Rethinking Shadow Gates

Back to a gaming subject, a break from dreary politics and policy.

1) The name. I'm not satisfied with Shadow Gates as a title for the project. It doesn't have enough menace. I'm thinking Nemesis Gates not only rolls of the tongue better but is at the same time more ominous. Also it brings in connotations of destruction via the Nemesis Hypothesis and the Harbinger of the Old Ones; Ghroth. Much better suited for a post apocalyptic project.

2) Historical Inspiration. I already knew that I wanted the campaign to take place in the ruins of a once great Human Empire. This has naturally lead to seeking inspiration in similar historical periods like, for example, the Dark Ages. The Confederation (my setting's nod to everyone's favorite Coalition Sates) was originally going to be largely based on the Holy Roman Empire.

Now I see I haven't gone back far enough. Instead I will be using the Frankish Empire of the Merovingian kings and Carolingian Emperors as my main inspiration. Instead of Franks crossing the Rhine into the Roman Empire we will have Yanks, ugly American exiles who left the great sprawling cities of Columbia and San Angeles to live in Coventry, basically a great reservation in flyover country. Now they are picking up the pieces after the Joachite Wreckers have leveled the cities of the ancien regime. Of course the Joachites also (knowingly?) completed a ritual to summon forth powers vastly older than Man and opened the Gates.

While the Cheyenne Commanderie will be modeled after the Exarchate of Ravenna, a last military outpostof the Eastern Empire of Terra Nova. Also there will be winks and nods to the Enclave of Fallout fame.

The Xothians of Mu, Kali, Atlantis, and Lemuria will stand in nicely for the ominously rising Moors. Their hordes of Barracuda fish-men and Gargoyle star-spawn chanting 'there are no Gods but the Old Ones and Lord Cthulhu is the prophet of their return.'

And from the frozen farthest north sweep baying packs of Gnophkeh warriors thirsty for blood and hungry for warm flesh. From the fury of the Northmen, oh Lord, preserve us.

I must stop myself from going on and on, there are so many possibilities; Pendragon of Mars, Serpent Men of the southron jungles, the Risen Empire of the vile Nephren Ka, the fungus from Yuggoth, Dinosaur Swamps...

3) Anyway play will initially focus on adventurous Yankish warriors questing forth into the ruins of ancient cities looking for lost technology or striking deep into the quisling Sorcerous Federation to destroy some nascent threat to the free peoples of Earth.

Shadow Gates Combat

Ok, here's how combat is going to work in this campaign.

As in RAW BRP, combat runs on % dice. However I'm tweaking this slightly. Firstly, the results of a d% roll are read as 00-99, not 01-00. Secondly, instead of success, special success, critical success etc running off of fractions of your skill I will be using a margin of success system. This will be a simple 'blackjack' roll high but don't bust framework; your margin of success is the tens digit of your d% roll. For example; your skill is 53% and you roll 29, your margin is 2. This MOS will function as a direct damage bonus to attacks in combat, higher skills tend to result in deadlier attacks. Critical successes will remain; any roll that exactly equals your effective skill level is a critical success. While a roll of 99 is always a failure and a fumble.

Parrying, dodging, and other opposed actions will be resolved by comparing margins of success. An attack with a MOS of 3 beats a dodge with a MOS of 2. A critical dodge always succeeds, although a critical strike will still deal 1/2 damage.

I will be using strike ranks pretty much as written. Automatic weapons fire I'm still thinking on. Currently I think I'll have short bursts/semi auto add a bonus to strike (also effectively a damage bonus remember), long burst/semi auto fusillades be area effect, and having an option for suppressive fire to force a willpower test or stay in cover.

Let's talk Characters (Shadow Gates)

Ok I'm thinking of tweaking BRP as written in the handy-dandy, oh so shiny new BRP book. I'm going to be adding a handful of WHFRP/Dark Heresy, a pinch of GORE, maybe even a dash of Palladium...

Anyway, I'm thinking of eight or nine broad classes that determine what Jobs (professions) you can enter and what activities benefit from an experience bonus.

Jobs determine what skills and Talents/Feats/Perks (whatever) one has acces too, and increase in 'Job Rank', which opens up new character advances (skills, attributes, abilites, so on).

