LORE24 ENTRY #8 – The Pteravilla Stalker Incident

Category – Event

In the months following the latest border dispute, after the hostilities had died down and peace had been restored, the scout ship Pteravilla Stalker was on a run of the mill patrol through the restricted area between the formerly feuding sectors, when their sensors picked up an unidentified ship, though the sensor readings were not conclusive, indicating some form of active jamming.  As the small scout ship approached the vessel, the bogey answered none of their communications, nor did it react at all to their approach.  The sensor readings were still not revealing much in the way of details of the ship, only that it resembled a stock DSM cargo ship, one of their “flying skyscraper” designs that showed all the hallmarks of the corporation’s lack of interesting design features.

According to the official report, filed by Captain Maerril following the incident, visual inspection confirmed that the ship showed no signs of damage, and power readings were still inconclusive due to what appeared to be a sensor dampening coating over the ship’s hull.  The vessel’s ID code was obtained and a search ran through the available databases, but no matches were found, and the search inquiry with DSM for registration information was lost in the midst of their vast bureaucracy.  Per the Captain (and with corroborating accounts from other surviving crewmembers), the Stalker‘s first officer, Shi Sukimori, insisted upon leading a small team into the mystery ship to determine the nature of the vessel.  Against the Captain’s better judgement, he was convinced by the commander to allow the mission.  With Sukimori in command, the boarding party consisted of the Stalker‘s co-pilot Kaylee Serra, technical officer Hilde Fireforge, medical officer Briar Azalvia, and the scout Murissa Fer’Ragnarra.

Communications were spotty once the team had boarded, and it is the Captain’s opinion that a properly thorough search was not performed.  Soon, and against Captain Maerril’s orders, Sukimori initiated the startup sequence for the mystery vessel, which resulted in a sudden power surge through the ship’s main power core which resulted in a catastrophic failure and subsequent explosion that heavily damaged the Pteravilla Stalker and resulted in the death of multiple crew members.  The crewmembers who managed to reach the escape pods and who survived the explosion were eventually picked up by another military vessel that had been dispatched to assist with the investigation.  Captain Maerill has admitted to bad judgement in this matter and has since resigned his commission, and is now employed in the private sector, as are the other survivors.  The members of the boarding party have been listed amongst the lost crew, but have been posthumously dishonorably discharged.  

The truth of the matter, however, is something else entirely.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #7 – Sentinel Prime

Category – Place

Sentinel Prime was once a massive space-defense fortification built during the war-filled waning decades of the Great Elvish Dominion.  Through the use of a combination of wondrous and long-lost magic and then cutting edge technology, the Dominion was able to make an entire planetary body into a moveable battle station, even allowing it to travel through hyperspace.  Meant as a final deterrent (for who could conceivably conquer a planet-sized weapon platform with full support facilities for the elvish fleets and troops that were carried aboard this behemoth?) against the growing number of systems who were fighting against elvish rule, the station, for a time, served as the Emperor’s personal stronghold.

Unable to foresee his own demise through an act of betrayal from within, the Emperor’s overthrow was likewise the beginning of the end for Sentinel Prime.  During the final battle of this period, the remaining defenders of the Great Elvish Dominion fled with the station to the furthest reaches of known space at the time, a small system on the edge of the great, mysterious region of space known as the Demon Sector.  Here they would mount their last stand, and much of Sentinel Prime would be devastated during the ensuing battles.

Over the centuries since, Sentinel Prime was scavenged by countless spacers, and was eventually rebuilt in some form and colonized, growing up from small spacer communities into a massive planet-spanning city which, in the modern era, serves as rather infamous port of call, known for the local government bucking the influence of the controlling megacorps, allowing its citizens to live a mostly free, if dangerous, existence.  As such, Sentinel is known as a place one goes to find illicit goods, perform shady dealings, and to disappear should one be on the wrong side of the law; just be sure to pack your rubber rain gear during the rainy season, though, because that acid rain is a real pain.

Since the Demon Barrier was pierced, and travel into the Demon Sector has become commonplace, Sentinel has seen a rise in population and headache, trying to remain as neutral as possible to the powers that be in the galaxy while reaping all the profits they can for those explorers diving into the unknown regions beyond the Barrier. 

