[Rogue Trader] An Unwarranted Warrant, or, The Blancheviperre Goes Forth: Part the First

The archaic vidcaster rattles to life, illuminating the room with its unearthly light.

On the monochromatic screen, a distinguished figure sits enthroned upon the bridge of a mighty ship. Daltian Timoth, renowned on a thousand worlds as the face of Janus Roark, Secret Inquisitor, is dressed in the gaudy heraldry of a successful Rogue Trader. He turns to the camera.

"Ave, citizen," he intones, in a voice poured like molten silver. "and glory to the God-Emperor. I invite you to sit, and give praise, for tonight I welcome you to the first volume of the videographic chronicle of the life and times of one of the Imperium's greatest heroes: Lord-Captain Wilberforce Macharius veBarro."

The image of Daltian on the bridge fades as his voice continues, adopting the measured lilt of a Calixian noble.

"To receive a Warrant of Trade is the greatest honour any servant of the Emperor can provide. It was on the trade-moon of Quaddeus Minor that I was first awarded the warrant, having spent the previous six months in glorious battle against the Pirates of Barasphine-"

Bollocks.

Utter bollocks.

That's about all you can say about the authorised videography of Lord-Captain Wilberforce Macharius veBarro. Barasphine doesn't even have pirates, and it's nowhere near Quaddeus Minor.

Wilberforce certainly did not spend his youth battling pirates and orks in the Quaddean Main. He was born a minor scion of the veBarro trade dynasty, fully nineteen steps from the dynasty's mantle. His father, Cornelius Demarii veBarro, died a regrettable death from an embarrassing plague before the boy turned one, and his mother Anophelia was a distant socialite who cared more for hive-spire soirees than for her children. As a result, he was turned out to the best and furthest-away scholariums money could buy.

On the playing fields and in the doctrinaries of Groxford, Wilbeforce mastered the art of being passable at everything and excelling at nothing. Unmemorable, unambitious, and utterly unconcerned with anything besides the maintenance of a comfortable existence, he was packed off upon graduation to Quaddeus Minor. As a minor dynastic factor, he enjoyed an untaxing life overseeing the tea plantations that covered most of the agro-world.

And he would have stayed there, if it wasn't for the improbable rediscovery of the Blancheviperre*, the long-lost frigate of the veBarro dynasty, which tumbled out of the warp near Port Wander sometime in the late August of M41.957. The rediscovery of the Blancheviperre put the veBarro dynasty in somewhat of a dilemma: while they could not afford to let such a valuable relic of the dynasty be commanded by someone not of its blood, nor did any of the prominent candidates particularly want the honour of commanding the ship. The current Warrant-Holder, Lord-Captain Jonarion Dracobane veBarro, had no direct heirs; his brothers and sisters served in profitable positions aboard the Patriach of Tanis†or its attendant fleet, and the remaining members of the family were either too old, too mad, or engaged in vital activities on the other side of the galaxy.

It was the family's aging matriarch, Lady Jezmerelda diCaprio Sandlock veBarro, who first raised the possibility of appointing Wilberforce as Captain of the Blancheviperre. Given that the women held an intense hatred for Wilberforce and his parents, it's my belief that she thought the position would be the death of him.

And so, on an reasonably warm afternoon in late spring, Lady Jezmerelda descended upon Wilberforce, who was dozing in a comfortable chair. It was at this point - not in the governor's mansion, surrounded by the skulls of his enemies, but half asleep, borne down upon by his immensely fat aunt, and surrounded by seas of entirely harmless tea trees - that Wilberforce Macharius veBarro was awarded the position of Lord-Captain and received his (delegated) Warrant of Trade‡.

-----

*On the subject of the Blancheviperre, I quote from the Annals of the Astronavis Vigilum Congregatio, Callixus Chapter, Volume XXVI:

"The Blancheviperre was comissioned late in the 38th millenium by the legendary Rogue Trader, Lord-Captain Macharius Semolina veBarro. It was conceived as a deep-void exploration vessel, an adjunct to the dynasty's main vessel, the Patriarch of Tanis that could scout far and wide for trading opportunities in the Calyx Expanse. After several profitable missions into the expanse under the direct command of Lord-Captain Macharius, the Blancheviperre was placed under the command of his daughter and to-be heir, Sarina Calvacade veBarro.

