[HMtW] Bone Charms

 Every death in this world is a sorrow, every murder a stain. Yet what happens when a Hilbert Whale, a creature of beauty from a higher dimension of reality, is brutally murdered in a lower realm? It’s last moments of anger and rage and fear and hopeless struggle freezing as near physical manifestations. Using the beast’s bones, and a little scrimshaw, folk wizards are able to bind these final moments into charms to bestow small but helpful effects upon the wearer. Some might think these as actual magic, but magic starts in the outer realms, and the whales are purely of the Flesh. No, these are items of Probability made Physical.

We take their lives, we take their body, we take their fluids, and now we take their deaths. Is there no level to which we won’t sink?

Yes, I obviously stole this idea from the Dishonored series

Bone Charms of the Astral Sea

Each takes up a single inventory slot and are consumed on use, shattering as the Reality stored within manifests on the local space-time. Which, in turn, also causes Stress. Charms are largely identified by the sudden rush of emotion left over by the whale, experienced when picking them up, as described by the italic text. (Annoyingly I have to indent for the italics to work). Visual descriptions too, would be helpful?

A Turned Bolt Never Fells

"That terminal, desperate, futile hope that the final lance strike would miss."

Two curved arrows, twisted around one another. Ranged attacks are redirected towards a nearby valid target, for the same attack value.

Bloody Defiance

"Defiance, bloodied but unbroken until the end. Pointless."

A broad, flat piece, adorned with a tiny iron sprocket. Some whales, when beginning to be stuck with multiple harpoons attempt to flee, rising to higher dimensions for safety. Others, prefer to stand their ground, bloodied but defiant. Add the number of Wounds (not counting Notches) the wearer is currently suffering to their Initiative for Defensive purposes.

Bloody Riposte

"That final moment of aggressive panic that could have changed the outcome, were it for naught."

A cruel little piece, all sharp angles and straight lines. Add the number of Wounds (not counting Notches) the wearer is currently suffering to their Riposte score.

Dying Heart's Desire

"Lustful, hungry, aggressive wanting. The sort that binds a poor bastard to the cruel wheel of rebirth."

Crystalline covetousness, inlaid with jealousy. If you know a person has an item that you desire, spend a Resolve to find it within your inventory. Must be a specific item known to you and able to fit in your inventory.

Essence of the Long Watch

"Memories of long solitary treks; never ending, never resting."

A long stretch of bone, carved ever too thin. The wearer can perform an additional Camp Action at the cost of being Stressed.

Falling Satellite

"That tinkling in the pit of your stomach when gravity suddenly realizes that you are someone it should be concerned with."

A central sphere encircled by sail like wings. When falling from a boat or ship into the Void, the wearer briefly orbits the vessel and lands on the opposite side.

Firm Hand of the Greaser

"A fleeting force of will, called up by a dwindling reserve of determination."

A vaguely hammer shape, cracked and lashed. By giving a firm whacking, and spending a Resolve, you make a broken magical machine operate as though repaired. Note: this does not actually repair the machine, and further usage will require proper fixing.

Fortune Favors the Gold

"A frenzied drive for capital, sending desperate Fools to desperate shores for desperate acts."

A flat, crude circle mimicking holed coinage. The next treasure you sell returns +10% the agreed upon price. The merchant doesn’t overpay, so much as the extra money appears unknowingly during the exchange. No, not magically; we've discussed this.

Grim Notes of the Thieving Type

"The grim realization that when this is over, you will be forgotten; a vague experience in a sea of chaos."

Cracked bones, jagged and angry. Gone now, the whale felled and butchered; who will sing of its death? Who has sung of its life? By loudly singing a dirge at a lock, which may attract attention, you open it as though you had the key.

Lance of the Bloodied Sailor

"Bloody determination in the face of inevitable defeat."

A pointy little thing of all spikes and hatred. Slowly drips blood, but who's? When Injured, your next successful attack does Critical damage.

Last Grasp of the Slain

"Roiling, boil anger, seeking retribution against those who have trespassed against you."

A spherical mass surround by crude curves of tentacles. Upon being Wounded, shadow tentacles lash out, Rooting everyone else within the Zone. Targets can recover normally, except those who have slain a whale: they must discard two cards to recover.

Lessons Learned for a Price

"That very sudden and undeniable realization you've fucked up."

A fragile looking thing, thinly carved and trimmed with cracks. Gain 1XP the next time you fail a Test of Fate.

Lucky Vestigial Foot

"A strange sense that things might, actually, despite all supporting evidence, work out for the best."

These bones of the forgotten hind limb are weighted with Luck. Allows the wearer to draw one more card during a test of fate BEFORE pushing their luck.

Memory of the Failed Escape

"The undeniable need to get away. To escape. To flee. Undeniable, but unfulfilled."