So here's a quick sekeleton I've put together;


Fighter 'Man at Arms'

• Boomer (Combat 'Borg; Robocop, Briareos Hecatonchires)
• Samsonite (Augmented Soldier; performance enhancing drugs, organs, prosthetics)
  
• Powered Trooper (Powered Armor operator)
  
• Land Warrior (generalist warrior)
  
• Armored Crew (armored vehicle crewman; tanks, APCs, IFVs, walkers)
  
• Flyboy (combat aviator)
  
• Scout (wilderness path finding, tracking, survival, light infantry)
  
• Assassin (infiltrate, kill, exfiltrate)
  

Skilled Support, tech 'Technical Specialist'

• Field Medic (healer, paramedic)
  
• Tech-Spec (item repair and item craft)
  
• Hacker (opens doors, gets the info, spoofs sensors, etc)
  
• Drone Rigger (gathers intel, fun with remotely controlled robots)
  
• Scavenger (jury rigger and forager)
  
• City Rat? Ganger? (not sure where I'm going with this idea, streetwise maybe)
  

Skilled Support, expert 'Academic Expert'

• Field Scientist (smart guy, TONS of skills)
  
• Field Surgeon (medical doctor, sometimes, you need one)
  
• Field Researcher (three words; research, monster lore, weakness)
  
• Genius Spark (mad scientist! makes gadgets that shouldn't work, but do)
  

Charisma/Persuasion 'Negotiator'

• Face Man (confidence trickster)
  
• Diplomat (negotiator)
  
• Spy (secret agent man)
  
• Fixer (Mr. Connections)
  
• Entertainer (traveling performer)
  

Mystical Support 'Mystics'

• Mystic (dabbler in Magyck and ESP)
  
• Summoner (Evocation Mage; summon and bind)
  
• Lesser Talent (minor ESPer; more skills fewer powers)
  
• Greater Talent (major ESPer; fewer skills, more powers)
  
• Sorcerer (Invoker of Alien Gods)
  
• Enchanter (Enchantment Mage; buff, debuff, control)
  
• Cleric (Invoker of the Gods of Men)
  

Fighter/Tech 'Military Speicialist'

• Special Forces (skilled warrior and leader of men)
  
• Combat Hacker (warrior with electronic war capability)
  
• Military Engineer (construct or tear down defenses)
  
• Field Armorer (warrior jury-rigger)
  
• Road Warrior (wheel-man, speed-demon, transporter)
  
• Tek Paladin (power trooper with scavenging, jury rigging and science!)
  

Fighter/Mystic 'ParaSwords'

• Psi Knight (not a jedi)
  
• Spell Sword (classic fighter-mage)
  
• Spell 'Slinger (battle-mage)
  
• Warrior Nun (fighter-cleric, female)
  
• Battle Brother (fighter-cleric, male)
  

Fighter/Persuasion 'setting appropriate name here'

• Smuggler (Han Solo, Jack Burton)
  
• Six String Samurai (Bard; with a sword, and a steel guitar)
  
• Black Operative (James Bond; wetworks, sabotage, high action, plausible deniability )
  

Mystic/Tech 'MagiTech'

• Techno-Mage (Mad Spark inventor-mage)
  
• Alchymist (transmuter of matter)
  
• Churigeon (bio-wizardry)
  
• Meta-Physician (scientist-mage researcher)
  
• PsychoScientist (psi-scientist)
  
• Psi-Comp. (psychic hacker)
  

Shadow Gates: NA pt III

Further thoughts on the CSA, SG:NA, and post-apoc. in general.

The Confederated States in this setting are obviously intended to be the great power of the North American continent, but lets look at what we mean by that. In a post-apocalyptic setting (especially this one), even the great (human) powers struggle to survive. Nor should one consider the CSA to be a monolithic, or even fully settled society. It is feudal in nature, and much of the territory claimed is still untamed wilderness or crumbling ruins. One of my problems with many Post-Apoc games and stories is that they are quickly filled with so many new powers and principalities, each a modern nation-state, that adventuring in a good ole' frpg sense is almost impossible. I'm trying to avoid this with Shadow Gates, and leave even the major player on the continent barely controlling its own territory and no more centralized than the Holy Roman Empire of the Hapsburg's.