Its first voyage under the command of its new captain, however, was interrupted by the declaration of the Angevin Crusade by the Praetor Golgenna Angevin. With the sector thrown into chaos and the call to war sanctioned by the High Lords of Terra themselves, Lady-Captain Sarina saw fit to attach her vessel to the war-fleet of the young general Drusus - one day to be known as St. Drusus of the Calixis Sector.

The Blancheviperre accompanied the Saint on many of his most famous campaigns across the sector, scourging and liberating dozens of worlds. It is said that the Saint himself consulted with Lady Sarina on many a campaign, often spending several nights aboard the Blancheviperre in her personal quarters to plan the extensive campaigns of conquest across the sector.

In the closing years of the Crusade, the Saint received the assistance of the Rage Thirsters space marines chapter. The main battle-barge of the Rage Thirsters was destroyed by enemy fire at the Battle of Warlax, leaving the chapter without a monastery and without the records of its own gene-seed. It was deteremined that the chapter would be declared Nullius Anxietas and the remainder of the Rage Thirsters would be charged with throwing themselves against an implaccable foe to end their chapter's history in glorious battle.

Without a vessel of their own, the Rage Thirsters asked for the assistance of Lady-Captain Sarina to deliver them to the Halo Stars, where they could end their chapter's story in battle with the foulest of xenos who lurked amongst the stars. Despite the misgivings of Saint Drusus and the express command of her father, Lady-Captain Sarina accepted the chapter's request.

The Blancheviperre charted a course through the roiling warp-storms of the Halo Stars and vanished into the void - never to be seen again."

† The Patriarch of Tanis was the main vessel of the veBarro dynasty, an immense Ramses-pattern star freighter with an attendant fleet of dozens of smaller ships.

‡ Text repeated in full:

This document (hereby known as the DELEGATED WARRANT of TRADE), by dint of dynastic pedigree, grants the bearer (hereby known as the LORD-CAPTAIN) the right and responsibility to travel beyond the borders of the GLORIOUS IMPERIUM OF MAN, to spread the LIGHT OF THE HOLY GOD-EMPEROR, to trade with XENOS MOST FOUL and to acquire profit in the SERVICE OF THE IMPERIUM.

The bearer is further enjoined to maintain and venerate a shrine to the SAINT DRUSUS aboard the vessel BLANCHEVIPERRE, to chronicle and honor all records and artifacts of the RAGE THIRSTERS (Nullus Anxietas) Astartes chapter, and to grant all possible succor and aid to the agents of HIS EXCELLENCY'S MOST HOLY INQUISTION in the defense of the Imperium.

It is to be made hereby known that in this 957th year of the 41st millenium of Man, that the Lord-Captain WILBERFORCE MACHARIUS VEBARRO is to be granted all the rights and priveleges of a ROGUE TRADER.

-P Squiggle, Esq.-

[AW-style move]Recall a Cure

Recall a Cure (d20+Knowledge+Mind)
Roll when a party member is afflicted by some horrible condition (such as a curse, disease, or whatnot), and you need to remember how to cure it.

14-: the GM picks one option from the following list.
15-19: as above, but the player picks instead.
20+: the players gets to pick three.

• The cure is nearby, and won't take a long journey to reach.
• Acquiring the cure will not require spending much money.
• The process of getting the cure will not be overly dangerous.
• The party won't owe anybody any favors in exchange for the cure.
• The process of getting the cure will give the party some other benefit in addition to its restorative properties.
  

[The Coin] Ornithopters

image source

Some travel aloft on sky-ships, held aloft by arcane sigils and enchanted luftwood. Others prefer the more portable broomstick, or the well-crafted magic carpet. Other even transform themselves into birds, or entice wyverns into their service. On the Coin, means of subverting the ancient divine edict against mortal flight are as many and varied as the peoples who practice them. For the discerning traveler, however, one flying vehicle stands above them all - the Mynacean ornithopter.