Curved pieces meeting at jagged edges, and lashed by sinew. Character may Dash as an interrupt action. Disengaging is automatic, and carries no penalty in this specific instance.

Protection of Saint Laika

"The feeling you've done well, paired with unending loneliness. Cold and adrift."

Carved in the shape of a tiny shield, bearing the mark of St. Laika. Provides one unrepairable notch to suffer any blow as though Armor.

Restorative Vengeance

"The knowing that you've been wronged and will continue to be until you show you aren't helpless."

Carved as though a head of an axe, with blade tongues pointing in opposite directions. Felling an enemy heals a Wound.

Reverberations of Echo’s Lore

"Whispering voices echo in your mind, bringing you knowledge to which you should not know."

A small bone, uncarved, though etched with an unknown alphabet. Acts as a needed Motif for a single Lore bid.

Virtue of Spoiled Rations

"The fleeting moment of relief between instances of your stomach being evacuated."

Three toothpick sized slivers, jammed through a pebble sized chunk of astrogris. Automatically clears an Affliction during Rest and Recovery.

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[HMtW] Hilbert Whales and the Tools Used to Harvest Them

Hilbert Whales

Beast Dungeon Lord

Descending from higher Euclidean n-spaces to feed, the Hilbert Whale is a native to the Flesh realm, just a different geometric part of it. Long ago gams* of Hilbert Whales were seen traveling the astral space on a regular basis, but once Wizards learned of the powerful astrogris and stochastaceti all up in their guts, the numbers dwindled from constant harvesting without time allowed for the numbers to repopulate.

Attributes: Swords 8 | Pentacles 0 | Cups 2 | Wands 2

Likes: 8D Krill, the echoing songs off of Minerva Cascade

Hates: Harpoons, Lances, Whalers

Special Rules

• The Whale itself is a big ass creature, consisting of several zones unto itself, each an antagonist: Head, Tail, Body, Left Tentacle Node, Right Tentacle Node.

• Each zone has lesser and greater dooms associated with it. If a particular  zone is disabled, entangled, or defeated, it can no longer use those abilities. 

• Despite having separate pools of HD for each section, Whales have only a single Initiative.

Head

Health/Defense: 4/6

Frontal part with all the thinking bits, hard cranial shell for ramming, and big bitey bites for chomping. If this part is defeated, it is Blind.

Lesser Dooms

• Bite: Usually a filter feeder, it’ll still bite the shit out of you. Doing a big chomp, it makes an Attack and Roots the target on a success, until it opens its mouth again. 

Greater Dooms

• Bile Attack: Feeding on linear causality, it can regurgitate its recent meal as chaos. Forces everyone within a zone to draw from a random maleficence table.

• Swallow: Any foes currently being Bit may be Swallowed. The victim is held in an extra dimensional space composed of higher geometries, until they fall into the whale's stomach. Killing the whale causes it to automatically barf up all swallowed creatures.

• Victims can use the Test Fate actions to test Swords while swallowed. 
• If they succeed 3 times, they make the whale vomit them up. 
• If they fail 3 times, they fall into the whale's stomach and are annihilated. 
• Greater outcomes count as 2 outcomes for free/annihilated purposes.
• Smart ideas may cause the whale to barf up all swallowed creatures.

Left/Right tentacle clusters

Health/Defense: 5/0 (each)

Typically used for feeding, they can also be used for limited defense. Once defeated, these limbs become useless.

Lesser Dooms

• Grab: Roughhouse to attempt to grab a foe. While grabbed, an adventurer is Rooted. 

• While grabbed, a foe can be Squeezed, Thrown, or moved to the mouth for Biting. 

Greater Dooms

• Sweep: A tentacle lashes out, sweeping across the zone. Performs an Attack against everyone in the Zone. 

• Squeeze: Play a greater doom to squeeze all grabbed foes, automatically dealing them a Wound. 

Body

Thick fur covers the body making it extremely hard to injure, but also climbable. If you’re into that. The flippers are located here and, if defeated, it will be unable to steer itself.  

Health/Defense: 6/6

Notes

• Tough. Actions targeting this section must exceed its Initiative. 

Greater Doom

• Ram: With a mighty thrust of its flippers, the whale rushes forward crashing through with its mighty cranial shell. Both Attacks and Roughhouses whatever it crashes into. 

Tail

A bifurcated, Y-finned…uh, tail. Also its primary form of locomotion. Defeating this section causes the beast to be unable to Dash.

Health/Defense: 7/0

Greater Doom

• Thrash: Through a broad sweep, the tail attacks every target in the zone.

Yeah, the front part is more active than the back.

Harvestables

You're not out here butchering these beautiful creatures for nothing. Besides pay. Once you harvest the whale, though, its technically company property, so these reagents will have to be purchased.

