Bay 12 Games Forum

Name:
Gender:
Age:
Appearance:
Bio: (optional, but it's here for anyone who likes to get attached to their characters.)
The most common inhabitants of Shell 2 are baseline humans, dressed for desert, scrubland, and hill terrain. Other races such as Elves, Dwarves, and even fully independent synthetic organisms (think Warforged if you're a D&D Eberron fan) may also be present, but are usually less common than humans. As you're playing a "veteran" among Junkers, you could expect to have taken quite a few nicks, scrapes, and burns from handling rusty metal, old electronic devices, and unstable chemicals. Overall, most Junkers tend to bear ripped or worn clothing and physical scars as marks of pride. Tattoos are also a fairly common sight in general.

Sample below:

Name: Maya
Gender: Female
Age: early 20's (can be relative)
Appearance: Long blue-dyed hair, tied in ponytail. Blue eyes. Leather jacket, brown pants. Arms and legs are wrapped in bandages, covering scars taken in a deadly chemical fire ~10 years ago. Possesses full-body tattoos in exquisitely-drawn lines and patterns that cover everything but her face.
Bio: Maya is a helpful and strong-willed individual, keen on supporting and protecting her Junker clan at every opportunity. She takes a keen interest in religious concepts, to the point of getting herself a set of full-body tattoos reminiscent of those of Kyra, Goddess of Love.

Skills: (Select 3. You may choose or invent skills within reason for this; I've included sample skill builds below to help you decide.)
1.
2.
3.
Weapons: (Unless you specify otherwise, your starting weapons and gear will be determined by your skills. If you don't have any weapon-related skills, you'll still be able to use weapons, but creating or modifying them may be another story.)

Every Junker is assumed to know a bit about salvaging and repurposing unused metal, electronics, and plastics into usable tools. More skilled Junkers like yourselves have access to much more powerful and dangerous skills, including the production and use of arms, explosives, and vehicles. Combinations of different skills may lead to better potential gear both at the start and later on. The use of Core Engines (see Lore spoiler) for any purpose other than providing electricity, light, or heat for general purposes is considered a good example of advanced knowledge.

Sample below:

Skills:
1. Gun expertise, Lv. 1 (can salvage parts from and craft basic chemical propellant-based firearms)
2. Gun expertise, Lv. 2 (can use Core Engines to power weapons, energize bullets, create bullets from raw material, etc. Can also salvage and modify these in the field)
3. Modular weaponry (can create and affix grenade launchers, harpoon casters, etc. to weapons)
Weapons: Core Engine-powered modular assault rifle w/ grenade launcher (Gun expertise + Modular weaponry)

or,

Skills:
1. Blade & blunt expertise, Lv. 1 (adept at crafting deadly melee and thrown weapons using simple parts)
2. Chemical expertise (can recognize and salvage chemical compounds, and use them in items ranging from stim packs to tranquilizer darts)
3 Robotic A.I. knowledge (you know enough about how drones and robotic units work to be able to program them yourself, to the point of fashioning automated machinery, turrets, or robotic helpers/armed comrades)
Weapons: Staff w/ attached power buzzsaw

or,

Skills:
1. Technomancy Lv. 1 (use of small Core Engine(s) embedded in gear or equipment -- such as gloves on the hands -- to manipulate or disrupt electronics on the fly, create your own light source, or possibly arc lightning at will. Advanced forms may allow you to manipulate gravity or other natural forces as well)
2. Vehicle expertise (you have knowledge of many different models of vehicles, can salvage useful parts from vehicles, and potentially create one yourself)
3. Cybernetics (you have a solid grasp of the common field of cyborg units and enhancements, and are able to identify and salvage relevant parts, and even potentially use them yourself)
Weapons: Core Engine-powered exoskeleton (Technomancy + Vehicle expertise + Cybernetics)

or,

Skills:
1. Surveillance technology expertise (can assemble and use cameras, listening devices, etc., and salvage useful parts from such items)
2. Miniaturized item expertise (you are adept at creating small, easily concealable items and weapons such as shivs, derringer pistols, etc.)
3. Biotechnologist (you have garnered a basic understanding of how to use Core Energy and base materials to heal wounds, literally grow items like bullets made of bone, and salvage usable materials and compounds from people -- dead or otherwise)
Weapons: Any basic (no matter your skills, you are considered able to wield most melee weapons, fire a gun, etc.); assortment of small knives and/or handguns, easily concealable (Miniaturized item expertise)

