Spes Magna Games

A sarpashana, or poison eater, is an aggressive colony of disparate microbes that have mutated to excrete and survive within a protoplasmic medium. This creature appears to be a bulging, surging mass of blotchy, semi-transparent ooze. At rest, a sarpashana would just about fill a 125-cubic-foot container. It weighs approximately 1,400 pounds, but has it has enough bouyancy to swim clumsily. Its protoplasmic mass has sufficient cohesion and strength to climb up walls, but is still fluid enough to ooze through spaces no larger than the diameter of a adult’s little finger.

As its name implies, a sarpashana survives by consuming toxins. It is especially attracted to the toxins produced by the metabolic processes of mammals. These include carbon dioxide, sulfates, nitrogen compounds, and phosphates. Using acute chemical sensors (roughly analogous to olfactory senses), a sarpashana detects its preferred foods. Devoid of anything resembling intelligence and always hungry, a sarpashana always moves toward the closest source of nourishment in order to feed. Unfortunately for mammals, a sarpashana’s preferred foods are found in vital places such as the kidneys, bladder, liver, lungs, and bloodstream.

A sarpashana attacks with a crushing lash by rapidly funneling a portion of its mass into a protoplasmic extension. The power of its lash is not main danger posed by a sarpashana. Rather, the creeping residue invariably left behind on the victim merits the greater amount of fear. This residue slithers rapidly on the victim, seeking ingress via whatever orifices are avaiable. Inside the victim’s body, the microbes burrow through soft membranes in order to enter the bloodstream, which then carries the microbes to those aforementioned internal organs richest in the creature’s preferred food. This can wreak horrible internal damage on the host.

Stars Without Number Stats

Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 3
Attack Bonus: +6
Damage: 1d10 protoplasmic lash
No. Appearing: 1d8
Saving Throw: 14
Movement: 20 ft.
Morale: 9

Swords & Wizardry Stats

Hit Dice: 3
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attacks: Protoplasmic lash (1d10 + creeping residue)
Saving Throw: 14
Special: Immune to poison & weapons
Move: 9
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 6/400

Creeping Residue: Anyone struck by a sarpashana’s lash runs the risk of being invaded by slithering bits of microbe-laden protoplasm. A successful protoplasmic lash attack leaves behind 1d4 bits of creeping residue (a saving throw — Evasion or Luck for SWN players — avoids 1d3 bits). Each bit reaches a bodily orifice in 1d6 rounds. Removing a bit of creeping residue isn’t difficult, assuming it can be reached. (Bits that have slithered inside a victim’s armor may prove problematic.) Once within the victim, the infection goes to work. If the host dies, the microbes continue to feed and grow, producing a new sarpashana that oozes forth to hunt and feed.

Sarpashana Infection: (SWN) Toxicity 10, Interval 1d8 minutes, Virulence 3. At each interval, the victim suffers 2d4 points of damage. (S&W) Every 1d8 minutes, the victim must make a saving throw or suffer 2d4 points of damage. If the victim makes three successful saving throws before dying, his body’s natural defenses overwhelm and defeat the infection.

Immune to Poison & Weapons: A sarpashana cannot be easily harmed. It is completely immune to poisons. Likewise, most weapons cannot damage it (although they can splash microbe-filled gobs of protoplasm around). Conventional weaponry that relies on kinetic force (bullets, arrows, melee weapons, et cetera) do not damage a sarpashana. Those in melee range of a sarpashana when it is struck by such weapons may be splashed with creeping residue. A saving throw (an Evasion or Luck saving throw for SWN players) avoids being splashed with creeping residue.

Energy attacks (such as lasers and lightning bolts) and especially powerful weapons (such as high-explosive devices or a giant’s boulder) inflict normal damage on a sarpashana. Effects that specifically target pathogens are especially harmful to a sarpashana. Psionic powers or spells that cure disease inflict 1d6 points of damage per power/spell level (no saving throw). A medkit can be used against a sarpashana. The medic can deploy antibiotics (requiring an attack roll as adjudicated by the GM) to inflict up to 1d6 points of damage per Tech/Medical skill level.

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

For Tiamat’s Throne, I want to accomplish three things:

1. Create an interesting sandbox setting for sci-fi/fantasy gaming.

2. Increase the amount of narrative control the players have over in-game events.

3. Reduce the prevalence of binary action resolution.

I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on number one. The handles for numbers two and three, however, were proving rather slippery. I want something that can be attached to Stars Without Number (SWN) with a minimum of disruption to the core rules.

In other words, the narrative control elements need to be like a prepositional phrase in a sentence. You can remove a prepositional phrase from a sentence and still have a sentence. Whatever I add for narrative control needs to be the sort of thing that can be left out of the game completely without impacting playability. This way, a gaming group that doesn’t like changing the scope of narrative control can still use SWN and Tiamat’s Throne without having to rewrite the rules.

