Treasure Chest Friday

I had a lot of gaming material that I developed in the early-to-mid-90s go up in smoke. I didn't have any kind of cohesive back-up scheme, basically jumping from failure-prone floppy disks - which were usually the primary copy - to a hand-me-down tape drive that took too long to write to and even longer to read from, to burning things on CD when I remembered. A bunch of my backup CDs eventually got written to a hard drive  and then tossed. Or rather a RAID array, which is what I decided I needed for a "real" backup strategy. That RAID array eventually had a failure and I wasn't able to recover anything off of it. Also when I had my own domain, I did regular backups of the content but what I neglected when I downloaded everything prior to cancelling my account was the database that had the CMS content. Between those two failures, I lost everything.

Needless to say, I am now a diversified backer-upper. Cloud and multiple redundant drives, mainly.

So imagine my surprise when I was going through folders looking for tidbits for my Tribe 8 game that I ran into a few fragments of my past gaming life. It's spotty - some house rules for SilCore, a write-up of Titan for Jovian Chronicles, some trade good cards for Tribe 8 that I'm not sure where they came from, and a few other things. I have some clean up to do (the house rules are in a mind-map and I no longer have the application that generated them), but I'm going to be posting things up as I process them (and find more).

For the time being, here are two of the gems:

• Titan - A write-up of an alternate Titan for a Jovian Chronicles game that I was going to run. It was actually to be the beginning of alternate write-ups for the entire solar system, tweaking things out to take advantage of discoveries that occurred after JC was written.
• Trade Good Cards for Tribe 8 - I have no idea where these came from.
• Spirit of Vimary - My original Spirit of the Century hack for Tribe 8. I previously only had a partial, corrupted copy of this - this one is from what I can tell the final. I never had a chance to playtest it, but it completes my trifecta of Fate conversions for Tribe 8.

Children of Lilith Relationship Map

I just completed a massive relationship map for the NPCs in Children of Lilith, as part of my preparations to run the metaplot using Fate Core. The patterns that emerged were very informative, and I finally think I know how I want to alter the published plot to better suit my tastes.

Also, spoiler alert. If you have never played in Children of Lilith and think you may want to, don't look at this chart.

Update: if the image won't show up full-size, you can get it from here.

Managing Campaigns With A Large Cast of NPCs

I'm shooting for starting Children of Lilith using Fate Core around the beginning of the year. This allows me enough time to get my physical Fate Core books, my Evil Hat Fate Dice (although I have enough now between the Thematic Fudge dice and the Fudge dice I picked up earlier in the year) and get some solid campaign prep going. There are a lot of things that I want to organize and plan for before attempting CoL for the third time.

For those of my readers that aren't familiar with Tribe 8, Children of Lilith is a "cycle" book, the first book in a longer campaign arc. It was originally published in 1999 and while it's a great introductory campaign for Tribe 8 (and drives the entire metaplot), it has some rough spots that I'd like to polish out.

One thing that can be hard to manage in Children of Lilith are the NPCs. They range from single mentions in the narrative to major players in the world of Tribe 8. Once you include these minor supporting NPCs and characters that are only mentioned once, CoL has a cast of at least 60. Since Tribe 8 eschewed the "chess piece" system used in Heavy Gear, it's likewise difficult to know which NPC may play a role in a later cycle book without actually reading that book.

The task of keeping track of all of these NPCs, as well as who is related to who and why, can be a daunting one. Luckily, someone somewhere invented the relationship map and I (non-sarcastically) love flowcharts and diagrams. I have multiple mapping programs and I've done some mapping in the past with various games, but the scope wasn't nearly as broad as CoL. Also since I'm using Fate Core I have some other considerations (such as aspects) that I can leverage to pack more usable information into the map.

Luckily, there are a number of good articles and documents that have been written in the past couple years. Gnome Stew has a couple good ones, as well as the Entanglements system from Yaruki Zero. Gnome Stew actually turned me on to CmapTools, which was a great replacement for the plethora of other diagramming tools I've been mucking around with (it's free).

Maybe DP9 could have had Mykal Lakim name their NPCs. Also, DJ Skot did a great remix of "Once In a Lifetime" by Wolfsheim

(pedantic note: liberties have been taken with the NPC relationships shown, as two of the three are one-off mentions in narrative sections of the actual book)

My structure is inspired by the Entanglements system that I linked to above. Basically, squares with dotted lines are "extras". They count as a nameless NPC in Fate Core terms - for all intents and purposes, they are an aspect and little else. Thus, all extras must be directly or indirectly linked to either a minor or major NPC. Two of them are linked to Kyrt through group membership and the third directly. Ovals with dotted lines will represent social groups - the lines coming from each NPC denotes membership in the group. In this manner, I can map relationships between groups. Boxes with dashed and dotted lines represent locations. The three extras could also, obviously, have a relationship with one another beyond cell membership (let's say if Skot and Andrue were lovers). You'll also notice that the line around Lilith's box is bolder (I'm actually going to increase the thickness more). This is to help with visual recognition of a character's importance - dashed lines are the least important, while increasingly thicker lines are more important. Any useful aspects will be included in the boxes as well, to reduce the need to reference other documents.

I think this is a really good start, and with CmapTools I think I can get a complete relationship map of all of the NPCs in Children of Lilith done efficiently with a high degree of usability. Once I'm done with the entire thing I'll be sure to post a link to the document.

Update: Someone on G+ pointed out Vue, which I am playing with. I think I might like it better than CmapTools, but so far CmapTools has been fantastic.

Tribe 8 LARP rules

Looks like someone has put together some Tribe 8 LARP rules. LARP isn't really my thing, but I figured I'd boost the signal a little bit. You can download them from here. They also have a Facebook group set up.

Updated Fate Of Vimary Character Sheet

Just got done redesigning the character sheet for Fate of Vimary. There are four versions:

Latest Round Of Updates to Fate of Vimary

For all practical purposes, I'm calling Fate of Vimary done. There may still be some minor tweaks to various stunts depending on how things turn out in actual play, but I've made all of the major revisions I can think of. The largest is the use of conditions instead consequences, followed by some tightening up of how each of the magic systems work. Finally I've rearranged and prettied some things up. A revised character sheet is going to follow soonish, because I need to do some playtesting!

In case anyone doesn't have the link, here's the document in Google Drive:

Fate of Vimary

The Dream Quest

Editor's Note: This is a piece from the original Rusted Sky website, and the original author was not credited. If any of my Google+ peeps (of which I know there are a few from the Tribe 8 olden days) recognize it as theirs or somebody else's, simply drop me a line and I will put the credit in.

From the journey of Shara the Pure, Lightbringer:

I feel the energies of my soul open in petals, forever unfolding to reveal the source of all creation. The sound of my own voice becomes more distant with each breath, removing the binds of consciousness and thus allowing the River of Dream to take hold. A warm, almost burning sensation ascends my spine, coming forth from the lowest of my spiritual centers, passing each nexus, awakening its potential. The warmth finally reaches my head and the world vanishes from me.

I am floating amid a thousand butterflies, their wings carrying my weight among the mists and clouds of the River of Dream. I feel alive, closer to the Goddess than I ever was during my time among the Tribes. Among Magdalen the Lover. She had taught me how to love and appreciate the sensations that existence had to offer, and I learned to appreciate her teachings and her embrace. I sought to understand the inner nature of desire and found what I was looking for. I found true peace in the love of the Goddess. Magdalen’s jealousy was complete. I felt the wrath of her vanity and was banished from ever knowing another touch or caress from her pleasurable lips. I would never again know the comfort of numerous bodies, keeping me warm at night and lending to me the sensations of the flesh. I was an exile when I made the true discovery, and the subsequent banishment held no pain for me. I realized then, that the pain was during my time among the Tribes. I was truly liberated.

So here I am, floating as a Lightbringer in the River of Dream. Searching for the spirit that will guide us and aid us through the hardships to come. The sweet fragrance of the butterflies calms my senses as I project my mind into the ether. Droplets of rain fall upon my face, cleansing my pristine, naked form, taking me further across the fold into the depths of the spirit realm. Magnificent colors, brighter than a rainbow in a clear sky, shine and dance in a harmonious nature. They soon take form, creating a brilliant landscape of emerald green trees, alabaster white trails, and waterfalls that resemble an angel’s tears. I weep at the beauty of it all, knowing that with guidance and hope, all of this can become our reality. If only we allow ourselves to dream.

The butterflies gently place me upon the path of the magical forest, my feet light and weightless upon the ground. I laugh out loud despite myself, willing to give myself to my surroundings without fear or hesitation. My movements are enchanting, like a swan about to take flight. The trail carries me along, a breeze of lavender kissing my face. I notice deep red stones, like well placed droplets of blood, standing out in contrast to the placid white shales of the path. I know I am getting closer now. My power as a Dreamer are strong and I have done much in the way of knowing my destination. I am careful not to disturb the rubies, leaving them in their slumber; untouched by my imperfections.

I am led to a grove that is alive with the activity of forest creatures. Insects gathering nectar and pollinating everything they touch. Birds dancing in the circling ripples of air, allowing their wings to whimsically carry their bodies. The grass flows like the currents of the tide, swaying and lapping against the roots of the trees. Flowers blossom, releasing their seductive perfumes into the air, erotically mingling with the scents of the grove. I dance and spin into the circle, reenacting the ritual I had practiced so often before. The spirit can not resist a dance of purity, for that is what it is. What it represents.

