Saturday, April 25, 2020

TROIKA! - The Tears of Time

On the surface, Guardia resembles any mythical medieval sphere across the humpbacked sky except a hyperdimensional parasite, the Devourer, slumbers at the world's heart. Its dreams peel away at potential timelines, grooming all life to an ideal form for consumption. This process left the wall between epochs thin if you wish to travel between them.

Upon arriving via golden barge, you can enter a "time gate" to visit 3 other distinct eras: Prehistory - where humans, dinosaurs, and lizard-men are locked in a struggle for survival, the Middle Ages -  a high romance of knights and magic, and the Wastes- where destitute humans huddle for shelter in arcologies away from the mutants and killer robots outside. A research mission from the Academy of Doors can be found in Truce, trying to find a path to the "End of Time".


SILENT SWORDSMAN
Your life was so simple before the Millenium Fair. Then the mysterious beauty stepped into your inventor friend's telepod, tearing a hole through the immaterium of time and space. You leaped in after her and found yourself adrift among the humpbacked sky.

Possessions
Headband
Katana (Damage as Longsword)
Padded Vest (Light Armor)
Eager to Help

Advanced Skills
4 Whirling Swordplay
2 Left-handed
2 Time Traveler
1 Spell - Jolt

GIRL GENIUS
A brilliant inventor and the swordsman's childhood friend. Since the princess got herself lost with your telepod you feel responsible to track her down. Bouncing from sphere to sphere, you haven't found her but you repaired some friends along the way.

Possessions
Pea Shooter (Damage as Pistolet)Pouch with 20 Bullets
Toolkit
Taban's Vest (Light Armor)

Advanced Skills
3 Mathmology
2 Mechanical Genius
2 Spell - Explode 
2 Time Traveler
1 Pistolet Fighting
1 Hammer Fighting

RUNAWAY PRINCESS
Bored with palace life you slipped out to enjoy the Millenium Fair. Too bad you also slipped through space and time. Stupid telepod. Now you have no idea where, much less when, you are.

Possessions
Bowgun (Damage as Crossbow)
10 Quarrels
A Mystical Pendant (Roll twice for any Oops! test and choose one of the results)
Maiden Suit (Light Armor)
A Case of Mistake Identity

Advanced Skills 3 Spell - Drown
2 Second Sight
2 Blonde Bombshell
1 Healing
1 Crossbow Fighting

FROG-FACED CAVALIER
Once a squire in service of the Kingdom's Royal Family, following the death of your mentor at the demon king's hand you're trapped in a monstrous form. Now you seek revenge and your lost queen across the shining spheres.

Possessions
Cursed Frog Form (Do all the things frogs do)
Greatsword
A Love for Their Queen
Bronze Mail (Modest Armor)

Advanced Skills
3 Etiquette
3 Knightly Combat
3 Leg Day
1 Awareness

Special
You may test Luck to ignore the downsides of a curse.

ACHY BREAKY AUTOMATON
Originally built to assist mankind in the post-apocalyptic wasteland after the Devourer at the world's heart emerged and stripped all life. With some vague recollection of the way the world was, you set out to do more.

Possessions
Kaiser Arm (Damage as Maul)
Steel Body (Achy Breaky Automatons always count as Modestly Armored)
Sympathy for Humanity

Advanced Skills
3 My Body Is Full of Weapons
2 Voluntary Arborist
2 If They Had a Heart
2 Keep On Ticking

Special
When you suffer Mighty Damage roll Keep On Ticking. If you succeed then lose a system instead of taking damage: optics, speakers, memory banks, arms, or legs.

QUEEN OF THE STONE AGE
Chief of a tribe locked in constant war with lizard-men. You left your people with allies from the distant future, reassured you would return in seconds of your departure. It's been 3 years.

Possessions
Piece of the Dreamstone
Enormous Club (Damage as Club)
Queenly Authority

Advanced Skills 4 Strength
2 Club Fighting
2 Fierce Courage
1 Blonde Bombshell

Special
You can eat 6 Provisions per day to recover Stamina. You can't improve or acquire any ranged Weapon Skills but you can always throw boulders with Strength.

DEMON KING
You were the prince of a golden age until you brushed against the Devourer's sleeping mind. Flung through space and far flung epochs, you long to resurrect your lost kingdom. Stabilizing a new time gate to your home era may be the solution.