Unlike its first main inspiration (the Coalition States from a certain other game) adventuring is quite possible in Confed territory. The local lord doesn't have the man-power to waste sending search parties after the beast rumored to be attacking his Vaki's livestock, nor search the ruins for rumored artifacts. And the State Guard and Confed Army units in the general area have much more important things to do. Also this Confed isn't quite as automatically murderous towards 'undesirables' nor as obviously inspired by the worst excesses of the early twentieth century with its gulags and einsatzgruppen.

This Confed. is willing to give 'demi-humans' a chance. What are 'demi-humans'? Any vaguely humanoid entity that the local, on the scene, authority decides to tolerate. The more you look like a base-line pure human the more likely you are to be tolerated, especially if you can provide a useful service to the local community. Obviously this varies greatly, Le 'estate du Nord is the most open and tolerant, while Little Dixie is much less so. Anything with tentacles, rotational symetry, or an odd number of appendages is likely to be shot on site wherever you are in the Confed. Psykers are also tolerated within the confed, as long as they are members of either the Confederate Army Psi-Corps, or the Mentalist's Guild, and don't get on the wrong side of a vengful feudal lord when on his property, or get lynched as a wytch by superstitious vakis...

Magyck is a special case. Unlicensed magyck, which is to say virtually all of it, is punishable by death. Magyck is equated with contact with ruinous powers, and the Confed is mostly right. Although not all, or even most sorcerers have dealings with vast an alien intelligences, all forms of what humanity ignorantly labels as magyck are inherently hazardous to human health, spirit, and sanity. There is not much functional difference between a a sorcerous rampage on behalf of hidden masters, or one brought on by sheer murderous lunacy.

There are some forms of magyck that are more controllable however. Non-Euclidean Meta-Physical Engineering, aka tekno-magery is one. Another licensed, bonded, and guilded path to the mysteries is Para-Combinatorial Chemistry, also known to the layman as Alchymy. Additionally, clerics of the Elder Gods of Man, and even the servants of Apostolic Palace, have been known to exercise gifts and boons of their lords, creating effects quite similar to that of a rogue sorcerer, but with tacit approval of the Confed. Emperor Rothschild isn't concerened that a Catholic Theurgist or a Cleric of Mars uses techniques similar to sorcerers, only that they have shown no threat to himself or his people.

Rough history of powered armor

Frame, Powered, Load Bearing (LBPF 'el-be-pif')
[powered frame]

Frame, Powered, Combat (CPF 'cee-pee-eff' or cee-pef')
[combat frame]

Exoskeleton, Powered (PEx 'pex' or 'pexo')
[combat exoskeleton]

Suit, Powered, Combat (CAS 'cas' or 'cassie')

[powered armor]

Infantry Fighting Armor, Airmobile (IFAA 'eye-fah')
[humanoid combat vehicle]

Shadow Gates: North America pt. II

In which we take a closer look at the CSA.

The heart of the Confederation resides in the the rich breadbasket lands that lie between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers; areas once known as Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas. The Confed also claims the southern portions of Wisconsin and Michigan as well as the northern parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

The Confederacy is both more and less than meets the eye. The Confed State, and its ruler, Emperor Karl Rothschild (President for life of the Americans, Governor of Iowa, Overlord of the Marches, Rex Mundi, by grace of God Emperor of Man) claims universal sovereignty as a successor state to the vanished Imperium. In reality the Confederation is a loose patchwork of City-States, Chartered Cities, Feudal Baronies, and Client Kingdoms. The Title of Emperor is technically elective, with each Elector in the College having a vote (the Electoral College being composed of great lords, city mayors, important clergy, and various guild masters) but practically only members of the Rothschild family have been elected, considering that the Rothschild heir is also ruler of the largest and Capital city, D-town, and the largest single polity, the Provisional Republic of Iowa. Karl is also the feudal overlord of a large majority of the Confederation's land holders, and they are honour bound to support and defend their liege-lord.

The structure of the Confederacy follows these rough lines.

