Thursday, 31 August 2017

Mockeries Revisited

These guys are due another look, condensing the previous posts into one usable set of guidelines.

MOCKERIES
  • Creatures of wood, felt, and steel given the spark of life.
  • They love acting human, but their needs are only imitated.
  • Children love them, real animals hate them.




MOCK TALENTS

  • Every Mockery has an innate super-human talent for a particular task.
  • The talent is often trivial, and rarely put to serious use.
  • They are excellent but unconventional teachers of their talent.

EXCEPTIONS

  • Mock People are known, but largely despised.
  • Mock Objects tend to live in the Underground.
  • Some have merged with organic tissue, calling themselves Fallacies: such as the False Angels and False Leviathan.


TEMPLATES

Apply your flavour of choice to these bones.

Mock Critter

STR 5, DEX 15, CHA 10, 4hp. d4 Damage.
  • Be clingy.
  • Be difficult.
  • Want to do everything other than their talent.

Mock Beast

STR 15, DEX 5, CHA 10, 7hp, d8 Damage.
  • Switch between human and animal behaviour
  • Switch between terrifying and pathetic.
  • Play dumb.

Mock Colossus

STR 18, DEX 5, CHA 10, 15hp, Armour 2, d10 Blast.
  • Show a gentle side.
  • Try to stay out of the way.
  • Long for some non-violent attention.



SPARKS (Roll 2d20 and Combine)
d20
Type
Talent
1
Otter
Cooking
2
Lobster
Sprinting
3
Heron
Eating
4
Toad
Seduction
5
Rhino
Puzzles
6
Mole
Burglary
7
Goat
Performance
8
Spider
Bureaucracy
9
Crow
Vision
10
Mallard
Memory
11
Dolphin
Law
12
Crocodile
Academia
13
Hog
Strategy
14
Bear
Spying
15
Rooster
Interrogation
16
Whale
Trivia
17
Mammoth
Engineering
18
Bunny
Sculpture
19
Oyster
Grooming
20
Anaconda
Forensics

Monday, 28 August 2017

Electric Bastionland's Second Playtest Package

It's here!

Some changes from the previous version, and a chance to test out the character backgrounds system in a bit more detail.

Notably, this also doesn't include an adventure, because I want to see what people can create with this, or how it works for running other modules.

The download link is: https://goo.gl/R2wdoa
Have fun!

Friday, 18 August 2017

From Foreign Stars

One theory is that Bastion's growing number of radio towers and neon lights combined to act as a beacon to all beings, from Foreign Stars. They came for the signal, stayed for the music and culture.

Visitors are welcome, of course. There can be no greater crime than depriving another being of the opportunity to live in Bastion. The fact that they've come all this way shows they've got good taste. 

The trade opportunities alone are worth putting up with the occasional cosmic monstrosity for. 

ALIENS
  • They are more advanced than us, but in a very specific way.
  • They bring something with them, and seek to take something home.
  • It’s unclear where their bodies end and their technology begins.




LIVING IN BASTION
  • There are always barriers to integration.
  • They always have a means of communication, however ineffective.
  • Their desires are relatable, but through an alien lens.



LOST IN DEEP COUNTRY
  • Some rule as Gods.
  • Some have established isolated communities.
  • Some have become monsters of legend.


EXAMPLE ALIENS

Soft One - Slimy Pink Person
STR 5, DEX 10, CHA 13, 5hp. Organic Plate Armour 1, Goo-Pistol (d6, melt on Critical Damage).
  • Devour as many different foods as possible.
  • Touch as many things as possible.
  • Excrete pearls (£1 per pile excreted) and flee as a defence technique.Image result for barlowe hell

Stone Lion - Intelligent Quadruped
STR 15, DEX 10, CHA 15, 10hp, Powered Armoured Body 2. Trample (d10). 
  • Speak calmly about the beauties of his 
  • Beckon humans to travel to his homeland as willing slaves, but won't force them.
  • Translate between people and animals.


