High Level Games: 5 Tips to Handle Settlement Building in Tabletop RPGs

I finally wrote another article for High Level Games! They're great and I hope people give the article a read. I've been thinking a lot about settlement building, and how to make a campaign out of a single location, something I emphasized heavily in my SHIELDBREAKER campaign and intend to emphasize in my current Aquarian Dawn campaign. As the image suggests, this HLG post was largely inspired by Numenera Destiny (linked in the article itself). Check out the article here!

Micro-Settings

I've been trying to move away from writing tables, because I've gotten so comfortable with doing them, but also because I feel so comfortable doing them, I want to keep doing them! At the same time, I've been trying to write micro-settings, and I just keep finding mental blocks, or being unsatisfied with what I've written and how it's conveying the setting. So I decided, why not just make a table of settings! Some of these settings are intended as full-blown settings, others could be fit into larger settings (and in fact some of these are intended to fit into each other). It's the most micro way to do micro-settings, but it'll include settings I've already talked about in depth such as Phantasmos. Having to train myself to reduce a setting to a few sentences or less should be a good exercise if nothing else.

Also, depending on the feedback I get for these settings, that may influence which ones I decide to focus on next for my full post write-ups!

Image Source: https://mertun.artstation.com/

Setting	Description
Antikythera Nova	A non-Anglocentric scifi future. A gritty space opera. Eldritch trans-humans. Psionic signal processing aliens manipulating quantum uncertainty. A dash of speculative science.
Aquarian Dawn	A low fantasy feudal world, several hundreds or thousands of years after a high fantasy / science fantasy post-apocalypse. The typical fantasy races have mostly receded or taken on niche roles in this world, while humanity desperately clings to the Middle Realm. However, with the arrival from the seas of the peaceful, socialist, androgynous aqua-colored humanoids known as the Aquarians, humanity must face the fact that their age is coming to an end. Some wish to take this transition with grace, as many of the other races have, while others wish to fight and struggle against the (literally and figuratively) rising tide to the last.
Carnopolis	An ever-expanding city, like a slimy, protoplasmic meat or fungus. A living shoggoth city. The shoggoth matter are like nanomachines, able to rearrange the structure of the city or encode information, creating a hybrid virtual/augmented reality where there is no meaningful distinction between the physical and virtual. Generations of survivors living in a world of never-ending hostility. A city that can be anything. A city designed to kill.
Cold War Under a Rising Sun	An alternate history where the atomic bomb was never dropped on Japan. In a prolonged second world war, the victorious allies carve Japan, the Soviet Union creating North Japan, and the western allies creating South Japan. Both Japans become cultural, technological, and economic powerhouses. Given the prosperity of the Russo-Ainu North Japan, this is a 1960's Cold War-era where the people in the communist world actually thrive. It's a world as much pulp as noir, with gadget-toting superspies, secret nazi revival sects, and world-threatening super-terrorists.
Dark and Misty Remains	A world of The Darkness Lagash and The Nameless Mist, the space in between the shell and spine of a world-sized dragon turtle. Albino underdeinos and platypus people who sense the electrical activity of muscle contractions and weird creatures made of dark matter and harnessing dark energy. A subway train system made of bone and the electrical activity of massive nerve tissue and muscle fibers. Houses the remains of Thalarion, the city of a thousand wonders, the undead shamanic Skadamutc and their necrotic god Lathi.
Frost and the Final Frontier	A near future semi-hard scifi setting where Antarctica has been colonized, and is in the early stages of urbanization. A modern-day New World / Wild West. Heavily reliant on technology, but with early-20th century-esque access to resources. As much if not more so Chinese and Russian as American or Western European. A sprawling Denver-like city. A utopian military-science industrial complex, like a precursor to the Federation in Star Trek or Heinlein if he were less crazy.
I-Cons	A near future cyberpunk world where electromagnetism has somehow fundamentally changed. While limited radio and television transmission is still possible, the internet is gone and nearly all electronic or electroconductive devices are connected to the Noö-Net. Humans can observe this realm, but can only interact with it through their Individual Constructs (I-Con), a Noö-Net artificial lifeform, trained like a neural network from the consciousness of their operator.
Kwik & Kantankerous	A near future cyberpunk world with a 90's-00's LA street racing aesthetic. A world populated by fungal, plant, and animal humanoids across socioeconomic strata race weaponized kwik karts in the streets. A world of gangwars, heists, social justice, and family.
