An Incomplete Retrospective on 2023 and half of 2024

So, I've been planning to write a retrospective of my recent RPG gaming for a while now. I had a draft last December/this January that was... not good. I was in a bad mental state I think. Full of self-recriminations, bitterness; even though I kept trying to edit it out, it just came back in.

Yet there is a lot I can learn from it, and at the very least I feel like I should put out some of my thoughts to work through them.

Campaign Log

Whatever happened to that thing in the first post

Unfortunately, I never did get to do that real-time domain warfare campaign over December 2022. Having prep start IN December was probably a bad sign. No experience of real-time asynchronous GMing was probably another. Then there was the holiday trip... spent the last week of 2022 with a new sickness each day while away from home. Terrible experience, I do not recommend getting sick while on holiday. Pissed me off enough and put enough anxious energy in me to make up for that time that it really pushed me to run my games in the new year, though.

[note: I will be naming the periods of the year according to the university's calendar since all my players and my play locale are from/is there]

There was also mention of a 5e event in this blog's first post- it was surprisingly not teeth-pullingly agonising to run it, though I kind of insisted on just running it the usual way I do, which given it was kind of a 'investigate and run around this area with lots of gifts and goods', it worked. Though when combat started, oh boy, I definitely could feel the cultural divide. I have zero interest in refereeing the kind of video-gamey hard-interface combat combo that 3e and after has. Sadly this also probably means I will be unable to enjoy running or playing LANCER, which I guess is fine, because I spent quite a lot of time this and last year ruminating on whether the fantasy of fiddly vehicular combat (jets, tanks, mechs) can really interface with the kind of open-ended jury-rigged problem solving that I love. And I think no, or rather, either the field of game design or my own brain (definitely the latter) is not sufficiently advanced to create a game that meets both. It might even be a Cursed Problem, idk.

Semester 2 (January-April 2023)

One-shots

I ran a few one-shots to start things off in 2023. On a whim, for one of the games I decided to go with something similar enough to my existing d20 experience, and tried Castles & Crusades for one of the games. It was fine, though I don't think I really used it enough to claim any real familiarity with it. I also ran a one-shot using Mongoose Traveller and two more using my homebrew D6 dice pool system (hereafter referred to as Dii6). That last one was a real blast to run and play, though I'm not sure I can credit the system and myself for that so much as the players that happened to show up for that one... unless...? Stay tuned for a later part of this post

Overall, a good enough start for the semester, though as with most things, I think I was filled with anxiety and second-guessing and kicking myself for forgetting something, or failing to deliver certain parts. The negative memories wash away, though, and now I look at a smoothed, airbrushed memory of those games. It's human nature. Or a self-defense mechanism my addled brain cooked up after many years to deal with failure and disappointment, which is passable for long-term sanity but bad for reflecting and improving on mistakes.

Of the three weekly campaigns I tried to run this semester, one fizzled after the first session, probably due to a confusing and uninteresting first session. It also could be because it was the one I felt required the least work on my part (rule system and setting I knew intimately well) so I started it waaay too late in the semester, around Week 5 of 13. Bad idea. The first few weeks are crucial to get players to sink their commitment into a thing, and any outlier ups and (especially) downs of the mini-campaign would be smoothed out after a few sessions.

It was perhaps good fortune that ended that campaign because as you will eventually see, fate intervened to ensure I did not bite off more than I could chew (this is called foreshadowing, a thing I don't do enough in my games). For the campaigns I did run:

Crown

Ran using Castles & Crusades on the surface, but with heavy boatloads of rules and additions and removals. Off the top of my head I added a spellcasting check for spells, randomised spells using Maze Rats (I think?), and other stuff. Started off the campaign at the junction between mid and low levels (I think it was Level 4), 

One unfortunate issue I had in this campaign was a baaaaad bout of Mental Curdling for a couple weeks- I have decided to excise the details from my original draft. Simply put, minor frustrations and annoyances Curdled in my brain in the days between sessions into bottled up anger. Which was stupid because I had zero problems with the players both on and off the table. So all that stress was for nothing.

Reading my original draft of this part of the blog post, I realised I've completely forgotten those bad feelings that existed entirely in my head. As well as the bad feelings I had about it. Probably not a good idea to read the draft again lol, because I know this stuff can stick in my head for too long.

The sheer ironic tragedy is that the players whose inocuous comments caused me stress ended up unable to show up for later sessions due to work commitments, and by then I was genuinely sad they couldn't come. Well, too little too late. Always I am unable to appreciate when they're here, only able to miss when someone is gone.

On the bright side- each session was generally 'meaty', fun, kept things moving, and ended with a great finale.

Crisis

Mongoose Traveller with a key change- I do not remember at all which version of Traveller I got this idea from (I think it's an optional rule from T5?) but I decided on 2d6+Attribute+Skill > 12 + DM for the skill checks. Using the attribute number itself was one less thing to keep track for players, but it definitely changed the relative importance of Skill levels.

I also did not use the unskilled -4 penalty used in virtually all Traveller editions, and that was also not a good call. It's there for a reason! For niche protection and simulating a totally untrained user of a skill. I think I removed it because it did not make much sense that certain things, if untrained, incur a -4, but oh well, that'll be yet another thing to agonise about if I play MgT again (which I likely will).

While I think the players had a great time, I still think I failed in my overall goal when starting this mini-campaign: the way the sector was laid out with descriptions and small snippets was meant to encourage more open sandbox play, but ultimately due to the starting mission and the nature of it, it dominated the campaign and was mostly about chasing down its whereabouts. Another lesson learned: goals drive actions and if I had wanted to nudge players into classic Traveller style play I should've used, y'know, the tools in Traveller already- the classic one is having to pay off the ship's mortgage, which means making money, which means Travelling TM and getting into all sorts of seedy and suspicious missions, chasing down rumours, running scams and heists, taking bounties etc. You know, Adventure!

And for long-term campaigns, hopefully by the time they pay off the mortgage the players already have other things they care about and their own self-directed goals built off of that and to work towards. I always think of how Baldur's Gate 2 pulls this trick in the first part of the game to get players to go explore and get into trouble, but somehow I always fail to implement it.

This is not to say the campaign was not fun for them or myself- I did manage to be as flexible as I could to ensure that even on weeks where not all players could show up, I could use the chance to shift the "POV" to other PCs separated from the party and link things that would otherwise just be a throwaway background comment by NPCs. By some miracle I think that part succeeded. (I have since forgotten what I meant when I first wrote this paragraph months ago)

An intrusion into the chronology to gripe about Grandfather Time

I think the limitations of the Semester Campaign are what give me this kind of psychic damage when I think I fail to run a good campaign even when the players say they had fun (which I want to believe, and do, and hope). 8 weekly sessions is NOT enough to

1. gel together a group

2. finish the inciting dungeon/mission and go beyond more than one strand of events

3. have time to just wander the campaign world and get up to their own trouble

4. and then have time to build off the hooks that grow out of the first set of adventures that feed back into each other.

There is no space and time at the table and away from it (since it's IN the semester) for playful exploration and fiddling and poking at the imagined world. And of course, there's probably a cultural side to it to- people where I'm from are generally far more goal and rewards-oriented. "Following the main plot" and "don't get sidetracked by Fun Stuff" and "optimise your skills" isn't just ""brain damage"" (as some might say) from vidya gaems or WotC era D&D- in my case it's also the kind of mindset hammered into us by our society. Even more so if they're uni students, which my players are.

[There is of course the extremely high chance that this is all Cope and Mald on my part and instead of blaming society I should blame my bad campaign setup.]

I have decided to add to my original draft in this section: it's definitely also largely my fault. Which is a good lesson- have reasonable expectations. In this case, I know my players have only a couple months and most are new to RPGs in general. Hence, a more trad-style 'story arc' isn't so bad. Now, as I'm writing this in August 2024 I've had more experience and I think I'm slowly converging to a solution that suits the kinda game I like and the practical limitations of play. Which feeds into a lesson I've taken to heart since I've heard it in the rpg blogosphere: there is no substitute to doing. Planning, reading blogs, discussing has benefits, but nothing beats putting the idea to the test and where the rubber meets the road.