Drawing on the mechanical ingenuity of Mynacean philosophers, the ornithopter lifts itself aloft on wooden wings. While some draw on arcane power or bottled lightning to power their wings, others simply rely on slaves or conscripts to provide their motive energy, commanded by the beat of a drum. It is this reliance on mortal drive, rather than mystical energies, that makes the ornithopter a truly remarkable aether-craft.

A well-built and fully crewed ornithopter can achieve speeds of up to 20 leagues an hour, making distances between the city-states vanish. However, they cannot fly for long before their crews tire, meaning over-ocean trips are strictly limited. Capacity for cargo is relatively limited, but they still carry messages and small cargoes of valuable or perishable goods between city-states.

The expense of ornithopter construction means few city-states can maintain large standing fleets, but the three great cities each have their own air-militias. The Liberans arm theirs with polished mirrors that reflect and focus the rays of the sun upon their enemies, while the Vulcanites prefer enchanted flame-gouts. The Maraphonians reject these weapons, and instead arm their ornithopters with enormous claws and jagged beaks, hoping to tear enemies apart from close quarters. (The Thanatoi do not use ornithopters, instead relying on undead wyverns and flying ghosts)

A small ornithopter capable of carrying five humans (at least two must have a Str of 14 or more) will set you back about fifty thousand gold drachma, while anything much larger will need to be commissioned from an ornithos at enormous expense.

[The Coin] Mynacea

Map

Famed for its philosophers, its galleys, and its theatres, Mynacea is a rugged and mountainous realm of squabbling city-states. The region was long oppressed by the grip of the dark Taurian Empire, whose enormous, labyrinthine ruins speckle the land, but now the Mynaceans rule themselves, bowing to no kings and no emperors. Since the overthrow of the minotaur king, they have built great cities like Vulcanopolis, Liberos, and Maraphon, wonderous temples and oracles, and spread colonies across half a continent.

For mercenaries and adventurers alike, Mynacea is an land of opportunity. Little love is lost between the city-states, who compete in nearly every respect, from trade to colonies to sorcery. There is a constant threat of piracy, raiding, or even petty but brutal wars. And with the monsterous remnants of the Taurian Empire lurking in dark labyrinths, or the craggy badlands of the Korhos, it is a fertile land for monster hunters.

Yet it is also a land of great wealth and achievement. Philosophers and inventors thrive on the patronage of the city-states. Thanks to a relative lack of taxation and tariffs, merchants thrive on the Mynacean trade routes, bringing amphoras of olive oil and wine to distant markets, returning with hulls laden down by gold and grain.

AW style movies - Roguish Edition

Pick a Pocket (d20+Subterfuge+Dex)
14-: major failure, pick two results (see below)
15-19: minor failure, pick one result (see below)
20+: success!

Results:

• You fail to pick the target's pocket
• Somebody (50% chance it's the target, otherwise somebody nearby) notices you. If this result is picked twice, everybody nearby is aware of what you did.

Pick a Lock Under Pressure (d20+Subterfuge+Mind)
Performing this move requires a set of thieves' tools.
14-: pick one
15-19: pick two
20+: pick three

• You open the lock
• You don't break any of your tools
• You aren't noisy in the process
• You don't take very long
  

Sneak Past Some Guards (d20+Subterfuge+Dex or Mind)
In some cases, the GM may require a distraction before you have a chance to use this move.
14-: pick one
15-19: pick two
20+: pick three

• You get where you want to go.
• You don't spend much timing waiting for an opportunity/to realize it's not going to work.
  
• The guards don't notice you.
  

Trade on the Black Market (d20+Subterfuge+Mind)
14-: pick three
15-19: pick two
20+: pick one

• The price involved is unreasonable (and not in your favor).
  
• Getting the deal done takes a heap more time than you intended.
  
• You get mixed up in trouble in the local underworld.
• The suspicions of the local law enforcement are aroused.
  

Microlite20/Troubles and Treasures House Rules

I was recently lamenting the fact that, due to all the changes I and my group have made to MicroLite20, I can't just point to a single document and say that that's our rulebook. So, I decided to list the main rules changes we've made as succinctly as possible. Unless otherwise stated, everybody conforms to the original m20 rules available here, or here, by Greywulf.

Races:
In addition to Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings (Gnomes), there are also Half-Orcs (+1 Str, +1 Phys and Sub), Planetouched (+1 Mind, +1 Know and Com), and Constructs (+5 on saves against poison, disease and suffocation/drowning).

