Majestic Stars Session 1

The quote of the evening

Who was your boss?
The husband of the women I slept with.
Was your boss the Iguana guy?
No I don't sleep with Iguanas.
I am not judging.

We had our first session of the Majestic Stars campaign. I am using a modified Fantasy AGE ruleset. There are no classes just a single level progression chart. Everybody starts off with 10 points to spend on attributes. The attributes are Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Perception, Psi, Strength, and Willpower.

Instead of focuses we have skills. If you don't have the skill, you can use it but you are at -2 on the roll. One point will get it at +0, another at +1,  and so on. Every character starts with 3 points to spend on skills.

The races are Belter, Human, Kang'rits, and Saurian. Each character picks a race and gets two rolls on the benefit table for that race.

The talents are pretty the same but been reworked to reflect the science fiction genre of the campaign. There is now a pistol and rifleman style. As there are no classes the prerequisites have been adjusted so that you have to focus on the same attributes as you had too when there was classes. During character generation you get 3 points to spend on talents or skills.

I created a system of Psionics that I will present in a later post. It has five areas; Augment, Control, Empathy, Healing, and Telepathy. Each has four specific discipline that are learned the same way talents are.

January 5th 2425

The Crew

Luc Fer - a man with connection who has arrived on the Artemis Station to make his own mark. He also a psionic.

Carl LeRoche - a belter and a corrupt cop working as station security. 

Mikael Sharp - a human medic yearning for adventure.

Luc Fer has one last job to do, to hand deliver a data wafer that is the one half of a one use code pad. Each time a message is exchange the encryption key is discarded and the next one is used. Both data wafers have to be synced so they both start at the same key. It is one the few pieces of data in the 25th century that is moved by hand.

Luc Fer was met at the gate by Carl LeRoche. LeRoche was given an off the book job by his boss to escort Luc Fer to his contact, Thaddeus Vanlith. While heading to the lifts, LeRoche was accosted by a drunk Astroguard medic who want to use the security as a demonstration of the effect of living in low gravity. LeRoche was having none of it and hit him once with the stunstick and left him quivering on the ground.

When they arrived at Vanlith's office to deliver the wafer a thug stepped out with a shotgun. Both Luc Fur and LeRoche won initiative. The ensuing fight was short and brutal between Luc Fer psionic and LeRoche's aim. 

Inside they found Thaddeus Vanlith battered and beaten. LeRoche calls his boss who dispatches medical assistance. Luc Fer decides his job is done, drops the data wafer, and leaves.

Mikael Sharp arrives and starts stabilizing the surviving thugs. LeRoches is looking through Vanlith's files and find that he was working on a deal to trade a lot of colony supplies and 100,000 credits (a hefty sum) in exchange for genetic information. Mikael happens to see the genetic reports and manages to download a copy for himself. He explains that the genetic information is about the NPTN gene which is the primary gene that controls psionic ability in humans. Only that this gene is definitely non-human. Also found was a calling card for C'Treni a Saurian visiting the station on a six month cultural exchange.

The everybody splits, Luc Fer secures an apartment, LeRoches reports back at the office working on the paperwork and also planning what to do next with the information. Mikael gets everybody to the trauma center and does some research and finds out where C'Treni has been staying. Also fine some files that are meant to be turned over to Luc Fer.

Sharp goes the police station and meets up with LeRoche, together they decide to find Luc Fer at his new apartment. After talking about what been found  they all decided to head back to the apartment to look at what else they can find.

And that where the session ended with 300 xp awarded.

The Good

Well I am finally managing to run a campaign with my own original science fiction setting that I have been working on forever. It started with me using the Universe RPG map and plotting out a future history. Universe didn't have a firm background and I decided to make one. Later I used the stellar data from 2300AD (which went out to 60 light years vs. 30 light years of Universe) to expand my work. However compared to Traveller, Babylon 5, and Star Trek, I never got a sense of what I was going to do with the setting.

I felt in all but one important aspect my Fantasy Age science fiction adaption worked rather well. There are some gaps and weak points, but I can smooth them out with enough actual play. The combat wasn't as DnDish as I thought it would be. 

The OK

Well I got the party together in a semi-plausible way, but it was weak really weak. Next time I will have everybody work together to come up with the reason of why they are a time.