More broadly, this also applies to getting better at running RPGs (in the sense of 'increasing the chance your game doesn't suck). Just start doing. A failed or even incomplete 'doing' is infinitely more valuable than thinking about doing. And of course, completing the full process is infinitely more valuable than incomplete project. Which means, yes, ending a campaign early is always preferable to dragging it out beyond the point circumstances force a game to spitter out. I feel pretty strongly about this- this happened once in 2020, partly in February 2023 (closer to a False Start), and as you'll later see, in the second half of 2023.

This is probably the best advice (well, part of a paired series of advice) I've gotten from someone online- to go from not doing a thing to the first step is the key to starting anything. And that a million fizzled out half-done projects is less valuable than one finished project.

This intrusion has gone long enough!

Holiday (May-August 2023)

One-shot

I ran a Star Wars D6 (REUP edition) one-shot for Star Wars day in May. I originally intended to run two, but couldn't find players for a second. It was fun, but again I scrambled to make my prep actually work, and again my time management of the game was terrible and I had to play out the last scene on the way back from school. Embarrassing.

Holiday Campaign

Probably the most positive I've felt about any of my games- though I'm not sure how much of it is a balance between recency bias and 'long enough ago that I've forgotten the bad bits'. I should have finished this post months ago because I'd have more to talk about. Instead I've forgotten much of it. Revisiting that statement in August 2024 and it's still true. Heck yeah, sandbox campaign vindicated, patriots in control.

What I do remember is [d6 table of advice]

1. The power of good random tables. Whether due to my writing style or whatever, seeding ideas from good random tables really helps accelerate my prep process and sends me down idea-paths that I would otherwise never have considered on my own staring at an empty sheet. So much of the campaign

2. It's okay to be lazy. Especially once you get past the first few sessions, if you seed enough random one-off ideas in descriptions and NPC comments, and your players are active, you'll have more idea threads and adventure ideas than you know what to deal with. For most sessions my prep was far more than actually played at the table that session, and the inverse was easily remedied with things like d4caltrops' 100 random hexes or pulling half-formed ideas I'd been thinking of for weeks and slapping it on the table. Over-preperation also led to instances where I felt the need to keep players on a timetable to 'not waste my prep' and while keeping things moving is always good, it can sometimes stumble into light railroading.

[I've stretched this principle beyond breaking point as you'll see later. And it still works. A campaign if constructed with certain design principles is self-perpetuating and self-generative. Adventure and wonder begets adventure and wonder. And if you need to inject more fuel- literally just put in the most recent Other Media you read this week into the next session.

I love RPGs]

3. Listen to the players. They'll tell you what things they like. Encourage them to tell you what they want to do next. Then prep that stuff. Saves on a lot of wasted effort from point 2.

4. Downtime is king, and really helps to expand the verisimilitude of the world beyond what's at the table. Not sure about the chicken and egg relation of this, but the most invested players also did the most downtime texting with me. I feel I could have done a better job doing truncated downtime with the players that were more passive then, but oh well.

5. It seems orthodoxy exists for a reason- B/X is actually quite great lmao, when used for the kind of game it's best suited for. Though I did not fully get to do the hexcrawl procedures in the way they're meant (I went the opposite of giving players too little map info- i gave them too much and they stuck to the 'visible' parts of the map).

I MIGHT have rectified this somewhat by playing the B/X procedures solo many months later and I've got the hang of it too, so hopefully this works better in the future? At least, I now know what it's doing. Speaking of that:

6. West Marches advice is correct- refrain from putting adventures or loot in town. Otherwise players will stay in town where all their allies are resources are. Stupid of me to shoot myself in the foot immediately by having rumour table entries set in town already, but oh well. I guess in the end it was fun, but it definitely discouraged wilderness stuff.

(Update from present me- I think this explains B2's police state. Maybe it's a manifestation of gygax's american cop-brain, but I think it really stems from "emergency button on players staying in town forever and doing their shenanigans there only". Of course, I still don't like the Keep's airtight laws. it's BORING. and also no verisimilitude for me. and also who doesn't like a good urban adventure? But I think I get how it might have been downstream of a band-aid solution. nothing as permanent as a temporary fix.)

Semester 1 (August-December 2023)

so my original draft for this time period was a mess. Full of self recrimination, depression. I'm trying not to even look at it right now- but it was the lowest I felt about my DMing since I started. Hell, probably worse. My first adventure back in 2019 went great.

I am no longer as depressed about it as I was in February and January 2024, but I do still wince thinking about it. And the worst part is that I don't think I've learnt much from it, despite ruminating on it so much. Hopefully I may have accidentally adjusted myself to prevent the same pitfalls, but who knows at this point

I did do a ranking of my games (based on how successful I think they were) just this week and interestingly, the games in this period rank higher than the campaigns I ran in later half of 2022 in my return to RPGs. So I guess it really was like a negative recency bias. Anyway, the draft has been reworked to be more useful.

So what exactly went wrong?

Let's start with trying to run FOUR GAMES A WEEK. You can tell I'm a Middling Engineer because I did not realise that 4 games a week isn't just 2x the workload of 2 games/week- it's around 3.33x the intensity. 4 games/3 free days compared to 2 games/5 free days.

Half a day to prep + remaining free days/campaigns. That's 1.25 'workdays' per game compared to 3, giving around 2.4x less 'worktime'. Add on inefficiency losses from lack of decompression days + 'switching gears' (something I already knew I'd get)... yeah. It was bad. Interestingly, I never did get to literally run four games in a single week, it was always 3 out of 4 games being available in a given week. Don't know if that made it better or worse (worse cos my staccato brain has trouble shifting gears, a problem I still have running more than one game. Throwing a wrench into an already rapidly changing system...)

Of the four games

1. Ended early (actually the best one of the bunch. It basically was a good 4 session adventure wrapped up [accidentally >:)]nicely.)

2. Sputtered out (meant to be a sequel campaign- completely whiffed, players also couldn't get schedules aligned, epic fail)

3. Sputtered out (this one hurts. Every session was fun, surprising, and the players were a joy to play with (if I remember right). But I could not wrap it up, too many missed session from exams, and then final exams came and... yeah)

4. Completed- but with many missteps and missed opportunities on my part

One of which was wasting 15 minutes each session on bookkeeping(??) Somehow this wasnt an issue during the Holiday Campaign which had way more shit, but man keeping track off XP somehow became a chore? Even though it was so little stuff. Maybe I was just tired idk.

I'm really not sure what else to write here. Creatively and in terms of adventure prep I think everything went fine? I made great use of d4caltrops' wilderness hex for one session, I got to run two small dungeons, but the ending felt a little bit of a mess.

Also note to self- don't have PCs make more than 1 PC for the semester campaigns. Or maybe 2 at most? IDFK. At the least, one player plays one character at a time, all reserves stay away doing sometbing. It didn't actually impact much as players stuck to one pretty quickly, but it did suck away XP which I can easily rectify in the future.

My motivation was totally burnt after this period. I just felt like I did a piss-poor job of it all. Maybe there were personal factors too- no idea really. At least some players had mixed reactions to the campaign.

Well, ya live and learn.

Oh yeah one shots. Had a lot of new players for the club, most joined just for a few one shots early in the semester. I ran like 6 games (all fully booked with 6 players!!) in two weeks. It was roughly 50% success rate for me (in terms of "did I think the players had fun") - the homebrew d6 dice pool game rocked again- so now I know the ruleset and scenarios I used work for at least the use case of one-shots. I still need to tweak numbers for sure.

I also ran Black Sword Hack twice- both times did not feel right, but fear not for I finally 'got it' in the next semester.

Oh yeah also I used skerples' d50 mercenary missions for three of the games. Great seeds for adventures.

December holiday

Among other stuff: Solo Chainmail and OD&D. did not amount to actual OD&D play even though i wanted to do one in 2024 for 50th anniversary.

Also got to have pizza party with my old RPG club friends from 2018. First I attended since end of 2019 before The Plague. It felt good to bookend this period in my life, I think.

Semester 2 & Holiday (January-July 2024)

Ran a one-shot again to kick off the semester, then dived straight into campaigns in week 3.

