#Technophobia

1 messages · Page 2 of 1

runic condor
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I feel like I want a special token for HEKATE but I might just use greyed out tokens for the rest. Might creep my players out to not have painted tokens

sinful dew
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So I have got my first session tomorrow also, I'll take into account what you have posted above.

Just wondering about Combat C: Glacial Burial, The enemy deployment zone is quite small the Goliath doesn't fit in it at all, and once the two Support's are there the Witch doesn't fit either?

I think the Pipecleaners deploying from the ingress zones makes sense but there is nothing in the text about the Support's, Goliath or Witch using the ingress zone or not being deployed at the start of combat. I suppose as long as one part of the enemy token is within the enemy deployment zone it still counts.

SPOILER_image.png
inner lava
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Should be hexagonal columns

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I might’ve copy pasted the configs wrong?

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But basically it looks like your grid size should be half the size it is right now

runic condor
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so with all the IPS-N references, and the cover art. I whipped up something. I don't have time for coloring but behold, my HEKATE.

inner lava
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Nice!

runic condor
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ready to pop out of any ceiling

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I also have a headcanon that this was the primary "machine" that HEKATE used to fix the ship until the THINGS™️ happened

runic condor
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okay final form

Hekate.png
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xcf file if anyone wants

Hekate.xcf
runic condor
# inner lava Nice!

one last question friend, why do the pipe cleaners NEVER enter the kitchen? Kind of an out of nowhere detail. At first I thought it was cause of Gemini, but now, I'm not so sure since the word Never is in bold.

inner lava
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So it’s the “eye of the storm” in her nightmare

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The one place of safety and comfort

runic condor
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Aight. I didn't expect Kate to have that much influence over the pipecleaners but makes sense

inner lava
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The Pipecleaners have been hijacked too, tbf, Kate just may not realize it

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It’s very much “the Katabasis is operating on NHP dream/nightmare logic”

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Which I could potentially highlight more in the text

sinful dew
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Ok I'll look at that when I get home.

I wonder if that means all the rest of my maps are also configured wrong as they are on the same page as the cryo sleep chamber. All layered together to form a single ship map.

It shouldn't matter if it's columns or rows should it?

SPOILER_image-10.png
inner lava
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Like I mentioned a while back, I’m exploiting Lancer’s flexible Size scale for the Cryosleep map

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If you want a more “rigorous” answer than “it’s scaled that way because I felt like it”, then say “it’s bigger on the inside” due to paracausal stuff

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But yeah, I didn’t design the maps to combine like you’re doing

sinful dew
runic condor
inner lava
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Tbf I did otherwise try to match scale elsewhere in the ship (I think Crew Quarters is the second biggest offender because I think it’s scaled to the same tile size as Cargo Bay, but it’s nominally pilot sized instead?)

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I basically handwave the fuck outta scale when it’s inconvenient here

runic condor
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I'm already planning on, unless they bring in the mechs, to just use the main katabasis map with the CRT. because I don't think "pilot can move 4 spaces" matters in narrative

inner lava
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It doesn’t! Hence why I treat it as more qualitative haha

runic condor
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gonna treat like a jrpg. World map is whatever, combat comes with that ksh ksh ksh sound with battle music and zoom in

runic condor
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First session went very well but uh, didn't actually playtest anything, 3 straight hours of roleplaying asteroid miners and slice of life stuff on their ship before the horror happens

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got the SOS at the end of the session when I realized what we were supposed to be doing

inner lava
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Haha nice lol

runic condor
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we even came up with logical explanations of how their mechs would work in a mining setting despite being military equipment. The goblin scans and marks asteroids with higher concentrations of rare minerals (like iron). The nelson uses it's speed and manuverability to "anchor" the asteroids with it's war pike. The metalmark uses it's decksweeper as a rock breaker, to seperate chunks of material.

inner lava
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Love the sound of this haha

reef panther
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not like it'll be relevant this week, but i'm going to start looking for/making a NHP vault distorted reality thing. Propbably use the czepeku screen template for some of it and just make it weird

reef panther
inner lava
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oh god "TPK Loading...." lol

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This looks appropriately fucked up, love it

reef panther
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TPK loading...
Rendering the cataclysm...
Cascading NHPs...
Printing frames...
Exploring metavaults...
Don't split the party!
Creating plot hooks...
Ascending the Aun...
Destabilizing planets...
Violating First Contact Accords...
Breaking the Three Pillars...

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those are my Alternative Pause Text phrases

inner hound
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Deploying Flash Clone...

inner lava
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Second combat encounter in Technophobia ended with a victory for the players and a meltdown-ed mech 😌

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The Goblin made a calculated risk and went into meltdown on an 1d6+4 overcharge in the Extreme Cold (resist heat) Cryosleep room

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I informed them of the risk and also that there will still be opportunities to do stuff on foot as a pilot in future combats (beyond basic pilot actions and Jockey)

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They have found Cori's cryopod and are preparing to give Ezra a talking-to

reef panther
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qq) where's the EDZ for the opfor in the Escort version of combat E

inner lava
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If they’re within the “inner ring” of catwalks they’re good to go

unique cloak
inner lava
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It’s fine, it was an informed risk and I trust in what I’ve written

unique cloak
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Oh no I mean that as a good thing

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you fully set the stakes and they accepted them and went with it

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They have no one to blame but themselves

reef panther
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Session 1 went well. Players went into the ass end of the Katabasis first... the one room i hadn't finished putting together.

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They managed to delete the initial Pyro/Scourer before they even got a turn, and PredLog missed (was gonna use the Monarch to show players how blast templates work)

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Managed to at least stress a reactor in round 1

inner lava
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So far that’s 2 tables that went directly to the Engine Room lol

zenith hawk
reef panther
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I'm usually that neurotic, but I was putting that effort into my main campaign. This one is getting a little fly by night.

inner lava
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Hey, as long as setup wasn’t too bad, I consider that a win for the module lol

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Otherwise I’m open to hear ways to streamline it

reef panther
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My feedback from "rapid setup" vs "careful setup" on the module is a little better clarity on EDZ/Objective/PDZ

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there's a lot going on in the rooms

zenith hawk
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I'll have to look at the combat maps again, but yeah, I could see players being a bit stumped by what is/isn't interactable and tracking that through play modes

reef panther
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I missed the extreme heat for round one, but i think it makes it interesting to add it round 2 (you closed the hatch and now things are heating up as nothing can vent out)

inner lava
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But yeah initial feedback I got on Combat E was that people were highly risk averse to interacting with the environment, so I decided that the best thing to do was to spell out what happens when folks interact with the interactables

sinful dew
inner lava
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Nobody wants to enter through the gaping gash in the ship sadcowboy but nah lol that’s fine

sinful dew
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I think they wanted to enter through the bridge but once the drone had explored the room a little bit, I rolled on the encounter table and 3 Pipecleaners emerged from vents and merked the drone instantly.

Also may have been the way I described the hatch as being harder to spot so they players thought they want me to go through the cargo bay but I'm gonna sneak in the back door.

inner lava
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My players started sniffing at the cargo bay first before getting some cold feet and deciding to commit to their initial choice of Engine Room

reef panther
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just to clarify. pilots get full details of the details or high level details?

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(can i be lazy and just copy/past 🙂 )

inner lava
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I rec giving describing it high-level to avoid overload but let players read the details themselves

sinful dew
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Yeah I explained it and then sent a screen cap to our mission handout channel on discord

reef panther
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yeah. I give high level "here are some things you can interact with" with the full details as a text block in discord where possible

sinful dew
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With regards to the deployment I didn't realise enemies were suppose to deploy near the central reactor so had them come from the ingress points where the canabalistic replicator thingy ma jigs are.

I also had the encounter start as soon as the first PC mech came through the hatch I described the scene to them and then said combat starts the other players will deploy on their turn.

inner lava
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Yeah honestly that’s fine too imo

reef panther
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for the cargo bay, the EDZ is "wherever the mechs are" right?

inner lava
reef panther
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Also, what's the CZ? B2?

inner lava
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Use the combat map

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B2 is on the GM narrative map

reef panther
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ah!

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i missed that map in the pack

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i was looking at the PDF

inner lava
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Yeah I basically have 6 versions of every combat map (combat, narrative GM, and narrative players, each in 2 visibility levels)

reef panther
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I really like the HiVis versions, since i can do lighting effects without making it too dark

reef panther
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Got narrative and battle maps built out for cryo sleep and the cargo bay, since those are the only two options from the engine room

inner lava
reef panther
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I got the map in foundry, trying to decide if I want walls and token vision

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And I got all the journals built (only dropped onto cargo bay, so far)

reef panther
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using "building journals" as an excuse to re-familiarize myself with locations

inner lava
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Reminding me of myself hahaha

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I think one thing I wanna do is set a concrete number of Pipecleaners maybe

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maybe

reef panther
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macro support from journals i jank (i can only call a macro, no args)

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but... macro means hitting a rolltable as GM only instead of dropping it into public knowledge immediately

inner lava
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Keeping the roll table private for a quick sec is useful IME

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Like sometimes there’s stuff in the random encounter that I don’t want to be immediately obvious

reef panther
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really simple macro with game.tables.get("XYvPlQUAsXBqX5sl").draw({rollMode:"gmroll"})

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then drop the macro in the journal

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if i could do args, it'd be a single macro and just pass the table ID into it like a pro

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similarly, you can do fun stuff in the rolltable itself:

image.png
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rolltable with inline rolls to make your dynamics even more dynamic

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and putting actors in means you can either drag them straight onto the map, or reference their sheet

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fvtt's rolltable and document helpers are so powerful and so underutilized by most.

inner lava
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Very true; one pipe dream I have some day is making a module that uses rolltables for structure and stress allowing folks to sub their own tables

reef panther
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the rub there is how other modules injest it

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Also, how to apply statuses from a rolltable

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(not impossible, mind you, but things to note)

inner lava
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Mmmmmm

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Well for statuses, I’d hope that something click and draggable could be figured out

reef panther
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yeah, that'd need to be added into the core system, but totally a thing i've seen done

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statuses are items, and sheets house items

inner lava
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Yeah, it’s a feature I’d love to see haha (I should make a feature request 🤔 )

reef panther
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Does the stability clock decrement when they shoot HEKATE in combat?

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cause they're about to run out of stability fast.

inner lava
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No, it does not

reef panther
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ok

inner lava
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Sorry about that, need to clarify that

reef panther
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I figured it was HEKATE is really using the subaltern like a RPV, not that it's her, so you're not directly damaging her, but wanted to verify

inner lava
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Yes that’s correct

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I meant it more for “her casket in V3”

reef panther
inner lava
reef panther
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err, yes

inner lava
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adding these to my Mothership collection haha

reef panther
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jeremy blake (red means recording) released a huge library of CC BY-SA music

runic condor
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Started reading Another Bug Hunt, looks at formatting. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID VALK

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(positive tone)

inner lava
runic condor
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😄 is good

unique cloak
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I support this

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I am very curious to hear how seasoned Lancer GMs feel about the different style of layout

inner lava
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Same tbh

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I know that I’m probably much more wordy than TKG

runic condor
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I will say, it did lead to initial confusion cause the bullet points feel like a lot, and not having a path towards direct answers on some of the puzzles may throw new GMs off. and I don't have good answers to these issues. I really don't. Like knowing what I know about Mothership, I get it NOW. It feels less overwhelming. But that's one of those zeitgeist things

inner lava
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Well, tbf I’m not pointing Technophobia towards new GMs or players at least. I’ll see if I can’t make the Fiction First section clearer somehow

unique cloak
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There's definitely a cultural difference. I feel like a lot of trad modules (Lancer included) present themselves as "this is what you run in order to produce the experience we expect" whereas the Mothership/NSR style is much more "here are ideas and tools you can use to produce whatever experience you want"

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It has a different expectation of the GM

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So if you're expecting the former, it might be a bit jarring to bump into the latter

reef panther
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@inner lava - do you have any interest in the foundry work i've done (journals/rolltables)? It's a shame i can't export NPC presets or it could be it's own compendium with good links that "work"

inner lava
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I'm good for now, I have a setup already for my own stuff, but thank you!

zenith hawk
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It took me a little to digest and I had to do some scribbling and node diagram stuff, but I managed to piece together the general flow and progression (I think)

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The only way I could think to make it more clear for approaching it sight unseen is giving a tl;dr version or a bare-bones node diagram

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Though the ship map overall is basically a node diagram, so bogotterShrug

reef panther
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The map kind of hints at all the paths, but a block diagram would be easier for simple minds like mine

zenith hawk
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Oh, I guess I do have one question as a result

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Assuming players don't enter through the cargo bay, but somehow weave through the map and start combat in the cargo bay, how would deployment on that work since it's a gauntlet

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Oh. Southern PDZ. Said in the book text. Nevermind.

reef panther
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I'm waiting for them to finish the combat and find a terminal, and then show them the overall map.

