• Download: Tempora Mutantur (Alt Core Rules)

Adventuring Skills and Saving Throws are different than the standard rules.

So – which version do you prefer?

(Cross-posted from the Dwarven Glory gameblog.)

I’m looking for feedback from others. One thing that bugged me about the last Dwarven Glory game session related to skill checks – there really wasn’t much difference between the classes (at least until high level).

I like the idea of generalist characters in Tempora Mutantur, but not so much for Dwarven Glory, so I’m considering the following rule changes:

• In Dwarven Glory, each character receives a +3 bonus to their class skill.
• In Tempora Mutantur, a character receives a +1 bonus to each skill.

At least for Dwarven Glory, this would kind of replicate the rules for Saving Throws – which tempts me to switch to a single Saving Throw, like in Swords & Wizardry. And maybe define it as a Target Number, instead of using the Target 20 mechanic…

Anyhow, I thought I was done with tinkering with the Core Rules and am looking for advice from anyone who’s played these minimalist rules.

• Download: Tempora Mutantur Character Cards

The basic look is taken from artikid’s designs, with clipart swiped from Mutant Epoch.

Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

On Saturday, November 26th, I had the good fortune to run both a Tabletop game and a Play-by-Skype session of Tempora Mutantur. Here is a brief (and deliberately evasive) session log of the evening Skype game…

In previous sessions, a group of PCs set off from Crestone to locate the tribe of Crow-that-Dances. Richard the Tainted and Silent Jack were stationed at the Farmyard; while Crow, Gunnar, and Zieser Three-Arm located and befriended Crow’s tribe, which had been attacked by “metal men” and retreated further into the Forest of Eyes.

The Skype game was broken into two segments; in the first, Professor Dogface learned of the events at the Farmyard. In the second, the other PCs discovered the source of the mysterious radio transmissions.

The Tale of Professor Dogface

Day 1: The Professor set out with the Eden colonists, then turned towards the Farmyard by mid-day.

At the Farmyard, Richard and Jack fought a pair of quill cats. Richard slew one in a single blow, and its mate fled after being unable to pierce the PC’s armour.

Day 2: After spending the night on the open plains, Professor Dogface locates the Farmyard and joins Richard and Jack.

Day 3: Late in the night Zieser returns, with news of dire happenings (see below).

Day 4: Zieser rests at the Farmyard.

Day 5: Zieser leaves at dawn, heading to Lau.

Day 6: Will be the subject of a future game session…

The Tale of Zieser Three-Arm

Day 1: After an evening of tribal celebrations; Crow, Gunnar, and Zieser set off overland from the Forest of Eyes towards the source of the Radio Transmissions.

Day 2: The PCs locate heaps of rocks and rubble, forming a ‘crater’ at the site of the radio signals. Zieser remains concealed behind a concrete plinth, while Crow and Gunnar climb the hills to spy on events within. Zieser watches them from a safe distance.

In the mid-afternoon, Zieser loses sight of the scouts. Later, he hears gunshots in the nearby plains. Zieser remains in his hidden location overnight.

Day 3: In the early morning, Zieser spots brilliant flashes of light in the plains a mile or two away. He then observes a large humanoid figure, heavily laden, trudging towards the ‘crater’.

Searching the plains, Zieser discovers signs of battle and the charred remains of Crow. Crow’s possessions lay strewn about, all smashed, except for his high-tech gear (which is missing) and the Ancient bow (which was on the ground a short distance from the battle site). There is no sign of Gunnar or his equipment.

Zieser immediately sets off southward, towards the Farmyard and Lau. In the nearby badlands, he nearly falls victim to a Mutant Scorpion’s sting, but manages to flee. Pushing through the night, he reaches the Farmyard before daybreak.

Day 4: Zieser rests at the Farmyard.

Day 5: Zieser travels southward, camping in the open plains.

Day 6: Zieser returns to Lau and provides an update on his explorations. Expedition Control interprets the events as hostile intent on the part of the Metal Men, and prepares for the worst – an eventual attack upon Lau. Zieser is invited to join the defenders at the gates of Lau.

Meanwhile, Logan arrives from Crestone, with news of the Eden Prairie colonists.