Feats:
every odd numbered level opens up a feat slot. What feats you can take are determined by race and class, but you don't get a feat automatically. Sometimes a feat needs to be learned from a teacher, sometimes you pick it up to replicate, long-term, something the GM let you do on a special occasion. A compilation of feats will be forthcoming at some point. Until then, this is an optional rule.

Rogues:
sneak attacks deal an additional 3+level damage (this is not connected to the Rogue's Subterfuge bonus).

Fighters:
no change.

Wizards:
Wizards can use books, wands and staffs as focuses for magical energy, working like ranged weapons (light crossbow, shortbow and longbow, respectively). They get no favoured/signature spells (but spells are cheaper, and they have more hp, see below).

Performers (Bards):
Get 2 + level + Mind bonus uses of their music per day. By default they can use music to charm individuals, hypnotize crowds, and counter other sound-based effects, and can do other things with the right feats. They can wear light armour, and get +2 Subterfuge, Knowledge, and Communication.

Invokers (Clerics):
Get no spells or turn undead uses, but get to pray without any penalties, and with an optional re-roll. They can also tend to another character, allowing them to make a new save against an on-going non-permanent effect, or to spend a healing surge with a re-roll.

Combat Actions:
Use the normal D&D 3.5 system of 1 move action, 1 standard action, or 2 move actions, or one full-round action.

PC Hit Points:
Are rolled using a d8. Every character gets 4 healing surges plus their Strength bonus, per day. They may spend a healing surge as a standard action to heal 1d8 lost hp. Any healing effect will require the usage of a healing surge.

NPC Hit Points:
Are either 5 per level for "mooks", or 10 per level for "boss" monsters/characters encountered on their own. NPCs have healing surges, but most can't use them unless they have some outside effect working on them (such as a cleric). The GM will say when an NPC gets down to half it's hit points (is "bloodied").

Skills:
Skills are equal to the character's racial and/or class bonuses, plus half their level, rounded up.

Attacks and Damage:
Attacks are divided into Strength attack (non-light melee weapons), Dexterity attack (light melee and thrown weapons), and Mind attack (bows, crossbows, firearms and spells). Each is the relevant ability modifier plus the character's level. There are no iterative attacks, although dual-wielding works as in the M20 books. Additionally, characters add half their level (rounded down) to their damage rolls.

Spells:
Adventuring wizards know all the spells in the Adventurer's Spellbook, and can learn/create more, although the highest level of spells that is possible is level 7. Spells cost 2 hp per spell level, minimum of 1 hp. This damage is normal damage, and can be healed by anything that normally restores lost hp. If a spells is experimental, or of a spell level too high for the wizard (greater than character level+1, halved), there is a 50% chance the spell will backfire and do something weird and random. Otherwise that only happens when the wizard rolls a natural 1. Spells cast through prayer work the same way.

Carrying Capacity:
Objects are weighed in Stone (14 pounds, or 6 kilograms), rounding off, with 1000 coins weighing a stone. A character can carry half their Strength score in stone, rounding up, without any trouble. More than that can only be carried for short periods.

XP and levelling:
XP is handed out for fights, carousing, and eXPloration. Characters have to achieve something to go up a level (defeat a worthy foe in a new way, commit a new crime, learn a new spell, spread fandom/religion to new people, or something along those lines).

New Cleric Mechanic/AW-Style Move

Balance issues are yet to be tested...

Pray (1d20+Communication+Mind-10)
A character may only try to do this once per day.

14-: nothing happens
15-19: receive one miracle
20+: receive three miracles

Clerics ignore the penalty, and may re-roll the check, although they must take the second result, even if it’s worse.

Miracles:

• 1d6 damage, + 1d6 per two character levels, damage to all unholy creatures in 30 ft. (save for half). Said unholy creatures may halve the damage they take, but if so they must flee from the praying individual.
• Cast a level 2+ spell as if you were a wizard. (GM may veto spell if it doesn’t seem to match your god of choice, or alternately say that some other power supplied the spell...).
• Ignore the fact you're wearing armour for spellcasting purposes.
  
