Weird Science Fantasy Island Generator

I will be running a one shot in my Vortekka micro-setting using Dungeon World later this evening! I had included Vortekka in my list of Places in Nova Arkham, but this version is a setting unto itself. Play report, micro-setting post, and possibly some other related posts will come soon, but for now, here is the very simple generator I created, with four example islands I created using this generator. This generator is very bare-bones, but worked well enough for my purposes, I think.

First you decide the size for the island, which affects the amount of treasure available on the island, and can influence whether or not there is intelligent life, or how many unique kinds of lifeforms to produce for it or how many weird properties you want to give it.

The intelligent life is based on the species in Vortekka but could be replaced with other species easily enough.

Roll 1-2 times on the flora / island properties table and 1-3 times on the weird table to get a general framework for the island which can be used as a theme for the various species you populate in it.

Each island should have 1 apex predator species, ~1-3 other threatening species, and ~1-3 non-threatening species which exist mainly for flavor. Larger islands can have more species. While you should roll 1-2 times on the apex predator and threat properties, respectively, you can also think about properties which would make sense given the other island properties or other species you've already populated the island with.

Size (d4)		Flora / Island properties (d8)
Tiny		Tall, sparse trees
Small		Short grass or mossy
Medium		Flowery
Large		Fungal forest
		Coral forest
		Dense woody forest
		Volcanic
		Ancient advanced relics
Intelligent Life (d12) (size small+, or shipwrecked for tiny)		Weird (d10)
None (1-8)		Singing flowers
Human colony		Scattered ancient advanced relics
Halfling tribe		Bathed in celestial light
Zapatotian tribe		Perpetual, localized storm
Penguin tribe		All predators have humanoid heads
		Color palette (2d10: R O Y G B I V K W P)
		Metallic-colored
		Synthetic (plastic, metal, etc.)
		River of cold blue magma
		Floating building-sized plates
Animal Types (d8)		Apex Predator Properties (d8)
Mammal		Poisonous
Bird		Camoflauge
Reptile		Massive
Plant		Super fast
Fungus		Super durable / armoured
Fish		Super strong
Arthropod		Swallow whole
Other (robot/golem/etc.)		Breath / area attack
Treasure (1d4) (1d4 x size x 100 Gold value)		Threat Properties (d8)
Natural resources (wood, skins, metals or minerals, lost jewels and coins, etc.). Low maintenance but requires space.		Poisonous
Ancient relic or natural oddity (mundane). Low weight / space demand but easily lost, stolen, or broken.		Camoflauge
Ancient relic or natural oddity (special). As above, but may be dangerous (or useful).		Far range
Live specimen. Depending on specimen, may require space, high maintenance, dangerous, etc.		Large
		Fast
		Durable / armoured
		Strong Trap
From this table, I pre-generated the following 4 islands for the game tonight. The "conflict" sections are specific to the scenario, which I'll post in full in the near future: Island 1 (small) Covered in the relics of an ancient advanced civilization. Plates of land and bodies of water float over and around the island, slowly rising and falling Apex Predators: Amphibious, deceptively fast barracudas which jump and glide from the ocean to bodies of water on the floating plates Threat 1: Dog-sized hermit crabs which have made powerful shells out of the relics. Some of the shells may have special magical or technological abilities. Threat 2: Strong dive-bombing albatross-like birds Non-threat 1: Glowing pig-like bugs which eat photosynthetic algae which continue to produce sugars for some time in their gut before being digested. Non-threat 2: Hand-sized bipedal flowers, look like little people. Not intelligent. Treasure: 200 gold value of ancient treasure. Conflict: To get to the treasure, the vault must be blasted open by the ship, destroying many of the relics Island 2 (medium) Covered in a rainforest of tall, dense trees supported by a perpetual, localized thunderstorm. The island also contains a hesitantly friendly penguin tribe. Apex Predators: Bear-like mammals with a humanoid head. Their saliva contains a powerful neurotoxin. Threat 1: Tiny fish that jump between the transient pools formed by the constant thunderstorm. Upon close examination, their tiny humanoid heads can be seen. When threatened, they release superhot explosive gases, turning the pool into an area-of-effect torrent of blistering steam. Threat 2: Halfling-sized lizard people with humanoid heads and chameleon eyes and tongues. They launch compacted mineral pellet feces from their