Dungeon World (DW) appears to provide the means by which I can accomplish goals two and three in one fell swoop. Let’s look at how this might work with combat.

Success, but…!

In DW, failure within a certain range below the target number isn’t necessarily a failure. (I’m thinking the range will be within 3 points of the target number for combat rolls.) Let’s call this kind of failure a qualified success. When a qualified success occurs, the player should have a choice between at least two options, one of which grants a some degree of success coupled with a negative consequence. The exact nature of the qualified success depends on the player’s narrative input, and it starts with in-game narration of the desired action. For example:

GM: While you’re in the corner trying to open the door into the abandoned station, you hear a hiss just in time to turn and see a Denebian ripper lunging out of the mist, claws extended and jaw snapping.

Player: Ag! I duck out of the way, trying to get behind the beast while blazing away with my automag.

GM: Sounds good. Roll away. Three defense checks versus 25 and one attack roll versus AC 5.

Player: Three! Yipes! *dice clatter* Defense is 25, 22, and 7. Crap. Attack is a 12, which means I hit AC 8, even with burst fire.

GM: You easily evade the first attack. The other two, not so much. You can get behind the beast, but you’ll get raked by a claw in the process, or you can stay in front of it but avoid the claws entirely.

Player: Let’s get behind it. I don’t want to be pinned into the corner.

GM: Alright. You also get bit. The ripper’s claws and fangs tear through your flesh as you dive around it. *dice clatter* Take 7 points of damage. The beast now has its back to you. The impact and injury spoils your aim, but your attack roll is a qualified success. Thoughts?

Player: How about I still hit, but I slip and end up on my back?

GM: Sounds fair. The bullets thud into the ripper’s hide as your rush by. Unfortunately, you only make it about fifteen feet before you lose your footing on the icy ground.

Considerations

As with DW, this sort of action resolution pretty much removes many considerations related to initiative and tactical movement from the game. The same idea can also be applied to saving throws and skill checks, but the qualified success range for skill checks probably needs to be more narrow since skill checks are based on 2d6 rather than 1d20.

More thoughts on this topic will be forthcoming.

Tags: game play, Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne

In Stars Without Number, the combat roll has a target number of 20+ on 1d20, subject to the following modifiers:

+ target’s Armor Class
+ attacker’s Combat skill
+ attacker’s attribute modifier
+ attacker’s Attack Bonus

That’s pretty simple, but I like for the players to make defense checks when their PCs are attacked. If I’m going to do this with SWN, I need to modify the combat roll.

A PC has a Defense Value equal to Armor Class (including Dexterity modifier). Thus, an unarmored PC with no Dexterity modifier has a +9 Defense Value. Armor adds to Defense Value an amount equal to 9 – the Armor Class provided by the armor. For example, a combat field uniform is Armor Class 4. It adds +5 to Defense Value.

Every enemy has an Attack Value equal to 19 plus (Combat skill + attribute modifier + and attack bonus). To make a defense check, the player rolls 1d20 + Defense Value. If the total equals or exceeds the enemy’s Attack Value, the PC’s defense succeeds. A natural 20 always succeeds, and a natural 1 always fails.

Consider the magovore invader versus a normal, unarmored human. This monster has a +6 attack bonus, which means it would have an Attack Value of 25. Using SWN core rules, the invader would need a 5 or better on 1d20 to hit the human (5 + 6 attack bonus + 9 Armor Class = 20 total combat roll). Using the defense roll, the human’s player needs a 16 or better on 1d20 (16 + 9 Defense Value = 25) to save his PC from the invader’s serrated beak.

Let’s consider a more complicated example. A PC with a 16 Dexterity is wearing combat field uniform (Armor Class 3) is fighting a level 3 warrior with a 14 Dexterity who is skill level 2 with Combat/Projectile Weapons. The PC’s Defense Value equals +15 (9 + 1 Dexterity + 4 armor). The enemy warrior’s Attack Value equals 23 (19 + 1 attack bonus + 1 Dexterity modifier + 2 Combat skill).

Using the normal combat roll, the enemy warrior would need a 13 or better to hit the PC (13 + 1 attack bonus + 3 Armor Class + 1 Dexterity modifier + 2 Combat skill = 20 total combat roll). Using the defense roll, the PC’s player needs an 8 or better on 1d20 (8 + 15 Defense Value = 23) to not get shot.

You might by this time be wondering, “Why do this?”

Good question, and I have what I think is a good answer. For a while now, I’ve wanted a way to introduce more narrative control into the standard RPGs. Narrative control shifts responsibility for describing game action from the GM to the players. I’ve experimented with a couple of ways to do this before, but they didn’t really seem to work (perhaps because I didn’t stick with them long enough).

I’m convinced that placing the burden for all attack rolls (and saving throws, but that’s another topic) on the players’ shoulders is key to giving the players more narrative control over the game. My recent readings here and there about Dungeon World (published by Sage Kobold Productions) have only further strengthened this conviction (but that too is a topic for another post).

Tags: Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne