A Science-Fantasy Visual Grammar III

Mutation: the enemy within.  On worlds that have been infected with the Chaos of filth-darkness, filth-strain mutation often subtly infects and corrupts nearly the entire population.  Sometimes the mutations are hidden and undetectable to the untrained eye; but those mutants that 'pass' can be even more sinister as they spread their taint undetected via the space-lanes.  Mutant cults will bide their time, breeding ever more concentrated filth-mutants until the time comes to raise the bloody rag of revolution with the loathsome cry; 'There are no Gods but the Great Old Ones and Morgoth Xothulhu is their Priest and Prophet!'

The Human Sphere, especially in the Old Republic's Core and Inner Territories, is speckled with grim and wasted ruins, like pustules on a plagued man's face; where the

Collapse of the Old Republic, the Succession Wars, and the Interregnum have left entire arcology-worlds abandoned or even regressed in technology and population.  These ebon bones of once gleaming spires contain both treasures and terrors within their bosom.  Those foolish or perhaps brave enough to prospect and salvage there, those who rob the tombs of the ancients are often called 'Venturers.

Many of the treacherous ruined arcologies that foolhardy 'Venturers brave to forage for riches are guarded by the remnants of the Old Republic's Machine Legions, Omnicidal Abominable Intelligences faithfully following the last directive of the overthrown Technomancer Oligarchs of the Old Republic to purge their Hegemony of Treasonous Life.

No one knows from whence come the Terrible Frogmen, only that they spread the Darkness-Filth wherever they go, like carriers of plague and serve Warlocks and the Chaos Cults that grow around them like poisonous mushrooms.  Some say they serve the Qlippothim of Yuggoth, others the Lords of Carcosa, yet others insist they serve the Domination of Xothique.  Only the pestilent Frogs know for sure and they rarely speak of their origin.

A Khazad Iron Golem patrols deep within the underworld tunnels of the Lords Under the Mountains.  Of all the demi-human races of the Valinor Alliance, the Khazad are perhaps the most mysterious.  They rarely leave their underground hold-fasts or interact with other races.  Even when they do it is often by drone-proxy.  They are regarded as master makers and techno-wizards of legend however and many seek out their services for one great-making or another.  Those who fail to show the proper ritual respect seldom return.

It is known that the Frogmen commune with Terrible Things from the Deeps, purchasing their aid with Blasphemous Oaths and sacrifices of Maiden-Flesh.  Just who these Deep Ones are, or whom they serve is if anything, more mysterious than the Frogs themselves.  While several Sword Lords of legendary status have purified underwater infections of these Deep Ones, none of these pustules have proven to be their source and some say they intrude in the middle geometry from somewhere else.

An Iron-Man Skin-Walker, once the dreaded secret-police of the Technomancer Oligarchs of the fallen Old Republic, now their corrupted runtimes drive them to replace their decaying and necrotic flesh so that they might again possess the faces of men.  Ambitious techno-mancers have been known to attempt to bargain for services of such Abominable Intelligences, but the price is often more than originally bargained for.

'An Estate on the Rim' is usually considered something of an white-elephant gift for Sword World Nobility; kitting out a Landing-Keep and enticing settlers to the frontier-marches often consumes a landed noble's other rents and is often the work of generations.  Of course this is often the purpose of overlords granting such fiefs in the first place.  On the other hand, for a mercenary man-at-arms with no pedigree or patented family-name, such a grant is the goal of a life's work and the gateway to elevated status otherwise unreachable.  And for the landless man of noble breeding, with a good-name, a cyber-charger, and war-plate but no fief of his own, something is always preferred to nothing.

Some say that not all of the Vile Technomancer Oligarchs of the Old Republic, or their red-robed Maitreyan Order lackeys, died in the Rebellion of the Priests and instead retreated to secret Tower-Palaces somewhere out in the deep-black, far from civilized known-space and prying eyes.  The Clerical Order of the Universal Church of Light takes these rumors deadly seriously and often sponsors expeditions to seek out whatever truth may lie behind such.  Ominously, some expeditions never return. 