In this game, I am going to leave the prospect of objectives mostly up to you, the players. Do you want to create your own airship and explore the other Shells freely? How about becoming the world's greatest sky pirates, and amassing your loot and sweet tech in your own personal fortress? Or perhaps you'd care to go see what's going on with the other Shells, and the cause for the current buildup of arms and dumping of old tech right on your doorstep?

Core Energy is a raw, free-floating form of energy that can be found virtually everywhere on Septerra, though in lower concentrations the higher up you are (Shell 1 is the highest, Shell 8 is the lowest due to being the actual planet's surface). It is responsible for regulating the proper rotation of the seven concentric layers of planetary Shells. Due to its high energy content and ease of availability, it is used by nearly every Shell with special machines known as Core Engines.

Core Engines passively collect ambient Core Energy from the air, and convert it into light, heat, and electricity -- and possibly even more. They range in size from as small as a cellphone battery to as big an airship's primary power supply and drives, making their applications nearly endless. They can be recharged (or supercharged) with pre-filled "batteries" of Core Energy. Such batteries are reusable, but highly prized, because they are made of the same rare materials used in the making of Core Engines.


Mostly used by more militaristic nations or pirate groups on other shells, cybernetics and biotechnology are nonetheless very widespread. Entire armies are built around combat "droids" that are controlled by implanted human brains, or on soldiers that are literally grown in vats. Robotic units meant for anything from labor to defense are also common. Some are four-legged ones that possess just enough artificial intelligence to be indistinguishable from a very large, loyal, and heavily armed dog. Some of the most successful people in the world are "robotic" creatures with human brains that possess all the emotional and mental faculties of a human, and stalwartly refuse to identify as anything but.


Septerra's primary surface, Shell 8, is like almost any other common planet's, though it is mostly unknown to the inhabitants of Shell 2 due to them being six planetary layers above it. Most of the inhabitants live on floating continents, which essentially rotate in seven orbital layers around the central planetary "Core". Core Energy is present at all of these planetary layers, called "Shells", though the amount of it gets thinner the higher up one goes.

Radio frequency-based communication is common between Shells, though the presence of Core Energy in the air tends to distort these transmissions, lessening the effective range of such devices to less than a few kilometers in worst conditions. On higher Shells, radio transmissions can travel much further.


Shell 1 - The highest orbital layer of Septerra. It is very sparse, consisting of only a handful of major floating "islands". Gravity, air pressure, and Core Energy density are the lowest on this layer, but still well within normal human survivability thresholds. The Chosen -- a religious, feudal clan-based hierarchy of biotechnology-focused humans -- are the principal inhabitants of this shell. The Chosen claim to be the first to have tapped the Great Spine, the tops of which end directly within two of the largest islands on this Shell. To be sure, their mastery of Core Energy is unparalleled. They have learned to mix this with their advanced biotechnology techniques, to the point where they literally grow their own machines made of a form of bone, complete with biocomputers that use light to communicate with one another. Chosen airships -- even their largest battleships -- are all grown from scratch in this manner.

The Chosen's grasp over biotechnology is fairly recent, however, unlike their longstanding knowledge of Core Energy. They are still regularly dumping their junk and scrap off-Shell, much of it winding up on Shell 2. Most of it is common-pattern metal-based machinery and materials, with a few "outdated" (by Chosen standards) biotechnology-based bits thrown in, suggesting that the Chosen are undergoing a phase of industrial-scale refit and replacement.

