Deepnight Revelation - GMs Thread

[steelbrok]

Encounters with more advanced civilisations?

In the campaign, the crew of the Deepnight Revelation only encounters civilisations that are technically inferior to them, usually significantly so (the Ancients don't count!).

I am toying with the idea of having them meet at least one civilisation that has a higher TL. Have you thought about something like that? Any ideas?

I haven't but it sounds like a very good idea

 

[shammond42]

Encounters with more advanced civilisations?

In the campaign, the crew of the Deepnight Revelation only encounters civilisations that are technically inferior to them, usually significantly so (the Ancients don't count!).

I am toying with the idea of having them meet at least one civilisation that has a higher TL. Have you thought about something like that? Any ideas?

I haven't but it sounds like a very good idea

I too was thinking the ship should encounter at least 1 civilization at their TL or higher. I haven't worked out any specifics though.

 

[steelbrok]

Interesting to work up.
Would you think about the race first or the tech?
And given higher tech would likely be reasonably extensive civilisation
so if hostile a potentially long detour
if friendly contact is made a potentially powerful ally for the expedition

 

[Tea Rex]

Interesting to work up.
Would you think about the race first or the tech?
And given higher tech would likely be reasonably extensive civilisation
so if hostile a potentially long detour
if friendly contact is made a potentially powerful ally for the expedition

My approach will be to sketch the race first, then think about what they might be able to do.

If have some basic ideas, some clichés to build upon. And of course, you can always borrow from others.
Talking about others. I am still thinking to let "The Others" from Dennis E. Taylors Bobiverse-series make an appearance. I haven't found how to hide spoilers in this forum, so I won't go into details here. Another very aggressive and expansionistic race to encounter could be The Prime (in a very early stage) from Peter F. Hamiltons Commonwealth series.

But I try not to overdo the adversary. I think forcing the Deepnight Revelation to take a long detour is not good for the motivation of the crew and my players.

What I am currently working on is a very advanced race but that has long since passed the zenith of their civilisation. Indeed they spread in a wide area of space and thus their legacy can be found in many systems, but rarely anything useful has survived the millenia. On some planets, decendants are still alive, but nowadays they focus on philosophy and exploration of the "inner worlds" and are no longer interested in technology and science. In some systems other, younger races have seized their inheritance and are using these for their own ends, perhaps without really understanding what they are doing.

So far, however, everything is very fragmented and rudimentary.

 

[Baldo]

Encounters with more advanced civilisations?

In the campaign, the crew of the Deepnight Revelation only encounters civilisations that are technically inferior to them, usually significantly so (the Ancients don't count!).

I am toying with the idea of having them meet at least one civilisation that has a higher TL. Have you thought about something like that? Any ideas?

FAILED SINGULARITY

Do you know Systema Tartarobasis? If not, try this:
1): Deepnight Revelation finds a semi-habitable world with primitive humans living on the surface, and some VERY high tech junk floating in orbit (erosion, time and barbarians have obliterated the remaining tech on the surface, mostly).
2): Preliminary surveys and research reveal someone tried to terraform this planet 1000+ years ago, but never finished the work. The junk in orbit were terraforming devices, and still show signs of destruction from energy weapons and missiles.
3): The Human natives know nothing useful, besides the fact they are occasionally visited by "gods" selling VERY high tech junk. The "gods" and the natives speak the same language found on the rare written texts still floating amidst the orbital junk.
4): After a couple of weeks, Deepnight Revelation detects feeble but anomalous energy emissions from one of the bigger native settlements. Apparently, a primitive (but enormous) stone temple hides something. Unfortunately the resident priests are uncooperative, and the locals just say the gods live inside.
5): The Travellers somehow enter the temple, and discover it's just a stone shell covering a VERY high tech (but terribly decayed) installation. Most rooms have nothing immediately useful or interesting inside, but the central chamber still contains working machinery and a computer(?) terminal. Of course, the Travellers start experimenting (in my experience, game groups have Impulsiveness and Curious, ALWAYS :lol: ), and finally discover what this place is: A malfunctioning teleporter station...
6) Download Systema Tartarobasis (just do a Google search, this is a GOOD AND FREE adventure), and start playing (with some minimal modifications, the author had fantasy heroes on mind, but adapting this to a pure SF game is very easy). The Travellers have limited time to escape, and because they are deep underground, Deepnight Revelation can't help -or even communicate-.
We played this long ago and had a blast, let me know if you're interested in any tips/our modifications.

