Spes Magna Games

Bellatrix was founded as a gengineering research outpost by the Meteor Alliance, a long-defunct corporation. The planet’s minimal biosphere was believed to be an ideal location for genetic manipulation of microorganisms, including the wide variety of alien microbial life that still manages to thrive in the planet’s waterless, inhospitable conditions.

When the dragons invaded the sector, they had little reason to focus much attention on Bellatrix. The population was small and inoffensive. As the rage of the dragons gave way to the Tiamat’s supremacy, Bellatrix suffered only brief violence. The Meteor Alliance was dismantled, and for centuries nothing lived on Bellatrix except alien microbes. During the Age of Ashes, Duke Níðhöggr of Ylli permitted the establishment of a colony on Bellatrix under the auspices of Highbeam Multistellar, a new gengineering outfit with corporate offices on Níðhöggr’s throneworld. (For an example of Bellatrixian gengineering applied to military purposes, check out the plague fungus.)

Vast resources were funneled to Bellatrix to build the four amazing flying cities that circle the plant’s equator in the stratosphere. Corporate structure on Bellatrix also defines the planet’s government, but promotions are highly competitive, based on technical and research expertise, and occur every six years. Selections for positions are made by the corporate offices on Ylli, and competition is fiercely cutthroat.

Visitors to Bellatrix need to be aware of the world’s restrictive laws. The wheels of corporate bureaucracy drive Bellatrix’s regulatory culture, albeit at a grindingly slow pace. Since there is no legislative process on Bellatrix outside business meetings and boardrooms, the maze of regulations changes frequently, often with little apparent rhyme or reason.

Bellatrixian society is divided into three castes. At the top of the social pyramid are Highbeam Multistellar executives, their families, and their staffs. Below this upper crust are the technicians, scientists, and researchers who work for the corporation, as well as members of skilled professions who work on Bellatrix with company sanction. The Brutos comprise the largest and lowest caste.

Brutos have been gengineered to perform the bulk of the unskilled and semi-skilled labor on Bellatrix. They work as janitors, drivers, loaders, et cetera. Brutos are human, but they have a decidedly Neanderthal-like appearance. They were designed for physical strength and endurance, as well as for subpar intelligence and heightened docility.

The latter traits, however, proved maladaptive, and subsequent generations of Brutos have experienced genetic shifts leading to increases in intelligence and independence. While Bruto intelligence still averages less than “pure strain” human norms, exceptional Brutos reach human median IQ.

About a decade ago, these changes in Bruto DNA culminated in the Bruto Collective. Bruto workers in the anti-gravity substructures of Bellatrix’s flying cities seized control of vital systems and threatened to wreak havoc if their demands weren’t met. Tense negotiations and scattered incidents of violence ended with Brutos being granted limited property rights and minimal stock options by the Board of Directors. The Bruto Collective gained recognition as a worker’s organization.

Bellatrix at a Glance
Population: 215,000
Atmosphere: Composed mostly of argon and neon.
Climate: Tropical to temperate
Government: Corporatism
Tech Level: 4

Bruto Characters: Any character from Bellatrix can be a Bruto. Brutos are humans, but a Bruto character must have a 13 or better in Strength and Constitution and less than an 11 in Intelligence. Normally, a character may have a number of stowed items equal to their full Strength score. Brutos are built for portage. Treat a Bruto’s Strength as 2 point higher for purposes of encumbrance.

The Bruto Collective
Attributes: Force 4, Cunning 1, Wealth 3
Hit Points: 15
Assets: Force/Zealots 3, Wealth/Union Toughs 2
FacCreds/Turn: 3
Tag: Warlike
Tag Effect: Once per turn, this faction can roll an additional d10 when making a Force attack.
Homeworld: Bellatrix
Goal: Commercial Expansion: Destroy three Wealth assets of rival factions.

The Bruto Collective is a high-muscle, aggressive labor union. Its leaders have some pull in the corporate government of Bellatrix, and its members work in numerous capacities related to maintenance, shipping, et cetera. A Bruto Collective strike can shut down corporate business, and the membership has the muscle to cause some rough damage if provoked.