Potions: Using the astrogris within the intestines you're able to make a Love potion, which effectively drags anyone experiencing the wearer two positions towards "Admiration" on the Disposition star. 

Bomb: Using the stochastaceti from inside the skull, you make a bomb which forces the target to draw against a random maleficence table as stochastic energies crackle around the area. 

Oil: The blubber of the beast creates one helluva oil. Lanterns burning this whale oil gain an extra flicker, but forever reek of a fishy smell. 

Oil: The astrogris may also be rendered into a frictionless oil that is used to power many magical machines.

Food: Preparing the dark, tender, red meat is possible in multiple ways: steak, sashimi, salt-cured, dried (jerky), or in hot pot dishes. Consuming it, however, swarms with consumer with visions of multiple possible futures, leaving them Stressed. Much like mince pies of the mid-1800's though, the nightmare experience is part of the appeal. 

Wearables**: Whale hide and fur may be made into light armor with 1 extra Notch. 

Tools of the Trade

Harpoon

Harpoons are technically spears: Wooden shaft, metal tip, made for jamming into soft meat bits. Whaling harpoons were much heavier than the war spears, intended not to be thrown and retrieved, but only thrusted into a whale long enough to deliver the barbed iron tip, tied to ropes leading back to the whaling boat. This tied off bard was then used to tire out the whale and keep it in place while it was getting killed by the lance. Technically, it should be a petty officer doing the harpooning, but this is a game, make the players do it. 

Mechanically, the harpoon does 1 damage, as standard. When a harpoon is struck, the thrower is Rooted to the larger creature. If the combined Swords of all harpoon-wielders is greater than the total Health of the larger creature, the creature is Rooted instead. Requires two hands.

Lance

Lances are what did the gruesome killing on a whale. Vicious blades jammed into the vital organs of the tired out whale and jambled around until everything keeping the whale alive stopped working. Technically, this should be a mate or the captain, but this is a game, make the players do it. 

Mechanically, the Whaling Lance does Critical damage to Rooted targets. Requires two hands. 

____________________
* Hold up, hold up, hold up. A pod of whales can also be called a "gam," right? Well, habitual readers will note from the last entry that whalers called their social gatherings "gammings." They named their social gatherings after whale pods. Those dork ass losers. No wonder no one liked them. 

** I could have sworn someone wrote a subsystem for armor crafting in one of the gamejams. Damned if I can find it now, though.

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[HMtW] Encounters Upon the Astral Sea

Whaling Upon an Astral Sea

Some dang fool blorbed an astral whaling ship into their prep, but never reckoned the players would set foot on the Most Interesting Thing. 

The entries are written assuming the Players have taken on as Greenhands (180th lay), unless the character's have relevant failed Careers: Blacksmith (20th lay), Carpenter (120th lay), Cook (120th lay), Cooper (30th lay). If that is the case, then the characters may hire on as an Idle and receive higher pay.  

It's also assumed the environment is more of a Treasure Planet style Etherium, awash in neon magenta and vibrant purples, along with all the oxygen you could ever want to huff down, rather than the cold, cruel void of realistic space.

The Meatgrinder

01. Lanterns Gutter

02. Lanterns Gutter

03. Lanterns Gutter

04. Lanterns Gutter

05. Lanterns Gutter

06. [Curiosity] The deck of the ship begins to become encrusted in salty rime.

07. [Curiosity] The Oldhands, as one, begin to sing a grim sea shanty of lost shores and forgotten loves. 

08. [Curiosity] A lonely dyson sphere has come unmoored and drifts lost and forgotten. 

09. [Curiosity] Out, just on the edge of vision, something red and blinking follows the ship for a watch, before turning off and returning to the eternal night. 

10. [Curiosity] If you strain your ears, you swear you can hear a thin, monotonous whine of accursed flutes drifting upon the solar winds.

11. [Travel Event] A nearby star has gone super nova. The initial gravitational wave has knocked out the helmsman, with other crew, and the coronal mass is rapidly growing closer. If the card is [upright] the former star forms a diffuse nebula, or [reverse] it collapses into a black hole. Which brings it's own set of problems.

12. [Travel Event] The ship passes within view of a galactic void, long thought haunted, and the Oldhands of the crew make a sign of warding. Anyone who doesn't is Stressed by an odd foreboding sense. 

13. [Travel Event] An Oldhand, scarred and grizzled, challenges a character to a wager of Five Finger Fillet. Two options here: test of Pentacles to avoid stabbing yourself, OR letting the player test their skill in the real world (their choice, obviously, and preferably with something safe, but I ain't your momma.) If successful, coin! If unsuccessful, the character takes a Wound as they stab their own hand.

14. [Travel Event] Just off to port, coming from the passing asteroid field, drifts the song of space sirens. Gods, it's enchanting! More and more of the crew are beginning to agree and REALLY want to get over there for a better listen.