Shell 2 - The main continental Shell in which this game takes place. Shell 2's islands consist mostly of rocky crags, deserts, and scrubland, but with plentiful oases and one or two major rivers that still allow life to flourish. However, its remote location and lack of people make it a popular spot for other nations to dump their unwanted junk and scrap metal, and some may still maintain outposts here to do trade with Shell 2's inhabitants, The Junkers.

Shell 3 - "World Shell 3", as it is popularly known, is comprised of verdant green grasslands and fields, beautiful snow-capped mountain peaks, and rich forests of thriving trees. Water is very common and easily accessible here, and is a popular trading export for the Shell's residents, who are mostly those of the Seven Winds Nation. This is a militaristic socialist republic who take pride in their well-established army and police forces, termed the Holy Guard, who, though they are few in number, have tremendous economic backing and years of experience behind them. The Holy Guard all avow themselves to Marduk, ancient God of Water, Plenty, and righteous Judgment.

The nation prefers to take a more defensive, passive-observation approach to inter-Shell conflict, content with safeguarding their own homes from pirates and monster attacks. The primary capital city of the SWN (pronounced "Swan") is Wind City, which contains the main headquarters (and cathedral) for the Holy Guard, the main governmental offices, and a large water reservoir. The reservoir is fed by a number of mobile and immobile moisture-capturing machines, which pull water from the atmosphere to feed Shell 3's vast supplies.
Character hints: Junkers who started from this Shell may be outcast or retired members of the Holy Guard; or entrepreneurs who crave a more exciting life and the chance at making something original with what scrap and parts they can find. It is directly below Shell 2, and the skies here are mostly safe, so travel is hardly an issue.

Shell 4 - "Everyone and everything on Septerra eventually comes through the World Bazaar," as regulars to this World Shell like to say. Shell 4 consists of massive continents that span around the entire globe, laden with deep rainforests and rolling green hills. Most of its surface area is developed, with so many cities and buildings it is nearly impossible to govern them all. Indeed, Shell 4 has almost no government and absolutely no police force, giving criminal syndicates, pirate leaders, and virtually everyone else with the power to back up their authority total free reign to do whatever they like here. This has resulted primarily in sprawling slums choked with the less fortunate, toxic industrial wastelands, and abandoned factory complexes converted into fortified compounds.

On the flip side, the still-undeveloped jungles hold many hidden treasures for intrepid explorers, as Shell 4 is also home to several archaeological ruins and buildings of a forgotten civilization that once ruled here. It is claimed that all other human-populated Shells were started from this very Shell, though the Chosen, in their lofty arrogance, flatly deny this. Shell 3's Holy Guard take special inspiration from the old religious pantheon of their "forefathers", in particular their patron God, Marduk.

Shell 5 - Mid-sized continents and islands of wide open plains and mountains rich in minerals and raw metals dominate this Shell. The two most powerful nations here, Ankara and Jinam, are eternally at each other's throats, staging frequent skirmishes in attempts to annex vital resource extraction operations. The political climate is so charged that open warfare could kick off at the drop of a hat. Many worry that if it does, it will only mean more business for sky pirates and opportunistic nations who could swoop in and take advantage of the chaos, for the armies and battleship-grade skyfleets of both sides are also responsible for maintaining a relative sense of order and safety here, especially for travelers coming past Shell 4.
Character hints: Junkers who started from this Shell may include former Jinam battle-droids with implanted brains (human or some other sentient); or former Ankaran army and/or fleet mechanics looking to ply their useful technical skills in the scrap metal-rich environment of Shell 2.

Shells 6 through 8 are mostly unknown to the Junkers of Shell 2... for now. All that is known about Shell 8 that far up is stories of a race of tribalistic monsters known as the "Underlost". Only those who have any business being on Septerra's surface are likely to encounter them.


