Far Station Eschaton: A Kingdom Seed

Robert Rodger asked if anyone had done a seed for Kingdom (a top five rpg for me) based on DS9. That's a cool idea so I did up a rough version. Others may have additional approaches or suggestions. 

FAR STATION ESCHATON

Once this station stood at the far ends of known space, a jump point for the desperate, established as a watch post for the Confederation. But now things have changed. The formation of a wormhole, reaching into new areas of space has made Eschaton the gateway to a new gold rush and the epicenter of old vendettas.

Customize (pick one answer for each)

• The Confederation is [ a distant and faceless bureaucracy | a society dedicated to expansion and peace-keeping | an expansionist military force | the failing shell of a once-proud society | a puppet state at the beck and call of corporate interests]
• Eschaton was established by [ the Confederation’s military originally | the scientific arm of the empire | as a far-edge drydock and repair station | a pleasure and rec facility for patrolling vessels of the fleet | a diplomatic outpost | the HQ for a peacekeeping mission]
• The closest planet [ is under military occupation by the Confederation | is in the midst of civil war | is united in their resentment of the confederation | is a hodge-podge industrial settlement | is a backwater hive of scum, villainy and licentiousness]
• Eschaton has [ absolute control over the gateway | limited access it can dole out | control through the threat of being able to destroy the gateway | no ability to stop anyone going in or out.]
• The wormhole [ leads to a system spoken of in old records and legends | goes to a location in another galaxy completely unknown before | opens onto the hub of an alien empire | varies in its final destination]

Threats

• Corporate interests want control of the wormhole.
• The Confederation wants to militarize the sector.
• The system is being overwhelmed by the sheer number of new arrivals rushing to be the first through.
• Tensions with the closest planet have increased as they’ve made new demands.
• The field of the wormhole creates strange and unpredictable effects on the local space-time.
• The Confederation’s rival(s) claim the wormhole as their own.
• Alien forces have begun to emerge into the Eschaton’s system from the other side.
• Underground forces on the station look to seize control.
• Supplies and/or supply chains have been tightened and reduced.
• Bizarre events, psychic episodes, and reality warping caused by the wormhole’s energies.

Locations

• Bridge of the Eschaton, central point for command and control
• Docking ring, the connecting point for new arrivals and those wishing to board
• The loading bays where cargo arrives (and sometimes falls off into other peoples’ hands)
• Security core. Where personnel monitor security and attempt to keep track of threats
• Prison (brig) for the Eschaton. Most often used for the drunk and derelict, now has a larger variety of strange and dangerous criminals.
• Overflow housing for the new arrivals. Connected to a black areas where refugees attempt to hide and survive.
• Medical Bay. Smaller than it ought to be. Unequipped to handle the volume of new arrivals.
• Diplomatic station dedicated to the culture and needs of the populace from the local planet
• The Promenade. A crossroads of stores, suppliers, corporate offices, bars, and other diversions.
• The Bar. While there may be several locations where station personnel and visitors go to unwind, the Bar is the largest and most important of these.
• The Holo-Lounge. A place of education for some. Of obsession for others.
• Bay 8. Location of the special runner ship or shuttlecraft for the main crew of the Eschaton.
• Station Core. The tightly controlled center for ship operation and power.
• The Menagerie. Facilities set up for various alien ambassadors and their needs.
• Jeffries Tubes. Engineering access points used for repairs as well as clandestine travel by some.

Character Concepts

• Commander of the Eschaton
• Commander’s resentful but precocious teen child
• An exiled Psychic
• A bizarre living hologram
• A doctor exiled to this miserable posting
• The excitable security chief
• Official liaison from the local planet
• Corporate station representative
• Washed up former Captain turned con man
• Avaricious merchant
• Station Supply Officer
• Dedicated engineer
• Former spy turned religious mentor
• Space Workers Union Rep
• Confederation Military Observor
• First Contact Specialist
• Diplomat turned native
• Splintered Refuge from a Hive Mind

