machinations of the great houses.

The Crystal City of Agharti and the Hollow Earth: The city in the deeps, capital and sole city within the hollow earth. Last vestige of the Eldest, a race of Serpent Men who have mastered many strange magics and sciences. They are a race in decline and as a group are hateful of the young and growing race of man. They seek to reclaim the surface lands a rule as of old. That said they do have a few outposts where they will trade Ghost Iron, spells, and other things humans cannot yet make for information and rare materials. They do not worship any god, Theirs having died long ago. Instead they hold to alien philosophies about the nature of the universe and their place in it. It all sounds like strange superstition to most men who hear it. They are masters of Mind Magics.

Hy-Brasil: A supposed homeland for the Moss People and it is only sometimes in the world, it exists in both the world and the otherworld. The Moss People are all unique creatures, each with powers and appearance separate from all others. They have a strange relationship with time and space and can do much to manipulate it. The Moss People are servants of chaos, and worship the destruction of all things. They rarely leave their home, but when they do most people wisely secure their doors and pray. Every few years they will sally forth from Hy-Brasil upon strange steeds of mobile vegetation and burn and kill all they run across. They then retreat back to their home and wait for the next excursion. They can be quite reasonable when encountered on their own, but one should always be wary, as the Moss People are known to be quite mad. Before the dawning of the Godseeds, Moss People were the only thing that the Buckriders hunted with any regularity.

The lands of the Animal Tribes: Nomadic tribes that live in the deep eastern jungles across the inland sea from Mu. These tribes have made a pact with one of the great animal gods. They are the only people with access to shape-shifting magics. There are rumors that some tribes are eaters of the dead. These people are the least civilized of all the nations of man. They have made pacts with the gods of beasts and this shapes them in every way that matters.

The lands of the north: The Karo people live in the far north and follow the great herds of reindeer and mammoths and worship the great god Pa’an, the uncaring lord cloaked in light. They have had the most dealings with the Moss People. They are culturally opposed to sorcery, and tend to exile or kill those who practice the arts. Every year, at the summer solstice the Karo have a grand gathering on the southern shores of the inland sea, traders from across the land come to trade for furs and meats of the north lands.

The Ruins of Zarhasthuum: The great western desert spreads from the mountains to the sea. Along the great canyon walls sit the remains of a lost civilization. Monuments and ruins dot the land. Together these are known as the Ruins of Zarhasthuum. One hundred years ago a group of mercenaries from Iss moved into the ruins and began to loot them for ancient magics and technology. Over the century they have begun to form a feudal society based around the exploitation of the ruins. They have become known as the Jackal Kings, fighting each other over the bones of the past. They often trade with the Serpent Men, as the serpents have an outpost nearby. No one knows what killed or drove off the previous inhabitants, and many fear that whatever it is might soon return.

The Floating Islands of the Witch Queens: They claim to be human, yet alien blood flows through their veins. They are the children of a prehuman race deal in magics far beyond what even most gods could accomplish. They will send their Witchkin children to raid the earthbound peoples for slaves and plunder. The Witchkin ride great Thunderbirds, creatures of spirit and flesh, the storm made manifest.

Character Creation

Your characters will be made as per standard Jadepunk Character creation. The Professions names have been changed rather than Aristocrat, Engineer, Explorer, Fighter, Scholar, and Scoundrel we will be using Highborn, Builder, Scout, Warrior, Sage, and Bandit. Godseeds can build assets much like a Mootare, a Jadecaster, or an Automatect from After Jade, a previous hack I did for Jadepunk. You may also build device assets, though in this jade is not the only mystic material. There is also Blood Bronze and Ghost Iron. If you are a Jadecaster, you may choose to make a spell a permanent part of your character by spending the appropriate amount of Fate points. These spells are more stable than spells cast on the fly, but they use up valuable points. 

Blood Bronze: Bronze that has been quenched in the blood of a dead god. It contains a frction of that god's power, and thus it can do many strange things. 

Ghost Iron: It is not iron, but the bone matter of the dead gods. It is very powerful and only the Serpent Men and Witch Queens know how to work it.