15. [Travel Event] Chronowaves wash over the ship, revealing the ghost of a lost Cosmonaut. It largely stands there and screams, head aflame, unable to fully interact with the world around it. The distracting scream causes Disadvantage on tests of Fate aboard the ship until it's dealt with.

16. [Random Encounter] Many cultures interact with the astral space differently. One has sent out an arcane Von Neumann probe, which has attached to the ship and created [characters+1] aggressive copies of itself before setting off again. 

17. [Random Encounter] With colors nailed, a pirate ship sets its eyes on the player's ship. The symbols upon their flag make it clear: there's to be no quarter offered or accepted.

18. [Random Encounter] A comet of burning green ice shoots overhead, dumping [characters] worth of Astro-zombies onto the deck of the ship. 

19. [Random Encounter] A tear in reality reveals a Hilbert Whale returning to Real Space, diving down from a higher dimension to feed. These things are swollen with astrogris and stochastaceti; and are the reason you're out here. 

20. [Random Encounter] From nova's heart I stab at thee! The captain has spotted the white Hilbert Whale and craves their revenge. All current quests and agreements are forgotten, all that matters to the captain is revenge. The captain's commands from here on out should be reckless and endanger everyone.

21. [Quest Rumor] A ship in distress, lulls in the distance to starboard. Convincing the Captain to give aid and succor to the ship allows the adventures to meet a traveling sage who surprisingly knows about the McGuffin the characters are after. 

One day I'll get the patience to put that in a table to make it easier to read. Not today.

New Camp Action: Tattooing

Without devolving into another anti-capitalist rant (which I did half type out), I'll simply state that my brief research suggested that American whaling companies did not often keep maritime tradition, including that of line-crossing and tattooing. But, fuck 'em, this is a game about magically sailing a boat through space to hunt space whales. You're getting tattoos.  

Until I've time to make them into a whole _thing_, they are Advantage in social situations among people who would be impressed by such things (sailors, former sailors, youth dreaming of adventure, etc). 

Getting Paid

Whalers were paid in lays, rather than a wage. These were basically fractions of the profit from the overall voyage, which would return with $35-50K worth of oil. This meant, should a Greenhand not desert over the 2-4 years at sea, they would end the journey with a cool $200 lining their pocket. Assuming they didn't take on any debts with the company, that is. They most likely did.

Game wise, you can just reward the players with 100 gold per whale harvested. OR consult the list if you want to bring in their skills and importance to the ship: 

Greenhand: 100 gold

Blacksmith: 900 gold

Carpenter: 150 gold

Cook: 150 gold

Cooper: 600 gold

If you've got some made up profession important to your "totally serious and need for complete accuracy space whale hunting game" the pay rate equation is ((36000/lay)/2) in gold per whale harvested. 

Gamming

I seem to just be adding in random bits at this point. 

Whalers weren't really liked in maritime social circles. Merchants and Navy folk often saw them as unfit sailors with subpar ships. This was basically true given the company owners cut costs at every turn, would hire anyone, and instructed the captains to encourage desertion on the return trip, so the owners wouldn't have to pay the sailors. Again, turning away from the rant, this didn't exactly breed competency. This in turn caused other sailors not to like being around whalers. So, they had to stick to themselves. 

Gamming was a form of socializing at sea among whaling vessels. Basically when two ships met, they would come together, man and officers mingling ships, to trade gossip and information. Newspapers and gifts were often exchanged. Dances were common. 

Mechanically, what this means, is if another whaling ship is encountered, a modified City action can be taken by the party. If you're gonna go into a whole whaling side adventure.

References

Most of what I learned about whaling came from here. Surprisingly interesting. I have learned too much about whaling to ever be happy again. 

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the Skull Hawker

The call starts simple enough, piercing the eternal silence of the Dungeon: 

"HEY"

Echoing so close, it can easily be mistaken for something someone in the party said. A sudden outburst in a place like this is not unheard of, and no shame to all but the most hardened adventurer. There would be no judgement.

"HEY? HEY!" 

This time slightly further away. Or perhaps behind. Certainty, now, that it is not one of the party. Yet, no other light source burns in the immediate area. What poor soul could be trapped down here with no light source? Soon the answer becomes all too obvious.

"YOU WANNA BUY A SKULL?"

the Skull Hawker

     [Travel Event] 

S 0 | P 0 | C 0 | W 1
H/D 1/0
Likes: Skulls, Haggling
Hates: Bright light, Slime

Scuttling from the darkness and every tight space in the general area, 10 + [discard value] leathery cephalopods, knee high to the average human and wearing skulls for shells, swarm the player characters, babbling away as they do so. 

"BUY? SKULL? YOU BUY!"

These creatures wish no ill will to the PCs, the opposite actually. They wish to provide the adventurers with the highest quality skulls possible. For a price of course. 