The Bad

The first level ability of Control is a +2 bonus to Charisma skills for the next ten minutes. That is probably a bit weak compared to the other psi abilities. I will probably change it to a one sentence command that takes place if the target fails a willpower test. I will need to get some feedback on this.

For all the work I put into everything, the players didn't get a good feel of the setting. One thing that was a bit "out there" is the fact that advances in fabrication technology has made many material goods effectively free. However, the good stuff still costs money. Anything involving any type of service still costs money. And that didn't come across well. So the players were wondering why people did anything at all?

The above was directly related to me running out of time to make all the things I normally do for the Majestic Wilderlands. One of which is a half to one page briefing on various bits of setting information.

The Future

Next time I should have more background info prepared and with the latest fixes for the rules. I am still weak on equipment and working on coming up with items. The big challenge here is that I am doing essentially an urban campaign, in a brand new setting, using the science fiction genre which I don't often run.

The Artemis Station coming together

I got a skeleton of the initial adventure fleshed out for my new campaign Majestic Stars campaign.

I also added some more details to the Artemis Station which is the setting of the campaign. First the overview schematic.

And now the maps of the individual levels.

I am sure some of you will look at the production rings (along with the free space in the garden) and it looks like they are undersized for a station with a population of 35,000 sentients.

One aspect of the technology of the Majestic Stars is the existence of 3D Fabricators several generations beyond what we have now. One kind of fabricator is called the Food Fab. It takes two cartridges, a CHON pack which consist of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen to provide the basic raw material for fabricating food. Then there is the M-Pack or mineral pack. Which provides the trace element needed for health and flavoring. The belters of the Artemis local solar system  supply the CHON, however the M-Pack are manufactured onboard the station from the output of the production rings. Four hundred acres devoted to crop and protein product is more than enough to supply the M-packs needed by 35,000 sentient.

Majestic Stars Campaign Progress

With my friend Dwayne Fantasy Age campaign ended, I am up next. After talking with everybody, I am going to run my first Majestic Campaign. I will be using a heavily modified variant of Fantasy/Dragon Age as everybody in the Monday night group really likes that system. Luckily the AGE system is flexible enough that it can still be AGE but only a hop and a skip to converting everything I am writing into White Star or similar system.

I like to design some graphics to help me get into the mode. I started out with this.

But everybody though it was too busy. So after it hashing it out, I came up with this.

Because this is the first campaign I booted up from scratch in ages. We also decided to focus on a space station. I been working on this setting for a long time but the time, rules, and inspiration never seem to quite jell compared to the other campaign I ran including the Third Imperium of Traveller. But having just got done watching the Expanse, the enthusiasm behind White Star, and Stars without Number, and the simplicity of the AGE system, it is all coming together.

The campaign is going to be centered around the Artemis Space station on the fringe of human space. it is a trade hub and diplomatic station with the Commonwealth, a recently contacted interstellar civilization of sentient dinosaurs. Rumors are getting around, that the Commonwealth are in reality refugees and dissident who have fled a vast and ancient empire of their own kind. An empire with technology and wealth centuries ahead of humanity.

However there is no grand federation united all of humanity. Humankind is still very much divided into nations. The great powers of the 21st century have their 25th century descendants, who stand alongside a thousand words founded by every group imaginable from Earth.  Some are colonies of the great powers, while others fiercely guard their independence. The only group that everybody recognizes are the Astroguard, a multi-national force dedicated to search and rescue as well as keeping the interstellar spacelanes safe.

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When first contact was made with the Commonwealth, ten years ago, the Selene Republic was in the fortunate position of sitting astride the only path of stars leading to the Saurians. With aid from the Astroguard and the major powers, they constructed the Artemis Station to serve as a commercial hub between Humanity and the Saurians. It was constructed as a Bernal Sphere capable of housing 25,000 people. The station logistics was turned over the Astroguard, while the day to day governing was handled by by a Selene governor, his magistrates along with law enforcement hired by the republic. The Selene governor works with the Astroguard commander and an advisory council of  human ambassadors to handle relations with Commonwealth and the Saurians. Now two years in operation, station has become a gold rush town.

