Astro Inferno

Commune ov the Pre order store
about 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 30, 2022 at 11:19:12 PM

FIRST

The Pre order store is open. This is for those who missed the kickstarter, got stuck in kickstarter credit card hell, or just happen to want to buy the game, like a normal pre order.

If you backed us on Kickstarter you will receive a survey within two weeks where you can upgrade, sidegrade or add things to your pledge. We must wait for Kickstarter to collect all funds before we can send that survey to you so you can access the pledge manager.

So share the pre order store to any friends who might enjoy a slice of hell in their life.

https://astro-inferno.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

SECOND

Let's dive into the different planes of existence in the Satanic void for a bit and hold on this might get bumpy.

The Black Kingdom has folds and wrinkles where whole dimensions dwell.

The Hollow

Beneath the Fracture lies the Hollow. A dead mirror world ruled by Ruin Kings. Where abominable Hollow Gods dwell looking into the past and through the future in the black blood of souls. A dangerous place where riches lure and True Death always is present.

The Deep

Before the Rapture our spirit went into the dream when we slept. Now when dream is gone, it left a deep vacuum behind called the Deep. Souls can't travel the deep, but their spirits do as soon as they sleep. You never remember what has happened in the Deep, meetings, fights, love affairs all gone as soon as you wake. Liliths on the other hand can walk the deep and remember everything that takes place there.

The Abyss and The Beyond

The region around the Great city of Babylon is called the Midnight sea. Beneath the black water lies the Abyss. Seven Levels of gradually increasing horrific hellscapes where the Unlaw rules supreme. Holy divers search the midnight sea and the upper levels of the abyss for fame and fortune and it has become something of a business for Babylon to equip the divers and larger expeditions setting course for the deeper levels of the Abyss, either coming back with stories no one dare to speak of after, or never returning at all.

At the bottom of the Abyss, the mythical Pandemonium is said to be located, where Satan is rumoured sitting on his throne surrounded by all the riches of the universe. Past Pandemonium lies The Beyond. A mythical world where the moon has devoured the sun, where dark creatures the size of planets will make your eyes bleed and rupture in an instant just by seeing them. This is where Darkness come from and the source of all evil and corruption.

There's also the lairs of the Worm gods, deep within the layers of reality, and the para-existence of the Eternals who, themselves are dimensions. The Seventh of the Eternals is Death itself, and it's eternal tusks is the weave of time, and it's trunks are crimson red from stomping Life out of Souls.

OKAY, that's long enough! Not sure anyone will get this far into the text, but if you got all the way here, leave a Like so I can see how many actually read this?

To remind you again - If you backed the Kickstarter do not order from the Pre order store. It will only make you miserable! 

I'm not your gateway
I'm not your prodigal son
I am the vile lesser-than
Just who do you think I am?

I'm not your standard
I'm not your vision divine
I am no sacrificial lamb
Just who do you think I am?

I am death
I am death
I am death
I am death

I'm not your sacrifice
I'm not your shelter in the storm
I am determinately man
Just who do you think I am?

I'm not your child
I'm not your paragon of just
I am by other means damned
Just who do you think I am?

I am death
I am death
I am death
I am death

- Death

Ninth Commune - ov CONFLICT and Weapons
about 2 years ago – Mon, Mar 28, 2022 at 02:52:43 AM

FIRST

The time has come!

The Conflict rules are edited and now added to the Beta rule set on the kickstarter page! (The fragile human part of my soul wants to add that the layout was made in a haste in the dark twilight hours where the mind wanders the Deep is and does not represent the finished product - and many of the images will also change.)

I will add a spread of adversaries also later today so you have something to try the rules out on and to get a grasp on how the mechanics of enemies work.

We’re setting up an official Astro Inferno Discord for those of you interested in playtesting, discussions around the game and will share invitation to that shortly.

SECOND

Gold Guns Girls!

No actually it’s just guns…

—and I guess it’s “weapons” since melee weapons are essentially treated the same…

Weapons!

Weapons are an important aspect of most TTRPGs, even if our truth and aspect system opens up a HUUUGE new and cool way to roleplay social interactions, politics, large scale tactical activities and so on, most roleplayers play RPGS like action movies, where weapons are prominent.