Possessions
Moonsharp Scythe (Damage as Spear)
Raven Armor (Light Armor)
Grief For a Bygone Age

Advanced Skills 2 Spell - Firebolt
2 Spell -Thunder
2 Spell - Ward
2 Spear Fighting
1 Astrology
1 Second Sight

Borchardbriar: Clowdertown Blues

DISTRICTS OF CLOWDERTOWN
Proud Oaks
Where the wealthy play
Upper Garden
The richest part of the city
Braebuck's Ferry
Thieves and markets
Ninian East
The Cathedral
Corim Keep
The old keep, now a neighborhood
Verdauga
Government and the old cat city
Oldsong
Cemeteries and Graymalkin's tower
Heather Reach
Apothecaries and the gentle sort of danger
The Green
Boulevards & mercantile interests
Spillover
The Fishery & warehouses
Deyna Square
Teashops and merchants
Rillflagg's Terrace
Vice and workhouses
The Litterbox
A shanty town 
The Docks
Gateway to the Burning South
Waterside
Watched over by the Abbess
Shrimptail
The old otter village, now a know of piers and houseboats.
The modern city of Clowdertown was established as two separate holdfasts grew together over time, an otter fishing village on the southern coast and a cat trading settlement in the upper delta. Since then it's endured a searat invasion, hurricanes, the Blight, and Greeneyes' reign of terror. Through it all the city, and its people, have held together. But that was back in the Bad Old Days when events felt fleeting before returning to an illusion of stability. Before the constant pressures of the Tithe and starvation.

These days, Reynard's eternal autumnal boughs frame a city known for two things: its prosperity and carefully balanced "neutrality" regarding the Foxlord. While the rustic villages and riverside towns throughout the land simmer with resentment against the Tithe, the other cities have proven silent, if not eager, collaborators. Clowdertown sends the fewest kits possible and selects them by lottery to maintain a pretense of impartiality. These practices make the city a destination for families at risk and a fertile recruiting ground for any sort of rebellion.

Clowdertown's Oddities
The Abbess - A killer prowling Waterside almost exclusively, their victims are found in a penitent's pose. Though the bounty keeps escalating with each victim, Waterside residents won't help the Meow Street Runners track the Abbess down.

"Feathers" - Notable for the dietary demands of its citizenry, cats and otters' demand for meat supports a thriving fish market and an illegal trade in poached songbirds aka "feathers". Rumors occasionally surface of more exclusive clubs hidden in the richest corners.

Gutter Regattas - Illegal boat races between otter crews to ultimately compete in the Great Row, an annual festival and competition in honor of the Birthing Waters. The winners' families are immune to the Tithe until the next festival.

Poison Gardens - Greeneyes strictly prohibited carrying weapons larger than a knife so the aristocracy found other ways to dispose of rivals. The cultivation and use of toxic, intoxicating, and narcotic plants was one of them. Most common in Verdauga and Heather Reach, you can find small bunches of dubious potency elsewhere.

Reticules -  Small drawstring pouches traditionally containing toxic paste should a beast need to dip a blade or claw for self defense, or assassination.  Now a fashion item embroidered or beaded sometimes signalling political affiliations or more clandestine desires.

CLOWDERTOWN CAPER GENERATOR
What's the deed? (On a Clubs, draw an additional card for "What's Gone Wrong?")
2-5 - Surveillance.
6-8 - Delivery.
9-10 - Sowing unrest
Jack - Infiltration.
Queen - Black-bag job.
King-Ace - Assassination.
Joker - Clash in the open. Re-draw if Resistance is < 4

Where's the spot? (Hearts & Diamonds / Clubs & Spades)
2 - Abbey of the Alley / Fleeting Fetches
3 - Bread & Butter Bakery / Readnola Viaduct
4 - Serenity Bridge / Stormy Crossing
5 - Summermuse Avenue / Owl Track
6 - Ms. Kitty's / The Fishery
7 - Marley's / The Ashamed Rat
8 - Moon Market / Boiling Cauldron
9 - The Bitter Tortoise Theater / Goldguard Trading Company
10 - Goodberry Manse / Humbleblossom Estate
Jack - Tallstone Gatehouse / Duskdirge Garrison
Queen - Hammer & Tongs / Rodrig's Box & Tackle
King - Greeneyes Palace / Crescent Plaza
Ace - The Queen's Island / The Strongford
Joker - The Little Twin / Graymalkin's Tower

Who's the target?
2-5 - Civilian authorities collaborating with Reynard's regime. Who are they? Can they be turned?
6-8 - A small team of Meow Street Runners. Who do they work for? What are they investigating?
9-10 - A fat cat with a monstrous appetite. Which is it - Feathers? The 'nip? Taxidermy? Addermilk?
Jack - A coterie of Reynard's tithe takers. Draw an additional location card for their fall back plan.
Queen -A sorcerer, bard, or chimera who's been untrustworthy. What was their betrayal?
King-Ace - An infamous Wyldbreaker who's in town. What are they known for?
Joker - One of Reynard's winnowers is in town (black = the Bellringer / red = the Penitent)

