Nova: Tools and Transportation

                Relics are tools and weapons brought from the ruins below or produced by the Priests using secret methods. The relics recovered from the ruins are complex and strange and only the Priests fully understand them. Relics produced in the city are mundane items made with materials from the ruins. They are stronger, lighter, and generally better than their mundane counterparts are. These are just some of the more common or useful examples of Relics.

                The relic that every citizen and nomad are familiar with are the Skiffs. They are 10 meter long enclosed craft. Using the same method the cities use to remain afloat, Skiffs are able to float above the fog and travel between the cities and towns. They are short-range craft, only able to make journeys of a week of more before they need maintenance from a priest. The Scavengers use them to launch their expeditions down into the fog. This is to reduce the danger of arboreal predators scaling the lines and attacking a city or town. Most cities have dozens of Skiffs and the cities use much of the material recovered by Scavengers to keep their Skiffs in working order. 

                The largest common relic is a Hull. Similar to a Skiff, this is a large enclosed craft, roughly 300 meters in length. Nomads live in fleets of Hulls, travelling between cities. Each Hull carries several Skiffs, with a capacity for up to a dozen. Only the very richest cities have a Hull, and never more than one. The rest are crewed by Nomads. A Nomad Hull is similar to a city, but far more cramped. These large vehicles lack the temperamental nature of Skiffs and can go long distances without needing significant repair.

                Instead of, or supplementing their use of torches, some Scavengers carry a simple relic. Similar in design to other rod relics, the Lightrod is a foot long metallic rod which, when activated, emits a bright beam of light from one end. Symbols appear in the air above the surface of the rod and if the right combination is pressed, it changes how the rod emits light. The extra features vary from rod to rod, but all are able to generate a beam of light for between several hours, to several days. Some are able to regain their power by sitting in the sun for a while, while others require repair from a priest.

                Sometimes, a Scavenger will not want to come in contact with a dangerous creature. Maybe their reach exceeds that of even a spear. Maybe they have a potent poison. Regardless of why, sometimes a Scavenger will want a ranged weapon. Most carry bows, sometimes made by Craftspeople, sometimes crafted from scavenged materials by priests. Some Scavengers are lucky to have a relic weapon instead of a bow, these devices are called Firerods. Like a Lightrod, a Firerod is a foot long metallic rod. Unlike a Lightrod, this is a weapon. When activated, symbols appear above the surface, one end will glow red, and a small patch of light will appear on the rod’s surface. Adjusting the symbols on the surface controls the intensity of the effect. Pressing on the patch of light will cause a burning ray to erupt from the glowing end of the rod. If turned down to its minimum, the power in these rods lasts nearly forever, but sadly can only light a fire about a foot away. The burns it cause are only mildly painful. At their highest setting, they will burn a hole through a large predator. The injury is rarely enough to put one of those creatures down for good, but may slow it down enough for the Scavenger to make their escape. Once the power in a Firerod is spent, they must be returned to a priest for repair. Even more uncommon are the larger cousin of the Firerod, the Firestave. These large relics are as tall as a adult citizen and function much the same as a Firerod. However, the maximum power of a Firestave is enough to incinerate even the largest creatures of the Fog.

A Ticker is an extremely rare relic with no mundane counterpart. This item is small and typically worn as a pendant or charm. They emit a periodic ticking noise which grows louder the closer it’s bearer comes to the Fog. Once inside the Fog, the ticking grows louder still as the bearer approaches either a ruin, or a wasteland. Only an experience bearer can tell the difference between the two. They are useful but dangerous tools. An inexperienced user can stumble into a burning wasteland and suffer an agonizing death without much difficulty. Even an experienced user is unable to silence the Ticker, even when hiding from predators.

Stunrods are the primary tool of the trade for Protectors. These rod relics produce incapacitating paralysis of the limbs at first. Continued use on the same person will produce greater degrees of paralysis eventually leading to the heart and lungs ceasing to function. Scavengers dismiss them as useless because they only affect the human nervous system, leaving the dangerous wildlife of the fog completely unaffected. The most common type of Stunrod requires contact with the target. An uncommon and highly sought after version fires a thin blue beam from one end that has the same effect on contact. Before activation, they are identical to Lightrods and Firerods, this is another reason Scavengers dislike them. When scrambling for a weapon to use against a dangerous predator, finding a Stunrod can lull a rookie Scavenger into a false sense of security.