tongues high in the canopy, like snipers. Non-threat 1: Nocturnal tarsiers covered in spines. Not dangerous, unless provoked. Non-threat 2: Lemur-like reptiles, larger than the spiny tarsiers and more active in the daytime. Treasure: 1200 gold value for a spitting hominid-bear with a metallic orange coat. Conflict: The local penguin tribe hold this bear sacred and must either be circumvented or destroyed (the captain prefers the latter plan). Subsequently, the captain’s plan to take down the bear is to throw as many of the crew at it as possible with nothing but clubs and nets. Additionally, once captured, the captain keeps it muzzled and in a cruelly small cage. Liquid food is injected directly into its gut. Island 3 (medium) A volcanic island spewing cold, blue magma. It is bathed in a celestial blue light and covered in a layer of soft, minerally, blueish snow. Apex Predators: Yeti-like fungi with blue flesh covered in snow-like whitish-blue fur that provides them camouflage. Threat 1: Cold lava golems swim in disguise along the magma rivers, instinctively attacking non-native lifeforms. Threat 2: Whitish blue birds adapted to the cold environment. Their beaks are superhot, and their droppings supercold. Non-threat 1: Miniature, friendly, monkey-like versions of the fungus yetis. Non-threat 2: Crystalline-looking iguanas somehow adapted to derive energy from the cold light and blue magma. Treasure: 600 gold value to gather as many fungus monkeys as possible. Conflict: The fungus monkeys are not suited to the warm climate of most of the vortex. Most will die during the journey, and the rest will likely die not long after unless properly cared for. The plan is to sell as many of them as possible, as quickly as possible, as pets or curiosities to any buyers. Island 4 (Large) A partially submerged island covered in a vibrant, metallic-colored coral forest. The corals produce usually pleasant humming and singing noises. Apex Predators: Starfish-shaped robots harvest the coral, without discernment for other present lifeforms within. Threat 1: Large robots disguised as coral which trap threats to the apex robots. Threat 2: An underwater hive of flying bee-like pistol shrimp which have evolved to ballistically propel themselves by producing sonic booms, as a means of rapidly targeting prey within the coral forest and avoiding the traps of disguised robots. Threat 3: Packs of raptors with vibrant metallic colors and frills which disguise them within the coral. Non-threat 1: Pteranodons with sharp beaks and claws capable of chewing through hard coral. They are only dangerous if threatened. Non-threat 2: A photosynthetic, slime-like yeast which has developed a symbiotic relationship with the coral. Can provide sustenance, but also causes inebriation or intense hallucinations. Non-threat 3: A metallic gold-colored tree which produces a multi-metallic-colored tropical fruit pollinated by the flying pistol shrimp. The fruit contains a chemical harmful to the slime yeast, and by extension the coral forest itself. Seemingly an invasive species outcompeting the coral for the same ecological niche. Treasure: 1200 gold value in slime yeast, to be sold as a recreational drug or as medicine. Conflict: While the metallic trees were eventually going to overtake the coral forest anyway, collecting so much yeast will give the trees an even larger advantage. The trees will overtake the island faster than the ecosystem can adapt, and the ecosystem will collapse. Additionally, the captain will be draconian in not allowing the crew to consume the slime, threatening death, while flagrantly abusing as much of the slime as he wants. Eventually a crew member will be caught stealing slime and the captain will force them to walk the plank.

SHIELDBREAKER: Play Report 2

This is the second session in what I'm calling the SHIELDBREAKER campaign. On the whole I think things went more smoothly this time, although I forgot to prep those NPC cards / setting cheat sheets which I will definitely do before next time. Still, I'm glad to see things are coming together! Also, I still cannot figure out formatting in blogger for some reason, so this post is a bit messier than I'd like :/.

Click here for the Session 1 Play Report!

Characters

·       Cynope: Quenduin Amazon. She works for the Pearl Panthers to afford care for her sick sister, but has grown fond of the thrill, bringing a professional wrestling persona to her work.

          -- Player: Dan D

·       Jim Casper: Tartarian-Mutant Specialist. Working in a storehouse in the tartarian kingdom, he learned about a mysterious martial cult, and has since been attempting to learn more about it. Has a mutation, a slit on his body which must be fed ancient artifacts.

