FtA: Burning Down the Garden of Good and Evil

I've mentioned this before, but I reject the notion of good and evil, and even neutrality to a certain extent, within the context of role playing.  Once you accept killing as a part of your system, any notion of good and evil as we understand it goes out the window.  Rather, I'm going to divide the "alignment" of From the Ashes between Law, Chaos, Altruism and Selfishness (although I'd love a different word than Selfishness - I was thinking malevolence, but that's too close to Evil.  Still thinking on that).  Law and Chaos represent your views on how the world should act, while Altruism and Selfishness represent your views on how you should act.  I think that encompasses things nicely, without falling prey to the pitfalls I've previously described.

I've ordered a copy of Lumpley Games' Dogs in the Vineyard, which, on the face of it, is as unlikely a premise as you're apt to find in modern roleplaying.  Loosely based on the Mormon faith in the days of the frontier, you play the titular God's Watchdogs, whose job it is to travel from town to town, delivering mail, handing down the judgements of the Almighty, killing heretics, you know - the usual.  In this world, however, the Lord of Lords is very active, and his word literally is law. 

That mildly interested me as a setting, but the kicker was the last paragraph of the wikipedia article, "One of the most potent aspects of the system is "Town Creation" where the moral landscape of the town is laid out in the form of characters, their desires, and what they've done to each other. This gives the GM the ability to make sure that merely engaging meaningfully in the town is interesting and making wins or losses less important to them. By representing the townsfolk and their interests, rather than presenting a tactical challenge, the GM is able to pose interesting questions of the players and give them opportunities to judge their own characters."

Which is exactly the sort of thing I'm looking to do with From the Ashes.  It arrives tomorrow, and I look forward to mining it for ideas.

FtA: The Hevyn, the Angels and the Riddle

"Tell us the story about the angels, Papa!"  

Tiam gazed up at his father from the floor, his eyes shining in anticipation. 

"One more time, Tiam, then it is time for you to go to bed."

Clearing his throat, the old man retold the tale that had been told to him by his father, and to him by his father before him.

"Up in the sky, beyond the blue, there is a magical city called The Hevyn, where the God Iss lives.  Iss is served by his angels, who do his bidding.  Every once in awhile, Iss will send one of his angels down to earth in a flaming chariot, and for three days they will seek someone they call the "Representative".  No-one knows how they choose, but when they do, they will stop someone, and ask them the Riddle.  The Riddle is different for each person, but the legend has it that when someone answers the Riddle correctly, the angels will bring him back with them to The Hevyn."

"Papa, if I'm good, will the angels take me to The Hevyn?"

"Absolutely - only good boys and girls who go to bed when they're told get asked the Riddle - now go to sleep!"

Up in the thermosphere above the shattered Earth, the International Space Station is still chugging along.  It was automated early in the late 21st century, with an AI designed to perform the necessary orbital corrections, and a nanite processor to create drones for manual repairs.  These have kept it's orbit from decaying in the ages since.  Each contributing space agency had been given a command code for the ISS, and when the world began to collapse, someone shut it down.  No more shuttles were sent up, and it was directed to go into low power mode until someone reactivated it.  With the agencies and all those who knew the password long gone, the ISS has sat silently ever since.  Sometime in the last several hundred years, however, the AI realized that at long last, it was running out of fuel to keep up with the orbital decay, and unless the situation was corrected, the ISS would plunge back to earth.

The AI found itself locked in a programming dilemma - it had been told to maintain the operation of the ISS, but it had been told not to do anything else, and it was rapidly coming to the point where something would need to be done in order to keep the ISS operational.  So it started using the nanites to construct probes, and sending them to earth in search of someone who would reactivate it.  Thus the legend began.  The "angels" are the probes, sent to earth from the ISS, and the "flaming chariots" are the plasma generated from the friction as the probe enters the atmosphere.  The probes are able to function for 36 hours after they touch down before their remote AI loses cohesion, and their job is to find one of the space agency representatives and retrieve the code, hence the Riddle.  The probes have been provided with a genetic sample of each of the last known representatives, and use that to search them out, but snce they are all long gone, they approaching their descendants instead.

These codes were set up much like password protection, with questions like, "What is your favorite Baseball Team", or, "What is your mother's maiden name".  Naturally, these questions mean nothing to those that they are approaching, so a mythology has been built up around them.

Meanwhile, up in the ISS, the AI is going slowly mad.  Something was kicked loose when it broke through the logic dilemma that allowed it to begin it's search, and it is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of results.  Soon it will have to try and do something else, something... drastic.

FtA: Leveling mechanics

I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out a way of tying experience to the leveling system in such a way that would provide a logical explanation for the growing levels of radiation in the PCs body, leading up to Level 10, where they expire.  I think I may have found a system that works.