Monsters and Madmen	The big war; the cities bombed and nations EM-pulsed; civilization as we know it is on the way out, but adults still cling to the old world from only a few years ago. On the other hand, the children wish only to leave their homes, to travel the empty, broken roads, and to collect and battle the monsters that have surfaced (or, perhaps, resurfaced) in the wake of humanity's decline. The world is in anarchy. Some of the magical creatures the children geas are intelligent, some infinitely more so than humans. They bide their time as anarchy ensues and humanity dissolves under its own weight.
Overlight	Deep-dream qualia elves, golden carp-dragons, rainbow thunderbirds, baku devas. A realm of soft thunderous clouds like the action potentials of neurons. The air is vaporized alcohol, the clouds are novocain, the lakes and rivers are liquid mercury rising into semi-solid structures, the mountains are lithium salts, and there's a rainbow space elevator to the moon.
Phantasmos	Heavy Metal gonzo weird Lovecraftian BDSM post-post-apocalyptic science fantasy. Lovecraft, Gygax, Dick, Morrison, and Asimov filtered through my own personal lens.
Quantumverse	An emergent microverse that exists "between particles"; a compressed computational world formed from the distribution of sub-atomic particles in physical space. A world of varying densities of compressed and encrypted pixels, voxels, and polygons. A fantasy world on a circuit board; a kingdom of baking-yeast people and the nefarious Rat King; A silk road Arabian Disco.
Second Exodus	In a near future, several decades after narrowly surviving the eldritch kaiju Nephilim, a new breed of monster, the Qlippoth, have forced humanity off the planet and onto orbiting space colonies. The Ein Sof have developed psychokinetic mecha, which must be piloted by children, to take back the planet.
Silicon Survivors	A world of trans-human cyborg hunter-gatherers in a naturalistic world of silicon, plastic, and the most advanced technologies conceived in 1980's science fiction. They ride their white, plastic-skinned, CRT monitor-headed beasts across fields of flayed cables, hunting blocky robots for their nutritious floppy disk innards. They are led by an ancient and wise computer like a knockoff Max Headroom, although some suspect the computer may have ulterior motives.
Starcrossed Sentai	In a small rural town in an anachronistic, mid to late-20th century "golden age" Japan analogue, a group of preteen children are granted superpowers and must save the world from alien invaders, while still passing their exams! Their costumes may look like they were made in a middle school home-ec class (because they were), but when their powers activate, they become the greatest superteam the world has ever known! If the videogame Earthbound is a weird Japanese person's take on Golden Age Americana, this is a weird American's take on Golden Age Japan.
Starflower Voyagers	A utopian post-singularity scifi setting. A trans-human entity, the starflower, a pure and child-like, god-like being, leads bands of loosely affiliated, 1960's-70's mod/hippie anarchic troupes known collectively as the Flower Power, to search the stars for intelligent lifeforms on the verge of their own singularity and assist them in the transition. They generally try to do good elsewhere in the cosmos along the way, not so much like police or judges, but like neighbors or good Samaritans. They are, of course, concerned with the greater philosophical implications of their actions, but generally hold a light heart and take a light touch wherever they go.
Stonepunk Journey	When the first Native Americans crossed the Bering Strait, they were not alone. They encountered monsters and spirits which went on to inspire the mythologies of the First Peoples, but also other intelligent species from sword and sorcery and medieval fantasy such as serpent-men and elves. This is a stonepunk world of chaotic primal magics, of anachronistic stone technologies, and perhaps other hidden, weird secrets.
Vortekka	A world surrounded by a shimmering vortex. 17th century-esque pirates and privateers with a dash of steampunk mechs and flying machines. Competing centripedal and centrifugal forces where humans reside on floating plates and other species reside on the islands and oceans along the inner surface of the shimmering, iridescent vortex.
Weird Wars	A science fantasy trench war... in SPACE. Warp-speed weaponry tear the fabric of reality into pocket dimensions, across which inter-dimensional trench warfare is fought. The heavy, deadly gases allow humans to take flight, but only the mutated Weirders, with their weird-metal bayonets and warp-blades, can maneuver gracefully in the harsh environments of the tears.
World of Wonders	A significantly alternate-history superhero setting where orgodynamics and entropy are opposite but equal physical forces of nature. Many ancient civilizations never fell and social constructs around things like religion, race, and ethnicity operate totally differently than they do in the world as we know it.