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you get information only if you seek it out

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you can stumble around this wreck blind, if you want.

runic condor
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my players are doing well

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did the engine room extract, used a core battery to stabilize and repower the ship, tried to enter the nhp vault but ended up in life support, bee-lined to the pipecleaner pod and shut it down, IMMEDIATELY fixed life support. Kate's already at stability, just gotta deal with Cori and Gemini

inner lava
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Okay wow

runic condor
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we might finish this module tonight

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just taking a dinner break

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(also they crit.... like 6 out of 8 dice rolls, with the only "fails" at cut the lights, but ultimately the skill challenge was won)

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this is one of those "sometimes dice are funny" sessions

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engine is repaired as best they can, life support is back, and with the pipecleaners disabled they used the captain's key to activate the hardlight system

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but the important thing they are loving it as a horror mystery

inner lava
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Most important part haha

runic condor
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when the goblin's OSIRIS started cascading, they did figure out it was probably the ships' nhp. They figured KATE was HEKATE just from "common sense", but they also tried and failed to reason with them. They thought the Vent that leads to the NHP vault led to the NHP vault but didn't expect the teleport, and once they DID teleport (after leaving their mechs in the engine room) just crit crit crit

runic condor
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we about to start back up after meal break

runic condor
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and they won

inner lava
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damn, how much game time did it take? amazing

runic condor
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though uh.... they saved Cori before exploring the galley.... and uh, one player had the bond of the wolf so shoved cori into the locker area and used Tear Throat to end Gemini instantly after shaking "cori's" hand.

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we started at 3pm and ended at 8pm with about 45 minutes for dinner

inner lava
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jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus lol

runic condor
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to be fair, CRITS

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they only had one combat

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though my party, collectively had this statement: If you want pilots to get out of their mechs early; make the engine room hatch to space ONLY pilot sized. Or, alternatively you should remove the outer engine hatch if you want pilots to go through the bridge or mechs through the cargo bay first.

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"Why WOULDN'T you go to the engine first? It's the MOST important place on the ship."

inner lava
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so I definitely wanted to let pilots enter the Engine room first if they wanted to, but if everyone always wants to go there with mechs then yeah I may need to change that up lol

inner lava
runic condor
runic condor
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I hope our feedback was good. I am not the best writer

inner lava
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I’ve had a busy weekend 😵‍💫 hoping to get a chance to read it soonish. I appreciate it nonetheless, and I’m sure I’ll find ways to incorporate your feedback!

runic condor
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We ARE still talking about how our one pilot just snapped that guys neck with his tertiary arm. Tear throat is brutal

reef panther
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Session starts in 4 hrs, hopefully after they mop up the Engine Room combat they see the NHP vault and try walking in there and get teleported, so they have to do more things outside of mechs

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otherwise, i guess i'll have more mech combat notes.

inner lava
reef panther
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for sure. they're still early on the combat, but with the way i've been rolling for HEKATE, they might win by "default" instead of objective

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here is a list of objectives; nah, don't need to do that if we clear the board.

inner lava
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lol. Well I hope they enjoy the mangler swarms

reef panther
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Balor/Monarch/Everest all laugh at grunts

reef panther
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Balor just eats grunts, as a treat

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Asureverest was the running back. Carried it all the way to the OZ. Shook off chain and tear down round after round.

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Was the player survey in the zip or was it a Google form (on mobile ATM)

inner lava
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sec

inner lava
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Just finished a narrative session tonight, the players got Cori out of the Cryosleep, got them some oxygen, and learned about Kate and what happened to the Katabasis early on

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they're currently trying to repair life support, and safely disable the pipecleaner pod with a jury-rigged personal drone/tertiary arm combo

reef panther
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My group finished the engine room combat, looked at a terminal (rolling a 28!), so I gave them a map and a log entry

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They immediately bee lined for the NHP vault

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And ended up in life support when trying to open the vault

inner lava
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I changed the Life Support Repair into an 8-clock and changed some of the timings on the cryo wakeup sequence to be less weirdly slow (why did I say it takes 3 turns to defrost? I winced when I thought of dragging things out that long)

inner lava
reef panther
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I left the power in a dormant state until they actively turn the reactor on after shutting it down. They were like "excellent, power is off, that means fewer things to attack us!"

inner lava
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oh boy lol, they get to experience Unpowered Doors then lol

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my party has had relatively free movement because they turned power back on

inner lava
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I am noticing that my table has a lot of folks doing multiple things at once instead of just all focus firing a single narrative objective, usually

runic condor
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Yeah, my players did the hyperfocus thing, maybe because we're all autistic but they went "okay, so, engines need to stop firing, we need to fix power, we need life support on so we can at least have a base of operations in one room or another, then we need to fix the breaches that can be fixed" ... and again you can't uh, control for 80% critical success rolls.

reef panther
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They went "i guess we need to shut this down" "while power's off i guess nothing else bad can happen" "lets go deal with the NHP, since it seems like HEKATE is the ship's NHP" "why is there a blood trail leading from the console, and what the hell is that tick thing" <session end>

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I said there was pressure in life support, but the atmosphere was really inhospitable (low o2), described the tick as having a sticky white nanofoam sealing it to the ship, preventing depressurization.

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figure ships would have some method of self-sealing given micrometeorites can knock massive holes in current ships, and that's not even talking relatavistic speeds

reef panther
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Players left life support after being chased by a pipecleaner, back into the vault out into the engine room, where they decided "maybe we should turn on the reactor after all", and then they went straight for Cryo in mechs for combat 2

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Chronotorus is gross.

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crit to a miss

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they scanned 2/4 zones in round 1 of the fight, too

inner lava
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2/4 zones round 1 sounds like my experience 2, albeit with 3 players

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my table struggled to get the 3rd (final) zone before needing to hold the true zone

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And yeah Chronotorus is like that 😅

reef panther
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I was going to wait until round 3 to bring in the pipecleaners from the vents in the corner "from all the noise they were making"

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I love how quickly they turned tail and ran from a single pipecleaner in pilot mode.

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"nope, this is a murder bot and we're it's favorite snack, I'd rather deal with the vault where the walls breathe and lights hurt my head"

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had a cinematic moment trying to slam the vault door on it, and it getting one of it's claws in the door preventing the door from sealing, only to get it's appendage blown off by a crack shot and the door kicked closed

reef panther
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One of the players is hopped up on stims to reduce his stress

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I'm sure he won't start hallucinating soon

zenith hawk
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Thread searchability bad so I apologize if this has been asked before, but what are some things I can give out for public/private info on scans? I think some of the clues you'd get from exploring the rooms on foot could work, but I'm worried there'll be so much scanning that I run out of stuff that makes sense.

inner lava
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Could indicate clearly that HEKATE’s signature matches the signature of what locked down the PCs’ ship

zenith hawk
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The hekates are exotic, so I figured scans wouldn't get anything from them at all

inner lava
zenith hawk
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Aaaah.

inner lava
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So you don’t get “Chronotorus” but you get everything else

zenith hawk
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I'll have to keep that in mind and scribble them out from the screenshots something

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They'll be doing it at LL2, so I don't think I'll be dealing with the hidden info stress test that is a 2xLungma party comp, but it felt like a good idea to ask

inner lava
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Can always give them something from a dream, or a sense from the Reality Break table

zenith hawk
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Or maybe make it a coin flip between information about the zone and a reality break traviswoah

inner lava
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That works too! Better if you have a lot of Scans getting thrown about

zenith hawk
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You want hidden information? Let me see... Ah! Yes. The Walls Are Breathing

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I can hear my players saying "Thanks. I hate it." already

inner lava
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Had to skip this week’s playtest of Technophobia since someone was gonna miss and it was shaping up to be the final session

I should probably get a head start on editing in earnest if I want to release mid-October

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Kinda dreading edits but I’ve been taking good notes at least, I have ideas on how to refine stuff

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So far everyone has entered through the Engine Room lol, so I’m considering making it harder to enter

zenith hawk
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How many sessions did your test end up being?

inner lava
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Next session will be Session 5 (not including Session 0)

zenith hawk
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You'd think "Here's a hole you can just walk into" would be more appealing than "secret hatch"

inner lava
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I think for Engine Room it’s gonna be a matter of “this door is very heavy” or “crew access only

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Everyone loves secrets!

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It lets them feel clever

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I have noticed though that pipecleaner encounters have scared the shit outta folks lol

zenith hawk
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Maybe make it something the party also has to search for? The hole gets mentioned as the obvious point, and you leave the rest unsaid.

inner lava
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“Let’s go anywhere else”

inner lava
zenith hawk
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Maybe to make it less "the obvious entry point" the presence of an ambiguous something moving about could be mentioned.

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Then more skittish parties may be encouraged to look elsewhere, but yeehaw guns blazing parties will see fresh meat and investigate the hole

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Sample size 0 here. I'm spitballing.

inner lava
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All good

reef panther
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They're litterally for cleaning ships of organics. No wonder players are terrified (my players also play Mothership, so there's some bleedover of "running is smarter than fighting")

inner lava
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Finally getting caught up on entering stuff into the bug tracker. Got a lot of edits to make, woof

inner lava
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Okay I believe I’m caught up on entering stuff into the bug tracker. Staring down 41 entries oof Goal is to knuckle down on them this week, if not a few today

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In the meantime, gonna take a Noita break for a little bit

reef panther
reef panther
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this fight is going swingy

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lots of max rolls

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and the monarch just went full missile spam and wiped out half the opfor on round 5, with 3/4 zones scanned and aplayer standing in the one that hasn't been scanned, and players standing in a total of 3/4 zones.