Life for the Common Man on the Periphery of the Sphere of Man is a constant struggle to win new lands for the Cosmos of Order in the Middle Geometry, to re-kindle the Light against the Creeping Dark.  The Peasant Life is also its own Inner-Crusade and the Wind of their Prayers is what holds the Chaos-Darkness of the Filth-Tide back from the Worlds of Men.

An heirloom Lost-Tech suit of War-Plate with Powered-Harness, layered with ablative coatings and enchantments to preserve the warrior encased within.  On far-flung Dark-Shadowed worlds where Star-Crusades have failed many such suits still yet stand erect as mute statues; holed and frozen tombs and tributes to the glorious fallen heroes of ages past.  

An Inquisitorial Kill Team of the Clerical Order in action against a Chaos Cult caught in the act.  As the Stars Fade and the Light becomes a memory of a dream, Unspeakable Cults give themselves to the Dark in Despair.  Remember; Defeatism leads to Despair, Despair leads to Chaos, Chaos leads to Filth, Filth leads to Darkness!  Be Vigilant!  Praise the Light of Order!  

ACKSF Core Classes

Ok, this is a bit of a planning post, as the lion's share of the detail-work remains to be done, but things have solidified enough for me to see a definite path forward.

So, the Core Classes in ACKS are:

Class    |  Prm Req |
Fighter  |  STR     |
Mage     |  INT     |
Cleric   |  WIS     |
Thief    |  DEX     |

Now these are all grand old archetypes, and will work just as well thematically in Science-Fantasy as they do in any other kind of Fantasy. 

Fighters are trivially easy to see in Science-Fantasy; Boba Fett, Johnny Rico, Prince Colwyn, Master Chief, Doomguy, Adeptus Astartes, etc.  The Fighting-Man's mastery of all weapons and armor is even more important in a Science-Fantasy setting given the variety of kinetic and energy guns and powered armor.

Mages might at first glance seem out of place in Outer-Space, but this quickly falls apart when examined.  The Lovecraft Mythos is full of Sorcery and Sorcerers from Outer-Space, including magic space-beer, the quaffing of which protects the imbiber from the effects of vacuum exposure.  Also the world of Comic Books has no problem with getting the Chocolate of Fantasy in the Peanut Butter of Scifi.  Example Mages include: Stardust, Nemesis, Doctor Strange, Maal Dweb, Mum-Ra, Titus Crow, and the Green Lantern Corps.

Clerics, as Militant Priests, are somewhat more difficult to place in Science-Fantasy than Mages, although after a moments thought, not much more.  While examples of Arms-Bearing Pastors are not extremely common in the common media corpus, they can be found here and there; after all, what else is an Astartes Chaplain?

Thieves are no problem at all, there's Malcolm Reynolds, Han Solo, the Stainless Steel Rat, the crew of the Raza, and pretty much every Traveller party ever has included at least one character of criminal background who can fence the party's ill gotten gains.

Once cannot help but notice that there is one Core Class for each of STR, INT, WIS, and DEX.  What about CON and CHA?  Once upon a time, these were domain of the Dwarf and the Elf respectively, and while I heartily endorse Race as Class, in my Campaign Law, the Core Classes should all have human archetypes.

So what Science-Fantasy archetypes would fit with CON and CHA as their Prime Requisite?

Let's go back to the Attribute Descriptions, in ACKS, Constitution is defined as:

 Constitution is a combination of general health and vitality.  Apply the Constitution bonus or penalty to each Hit Die rolled by the character.  Note that a penalty here cannot reduce any Hit Die roll to less than 1 point.  

Immediately what springs to my mind is Cybernetic Prosthetic Bodies, the implantation of which must be limited by the health of the recipient, lest the drastic surgeries and drugs necessary kill the recipient.  And while Characters of any Class would benefit from limited implants gained during play (limited quite like magic items), the extreme modification of the Full Conversion 'Borg deserves to be its own archetype and this is easily seen in the source material: Cyborg, Robocop, the Six Million Dollar Man, Briareos Hecatonchires, Major Kusanagi, Battle Angle Alita, Adeptus Mechanicus, the Omar, Adam Jensen, and of course, the one and only Tinman.

Now, what about Charisma?