D&D 5th edition 1.1 SRD released

While it was great that DnD 5th edition got a System Reference Document under the Open Game License, there were some flaws with the document. Notably the lack of the Eldritch Blast cantrip for the Warlock.  Now it looks like Wizards cleaned it up and added a few more things like rules for magic item attunement and use. And the document has been reorganized a bit.

You can download it from here.

Here is the full changelog

• Various key spells used by classes, magic items, and monsters have been added to the spells section. For example, the eldritch blast cantrip is essential for many warlock abilities, and is now part of the SRD.
• References to any archetypes (and similar choice-based class features like cleric domains) that aren’t in the SRD (like wild magic for sorcerers) have been removed from the text to avoid confusion.
• References to “chapters” are gone, as the SRD isn't organized by chapters.
• Bookmarks have been added for the most important and frequently-referenced topics.
• A few text corrections have been made (such as a few references to "DM" instead of "GM," some typographical errors from importing the text from its original source, and incorporating errata from the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual).
• All appendices have been moved to the end of the document. For example, the Conditions appendix from the Player's Handbook used to appear in the middle of the SRD, but now it's at the end. To avoid confusion between appendices taken from the Player's Handbook and the Monster Manual, the appendices now have a PH- or MM- prefix as appropriate.
• Rules for magic item attunement, activating items, and wearing and wielding items are now in the SRD.

Another Harn Day

It is another Harn Day from Columbia Games!

This time up we have more Orbaal stuff, the home of the Vikings on the island of Harn.

We have map square H1 & J1 mapped out which covers the area the two castles are located in. They are mostly coastline as Columbia games usually only does one of these per HarnQuest release. The original map of Harn was divided into a number of squares that followed the hex grid pattern. Think Traveller subsectors vs. the entire sector. In recent years Columbia Games and Kelestia have decided the best way to do local regions was to map it square by square. Eventually all the squares will be detailed showing where every manor, mine, castle, keep, and points of interest is on Harn.

This time they decided to release a revised and expanded updates of two Orbaal Castles Pled & Sherwyn. While every Harn is unique because of its local circumstances these two are closer than most as they are both Viking settlement with a lord who is noted for being cruel, a brute, and a thug. However both have a lot of unique local color that make each their own place.

I recommend anything from Orbaal area of Harn to supplement the stuff you are using if you are running a Viking campaign.

This release also saw four more pages added to the Tome & Scroll article. Basically it is a series of one page articles detailing a specific book and its history. It has a lot of flavor and ideas for adventure.

With this release I released that steady drip drip of expanded reprint from Columbia Games Has nearly bumped all of the original articles from my main Harn Library. Note that unlike say the Forgotten Realms, the Harn authors and community are fanatical about keeping everything consistent. So all the details in those old articles are in the new articles as well.

Because of this, I decided to give all my old articles to +Tim Shorts of Gothridge Manor. He has a handful of article that he gotten on his own or from me. But now it time for his big Harn Day!.

The identity of the official guard figure has been found!

For nearly 30 years this figure has represented the guards of the City-State of the Invincible Overlord My group and I call them the Official Guard Figure.

Off to kick some PC ass!

Who is this mysterious figure who has been slain by the hundred by PCs who refuse to kneel before Zod the Overlord? Who in turn slaughtered dozens of PCs with their dreaded Knight-Killer Crossbows?

Well it turns out he is Ral-Parth Chaos War #50-023 Sea Elf Spearman I, in reserve. 

With a certain plume shaved off along with a spear missing. You can recruit him at Iron Wind Metals. The company also has a kickstarter to bring back more of the old Ral Partha Chaos War miniatures.

Here some Swords and Wizardry/Majestic Wilderlands stats for this guard along with the rules for the Knight Killer Crossbow

City Guard
Medium Footman, 1st Level Fighter
Init +1; AC 4[15]; HP 6; Save 14; Move 90’; CL/XP 1/15;
Attacks (x1)
Spear, 1H; HTB +3/+2, DMG 1d6+1, RoF 1, RNG 20 ft;
Large Dagger; HTB +3, DMG 1d4+1; or
Knight Killer Crossbow; HTB +2, DMG 4d5, ACC +4, Reload 6, RNG 100 ft;
Attributes
Str 12 (+1); Dex 11 (+0); Con 10 (+0);
 Int 10 (+0); Wis 10 (+0); Cha 10 (+0);
Abilities
Athletics +2, Intimidation +1, Strategy +1;
Possessions
Scale Armor, Medium Shield, 1H Spear, Large Dagger, Knight Killer Crossbow, 1 day ration, 15d.