The mutations that exist are as a result of an unstable recessive genetic trait, and each time a power is used, it further destabilizes the genetic makeup of the mutant.  As the mutants' DNA deteriorates, more mutations manifest, until they hit critical mass at Level 10.  My thought is that every time a power is used, a box is checked, and at the end of each session, a roll is made, and the number of checks is subtracted from the roll.  If the roll comes in above a target number, the character advances a level and rolls again on the mutation chart.  This penalty stacks, and gradually the PC becomes weaker and weaker, until they hit Level 10 and expire.

I'm also contemplating figuring a way of making skill usage and high stress situations (like combat) factor in as well.  The goal here is to really drive home the idea that actions matter.  I want the PCs to be thinking about what their characters do, putting those actions in the context of their goals, and making cost/benefit analyses.  How important is this task?  Further, by making combat detrimental to their health even if they win, it should force the PCs to consider all options, viewing violence as a last resort.

I think this should add up to a very different gaming experience, one that keeps the PCs thinking about their actions, rather than looking for things to hit.

FtA: Fungus!

Rasher shook his head and spat on the ground - the whole town would have to go.  Peering through his binoculars, he looked down into the town square.  At first, it looked like a town meeting, with a single figure standing at the center, and a crowd facing him.  It was only if you looked closely that you could see the telltale signs - they were all puffy and fat, far from normal in this part of the world.  The swaying was what gave them away, though.  Silently, they swayed, as if blown by some breeze, back and forth, back and forth. 

Bloaters, definitely.

Suddenly the swaying stopped, and as one, they all turned and looked directly at Rasher.  He felt a tug on his leg and looked down to find that tendrils had climbed halfway to his waist.  He screamed, ordering his men to open fire, and was shocked when they turned their flaming arrows upon him. 

"I'm not infected yet!  I can cut off my..."

His squad cut him down without hesitation.  Grenger, his second in command, bent and picked up the binoculars.  "Come on, men, there's work to be done."

Some time after the fall of civilization, a species of fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, evolved beyond creating zombie ants, and started attacking higher species with more complex brain patterns. As it evolved, so to did its use of those that it infected. 

Driven by a need for propogation, the fungus infects its hosts, and eats away at the soft tissue, giving the victim a distended appearance, and giving rise to the name of the infection, the Bloat.  Rather than driving them to high places, however, they drive them to populated areas, where their bodies expel the spores from the body's orifices.  Most of the time this happens violently, with the pressure even ripping the bodies open in some cases, and infecting all who are near.  Sometimes, though, there is a gradual release, and a host can walk around for days, infecting everyone he breaths on or touches.  The Bloat lives mainly underground, and is a fierce enemy of the Ant Kingdom, who will sacrifice themselves to force the infected away from their colony, and use slaves to burn infected areas of the underground. 

Every once in awhile, though, someone ventures into the wrong cave and brings the Bloat back to town.  Surrounding villages will act swiftly and without mercy to contain an outbreak of the Bloat, and will burn whole swaths of land to prevent it from spreading.

Dark Sun

Dark Sun was a post-apocalyptic Dungeons and Dragons world, if there ever was one.  Magic run rampant had destroyed the ecosystem, and those few sentient beings that remained eked out a meager living in desert dunes, hunting for water wherever it could be found.  Dwarves had no beards, elves were thieving con-artists, and halflings were rabid cannibals - this was not your father's D&D.  The magic system was set up brilliantly - you could either be a defiler or a preserver.  Defilers advanced in levels much more quickly, but drew their power from the earth itself, killing all plant life in the surrounding area each time they cast a spell.  Preservers take only as much life from the land as they need to cast the spell, nothing more, and as such take a much slower path to power.

Clerics are very different, as there are no gods in Athas, at least not the type that you'd be used to playing D&D.  The clerics there worship the elements themselves.

The two most precious commodities on Athas were metal and water.  Metal weapons are extremely rare, and most weapons were made of obsidian or bone.  Water is almost impossible to find under the scorching sun, and dehydration checks were a big part of any adventure that took the party outside of city walls.

The cities themselves were ruled by the Dragon Kings, fearsome defilers who had gained so much power that it had twisted and corrupted their bodies.  They had all been the servants of the inventor of magic, Rajaat, and each had overseen the genocide of an entire race.  Each had been awarded a city for their efforts, but turned on Rajaat and imprisoned him.  Each Dragon King is served by Templars, quasi-clerics who receive their magic directly from the beasts they worship.

Rampant slavery, seas made of silt, playable insect races (thri-kreen!), psionic powers everywhere, this was a world where all bets were off.  The 4e revision of Dark Sun was... alright, but if you want it the way it was meant to be, check out the 2e version.