The States: These are the largest organizational polities within the Confed, and are more or less (un)controlled by their technically elective State Governors. The only real power State Governors usually have is to regulate commerce within their State and to call out the Guard. Governors also formally have the power to assign Vaki (serf, short for evacuee) labor to the Farmers or Ranchers (hereditary land holders), although doing so arbitrarily is a good way to get replaced (usually after a fatal accident). Governors also serve at the Emperor's pleasure and after being confirmed by Imperial Decree, may be replace at any time.

Baronies: The Barons represent the wealthiest land-holders of the Confed, and their holdings form large portions of the States. The Barons are themselves feudal overlords and receive the fealty of...

Knights, Sheriffs, Farmers, and Ranchers: The smallest landholder to be Imperial Citizens, these lower nobles form the base of the feudal pyramid from which Emperor Rothschild derives his power and authority. Landholders lord it over...

Vakis: Evacuees, effectively serfs, these descendants of displaced and fled city dwellers were organized as brute labor during the Fall and have been mostly bound to land ever since. Vakis flee to pass themselves off as...

Freeholders: The effervescent yeomanry of the Confed, the successful eventually become Landholders and the failures die or run off to the cities to become...

Charted Citizens: The citizens of the various Chartered, Imperial, Free, of State Cities owe their citizenship directly to the Emperor as represented by the mayor. They may be drafted at any time and must pay taxes or be Evacuated as excess and unproductive.

States and Territories
Provisional Republic of Iowa: The very heart and core of the Confederacy, from D-Town emanates the word and will of Emperor Rothschild. The city is built upon amongst the runs of ancient Des Moines, and is the center of a network of canals and railroads, knitting together the Confederacy. The corn harvest of Iowa is the single largest economic fact of the Confederacy, and perhaps North America. This fact underlies the source of Iowa's strength, the largest pure human population in North America. The size and impressivness of her soldiery has led to the saying 'as big and fierce as a cornfed Iowan'. Capital: D-Town

Le' Estat du Nord: Minnesota, the State of the North is the most northern State of the Confederacy. Only the unorganized Territory of Ontario and Dominion of Winnipeg (independent, client of Britannia) provides a buffer for the Confed proper against the icy winds of Ithaqua and his Gnoph-keh God-Kings in their ice-ziggurats. Minnesota also shows the softer side of the Confed. Here the populace is mostly literate, and actually does voes vote for their Sheriffs and other county officials. This State is also the cradle of the official 'Humanity first, including demi-humans' policy; when Minnesota and xenophobic Iowa (and others) first merged to create the Confederacy in the first years after the fall, the Dvergar of the Iron Range were the pride of the State and very valued members of the community. No less than the First Emperor himself gave the Dvergar his blessing and oath of protection in exchange for the fealty of the Dver-lords in their halls of stone. Capital: Cloud City

Kingdom of Ishpeming: A nominally independent client state of the Confederacy, the Kingdom is useful a transhipment point for trade with the Great Lakes region and a manufacturer of low(er) quality weapons (usually heavier and less accurate) that can be guided to supply other polities without tracing back to official Confed policy. Capital: Ishpeming Court

Missouri: Another founding member of the Confederacy, also known as 'Little Dixie' this State is even more xenophobic and human supremacist than the Iowans, if that is even possible. This is, of course, not without good reason. Little Dixie borders on the St. Louis Hell Gate, a permanent gate that spews forth horrible monstrosities with terrible appetites. Most land-holders, including Governor Hannibal Simpson are initiated knights of the White American Nationalist Klan (or Wankers for short) an ardently racist and militaristic military order that forms the backbone of the State Guard. Missouri also mainly provides the para-military 'bushwackers' who mount 'filibusters' into non-Confed territories. Capital: Fort Jefferson

Arkansaw: An unincorporated territory of the Confederacy, Arkansaw has Four main portions. Firstly there is Fort Mountain Home, in the Boston Mountains. Here the First Airlord oversees the First Air Corps 'Ozark Airlords' with the twin missions of making air strikes on the St Louis Hell Gate and providing support for the Southron Marcher Lords in their fight against the vile Barracuda in the swamplands. Next is Fort Smith headquarters of the Lord of the Indian Marches. Next, there is Fort El Dorado headquarters of the Lord of the Southron Marches. Finally, Texarkana is a fully Chartered Imperial City, and center of the Confederacy's efforts to draw Lonestar into full confederacy. The ancient capitol of Little Rock is little more than a Necropolis, inhabited only by mutants, gate-spawn, and ghouls.