                Other Relics are common in the ruins, and Scavengers may be able to discern their function. Some play strange music. Others cause intricate light shows. Others still allow access to rooms and buildings that are otherwise inaccessible. The majority of relics are ineffable in purpose, and are either broken, as many things are in the ruins, or simply require the expert knowledge of a Priest to decipher. Regardless of their use, intended or otherwise, Scavengers bring these items to the Priests who use them as components for their strange rituals and for repairing the relics that the community finds useful.

Introduction to A Voice in the Dark

Before posting anything about A Voice in the Dark, I need to give some background on Eclipse Phase. If you're familiar with the setting, feel free to skip this post. I sent this as a primer for my players because, sadly, some of them are adverse to reading.

Eclipse Phase is a sci-fi RPG with three major themes:

Transhumanism:

You are part of Transhumanity, a posthuman society. Technology has eliminated aging, disabilities, and disease. Your characters are egos, a mind, either human, artificial (AGI [artificial general intelligence]), or an animal uplifted to sentience and sapience. These egos exist as digital information separate from your body. In Eclipse Phase, these expendable or swappable bodies are called morphs. Death and bodily harm are more of a setback than a lasting concern.

Egos are treated like software. They can be edited, removing trauma and altering memories. When in a digital shell, also called a cyberbrain, they can be hacked. They can be patched, adding skills, or other experiences (These experience logs are called XPs and are a large source of entertainment). You can copy and paste, creating duplicate minds called forks. In most places, an identical copy (or alpha fork) is illegal, after all, you can’t have two of the same person running around, that would just get confusing. Edited copies (called beta forks) are more common, but most people just use them for an hour or two, before having their forks rejoin the main mind (called reintegrating). The last common form of fork is the delta fork. This is the barest bones of the ego, little more than whatever memory and skills are needed for the job.

Transhumanity has not mastered faster than light travel. Trips between planets usually take around a month and are extremely expensive. If people want to travel, they sent their ego (or a copy) in a process called farcasting. Farcasting is the process of sending the ego like data; you leave your morph behind and buy, rent, borrow, or swap for a body on the other end.

Data is everywhere. There is a persistent wireless network of information called the mesh. It is essentially Internet +. With this comes a form pervasive augmented reality called entoptics (from the Greek, meaning ‘from within the eye’). Most of Transhumanity can access the mesh and programs on it via a cybernetic implant, giving them constant access to communication as well as technical information and allowing them to interface with devices. Those few that don’t have a mesh insert have to rely on a handheld device called an Ecto. The sheer amount of data a transhuman has to process in their day to day life may seem overwhelming, but they have help. Within most of transhumanity, along with their mesh insert is a simple A.I. assistant called a Muse. Muses organize, filter and search for information according to their owner’s demands and preferences. In addition to the augmented reality that is a daily part of Transhuman Life, some use complex virtual reality worlds called simulspaces for entertainment, socializing, and training.

Horror:

Humanity was progressing quickly. Orbital habitats were all across the solar system, terra-forming projects were taking place on Venus and Mars. On the other hand, wars over energy and climate change ravaged Earth. Then The Fall happened. The TITANs, a group of self-improving, or seed, A.I.s rebelled against humanity and began to slaughter Earth’s population. They used robots, swarms of self replicating nano-machines, memetic patterns that affect the mind called Basilisk Hacks, and a strange virus with multiple vectors. This virus, dubbed the Exsurgent virus has strains that resemble both computer and biological virii. Then, just as suddenly as they turned, they escaped Earth and disappeared. The planet was ruined, completely uninhabitable between the massive storms and lingering TITAN nanoswarms and killer robots. Many corporations, the only powerful entities to survive The Fall, pooled together to erect a network of armed satellites to destroy anything entering or leaving Earth’s atmosphere.

The Exsurgent virus can alter the mind, re-writing an ego’s personality in weeks or minutes. The virus can also warp the body, transforming them into monsters. One of the strains, called the Watts-Macleod strain, is rumored to be benign and also the source of strange psychic powers. Those with these powers would be called Asyncs. But that’s just a rumor, no one believes those that stuff is real, right?

