Wednesday 11 May 2022

1d20 Microworlds

Dan mentioned how artifical gravity would lead to Super Mario Galaxy and I can't stop thinking about it so here's some teeny tiny worlds.


The Messinger-Dawoud KV/4 Gravity Engine 

(A-grav, gravity net, downwell generator, etc.)
 
A honeycomb of metal tubes and a blackbox, attached to your ships jump drive. Expensive but not crushingly so. Scales exponentially the more  you stack together, in area and strength. 
 
Almost certainly reverse-engineered from posthuman tech but Messinger-Dawoud isn't telling.



Microworlds
Why have a station or a ship when you can traverse the void on a tiny personalized planet?
  1. Delicate golden filigre, layer upon layer, surrounding a woven coccoon that spins it anew as the outer layers boil away into vaccuum.

  2. Intricatly carved wooden puzzle. Each layer increases in difficulty. Desperate debtors crawl across in vaccsuits, feverishly working to unlock chests of air and supplies.

  3. Transparent orb, filled with a freshwater ecosystem. Waterproof false sun at the center, shrouded in oxygenating plants. Amphibian servitor-creatures croak in a choir across the comms.

  4. Earth and stone and conifers. Thin atmosphere, alpine climate. Single 'mountain', populated by a lone shepardess and her goats.

  5. Layer upon layer of books. Tunnels within carved by librarian-hermits.

  6. Dirt, graves and bones. Shaped like a skull. Ring of dancing skeletons animated by wires. Coven of goth cyberwitches inside- quite friendly once you get past the cobwebs and corpses.

  7. Giant hermit crab. Snips at passing ships.

  8. Enormous flowers arranged around a central core of glass. Bee-drones hum in a swarm. Wealthy owner LARPs as a fairy queen, has had psychosurgery to make herself more whimsical.

  9. Ball of sand and rock. Some large cacti and some lizards. Lone gunman in a vacsuit plays the banjo mournfully. Half-heartedly raids passing ships.

  10. Very large CRT monitor. Cassette-cultists make their home inside. Hum of ozone, dust everywere. Watch out for static shock.

  11. Dodecahedron of beds, each containing a slumbering wizard. The dream-world they inhabit is many times larger- passing spacers may find themselves lost in it when they go to sleep.

  12. Collection of giant bottles, cocktail glasses and paper umbrellas. Zero-g globs of booze float in orbit.

  13. Box-shaped collection of networked android logic cores, thick atmosphere protects from solar radiation. Narrow passages allow maintanence drones.

  14. Spherical hedge maze, pavilions at each pole. Tea parties held on the hour every hour. Lots of rabbits and intricatly carved topiary.

  15. Appears as a giant bread roll. Interior an industrial bakery, the android bakers have pastry-themed chassis.

  16. Really big dog in a very large dog bed. Has a very large dog ball he wants you to throw for him.

  17. Hamster cage. Different areas accessed by rolling in a giant hamster ball. You can walk but it'd be gauche.

  18. Ridiculous brass contraption with no rhyme or reason. Pipes, tubes, valves and pistons go in all directions. Mouthpiece at the center- when blown the sound is indescribable.

  19. Gigantic top hat. Interior contains a golden-lit ballroom, 24/7 parties and galas. Inhabitants wear long-nosed masks, black and white dress clothes. Speak in impenetrable references and gossip.

  20. Giant sphere of crocheted yarn. Interior hollow, lined with pillows, blankets and softly glowing lamps.


 
 

Tuesday 25 January 2022

5 Delvers

 
 

 
 
 Oh come all you young fellers so young and so fine
Seek not your fortune in a dark dreary mine
It'll form as a habit and seep in your soul
Till the stream of your blood runs as black as the coal

 
 
 Normal people dont go Underground.
 
(aka more inventory worldbuilding)

---
 
The following is transcribed footage of  'College-Anthropology-Proj.2RAW', an exploration of local delver culture in what is believed to be a northern English city. The creator is unknown.

[Recording starts]
Five figures stand in a dim basement room. Their faces and voices are digitally obscured.
 