Tags: A to Z 2013, factions, planetary tour, Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne

Tyrants and those who support them have a long history of both mistrusting and using artists. Go all the way back to Plato’s The Republic for recommendations about censoring religious myths, poetry, song, et cetera. (Aside: I am thoroughly convinced most to all of The Republic is correctly understood as an extended exercise in philosophical irony.) In more recent times, oppressive regimes have murdered poets (Federico Garcia Lorca, for example) and persecuted musicians (Johnny Clegg, for example). Tyranny’s sympathizers also have used art to waged campaigns of slander against those who oppose tyranny (for example, Rolf Hochhuth’s The Deputy, discussed here and here)

On the macro scale in Tiamat’s Throne, the campaign’s space sector groans under the claw of Tiamat and her dragon dukes. Since the sector is a big place, and even a starship-sized dragon has limited reach, the amount of tyranny varies from place to place, but every world suffers to some degree. On Adhara, the planet’s vibrant arts community has attracted special attention.

From my rough-draft document:

“The vibrant arts communities have proven problematic in the past. Artistic expressions of contempt directed against Apophis and Tiamat resulted in violent reprisals. Since those dark days, Adharan republics have instituted severe restrictions on freedom of expression. Political speech and art is heavily regulated, and the penalties for underground art are particularly harsh. This conflict between a famous cosmopolitan arts culture and repressive controls on artistic expression is a sore spot with many Adharans.

“The ‘art police’ lack the personnel and expertise to adequately enforce speech laws in a few economically depressed wards. Radical underground artists run illegal presses and traveling galleries among the underclasses of these areas. Missionary priests associated with the Domini Canes also aid and abet these criminal artists.”

In these two paragraphs, I have the hints of three different Stars Without Number factions: a renegade artistic assocation, the “art police”, and the Domini Canes. Let’s stat up the second of these.

Ministry of Arts
Attributes: Force 5, Cunning 6, Wealth 3
Hit Points: 29
Assets: Force/Elite Skirmishers 2, Cunning/Cyberninjas 3, Cunning/Informers 1,
Wealth/Lawyers 2
FacCreds/Turn: 4
Tag: Secretive
Tag Effect: All assets purchased by this faction automatically begin Stealthed.
Homeworld: Adhara
Goal: Blood the Enemy: Inflict 14 hit points of damage on an enemy faction.

The Ministry of Arts has two faces: one public, the other covert. Everyone knows about the covert face, but only the brave or foolish talk about it too much. The public face of the MoA operates art museums and holovid stations, sponsors sanctioned artists and art shows, and otherwise presents Empire-friendly artistic activities. The MoA’s covert face operates in secret, monitoring Adhara’s underground arts and entertainment. Artists who are judged too subversive are targeted for corrective action.

P.S. For an example of Adhara’s native fauna, check out the ghost moth.

Tags: A to Z 2013, factions, planetary tour, Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne

One of the advantages of being a one-man show of a game company is that I get to set all of my deadlines without having to worry about committees or what not. When I started writing Tiamat’s Throne, I had set a deadline of the end of February 2013 to have the playtest documents ready. I’m not too sure that’s going to happen, but I’m plodding along regardless. While the possibility of missing my deadline is a bit annoying, at least I haven’t taken anyone’s money in exchange for nothing. I guess that’s something.

Regarding Tiamat’s Throne, I’m most behind on my planet write-ups (see an example of a rough-drafted planet here). I’m trying to have a variety of planets to make it easier for GMs to mix and match various science fiction and fantasy tropes. So, for example, Castor is a undead apocalypse planet. Deneb is an arctic world. I know I want to have a dinosaur planet because dinosaurs are cool. This also means I get to make up new dinosaurs, such as:

Mngurumo

Stars Without Number Stats

Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 8
Attack Bonus: +6
Damage: 3d4 tail
No. Appearing: 4-16
Saving Throw: 11+
Movement: 20 ft.
Morale: 7

Swords & Wizardry Stats

Hit Dice: 8
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Attacks: Tail (3d4)
Saving Throw: 8
Special: Blind, breath weapon, immune to sonic effects, sonar
Move: 9
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 10/1,400

The mngurumo (ming-uru-mo) is a sauropod that travels savannahs in family herds. Adult bulls average 10 feet in length, excluding the tail, which adds about another 10 feet, and weigh around one ton. Cows are somewhat smaller. Mngurumos possess some unusual abilities. They are sightless, completely lacking any visual organs. What appear to be ocular cavities in the creature’s skull contain highly sensitive sonar organs. As a result, mngurumos function nearly as well as sighted creatures in most respects. When threatened, mngurumos prefer to flee, but if hard-pressed, they will fight. A mngurumo’s tail lash strikes with devastating force. Adult mngurumos also possesses a powerful breath weapon that inflicts 8d4 points of sonic damage in a cone with a length of 70 feet and a base of 30 feet. A mngurumo can use its breath weapon once per hour.