 This is the ability to influence or even lead people; those with high Charisma are well-liked, or at least highly respected. Charisma is a prime requisite for bards. Apply the Charisma bonus or penalty to the character’s reaction rolls. Charisma also determines the maximum number of henchmen the character may employ, and modifies their morale.  The number of henchmen a character may hire is equal to 4 plus the Charisma bonus or penalty (and therefore ranges from 1 to 7); the average morale of any such henchmen will be 0, modified by the character’s Charisma bonus or penalty.

Immediately the term 'Animal Magnetism' springs to mind, which associates quite naturally with 'Mesmerism'.  Why, we have found the Prime Requisite for our Psychic class!  And make no mistake, the Psyker, the Psion, the Esper, the Mentalist, the Teep deeply deserves his own space as a Core Archetype, as seen in such classic characters as; Alfred Bester Psi-Cop, the Lensmen, The Adeptus Telepathica, River Tam, Vulcan Mind Melds, Tetsuo and Akira, Newtypes, Jean Grey, the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, the Thoat-Riders of Barsoom, Gil of ARM, and of course The Jedi Order.

A Science-Fantasy Visual Grammar I

The Far-Future-Fantastic in Pictures:

1IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Cyber-Charger is an arcanoxenocybernetc war-machine favored by the high-ranking warrior-caste of the Human Sphere, referred to as the 'Cyber-Ritter' when granted his feoff in exchange for his service.  Once Aeldar understand the concept of using lobotomized and cyborged Qlippothim as war-machines and willingly riding them into battle, their firm belief in the collective insanity of Mankind is all but confirmed.

Church Militant Death Commando in action on a filth-infested demon world, records of the Second Star Crusade, Colourized.

Their Graces the Bishop-Prinz of New Mainz and his Lady-wife look on as their contribution to the Boy-Emperor Arcturius Pendrakul's Grand Armada takes flight.

StarCrusaders Without Number: Venturer, Conquistadore, WarLord

Ok, with that gentle introduction and elevator pitch out of the way, its time to discuss the system for StarCrusade!

At this time the best base for any OSR/SF system seems to be Stars Without Number (SWN), a clever mashup of B/X D&D and Classic Traveller. One of the things that draws me to the OSR mentality in gaming is the inability to leave things alone, every group plays *their* game and that's not just OK, but expected.  Which fits me to a tee, I can never just run the RAW.  Roleplaying isn't the Liturgy OK?  This is time to cooperatively play jazz, not 'do the red, say the black'.

What will be different about StarCrusaders! then?  I'm glad you (didn't) ask gentle reader, but I'll tell you anyway.

0.  Cross Pollination.  Because I can't just leave well enough alone, the first thing I'm going to do is cross-pollinate with the best in the Fantasy side of the OSR.  For me this is obviously Adventurer, Conqueror, King.  This system just hits all the right notes for me:

0.1.  GP as XP.  I can't emphasise this enough, nothing else captures the Old School Feel more in my opinion.  It's just so right.  Why are the players seeking treasure at risk of life and limb?  Because training with the Guild-Maesters isn't free.  This also encourages the Players to manage risks and discourages the 'murder-hobo'ism that many complaign about.  If XP is not awarded for killing things, but rather successfully looting the lairs, *and getting back*, players are instead motivated to avoid unnecessary confrontations and look for sneaky solutions. 

0.2.  Meaningful Character Progression.  Finally the promise of B/X and BECMI fulfilled, with meaningful 'Name-Level' and 'Domain' play, frabjulous day! 

0.3.  Also Race-as-Class, this is important in maintaining a human-centric vision and flavour. 

0.4.  Finally, there's the player companion which provides a framework for creating new and balanced classes.

1. Attributes. The six classic characteristics aren't enough for my vision, and neither are the attribute boni/mali. One of the principles of the StarCrusade! universe is Threes, as in things come in them, and Three groups of Three is an unfolding of that principle.

1.1.  Character attributes in StarCrusade! will be in three groups; Body, Mind, and Spirit.

1.2.  The Body attributes are Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. 'Nuff said.

1.3.  The Mind attributes are Intelligence, Wisdom, and Perception. Perception splits off the sensory perception and alertness concepts from Wisdom, leaving the prior as a pure measure of Induction and Intuition (as apposed to Intelligence's Deduction and Abstract Reasoning).  Intelligence is the prime mover for Technology and Skill Using characters.  Wisdom is the controlling characteristic for Resisting Corruption and Domination.  Perception is the defining attribute for ranged combat.