And that is what I have so far. Let me know what you think. 

Also you should check out my Kickstarter...

A Far Off Land

In this Fate RPG you take the roll of the Fated, Shapeshifting Demigods who seek to bring about or prevent the destruction of two worlds. It contains new magic systems and Factions Dynamics in play.

Celestial Jade: War In the Heavens

+Megan Bennett-Burks and I are a little over a week into our kickstarter for A Far Off Land, a project we have been writing for over a year now. As the tension is killing me I figured I needed something to take my mind off of it. So in the spirit of lowering my tension levels, here goes.

I was lurking over on rpg.net a few days ago and ran into a discussion about science fiction wuxia. In the thread Jadepunk was brought up as an option for running that sort of game. While +Ryan M. Danks  and I designed the game to be something like mystic cyberpunk we had also discussed the idea of doing a couple of different riffs on the game system. One of those(the one I was most interested in currently) was a space opera style Jadepunk game. The reminder in the thread led me to realize I could do a quick workup of the basics of the setting and maybe some cool assets that would fit in the setting. Thus do I begin the rough outline of a space opera setting for use with Jadepunk.

Far far into the future of Jadepunk...

Humans and their Autamatect creations long ago left their home world and traveled out into the wider universe. The jade drive allows for travel faster than light through some sort of alternative dimension not fully understood. Humans and their jadetech were first out and so dominate the heavens, though many other sophonts live within the human sphere of influence. 25 years ago the Great Interstellar War raged across the skies of countless worlds. Devastating weapons were unleashed and billions perished in blood and fire. Since the end of the war peace and unity have reigned. The unification of the Guild, The Church,  and the Major Powers into The Galactic Concordat led to a unified economic, political, and social system that dominates a majority of civilized space. 

Jade still stands tall as the most powerful and useful material in the universe. All intergalactic travel is dependent on it. The concordat control the largest jade resources in the known galaxy. The capitol was built in a vast asteroid field rich in multiple kinds of jade. The center of the Concordat builds and grows, as it does so too does its decadence and corruption. On the edges of civilization enemies, ancient and new, gather forces. The war is not over, it has just been in a long reprieve. 

Welcome to Kausao Station, the biggest, most wealthy mining colony in the 'verse, throne of the Galactic Concordat, and center of the universe. 

What do you do?
You play members of the Jianghu, rebels against the Concordat and defenders of the weak and helpless. The rules for characters remains the same as in standard Jadepunk. The technology is a little different, go more baroque and elegant in description rather than clunky and mystic jadetech normally described in the books. Autamatects work on the same rules as in teh previous Jadepunk setting hack.

The Basics
The Great Interstellar War: A conflict between the four major powers and many smaller polities that lasted for decades. Many great and terrible weapons were used. Planets were destroyed, Ancient peoples fell. The causes of the war are shrouded, the various stellar states were tied up in treaties with many smaller factions and causes and this became a tangled web of allegiance and enmity with no clear starting point. The war began as several smaller wars with the major powers supporting this faction or that. Eventually more than mere assistance was needed and the galaxy was at war in truth. It generally broke down into to two main factional sides, The Kaiyumi-Naramel Alliance and the Tuyang-Aerum Coalition.   It finally came to an end with the battle of Shui Xing 4. Due to a series of strategic mistakes nearly every major fleet ended up near the planet an surprised that the other fleets where there. Millions died in the first salvo. The strategists panicked and sent more fleets in, and more after that. What was an unimportant system became the center of the largest, longest, and most costly battle in the history of space. The battle lasted nearly a month, by the end billions had died. Within weeks what was left of the four powers had sued for peace. The peace accords were what led to an eventual unification of the Galactic Concordat out of the remaining great powers the church and the guilds.

Setting Aspects: Endless Scars of War; Old World Has Fallen, But Is Not Forgotten

The Galactic Concordat: In the wake of the Great Interstellar War the Guild and the Church combined forces to halt any future war of such magnitude. The gathered the remnants of the Major Powers and through political and economic pressure they pushed through the Concord forming the basis for a new government, a higher government. Each state within the Concordat can rule itself as it sees fit, but in terms of military or trade they must all follow the dictums of the concordat.