Wisconsin: The Cheeseheads of Wisconsin are proud members of the Confederacy, and joined shortly after Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota signed the original Articles of Confederation. From the cities of New Wausau Governor Richards rules with an iron fist over the second most populous State of the Confed.

Chiopolis: Located in the unorganized, unincorporated Illinois territory, Chiopolis is D-Town's only competitor as first city of the Confederacy. Consisting largely of the rebuilt, fortified, and resettled corporate Arcology that once housed workers and formed a hub on the old Chicago-Dallas Mag-Lev line, located at Chillicothe Illinois, Chiopolis is a wonder to behold. Home of an advanced research lab from Before the Fall, Chiopolis is the the main source for the Confederations advanced technology. Deep underground in the SubUrbs manufactories and robotic forges run by teknomancers churn out hyper-advanced materiel for the Confed War Campaign.

Fort Wayne: A Confed outpost on the flank of the vile Federation of Sorcery in the Ohio river valley. Territorial capital for Indiana.

Michigan: Arsenal of humanity, the newly created state of Michigan is rapidly becoming an industrial powerhouse. The ancient factories left by General Products Inc. in Mo-Town (Old Detroit) were found to have been underground in hardened bunkers. Apparently one of the Emperors of the Old Imperium was paranoid about protecting industrial centers. General Dynamics tanks, planes, cyborgs, trucks, and other materiel are finding their way into Confed war stocks. Most settlers in Michigan are from Iowa or Wisconsin.

Shadow Gates: North America pt.1

Let us begin looking at the overall picture on Shadow Gates Earth by starting with the area I'm most comfortable with; namely North America.

Overview: Little remains of the ancient cites of Man. First came the orbital bombardment of the Joachites, who took savage pleasure in literally stoning the traditional capitol of the Empire with asteroids plucked from solar orbit. They sought to slay the 'whore Babylon' and nearly succeeded. The valiant ships of Battlefleet Hortius finally drove the Joachites away from sacred Terra, but incredible damage was done. It was a short time later that the inconstant stars began their change that lead to the Fall of Man, indeed today many conflate the two events, and look askance on those 'Angels' from orbit. Some blame all those from the black and others hold that the fleets should have done more. The way the 'spacer dogs' have held back from assisting the 'earthworms' after the cataclysim hasn't helped. An objective observer would note that the Cataclysm has been bad enough for the orbital communities, indeed worse in some ways (there's no self generating atmo in space) but few have the perspective to be charitble.

The sea levels have risen, not surprising given the rising of so many new island contenents thought lost forever. Coastal areas suffered greatly from tsunamis, hurricanes, typhons, earthquakes, and other, more terrible things. The area once called California has split off from the mainland making an enlongated island called Kali, both as a corruption of the ancient name and in fear of the thing that lives there. On the eastern seaboard rises an evil megalithic city, the center of Xothian prescence on the Continent, a terrible tributary to the mistress of Atlantis.

Between the coasts two powers contend. The Confederated States of America (neither a confederation, nor composed of states, nor particularly American) is centered on the Mississippi river valley, while the Cheyenne Kommand is ruled from the great Command Vault One of Colorado. Both feudal kingdoms vie for influence in the Lone Star Republic. Everyone fears raiders from the Horselords of the NeoSioux. The Saints of New Deseret rule a desert theocracy from the Great Salt Lake, and the Free City of Lost Vegas is a hive of scum and villany with few peers. And in the verdant rainforrests of the Pacific North West lies the shining Kingdom of Mountain Vale, a place of magics and mystery, dedicated to the Elder Gods of Man. Two stable gates link this tolerant community to the Kingdom of New Avalon in distant Britannia and to a fantastic world of Elves, Dwarves, Yrrch, and even stranger things.

To the South lie the bloody pyramid kingdoms of the Aztekia, dedicated to the Flayed One. Travel is ill advised if one values his skin. To the North lie the frozen lands, colds things claim this land as theirs, resisted only by the Mounted Ones.