Now here's where I made sure to learn from my mistakes: I gave myself a hard limit of two campaigns a week, an amount that I knew worked. Also with less players this semester I didn't feel the 'obligation' to take on as many players as possible. And there weren't as many anyway!

Tried to join the Jacquays Memorial Game Jam but couldn't complete my entry in time :( same with a couple other jams I think. I did half-finish my LEGOJAM submission as you can see in this blog and did submit it.

So I ran one that was essentially the same core premise as the Crown campaign waaaay above in Januray 2023. Used basically B/X this time with a hella lot of blogosphere extensions, no pretensions of being C&C this time. I made a hexmap 4x bigger than we needed too.

In any case, it went well! The 14 session campaign actually rolled into the first weeks of summer holiday in May. Neatly, it ended up self-segmenting into a few 'arcs' of several sessions that each focussed on a small region of the map, wrapped up by a final session.

The other campaign which I will call Champions also went well. Ran it with Black Sword Hack and it was fun. The players of course were a major contributing factor- always angling for out of the box solutions and pushing their luck. This one ended up with 19 sessions, ending near the end of the holiday period. This meant no summer campaign but honestly I think the break was fine. It would have been nice to get back into the form of that long holiday campaign in 2023, but fate decided I needed to Do Less this time.

Some hiccups with the middle part of Champions I think dragged a bit due to me just not keeping things moving and allowing a lot of meandering, coupled with players busy with exams. And the last part was stretched over many weeks of being unable to coordinate schedules and a real fear from me that we may not be able to end the campaign with the amount of time we had left in the summer.

Yet! We had many memorable sessions, a great finale, some really standout moments and players that despite meandering were always doing things and had actual goals. I think it really helps if each group has a couple experienced players who already have experience (and also like playing) with the way I give players lots of goal autonomy. Either that or players who really love setting their own goals and working *with* the GM and others at the table instead of against them (on a meta level of "what's the fun option").

Does this mean I need to seed my previous players into my new player groups? I don't know.

Well-seeded maps, good powder keg set-ups, and the campaigns basically ran themselves as the players chased their objectives and bumped into things that bumped back at them. An unstable situation collapsing into a new equilibrium. In fact, this second round of Crown I think overall ran better, and Champions despite its hiccups was less difficult to run than I thought. Also totally reversed my mixed experience with the one-shots.

Also a good chunk of sessions were again just me inserting [most recent Other Media I've Been Interacting With] into a blender and layering it with the basic notes I already had for the neext session. So the approach works. 

Oh I'm caught up now

So what next?

New academic year, new wave of players for the club, and so new campaigns. I have a huge list of campaign pitches though this time I don't feel the same excitement for some ideas- may have to cycle them out of the list then.

It'll be a few weeks until the one shots, then the campaigns start after. Once again I face the bane of 'there's probably not enough time to do the stuff you want' so I'll need to aim small again and focus in- which usually works out, tbh. Maybe string together a couple of module-sized stuff? Almost always, you end up prepping more than you need.

So yeah, happy gaming everyone, I hope I can keep things fun for my players. I'm missing out a lot of analysis and ideas I want to explore in this post- maybe I'll come back to it next time.

Lego Jam 2024 - A Legend Returns

Submission to DIY and Dragons' 2024 Summer Lego Jam! Tl;dr, a 'from square one' reimagining of the 2005 arc of Bionicle based off of the System playsets.

Gathered friends… listen again, to the legend…

In a time before time, the Great Spirits brought our people, the Matoran, to an island paradise of hope. Guided by the Virtues of the Protector whose glory was the sun and life-giving sea, our peoples were united in purpose, dutiful to each other, and fulfilled our destiny to turn the island into a paradise for all.

Image Credit

Image Credit

But where there is light, there is darkness, and with time, our happiness turned to ash.

Destruction came to the Smiling Isle upon a night of bleeding stars.

Some say the jealous brother of the Protector struck a mortal blow against the Great Spirit that night- others, that the Lying King, in a fit of long overdue rage, finally showed the evil in his heart and brought doom upon the Island with a war that cracked the skies. Still others say this was prophesied and predicted by the Postulants of the Twins, and was an inevitability of the growing pride and misrule of the Matoran and their hypocritical ‘protectors’.

What is known was that the Island of Legend was torn asunder, the Matoran who inhabited it consigned to hide, flee or die. Nowhere was safe- from the glittering city of Mabaro-Nui to the forested peaks of The Mountain and the fertile Bay. The earth writhed and spasmed, destroying the Lightgiver at the heart of the city, toppling its great foundries, its wondrous fluid-tracks of iron and crystal, collapsing the labyrinthian archives and shattering the observatory-towers. Thus did the City die that day, choking on its grandeur.

The wilderness was not untouched, for The Mountain, too, erupted, its sides cracking open, lava flash-burning the forests that overlooked the City, and destroying the Bay entirely, until the lava covered the sea itself and cooled to form a new landmass. A shadow was seen to have emerged from the caldera, poisoning and twisting the flora and fauna we once called our friends, turning the land itself against us.

The sea itself boiled, and those who had fled to the tentative new land in the bay plunged into the sea as it collapsed into the deep, watery abyss, there to be swallowed up forever.

Strangest of all was the accursed mist which soon fell upon the City, clouding the skies both day and night. Now, neither the radiant sun-abode of the Protector nor the baleful moon-lair of the Watcher can be clearly seen in these troubled times.

image credit

Now, what is left of the Island-corpse is fought over by scavengers and monsters, those left behind hiding in small communities or so changed as to be unrecognisable, while their exiled brethren struggle to reclaim their home amidst a Great Ocean that exploits their weakness and naivete. Yet, even in this dark hour, hope remains, and so it was that on a night of bleeding stars, a handful of strangers wash up on the shores of the Island, to save or doom it to eternity...

INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT OCEAN

“The people of this land are builders. But look into their hearts… and you will find they have the power to destroy."

- Nothing

The People of the Great Ocean are biomechanical beings- fusions of mechanical components and organic organs. This extends to the wildlife of the known world- Flora and Fauna (the latter known as Rahi).

Matoran are the most populous single species of the Great Ocean. Standing at four feet, these are the humble workers, crafters and scholars beloved of the Great Spirit. The homeland of most Matoran in the northern quadrant of the known seas is Maboro-Nui and the wilderness of Kela-Wahi, before the disaster that destroyed both. All Matoran are innately attuned to one of the Elements, though they do not possess Elemental powers or use Kanohi mask powers.

 

Most Matoran communities also place great emphasis on certain occupations and crafts based on their tribal affiliation. All Matoran gain expertise in one occupation, of some knowledge in two.

 

Players are assumed to be Matoran- who primarily rely on their knowledge, skill, cunning and foolhardy bravery to overcome obstacles and achieve the Destiny they choose for themselves.

[I will write a post-mortem 'designer commentary' post but for now I want to say that while there are so many things one can take from canon Bionicle or fan RPGs for species powers, I'm going to have to erase that for this mini-setting post and assume players are the humble Matoran, so I don't have to write rules for the others. real MNOG vibes, but with more danger]

There were once Toa, said to be the guardians and protectors of the Matoran, though in these dark days, just as many work as petty lords or mercenaries. Standing at seven feet, they are stronger and faster than Matoran, and possess, unique amongst most species, Elemental control over one Element. They can also use Kanohi mask powers.

All other Non-Matoran are almost all ‘stronger’ than the Matoran. They are usually faster/stronger/taller/etc. and have access to slightly advanced technologies and some powers.

Of note in the Barrens are the warlike Skakdi, of which many have escaped their wartorn island to make their fortunes elsewhere. They possess one Vision power [heat, impact, laser, x-ray, telescopic, thermal, spellbinder/stun] and one Elemental power they can control only in conjunction with another Eskadi.

Visorak have mutagenic venom, can spin webs, and launch energy spinners from their backs.