 

LORE24 ENTRY #6 – Soletta Valkyr

Category – Person

The current CEO of Enduritelligence Microsystems, Soletta Valkyr is known to be somewhat eccentric, perhaps more so following the tragic and mysterious death of her husband amidst a battle for the soul of her company against the monolithic megacorporation of DSM.  Though initially she had strong support from the board, her support has steadily been dwindling after a series of accidents befell her most strident allies; everyone knows DSM is responsible, but nobody can prove a thing.

Perhaps due to the stress of the situation, Soletta and her trusted halfling assistant and voice of reason, Tizzy, set out without warning aboard her personal luxury ship, the Rosen Opal, disappearing beyond Sentinel Prime into the recently opened Demon Sector, their last known location being Aphelion station on the far side of the Demon Barrier.  Several parties are interested in locating her in order to allow a vote to go through that will determine the future of the company, and whether it becomes just another DSM subsidiary.

Soletta is a human, in her mid forties, of average height, still considered quite attractive, with long platinum-blond hair and a shapely figure.  She is known to be something of a gambler outside of her work, though whether she is actually good at it or not is up to interpretation.  She can be somewhat scatterbrained, and relies heavily on Tizzy to keep her on course and (mostly) out of trouble.  Deep down, she likes the idea of relinquishing control of the company, but for the memory of her husband, she stubbornly maintains holds on, in defiance of DSM’s looming presence.  

With time running out and the situation quickly becoming more and more dangerous thanks to DSM’s agents, Soletta has found new allies within the Demon Sector, and has gone through steps to ensure that she won’t easily be found, and will endeavor to do anything she can to make sure the future of Enduritelligence Microsystems is secured and outside of DSM’s reach.

LORE24 ENTRY #5 – Ferians

Category – Cultural

Discovered only after the age of galactic expansion had begun (though ancient records would seem to indicate encounters with the Ferians long before this, by arcanists traveling amongst other worlds), the Ferians are a rather unique species, actually two species, with some opposing traits that some have theorized could only have been created artificially, though there is currently no evidence to prove this theory.

“Ferian” is the official term for a member of two species found upon the planet Feria, though they are more often called by their more distinctive names:  feradogian and ferakatian.  

Feradogians are the canine or lupine members of the species, their males being much larger than their females.  Conversely, the Ferkatians are feline in appearance, and their females are much larger than their males.  The two species are known for their aggressive behavior, compared to what is typically seen amongst other known races, with the larger of their species historically being the warriors amongst their societies.  “Fight like cats and dogs” can be considered a fact when it comes to Ferian history.

Since their discovery and subsequent expansion into space, the hostilities between the feradogians and ferakatians have subsided to some degree, with their larger members becoming highly sought after mercenaries and soldiers.  The smaller of the species, being less aggressive in nature, tend toward more mundane vocations. 

LORE24 ENTRY #4 – Doppelgangers

Category – Creature

Doppelgangers are a species of shapechanging monsters that have been present to some extent since ancient times.  Their ability to blend in and assume practically any identity have led them to be considered absolutely abhorrent in most societies, yet they are often employed by those of questionable morals to cause chaos in those same societies, usually by replacing important individuals with a (mostly) loyal minion who can perfectly mimic them.

In their natural state, doppelgangers are unsettling for most to gaze upon.  Their skin is a very neutral gray color, their bodies and limbs are lean and gangly, seeming very alien in appearance.  Their facial features are very smooth and undefined, their eyes black and multifaceted, large, and often unblinking, their mouths thin slits.

In ancient times, most doppelgangers could mirror a target for a limited amount of time to a fair degree of accuracy, mimicking their voices and behaviors with an uncanny instinct after only a short time of observation.  Should a more long-term replacement be necessary, the doppelganger must do more than simple observation; it must actually consume its target, draining its vital fluids and consuming its flesh, including its brain.  Through this almost ritualistic method, the doppelganger becomes its victim almost completely, typically gaining most of its memories and skills, while retaining its own consciousness deep within.  This makes them exceptionally hard to detect without specialized methods.