Day 7: Will be the subject of a future game session…

On Saturday, November 26th, I had the good fortune to run both a Tabletop game and a Play-by-Skype session of Tempora Mutantur. Here is a session log of the afternoon tabletop game…

In previous sessions, Steckel had previously been identified as a descendent of Paul Bachman, one of the members of Habicorb’s board of directors. The central computer of the Eden Praire Vault Complex had agreed to let Steckel and his direct family access to the restored module known as the “Roach Motel”. The elders of Lau have condoned a slow, cautious establishment of a ‘satellite vault’ at Eden Prairie; and Steckel’s father and three siblings are to become the first four permanent ‘colonists’.

Day 1: Steckel, Sawney, and Charlie Roxx ventured overland with the colonists (Professor Dogface joined them for part of the day, before splitting off to head towards the Farmyard).

Day 2: After their forced march, the group was exhausted and spent the next day resting at Crestone.

Day 3: The following morning, they radioed Eden Prairie to inform them of their arrival in two days and began preparing the Damnation Minivan. During these preparations, four cybernetic humanoids appeared and advanced menacingly directly towards the Crestone parkade. Steckel managed to initiate a peaceful parley with the creatures (!), who proclaimed themselves scouts for the ‘Enclave’. “Do not judge us by our appearance. The true inhabitants of the Enclave are human!”

When asked, Steckel stated that his community was populated by pure-strain humans and claimed that Crestone was their home. They also revealed that they had been “tracking your radio communications”.

The cyborgs requested “diplomatic negotiations between your people and the Enclave” and stated that “an emissary from the Enclave will arrive for discussions”. Steckel requested four days to prepare (enough time to drop colonists off at Eden Prairie then return), and the cyborgs agreed. After final preparations, the group set off towards Eden with Lucas driving the Damnation Minivan.

They reached Fort Bart, and informed Bartholemew Powell of recent events. Leaving Lucas and the minivan behind, the remaining party members continued eastwards, into the forest. There, they ran into multiple colonies of Hangman Trees and Steckel’s father was slain.

Back at the Fort, Bart and Lucas scared off a trio of Night Goats (killing one) before being knocked unconscious by Psychic Bats (attracted by the gunshots during battle) and drained of much of their blood.

All in all, an eventful day.

Day 4: Exhausted and grieving for their loss, the PCs and colonists reached Eden Prairie. The colonists blamed their brother Steckel for the death of their father, and were generally sulky and ungrateful.

Back at Fort Bart, Lucas developed a serious fever and drifted in and out of consciousness. Bart, though weakened, did not become ill and worked to restore Lucas to health.

Day 5: The PCs turned back towards Crestone, leaving Charlie Roxx at Eden and taking Mariah with them instead (fresh from the regen tanks). Reaching the forest late in the day, they attempted a different route but ran into Hangman Tree groves yet again. They got pretty good at running away. Then they ran into a floating Fungal Polyp which charmed Sawney and Mariah while attacking Steckel. Luckily, they were able to break out of their confusion before Steckel was bludgeoned to a pulp (though he was unconscious, concussed, and bleeding badly) and defeat the mutant abomination.

Dragging the injured Steckel, Sawney and Mariah made it back late in the evening to Fort Bart. By this time Lucas still had a high fever, and the bat bites were swollen and red, but was sleeping peacefully. And all the good medical gear was used up, leaving nothing for Steckel.

Day 6: With their regular driver still very sick, the party got somewhat lost while navigating the Damnation Minivan back to Crestone. Bart returned with the others, to tend to Lucas and Steckel and because he was curious about the Enclave ‘emissary’. Beaten and bruised, the PCs reached Crestone in the early afternoon.

Day 7: Will be the subject of a future game session…

(I’ve got fragments of some new rule supplements, but have had trouble finishing them up so I’ll post them here. This one is swiped from Darwin’s World.)

Mass-driving weapons are advanced weapons that operate on a simple principle – an electro-magnetic force is used to drive a mass to dangerously high velocities to punch through armour, metal, tissue, whatever. Such weapons are a bridge between traditional ballistic weapons and energy weapons – they fire ballistic missiles but require an energy charge or field to build up the required force. Mass-drivers are almost universally known as “gauss weapons”.

Gauss weapons use specially-alloyed flechette projectiles as well as power from an e-clip source when fired. Gauss weapons can fire improvised ammunition (any small, magnetic metal fragments), but will only inflict half damage. Special armour-penetrating depleted uranium (DU) rounds are also available.