1.4.  And the Spirit attributes are Vitality, Willpower, and Charisma.

1.4.1.  Vitality measures a character's connection to the subtle life-consciousness field and is the Prime Requisite attribute for Physical Adepts (think Star Wars Force Users and Hong Kong action cinema Chi powered Wuxia).

1.4.2.  Willpower measures a character's internal disincline and strength of mind, and is the Prime Requisite for Mental Adepts (classic SWN/WH40k Psykers).

1.4.3.  Finally Charisma measure's a character's spiritual grace and connection to the secret fire and the ultimate source, and is the Prime Requisite for Spiritual Adepts (think D&D Clerics, Druids, and Paladins).

1.5.  Finally, the Attribute Modifier chart will be changed slightly, rewarding/punishing extremely high/low Attributes a little more:

Ability Score Modifiers
3        | -3
4-5      | -2
6-8      | -1
9-12     | 0
13-15    | +1
16-17    | +2
18       | +3

2. Races. I will be stating or converting up a number of Races available to players at the start of the campaign, representing the more space-fantasy feel of the setting.   As a sample, the Elder Races of the Valinor Alliance are:

2.1.  Aeldar - The Eldest of the Council Elders and founders of the Alliance; the only race in regular communication with the Ancient Valar who built The Citadel and supposedly reside at the top of the Citadel's Ivory Tower. Immortal, highly mystical, keepers of ancient and hidden lore, masters of the secret-fire; ancient Aeldar often spend entire lifetimes (as younger races measure such things) in a dreaming state, by which they regenerate their personalities and deal with the consequences of the curse of deathlessnes laid upon them so long ago.

2.2.  Khazad - The Second Eldest of the Council Elders and the personal sub-creation of a particularly enigmatic Valar; the Khazad are clannish, secretive, highly crafty and technical, masters of mining, architecture, engineering, and automation. Khazad chafe at the Valinor Alliance limits on Artificial Intelligence, often creating Machine Spirits that anyone else would consider dangerously independent; binding them with Oaths and Pacts. Several times in the past the Khazad have endured censure and approbation on the council for various activities that delved too deeply, too greedily into a particular subject matter, with severe if unintended consequences.

2.3.  Satyrines - The Third Eldest of the Council Elders; a study in contradictions, the Satyrines are capable of both shocking flights of emotional passion and fury and as a consequence, quench their society in highly ordered and calming ritual. The Worker, Warrior, and Religious castes of Satyrine society control all public life, while the great Clans regulate the private. Between the darkness and the light stand the Satyrines, and if they should enter the deranged state of Warrior-Panic, watch out.

2.4.  Entwifs - The Youngest of the Council Elders and barely so at that, only recently qualifying for the position by raising up two younger races to join the Valinor Alliance. Often considered dangerously reckless, flighty, and irresponsible by their elders, the Entwifs are determined to prove themselves, often reinforcing the stereotype in the process. Entwifs are somewhat unique in being technically mobile plants and not animals (although some contest this as mobility is what it separates plant from animal, or so they say) and there are those who spread uncharitable rumors that reason all Entwifs in known space are female is that the males couldn't take their insanity. Others whisper that the males of the Entwifs are in fact the Treant war-machines favored by Entwif warrior-maidens, but they whisper this quietly, very quietly indeed.

I'm also toying with tearing out HP and AC and replacing them with Traveller style Attributes as Hit Points and Armor as Damage Reduction and a Class/Level based Combative Value to replace AC, but I think I want to play the RAW before touching combat too deeply. 

That's all for now, end transmission...

War Canto Begin

This blog will be a record and notebook chronicling my attempt to compile my personal vision of a far-future, science-fantasy, post-cataclysmic, old-school, imperial space-opera campaign. This Blog will, if successful, will allow my vision to hit my table, and yours dear reader.

What is this vision?

In the Remote Far-Future, Boy-King Arcturus Pendrakul takes the Cross and joins the First Star-Crusade; by this he hopes to gain Glory for God and his House, reaping Ancient Treasures and Martial Renown, to capture besieged Valinor's Ivory Tower, to win the hand of the Elf King's Daughter in marriage, and to be seated on the empty Phoenix-Throne of the Holy Solar Empire of Man.