'Ophelia of Ynn'
I was born into it, I suppose. Mum had a lot of strange friends, they used to crash at our flat a lot. Looking back, I realized most kids weren't babysat by wererats and Gentry. By the time mum retired I was too deep to get out.
  • Machete, well-used.
  • Bus pass [city digitally obscured]
  • 50m Nylon rope and rapelling gear
  • Waterproof torch
  • 5-pack white chalk, 2 sticks left.
  • 4 days rations- trail mix, jerky, dried fruit, 
  • Woven thorn bracelets. Significance unknown.
  • Tattoos of various flowers and plants of unknown genus, across 80% skin surface below neck.
  • 12-litre backpack. Patch- Dryad pinup girl.
  • Map, embroidered onto cloth. Could unfold to many time's larger than it should be able to.
  • Minor alteration- flint teeth
 
 
'13Keys'
 Searching for the Root, brother. Its down there. Ive dreamt it.We're gonna Open the Source mate. I've seen it in the Stack. In the sideways discords. Gonna light a fire under silicon valley, brother.
  • Loyalty card, local gaming store. 4 stamps until free MTG booster pack.
  • Headscarf, 8-bit pattern.
  • Ticket for the Ghost Train. 1-way to Carcossa.
  • Crossbow
  • Darts, Lotus-flower extract. Universal tranquiliser.
  • Tablet. Scratch-built, bound devil power source. Runs TAILS OS, contains sealed partition for hostile datalife.
  • Polaroid photo- 13keys [face obscured] on a sofa with a swarm of spiders in vague humanoid shape, holding hands.
  • Languages- machine code, retrobit, engine-cant.
  • Custom antenna implant, behind ear.
  • Necklace- 13 portable drives, many colours. Rat skulls.
  • Assorted bits, cables, chips, drives, etc. stored in pouches and a satchel.
 
'Rag Anne'
 I have 2 GCSEs, my brother lost his legs in Afghanistan, and universal credit doesn't even cover a quarter of rent and bills. It was this or the Amazon warehouse. At least this way I can melt a cunt with my brain.
  • Boiler suit, armoured inserts.
  • Small, hairless, humanoid figure. Withered, tattooed skin. Delver repeatedly fed it with drops of her blood during interview.
  • Bundle of 6'' curse nails, bound in twine. 
  • 1L Canteen, 'Juice'.  Double espresso, 5-hour energy shots, Blue Devil Liquor.
  • Devil pact marks, base of spine and temple.
  • Hatchet, iron and wood. Contains bound spirit of a murderer.
  • Red scarf, wool. Stitched with tiny writing, functions as spellbook.
  • Morlock favour-token, carved bone. Worn in hair, woven into braid.
  • Sword. Grey steel, squared tip. Hello kitty charms on hilt.
  • Ticket- dance show, local primary school.
 
 'Horse'
 This is just a side hustle, to be honest. I have a day job. Two kids and a third on the way. The extra money helps, I want them to go to university.
  • Heavy-duty torch, 12hr battery.
  • Tattoo- Stack of 3 grinning toads. Sign of favour from local goblin market.
  • Wooden mask, horse. Contains respirator.
  • Duffel bag. Haunted by a dead woman, allegedly a hoarder- safely stores occult items in return for offerings.
  • Incense sticks, 12-pack
  • Candles, 5-pack
  • Salt, 500g
  • Harmonica
  • Martial art- Iron Troll Three-Hand.
  • Spidersilk vest, stabproof
  • Book- 'Ghostology: Communication, Offerings, Exorcisms'
 
'Cook'
Pigs confiscated my gear. I owe a lot of money to the outfit and I like my knees where they are.
  • Skorpion submachine-gun. 3 extra clips.
  • Keys- Ford transit van, third-hand, fake license plates.
  • Denim jacket. Patch- sign of the ungod, anarchist anti-diety.
  • Sunscreen, factor 50
  • Radiation sickness tablets
  • Sports water bottle, 500ml. O+ Blood.
  • Heavily scarred throat.
  • Bulletproof vest.
  • 20 homemade zines
  • Smoking pipe
  • 3g ziplock bag, derro weed.