Table of Contents

Overview

    Factions

    Tech and Items

City Districts and Locations of interest

    Foundries of Paesu

    Towers of Dimmina

    Tunnels of Satarom

    The Bridges

    City random encounter table

    City PC party origin

Barrens Districts and Locations of interest [Travel Advisory to the Barrens: Don't]

    The Mountain and the Flows

    The Bay

    The Green Belt

    Barrens random encounter table

    Barrens PC party origin

Deeps Areas and Locales [REMOVED BY ORDER OF THE ███ ██ █████]

1A: FACTIONS

Reclaimers

When the Matoran fled the Island, they were fragmented and disunited. The nature of the original inhabitants only comes to the present in scattered fragments- though all agree there were six tribes of Matoran who were easy prey for the stronger species in the Great Ocean when they scattered. Some blame this state of affairs on the Matoran, that they had discarded the Virtues given to them by the Great Spirit and were easy prey for others. Others believe that misrule by the Matoran was the cause of the disaster. Still others believe nothing could have been done without the elemental powers of the Toa.

 

But in general, many believe that without the prosperity and unity of the Island, and so many of their people having been trapped in a sorcerous sleep, they were bound to be picked apart, reduced to the exploitable underclass state they find themselves in in the islands of the Great Ocean.

The Reclaimers is a catch-all term for those who have never let the light of the Island go out in their hearts. Communities of Matoran who, scraping together funds and equipment, send their bravest and most foolhardy to return to the Island to re-establish a presence and rescue the Sleepers who still lie under the city. Reclaimers carry most of the traditions of the old Matoran- including the Virtues and Principles, venerating the Great Spirit and the natural world He created for them, and operating in elemental tribes that also reflect specialised occupations.

Reclaimer enclaves in the City are concentrated on the coasts. With much of the knowledge of the ancients lost, it is almost impossible to reactivate the technologies of what little parts of the island they control, and that's without counting the Visorak Horde constantly hunting down Matoran.

Reclaimer enclaved in the Barrens are more tenuous, and tend to consist of temporary lodgings of small Bands searching for artifacts to repair the damage to the Barrens or dislodging the Eskadi Warlords.

Reclaimers as a whole despise and fear the Visorak horde and Eskadi warbands, although, given the decentralised nature of the identity, some are willing to pay Eskadi warbands to act as muscle, and some have even learnt of secret techniques to gain control of smaller, weakened Visorak packs.

Alterna

The Vela Alterna is the general term used to describe the Matoran who stayed behind in the disaster- and who changed due to it. The Remainers simply call themselves Dwellers of the City, while the Reclaimers call them the Changed. There is a marked difference between Alterna in the City and the Barrens- those in the Barrens have managed to retain much of the 'old culture' of the Island, venerating the Virtues, the Great Spirit, retaining the tribal system, etc. but were indelibly marked by the escape to the Barrens in the disaster. Some unknown mutation or curse changed their forms- physically twisting and shrinking them, though they retain tools and knowledge that other groups of Matoran have lost. 

Some, even among the Alterna of the Barrens, say they are actually refugees that came after the disaster, though it is more likely that outsiders and returnees more easily merged with those that stayed behind in the Barrens compared to the City and its perils.

Alterna in the City consist of a wide variety of groups- the most prominent are

- The Temple of our Many-Armed Lady of Sieges, a philosophical tendency of altruism, rationalism, perseverance and siege engineers (owing to retaining much mathematical/engineering knowledge)

- The Seekers of KET, who are masters of the biological knowledge and servants of their Avatars

- The Black Guard of Praslid, a militaristic society who revere the last Elder of the City

- The Pioneers of Ak-Ran, a necromantic fraternity conducting strange experiments in the Archive tunnels

These groups are detailed in their respective zones.

Alterna in the Barrens consist of the scattered Unbroken villages in the Green Belt. Their physical parts are 'malformed' compared to their cousins, though they believe they were built for a different purpose. They retain much more of the technology of the past, but are in a worse position to make use of it. They have little with which to fight for liberation apart from their will, wiles and unique weapons passed down since the disaster. They hide both in the wilds and under the noses of their overlords. Under the cover of night and utilising their diminutive frames, they sabotage equipment, blind Nektann sentries, incite revolts that leave entire farms empty. Eskadi reprisals are brutal and swift, but this only feeds the flames of discontent. They may be doomed, but every new sunrise is another day they will make the occupiers regret their occupation.

Scavengers

Not all greeted the end of the Island with sorrow. In fact, the rivals of Mabora-Nui in the outer winds of the Great Ocean celebrated it. Since that time, the different islands and the two continents have sent scavenger missions to loot the place. Reclaimers and Alterna alike dislike most Scavengers groups, ranging from hatred to a mild distaste. Scavengers are usually non-Matoran. Non-Matoran species are generally larger and physically more agile/powerful/faster/etc. Some of them, it is rumoured, are worse than scavengers and vultures- they are agents of sinister forces that are exploiting the Matoran's predicament and the wounded state of the Great Spirit.

Groups which send scavengers are most likely

    Great Clans of the Steltos Islands- a caste-based society of constant infighting and feudal intrigue

    Kukolix Combines- profit-driven industrialists who create most of the weapons of war

    Triple Order of Zhadur- Servants of the enigmatic divine figure known only as the Watcher, who name themselves peacekeepers and overseers of vast swathes of the Great Ocean. They are masters of evolution and sorcery

    Doom Raptors- a professional army of thieves and murderers, selling their diverse services to any for the right price

Visorak Horde

The Horde is a massive army of intelligent spider-scorpions once led by the King in Red and his Queen of Shadows, fell upon the Island, conquering all that was left of the City, capturing the wildlife that roamed the ruins and subjecting them to monstrous mutations. They are now divided into Packs that sometimes fight but mostly cooperate with another, and that live in large Nests in the ruins of the city, led by Viceroys that claim authority from the last Vicerine who ruled the Horde when the monarchs disappeared.

Viceroys are usually the strongest Visorak who have imbibed the Lifegiver Venom harvested from special colony drones and subjected to their own venom- and survived the evolution. The Kagar are these elite evolved Visorak, and are substantially larger. Some other Viceroys are actually other species from the Great Ocean, strange mystics and wanderers who have somehow seized control of packs. Some are even mutated Matoran.

There is a substantial population of Alterna who now worship the Visorak and their Viceroys as the true rulers of the city, and offer up tribute and captured outsiders to them. Many believe the legends that say the rule of the Matoran was unjust and biased, and that the Visorak are the rightful inheritors of the sinful city.

Eskadi Warlords [reserved for the Barrens-half of the map]

Eskadi are the Spine-Lords of Demon-Haunted Karraz. Once, they say, they were a slave caste, engineered for the glory of the Lying King whom the Matoran call the Great Spirit. They overthrew their oppressors, the Estreni, and through the sorceries of slaughter and ruination bound the demons of the afterlife to be the bedrock of their new home in the Great Ocean. Before they could follow the hallowed Ancestors on the Great Conquest of the Seas, some unknown disaster robbed them of their (un)holy berserker-fury, blinded their Vision powers, and deafened them to the Elements.

Since that time, the Eskadi have disintegrated into hundreds of self-claimed warlords, each trying to vie for control of their home, now blasted after centuries of war into a barren desert. Eskadi culture generally eschews weakness and defeat- willpower and strength is respected, martial honour and cunning wiles equally valued (though this varies much based on the specific Eskadi community.) Many have travelled the Ocean, sneaking past the blockade put up by their neighbours, and sold their services to the highest bidder.

The Warlords in Kesa-Wahi are those who decided to leave the homeland behind and seek glory in a more lucrative place- the City is fine enough for salvage and relics, but too heavily contested. Instead, enterprising warlords have seized control of the Mountain and desert around it, and now control the export of hardy fruit and energy crystals harvested from the lava and farms.

1B: Tech and Items

Technology is hard to summarise in Mabo-Kesa. While biomechanical, most tools and items are 'fantasy'/'tribal' tools. These are assumed to be easy to come by. Apart from the usual fantasy RPG fair of tools, these are some 'non-tech' items to give a feel of the stuff available above 'basic' tools. (feel free to come up with more)

• Madu Fruit: Hard-shelled fruit that, when overripened, are 'explosive', breaking apart with great force and blasting seeds everywhere.
• Energy Crystals: The inhabitants of the Great Ocean do not need to eat. Most of the time they prefer to absorb energy from crystals and fruit, though both are in rare supply in Mabo-Kesa. Crystals can be used in Power Launchers or drained for Tech Items.
• Disk Launchers- The most common ranged utility tool in Mabo-Kesa and the Great Ocean in general. Powered Disks harbor strange powers (i.e. steal your favourite potion/magic spell and put it here). These are spring loaded or gravity loaded
• Volo Lutu Launchers- Grapnel Gun
• Patero Launcher- Compressed Air launchers

"Tech Items" are mentioned in this post a few items. These are anything more exotic or powerful, from lava guns to stunning lances to golem-control-rods to magic boots to data crystal devices. Functionally, these are most 'magic item' equivalents.