My motions are without resistance, one flowing into the next, never giving any signs as to when one ends and the next begins. Pure dream essence falls from my body, forming tiny eddies of fairy mist in my wake. The silent music flutters beside me like a partner in dance, always keeping in time and rhythm. I am not alone now. She is with me, in all her grace and elegance. I begin my chant, my voice as sweet and luring as the ripest fruit.

Song of love,
Dream of purity,
Dance with your child,
O’ Spirit of wild.

Come with your hope,
I sacrifice all I am,
Unto you Destiny lies,
O’ Spirit of wise.

Carry our young,
Promise to a greater land,
Within your soul,
O’ Spirit of old.

I continue to repeat the song, rising into an epiphany that pervades all the senses. Body, mind, and spirit become one. My dance spins, continually faster and faster, until I feel a sensation enter the grove. It worked! It has arrived! I stop.

Tears well up within me, pouring forth of their own volition. My knees shake and give way, my body collapsing to the grass in its presence. Emotion overcomes me and I lose myself in its beauty. Word cannot lend justice to the spirit that stands before me. It is proud yet humble. Its starlike eyes pierce me with mercy. It steps further into the grove, red droplets of rubies left in its path. A faultless, brilliant white horn rises from its pristine head, touching the stars of the sky with its purpose. In all my life, I have never witnessed such an enchanting beast.

It comes towards me, calm and gentle, reaching for my bosom with its horn. The touch of its magic is like all the pleasures of the world, without sin or shadow, passing through me in an instant. I see the visions of its past. How it was hunted and forgotten. How its brethren were tainted an turned into creatures of darkness. They are horrible visions filled with pain and longing that only makes it all the more beautiful. I promise it that we will never forget.. That we will always worship it for what it is. That we will respect it and hold it sacred as our totem spirit. I feel its love for me when I pledge myself to it, and know then, that it will never be far from me.

I sleep in the grove, truly knowing peace. When I awake, I see that a ruby the color of blood has been placed in my palm, my fingers holding it tightly. My fellow lightbringers come around me, asking me what my DreamQuest has foretold. What secrets it has garnered for the Fallen, the Eighth Tribe. I smile at them, feeling the warmth of the gem in my hand.

“Come, let us go.” I say. “There is much work to be done. We have a Tribe to save.”

The Love of Sisters

Cinder: "Look, would you get rid of the DORKS!"

Chigger: "Huh? Why?"

Cinder: "Because they're fuckin' annoying."

Chigger: "No they're not! They're just kids. I think they'll be really useful once they learn some shit. Like, messengers or spies or something."

Cinder: "SPIES!!! Are you out of your mind! They couldn't keep their mouths closed if I nailed them shut."

Chigger: "Sure they could! They just need the right motivation. I'm trying to make up spy games and shit. They love it. No, they can be great spies, I swear."

Cinder: "Lemme remind you about the whole Yagan fiasco. . .all of Hom knew about that ten minutes after you told those brats."

Chigger: "That's cause they didn't know they were playing 'spy'. You're totally not listening to me."

Cinder: "The problem is that they don't know shit. Besides, all these games like playing 'spy' are totally useless to me. Maybe they'll learn enough to be helpful in, like, ten years. But who cares, we'll be dead by then."

Chigger: "Maybe you will. I'm gonna have a network of spies and assassins."

Cinder: "You're gonna have a network of morons and losers, and they're gonna get you killed!"

Chigger: "I can think of a couple of loser/morons who've almost gotten me killed already."

Cinder: "You better not be talking about me, cause I saved your worthless ass more times than. . ."

Chigger: "What? More times than what?"

Cinder: "More times than was worth my while. Bitch!"

Chigger: "Well, I didn't ask you to."

Cinder: "Fine, next time you die."

Chigger: "Yea right. You love me too much. I'll never die. You'll come and rescue me no matter what I do, so I can do anything I want, with no consequences, nya."

Cinder: "Cow! I hate when you bring that damned 'love' thing in."

Chigger: "Sorry, sis. You're stuck with it. So, since we're talking about love, ya get any lately?"

Cinder: "More'n you, even counting that freak in Griffentowne."

[note: Chigger had sex with an Agnite in Griffentowne while searching for Jacques, the Joshuan.]

Chigger: "No duh! But at least I'm not stuck with him. I imagine he'd be a drag on the road. So, ya think you're gonna squeeze out any puppies with Bastion?"

Cinder: "Naw, but I might have a lovely little Z'bri."

Chigger: "Don't even say that!"

Cinder: "Serious, I'm kinda worried."

Chigger: "Umm. . . I don't think Bastion is, like, part Z'bri or anything. He's, like, a guy. Just a guy who got adopted by a Z'bri. Like a kitten getting taken care of by a dog."

Cinder: "ya, I know. But I don't know what the dog did to the kitten. I mean I trust him and all, but what if he's been affected more'n we think?"

Chigger: "I don't think so. He's ok. But are you really thinking of having a baby? I'd be an auntie!"

Cinder: "Holy crap. That's fucking scary. . . uh, maybe not then."

Chigger: "Yea, probably not a good idea anyway, given the risk of injury during pregnancy around here."

Cinder: "Yeah, just what I need; even more people after me. You know what, though? I don't know what Eshlazi is gonna do if I do. I mean, not that I really want to, but, you know, if it happens 'n all. I mean, you'd be an aunt, but he'd be a grand-daddy!"

Chigger: "Yuck, I think you've gone too far. Times on the baby subject, 'kay?"

Cinder: ". . .yea, right. I'm just kinda worried 'n all. I mean, look what he did to Slash." [note: Slash escaped the Hive and returned to the Bin. She's fairly catatonic.]

Chigger: "Umm, yeah. Slash is kinda fucked up, huh? Do you think maybe Mari-Anne could help her? Maybe, just, like, well, make her strong enough to be useful in the kitchen or something?"

Cinder: "Slash. I mean, this is Slash we're talking about. . . in the kitchen. Could you picture that?" [giggles]

Chigger: "Quit it. It's not funny. What of that happened to me? What would you do with me? Maybe we should put her down. That's what I'd want. End the pain."

Cinder: "Hey! You're not gonna have to worry about that, 'cause it's not gonna happen to you. Look, I'm sorry I was joking, it's just that I don't know if she's gonna be okay. I'm worried."

Chigger: "I don't wanna be worried. I want to do something about it.. can we help her or not? I need to figure this out. What are we gonna do with her?"

Cinder: "I dunno, Chig, I just don't know. I guess we'll have to send someone for Mari-Anne."

Chigger: "Hmmm, you know, I'm having a hard time sticking to the plan. I really want Eshlazi to die. Just die and never be able to hurt anybody again. Maybe he can change, but how long will it take? How many people get fucked over permanently before then?

Cinder: "Tell me about it. I hate the fucker. He's never done one good thing in his life, ever! Bastion always talks about how he took him in when he was starving. Like the monster was looking out for Bastion's best interests. That's bullshit! He was looking for an easy score. Just so happens that he figured a way to get people without any work by using a kid to trick 'em. He's a bastard, and I hate how Bastion sticks up for him. I hate how he's still blinded by him!"

Chigger: "But what about our dream? I've been putting my heart behind that part where Eshlazi helped us and said we could be his salvation too. Was that wrong? If we can't even trust our dreams. . ."

Cinder: "I don't think it was wrong. . . but I don't think it has to mean what we want it to mean. I mean, come on. . . is a Z'bri's salvation really something we wanna help out with? Their morality is totally fucked up and usually ends up with people getting killed. How many gotta die for their salvation?"

Chigger: "That's my problem! And what good is a 'saved' Z'bri anyway? I guess I thought it would help us against the other Z'bri, which would be cool. But it isn't necessarily so. Maybe, even if he gets saved, he'll just dissolve or something."

Cinder: "Hey, I could live with either one."

Chigger: "Well, so could I! But is that an option? Maybe for Eshlazi to get saved, we die for it. But, the dream said he could also be our salvation. 'Salvation' can mean a lot of things. So can 'your'. 'Your salvation' could mean; you and me, or the Fallen, or maybe everybody."

Cinder: "Yea, I know. But maybe it isn't that special. Maybe it just means we re-unite with the Goddess 'cause we're dead. That'd be cool and everything, but I kinda wanna live some more."

Chigger: "I wish I knew. All I know is that it's important. None of my dreams have ever spoken to me like that before. I can't help but think that if I don't act on it, I will be missing out on my destiny."

Cinder: "But of our destiny is to become another one of its 'kittens' that tend to get broken, do you really want to help it along? The thing is, the dream was really different for me too, I'm just not sure if it was different 'cause it was more important or 'cause, maybe, Eshlazi had something to do with it."

Chigger: "I have to trust my dreams. Without them, I'm fucked. I need that confidence in the Goddess to have the strength to act. What will happen to us if we stop trusting our dreams because we think Z'bri are tampering with them? How could we know anything?"

Cinder: "You're right, I know it. But we've had weird things happen before, at least I have. I don't know if it was Z'bri or one of the Fatimas or what, but something contacted me directly and wanted me to use the spear. It just makes me concerned about what else we trust is being manipulated. Aw, fuck! I don't know. . . you gotta trust your dreams. Maybe I should ho back to Den Hades to learn more about it. The thing is, the dream is true, I know it is, but I just can't figure out how, and that scares me. I want to do something and I don't know what."