Chain-Servant - Metallic Giants
STR 18, DEX 15, CHA 15, 13hp. Metal Body 3, Smash (d10) or Chain Explosion (d8 Blast)
  • Tend to worshipers maternaly.
  • Ensure that worshipers are getting fair treatment.
  • Become a living weapon.


CREATE YOUR OWN

SPARKS (Roll 2d20 and Combine)
d20
Prefix
Suffix
1
Word
Saints
2
Void
Pilgrims
3
Pleasure
Workers
4
Blood
Locusts
5
Mercy
Beasts
6
Golden
Imps
7
Flesh
Vessels
8
War
Ghosts
9
Light
Hounds
10
Rage
Beacons
11
Smoke
Serpents
12
Horned
Titans
13
Royal
Forgers
14
Knife
Guardians
15
Divine
Engineers
16
Perfect
Breakers
17
Ice
Spiders
18
Immortal
Thieves
19
Diamond
Tyrants
20
Imitation
Eyes



LANDS BENEATH FOREIGN STARS
  • They follow different rules.
  • There is always something to be exploited.
  • There is always danger.


VISITING THE FOREIGN STARS
  • The Underground must be traveled deeper than you would like. 
  • Ships must pass through mists that break reality. 
  • Somebody is always trying a new way to travel there.

WHAT COULD BE
  • They often resemble a paradise, a hell, or a combination thereof.
  • All beings show signs of humanity.
  • The rules that make this place different are rigorously enforced.



ALIENS AT HOME
  • They are bound by the rules of their home.
  • You are expected to follow the rules.
  • For every glimmer of humanity, they display their foreignness too.
Related image


CREATE YOUR OWN

RANDOM SPARKS (Roll 2d20 and Combine)

d20
Spark One 
Spark Two 
1
Truth
Remembrance
2
Courage
Preservation
3
Hardship
Destruction
4
Justice
Consolidation
5
Beauty
Cycle
6
Order
Rewarded
7
Honour
Valuation
8
Charity
Experimentation
9
Reason
Invention
10
Death
Debate
11
War
Archive
12
Entropy
Challenge
13
Servitude
Prison
14
Holy
Community
15
Obedience
Denial
16
Toil
Cathedral
17
Peace
Purification
18
Pleasure
Crusade
19
Serenity
Procedure
20
Architecture 
Sacrifice

Sunday, 13 August 2017

Automachines in the Underground

AUTOMACHINES

Maybe they grew from the Underground's impossible dimensions, maybe they fell into there from our own future creation, or maybe they were planted by Foreign engineers beyond our own.




KEY PRINCIPLES
  • They are one with the Underground, or at least their part of it.
  • They instigate change and monitor the results.
  • They want to teach you a lesson.


FORMS

  • They are machines, but always have a way to communicate.
  • They are more suited to create than destroy.
  • Their bond to the Underground is often physical.


BEHAVIOUR
  • They follow logic, often to the extreme.
  • They are always willing to explain.
  • They want to see you tested and altered, and care little about you beyond that.


CREATIONS

  • They manufacture creations from the Underground itself.
  • Once something is created, they do nothing to control it.
  • The solution to everything is either Creation or Observation.

SAMPLE AUTOMACHINES

Helpy-Bug - Crawling Automachine
STR 10, DEX 5, 7hp. Armour 3, d4 Mandibles
  • Follow you around, squeaking.
  • Create tiny, useful things if it would drive you closer to danger.
  • Pass through danger without harm, showing how safe it is down here.

Dream-Genie- Holographic Projector

STR 10, 7hp, Armour 3.
  • Project an angelic holographic form.
  • Conjure visions of what might happen if you delay.
  • Encourage you to be reckless.

Happy-Vendor - Wall-Mounted Automachine
STR 15, 7hp. Armour 3. d8 Repulsion Spike.
  • Offer just the thing you need, in a can, for free, but with a chaotic twist.
  • Tell you about all the things it has seen.
  • Tell you how to get exactly what you need to go further.