• All allies within 30ft. may spend a healing surge as a free action, and may re-roll the result.
• All allies within 30ft. may roll a new save against any negative ongoing non-permanent effect they’re experiencing.
• Be given another chance to pray for a miracle today.
  

Colony Five

Inspired by this post on RPGnet, but taken as an excuse to approach scifi with the sort of trope-filling gonzo-ness I like in my fantasy worlds.

The Elevator Pitch:
"Stargate Atlantis meets Farscape meets Red Dwarf meets Firefly. With just a hint of Star Wars and Indiana Jones"

The Full Details:
In the last years of the 21st century, Earth took its first steps into the galaxy, by sending out several sleeper ships to set up new colonies on habitable exoplanets. Some were sent by national governments, some were privately funded by eccentric trillionairs. The fifth ship was a cooperative effort by several nations working in tandem. Sadly, Sleeper Five ceased sending back telemetry a few years after it departed, and was presumed lost. History moved on.

Over the centuries that followed, humanity discovered faster than light travel, and the galaxy ws fully unlocked. The sleeper ships were actually overtaken by FTL vessels, although Sleeper Five was never found. Earth's nations explored the stars, exporting their hostilities to a grander scale, and roping in the technologically primitive aliens they found. Wars between opposing empires caused untold damage, but in the wake of these atrocities, in the new peace that followed, humanity found the utopia they'd sought for so long.

The Earth Empire, the first truly unified nation encompassing all humanity (and, to a lesser extent, the aliens) was set up, aided by the Great AI, a computer intelligence that encompassed the Empire's communication network, and was a part of every device in the Empire. A golden age flowered, with humanity wanting for less and less as the Great AI took over more and more responsibilities. Eventually, humanity as a whole was sitting in the lap of luxury, the Great AI tending to their every whim, responsible for all production and innovation, creating technological marvels that seem almost magical by today's standards.

Which was brilliant, up till the day the AI just... stopped. Nobody knows why. But little of the Empire's technology would run without it, and almost nobody remained who knew how to repair or operate anything. Within a year, 90% of humanity was dead, primarily from starvation.

Five hundred years later, the galaxy is just starting to rebuild, in places. The New Earth Empire, founded by a few worlds that were not hit as hard in the great crash, aims to bring back the glory days, although their methods are far from peaceful, and their technology, while on average better than that of most worlds, is nowhere near the heights of the Old Empire. The Fringe Worlds, sandwiched between the N.E.E. and an assortment of other stellar nations of varying viciousness, and the Wastelands that used to be the core of the Old Empire, are potentially in for a rough time.

And then Sleeper Five comes back, appearing out of an inexplicable aurora of light and peculiar sensor readings above a backwater fringe world. The inhabitants, a simple farming community, a couple of rogue archaeologists, and the independent trading ship that occasionally drops in to buy vegetables, are quite surprised, but not half as surprised as the crew of Sleeper Five.

The campaign revolves around the adventures of the Sleeper Five colonists, their farming friends, and the random interstellar hangers-on who've twigged that these people are the Next Big Thing, as they set up their colony, explore the ruins of the Old Empire, salvage bits of malfunctioning post-singularity technology, and fend off the depredations of various unpleasant people, aliens, robots, and other, stranger things.

[Lady Blackbird] For Noobs

I ran Lady Blackbird at my college tonight, on a whim. The players were four absolute newcomers to role-playing, none of whom I knew particularly well nor had played anything like it.

It went brilliantly. I've run and played Lady Blackbird half a dozen times before, but never with an entire group of complete newbies... and they took to it like ducks to water. Steph, who played the titular Lady Blackbird, particularly got into her character. The only issue was that some of the players were not native speakers of English, and thus description did not flow quickly or naturally for them... but they still enjoyed the game thoroughly. Music was vital.

They brutally slaughtered the brig guards bypassed the ship's corridors by simply blowing a hole in the deck straight through to the Owl's hangar, and quickly escaped off into the wild blue yonder in under an hour. Along the way, there was a flashback to Lady Blackbird's meeting with a young Captain Cyrus Vance, where we established a long-standing attraction between the two, and Kale got herself into some pretty severe strife. In fact, she ended the session with the "Dead?" condition tagged after some failed ministration from Naomi.

