My previous album, Sextillius, is now available for free streaming on youtube:
And my fourth and fifth albums, Plush Universe and Strange Attractor, were reviewed on Divide and conquer:
Reviews of Plush Universe and Strange Attractor
So we live in interesting times!
In one, the PCs play effectuators of a local rebellion leader - not, or at least not yet, a part of the ineffectual New Republic - who is trying to stabilize the local area of space. In the second, the PCs play former effectuators of a local ex-Moff, who is attempting to stabilize and take over the local space area, who have turned against their former master, and are doing what good they can where they can. In the third, the PCs will play ex-Imperial prisoners who have found Mandelorian armor and are attempting to pass themselves off as a Mandelorian mercenary clan.
In all cases, the PCs are Force sensitives who were rounded up by the Empire and used as test subjects, and the local area will be the same. They will have an ancient ship, modified - or perhaps worn down would be more accurate - from stock to fit the needs of the Association, and constituting the bulk of their assets.
They went upstairs, where there was another guard walking the beat in the dark. They rushed him and bound and gagged him as well. With the keys they had taken from the two watchmen, they were able to open the Director's office door, where they found a VCR player and monitor set up, but no tapes. They figured they were in the padlocked 4 drawer file cabinet, so one of the kids broke the glass and grabbed the fire axe, which set off the fire alarm. They were just off Uranium Road, a thoroughfare, and close to the new fire station, so they knew they had only minutes! The broke the padlock with the axes and ran off with the four drawers, escaping over the wall just as the fire trucks rolled up.
The setting for this game is England in 1560, 2 years after the accession of Elizabeth I to the throne. We have established some changes in history, though! An alien ship crashed on earth in 1000 AD, with the survivors making their way to earth in escape pods. The plagues were alien diseases that humans had no resistance to. Supers began popping up after that. Was it alien DNA? Reactions to the plagues? Radiation from the crashed ship causing mutations? All of the above? We are mapping that out now!
or search for '"clash bowley" topic'
My first album was Greatest Hits 2018-2018 and it's a bit of a mess, but I chalk it up to a learning experience!
Then came Rockets and Dreams, where I started to apply what I had learned and began developing a musical style
Kaiju Love which came after that was, I think, my first good album, and the first totally in my new style
Then came the two latest albums, released the same day:
Plush Universe is more traditional, more rock, somewhere between Strange Attractor and Kaiju Love
In Strange Attractor I am more modern in approach, and more stripped down
Enjoy!
This is a recipe for disaster in space! Technology will have to be designed to be easily accessible by techs, rather than designed for efficiency of manufacture. Components will need to be genericized, not only so that fewer spares need to be carried, but so that less essential devices can be cannibalized in favor of repairing essential devices, if necessary. Upgrades should be on the component level rather than the unit level. Then the old component can be kept as a spare. Devices would need to be larger, though not necessarily much more massive. Most of the size difference will be in access space or accessible mounting.
Displays and input should be transparently shared and redirectable. Data needs easy rerouting, so that one computing device can double as another in a pinch. Damage control and repair need to be top priorities when a ship is millions of kilometers from the nearest source of parts!
Kids get the Kid package which gives them their base attributes; then pick one background, which gives them two positive Edges and one negative; then pick one interest which gives them three skills, one at rank +3, one at rank +2, and one at rank +1; then pick one hobby which gives them another positive Edge. Roll a d10 for each attribute to see how it varies from the norm, and they are done
Teens have their own attribute package, and get an extra hobby. Adults have their own attribute package, and get an extra hobby and an extra interest
There is a special Background (Confined) and Interest (Test Subject) for psions. They get three negative Edges and no positive from their background, no hobby, and get three psionic skills, one at rank +3, one at rank +2, and one at rank+1. This is to reflect their utter lack of normal upbringing.