          -- Player: z_bill

·       Razlow: Kobold Garlic Knight (Fighter). In the early stages of transforming into a Garlic Berserker. Was a soldier in the dogu kingdom but deserted when he discovered he was turning into a garlic berserker.

    -- Player: Murdoc

Play Report

• ·       Since unfortunately Michael Kennedy couldn't make it this session, I retconned it so that Slayer was incapacitated by the SWORD at the end of last session, explaining why she is not present this session and providing an excuse for Arnold Tanaka to send the new party members as backup. 
•       The party went to The Forum. Occulon was giving a talk, and in addition to his goons were a table of union representatives, dogu (who may or may not have been associated with the mafia), and a table with the Grim General's daughter Zeffre and Nova Arkham soldiers. 
•       Cynope wrestled with Zeffre WWE-style as a way of taking attention away from / annoying Occulon. Zeffre was into it, they had fun, she gave her a note with a set of coordinates.
•       They follow Occulon and some of his goons down an alley and hear them mention something about the dogu and the SHIELD, but are found snooping.
•       They head to the upper floor of the Forum to get a map or some other information. After bribing a bureaucrat, they get a map which adapts in real-time to the changes being made to the city, including those changes made by the SHIELD.
•       They head to Zeffre’s coordinates. On the way they fight a DNEa, a double-helix shaped snake-like creature. The DNEa dropped 30 gold worth of its weird blood, and a partially-digested frog-like creature that seemed like it could be valuable or have special properties, but could not be properly identified.
•       They talk with Zeffre and choose to ally with her, agreeing to work with her behind the Grim General’s back in exchange for assistance tracking down the SHIELD. She does not disapprove of her father per se, but wants some kind of independence from him and leverage against her brother and the savant Edward Nzimbe. Her mesmerist alters their mesmeric network to sync her into it. Arnold Tanaka, the party's handler, seems to have some kind of acquaintanceship with Zeffre. 
•       They head to Dengo Sensorium, as they know Asimov Dengo is the head of the dogu mafia, and the dogu mafia are somehow tied up in a gang war with Occulon, who seems to be involved with the SHIELD. They try to find Dengo but are routed to a manager, a handsome dogu male with blue hair who goes by Noma but is actually Tezura Niko working undercover, and his female blue-haired assistant (who is actually his golemite companion Aleph). He gives them Dengo’s passcode to the private bath on the top floor.
•       They begin a negotiation with Dengo, but he takes a hostile stance. After they convince him to give up some information (that Occulon is working with the SHIELD), Tezura and Aleph attack Dengo. The party chose to fight Dengo with them. They nearly kill him, and then get him to give his partial decryption of the SHIELD’s location, somewhere connected to either the Forum, Occulon’s factories, or the Grand Stable system. Tezura says Dengo will be taken to jail and possibly extradited. 

The Breakdown

      I'm happy to say I think I'm starting to get a better feel for OSR, and I think this session went really well! I regret forgetting to put together the NPC cards and cheat sheets that I had intended to, but will definitely do so before next time! In retrospect, having the first arc be such an elaborate intrigue in a setting the players are not familiar with may not have been the best plan 0.o; I'm used to my home group who have been playing in this setting long enough to be more comfortable with that sort of thing. That being said, the feedback I'm getting is that the group had fun and are ok with being a little overwhelmed with all the moving parts.

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).