Crossbow, Knight Killer 46d/ea. 6.0/lbs.
Damage: 5d4 (Bolts), Accuracy: +4, Reload: 6. Range: 100 ft/yds.
This is the largest crossbow capable be carried on a regular basis by fighters. It uses either a windlass or a cranequin to cock the weapon for use. This takes a considerable amount of time, 36 seconds or 6 combat rounds. The result is a weapon capable taking out a heavily armored opponent in a single shot.

Note: 1d = 1 silver piece. Accuracy equal accuracy bonus to the to-hit roll. Reload action, the number of combat rounds it takes to reload this weapon. Abilities, a lite skill system used in the Majestic Wilderlands supplement.

Traveller Aid Society on OBS (RPGNow/DriveThruRPG)

Looks like the Mongoose Third Imperium and the entire Mongoose Traveller 2nd edition line will have a third party content program.

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The basic deal is this,

Mongoose will allow you to SELL any work in PDF form that uses Mongoose Traveller 2nd edition rules and supplements, along with the content of ANY of Mongoose's Third Imperium products (regardless of whether it is for 1st edition or 2nd edition Mongoose Traveller).

In return Mongoose will require that

1) Mongoose/OBS will receive 50% of the sales price.
2) TAS have an EXCLUSIVE license to any original content you provide to use in the Traveller Aid Society. If Mongoose desired to use the content outside of the Traveller Aid Society then a separate agreement with the author(s) will be worked out.
3) That you allow anybody else in the Traveller Aid Society to use your original content
4) That you follow the guidelines for community standards.

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Pretty much the exact same setup as the DM's Guild for DnD 5e, Forgotten Realms, and Ravenloft.

The way you should look at this is a mean for publishing Third Imperium material either systemless or using the Mongoose 2nd edition Traveller rules.

You should only use the Travellers Aid Program program if your product absolutely depends on being set in the Third Imperium outside of the Foreven Sector (which is covered by a separate license). Remember your alternative is Foreven, or negotiate a license with Marc Miller, or Mongoose.

Use the the Travellers Aid Program program if your product absolutely depends on being based on the 2nd Edition Mongoose Traveller rules.

In the above two cases the deal offered by Mongoose is a good one. Otherwise it is not.

Your alternative are to use
The Foreven Sector license and the Traveller SRD
The Traveller SRD and no Third Imperium content.
The Far Future Fair Use License (and release it non-commercially)
Negotiate a Third Party License.
Go through the submission process.

What innovative about the Traveller Aid Soceity, DMs Guild and the other programs is that the before there was a snowball chance in hell for anybody to use the IP of another company. Yeah there was the OGL, but beyond rules that OGL was rarely to applied to other interesting parts of RPGs, the settings. And even with rules some companies were never going to release a System Reference Document under an open license.

But now the Community Content is a intermediate step between the OGL and traditional licenses. In exclusive for losing control of your IP, and a hefty royalty cut to OBS and the IP Holder you get to near unrestricted use of that company's IP. And you get to do this without going through the formal negotiation process that license requires, or the oversight that a freelance contract gives.

It neither good nor bad but an option that now exists that didn't before.

For me I published OGL material for DnD. I would not normally use the corresponding DMS Guild program save for one exception; Greyhawk. If they incorporate Greyhawk as part of the DMs Guild then I have some work that I would publish there. It Greyhawk specific and would not work as part of any of the other stuff I make. So I have no problem with the conditions that the DMs Guild imposed on that IP.

The same with the Third Imperium. I have some science fiction stuff I created using the Traveller Rules that I will NOT be publishing in the Travellers Aid Society. But I also have some stuff that only make sense if set in the Third Imperium.

In end it is a series of tradeoffs, my recommendation is really think about it before you publish. But in the end if there is no other way, then do it. You will get 50% of your sale price and there is always the chance that will be well-received enough so that Mongoose will want to buy further rights to publish it outside of the TAS.