Primordial Bastionland - IRON

The thing with Deep Country is you can always go deeper.

Beyond the knotted vastness of Massiff Country.

Who knows what lies even further than the Old Country of Auldskunterroy.

Forever deeper in both distance and time. 

A sort of Primordial Bastionland.

Past the point where people haven't heard of Bastion, but to a place where Bastion cannot exist, because it's already a dream.

The promise of Baztium. A beacon of civilisation that will rise from this bleak existence. 

But it doesn't exist. This place isn't there yet. It's stuck in the past. 

Pinned in place with heavy iron.

The Way and the Word

The Way is the world as it is, a natural order of things. Fire, Stone, and Sky into Iron, Trees, and Stars. 

Demons are manifestations of the Way, sent to deliver a message or challenge. We have Iron to strengthen us, Trees to protect us, and Stars to warn us.

The Word are the tricks we use to survive. Small crimes against the Way. Stories that hide lessons and lost knowledge. Secrets that put us above the horses and hounds, the thuzzards and leozards. 

Charms, Curses, Callings.

Of all the interweaving threads of the Way, some say we'd be dead if not for Iron alone. 

IRON

In Bastion, weapons can feel obsolete when you're competing with bureaucrats, journalists, and politicians. Of course there are innovations and variations but it's as much about fashion as function.

Out here you don't have that luxury. 

The tools you carry are your means of both survival and staking a place in society. 

You already know the general tools. The sword, the axe, the bow. 

There are more specialist options if you can find those that know the right methods of fire and stone.

Specialist Weapons

Back in Bastion, a small group of niche scholars have spent much time piecing together their limited knowledge of the weapons of the deep Deep Country. Complex categorisations and sub-categorisations are debated and bickered-about. The below is considered a fraction of an outdated taxonomy, but nobody has completed their proposed alternatives yet.

These weapons all have the following in common:

• They can be used as a normal weapon, typically equivalent to a Crude or Hand Weapon.
• They receive a Bonus when used in a specific situation. 
• They tell you something about the sort of person that is carrying one.

Murder Arms - For enemies unworthy.

• Rods: Simple weapons designed to concuss and break bones.
• Bellrod (d6, +d8 when at least one Monk is chanting alongside you)
• Marshersrod (d6, +d8 vs unmounted opponents while you are mounted)
• Bullsrod (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs a target with a lower STR than you)
• Stakes: Weapons designed to stab with a single piercing wound.
• Kannecstake (d6, +d8 vs a disarmed target)
• Chaserstake (Thrown, d6, +d8 vs a fleeing target)
  
• Witchiestake (d6, +d8 in a tunnel or other cramped environment)
  
• Biters: Weapons designed to deliver wide, slashing wounds.
• Muttbiter (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs doglike enemies)
• Cloffbiter (Bulky, d6, can attack two unarmed humanoid opponents)
• Vagabiter (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs humanoid opponents that are fighting unarmed or with a small improvised weapon)

Battle Arms - For enemies with iron.

• Hooks: Weapons designed to hook or drag opponents.
• Catahook (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs mounted opponents)
• Lunderhook (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents wielding a shield)
• Torniehook (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents with STR lower than your DEX)
• Mauls: Weapons designed to apply heavy impact to burst through armour.
• Splittermaul (d6, +d8 vs opponents with Armour 2 or higher)
• Buldersmaul (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs targets with DEX lower than your STR)
• Brekermaul (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs targets without a fully-metal shield or weapon to parry)
• Forks: Weapons with a split blade or spike to trap incoming attacks.
• Brotesfork (d6, +d8 vs opponents wielding a one-handed weapon)
• Shafferfork (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents wielding two-handed weapons)
• Mekenfork (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents that attacked you on their last turn)

Slaying Arms - For inhuman enemies.

• Hurlers: Weighted spears and javelins designed for launching forcefully. 
• Shuckerhurler (Ranged, d6, +d8 vs opponents with a shell or other natural armour)
• Underhurler (Ranged, d6, +d8 vs an opponent that is charging you)
• Palleyhurler (Ranged, d6, +d8 vs opponents with 0hp)
• Poles: Weapons mounted on long poles.
• Heftpole (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents that cannot move next to you)
• Braccenpole (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents taller than you)
• Thistlepole (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents you attacked last turn)
• Chains: Weapons that whip or ensnare opponents.
• Sherdchain (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents that are trying to fight on the move)
• Duffschain (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents with wings)
• Mawchain (Bulky, d6, +d10 vs opponents with jaws large enough to crush a person)

The Balancing Act

Balance isn't about making things equal, it's about preserving interesting choices.