Names

Issac Tyrrell, Erich Strachan, Anton Phillips, Kalyn Wynter, Gema Alessandro, Maddie Avison, Shani ch'Shuni, Thara ch'Kerria, Ortal zh'Giiazn, Hjalmar sh'Nortre, Enak Vorle, Aarmar Telle, Ular Turra, Makbar Tajar, Mar'Ta, K'Kori, G'Lora, Vekma, Veirre, Khaesar, Cura, N'Freleya

Crossroads

• Do we impose absolute control over who passes through the wormhole?
• Return criminals/rebels/spies from the local planet to their home?
• Send our own missions through the wormhole to seek new discoveries
• Permit the Rival Enemy Empire to establish a formal presence aboard the station?
• Expend resources searching for the station shuttle we lost contact with?
• Crack down on the rising tide of smuggling?
• Turn to black market sources to support the station?
• Declare independence from the Confederation?
• Ration supplies to civilian interests so that the military wing of the station can maintain maximum readiness?
• Divert power and effort to establish protections from the strange space-time anomalies?
• Establish a system of democratic representation?
• Recognize the independence of the local planet?
• Rearm the station for a possible military stand off?
• Make an alliance with former enemies?

Notes

Inspired by Star Trek DS9 and Babylon Five.

Kingdom notes that when you play “with physically-separated locations…make sure it’s easy for characters to interact in person. There has to be easy transport…or you risk all your scenes turning into boring phone calls.” You’ll probably have most scenes on the station, but I can imagine jaunts out to survey the wormhole, interact with arriving captains around their ships, or visit with officials on the local planet.

You should also discuss and think about the tech level you want to have with this setting. The easiest way is to set the default at Star Trek level, but allow for players to suggest things to add or reduce to that.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS AND MODIFICATIONS WELCOME! 

Other Kingdom Stuff:

Xavier's Kingdom for Gifted Children

Kingdom: Fae & Samurai

Kingdoms of Ars Magica

Heroes of the City,

Heroes of the City AP

The Daily Sentinel AP

Battleship Orion AP

Xavier's Kingdom for Gifted Children

It's no secret I love Microscope. I've used it many times to craft histories and cities for campaigns, one-shots, and virtual conventions. But I also love Ben Robbins' other game, Kingdom. If pressed, I'd put that in my top five rpgs. I love what Kingdom does and, though you could say this about every game, it clicks with players who know the game's approach. This is the last of my hacks for January (alongside my X-Com/Pandemic/MotW and 13th Age/Base Raiders concepts). This is a new Kingdom seed and a love letter to the X-Men. 

See also Kingdom: Fae & Samurai, Kingdoms of Ars Magica, Heroes of the City, Heroes of the City AP, The Daily Sentinel AP, and Battleship Orion AP.  

CUSTOMIZE

The (name) School for Gifted Children is a (completely secret/ quietly concealed/ out in the open) school for young persons with amazing powers, commonly called Mutants. The school aims to (bring mutants and humanity together peacefully/ teach mutants to survive/ create a bond of mutant “brotherhood” for the future).

Humanity fears Mutants. They have existed (for a long time/ only a generation/ for a few short years). The strongest reactions have involved (paranoia/ hostility /violent assaults/ fearmongering). While the debate has raged on (many/ several/ only one/ no) (politician(s)/ organizations) has(ve) risen to take the lead on the issue.

The school itself is a (small facility/ lies on a modest estate/ sprawls across a large campus). Parents are (fully aware of/ have an inkling about /have been brainwashed concerning) the school’s purpose. Instruction focuses on (students’ talents/ making them well-rounded persons/ balancing powers and real world knowledge).

The staff itself (has a few Mutants/ strikes a balance between Mutants and Humans/ is almost entirely Mutant). Instructors on staff with powers (avoid any kind of/ get caught up in/ secretly engage in/ openly carry out) superheroics.