OK let me unpack that a bit.

After the cataclysmic fall of the decadent post-human trans-humanist oligarchic dystopia (think Deus Ex Invisible War: Illuminati Ending) that colonized the stars in the distant past; mankind is forced to return to older, more traditional modes of living. It is perhaps ironic that the core of survival emerges from one of the troika tripod legs supporting Corporate Elite rule in the old Corporate Republic; namely the Order of Maitreya.

This synthetic, syncretic, one-world faith supplanted the old religions of man at gunpoint. As it came to pass, many Order Acolytes preserved their ancestral ancient faiths in secret, and as the dystopia of the Republic eventually crumbled under the hubris of its hedonistic and degenerate elites in the fullness of time, these Secret-Priests soon controlled a Shadow-State within the state, providing for their faithful where the Republic could not or would not.

When the Stars themselves began to Occult and Fade, and the Darkness-Filth began to eat away at the fabric so called Final Society, these Secret-Priests rose up against the blood-soaked chaos and madness; casting down the black and red-robed diabolists of the Maitreyan Order and the malfunctioning Murder-Machine Legions of the Hegemony and her Corporations in Atomic Holy-War against the Thinking-Machines and their Machine-Men masters.

The Old Republic died in cataclysmic fire, chaos, madness, filth-tide, mutation, and magic. The Sword-Lords of the Star League rose in its place.  The Old Republic had reduced the hives of Terra to grey-faced lumpen-prole consumer-drones without culture or spirit, but on the periphery of the Human-Sphere rose new nations, and from these hardy frontier peoples a new aristocracy. 

These Sword-Lords established the Great Houses of the Star-League, and under the Legendary Karl the Hamner, founded the Great and Bountiful Holy Solar Empire of Man.  But all is not well; the Cultist, Revolutionary, and the Mutant threaten the Tranquility and Harmony of Order from within and the blasphemous Qliphoth Convenant; The Yuggothim, Xothim, Yrchlings, and other Wyldfae-Xenos and Demonic-Aliens menace from without.

The aloof Aeldar Aeshi, Prime-Eldest of the ancient and mysterious Valinor Alliance in Gal-Center have brokered a peace between the Star League and the haughty Ingelrii, servitors of the Melyae, Fourth Eldest of the Valinor Quorum of the Twelve. This alone would be shocking enough; but the Aeldari seek to bring the Human Sphere formally into the Valinor Alliance and seek to wed the daughter of Ingwe Ingweran, High-King of Valinor, to the crown prince of the Human Empire.

The problem is that the throne sits empty, none of the great houses can agree on who should take up the purple and the legacies of Karl the Hamner and Aleksandyr Norman Romanov; Emperors of Man. But the Valinor are hard pressed by the spreading Darkness of the Qliphothim and seek human military aid anyway.

And so it came to pass in the Year of Our Lord 3,960 that the First Star Crusade was preached against the foul taint of the Qliphothim Covenant and their Dread Prophet Morgoth by the Pontifex Maximus on Terra to great shouts of Deus Vult!  The prize for the Noble House that drives the Darkness from Known Space is the Throne of Man. The great race is on.

Now the Great Houses gather their fleets and banners and set forth in armed pilgrimage and holy war, sending forth scouts and questors to secure supplies, intelligence, and ancient treasures along their routes and seeing the warlike hosts of half-barbarian men descend on the quiet shire-worlds of Valinor Space, the Quorum begin to question just what it is they have done.

It's Mech Warrior meets Fading Suns, Dungeons and Dragons meets Traveller, Mass Effect meets Deus Ex, Earthdawn meets Shadowrun, Pendragon meets Rogue Trader, Lovecraft meets Tolkien, Heinlein meets Moorcock, Halo meets Destiny, Guardians of the Galaxy meets Fifth Element, Babylon 5 meets Star Wars, 2000 AD meets Metabarons, Gimenez meets Mobius, Jodorowsky meets David Lynch, Dark Crystal meets Farscape, Dune meets Excalibur, Metahistory meets Metahumans.

The Darkness shall not prevail over the Light because;  This!  Is!  Terra!