Two common 'powered launchers' are in Mabo-Kesa- Rhotuka Spinners and Zamor Spheres. The former is most frequently seen on the backs of Visorak, naturally grown. They fire energy spinners with a wide variety of effects. Zamor Spheres are commonly used in the Barrens. They are reusable, for one, and contain liquids in them. When launched and struck, the Spheres become intangible and dump their liquid on the target. Very useful in Lava War.

There are also flashpowder weapons: Guns. They are uncommon in Mabo-Kesa, and are at the 'pirate movie'/'cowboy movie' level. So single shot revolvers, shotguns, rifles. Only the Eskadi have access to it, and not even commonly, as other Launchers are much more useful. Manufacture of bullets is also harder to come by except for Eskadi gun-runners. In addition, due to the biomechanical nature of the Great Ocean, guns are not as lethal as in other settings or RPGs, and act more like stunning weapons or 'higher-tier' ranged weapons.

REGIONS

THE MAP

with grid and numbers

2: THE CITY

The Island of Destiny, once poetically known as Mabo-Kesa ('Mother Protector'), is, in the current age, riven into two main areas. The old City, once known as Mabora-Nui, is now ruined and infested with unleashed dangers that crawled out of the devastation of the cataclysm. Most of it is occupied by Visorak Hordes and shrouded in an unnatural fog that clouds the sky day and night. Reclaimer havens dot the coasts, and there is a rough patchwork of Alternus communities that have adapted to living in proximity to the Horde.

What is left of the City are three districts: the Foundries of Paesu (Ta and Po), the Observatory-Temples of Dimmina (Ko and Ga), and the Satarom archives (Onu). There were three others, but were destroyed in the cataclysm.

Groups of closely-bonded wanderers who journey through the Dead City for specific goals are called Hexads. In the City, the PC party (and assorted retainers and backup PCs) as well as other parties will be called this name. The name implies a common ethical bond among its members, loyalty and cooperation, and clear goals that they work towards. Once a poetic name for the teams of elemental-powered guardians who protected the city, the term has taken on a term more akin to, well, a party of adventurers with a common ethos and goal.

2A Foundries of Paesu

Once the industrial heart of the City, the great foundries now lie silent and cold- if one is lucky. The Great Foundry lies at its heart, the site of a famous victory against an enemy of the city long ago. The networks of small foundries and scrap-eater machines have long since fallen into disrepair, though some have been restarted by Alterna and Reclaimers groups. The mounds of scrap have also made this district a hotbed of Scavengers looking to make a quick profit- and as such, has also become a haunting ground for Visorak packs.

image credit

                                            

LOCATION 1: The Temple of Our Many-Armed Lady of Sieges has its nominal headquarters here, in an annex to the Great Foundry. The Temple worships the Many-Armed Saint of Battle and Perseverance, a figure of worship from the history of the island. Artistic depictions ot the Saint of Siege are scrawled all across this district to mark outposts of the Temple and their allies. Reclaimers have different theories on which historical legend the Lady is inspired by, but no concrete proof.

In the temple, exultants of the Temple may have requests of Hexads. Lower acolytes may ask if you to 1) Procure fresh Visorak Venom to be diluted and turned into a pain-meditation aid. In that, it causes a lot of pain in induce a state of higher awakening. 2) Help with an ongoing siege - a Hexad from one of the factions has procured the aid of the Temple and this acolyte has been assigned to practice the arts of siegecraft. Problem is- he has neither the siege equipment nor bodies to do it. You can provide at least one, right? 3) Defamation against the saint! Some matoran in a Reclaimer haven on the coast has been spreading LIES that the Saint is a storybook character/long-dead Visorak Viceroy/Actually A Loser/A Monster from the old history of the city. Go there and defend the honour of the Saint in a contest of words or blades or track-racing or vinesurfing. 4) The secret arts of siegecraft have been stolen by a Scavenger. Find the culprit in one of the three districts. 25% chance they have been captured by the Visorak and forces to give up the secrets, 25% chance they've sold the secret to someone else who plans an attack on a Temple outpost.

LOCATION 2: On the northern outskirts are what remains of the Fields of Stone- the closest thing to a natural habitat in Mabo-Nui. Once, there were fields of great sculptures and protofabricant construction as far as the eye could see, the light and craft industry to the Foundry's heavy and machine industry. All that is left are mysterious and enigmatic statues and carvings dedicated to the beauty and wonder of a bygone era on a spit of deserted desert, now home to numerous stranded Rahi predators.

1) A hermit claims to know the location of a secret entrance hidden by a statue. An entrance to an untouched storehouse of energy crystals, building materials, and Visorak repellant. All you need to do is follow her down this canyon... The hermit has a 50% chance of being a shapeshifter, intent on eliminating 'sun-dweller' intruders that keep invading her underground home, unable to differentiate between them.

2) A statue you are resting on moves slightly, of its own accord. It does not speak and more seems annoyed that someone is resting on its leg. It is secretly possessed by an intelligent pool of Ferrodermis.

3) A Visorak pack lies dead here, beside a half-constructed siege engine. There is a note inside it- one of the Reclaimer/Alterna groups funded this engine and wanted the Pack to attack a Scavenger base. 50% chance the note is falsified.

4) A powerplant is still operating here. Unfortunately it is leaking molten metal everywhere. Sooner or later this section of the fields will collapse- and likely start a chain reaction of groundquakes destroying a nearby Reclaimer haven. A Visorak Pack is watching from the tops of the nearby canyon.

2B Towers of Dimmina

The Towers of Dimmina stretch across this arc of the City. Once, this was a place of meditative contemplation. Neophytes and contemplatives were instructed in the schools along the peaceful waterfront, learning from the combined wisdom of generations. Inland, seers and scholars and researchers congregated in the crystal towers, watching the stars, contemplating on topics for days on end, and conducting alchemical and astrological research. What was once an austere, peaceful district is now a silent grave.

Many of the great crystal towers have fallen since, and those that remain standing harbour the escaped accidental creations of those experiments and powerful knowledge- prophecies not seen in ages, technological protoypes, and even escaped experiments, all guarded by the silent automatons wielding strange weapons.

LOCATION 3: Some of the towers have been converted into factories by enterprising builders off-island, utilising stolen schematics to make and sell large war machines to Visorak packs and various groups in the city. The most notable is the Tower of Kalosu which churns out Battle Rams out of the converted insides of a tower-turned-factory, and the Tower of Korpu that gifts small amounts of unusual tools from a heavily-guarded research lab. Here between the Towers of Korpu and Kalosu spans one of the highest sky-bridges in the district, one of the only means of egress between Dimmina and the Northern Bridge.

As the party reaches the bridge, they see a Kukolix Battle Ram that spans almost the width of the bridge, its prow mounted with a war-idol of a Kagar, being pulled by a dozen Visorak, headed towards them, likely to one of dozens of bastion assaults in the shrouded city. But there is something else…

Roll a d4.

    1: The Ram is speeding towards the party- between them and the Ram is a Hexad, its members struggling to fend off the onrushing charge, trapped on the bridge and unable to dive aside (due to being on a bridge), yet unable to outrun the accelerating Ram.

    2: The Ram is being assaulted by a Hexad, making use of the narrow space to strike from the sides while most of the Visorak are stuck out front pulling the Ram. Should the Visorak drive off the Hexad, they will likely treat any strangers (like the party) as hostile prey to be harvested

    3: A Hexad is hiding among the suspensions along the side of the bridge, some hanging off the edge, others hiding in the webs that now festoon the bridge. Due to the mist and most of the Visorak being in front of the Ram pulling it, they will attempt to sneak under the Ram and commandeer it at a more opportune location.