Chigger: "Well, I think it's still best to try to work with Eshlazi. We just need to trust in ourselves enough to keep him from picking us apart. If we can change him, awesome, if not. . . we still have the spear. I mean, as a last resort. We have to do something about him, one way or another."

Cinder: "Yeah, but we're still all fucked up over it. I mean, we just agreed that he's gotta die, and now you think we should save him. I'm all for fulfilling destiny, but. . . shit, I don't know. It seems like we should be behind it completely, or not at all. Most of our problems before were 'cause we couldn't make up our minds and commit to something. Which one do you want to do?"

Chigger: "My problem is, I grew up thinking the Z'bri were evil and scary and that's it. The Tribals taught me that. They also taught me a bunch of other shit that was pretty much wrong. Like that the Fallen have no souls. They think there's nothing to the Fallen because it's easier to think that. The Z'bri could be more complex than the Tribals say, too. All my upbringing tells me that if someone does wrong to my friends, that person dies. But, what if that person would be more beneficial alive? Maybe an enemy can become an ally. My dreams say so. Trust the Tribals or trust my dreams? My heart's stuck in the middle, mostly because of you. You still buy the Tribal line on Z'bri and I have a hard time telling you you're wrong. I'm usually the one that's wrong."

Cinder: "Look, I'm stuck too. I was a Tribal a lot longer than you and that's hard to abandon. But as for buying their line on Z'bri, I'm not sure. I mean, we've already seen that they're way more complex than the Tribals give them credit for, but that doesn't mean that they can be good. Sure the Tribals are all fucked up and have been wrong about important shit before, but I think that we have to look at history here. I mean, the Z'bri enslaved and killed and tortured us for who knows how many years. What's more, they probably enjoyed it. I've got no love for the Tribals, but I also have a hard time overlooking genocide. I trust my dreams, I really do, and I wanna fix things, make everything right, but I just can't figure out how. My heart tells me one thing but my head is screaming 'What the fuck are you doing? You wanna die!' I just think it's a bad idea until we have a good plan on how to do it."

Chigger: "I know, I know. But we have to be sure we believe it can be done before we start, or it's going to be half-assed. And I'm not risking my life on anything half-assed. Sure nobody's ever seen a Z'bri stop being a fucking evil piece of shit. Nobody's even fucking tried! Until someone decided to learn to swim, every poor fuck who fell out of a boat probably drowned. That didn't stop someone from swimming. I want to hear you say we have a chance. I think we do. Bastion thinks we do. What do you think?"

Cinder: "We have a chance. Plain and simple, we do have a chance. I just want you to realize it's not like going out in a boat. Most people that go out in a boat make it back. The odds are reversed with the Z'bri. Not that it means it can't happen. Sit, our dreams told us pretty blatantly that it is possible. But Eshlazi told us that we could be his salvation, not that we would be. I just don't want to go off on another one of our pointless crusades that always ends up with us getting fucked over and our goal not achieved. Fuck! We have a chance, but it's a really fucking small one, so excuse me for tossing my shitty little life away on saving something that I hate more than anything else in the whole world. I hate him. I hate him for what he's done to us, to Bastion, to Mana and Juniper, to who knows who else, but mostly I just fucking hate him! If it's my destiny to save him, then so be it. If it's my destiny to chick my life away in exchange for his, well then pardon me for saying that fucking sucks!"

Chigger: "We know from our dream that we can kill Eshlazi. At the very least, we can do that. I can't help but think the dream was sent to us to guide us to something betterthan ridding the world of one scum-sucking Z'bri. Shit, I would have easily given my life to get rid of Eshlazi. No problem. I could die with a sense of accomplishment. But if I can do something even better with my life, I want to. This place is going to hell anyway." Cinder: "I'm sorry, Chig, I just don't know. . ."

Chigger: "Well, that's the problem, isn't it. There's no sure thing to bet on. Eshlazi will fuck us over if we do nothing. We can try to change him, or we can fix him the old fashioned way. He's only one of our problems. I'm sorry, but I don't think 'Joshua the Wino' is going to fix anything. Maybe I'm wrong. If we help this guy, can he get rid of our Z'bri problem? How about the Tribal conspiracy? What's he gonna do? If we get Eshlazi in there, Cylix is a dead man."

Cinder: "Look, who knows what the fucking Joshuan is gonna do. . .fuck him, let the others sort that out, they didn't want our help anyway. But Eshlazi isn't going to be out attack dog, no matter what you think. Even if we do save him, who's to say he's gonna do anything we we want. . .naw, fuck, forget that. It totally doesn't matter 'cause you're right. I am the problem. I can't commit to this thing no matter how much I want to believe it, and we would be insane to do it half-assed. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! It would be so much easier if we could just kill him, but the problem with that is, I do trust the Dream. Look Chig, I want so much to say 'Hell ya! Let's do it!', but I just can't."

Chigger: "I know. What can we do? There's no way we can do this if you're going to constantly have second thoughts. I just don't know what else to do! I told you about Raven and his goons didn't I? They're out to get me. If I stay in Hom, we've got to deal with them. Are you up for that? "cause I can't even begin to come up with any way of getting out of that one on my own. It's only a matter of time before they find the Bin. They beat the crap out of me last time they saw me because I wouldn't tell them our hideout."

[note: Chigger was intimidated by Raven's Shadow several days prior. They're extorting favors for relieving the cell of the Yagan Flesher Assassin, several months back.]

Cinder: "Hmmm. Yea, I was planning on having a little talk with them. Look we could throw them the Clinic to get them off our backs. Anyway, I'll tell them that a friend was dying or something and that's why you didn't want to talk. Maybe they won't be so pissed off then. Aw, probably not, but what else are we gonna do? I think they'll be in to doing the Clinic, and that's something we want to get rid of anyway, so if it cancels our debt with those psychos, then great as far as I'm concerned."

Chigger: "I don't think you understand the situation. They don't want to do what we tell them to do. They want us to do what they say. Raven:'Master', Us:'Slaves'. Get it. I'm not comfortable with that. All I owe them is a good fucking beating. Fuck them. I want them dead. If you want to talk to them, go ahead, but expect to get beaten up, maybe even raped. I'm serious."

Cinder: "Damned, mother-fucken, sons-of-bitches, shith***. . .fuckw***. . .aarrrg! Why the fuck's everything always so fucked up for us? Well, did they at least tell you how they want us to commit suicide?"

Chigger: "No. They didn't want to talk about anything until I brought them to the Bin. When I refused, they just threatened me, then did their macho 'he-man' thing and beat me up. They let me know they could do anything they wanted to me. And they were right. I was helpless. Until we do something about them, we're all helpless. They can do anything they want to us. So can Eshlazi. So can the Tribals."

Cinder: "So we're screwed on all sides. Being a victim sucks! Fuck them all. Let's be the ones doing the screwing for once. I'm not going to sit around and wait for it. We've gotta take charge for once and actually act, not just react. But, before you jump to conclusions, I'm still not convinced about Eshlazi, so it'll have to be one of the others."

Chigger: "Well, here are our other choices: Raven and company, Cylix and Salor, or the Clinic itself. [note: The PC's believe that Salor betrayed the River Dreamers and had a hand in the cell's death.] Either we choose one of those, or we head into the Outlands and eal with the Squats. Personally, I think we need a safe home-base to work out of, so Raven goes down." Cinder: "So what, you want to assassinate Raven and his gang? How?"

Chigger: "If we all think it's a good idea, we can find a way. I know that for a fact. Maybe we only need to kill Raven. Maybe we don't even need to kill him, just pin something on him that gets him thrown out of Hom. I need to know if you will help me. Bastion has to agree, too. Once we have a mission, we can come up with a plan."

Cinder: "We should just feed the scum-fucker to Eshlazi! Look, of course I'll help you, I always help you. If you want to get rid of him, then let's do it. But personally, I think he's small potatoes. The two biggest things out there are Eshlazi and the Joshuan. I'd like to help Jacques if I can, but more importantly, I'd like to figure out what the hell it is that's bugging me about the whole Eshlazi deal. I know I'm missing something but I can't put my finger on it and it's driving me crazy. I'm going to have to try to get something more in the Dream, because, really, Eshlazi is what I want to take care of most. I guess until that happens, we gotta keep living. So Raven's gotta be fixed. I think that killing him might cause more problems for us in the future though, and I hate how we've been going from problem to problem. Let's solve one for once that won't cause more for later."

Chigger: "Well, why don't we try the Elders then? I mean, they are supposed to take care of things in Hom, and they owe us big time for bringing Jacques in. [note: The cell completed "Enemy of My Enemy" from the T8 Screen.] I would even make a deal with Raven for payment as long as I had enough backup to do it on even terms."

Cinder: "Yeah, I thought about that. But I want us to solve our problems without outside help. That's how this problem with Raven started in the first place; getting him to do our dirty work. It's always better if we can do it ourselves. Besides, I'd like to be able to keep that favor they owe us as leverage. Knowing us, we're going to need it for later. But I guess if it comes right down to it, the Elders could be a huge help, and probably won't require much in return as 'gangster-boy'. We'll talk to Bastion and see if we can come up with anything on our own, if not, then the Elders it is."

