Kindness of Strangers

[pale fulcrum]

https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1147233225/photo/monument-valley-in-arizona.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=tmiYQgItNdGW9vt7MSueedO4bcmdCWvbWdU87XYyabE=

**LRBT-III, otherwise known as Blanche to the locals. This sun-baked dustbowl of a planet has the high honor of being one of the few habitable terrestrial bodies that anyone has discovered in the Long Rim, and probably the only one that's actually any use to anyone. Luckily- or not so luckily, if you ask some people- it was Union that found it first. Well, about 70 years ago when they stumbled across this star system they got it in their heads that the Long Rim's days were numbered. There’s untold millions living out there scattered along the emptiest shipping lane in the known galaxy who'd need a way out once no one needed to pass them by, and by Christ the Buddha Union was gonna be there for them waiting with open arms.

All of that is background, though. You? You’re a bunch of mercenaries who got their hands on a couple of GMSes, decided to make your manna selling violence for pay. Worlds like Blanche don't take to colonies very well, so even two generations in there's still plenty of frontier out there being settled and railroad tracks being laid. The people out there struggle day by day to survive, and people like you are there to protect them from those who got sick of the hard life. Not everyone out there has the guts to stand up for the little guy- that's why you're called Lancers.**

A setting and a campaign all in one, Kindness Of Strangers and its (eventual) follow-up Dancing With the Devil are a series of Wild West-themed 2-mission adventures intended to take players from 0-12 as they find themselves embroiled in the midst of a corporate conspiracy to overthrow the Union-backed government of the isolated colony of Blanche and a ploy to seize control over a nearly completed Blinkstation. All the while, a strange religious movement worshipping an eons-dead alien civilization grows ever more influential in the background...

This campaign tackles themes of colonialism, nationalism, corruption, and conflict between indigenous peoples, settlers, and immigrants, all in a world where well-meaning intentions have gone sour and the ghosts of the past have come back to haunt it. It comes with:

• A setting guide for LRBT-III and its weird-as-hell star system!
• A 0-12 campaign split up into two books, Kindness of Strangers and Dancing With the Devil, that are made up of three 2-mission adventures each. And then a final mission to tie things up.
• 4 Alt-Frames: the IPS-N Nemo, the SSC Painted Lady, the Horus Roper, and the HA Grant
• New Reserves! (still working on these)
• New Exotic Gear (still working on these)
• New NPCs! (still working on these)

Things to look forward to:

• Rallying a town to fight off a horde of bandits!
• An epic duel at sunset!
• Accidentally walking into a partial metavault and escaping with the only scars being mental ones!
• A weird amount of references to the works of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, like a probably legally dubious amount!
• Exploding plants!
• Exploding wildlife!
• AND MORE

...so this is really my first time doing this kind of thing so I don't entirely know what all to put here BUT I've put together first drafts of both the Field Guide to LRBT and Kindness of Strangers Act 1: A Streetcar Named Desire. They're not in any state where I can charge for them- I'd call them "playtest and editing ready" rn- but I figure I can share them here so people can give notes. If people think it's cool I could possibly do a kickstarter or something to get the money needed for art and help with editing and lcps and such.

Field Guide to LRBT: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ViTRe5q2vecjyXj3y1mh46xDokA7VBA9OU2Ck4saP_w/edit?pli=1
Kindness of Strangers Act 1: A Streetcar Named Desire: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S56y3x6TXrfYdPgpZLFegYVI2y5ZR8HhVxdb5LLtuQw/edit

I'll add maps in another post.

Kindness of Strangers Act 1 Maps: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_sS_RItUHlczZK7gmLNRBWDXGWcGEv-x?usp=drive_link

All maps have a tile size of 256px

(I still have a few more to make that I'll likely complete this week and in upcoming weeks i'll put up labeled versions)

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Kindness of Strangers Variant Mechs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Itqw3O_ypEBwcMuGOIqOZODJuifwjKXpXCrOo6NX8vg/edit

Currently untested, although I hope to begin playtesting and fine-tuning as part of work on Act 2.