In Astro inferno weapons are most often randomly generated every time you find, build or are rewarded with one unless the GM has defined some of the weapons archetypes already.

If you find a random weapon

First you decide which tier the weapon has and this is often how looted weapons are kept until downtime. You could use this weapon to upgrade ANY of your own weapons regardless of their type and tier.

• Masterful IV Weapon

If you are curious you could tell the GM you wanted to know which type it was and then you roll if it’s a ranged or melee weapon or the GM could decide in advance and its type changes and now you only can use it to upgrade melee weapons.

• Masterful IV Melee weapon

If you can't help yourself, you could roll which type of melee weapon it is. But this is as much you can investigate a weapon yourself, unless you’re a skilled forger. This limits your choices further and now you’re only able to upgrade Great swords.

• Masterful IV Great sword

If you bring this great sword to a smithy he can (for a small fee) investigate your weapon and determine its origins and bring its true stats into the world and after that the weapon can no longer be used to upgrade any other weapons, only be traded, modified or broken down into resources.

So let’s investigate that Masterful IV Great sword

You roll three dice getting three results.

Source - Weapon type - Heritage

Source will give the theme and origin of the weapon if it’s a hitech, nano infested semi-magical thing from the Genesis tech, a fleshy sinew construct from the Harrowed tech and so on, but also give it a small “truth” that could be used to build this origin further if the GM or player wanted. Sources also give the weapon a small boost in one of the default stats. 

• Let's say that we rolled the source Satanic - Targets +2 for now - Meaning our Sword is a Harrowed weapon from the Abyss.

Weapon type is the one often determined in advance on players request and it determines what kind of weapon it is, together with which skill you will use to wield the weapon. Is it a Heavy weapon like a Cannon or a Great sword or is it a Precision weapon like a Bow or a Spear? 

• We already know that this is a Great sword which will give the weapon Damage +2 and Targets  /2.

Heritage is a flavor thing that can be used any way the player or GM wants and sort of determines some background for this weapon and it also gives this weapon a unique feature, a sort of ability that this weapon can use. 

Lets say we rolled “of the Beast” +2 Damage/Story Point.

Now we can determine the stats for this weapon. The modification we rolled are:

• Targets +2
• Targets / 2
• Damage +2
• Feature: Damage +2 /SP

Since it’s an Masterful weapon its base stats are

• Attack +1
• Damage 4
• Targets 4
• Reload +1
• Penetration 2
• Grade 2

And with our modifications the final stats of this great sword is

Satanic - Great sword - of the Beast

• Attack +1
• Damage 6
• Targets 3 (6 divided by 2)
• Reload +1
• Penetration 2
• Grade 2
• Feature: Damage +2/SP

We baptize our sword into "Qliphoth" and we got ourselves a perfect sword for killing huge creatures because of its high damage output and its feature to raise its damage by +2 per Story Point spent instead of the regular +1, but if you fight many enemies it’s not super useful since you “only” can kill 3 minions or 3x6=18 horde enemies. This could be increased with the character's own features. An ability like “Wide swing” would for example increase the number of enemies this sword could kill with each action in exchange for Sanity or Lifeforce.

As a note: if you had a god rolled rapid weapon (automatic or slashing weapons) those figures could be closer to 10 minions and something like 40 horde enemies.

Weapons are also subject to Craft fragments, something that all items are in this game. This could be something mundane like "Odd", "Bulky", "Beautiful" but gets weirder and more mythical the higher the tier and the origin of the object. Craft fragments determined after rolling the object's source and could end up with something like this for our Satanic - "Harrowed origin" Great sword

Pulsating - Attaches to smoke

This Satanic great sword is pretty gross and probably has a bunch of smoke around it at all times.

Weapons are unique in many ways and can become very powerful if rolled with the correct abilities. And what about leveling them up you say?

No we don’t have time for that, this is getting like a huge boring tech manual of weapons. SORRY!!!!

- NOT SORRY!

Mother

Tell your children not to walk my way

Tell your children not to hear my words

What they mean

What they say

Mother

- Mother

Tenth Commune - The FINAL!
about 2 years ago – Mon, Mar 28, 2022 at 02:32:16 AM

FIRST

Wow! What a rush!