Aspects: Barely Unified Factions; Money, Power, and Security At All Costs

Kausao Station: The center of the Guild, it has rapidly become the center of all trade in the galaxy. When the Concordat was formed Kausao Station was chosen as the capitol for this new government. Now it stands not only as a center for trade, but for diplomacy and peace as well. With so much money and power the station has become a massive and complex web of interconnected factions and displaced peoples.

Aspects: Center For Trade and Politics; Too Big To Manage Properly

The Guild:  fractious and tenuous union between the six most powerful Mega Corporations in Known Space. Each has a near monopoly on a given Technology and so the Guild has a monopoly on everything the average person might need. Each Corp has a number of Nobles in their pockets which has lead to the

Aspects: We Make Everything; The Money Flows Like Water

The Periphery States: The various smaller states that exist outside of the Concordat as well as anything that might exist outside of known space are known as the Periphery States. Many of these are very upset with the Galactic Concord and the results of the Great Interstellar War. Now the region is too vast to properly patrol or maintain but rich enough to draw in colonists, miners, and traders. This has led to huge amounts of piracy and privateers.

 Aspects: Rogues States and Pirate Clans; Lawless Edge of Known Space

Ka-Dosh: Large six-limbed green skinned aliens, the Ka-Dosh were one of the first alien species encountered by humans. As such they are found throughout known space. They are known for their physical strength and desire for challenge. Many of the best and brightest in the galaxy are Ka-Dosh, as are many of the worst and most violent. Their culture was originally quite primitive when first discovered by outsiders, but in the centuries since have become as advanced as any other sophont.

Sample Ka-Dosh AssetYotsu No-Kin: A martial art that use the unique physiology of the Ka-Dosh. It is focused around fighting using multiple limbs simultaneously and fight multiple opponents at the same time. The following asset is just an example of what assets in this martial art might look like.
Guiding Aspect: Something involving knowing Ka-Dosh Martial arts or Yotsu No-Kin specifically
Features: Focus 1(+1 Fighter), Harmful 1, Protective 1
Flaws: Situational(Only when facing opponents with fewer limbs than the user), Troubling(Collateral Damage)
Cost: 2

Bevrai: Quadrupedal shelled elephantine aliens of great intellect, the Bevrai are some of the greatest philosophers and theoretical scientists in the galaxy. They have more sensory organs than any other sophont in the known galaxy, which has given them something of a mystical reputation among many. They make extensive use of technology since their meeting with the galactic society. Their language is slow and lyrical in nature, much of it transmitted long distances  through ultra low frequency sound. Each Bevrai has a song they add to throughout their life. When they meet back up with family or friends after a long absence each will sing their song to the others. It builds into strange and alien harmonies that few outsiders have had the blessing to encounter.

Sample Bevrai AssetMechanical Waldoes: In order to use the technology of the external galaxy the Bevrai make use of mechanical arms designed to give them better ability with technology designed for sophonts with opposable digits. The Waldoes use black jade to read the desire of the wielder and translate that into mechanical movement. There are other types of waldoes that are designed for more specialized service, such as a rifleman mod for using guns.
Function Aspect: Black Jade Prosthesis
Features: Focus 2(+1 Engineer, +1 Scoundrel)
Flaw: Situational(Only when interacting with Technology that requires hands to use)
Cost: 1

Youxia: Ancient order or mystic knights who once defended an ancient stellar kingdom, now lost to history. The few remaining Youxia wander the cosmos as wandering troubleshooters and sometime heroes. Many a Jianghu Society has been led by powerful Youxia. The Shimah-Kan have a standing bounty on any Youxia brought in.

