Introducing Arkbound

Another day, another name change.
This one, though, I'm very happy with.
Xenofringe is now Arkbound.

For nearly all of humanity The Tempest was the apocalypse. Every inhabited world was wiped out and left hostile. Mankind’s wonders left burned, frozen or blasted to dust.
For those of us living off-world, it was the ascension. Captains turned their lower decks into slums and their crew into subjects. The Arks grew into drifting cities.
Fifty years later I rule an Ark twenty miles long with fifty-thousand Arkbound crew and I’d trade it all for the feeling of real wind in my hair.

- Cpt. Juara Banks, "Letters for the Lost Home".

What is Arkbound? What happened to Xenofringe?

Based on +Jeff Rients' 20 Questions about your Campaign Setting I've gathered some thoughts for how I see the Xenofringe setting working out. To reflect these changes the game is now called Arkbound.




ELEVATOR PITCH
For 99% of humanity The Tempest was the apocalypse. Every inhabited world was wiped out and left hostile.

Those living off-world were the sole survivors. Captains turned their lower decks into slums and expanded their one-hundred crew to tens of thousands. This is how The Arks grew into drifting kingdoms drifting through space.

What's the deal with aliens?
Strange creatures have been encountered and man has dabbled with artificial beings enough that some real horrors lurk the galaxy. Intelligent aliens have never been encountered. It seems we're alone beside our own creations.

What supernatural abilities exist and can science explain them?
Superstition and religion have found new popularity since the Tempest, especially in the Slum Decks of the Arks. Any actual psychic or superhuman abilities are yet to be investigated.

Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
Convince an Officer that you need something for the good of the Ark and he'll usually find a way to let you have it but send you on a suicide mission in return. Slum decks have an extensive black market.

Where is the best tech in the universe?
Technology advanced exponentially up until the Tempest. The best stuff sits abandoned on the hostile, flooded worlds.

Who is the most powerful being in the universe?
There are Ark Captains that hope to become Grand Admirals, but no fleets ever stay loyal for long. Whoever helms the most powerful ship is sure to find lots of jealous officers waiting for the chance to mutiny.

What do people do for work around here?
Arkbound do whatever they're told, from toiling on the engine decks to producing feeding slime on the factory decks. Only a tiny fraction of an Ark's crew are free Officers.

Where can we go to get some healing?
Much like engineers, medical personnel are likely to be Officers. There are places in the Slum Decks you can receive more questionable medical attention for something in return.

Can our bodies be taken beyond the normal human peak?
Bodymods and Stims are both established technologies, but often forbidden for an Arkbound. Uploading a mind to a computer was possible with cutting edge technology but no Arks have managed to reclaim that yet.

How well explored is space?
Space around the human worlds was well mapped and explored but unexplored space dwarfs that area.

Where can I hire mercenaries?
Most Arks have security personnel that can be corrupted to your service and fully fledged mercenary companies drift from one Ark to another.

What weapons do people use and who can own them?
People mostly own melee weapons and ballistic firearms not too different to today's weapons, but energy-based weapons have been salvaged from flooded worlds, as well as a few rumoured superweapons. Most Arks have little to nothing in the way of gun control.

Which way to the nearest bar?
Alcohol is typically distilled from waste products of the Factory Deck, so a bar is never too far away from there.

What's the deal with robots and AIs?
Both have existed for centuries in a huge variety of forms, from clunky and mechanical to nearly human-like. Most of the latter lie destroyed on flooded worlds.

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?
Every Officer has a few enemies. Captains have even more.

How does space travel work?
Inter-system travel requires huge engines typically limited to the Arks. Smaller craft can be transported on these in return for their service but are otherwise limited to travel between neighbouring planets, typically taking a few weeks.

What is there to eat around here?
Arks are rarely able to support the growth of traditional meat or vegetables, so artificial food has become the staple. Typically it's unappetising gruel.

Any legendary lost artifacts I could be looking for?
Space is littered with the remains from the peak of man's achievement.

How Tough and How Strong?

In Into the Odd an unarmoured man with a simple weapon causes 1d6 damage and subtracts 0 from incoming damage (Armour 0). Below is a handy reference guide for what it means to go above this.

To get +1 to Damage and Armour be mounted or large. Otherwise, get of a Martial Weapon, something purpose-made for extensive combat use like a longsword or bow, or a more simple two-handed weapon like a big club, and light armour or a shield. When fighting in a unit, outnumber your opponents by less than 2-to-1.

To get +2 to Damage and Armour be the size of a rhino. Otherwise, get a two handed martial weapon like a halberd, or an exceptional crossbow or gun, and light armour with a shield or a suit of full armour. When fighting in a unit, outnumber your opponents 2-to-1.

To get +3 to Damage and Armour be the size of an elephant. Otherwise, find the most expertly made two-handed weapons in the world and get full armour with a shield. When fighting in a unit, outnumber your opponents 3-to-1.

To get +4 to Damage and Armour you'd better be REALLY big or outnumber your opponents 4-to-1.

Example of Use
I want to make a huge land-eel with a horned crocodile-head to chow down on intruders.

I figure its horns are equivalent to a Martial Weapon (+1 damage) and it's roughly as hefty as a rhino (+2). This gives it an attack of 1d6+3 damage. If I was feeling generous I'd raise this to 2d6.

As mentioned, it's around the mass of a rhino (Armour 2) but lacks any real toughness to its hide, giving it an Armour of 2. Throw together its Ability Scores based on the range of 0-20, with 10 being the average human and decide whether it's important enough to get just 1d6HP or the typical cap of 5d6. 

