J. Society and Economics.

Background

The Journey

The human race was defeated and faced extinction. Due to the efforts of a few individuals a fleet of around 250 ships left the old lands and travelled out to deep water. Here the greatest of the wise cast a spell of opening and for a time there were two suns in the sky. The fleet sailed on and left the old world behind them.

By the time they gained land fall they had been at sea for nearly 100 days and lost 50 ships to storms and other unknowns. The remaining 200 ships, with roughly 10,000 humans and the accumulated materials of survival, landed on the beaches of the New World and that day became Day 0, After Landing (AL).

During the journey things had changed, even though only 100 days had passed, the isolation and proximity of the ship environments had changed human social norms forever. Where as before there had been a noble class, now this was gone. No one owned land any more. No one had wealth far greater than others any more. Very few had strength of numbers or showed charismatic leadership sufficiently powerful and sway an entire ships population. And of those few who did, a ship was only 50 people. Those few who tried to bully their way into power were able to do so for a time, but quickly the closeness of the ocean re-arranged the balance (literally) of power. Tyrants were cast overboard. The weak and the lazy were cast overboard. On some ships the sick and the infirm were also cast overboard.

Very quickly a new order developed, a form of representative democracy asserted itself where the rights of the individual ship, and by referral, the rights of the individual became paramount. Ships elected via various methods a leader who spoke for them. Groups of ships formed councils and councils formed into a larger group to lead the fleet. By the time they reached the new world the ways of the old were gone and buried. IN the new world a New Order emerged, one where groups were strongly bonded to each other (due to their isolated ship environment) and each group had a voice. The Councillors eventually elected leaders, High Councillors, who made decisions after consultation. From the High Councillors a Lord High Councillor was chosen to lead over all.

And to the shock of many the first Lord High Councillor was a women. The event was rationalised by the men as a compromise. An impasse had formed between two men who sort the office and hostilities were becoming a real issue. Whilst the High Councillors played politics, and played with everyones lives, one of the Councillors made an epic journey. Councillor Simone of the Osprey (family names had been dropped to be replaced by the ships name), travelled from one ship to another and spoke to each of the Ships people, stating clearly and concisely the power play that was emerging and its folly. She preached that the answer had to come from the combined weight of the Councillors, expressing the will and the hope of the people. Her pilgrimage worked, and not surprisingly she was elected Lord High Councillor.

The change in the social structure of the people now shifted to a new level. Not only had class and economic structures broken down, but now sexual structures were re-aligned. Women in most ships became truly the equal of men. There were many who rejected this, and still do, but for now their power was broken and they must play along with the will of the many.

This is the basis of the new world. Ten thousand humans broken into communities of 50 people, lead by one person as a councillor, based around the ship they travelled in, bound together by the pressures of survival. Each group can be different, some are dominated by women, some by men, some are egalitarian, some of openly consultative, some are ruled dictatorially. The vast gamut of human experience can be contained within the 200 groups that are all that remain.

Technology

The technology of the world they came from is basically bronze age. The use of iron and steel is unknown to humans (they never developed it due to magic being a dampening force against technological development).

The world they have come to however is slightly different. Iron and steel have been developed here, but the process is a secret known only to the Dwarves. The dwarves hold that secret tightly, clouding it in mysticism, protecting it with un-restricted violence and worshipping it as a blessing from their gods. The secret is so tightly controlled that nobody suspects the truth.

Economics

Money is no longer a relevant commodity in a world where everything is valuable and in demand, where everything you have has value far greater than money. Until the situation stabilises the basics of the economy have reverted to the age old barter methods, where value is determined at the instant of the transaction, and in the eyes of the traders.

Saying that however, it is patently obvious that some form of currency system alleviates the burden on administration for your players. You don’t want to have your players continually asking you to make haggle rolls to buy a new toothbrush. So a form of currency called Credits will be used to speed up and simplify things.

Credits are relevant to humans only, and to the single city they are currently constructing. Credits are earned by completing missions successfully (pay) and in exchange for handing over Trade Goods (TG) recovered during your missions. Credits are spent on a range of services and products as will be listed below. Credits will not get you everything, somethings are more valuable than gold. For these you will need to use the ‘Respect’ systems.

Respect!

Getting things that people will die for, or items they will never, ever, part with, is done with ‘respect’. This is a personal currency that you gain through your actions and deeds. When you save the life of the farmers daughter he will respect you and offer you rewards far in excess of what simple money can buy. A single coin of ‘respect’ can last a lifetime, gold is gone as soon as it leaves your hand.

There are a number of different types of ‘respect’ that the game will use, each with differing benefits, reflecting the source and nature of the deeds that you have performed. Even a murdering lying cad can gain respect from his peers for a job well done. However only one of them will be recorded and used as a currency - Favours. Some of the forms of ‘respect’ can be recorded and tracked, developed and earned over a period of time. The players and the GM need to work together to track and acknowledge this transaction, or at least agree that it is deserved. For rules purposes only Favours are covered, the rest are upto the player and the GM to use as plot devices.

Favours.

Are a form of currency, you will owe someone a favour for something they have done for you. Favours are mostly one on one, and more in the nature of a task or effort that has been made by one, for which another owes you the favour in return. Favours can be transferred in some cases, such as within a group where the favour is recognised and is treated as a form of currency. A group can owe Favour as a collective unit, but Favours above this level become the area of politics and have no relevance for players.

“That was very kind of you to collect that item for me, if you ever need a favour please feel free to ask me.”

Other types of 'respect' that you can have, and which may cause the gaining of a 'favour' are as follows.

Debts.