Stretching out from Septerra's core is a massive natural structure that runs straight through the core, extends out the two polar ends of the planet's surface for dozens of miles into the sky, and ends at the very top, World Shell 1. This is the Great Spine -- one single, colossal Core Engine. In fact, it is the mother of all Core Engines, for every civilization that utilizes them is handling technology harnessed directly from concepts that came from the Great Spine's structure. The Spine itself serves as a regulator of Core Energy throughout all eight World Shells, balancing its density in the atmosphere by collecting and funneling any excess Core Energy back into Septerra's core, to be released once again through the planet's natural cycle.

Some truly daring individuals have attempted to climb the Spine. This is not at all an easy task, for its surface, while composed of several hundred "discs" much like a real spine, curves at upward and downward angles between each one -- easily as much as 45 degrees or steeper. Only recently has personal surface-gripping technology advanced to the point to allow someone to realistically make such a climb, and even then, they must scale heights of several miles between each World Shell.


Septerra's planetary core is essentially a gigantic production facility for generating Core Energy. As the Core produces it, it is released through the planet's extremely regular volcanic activity, rising to the surface through wide fissures and volcanoes to be dispersed into the atmosphere. The Great Spine regulates this activity to ensure there is no excess of Core Energy, as an imbalance could very easily destabilize the motion of the planetary shells.

--- Helgak ---

Helgak are four-legged mammalian creatures native to most Shells on Septerra. They rarely walk, however, because Helgak possess the ability to float in the air by inflating cavities in their bodies with ultralight gases -- think helium-filled flying llamas. Male Helgak possess two forward-facing tusks on either side of the head, while the females do not. All Helgak possess a hollow bone structure similar to birds in order to reduce their weight. Helgak tend to group together in small herds and float from place to place on Septerra, grazing on plants and grasses.

These creatures can be domesticated, and nearly all Shells make use of Helgak. Besides being a good source of meat (these are basically Septerra's equivalent of cows), the tusks from the males make good quality ivory for crafts, and Helgak bone can be fashioned into musical wind instruments like flutes. Perhaps their most useful capacity is transportation:  Helgak can be ridden and directed by their rider, turning them into a reliable flying mount that can travel between Shells. Particularly large Helgak, which only grow with consistent exposure to certain kinds of nutrients over time, can even be rigged up in groups with strong ropes and used to carry entire wood-and-steel airships.

The Helgak's flexible genetic structure has allowed for several different phenotypes of the same creature; some are reported to forgo flying in favor of living mostly underwater, grazing on algae and water-growing weeds in pools, lakes, and rivers. Even stranger and more diverse Helgak may yet exist, for they are an extraordinarily adaptable species and can fit in almost any environment.

Health - This is a measure of how much damage a creature's body can take. It isn't a single pool of points that, when reduced to 0, kills someone or something; rather, each body part on a creature has their own amount of health, which decreases as that part takes damage. If a body part's health reduces to critical, it becomes useless, and may be vulnerable to being completely severed. It will show as "OK" on a character's sheet when everything is fine, and change to display wounds as they are sustained.
Aim - The chance to hit something, based on a 1 to 100 percentage scale. It generally starts at or around a 65% chance to hit in most cases, but it can go up or down based on a number of factors, most notably:  Distance to target; type of weapon used; how long an attacker has to aim; etc. The Aim value displayed on a character's sheet is their base value plus any bonuses that apply to all situations, and will not reflect any situational bonuses that apply only in the context of the turn.
Defense - Defense is a direct subtraction of Aim, lowering the chance that someone or something will be hit by an attack. It can be increased if a target is moving quickly or has viable cover between them and an attacker, and decreased if they are unable to move, are caught by surprise, are engaged with other enemies, etc. Please note that on a character sheet, the only Defense value that will be displayed is whatever applies to all situations; bonuses from cover, running fast, etc. will be applied to the situation they are relevant for within the context of the turn.