By the time of galactic expansion, doppelgangers have evolved, or at least, some of them have; rumors persist that these advanced doppelgangers were created by DSM’s AR&D division.  The most exceptional doppelgangers are often employed by corporations for spying, and have further refined their methods of infiltration and deception.  These advanced doppelgangers no longer need to consume their targets to assume their identities; instead they rely on forging a psychic link with their victim and consuming some of their blood to sample their DNA, and thus become a perfect duplicate with access to all knowledge of the original, which would remain in a hidden, secure location until the job is done, after which the original can be disposed of.  In some cases, these advanced doppelgangers have been known to behave as body doubles, working with the original.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #3 – Prayer of Blessing

Category – Spell / Magic

A Prayer of Blessing is a type of divine magic used by priests and priestesses.  The caster of this spell speaks a prayer to the deity to which they have devoted themselves, asking for the blessing of their deity to protect and bolster themselves and their allies, most often in a combat situation, though there are variations for other circumstances.  This is a very common type of spell.

 

Example Blessings

Blessing of Battle – A blessing of this type bolsters the combat prowess of the recipient, enhancing their ability to land telling blows and enhancing the amount of damage done should the strike land.

Blessing of Defense – A blessing of this type bolsters the defenses of the recipient, creating a magical shield that will soften incoming blows or deflect incoming bullets, if not completely, enough to allow the victim of the attack to perhaps survive the attack.

Blessing of Endurance – A blessing of this type bolsters the physical resilience of the recipient, granting them greater endurance and fortitude to withstand harsh conditions, march for longer, or even resist the effects of poisons and toxins.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #2 – The DSM Corporation

Category – Organization

DSM, or Dynamic Solutions Multiversal is the single largest corporate entity in the known galaxy, and one of the most reviled, even though they are the monolith in which all other corporations are overshadowed by.  Even planetary governments pale in comparison to their power and reach.  They own hundreds if not thousands of smaller companies, having taken them over through various methods, most of them shady.

DSM was originally created following the fall of the Great Elvish Dominion, the last vestiges of the old-world hierarchies that were struggling in vain to survive with the coming of a space-faring, galaxy-spanning civilization.  Following a great war amongst the stars, from the ashes of the old empire came the founder of DSM, Rivalle Volcari, with a new vision of how she and the remaining elvish great houses would continue to manipulate and control the newly developed galactic population, namely through commerce.  Though initially a somewhat unassuming company dedicated to experimental technology and preserving arcane knowledge, DSM rose through the ranks of the early galactic economy, and would eventually become the most powerful and feared megacorporation in the galaxy.  DSM will do whatever it takes to see that their competition is crushed beneath its power, either through economic manipulation, ruthless corporate spying, or the might of its private armed forces.  Over the course of its history, it has taken over countless smaller companies.

The looming monolith of DSM has become something of a galactic boogeyman, with rumors abound of dozens of highly secretive black-sites where their mysterious Arcane Research & Development division perform dark and perverse experiments that threaten the very fabric of the universe.  Though other rumors state that these black-sites are simply private prisons, no different from the massive prison systems ran by the dark elf clans.  If anyone knows the truth of the matter, they aren’t talking.  Of all the divisions within DSM, the AR&D department is the only one personally overseen by Rivalle Volcari herself, and to cross her by allowing information about this group to be made public would be most unwise.

Lore24 Entry #1 – TK Drives

Category – Technology

The TK Drive is the standard use method by which starships traverse the galaxy, in use for over two thousand years.  Though some of the history of the development of this technology is in doubt due to conflicting sources, the most commonly accepted version is that the original concept for the drives was developed by a kerryn scientist by the name of Tonzura Koite, upon the world of Arcavarlon, during a time of great global upheaval following a long period of waning magic and rising tensions over limited resources.  

The TK drives would eventually lead to a wave of expansion into the depths of the galaxy, allowing the people of the Arcavarlon system to move beyond their own solar system for the first time in a way that wouldn’t require generation ships or lost spells to travel to other planes of existence.  The early days of travel were wrought with danger as the navigation systems for hyperspace travel were further refined, but after the first few decades, the galaxy was well and truly open…aside from the massive area known as the “Demon Sector”, which could not be entered via realspace or hyperspace.

The current iteration of the TK drive manipulates space, allowing the ship it is mounted upon to enter an area of hyperspace between two points in known space, traversing the corridor, and coming out on the other end in a fraction of the time it would take using regular propulsion.  There are different speed ratings for the drives, the higher the number, the less time it takes to reach your destination (for example:  to travel between two particular systems, a TK-1 Drive could take about 170 hours, whereas a TK-3 TK Drive would take about 57 hours).  Generally the larger the ship, the slower the drive, though this isn’t always the case, especially where military and corporate interests are concerned.  