 

[Tea Rex]

Do you know Systema Tartarobasis? If not, try this:
...
We played this long ago and had a blast, let me know if you're interested in any tips/our modifications.

This sounds like an exciting expedition for Deepnight Revelation. I downloaded the adventure and will definitely have a look. Thank you!
It might be an additional encounter somewhere in the region of the Far Side of Nowhere.

 

[Tea Rex]

I skimmed the adventure and it seems to me that it is not so easy to reconcile with the background of the campaign. I have no idea where this technically so advanced civilisation could have come from. And then there's the transporter you mentioned: In Traveller, this indicates an extremely high TL. Who invented it? And where does the connection lead?

You see, I'm still struggling a bit with the integration.

But the adventure is cool and if I can't implement it completely, I could at least borrow parts from it.

 

[Baldo]

I skimmed the adventure and it seems to me that it is not so easy to reconcile with the background of the campaign. I have no idea where this technically so advanced civilisation could have come from. And then there's the transporter you mentioned: In Traveller, this indicates an extremely high TL. Who invented it? And where does the connection lead?

You see, I'm still struggling a bit with the integration.

WARNING - THIS IS SCIENCE FICTION THIS IS ROLE PLAYING IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LOGICAL IT MAKES JUST ENOUGH SENSE TO BE FUN AND EXCITING
SEE MOST MOVIES AND TV SHOWS INCLUDING ONES YOU ACTUALLY LIKE
YOU ARE NOT REENACTING A DOCUMENTARY
REFEREE IS GOD REPEAT REFEREE IS GOD
END REPORT.

This.

YOUR WILL IS DIVINE (Rule 0) and KEEP THE MISTERY (Rule 23), and please ignore what Condottiere has to say .

Now download and read THIS while I go seek my old adventure notes, I'm posting again later ...

 

[Tea Rex]

YOUR WILL IS DIVINE (Rule 0) and KEEP THE MISTERY (Rule 23), and please ignore what Condottiere has to say .

Now download and read THIS while I go seek my old adventure notes, I'm posting again later ...

Of course I follow rule 0, but as you know you have to be very careful in its usage to not frustrate your players by arbitrary acts.
But I have difficulties following rule 23, as my players are very curious and won't stop to investigate until they found out everything or at least they are convinced that they will not find out more. And most of us at the table are scientists, who believe that there must be an explanation for everything even if we might not be able to grasp it with the current degree of our knowledge. A mystery contradicts this state of mind, so they do everyhing to get it out of the way.

Now you made ME curious and I absolutely want to know what Condottiere has to say

And I'm looking forward to taking a look at your notes.

 

[Condottiere]

I suspect it might have been a spoiler.

 

[Baldo]

Now you made ME curious and I absolutely want to know what Condottiere has to say...

RULE O - YOUR WILL IS DIVINE! - You’re the Game Master. It’s your game. You’re not bound by any stinking rules. Your will is divine!

Gods require worshippers, or they are forgotten and cease to exist.

Weep for him - for his faith was not sufficient.
Rejoice for yourselves, for my faith is bottomless!

8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :lol: :wink:

 

[Baldo]

Now download and read THIS while I go seek my old adventure notes, I'm posting again later ...

OK, as I half-remembered, we played a 'Lost Colony' adventure (with NO real historical background) located "somewhere Rimward of the Confederation" (originally the one from GURPS Space Atlas 3, but we had a homebrew SF campaign mixing various sourcebooks, Traveller included, therefore the Solomani Confederation could fit the bill too :lol: ).
My point is you do NOT need precise answers/explanations/solutions. If Bridgeholm somehow got superscience and Singularity in a few centuries by "decoding the secrets of the Yaskoydri Technocracy and improving on them", maybe the locals here have done the same with Ancient technology, or whatever... Who cares? In our campaign, we played for fun (the players) and money (the characters: NEVER MAKING DEALS [for used starships] WITH THE DEVIL™!!!, they say, but clearly I haven't learned the lesson yet :lol: ), are your players playing for fun and... Knowledge? Unfortunately some mysteries can't be solved, even in Deepnight Revelation (The Alo'hei come to mind. Besides, the ship has a fairly strict schedule to follow, and your Travellers have only one life to give to Science ).