Goblins

Goblins (1d20)	Description
1. Mirage Goblins	Whimsical creatures inhabiting a plane parallel to reality. No matter how far one travels, no matter how wonderful their world may seem, they exist always, tantalizingly, just on the horizon.
2. Forget-me-not Goblins	Blue or pink-skinned creatures with poisonous scorpion stingers and petal-like manes. They are not immune to their own venom, and accidental goblin-slaughter and suicide is not uncommon. They have low self-esteem and must receive praise for everything they do, deserved or not, and to deny them their recognition can be fatal.
3. Chattering Goblins	Covered in dentate armour, with mouths full of large, chattering and gnashing teeth. Their armour, despite providing protection, is sensitive to the touch. They are nervous creatures, put on edge by even a gentle breeze.
4. Dissonance Goblins	They reject all religion, science, and philosophy. They rely solely on heuristics and never analytics or evidence-based reason. They engage in repetitive, ritualistic behaviors for seemingly no reason. They lack imagination or abstract thinking skills. They never change their mind. Many of their beliefs and behaviors are contradictory, and no amount of arguing with them will get them to acknowledge this fact, even if they demonstrably understand the arguments being made.
5. Hate Goblins	Fat, orange-skinned creatures with tiny appendages. For countless generations they have thrived on the riches acquired by their ancestors, which they have leveraged towards unearned and ineffective economic and political influence. Their words are mostly nonsensical, but empathic meaning can be inferred from their tone. In most cases, the empathic meaning is hate. They are hate-mongers, full of impotent rage. As the world advances, rather than facing their increasing irrelevance and making any effort to adapt, they reject progress and double down on their meaningless hate.
6. Dysmorphia Goblins	Creatures with exaggerated features- lanky, squat, weird bulges, eyes just a little too far apart. Their appearance changes based on the physical insecurities of those around them.
7. Viscera Goblins	Translucent down to the circulatory system and organs. Their internals bring to mind raw and bloody steak, bacon, sausage, and other commonly consumed meat products. Villages near viscera goblins often lean towards vegetarianism.
8. Atavism Goblins	A degenerate goblin-like species, the inbred progeny of the royalty of a once glorious civilization. Very rarely, one will be born resembling its ancestors; a celestial, demi-god-like being. Most live short lives of pain, poisoned by their own tainted blood or driven to destruction by their jealous and dysfunctional society, but an even rarer few rise above these circumstances.
9. Twilight Goblins	Bright, fluorescent, every slight bodily function or movement is audible and grating. Nocturnal creatures who enjoy the company of others. Will convince you to stay out for one more drink, to work for just another hour, to express your every racing thought all throughout the night. Fun in an indulgent way, but most people find the lifestyle unsustainable.
10. Panic Goblins	Body of a wolf, face like a lemur with the jaws of a hyena, curled goat-like horns, covered in oily black fur. Semi-intelligent goblins bred as soldiers, hunters, and police. They have excellent climbing, stalking, and striking skills, and work tactically as a pack. They are excellent hunters, but also herders, able to induce controlled panic and funnel crowds. Wild panic goblins lack discipline and are notorious for playing deadly tricks on unwitting victims like wandering gangs in a war-torn land.
11. Blackcaps	Craft machinists, intelligent but myopic. They are creative and expressive solely for the purpose of personal gain or sowing mischief, but can't see the bigger picture of the consequences of their short-sighted actions. Their blood is like a sludgy diesel that leaks from their pores and orifices. They have no brain, the sludge is a distributed neural network. They have no skullcap, but a continual combustion force projects from the top of their head like an oily, inky, black, upside-down funnel.
12. Anthro Goblins	They revere humans as gods, seeing themselves and other goblins as poor reflections of facets of humanity. Unfortunately, the traits they identify with humans are their size, ferocity, and materialism. Anthro goblins have bred themselves to be human-like but exaggerated in their features.
13. Genocide Goblins	Some anthro goblins practice "dark arts"- killing other goblins to absorb their power. Killing a family, a village, a city, an entire people, provides non-linear increases in power. The more goblins they kill, the larger and more monstrous they become, from hulking brutes to titans.
14. Singularity Goblins	Some anthro goblins are human-passing or close to it, and their goal in life is to trick humans into mating with them. These hybridized half-goblins are often the most exceptional and creative machinists, as the singularity of human and nature. Their machines are thought to contain a nature unto themselves; a fey, djinn, ghost, or tsukumogami.
15. Ru Goblins	These goblins do not build machines, they build themselves as machines. Sometimes grinding themselves and re-composing their meat as golems and biomachines. In other cases the machine is abstract, a consciously designed bureaucracy of goblins who identify only as the whole.
16. Anonygoblins	The anonygoblins have no faces, and their bodies are each identical. Their consciousnesses are not fixed to their bodies, and they regularly exchange bodies between themselves. They avoid expressing personal traits, and in fact have made themselves quite homogeneous in belief and behavior.
17. Knife Goblins	Masters of the knife- specifically in the trading of them. They revere the power of the knife; the more knives a knife goblin can acquire and sell (specifically to other knife goblins), the more powerful they become. The king of the knife goblins is demi-god-like in power, but his power is contingent on the belief in the power of the knife by the knife goblins.
18. Deference Goblins	Sexual, masturbatory, orgiastic beings. They do not engage in these activities for the pleasure or art of it, but nervously and compulsively, as a way of avoiding other obligations. They do not seek sustenance or engage in any survival skills. Those who join The Orgy eventually transform into them- this is their only means of reproduction. Unfortunately, The Orgy can be a tantalizing thing.
19. Binata sa punso	Born in the foundation of buildings, particularly grand buildings using modern techniques or modern architectural sensibilities. They struggle to fit into the world, always thinking too far ahead, but those who treat them with care and respect, and attempt to learn from them, often benefit in the future, as the world conforms to the binata. Those who reject, offend, or exploit the binata, especially the middle-aged or elderly, are cursed to be forgotten in their eldest and most vulnerable years.
20. Scapesatyr	Goat-men sculpted from gold. Whimsical, magical, musical, mischievous, selfish, somewhat a-moral but mostly well-meaning creatures. They are always the life of the party, always the best lay, and always able to bring someone out of a funk. However, it is impossible to get anything done around them, and those who embrace them will transform into animals, fey, or other beings of nature. As a result, powerful institutions turn their people against the scapesatyrs, often undeservedly.

