Playtest Update, 7/30/13

We played a second playtest session last Friday. Two new players made characters: a brux scoundrel and a cyberdroid hunter/tracker.  Chargen went well and quickly for them.

I ran the group through a randomly-generated dungeon I made online. I substituted Cydorian equivalents for the D&D monsters and used my quick-and-dirty opponent rules.  The story was that they had to recover a stolen item kept in a bandit stronghold located in an ancient bunker dug under a mesa. 

The first character who opened the door rolled initiative and failed and took three crossbow bolts (I rolled two 19s to hit and another high number). He backed up and said, "I'm out. I'm walking back to town."

The other characters had a devil of a time digging the four Jinx crossbow snipers out of their cubby holes and killing them. The players only had to roll a 12 or better to hit them, but they just couldn't! The Brux wound up killing almost all the jinxes. They finally got them out but they were hurt bad!

Lesson learned: my jinxes had WAY too many hit points. They each had 16 HP, which is 3 more than the average 13 of a player character. Minor NPCs should not have the same hit points as player characters. That has been adjusted. Though I'm considering giving PCs more hit points instead. 

I gave them morphic potions which gave them regeneration for 1d8 turns. They were back up to full and able to continue.

After that, the PCs were a little more circumspect regarding rushing into rooms. They set off two traps, one of them poisoned. They also avoided a room and the fight therein because it wasn't a part of their mission.

So, not too many changes as a result of this session. I made bruxes large creatures, which gives them more hit points but makes them easier to hit, and likewise jinxes and deru are small creatures with less hit points but harder to hit. I also clarified area effect attacks and re-worded some other small bits here and there for better clarity.

I added a first draft of some gadget rules for guild technicians and techno-heretics. 

I converted the rules for creating forgeries from the original game.

I also added a first draft of the opponent creation guidelines, which won't be in the final rules but are useful for creating bad guys and creatures to fight. 

I still need to finish the wilderness survival rules, then add morphic potions and convert the artifacts.

Check out the PDF of the current revision of the playtest rules up there to the right. I welcome feedback and suggestions. It's a living document and will be updated weekly.

Edit to Add: I am considering removing the limited reaction rule and welcome opinions about that.

Playtest update

Ran my group through the first playtest of the new rules last Friday. The playtest went well overall. The group found some things I needed to iron out.

1. Some Advantages need to be removed.
2. Some other Advantages need to be revised.
3. Lots of bits were left in from earlier iterations of the rules that needed to be changed/removed.
4. Some combat actions need to be revised.
5. Remove Stun/Shock Threshhold as a thing.
6. Clarify some minor bits.
7. Rearrange and clarify the Character Concept chapter.
8. Give the humans something to make them stand out from/better than the other races.

Overall, combats with the system went VERY smoothly. I especially liked using tokens to keep track of limited immediate reactions and the tactical choices having limited reactions creates.

I will finish updating the rules and post a new updated PDF tonight.

The playtesters created three characters:
A human martial artist focused on Unarmed Fighting.
A human techno-heretic focused on Guildcraft.
A human artifact hunter with a focus on Awareness.

They were all prisoners in an Erisian prison camp, dumped in the middle of the desert. They slept during the day and hiked eastward at night. On one night, they fought a large lizard predator. That fight went fairly well for them. On another night, they fought three other freed prisoners who were trying to steal their stuff. That fight went poorly and the techno-heretic was knocked unconscious. We cut that fight short when we realized we forgot the stun/shock rules. After that, I decided to excise those rules for being stupid.

Then they got picked up by a Zephyr-ship. Next week, they'll be level 2, buying some equipment, and going on a real mission.
The techno-heretic is forcing my hand a little because I hadn't converted the invention/gadget rules yet from the BRP edition. I worked on some guidelines for that today. I'll see how they work this Friday.

Exiled in Eris

The following is how I'm going to run my next Swords of Cydoria adventure. It's cribbed from what I wrote for my other blog "Exiled in Eris".

Your character was once a (insert character background) growing up in the peaceful kingdom of Demetria (or other homeland). The kingdoms of eastern Cydoria were once simple medieval lands protected by mounted knights and men-at-arms. Wizards studied in their towers.  The ancient race known as Yedrix dwelt in the deep forests. The Deru excavated great subterranean kingdoms under the mountains.