Now, about what we have done here... :
1): The "VERY high tech junk" in orbit was a nice trick to pique the interest of the players. We spent a couple of weeks (game time) searching the debris for anything valuable/resellable (which we found), and scanned the surface from the orbit for more (nobody ever suggested to notify the Scout Service about this unknown planet, of course ).
2): We had limited contact with the natives. Stealth and tech-related skills were our strong points, not diplomacy in general, but still learned the local tongue.
3): Once discovered and infiltrated the temple, we IMMEDIATELY started fiddling with the machinery in the Inner Chamber... "The transporter (...). Who invented it? And where does the connection lead?" you ask. Who knows? WHO CARES? It's merely a plot device to redirect the characters to Underearth Room 1 of Systema Tartarobasis, after all. And if your Travellers survive, Deepnight Revelation could try another survey/salvage expedition, but I suspect the priests and the thousands of worshippers would be pretty hostile to further desecration of their holy place...
4): Systema Tartarobasis itself got these modifications:
A): The characters got to keep their radiation detectors (do you know my characters in SF games ALWAYS have wrist watches and radiation detectors? :mrgreen: ), because they need to know the Deep Levels (everything below Room 1, 5 and 8 in Underearth) are lethally irradiated (this keeps the characters focused on their situation and avoids too much wasted time, Systema Tartarobasis is NOT a Dungeon Crawling adventure).
B): Add some climbing gear 'For Emergencies' amidst the supplies at Lower Cable Transport Station (Exteriko C), if you have Travellers inclined to theft and with high scores in Athletics (Dexterity). Who said those cliffs are really "impossible"? Not us! 8)
C): Check the art for Underearth Room 11 (page 26) and Periferia (page 29). Have you noticed the bent copper "claws" in both? We found a rod-like Enigmatic Device™ concealed in Room 11 and capable to activate/deactivate the "weird contraption" (a little force field) in Room 11 by touch. Most importantly, it worked the same with the big force field in PERIFERIA (only a single pyramid, only for a few seconds, and you get zapped EVERY TIME "How many Hit Points do you have left, buddy!?" This is an optional (but still dangerous) way to entirely sidestep the checkpoint at Periferia C).
D): As written, the former Command Center at Exteriko F still includes a working generator (good for recharging stuff), but this is also a great place to add useful information about the city and the local tech (in our case, a still working Core Computer with the memory banks deleted, but active (hardwired) diagnostics programs and spotty security feeds). It's here we discovered about Uranometafora and Systema Tartarobasis's 'Treasure Trove' (the Epsilon level)...
E): And finally, it makes sense to raise that "2% per point of Intelligence" to successfully operate Systema Tartarobasis without Wandsman help (page 40 - we done this :mrgreen: ), but ONLY if you a): are good with computers and/or other relevant tech, b): have discovered and more-or-less successfully used local Ultratech™ and c): you have penetrated Epsilon level and gained those Ultratech™ relevant tools the referee invented and gave away for this adventure (of course, you MUST have mastered their use too).

And about the ending (page 41), those "lifeless sands of untrod deserts" are probably nothing special if you still have a working radio and Deepnight Revelation in orbit, but this could also be the starting point of a new adventure ("Where is the ship parked?" "2750 kilometres directly north, more or less" "Oh well, I needed a tan"... ).

Hope this helps

 

[Tea Rex]

Thank you for this extensve post and all the helpful information and notes!

My point is you do NOT need precise answers/explanations/solutions. If Bridgeholm somehow got superscience and Singularity in a few centuries by "decoding the secrets of the Yaskoydri Technocracy and improving on them", maybe the locals here have done the same with Ancient technology, or whatever... Who cares?

Indeed you have a point and it touches an issue I already have pondered about: The people transfered into the Far Side of Nowhere-region have been there for more than 300.000 years and as you said, they had kind of a headstart with all the Ancient's technological wonders about. So why should not some of the stranded communities have developed a very high TL (and lost these achievements again). Great, so I found the basis for implementing this encounter! Thank you.