Barking and babbling, they'll call out various prices while showing off the various skulls they carry with them, just in case of a sale. Trouble is, they neither understand currency nor haggling. They sure as hell love it though. To the point they'll even begin swapping between themselves and the players, should the bastards get their fervor up. Should the players seem not interested in buying, the Hawkers will naturally see if they're interested in selling. 

"SKULLS HERE. GET YA SKULLS. ONLY ONE PREVIOUS OWNER! LIKE NEW!"

 Now, by themselves, they ain't much of a threat. They just want to buy and sell their skull collections. That's it. The problem comes with how damn loud they are, and the fact they refuse to take 'No' as an answer. Seemingly incapable of speaking quieter than a scream, they generate a huge racket, drawing the interest of any nearby dungeon horror. That, paired with encircling the players almost instantly, could spell trouble. 

"HEY BUDDY. I'LL GIVE YOU A GOLD FOR YOUR SKULL! YOU SELLING?"

Mechanically, this means that until the Skull Hawkers are convinced to go away, anything that would need peace and quiet, or extended concentration, automatically fails. Attempts at being stealthy are right out. When pulling from the Meatgrinder, pull twice, as both events happen at the same time. (Except for two instances of [Torches Gutter] being drawn at once. Just do it once.) 

"BUYING? BUY! SELL! 30 GOLD! YOU GIVE."

Now, why are they doing all this? It's sort of a cargo cult situation, really. Ever since their home, the Underworld, opened up to the surface, those damned surface dwellers have been coming down here to die. But why? The Hawkers are attempting to figure that out. Finding so many corpses of adventurers, the Hawkers' greatest minds examined them in detail, as they pulled on their beards and scratched their chins in deep thought. Eventually, a pattern was realized; there were almost always two things on the found bodies: coins and skulls. Surely these had to be related. Surely the surface dwellers valued these things. Why else would they bring them down here to be buried with? Thus, Hawker society suddenly formed a Merchant class, one that was immediately sent out to worship and barter with these Surfacers.

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[HMtW] Cybernetics for the Worm

 
Some time ago I had been working on a cyberpunk hack of His Majesty the Worm I had been calling "A COMPUTER CAN NEVER BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE" - named after the page from the 1979 IBM training manual. My main motivation for it was the chance at releasing the hack before the actual game itself. Had years to work on it. But, like most poor decisions in my life, I was talked out of it and grew bored of the joke. 

I figured I may as well share the augments for it. 

"Where are the prices?" 

Never got that far. 

Changes to the Base System 
     The intention was to cut out the middle man of charging the Bonds and holding onto the points until a Camping phase, where they become Resolve. Instead, "Charging a Bond" automatically restores a point of Resolve. The hope here is that role play is brought to the forefront and used to power the augments repeatedly. The augments were then changed to not use Resolve, but I still liked the removal of the extra step.

Installation
     Capitalism forces the Worker to sell their body far below its value, then simply replaces them when said body begins to fail. With the invention of the cybernetic augmentations, the Capitalist is now able to sell replacement parts for the broken Worker, keeping them further in debt and producing surplus value they’ll never take part in. 

At first, the cybernetics were simply a prosthetic medical device, replacing lost limbs with neural feedback capable robotic replicas. With each additional iteration, however, came further and further functionality. Then, one day, it happened. A line was crossed: Someone took the leap of replacing perfectly functional organic parts with the newest in cybernetic. 

From there, it was a short matter of time until certain augments were required to stay a prospect in the job market. Or even functional in your day-to-day. Due to this, everyone is assumed to have had a Vivo/Silico  Interface modulation device (VSI) installed in their head during childhood, which is the time the organic neural network is still plastic enough to adapt to the presence of the VSI implant. The VSI comes with one external data port and is easily upgradeable to account for interfaced augments. 

(Design note: The VSI implant is manufactured by and purchased from one of the four major corporations: SWORDS Weapons Technologies; PENTACLES Biomedical; CUPS Research Limited; WANDS International Industries. The chosen brand would relate to the character's Path. Nothing of importance to Note here, just showing you what a clever boy I am.) 

The Augments
More would be needed for an actual game, but these are what I had listed out. 

Biomonitor Beacon - Not really useful for you, but anyone attempting First Aid on you, while using AR, receives Favor on their attempt. Also allows your teammates to see, and take In Character, your current Status. Not that anyone was terribly worried about that anyway. 

Boltagon Modulator - There's modulating your voice, then there's weaponizing it. Specialize audio equipment lodged in your throat allows you to spend a Resolve and play a card to Roughhouse (Deafen) a target, or Notch a target object. By yelling at it. 

