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!

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.

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.

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

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. 

Electric Bastionland's Open Door Policy

Bastion: The only city that matters. The Electric Hub of Mankind.

Everything beneath our sun is Bastionland; the furthest reaches of Deep Country, the long shadow of our past, the simpletons and obsolete gods.

From beneath other Stars, Foreigners are here.

In The Underground, masked Fallacies seek to undermine reality.

You have a failed career and a colossal Debt. Treasure is your only hope.

Writing continues, playtests are happening, and the setting continues to spiral out of control.

But forget what I've been up to. Bastion has been busy getting electricity, worse ways to kill people, and opening up to the gates to Foreigners.

And not just Deep Country yokels. Things from Foreign Stars. It'll never work out. 

Religion of Bastionland

I've been giving some thought to Religion in Bastionland. Though I've got other ideas up on the wall, here's one take on it.

Religion doesn't have to involve supernatural beings, but it's a good draw for new members.

• Those seeking structure and direction gaze to the Star Lands.
• Those desiring freedom and revolution idolise the Underground.
• Those rejecting modernity look to Deep Country.

Just as the Underground, Deep Country, and the Star Lands are real places you can go, Spirits are real beings that you can find and interact with, as well as the oddities they leave in their wake.

Distant, incomprehensible beings are overrated, I prefer gods that you can at least fire a bullet at, for whatever good it'll do. 

ASTRAL SPIRITS

• They embody an ideal in an inorganic form.
• They enforce the rules of their ideal with the help of human followers.
• Their rules supersede any other ideas of goodness.

From Left, clockwise: Remembrance Spirit, Motherhood Spirit, Conquest Spirit, Hygiene Spirit.

Astral Faiths tend to:

• Have complex structures.
• Enforce lots of rules.
• Make lots of promises for the future.

UNDERGROUND SPIRITS

• They embody a man-made thing in a deathly or masked form.
• They seek to bring about change and new creations.
• They find destruction distasteful.

From Top Left, clockwise: Duel Spirit, Funeral Spirit, Porcelain Spirits, Smog Spirit.

New Faiths tend to:

• Offer ways to break the rules.
• Focus on the individual. 
• Promise a Revolution. 

OLD SPIRITS

• The embody something natural in a beastly form.
• They oppose change and modernity.
• They have animals and people take on demonic forms to serve them.

From Top, clockwise: Mountain Spirit, Elephant Spirit, Host of Death Spirits, Tsunami Spirit.

Old Faiths tend to:

• Promise to keep things the same or move backwards. 
• Focus on blood ties and physical rituals. 
• Emphasise places and history. 

Bastion is People

If you frequent a big city, you'll know that all the buildings and cars and pigeons are nothing in comparison to all the bloody people.

Now imagine it on Bastion's scale.

The Law of People

• There are all sorts, and they're everywhere.
• Everything you find and everything you want is tied to some person in some way.
• Mastery of People is Mastery of Bastion.

There are all sorts, and they're everywhere

Picture a person. They'd fit somewhere in Bastion. Give them some stupid gimmick, don't worry they still fit somewhere.

If planning a dungeon is all about drawing maps and rooms and making monsters, planning a borough of Bastion is all about making People. 

Even when you're creating exciting city locations, someone will have wandered over there. They can't be stopped. What sort of person would even want to be here?

People you talk to are NPCs, everyone else is scenery. They're the trees in the forest slowing you down. They're the boggy ground drowning your horse. They're the sheer cliff face between you and the treasure. They're the wolves waiting to eat your corpse.

Some will tell you to give everyone in your game a name, but in Bastion the vast majority of people you see will remain nameless. You won't even hear most of them speak, but they're acting out their own plans and urges and getting swept up with everybody else.

If you're going to give details, either give none at all or more than they can handle.

If you notice a guy with a huge mustache, you also notice the bridal party and the child leading a baby elephant and the student sports team and the singing drunks.

If you go faceless, give them the mood of the crowd, the overall sound, smells, movement.  

Don't ever let the players ever feel like they're on their own.

Everything you find, everything you want is tied to some person in some way

An avalanche, a new weapon, a priceless treasure. Each of those things can be replaced with people. Get your paintbrush, dip it into the tin marked PEOPLE, and cover as much as you can.

The avalanche is a riot. The weapon is a mercenary. The treasure is a hostage. 

Armour is lackies. Skills are specialists. Knowledge is librarians. 

And those things that are just straight-up things? Somebody owns that. Somebody else wants it. Somebody else thinks that nobody should be allowed to have it.

Got a plan? There are three people in the way of getting what you want.

Mastery of People is Mastery of Bastion

With all the weird powers you might pick up on your travels, you're nothing on your own in Bastion. Great Fighters don't make a difference here, but an Army can. Unions are everywhere, because people are the most significant currency out there.

It's great for those on top, but those underneath sometimes feel valued by the whole arrangement. Sometimes. 

Getting killed is awful. Losing an ally not so bad. 

The worst adversary you can have isn't a brute with a big gun, it's the brute's boss. 

Does it matter if your Ability Scores are all below 10 when you've got a Bodyguard, a Personal Thief, and a Public Relations Assistant following you around? Does your 2hp matter when you're never the one on the front line?

Even Great People are never great at everything, so start building your contacts list now.

Bastionland First Playtest Packet

If you want to playtest BASTIONLAND, you can download the Playtest Packet containing:

• A more radically altered set of the Into the Odd rules than will probably make it into the final book.
• Six pre-generated characters from the new set of Backgrounds.
• "Running the Game" section.
• A good chunk of the "Understanding Bastion" and "Running Bastion" sections.
• Keep Out of Brokenborough, a new sample expedition site within Bastion.

If you get it to the table, please send any and all feedback through to the email in my sidebar, contact me on G+, or comment underneath this post.

Have fun!