    4: Two packs of Visorak are having a heated argument in the middle of the bridge- they each bear the markings of different packs. Should the party get close enough undetected to listen, and if they can understand Visoraki, they hear that one group is trying to pull the Ram across the bridge quickly to a critical battle, while the other is demanding custody of the Ram due to an alleged agreement between their leader and the Tower’s master.

LOCATION 4: The coast of the district prominently features the great waterfall, where some modicum of safety exists for Matoran. Here is prominently based the Seekers of KET, seekers of knowledge that claim somewhere in the city lies artifacts or sleeping sages that hold the key to repelling the Visorak. The Seekers have carefully-guarded rituals and knowledge that allow them to summon Avatars of KET in select locations in the city- gigantic titans that resemble a cross between different Rahi in a vaguely Matoroid form. This service is carefully guarded and highly expensive, but people say these Avatars have the ability to transmute substances and even physical forms, reversing Visorak venom.

1) You are tasked to hunt down a Rahi pack, for it offends the Path laid out by KET. In exchange, you will be given scrap and access to special hunting tinctures.

2) You are tasked to procted a Rahi pack, for it pleases the Path laid out by KET. In exchange, you will be taught how to tame one of these Rahi and access to healing crystals.

3) A junior Seeker needs help passing his examinations. He can tell you the secret stockpiles of Lifegiver antidotes and mutagens if you help him. He requires 2 out of 3: lab notes from the Dimmina Towers, living sample from the Tunnels of Satarom, and a Living Vine from the Foundries of Paesu. 10% chance he is actually a master of the order tricking outsiders to doing his busywork.

4) An Avatar of KET has been captured by the Black Guard! The Seekers cannot infiltrate the Hub easily as their scent is known, but you lot... 50% chance the Avatar wishes to be dismembered to aid the Black Guard in their conquest of the district. Otherwise, if you cannot free it, the Avatar will ask you to slay it so its body can return to the earth before the Visorak dismember it for parts.

2C: Tunnels of Satarom

Satarom is a dim realm- overflowing with escapees of the underground Archives- living pools of mutagen, invisible monsters, living virus-swarms, word-plagues and creatures composed solely of flesh. Even the tough Eskadi warrior Hexads stay away from here... unless there is valuable relics to loot. For Satarom was the Archive of the old City- documents, knowledge crystals, artifacts, and creatures kept for preservation and study. It is said that the seed crystals used to grow the Towers of Dimmina came from the oldest knowledge crystals of Satarom, that the knowledge of the past would grow to shroud the seers of the future.

The Visorak Horde has its largest concentration in this district, but most are festooned in the deeper areas they have overtaken for their Nests, feeding on the underground ecology of Rahi, mostly empty growth vats, and hibernating powerplants. As such, any travellers here do not usually see more Visorak if they stick to the 'safer' sunward routes, but the concentration of the Poison Scourge increases the deeper they go.

The underground complexes have long since collpased into a giant interconnected underground complex. Particularly desperate or confident Scavengers trawl the depths for treasure and knowledge, for whatever ends.

[Feel free to place a megadungeon here]

LOCATION 5: Heart of the Horde.

By sheer coincidence, you happen upon one of the Gates that guard the way to one of the larger Nests. A massive assault is underway by a Reclaimer army to take control of this section. It will be difficult to slip past this battle- and before you do, a massive flaming boulder smashes beside you, and Visorak charge you. Roll d3.

1) The Reclaimers are here to retrieve a Hordestone- the means by which some Viceroys control Packs. When palced on the ground, it sends out psychic signals to all Visorak in an area (depending on its energy levels) to gather to one spot. Should the Reclaimers get it, some will want to use it to destroy a large chunk of the Horde in a giant tunnel collapse/molten ferrodermis accident, while others will want to take control of that chunk of the Horde and attack the other Visorak.

2) The Reclaimers are taking this area to bypasss overground defenses into the lower levels of the Hub. There they say are thousands of sleeping Matoran placed under a spell. They wish to rescue them. Some of the Reclaimers will want the Matoran to join the reclamation war, others will want to rescue the Matoran away from the city and start new lives.

3) The Reclaimers have been tricked- a virus released from the Archives have infected their minds. The Viceroy in charge of the Gate is luring the army deep into the tunnels to trap them. They believe they can find a powerful Kanohi down here. The party only realise this if they have come across similar Viruses before, or notice massive discrepancies in the area. But the Reclaimers will not believe you based solely on logic- their priority centres in their brain have been scrambled, and they are soon to come to blows with each other. If the party wishes to avert a massacre, they must appeal to other priorities of the Reclaimers (depending on their leaders' personalities. Appealing to the Virtues may work. Unity between Reclaimers, a higher Duty to those under their protection, or that their Destiny lies elsewhere. Be sure to back up your words)

LOCATION 6: The Mines Are Mine

Apart from the horrors that have festered in the collapsed tunnels, this was also the location of the lightstone mines that once made up part of the city's economy. A strange cult-fraternity lives in a section of the complexes in the South Mine- the Pioneers of Ak-Rian. They claim to serve the wishes of The Archivist, a semi-messianic figure in their beliefs who wished to catalogue all in the City- even past the veils of death and time. They claim to have unlocked the power- through submersion in energized pools and rare lightstones, to peer past the veil of death and bind soul-energy to bodies. They are also known to aggressively recruit from enemies of the Visorak... while others say they resort to kidnap and brainwash.

1) The Pioneers know the location of a buried fortress, but not enough numbrrs to try all possible routes of egress. You will be sent as one set of explorers. Past the mutant horrors and robotic guardians, there is a EXOR suit- the pinnacle of warfighting technology, with neural-robotic interfaces, gigantic rocket cannons and laser weapons, buried deep in its armoury. A Scavenger group and agents of the Zhadur and Raptors are closing in too. Good luck!

2) The Pioneers wish to recruit small Alterna communities in the area. Flex the might of the Pioneers and destroy a particularly tenacious Visorak pack nearby. You are

3) Scavengers have stolen a holy relic. Find and punish them severely.

4) A feud with the Temple of Siege has gotten ugly. Send a message to them. Find passage in and blow up their explosive stockpile. They also happen to be under attack.

2D: The HUB

The Hub stands in the centre of the districts. Spanning the two Great Bridges, and once the commercial and political heart of the City, it was infested by the Horde for many years until the Black Guard of Praslid drove them off. Consisting of Alterna and Reclaimers, the highly militarised group claims to draw its traditions from the Last Elder of the City and his enforcers- regimented and utterly loyal soldiers who fought to the death. Outsiders are generally mistrusted, and they are overbearing if not outright demanding to almost all other non-Visorak factions. Visorak are, of course, killed on-sight.

The Hub also contains the ‘central station’ of the fluid-tracks that were once the high-speed transport of the city. Without power, they do not run, but the surviving tracks are still useful vantage points, and small sections can occasionally be turned back on. An arena has been rebuilt in the central sections- a place of neutral discussion between feuding Alterna, Scavengers and Reclaimer factions.

LOCATION 7: The Black Guard are always looking for volunteers... if they pass muster.

1) The Pioneers are a lunatic necromantic cult. Here is the location of one of their Purple Lightstone mines- the only one still running, it seems. Collapse it so they can no longer raise the dead against their will to create undead abominations. The most direct option is a shaft guarded by robotic guardians.

2) The Seekers are misguided control freaks. A group of them are looking to preserve a Kagar and form an alliance with it! Their evolutionary delusions will destroy us. This Kagar is waiting in [select one of the districts] with a small guard. It is too strong to take head-on, so find another way to thward this alliance, by trickery if you must.

3) The Temple is a dangerous cult. Their saint is actually the First Root of the original Living Vine, controlling them with tricks and lies. Here is a tunnel to the Great Foundry's power valves. You can break it, or otherwise find another way to sabotage the Foundry's valves. I hear the matter-reprocessing chutes are still broken, but accessible...

4) The Reclaimers are naive hicks more interested in their failed legacy than rebuilding the city. They believe there are sleeping Matoran by the thousands under the Hub. There is a delegation arriving tomorrow to ask for access into the heart of our citadel. Escort them here, although, there happens to be a Visorak Pack prowling nearby... Would be a shame if they were waylaid...