Chigger: "Good. I feel better already. Personally, I don't count the Elders as outside help in mediating peaceful business. I think it's their fucking job, and bringing in a Joshuan is worth way more than that. But if we can think of a better way to handle it, by all means. I'm pulling a blank. Hey, I think your lines moving. You might get to be the victimizer after all!"

Cinder: "Cool! Help me pull it in. Aw fuck, that is one big, ugly, god-damned fish. There's no way I'm cleaning that! Anyway, I totally agree with you that the Elders aren't outside help, but I'm sure raven will. And that'll put us back in square one, with him pissed off at us and us afraid."

Chigger: "Pull him next to the boat so I can bash him! Shit!. . .Ah, yea, what a beauty! Hey Cinder, give him a big kiss!"

Cinder: "Naw, I know the type, he'll leave me in the morning and I'll never hear from him again. Besides, I think he's into little girls."

Chigger: "But, hey, when he's done with you, you won't smell any different."

Cinder: "Yea, but if you had a go, you'd probably smell a whole lot better."

Chigger: "Shut the fuck up and put him in the back, you cow. We need to catch at least three more before we go in."

Cinder: "Three more! You nympho. One isn't good enough for you, huh? What you need is a good man. . .or, failing that, a shitty man."

Chigger: "remember before when we were talking about swimming? Think about it. Anyways, like I was saying, the DORKS are good for something. I bet they bring in more fish than we do, although perhaps not as handsome and clever."

Cinder: "Yeah, but that's only because they use each other for baitI mean, everyone knows how much fish love to eat worms."

Chigger: "No, I mean it. I think they're really useful. Even Mari-Anne thinks so. They're eating a lot better than most of the other kids in Hom, because I took the time to teach them how to fish. And they picked it up really quick! I'm not saying they're ready for anything really important, but I wish you wouldn't just discredit them, 'cause when you do, you're basically telling me that my work is shit. And even if you think that, I don't need to hear it from you."

Cinder: "You're right, Chig. I'm sorry. You're really doing a great job, more people should do it. That's one of the reasons everything is so fucked up; no one's helping each other. I'm sure they can be a great help, and more than that, I think they will be able to do cool things on their own. It's just that it's one more distraction I don't need. I'm fucked up enough as it is. But that's part of the problem, so I'll help, whenever you want. But please, please get them to change their name!"

Chigger: "Yeah, that name sucks. Hey, I'm sorry for making such a big deal out of it. It's just that being belittled seems to be the story of my life. And, every time I try to change that, do something cool, or important, it either backfires, or just isn't that important. When I was kid, I heard about nothing but how awesome you were at everything, and how I wasn't and would never be good enough to polish your boots. Did you even notice? Did you! Did you now what I went through while you were getting all the best parts in all the best plays? Do you even know what mom made me do?"

Cinder: "No, Chig. I can't know, not for real. But I don't think you know how I felt either. I devoted my life to becoming so good at something, that I didn't really care about, just so our parents would notice me, just so they would stop hating me. Do you have any idea how hollow each 'victory' in getting a new part or being acclaimed as the 'best' was for me? I just wanted them to forgive me, so I did everything I thought they wanted me to do. But it still wasn't enough! Mom treated me like shit, and dad never fully recovered, he just sort of blocked me out. The whole time everyone was saying 'what a star' I was, I was thinking about what a failure I was. I couldn't even get my own parents to care!"

Chigger: [sobbing]"You mean after all that. . . after all that you didn't even want it! [moaning] That makes it even worse! [sob] Oh, fuck! I think I'm going to be sick. . . bleaaagh! Ohhh. . ."

Cinder: "Are you okay, Chig? I'm sorry. Really I am, but it was horrible. I felt so empty. I used to really envy you when we were kids. You just did your own thing. You didn't seem to care about what dinks the parents were. You seemed so free, and I felt so trapped. I always played the role for those bastards and got nothing for it, and it just got worse and worse. But you told them to fuck themselves and didn't get caught up in the bullshit. I always respected you for that. I wished I were you. But I couldn't be. After I started, they expected too much, and I couldn't bear it if they pitied and scorned me on top of everything else."

Chigger: "Cinder, [spit] mom let the stage directors have me, use me, so that you could get all the good parts. [sobbing] I. . . I started to think it could even be worth it, as long as you were happy. You were so beautiful. You were the best. [sob] I tried to hold on until you were at the top; I dreamed you would take me away from them. I broke down, though. I burned down the stage 'cause I couldn't take it anymore. It was all such a fucking ridiculous waste."

Cinder: "Oh shit, Chigger. I didn't know. I'm so sorry. . . I. . . I. . . how could she! That bitch! She's gotta fuckin' die! I'm gonna strangle her with my own hands. . . I'm gonna watch her die. I want her to see me, to know that I'm doing it. That I am killing her! That fucking slimy, shit-eating cow! That bitch! How! How? How could she? [sobbing] How could she do such a thing? Why didn't you tell me, Chig? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me?"

Chigger: "I was embarrassed, Cinder. I just wanted you to think I was cool, too. I didn't want you to know I was a. . . a whore."

Cinder: "No! No, Chigger! Don't even say that! You're not a whore. You had no choice. It wasn't your fault. She's the shore! She's the damned whore! I'm glad I caught the bitch with Lothair! I'm glad I told dad! Fuck her! She's the fucking whore! She's. . . Chig. . . I'm so sorry. . .I . . ."

Chigger: "Look, whatever. I don't even want to talk about it anymore. It's just that ever since then, it seems like everyone I meet just tries to do the same fucking thing. Eshlazi, that Evan Mana capped at Medusa's, the freak in Ile Perdue, and now Raven. I've just fucking had it with all these scum-sucking pimps. Now you see why I keep a list."

Cinder: "I don't know what to say, Chig. I. . . well, fuck them all. We don't need them.

Chigger: "I sure as hell don't. I just need to figure out how to avoid them. Actually, no. Avoiding them doesn't cut it. I need to know how to stop them. I know I can't stop everyone. It's just the way people are. But I want my neighborhood to be safe, at least. And that means 'by-bye Raven'."

Cinder: "Alright. Let's go talk to the Elders in the morning. If nothing else, they can give us some advice. And Chig. . . tell me if anything like this ever happens again, okay?"

Chigger: "Ditto. Let's go back, the barf probably scared all the fish away."

by Jon Dawes (Chigger) and Steve Bell (Cinder)

Jacker's Theme When They've Been Riled Up

A full three sixty
A complete return
With no excuses
And no concerns
The ultra-heavy-beat
Is going strong
If it feels this good
Then it can't be wrong

Karma
Echo
Eternity
What's good for you
Is still good for me
And after all
We're not looking back
We manipulate the future
To stay on track

Damned if you do
And damned if you don't
You better seize the moment
Before it's gone
The ultra-heavy-beat
Goes on and on
When it's all said and done
This is what you want

The vision
Direction
Reflecting
Perfection
The manifesto
Translates post-mortem
Buried alive
And left for dead
One step back
Is two steps ahead

Rise! - From the ashes and decay
Rise! - From the prison of your grave
Rise! - Above the standard and the norm
Rise! - Into the eye of the stormRise!

Raise the flag
Carry the flame
The more things change
The more the stay the same
The king is dead
Long live the king
Mayhem
Riot
Uprising

A small step for mankind
A giant leap for a rock'n'roll
We control the rhythm
The beat cops are on patrol
Wake up people
Get on your feet
It's time to do your part
For the ultra-heavy-beat

Shoulder to shoulder
Back to back
All guns ablaze
Systematic attak
Strong and rigid
Bold and vivid
Spread the news
The ego has landed

Metal detectors
Drug tests
Curfews
Don't let the system
Continue to rape you
Vodka and benzene
Destroy the machines
The glorious end justifies the means

Rise! - From the ashes and decay
Rise! - From the prison of your grave
Rise! - Above the standard and the norm
Rise! - Into the eye of the storm

The Circle of the Chosen

The Circle of the Chosen is a large clearing in the Discard Lands, just beyond the Seven Fingers. It is the place where, each new moon, sacrifices to the Z'bri are secretly brought by Tribal representations as part of the Pact of the Dome. Aside from the Watch tasked with bringing the prisoners there and a handful within the Sisterhoods, very few know of this practice - the tributes are almost always newly Banished, or sometimes Fallen that have been captured in Tribal Lands. No one keeps tabs on the Fallen after they have been cast out.

Because of the sacrifice and horror the Circle has seen, it has become a Gully - a place where the veil between the River of Dream and the realm of flesh has become thin. Spirits of past sacrifices haunt the Circle. Even before the inevitable coming of the Z'bri, these spirits will try to assail or possess anyone within the central circle of posts at the center of the clearing.

Beyond the immediate threat of the spirits, the looming danger is wild animals and the impending arrival of the Z'bri to take their tributes. The blood and scent of prey brings the predators, who often maim or even kill the prisoners before the Z'bri arrive. Often grisly remnants of sacrifices who did not survive being taken byt he Z'bri remain in the Circle or attached to the posts.

The Circle of the Chosen is a good in media res starting point for a Tribe 8 campaign. The Mild Consequence and aspects at the beginning are reflective of what has happened prior to the start of the scene - basically it shows the end results of being Taken Out or Conceding. The situation also lends itself well to "filling in the blanks" as far as character aspects and skills go. The players will need to make the most out of what they have in order to escape their bonds, possibly fight off predators, and flee before the Z'bri arrive.