HORNED EEL-IGATOR
STR 15, DEX 8, WIL 6, 7HP, Armour 2. 
Attacks for 1d6+3 Damage. Surprisingly cowardly if faced with a ferocious opponent. Quite content to snack on plants if it weren't for it being deliberately starved into aggression. 

Two additions to end trap-related heartbreak.

I spent a bit of time this week trying to persuade people that old-school play isn't about antagonistic GMing and pixel-bitching to avoid deathtraps. I'm hoping these additions to Into the Odd will help get that point across.

A Note on Risk
Generally the Referee should make the players aware if they are taking a risk. A game should have surprises, but players should feel that their decisions in the game have led to the risk that lead to the nasty surprise.

For example, when the characters encounter a monster or hazard that is very likely to be able to kill them outright, the Referee should ensure that the players know this is a possibility. Assessing the risk against the possible reward is an important part of the game, so the players should always have what they need to make an informed choice.

Spotting Traps
As a general rule the presence of a trap will always be noticed by characters unless they are sprinting, visually impaired or distracted by something else. After this initial clue the characters may trigger the trap through further inaction or lack of caution. The players should consider creative ways of getting around a trap or disarming it completely. Risky methods may call for a Save.

Dungeon Design by Hangout

Tonight me and a few others attempted a world first (as far as I'm aware). We used Google Hangouts to build a dungeon.

Seven of us contributed at various points throughout the 90 minutes. The product of which can be seen in this map and the accompanying document.

Big thanks to Jez Gordon for suggesting we use his DungeonFu template. It proved incredibly useful.

My personal highlights that I saw other people add are:

• A Pterodactyl cave.
• The scene of a theological debate between pixies, frogs and clams.
• A HUGE table of random smells, sounds and other weird stuff.
• Acid traps and humming mushrooms, just to remind you that this is probably for D&D.

Some observations of this method of dungeon design:

• People seemed very happy to get imaginative! We didn't end up with orcs guarding chests.
• There was less messing with other people's ideas than I expected. It's good because people got to flesh out rooms by themselves but I'd have loved to see a bit more collaboration.
• We made a deadly dungeon.

Thanks to Nadav Ben Dov, Kyrinn S. Eiss, Barry Blatt, Joshua Macy, James Paese and David Reichgeld for contributing (let me know if I missed you off!).

For the rest of you, let me know if you decide to do anything with this dungeon. It's so fresh I haven't even had a chance to look at the whole thing myself yet!

The Covenant of the Terror Lizards

The Red Scaled ManSTR 10, DEX 13, WIL 13, 12hp.
Roams with his warrior cultists, using his Horned One spell on his followers in times of danger. If an opponent is weakened he will try to use Banish to appease the terror lizards from beyond.

Ceremonial Dagger causes 1d6 damage and is an Arcanum containing Banish and Horned One.
Banish (Power 8): The target must pass a DEX Save to avoid your touch, or they are banished to an extra-dimensional jungle filled with terror lizards. This leaves a glowing portal that anyone can follow through for the next few minutes.

Horned One (Power 4): One willing ally writhes and twists, taking the form of a Great Horned Lizard. They fight loyally until at 0hp, twisting back to their original form, now dead.

Great Horned Lizard
STR 18, DEX 8, WIL 4, 20hp, Armour 1.
Attacks with a gore for 2d6 damage.




10 Harmless Cultists
STR 8, DEX 9, WIL 9, 2hp.
Will not fight, but are willing targets for the scaled man's Horned One spell.

6 Warrior Cultists
STR 13, DEX 12, WIL 10, 8hp, Armour 1.
Glaives (1d6+1), Armour.

Dressed in exotic armour, their helms can never be removed. Will fight to the death as long as the red scaled man is alive.

Making a Better Mummy

When did Mummies become the hard-hitting tanks of the undead? They're presented as slow but super-strong in both D&D and Warhammer.

Seems to me they should be the frail but magically powerful leaders of vast ancient armies. A very specific flavour of lich, really, perhaps awakening after a set number of millennia. Possible future spoilers for anyone playing in my Into the Odd game.

Mummy of Emperor Kthataktha the Giver STR 5, DEX 1, WIL 20, 15hp, Armour 1.

Dressed in full ceremonial armour and wielding an ornate spear, the mummified remains of the once great emperor cannot move without help. Indeed, he is never seen off his jade throne, which is carried by twelve brass skeletons, who serve only as an elaborate means of transport.

He speaks in a raspy groan, needing to be translated by one of the few living speakers of his empire's dead tongue. His thoughts are entirely set on regaining his stolen treasures and establishing a new empire.

The emperor can use any Arcana, even those wielded by his enemies, within 30ft as if he were wielding them himself. He is bedecked with jewellery and a foot-high crown. Together these jewels function as an Arcana containing the spells listed below. Only one of the Emperor's bloodline can wield these items. Anyone else that tried is blasted with lightning for 2d6 damage.

Eternal Hunger (Power 5): One target within 20ft must pass a WIL Save or lose 2d6 STR and you gain that many HP, even if it takes you above your maximum. These extra HP are lost when you have a full rest.

Death Knell (Power 7): All living creatures within 40ft must pass a STR Save or take 3d6 damage. Even those that pass this spell are deafened until they next have a full rest.

Eyes of the Stars (Power 8): You know the exact location of one object or being you have touched before.