In our campaign, we played for fun

So do we...
We are not taking everything as serious as my last answers may have suggested. My players often celebrate doing some really silly things.

Besides, the ship has a fairly strict schedule to follow, and your Travellers have only one life to give to Science ).

Well,... they do have anagathics...
But, yes you are right again. They keep lists of projects they want to work on in the future, but these tend to get longer and longer...

Now, about what we have done here... :
...
Hope this helps

Yes, this helps indeed. I am now quite sure that my expedition will find the ruins of Systema Tartobasis. I will have to think a little bit more about the details, but you already provided some very nice ideas. Thanks again!

 

[Tea Rex]

The Crossing, A Cosmos at Peace (P3)

The planet P3 is depicted as a paradies, but the description of the world is a little bit rudimentary. If your Travellers really want to investigate the world and spend time there, you need to create some more details. Here I share my notes on P3 and possible events. Perhaps you like some of the ideas. This is still not enough, but perhaps it helps.

- The base is built on a plateau, overlooking an estuary and the sea and is called "The Beach View" This place provides a brilliant view, has flat terrain with only little vegetation. This makes it ideal as landing area, for buildings, and playing areas (Frisbee, Baseball, The Game,...).
- Many aquatic creatures glow to attract tiny creatures. From elevated points, in the evening spectacular light effects (e.g. rotating spirals) can therefore be observed in some places (e.g. river mouths). Watching this spectacle is becoming a popular evening pastime, especially for romantic couples.
- The dominant animal species have an exoskeleton (yes, also the pseudo-antelope in the illustration)
- Animals and plants are edible; tree sap of the large coral trees is orange and surprisingly sweet for humans.
- On another continent, a large type of predator has been discovered that burrows into the earth and lurks there for prey. It is not clear why these animals do not live on the home continent of the "people". Could they have been wiped out by the people? To clarify this question, longer investigations and possibly excavations would probably be necessary.
- Some crew members build paragliders with which one can take off from the plateau and glide over the sea and the river mouth. Others plan to build boats and to organise a sailing regatta (if they are allowed to)

Events on P3:
- A group of explorers have to be rescued from a burrow by animals resembling multi-legged giant ants. Their vehicle has broken into the burrow while landing/driving over and is now being harassed by the angry inhabitants. The pseudo-ants are the size of dogs and have powerful mandibles.
- Another group has disregarded basic safety instructions and sniffed the scent of beautiful flowers. The consequences are surprisingly severe: hallucinations and anaphylactic shock, but the drug also has a stimulating effect on memory, so the hallucinations are mostly based on personal memories.

 

[Tea Rex]

The other day I was about to post a cry for help here. I had started to prepare "The Far Side of Nowhere" and much of this part of the journey is a sandbox that the Referee can fill at will. This looked like an extreme amount of work and I didn't have enough ideas or time to fill the many sectors of space with life. I didn't know how to proceed because since the beginning of the campaign I had been trying to play out the entire journey.

Luckily I got some advice from someone who knows the campaign better than anyone else. His flippant comment: Madness lurks on this path.

That may sound trivial now, but for me it was a revelation. I then talked to my players and it was no problem at all if we mainly orientate ourselves on the events of the campaign, because after all the main focus is on the mission.

I write this because others here may have similarly unrealistic expectations of themselves and the campaign, and perhaps this advice will help them to change their own perspective.

Nevertheless, it would be great if we could continue to exchange ideas, ask questions and discuss problems here to further enrich the campaign.

 

[shammond42]

The other day I was about to post a cry for help here. I had started to prepare "The Far Side of Nowhere" and much of this part of the journey is a sandbox that the Referee can fill at will. This looked like an extreme amount of work and I didn't have enough ideas or time to fill the many sectors of space with life. I didn't know how to proceed because since the beginning of the campaign I had been trying to play out the entire journey.

Luckily I got some advice from someone who knows the campaign better than anyone else. His flippant comment: Madness lurks on this path.

That may sound trivial now, but for me it was a revelation. I then talked to my players and it was no problem at all if we mainly orientate ourselves on the events of the campaign, because after all the main focus is on the mission.