Any sacrifices brought to the Circle of the Chosen have likely been abused, mistreated, tortured, drugged and dragged through the brambles. They automatically have a Mild Consequence reflecting those injuries. In addition, each character has two additional aspects: Bound to a Post and Disconnected From the River of Dream. The former must be overcome before the character can do anything physically, while the latter must be overcome before the character can use Synthesis or Technosmithing. For their trouble, each PC in a scenario starting at the Circle of the Chosen gets 3 free Fate Points.

The Circle also has one hidden aspect: Unexpected Help. This aspect is the result of an Evan matron (actually a Marian) named Lalani. She knows of the Tribes' use of the Circle and does what she can to sabotage it or otherwise help out. This includes weakening posts, loosening the metal rings the characters are bound to, hiding sharp pieces of metal or glass within cracks in the post or on the ground covered with dirt, rocks or leaves, and hiding bundles of food, rough clothing and simple weapons in the brambles. The guards who bring the tributes never pay attention to the Circle as they are intent on getting away from it as soon as possible, but PCs looking for a way out are sure to uncover the aspect and make use of it. While the Circle and its environs are too dangerous for Lalani to enter at night, either her or her son often keep an eye out around the homestead for any stragglers or escapees. When they find them, they covertly take them in until they are ready to travel and then send them on their way with additional provisions and clothing.

The goal of the scenario is to escape before the Z'bri arrive, so they aren't considered to be a part of the scenario (given the PCs' condition, it's likely they would survive). However, depending on the PCs and their abilities it's unlikely that predators will come into play. Typically these will be a small pack of wolf, a pair of Ontos, or if the GM really wants to make them fight a Skuller Bear. While not Gek'roh, even normal animals in the woods are often Tainted in some way, and can also be diseased. How the predators are handled depends on the group, the situation, how the GM wants to handle that kind of tension and pacing, etc. Suggestions can include a timer, a stress track to represent the danger getting closer, etc.

Aspects 

• Haunted By Sacrifices Past
• The River of Dream Is Closer
• Unexpected Help (Hidden)

The area is divided into three zones.

• The Inner Circle which is comprised of a number of posts surrounding a patch of barren dirt. The Inner circle defines the boundaries of the Gully.
• The Outer Circle, between the Inner Circle and the Brambles, comprised of patchy grass and a few stunted, dead trees.
• The Brambles, a barrier of thick vines and thorns that surrounds the Circle and acts as a barrier that must to be overcome to exit the Circle into the dense forest beyond. Every time the Brambles are cut through when sacrifices are brought, they grow back at an almost impossible rate.

Skills

Great(+4) Spiritual Blitz

Spirits within the area of the Circle of the Chosen will mob anyone left there, resulting in apparitions, hauntings, spiritual assaults and possibly even possessions. The Circle can exercise use of this skill on any character that is still within the Inner Circle.

• Overcome: Spiritual Blitz is not normally used to overcome obstacles.
• Create an Advantage: The spirits of the Circle can use Spiritual Blitz haunt, harass, and discover information about those that are in the Circle. Most characters can defend against having these advantages placed with Will or (if they have overcome the Disconnected From the River of Dream aspect) Synthesis.
• Attack: Spiritual Blitz can be used to mentally attack targets. These attacks can be defended against using any appropriate skill for defending against mental attacks.  
• Defend: Spiritual Blitz cannot be used to defend.

Faces

Wolf Pack (Fair NPC Mob)

Aspects: Pack Hunters, Unsettling Howl, Tainted (optional)

Skills: Fair(+2) Fight, Average(+1) Athletics, Average(+1) Notice

Stress: O

Stunts

Go For The Throat: Gain a +2 bonus to Fight on a target that has taken a Moderate Consequence.

Remember that the wolves use teamwork to attack their prey, gaining a +1 bonus to Fight for each additional wolf.

Onto (Good NPC)

Aspects: Ambush Predator, Great Cat, Tainted (optional)

Skills: Good (+3) Fight, Fair(+2) Athletics, Average(+1) Notice, Average(+1) Stealth

Stress: OO

Stunts

Tremendous Leap: Once per exchange, the Onto can move into an adjacent zone and attack. Alternately, the Onto can move two zones with one action.

Skuller Bear (Good NPC)

Aspects: Large Bear, Mad With Disease, Rotting Away 

Skills: Great(+4) Fight, Good(+3) Physique, Fair(+2) Athletics, Average(+1) Provoke

Stress: OOO

Stunts

Bear Hug: +2 to physique rolls when creating an advantage to grapple or hold on to an opponent.

The Zetetics

zetetic [zəˈtɛtɪk]
adj
proceeding by inquiry; investigating
[from New Latin, from Greek zētētikos, from zēteō to seek]

"Despite our failures to date, I still cannot believe that the River of Dream is completely unexplainable in scientific terms. It is a part of the universe, falls under the same laws as everything else in the universe, and I will unravel its secrets and its power..."
From the journals of Hanna, rogue Keeper

The Zetetics

Aspects: We Will Create A New World, Our Next Experiment Will Work!, They Fear What They Don't Understand

The Zetetics are one of two groups of Keepers within The Institute, the other being Clarice Chalk's Keepers. They mostly keep to themselves, inhabiting a section known as the Workshop. They have no interest in and actively avoid the medical wings were Chalk's Keepers are active, and through SlaveBeta Z'vatis has kept the Z'bri presence a secret. Their latest project is a massive device that is intended to redirect the flow of the River of Dream through Hanna, allowing her to merge Synthesis and Technosmithing into something she is calling Syncresis.

Hanna

Source: DeviantArt

Aspects:
Rogue Keeper, Obsessed With The River of Dream, Collective Memories of the Past, Well Known In Talon Nexus, No One Understands My Genius

Hanna is around 30 summers old, with brown hair and eyes. Woven throughout her hair are glass beads and disks, and she has a tattoo of a magnifying glass on her right hand. She is never without her trademark magnifying goggles (not unlike those that modelers or electricians once used), and also will have several pocket magnifying glasses on her at any time.

Skills:

• Great(+4) Crafts
• Good(+3) Lore and Investigation
• Fair(+2) Technosmithing, Resources, Will
• Average(+1) Contacts, Dreaming, Shooting, Survival

Stunts:
Ignite, Jury Rig

SlaveBeta

Aspects:
Deranged Machine Monk, Z'vatis Is My True Master, Metal > Meat

SlaveBeta is a Machine Monk who is under the control of a Melanis Z'bri named Z'vatis. Very little of his body is still flesh and blood - he owes his tortured existence to both Dr. Chalk's experiuments and Z'vatis' implants

Source: Flickr

Skills:

• Fantastic(+6) Fight
• Superb(+5) Physique
• Great(+4) Shooting
• Good(+3) Crafts
• Fair(+2) Provoke
• Average(+1) Will

Stunts:
Modular: Because SlaveBeta is more machine than human, he can quickly reconfigure himself for nearly any task. Once per session, he can swap the ranks of any two skills when making an Overcome roll or Create Advantage roll. The ranks remained swapped for the remainder of the session, but only for the purposes of Overcome or Create Advantage.

The Workshop (Location)

Source: TravelPod

Aspects: Atmosphere of Spiritual Despair, "Do You Hear Voices?", Poisoned Dreams

The Workshop is an area within the labyrinth of rooms and corridors inside The Institute. It contains a machine shop, a work area where the machine is being constructed. The Workshop manifests its own dedicated entrance to the physical orb through a series of tunnels in the Discarded Lands and, because of this, is also accessible from the River of Dream even when the Institute is not materialized. Even so, the interface between the Workshop and the outside world changes and corrupts the flow of the River. Z'vatis knows this, which is why he had SlaveBeta bring Hanna to the workshop.

Background

Hanna was a rising star and highly regarded as one of the most brilliant minds in Olympus. Over time, she began to take an interest in the River of Dream and Synthesis. Her studies turned toward less conventional areas such as the paranormal, ESP, psychedelics, etc. Hanna began sneaking into Tribal lands to secretly observe Synthesis use, as well as associate with Synthesis-using Fallen. The Elders in Olympus became concerned because of her trespasses into Tribal lands and warned her she needed to change the direction of her inquiries. Hanna continued her research anyway, often in secret. Her first real experiment in trying to harness the River of Dream through technology ended in tragedy. A second Keeper was reduced to a mindless husk and Hanna was badly injured. After a several week stay in the infirmary, Hanna was imprisoned to be tried for endangering the security of Olympus.

While awaiting her trial, she met another prisoner named SlaveBeta. SlaveBeta was a Machine Monk. Worse, SlaveBeta was under the influence of Z'vatis, A Melanis Z'bri working out of The Institute. Z'vatis became convinced Hanna's research held the key to opening the Fold, and through SlaveBeta arranged for the two of them to escape. Once free of Olympus, SlaveBeta led her to The Workshop where they began reconstructing her research and performing experiments.

Over time, a few other exiled Keepers joined the group, which Hanna named the Zetetics. Her obsession has continued to grow, fed by both Z'vatis' direct influence as well as the overall effect of being within The Institute. The other Keepers in the Zetetics are likewise becoming somewhat unhinged. Hanna's experiments have become more dangerous and grisly, and it's only a matter of time before her activities get noticed.

