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

Stars Without Number has a nice little skill system. A character gets skills based on background package (related to the PC’s background) and training background (related to the PC’s class). Additional skills, or higher levels with previous skills, are acquired during level advancement via skill points. The number of points required to purchase the next level in a skill increases with skill level, and the maximum skill level is capped by PC level.

Skill checks are made by rolling 2d6, adding the relevant skill’s level and appropriate attribute modifier. Skills aren’t explicitly tied to a specific attribute. An untrained skill check suffers a -1 penalty. The easiest skill checks are usually difficulty 6, and challenging skill checks face difficulties of 10 or higher.

Now, all of that said, there are two things about SWN’s skill system I don’t like:

1. The use of skill points to purchase skills.

2. PCs having a specific list of skills with associated ranks.

Explaining the first point is easy: It’s more bookkeeping, and I dislike bookkeeping. That’s pretty much it. I don’t think skill points are bad or wrong or inferior. I just don’t like there being yet another group of points that have to be accounted for.

The second point requires more explanation; so, here goes.

In my experience (emphasis: my experience), when a player sees a list of skills on a character sheet, two things pop up:

1. That list of skills are the only skills the character can use.

2. Therefore, the player limits his PC’s actions to the skill list on the character sheet.

When these two things pop up with too many players, a sort of critical mass is reached that can result in party paralysis. “Gosh! None of us have that skill. How are we supposed to succeed? This adventure sucks!” Not only does this break immersion in the game, it’s also just plain irritating. I like for the PCs in my games to be the heroes, and heroes don’t whine about how the adventure sucks. Heroes grit their teeth, suck it up, and drive on.

Here’s what I want to do with SWN instead of the core-rules way of doing things. First, I want to use the “You Lack Skills” rules presented in the Skill Checks section of the core rules. This means each PC has a skill check bonus equal to +1, +1 more for every three levels of experience, whenever attempting any activity that the player can reasonably explain as part of the PC’s background and training packages.

I’m thinking this approach gets rid of both of the things I dislike about SWN’s skill system.

I’ve also been struck by an idea Erik Tenkar mentioned in this blogpost. Erik wrote, “I’ve got some tweaking to work on with this, such as the first time a Natural 20 is rolled in a certain circumstance (picking a lock, finding tracks or swimming a turbulent river and the like) I’m going to give the PC a + 1 to that particular circumstance as a permanent bonus.” This idea has some sweetness. Modified for 2d6, the bonus could come up on an 11-12 (assuming success, for about an 8% chance of getting the bonus) or only on a 12 (for about a 3% chance of getting the bonus).

That make sense?

Tags: skill checks, skills, Stars Without Number

I had intended this for The Grand Original Map Contest, but I didn’t get it done in time. Ah well. Just because I missed a deadline doesn’t mean all of these electrons have to go to waste.

What Happened to the New Dawn Combine?

Two generations ago, the New Dawn Combine on Cygnus III thrived as a center for innovation in sector heavy weapons technologies. Lynley, the company town built around NDC labs and offices, provided workers, executives, researchers, and their families with every modern convenience. Life was good.

But nothing lasts forever.

A massive solar storm overwhelmed Cygnus’s magnetic field, disrupting electronics throughout Lynley. This was the time the Freedom Fellowship struck a blow for the proletariat. Mobs well armed but ill organized rampaged through the streets while the Fellowship’s elite assaulted key arsenals. The revolutionary violence climaxed when someone — to this day, historians debate whom to blame — launched a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle armed with payload of chemical weaponry. Thousands died within minutes, and even more sickened and expired over the next few days. Much of Lynley burned as fires raged out of control as first responders were overwhelmed by the number of emergencies.

Planetary government moved in much too late. By the time military personnel and disaster management teams arrived, Lynley was a city fit only for the dead. Sporadic violence near the city limits lasted for a few more days, and then the government declared Lynley and the surrounding area in a 50-mile radius to be a quarantine zone (or QZ for short). No one and nothing is allowed in or out of the zone.

But life finds a way.

A handful of Freedom Fellowship radicals survived and declared the revolution a success. They consolidated control over limited food and potable water resources, and then put out the call to other survivors to enjoy the Fellowship’s largesse. Little by little, a semblance of normalcy returned to Lynley. A handful of buildings were reclaimed and turned into the communal areas with the Fellowship’s leaders determining individuals’ needs and commensurate allowances of living space, food, and water.

Little could be done, however, about the toxic effects of the chemical weaponry that had decimated Lynley. The ground was poisoned, and the water cycle became a means which toxins entered plants and animals. Fellowship workers documented the first evidence of mutations in water plants, fish, and amphibians. The high incidence of miscarriages and birth defects in the human population added a new level of dread to life in Lynley.