The In Harm's Way - StarCluster 4 character sheet will have only the condition box after each Attribute, meaning characters cannot soak the damage they receive in combat under their Attributes. Here is a In Harm's Way - StarCluster 4 character sheet for reference:
Why did I do this this way? Because military weapons are MORE damaging! A hit from a Ma Deuce will sever - or rather explode - a limb, a head, or blow your viscera out, and the Ma Deuce is 100 years old. And I doubled down for realism. Heavy Weapons like the Ma Deuce inflict TWO boxes of damage per success, which means four successes on a single round form a M2 will inflict 8 boxes of damage on an unprotected body, filling every damage box in one hit. The future military we are addressing will have to absorb - soak - that damage elsewhere. The body can't take it. The result is the vastly upgraded military armor system. Here is a sample Military Armor from IHW - SC4:
Note that this is fairly light armor for a scout, geared especially for sensory input and communication. Firstly, any weapon has to penetrate the armor in order to do any damage. It then has five boxes available that can be absorbed without compromising the armor in any way. Note there are a maximum of 16 of these hit soaks for any armor. After those five boxes, the character can assign damage to internal systems as they choose, as well as their own body boxes. There are 9 boxes available after the first five on this armor, one to a system. Programs, Sensors, Comms, Power, Power Assisted Endurance, Power Assisted Agility, Seals, Mobility Extras, and the Autodoc. Each hit on these nine boxes degrades the suit, destroying one feature with each hit. The suits auto doc has automatic tourniquets on limbs, automatic drug injections, and other abilities to increase survivability. If the suit has an AI, it could decide to knock out the character and bring the character back alive to increase survival rates. At any rate the autodoc monitors the character's vitals and deploys automatically if needed! Here is a heavy armor for shock troops:
Note the very different emphasis. Each armor suit is designed to a particular set of needs to the limit of available technology. Also armor can link to various robots to multiply firepower or mobility or carrying capacity as needed.
Military armor is keyed to an individual, and can only work for that individual unless reset. Communication is of course heavily coded! Note power taps for energy based weapons so you need not carry power sources other than the suit's power pak.
Second, the Rasi SWAT Police from The Necklace Setting - The Necklace is a gigantic breathable gas torus in space around a neutron star with a billion mile long gravitic ring-river looping through its immense volume. I have a bunch more here.
Sapient Slavery
Sapient Slavery is forbidden within the state. Any attempt to subvert this concept by importation of slaves or institution of slavery in any way must be prevented and punished by the military.
Unlicensed Environmental Manipulation
Terraforming must be licensed and controlled, with proper safeguards applied.
One State, One People
There is only one state. The existence of any polity considering itself outside the state is strictly forbidden, and any attempt to establish such will be rigorously opposed.
Primitive Worlds Must Be Allowed To Develop
Technologically retarded worlds must not be interfered with if they are to develop properly.
Each Dictum you select defines not only your military, but your society, so you can choose Dicta for your military which reflect your military's culture, or define your culture as you define your military.
Deep Space Service - (Offense) These are the people and ships that go to other stars to project force as required
There are 5 branches of DSS: Fighters,Cruisers, Fleet, Scout, and Specwar
Fighters are the small, highly armed but replaceable ships dispatched in swarms to destroy opposition
Cruisers are those ships typically dispatched in small squadrons
Fleet are the big ships, held for a smashing blow
Scouts are small ships sent out to explore and reconnoiter
Specwar are the Special Warfare ships, sent out to do irregular missions
Expeditionary Force - (Offense) These are the people and craft used to take and hold the world surface in other systems
There are five branches of EF: Drop Troop, Vehicles, Infantry, Recon, and Intruder
Drop Troops are the highly armored shock troops dropped from orbit
Vehicles are grav vehicles of various sorts, including drones, suitable for any environment
Infantry are those who take and hold ground
Recon are the ones how find out what is where
Intruders are those who go beyond enemy lines and disrupt, destroy, and blow shit up
System Defense Service - (Defense) These are the people and ships that protect the home systems
There are five branches of SDS: Defense Pilot, Line, Stationer, Military Police, and Sapper
Defense Pilots are the small, highly armed but replaceable ships dispatched in swarms to destroy fighters
Line are the big defensive ships built to protect against system invasion and intrusion