What's gone wrong?
2-5 - They've been double-crossed by someone. Who was it?
6-8 - The target didn't show. Were they warned?
9-10 - The cell has a parallel opportunity. Draw a new set of cards to generate a parallel caper. Do they split the party?
Jack - Someone's raised the alarm! Bells! Flares! Watchmen on every street corner!
Queen - They've has been ambushed by (Red- Meow Street Runners / Black- Wyldbreaker and retinue). Do they fight or flee?
King-Ace - There's an additional target of opportunity. Do you take it? Draw again for the target.
Joker - Depends. Red Joker = Everything goes smooth, for once. Black Joker = Someone has sold them out, there's a bounty on the cell's heads and the Hunt may begin soon. Increase the Cell's Rep by 2.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Borchardbriar: Unseen Principalities and Unclean Spirits


ARCANE BACKGROUND (Bard)
ARCANE SKILL: Performance (Spirit)
STARTING POWERS: 3
POWER POINTS: 10
Bards are highly skilled performers but they're more than simple musicians. Scraps of power hide in the shanties, stories, and songs echoing through pubs and churches. A bard coaxes these echoes, drawing on their legendary feats or offering a balm to their comrades.

Suggested Powers: boost trait, darksight, deflection, fear, healing, protection, quickness, speak language, succor, summon ally, warrior's gift
Backlash: Drawing on the Distant Past can leave an open door for phantoms to come forward and relive their glory days. 1 Ghost per Wild Card appears, make reaction rolls for each ghost. This is in addition to normal Backlash.

ARCANE BACKGROUND (Chimeric Might)
ARCANE SKILL: Bend Shape (Strength)
STARTING POWERS: 2
POWER POINTS: 15 
Chimeras tap into the land's Wild Magic, flexing an immaterial set of muscles to alter their forms to grow quills, massive size, or a sticky tongue as needed. Many live on the fringes of city and town, hesitant to expose themselves to Wyldbreakers.

Note: A chimera's powers are limited to targeting themselves unless they pay for Additional Recipients or it makes narrative sense.

Suggested Powers: burrow, damage field, entangle, farsight, fly, growth, shape change, and anything else you can work out with your GM.
Backlash: The Wild Magic slips through your grip and runs rampant. All trees, grass, ivy, etc. in a league suddenly grow large, aggressively biting into any buildings, roads, or walls in the vicinity. This is in addition to normal Backlash.

ARCANE BACKGROUND (Sorcery)
ARCANE SKILL: Spellcasting (Smarts)
STARTING POWERS: 3
POWER POINTS: 10
Sorcerers understand the World is patchwork stitched together by unseen forces and high powers. Through practice they learn the rituals, gestures, and words in the Watchers' Blue Tongue to command the little needles, producing magical effects when invoked.

Suggested Powers: banish, blind, boost/lower trait, clairvoyance, deflection, detect/conceal arcana, dispel, divination, elemental manipulation, puppet, slow, slumber, teleport, wall walker
Backlash:  There's a catch or snag when you release the spell, the ripping and tearing fundamentally alters the area (large template) until the next full moon. Water is not wet. Fire does not burn. Air chokes. Earth floats into the sky. This is in addition to normal Backlash.

THE YONDER & ITS INHABITANTS
Everybeast has heard a similar tale: a beast has stopped breathing, pulled from a river or similar accident, and thought to be dead. When they cough up the water, or what-have-you, they recover quickly. Nonetheless they were lost to us for a time.

And where were they while not-quite-dead? Stuck as the soil beneath our paws. The Golden Meadow or Dark Forest promised by the Abbey? No. They tell us of a blue expanse full of chill light.

Show me a beast who claims ignorance of this place and I will show you a liar. They've been to the Yonder, an Otherworld arching over our heads we all visit briefly on the cusp of sleep. Which is important to remember. Unlike the Watchers, we're just passing through.

Clutch that Saint's medallion close when you sleep, lest the witch-birds swoop in and steal your good dreams. Those oddities of churning wings and fiery eyes have long memories and witness everything. I bet they remember before Reynard ruled Castle Borchardbriar.

Is it any wonder Sorcerers build towers to entreat them for secrets, power, and patronage?
Bartering the bones of our dead for their greed.

- Crait, Retired Meow Street Runner