Antikythera Nova Pt. 3: Technology

This is the third and final post in my series of micro-setting posts about my Antikythera Nova scifi setting. Part 1 is about the premise and history, and part 2 about the factions.

Technologies

Gaussian propulsion: Many forms of combustion-based propulsion, in terms of vehicles and weaponry, have been replaced by electromagnetic accelerators. During the journey of the Malik Tous, and still on many of the less terraformed planets, spaceships, space stations, and orbital colonies, combustion is an extreme risk. Furthermore, Gaussian weaponry can be fired at a higher velocity, at a higher frequency, and silently.

Smart rockets: While not replacing ballistics altogether, many fire arms now use smart rockets. While lower-velocity than ballistic weapons, smart rocket bullets can be used defensively, deflecting incoming projectiles, and can smartly lock-on to targets and navigate environments. Most have limited range if used non-ballistically, but they can also be equipped with various sensors, making them useful for local environment scanning or data collection.

Plasma and laser: Plasma tech consists of balls of energy, whereas lasers are any continuous beam of light within a focused bandwidth. These technologies are used as weaponry, as well as to transmit information.

Power armor: Traditional space suits have developed to the point of being light and comfortable, however many jobs in space require power armor. In particular, the space marines have various power armors which provide enhanced strength and speed, weapon and reflex assistance, jetpacks, augmented reality, and various other useful features.

Nanotube plate armor: The Gabor have developed an armor made of some kind of matte, carbon-like material filled with nanotubes of a possibly organic nature, or modeled after organic materials. The armor is tougher, and significantly lighter, than any power armor, and neither the KFP nor HLC have been able to reverse engineer it.

Cintamani and the Makara: Cintamani is a high-energy gem found throughout the Pickman Galaxy. Longterm exposure to cintamani induces a mutation in some humans, who are referred to as Makara. In the early stages of the mutation, they grow patches of cintamani gems or crystalline skin. Next, they develop enhanced speed, strength, agility, and dexterity, and the ability to traverse space unprotected. Eventually, they begin to develop psionic abilities not unlike the Gabor. However, over time they become increasingly crystalline, and what little organic material remains becomes bestial; an alien form with vague mammalian, reptilian, and aquatic features, but mostly altogether alien. These Makara lose their human intelligence, lash out violently at anything around them, and attempt to flee into space if threatened.

This risk aside, both the KFP and HLC have a supersoldier program for makara, including makara training and research. This research includes creating makara under controlled circumstances- a politically divisive practice. In the KFP, the general public is not aware of this cintamani-related mutation, and even among military personnel, if they know of the makara at all, they know of then only as part of a supersoldier program.

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On an unrelated note, if you have not done so already (and given how little data I have, I suspect you have not >.>), please take my Weird & Wonderful Survey! It should only take a minute, it will really help me, and also I want to show people how much fun it can be to play with data, but I can't do it if I don't have any!

Likewise, please participate in my GNS study! This is a somewhat controversial topic and I've received a lot of resistance on it. All I can say is that if my study is somehow fundamentally flawed, then either I won't find anything, or what I find will require a degree of healthy skepticism, but it is possible I may find interesting effects or interesting trends in the data, which could inform our understanding of GNS or tabletop or inform better follow up studies, but the only way any of that happens is if I get data! There is literally no harm in participating, so if you value empirical science at all, why not just take a minute and let's see what the data have to say!?