Stationers are the stationary defenses built to protect resources and worlds
Military Police keep everyone in line
Sappers lay out minefields and other passive defenses
Ground Defense Service - Defense) These are the people who protect each world in the home systems
There are five branches of GDS: Aerospace, Surface Craft, Militia, Artillery, and Enviro Troops
Aerospace are the swift and agile aircraft that protect the skies
Surface Craft are the ground and/or water based craft that fight invaders and intruders
Militia are defensive troops for holding ground
Artillery are large rail guns and missiles used in point defense
Enviro Troops are those trained to work under the specific environmental conditions of the world
Logistics & Repair - These are the people and ships who support all the others with supplies and fixing things
There are five branches of L&R: Engineering, Repair, Allocation, Transport, and Medical
Engineering builds facilities and counter environmental problems
Repair fixes broken things
Allocation distributes items and vehicles where needed
Transport brings things and people from one place to another
Medical fixes broken people
Intelligence Service - These are the people who figure out what is going on in other places and disseminate propaganda
There are five branches of IS: Humint, Sigint, Analysis, Osint, and R&D
Humint are the field agents, working under cover
Sigint are those who intercept communications and encrypt and decrypt as needed
Analysis are those who collect, collate, and route information where needed
Osint are those who use available public resources to inform on culture and disseminate propaganda
R&D researches and develops weapons, vehicles, armor, ships, and anything used by the other services
I have 10 songs recorded intended for a fourth album, Plush Universe, but two of them are cover songs, and that's a hassle to get rights, so figure 8 songs finished out of about 12.
StarCluster 4 - In The Beginning is in beta, waiting for feedback from the beta testers. I examining my options for what I do next gaming wise. There is nothing burning a hole through my skull trying to get out, so I have several major possibilities:
1: I could do a new version of In Harm's Way: StarCluster using the StarCluster 4 mechanic.
2: I could work on converting the Blood Games trio of games (Blood Games II, OHMAS, and Outremer) using the new Psionics toolkit to create a magic system.
I have been running on Discord a mash-up of Volant and Sabre & World which has been going great. I may make that a published thing!
I also need to begin changing all my In Harm's Way games over to StarCluster 4. Most of them are SC 2E, with a couple being SC 1E! Yikes! That will be a huge task!
Anyways, for anyone still listening after my forgetting about this blog once again, thank you! You rock! :D
We are undergoing the process of 'fleshing out' the final state of the Great Game, which starts in 2020, and ends in 2120, leaving a slew of settlements all over the solar system. This involves looking at who settled this colony - maybe it was started by South Korea, then continued by Brazil and brought to stability by Indonesia.
This polyglot community is probably unique, with its own strange amalgamations of holidays, customs, and languages. What do they work on here? What do they export? What do they PLAY at? How did they get to this point?
Klax and I have got all the way to Mars. From here, things thin out rapidly! But there are still some hugely important places left to do - Ceres, Oberon, Titan, and Pluto all have massive independent nations, with multiple markets and diverse populations, and they all have a story, created in the Great Game. Researchers on Titan found the cure for Mega-AIDs, and grew from a tiny, hardscrabble scientific community to full independence in a single decade. All due to actions the players took in The Great Game.
Now we put it all together, and make it all work!
Then I began fleshing out the colonies. The first two were a tiny unstable colony on Mercury, and a failed colony on an orbital. The fleshing out process (Determine Exports, Infrastructure, and Movers & Shakers, went as expected, except we (Klaxon and I) determined non-independent colonies would have a governor appointed to rule over them in addition to the native movers and shakers. No problem! Then we hit Venus! Venus is a world with perhaps hundreds of highly mobile floating cities, so the single list of cultural infrastructure generated by the tool I had made would not work well. So we had to divide the colonies into ones we could do with a simple setup and ones which needed a more flexible arrangement. That took some time! Then we made up a method that used the same infrastructure components in a different way, giving some things EVERYBODY had, some things shared across the world (Broadcast media, banking system, etc...) and a list of PROBABLE items. That worked much better! We finished Venus and ran out of time, so we will continue fleshing things out tomorrow, but the hard work is done and the modifications needed are in place!
https://www.reverbnation.com/clashbowley/song/30383640-the-venus-jaunt
