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Post by warlord476 on Oct 16, 2013 2:45:32 GMT -5
Eskatos is a far-future sci-fi ruleset. It used the classic (5thEd) T&T engine, though extending that into derived stats. It is something I whipped up in a couple of weeks back in 06 when the GM of our group needed a break. I didn't backup my files adequately and most of the softcopy is gone, so again I'm reduced to scanning the handbook.
I have managed to locate three files in Excel 97, so I'll start with them.
Just a quick look at the character sheet will tell you the game had departed somewhat from classic T&T. The "roll-up" sheet is a guide to how to generate a beginning character.
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Post by warlord476 on Oct 18, 2013 18:20:07 GMT -5
The first section of the handbook describes the setting and the game atmosphere I was going for. Some styles are not to everyone's taste. One player dropped out immediately on learning that joking that would "break" the mood was out.
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Post by warlord476 on Oct 18, 2013 20:27:21 GMT -5
Pages 7-12 deal with Creation and Gear. The following section, pages 13-24 Advancement and Gameplay, show how quickly the rules were put together. I missed giving a heading font and paginating Ascents "Tool Ups" near the bottom of page 13; and the Data state of the Realm table ought to start on a new page as well.
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Post by warlord476 on Oct 18, 2013 20:32:24 GMT -5
As far as the rules themselves go this next section is the final one. The Vessels pages contain some important information for player and GM alike as to how vessels (or any TNO) are going to be described numerically. The Glossaries explain weapons and gear. My ideas on far-future weaponry are influenced by Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun quadrology.
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Post by warlord476 on Oct 18, 2013 20:37:44 GMT -5
So there we are, 34 pages of bleak far-future "hard" sci-fi and still recognizably T&T (especially when the buckets o' dice are being rolled). The only other thing I can add is for GMs: the synopsis of each scenario to the point where we stopped. I did think I could keep it going with steadily more horrific scenarios until characters (and players) learned the Awful Truth but we got back to our regular game and there have been plenty of other games to play since.
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zanshin
14th Level Troll
Posts: 2,860
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Post by zanshin on Oct 19, 2013 2:11:44 GMT -5
I like the setting a lot - a bit reminiscent of Jack Vances style , both Dying Earth and Science Fiction. He is one of my favourite authors.
I don't think I would be able to enforce the no joking rule on my groups. I often run horror themed play. Its great when we achieve immersion in it, but most of the time the usual wisecracks abound.
Thanks very much for sharing.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 4, 2013 1:33:26 GMT -5
Righto, I've organised the GM resources for Eskatos into an explanation (which is original - I didn't need to explain the concept to myself!) and the first four games of fairly minimal notes. Then after that I'll scan in the remaining 26 games.Attachments:ESKATOS GM NOTES.docx (16.99 KB)
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 4, 2013 2:10:18 GMT -5
This first run of scans from game 5 to game 7. By game 7 the team had accrued at least one mule, and were scuttling about in a pinnace or at least a skiff.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 4, 2013 2:11:25 GMT -5
Game 8 ends with a bang. It involves demolish from the inside and Kepplr (a Name, so one of the best characters) placed himself right on the bomb, then fumbled. He didn't appreciate it and dropped out of the game. Mind you the rest of the team hadn't done too well either - two had been killed before then. I've included the adjusted "salvage" page to show what was involved in the retrieval.Attachments:Game8_Hot_Property.pdf (245.64 KB)
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 6, 2013 0:54:10 GMT -5
Games 9-12 mark a smarter, meaner period for my group at least. They had access to a pinnace and something larger, and plenty of equipment. Their foes were beginning to include equally-dedicated, trained marines.
I'd liked the image of fanatically-dedicated female troops in Gene Wolfe's Torturer series so included a complement of female space marines for Game 9. The only clue the GEN had was the wasp-waisted space marine armor.
At the other end of the SF spectrum, I included a Slippery Jim DiGriz type for Game 10, to see if he could get away. He didn't.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 6, 2013 0:57:51 GMT -5
The next two games linked two TNOs and featured the first really large dungeon-in-space.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 6, 2013 1:25:35 GMT -5
Jackers are kind of the Orcs of space I guess. I suspect my jackers are influenced by Firefly though I don't recall if they routinely wore victim's skins. Anyway game 13 features a big Jacker fight.
Game 14 is another Torturer-inspired theme. Gene Wolfe's dying earth has mountains, but they are sculpted in past ages so that the mountain tops are busts of rulers.
Game 15 features some particularly nasty bots with some Alien-like features, and nifty treasure.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 11, 2013 1:03:43 GMT -5
I'm frustrated I don't have all the maps for these games, for although in theory they are all freely available online, I've done a check on one and discovered that is no longer the case.
Deadly hunter was largest ship o' war the team had encountered to date. There was no way they could actually use it later, but it was impressive.
Ancient mariner was a crazed old guy, with good defences.
Cool Glance was some fun frozen tunnels leading to a small ship, with bots.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 11, 2013 1:08:17 GMT -5
Creepy-crawlies was a prelude to the larger "sand planetoid" environment. Weird ancient tombs, strange defence bots lurking in the sands...
And Drifting Sands was a multi-session game based around desert ruin maps.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 11, 2013 1:21:14 GMT -5
Drifting Sands - the remaining maps.
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