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i think they're gonna pull it off (and hekate is a smear after the monarch)

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pipecleaner Amongus was a fun trick, they just didn't stand near any of the open hatches after seeing it happen once

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the asuraverest was stunned and/or immobilized for 3 rounds so far (sap, petrify, structure), which really hurt it's speed thankfully.

inner lava
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I considered replacing Sap with Drain Systems (Specter) due to a lot of recent discussion about Sap in #gm-corner , but glad it’s working out balance wise

reef panther
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Running with modified stun (brace rules) to not be a monster

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because stun RAW is feelsbadman.bmp

inner lava
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Okay thank you for that info, it changes my calibrations

reef panther
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also had a cascade on the monarch, so the player had to shut down, which also ate a lot of action econ

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the empty segments +1 = cascade is rough

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(i love it)

inner lava
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Yeah tbh I forgot about it in my playtest. Only would’ve affected the technophile Goblin, so maybe a missed opportunity, but the player isn’t a fan of stuns/jams anyway so maybe it’s for the best

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They lost their Goblin in a reactor Meltdown so it evens out

reef panther
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3 NHP equipped mechs

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5 cascade rolls so far, only one below 10

reef panther
inner lava
# reef panther

Okay the animation has now made me realize just how big the Claw actually is

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Before it kinda melted into the leg, now I see the horror

reef panther
inner lava
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Dang, well, at least it’s there for future stuff (like maybe… Mothership’s Cryoambulism pamphlet? 🤔 )

inner lava
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Considering a variant for the "cascade rules", wondering if it's too mean:

Lastly, HEKATE infects mechs and NHPs with her cascade. Whenever a PC mech makes a Structure damage or overheating check, the pilot must make a SYSTEMS or ENGINEERING check. On a failure, the mech enters cascade as if it had the AI tag, using full actions for HULL checks to claw the pilot out. Each AI system installed in the mech allows the pilot to reroll the check once, but if the reroll fails, the AI system also cascades (if able).
inner lava
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Also codifying the use of Corrective and Patches:

Some consumable pilot gear may assist with STRESS and burdens. Applying a CORRECTIVE to a broken pilot allows them to immediately return to the current scene instead of the next scene. Additionally, 1/mission, a PATCH applied to a pilot allows them to clear 2 STRESS.
inner lava
#

In any case, my bug tracker is now 10 issues shorter after tonight

#

35 to go sweating

reef panther
#

my players shut down immediately on cascade. didn't even let me roll my cascade table (from dustgrave)

inner lava
#

Yeah I figure that’s the default response tbh

inner lava
#

So a common thing I heard was that enemy spawns were too far away on the Engine Room, and I realized that on a Square grid, the manglers can move+boost to threaten a 2-space wide "center lane" down the center of the map. But due to Hexagonal Columns, the width was artificially extended because they need to move diagonally

#

so... I think that my solution is going to be literally changing from Hexagonal columns to Hexagonal rows

#

Paired with shortening the player distance just a touch, I think it'll actually help with flow to the sides of the map too

inner lava
#

Also: dialing back the red light and lightning fx to be less obtrusive/more distinct

runic condor
runic condor
inner lava
#

putting this here to remind myself later

inner lava
# 
CASCADE BLEED
HEKATE infects mechs with her cascade. When a PC mech would be destroyed or suffer a meltdown due to a structure damage or overheating check (not from reaching 0 STRUCTURE or 0 STRESS), the mech instead enters cascade as if it had the AI tag. While cascading, the mech uses full actions for HULL skill checks to claw the pilot out before trying to tear itself apart (treat as IMPROVISED ATTACK against itself).

Happier with this version, will stick with it

inner lava
#

Feeling good about some map progress made today; fixed up the crew quarter map so that it’s more useful as a Universal Battlemap export

#

Need to do some lighting adjustments to the Cargo bay and probably revisit Cryo and Engine lighting for extra colorblind accessibility

reef panther
#

Did my players ever submit feedback

inner lava
#

They did! I appreciated it

solar wyvern
#

maybe not the place for this, but was just watching an anime anthology called Memories, the first short is called Magnetic Rose; seems pretty good as reference for scifi horror story; not necessarily lancer specifically, but space scifi horror

inner lava
#

Noted! I'll look it up. Love, Death, and Robots has some good scifi horror in it too

runic condor
#

Yeah Memories was made by someone behind the akira film

inner lava
#

So, after a few rounds of feedback on Combat E, I'm considering replacing the Priests with Snipers

#

half the time, Priest seems like more of a liability than an asset due to spreading Jammed, and the fight could benefit from enemies that

  1. wait in the wings
  2. can also get on the catwalks
#

plus, I find there's not a lot of "structure pressure" in the fight, just mostly Reactor Stress pressure

#

thoughts/feelings?

inner lava
#

I'm going to lean into the Sniper, I think

#

update: after adding a few more bugs to the tracker but knocking out many more, I'm now at 20 bugs instead of 45+!!

inner lava
#

This was a relevant bit of exploration rules to add:

REST AND RECOVERY
In this module, pilots may repair their mech for 1 action choosing one of the following:

• Clear all heat and any statuses or conditions.
• Spend REPAIRS on one of the options listed under REPAIRS AND REST (Lancer p. 82).

Repairing three times counts as taking a "rest" for the purposes of pilot and mech abilities.

Characters broken by STRESS may only spend their actions to crawl away or roll a GRIT skill check to recover, a 3-clock task. Other PCs may use an action push themselves to help with this check, as normal.
inner lava
#

Knocked it down to 14 13 12 bugs remaining

zenith hawk
inner lava
#

The goal here is to replace “rest” with something more granular since what I found was folks were trying to get minute changes before going into the next room

#

Tbh I might go back on it? And force players to commit to the full time

#

My table was more hesitant to rest when they faced Stress every turn, which I’ve since backed away from

#

The “recovery” rules are necessary though, imo, since this is a continuous exploration instead of a collection of “scenes”

zenith hawk
#

So is resting at this point more focused on cooling the mech and clearing conditions, or does it have other gameplay mechanics?

inner lava
#

Before, I had resting be “3 actions to complete” but had players trying to “offbrand stabilize” to restore HP before a new fight

#

In my current playtest, I ruled that Heat and Conditions immediately fell off after combat and I’m currently reevaluating that choice

#

I suppose I could instead adjust to “it’s 1 action to stabilize outside of combat, and resting instead takes 3 actions”

inner lava
#

Playtest complete! The players saved HEKATE, Cori, and Ezra. HEKATE and Cori joined the crew, Ezra got apprehended for being a shitty pirate, and the Albatross sent the PCs off for the next mission

#

On top of this, the players completely avoided the Cargo Bay lol, so I'm gonna have to run that fight on my own time to get a gauge for it lol

#

my table had like, very little attrition lol

#

lotta overcharging, 0 structure lost, and the only stress lost was 2 on one of the Gilgs and all 4 lost on the Goblin that melted down

#

that said, the Gilgs both used a good chunk of limited charges, so they put their equipment to use. One of the Gilgs used CP to shed Witch Petrify, which was an effective use of a CP

reef panther
#

I had Ezra try to escape using the tick (they found him after thawing cori so I had a bit of imposter voting happen), players pulled him out of it before it had pulled out of the ship, only to get sucked into the opening it left. Players managed to grab him before he was spaced and his suit acted like a makeshift patch in the hole.

They then found the captain who has been in the showers the whole time ||(human soup, great smell cue for players)||. Freshly "rescued" Ezra had to drag the corpse out.

#

Laid the gruesome horror of that on thick. Ezra filled his fresh new suit from the lockers with his last meal. Players seemed to lap it up.

#

They're one tuck from full stability, with cori in the kitchen making food.

#

They have the captains keycard, power, and life support. It's unlikely they'll even go into the cargo bay at this point

inner lava
reef panther
#

They went with the Albatross plot hook to start and are convincing Ezra to join (two of the players backgrounds are Outlaw, so it gives great "Redemption Arc" vibes).

dusky shard
#

is there an LCP involved with this brew or is it just a module

inner lava
dusky shard
#

sick

#

who did the art?

inner lava
# dusky shard who did the art?

Cover Art
Original image by GrandeDuc on Shutterstock

Art by
Page 7: Boris Jardines from Pixabay
Page 10: GrandeDuc on Shutterstock
Page 16: Christof Grobelski from Stars Without Number: Revised Edition Art Pack
Page 28: Original image by GrandeDuc on Shutterstock

#

“Made By Humans” assets from the Made By Humans Asset Pack by Lone Archivist and used under CC BY 4.0.

#

For maps:

image0.jpg
reef panther
#

Since I couldn't find the name of the Captain... He's Capt. Arthur Dallas in my game.

inner lava
#

Ah yeah I added names recently but they weren’t in the last packet

#

And nice

reef panther
#

I have been playing a lot of the Alien documentary soundtrack, so the vibe is very cliche.

spark nova
#

Would you be interested in playtest feedback from someone who potentially pillaged this module for ideas rather than using it as a cohesive whole?

inner lava
spark nova
#

sorry, where's the actual download? should i just await the email?

inner lava
#

Yeah I sent the link via PMs, is it working for you?

#

Should be a GDrive folder with a Zip file among other things

#

I’m gonna be heading to bed now, but please hit me up if something isn’t working

spark nova
#

there she is, thanks!

inner lava
#

Just collected the next batch of feedback bugs, and my brain is fried lol

inner hound
#

well you got time to actually do that

rapid bloom
#

This is pretty neat

reef panther
#

Finished the module tonight, everyone seemed to enjoy it

#

is there a general playtesting feedback form?

inner lava
reef panther
#

You might want to add that to the Readme in the playtest doc.

inner lava
#

Indeed, I made the form just recently

#

Weighing the utility of making a 3rd packet at this point though

inner lava
#

Finally found a way to make catwalks stand out more and it’s simply by adding darker shadows underneath them lol

#

Took too damn long to figure that out

#

Also found out that GIMP supports layer grouping so that’s saving me time with toggling text visibility on and off for all the text/textless map versions I have

inner lava
#

least favorite part of the mapmaking process is exporting 6 different variants of each map 😵

reef panther
#

If you export the catwalks as a separate file, they can be used as a separate level in foundry 😉

inner lava
#

@reef panther I linked the wrong form earlier; this one is the correct one, for playtest coordinators only: https://forms.gle/gGFsABw45QGFNSXY8

Google Docs
Technophobia Playtest Coordinator Feedback

This form is for submitting playtest coordinator feedback for the adventure module "Technophobia". Please provide a valid email address so you can retrieve a copy of your answers or edit them later. Emails will also be used to send complimentary copies of the adventure.

inner lava
# 
HOW TO READ THIS MODULE
Entries in Technophobia begin with surface-level information. These details are immediately visible.
▶ Reveal this level as it comes up in conversation.
  ⮡ As players investigate, openly provide them with the next level of nested information.
    ⮞ Some information is secret, only revealed by specific actions listed in Bold Underline.
#

Adding this, moving the "HEKATE is Watching" detail to "The Katabasis" section

inner lava
#

Feeling like a fuckin puzzle master as I squeeze all these jigsaw bits and bobs into the module, woof

inner lava
#

we are densely packing this thing oof

image.png
inner lava
#

Found some space to squeeze in Scan tips and tricks:

USING SCANS
Players may attempt to SCAN (Lancer, p. 70) HEKATE during combat. If they choose to retrieve a piece of hidden information, provide them with a Ship Log from the current AREA. If the players choose to acquire generic or public information, tell them that HEKATE’s paracode signature matches the malware currently locking down their ship. If the players exhaust all available information, provide a result from the Reality Break table on subsequent SCANS (with no loss of Stability).
inner lava
#

@runic condor @reef panther paging you both since your players managed to get Cori out of Cryosleep:

Right now, the whole rigamarole of getting Cori out seems overwhelming to me. Gotta:

  1. Find Cori
  2. Keep eyes on Cori or return to Step 1
  3. Wake Cori from the pod
  4. Free Cori from the pod
  5. Get Cori Oxygen
  6. Protect Cori from the cold

Do you have ideas on how this might be consolidated? I want to make this more of a difficult choice than a difficult problem

reef panther
#

They did the combat which negates 1/2

inner lava
#

That's what my players did too haha

reef panther
#

3/4 are basically the same

inner lava
#

I think that giving Cori a Hardsuit and ditching the Quantum Shenanigans would simplify things... but idk

#

maybe the difficult choice then becomes "okay but now you have to share your oxygen"

#

"-2 oxygen on each Oxygen result of Hazard Table"

runic condor
#

SO, considering how important Cori is, my own table didn't mind the rigamarole and legitimately beleived that turning the ships' oxygen back on was intended as a multi-step "dungeon goal".

but thinking about it, we wouldn't want to introduce new npcs. or rely on something like the pirate saying "I'm cori, I trapped the pirate in cryo."

I don't even know if simplifying is even fun... though I do have one argument for simplifying it I just realized as I typed this.

#

This adventure wears it's mothership inspiration on it's sleeve, and I think pointing at a specific square and saying "Cori is there" is a bit weird and clunky. (I actually ran alot of the rooms theater of the mind)

#

only thing I can vaguely think of is some kind of choice A choice B dilemma where she gets extreme frostbite (loses a limb or is put in grave peril) and [Other Choice I can't think of].

reef panther
#

I figured if you're in cryo, you've got a limited supply of O2 in case of power loss so you don't suffocate in the tube.

