Author: Douglas Mota

How can a player harvest a Surplus? Or, when should a GM award a Surplus?

Obvious answer 1.01-a: Follow the Fiction!

…

Well that didn’t clarify things for lots of people. Specially if you consider imaterial resources.

So, I will share with you instances where my Cutthroats proactively generated their Surpluses.

1) An Afflicted player was surrounded by a large and hostile Faction. Also, he needed Surplus: Motivation for a Wonder. He then spent 1 Data in Uncover Secrets to add a stronghold where the Faction was rallying to. The intent was clear: to Claim the bastion By Force on a decisive victory that would change the course of the war. Risky? For sure! But after a Claim by Force and a Zoomed In scene, they took the bastion, broke their enemies Morale, and gained the Morale they needed.

2) An Uplifted player wanted to finish off all the smaller conflicts popping up on the Homeland through a Total War Wonder. The one Surplus he didnt have was Leadersihip. For that he spent 1 Treaty in every single other Family so they would back him up, and narrated the first spend of the Wonder, Surplus: Transport. In fiction, the Uplifted started orchestrating a major alliance and its first offensive – they wanted to lead the war, more than simply to receive recruits or resources. A bit of haggling later all families reach a compromise and form the Alliance, with the Uplifted ahead of it and the GM awards them the Surplus: Leadership they needed.

In short, of course we can have fast and hard rules, but more often than not the Fiction will show you the way… the hardest part is to listen to it and respect its demands.

Do you have other examples like these?

Working on a new Wonder

The Tartarus Site

“This place is not a place of honor…no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here… nothing valued is here”

Imagine something so powerful and evil that it will last forever. It can’t be destroyed, but it can surely taint and kill the Homeland and everyone in it. Thanks to you though, it has been contained, barely beyond reach… for now.

Requirements: Engineering, Rare Materials, Leadership, Progress, Hold the Threat

Permanent bonus: The Owner draws the Tartarus Site on the map, the surrounding Hostile Grounds and tells us of its nature.

I am curious about your Lawgivers!

Here we have had two very different approaches:

1) The Black Shield always protected the Rich, and always reserved their justice to the Poor, never stealing along the way. Yeap, the remnants of a corporate law enforcement agency.

2) The Department always protected Technicians and always reserved their justice to Vandals, never Sabotaging along the way. Volunteers patrolling a derelict ship, fighting just to keep it running.

3) The Rangers always protected Americans and always reserved their justice to Foreigners, never Stealing along the way. In a post Final War Alaska, enemies were everywhere.

(Long post alert!)

It’s common for those who have never played Legacy to wonder what kind of scenarios the game can generate. We have all seen Titanomachy and for many of you this was the first setting of a Legacy game ever.

So, why not share some of the Homelands we have created in our playtests here?

Northern Lights – it holds the honor of being our first scenario and the only 100% Earth based . On the coast of Alaska people struggling to survive the aftermath of the last world war, which surprisingly featured heavy use of biological warfare and some cool use of organic drones. Winter and raiders were serious Threats, but in simple and grounded ways. Families were a S.E.T.I Enclave, Lawmen Rangers and Cultivator ranchers. More than anything it started a tradition of bold Family moves and exploitative use of Treaties. It ended with the Families finding out enough about the winners of the World War to do something about it.

Olympus Run – a terraformed Mars where gene engineered lifeforms (Uplifted and Pioneers) struggled to survive a world wide blockade, orbital attacks and a weather going crazy. The Homeland was a cold, reddish steppe, with some frigid seas, and a huge abandoned metropolis around a deceased space elevator in Olympus Mount. The Fall had come due to alien lifeforms from beyond on a crusade to free the new Martian sentients from Earth/Human yoke. In the end, the Uplifted refused to wage genocidal war upon the surviving humans as the stakes were revealed… and stood proudly against the alien lifeforms. It saw 7 Turns of Ages, 300 years of story and some really memorable Characters.

Solar Flare – Earth at some point in the near future. Mankind was wiped out in 24 hours by invading energy based aliens, that weaponized the Sun itself. The chronicle revolved around the Elite, a faction who lived in safety, segregated behind might energy shields. The protagonists Families orchestrated the Elite downfall, and conquered their Haven, just to find out further layers of preserved technology, greater safety and luxury. In the end, the Others were a background threat for a class struggle of the worst sort. The group was a volatile mix of criminal Merchants and terrorist Tyrants, with a bred for maintenance ferret-based (!!) Uplifted Family. It saw the birth of two Wonder Capitals and it was a cloack and dagger nightmare, with the Uplifted stealing the limelight with their heroism.

Waters of Gaia – an alien planet, covered in jungles and marshes. Mankind was not the only invading species, as Dragons arrived first and a few centuries earlier. The war between species become genocidal when mankind brought down the first dragon matriarch. In response, the Dragons unleashed a device that wiped out all Human settled territories creating a large desert area. The player Families were the human Order, Cultivators and Enclave, plus the alien and native Pioneers. It was a short-lived chronicle, but the Homeland was described in rich detail.

The Death Trap (ongoing) – an alien moon, fully artificial and hostile. An endless ruined city in all levels, inhabited only by aggressive indigenous kaiju. These monsters had invaded Earth through a portal, and so an expeditionary force was sent across this portal to the Death Trap. There they fortified positions and started hunting the monsters, but all too suddenly the portal closed. Generations later, Humans receive the visit of an alien species rescue mission, which pretty much stalled their ultimate demise. It’s the debut of the new Order of Titans and Architects of Tomorrow, plus Stranded Starfarers (straight out of Stargate, egyptian themes and all). This chronicle is focusing a lot on the Character level, playtesting Roles evolution extensively. One of its most striking points is that Humans (characters) are anything but – with a Machine and a post-human Promethean. We have constantly in awe with the sheer hostility and alien horror of the scenario.