The Zetetics are growing from a very slow trickle of disaffected Keepers and even a few Fallen. Hanna was known around Talon Nexus and even Hom prior to her imprisonment, and occasionally people still seek her out for help. Some come to the group because they have nowhere else to go, others because they have heard about the experiments, and others because they have had visions or dreams leading them there. This latter group are often fodder for Hanna's experiments. The remainder guard The Workshop, gather needed supplies, or assist with the experiments. The machine shop is capable of producing reasonably complex parts, so the Zetetics tend to be rather well equipped - even for Olympian Keepers. If the Zetetics continues to attract new members, at some point they will be a bigger threat than the Machine Monks. Fortunately there are multiple groups who would try to stop her, provided it's not too late - specifically the Fatimas, other Keepers, the Guides and key Fallen such as Veruka the Wraith.

Vimary Redux

When Tribe 8 first came out, it wasn't a huge secret that the setting, Vimary, was the remains of Montreal, Canada (Vimary is a play on Ville Marie). But there wasn't a whole lot to go on, aside from looking up other maps and information on the area on the Internet. We didn't have Google Maps or Google Earth to get a bird's eye view of the locations in the game. Looking over street view and photos of different locations in Google Maps, I think there are some tweaks that can be made to Vimary as a whole.

First is the proximity of the Z'bri to Tribal lands. They're just too close for me to find it believable that half of the Tribes don't see them as a large threat, at least in the default starting point of the game. My solution, at least in my game, is to move the Z'bri lands on Vimary proper back across the river. The areas where they were become a no man's land, an extension of the Discarded Lands that acts as a buffer between the Z'bri and the Tribes. This can be seen as a mutually agreed upon DMZ. It facilitates all kinds of story opportunities for the Z'bri to harry the Tribes by releasing monstrosities into the no man's land and fostering Serfs, forcing the Joanites from the Seven Fingers to have to deal with them.

A corollary to this is the Seven Fingers gets an upgrade. In the canon setting, the wall is a very porous border. In my game, it gets beefed up into a formidable fortification. There aren't any holes to exploit (except going underground), and the Joanite population is increased. The line of the fortification actually crosses over and continues toward Duskfall, although the actual Seven Fingers are still located where they are now. In addition to the increased fortification, the Seven Fingers are also imbued with Synthesis to repel Z'bri (similar to how The Wall in A Song of Ice and Fire is warded against the White Walkers). In fact, I see the Seven Fingers as being a spiritual counterpart to The Wall.

Similarly, I think the Jo'han Skyrealms are too close for comfort. I can see a handful at most taking residence  high up in the remains of skyscrapers on the outskirts of Tribal land where they can't be reached from the ground. I think parts of the underground would be better suited for the Jo'han than living atop a skyscraper.

Speaking of the skyscrapers, these are structures I think the Tribals would generally avoid being near period so the Skyrealms might work out. Anyone who's seen Life After People knows that the elements, lack of maintenance and time conspire to bring these buildings down. They're just not that safe to be around. I do think the Tribals would make extensive use of the Emporiums year-round as opposed to in the winter season. The majority of the population in and around Bazaar probably live down there. It also gives them refuge in the event of some kind of attack.

There's a fort on the island. Why was that never mentioned?

As far as Hom, I've always envisioned that the amusement park that makes up the center of the settlement is in relatively decent shape. Part of this is due to once the Fall began, it just wasn't a place where people went to and suffered relatively little damage. The other part is due to the spiritual nature of the setting. Sure the place is still a shambles, but there are some structures that are not doing too bad. These are the structures like the ferris wheel, carousel, funhouse, etc. Maybe whimsical things like statues or whatnot are still mostly intact. Also, a lot of buildings on the island look really cool. I mean, there's a freaking fort there. As the Fallen come into their own, the place starts to look better and better. It gains less of a depressed, tent city atmosphere and more of a vibrant one. Part of this is going to be tied to the spiritual nature of the setting and things happening like when Lilith [REDACTED].

Access to Hom over the Fallen Bridge (the Pont de la Concorde) to me is not realistic. I think that the bridge would have near completely collapsed and would not be an easy access point onto the island. This is noted in Tribe 8 1e, but I think even "makeshift" efforts aren't enough to allow access. The South Tier (Jacques Cartier) bridge, on the other hand, would still be mostly intact. For some reason,  the rulebook doesn't make mention of the off ramps leading from the bridge to the island. While they might have partially collapsed, I can see access to the bridge being easier the other bridge. It would be the primary means for Fallen to get on and off the island (besides boats). Thematically it works well too - Tribals are perpetually looking down on the Fallen from the bridge, and Fallen going to the island have to descend to get there.

I've always assumed it's not important to get things 100% right - it is a fantasy game. The landscape will have changed through altered river courses, erosion, natural disasters, etc. Supernatural influences can shift things around and cause conditions that can't exist in the real world. But going back and looking over Google Maps and Google Earth...there's a lot of awesome stuff in Montreal and little tweaks that can make Vimary come alive.

Just catching up

This is a respost from my other blog, just highlighting the Tribe 8 that I've done in other game systems. At some point all of this will be added to the link section. As an FYI, all general roleplaying posting (even if it has to do with Tribe 8) is going to continue to be on Aggregate Cognizance, my other blog.

• The newest is my completion of my Fate of Vimary draft, which consolidates the various rules modifications I've made to support Tribe 8 in Fate Core.
• Next, I'm going to be doing a quick Spark setting write-up. This is actually for the eventuality that I run a dual Fate Core/Spark Tribe 8 game. I'm thinking two parallel games, but I'm not sure yet.
• Previously, I had worked on an adaptation of Tribe 8 to Strands of Fate called Strands of Flesh and Spirit. Since reading Fate Core, I've stopped developing that branch but it's reasonably complete.
• I also have a pretty much empty Wikia wiki called The Hundred Books. This will be an eventual rebuild of the wiki I once hosted on my website (which was sadly lost).

Vimary Redux

When Tribe 8 first came out, it wasn't a huge secret that the setting, Vimary, was the remains of Montreal, Canada (Vimary is a play on Ville Marie). But there wasn't a whole lot to go on, aside from looking up other maps and information on the area on the Internet. We didn't have Google Maps or Google Earth to get a bird's eye view of the locations in the game. Looking over street view and photos of different locations in Google Maps, I think there are some tweaks that can be made to Vimary as a whole.

First is the proximity of the Z'bri to Tribal lands. They're just too close for me to find it believable that half of the Tribes don't see them as a large threat, at least in the default starting point of the game. My solution, at least in my game, is to move the Z'bri lands on Vimary proper back across the river. The areas where they were become a no man's land, an extension of the Discarded Lands that acts as a buffer between the Z'bri and the Tribes. This can be seen as a mutually agreed upon DMZ. It facilitates all kinds of story opportunities for the Z'bri to harry the Tribes by releasing monstrosities into the no man's land and fostering Serfs, forcing the Joanites from the Seven Fingers to have to deal with them.

A corollary to this is the Seven Fingers gets an upgrade. In the canon setting, the wall is a very porous border. In my game, it gets beefed up into a formidable fortification. There aren't any holes to exploit (except going underground), and the Joanite population is increased. The line of the fortification actually crosses over and continues toward Duskfall, although the actual Seven Fingers are still located where they are now. In addition to the increased fortification, the Seven Fingers are also imbued with Synthesis to repel Z'bri (similar to how The Wall in A Song of Ice and Fire is warded against the White Walkers). In fact, I see the Seven Fingers as being a spiritual counterpart to The Wall.

Similarly, I think the Jo'han Skyrealms are too close for comfort. I can see a handful at most taking residence  high up in the remains of skyscrapers on the outskirts of Tribal land where they can't be reached from the ground. I think parts of the underground would be better suited for the Jo'han than living atop a skyscraper.

Speaking of the skyscrapers, these are structures I think the Tribals would generally avoid being near period so the Skyrealms might work out. Anyone who's seen Life After People knows that the elements, lack of maintenance and time conspire to bring these buildings down. They're just not that safe to be around. I do think the Tribals would make extensive use of the Emporiums year-round as opposed to in the winter season. The majority of the population in and around Bazaar probably live down there. It also gives them refuge in the event of some kind of attack.

There's a fort on the island. Why was that never mentioned?

As far as Hom, I've always envisioned that the amusement park that makes up the center of the settlement is in relatively decent shape. Part of this is due to once the Fall began, it just wasn't a place where people went to and suffered relatively little damage. The other part is due to the spiritual nature of the setting. Sure the place is still a shambles, but there are some structures that are not doing too bad. These are the structures like the ferris wheel, carousel, funhouse, etc. Maybe whimsical things like statues or whatnot are still mostly intact. Also, a lot of buildings on the island look really cool. I mean, there's a freaking fort there. As the Fallen come into their own, the place starts to look better and better. It gains less of a depressed, tent city atmosphere and more of a vibrant one. Part of this is going to be tied to the spiritual nature of the setting and things happening like when Lilith [REDACTED].