We have:

The IPS-N Nemo, which took a look at the Vlad's Combat Drill and was like "what if I made that my entire identity" and also decided that walls were just suggestions.

The SSC Painted Lady, which dares to ask the question "what if the Atlas was a samurai instead of a ninja" because someone in corporate got REALLY into Yojimbo and the Seven Samurai and realized Westerns and Samurai flicks are brothers in spirit

The Horus Roper, which decided that being just a little guy was for chumps and instead went "i am getting closer" and specced into grabbing you grabbing you grabbing you. Also, "ALIENS".

The HA Grant, because sometimes you just need to take a moment to cool down and your mech is based and chill-pilled. Create difficult terrain! Freeze your enemies! Cycle in and out of the Danger Zone! All things are possible with the Grant.

[pale fulcrum]

Update: I have finished off the last 3 maps for Act 1 and made a few adjustments to the document. I intend to put up labeled versions of the maps sometime next week. Additionally, the lcp file has been updated to ver 0.0.2 (now includes reserves) and has been included in the google drive with the maps so I'm not spamming the forum every time I have to update it

I know this is a pretty rough project, but I'm hoping I can get some feedback on the module as it is, alongside the various stuff I've supplemented it with. I'd love if other GMs could test out the combats or people could try running this playtest version of Act 1 so that I can get an idea of what information needs cleaning up, what needs clarification, and where I can improve. Regardless, I'll keep chipping away at this, and intend to begin work on Act 2 shortly!

[pale fulcrum]

Surprise Update! The Numbers Station Audio file now EXISTS, having been sound designed up by a friend of mine (not on this server but credit where credit is due he's The-Backspin-Alchemist on Tumblr) after I composed (and recorded) the music and voice.

It's sick.

[sweet kiln]

I can't wait to see this project develop, I love myself a good Western and mechs. so far the painted lady alt sounds cool along with the other alt frames

[pale fulcrum]

Hey, thanks! The positive feedback really helps me keep trucking along 🙂

[sweet kiln]

😁

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Yet another update: Been working on Exotic Gear options (I'm sure the frequenters in Homebrew Design are sick of me by now), have a pretty solid list for now. I'll add them to the LCP at some point soon, they're not on there yet however and I've still got a bit of lore writing to do for em.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B4Y6h_3K4tttKqRXgIBtGby1PlFnBXUKPXhtJk0XUic/edit

[pale fulcrum]

Just wanna put out an update that I've been messing with balancing for Act 1 over the last few weeks in the background, as well as starting the process of putting together 4 and 5 player opfors for the existing combats.

Additionally, work on Act 2 has officially begun in earnest! The training wheels come off and the railroad ends in Act 2- investigate the true source of Blanche's woes, ally with former enemies, explore a society poisoned by anthrochauvinism, and uncover a conspiracy to undermine Union! And if that's not enough to get you excited, face off in a climactic battle against the rampaging creature known only as CHRISTHEBUDDHASAURUS! Yes, the bold text is part of the name.

(I may also be bumping this in order to ensure the topic doesn't get buried before I'm ready to post the next content update)

[pale fulcrum]

Small secondary update: the first playtest on Act 1 has concluded, and I have begun going through and rebalancing the combats accordingly, going over them and adding additions for extra PCs. I'll post an update when this is complete, as well as once I've put together an update for the lcp.

[robust tree]

Boop

More third party forum stuff to reead

[pale fulcrum]

UPDATE: Act 1 now includes combat opfors for 4 and 5 players in all combats! 🥳 still lots of work to do on everything else tho

[pale fulcrum]

UPDATE: The Kindness of Strangers LCP has been updated, with the inclusion of multiple new pieces of Exotic Gear, three new (mostly flavorful) pieces of Pilot Gear, and updates to the IPS-N Nemo, the SSC Painted Lady, and the Horus Roper. I intend to tinker with the Grant as well at a later date, BUT I wanted to get this up and ready for actual playtesting.