I imagine that many reading this are new to our Commune - but you just have to get the hang of it yourselves!

The Kickstarter is Over (or will be in 6 minutes) and now three things will happen!

1. Kickstarter are going to do their magicks and transfer all your money into our pockets, they say this can take up to two weeks, until then no Surveys will go out to you.

2. The Discord will come alive and you can now join it. The people of darkness is not very familiar with social tools, and you probably can help us sort some stuff out over there! Here is the invite link!

https://discord.gg/rBdzeKGMwY

3. I'm going to take a pow wow for at least two days, this Kickstarter has taken it's toll on me and I need my health to make this game the best game in myth, dream and creation. (Between realities not included!)

We all want to thank you with soiled filled veins and blistering ash awakened from the ten thousand year old empyrean sacrificial wheel!

You are the key - You are the will - You are the dead returning to the throne!

MAJESTIC - MAJESTIC

/Ruu &

Haxan Studios

Eighth Commune - Ov Reloading guns? and another conflict transcript
about 2 years ago – Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 08:51:53 AM

FIRST
I want to start something I think we’ve never mentioned but it has been in examples here and there so it’s no secret. We’re talking about Reloading!

Reloading is never cool to have to do in RPGs, they are just a hindrance from shooting again. But reloading is Cool. Pulling out another magazine and smacking it in the gun, mantling the thing and pose like arnold, ready to pour death all around.

We wanted the cool part of reloading, not the boring one, so we implemented our version of reloading in the game (as a feature, not the bug).

Players will stumble upon different stuff of different origins in the game, poisons, nightmarish blood, holy crucifixes stolen from earth, evil horrux guns and all kinds of nanomaterials. They can refine these into different kinds of ammo or other conjunctions to smear over close combat weapons, making all kinds of cool modifications to their weapons' behavior. (Yes, you can "reload" your sword also)

Armor piercing rounds
Explosive rounds
Incendiary rounds
Rot rockets
Sun bullets
Corroding poison
Morphing poison
And so on.

This makes the players start to collect stuff, refine it into different kinds of ammunition they can use to get through situations that otherwise would be dangerous, or impossible!

-“Did you say he had wolfs blood? Could silver bullets be useful, or was it garlic?”

 -“This thing just won’t die! That God Bullet we found in that digital tomb? Is it time to chamber it and see what it does?”

 

SECOND

Here's that conflict example, very sorry that I have not been able to get this through the editor yet so forgive any weird Swenglish expressions or words.
 

SP = Story Point

INTRODUCTION
The KING OF NIGHTS the CHAMBERLAIN and the HIGH PRIEST have entered the great cathedral of Hasborough Hallows and the great hall lies in complete darkness. Aeons of dust stirred up as you enter. Your flashlights and red lasers cut through the dust filled darkness and illuminate ornaments and colored stained glass. Reflections sparkle like crimson gold onto the wooden benches.

GM: You quickly notice footprints from heavy boots in the dust leading into the darkness ahead.
CHAMBERLAIN: Someone has been here.
KING OF NIGHTS: Shhh… Someone could - still - be here!

START OF CONFLICT

GM: The darkness is illuminated by flames as guns deep in the darkness start their violent loud hymn. Celebrating the wooden benches and stone walls. Roll jump or Maneuver!

KING OF NIGHTS: I roll 8 and I have 15, a success with an SP on top!

CHAMBERLAIN: I have 9 and roll 18, a failure!
HIGH PRIEST: I have 13 and roll 8 a success with an SP!

GM: Flames and shrapnel fill the air as the pillars and wooden benches around you explode.
The Chamberlain is shredded by the incoming fire and your arms splinters into two pieces, flesh and blood squirts all over you.
CHAMBERLAIN: A flesh wound!
GM: You’re not sure, but it's not going to stop you. But you get the wound truth "shattered bleeding arm".

GM: The shooting continues sporadically through the smoke and debris, but you also hear the mesmerizing sound of a ritual being performed, singing getting louder and louder far ahead in the cathedral. This ritual will be done at the end of this verse.