Brain Box - Your skull has been encased in a titanium webbed mesh, embedded with a micro life support system, and an explosive ejection system at the base of your neck. Upon reaching (and marking) Death's Door, the Brain Box explodes from your body, rocketing off to a presumed 'safe' location, and begins emitting a locator beacon. The system contains power for 24 hours of operation once activated. The Deluxe version is gold plated and includes psychoactive chemicals and a solitaire program, to entertain the user until recovery. 

Bright Eyes - Overcharged LEDs are hidden among the VSI status lights in your irises. By spending a Resolve and playing a card on your action, you may Roughhouse (Blind) a target who you’re currently Engaged with.

Drone Control Unit - Shares a single, specially connected drone's sensory data with the user. Commands to the drone still require CUPS, but it can be done so without a remote or physically speaking. An additional unit(s) allows for an additional drone(s) to be controlled. 

Embedded Weapon - Box off an inventory slot and add a single handed weapon to it. This weapon is now jammed inside your forearm and immune to Disarming. The weapon does not need a hand to be “carried,” but it does need a hand to be “used.”

Extra Arm - You gain an extra hand slot, +50% to armor costs for the customization, and weird looks from people you meet on the street. 

Hand Grenade - Why yes, I am going to continue to make this joke. In a moment of desperation, or boredom, you may detach the hand and use it as a grenade (attacking everyone in the zone). Obviously, it's consumed on use and you're out of a hand slot until replaced.

Internal Communication Device - Modern day version of the phone. Installed in your head with a translucent display under a pupil, and an indicator light in your iris, you've but to concentrate on a contact and the device will dial their number, allowing for communication without speech. Additional user interface is provided through tongue gestures. 

Internal Gyroscope - You've got yourself a gyroscope jammed in your chest cavity. What's it doing in there? Spinning. Constantly. Keeping you upright. Gain the motif "Internally Gyroscoped." 

Knowing Port - Allows the use of Knowledge Chips (one per port) and making Lore bids against the subject contained on them. Usually installed just behind an ear, next to the data port.

Overclocked Muscles - Your muscle meat has been spliced with gorilla DNA, soaked in growth hormones, and bound by carbon fiber reinforced tendons, allowing you to perform incredible feats of strength. Gain the motif "Overclocked Muscles" and +50% armor price, as it now has to be tailored to fit over your massive muscles.

Speech Encryption - By two (or more) players spending Resolve, the characters may now speak in what any outside observer interrupts only as babble. To each other though, the speech is completely understandable and, through quantum bullshit, completely secure. Activation lasts an entire scene, and characters may slip in and out of the encryption when speaking to/around people without the augment. 

Sub-dermal Armor - Block off an inventory slot and mark it “Armor.” This inventory slot may now be wounded as if it was armor. Because it is, and must be Repaired in the same manner, though checking all the notches doesn't destroy it like normal armor. 

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[HMtW] Ranged Weapons in HMtW

Josh R.R. Worm wanted to know my thoughts on firearms in His Majesty the Worm on the Discord. While I missed most of the discussion (I am bad at Discord), I figured I should get down the ideas I toyed with for a now abandoned cyberpunk hack. 

While not everything is a perfect representation of real life, that's honestly alright. His Majesty ain't a combat sim. A lead bullet gets inside steel plate armor, it's gonna bounce around inside, grinding up the meat into a big damn mess that's certainly more than "one damage." Armor is assumed to be at the 'tech level' due to this.

Antiquity

Alchemical Bomb - As the book (pg 235). They're basically single target grenades. 

Bow - As the book. Gain access to the Aim action. 

Crossbow - As the book. All attacks deal Piercing damage.

Greek Fire - Probably called something else in a setting without a Greece. The mysterious liquid within the fragile container sets the target on Fire and damages them every round unless they take time to Recover by putting out the flames. 

Slings - Two cords attached to a pouch, used for slinging small almond shaped stones called bullets (12 bullets to a pouch/slot; sling and bullets take up one slot together).  Due to the construction of the sling, it may be used as a melee weapon for any target engaged with the slinger, but suffers a notch each time and you're still considered 'unarmed'. Bullets can be restored via the Fletch Arrows camp action.

Industrial

While the conversation moved on, hours before I showed up, rules for powdered weapons over at Pastel Dungeon were shared.  I tell ya, they're pretty solid, and I will be stealing borrowing a few. In pirate themed dice based games, I always had the flintlocks do a huge amount of damage, but take so long to reload that doing so in combat wasn't worth it. This led to the good image of the pirates wearing bandoleers of pistols, each firing a single shot and dropping it, until it was time for swords. (Buying multiple pistols also ate through their gold, another plus.)

Usage of powder weapons requires powder (usually stored in a horn) and a shot bag (12 shots per bag, to keep the count constant). OR these are required to generate paper cartridges during the Fletch Arrows camp action, which in turn are used as ammo. Either way, if the powder gets wet it's useless. If the powder catches on fire, it explodes. Additionally, the quickest (practiced, well trained) reload of a powdered weapon is about 20 seconds, or roughly 3 rounds. It's a damn stretch your little dude could do it, but if you're so insistent, I'll not stop you: Reloading takes 3 rounds of miscellaneous actions, you masochist.