THREATS

• Government Registration: Many have called for a central database of all mutants. Others have gone further and suggested mutants be marked and labelled.
• Kidnaping for Experimentation: Several organizations want mutant bodies, some for nefarious weapon programs and others to serve a Transhumanist agenda.
• Mutant Militant Organization Rivalry: Another organization exists either in direct conflict or carrying out a more extreme version of the school’s agenda.
• Student Dissatisfaction: Just because you're a mutant you don't have to attend the school. The staff have to balance drills and student body buy-in.
• Instructors with Agendas: Some instructors live to teach, while others have political agendas and perspectives they work quietly to spread.
• Alien Intervention: For some reason alien empires keep getting caught up in mutant affairs. That can seriously impact syllabi.
• Parental Annoyance: Students have parents and parents have desires and ambitions for their children. While some have disowned their offspring, others argue about grades, teacher recommendations, and future placement opportunities.
• Vigilante Activities: Some mutants fight for justice, and they may be sneaking out to do it. That can bring unwanted attention.
• Mutants Social Unrest: In some areas mutants have been shut into closed communities. Tensions there can spill over.
• Budgeting for Repairs: Repairing the Danger Room after a particularly nasty fracas isn’t cheap.
• Hormones and Energy Blasts: These are teenagers with powers like telekinesis, fire control, and invisibility. What happens when you jam them together in a single place?
• Mutant Plague: A virus, perhaps artificial, perhaps not, has begun to spread in the general mutant community.
• Mutant Conversion Therapy: Rumors have come of a “cure” for mutantkind. It may be a trap or it may be a means to eliminate the mutant threat permanently.
• Temporal Changes: Mutants have a habit of getting into temporal mishaps. This can create changes to reality only some people recall.
• Educational Certification: It’s still a school. If anyone wants their degree recognized or credits transferred, it needs accreditation.
• Secret Agency Infiltrators and Recruiters: Those in the know eagerly place moles, double-agents, and the brainwashed on site for future plans.
• Staff & Students with Evil Relatives: An unusual number of mutants have siblings, parents, or cousins who turn out to be super-villains.

LOCATIONS

• Counselors Office
• Instructors Wing
• Danger Room
• Headmistress’ Chambers
• Subterranean Aircraft Hanger
• Front Hallway Crossroads
• Baseball Diamond
• Off-Limits Woods
• Down by the Lake
• Teachers’ Garage
• Research Laboratories
• Medical Room Closet
• Secret Mutant Detector Facilities
• Student Rec Room
• Dining Hall
• Isolation & Containment Chambers
• Garden Maze

CHARACTER SEEDS

• Former Villainess Turned Teacher
• Student with Monstrous Appearance
• Warrior with a Haunted Secret Weapon Past
• Uptight First Graduate of the School
• Shared Mind Collective
• Alien Transfer
• Devoutly Religious Instructor
• Disgruntled Star Pupil Returning to Teach
• Resurrected Clone Fiancé of the Vice Principal
• Imaginary Concept Turned Human
• Reprogrammed Anti-Mutant Killer Robot
• Alternate Timeline Survivor
• Excitable Superheroic Groupie
• Reluctant Student with Deadly Powers
• Pupil with Anti-Mutant Family Ties
• Non-Mutant Butler
• Depowered Superhero

CROSSROADS

• Expel students caught using their powers to cheat?
• A new student has powers that shut down his classmates abilities. Leave them in normal classes or isolate them from the others?
• Let the students participate in a shared prom with local schools?
• A new mutant-only drug is making the rounds. Conduct an undercover investigation locate the culprits?
• A student has started a movement praising the ideals of a radical mutant supervillain. Ban such talk from the school?
• A popular Southern instructor has been fraternizing with students. Expel him from the grounds?
• Put a stop to students secretly training with the more lethal aspects of their powers?
• Some object to the presence of non-Mutants. Only allow mutants on campus?
• Have students battle one another to increase their skills?
• Encourage more parental participation at the school?
• Openly endorse mutant superheroics?
• Move the school to a recently seized mutant-only region?
• Lock away a student discovered to be a younger (clone/dimensional alternate/de-aged/amnesiac) version of an arch-villain?
• Openly campaign against new Mutant Registration legislation?

Suggestions? Other ideas?  