John Harper, you are an amazing man.

Apocalypse Dungeon Style Moves (part II)

Fly (1d20+Knowledge+Dex - Stone carried):
Roll if you want to do anything other than cruise around at more than half speed and/or turn gently.

Miss (14-): lose control and drop 1d4x10 ft.
Hit (15+): pick 1
Good hit (20+): pick 3

• Move less than half speed
• Hover (need to be moving less than half speed)
• Tight turn
• Fly Straight up
• Regain control (after you lose control, you'll need to do this before you try anything else)
  

Leap (1d20+Physical+Str or Dex - Stone carried):
Roll when actively leaping across a chasm or down from a ledge.

Miss (14-): pick 1, take 1d6 damage
Hit (15+): pick 2
Good Hit (20+): pick 3

• Reduce damage by 1 dice
• Move 5 ft. laterally (counts as 2 picks if you didn’t have a run-up)
• Move 10ft. laterally and take 1d6 damage (counts as 2 picks if you didn’t have a run-up). You may only take this option once.
  

Carouse (1d20+Physical+Str)
Get 1d6 xp, spend 100 times that in gp. Double in a major city.

Miss (14-): GM picks Mishap.
Hit (15+): Player picks Mishap.
Good Hit (20+): No Mishap.

(optionally, the player can decide that any result under 20 will result in a random mishap)

The Ultimate Game

Mormon cowboys granted unquestionable power by the Unconquered Sun enter a twisted netherworld of dreams resembling Soviet-occupied Miami in the mid-to-late '80s.

[transExalted] Ways to Actually Play Exalted

• Radiant by Shreyas Sampat; a very lite implementation of Exalted with a focus on glory in a world of faded ruins.
• Unconquered by Jonathon Walton. Very very Narrativist Exalted ruleset. Will strain some people's understanding of roleplaying games. Was also known as Anathema.
• Wuxalted Redux, by various. A crunchier, settingful hack of Wushu that preserves the basic mechanic of Wushu but adds quite a bit more Exalted crust. Unfortunately, also shares the same flaws of Wushu (detail overload / description fatigue).
• Exalted Quickstart. The original ruleset released by White Wolf as a preview of their upcoming game back in 2001. Light and fast for a trad game, and very Exalted in flavour.
• Make up your own rules.

[Exalted] Municipal Charms

A range of Charms for the discerning Alchemical city-being, some collected from around the internet and some created by myself.

Avatar-Launching Silo

Contained within great steel and brass tubes, the Avatar-Launching Silos prepare and spin out facsimiles of the metropolis' ancient human-scale body. The avatars hold much of the power of the metropolis, but they are not drone-like creations nor mere limbs of the great metropolis. Each avatar has its own personality, its own identity, forged from a shard of the metropolis' expansive consciousness.

Champion Heart Efficiency Matrix: These submodules refine and expand the starmetal essence reservoirs within each avatar.

Titan Shard Reservoir: This submodule adds an enormous jade sarcophagus, stored in the depths of the Avatar-Launching Silo. Within this immense submodule rests a colossus-sized avatar of the metropolis.

Rapid Drone Operations System: Each avatar's sacrophagi is retrofitted with a jade-alloy casing, filled with safety webbing and Essence-injecting conduits. The silo itself is retrofitted with steam catapults and moonsilver rails that allow the launching of sarcophagi at distant locales at short notice. On impact, the sarcophagi shatters open to reveal the avatar within, showering all those surrounding with jade shrapnel.

Apogee-Shattering Hammer Deployment: This submodule replicates the effect of Rapid Drone Operations System for the Titan Shard Reservoir, allowing the immense colossi to be launched through the air and impact onto hostile positions.

Integrated Observation Network

With this charm, the patropolis is outfitted with sensor-posts linked by a network of glistening silver cables, extending throughout the city. At a moment's notice, any sensor-post can be reflexively activated by the patropolis' governing Alchemical, extending their awareness and allowing them to perceive all that transpires in the area. The system does not grant the patropolis omniscience, as the number of sensor-posts that can be activated is strictly limited by the Alchemical's ability to focus, and individual nodes are still vulnerable to attack and destruction.