Sample Youxia Asset 

Blaze Edge: The weapon of a Youxia, spoken of in many legends. The Blaze edge uses multiple forms of jade to create an edge of pure plasma, capable of cutting through nearly anything. Youxia only attained the Blaze Edge upon mastering the martial arts ad mental disciplines of their order. Few remain, and few Youxia remain with the knowledge to make another.
Function Aspect: Multi Jade Plasma BladeFeatures: Exceptional(prevent opponent from checking stress boxes on a successful strike), Harmful 2
Flaws: Demanding 2(requires a turn and a Scholar roll against difficulty +2 in order to use it for the scene), Troubling(Wanted, For One Reason Or Another)
Cost: 1

Shimah-Kan: Chosen inquisitors of the Concordat. They have an edict to investigate any insurrection or disharmony. They are trained to be the best and most dangerous of all the forces of the Concordat. They have absolute loyalty to the state and are equal to any squad of lesser forces. Many of their techniques are expansions of Youxia martial arts. This has led to an enmity between these to forces. They often come into conflict with Jianghu Societies.

Sample Shimah-Kan Asset 

Inquisitor Armor: The Shimah-Kan have specialized suits of armor that grant them enhanced abilities and protection. Each set of armor is custom designed for each Shimah-Kan, and so each might have additional features beyond the basic set of features provided by the armor.
Function Aspect: Intimidating Inquisitor ArmorFeatures: Protective 1, Focus 2(+1 Explorer, +1 Fighter)
Flaws: Situational(only when facing enemies of the Concordat), Troubling(Iron Fist of the Concord)
Cost: 1

Jade Drive: the only known method of travel faster than light. To do this you must use all the colors of jade and pass a huge amount of electricity through it all at once. Ships use large capacitors to do this. The number of capacitors a ship contains alters the number of jumps a ship can rapidly make. The Jade Drive does not allow for slower than light travel, and so a ship must also have a normal space drive. To use the drive you must take a full scene and make a roll. First you must make a scholar roll based on knowledge and distance of of the location you are attempting to jump to(Nearby system +1, Mid Ranged System +2, Far off System +3, Well Known route +1, Somewhat Known Route +2, Briefly Explored Route +3, Unknown Route +4) Combine the difficulties from distance and knowledge to get the total difficulty of the roll. If you succeed with style you make the jump with no difficulty and you create a beneficial aspect relating to the new system you are coming into. If you succeed normally you arrive with no difficulty. If you fail your ship gains a primarily negative aspect relating to damage done by travelling faster than light.


And there sits the basics of a Jadepunk Space Opera Wuxia Setting. I hope you liked it. I would love any comments critiques or idea, so please share. Also please check out the new game I am currently Kickstarting, A Far Off Land. It is a game about people from our world who travel to another realm, a realm of myth and legend. Magic is real and you play those few who can use it in both worlds without terrible consequences. Check it out and spread the word. Thanks.

A Far Off Land

After Jade: An Alternate Setting for Jadepunk

I have been working on a project for a while now and so I have not been focusing on this blog. However I have had a real gut punch of news this week and I need to have something to distract me for a little bit. Help me calm down.

That in mind I am going to work up an old Idea I have had in the back of my mind for a few years now. Here is the basic pitch.

Sometime after the time Jadepunk is set in, something goes wrong...very very wrong. It has been over a hundred years since the fall and the world is a very changed place. It is a post apocalyptic wasteland filled with Jade. Clouds of mystic jade dust roil across the world and has been bound into everything on the world. Some people have been able to harness this omnipresent jade to become Jadecasters, manipulating the elements and the raw forces of nature. Beyond that humans now are not alone in the world. Automatects, clockwork beings with jadetech minds from before the Fall, wander the world doing their inscrutable duties for unknowable reasons; Kymiirs, uplifted animals, have formed their own communities in the Waste; and Mootares jade tainted mutations with strange powers and beliefs wander the land.  Despite the problems, despite the danger, life continues. The Jianghu travel the land and help those in need. Named after ancient legends of heroes of old, they wander the land and help people rebuild. 

Setting Aspects
Shadows of the Old World
Jade in Everything Now
Leftovers of A Fallen World

New Asset Types

Assets after Jade are different than in standard Jadepunk. The standard three types(Allies, Devices, and Techniques) still apply as normal, but there are a couple of other types of assets in this hack.

Automatect: If you take/make an Automatect asset it you use the device features list, but it must have a Guiding aspect related to your mechanical nature. These assets represent jadetech or clockwork abilities or additions to the mechanical frame of the core Automatect or its jadetech mind. 