Kingdom RPG: On Fae and Samurai

NOT FOR A HORSE

My copy of Kingdom arrived in the mail a few days ago. I’m a huge fan of Microscope- both as a game as an rpg collaboration tool. Kingdom targets a facet of gaming I particularly love: communities and groups. Players create a community and play through the challenges facing it, called Crossroads. Kingdom's diceless system and collaborative resolution echoes Microscope’s play. As with Microscope I immediately began to think how this could be used to frame or support an rpg campaign. I think it can function more as an expander than a tool, an easy way to explore new areas within an existing setting.

"Kingdom Seeds" make up a little over a third of the core book. They offer an easily adaptable framework (a little like the series pitches from DramaSystem). A few offer fantastical settings, but often they’re more concrete and down to earth. Ben Robbins suggests players begin with the simple and more mundane. His previous advice regarding Microscope really helped game play, so I suspect he’s right about that. When I try Kingdom at the table I’ll begin with something less complex and better known to the player group. That being said I have several existing rpg worlds I’d like to try out Kingdom with, in particular Legend of the Five Rings, Changeling the Lost, Ars Magica, Earthdawn, and even Fading Suns. I know this would only really work with players familiar with the setting. So why do this? It offers a solid and game-able way to explore new facets of these worlds. The simple structure could be used to play a quick and novel game in the setting or look at an area further away. It could also be used as a starting point like Microscope. Imagine playing out the story of a Ars Magica Covenant in Winter and its history. Then players could make up characters for a new Spring Covenant coming in. The group effectively creates the backstory together. You could do that with Microscope, but Kingdom narrows the focus and concentrates on characters and issues of community.

CHANGELING THE LOST

Originally I’d thought to organize this arounda Court within a Freehold. Instead it makes more sense to have the Kingdom be the Freehold as a whole. Players can then have characters from different seasons- a high ranking Winter Lord versus a lowly Summer foot solider. It also means that the players can choose another Court alignment (as presented in Winter Masques). The shift of roles for the players can also represent the change of seasons. A Power who wishes to take on the Perspective role might describe the changing of the days and the shift in control. Players could frame challenges this way.

CUSTOMIZE

Our freehold lies in the city of (choose location). Our city has (but one freehold/another freehold in a different section). Currently the (No Court/One of the Courts) holds dominance over affairs. The Courts themselves (are at each other’s throats/stand apart/grudgingly accept the change of seasons/hold shared council). The Freehold is (bigger than it ought to be for a city this size/balanced and just right in size/unexpectedly tiny). The strictures and control of the Courts are (tight and controlling, affecting everyone’s lives/oppressive from time to time/organized but quiet/loose and often ignored). The protections of the Court mean that (Keepers have been forgotten/the others are rarely seen/we have to maintain our vigil/threats stalk us from every shadow).

THREATS

• Influx of New Changelings from a nearby destroyed Freehold
• A Keeper breaches the Freeholds protections and sets up shop
• Mortals discover and publish some of their secrets
• The Black Market network’s raided by mortal authorities
• Neighboring Freehold demands fealty
• Some agitate for a new set of Courts
• Bridge Burners begin to destroy Hedge Access
• The number of vanishings continues to rise
• Slavers roam the streets

LOCATIONS

• The Goblin Market
• An ancient Hollow
• Wrecking Yard Token Vault
• The Hedge Arena
• The Trod Crossroads
• The Wizened Brewer-run bar
• The favored Dance club of the Spring Court
• The Summer Court’s Underground Parking Garage
• The abandoned strip mall of the Autumn Court
• The night-time playground of the Winter Court
• The basement which houses Radio Free Changeling

CHARACTER SEEDS

Obviously any kind of kith and seeming could work in this setting. Having a diversity of types will make the game stronger. They also offer some archetypes which everyone can work with and play against. A flip through the CtL core book and Lords of Summer will offer some ideas.