The TK Drives create their own gravity fields when they are active, and thanks to advances in the technology, this feature has been fine-tuned to allow for artificial gravity aboard ships equipped with the drives.  As a consequence of this factor of the drives’ function, however, they cannot function to open a hyperspace tunnel inside strong gravity wells, such as those produced by a planet.  This means that ships will need to depart the gravity of a planet before engaging the drive to enter hyperspace, and conversely, a ship can be brought out of hyperspace by the unexpected appearance of a strong gravity well in realspace in the area of the hyperspace tunnel they’re traversing.  

A New Start for 2024:  #Lore24

Well, after some setbacks on the later half of 2023, mostly due to ongoing issues with my eyes, I had to step away from writing and limit my screen time to a couple hours or so a day for a while there.  Though I’m still experiencing some issues, I think the worst of it has passed now that I’ve figured out what was causing the problems the last couple months.  I’ve still been making handwritten notes and such using good old #2 pencils, so there’s been something rather pleasing about that experience in and of itself, but with the new year officially underway, I’ve decided to begin a new TTRPG year-long challenge, namely Lore24.

 

You can find the details of this challenge here.

 

I’ve had all kinds of lore entries floating around in my head for years that I’ve never written down, and plenty of others that I’ve never fleshed out in detail.  I figure since I’m not getting any younger, I should probably start getting these recorded somewhere before they’re gone, and this seems like a much more enjoyable kind of challenge for me personally.  I’ve always enjoyed writing, and this will just help build up my world even more.

 

Now, unlike the suggested focus on building up one world, I’m probably going to be recording various details about the entirety of my “UrbanVerse” overarching setting, which is something of an entire galaxy and its history through different time periods, which would encompass both fantasy and science fiction gaming, along with more niche settings found on other planets, like post-apocalyptic and western areas.  So, my entries should be rather varied through the course of this project.

 

And, should I find myself at a loss for a particular entry on a given day, I’m going to have this handy random chart to get me started:

 

Random Lore Entry Chart

Roll 1d8

1 – Place
2 – Person
3 – Creature
4 – Organization
5 – Spell / Magic
6 – Event
7 – Technology
8 – Custom (culturally speaking)

 

Stay tuned for the first entry, coming later today!

The Time, where does it go?

I swear, this year is just flying by.  It’s been an eventful year, with a slant toward the frustrating rather than the good or bad.  Have had a lot of weather-related damage to the house and have had to have the roof and front porch replaced entirely, have been fighting the lawn mower pretty much all summer to figure out why it keeps breaking belts, and have had various other things come up to fill in the gaps, but I won’t go into details here.

I’d rather focus on how my RPG projects are faring since it’s been four or five months since I last updated here.  I’ve not been idle, though my focuses have changed and evolved…or my brain has just jumped around like a cat chasing a laser pointer, take your pick.

01

The I-89 Megadungeon Project

I had to put this project on hold back in June.  I still like the idea, but I kept running into the same problem:  lack of excitement.  By this time, I was making progress into the sixth level of the dungeon, but my excitement began to wane.  I realized this was due to lack of development for the setting and a lack of inspiration for the design of the level itself.  

For the setting, I had never really delved too deep into it, my focus being more on my science-fantasy setting at the time, along with my actual tabletop gameplay being fantasy-focused.  So, the post-apocalyptic vibes just weren’t flowing.  I began to lose interest in the level as I’d had it originally planned, because things just started to seem far too similar to previous levels.

Basically, I was working on a secret underground military base, but it felt a lot more like the hidden government facility I’d just finished the month before, basically more office-like and less top-secret military project.  This was during the height of the Great Lawnmower Saga of 2023, so I had been feeling a little drained in general, and just decided to shelve the project for the time being and focus elsewhere, and pick it back up later once the ideas started flowing that way again, and likely with a complete redesign of that level.