HIGH PRIEST: Do I recognize this ritual, since I’m a dabbler in the arcane mysteries?
GM: Yes, you do. It’s the ritual of the Death wolf, conjuring the beast god into flesh.
HIGH PRIEST: So basically, summoning a monster?
GM: Yes.

KING OF NIGHTS
KING OF NIGHTS: Well we don’t even know who is shooting at us, so I want to analyze the situation.
GM: Roll for read situation, or you could roll for Listen if you want to.
KING OF NIGHTS: Listen. I roll 4 and I have 15, making 2 SP.
GM: What do you want to know?
KING OF NIGHTS: I want to know how many enemies there are in here and what kind.
GM: You believe there are over 20 well armed soldiers in here, probably Lathaz private bodyguards, not the usual Legion scum.
KING OF NIGHTS: I want to get up and get a better view of the situation, could I climb a pillar to get up to the roof.
GM: Sure, 1 SP gets you halfway up and the other gets you up among the rafters.
KING OF NIGHTS: Ok, I only go halfway up and with the last SP I want to keep hidden from the soldiers while I climb.
GM: You’re up there, and no shots are being fired at your position. From here you can see the soldiers firing, they have taken position in the middle of the cathedral and far ahead at the altar you see candles burning and individuals dressed in cloaks kneeling in a circle.

HIGH PRIEST
HIGH PRIEST: Ok, let's stir things up a little. I want to cast a ritual using the aspects
Dripping - Star - Fire. I want a really hot fire to start raining over the soldiers' positions.
GM: Sure, sounds gruesome, roll Aether Ritual right?
HIGH PRIEST: Yes, I have 20 and I roll 14 so 1 SP.
GM: Fire suddenly lights up the giant hall and a rain of white fire drips onto screaming and steaming soldiers.
HIGH PRIEST: I get 1 SP from the check and 2 SP from the fragments since I have not learned “Star”, it's a daily fragment. So 3 SP total.
HIGH PRIEST: I want to increase the fire into a storm and burn every soldier I can.
GM: You may want to spend one SP to limit the fire from burning down the cathedral, it would be a shame if you came all this way just to incinerate the map you came here to get.
HIGH PRIEST: Yes, that sounds good.
GM:The rain turns into a firestorm and Lataz soldiers scream and die in agony, you’re not sure how many succumb directly but you believe that almost all of them are affected by the storm in some way and their shooting stops as suddenly as it started.

CHAMBERLAIN
CHAMBERLAIN: I try to get it together and get up with my arm bleeding all over the place. Do I see any soldiers that are unaffected and could shoot us?
GM: Yes, you see a couple of them who have escaped the storm unharmed under a small ornamented balcony.
CHAMBERLAIN: Ok, since I only have one arm I can't use the sniper rifle, so I want to throw one of the magic grenade things in my dimension bag.
GM: A Nexus Shell?
CHAMBERLAIN: Yes.. hmm I want to throw the one with Nightmarish - Growing - Maggots.
GM: Ok, but I got to tell you, since you weren't present when the Witch created this and she now is dead, you have no idea what this Shell does, she was a very evil entity, you still want to throw it?
CHAMBERLAIN: Yes, what the hell! What’s the worst thing that could happen?
GM: Roll a Throw check.
CHAMBERLAIN: 3 and I have 14 so, success and 2 SP.
GM: Okay, the grenade lands right where you want it to, you can’t spend the SP to increase the effect of the ritual in the shell since it’s already decided, but you could affect the throw itself?
CHAMBERLAIN: No, I'll let the grenade do its job and try to get a better position instead, I want to see who is performing that ritual and maybe steal something precious instead.
GM: You leave the grenade which explodes in a huge sickly black goo that seems to engulf the soldiers who fall to the ground dead still. You hastily move along the cathedral wall and pass the fire storm. You’re pretty close to the altar and the ritual place and see the cloaked souls when one of the individuals suddenly shoots up and grows two meters straight up, in the flash of an eye. The sound of a horrific death scream and bones cracking are blended with the gasp of awe from the souls kneeling in a circle around the very fast growing thing. Another crack and the creature evolves and grows again to horrific proportions in a second, something huge and hairy with black fur dripping of blood and flesh towers in front of you. Some chanting starts among the mystics but the creature slithers round and devours one of them in a grotesque fleshy bone-crushing gulp.
CHAMBERLAIN: Slithers? Is it like a snake wolf?
GM: Yes, at least it seems wriggly enough, but it has legs and a long tail also.
CHAMBERLAIN: How large is this thing?
GM: Larger than a semi-truck.
CHAMBERLAIN: Ok great.
 