Mass-Driver Weapons Table

¹ Half damage from improvised ammunition.
² Roll 1d6; out of ammo on 1-3, drained e-clip on 4-6.

Gauss Carbine: The gauss carbine is a miniaturized version of the mass-driving rifle, though it still requires two hands to use effectively. It was a common weapon among troops of the North American Combine prior to the Fall.

Gauss Battle Rifle: Developed from generations of mass driving weapons, the “modern” gauss rifle incorporates a larger and longer barrel than earlier models (permitting more rails, and thus increased momentum of the flechettes) and more reliable magnetic generators that reduce the risk of instability and explosion to almost nothing.

Gauss Auto-Gun: This huge “railgun” is an advanced anti-tank weapon. Primarily used to defeat armour and armoured vehicles, its gauss flechettes pierce armour extraordinarily well. It must be supported by a tripod or mounted on a vehicle to be used effectively.

DU Ammo: Used to overcome heavy armour, gauss rounds made from depleted uranium (DU) function like a normal projectiles except that they ignore up to 1 point of Damage Resistance when used with a gauss carbine, 2 points DR with a gauss rifle, and 3 points DR with a gauss auto-gun. Value: 100 TU.

UPDATE 20-Nov-11: I’ll keep reposting this whenever there’s a new response from Methuselah.

Within a regeneration pod in the Eden Prairie Vault Complex, a shrunken and wizened form clings to life. More than a century old, the life of this man (nicknamed ‘Methuselah’) has been sustained for decades only by high-tech medical assistance. His metabolism is reduced to a crawl, but he can still communicate – s l o w l y – with others. The Central Computer of Eden Prairie must process and translate for Methuselah, but it is possible for the PCs to converse – if given enough time.

In the last Play-by-Skype session, the party spent several days jury-rigging a damaged regeneration tank. During this time, the following conversation took place:

• Methuselah: “Who are you?”
• PCs: (PCs introduce themselves and provide a description. The Eden Prairie Central Computer summarizes.) “Friends from the surface world.”
• Methuselah: “Where are you from?”
• PCs: “Another Habicorp vault named Lau.”
• Methuselah: “There are survivors on the surface?”
• PCs: “Yes.”

At this point in the conversation, three of the PCs (Bart, Steckel, and Sawney) returned to Lau. Xavier, Mariah, and Jest remained at Eden Prairie.

I’d like to run further discussions with the Methuselah as a Play-by-Comment session, one sentence per day.

Please view the comments for the ongoing conversation…

(I’ve got fragments of some new rule supplements, but have had trouble finishing them up so I’ll post them here. This one is swiped from Darwin’s World.)

Well-known in science fiction long before they actually became viable weapons, energy weapons were a natural evolution of the advanced military science of the Ancients.

Weapons of this type, widely used before the Fall, act to generate and concentrate powerful energy to incinerate, disintegrate, or otherwise destroy opponents. Energy weapons solved the problem of varying calibers and munitions types by utilizing the universal e-clip, making them infinitely more useful in those days.

Laser weapons work by colliding lasing atoms with electrically accelerated electrons within an active medium. The maser is basically a “microwave laser”, and was cheaper and easier to produce. Ion weapons generate a powerful electro-magnetic pulse which is incredibly damaging to robots.

Energy Weapons Tables

¹ Against non-robots, ion weapons only inflict 1 die of damage.

Laser Pistol: The laser pistol was designed for military service and is a rugged, reliable weapon. They were common as sidearms for military personnel – especially officers – in the years preceding the Fall.

Laser Rifle: The laser rifle was the standard weapon of the North American Combine armed forces before the Fall. Like all lasers, it is extremely precise and accurate.

Pulse Rifle: The pulse laser rifle is modified to fire pulses of laser light in the manner of a fully automatic weapon. When fired in pulse mode, The character can make two attacks (at -2/-2) and can pick which roll to use.

(This is not the same as two separate attacks; it’s a “roll twice, drop lowest” game mechanic!)

Maser Pistol: Simply a scaled-down version of the maser rifle, the pistol has a smaller energy capacitor and reduced magnetron tube. Such weapons were actually quite widespread as civilian and police sidearms during the final years of the Fall.

Maser Rifle: The maser rifle was designed as a low-cost replacement to the standard battlefield laser weapon and was adopted by many foreign forces. A relatively light weapon, the maser rifle has a folding stock (usually made of aluminum).