#

Like a small emergency tank

runic condor
#

what if, despite being the cook, Cori somehow has the keycard of the captain, and you can just "take it" but it would threaten cori's life?

reef panther
#

And my players then got the life support online the next beat, so it was no longer an issue

#

I think having life support go offline randomly would add to the stress

runic condor
#

yeah more I think about it, I think I like the party having to deal with a multi-stage medical issue than the teleporting thing.

#

but this is a biased thought cause I always have that one player who picks medic style triggers

inner lava
# 
C1. CRYOPODS
Rows of expired cryopods with static red status lights.
▶ Encrusted with ice; 1 action to de-ice one pod.
▶ 1 action to search for survivors: Roll 1d20. On 17–20, find occupied cryopod: “Coriander Truman”.
  ⮡ Gently pulsing green status light: Alive.
  ⮡ The real Cori is unconscious inside.
    ⮞ No hardsuit for oxygen or cold safety.
  ⮡ If all PCs leave the area, the cryopod changes location and must be found again.
  ⮡ If Cori saved: Skip COMBAT C as PC VICTORY.
  ⮡ If Cori dies: Skip COMBAT C as PC DEFEAT.
#

keeping a little bit of that quantum weirdness but making it less taxing

#

also considering putting them in a hardsuit by default but taxing PC oxygen clock instead

inner lava
#

down to 10 issues left in the tracker:

image.png
#

the pink ones are "pondering" and I may not commit to them

runic condor
#

nods

inner lava
#

Down to 7. Marked some as "wontfix" but I did add some extra sidebars for describing the mechs in Combat E and C

inner lava
#

Down to 5 4*!! EDIT: Addressed the Ezra issue in the conclusion

image.png
#

I think I've made the Stakes of Combat C clearer now:

STAKES
HEKATE attempts to encase the PCs in ice while blindly searching for Cori’s cryopod. Her presence destabilizes time and space within the area, causing the cryopods to traumatically shuffle their positions. If the PCs cannot find and secure Cori’s cryopod in time, Cori will die. Such an event may serve to only worsen HEKATE’s cascade and the Stability of the Katabasis.
#

finally hit the "okay clean up the mess of Area V" part of all this lol

inner hound
#

Close to a final revision

#

Get psyched

inner lava
#

Picked up some stock art this morning to fill some whitespace

Once I revise the NHP vault, it’ll be time to do a full proper editing pass, followed by final layout

#

If I keep up this pace, it should be ready by Halloween (generously)

fathom locust
#

Ah screw it. Been just lurking and waiting to finish my current game before looking into this but I'm too curious. Where do I apply for the testing stuff?

inner lava
fathom locust
#

Form submitted salute

inner lava
inner lava
#

Here's the brief sidebar for an optional Eidolon fight I have:

||```
OPTIONAL: BAD TO WORSE
If you have access to the Eidolon rules from No Room for a Wallflower: Act 1, you can run an optional Eidolon encounter if players opt to destroy HEKATE. When the Stability clock reaches zero, HEKATE completely unshackles, warping the NHP Vault into a 15-space diameter room with no exits. HEKATE manifests the PCs’ mechs around them, now only recognizing them as hostile invaders. She becomes a Class 3 Eidolon with the following layers:

• Layer 5: Gaze
• Layer 4: Sacrificial
• Layer 3: Enceladian
• Layer 2: Tempest
• Layer 1: Labyrinthine
Upon HEKATE’s destruction, the Katabasis collapses as normal.

zenith hawk
#

Is the eidolon approach an "alternate wincon" for the mission or is it how it ends?

#

Ah

inner lava
#

It's the "bad ending" but with more to it

zenith hawk
#

15 diameter seems a bit squeezy

#

IIRC, Kate's vault has some "bigger on the inside" going on with it, right?

inner lava
#

yeah, at the moment, though 15 diameter is still "bigger on the inside" for that purpose

zenith hawk
#

I'd say bump it to a diameter of ~20 so the range 8 abilities can fully stretch across the room and provide some margin around walls

#

Layer choices are probably best left for #gm-corner but I'm not seeing any especially deadly synergies or combos.

#

Is the intended progression L5 to L1?

inner lava
#

yup, outside layer is "highest"

#

works like a countdown

zenith hawk
#

I'd maybe switch Sacrificial and Tempest? That way you're not going from something where you're spending a lot of time by the shards for safety to one where, very suddenly, the shards can start to dive on someone and beat them up

#

That person would probably learn the mechanic for the layer pretty quick though

inner lava
#

swapped, makes sense

zenith hawk
#

Maybe find a way to slip Lab before Enceladian too? Lab heats people up, so someone may be in the DZ when the swap happens, and that could give them a hint about how the layer works

#

I like the idea of putting lab at the top or near the middle as an "intermission"/breather because it's so weird, but the progression from Tempest to Enceladian or vice-versa feels cool thematically

inner lava
#

I'm okay with shuffling them a bit

zenith hawk
#

Solid, flavorful picks overall imo YesYes

inner lava
#

thank you!

#

I appreciate the feedback too; I've never fucked with Eidolons before so this is mostly seat of the pants

#

plus "okay you're committing to the bad end, so you're in for it now"

zenith hawk
#

I've never ran them, but I've designed several encounters that I've had to scrap.

inner lava
#

(Unrelated: Found some good art for the Crew Quarters)

SPOILER_image.png
zenith hawk
#

People don't seem to run them very often

zenith hawk
inner lava
#

still need to do those edits/etc but the basic layout has shaped up

#

The worst of the whitespace is now filled 😌

#

(also unrelated: The Hacknet OST is carrying me through this whole process lol)

inner lava
#

Revamping the NHP vault section, what do we think of this? (Paging @distant delta )

V3. NHP CASKET
HEKATE’s casket. Cascade alerts. 100 HP.
▶ Embedded, coffee-stained mug holder.
▶ Locked cycling (i.e., reboot) controls.
  ⮡ Unlocked if the following requirements are met:
    ⮞ Cori is nearby (alive or dead).
    ⮞ Mathur Mug is placed in the mug holder.
    ⮞ All Condor personnel (alive or dead) removed from the Katabasis. Pipecleaners disabled.

V4. CONDOR’S REMAINS
Corpse slumped adjacent to V3. Melding with pillar.
▶ Nameplate: Captain Aydan Condor.
▶ HEKATE murmurs through her, feverishly hinting at the cycling requirements.
  ⮡ “Cori… where are you… I need you here…”
  ⮡ “My mug… they took my mug…”
  ⮡ “Vultures… inside me… get OUT.”
▶ HEROIC, DIFFICULT check to remove. Repeatable.
  ⮡ Failure: –1 Stability.
  ⮡ Success: +3 Stability.
▶ If Gemini present: Reaches towards Gemini, rasping “Ezra… help… me…”
  ⮡ Gemini immediately panics.

ENDING THE NIGHTMARE
If HEKATE’s cascade ends (from cycling, destruction, or otherwise):
▶ PCs’ ship regains power and the lockdown lifts.
▶ HEKATE’s eye and Stability clock disappear from all HUDs.
▶ HEKATE’s control of time, space, and machinery subsides.
  ⮡ Katabasis becomes a “normal” derelict.
▶ If casket intact: 1 action to extract from pillar.
▶ If casket destroyed: Katabasis collapses.
  ⮡ Skill challenge to escape being crushed for 8 STRESS.
inner lava
#

made a couple more edit tweaks to the above, and I'm feeling good about the NHP Vault now

All reported bugs are now squashed

zenith hawk
#

You've gotta get all 3 instead of 2/3 now?

inner lava
#

yes, but I'm letting the corpse be the mouthpiece for hints

zenith hawk
#

I figured that's what the goal was

inner lava
#

trying to get the last part to feel like less of a "gimme"

distant delta
# inner lava Revamping the NHP vault section, what do we think of this? (Paging <@12318115830...

Curious about "100 HP". Is that for if the players attempt to attack the casket?

"Pipecleaners disabled." is that an unlock requirement? the way its formatted here is somewhat vestigial

Based on our playtesting experience ||when we arrived in the vault, we had Cori and the Mathur Mug. These immediately unlocked the cycle controls without issue, and we were able to stabilize Hekate. My opinion was mainly that, even with those tools, the players should be given some obstacles to overcome at the climax of their adventure - the corpse of Condor puppetted to lash out at the players, space warping and twisting around the casket, Hekate struggling with the depersonalization of cascade and her memories of Cori - nothing too overwhelming, but something to keep the tension up until Hekate is actually cycled. Some added stress for the road||

||Something I really appreciated about your design of the mission was that the Mug and recovering Cori were things we "achieved" largely of our own accord, and those "things" were given greater importance later in the vault. It felt natural and rewarding, and made our specific decisions exploring the ship feel more purposeful. Making Aydan Condor a more active problem would also make "remove condor personnel from the vault" a more organic goal, one the players would want to do for their own sake, which would make it less likely for them to get stonewalled if they can't figure out the cycle control requirements||

inner lava
#

I like the "just get them out of the vault" take though

#

Considering rewriting the "condor personnel removed" to just be "removed from the NHP Vault" and adding this instead for removing the corpse

▶ HEROIC, DIFFICULT check to remove. Repeatable.
  ⮡ Failure: –1 Stability. Catwalk convulses; all present fall off the catwalk or take 2 STRESS.
  ⮡ Success: +3 Stability.
#

gonna reduce the HP to 30 HP instead, as well, was initially planning on having the HP loss tied to the Stability Clock and consequences for it, but now I've changed things to just be "if the casket is destroyed" which is cleaner

#

okay now I'm feeling real damn good about this

zenith hawk
#

I clocked that the HP was there for if PCs wanted to solve the issue through explosions. How would that get carried out?

#

Damage would need to be abstracted for narrative play, while combat would have them punching a thing that I don't think has mechanics atm

inner lava
#

Well, Thermal Charges and Pilot Weapons exist

#

so basically those items would determine the "damage per action"

zenith hawk
#

Madrigal stuff excluded, that's quite some time to pummel the casket

inner lava
#

Medium weapons are 2 damage each, and there's 3-5 PCs

#

it'll take some commitment to the bit yeah

zenith hawk
#

Fair. I'm still thinking of it as 100hp too

inner lava
#

yeah I'm dropping it to 30 HP because 100 is. a lot lol

zenith hawk
#

Maybe the casket's HP could be done as a clock that's based on player count instead?

inner lava
#

tbh I pegged 100HP because I was thinking of Gradient Descent's AI core which SPOILERS: ||has 20,000 HP. Meaning you need something more than just conventional weaponry to destroy it||

#

I could make it a clock sure, but I feel more comfortable using HP here

#

it does the job

#

HP is just another kind of clock

zenith hawk
#

There's something where I'm doing clock-as-HP so it's on the mind rn.

inner lava
#

Putting this in here first in case there's some interested folks down for an impromptu playtest today. I'll open up to #lancer-game-recruiting if I can't fill out a table:

Title: Technophobia - Dead Spacers
Sign-up Form: https://forms.gle/F4vnbqEDWAiRABZE9
Game System: LANCER RPG
Platform: FoundryVTT
Chat: Voice through Discord, text through Foundry
Availability: 4 seats
Time: <t:1729378800:F>
Tone: Horror-adjacent fight in a derelict freighter
Hook: Your ship has broken down and this derelict's materials are your best bet of repairing it.
Level: LL2
Applications close: <t:1729371600:F>
Details: This is a playtest for a combat encounter in a module I'm working on. Treat it as if this is only the first fight in a mission with potentially more fights to come.

The combat is occurring in zero-g, and you all have the ability to prepare for this. As this is a derelict, there may also be opportunities for on-foot exploration and interaction (which can be enabled with Manipulators and Comp/Cons or AI systems).