A debt (of respect) is an obligation you place on yourself in regard to another who has done you a service. Usually a service you did not ask for, were not expecting and is freely offered. Debts of honour, debts of gratitude, being in someones debt. A debt is like a favour, only much stronger and very personal. Debts are generally one way obligations.

“You have saved my life sir, I will always be indebted to you!”

Honours.

A reward given as a mark of deep respect, acknowledged and recognised by your peers and betters. The award of an honour, the bestowal of an honour, the gift of some honour that normally results in some defining mark or title that most recognise and respect. Medals and titles are common Honours, as too might be unique items or permissions.

“For service above and beyond that which is required we award you the title of Knight of the Round Table.”

Respects.

A personal bond between someone and someone else in return for services rendered. An obligation from one person (or group of people with a common bond) to another that holds value only between those people. Do something for someone out of respect for them, grant them a favour due to holding them in great respect.

“Your dedication to discovering the truth of the matter has earned you the respect of the entire community.”

Service.

Rewards for service often come in the cash you are paid, but in some cases cash is not enough. Some ‘services’ are above the ordinary and grant a lesser form of obligation from the person who is hiring your service. Service rewards tend to be above average gifts of items, or access to equipment of value. Promotion is another form of service reward within an organisation that has a rank structure.

“For 10 years of outstanding service to the organisation you are awarded the rank of Brother of the Inner Circle, gaining the rights and rewards of that rank.”

Oaths, Words and Promises.

Oaths, Words and Promises are all agreements you undertake with another. Generally they are a one way agreement, you give you Word of honour to another to do something. It is then up to you to carry through with that undertaking.

For the GM there are a few mechanisms you can use to punish those who break such undertakings: Oathbreaker, Dishonourable and Liar are impediments you may apply to characters who do not live up to their undertakings.

Players who wish to take such things seriously can elect to take the Oathgiver, Honourable and Hero impediments to reinforce the undertaking and gain some advantage out of it.

Players that do not wish to partake of this level of the game should simply say so and they will be treated as the average man unless they abuse the situation.

Promises.

Is a personal matter, it is up to the player to record and track what promises they undertake, and how they are resolved. A person who keeps breaking their promises, such that it becomes a common occurrence, can be branded a Liar.

Honour.

Word.

Promises.

The New World

The remains of the human race have just landed on the beaches of a new world, they only have what they brought with them, or what they can find in the immediate vicinity. Accordingly most things will be in short supply, everything will be rationed and controlled. Two hundred ships with around 10,000 people lie of the coast of the new land, desperate to settle and begin a new life. This is where the game begins.

Finding Stuff And Shopping.

To buy out of the ordinary things takes time (a week) and effort, mainly a Streetwise skill roll vs 4, but you can also use a Craft skill to locate materials relevant to your craft. You can use Common Knowledge for Common materials.

All items will be rated as follows:

A magical version of an item will require an extra success.

Each extra success over what you need can be used to reduce the time period (week to several days (3) to a day etc), or it might be used to increase the number of items found by +1, but only where there is a variable roll.

So each week anyone with Streetwise may search for one type of item (common, uncommon etc). They should have a list of items ahead of time to match the possible number that can be generated. Multiples of the same item are possible.

Multiple people can co-operate to achieve a result.

Some places may be better than others when it comes to finding stuff. Eg: The city of Tyre is a major merchantile hub for the entire region and GMs may allow +2 to the above finding roll in such a city. On the contrary, some cities are remote or poor and may suffer a negative, such as Thebes due to the political situation there.

Ancient Armour

Armour in the game is defined as any method that physically prevents the infliction of damage. There are countless variations on the manner and means by which this is achieved. Rather than get bogged down in numerous variations of armour sets I will concentrate on a few basic configurations, and then use modifications to allow customising.

There are three basic types of armour: Light, Half and Full.

Rank: is the maximum amount of damage in one blow that the armour is effective against. So Light armour is effective against blows that inflict 1 Rank of damage. Once the blows damage level exceeds this the armour is in-effective. So light armour has no effect against blows that inflict 2 or more damage.

Protection: the amount of damage that a single blow will be reduced by, if it is within the rank limits. So Light armour would reduce a blow by 1 rank, as long as it was only 1 rank. Half armour would reduce a 2 rank blow by 1 rank.

Penalty: the penalty applied to the Dodge dice pool for wearing this armour.

Move: the penalty applied to the Move dice pool for wearing this armour.

Wt: weight of the item.

Cost: is in city credits.

Customisation.

Armour can be customised by various mods. The number of mods a suit may have is equal to its Rank, so Full armour can have 3 mods applied to it.

Mods available are as follows:

+Heavy: will increase the Protection value by +1, not available to Light Armour.

+Metal: if the armour set is 90% metal it will increase the Rank value +1.

+Sealed: increases the Rank value vs Elemental damage by +1.

+Composite: increases the Reduction value by +1 vs melee weapons.

+Blessed: increases the Rank value vs Spiritual Magic by +1.

+Piercing: increases the Rank value vs Piercing weapons by +1.

+Blunt: increases the Rank value vs Blunt weapons by +1.

+Blade: increases the Rank value vs Blade weapons by +1.

+Flexible: decreases the Dodge penalty by 1d.

+Mobile: decreases the Move penalty by 1d.

+Plated: increases the Reduction value by +1 vs missile weapons.

Shields

Rank: is the number of attack successes stopped by the shield when successfully used.

Penalty: skill penalty to your Block roll due to the weight of the shield. Options exist to remove this.

Wt: weight of the item.

Cost: is in city credits.

Customisation.

Shields can be customised by various mods as follows:

+Heavy: increase Rank value by 1, cannot be used with Light shields.

+Breaker: able to break bladed or hafted weapons if the Block has more successes than the attack... ???

+

Melee Weapons.

Are grouped based around their damage potential.