Mootares: Mootares work the same as Automatects but the assets represent mutations and jade in the blood. The guiding aspect is related to their altered nature and can be compelled due to obvious jade markings or mutations making them stand out in the world. 

Kymiir: Uplifted animals created through Chymeric engineering before the Fall. You must have a guiding aspect related to your semi animal nature. Any asset created in this way represents your animal abilities or further understanding of your inhuman nature. 

Sample Assets
Here are some sample assets that fit within the wasteland that is After Jade.

Returner Staff(device)
The Returner movement began nearly immediately after the Fall. The desire to return to what was before. They see the glory of the past and minimize the faults. The Returners travel the Waste preaching of the glories of the old world and seeking jadetech to help rebuild. When they are initiated into the order they are granted a book and a staff. The book is empty and must be filled with knowledge from the past, the staff will help them in their travels.

Function aspect: Blue Jade Staff of the Return
Features: Exceptional(On a successful defense, deal shifts of harm equal to your margin of success), Focus 2(+2 to Fighter)
Flaws: Situational(may only be used in defense), Demanding(Must take the whole turn doing nothing but defending)
Refresh Cost: 2

Jadecaster(technique) 

When the old world fell it fell in jade-laced fire. now the winds themselves carry massive quantities of jade. it is in everything, even if only in small quantities. some folks have learned to perceive these forces in the world and manipulate them. These people have become mystics and sages deep in the Waste, controlling forces beyond the ken of most. Jadecasters can call up temporary assets related to the elements, or controlling/creating emotions.

Guiding aspect: Must have an aspect relating to your training as a jadecaster.
Features: Flexible(may use Scholar in place of Engineer)
Flaws: Situational(only when creating temporary assets related to manipulating the jade in the environment)
Refresh Cost: 1

Sample Jadecaster Workings
Call Fire
You draw out the red jade in the world around you and pull fire into existence, damaging your target.

Function Aspect: Fireball!
Features: Harmful 2, Focus 2(fighter +2)
Flaws: As per the creation roll

Wind Walker
You change to shifting motes of dust and can swiftly move through the air travelling from your current location to any nearby location not completely airtight.

Function Aspect: White Jade Transformation to Dust
Features: Exceptional(Instantly leave or appear in a scene, as long as air can get in or out)
Flaws: As per creation roll

Dangers of the Waste
In the waste there are many dangers, great and small. The world is changed and not for the peaceful. Even the very air has turned hostile.

Devil Winds: On occasion the winds will whip across the Waste in such speed that they will pull up vast amounts of jade dust. When the devil winds sweep down experienced travelers know to get to shelter and sit tight. The wind can strip the flesh from unexposed flesh to the bone. Their are rumors that the winds do more than harm flesh, that they can strip soul from a person and ensure their is no afterlife.

System: This is a series of rolls brought on by a compel(either against the characters aspects or against the setting aspects). Roll against explorer to find a good spot to hide out in(difficulty will vary based around the location).  If you succeed with style you find shelter and take no damage. If you succeed you take one harm before finding suitable shelter. If you fail you will take 2 harm and must roll again to get to shelter. Two rolls are all that will be needed in most circumstances in order to get to shelter.

And there it is, a rough outline of an alternate campaign and setting for Jadepunk. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think. 

Rethinking Stress and Consequences(sort of)

I have been mucking about with stress and consequences for a while now. I have played with the idea of not having stress, or only having stress when certain conditions are met, using alternate tracks and simplified tracks. I have never been all that excited about the two stress tracks listed in the main Fate Core book. It just always felt off to me. In analyzing my issue with the stress tracks I came up with a thought on a solution to my problem, or at least a solution to one corner of the nebulous issue I have yet to fully comprehend(on a side note, I hate it when I have a problem but I cannot properly define the problem).

OK so here is the thought:

Conflict and stress tracks work as normal..sort of. You can take multiple stress boxes to absorb stress. You cannot take consequences during the conflict. I would probably increase teh number of stress boxes by one or two, or perhaps grant more lower tier stress boxes in order to make the characters more durable.