Notes:

• IPS-N Nemo is now a variant of the Nelson instead of the Vlad, and has been heavily overhauled to be more focused towards a role of being a diver striker/shock trooper with extremely versatile movement and the ability to simply ignore things like "obstructions" and "cover" and "terrain"

• SSC Painted Lady is less bulky and has stats more in line with SSC standards now. Its core power is now weaker and only lasts until the end of your next turn, so make sure to stack as many reactions as possible for maximum murder.

• Horus Roper has lost the MIB "Mesmer" Protocol since it's somewhat superfluous, and its core power has simplified. Now it is simply "get out of your mech, NOW." Also, instead of dealing heat to grappled targets it can contest grapples with Systems instead of Hull like the weird hypnotic alien it is.

[pale fulcrum]

Oh right, the lcp is in the Google drive

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Small update: Edited the LCP to update descriptions, that's really about it. I've been sick so I haven't been making much progress. (I screwed up the formatting lol)

[pale fulcrum]

The LCP has been updated yet again, all Act 1 Combats have finally been playtested with 3 PCs and adjusted based on the experience. The Roper has received its first playtest and seemed to do well! 🥳 The Big Grabby Goblin Variant is truly off to a good start.

[pale fulcrum]

Combat 1: 27 Wagons Full of Cotton has been re-tested with 4 PCs with the modifications I've made to it, and has proven to be a perfectly balanced intro combat! WE'RE GAMING!

In other news, the LCP has been updated multiple times and the Roper and Grant have been significantly updated- the Roper now features a ranged grapple that keeps enemies at range with a psychic attack, and the Grant's core power now ticks up based on taking enough heat per turn rather than stabilizing over and over.

[pale fulcrum]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PEW7cucZh-jNYijVrduP7I50x6WCqTKwMY0ZCKPmrVc/edit?usp=drivesdk

In an attempt to break free from my writers block lately, I've written a short story featuring some of the characters from the campaign.

[fair cloud]

Justice for ma boy Ranger !

[pale fulcrum]

||never said he died ;)||

[fair cloud]

||Of course, and you'd better make sure it stays that way...||

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New lore in the Field Guide:
"Mech fights and other competitions have even formed into an organized sporting event- the Mechanized Rodeo. What started in Brick as friendly competitions between miners and cave divers to see who could weave their rides through the caverns of Fellowes Canyon the fastest turned into a bevy of events combining piloting skill and sheer, insane grit to accomplish stunts that would make lesser Core Worlders quiver in their boots. Nowadays, the Mechanized Rodeo is an incredibly popular way for budding mercenaries to get their names out to advertise their companies- a fan favorite event is the Bot Ride, where a determined cowpoke is tasked with not only jockeying a piloted mech but forcing the cockpit open, kicking out the mech’s original pilot, and seizing control of it themselves. While dangerous, the sheer ingenuity, tenacity, and absolute madness put on display makes it a particularly entertaining watch; in recent years the gaming commission has made the controversial decision to switch to utilizing NHPs as pilots as a means of preventing excessive injuries from the falls and fistfights that would frequently occur during the jockeying match. The contestants are scored based on their time as well as for how stylish their subdual of the mech is- the current reigning champion managed to jockey a flying mech by hang gliding onto it from the top of Reed Stadium and assuming control of it before it either crashed or hit the ground, performing a safe landing. "

I've been quiet about updates lately mostly because currently I've just broken through some writer's block and am actually working on writing out Mission 3 now. Quite a lot has actually changed! I've done a bit of rebalancing to existing fights as well as made several new maps- hopefully before the end of the month I'll be ready to offer a proper update.

[pale fulcrum]

The LCP has been updated in the Google Drive, featuring a new exotic system: The SETH-Class NHP, Newborn. It's a bit special, but aren't all Exotics? 🙂

Also some wording changes and I reclassed the Nemo's drill as a Superheavy, with it sharing wording with the D/D 288 in the Retracted Profile to reduce confusion with how it's supposed to work.

[pale fulcrum]

Art I had commissioned of the villain of the first arc, Rip Brando. I've found my footing once more and have done significant writing- expect an update with Mission 3 as well as several new maps and NPC tokens soon.

