Hey all!
First some news. I've made a command decision. Spurred on by my friend and fellow science fiction writer, Keith Hughes, as well as by others, I've decided to break All He Surveys into two parts, calling them Book 01 and Book 02. It's just too big and unwieldy right now, and still so far off from being ready, that this is the only action to take if I want it to see the light of day in a reasonable amount of time. I'll be separately recording and releasing the two parts as podiobooks, so there should be no hang-ups there, either.
I don't know why it took me this long to come to this conclusion, but there you go. Look for news about Book 01 soon!
Magic In Stardrifter
For GMs who wish to add a fantasy element to their game, the following new Skill may lend inspiration. This is not the only direction one can go in, nor does it need to be the final word on the topic.
Personally, I won't be including magic in any of my Stardrifter yarns, but I'm not fundamentally opposed to games and stories that do. I've been a Star Wars fan since the franchise started, so you won't hear me complaining about science-fantasy!
NEW SKILL
This is an optional rule.
Thaumaturgy
(INT or WIS, pick one.)
This is the Skill of manipulating the underlying living energy of the universe. It is a Skill of great concentration and has a number of special considerations associated with it, such as:
Unwilling characters who are affected by Thaumaturgy are allowed a SAVE check, as noted in each description.
Thaumaturgy is largely designed to augment, or work alongside, other Skills. As such, there are no purely "offensive" spells, or spells that directly replace any existing Skills.
A character can only cast one spell at a time, and cannot cast any others until the previous one has ended.
Magic requires energy. Casting Thaumaturgy costs the character 1 STAM point per round of Duration (or minute of Duration, if the character is not in combat or a crisis situation). Characters can end any spell early if they so choose, or can preset any spell to last less than its maximum possible Duration. Casters cannot regain STAM while their spells are in effect, except through the use of the Medico Skill. If a caster runs out of STAM, the spell ends; and if they had none to start with, they cannot use Thaumaturgy until they regain at least one STAM point, either through rest, or through the use of the Medico Skill.
Since few NPCs have a STAM score, it stands to reason that fewer still will have the Thaumaturgy Skill.
A number of different spells can be cast using Thaumaturgy. Anyone with this Skill knows, and can cast, all of the following:
Excellence
Range: 3 meters per Thaumaturgy level. Duration: 3 rounds per Thaumaturgy level (or 3 minutes per level if not in combat). Unwilling recipients of this spell may make a SAVE: Mental check to ignore it.
The character can temporarily increase the score of one of their Skills (that is, a Skill they already have, no matter the level). The increase is equal to 1 score point per level of Thaumaturgy the caster possesses. That is to say, for each level of Thaumaturgy, the targeted Skill score increases by 1.
Do you want to be a magic space knight? Focus on building up your Combat: Bladed and Thaumaturgy Skills. When both are at high levels, casting Excellence upon yourself to increase your combat score may well make you (temporarily) invincible!
Do you want to be a mysterious technomage? Focus on building up your Engineering, Computers, and Thaumaturgy Skills. Cast Excellence on yourself to increase one of the tech scores, and few such situations will ever baffle you!
Do you want to be the ultimate con artist? Focus on your Lying, Social Engineering, and Thaumaturgy Skills. Then cast Excellence to beef up one of your interpersonal Skill scores, and you'll be able to sell hard vac to Spacers!
Example: Tirault finds himself in a bind when he has to try and bypass the security on a computer system. Time is of the essence, and failure would have dire consequences. Unfortunately, he only has Computers level 1, score 11. He does, however, have Thaumaturgy at level 3, score 16. He states that he intends to use the Excellence spell upon himself, to temporarily increase his Computers Skill score to 14. Suddenly, and just for a bit, Tirault is a lot better at computers than he was before. This is a tense situation, so the GM is counting in rounds, not minutes. The spell will last for 9 rounds before his Computers score reverts to normal. Because of the difficulty in cracking this particular computer system, the GM assigns a -2 sitmod to his Skill score. This brings his enhanced score down to 13. His player rolls 1d20, and gets a 13 exactly! That would have been a failure without the spell. Instead, the GM tells Tirault that he's managed to get deep inside this very hardened computer system.
Fortitude
Range: 3 meters per Thaumaturgy level. Duration: 3 rounds (or 3 minutes, if not in combat) per Thaumaturgy level. Unwilling recipients of this spell may make a SAVE: Physical check to ignore it.
This spell temporarily increases the HP (not STAM) of the caster. The caster increases HP by 3 points per Thaumaturgy level. All damage taken while the spell is in effect comes off the temporary points first.