5) There are Visorak infesting the Great Bridge. We will distract the Pack while you burn their Nest.

6) (only if PCs have enamoured themselves to the Marshal of the Guard) The secret to our weapons and energy/food production lies in the heart of the Hub- the Lifegiver, a gigantic ball of living green plasma deep underground. But it has been damaged. The culprits may be the Horde, it may be our deluded neighbours. Find these key components: an untouched, fully loaded Data Crystal in the Tunnels, a fully functional biomechanical Vine-Cable fusion from the Foundries, and a scale from a Dragon.

2E: BASTIONS

The Three Largest Bastions

Location 8: Situated in the surreptitously named Matter Reclamation Plant in Paesu, the Reclaimers of Aka are focussed on the reclamation of the city. Utilising the furnaces and MRC still in operation, they have forged mighty tools and launchers for their burgeoning army. They actively find and destroy packs of Visorak, and are more militaristic than other Reclaimer enclaves, eagerly seeking conflict with the enemy. The relics of the city and their legacy are valued more than the warriors willing to risk their lives to preserve them.

There is an active trade of relics and weapons here, powered by the stuttering output of the MRC and Aka-aligned Hexads.

They valuing the insights of the Alterna, though frequently in a utilitarian manner, also risking them as scouts due to their masters of the terrain, and seeing them as equals only if they join the Great Reclamation.

1) An ancient fluid-track station is under demolition by a few Packs of Visorak looking to build a siege tower. Get rid of them without harming the station.

2) Those fools in the Great Temple are making nice with those star-readers again. Well, about time we got our hands on that. There's a trade of knowledge here in this safe haven in the Towers. Go join as 'independent scholars' and find a way to procure the knowledge for you and not for them.

3) The MRC is sputtering again. Go make sure the Burrowers and Lava Eels haven't chewed through the cables again. And dont go into the sealed relic chamber- there's ghosts in there.

4) An Alterna squad under our command clashed with a Black Guard patrol on the eastern bridges due to differences in opinion over the latter's vaunted Eternal President. See if you can smooth things over- otherwise, the bridge might become lost to us. Go settle the argument some... other... way.

Location 9: Situated in the Great Temple in Dimmina are the Reclaimers of Ruha, one of the two largest Reclaimer networks. They are focussed on the reclamation of the people. They believe they have reliable information on the presence of tens of thousands (if not more) Matoran placed into stasis during the disaster, deep underground. Pods of a few dozen are unearthed every few years, keeping the hope alive.

There is an active trade of data and tools here, buoyed by the research teams that parse more of the Great Temple's untranslated carvings every day.

While they are more concerned with the lives and safety of the Alterna, there is a certain amount of superiority complex among many of the Ruha, who see the need to 'reclaim' the Alterna back to the original Matoran virtues and beliefs, seeing them in a 'temporary' state of being, and who should be happy to follow them back across the Great Ocean when the Great Rescue of all the sleepers are complete.

1) The stars show an intact Data Crystal at the top of this infested Knowledge Tower. Retrieve it before the Visorak!

2) Those vagabonds in the Forges are making nice with the siege-logicians again. A siege engine is about to be delivered here at this old worker's quarters. Go there as part of the auction and procure it for us.

3) There's flooding in the temple basement. Go check that the Punch-Sharks and Razor Eels haven't made it down there again. And dont go into the sealed relic chamber- there's ghosts in there.

4) Two groups of scholars can't agree on the nature of the Great Spirit/the origin of the Tribes/the return of the Toa/the war against the Alphexi. Bring some of your rustic wisdom to them- if all else fails, I think they'll want you to infiltrate the Hub for archival data

Location 10: Corner Spit is the location of a makeshift port on the south end of Satarom. The main port of entry for scavengers (and some reclaimers), there is a thriving market of almost anything. From launchers to artifacts to Visorak venom and captured mutant Rahi, Kukolix Combines and Steltian Clans alike have set up grey market networks here. The importation of agricultural food also flows through here, even discounting the Corner Spit's strange port-sewage networks are mysteriously fertile enough to grow some small amount of madu fruit, bula berries, seaweed and all-important flax.

1) There's Visorak hunting the boats! Venom Flyers and Kagar skimmers, no less. If you want more grog you're going to have to secure the grog supply lines. Your task is to stand guard at a warehouse while the fighters chase them off. Many will be tempted to steal, and your job is to stop them... I wouldn't advise stealing valuable, wonderful, fun, revelatory items from the warehouse belonging to the largest dealer in town.

2), 3), 4) Strangers have been gathering at the Black Blot Inn... go make nice and see if they're scoping out the port for piratical activities... or worse.

    1: just chilling, but now they're mad someone is snooping

    2: they're planning a pirate raid on the supply lane

    3: they're planning to undercut one of the big dealers by stealing a cache of valuable fruit/relics/masks/fake relics and selling on the market before skipping town

    4: they're fresh-off-the-boat Reclaimers here to save the city! or something like that. seem like good marks...

    5: They're recruiting crew for the Stranger Danger, an armed boat planning an exploration of the entire coast. But there's one less spot than the party size. You're going to have to drink someone under the table for the last spot.

    6: They're agents of the Zhadur/Raptors and are here to hunt a rival group.

5) Someone found two rocket launchers that won't fire. The first person to get it working gets to keep one (for a small fee). How would one go about fixing this kind of item... and who lost them?

6a) A bottle arises by the pier. You unfurl a strange, flimsy, flexible parchment with words blotted on them instead of carved. "THY BOONS WE RETURN. COME TO US." The parchment dissolves once exposed to water. [only occurs once]

6b) Murder! Someone shanks someone else in front of you in the crowded streets of Corner Spit- and someone points at you and says you did it. Mob justice ain't what it used to be, so get ready to talk, fight, or run.