[fair cloud]

Any new short stories on the horizon or are you focusing fully on the module itself ?

[pale fulcrum]

Right now I'm focusing on the module, I haven't gotten any ideas for short stories but might write one once I've gotten through Mission 3

Which I'm hoping I'll have fully written up by the end of the week with a huuuuge update with a bunch of revamps of earlier stuff too

[fair cloud]

It was a very enjoyable read, so I look forward to anything you'll end up doing ! (Putting off reading the actual supplement for now, in case I end up being able to play it !)

[pale fulcrum]

O7

[fair cloud]

I'll do my best to give some simple feedback anyways, once the next update drops

[pale fulcrum]

Update's taking longer than expected (Mission 3 is progressing well it's just info dense), but I did end up getting a new short story idea to add to the stories doc

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PEW7cucZh-jNYijVrduP7I50x6WCqTKwMY0ZCKPmrVc/edit

The new story is Business as Usual, giving a look directly into the head of one of the villains of Act 2! There's no spoilers for the campaign, though. Just a good bit of worldbuilding.

[fair cloud]

[fair cloud]

just read it and can confirm, it fucked

looking forward to reading through everything, given the quality of what I've read so far

[pale fulcrum]

WELL THAT TOOK WAY LONGER THAN I MEANT TO BUT I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED MISSION 3 OF KINDNESS OF STRANGERS AND WITH IT, THE FIRST HALF OF ACT 2

I will be doing a biiiiig update tomorrow (computer problems atm also I'm fucking exhausted from the writing push)

[fair cloud]

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[viral apex]

HELL YEAH

[pale fulcrum]

UPDATE TIME!

Kindness of Strangers, Missions 1-3
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S56y3x6TXrfYdPgpZLFegYVI2y5ZR8HhVxdb5LLtuQw/edit

Field Guide to LRBT-PN
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ViTRe5q2vecjyXj3y1mh46xDokA7VBA9OU2Ck4saP_w/edit

Exotic Gear Documentation
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B4Y6h_3K4tttKqRXgIBtGby1PlFnBXUKPXhtJk0XUic/edit

Variant Frame Documentation
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Itqw3O_ypEBwcMuGOIqOZODJuifwjKXpXCrOo6NX8vg/edit

Kindness of Strangers Worldbuilding Short Stories
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PEW7cucZh-jNYijVrduP7I50x6WCqTKwMY0ZCKPmrVc/edit

Kindness of Strangers LCP, Maps, and Assets
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1_sS_RItUHlczZK7gmLNRBWDXGWcGEv-x

Presented here is all current documentation for Kindness of Strangers! Later today I'll be posting the updated google drive with all new maps (through Mission 3: The Field of Blue Children), the updated LCP, and other assorted things I've made for the campaign

Mission 3 is... big. Honestly, could be its own adventure (and is kind of two short missions in a trench coat) if it wasn't following the events of Act 1. Also I've made an effort to incorporate headers to make everything more organized and easily searchable while this is still in a relatively unformatted state.

Yeah, the fact that it, alone, is longer than all of Act 1, is kind of why it took so long for me to write this. Well, that and writer's block. ANYWAY.

The first half of Act 2: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof takes place in the "Tourist Town" of Baugh- a thriving frontier settlement on a soda lake, populated by immigrants from the Long Rim. The PCs are hired by the director of the newly opening Baugh Pumpworks- a massive, state of the art water filtration and chemical processing plant designed to draw massive quantities of water from the soda lake below it and purify it into potable form. With it opening its doors and supplying the Eastern Quarter of Blanche with fresh, potable water, it's clear that it's a threat to certain interests who benefit from controlling the desert world's limited water supply.

So naturally, someone's threatened to bomb the place.

The PCs' job is to figure out the WHO, the WHY, and the HOW of this bomb threat- all while dealing with a gang of wannabe teenage bandits, Pinkertons, and Espadas working for the Volador who accidentally got herself wrapped up in the middle of this mess. Of course, with just how convoluted things are, it's likely that not everything is what it seems...

Mission 3: The Field of Blue Children features...