I write this because others here may have similarly unrealistic expectations of themselves and the campaign, and perhaps this advice will help them to change their own perspective.

Nevertheless, it would be great if we could continue to exchange ideas, ask questions and discuss problems here to further enrich the campaign.

This is what I did a poor job of trying to explain earlier. Wish I had remembered that quote at the time... Glad you got that point of stress resolved!

 

[Tea Rex]

This is what I did a poor job of trying to explain earlier. Wish I had remembered that quote at the time... Glad you got that point of stress resolved!

No, not a poor job. But sometimes it takes longer and most likely several tries to get an idea through a thick layer of ideas of apparently great concepts, fantastic drama, neverending fun. And it could be that it takes a certain degree of desperation before people will listen to you...
Thank you for trying!

 

[Tea Rex]

My NPC of the day: It started as a running gag in memory of Jean-Luc Picard`s favorite "Make it so!". Naturally, a pinch of Wesley Crusher was added to the mix and ...Ensign Hugh McItso was born. I apologize for this terrible pun.

Ensign Hugh McItso
Hugh McItso (24) was born on the planet "Backwood", a backward planet that is not on any regular trade route due to its great distance to the next inhabited system (5 parsec). Although the world is within the Empire's sphere of influence, no one from the official side has ever been interested in it due to its insignificance. But that was precisely the argument for people who - for whatever reason - did not get along with the Empire to retreat here. Accordingly, Backwood was, and still is, a world full of cranky mavericks, cultists and criminals in hiding. Hugh's parents had the misfortune to do business with the wrong people, so the orphaned boy had to manage on his own from an early age, which was not easy. For some time he even worked as a "dancer" and jack-of-all-trades in a seedy establishment in the capital of Backwood. His "stage experiences" date from this time, but he would prefer to undo them. For him, the time was terrible and humiliating and he would never talk about it voluntarily. He managed to break out of this bleak life one day by sneaking aboard an Imperial patrol ship as a stowaway. He was lucky that he was not thrown straight out of the airlock after his discovery. He was given a job as a ship's boy and made to work off his flight. Because he was quite adept, Captain Jorge Janson made sure he got a place at the military academy. Through a mixture of organisational skills, cleverness, nerdiness and ass-kissing, he quite soon managed to achieve excellent grades and attract attention. Nothing seemed to stand in the way of a brilliant career in the Navy.... and then he volunteered for the mission of Deepnight Revelation...
He is assigned directly to the Captain's personal staff and does everything from fetching coffee to astronavigation, if the Captain so wishes.

 

[Tea Rex]

I simply cannot let go. I am still thinking on how to fill the huge sandbox that is "Far Side of Nowhere" with a few more grains. But do not worry, the pressure is gone, I am doing this for fun.

I continue to look for ideas I can borrow from cool novels or movies. Ideas about planets, civilizations and encounters.
And perhaps we could start collecting some ideas here or at least recommendations what to read or watch (A few things were already mentioned in earlier posts in this thread).

Currently, I am reading through Neal Asher's Polity novels. He is a master of creating worlds and the corresponding ecosystem. There are two worlds that Deepnight Revelation will "discover" for sure:

Masada and Spatterjay

I don't want to spoil your fun of reading the novels (there are several taking place there). So here are just a few teasers:

Masada
Masada is the moon of a gas giant with an atmosphere containing not enough oxygen, so humans have to wear a breather mask. Nevertheless, the planet has a rich ecosystem with terrifying predators like the mysterious gabbleducks, mud snakes, heroynes and the dreaded hooders. But the world and its creatures also holds some ancient secrets...

Spatterjay
The wildlife of the water world Spatterjay is even more vicious than that on Masada. The reason is a virus that grants all infected beings a kind of immortality... at a price.

Do you have some favorite planets / settings / races that you would love to visit with Deepnight Revelation? Now is the time!

 

[Baldo]

And perhaps we could start collecting some ideas here or at least recommendations what to read or watch.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/267516/Wallwichen-Three-Clusters-World-Book-01

Apparently the author dropped the project after Book 03, but Wallwichen remains good and *FREE*, always a nice combination :mrgreen: .