You gathered with the others to hear bards recount the stories of great heroes who slew dragons and clashed with the forces of darkness in the wild lands to the west. But you were content to be a (character background). You had heard stories about the other City-States of Cydoria, maybe even traded with merchants from those places, but overland travel through the terax-infested wildlands was difficult and fraught with peril. The only save means of transport was via flying aircraft known as zephyr-ships.

Ten years ago, the City-State of Vrildar suddenly started equipping its troops with weapons and vehicles of forbidden technology. They quickly conquered their neighbors and turned their attention towards Demetria. 

The kingdom of Demetria called forth their greatest knights and most powerful war-wizards to stand against this invasion. Troops were mustered by the tens of thousands. Armies were arrayed against the mechanized onslaught of the Vrildarians. Even the Guardians of Adhara, normally neutral, chose to align themselves with the Demetrians. The subsequent war was called simply "the Invasion".

You volunteered to defend your homeland. You were issued your own weapon of forbidden technology. You fought bravely, but ultimately the war was lost. Talen, the capital of Demetria, was destroyed  by a single weapon of unimaginable destruction. When Demetria surrendered, you were rounded up with the other prisoners of war. You were shipped off to a prison camp with your fellow veterans, separated from your family who were sold into slavery in the cities of the Vrildarian allies.

NOTE: This introduction assumes the characters are Demetrian prisoners of war. However, the characters can be imprisoned for any number of reasons. They could be criminals, political prisoners, slaves to a warlord, etc.

Ten years have passed.

Ten hellish years as a Vrildarian prisoner and laborer. Your work built the infrastructure for the colonies of your new overlords from the Empire of Vrildar. For the last ten years, you have been (choose or roll one):

1.    Building roads

2.    Clearing forest/jungle

3.    Mining ore

4.    Crushing rock into gravel

5.    Digging trenches

6.    Building a pipeline

After your work was done, you were sent to a prison in Eris, thousands of miles from your homeland. Eris is a lot like Arizona or Nevada. Hot, arid, dry, and generally uninhabited.

In the last decade, you have faced the harshest living conditions, endured the cruelest punishments, and have performed the most grueling work imaginable. You have been the lashed by the whip, subjected to electrical shocks, and have had to perform unspeakable acts to survive.

Today, guards removed you from your work detail. You were taken away, a burlap sack was placed over your head and your limbs were bound. You were placed in the back of a motorized transport and driven somewhere. You were taken out of the transport. You may have thought, "This is it. This is the day they execute me." Instead, the bag is removed. You blink in the hot sun.

One of the guards tells you, "Prisoner (or Prisoners if more than one player character is a veteran), the Vrildarian Empire has decided in its munificence to show leniency towards you. Your period of incarceration is ended. You are free men. Go in peace. Glory to the Empire! Hail Vrildar!"

A bundle is dropped on the ground a dozen feet away from you.

The guards re-board the motorized transport and drive away, leaving you alone somewhere in the desert, lost.

You open the bundle, inside you find a few meager items.

·         a poor quality knife

·         a wool blanket

·         a skin of water

·         2d4 days worth of rations

·         a ball of twine

What do you do?

The first session would then revolve around the player character's survival in the wilderness and the search for civilization. The settlement of Sweetwater is a few days away. The character will need to find some food, perhaps by digging for underground critters or eating some of the sparse cactuses.

The GM should roll for random encounters every twelve hours. Most encounters are visible from miles away before they occur, giving the player characters 10-40 minutes to prepare.

1. Large lizard
2. Venomous Snake
3. Man-sized Spider
4. Tintazi hunting party (1-4 tintazi), willing to trade information for one of the items above.
5. Large vultures known as "Varks" (1-4)
6. Find the remains of a dead prisoner, +1 knife, wool blanket, twine, empty water skin
7. Another prisoner, 50% friendly/50% antagonistic
8. 1-4 Bandits attempt to rob and/or enslave the player character
9. Human hunter from one of the settlements, friendly, will offer the player character food and water and directions to the settlement
10. Barbarian hunter from one of the tribes, 40% friendly/40% wary/20% antagonistic
11. A sealed barrel of water, once buried in the sand, has been exposed by the wind
12. Sand storm
13. Young sand squid
14. A Vrildarian patrol of 2-8 soldiers in a transport takes 2-12 ranged pot-shots at the character before driving off.
15. Giant beetle known as "Kolops" 
16. An Orix hunter from the Badlands decides to track and hunt the player character
17. An merchant zephyr-ship transport flies by overhead en route to a nearby settlement
18. Tire tracks. One direction leads to a nearby settlement, the other direction leads to the prison
19. A small pile of stones, indicating the location of a buried sack of 10-60 gold pieces
20. An old rusty weapon half-buried in the sand
1. Ballistic Pistol with 1-4 bullets
2. Sword
3. Axe
4. Mace
5. Hammer
6. Explosive hand grenade