Today, the QZ is a wild area of twisted vegetation, mutated animals, and ruined buildings. Most of the vegetation is at least slightly toxic, and most of the mutated animals are merely grotesque. Some, however, are dangerous, especially the predatory chemical worms. The QZ’s easiest access points are protected by sensors, automated guns, and platoons of soldiers. Armed drones patrol more difficult areas. Entering the QZ without proper authorization is difficult. Getting back out after entering illegally is even harder, and failing exist undetected is likely to end in a violent death.

These risks don’t stop adventurous black marketeers from violating the QZ in hopes of finding hidden caches of weapons and other military-grade tech. The New Dawn Combine had numerous facilities prior to the revolution, and this included arsenals protected by underground bunkers. Illegal military tech isn’t easy to come by, and the profits can be substantial.

Of course, once in the QZ, there are more problems facing looters than the return trip. Trespassers must also contend with the Fellows, as the residents of the QZ now call themselves.

Society of Fellows

The new social order forged by the Freedom Fellowship has produced a conformist, deranged community. The Fellows have ritualized protocols put into place to ensure survival in a toxic environment. Chief among these protocols are the use of protective masks and the inviolability of New Dawn Combine bunkers.

Protective Masks

Use of protective masks is not necessary in most areas of the QZ. Certain underground areas may still contain toxic levels of airborne chemicals, but, overall, air quality in the QZ is adequate, if not better than in many urban areas. Nevertheless, no Fellow will permit himself to be seen in public without his protective mask. The taboo against this is analogous to a combination of prohibitions against public lewdness and spitting in people’s faces. Many Fellows refuse to go maskless in private much of the time. Forcibly unmasking a Fellow is akin to assault, and Fellows react negatively to those who go maskless in public.

Bunkers

Fellows believe that sealed bunkers must remain sealed. If the contents of these bunkers were vital, the founders of Fellow society would have unsealed them. Since they did not, it stands to reason that the contents must be such that it is in society’s best interest for them to remain undisturbed. The bunkers have acquired an almost mystical quality in Fellow society. They are taboo territory, and would-be trespassers must be dealt with in the most pointed manner possible.

The Bunker Tower

A militarized clan of Fellows live on and around this pre-revolution military bunker in a collection of sturdy buildings organized in an efficient grid pattern. The Fellows build most of these structures from the ruins of other buildings, carting brick, concrete, wood, et cetera from other locations. The clan maintains a high degree of alertness not only due to the bunker’s sacred proximity, but also because of the large number of predatory chemical worms in the area.

1. Superstructure: While the exterior of the superstructure shows signs of damage from the elements and battle, it remains solid and sealed tight. Inside the single-storey building are offices for administrative and security personnel, all long abandoned in haste. A cargo elevator leads down to the caves beneath the superstructure.

2. Munitions: This section of the caves was converted for munitions storage. Duraflex walls and ceilings form storage units in four rows. This particular facility stores mag pistols, mag rifles, ammunition, repair kits, and other firearms accessories. It also has a cache of grenades of various types.

3. Flooded Cave: The chemical pond’s high acid content eroded a narrow but passable tunnel through surfrace strata into the caves, flooding the lowest lying areas in the process. Chemical reactions have turned the air through the cave system into a toxic haze. The water itself is highly corrosive, and predatory chemical worms thrive in this environment.

4. Chemical Pond: A bomb crater to the rear of the superstructure has long since filled with water, and deadly toxins and acids in the soil have turned the resulting pond into a highly corrosive pool ideal for predatory chemical worms. During infrequent dry spells, much of the pond evaporates, leaving a thick, poisonous sludge.

Chemical Worm (for Stars Without Number):

Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 1
Attack Bonus: +2
Damage: 1d4 bite
No. Appearing: 10-40
Saving Throw: 15+
Movement: 15 ft., swim 15 ft.
Morale: 8

Chemical worms grow to about the length of a man, reaching a thickness approximate to a man’s thigh. They are sandy brown in color with bloodred heads and a quadripartite jaw sporting vicious fangs. They are invulnerable to almost all poisons and acids, and they can survive in anerobic environments for long periods of time. In addition to its bite, a chemical worm can spray a scalding fluid at its prey. The spray is produced by a reaction between two chemical compounds, hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide, stored in separate reservoirs in the worm’s throat, and then mixed when needed in a third chamber with water and catalytic enzymes. Heat from the reaction brings the mixture to near the boiling point of water and produces gas that drives the ejection. The chemical worm’s spray inflicts 1d8 points of damage in a 15-foot wide fan.

Tags: monsters, Stars Without Number, The Grand Original Map Contest

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