• Power: The Winter Enforcer; the Benevolent prince of the Spring Court; The Manipulative Autumn Vizer; the Summer Lord of War.
• Touchstone: The new arrival trying to find their way; the black market fixer who knows everyone; the tavernkeep who hears all the stories; the hedge scavenging street dweller.
• Perspective: The Fairest advocate; the Truefriend Beast; the Darkling who hears the whispers of the dead; the Wizened Oracle

CROSSROADS

• Do we take in the refugees or do we send them on their way?
• Should the Freehold submit to the demands for fealty from our neighbors?
• Should we connect the freehold to the criminal underground for survival?
• Should we eliminate mortal witnesses or attempt to co-opt them?
• Give the Keeper the sacrifices she demands?
• Expand the reach of the Freehold?
• Reorganize the Courts themselves?
• Hunt down all of the fetches?
• Send parties into the Hedge to affect rescues?
• Overthrow the current Prince?

LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS

L5R offers a great and sweeping story. I’ve been running a community-based campaign using Fate. I can imagine running a Kingdom session with an existing family, a new family of a clan, or with a minor clan (new or old).

CUSTOMIZE

We are the (family name) of the (choose) Clan. While Rokugan has been (quiet and settled /seeing ripples of changes /suffering from unexpected events /in the midst of internal conflict /battling against external threats /in a time of chaos and disorder), our family has been (the same /quiet and settled /seeing ripples of changes /suffering from unexpected events /in the midst of internal conflict /battling against external threats /in a time of chaos and disorder). Our family is (small but ancient /tiny and relatively new /just right for our lands /too large for the region we have /expansive across our wide holdings). 

Our family is known for its adherence to the Bushido virtue of (Honesty and Justice /Polite Courtesy /Courage /Honor /Compassion /Sincerity /Duty and Loyalty). Historically our region has been known for its (Mines/Shrines/Forests/Fierce Warriors/Battle Against a Foe/Rivers and Lakes/Skill with Magic/Brilliant Courtiers/Secrecy/Brilliant Merchants/Choose other). Our daimyos have a reputation as (Scholarly /Drunken /Letcherous /Superstitious /Greedy /Obsessives /Moody /Kind-Hearted /Cruel /Choose other) men. Our hated foe and rival comes from (another Clan /the Shadowlands /Bandits /Bloodspeakers /Yobanjin /Ronin).

THREATS

• Imperial Inspection
• Demands for levies
• Bandit Raiders
• Act of Embarrassment
• Peasant Insurrection
• Command to build a (dam/bridge/fortification) for the Hantei
• Starvation
• Monstrous Incursions
• Enemy at the Court
• Clan Rivals threat Invasion
• Increased Taxation
• Plague
• Deadly Swordmaster Challenger

LOCATIONS

• Tea House
• Crossroads post
• Daimyo’s Court
• Entryway of an abandoned temple
• Rice paddies
• Mountainside Shrine
• Local Monastery
• Sake Works
• Dojo Grounds
• A Bridge at Night
• Mill wheel
• Local Geisha House

CHARACTER SEEDS (adapted from Julien Valette’s comment on an earlier post)

Hatamoto / General; Shireikan / Commander; Karo / Seneschal; Gokenin / Estate Manager; Kaishaku / Champion; Onibawan / Spy Master; Onmyoji / Spiritual Advisor; Takumi / Courtier; Yojimbo / Captain of the Honor Guard; Gaikoukan / Diplomat; Daishonin / Records Keeper; Sensei / Dojo Master; Meishou / Minister of Industries; Hangan / Magistrate; Saishu / Ceremonial Master; Eirinsho / Cartographer; Kaikeikan / Treasurer; Hitojichi / Honored Hostage; Haiguusha / Consort; Hakushi / Physician; Daimyo; Member of Daimyo’s Household; Wealthy Merchant; local Abbot; Ambitious Samurai or Ronin

CROSSROADS

• Should we press the people or open the storehouses to complete the project demanded?
• Should we murder the challenger killing our best samurai?
• Should we strike back at the bandits in full force?
• Should we hide our most skilled craftsmen from the Imperial levies?
• Should we negotiate a marriage with our hated rivals?
• Should we engage in smuggling to cover our taxation shortfall?
• Should we put on a grand Winter Court to gain honor?
• Should we kill our honored hostage for the recent affront?
• Should we accept more ronin refugees?
• Should we force the hand of family member who refused/demands to commit seppuku?