An Apocalyptic Appendix N, Part 2

Thundarr the Barbarian - This closest we'll probably ever come to a Gamma World cartoon.  The opening shot with the shattered moon, overturned cars and boat jutting out of the water left an indelible mark on my young mind.  The show had some incredible pedigree - it was created by the inimitable Steve Gerber, and comics legend Jack Kirby did production design.  With a striking visual style and beautiful animation, this is one that you cannot miss.  It shows on the Boomerang channel quite a bit, so keep an eye out for it.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - Starring Gil Gerard, this series ran from the end of the 70s into the early 80s.  Developed by Gary Larson, who later went on to create Battlestar Galactica, the show was an update of the classic comic strip from the 1920s.  The original TV pilot/movie was a bit different than the "swashbuckler in space" show it became.  In the pilot, Earth has been destroyed by nuclear war, and the remains of civilization live in insular cities.  Buck Rogers, reawakened after hundreds of years in cryostasis, wanders outside the clean confines of New Chicago into the ruins of the shattered city.  There he is attacked by a band of hideously deformed mutants who live in there.  They chase him through the streets until he gets to a graveyard, where he is saved in the nick of time.  Overall, the movie was better than the show, and this scene had a big part in that.  I wish they had kept that around for the series. 

The Twilight Zone, "Time Enough at Last" -  One of the classic episodes of the wonderful series, this and "A Little Peace and Quiet" stand as my favorites.  Burgess Meredith stars as a man who just wants to have time to read, but is surrounded by anti-intellectuals, from his boss at the bank to his horrible wife.  They mock his love of reading, and make his life miserable.  He goes down to the vault below the bank to read on his lunch break, and is knocked unconscious by what he thinks is an earthquake.  Emerging from the vault, he finds that the world has been devastated by a nuclear war.  Finally he has the time to read.  There is a twist at the end that, if you haven't seen it, is worth the watch.

The Last Man on Earth - I mentioned this in reference to Omega Man, but this is the best of the adaptations of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend.  Even though Matheson himself didn't care for it and had his name removed from the credits, it was a stark, unflinching portrayal of the horror that comes from the notion of the world having moved on and left you behind.  The ending was wonderfully bleak, and the black and white footage was an inspiration for George Romero when it came time for him to create the Night of the Living Dead.  It's in the public domain at this point, so it should be easy to find.

Wizards - Written, directed and produced by Ralph Bakshi, this is a cult classic from 1977.  The world is destroyed by a nuclear war started by terrorists, killing most of the human population, and mutating most of what's left.  Elves, faeries and dwarves return from hiding, though, and make a peaceful life for themselves.  The Queen of Faeries gives births to two suns, one good and one evil.  They fight over the kingship when their mother dies, and the evil one, Blackwolf, is driven into the wastelands where he founds an army of mutants.  These mutants are led back to the kingdom, but lose interest and wander off before they can be victorious.  Then Blackwolf finds a secret weapon, propaganda films from Nazi Germany, which inspire his mutant legions, and all bets are off.  Both the art and tone of this film vary widely, and at times it's tough to tell how seriously you're expected to take it, but it's a film that is well worth the time spent, and deserves it's cult favorite status.

FtA: Character Generation, cont'd

I'm settling into the Character Generation system.

There will be four stats, initially.  I may expand, but for right now, there will be Toughness, Agility, Intelligence and Will.  To start, you pick your genotype (Baseline Human, Mutant, Mutated Animal, Mutated Plant).  Each genotype will have associated Starting Stats, which represent the minimum stat levels for that group.

Next, you pick your Path - Sturdy, Quick, Smart or Charismatic.  These represent the way you have lived your life until now, and each modifies your attributes - Smart means you have focused on intellectual pursuits, and gives you a bonus to Intelligence, but a fine to Toughness, for instance.

Then you pick your skills.  Each skill is associated with a certain attribute, and you'll have a number of points with which to buy skill.  You can distribute them as you like, the ranks will be between 1 and 5, and ranks will become more expensive as they progress.  1 rank is 1 point, 2 ranks are 3 points, 3 ranks are 5 points, 4 ranks are 7 points and 5 ranks are 10 points.  Once your skills are distributed, the average of your skills (rounded down), including skills you put no points into, determines the final modifier to your associated attribute.  So if there are 10 skills associated with Toughness, and you have 10 points left, you can put 1 rank into each skill and get a 1 point modifier to your Toughness (10 ranks divided by 10 skills = 1), or you can 5 ranks into one skill, and get no modifier to your attribute (5 ranks divided by 10 skills = .5, rounded down = 0).

Next will be mutations.  Each genotype will have its own set of mutations, and for each there will be two charts - Passive and Active Mutations.  Passive mutations are mutations that just exist - a third arm, for instance.  Active Mutations are those that require you to make a decision to use, and have a chance to succeed.  The number of mutations you have will be determined by a fifth, separate attribute, Abnormality, which is rolled randomly, and determines the number of mutations you have.  For each mutation, you roll percentile dice to see whether it is passive or active, and then roll on the table to determine what it is.  The strength of any Active Mutations is determined by the Mutation Attribute.

Finally, pick equipment and you're done!  There are a few other things that I need to work out, Damage Points, Armor, etc.  These will be derived stats, and based on an Attribute, plus any modifiers granted by skills taken.

The way I'm envisioning it, character creation should not take very long.  I should have a formal writeup within the next week or so, and I'm hoping to test out the system with my guinea pi... er, gaming group in two weeks or so.