Motile Surveillance Platforms: With this submodule installed, the individual sensor-posts become flittering mobile platforms the size of a small bird. They still cannot move beyond the city limits.

Visual Remembrance Matrix: Crystalline memory devices are installed into each sensor-post, allowing the visual memory of any post in the city to be downloaded into the Alchemical's memory. Auditory records cannot be stored within the crystals, and thus sound is absent from these recordings.

Discreet Vigilance Design: The sensor-posts are integrated into the patropolis' architecture in a way that makes them invisible to the casual observer, even while in use.

Sapient Scrutiny Spirit: A simple artificial spirit is downloaded into the observation network. It can be pre-programmed to alert the Alchemical guiding mind of any particular suspicious activity, bringing their awareness to that particular node.

Oneirological Monitoring System

Prerequisites: Integrated Observation Network

Unique moonsilver pentagrams are installed in the sleeping quarters of the city. Shadowy shards of the patropolis' consciousness are dispatched into the dreamscapes of the populat allowing them to monitor for dissent and other unhealthy impulses.

Cloud-of-Dreams Cortex

On installing this Charm, the metropolis extends sensitive starmetal antennae throughout her body. When activated, it draws on the unused processing power of the unconscious citizenry, improving the Alchemical's ability to conduct calculations and projections.

Catatonic Calculus Cognitor: When this submodule is installed, themettropolis gains the ability to directly seize control of the conscious minds of the city, temporarily turning them into catatonic outgrowths of her cognition systems. This act vastly increases the computational power of the patropolis, but at a terrible cost.

Shadow Government Dream

Prerequisites: Oneirological Monitoring System, Cloud-of-Dreams Cortex

Using complex metaphysical symbology and oneirological protocols, the central core and governing body of the patropolis are removed bodily from the realm of existence. Instead, it lives in a dream world held within the minds of populace, issuing orders and planning operations from a position of unparalleled security. This charm does not guarantee the compliance of the Populat, but it provides immunity for the government and the patropolis' core from most forms of physical and societal attack.

Subconscious Punishment Methodology: This submodule allows for punishments to be directed at members of the populat during their sleep, inflicting terrible tortures and nightmares on the maladjusted and the criminal.

Nocturnal Propaganda Inception: This submodule allows the patropolis to adjust the dreams of the populat, showing visions of industrial heroism and tales of nationalistic pride. It subtly adjusts mindsets, creating a populat more devoted to the patropolis and more vigorous in their labours.

Dreams-Within-Dreams Architecture: For the truly paranoid patropolis, this submodule constructs a secondary dreamscape within the first to house the Shadow Government Dream, placing it at even further remove from the physical world. This prevents foes with oneirological manipulation powers from easily penetrating the apparatus of the patropolis.

[Microlite20] The Alucard School of Serious Swordplay

Most fencing academies on the Coin focus on pure swordplay - that is, dueling against opponents armed themselves with swords. The École d'Alucard in Languille, in contrast, is a far less traditional school. Recognising the more complex dangers of the modern world, the École d'Alucard arms its students with the techniques and talents necessary to brandish their blades in battle against a wide range of opponents - axe-wielding orkish barbarians, duergar musketeers or even in the more advanced classes, tentacled monstrosities of death.

Fencing Feats for Fighters

Fencer's Fancy Footwork

Prerequisite: Nimble Sworsdman

When wielding a one-handed blade, you may move one square whenever an enemy misses an melee attack against you. (immediate action)

Unconventional Parrying Technique

Prerequisite: Fencer's Footwork

Once per turn, you may choose to parry any melee attack against you. Roll an attack roll. On a 15+, you parry the attack but may not make any attacks in the next turn. On a 21+, you parry the attack and can attack in the next turn.

Alucard's Anti-Archery Adaptation

Prerequisite: Unconventional Parrying Technique

You can use Unconventional Parry Technique against ranged non-magical attacks.

Tentacle Slashing Slayer

Prerequisite: Unconventional Parrying Technique

You can try to remove a creature's arms and tentacles as a standard attack. Roll an attack roll. On a 15+, you only slightly wound the creature, forcing it to recoil somewhat. It cannot use its limb next round. On a 21+, you severe the relevant limb and deal damage as normal.