This spell can also be used to temporarily "heal" a character until the points fade away. If HP is recovered with this spell so that STAM can start to be recovered, all STAM will disappear once the temporary HP disappear, since the character's HP is once again below full. Characters can have Medico procedures performed on them while under the influence of this spell, in which case the missing "real" HP is first restored, regardless of the number of temporary HP at the time.
Are you in a gunfight? Are you in a crashing spaceboat? Is an angry bull charging at you? You might want to increase your HP for a little while. You know...just in case.
Example: Franki is an Xmil mercenary in the midst of battle. She has STAM: 13, HP: 10, and is wearing powered armor, with PR: 8, SR: 200. She needs to dash across a battlefield to get to a bunker, but the enemy is using DEW artillary guns, which do 4d20+10 points of damage per direct hit. She decides to use her Thaumaturgy Skill at level 3, score 16, to cast Fortitude upon herself. She now has STAM: 13, HP 16. Initiative is rolled, and the enemy forces win. Franki is about to make her run, when she is hit by an energy blast for a wicked 74 points of damage! The Powered Armor absorbs 8 points right off the bat. We're down to 66 points now. All her STAM goes next, so now we're down to 53 points. Finally, as an Xmil, she gets to roll a SAVE: Physical (score of 11) to take 1/4 damage from her HP. Franki's player rolls 1d20 for the SAVE, and gets a 9, which is successful. That will be 13 points as the final damage to Franki's HP. Normally, that would have put her at 0 HP, and she'd be on the ground, unconscious and dying. Thanks to the Fortitude spell, however, Franki still has 6 HP left. A ball of white-hot plasma has struck her full in the face, yet astonishingly, she's able to stumble into the bunker, out of the line of fire. As soon as the temporary points disappear, Franki will fall unconscious, but if she gets any Medico treatment before then, she should be okay.
Fount of Knowledge
Range: 3 meters per Thaumaturgy level. Duration: 3 rounds (or 3 minutes if not in combat) per Thaumaturgy level. Unwilling recipients of this spell may make a SAVE: Mental check to ignore it.
This spell allows the caster to temporarily imbue themself with a Skill of their choice which they do not already possess. The level of the temporary Skill is equal to 1/2 of the caster's Thaumaturgy level, rounded up (minimum of Level 1). The recipient of the Skill must determine what their score is, based upon the associated Attribute(s) of the temporary Skill.
A high level in Thaumaturgy, followed by the casting of this spell, would allow a character to basically know how to do anything, at least to some degree, if only for a little while. In many non-emergency situations, this spell is of little value, since it doesn't last long enough for extended projects. In a critical situation, however, such as a firefight, or when a ship is spinning out of control, it might just make the difference between life and death.
Example: Feilla, an enby, is trying to escape from a large underground facility while being hunted by guards with orders to capture xem. Running madly, xe stops short at an elevator with a lock, right at the end of the corridor. The elevator would allow for xeir escape, but the lock is a serious issue. Some knowledge of Engineering might allow xem to bypass the lock and open the doors. Feilla doesn't have Engineering, but does have Thaumaturgy at 4/18. Feilla's player rolls 1d20 to use Thaumaturgy to cast Fount of Knowledge. The die roll is a 6, which is an easy success. Feilla suddenly has the Engineering Skill at level 2 (half xeir Thaumaturgy level), and chooses INT as the associated Attribute, for a score of 16. Engineering 2 is more than enough to run a quick bypass on the elevator lock, but Feilla doesn't possess a tool kit, which someone properly trained in the Skill would probably have. That's a penalty of -4, for a final score for this particular task, of Engineering 12. Not spectacular, but it's a better-than-even chance. Feilla uses a pen and nail file as improvised tools, and xeir player rolls 1d20, getting an 11. Success! Feilla saucily waves goodbye to the approaching guards, just as the elevator doors close. By the time xe gets to the surface, xe've already forgotten the Engineering Skill, but no matter: it did its job!
Malfunction
Range: 3 meters per Thaumaturgy level; Duration: 3 rounds per Thaumaturgy level (or 3 minutes, if not in combat or a crisis situation.) Characters in physical possession of a targeted machine are allowed a SAVE: Physical check, to ignore the effect of this spell.
This spell causes a temporary glitch in machinery of nearly any kind. Think of it more like putting something on pause for a moment, rather than a system crash or breakage. Mechanical objects catch, as if the gears are locked up. Electrical devices, such as overhead lights, blink or flicker, or they simply fail to work. Computers and their programs freeze. Guns seem to jam, or harmlessly misfire. The caster must tell the GM what exact effect, on which machine or system, is the target, and GM is free to disallow or change the effect should they so choose.