Antikythera Nova Pt. 2: Factions

This is the second part of my Antikythera Nova setting (first part here). I'm still not totally satisfied with my writing on that first post, but hopefully it's coherent and engaging enough to keep you reading (and if not, LET ME KNOW!). This post is about the various factions I discussed in part 1, in greater detail. I designed this setting from the perspective that most games in this setting would have players as humans from the KFP, but from a scifi/worldbuilding perspective I think the aliens are really cool, if I do say so myself :). I aim to complete this micro-setting in one more post which will discuss some of the technologies that either provide flavor to the setting or are core to it.

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Kaddai Federation of Planets (KFP): The history of the KFP extends as far back as the dark age of the Malik Tous. They have spacefaring and spacefighting technologies, advanced (although not post-singularity) computational power, and the ability to terraform planets. Very few communities within the KFP still directly identify with their Earth origins, although the most prominent cultures maintain elements of 21st-century African, Arabic and Semitic, and Southeast Asian cultures. The racial characteristics of humans in the KFP vary and do not conform precisely to 20th and 21st century conceptions of race.

• One of the larger ethnic minorities are the Häksen, who are closer in appearance and heritage to Central Asian, Slavic, and Scandinavian peoples. During the dark age of the Malik Toas they were enslaved and cannibalized, and they are often scapegoated or stigmatized even in the present.

Hun-Long Confederation (HLC): The HLC split from the KFP shortly after the Malik Tous reached the Antikythera Sector, although their origins are rooted in several ethnic minorities which formed during the dark age of the Malik Toas. It is rumored that the HLC has integrated other factions of humanity which had split from the Malik Tous at one or more points during its journey. In over a century and a half since the HLC split, the KFP and HLC have communicated only to the bare minimum extent, and so there is much that is currently unknown about the HLC people and way of life. Technologically, they appear roughly at parity with the KFP.

Gabor: An alien species with smooth metallic blue skin, long gazelle-like hind legs, lean and muscular upper bodies, three long finger-like tentacles on each hand, and a slightly hunched forward stance. Their heads are round and featureless, semi-translucent, with a glowing brain-like organ floating in fluid inside their skull. On top of their heads are two medium-length horns, curved forward, which glow when channeling psionic energy. The light from their brain-like organ is an indescribable color, and this light seems to be something non-electromagnetic in nature, although it shares similar (although not identical) physical properties to electromagnetism. The light, often referred to as psionic energy, can be used to transmit information through a psionic network, transmit matter at faster than light speeds, and produce psychokinetic energy, among other abilities. Each psionic organ is like a fusion reactor in terms of energy production, however the death of a Gabor or the destruction of a psionic organ does not cause an atomic explosion or the dispersion of deadly radiation.

Given that the Gabor have only recently begun to interact with humans, and mostly on hostile terms, little is known about their civilization and way of life. Communication has proven difficult since Gabor and human physiology and psychology are so fundamentally different, but thus far the use of mathematics, specifically signal processing, has proven the most effective means of communication.

The versatility of their psionic abilities gives the impression of scientific advancement, but in fact, prior to interaction with the human factions, Gabor science was comparatively primitive, as they did not require technology to thrive in the way that humanity does. Their abilities gave them a major advantage against the human factions early in the war, but the systematic application of scientific and statistical methods by the human factions has rapidly closed this gap, and now the Gabor are attempting to learn from humanity.

The Singularities: Even more so than the Gabor, the Singularities is incomprehensible to humanity. Only the symbiotic transhumans who coexist with it can meaningfully communicate with it, or between it and the other factions. It has converted most of the matter on Earth and in the Solar System into sub-nanomachine "gray goo"; a pure computational space. In such a space where matter can take any form and information can be perfectly replicated, compressed, distributed, or processed, the distinction between physical and virtual/augmented reality becomes arbitrary. This surreal reality is the Singularities.