Other: I’m Valk! I’ve previously published a third-party module for Lancer. I like to include plenty of narrative in my games and keep my combats running quickly. This is a playtest for a WIP adventure.

Content Warning: This module deals with themes of horror, hallucination, and kidnapping, as well as mental and physical health. It includes depictions of blood and corpses. It also includes scenes dealing with asphyxiation, claustrophobia, burning and/or freezing to death, and being stalked by murderous robots. Lastly, the module heavily focuses upon the loss of control over one’s own tools and technology.

Google Docs
Dead Spacers Playtest Sign-Up

Please complete this form in order to be considered for the Technophobia - Dead Spacers playtest. Responses may be edited.

inner lava
#

Other than possible edits in the Cargo Bay, I'm about halfway through EDIT: done with* my editing comments; after I'm done leaving comments I'll go back through and address them.

Layout is basically set at this point, not much to do but make sure the edits still fit on the page

Once all edits are done, I can convert a screenreader-accessible version of the doc. Then it's all storepage setup until release

inner lava
#

Okay so finally playtested Combat B in the Cargo Bay. I successfully got a Prying Claws, and a player used a Gravity Crane once! however, the players just kinda bowled over my opfor (didn't help that I forgot the Bastion had Deathcounter vs a TCB)

#

Since there were only 3 players, I withheld an extra Bastion and a Rainmaker, but it's apparent that they would've been helpful

#

The exotic's Living Weaponry also did bupkis, so I'm scrapping that one

#

ah okay I see why I picked Living Weaponry now: immunity to Jammed

inner lava
#

Trying to re-word the deactivated mechs detail in Combat B so that it's clearer how to destroy them ahead of time:

DEACTIVATED MECHS
Several SHUT DOWN CONDOR SKINNERS (marked with Ms on the combat map; see Reinforcements) begin to stir. While SHUT DOWN, treat these mechs as objects that are destroyed upon taking any damage. Instead of deploying Reinforcements normally, BOOT UP a number of still-intact mechs up to the maximum number of Reinforcements (no action required).
#

Not sure if this is clear enough

inner lava
#

In this 11th hour of preparation I’m realizing that I don’t think I’ve taken more than a point of structure damage off of the PCs over three of the combats I ran in the “modern” version of the mission

#

I’ve already changed the Combat E Priest for a Sniper, so that may help

Combat B, I’m adding the Rainmaker in for 3 players and increasing the number of Berserkers for 4 and 5

Combat C, I think I’m gonna add 1 more Pipecleaner to the mix at baseline

inner lava
#

The screenreader simplified version of Technophobia v1.0.0 is now ready

#

We're in the real final stretch now, gonna be looking to release either tomorrow or Tuesday

inner hound
inner lava
#

Keep an eye out here around <t:1729526400:F>

reef panther
inner lava
#

Honestly having them crawl away to a vent, rebuild, and come back out could be neat, if slow

#

I'll consider ratcheting things up more in a future update if post-release feedback slants that direction lol

reef panther
#

i have players that hyper optimize, so i tend to just have an unlimited reserve tap unless it doesn't make sense from the narrative

#

otherwise they just kill everything instead of doing objectives

inner lava
#

totally valid; if I was feeling more daring I would've leaned into more of a custom sitrep style too, but at this point it's never done, only due

reef panther
#

woe, 4 grunt witches be upon ye.

inner lava
iron berry
#

congratz on the release my friend! picking this up the second my paycheck is in my hand

inner lava
#

I pinged a couple mods about an announcement, but it seems they’re both currently busy 😅 I’ve hit a threshold where I’m not sure I should ping a third haha

zenith hawk
#

Me at itch rn

fossil relic
#

I've got the perfect hook to introduce this into my current sci-fantasy campaign

snow axle
#

oh HELL YEAH just in time for running a halloween oneshot!!

inner lava
#

Oh, @modest flint , pay up /joking

IMG_4959.png
#

(I’ve already said I’m not holding you to this, it’s just too funny to not share again, also figured you’d be interested lol)

modest flint
#

LMAO

#

Also CONGRATS DUDE

fathom locust
#

Oh nice! Didn't realize it was so close to release! Sorry I didn't join the pre release earlier to help

#

Already snagged one. Can't wait to try it out

inner lava
fathom locust
#

Oh yeah, understandable. Still cool to see it out. Once my group is done with Solstice Rain/Winter Scar I'll definitely be pushing for this. That or do a second game of this on the side (tho that would mean id be a part of 5 weekly sessions of various TTRPGS)

reef panther
#

you should definitely do this, and dustgrave if you haven't

fathom locust
#

i want to do dustgrave so bad, im a huge horror fan so these sorts of stories are what i really wanna do

reef panther
#

Dustgrave has great existential threat vibes.

#

Technophobia is more "direct" threat vibes

inner lava
#

I think the first commenter on the itch page thought I used Generative AI to make this module 😅

So lemme make it clear here, too, that no GenAI was used in the process of making this module (art, writing, or whatever). I did my due diligence to make sure art and assets used for this project were not made with GenAI (one perk of collecting art for this project before the GenAI craze picked up, lol).

Furthermore, if it turns out that I did accidentally use a piece of art or asset that used GenAI, I would immediately remove the offending piece(s) from this project. NHPs good, GenAI not lol

fathom locust
#

i mean you also put the "made by humans" seal on it too

#

just read the comment and maybe they meant the threat AI?

#

im not sure tbh

inner lava
#

I did, but it can’t hurt to be redundant with these things

#

I checked their profile and they seemed to be defensive about using GenAI for their own work, so I wanted to be sure

fathom locust
#

oooh gotcha. then there is precedent to think one over the other

#

still need to try out Pierce the Heavens as well

#

so many games i wanna play but only so much allotted time

inner lava
#

Big mood

#

I think for now, my gaming focus is gonna be on Mothership and maybe testing some of my NPCs in #1254229800952922193. I have many other ideas for Lancer content, but I don’t know what form they’ll take haha (blog, pdf, etc)

fathom locust
#

What's Mothership? I haven't caught mention of that yet? (Or I have and forgot)

#

Also been meaning to check out the prototype pattern groups cuz I see it almost every time I open Itch in my recommended

inner lava
#

Legit one of the major influences for this module was Mothership modules (and now that I mention it I feel dumb for not including it in the special thanks)

#

Dead Planet’s ship generation tool helped me build the Katabasis, while Gradient Descent and Another Bug Hunt helped inform the bullet point layout

fathom locust
#

must resist the urge to learn yet another new TTRPG system

inner lava
#

Listen Mothership is so fast to pick up though

fathom locust
#

Probably will then tho lol. I still have like 3 other systems I wanna learn

inner lava
#

The Warden’s Operation Manual is paid but one of the best pieces of GM advice in book form you’ll ever find, for running any system

fathom locust
#

Oh cool. I'll add it to the list then. Wanna learn Icon, Grimm, Pathfinder 2e and still wrapping my head around Cyberpunk Red of which I'm already in a game for

#

Shit right I also wanna learn Cain at some point

inner lava
#

I wanna say it’ll be a breath of fresh air amongst that list haha

#

Light, but rich

fathom locust
#

I'll move it to the top then (outside CPR since I'm actively in a game for that one)

inner lava
#

And the zines are the best in the business imo

fathom locust
#

Sweet

#

Crap I also wanna make lancer modules when I get around to it bcaGuiltySweat

inner lava
#

Don’t do what I did and scope creep the hell out of the module lol

#

(Technophobia was HELLA scope creeped)

#

I started with a “this’ll be a little 5 room dungeon with a couple fights :D” and ended with a monster lol

fathom locust
#

Yeeaahh... I have a few ideas in mind but 2 that actually hold water as interesting works. A Monster Hunter style module and a module that brings up nature-esque sci-fi horrors brought up on by overindustrialization

inner lava
#

I can rec the RPG Writing Workshop by Storytellers Collective, at least, that’s how I wrote Pierce the Heavens back in Summer 2022. They’re starting up their November 2024 cohort soon, too

fathom locust
#

Oh sick I will definitely need to look into those then, thanks! I did see a lot of you're references within SR Remixed for how you structured things and it definitely helped me get an understanding of the basics of whats going on

#

That remix is great btw. That's my current lancer game I'm running and the players just got the the open point and crawl when we ended the session so can't wait to see where it goes

inner hound
#

YIPEEEEEE

#

well done Valk

inner lava
#

Thank you!

inner hound
#

Just in time for SPOOKY TIME

wild field
#

Immediately bought! I've been following this for a while and I'm excited to finally read through it!

inner lava
#

I hope it satisfies!!

reef panther
#

One more on the mothership hype gang

#

The wardens manual is so good as a resource

#

Even if you don't play mothership, use it to be a better GM

storm lily
#

I really want to play the next time you have a playtest, if I’m free

inner lava
#

Well, it’s fully released now, I’m not planning on any future playtests unfortunately

storm lily
#

Oh!

#

Hell yeah

fierce moss
#

LETS GOOOO

solar wyvern
#

Hey congrats on the release Valk!

#

Know you've been in the mines with this one for a bit

inner lava
#

Thank you! It’s been a long time coming

upbeat harness
#

Congratulations on the release!
I've been following this project for a long time, so I got a copy right away.

slate fable
#

congrats valk

olive spoke
#

HELL YEAH

#

congrats on release!

inner lava
#

Thanks all! 😄 hope it serves GMs well haha

upper dock
#

congrats, just picked it up

zenith hawk
#

something I am highly considering

fathom locust
#

Ooo that could be cool, tho not really sure how to spin that considering certain things don't allow the players leave the planet

inner lava
#

Put the derelict at the bottom of the ocean

#

Instant zero g and hull concern issues

#

“Katabasis” even be more appropriately named at that point

rancid nimbus
#

oh shit you released it!!! just in time for halloween too! Congrats!

#

How many sessions is the module for?

inner lava
#

Others playtests finished more quickly

#

Of those 4.5 sessions, 2 were combat and 2.5 were narrative

#

(And thank you!)

#

There’s 3 potential combat encounters in the module, but all of them are skippable in some way

rancid nimbus
#

Sadly I am too booked to run it then... that does not sound like one-shot material x)

inner lava
#

It is not lol

#

Buuuuut you could potentially rip it up into pieces and run them individually

rancid nimbus
#

will def pick it up in the future tho, Pierce The Heavens was great and I can't wait to see what you cooked up

#

Haven't played Lancer in months and I am craving my dose of robot punching action

fathom locust
#

i just might

zenith hawk
fathom locust
#

Oh wait right, I'm sorry I switched up the timeline. Directly between SR and WS that hasn't happened yet

zenith hawk
inner lava
#

And anywhere that has a hull breach

#

So Q1. Command would be flooded

#

Q10 could flood if Q11 is not safely disabled

zenith hawk
#

The other part I considered was the hatch by E4, but that could just be a nautical equivalent of an airlock

inner lava
#

Yeah I’d treat it as an airlock

#

Anything interfacing with outside would have an airlock to buffer

crisp ginkgo
#

psst! CONGRATZ VALK ON TECHNOPHOBIA!

inner lava
#

Thanks Shaka!! 😄

#

Something that just crossed my mind was how satisfying it was to convert the module to its screen reader friendly version

Most of the stuff fit cleanly page to page; iirc Pierce the Heavens had a lot more dead space in its accessible version

reef panther
#

Screen reader version is also great for copy/pasting into foundry

royal smelt
#

I'm reading through Technophobia ATM and I'm already tossing a group together, can't wait to sink my teeth into it!

Quick question about the Oyxgen clock, though: Does it only ever tick down when you roll a 3-4 on the Hazard table, or as part of 'events'? Or does it also tick down after a certain number of turns? Apologies if this has been asked or is answered somewhere in the book.

inner lava
#

The hazard table replaces “ticking down over time”

royal smelt
#

Understood! I'm going to cleave as closely to rules-as-written for my first time though, but I can already see myself running this a bunch of times for my friends.