Access to Hom over the Fallen Bridge (the Pont de la Concorde) to me is not realistic. I think that the bridge would have near completely collapsed and would not be an easy access point onto the island. This is noted in Tribe 8 1e, but I think even "makeshift" efforts aren't enough to allow access. The South Tier (Jacques Cartier) bridge, on the other hand, would still be mostly intact. For some reason,  the rulebook doesn't make mention of the off ramps leading from the bridge to the island. While they might have partially collapsed, I can see access to the bridge being easier the other bridge. It would be the primary means for Fallen to get on and off the island (besides boats). Thematically it works well too - Tribals are perpetually looking down on the Fallen from the bridge, and Fallen going to the island have to descend to get there.

I've always assumed it's not important to get things 100% right - it is a fantasy game. The landscape will have changed through altered river courses, erosion, natural disasters, etc. Supernatural influences can shift things around and cause conditions that can't exist in the real world. But going back and looking over Google Maps and Google Earth...there's a lot of awesome stuff in Montreal and little tweaks that can make Vimary come alive.

Tribe 8

I'm going to get lazy and make a Tribe 8 post for today's A-to-Z Blogging Challenge post, but it is actually rather timely so it's not that bad.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about when I mention Tribe 8, it is a roleplaying game published by Dream Pod 9 in the late 1990s. It is best described as a "spiritual post-apocalyptic dark fantasy" setting, with elements of body horror (the Z'bri), social upheaval (the Fallen), clockwork goddesses (the Fatimas) and a healthy dose of a New Agey vibe.  It is my favorite roleplaying game ever as it has a perfect mixture of horror, dark fantasy and post apocalyptic elements

Which one is the clockwork demi-diety?It isn't the bear

The line had about 25 books or so and a second edition, which isn't a sorry run by any measure. The second edition signaled the end of the line, although it had the grace to outline the remainder of the metaplot in very broad brushstrokes and detail a number of big reveals regarding the bigger picture.

That's right, I said metaplot. Coming on the coattails of the White Wolf pioneered splat book and metaplot business model, Tribe 8 had it in spades. The implementation was great in many respects and abysmal in others. A number of the metaplot books were well-written and were good at handling some of the sticky points with regard to players coming into contact with the plot. Others, not so much. In addition, many important pieces of information were dribbled out here and there, sometimes buried in in-character narrative (which, for better or worse, was a defining feature of the line). I've already opined about the lack of a Keepers sourcebook, which was the last thing the line needed to be complete. I've also posted about the metaplot in more detail.

So, the point of this post is to highlight some of the fan works I've created for Tribe 8.

• The newest is my completion of my Fate of Vimary draft, which consolidates the various rules modifications I've made to support Tribe 8 in Fate Core.
• Next, I'm going to be doing a quick Spark setting write-up. This is actually for the eventuality that I run a dual Fate Core/Spark Tribe 8 game. I'm thinking two parallel games, but I'm not sure yet.
• Previously, I had worked on an adaptation of Tribe 8 to Strands of Fate called Strands of Flesh and Spirit. Since reading Fate Core, I've stopped developing that branch but it's reasonably complete.
• I have a blog dedicated solely to Tribe 8 called Dreams of Flesh and Spirit. It is the spiritual descendant (no pun intended) of my long-gone Tribe 8 website of the same name.
• I also have a pretty much empty Wikia wiki called The Hundred Books. This will be an eventual rebuild of the wiki I once hosted on my website (which was sadly lost).

If you think Tribe 8 sounds the least bit interesting, I highly suggest picking up the first edition core book and the Vimary sourcebook. They're really the only things you need to run a good Tribe 8 game. Get the core book in hardback, if you can find one. If you want even more, the Tribe 8 Companion (which can be hard to find), Horrors of the Z'bri, Into the Outlands, and Adrift on the River of Dream round out the additional "must haves". After that, if you want additional detail on the Tribes you can pick up the "Word" books - Word of the Dancers, Word of the Fates, Word of the Pillars. Finally, there are the Cycle books themselves if you want to run the metaplot. The set is rounded out by the non-metaplot books - Book of Legends, Harvest of Thorns, Word of the North and the Capal Book of Days.

Finally, Blood and Sacrifice is one of the best Tribe 8 fan sites out there, hosting material by some of the people who worked on latter Tribe 8 books. It includes the write-ups of the Destiny Deck cards, which are kind of like the Tribe 8 tarot (and, if it were up to me, an automatic stretch goal if a Tribe 8 Kickstarter ever happened).

Metaplot

As I start to wind down writing the rules for Fate of Vimary and begin to turn my eye toward actually playing, I'm going to have to confront the elephant in the room for any Tribe 8 game: the metaplot.

Now to make sure this discussion gets off on the proper foot: I'm for metaplot. Not all metaplots everywhere - while I've not played through, for example, the metaplots in the Old World of Darkness, or Torg, or 7th Sea, I understand they had quite a few problems. Heavy Gear's metaplot I am familiar with and I thought it was remarkably well done. Tribe 8's metaplot I have always liked in principle and in the direction the story took, but not always in execution. Children of Lilith is one of the best of the Tribe 8 metaplot books - it starts it off with a bang and overall has some great sections - but it still had some warts (particularly in the railroady category).

Of course, there's no need for a Tribe 8 game to follow the metaplot. The setting is rich enough in story opportunities to touch nary a portion of the metaplot if the group so desires. Aside from any number of ideas I have for non-metaplot campaigns (one of them can be seen in Saturday's blog post, Fate of L'san), it's always been my desire to see the entire thing through.

Luckily the metaplot itself isn't as large of a problem as it might seem. Fate Core has the perfect advice for how to handle it:

You don’t need to have everything planned out (in fact,  you probably shouldn’t  given that no meticulously planned story ever survives contact with the players), but you need to have an idea of where things begin and end, and what might happen in the middle.

Without giving away too many spoilers (at least I would hope, it's the name of the book) the first chapter in Children of Lilith involves the player characters finding Lilith. There are some bits in the middle that could happen, but they're not as important. The beginning...I see as one way that the metaplot could begin, but honestly this needs to be the most flexible part, dependant on the PC's motivations and goals. That much should be child's play for virtually any GM.

The bigger thing to deal with, especially in a game like Fate Core where the players have much more authorial power than other games, is NPCs and what can be done to them without totally hosing everything. Most metaplots have NPCs that are intended to be important to the story as a whole. It shouldn't be  in terms of how important the PCs are (although poor metaplots sometimes fall into this trap), but because they've been worked into various levels of the plot. Some of the best I've seen weave these NPCs in early on, often with little or no indication of their ultimate importance. If the players establish the wrong detail about one of these characters (including their death) can cause the GM to scramble more than the players generally frakking around with the plot. "You decided you didn't want to do anything that I had set up...fine, I can handle that. But then you killed Marisol McSue! What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Or just get fed up and end the whole thing.

There are a number of ways to mitigate the impact of player action when it comes to NPCs. First the NPC roles in the metaplot need to be as vaguely defined as possible. If an NPC's role is too specific, something is guaranteed not to go as planned. Second, there should be at least one or other NPC that takes a similar enough position to be able to step in. Now this can become complicated if one of the main drivers of the metaplot is like the King of Gondor or something, but that's why you have a Steward to back him up (and perhaps a way to shift gears in how things develop from point A to point C). These are things that a GM can do in any game, pretty much regardless of whether or not the players have the ability to modify parts of the setting or change the course of the plot.

Heavy Gear had a "chess piece" system that designated how significant the NPC was to the metaplot. Tribe 8 never had it, but it's not hard (now) to figure out which NPCs are important or not. Aligning these characters to the classifications of NPCs in Fate Core is the first step in figuring out whether the players should be able to muddle around with an NPC. If the NPC is important, the GM can simply veto anything the players try to establish that doesn't fit. This is something that GMs do anyway, so it's not a huge stretch. It will be a dead giveaway that the NPC is essential to the plot as a whole, but I see this a feature and not a bug. An NPC's importance shouldn't be a mystery to the players anyway - it's what that NPC is going to do that should be the surprise.

Of course, NPCs can easily be the subject of an entire post on their own - which is exactly what I have planned for tomorrow.

Fate of L'san

Captain Hernandiz looked over the four people sitting on the floor of the tent. Her men had captured them lurking around the edges of the bivouac and brought them to her. Only the most desperate of the local tribes, or people who didn't know anything about the Exfor, would have gotten near the camp. Their clothes - a mixture of relic clothing and materials, leather, furs and even pieces of sports equipment or other items - marked them as being the latter. Hernandiz was sure some of the furs were from animals that weren’t even native to the area, or at least hadn’t been seen in generations. The tattoos, piercings, baubles, feathers, and other adornments they wore were unlike any she had seen.

She also couldn't understand a word they said. Hernandiz turned to her Sargent. “Do we have any idea what language they're speaking, Silva?” 

“No clue, ma’am.” 

“Can you wireless Onofray and have them send Yagi? He might know.” Yagi was the eldest in the encampment, having been born just after The Cleansing. He might not understand them but he might know the language.

“Right away, ma’am.” Silva turned sharply and exited the tent. 

Hernandiz jumped when one of the captives abruptly said, “You under-stand Gay-lish?” Two of her men pointed their rifles at him, but Hernandiz motioned them to lower their weapons. She crouched down in front of the man.

“I don’t know what 'Gaylish' is, but I understand some of what you’re saying,” she said slowly.  “Where are you from? What is your name?” 