END RESOLVE VERSE 1

GM: No soldiers shoot at you, the surviving ones and the priests flee in panic from the creature at the ltar.

VERSE 2
GM: New verse. The creature has seen the Chamberlain and it will devour him at the end of this verse.
CHAMBERLAIN: Oh fuck?
HIGH PRIEST: Can I see the creature from where I stand?
GM: It’s very hard to not see it, even with all the smoke and traces of the firestorm between you.

HIGH PRIEST: I want to cast a ritual again! Hmm...
KING OF NIGHTS: You used both your “fiery” fragments on the soldiers!?
HIGH PRIEST: Yeah I kind of did, didn’t I.
HIGH PRIEST: Ok, let me think, someone else can go first.

KING OF NIGHTS: Ok, I’ll go. I want to analyze the situation to see if there is something I could use as an advantage!
GM: Roll read situation.
KING OF NIGHTS: I can’t use Listen again?
GM: No, you don’t just want to know the position of things. I can approve you roll Scrounge instead if you wish?
KING OF NIGHTS: Even better! I have 23 and I roll 3. So 4 SP sweet!
GM: What do you want to know?
KING OF NIGHTS: Hmm, I want to know the monster's mortality value.
GM: Mortality is minus 10, a negative value right now.
KING OF NIGHTS: Great, there’s no chance to beat it. Does it have any weak points?
GM: You want to spend one of your SP to figure it out.
KING OF NIGHTS: God yes! I still have 3 SP left.
GM: Ok, you see all the black long fur on the creature and you just know this creature would be vulnerable to fire.
HIGH PRIEST: What the fuuuuuck!
CHAMBERLAIN: Ha ha ha! Great, we’re screwed!

KING OF NIGHTS: I want to spend my 3SP to create a truth!
GM: Sure.
KING OF NIGHTS: I raise my gaze and see this huge chandelier with loads of oil lamps hanging high above the altar.
GM: Yes, it’s a huge thing, probably weighing more than a church bell.
KING OF NIGHTS: And it’s straight above the creature!?
GM: Spot on you reckon and you’ve got a pretty good view from up there.

HIGH PRIEST: Oh oh oh! I have the right fragments for this! I use Cracking - Smoldering - Hole! I want that chandelier to fall!
GM: Sounds like good fragments to bring it down, and it rhymes, roll for ritual.
HIGH PRIEST: Ha ha, I have 20 and I roll 6 so 2 SP.
GM: The heavy chandelier cracks and breaks falling straight down taking a part of the inner ceiling with it in the fall.
HIGH PRIEST: I have 2 SP from the roll and all the fragments are learned so I get 3 more!
GM: You could try to end the fight?
HIGH PRIEST: Hmm, how much damage does the chandelier do.
GM: The iron structure bangs down onto the creature and oil and fire spills over its fur as it shrieks in panic,  but you have no idea how badly it is injured, a lot more than any normal attack would, that's for sure.
HIGH PRIEST: Does the weak point activate from the fire?
GM: The creature is on fire and seems to be in panic, so yes.
HIGH PRIEST: Ah what the hell, I spend 3 SP to buy the conflict end truth, ! I want the wolf to be totally impaled by the chandelier!
GM: Sure, its mortality is 0 now when it’s on fire, the chandelier gave it 8 in damage and you can add your 1 SP to that number, so you need to roll 9 or less.
CHAMBERLAIN: That's not great, but it’s better odds than being devoured by the thing I guess.
GM: Like it or not, there is no turning back now.
HIGH PRIEST: Ah, here goes! I roll 6!!! It’s a victory!!!
GM: Yes it surely is! The chandelier comes down with an enormous force and impales the Death wolf to the floor. Oil and fire engulf it as the demon screams and burns with a hellish fire.
KING OF NIGHTS: Dudududuuu du du dududuuuu!