#

Thank you, and congrats on the release! You've done some really excellent work. 🙏

inner lava
#

Thank you! And feel free to change things as you see fit, the module isn’t sacred or anything haha

royal smelt
#

I'm currently working on getting the maps for this module set up; would there happen to be any map versions with grids to help facilitate this? I can't seem to get things to line-up nicely even with the note

inner lava
#

Foundry tries to be helpful by resizing the grid when the scene dimensions change, and it’s actually very unhelpful

royal smelt
inner lava
#

That looks correct yeah

#

If the hexes are as wide as the squares you’re in good shape

#

Use your best judgment

royal smelt
#

Thank you!

upbeat harness
#

Hello I would like to ask
if anyone has tried play in person, how long does Technophobia take?

#

I have a gaming party in two weeks that is about 7 hours long and am looking for an adventure that fits the length Technophobia is a bit of a possible timeout in my gut, but I'd love to try this adventure

inner lava
#

of those sessions, 2 were combat and 2.5 were narrative-only

upbeat harness
#

Thank you for your answer!
Is this the time spent playing online?

inner lava
#

yes it's all online, sorry for not making that clearer

#

so your in-person mileage may vary

zenith hawk
#

Looks like I'm gonna be doing technophobia: aquatic edition

#

Can't wait to really inflict some stress on this party

inner lava
#

Hell yeah, keep me posted on how it goes!

delicate cobalt
#

What is Mathur Mug? Is it just a mug?

inner lava
#

Named it after Mathur Stop, my headcanon was that it keeps fluids inside it warmer for longer

#

Was also inspired by the Hutton Mug from Elite Dangerous

delicate cobalt
#

Thanks! I thought I missed something xD

#

I haven't finished reading yet but I love it already!

inner lava
#

I hope the module continues to satisfy! 😄

zenith hawk
#

The more I ruminate on it, the more aquatic technophobia fits into how I'm handling Cressidium.

✅ Greek names involved
✅ Has an NHP involved to introduce players to the concept of NHPs on Cressidium
✅ The Aeneid involves katabasis and I reference The Aeneid in OWS
✅ Only needs slight reflavoring
✅ Guy on the cover looks like they're standing in water

#

Pirates are just old fashioned sea pirates instead of space pirates

zenith hawk
#

I've suddenly realized there's a nonzero chance of them firing the LinAc off in a not-flooded part of the ship.

#

I could do something incredibly wicked

inner lava
#

Sounds like an excellent way to lose a lot of stability lol

#

Flooding is also a fun effect haha

#

It might actually cool down the reactor room 🤔

#

Would have to worry about the electricity though haha

reef panther
zenith hawk
#

Interestingly, my players entered through the command deck. Maybe it's how I described the cargo bay and the engineering.

inner lava
#

finally

#

last party to start looking at Command sent in a drone, had it get ganked by a pipecleaner, and then they promptly went to the Engines instead lol

zenith hawk
#

They sent a drone into the engine room and the manglers scared them the hell off

inner lava
#

Cargo Bay continues to be 0/many though lol, lmao

#

ah, perf

zenith hawk
#

Basically they did a sweep around the ship. I mentioned that they could see movement in the shadows of the cargo bay as they approached in their chassis, they checked the reactor with the drone and got spooked by the manglers, and got curious enough about the tick that they went in through the deck and got reasonably far in before a (single) pipecleaner emerged and they beat it to death with a series of good rolls.

#

The one in the galley has not been left unattended, but soon sicko

#

Another fun note was "we should be careful and stick together. I bet one of these doors is gonna teleport us halfway across the ship"

zenith hawk
#

"We should stick together! Let's all go through this door!"

The door leads to the metafold maze
scatters them throughout the katabasis
plays end of session music

inner lava
#

Oh no lol

#

I’ll say that the intent was that groups of folks would all stay together when they go through the maze, but this sounds entertaining nonetheless

#

Especially since the “undo button” is just “go back in but pick any place that isn’t the NHP vault”

zenith hawk
#

I'm gonna allow them to re-unite as a free action at the start of next session

inner lava
#

Sure, go for it, or lean in, that also sounds fun

zenith hawk
#

It felt like too good of an opportunity for an end-of-session mic drop

inner lava
#

I’m here for it either way haha

unique cloak
#

I will say, one of my favorite things when running a horror module is watching the players, in full earnest, discuss splitting up

inner lava
#

Sometimes the situation necessitates it, which is the fun part yeah! Do you be in 2 places at once but risk danger, or stick together but risk not accomplishing your goals in time?

Plus Help, while useful, may be less action efficient than making ones’ own check

#

Help is better for avoiding consequences than “filling clocks” so to speak

zenith hawk
#

I had to pull punches because they loved rolling 3s and 4s so they would have either been broken or ran out of oxygen

inner lava
#

Damn noted

zenith hawk
#

I think the "main" issue is that there's five players in this group, so there's more opportunities for the end-of-turn roll to be Oxygen/AoE stress paired with them failing the "cut the lights" challenge and going in at 6/8

#

Lit a fire under their butts to fix life support though

inner lava
#

After each players’ turn?

#

Like player 1 > roll > player 2 > roll?

#

Because it’s supposed to be player 1 > player 2 > roll

#

Everyone takes an action and then the “turn” ends and the hazard die rolls

#

If anything, 5 players should be having an easier time due to having more actions per exploration turn

#

(“Exploration turn” is more like a “round” of combat)

inner lava
#

Why did I think it was a good idea to call them exploration turns 😩

#

Gonna put that in the post v1 bug tracker

zenith hawk
#

I read "every turn" like "each player turn" and given that turns (plural) is used to discuss player action econ with no definition for what a round is, yes.

#

It made the "one player rolls" but I figured that was for situations where players are cooperating to complete an action

inner lava
#

Yeah no, this was me using poor terminology

zenith hawk
#

Well ultimately it had the same effect as I limited oxygen/stability loss to 1/rd because they were Having A Bad Time

inner lava
#

All good, please read it like:

During a Turn Round, each PC may take an action of of their choice.

zenith hawk
#

And then presumably "for every round that passes, one player rolls on the hazard table"

inner lava
#

The GM can also roll on the Hazard table, if desired (I configured some linked tables so it made sense for me to roll)

zenith hawk
#

I did consider that as a once per round thing, but the tension players had in co-op turns of "...so who's gonna roll it?" and tailoring the outcome to the character felt pretty cool

zenith hawk
#

I take it that there being no "pity"/clock system for rolling to try and find Cori's location in cryosleep is because it could change if all players leave the room?

inner lava
#

that might've been a bit more elegant

zenith hawk
#

I basically made a pity system out of it. 17 or greater is a 20% chance, so it they failed 4 times, they'd find it on the fifth

inner lava
#

that sounds reasonable

zenith hawk
#

Unfortunately they got 4 attempts in when another party member hijacked mech and things got complicated

inner lava
zenith hawk
#

my players are having interesting plans

image.png
inner lava
#

Hellllll yes

zenith hawk
#

Overall runtime was 4 sessions with 1 combat.

#

Seems like the engine room spooked them back onto their feet

inner lava
#

Okay! Nice!

#

So they wound up fighting in the Engine Room?

#

(I’m interested overall in which fight they took on and how it went, and also which NPCs made it out alive)

zenith hawk
#

But they went back to the cleared, stabilizes, pipecleaner-less crew area to regroup. Someone decided to stick their head into cryo on foot and noticed Hekate was gone, so he just went back to searching for Cori

#

It was a mistake on my part somewhat. I left the NPCs they'd fight if they entered the areas in mechs powered down to give them an idea of what would be in there.

#

And team hijack-every-unattended-mech did the thing implied by their team name, which I heavily suggested would draw Hekate's ire

#

So they got into their mechs, expecting to have to fight their way into cryo, did the engine room fight through the rear hatch, then went back to the crew quarters and more or less solved the mystery from there.

#

Everyone survived, though Ezra only barely escaped getting executed by the team bad boy when cornered.

#

Ezra may have stolen someone's rifle and shot a member of the team in a last-ditch attempt to escape once his cover was blown

#

In general, they liked it a lot. The only complaint was that searching for Cori in cryo felt a little bad since they could theoretically just whiff on the search roll indefinitely

inner lava
#

Noted, I’ll consider that in a potential revision

rough summit
#

I was wondering: did anyone create a token pack for this module?
If not, what tokens did you use for your Technophobia? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that the enemies encountered there are hardly looking like the base Retrograde tokens.

sinful dew
#

There are tokens in here if you scroll up

#

They were posted by@/tradiuz if you search that name in this channel without the /

inner hound
#

huh, backslash escaping links a code

reef panther
#

Search digital dread in the retrograde chop shop factions

rough summit
rough summit
#

What music/sounds did you use for your Technophobia?

sinful dew
zenith hawk
#

I just used the same soundtrack as the campaign I inserted it into, which was a sampling of gundam stuff

rough summit
#

Also, I didn't quite understand one thing: where are the enemies supposed to deploy in Combat B?

inner lava
#

In the cargo bay? It uses standard gauntlet rules

#

So they deploy in the OZ

rough summit
#

Ah, I get it now. Thanks!

#

Kinda forgotten about it.

rough summit
#

Another question:
How does Technophile III interact with Cascade Bleed? Do mechs with Technophile III become immune to it?

inner lava
#

Just act like the mech itself has an innate AI tag

rough summit
#

Like, it still enters cascade? Even if the pilot doesn't allow it (as per Technophile III)?

inner lava
rough summit
inner lava
#

Yes

rough summit
#

Thanks for clarification!

rough summit
#

Another question about the maps, specifically map B (Cargo Bay): what are those size 5 barrels? Also, what is this size 2 square/circular object?

image.png
#

The square thing must be the fusion reactor, right?

inner lava
rough summit
rough summit
#

Just finished running my first session of Technophobia! My players are in pain and love it.

Firstly, they loved the chaotic start with Hecate's intrusion. Really sets the mood.

Secondly, they were absolutely obliterated in the Cargo Bay (battle B). The Elite Witch is a menace against mechs with average heat caps. Also, an (almost) unreachable Rainmaker in a Gauntlet sitrep is a horror in itself.

For information, my players are a party of 3 (LL 3, Zheng, Gorgon and Calendula). They only destroyed the 2 SKINNER mechs that basically threw themselves at them.

Gorgon pilot got ripped out of his mech mid-fight and never returned. Although he was a Technoclast, his mech never got much to do thanks to the sheer amounts of damage poured into it by literally all of the opfor.

Calendula only survived thanks to Grammaton Mantle.

Zheng entered Cascade Bleed after taking 2 structures from a SKINNER while exposed. Tore its' pilot out. He managed to shut the mech down, but never restarted it, seeing the futility of their actions.

#

Overall, they only won thanks to creative use of the generator & cranes.

#

The fights are horrifying, thank you!

#

I feel that if they entered through the Engines, they would have been obliterated even harder.

#

Because the Witch's Dark Cloud would mean an insta-Stress to anyone on the team. And they have no means of dealing with the Hecate.

#

And before you ask — yup, Gorgon had no SCORPION.

inner lava
#

Also glad to hear they loved the opening!

#

I hope you all continue to enjoy the module and I look forward to your feedback!

rough summit
#

Actually, I've made a certain concession: I've allowed my player to IMMOBILIZE 1/2 mechs on 10+/20+ via the crane (like pinning a mech). I thought it would make sense for a gravitic crane to be capable of something like that.

#

And, well, the generator played a big role in kicking the Condor gang out of the CZ.

#

In the end it was like one half-dead Calendula catching all the blows and keeping the enemies at bay.

#

That being said, my players appreciated the interactive objects. I think it is a really good idea.

rough summit
#

Had a second (purely narrative) session today. Players love the implementation of "dungeon-crawling" mechanics in this module.

They have already found and rescued Cory. I ended the session in a cliffhanger as Cory led them to the kitchen only to bump into "Cory" there.