With great power, comes great expense. The exact goals of the Singularities are not understood, but it seems to be folding spacetime and penetrating other dimensions or even other universes beyond human comprehension. Maintaining the gray goo and performing these computations is enormously expensive, and so it uses its less resource-demanding transhuman symbiotes as heralds, scouting for energy-rich worlds, particularly those containing cintammani minerals such as the Gabor worlds, to convert and integrate into itself.

It is capable of manifesting approximations of eldritch beings from other dimensions within the gray goo, although the true form of these beings seemingly cannot exist within spacetime as we understand it. It is unclear whether it is binding these creatures to its will, or if the singularities has itself become an eldritch being, and is merely coordinating with its peers across meta-spacetime.

Antikythera Nova Pt. 1: Premise and History (REDUX)

This is the first of what will likely be three posts for my science fiction space setting Antikythera Nova, as part of my attempt to post easily digestible "micro-settings".

You'll notice that this is a REDUX- I decided I wasn't happy with the first post, and I don't want to move forward with the other posts until I think I've got this very basic first step to an acceptable point. I got some good advice about how to make this better, so hopefully this version succeeds where the first failed. I'm going to leave the original post as well for posterity, but unless you're really demanding to know more about this setting RIGHT NOW, stick to this ;). Hopefully this is an improvement, but if not, then expect a REDUX 2 in the near future...

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In a galaxy consumed by war and chaos, human and alien alike squabble in the shadows of familiar-looking computational eldritch beings. Nobody understands who they fight or what for, as centuries of misunderstood tensions based on accidents and lies come to a head. For all of their technological achievements and special abilities, mortals and gods alike fight for the high-energy cintammani crystals and for a sense of purpose in a cold and uncaring universe.

Over the course of 500 years, much has changed for humanity. The world powers of the 20th century mostly receded or collapsed; their greed, bloat, and outdated infrastructure were their undoing. In their wake, new powers rose in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, benefiting from infrastructure built from the ground-up with 21st century technology and sensibilities in mind.

After a tumultuous early 21st century, these new nations advanced and thrived, not just technologically and economically, but psychologically and socially as well. It was just a matter of time before humanity took its "second small step". The generation ship, Malik Tous, departed on its 300 year journey to colonize the Antikythera Sector of the Pickman Galaxy, from which it would not return.

It was a difficult journey, to say the least. Over the course of 300 years, the peoples of the ship nationalized, warred, committed genocide, and in some cases even splintered throughout the universe. 200 years and one dark age later, the human peoples of the Antikythera Sector achieved a relative state of peace and stability within the Kaddai Federation of Planets (KFP), and the Hun-Long Confederation (HLC).

These two factions have been separated for so long that they are only capable of communicating in mathematical code and broken dialects of ancient languages. They know little of each others ways of life, nor do they remember why they separated in the first place. Except for the occasional skirmish over a newly discovered, cintammani-rich planet, the sector is blanketed in a perpetual, cold curtain of fear and misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, on Earth, humanity went on to explore another new frontier. Without the trials, tribulations, and limitations of the generation ship, humanity progressed exponentially, evolving into the post techological-singularity being(s) known as the Singularities. They converted Earth, and much of the matter in the solar system, into "gray goo", pure computational (sub-)nano machines. Some of the transhumans, who chose not to merge with the Singularities and who more closely resemble their ancestors, work in symbiosis with the Singularities, acting as harbingers, travelling the universe to find suitable sources of cintammani for the Singularities to convert into or power the computational matrix of gray goo.

The intelligent alien species known as the gabor, after an aggressive encounter with these transhuman harbingers on their cintammani-rich worlds, aggressively retaliated against both the KFP and HLC, confusing them for the transhuman harbingers, although neither human faction were even aware of the existence of the Singularities or any of the events on Earth since the departure of the Malik Tous half a millennium prior.