GM: You watch the wolf burn and some of the defeated soldiers and mystics hiding around the cathedral scatter and flee. A while later when you have started to loot the place looking for that map, the King of Nights notices a loud bubbling, boiling sound coming from that spot where the Chamberlain threw that grenade. You also see a dark form growing quickly, already taller than any of you from that black goo.
KING OF NIGHTS: DAVID!!!!!!


Tomorrow we’ll talk about weapons, what you can expect from them, and what you can do with them.

Blix: You summoned me, lordship?

Darkness: Are you not the most, loathsome of my goblins?

Blix: Truly, master.

Darkness: And is your heart black, and full of hate?

Blix: Black as midnight, black as pitch, blacker than the foulest witch.

- Legend 1985

Seventh Commune - Ov Conflict and travel
about 2 years ago – Sun, Mar 20, 2022 at 03:43:53 PM

FIRST

Here we present a small (but massive) conflict example. We have exaggerated communication to a high degree and cranked in a lot of special actions to explain some reasoning or rule structure further, so it probably feels very cringy as a coherent story piece. But you should at least get some grasp of how things are resolved and some inner workings.

The Conflict is 2 verses, which is "rounds" in Astro Inferno. The reason behind that name, is that when you completed a conflict, it turns into a "song" that you put into your Journey and depending on how many verses the song is, it makes it more powerful.

Conflict often ends abruptly in Astro Inferno and it seldom lasts more than 2-3 verses regardless of how many combatants are involved. So even if this conflict example seems to end with the death of the players this is rarely the case, just the beginning of a new scene where the players probably are in more trouble than before.
We realize that this example is sort of the closest that you'd get to a normal OSR system within Astro Inferno, and we'll make sure to share a more cinematic example further down the road!

SP = Story points

VERSE I

Start of conflict and end trouble declaration
The party is on a bridge when a huge satanic entity and 20+ legionnaires emerge from the buildings on the other side.
GM: The soldiers have guns drawn and shots are being fired at you, you are now in conflict.
GM: First, at the end of the verse the huge creature will reach the end of the bridge. Looks like he’s heading straight for it, running ahead of the soldiers.

Player two: Who wants to go first?
Player three: I’ll wait for you guys and act as back up if you fuck up!
Player one: Ok I guess me and machine gun go first then!

Player one activation
Player one: How sturdy is the bridge?
GM: It looks sturdy, but it is made of wood, and the creature is really huge.
Player one: Could the creature break it with us on it? And what is beneath us?
GM: Sure the bridge could break, below is just a vast deep darkness.
Player one: Ok, I want to shoot the creature with my machine gun!
GM: Roll a Ranged Automatic check.
Player one: Success and 2 SP. (Story Points). My gun deals 4 damage to the creature and I spend the two SP to hit two of the soldiers as well.
GM: The creature shrieks as the bullets thuds into it’s thick skin, but it continues running. You guess it has some bones that lower the damage. The two soldiers, on the other hand, are cut in half by the heavy caliber rounds, bone and guts exploding in clouds of gorgeous red mist as the bullets hit.
 

 Player two activation
Player two: Is there any way to take cover on the bridge?
GM: Well, you could always get behind someone else, or do some acrobatics on the side of the bridge.
Player two: Ok, I guess I want to get a better look at this situation, then. What should I roll for analyzing?
GM: For an overview of the battlefield, roll for Read Situation.
Player two: A success and 1 SP!
GM: What do you want to know?
Player two: Hmm, how much damage will the soldiers deal?
GM: Right now the soldiers would deal 4 attacks at 4 damage each.
Player two: And the creature?
GM: He isn’t armed with any ranged weapons, but that's all I can say unless you use your SP to find out his melee damage.
Player two: No, I want to prepare for taking cover later if shit hits the fan.
GM: Ok, noted.