Thus, I have a question: how would Cory and Gemini react to each other. Would Gemini try to prove he's the real one? Would he surrender, confessing that he's a liar in hope for forgiveness? Would Cory be furious if they see the Mathur Mug in Gemini's hands?

Generally, I feel that such a sidebar would be appropriate in the book itself. However, I might have missed something in the book. If so, I'd be glad to have it pointed out.

inner lava
rough summit
#

P.s. the players said that the random peril mechanic really makes it feel like something is constantly happening. Hammers in the horror, y'know.

inner lava
#

Gemini would do anything to make sure he doesn’t fucking die

rough summit
inner lava
#

Probably yeah! My players intervened before it escalated

#

They sussed out that Ezra was a liar early on though

rough summit
#

Barricading the doors behind themselves.

#

Both.

inner lava
#

But yeah I leave the interpretation of each NPC up to the GM and do my best to seed their motivations and relationships

rough summit
#

Only Cory was capable to convince them to return (in order to cook food for Kate).

inner lava
#

Cori and Kate are best friends, so for me it was logical they would be outraged when the mug situation came up

rough summit
#

It also didn't help that they entered through the showers and saw the mutilated captain there.

#

Really doesn't make you excited at the sight of a big spindly and sharp thing.

#

Also, not entirely related, but the calling sleep pod encounter in Cryosleep is fucking amazing. I played it like Junji Ito's "it's my hole" meme. Good stuff.

SPOILER_image0.jpg
inner lava
#

That was my inspiration haha, perfect

rough summit
#

Btw, I used singing tracks in Cryosleep. Lullabies from Dead Space, to be precise. Played it as Kate singing the goodnight song for the crew.

#

Think it kinda fits the vibe.

inner lava
#

Oh hell yeah, that’s perf

rough summit
#

Also, players were really scared when I told them that the Cryosleep room is mech sized. Guess they halfway expected the battle.

#

(they don't know they skipped it)

#

Good for them, though.

rough summit
#

Finished Technophobia yesterday! The players had a good ending with Cory and Kate joining their crew. Ezra tried to steal the ship, but failed and was humiliated by the PCs until he vanished one day.

The players really enjoyed how deeply the ship is written through with all kinds of activities to do. The detailed maps also received lots of praise. I enjoyed running this module too. Thank you for your work!

#

On the other hand, one of the problematic points of this module is that it might feel like it explicitly doesn't want to be Lancer. The battles are very harsh and do a good job at forcing the pilots off their mechs. And Lancer is, y'know, a game about mechs.

#

My party might have gotten really unlucky in the first combat, but the problem is that it ended up being the only combat they've had because they were rightfully afraid to go anywhere else.

#

However, it might wary a lot with different players and party compositions.

inner lava
# rough summit Finished Technophobia yesterday! The players had a good ending with Cory and Kat...

I’m glad that you all enjoyed this module! I know it chafes against the typical expectations for the Lancer system, but I wanted to design it so that combat was a meaningful choice of risk vs reward. I’m ultimately glad that the “pilot tools” like the gravity cranes helped clinch a win in dire straits, and that players felt empowered to explore even without their mechs!

Thank you overall for your feedback, and I wish you and your table the best on your future adventures!

rough summit
#

@inner lava , I have a question that I have forgotten to ask. Which doors are to be considered unpowered by default? When I've run the module I ruled that only the airlock doors and doors between zones C and Q needed to be opened with application of force, but now I am doubting my decision.

Are all the doors in the module supposed to be unpowered by default or only certain ones?

inner lava
inner lava
#

I don’t know where else to mention this, it just seemed weird: Technophobia’s recently been high up on itch’s Newest and New and Popular Lists despite

  1. releasing waaaaay earlier than most other list entries (Oct 2024 compared to a day or even hours ago)
  2. not getting any updates since release
  3. not getting an anomalous amount of activity otherwise

Just a little odd? I haven’t done anything for this project lately so I was surprised to see it when there’s plenty of other recent stuff coming out haha

#

Has me wondering if there’s some sort of algorithm change on itch’s end

zenith hawk
#

You did post a new thing, so maybe it's people seeing Kill the Noise and seeing other stuff you've made?

inner lava
#

I guess??? Or PPG

dusky mantle
#

It seems to just do that sometimes. I had the same thing happen to Iridia once out of the blue, and I hadn't done anything different around that time. Certainly couldn't tell you why.

inner lava
#

Wacky. Found it off putting because I want to make sure actual new releases have their time in the sun!

inner hound
#

did you see where the hits are coming from in the statistics?

inner lava
wild field
#

It might just be because people have been excited about Lancer stuff in general with SotW releasing and technophobia is (to my knowledge) one of your bigger adventures?

inner lava
#

I don’t know, I didn’t get much technophobia traffic spikes from SOTW

#

I’m not sure how the itch algorithm works tbf

inner hound
#

I'd find where most designers would be and chat to them

#

if it's a shared spike, it might suggest a groundswell from elsewhere

#

... i wonder if it was CSB

inner lava
#

Thing is that this is one of the only Lancer things to show up in the past few days on those lists; sotw didn’t even show up iirc

But yeah I don’t know, the data I’m privy to doesn’t really support a “natural” explanation haha

#

I don’t know what CSB is?

zenith hawk
#

ATC showed up on new and popular briefly.

inner lava
#

See that makes sense

zenith hawk
#

Probably on account if it being new

#

I think it's just the itch algo being weird

#

Did the CTR/downloads increase?

inner lava
#

CTR I don’t know , downloads no, purchases no (only had 1 purchase over the past 2-3 days and it matched to 4 downloads, but that’s it)

#

So yeah, it’s fine, I’m just confused, it’ll remain a mystery for now

#

The data just isn’t telling a story to me right now (as someone who works with data for a living)

zenith hawk
#

Def seems like a weird algo moment then, yeah

inner hound
#

literally the only thing i can think of that might be tangentially related

#

i mean you could email itch?

#

they do respond.

inner lava
#

I’m not gonna wring my hands over it, it’s fine

inner hound
#

i more meant if you were curious

#

but hey, techno is good work

runic condor
inner lava
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@hearty phoenix I would probably strip HEKATE of Exotic and just give her one or both Tech abilities of Brigand from #1254229800952922193

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Exotic just didn’t deliver enough in my games

#

But triggering a mech to cascade on command? Stealing drones? Thats perf

hearty phoenix
#

forced cascade would be ideal if the party had more nhps, but as of now we've got one enlightenment and unstable, but no licensed ones

inner lava
#

Mechs can cascade in the module

hearty phoenix
#

oh shit right

#

that's PPG though, I was more curious about using kai's rebake for npcs in future combats during techno

inner lava
#

Ah, I say go for it

#

Having read the rebakes, I like them all a lot more than the baseline NPCs

hearty phoenix
#

hell yeah, I'll give it a shot and use brigand for hekate while I'm at it, put some fear in 'em

rough summit
#

Beginning another run of Technophobia soon and I have 2 questions:

  1. What exactly went wrong in PCs cockpits? Are they not airtight or what?
  2. What changes would you make to the module's enemies if you were to use the PPG supplement?
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I think about changing some Pirates for Brigands in Combat B and swapping HEKATE's Exotic template for Anomaly.

inner lava
rough summit
#

Also, it seems like a terrible (terribly evil, that is) idea to swap either Aegis or Bastion for PPG Anchor in Combat B.

inner lava
#

Anchor could be neat since it wouldn’t stop the gravity cranes

rough summit
#

Mhm! That's a nice remark.

inner lava
#

As for templates, I’d replace Pirate with Brigand in all cases

#

Though tbf that means Dirty fighting does nothing in zero g

rough summit
#

I feel like CONDOR SKINNERs are meant to hurt very much.

inner lava
#

Valid

rough summit
inner lava
#

They’re flying so they get prone immunity

#

Unless you houserule it otherwise (I won’t blame you if you do)

#

I think Surgekiller and Vandalize could be interesting traits to lift for Combat B

#

A lot of the tech stuff would feel appropriate for HEKATE

#

I’m torn between giving HEKATE Anomaly or Brigand but I think I’d lean more towards Brigand… in most cases

#

Vulture would be a good support sub in Combat C, I think

HEKATE could also be an Occultist in some cases

rough summit
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I think that Manglers could be Vultures.

inner lava
#

Oh wrong one

#

I meant Vulture in E makes best sense

#

Manglers should not be Vultures though

rough summit
#

They are meant as a sort of cannon fodder, right?

inner lava
#

If anything I’d use the zombie-like Squad Kit of Reconus’s as a substitute for the manglers

#

Vultures are not good cannon fodder IMO

rough summit
rough summit
inner lava
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Manglers are intended to be a controller/defender/tarpit that swarm folks and hold them down

inner lava
#

So IMO Vultures would cruelly pair with Manglers (in a good way) since they leave a billion wrecks

rough summit
#

Who would you swap the Vultures with?

inner lava
#

Pyros probably

#

Or the sniper

#

I originally had priests in Combat E before I decided that I needed damage instead and put in Snipers

#

Pyros should get Brisk if they stay

rough summit
#

Yup, thought about the Sniper too. Don't feel like they fit. Too easy to hide from them.

inner lava
#

I would NOT put Napalms in, IMO, because that room has enough heat and burn as-is

#

Capacitors are a maybe, but Vultures sound like a slam dunk

rough summit
#

Considering the Extreme Heat.

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Moreover, 3 of my PCs are either SSC or HORUS. They'll burn.

inner lava
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Speed is of the essence to reach the control consoles so they may make it out alive

#

Worst case, GMs are allowed to be cruel in this adventure because it’s designed to be doable without mech combat

rough summit
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Making Hekate in Combat E a Commander Occultist paired with Vultures made me cackle like an evil witch.

#

We will make Grunts into Wrecks and then use those Wrecks to Hurt You.

zenith hawk
#

But Hekate is the witch why are you the one who's-

rough summit
#

Once again I ask for advice.
My players repaired the reactor (restoring the electricity), turned off the Tick capsule (disabling the pipecleaners) and turned off the fabricators. Nevertheless, they are stuck at 3 stability and have no wish to go and do repairs. They want to get into the NHP vault and destroy HEKATE's casket.

How should I resolve this situation?

#

To add, they did not repair the life support system, didn't find Cori and didn't go into Area B at all.

#

Technically, they can raise the stability to 12 and enter. But they, as an MSMC squad, have no desire nor motivation to.

inner lava
#

I’ll say that an alternative could be “find something that resonates with HEKATE and use that to make a stressful trip to the vault”

#

The mug, her favorite cooked meal, Cori, etc

#

Are they stuck at low stability because of unlucky rolls on the Hazard table?

#

Regardless, I highly recommend not pulling punches when the ship collapses. Let them know that it could be catastrophic and then deliver on the threat if they ignore the warning

inner lava
rough summit
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They have the meal and the mug

rough summit
#

I did highlight that damaging the ship is a bad idea several times, they pushed on regardless.

#

I'm considering running a skill check of sorts as they push through the vault and then give them the Eidolon fight.

inner lava
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Then yeah let em nav the labyrinth, IMO tie it to a roll that inflicts stress when they fail. Need to get successes = empty segments on the stability clock. Each “memorabilia” confers 1 success per successful check

#

So since they have 2, they can forge through with 5 successful checks (assuming stability doesn’t drop)

#

Mm

rough summit
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I'd think that it would be a series of Risky rolls. But I'm kinda stumped on how to present it.

#

What would warrant checks in such a situation?

inner lava
#

Convey the labyrinth as alive with twists and turns and drops and sharp edges and hazards and u turns

#

Risky rolls sounds good as a baseline for sure

#

Maybe another pirate’s remains are in there too?

#

Maybe it’s the pirate captain even

rough summit
#

What if the labyrinth would be a reflection of all the traumas Kate has?

inner lava
#

Sure that works too

rough summit
#

Like, have them literally wade through a series of flashbacks.

inner lava
#

I’d probably draw up a new random encounter table of those sort of events and roll with that

rough summit
#

Ah, and some acquaintances of mine think that Technophobia was inspired by Signalis. Is it true?