The casualties of The Fall were horrendous. Only 5% of humanity survived, mostly those rich enough to pay for physical passage, those well connected enough to egocast somewhere else, and those lucky, or violent, enough to get passage on a refugee ship. Those that didn’t were killed, or forcibly uploaded by the TITANs, and then killed. Space on the habitats is sparse. Organic bodies take time to grow, usually a few years. Synthetics bodies are cheaper but still take a while to make. As a result, most of transhumanity exist solely as egos, floating around the mesh as digital infomorphs. Alternatively, if they don’t have any useful skills, they go into cold storage, stuck in an inactive backup until an interested party gets the money to buy them a body. Either way, the infomorph and synthetic morph (shortened to synthmorphs) populations are largely indentured servants, working off the cost of their bodies and their rescue from TITAN infested Earth. Uplifted animals and A.G.I. are often similarly indentured to pay off the cost of their creation.

After the TITANS left, many were asking where they went. Their questions were answered with the discovery of the so-called “Pandora Gates” these strange objects, left behind  by the TITANs, allowed instantaneous transit to distant worlds. This was Transhumanity’s first  taste of faster than light travel. The Pandora Gates are barely understood so travel through them is dangerous. You could be stranded for years, or even indefinitely (If the environment on the other side doesn’t kill you first). It was after the use of the Pandora Gates that humanity experience first contact with an alien race. A group of bizarre fungal creatures dubbed “The Factors” appeared and initiated friendly contact with Transhumanity.  Oddly enough, they warn against A.I. research and the use of the Pandora Gates, refusing to contact anyone doing research into either. The Factors claim to represent a larger alien community, but they are the only one that Transhumanity has encountered thus far.

In addition to A.G.I. and Uplifts, a corporation called Cognite decided to try and grow an accelerated new generation to replace those lost in the fall. These egos were place in a VR simulation with accelerated time, giving them about eighteen years of memory in just three years. This had a side effect of driving most of them completely insane. In addition, due to some fluke (or deliberate sabotage), all of them were infected with the Watts-Macleod Exsurgent strain, giving them psychic powers. These people are usually referred to as the Lost Generation.

Conspiracy:

You are an agent of Firewall. These agents are called Sentinels. Their superiors are called Proxies. A group of Sentinels, overseen by a Proxy is a cell. Proxies give the cells their missions and the Sentinels carry them out. In the field, Sentinels have full autonomy and make decisions democratically. To deal with ties, one Sentinel is designated team leader.

Firewall is a secret organization that transcends faction and ideology. Firewall’s objective is to prevent another event like The Fall. They do this by hunting down and eliminating threats to the existence of transhumanity. Existential (Ex) Threats vary. They could be alien threats, weapons of mass destruction, meme viruses, and of course, the TITANs and the Exsurgent virus.

Hopefully we'll get to something more interesting in the next post.

Nova: The Cities of Man

The people of Nova mostly live in colossal floating cities. The cities vary between 10 and 20 kilometers in size. The people live and work in massive halls, stacked on top of each other. Those Citizens who don’t live in the main cities live in relatively small Satellite Towns. These Towns are identical, save whatever damage and patchwork repairs have accumulated over the centuries. The towns are bulb shaped with a tiered structure on top. Citizens have covered the top of these structures with soil and use them as terraced farms. Occasionally, farmers raise livestock; grow trees, or some combination of the three. The farmers in these towns live under the surface allowing them to use the whole surface for farming. The inhabitants of the cities follow a caste system. Mobility between castes varies from city to city. Typically, the more prosperous a city is, the less social mobility citizens have. 

The cities have some kind of intelligence. The Priests interpret and communicate with the cities. They also maintain the esoteric processes that keep the cities functioning, including whatever keeps the cities afloat. They are also able to read the symbols found in the ruins and on relics recovered from below. The skills of the Priests are a well-kept secret; those who teach these secrets to outsiders, as well as those who learn these skills are guilty of heresy and executed if found. The Priests allow knowledge of how relics function and most Protectors and Scavengers have some knowledge of how their tools work.