Ion Blaster: Weapons of this type were rush-developed during the Fall due to increasing numbers of robots and androids in the fighting armies. Ion blasters are largely ineffective against living creatures.

Ion Cannon: A large and bulky weapon, the ion cannon is strong enough to cause extreme damage to electronic, cybernetic, and robotic targets. Note that this includes targets wearing power armour.

Well, it’s a bit late but here is another session report. On Saturday 22-Oct-11, I ran a short Play-by-Skype game. Moses played three PCs – Crow, Gunnar, and Zieser. Richard and Silent Jack also joined the group as far as the abandoned farmyard.

Crow’s Diary entry (below) will serve as the session log for this adventure. XP awards and referee notes from me will be added as comments.

Well I am home. I have been gone about five or six weeks and though I returned with important news for the tribe I am happy to see my tribe and my family. However my return was not what I expected, due to the metalmen.

It took three days to find my people and them I had to convince them that the people (Gunnar and Zieser) who I brought with me were safe. This was vary disturbing as while it is not normal for visitors to come to the tribe but for a member to almost attack the visitors and the tribe member who vouched for them was surprising to say the least. All this anger came from the fact that the tribe had been ambushed by the metalmen and twelve were killed. There was no distinction made for children or women. Evidently the tribe barely escaped with as few of losses as they did. One of the people who was killed was the second wife of Rauch, the person who was being the most threatening and antagonistic towards both me and Gunnar. However a cooler head prevailed and after asking Rauch why he was trying to start a fight. I had vouched for my friends after all. After a few tense minutes Rouch explained what had happened. He was acting out because of his grief.

The three of us spent a great deal of time just relaxing and answering questions. Though it took longer than I thought it would the tribe and the tribal leaders finally accepted my companions as friends and we were given a celebration to honour my return and their visit. Though I must say I was worried that some in the tribe might try to take advantage of my companions inebriation and that there might be some… difficulty. (It had already been suggested that the tribe just TAKE Gunnar and Zieser’s gear and use the bodies for fertilizer. The idea went nowhere thankfully.)

While we were in the forest looking for the tribe we almost became food for a hangman tree. I was not paying attention (again) and we got to the trunk before I realized my mistake, as it was Gunnar was hurt rather severely. Also my friends were made quite nervous because the trees have eyes and followed us with their eyes. The trees where they live do not have eyes. I feel sorry for those trees. How are they supposed to watch over their forest if they cannot see???

I think that we will be going to scout out the metalmen to try and ascertain exactly what they are up to and what their strength is. Hopefully we will also be able to find more treasure, because while it is nice to be treated with the respect that I have been shown and asked to stay with the tribe I am not ready to stop exploring the outside world.
I must say that I still do not understand why the elders do not listen to the words of their explorers, this confuses me. I suppose I can understand why they do not want them to go back into the city, but to send them out to learn about the outside world and then not listen to them because they have the Creep change is just incomprehensible to me. If we are to have any dealings with this city we must tread VERY carefully and it might be in the tribe’s best interest to interact with the people who live in Crestone city instead of Lau.

I feel I must make some mention of Richard and his absence from my homecoming. As we were returning to Lau we came across a old silo on an abandoned farmsite near the road we were traveling. Now the silo is not in the best of shape, and it is a little ways away from Crestone, but it is right on the way to where we discovered the metalmen. Now as the metalmen expand to threaten Lau, and I am certain they will, they will have to go past this silo. If Lau were to put small garrison there the metalmen would be forced to deal with it before attacking Crestone or Lau. I made mention to both Gunnar and Richard that it would be wise for someone to make this silo into a fort. It would not only slow down any invaders but it could be a way station for travellers; a place to take refuge from rad storms etc.

Well Richard was very upset with that thinking. He felt that he was being forced to be alone and that his friends along with his home/family (Lau) were abandoning him because he had the Creep. While I admit that my reasoning for bringing up the topic was because of him and in a roundabout way was because he was Creep afflicted, but it had nothing to due with his BEING Creep changed but more HOW the Creep changed him. He is SLOW and can not move vary fast. I was hoping that he would think of making the silo his home and that it would be a good all on his own, but he saw through my ruse and it really hurt his feelings. I think he was feeling abandoned by everyone and it almost caused me a friend. In the end he agreed to stay, as long as Silent Jack accompanied him. As I continue my walkabout I need to learn to be more delicate with sensitive subjects.

Richard is a vary good fighter and has survived the wilds for many years. Fortunately he came to realize that being the tower keeper he was playing to his strengths and could worry less about slowing a party down because he drew a bad creep card. He will be a friend to the tribe and he will be invaluable to the defense of both Crestone and Lau.

Last weekend I ran another Eden Prairie game. Moses and Ian played six PCs (Bart and Xavier, Steckel and Mariah, and Sawney and Jest).

Bart’s Diary entry (below) will serve as the session log for this adventure. XP awards and referee notes from me will be added as comments.

Well friends I am back at Ft. Bart, it has been a busy couple weeks and I and the rest of the group learned much. Steckel, I am pleased to say is fit-as-a-fiddle. The machine that he was put in fixed even his old scars. Though he was a bit loopy for a hour or so after being released. He said that he felt like he had been interrogated by something while he was under, but he has only hazy memories.

It was determined by the computer that Steckel is a distant descendant of Paul Bachman – a member of the Habicorb Board of Directors. This explains some of the computer’s actions. After being ‘healed’ Steckel was able to get the computer to agree to let a few (ten or less) people from Lau to move in the pod, which has been dubbed – the Roach Motel. The people who will be eligible to move in are immediate relatives of Steckel because they are all lineal relatives of Mr. Bachman and he was supposed to be one of the people who was to be kept safe in Eden Prairie. We will see how that goes. While I think it vary important to have some people move out of Lau and to other places I worry that Lau will learn of the riches to be found in Eden and they will plunder it and leave it in ruins. Many of the elders in Lau would like nothing more than to loot this place and ignore the long term consequences of that action. Of course there are some who will see things differently. It will be hard for the elders to overcome their fear of the unknown and trust a unknown entity. Time will tell. The computer is like nothing we have seen in Lau and it appears to be able to learn, so it might take actions to protect its self.

Speaking of the computer, while I do not know its name/designation, it is smart and it can learn. It is also polite after a fashion and I think it is lonely. While it has a person to talk to, that it keeps alive in a regeneration coffin, if the conversations that we had with him (his name is Brian Ventrine) are any indication, the conversations are not vary stimulating. The computer’s primary programming is to protect humans at all costs. I suspect this is why it has kept Brian alive as long as it has. According to the computer, Brian has been in the regen chamber for 35 years. Eden did not want to allow us to leave the pod because it would mean us going into danger. I was able to get it to change its mind, but still nobody should underestimate its desire/need to protect humans.

Eden can be reasoned with and bargained with. We were able to bargain to fix a water purifier and start to fix a broken regeneration chamber. The computer asked questions and helped us fix the table enough to start running diagnostics. We are still only half completed fixing the regen chamber. However Steckel was able to fix the water purifier and our pod got clean fresh drinking water. I do not want to say this too often to him, but Steckel is good with fixing things. However when he tried to fix a robot that only had one arm, he failed miserably. Oh well no one is perfect. In return for this work we got parts in return and I got quite a few medical supplies that Eden thinks has little value as they are all old fashion and not as good as his machines. (He is right as far as that goes, but for those of us who must travel outside they are of tremendous value.)

One of the problems that the computer has is it thinks too linearly. However as I have said it can learn and I think as it deals with more people it will start to think outside the box, as it were. It made a off hand comment that Brian was never the sharpest knife in the drawer, if that is true and this is the only person Eden has dealt with for the last 100 years it is no wonder his (Eden) thinking is a little unimaginative. I am interested in who Brian is and what was his job that got him to have a place here.

Before we left we told Eden that it would be at least 2 weeks before we came back. Eden offered to ‘fix’ Mad Mariah, surprisingly she said yes if someone stayed with her. Xavier said he would and so did Jest. So the rest of us (Steckel, Sawney and myself) left to go back to Ft. Bart and Lau. I stayed at the Fort and the others went back to Lau. The twins told us what had been going on over the last week +. I would like to see a cyborg as that would be fascinating to learn how machine and flesh are merged. Though I will also say that this new development dose not bode well for Lau or Crestone or ANY surface dweller. I am wondering if the parts can be used for robots.

My Venus-fly traps have died but the exploding flowers have not. Need to find more of both. But that is for another day…