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.

SHIELDBREAKER: Play Report 1

Last night I GMed my first LotFP game! The game was set in my Phantasmos campaign setting. On the whole I think it went pretty well, but I'll discuss it all in detail below. Also I don't know what the hell happened with the formatting on this post, it's clearly a mess but I can't figure out how to fix it so it's just gonna be what it's gonna be >.<.

The Premise

    The players are part of the Pearl Panthers, a mercenary group hired by the Grim General in Blue to resolve issues that Nova Arkham can't or does not want to directly involve itself with. The kingdom utilizes a program known as SWORD & SHIELD. Through unknown (and implicitly shady) means, the kingdom has acquired a large quantity of deceased axols, humanoid axolotl-like mutants born in pairs, where one sibling is a powerful psionic nematode-like creature. They reanimated the axols as Unliving, programming the humanoids into SHIELDs and the psionic siblings into SWORDS. 

    

    The SHIELDs are like tactical idiot savants, they have little to no ability to communicate rationally and little to no individual will, but are geniuses at urban tactics, manipulating the workings of the capitol in their favor. The SWORDs are like super-wolves, programmed to be the ultimate hunters. The SWORDs are programmed to hunt the SHIELDs, and the SHIELDs are programmed to divert the SWORDs. As the SWORDs learns the SHIELDs' tricks, the SHIELDs must improve their tactics to survive. The intel gathered from the SWORD & SHIELD program is utilized by the Grim General to better predict crime, re-organize the capitol for maximum efficiency, and tighten his grip on Nova Arkham. 

    One of the SHIELDs has gone rogue, manipulating the SWORDs and the capitol city of Nova Arkham itself. It is not known how, or why, but it is wreaking havoc in its wake.

The Characters

    Unfortunately only two players were able to make it to this first session, but fortunately they were both great!

    Cynope (played by Dan D): A quenduin amazon. She works for the Pearl Panthers to make money to take care of her sick sister.

    

    Xx_Slayer_Queen_69 (played by Michael Kennedy): Also known as X or Slayer. A mutant phreaker and thrillseeker. She's a goth cyberpunk hacker-type with a scarlet mohawk, spiky black jacket, automagic PMC strapped to one arm, and a roth obsidian visor covering her red eyes.

Play Report

          The party started at Helnwein's Tavern, celebrating their first successful mission, having busted a Dogu mafia electrocoil gun deal. They discussed the course of events to their handler, Arnold Tanaka. X charmed the entire gang and Cynope literally punched through their faces. Some embellishment may have occurred, but forever after that's how it will be remembered.

          Arnold planted a mesmeric suggestion into the party, effectively allowing them to maintain mental communication with him and each other. The communication is actually a neural network-like model estimate; the longer they go between mesmerism sessions, the more communication errors will occur.