Protectors are the police and armies of the cities. They are equipped with the best equipment the city can muster including many relics. Their primary duties are keeping the peace, finding and executing heretics, and repelling attackers and dangerous wildlife. Scavengers and Protectors have a strong rivalry in most cities. Scavengers are the biggest candidate for heresy as they may learn more than is allowed in their frequent trips into the ruins. They are also a large caste of armed and dangerous individuals and many Protectors consider them the largest threat to peace. 

Scavengers are a valued facet of life in the cities. Poor cities value their Scavengers, as they are often the only thing keeping them afloat, literally and figuratively. Rich cities treat their Scavengers callously. While the relics and materials they bring from below are valuable, expeditions are frequently an excuse to cull the population in order to keep it sustainable.  In most cities, people of other castes (with the exception of Priests) may choose to become Scavengers. The more desperate cities pressgang Citizens into scavenging. Rich and/or stable cities train their Scavengers in large schools. As mentioned in the primer, the job of the Scavengers is to climb down into the lethal fog that covers the world’s surface and raid the ruins of the ancient world for relics and supplies.

Priests maintain and distribute the relics of the world below. Craftspeople are their mundane counterparts. They produce clothing, tools, and weapons for everyone. Traders are a subset of this caste. This group is small in all cities and act as the intermediary between the Citizens and the Nomads. 

Labourers are the largest of the castes. Most of them are farmers but they also clean and care for the everyday needs of the cities and their citizens. In the cities, Farmers tend to the massive hydroponic farms towards the bottom of the superstructures. In the Satellite Towns, farmers take care of everything, except maintenance. Priests periodically visit the outlying communities to keep the Satellite towns afloat.

Nomads are the only humans that do not live in cities or towns. They travel between communities trading Scavenged supplies for food and services. I will cover their society in more detail in another post.

The castes are all equal, at least in theory. In practice, the Priests control the city with the help of the Protectors. However, all castes are equally valued. Priests decide what the city needs, Scavengers collect it from the ruins, and Craftspeople make the supplies the Scavengers need. Protectors keep the city stable and Labourers supply what everyone needs. Society would collapse with the loss of any one caste.

Introduction

Welcome to Worlds of Ink, reader.

This is a blog of world-building and tabletop roleplaying games. Some of the content will be pure world-building, with attention towards potential as a setting for prose fiction as well as potential for gaming. The gaming content will vary between homebrew rules, adventures, and actual play reports. I may also post the stats I’m using for a various NPCs seen in game.

That said, I figure I should give a small look into my current projects.

Nova

A pure world-building project. Nova is a world in which the ground is covered in a toxic fog and humankind scrapes out an existence on a series of gigantic floating structures. The primary focus of the setting are the Scavengers, people who climb down into the toxic fog, protected only by primitive gas masks, and raid the ruins of long dead civilizations. Technology is a mix of medieval and modern. People fight off dangerous wildlife with swords and spears, but grow some of their food with hydroponics. Magic exists, but is limited to relics retrieved from the ruins below, and whatever minor miracles the mysterious priest caste conjures.

A Voice in the Dark

An adventure for Eclipse Phase and the first actual play report. The players are a group of Firewall Sentinels sent to Aphrodite Prime, a habitat floating in the Venusian atmosphere. They were sent to investigate a suspicious terrorist bombing by their clandestine organization. I’ll eventually post the entire adventure, after the actual play (and the game) is finished.

The Fisher Kings

The second actual play is a dark take on the superhero genre. I’m running this game in Arc Dream’s Wild Talents and with a different group from the first AP. The heroes here have suddenly gained superpowers in a world that was very similar to ours until just under a week before the game began. They aren’t the only ones who gained superpowers; in fact, they’re right about in the middle of the scale. Unluckily for the PCs, the people with the most power seem unhinged. They have to deal with hiding their identities from the authorities, who see them as a threat, while simultaneously dealing with superpowered villains too powerful for the mundane people of their city. All in all, the deck seems stacked against them, even with their superpowers.

On top of the projects I’ve listed above, I have a few other projects I won’t mention here. They’ll pop up whenever I have some new material for them.

Lastly, I’m hoping to create another blog for short fiction. You may see some familiar worlds when that starts up.

Hope you enjoy!

                -Ink