Malfunction may be best seen as a tool of distraction or delay, rather than anything that will put someone out of commission. Of course, it all depends on timing and application. Casting it on a cyborg's prosthetics — especially any replaced vital organs such as the lungs, heart, or brain — can be very serious indeed!
Example: Micah is being followed by a big guy he doesn't know. He exits a building through a side door to an alley that is unlocked. He then stops and casts Malfunction on it. Doors use hinges, which are very simple machines. Micah tells the GM that he intends for the door to stick, so that it doesn't open easily, in hopes of delaying his pursuer. He has Thaumaturgy level 1, with a score of 12. The GM states that there will be a -1 sitmod because Micah is in a hurry (the big guy is rather close, so Micah must cast this quickly). Micah's player rolls 1d20, hoping get an 11 or less (normally a 12 or less, but the sitmod is in place). The number rolled is an 11 exactly! He just makes it. The door will be affected for three rounds. From the point-of-view of the pursuer, Micah just dashes out the door. When the big guy gets there, though, it's a tough job to open it! The door screeches as if the hinges are badly rusted, and he's delayed by at least two of the three rounds that the spell will last, while he puts his back into it. That's long enough for Micah to run to the end of the alley, and onto the busy sidewalk. The big man is still following, but now Micah has a chance to lose the guy in the crowd (probably requiring the Stealthiness Skill check, but that's another set of rolls).
Second Sight
Range: 3 meters per Thaumaturgy level. Duration: n/a. Unwilling recipients of this spell may make a SAVE: Mental check to ignore it.
This spell allows the caster to gain a hint, or piece of hidden knowledge, about a situation. This will be a detail they don't already know, and it may have to do with the past, present, or future. Future events are not set in stone, and may be altered by character actions. How this spell is applied is entirely up to the GM, but yes or no questions — or really, questions of any kind — should be ignored. The player must define a situation, and hope for a hint. The caster must explain to the GM what exact situation they are thinking about.
A successful Skill check will immediately result in the clue appearing in the casters mind, just as if they were remembering it. The GM then determines what, if anything, can be gleaned from the spell. There is no assurance that a successful check will garner an understandable clue, as it may be devoid of any context. The more information that a character has to begin with, therefore, the more relevance the result may have.
Second Sight can be cast just as often as other spells, but in regards to any particular situation, only once. GMs are encouraged to put a cap on this spell (once per day; once per week; etc.) if a player becomes annoying with it.
Are you preparing for the big showdown with your arch-enemy? Are you at a loss for clues in your adventure? Has a mysterious stranger entered your circle of acquaintances? It's possible that Second Sight might give you insight about your circumstance. Sometimes, a little bit of knowledge can go a long way.
Example: Kellen is a Stationer looking to join a criminal gang. After performing a few minor jobs for them, he is offered a position as a low-level member. He would be lacking any authority at first, but at least he'd be in. When on his own, he decides to cast Second Sight. Kellen doesn't want to join up with a mediocre Mob that's going to get squashed or taken over by another, so his player says that the spell concerns the gang's relative power or influence on the station. Kellen's player rolls 1d20, and gets a 6, which is an easy success. Instantly, he "remembers" a bunch of people in a room, talking. He can't really see the room, but the people are all dressed differently: some are in police uniforms, some in suits, some in street clothes, and one or two look like indigents. Kellen doesn't hear their exact words, but they are all quite serious. And then that's it, the spell ends. This "memory" doesn't just disappear when it's over, but he gets nothing else. He files it away, and the next day, asks one of the old hands in the gang if they'd ever had any serious run-ins with the police; that is, have the police ever set up a task force or something to go after the gang? The old-timer laughs, and assures him that they've been much too smart and slick for the cops. Pondering for a while, Kellen decides that what he saw was regarding a possible future event. The gang may well gain enough power to be targeted by the police. If so, he doesn't want to be part of it. He could warn them, perhaps, but the perceived unreliability of magic, plus the many possible interpretations his vision could have, would only make them doubt his conviction. Kellen decides not to join the gang: he makes up an excuse (possibly using the Lying Skill) that he just found out his cousin is joining Territorial Customs, which routinely does background checks on its prospective agents and their families. No criminals want Territorial law enforcement attention, so the gang members agree that it might be a bad time for him to join their operation right now. He acts disappointed, but is able to distance himself from a possible future of trouble. Whether or not this is what the GM had in mind with the clue, or whether Kellen's player actually interpreted the vision correctly, is rather beside the point: a clue was given, and a decision was made.
And that's it for this one. I hope you're well, and will remain so. I'll endeavor to do the same!
Take care,
-David