Damage checks, as well as things like strength, agility, and crafting checks, are decided on a d6 roll, similar to standard RTD rules. Fractional points indicate a percentage chance of a point being applied; for example, a bonus of +1.50 to a roll indicates there is one guaranteed point being applied to a given roll, and a 50% chance of another point being applied as well.

Damage severity is highest on a 1, and weakest on a 6. A 1 may represent complete armor penetration or limb crippling, for example, while a 6 could mean that a bullet simply glanced off armor or merely hit a body cavity instead of anything vital.

Most other rolls, such as an attempt to force open a door, are decided on a 1 to 6 chance of success, with 1 being an "Epic failure"; 2 being a "Failure"; 3 being a "Meager success"; 4 being "Success"; 5 being "Epic success"; and 6 being an "Overshot".


All player characters and NPC's will take their turns simultaneously. Player characters will always take their turn before enemies and NPC's, though this does not preclude enemies from reacting or counterattacking before then if able.

Your character's weapons & equipment are determined largely by the 3 primary skills you select. Note that those skills represent the more advanced knowledge they have that is at a premium even among Junkers, such as actually having the resources and know-how to hard-machine a cybernetic arm prosthesis from scrap and old parts. You are considered to have access to basics such as knives, flashlights, metal-cutting tools, welding & soldering tools, etc.; and if not, you can likely trade for those or make something yourself from the junkyards.

As this is a loosely medieval-era High Fantasy universe, races like Elves, Dwarves and even Gnomes are permitted, though Harker's Ford is populated mostly by Humans. I will not accept races that are too wild, like Warforged or sentient golems and will generally look down on nastier choices like Goblins or Orcs, but I will happily consider demi-humans like Kitsune and the like.

Harker's Ford was founded approximately 10 years ago by a hunter named Jiles Harker, who came to the area with a band of friends to trap beaver and deer that were rich around the river. Over time, what was simply a hunting and fur trading post ballooned out into a thriving logging town with easy access to running water and rich lumber resources nearby, and even came to sit squarely on a minor trade route heading east to west. Jiles Harker himself indeed still lives and sits on the town council with a small committee of aldermen, supervising local hunters, the logging work, and helping to train the volunteer militia of 50-odd men to guard the town.

The settlement is not quite alone. A small brick-and-log keep was erected a day's march downriver some time ago to stand guard over the region, as the strategic position of Harker's Ford is of quite high value. News regarding it is in short supply, however, particularly with the Veil's memory-altering effects foiling many otherwise sure-footed scouts and runners who can't keep track of landmarks.

The river running through town is called Tearsfall, owing to a local legend surrounding three men who became lost amidst the caves and rocks of the mountains lying far to the north of what is today Harker's Ford. When they finally managed to find their way through and emerge into the sun, they wept so openly at the sight that their tears created the river Tearsfall, ever flowing with joy down from the mountains.

Please keep in mind that none of this is to scale, or anything. This is just a crude drawing I did in MS Paint to try and illustrate the general position of things in the town and surrounding region.

Players that die will generally be immediately replaced by a player in the waitlist who has prepared a character sheet in this thread; there are no ghosts, here, and permadeath is most certainly in effect. However, I will consider granting certain bonuses to players who join at a point when the other players are already quite ahead so that they don't have to spend too much time playing catch-up. These bonuses may include Fate Points, which are expendable tokens you can invoke on almost any given action or roll to grant you an automatic 5 (Epic Success).

If a player does not respond with an action for a given turn, their character will be placed under AI control for that turn. If they have not posted a second action to be taken/given priority in this event, then I will choose an action for them, and will roll a d6 die to determine how bold or how subtle their action will be, with 1 being the most cautious and 6 being all-out. This action will largely be based on their behavior up until that point, as well as their current abilities and the situation they're facing. If that character's player is still absent and still has not posted an action for the following turn, then I will remove that character from the game in an appropriate manner, and replace them with someone new from the waitlist.

If a player voluntarily chooses to leave the game entirely, then I will do the same in the very next turn.