• Branching Paths!
• A custom NPC template!
• A Subaltern that talks like a pirate!
• Catholicism?
• The truth behind Brick Sarsaparilla!
• Unique Sitreps and additional battle objectives!
• Relationship clocks! Use the power of friendship to your advantage!
• Bilingual Bonuses!
• And much more!

[pale fulcrum]

(Alright, that's the google drive updated too!)

[fair cloud]

time to not read the biggest part of this because I don't want to spoilers myself to death 😎 ()

but yeah, I really look forward to actually being able to play any of this

[pale fulcrum]

I am looking for people to pick it up and try running it so I can get feedback on how my writing is for other gms to parse honestly. Sadly between running this for my test groups/friends and writing to stay ahead of em if don't have the mental energy to gm another game myself

[fair cloud]

hmm

unfortunately, tight schedule here too. I'll keep looking for opportunities though !

might get to run it at some point, who knows...

looking through the exotics though, and damn, there's some cool stuff in there !

[pale fulcrum]

😔 i wish I was better at advertising

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Slight update: I have removed the stipulation that players do not get a rest between combats 3 and 4 of Mission 3, because it turns out the Seeder with Engineer Turrets in Combat 3: Boom! Is quite nasty, actually

Also, expanded the intro narration for Combat 2B of Mission 1, and removed an unfinished sentence in the found documents of Mission 2 where I apparently started a sentence, got distracted, and now no longer remember what I was planning on having it say.

This has been a minor edit update as I continue work on Mission 4: Dragon Country

[fair cloud]

yeah, not giving a rest between combats is not a great idea in general
I mean, the core book says you should absolutely warn your player beforehand if you plan on making them not get to rest, so I guess it's fine as long as that's done.

[pale fulcrum]

to be fair, the idea was they get a mid mission full repair and then two combats back to back to close it off BUT

that seeder is pure evil

truly a work of art. two separate groups had one person get their mech destroyed because they ended up in turret hell and it being an elite means turret hell escalates quite quickly

granted in one of those groups, the person in turret hell was a Sherman running Andromeda and he proceeded to not, at any point, actually shoot the bastard until he'd already gotten his shit kicked in quite a bit

(when he finally shot the seeder he killed it in a single shot.)

[fair cloud]

lol

I mean, that's target priority for you

[pale fulcrum]

to be fair it WAS a recon mission and he was prioritizing the points

but, yknow, sometimes the scary enemy that escalates needs to be focused down asap

[fair cloud]

If you still want that frantic back-to-back aspect, you could maybe make it optionnal ?
Giving a benefit for not taking the rest or giving it a cost if you do

[pale fulcrum]

nah, I think it should work out fine without the frantic back to back

[fair cloud]

I'd be more inclined towards the "get a small bonus" side, since if you decide you have to rest you're probably already in a pretty bad shpe

[pale fulcrum]

the frantic aspect will come from the latter half of mission 3 being two hard combats back to back anyway

(balanced by the mid mission full repair so it's not like they're worn down going in, they can kinda go all out)

[fair cloud]

Without having any idea about what's happening at that point, I'll take your word for it

[pale fulcrum]

true

[fair cloud]

I just like giving my thoughts on these kind of things, in case it ends up being useful

[pale fulcrum]

oh yeah, mission 4 is progressing fairly normally, I've actually already blocked out the combats for it (neither group has tested em yet) I just need to work on writing the

everything else

it's funny actually, i know exactly what I want the narrative to be and how stuff will go, I just can't figure out how to structure the narrative play stuff in a meaningful way

once i have Mission 4 written (and thus the first story arc), the goalposts shift to "re-balancing stuff to remove non-core content where possible and create custom NPCs/templates/sitreps to fill in areas where I used Enhanced Combat stuff or Dustgrave stuff so that people interested in running this don't have to buy like 3 books to play it

and also

putting things into proper Lancer format

actually a person by the name of theLittleDMThatCould already did that for the frames and items which was really cool

[fair cloud]

I mean, you should definitely keep a version with all the non-core stuff available

some people are gonna have all that already, so why not give them the option to run it the way it was made ?