I will provide a hex-map of the region soon. Eventually, the player character will find a nearby settlement. There they can get water and food and equipment. They'll have to earn money, however, but paying work is hard to come by in the settlement. If the player character wants to survive, they're going to have to recruit some more allies and become adventurers.

NPC illos

While I was on vacation in Iowa I had the opportunity to do some NPC portraits. Here's what I've done so far. I'll probably scan them in proper tonight.

Welcome to Acik-Sehir

The free trade city of Acik-Sehir (pronounced "ay-chick say-heer") is an ancient Raganan city built on the banks of the Garza river. Acik-Sehir is the outermost city of the Kingdom of Ragana, located on their northwestern frontier. It was established as a trading post for Raganan trappers, hunters, and fishermen. The city soon became an important locus for trade between the xenophobic Raganans and the outside world: the only Raganan city where outlanders were welcome.

Acik-Sehir became the most prosperous city in the region. The city facilitated trade with the neighboring kingdoms of Dazi, Otar, and Baho, the subterranean tribes of the Tintazi, and the mountain aeries of the bird-men known as the Roatin. Occasionally, overland caravans would arrive from eastern lands beyond the Loka-Loka mountains with representatives from other kingdoms. Zephyr-ships from Cydoria began to arrive fifty years ago, opening trade with the technologically advanced eastern city-states. The city gained even more prominence in the last two decades with the annexation and settlement of nearby Eris by the Vrildarian Empire.

The city is divided in two by the Garza river. The western city is reserved for Dakazi. Outlanders may only visit the western city with a pass and must be escorted by a Dakazi guardian at all times. The eastern city is given over to the Outlanders, a neutral zone where all are welcome. Although there is nominal law enforcement, visitors to the eastern city are essentially left to their own devices. As a result, the eastern city has become as much a home to pirates and smugglers as it is to merchants and traders. It is filled with intrigue, a place where spies and terrorists may freely meet, a place of bounty hunters and bandits, gamblers and explorers. The city is notorious for its brothels and casinos and many Cydorian nobles visit for the epicurean experience alone.

The architecture of the western city is typically dakazi, consisting of walled compounds and villas with squat domed buildings. Each compound is home to a clan. The eastern city is a mixture of dakazi and human architecture, with walled compounds and square multi-story buildings. Most neighborhoods cluster around a large water well.

The city itself is roughly four kilometers across. The east and west cities are connected by two bridges. The north bridge is a drawbridge allowing riverboat traffic from the north. The south bridge is a low bridge, the last navigable point before the Falls of Kanos.

Palace of a Thousand Steps

The home of the Krall of the City, an ancient palace, modest with a few amenities. The title of Krall is roughly analogous to Baron, though it is assigned, not inherited. The current Krall is Kastar'r, a pragmatic realist. Kastar'r is unenthused by his posting here. He is a somewhat corrupt and mercenary leader, willing to accept a bribe from an outlander but uncompromising regarding the welfare and safety of his own people.

Temple of Anaka

A large stepped-pyramid surrounded by a placid moat. The temple is overseen by the Hierarch of Anaka, a masked figure with no name. The Hierarch is sympathetic to the plight of refugees from the Great War. Rumor has it that he is secretly an ally to the Demetrian Resistance.

Arena of Champions

A large arena with gladitorial combats, wild animal fights, public executions, and other entertainments.

Temple of the Dragon

A smaller temple devoted to the dragon-god of the Dazi.

Zephyr-Ship Landing Field

Originally built as a walled enclosure for livestock, the wide flat area has since been converted to a landing field for flying zephyr-ships. Warehouses were constructed inside the city walls to accomodate goods transported from across Markania.

The East Market District

Once a neighborhood devoted to Outlander shops and services, the area has become famous for its brothels, bordellos, casinos, saloons, and black markets.

The Warrens

The ancient city sits atop a labyrinth of sewers, subterranean aquaducts, and tunnels. Many are home to tribes of primitive tintazi.