          He gives the party the following intel: 

1.           The SHIELD was seeing the psychiatrist Doctor Hyboria before going rogue.
2.           A SWORD manipulated by the SHIELD intercepted the Phantom Sheriff during an arrest, releasing two dangerous outlaw mutants. Their victims are being treated at Quickie-Cut Barbershop and Feldshery.
3.           The Oracle owes Arnold a favor, as a last resort they can seek consultation.
4.           Arnold's mesmerist network predicts the danger of the rogue SHIELD with a doomsday clock. As they travel from place to place, the doomsday clock moves closer to midnight.

    The party traveled to Doctor Hyborea's mansion. They got lost along the way, but the constantly developing urban sprawl of the capitol is confusing, and the mansion is a bit off the meridian system... Anyway, they fail to find any major lead on the SHIELD, except that Doctor Hyborea does seem to know something, but also seems to be going dangerously insane.

    They travel to the Sheriff's office. The Phantom Sheriff gives them zir's intel. Most of it is redacted, but they learn that the outlaws were involved in some gang war, and their names are Barry and Terry. Barry is a barracuda-like bioluminscent mutant. When blue, he's docile, when red, he's psychopathically violent. Terry is a large humanoid mutant with super strength and loose skin which he calls his "foldy flaps". By stretching and scrunching the foldy flaps, he can tell fortunes and make predictions, making him not just strong, but also smart.

    They travel to the barbershop to interrogate The Feldsher and the victims of the fight with the outlaws. They learn that the outlaws were working with professional-looking goons associated with Occulon, and that the conflict involved a fight with electrocoil gun-wielding Dogu mafioso. Occulon is a powerful businessman who spends much of his time at the Forum, and has been gunning for the Grim General's job. While ostensibly above-board, everyone knows he's a crook.

    They travel to the Forum to investigate Occulon. Along the way, they get lost again. The Forum is located in the entertainment district and the party definitely knows how to get there. They realize that the SHIELD must be manipulating the city against them. X is ambushed by a SWORD, nearly killing her, before stalling momentarily and then running off. The party chooses not to track the SWORD, instead sticking to their original plan of investigating Occulon. Investigating the urban sprawl they were attacked in, they find a dead goon whose head was missing, as if entirely nullified. On the goon they find 30 gold and a potion that they could not identify.

    ... and that's where we left things off, with the Doomsday Clock at 4 and the party just outside the forum. Looking forward to seeing what they do next!

The Breakdown

    On the whole I think we had a good time and I'm reasonably happy with how this first game went. I generally prefer to have 3 or more players, but Dan and Mike were both awesome and made it work. I struggled a bit with the mechanics, not because LotFP is difficult, but because the sensibilities of OSR are so different from what I'm used to. I definitely over-relied on rolls when I should have made certain situations more streamlined. I also made some other mistakes that I'm kicking myself for because I know that I know better, and I think between being a bit rusty (my home group hasn't met in a while) and trying to get the feel for OSR, I stumbled a bit more than I would have liked. I also think I may have over-prepped a bit, to my disadvantage, and over-relied on exposition. I'm going to try to work on these things before the next game. That being said, Dan and Mike seemed to appreciate the mystery, the world, and the NPCs, so I think if I can clean up my GMing things will come together well for next play session. I anticipate this adventure taking 1-2 more play sessions, and from there we'll see where things go!

           

       

Qualia Elves and the Overlight by way of DeepDream

The mental images or thematic apperceptions of psychological projective tests; the objects seen in clouds; the phosphenes and hypnogogic imagery before sleep; pareidolia. Abstract like a Van Gogh painting or a projection of an elf through DeepDream. On sunny days they stream through physical space across sparse clouds on bolts of invisible lightning composed of the static charges of qualemes, the smallest units of subjective thought. They exist in and out of consciousness on the sunny plane of foggy minds known as The Overlight.

I ran this drawing by the artist Belibr of Merisiel from the tabletop RPG Pathfinder by Paizo through DeepDream, as a crude representation of the Qualia Elves and the Overlight from my list of 20 Weird & Wonderful Elf Subtypes. The "Overlight" was just some dumb bullshit I came up with on the spot as sort of a joking nod to the Underdark, but I was really happy with my writeup of the qualia elves and now I kind of actually want to write up a mini-setting for the Overlight. I dunno, is that something you would be interested in seeing? Let me know!