Player three activation
Player three: Ok, I’ve seen enough. I want to summon the forces of Freyja, my master, and cast a Witchcraft ritual.
GM: Sure, what fragments do you want to use?
Player three: I want to use "deform" - "lust" - "spiritually" in order to change the huge creatures' lusts into attacking the legionnaires instead.
GM: Roll Witchcraft.
Player three: Success and 3 SP!!
GM: Ok, that’s a great ritual. You summon the forces of unholiness and call upon Freyjas powers in a loud incantation that echoes between the buildings.
Player three: Maybe the creature starts to sing something, as singing is an aspect of Freyja?
GM: Yes, the creature starts a horrific sounding gurgling song as it turns around, ripping one of the soldiers in two in a cloud of blood.
Player three: And now I have... 6 SP to spend, right?
GM: Yeah you do, 3 from the three fragments and 3 from your great roll.
Player three: I want to spend all the SP to make the creature attack more soldiers.
GM: The creature starts to tear the soldiers apart as panic and chaos erupts on the other side of the bridge.

Enemy activation and defense rolls
GM: The soldiers who are not busy with the creature or in panic still fire at you. All three of you roll Maneuver rolls to avoid being shot.
Player one: Success!
Player two: Success and an SP!
Player three: Fudge, it’s a fail, and I have no sanity left to strain it.
GM: Actually, you wouldn't be able to strain it even if you had sanity, as this is a roll but not a check.
Player three: Oh..

Player two (a success and 1 SP)
GM: No shots are aimed at you at this time.
Player two: Can I use my SP for something?
GM: As this is a roll, not a check, you can’t.
Player two: Alright, alright, got it.

Player one (a success)
Player one: What about me?
GM: Since you rolled the second worst check, one of the attacks still gives you a negative aspect and you may be at a disadvantage next round. You are being shot at continuously by some soldiers on the hard left, far from the creature. You need to duck and move around to avoid being shot.

Player three (a failure)
Player three: That leaves me with the rest of the attacks, right?
GM: You actually only take damage from the strongest attack there, but storywise, indeed, three soldiers right ahead were aiming at you as you casted the ritual and their bullets pierce your chest and you feel flesh and ribs crack inside of you.
Player three: Damn, how bad is it?
GM: It’s pretty bad, you collapse and gain the wound truth “bleeding like a pig”. You’re gonna need help really soon!
Player three: Oh! I have an armor value of 1.
GM: Yes, I’ve considered that in the calculations.
layer three: Ah, great. Well, any good news for us?

Resolve end trouble
GM: Actually, yes. Since you stopped the creature, no end trouble will activate.
Player three: Yay!

Player two’s prepared taking cover SP
Player two: Can I still use that prepared SP for something, right?
GM: Well, actually, I'm not sure. The game designer is still thinking about it. But I'll guess we'll know soon!

Player two: Could I attack the creature with it, in this iteration of the rules?
GM: I’ll approve that you attack one of the soldiers at least.
Player two: Sure! I’ll do that!
GM: You aim carefully and shoot one single shot with your hand cannon through the face of one of the soldiers who shot at player three, the soldier drops dead beneath a perfect explosion of blood and brain.
Player two: Nice!

VERSE II

Declare end trouble
GM: Alright! New verse. As the echo of the gunshots rings out, the creature is holding one soldier in its claws, but suddenly stops at the sound of shooting. Its macabre song inspired by Freyja slowly halts to a stop as it turns towards you again.
Player three: Fuck, I should have spent my SP with an aspect or truth that prolonged the ritual. Then it would have lasted longer right?
GM: Yes, probably days or even weeks. But well, who knows how lusts change in such a creature?
Player two: So what is the end trouble, this verse?
GM: The creature starts to pick up the dead bodies scattered around his feet and will catapult them at you. By the end of the verse, it will deal 2 instances of heavy, heavy damage! How much is shrouded in mystery, but I can tell you it won’t be pretty being hit.