At the end of conflict you only get your stress back if you take a consequence that is worth as much as the highest level of stress box you have marked.  So consequences allow for refresh of stress and provide lasting impact for stress in a new(ish) way.

This would require some rejiggering of the stress and consequence mechanics, but would be interesting. During a conflict you may not notice the damage you are taking(mentally or physically) but after wards when you have a chance to reflect and notice things you will find the damage. Or you could not do that and just repress, however that makes it easier to stress you out in the future. This would allow for some different trade offs and tactics in play, while giving stress tracks a little more focus in play. Heck you could then get a stunt that allows you to refresh stress during a conflict by taking a higher consequence.


That is that idea. Pretty simple, not all that novel, really. However I like the concept and would like to discuss it. What do you think? Would it work? What are some problems you see with it? What might it work best for?

Challenge of the Star Knights: Ruminating on Rules Part 1

In my last post I laid out the very basic pitch for the game I am working on.
Part 1: Da' Basics

 In this post i will be digging into the mechanical changes I will be making to the D6 System in order to make that fit better with the setting I am devising. that means that I will be constrained somewhat in what I can do, as a great  advantage to working within the framework of an  existing system. this also means that there is a certain amount of fan expectation for how the game should work and the changes I make will not please everyone. If I were working on a brand new system I could avoid this because those preexisting expectations wouldn't exist.

Dice Rolling Conventions
There are a number of ways we could handle dice rolling in this game. I will go through the methods I have thought about using and what their strengths and weaknesses are(as I see it). Please let me know your thoughts on the matter as this is very important to the feel of play and I am not fully decided on the matter.

Standard d6 Method: Add skill level to attribute level and roll that many dice and add them together. This can lead to too many dice being rolled and everything slows down. Especially because adding together pools higher than seven or eight can get a bit tiresome. However it is a tried and true way and adding up the numbers is a minor inconvenience. Also, I run and play most of my games online for the last few years and online dice rollers can do all that adding for me.

The Mini Six method: Used in the phenomenal game Mini Six. Very similar to the standard method, but it uses static defenses and thus lowers the number of rolls in total. I may go this route as I think it is the easiest to implement. It also leads me to an interesting idea...

The Apocalypse World fix: The seed for this idea started in this thread post over on rpg.net. It reminded me of how Apocalypse World handles dice rolling. Other games have used similar rolling methods, but Apocalypse World was the first time I encountered it, so that is where my mind went when I came up with this. Only players roll the dice.  All of the GM's stuff is handled with static difficulties based on the character sheets of the NPCs.  This would allow for interesting things, like say take the dice total times three for mooks and low level minions, or multiplied by four or five for named villains and such to give you an interesting differential. This would allow the GM to set a basic campaign difficulty or allow the players to have a sense of how tough their opponent is going to be. It would make for a more cinematic feel...I think.

The 5d6+whatever method: Offered as a way to cut down on the number of dice used. Every die over five is converted to a +3 bonus to the roll instead. I find that this can lead to huge modifiers and the dice become somewhat irrelevant...or at least that is how it felt to me the few times I have tried it.

The d6 Legend method: Roll as normal, but count the dice showing a number above a certain threshold. I have seen this use in a lot of different games(Shadowrun and World of Darkness spring to mind). I know it works, though it has its own feel. I think I might go with this method as it lets me do all sorts of interesting things, like scaling the campaign from Super Gritty(only count sixes as success) to Super heroic(2+ is a success) without altering number of dice. the issues with this come up with making it still feel like the D6 system that I fell in love with lo those many years ago. Though I am not so sure, as I am rather fond of all of the methods shown.

Character Points
You must spend them before you can use them to advance. This gets allows for a more freewheeling use of character points. in the old days when I would run the game, i would have this issue where my  players would all spend a great deal of time going back and forth on whether or not they should spend character points. the reason was that the more character points spent in the moment the less powerful the character would be long term. the character that horded them would become more powerful as time went on, and this would lead to those less powerful needing to burn more CP to keep up and thus actually fall further behind. It became a weird sort of death spiral.