Tags: monsters, Stars Without Number, Swords & Wizardry, Tiamat's Throne

Empathy
Empaths are often viewed with mistrust. Many believe they secretly manipulate the emotions and actions of populations. That Imperial agencies often employ empaths to assist in various functions, including those of the police state, doesn’t help improve empaths’ reputations. A subject who makes a successful Mental Effect saving throw against empathic intrusion becomes immune to that level of empathy for 24 hours, albeit not to other empathic powers of different levels.

Passive Empathy (Level 1)
The empath continually detects emotional “background noise” in a way analogous to how the human ear continually detects ambient sounds. The empath’s sensitivity may permit him to perceive things that others relying on conventional senses would miss. At the GM’s discretion, an empath may be permitted to make a relevant skill check (such as Perception or Tactics to detect an ambush) with a +2 bonus. If the empath chooses not to spend the activation cost after this power triggers, the sense goes numb for the next 24 hours.

Active Empathy (Level 2)
The empath may determine the current emotions, including emotions the target is attempting to suppress. The empath may also project his emotions, including false emotions, into the mind of the target. The target may make a Mental Effect saving throw to prevent empathic projection. On a successful save, the empath can only read current, surface emotions.

Empathic Succor (Level 3)
The empath transfers the target’s stress, fatigue, and wounds to himself with a touch. Each activation heals 2d4 hit points in the target, plus the target’s Constitution modifier. A minimum of 1 hit point is always healed, and the empath cannot give the subject more hit points that his normal maximum. The empath suffers damage equal to half the amount healed to the target, minus the empath’s Constitution modifier. The empath suffers a minimum of 1 hit point damage regardless. Use of this power adds 1 System Strain point to the target.

Limbic Assault (Level 4)
The empath taps into the target’s amygdaloid nucleus and triggers the flight or fight response. If the subject fails a Mental Effect saving throw, he acts as if confronted by a life-and-death peril for 1d4 rounds. The empath cannot control the specific form the target’s response will take.

Empathic Tracking (Level 5)
The empath can gradually expand the radius of his passive empathy in order to locate a target subjected to the empath’s activate empathy within the past psychic’s empathy discipline level in hours. The initial radius equals 10 yards, and the radius doubles each minute of concentration (to a maximum radius of 5,120 yard after 10 rounds of concentration). The target is permitted a Mental Effect saving throw to avoid detection. If detected, the empath knows the approximate direction and distance to the target for the next 1d4 hours.

Emotional Calm (Level 6)
The empath radiates calmness and confidence in a radius equal to 5 feet per empathy discipline level. Everyone within the radius enjoys a +1 bonus to skill checks and attack rolls and a +2 bonus to saving throws against effects that affect the emotions. Emotional calm persists so long as the empath concentrates, an activity which precludes most other actions.

Empathic Projection (Level 7)
The empath can project a single emotion into the target’s mind, causing the target to be overwhelmed by the emotion and to act accordingly. While the empath can choose the emotion to project, he cannot control the target’s specific reaction, which will depend on the target’s experiences, psychology, et cetera. The projection lasts for 2d4 rounds. A successful Mental Effect saving throw by the target resists this power.

Transempathic Succor (Level 8)
The empath transfers stress, fatigue, and wounds from one or more targets to one or more targets, all of whom must be touching. Each activation heals 4d4 hit points in the targets, plus the targets’ Constitution modifiers (applied individually). A minimum of 1 hit point is always healed, and the empath cannot give a subject more hit points that his normal maximum. The damage healed to the targets based on the dice roll is distributed equally among the willing recipients participating in the transempathic succor. Each participant subtracts his Constitution modifier from this damage, but each participant suffers a minimum of 1 hit point damage regardless. Use of this power adds 3 System Strain points to the each healed target.

Moral Dissolution (Level 9)
The empath forces his way into the emotional centers of the target’s psyche and wreaks horrific damage. If the target fails a mental saving throw, he becomes an emotionless shell incapable of meaningful action. The target is permitted a new Mental Saving throw every 1d4 days to overcome the condition. Until he recovers, the victim is so overwhelmed by ennui that he cares for nothing, not even for satisfying his most basic desires for nourishment. This power can be used on a given target only once per 24 hours.

Tags: Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne

The badlands world of Rigel presents several challenges to its population. The absence of indigenous life above the microbial level means that food must be either imported from off-world or grown locally from non-native stocks.

Unfortunately, Rigel’s soil is slightly toxic. Elaborate cleansing and filtration systems are necessary to provide potable water and arable land. Rigelian social groups struggle for control of these resources; the losers get a small share to prevent open warfare. The needed resources have become the foundation of the Rigelian monetary system.

Tags: Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne