More Hit Points [House Rule]

I mentioned this in the session two recap, but I thought it might be best to detail it in a separate post.

I am of the belief that characters should have a few more hit points and that hit points should increase slightly with level gain.

To that end, we are trying out a new house rule. At Level Up, a character gains 1 hit point. This is in addition to any Hit Point gains as a result of increasing the Con score.

We will try this out and see how it goes. If this becomes a problem for some reason, we will remove it.

Session Two: LAY OF THE LAND [Recap]

Session Two Recap

[NOTE 1]: Roy’s player was not available for this session.

[NOTE 2]: While we plan to record our sessions for proper recap, for now, we are relying on memory and notes for this recap.

LAY OF THE LAND

As the story continued, our heroes (CORNELIUS, FRAEL, and PETRA) descended through the icy waters of the submerged ocean on Europa. Guiding the heroes to the ocean were large, intelligent, dolphin-like creatures that came to be known as Selanians. When the heroes made it to the bottom of the ocean, they found a huge city known as Selania. This massive city was built to be large enough to accommodate the Selanians and was thus quite staggeringly huge to the humanoid heroes.

The Selanians led the heroes to a large tower, centrally located within the city. Inside this tower were seven Selanians, differently-colored than the others. These creatures were known as SAGES and these beings possessed PSYCHIC POWERS. The sages used telepathy to communicate with the heroes; it was confirmed that the heroes found themselves on Europa and that there were no other known cities on the Jovian moon. The Selanian sages explained that other creatures – most notably, the aggressive and dangerous Rapathians – also existed in this underwater region. At that point, a HUMAN WOMAN, whom the Selanians introduced as QUEEN ATHENA, was brought in. Queen Athena immediately recognized the heroes as not being from Europa and wished to speak to the heroes in private.

The heroes conveyed to Queen Athena that they wished to return home. Surprisingly, Athena revealed her own desire to travel back to Earth. Athena, though, being the Selanians’ ruler, wanted to tie up a few loose ends before leaving the moon. Athena did explain that she knew of a way to return to Earth without need of a spaceship; she did not reveal the exact nature of this mode of travel.

Athena’s first concern was that the Rapathians, known to be aggressive and violent, had been targeting Selania for some time and an attack on the city was impending. The queen explained that the Selanians, being naturally passive and rather lazy, were unlikely to mount an effective defense on their own. Athena wished to have the heroes help with the defense of the city. As such an attack would come at an unknown time, Athena and the heroes decided to table this task for now.

Another concern was a set of ancient ruins located in Rapathian territory.  Athena revealed that she was really an alien archaeologist and had come to Europa to find and investigate these ruins. The obvious problem, of course, was the risk of running across bands of Rapathians.

Queen Athena also revealed that Europa’s ocean bed was rife with volcanic vents, each of which was regularly belching out rare minerals. As the Selanians did not engage in trade with anyone and did not really have a sense of materialism, Athena believed that these rare minerals could be gathered and used to instigate trade between the Selanians and the universe beyond Europa. Athena briefly discussed the idea of including the heroes in some sort of business venture using the rare minerals.

The queen’s final concern was that an alien species – which turned out to be Frael’s species, the Kraelekians – was regularly visiting Europa and kidnapping young Selanians for an unknown purpose. One of the recent abductees was HANDMAIDEN ASHA, whom Athena was grooming to become queen once she left Europa. Athena explained that the Kraelekians visited from time to time, but that they came from some extralunar location and that the heroes would have to act once the “visitors” returned.

Based on this information, the heroes decided to pursue the most obvious of these tasks, investigating the ruins. Queen Athena wished to accompany the heroes and provided them with special bio-engineered helmets. These helmets would allow the heroes to breathe underwater.

Athena and the heroes traveled into Rapathian territory. There, the group encountered a Rapathian warband. One of the Rapathians used telekinetic powers. Frael immediately charged the sorcerer, while Petra peppered the Rapathians with magic missiles. Meanwhile, Cornelius kept back and aided Frael and Petra. The Rapathian patrol was defeated without much effort.

Once free of the patrol, the heroes headed to the ancient ruins.  Athena explained that, prior to coming to Europa, she had traveled the Sol system seeking evidence of a “mermaid”-like species that had existed long before humans. The ruins were likely more evidence of this species.

Inside the ruins, the heroes found a strange membrane. Beyond this membrane appeared to be the rest of the subterranean ruins. Frael braved the membrane and went through, finding that there was air and “normal conditions” within. As the heroes explored the ruins, they ran into various bio-engineered traps, as well as golem-like guardians.

The heroes found themselves in a round chamber (like a cistern) and within, a series of strange runes and symbols. The heroes eventually determined that the runes could be “activated” to invoke one or more of the “classic elements”: air, fire, stone, and water. The heroes used water to escape the chamber and rose to the chamber above. There, the heroes witnessed spectral beings (perhaps ghosts) re-enacting a scene of sacrifice, where a creature was thrown into the rune chamber and destroyed.

Leaving this area, the heroes found more ruins guardians, but were able to avoid these golems.  The heroes explored the ruins and ran into a group of Rapathians also exploring the ruins. A fight broke out and the heroes were victorious. During this exchange, though, one of the Rapathians was able to mind-control Petra for a short period of time.

The heroes determined that the Rapathians had come to the ruins to find an armory. Once the heroes entered this armory, they found a set of bio-engineered assault rifles as well as a large, yellow crystal. Petra took particular interest in the crystal, while the others grabbed a few of these rifles. The crystal spoke to Petra and revealed that it was called a Shard of Evankin. Petra was determined to learn more about it.

It is important to note that Queen Athena was able to invoke “magical powers” at times. These powers aided the heroes at various times. These abilities were powerful, but Athena seemed reticent to use them all the time. This may bear future discussion.

On a rules mechanic topic, we decided to try out a house rule. During the Level Up move, a hero will gain 1 Hit Point. We will revisit this house rule at a later time and determine if we will continue using it.

Session One: DESCENT INTO THE WHITE [Recap]

Session One Recap

[NOTE 1]: This was a shortened session, about half as long as we would normally play.

[NOTE 2]: While we plan to record our sessions for proper recap, for now, we are relying on memory and notes for this recap.

DESCENT INTO THE WHITE

As the story began, our heroes (CORNELIUS, FRAEL, PETRA, and ROY) find themselves aboard the merchant spaceship, the Fortitude. The heroes are crew working for the ship’s owner, the space merchant, FILO. The Fortitude has just finished a lucrative run through the Sol system’s ASTEROID BELT and were heading for Jupiter when 4 PIRATE SKITTERS approached and attacked!

Our heroes had been assigned crew positions – Roy was piloting the Fortitude, while Cornelius was serving as the navigator. Both were in the cockpit. Seated nearby was Petra, the engineer. Sitting in the cupola was Frael, manning the PROTON CANNON.

The pirates caught the crew of the Fortitude off-guard. Several laser blasts struck the hull and the shields were temporarily knocked off-line. While Petra attempted to repair the shields, Roy, at the stick, attempted to outmaneuver the space pirates. His piloting skill was not up to the task, however, and his erratic steering caused the Fortitude to bounce off a few stray asteroids.  Meanwhile, the gunner, the alien, Frael, hammered one of the pirate skitters with proton fire and destroyed it. Three pirates remained.

Roy continued to attempt to outmaneuver the pirates, but was of moderate success. Meanwhile, Cornelius, working at the navigator’s station, aided the pilot in getting a sense of the chaotic surroundings. As Frael took out another pirate, Cornelius determined that the pirates were trying to usher the Fortitude towards a particular asteroid. As the merchant vessel approached this asteroid, the crew detected that it was really a weapons platform!

Roy piloted the Fortitude away from the false asteroid and towards the nearest possible place of safety, a Jovian moon called Europa. Sensors did not detect much on the moon’s surface, but it would seem a safer place than dealing with the cannons mounted on the false asteroid. Frael managed to take out the remaining pirate skitters, but the danger was not over.

A few shots from the asteroid’s cannons sent the Fortitude further towards Europa. Roy steered the ship into Europa’s weak orbit and remained there for the moment, but eventually, another shot from the false asteroid caused Roy to lose control of the Fortitude. The merchant vessel plummeted towards Europa’s icy surface!

A crash was inevitable. The crew of the Fortitude did their best to prepare themselves. Impact was serious and hard-hitting. When the heroes awoke from unconsciousness, several were severely injured, including the navigator, Cornelius. The heroes plied themselves from the wreckage and determined that the merchant trader and owner of the Fortitude, Filo, was dead. Everyone else had survived the crash.

Sensors determined that the Fortitude had crashed on a vast sheet of thick ice. Visibility was poor, at no more than a mile. There were no landmarks to perform any sort of land navigation. The Fortitude had crashed into the ice and suffered significant damage. One of the two engines was destroyed, but Petra determined that it could be repaired, given parts and some time. Frael, impatient, exited the ship and almost died due to the sudden temperature drop and exposure to a wind chill of some 250° F below zero. The robot, Roy, exited the ship and examined the engines and fuel. While Roy was outside, one of the fuel cells exploded, dashing any hopes that the Fortitude might be able to escape this icy place.

Finding some cold weather gear, Frael joined Roy outside the ship. They found a long crevasse in the ice. This was no doubt created by the ship’s crash. Exploring the canyon, Frael determined that the sundered area was several hundred feet deep. Climbing all the way to the bottom of the crevasse, Frael found a steam vent. Something was much warmer underneath the ice sheet! Frael used his sword to hack a hole in the ice and saw a dark, roiling ocean far beneath the ice sheet.

Meanwhile, Petra and Cornelius were concerned with trying to repair the engine that was damaged in the crash. Internal sensors had determined that the Fortitude had crashed on top of the ship’s other engine, but that it was undamaged. Thus, only one engine needed to be repaired. A long sensor sweep detected that one of the pirate skitters had crashed some five miles from the Fortitude. This would be a long trip but, if the heroes could scavenge enough parts from the crashed pirate ship, the Fortitude might be salvaged.

After resting and recuperating, the crew of the Fortitude left in the morning to head for the crashed pirate ship. Petra had found another set of cold weather gear and so, she donned it for the trip. Cornelius would stay behind while Roy, Petra, and Frael would head for the crash. It took most of the day, on foot, to reach the crash site. When the heroes arrived at the site, they found the pirate vessel mostly intact. It was, however, slipping into the ice. Acting quickly, Frael ripped parts from the engine and leapt from the pirate ship before it fell into the ice sheet.

When the heroes returned to the Fortitude, Petra managed to use the scavenged parts to repair the engine. Unfortunately, there was not enough fuel remaining to enable lift off. Frael decided to further investigate the steam vent he had found the day before. Using equipment from the ship, Frael descended into the hole he had hacked into the ice. He felt immediately warmer upon descending. He determined that the temperature below the ice sheet was much warmer (still cold, mind you!), but that the ocean roiling down below was more than a mile from the ice sheet.

Some discussion ensued and it was eventually determined that the best course of action would be to cause the Fortitude to slide into the hole in the ice and down into the sea below. Some quick thinking and luck enabled the merchant ship to fall at exactly the right angle so as not to destroy the ship any further. The Fortitude fell straight down and right into the dark ocean.

After the Fortitude righted itself and buoyed to the surface, Frael exited the vessel. Soon, the other heroes joined him. As they watched the dark waters, something started to approach the ship. Several somethings. Emerging from the water were dozens of huge, whale-sized creatures that appeared to be dolphins. Frael prepared to fight, but the strange creatures did not seem all that hostile. Petra cast a spell that enabled her to speak with the dolphin creatures. Using this magic, Petra learned that the dolphins were concerned for the heroes’ safety and wanted to take them underwater. Petra, Cornelius, and Frael jumped onto the dolphins and were immediately enveloped in some sort of magic bubbles. The dolphins took them beneath the waves and started heading for some large, dark something at the bottom of the ocean. The dolphins did not take kindly to Roy, the robot, who eventually decided to join his friends and just jumped into the water.

Now, our heroes, joined by these strange dolphin-like beings, are headed to some sort of large structure at the bottom of the ocean. What awaits them there???

The Fortitude

The Fortitude is a merchant vessel owned by the space merchant, Filo. At the beginning of our story, the player characters find themselves working as the crew for Filo.

Here are the stats for this spaceship:

THE FORTITUDE
Merchant Ship
Fast, Voracious Engines
Weapon: Proton Cannon (near, 1d6 damage)
HP: 7
Armor: 2
Expanded Defenses: Shields (+1 armor)
The Fortitude has enough cargo space for a medium-sized Drop Container (10 tons) and 3 tons of loose cargo. It has crew space for 5 people: 1 pilot, 1 gunner, 1 engineer, 1 navigator, and 1 passenger. The vessel has normal sensors (no bonuses to rolls).

The crew were assigned as follows:
Pilot - ROY, the Engine of Destruction
Navigator - CORNELIUS, the Human Medic
Gunner - FRAEL, the Alien Barbarian
Engineer - PETRA, the Android Wizard

Filo, being the Fortitude's owner, was the "passenger".

Our Characters

Following is a list of the starting characters. At this time, we are looking to add one more player to the group.

CORNELIUS, Human Medic. Neutral of Alignment. Mark of Healing.
FRAEL THE BONEBREAKER, Alien Barbarian. Chaotic Alignment.
PETRA, Android Wizard. Good Alignment.
ROY, the Engine of Destruction. Lawful of Alignment. Tank Specialization.
[NPC] FILO, the Human Merchant.

Welcome to Astra Luminae

Hello, friends and fellow travelers. This blog, Astra Luminae, is meant as a repository for tales of a game I am running using Adventures on Dungeon Planet. If you do not own a copy of this game, please consider giving it a try. It is a "retro sci-fi" game based on the excellent and award-winning Dungeon World rules. I should probably assume everyone reading this already knows, but, well, why not throw out a plug or two?

Astra Luminae is an RPG story set in a quasi-future version of our own universe. The science is extremely soft and will be explained as needed, as the story moves along. Sci-fi conventions and tropes being what they are, some of the more common ones will certainly be found here. If you are familiar with the "old school" serials of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, you will find some similarities in Astra Luminae.

Purposefully, I have not fleshed out much of the setting. It will be explored as the story unfolds. This blog will contain as much information as the players know. As is tradition in these narrative games, I am leaving a lot of blank spaces for the players to fill in.

I hope you enjoy this strange journey we are undertaking. As is possible, we will provide game session recaps and possibly player journals to supplement session reports. Anecdotal information about the setting, characters, and story may also appear in this space.