A really weird add on to that: At the end of every session the number of character points remaining must be spent on on advancement downtime actions, like building up contacts, wealth, and influence with a specific culture. Not sure if I want to go this route but I really like it, and the more I think on it the more I like it. Something that +James Etheridge pointed out to me was that I might want to lean away from concrete growth in this manner and instead focus on these points belonging to a team pool that can be spent in team specific ways. Though I am still unsure on the exact limits and options that could be used in this case. One idea I had was to use it a bit like Team is used in Masks. Though I would need to make adjustments in order to make that work in this system.

I also want to come up with a better name for them than Character Points, but I am sure that will come with time.

The Wild Die
I do not have an issue with the wild die as it stands. However I have seen enough arguments about it to be convinced that an issue does exist for many. I would like to look into some possible solutions to the Wild Die conundrum and maybe come up with something that will please people like me, who like the wild die, and the people who do not care for it.

Methods I have thought about using:

The standard method: The wild die explodes on a roll of a six and on the roll of a one it either subtracts the highest other die from the roll or causes a complication. All other numbers are treated as normal die rolls. I like this as it adds that sense of chaos and awesome when that guy at the table rolls seven sixes in a row and just drops the mic.

Variable Success method: The wild die does not explode. If you get a 6 on it something good happens to benefit you in addition to the success or failure of the roll. If you roll a 1 something complicates the scene whether you succeed or fail. I kind of like this as it allows for a bunch of different outcomes to a die roll. Critical success(success with a 6 wild die), Normal success(success with the wild die on neither) Success with a caveat(Success with a 1 wild die), Failure with a caveat(failure with a 6 wild die), normal failure(failure with no wild), and critical failure(failure with a 1 wild die). There are, no doubt numerous problems with the system that would need to get ironed out, but it is an interesting idea.

Opportunity Method:  The wild die allows for an opportunity to do something amazing. When you roll a six you may spend a character point and have it act as a hero/fate point(or something). When your wild die is showing a one the GM will offer you something bad happening instead of the roll proceeding as normal, if you accept you gain a hero/fate point, or something equivalent. I kind of like this one as it always puts the choice in the players hands. However this would need a lot of playtesting a tweaking in order to make it feel right, and I would need to devote a lot of words explaining what it is and how to do it properly.

Aspects and Keys: Gaining Character Points
I would like for the gaining of character points to be a little more character facing than it currently is. I am heavily influenced by three games in this regard: Fate Core(I know, shocker), Cortex Plus, and Lady Blackbird.

I like how aspects(Fate Core) allow for an iconic character while also allowing for change. However compels can be tricky and are enforced from outside of the player's control. The GM compels and the player decides to accept it. The player can let the GM know that it would be a good time to compel, but the decision to compel still rests on the GM's head.

Distinctions(Cortex Plus) on the other hand are entirely player driven and allow the player to give themselves a negative by rolling the smallest die type(d4) rather than what they would normally get from the distinction(d8). When they do this they get a point. I like that it is decided by the player, but I find some other parts of the system in Cortex Plus not to my taste.

Then we get to Keys(Lady Blackbird). I love keys, they are absolutely fantastic at causing the players to drive play and putting their experience gains in their own hands. However, Keys work toward building a dramatic arc for your character, where they start out with a problem and as they go along that problem keeps surfacing until they face it and either embrace it or expel it. With this game I am looking for a more Iconic and procedural arc, and so I am unsure if keys will do what I want.

However I think that I have laid out the groundwork here for what I want, if not exactly how I want it. I want players to gain Character Points through their own choice, and not have it forced upon them by external sources. I want the source of Character Points to be able to shift and grow as the campaign goes on, and I want the core of the character to shine through. I want that, "Believe in yourself," moment to feel good and make the world better. I want growth and exploration without changing the core of the character too much, or making changing that core too difficult. Hmm...Will need to think on this some more.

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these topics. Comments, critiques, and ideas are totally welcome. This post kind of got out of hand. I was also going to go into Attributes and Skills, as well as gear and the basics of how I see Ikhai working. I guess I will have to leave that for part 2. Huh, I guess there is more depth to this than I initially thought. That's a thing.