3: RANDOM ENCOUNTERS OF THE CITY

2	Enigmatic Travellers. 1d4 mysterious travellers dart through the shadows. They are 1: carefully looking around a totally unremarkable site 2: inserting into a very dangerous ruin 3: tailing the PCs If spotted, and they know they are spotted, there is 50% chance they will flee or attempt to talk to the PCs. They are extremely suspicious of the PCs and are trying to silence them. These are powerful Agents of powerful organisations in the Great Ocean. Choose between - Order of Zhadur, scientist-sorcerers said to be devoted to the shrouded Watcher. They utilise their knowledge of biology to the utmost. - Doom Raptors, skilled mercenaries and thieves sworn to an unknown master. They possess unusual powers and weapons. The two groups hate each other.
3	Rescuing Rahi. A small group of Alterna (1d4) are freeing panicked Rahi from a Visorak Energy Spinner trap. The Visorak are not yet here, but one can hear their approach… in 1d4 turns. 1: Paralysis Launchers. The Rahi are totally paralysed. 2: Sound Blast. The Rahi’s every sound- from scraping of hooves to bellows- are massively intensified. The Visorak will reach in 1d2 rounds. 3: Scent Trap. The Rahi gives off an odour mostly undetectable to PCs but pungent to Visorak. The Visorak will reach in 1d3 rounds. 4: Acid Pool. The Rahi has lost some part of its body from an acid trap and is in terrible pain, and is harder to handle.. 5: Hydra Curse. If underwater, the Rahi has swollen and is floating to the surface. If on land, the Rahi is dehydrating rapidly, almost deflating. 6: Energy Siphon. Roll reaction. On 6 and above, the agitation of the Rahi is siphoned by an energy field deployed around the Rahi, creating a zapping electrical field that shrinks. On a 5 or below, the docility of the Rahi is further drained, and is so lethargic it may not be able to move.
4	Scavengers Skirmish 1d6 Scavengers are 1: at an unusual and possible unstable ruin, searching for a way in 2: laden with loot They are currently being attacked by Alterna of the district for disturbing a holy/valuable/secret site. The fight, if it goes on for more than 1d3 rounds, will attract the attention of 3d6 Visorak.
5	War Machine. It is being crewed or pulled by Visorak lashed to the machine. This can take the form of a battering ram, a siege tower, portable disk launchers, miniature trebuchets etc. It is a salvaged machine being dragged back to a safe zone. Expect the new owners to be very antsy if you approach, as they are likely pursued by another group or the Horde.
6	Running Retreat. A Hexad of 1d6 Reclaimers are escaping with a valuable artefact for their quest. On double 3’s (33% chance) it is information. They are chased by 3d8 Visorak swarming from all directions. If the PCs intervene to help, and the fight goes badly, the Hexad will pass the artefact or knowledge to the PCs and entreat them to run and bring it back to that Hexad’s bastion or outpost. What the PCs do with it is up to them… but no one likes betrayers of trust.
7	Visorak. 2d6 are out on patrol, hunting for any food sources. If any of the dice come up 1, there is either a Gate Guardian or Venom Flyer with the group. Unless the PCs are identifiably allies of the Horde, they will seek to surround, ambush, and capture back to their nests. Gate Guardians project powerful illusions- making themselves seem about half as small as they really are. Venom Flyers are a type of mutant Visorak that fly.
8	Alterna Ambush. A group of 1d6 Alterna from another district. They are about to be ambushed by 2d6 Visorak (at least 1 more than the Alterna). On double 4’s (i.e. 33% chance) the ambushers are Alterna from the Alterna community most commonly associated with the District. They might use lethal force nonetheless. Roll reaction as a gauge if this is a mere quarrel or all-out war. The fight, if it goes on for more than 1d3 rounds, will attract the attention of 3d6 Visorak.
9	Mutant Horror. An escaped victim of the mutagenic virus of the Visorak has broken its way out of some sort of obstacle. This Horror is 1: incoherent and violent 2: incoherent and violent and feasting on Rahi/Matoran 3: incoherent and violent and bait to weaken the party so 2d6 Visorak may swoop in 4: strangely placid, but possibly territorial. In a sense, treat it like a ‘normal’ feral creature, in a way. 5: speaks in a strange archaic manner, and may desire companionship. It will have wholly alien values and priorities 6: an agent of the Horde and will feign erudition and companionship. The true venom is in the mind.
10	Rahi pack. Roll on the Rahi table. They are 1: scavenging for food… and are very hungry 2: chased by a Visorak pack and heading towards the party! 3: resting in a nest built into the ruins of the city.
11	A relic in the rubble! Too bad a Hexad of Scavenger/Alterna/Reclaimer (of equal numbers to the PCs) was totally here first. They demand you hand it over.
12	Kanohi Dragon. Majestic, horrific, a creature out of legend. The wyrm-like creature’s flanks are composed of giant armour plates that look disconcertingly like a giant patchwork of Kanohi masks. Once the banished from the waters around the City, the Dragon is now constantly angry and hungry. Its temper is a hair’s edge- and will demand the PCs to tell it “the answer”. It is incoherent about what the question is. Roll Reaction to see if it begins laying waste to the ruins immediately while asking.

4: CITY PARTY ORIGIN

Roll individually or as a group. D6

1: Amnesiac. You and your Hexad are formed of recently awoken castoffs on the edges of the corpse-city with little memory of how you got here. Begin play with (1d4)

    1: A mark recognised by two factions- one will be immediately hostile to you, the other will aid you in most things.

    2: One Tech Item.

    3: Two mutations.

    4: A Toa Stone. [Secret: This is how Toa are made. Matoran absorb the power of the Stones at ritually signifant places] Everyone will want their hands on this.

2: Continental Scavenger. You were sent (or sent yourself) on this expedition to scavenge the Fallen City for its relics and knowledge. Begin play with one Tech Item. Roll 1d4.

    1: Clans of the Steltos Islands sent you here to plunder booty for their fleets. You are a member, retainer, or servant of one of the Great Clans- and if you fail your tasks, your contacts will make life very difficult for your caste and clan.

    2: A Kukolix Combine sent you here to retrieve valuable designs for industrial production. Begin play with a map to a ruin with valuable blueprints and a massive debt to the Combine.

    3: The Triple Order of Zhadur, an ancient circle of scientist-sorcerers, the Triple Order serve the shadowy divine figure known only as the Watcher, and attempt to impose order and control by any means necessary. As one of their servants, you have many resources to call upon- and many enemies. Begin play with one more Tech Item for the party (not per PC!). Gain bonus to reaction rolls on 50% of Visorak Packs and a malus to the other 50%. There is a Raptor group hunting your Hexad down.

    4: Raptors. The most organised group of thieves, mercenaries and bounty hunters in the known world. As a secondary 'contractor’, you are not bound by their by-laws to turn over all treasure to their master. However, if your Raptor patron takes an interest in any of your loot, it is advisable you hand it over. Begin play with one more Tech item for the party (not per PC!). Gain a powerful but demanding ally skulking the coast. There is a Order group hunting your Hexad down.

3-4: Reclaimer. You have long heard tales of the city of your ancestors, and wish to reclaim the home lost to your enemies. Reclaimers come from relatively rustic backgrounds. Begin play with knowledge in one occupation and two ‘medieval’ / ‘tribal’-tech items relevant to the occupation. On a 3, your tribe came from one of the crafting districts. Pick one of the crafter-ly occupations. On a 4, your tribe came from one of the scholar districts. Pick one of the scholar-ly occupations.

Roll a d6.

    1: Fire Tribe. You are resistant to heat. You can see into bright light sources better, but are 

    2: Water Tribe. You can hold your breath for significantly longer and swim better than most, but dehydration affects you more.

    3: Air Tribe. You are more nimble than most and faster over broken ground and higher/confined spaces like tightropes and towers, but are more clumsy on open ground.

    4: Stone Tribe. You are stronger than most and swift over loose ground, but do not do well in confined spaces.

    5: Earth Tribe. You have better vision in the dark (NOT DARKVISION) and better directional sense underground, but are vulnerable to bright lights.

    6: Ice Tribe. You are resistant to cold. Your senses of hearing are sharper, but so are you more vulnerable to loud noises.

5-6: Alterna. As a long-time resident of the ruins, you gain better understanding of the crumbling layout of the city infrastructure. You move slightly faster across the map, but gain one mutation from generations living here. Roll a d4

    1: Our Lady of Sieges. Gain knowledge in mathematics/physics OR siege warfare and machines. You are obligated to assist all you come across, but in turn, most factions will, at worst, only mildly grumble about you.     2: Seekers of KET. Gain one extra mutation or undo a mutation. Your senior seekers may tell you to eradicate or save specific Rahi packs in the City according to the inscrutable will of the stars to guide the city’s ‘proper’ evolution. In a pinch, your seniors may be willing to summon an Avatar of KET- an almost indestructible, hyper-intelligent chimera that acts according to its own will.     3: Pioneers of Ak-Ran. You are an 'associate' of the Pioneers, not yet inducted into the cult, but trusted with some of its assets. Begin play with one Enthralled Zombie that follows the party’s orders. You will be tasked to search out rare Purple Lightstones in the most dangerous and contested ruins, and offered a chance to join if you impress the masters. This entails a soulbinding ritual and brainwashing.     4: Black Guard of the Eternal Ruler. Gain one extra weapon. You are drilled in combat and have loyal allies in the Guard, but most other communities find you off-putting and a bringer of heavy demands.

Further mysteries for referees to customise:

What sort of Rahi are left in this sort of place? Are there different Visorak types?

What causes the fog?

Why has almost no one sailed infrom the north?

How do the Viceroys control a Pack?

How many Visorak mega-nests are there?

What do the Zhadur and Raptors want here?

Why are Reclaimer Hexads receiving visions?

What is the real story of KET/The Archivist/Saint of Sieges/Eternal President Praslid?

Will the blog writer ever complete the Barrens portion? (Intending to, in another post, with a randomisable selection of warlords. It might balloon into a full Karraz campaign post, idk. look out for energy farms, floating ashsoil plantations, protracted guerilla war, mad max lava flow road war, iceberg-ships bellowing forth biomutant horrors, living nanite swarms, holy gunmen, antediluvian secrets, slayer brotherhoods, necromancers, MMA arenas, and a generally more classic 2001-3 era bionicle vibe [with a heavy dose of the 2006 arc lego-friendly-EDGE])