Characters

Starter Packages lightly balance characters with higher scores against those with lower, by giving the low-rolling player better equipment.

This is a soft balance, as once play starts those scores begin to fade away behind the players' decisions and the weird things that they find.

Everyone can contribute when playing Into the Odd, and things move quickly enough that any time one character spends in the spotlight is sure to be fleeting.

Weapons

If a rapier is better than a machete in every way then choosing which to use isn't an interesting choice.

Weapon balance is built into the system if you imagine that all weapons start at d6 damage, one handed. Every time you raise the damage by a die type, you have to add a disadvantage.

Field Weapons: d8, but two handed.
Noble Weapons: d8, but very expensive (enough to be a target of theft)
Heavy Guns: d10, two handed AND move or fire, AND expensive.
Power Arms: d10, two handed, AND some other problem.

So you can use this as a guide whenever you're making a new weapon, but bear in mind some qualities are both an advantage and disadvantage.

So a Flamethrower starts as a Field Weapon (d8), but affects everything in a cone. This is great in some situations, but makes it worthless in others, so keep it at (d8 Cone).

A Gatling-Gun, though, can target an individual or spread fire into a cone, so we'll give it the added disadvantage of needing a round to spin and warm up (d8, Cone or Individual, One Round Warm-Up).

Of course you'll want to have really weird weapons, but they probably fall into...

Oddities

No rules here, that's the point. But if you're worried that you've created something too useful (again, defined as removing interesting choices, in this case "should I use this Oddity?") consider applying one of the following:

• It's immobile.
• It's a one-shot disposable.
• It's a living thing with its own agenda.
• It requires some sort of set up (feed it a heart, it needs to be laid like a trap, only works in specific locations). 

Remember you aren't aiming for net zero here. Oddities are good things to have around. You just don't want any one Oddity to become the solution to all problems.

Monsters

Giant Ants are the worst. In by-the-book AD&D (see them fixed here) they fill a dark checklist that leads to the encounter being incredibly deadly, but equally uninteresting.

• They're deadly. 
• They always attack and you can't talk with them.
• They're faster than you and good at tracking you down.

Characters meeting scary monsters straight out of the gate is one of the cornerstones of Into the Odd. Forget waiting until you've leveled up to meet a Beholder or Purple Worm, I want those in your first session. 

You can make your monster as crushingly powerful as you like, as long as you give the group something to work with. 

Giants will crush you but they're dumb and their size can be used against them.

Mind Flayers are super smart and powerful, but have bigger plans than just you.

Even this Lich that hates you and has crazy powers is stuck in their crypt, so you aren't just going to meet him in the woods. 

In short, if you make them powerful, pick at least one way to make them interesting:

• Make them dumb.
• Make them want something other than killing.
• Make them restrained somehow. 

Power Arms

Into the Odd has four classes of weapon.

Hand Weapons - One handed, d6 damage.
Field Weapons - Two handed, d8 damage.
Noble Weapons - One handed, d8 damage, fancy and pricey.
Heavy Guns - Two handed, d10 damage, move or fire, ultra-pricey.

And we're looking at that last class. Why are Heavy Guns the only class that rules out melee?

Was it designer oversight?
Are guns just better than melee weapons in this world?
Is it because the move-or-fire rule doesn't work with melee stuff as well?

All questions we can ignore, because Heavy Guns now has a sister-class.

Power Arms - Two handed, d10 damage, ultra-pricey, and each has their own downside.

Drill-Bill: So clumsy that rolls of 3 or less are ignored entirely.

Bonesaw: If you cause Critical Damage the saw gets jammed up in the victim, requiring a round to remove.

Impact-Pod: When you roll a 10, you take the damage.

Strangler: Getting it installed on your arm is a permanent modification.
 

Chattersword: Incredibly loud, and takes a round to fire up.

Demolition Hammer: Fitted with two charges, consuming one with each attack. Reloading charges requires a Short Rest.