...more to come.

The World of Shadow Gates: After the Fall, Before Peace

Ecumenopolis Columbia

The City was the heart of the ancient empire. From the great and vast Ecumenopolis Columbia, a city so massive that it once covered the entire eastern seaboard of the North American continent, the Empire was managed for ten generations. Even after the splitting of the Empire of Man into East and West, the World City remained the economic and cultural center of a sizable fraction of the human species.

Now the shimmering city is but a memory. The great shining towers have fallen. The rising tides have washed away much. Entire Sub-Cities ,like the ancient and artful New York, have sunk beneath the waves. Much has been lost to the tides, and the rest is occupied by an alien force. Raiding from risen Atlantis, servants of Kassogtha, Lord Cthulhu of Mu's consort demon goddess, the vile Yugya, the monstrous Xothians, and the blasphemous Barracuda Fish-men squat upon the ruins like vultures picking the bones of Man's hubris. Under the watchful eyes of her mother, the Daughter of the Lord of R'lyeh builds her new great basalt stone megalithic city upon the bones of the old.

Tread lightly Son of Adam, these haunted lands may be your doom.

Campain Notes pt. I

Working on a new Basic Role-playing Campaign. Take Rifts, Fallout, Twilight, Cyberpunk, Oswald Spengler, and Call of Cthulhu and put them in a blender. The objective is twofold, firstly create a campaign setting that makes use of the entire BRP book. Second, create a replacement for that Rifts itch that must be scratched at odd intervals until the incoherence of Simbieda's system puts me into screaming fits.

Here's a glimpse of the future.

2061-2080 Year of the Old God.
459-440 Before the Fall
The Final World War and the foundation of the Ecumenical Empire; Russia, China, and the Caliphate, each in turn, defeated and absorbed into the North American Free Trade Alliance. General of the Army Jessica Clinton Windsor Yamato in one person unites the Presidencies of the North American Republic and European Union, the Thrones of Great Britain and Japan, and Supreme Commander NATO.

After defeating her only competitor in bloody civil war, she declares herself AUGUSTINA I; President for life, Lord General of the Armies, Marshall of the Righteous, Grand Admiral of Seas and Stars, Defender of the Faith, Hammer of the Moors, by Grace of God Queen of Britain, France, Ireland, and Japan, EMPRESS of the Ecumenical Empire (World-State).

2080-2309
Golden Age of Technology
-Polyhedral Electro-Magnetic Inertial Confinement by Potential Well Fusion (Polywell)
-Highly advanced materials (exotic composites)
-Grand Unified Theory under the Burkhard Heim framework (Heim Theory)

• Anti Grav
• Faster than Light travel (pseudo velocity through gravitic space warp)

-Effective Nanotechnology
-Genetic Engineering
-Neural-Machine interface
-Extremely High Energy density storage (Ultracaps)
-Broadcast power
-Solar System and High Orbit settled and developed
-Extra-Solar colonies founded.

2322-2519
The Decline
-Capitol Moved to Iskander IV in the more vibrant Galactic East, renamed Mundopolis Konstantin by Mad Emperor Konstantinian VI
-Seemingly endless Civil Wars and Alien Invasions of Imperial territory.
-Terra, the Solar System, and the Galactic West, now a drain on Imperial resources, is left to fend for itself as a separate Western Empire.
- Joachite Rebellion. Vast fleets fight and die between the stars and entire worlds die in nuclear fire. Even remote Terra itself is wounded in the fight. In the end the Joachites are put down, but the Imperium is mortally wounded. Terra and the Sol System loose all contact with the wider Empire.

2520
THE FALL
‘The stars come right again’ and the Milky Way Galaxy once again is a place of Eldritch Energies. Things that lay dormant or imprisoned are released and energized by the cosmic realignment. On Earth the Gates, long shut or dormant open at long last and the ancient ones walk again upon the land. The seas boil, lands rise and sink beneath waves. Humanity is reduced to a tenth of a tenth, and is now and endangered species.

2625
105 After the Fall
NOW
Man struggles to rebuild amongst the ruins and in the shadow of terrible powers. Hope springs eternal for new heroes to arise and retake the cradle of man.