The man knitted his brow, moving his mouth as he processed what she had said and tried to formulate a reply. “We from Vee-mar-ee. I am Gar-ron” 

His accent and pronunciation made him difficult to understand. It was closer to what Hernandiz knew as Merican than what the other three were speaking. While he was dressed similarly to the others, there were differences. His face was not tattooed, and he had several pieces of more modern equipment, including a gas mask of some kind hung around his neck and goggles pushed up onto his forehead. Hernandiz suspected he was the one the sentries had taken the crude shotgun and the black powder pistol from. She noticed something else hanging around his neck - three metal disks that looked like pieces from an ancient computing device she had seen their TechSpec take apart. 

“Vimary? Garron, you must be a long way from home.”

 
He nodded. “From the far east. To the north.” 

Hernandiz whistled softly. “Across the Havi and the Rocks. I’ve never heard of anyone doing it.”

Garron’s face hardened. “We lost many. My wife.” 

“What were you doing sneaking around my camp? Have you escaped from the Z’bri?” The other three captives stiffened. They at least understood what Z'bri were.

 
“Yes, long ago. We are free now.”

 
One of the two women said something to Garron, furtively looking between Hernandiz and the two armed soldiers. The two went back and forth for a minute or so, the woman becoming more animated until he motioned to her to be calm and turned back to Hernandiz. 

“My friend is Ca-ra. She wants to know if you have Fa-ti-ma?” 

“I don’t know that word,” Hernandiz answered, frowning. “Is that a god of some kind?” 

Garron smiled. “No, a goddess. But not, at the same time. It is very good you do not.”

Premise

When the World Before finally teetered over the edge and collapsed, Southern California was home to 30 million people - nearly 10 times as many as the greater Montreal area. The concentration of humans in the urban areas was a smorgasbord for the Z’bri, who descended upon the region in numbers that dwarfed the Z’bri population in Hl’kar. Drunk on the sensations and power of tens of millions of human souls packed in like cattle, they quickly overran Los Angeles and the surrounding areas.

 
Amid the panic and unimaginable horror of the End Times orders were sent to the few operating ballistic missile submarines to launch warheads at various targets within what remained of the United States. None responded, either having already succumbed to the Z’bri incursion or out of simple refusal to do so. One, however, did: the SSBN Maine.

 
The Maine launched five Trident D5 missiles aimed at Southern California. The nearly 500 kiloton warheads airburst up and down the Southern California coast and points inland, obliterating dense population centers, airports and military installations. The northern portion of Camp Pendleton was spared by sheer luck, as the warhead malfunctioned and overshot its target. Over a million people died in the initial blasts, and in the months afterward millions more would perish. Firestorms raged across the chaparral and forests unchecked for the better part of a year.

 
In the aftermath, the Z’bri remained and ultimately humanity faltered and succumbed to their depredations. The Z’bri of L’san are rivalled only by the Z’bri lords of Hattan and the vast hives of T’oxa to the south, dominating the region and remaining largely unchallenged. No Fatimas appeared among the camps of L’san following the Fall. Nobody knows how many souls the Z’bri keep within their massive bastion of corruption. Hunting parties of stalkers and other monstrosities roam freely across the land outside the enormous living walls, harrying the humans that have eluded the grasp of the Z’bri.

 
For their part, the free humans of Socal have returned to the old ways, semi-nomadic hunter gatherers divided into a multitude of separate tribes and clans. Without Fatimas to guide them, most have not been connected to the River of Dream, but instead worship the spirits of the oceans, mountains and wildlife around them. The irradiated ruins outside of L’san are populated by savages, driven mad by their proximity to the Z’bri and radiation.

 
There is one exception though: the people of the Exfor. Descendents of the Marines and their families who survived the initial attack on Camp Pendleton, they have formed a Spartan-like society dedicated to the Mission: finding a way to break the Z’bri’s stranglehold in L’san. In the generations since the Fall, they have continued to hone their skills at fighting the Z’bri, raiding their enclaves to “liberate” human captives and protecting the other free people. The long, grinding war of attrition is made somewhat easier by access to military weaponry and equipment, which the Exfor have become adept at repairing and maintaining. Yet the Exfor are not Keepers. They are not preserving knowledge of the World Before, save what they need to carry out their Mission. They refer to the nuclear fire rained down on the area as the Cleansing, an operation that they need to finish.

Except now, in decaying, uninhabited ruins of an amusement park something is happening. People are gravitating toward the park: escapees from the Z'bri, tribesmen abandoning their lives, and even strangers from unknown lands. Something is happening inside the collapsing buildings and rides. It’s just a matter of time before whatever it is becomes something the Exfor will deal with, whether as allies or antagonists.

Giving the Keepers Some Love

Cross posted from Aggregate Cognizance


For the most part, the portrayal of Keepers in Tribe 8 has skewed toward a few archetypes: the hard boiled survivalist, the over curious yet-open-to-that-hippy-crap youth, the doddering wizard-stand in, or the tech-obsessed lunatic (as in the Machine Monks). Many times they are depicted as reluctant allies - often relegated to the role of firearm and ammunition dispensers. When they act as antagonists, often they're more of the gun-toting, "Get off my lawn!" type and not nearly as multi-faceted as, for example, Tribal antagonists.

Given that Tribe 8 is about the Fallen and their plight, this is  somewhat understandable. Keepers just aren't the heart of the game. It's still a damned shame.

At one point,  there was a Keeper supplement in the works called Word of the Keepers, which fell by the wayside and was never released. It was pitched as:

TRIBE 8: WORD OF THE KEEPERS
Enigmatic and reclusive, the Keepers are those who hid themselves away during the Fall of the World Before, and now devote themselves to the preservation and recreation of ancient technology. Word of the Keepers is both a sourcebook and player's handbook for incorporating members of this group into your Tribe 8 campaign.

Opining about the relative incompleteness of the Tribe 8 core books is especially poignant considering how many books were released - surely something like the Keepers could have been slotted into the line a lot earlier. While Tribe 8 2nd Edition featured Keepers more prominently than other books, they still amounted to a couple of decent factions (the Sanjon Keepers) and a motley assortment of groups that are just downright xenophobic, isolationist, hostile, weird, or most often some combination of all four.

Yet there are some fascinating tidbits and unexplored facets to the Keepers. The first is that Keepers are, without a doubt, the only ones who know exactly how much time passed while the bulk of humanity was in The Camps. At least one group of Keepers, mentioned in the Tribe 8 Companion, has only recently emerged from their high-tech bunker. While I'm hesitant to drag realism into it, I can't see how they could have stayed down there for too horribly long.  I've seen estimates for the time between The Camps and the Liberation ranging up to 300 years, on account of the amount of knowledge the Tribals lost. Given the overall amount of decay and ruin seen around Vimary, that figure seems way too long - I'd put it at less than 100 years. The Keepers surely know, but in the published books they aren't telling.

As a side note, for those wondering how the humans in the camps could have lost everything in the span of only a decades, it's simply because of the Z'bri. For those in the Camps, hundreds of generations could have passed, as the Z'bri used Sundering to accelerate their lives and resurrect them again (there are descriptions of Z'bri doing this in various books). Also, the opposite is true of the Keepers - while the wholesale destruction of modern civilization naturally led to a loss of a tremendouds amount of knowledge, given the Keepers' persistence at trying to uncover the past after a couple of centuries they would be much further advanced. Their loss of knowledge, if it has been less than a century, is still difficult to explain - but it can be fudged or chalked up to supernatural reasons a lot easier than explaining two centuries or more of very little progress.

Another piece of information apparently lost in the plethora of setting material is the Ancient One. While later books, and especially Tribe 8 Second Edition, mention "The Ancients" in Olympus, Tribe 8 First Edition says "the Ancient One." The implication here is that there was a single person, entity, or something else at the heart of Olympus. Does he predate the Camps? Is he the equivalent of a Keeper Fatima? A Keeper mech? We don't know because that little blurb was never explored.

I think "never explored" pretty much sums up the state of canon Keepers in Tribe 8. The Olympus Keepers are pretty much our template for what a "Keeper" is. Yet they turned out to be just one group among dozens, each of them a following a cookie-cutter pattern of "Find an industrial-looking location, insert Keepers with goggles and gas masks, make them not trust people." As antagonists or protagonists they are little more than cardboard stand-ups with remarkably little to flesh out the things that could make them truly stand out. While I appreciate that the Sanjon in Tribe 8 Second Edition got their own city and have a write-up, I kind of only got out of it that they dress like the Morton's Fish guy and make people drink alcohol out of dead cod. The closest we get to some kind of non-superficial variety are the Novohuron, who are described as "like Keepers."

For my part, I've tried to battle the two-dimensional nature of the Keepers with a Keeper antagonist, Hanna. She was actually involved in my game with meta plot, dealing with the Institute, Abonom and Agnes. Basically, she is the head of a Keeper group called the Zetetics who are dedicated to discovering a way to harness and control the River of Dream. Hanna isn't a horrible person beyond being highly motivated to seeing her theories and experiments through. In many ways, she is a pawn being played by other groups, including her own kind.

While obviously not every Keeper character or group has to be unique, as it stands they are entirely too homogeneous. They're behind the curve, especially given their story potential. In my fantasy world where Word of the Keepers was actually published, the Keepers would have unquestionably been on the forefront of the curve instead of hiding out in the tunnels underneath it. For now, I'll just have to take solace in my personal reconstruction of Tribe 8 using Fate Core, where I'm able to inject a little bit of variety to the Keepers.