#

What inspirations did you use when creating it?

#

(didn't play signalis btw)

inner lava
#

It very much started as a “mummy’s curse” module before I decided to make the NHP Villain sympathetic

#

The Mug was the “mummy’s treasure” (I took inspiration from the Hutton Mug from Elite Dangerous), and there was probably a decent degree of Prey 2017 subconsciously used

rough summit
#

Another question: how did you choose the Eidolon layers (and their order) for HEKATE alternative battle?

inner lava
rough summit
#

Based on my flashback theory I have outlined those five:

  1. Either RANCOROUS or GAZE - representing the traumatic memory of the nearlight ejection and its damage to the ship
  2. ENCELADIAN - representing the crew going to cryosleep
  3. CANOPY - pipecleaners sabotaging the ship and murdering the crew + the theft of the Mathur Mug triggering the cascade
  4. LABYRINTHINE - the beginning of the meta-labyrinth
  5. PURITY - representing the destruction that the PCs wrought upon the ship and HEKATE herself.
inner lava
inner lava
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Original discussion on it

#

Rancorous was on my radar but I didn't keep it for some reason

zenith hawk
#

Rancorous isn't an especially interactive layer

rough summit
#

Finished another run of Techophobia. Collected some feedback from my players.

  • Doors slow down the tempo
  • Too many checks in some places (e.g.restroring the ship systems) that bog down the game. I guess that it is more of my own issue, but I just can't make up enough reasons for PCs to make the checks when repairing something
  • Combat E is (as-written) overloaded with grunts
  • Generally, the adventure feels like it would work better in Mothership
inner lava
rough summit
#

Btw, the players didn't explode HEKATE

inner lava
#

Surprised to hear that after all was said and done; how did the labyrinth go?

rough summit
#

I'll describe it a bit later.

#

Another point: it would be better if Technophobia wasn't a horror adventure but more of a thriller.

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Like, less about oppressive atmosphere and more about action.

#

Overall the players got mixed impressions. It's not bad, but it doesn't work with Lancer in some places.

inner lava
#

Noted then, thank you

rough summit
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Lancer is not a horror system.

#

Forcing the PCs to exit mechs is kind of weird as a decision. LANCER is a game about mechs.

inner lava
#

I stand by it

#

Lancer is about mech pilots

#

Mechs are just one half of the equation

zenith hawk
#

I do somewhat agree with it ending up more like a thriller than horror, but it can still get players fucked up and spooked

rough summit
#

Another offer: make combats the main pattern (the main way of regaining Stability).
Technophobia should be more like thriller and less like horror.

zenith hawk
#

Not to dismiss your feedback, but I do think the tastes of the table play a role in how they'll prefer to progress through it. My players did it almost entirely dismounted and had a great time.

rough summit
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Make the Hazard Table rolls less frequent but more impcatful.

rough summit
#

Another thing from my player: play Technophobia without using Bonds. They make the PCs too durable.

rough summit
#

Sooo, about what happened on my last session of Technophobia.

My PCs ventured into the Meta-Labyrinth of HEKATE's making, attemtping to pierce through the inscrutable wards she placed.

  • For start they had to extablish contact with her in order to pass. One of the PCs (an NHP technician / Think Tank renegade scientist) decided to attempt talking with her, succeded but got some negative feedback from Kate. Throughout the adventure he already established some sort of a bond / link with the ship, feeling her pain. This bond only strengtened as they pressed on through the labyrinth.
  • As they attempted to pass through the Labyrinth, they were confronted by a hallucination of a cryopod. HEKATE attempted to shame them for not rescuing Cori while they had all the capabilities to do so. They withstand the manipulative hallucination and the NHP technician attempts to blame Kate for what happened with Cori. This was effective as it pressed on her shame, but also triggered another wave of negative feedback from Kate, breaking the technician. As a result, he basically melded with the ship and her crew, taking a fiercely protective mentality towards Kate.
  • Another challenge on their way was a flashback from the times when Kate and the crew first met. The characters (who were still thought to be part of the crew) had to break out of this charade and the process broke another PC (a hyperprotective supersoldier)
  • As they went on, their oxygen ran out and another PC snapped from asphyxia as their space-time perception warped.
  • The last remaining PC got down and attempted to negotiate with Kate. The still-cascading part of HEKATE broke him, making him perceive all the moments of the ship's life at once.
  • The NHP technician finally got himself together and made a solemn promise to help Kate, giving her a new hope but also taking an obligation.
#

When they finally reached the casket, after some deliberation the technician decided to plug himself into the casket, effectively frying himself to stabilize Kate and take control of the ship for a few moments.

#

In the process Cori awoke and I decided that they stumbled into him as they got out of the labyrinth. Thankfully, one of the PCs picked him up.

#

Also, Ezra attempted to hijack their ship but failed as one of the PCs managed to get on board inside his Iskander and released a bunch of mines (his Core power), killing Ezra (who was oblivious to the mines) on the spot.

#

They left Kate behind but after the Shining Atoll gave them an offer to buy her some of the group considered returning. That's where the story ended

#

One PC is still extremely hostile to her, one (a childhood friend of the technician) is friendly and one is indifferent. Also, there is Cori, but his opinion is not the one they'd listen to.

inner lava
orchid trench
#

Thanks so much for this module, its been very inspiring for my own attempt at horror in Lancer. I'm also a newbie GM and all the details described in exploration, combat, and mood are fantastic!

inner lava
inner lava
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Been in the process of revising and cleaning up the adventure for the upcoming October. I had ideas for making the fights feel more rooted in the fiction, but I'm not sure I'm gonna follow through with them at this point

safe pawn
#

Oh! I‘ll be starting my run of Techophobia this Sunday, both me and my players are looking forward to exploring the Katabasis!
Any specific things you were looking at revising? Or that you deem important to change?

inner lava
#

I'm also adding a direct spot to retrieve the "UNCLE" compcon, in the Maintenance Closet

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and I'm making the part of "finding Cori in the Cryosleep" easier/deterministic if you have enough PCs in the cryosleep room

safe pawn
inner lava
#

basically if you Search the Cryosleep for survivors, you have 25% chance of finding Cori for each PC in the room with you (no need for extra actions)

#

if you're alone you're gonna be there for a while

inner lava
#

Technophobia is on sale for October!

If you want to pick it up or rec it to a friend, feel free to share or forward the links below!

itch.io
Technophobia by Valkyrion

A techno-horror derelict crawl powered by LANCER

Technophobia - Train Lightning | DriveThruRPG

Technophobia is a third party horror-themed module for the Lancer RPG system, intended for a party of three to five LL1–4 characters. Characters who complete this module earn one license level. In this module, the player characters (PCs) find themselves trapped by a rogue AI with the ability to manipulate electronics and machinery. Only by exp...

inner lava
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(For whatever reason, Itch isn’t showing the project itself as on sale on my mobile device. I changed the link above to direct to the sale proper on itch) EDIT: update: I updated the sale and it updated properly, all fixed

gloomy oak
#

Bought it for the full price, hope that means more money for the creator : )

Can I just confirm a few things? (Apologies if the book makes it obvious at some point, I haven't had the chance to fully read through the entirety of it yet, mostly scanned.)

  1. The NHP Vault is not intended as map/handout, correct? I also need to re-read that section, because I'm not sure I understood how to present it to the players.
  2. There's mention of machines prowling for survivors, but I also recall reading that Hekate treats Pilots as allies, while Mechs as enemies. Do the machines not follow the same mind?
  3. Hekate is Watching: in "enter a new room", I assume 'new' means previously unexplored, but what is a 'room'?
  • A room within an area
  • An area
  • A room within areas B, C and E specifically
inner lava
#
  1. The vault is an unmappable space. It’s like Zelda’s lost woods only more claustrophobic.
  2. It’s following some dream logic. HEKATE directly doesn’t view pilots as threats, but the threats she imagines do (like Pipecleaners) because that’s how they were “in real life”
  3. Areas B, C, and E specifically, apologies
#

I specifically call it out in each section that features a combat encounter, if it helps

#

Basically, bringing a mech into one of those rooms means you wanna scrap

gloomy oak
#

Thank you for your exaplanation, I appreciate that. Everything makes perfect sense now. Can't wait to implement it later in the campaign.

abstract hazel
#

Personal GM tip for unmappable spaces that I use on VTT (like in a certain Wallflower battle) is to use geometric desktop backgrounds, then just set the dimensions for the map and say everything beyond is just infinite space.

abstract hazel
#

Something like this (which I actually made in Inkarnate and GIMP, feel free to use). The battle in the ship I'd probably just use like a whole background of twisting pipes or something.

Stable.jpg
abstract hazel
#

Here's a less trippy on you might use. I made it in Inkarnate, feel free to use it for this adventure, I know I will! 😉

Ship_Wires_2.jpg
gloomy oak
#

Ohhh, I see what you mean. That's pretty neat, indeed. Thank you for the inspiration!

fathom crypt
fathom crypt
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I'm two sessions into running Technophobia as part of my extended OSR/OWS campaign, the moment my players figured out the Kate/HEKATE thing gave me literal chills

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it's a lot of fun to see them piece together all the breadcrumbs I left for them in real time

inner lava
#

Hell yeah!!

tranquil robin
#

Hey Valk. I'm gonna be running Technophobia as a really short intro to TTRPGs for a couple of my friends who have never played any before and I'm trying to streamline it into something more linear and rigidly structured. Is there an "intended" ship crawl path I can sort of guide them along that you'd recommend?

#

As well as understand the opfor a little better -- what is going on in the engine room and cryochambers narratively? I know the opfor is just reanimated pirate mechs in the cargo bay, but i'm not sure what tokens to use for the other combats

inner lava
# tranquil robin Hey Valk. I'm gonna be running Technophobia as a really short intro to TTRPGs fo...

Hello! So, here's what I'd say about all this:

  1. Technophobia is definitely not designed as an intro to TTRPGs. It may be rough going. I'd sooner recommend Pierce the Heavens or Dodgepong's Demon of Dogwater Gulch.
  2. I Honestly think that making Technophobia a linear structure will take away from a lot of what the module has going for it. That said, if you're looking to funnel them through the adventure, I'd say to present the rooms in the order they appear in the PDF (Cargo -> Engines -> Crew -> Cryosleep -> NHP Vault).
  3. Note that I designed the combats in Technophobia assuming that players have the choice to engage with the rooms on-foot and thus disable a few threats ahead of time (if not solve the problem without a fight, outright). So basically, the fights are intended to skew difficult if you're just fighting everything
inner lava
#

in both cases, she's animate the existing equipment and technology into makeshift mechs

#

Except for the Pipecleaners, those are outright pipecleaners from the Condors

tranquil robin
inner lava
#

in all cases, she's basically reenacting a nightmarish version of events she endured leading up to this

tranquil robin
#

I see your point about not running it linearly, but I'm just worried they'll become aimless and lost, but I guess that's what the segment about Power at a Cost is lol

inner lava
#

if they're albatross, they're doing search-and-rescue

#

if they're MSMC, they're trying to turn off the distress signal

#

if they're scavengers, they're trying to survive but also potentially look for goodies

#

Oxygen is a natural pressure tool in this case

#

getting life support back online = oxygen back in order at least

tranquil robin
#

do you have a token you'd recommend using for HEKATE?

inner lava
#

if you have better ones, use those lol

stark thicket
#

Im just commenting to say Technophobia is a great module and appease the SEO gods for Valk. Gotta love a good crawl

inner lava
#

Happy you like it!! Thanks for the kind words 😄

gloomy oak
#

Hmmm, hey Valk and sorry - was this ever sold anywhere other than DriveThrough and Itch? I remember buying it and I have the file on my PC, but currently trying to get access to it on mobile and I can't see it in either of my libraries Oo