Musket - All attacks do Piercing damage AND you gain access to the Aim action. Takes up 2 slots. 

Pistol - All attacks do Piercing damage. Unlike most missile weapons, they do not offer attackers Favor against you in melee combat. Requires 3 rounds to reload - but again, why bother? 2 pistols can be stacked into 1 slot (it's called a Brace). 

Powder Grenade - Iron spheres packed with powder and fitted with slow burning fuses. While the lit bomb doesn't go off until the next round, it Attacks every target in the Zone. (Place the card as you would a Riposte or Dodge, but face up) Consumed on use, obviously.

Modern

This is where most of my thinking set, given the cyberpunk nonsense I go on about. A major difference is that given the improvements in modern armor, guns lose their Piercing properties. Though, each one does gain the Aim action, and, typically, reloading is a Miscellaneous action after 12 shots (just to keep that number consistent.) Note: I'm still measuring things in HMtW Zones here, but would advise using meters should a cyberpunk hack actually be wanted.

Flame Thrower - One of the most horrific things mankind has created. Belches out a flame so hot that it not only ignites the target, doing damage to them until they Recover, but also heating up their bones enough that they continue to cook after the flames are gone (does 1 more damage the round after Recovery). On the other hand, you are wearing a tank full of combustible gas: Should the flamethrower suffer 2 notches, the tank explodes, taking you with it. Takes up 2 slots, requires 2 hands. 

Grenades - Each attacks everyone in the Zone and is consumed on use. ("But Wayspell, ain't the effective casualty radius of a grenade around 15 meters? What if the Zone is smaller than that?" Welcome to shrinkflation, I guess. Seems not even the weapons industry is immune to it.) Does not gain the Aim action, but does go off this round, unlike the Powder Grenade. 

Pistols - Using your free hand to steady your shooting hand, modern pistols qualify for the Two-Handed Focus. Also, does not allow melee attacks against you to take Favor. 1 slot each. 

• Gunkata Pistol - I know you were thinking it; I certainly was. Look, despite the name, regular pistols aren't made for pistol whipping. It fucks 'em up. Now _these_ special pistols have been reinforced to withstand improper usage, as well as contain hidden metal prongs in the grips, for when you really need to club the shit out of someone. With a gun.

Rifles - Where the bow allows you to attack 2 zones over, the improved accuracy of rifles increases this range to 3 zones. Additionally, a standardized rail integration system allows for attachments, adding various options to your weapon. 2 slots, 2 hands.

• Chainsaw - Hell yeah brother, let's fucking goooooo. You Notch anything you jam this bad boy into. 
• Bayonet - You now have a Dagger on the end of your rifle, with all that that implies.
• Flamer - It's a mini flamethrower, though it needs to be reloaded with a new canister after every usage.
• Flashlight - Makes light, allowing you to shine it on things. 
• Net Launcher - Launches a net that Roots the target. 

Shotguns - Why aim when you can just pull the trigger? Provides Favor when shooting at a target within your zone. (If you're using meters, rather than zones, "Attacks two adjacent targets at the same time" would also be an acceptable ability) An idea is stirring that there might be enough tactical difference with a Sawed Off, but my brain is too sleepy at the moment. I'll let you make it. 2 slots, 2 hands.

Future

Oh, boy, that's a huge can o' worms, ain't it? It really depends on what sort of future you're going for. The 2179 of Star Trek looks a hell of a lot different than the 2179 of Alien. Adding magic in there? Even more different. What's listed is applied to Modern weapons (mainly Pistols and Rifles) and include the traits inherited from them.

Blaster - Fires a bolt of particle beam energy, doing Piercing damage in the process. Powered by power packs, kept 2 to a slot. 

Dissolvo Ray - Shoots out a green laser beam while going 'whom whom whom whom.' Bestows 2 Notches objects hit by it. 

Grenades - Paired with a targeting headset (worn on the Helm slot), the grenades automatically teleport from your inventory to the designated location, detonating upon arrival. 

Magneto - The gun has two buttons: "Attract" which Disarms targets of anything metal, and "Repel" which fires a chaotic mass of assorted metal objects at a target that's about to have a really bad day.

Neural Disruptor - Overloads the target's brain meat for a moment, leaving them Stunned and draining a point of Lore. 

Phaser - Generates a harmful beam of light, but is adjustable between 2 settings: Stun and Combat, the later doing normal damage. 

All the Damn Grenades I Came Up With

At one point I had these listed with the grenade sections, but that was getting too specific for HMtW's weapon categories. But I liked them. So they're here now. 