02

My TTRGP Games, and A PF2e Rant

I’ve kept up with my actual tabletop games pretty consistently thus far.  The Abomination Vaults game I’ve been running is still moving along at a steady pace.  The players just finished level 4 during the last session, and are beginning some additional content relating to the town’s Founder’s Day festival, which is tying in with the need to retrieve four items that once belonged to the founders.  I’ve been keeping track of the players’ progress daily in game, and it has proven very useful in providing additional ideas for new encounters and enemies outside what the AP itself offers.

For example, just last session, the players came across a message scrawled on the door of their home talking about the “New Blood awakening”.  I’m making things a little more exciting by not having the denizens of the dungeon be entirely cut off from the outside world with new allies that share their goals.

As far as my playing experiences, I’ve been in an Age of Ashes game for a while now as well, and have been having fun with that, though it is proving to be quite the challenge since we’ve only got three players.  Even though we’re dual-classed characters with a free archetype, it’s not enough to make up for the lack of a fourth person and those three extra actions in each combat.  We just hit level 11, and after scouting out the dungeon we have to tackle next, I’ve got doubts about our chances at success.  There are some encounters in there that will be rough for us on their own, and it’s very easy to have encounters multiply there from what I’ve heard (it’s the Quarry dungeon for anyone familiar with the AP).  Thus far, we’re considering our options for a commando-style strike, teleporting into the room with a particular boss and taking them down hopefully without alerting the rest of the dungeon, grabbing the artifact we need to progress the story, and then getting out again; since we’re using milestone experience for that game, it’s really the smartest play.  However…due to one character having a very strict anti-slavery stance, and there being quite a few slaves being held captive in the first chamber of the dungeon…our plan has been complicated immensely.  Likely we will have to try two strikes, but we’ll see how it goes next session.  TPK is always an option, lol.

The two games mentioned here have both been Pathfinder 2e games, and since we started with the system earlier in the year, I’ve had my opinions shift a bit on the system.  While initially it seemed pretty fun, I’d heard repeatedly from one particular player that being a caster was just not fun in the game; he’d played multiple casters in these games and others I’m not part of, and had nothing good to say about them.  I thought he was just bitching to be bitching, as he’s been known to do that before.  Having seen casters in action from both sides of the GM Screen, however, I’m leaning toward the camp of “casters suck” in PF2e. 

To put it simply…it’s not a lot of fun if you’re expecting your magic to be effective against enemies.  If you’re playing mostly a support caster buffing the party, yeah, you’re probably going to be having a blast, but the way these APs are setup, don’t expect to feel the same if you’re trying to damage or debuff enemies.  The way the numbers work, you’ll be lucky if most enemies only Succeed on their saves against your spells and debuff attempts.  For example, in the upcoming dungeon, most of the encounters are on the high side of the difficulty scale, and thanks to the numbers, most of the monsters will be able to get a Success on their saves by rolling 5 or better, and most of the time, that means half damage, or they get no effect from the spell at all.  If they Critically Succeed, well, it’s just no fun at all.  I feel like my spells succeed maybe 1/3 of the time at best, whereas the martial characters are hitting enemies successfully at least half the time, if not more.  I’ve dove into the debate and researched what I’m “doing wrong”, but no matter what explanations I’ve seen to the contrary, it just isn’t fun when a system that is so tight in the math, where every +1 modifier can make a difference, is so geared against me as a caster.  My numbers are behind the martials on my spell attack rolls, and I have no way of increasing those numbers through item bonuses like they do.  I can try to debuff monsters through skills, sure, but it’s usually not enough to matter in my experience (true, I guess the dice rolls are just against me most of the time), and trying to affect them with magical debuffs is just an exercise in futility most of the time.

Take a fight against a golem during one of the earlier games in the Age of Ashes for example:  all of us failed our Recall Knowledge checks on the golem, so we had no idea what spells would affect it at all.  This led to me hitting the martials with a buff or two, the cleric/champion trying desperately to keep himself and the fighter alive while they were getting pounded, and my summoner pet doing everything it could just to keep the golem knocked down and flank, because it could barely hurt the thing.  To put it mildly, the fight was a slog.  The second golem fight not so much, since we made our checks, but then the last golem fight was another slog, because we failed our checks again and had no idea of its weaknesses, and nothing I did affected them until I hit them with a cold spell.  This didn’t damage them at all, but did slow them, so I just spammed Ray of Frost the majority of the fight while knocking them over with my pet, until I had to pull the pet back, because, even though all summoners are masochists, they have limits, namely their shared HP pools.