Player one activation
Player one: Ok, I want to reload the machine gun with those bullets made from the relic we found.
GM: Ok, roll for the same skill as when attacking with that weapon, Ranged Automatic, but you must roll one SP since you have to move around all the time to avoid being shot by those soldiers on the left.
Player one: I rolled a success but only 1 SP, but I need one more to be able to attack as well. 4 away on the dice from getting it. But I can strain my sanity, right?
GM: Yes, 1D6 sanity would lower your result by 5, getting you one more SP.
Player one: Great, I rolled 1D6 and got 4, which is equal to my sanity threshold of 4. That means I get an itch?
GM: Yes. What demon did you have?
Player one: Mmm, Yiennifer.. Goat demon, lust.
GM: Alright, so you get that holy magazine out, stick it into the gun and reload it with the holy caliber bullets, and you feel sexy and awesome! You gain an inner itch and must make an action to satisfy Yiennifer to get rid of it. You don’t have to do it right now, but if you lose any more sanity the itch could turn into a craving.
Player one: Ok. I scream at the top of my lungs, “take this you motherfucker! I’m going to fuck you to Ghenna and back!” and unleash a barrage of holy bullets into the creature with my second SP.
GM: Ok, that’s not really going to remove the itch, you will have to do some perverted stuff later on. You don't need to actually fuck someone or something like that, just do anything that is enough to gross out passerbys.
Player one: Ok, I'll keep the itch for now then.
GM: As for the attack, your machine gun sings and the holy bullets penetrate the skin of the creature, burning it as pure fire through snow. The holy bullets seem very effective against it, and the damage is raised by 3, making it 7 total. The skin of the creature also seems to melt when being hit by the bullets, so there is no reduction from its bones. It screams loudly in agonizing pain.

Player two activation
Player two: Ok, how many soldiers are there remaining?
GM: A dozen or so.
Player two: I want to shoot as many of them as possible. Do I roll for Ranged Precision?
GM: Yes, as your hand cannon is a precision weapon.
Player two: Perfect roll, and I have 15, so that's… 3 SP times two, 6 SP?
GM: Correct! Do you want to end the fight by purchasing the truth "end the conflict"?

End of the Conflict
Player two: Yes, definitely! I’m gonna kill everyone and take all the loot!
GM: Ok, let me check things here. The mortality of the creature, who is the strongest foe here, is 5. The highest damage dealt is 7, as the holy bullets negated its bones, and you have 3 SP left after purchasing this truth, which are added to the target. So your goal is to roll under 15.
Player two: And I can’t use sanity for this roll right?
GM: No you can’t, as this is not a check. This is the conflict truth roll, which decides the whole outcome of the conflict, so no straining allowed and no SP awarded.
Player two: Ok, here goes. Yes!!! I rolled 20!
Player three: Ha ha, that's a botch!
Player two: Shit, you're right!
GM: Ouch, unlucky! The creature gets furious by the damage and abandons its mind about catapulting bodies at you, it charges forward and starts ripping the bridge apart instead. You tumble like seaweed in a stormy sea as the bridge breaks apart beneath you. You shoot at the creature in a final desperate attempt, but mother luck isn’t with you today. The whole wooden bridge collapses into debris down into darkness with you among it. You can hear the creature mockingly starting to sing the song of Freyja again high up above you as you disappear into the black depths.

We leave our poor players deep in the abyssal darkness and focus ahead instead.

We're still ironing out some smaller kinks in the language of the conflict rules, but we're on the last paragraphs of them and feel confident that we're able to put them in layout really soon.  Conflict can become so much more than just trading rolls and we're exited to let you get your hands on them.

SECOND

We'd like to mention something we have not talked about yet and that is travel. Traveling in Fracture is not the easiest of tasks and you'll need a great guide or a great map to get anywhere. Most entities avoid travel because of the dangers it involves, like getting trapped in the dark void or slipping between existence and ending up in the Lairs of any of the beings residing there like the Worm gods or the Eternals.

Traveling can be done by any means available, but experienced souls who regularly travel often use void ships like the Relic ships made from remains of extra-existential creatures or ancient artifacts often such as void traveling vessels like the Skíðblaðnir that always have favourable wind and can be folded like a napkin and worn in your pocket. But void transcending travel AND maps could also be through the heart of a god, the blood of a virgin, the song of a dying rabbit or even the slaughter of a particular being or soul. To reach some places you also need to sacrifice your own life.

THIRD

No, this is already getting ridiculously long.

Stay - And I will turn these unforgiving words into a star
Stay - This scenery would change if we could watch it from afar
Pain - Like icons of our suffering, distilled, the works of art
Pain - A sting of life to bind us to these heavens, torn apart

Celestial violence