• Anti-Magic - This game is magical after all. Must remember that. The grenade fills the Zone with iron particles, enough that breathing hurts and magic is disrupted. 
• Expanding Foam - Used in riot control situations. Roots the target(s) in an expanding and rapidly hardening foam.  
• Flash Bang - Both Blinds and Deafens the target(s).
• Knockout Gas - I'm sure you can guess.
• Light - Golden egg looking thing with the words "Pick Me Up" embossed on the side. Once armed, anyone picking it up is Destroyed.
• Micro Black Hole - Look, my cyberpunk gets weird occasionally. Trips the target(s) as they're dragged towards the quickly evaporating gravitational anomaly. 
• Micro White Hole - Displaces the target(s) out of the Zone as they're repealed by the quickly evaporating theoretical gravitational anomaly.
• Quantum Maleficence - Probability weaponized and canned. On detonation, it briefly opens a portal to a Far Realm, flooding the area with Maleficence. 
• Silence - More of an aggressive noise cancelling speaker, generating the counter wave to whatever noise it detects. Effectively, and awkwardly, Silences the area. 
• Stun - A lower strength (and cheaper) version of the Flash Bang. Stuns the target(s).
• Tear Gas - Technically a war crime. One that the American police force has no problem committing against the population, all the while collecting overtime. Shrouds the target(s), but anyone starting their turn in the cloud of gas is Exhausted.

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[HMtW] Using Divination to Generate a Character

 

In His Majesty the Worm, character creation is simple enough: 5 multi-stepped steps for, if you've a character in mind, quickly getting up and going. 

But, what if you've no specific character in mind? Well, the game uses tarot cards. Just divine a character using said cards. Here's how!

Using Divination to Generate a Character

The idea is fairly straight forward: instead of using your brain meat to come up with a character, layout eleven cards from the players deck in the pattern shown below, then consult the charts. It can be further expanded to include random gear generation, but it'll need some adjusting and additional gear descriptions to make the math work. Basically, it'll take longer than I was looking to on this thing. I'll circle back to it.

The Spread

1. This is your Kith (Human, Fay, Underworld, Orc)
2. This is your Kin, basically for selecting a subtype of Kith. For humans, it doesn't matter, but regions have been provided for role playing purposes. 
3. This is your major attribute. The suit of the card determines which attribute a 4 is placed to.
4. This is your secondary attribute. The suit of the card determines which attribute a 3 is placed to. If the suit of the card is already in use, then look at the value. If even, move to the Right along the chain (Swords-Pentacles-Cups-Wands) until an unused suit is found. If odd, move to the Left.
5. This is your minor attribute. It determines your weakest attribute, in which you'll place a 1. I'm going to leave you guessing as to where to put the 2. Think as hard as you can. You got this.
6. This is your first motif. Card A represents the descriptor, and Card B represents the profession.
7. This is your second motif. Card A represents the descriptor, and Card B represents the profession.

8. This is your third motif. Card A represents the descriptor, and Card B represents the profession.

Kith and Kin

Motifs

Example

In case you can't read off my poorly lit floor: 

1. 3 of Swords              6.A 8 of Cups                       8.A 4 of Wands

2. 6 of Cups                 6.B 6 of Pentacles                8.B 9 of Cups

3. Ace of Cups             7.A Knight of Pentacles

4. 10 of Swords           7.B 10 of Pentacles

5. Ace of Swords         

1. Taking a Kith and Kin of Swords/Cups, we see this is a Human from the East. 

2. With Cups being the Major attribute, it gets assigned a 4 and becomes the adventurer's Path

3. Swords gets assigned a 3. A book nerd with a pension for violence.

4. With Swords already in use, and the card here being odd (Ace = 1), we shift suits to the Left, bringing us to Wands. With a Wands of 1, this person isn't terribly magically inclined. 

5. At first they were a Silent Friar. There's that book learning during quiet contemplation.

6. Then they made their way as a Numb Hunter. Looks like there was trouble at the monastery. 

7. But now wander as a Twisted Raider

Meet Licinius, a human from the eastern lands (Swords 3 | Pentacles 2 | Cups 4 | Wands 1). They were, once, long ago, a Friar bound by a vow of silence, who spent their time learning and reflecting on the creations of Mithras. That was until the Orc raiders came, and sacked the monastery for its idols and shiny bits. Being the only survivor, they attempted to hunt down the twisted Orc raiders for revenge, becoming what they hated in the process. Rumor has it the leader of the Orc raiders has taken the monastery's prized marble Mithras statue as a trophy, deep within the Underworld. Are you a bad enough dude to retrieve the statue?

Make up a House name and words, pick a mastered skill, and grab some gear. Simple. 

The longest part of the process was finding my tarot deck and trying to figure out how to take a decent picture. I failed at both, but the task still got done.  

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