I’m enjoying the game, but I’m growing very frustrated at how my experience as a spellcaster has been going, and everyone I’ve spoken to in my circle who has played the game feels the same way, and has similar experiences to share.  And yet I keep hearing that I’m doing casters wrong because I’m not supporting enough or debuffing enough, and that casters are super fun to play.  Well, I’m not seeing it.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so noticeable if we’d actually encounter some lower-level threats from time to time, but pretty much everything we encounter is close enough to our level that at best it’s 50-50 on my success rate or worse.  But even that isn’t a guarantee; one of the fights last game had a group of enemies using stats from another enemy we’d encountered 4-5 levels earlier fighting alongside a pair of golems we’d failed our knowledge checks on…these supposed “mooks” either got Successes on their saves or Critical Success when I tossed out a big AoE spell to start that fight, so across five or six enemies, I got a total of about 12 damage.  Yeah, really not feeling too great about that…  

03

NEW TTRPG Developments

Though I’ve been playing mostly Pathfinder 2e (and one lingering D&D 5e game which is…meh; I don’t care for 5e), my developments on my own TTRPG projects continue in other directions.  I’ve renewed my interest in a custom version of the Star Wars Saga Edition system.  I feel like this is a great option for a more cinematic-action styled sci-fantasy game, and after having played PF2e for several months now, I have changed my course a bit on revamping the system for my own needs.  Basically, I’m implementing PF2e’s Three Action Economy.  Since both PF2e and Saga Edition are rooted in D&D 4e mechanics, they mesh really well.  I’ll be reworking the SE Force powers into spell effects, and removing the condition track, replacing them with PF2e-styled conditions.  Overall, I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to do at the core level, but will take a bit more work to tweak spells and certain abilities to replace mentions of the condition track.  I’m hoping to try a play test in the next few weeks to see how it performs at an early stage.

I’ve also been developing with an eye to the Old School as well.  With my apathy toward D&D 5e already high when the Great OGL Kerfuffle of 2023 happened back in January, and my faith in PF2e as a viable replacement waning based on my experience as a caster, I’ve been looking hungrily toward trying an OSR campaign using Castles & Crusades.  The more I read into the system, the more I like what I’m seeing.  Things are just so simple.  It really does feel like an evolution of AD&D 2e (which is where my group started way back in the late 90s, though it was only a year or two before we jumped to 3e and stayed there for ages).  After seeing how PF2e has so many rules dictating exactly what you can do, it’s refreshing to see a minimal character sheet that isn’t filled with practically no restrictions.  You can try anything you want, and might even succeed if you describe it well enough or roll high enough; that simplicity is what really sells the OSR games to me.

As such, I’ve taken a renewed interest in evolving my fantasy setting over the last few months.  I’m working on some new characters and ideas to try some solo hexploration gameplay to help develop the actual campaign setting areas for the players, and have been working on renewing some old characters from my previous games and stories to work them into the newly evolving setting, while putting my own flavor into the classic fantasy staples (elves are more like vampires from the classic Vampire: The Masquerade setting, for example, in which they tend toward grand, long-running schemes to control everything behind the scenes the older they get).  Thus far, I’ve got the groundwork in place for the Curse of Cypress Isle (a hex-crawl island exploration adventure in the style of the classic Isle of Dread adventure, flavored with aspects of the real-world Oak Island treasure mythology), the Muckenmyre (a new area of the world, a massive swamp area with some interesting characters in the costal town of Grimbridge), a newly started northern area with some flavor of Skyrim (I’m using my Skyrim gameplay to try out building up an adventure using inspiration from various sidequests and moments in my current playthrough), and of course, the city of Arcavarlon, which I will continue development on as I further expand my campaign setting.

I’ve got a lot of ideas, and I just have to get them out of my head and onto the screen!

04

Onward to the Future

Well, I think I’ve gone on long enough for now.  That covers the major updates on my gaming projects.  From here, I’ll say that I’m going to attempt to get back to posting updates here more often as I go, detailing the various settings and locations within them, as well as my continued experiences as a player and GM.  

The best of luck to you on your adventures!  Thanks for reading, and keep your eyes peel for more soon!