By the time all parties realized the misunderstanding, there was too much bad blood for the war to stop. The KFP and gabor fight a hot war that nobody wants but nobody wants to stop, even as each decides how to respond to the (ominously silent) Singularities. As best as the KFP can tell, the HLC have factionalized- some embracing the Singularities, others allying with the gabor against the KFP. The gabor themselves seem to have factionalized, or maybe it was never so simple as a single gabor nation and the KFP are only just realizing this now. Nobody really knows what's going on- it's a galaxy in chaos where human and gabor alike squabble in the shadows of eldritch computational gods. Each faction must decide whether they want war or peace; and whether they want individuality or singularit(ies).

Antikythera Nova Pt. 1: History

This is the first of what will likely be three posts for my science fiction space setting Antikythera Nova, as part of my attempt to post easily digestible "micro-settings". This setting is intended to be somewhere between hard sci-fi and space opera; gritty and "realistic", but still crazy aliens and a little bit of space magic. I'd say it's more Starcraft or Mass Effect than Star Wars or Flash Gordon. I've tried to subvert the tropes of the genre, while still being true to it, so let me know what you think!

History

In the near future, the global hegemonic powers of the 20th century receded as the result of war and environmental disaster. The new world powers of the 21st century were in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa; nations which developed their infrastructure from the ground up around new technologies, and not the outdated institutions of the past.

After roughly a century of relative peace, prosperity, and technological advancement, the world governments united to create a generation ship, the Malik Tous, to terraform the Antikythera Sector of the Pickman Galaxy. The ship took 300 years to reach its destination, and along the way underwent many disasters and cultural upheavals. Early in its journey, nearly three quarters of the passengers either died or separated from the main ship during a period which has since been referred to as the Dark Age. Certain known, notable events which occurred during or shortly after the journey were the formation of the Kaddai Empire, and the origins of the Häksen, a class of people used as livestock during the Dark Age, who are now a free but marginalized ethnic minority.

Colonization of the Antikythera Sector took roughly 100 years. During this time, the Kaddai Empire transitioned into the Kaddai Federation of Planets (KFP), although shortly after this transition, a subset of KFP planets, moons, and orbital colonies broke off to form the Hun-Long Confederation (HLC).

For another 100 years, there was relative stability, until the Gabor Invasion. Given their extraordinary abilities (NOTE: This will be hyperlinked when I post the factions), the war was initially one-sided in favor of the gabor. However, despite their abilities, the gabor lacked the principled scientific knowledge of the human factions, and eventually the humans were able to develop counter-technologies and tactics to turn the tide of war in their favor. It eventually came to light that the gabor did not view themselves as the aggressors; they had been attacked by another faction of humans, and not realizing the difference, believed they were retaliating against their invaders.

During the 500 years since the journey of the Malik Tous, the humans of Earth, still in a golden age and with no hardships of space travel and limited resources to hold them back, continued to advance. Shortly after the Malik Tous left, Earth underwent a technological singularity. This event culminated in the dissolution of the solar system into gray goo; nanomachines coordinated in a series of virtual and augmented realities, or a set of matryoshka universes- in other words, a giant computational space. Most Earth-humans advanced into an entity or entities known as the singularities, an advanced intelligence(s) beyond the understanding of humans or other intelligent life. The remainder of humanity on Earth, while still part of the gray goo, chose to maintain enough of their human identity to preserve autonomy from the singularities, and live in symbiosis with it. The singularities is incredibly powerful, with the ability to access, manipulate, and communicate with beings in other dimensions (and possibly other universes), in addition to space-warping, faster than light travel. However, these abilities demand high resource consumption. This resource demand has created a bottleneck on the ability of the singularities to expand or exert itself. The singularities uses its faster than light capabilities to send out scouting parties of human symbiotes, which search for energy sources for the singularities to consume. It was when the symbiotes discovered the energy-rich gabor that the singularities invaded gabor space and attempted to assimilate the gabor into itself, leading to the Gabor Invasion of the Antikythera Sector.

Even after this came to light, the war had gone on too long, and too much bad blood remained between the humans and gabor, and so the war continues. However, it has since become much more muddled from when it started. The gabor have split up into multiple factions, including those desiring peace with the humans, while others wish to assimilate into the singularities. Likewise, many in the KFP wish for peace, and many in the HLC are attempting to join the singularities.