One of my favorite things about these shard settings are seeing the different ways that the Scion rules can be bent around new expressions. I *loved* Cyber-Scion, with the Divine Machines acting as expressions of our characters godly powers.
Space Odyssey is a shard that looks to one of Scion’s possible futures, recasting the children of the Gods as the main characters of a space opera. It is intended for Origin and Hero-Tier characters. Let's see how the rules incorporate Starships!
Starships
Space is vast, and people are small, squishy, and usually lack the ability to travel near, at, or beyond the speed of light. If you want to get around and you’re not capable of personally folding spacetime like an origami crane, starships are your best bet. Even better, they’re (often) stylish, comfortable, or at the very least warmer than the vacuum of space.
Starships in Tenebrium are like characters unto themselves, built with their own Paths and a handful of Attributes to represent their key systems. Characters use these Ship Attributes along with their Skills when rolling starship-scale actions — outrunning an enemy fighter combines the helmsman’s Pilot with the ship’s Engines, while repairing damaged systems tests a technician’s Technology alongside the ship’s Durability.
Ship Attributes
Starships have five Attributes: Amenities, Engineering, Maneuverability, Sensors, and Weaponry.
Amenities cover a ship’s general livability, which can be essential during long and difficult voyages. It’s usually paired with Leadership for rallying crew morale, but it can also be used with Empathy to identify personnel problems, Integrity to ferret out sabotage, or Persuasion to impress visitors.
Engineering covers a ship’s hull, shields, and other defenses, along with the ease of repairs and modifications. It usually pairs with Technology, but it can also be combined with Leadership to coordinate wide-scale projects, and Occult or Science to reconfigure the shields to deflect a miraculous or mundane phenomenon, respectively.
Maneuverability covers the ship’s speed and agility, helping it to outrun pursuers, meet deadlines, and navigate dangerous areas of space. It can be paired with Pilot for almost any actions, but you can also use Close Combat for getting into or out of a skirmish, Subterfuge to hide among debris, or Technology to overclock the engines.
Sensors covers the ship’s capacity to detect and analyze the outside world, whether you’re scanning a planet for signs of life or tracking down a hidden space station. It usually pairs with Science, but it can also be used with Academics or Culture to access alien databases, Occult to analyze miraculous intervention, and Medicine or Survival to detect life forms.
Weaponry covers a ship’s…well, weapons. Not all ships are equipped with these, but most have some defenses, especially in the Tenebrium. It’s usually paired with Firearms for attacks at a great distance or Close Combat (with the understanding that “close” is still a relative term for starships) for more intimate engagements. It can also be paired with Culture or Empathy to outwit enemy defenders, Leadership to launch coordinated attacks, or Technology to use unwieldy alien weapons.
Ship Paths
Starships get three Paths, just like the characters who inhabit them: Origin, Crew, and Destiny. Like character Paths, they can be invoked for connections and contacts, bonus dice, or twists of fate (Origin, p. 99).
The Origin Path covers the ship’s original purpose — who built it and why. This might reflect the quality or priorities of the builders, the integration of experimental or alien technology, or other unique aspects of the ship.
Examples: United Mars Deep Space Exploration Vessel, invoked to interface with other Martian technology or survive long journeys without replenishing supplies; Experimental Wukong-Class Engines, invoked to impress Shén explorers or make unusually short-range hops in hyperspace; or Rogue Smuggler Retrofit, invoked to blend in with criminals or conceal illicit cargo from scans.
The Crew Path reflects the general disposition and spirit of the ship’s crew, often focusing on either a shared background or common talents. This Path can sometimes change in play as a result of major shakeups in the Crew; the Storyguide and players should work together to determine how to best reflect these changes in the new wording of their Path.
Examples: The Best and Brightest, invoked to rally a crew of handpicked elite officers and inspire them to their highest heights; Misfit Criminals, invoked to draw on the crew’s diverse history and black-market expertise; or Plucky Up-and-Comers, invoked to jump into danger or start making a name for themselves.
The Destiny Path sketches out a mission, a shared goal the crew and ship strive towards. Sometimes it’s the ship’s true Fate; other times, it’s exactly what Fate is conspiring to prevent.
Examples: The Long Voyage Home, invoked to inspire others who are trying to escape the Tenebrium; Seeking the Horizon, invoked for missions of exploration and discovery; or Appeasing the Gods, invoked for crews seeking atonement and mercy.
Starship Creation
Creating a starship follows many of the same steps as creating any other Storypath character, listed below. Groups should collaborate to build their starting ship as part of Session Zero, though this doesn’t need to be the ship they were originally stranded in — a group might instead build the vessel they’ll receive shortly after arriving in the Tenebrium, for example.
Concept
Decide on the general concept of the ship — is it a sleek, state-of-the-art cruiser from a major stellar power; a beat-up junker retrofitted for smuggling; or a techno-organic starwhale domesticated as a living vessel?
Paths
Describe the starship’s Origin, Crew, and Destiny paths, and discuss what these mean for the group. What will “Deep Space Exploration Frigate” mean in play? How will the crew of “Hard-Nosed Revolutionaries” get along during the chronicle?
Attributes
Divide seven dots among the Ship Attributes, which all start at 1 for free. None can be higher than 5.
Finishing Touches
Starships begin with four Injury Levels, just like normal characters: Bruised, Injured, Maimed, and Taken Out. These represent damage, malfunctions, sabotage, and other shipwide problems that impede the vessel’s overall function. Ships automatically gain an additional Bruised level if they start with Engineering 4 or higher.
Choose a size for your ship, determining its Scale (see below). Most groups will do best with Scale 3 for an intimate game with a handful of recurring Storyguide crew members, or Scale 4 for a more diverse, episode-driven supporting cast.
Starships with crews at the Hero Tier may begin to develop a Legend of their own, starting at 1 and rising to match the Band’s as they progress. Each dot of Legend provides an additional dot of Ship Attribute, allocated at the group’s choice. At Legend 2, 3, and 4, the group also choose one of the ship’s Paths to enhance, allowing it to also function as a Legendary Title for starship actions.
Starship Actions
Starship actions are not just a single act on a character’s part, but an abstraction of many individual choices, usually over a long period of time. Characters can still take normal actions, such as using Technology + Intellect to repair a malfunctioning console or Science + Cunning to reconfigure a shield to filter out a new pathogen, but starship actions help to model large-scale endeavors that affect the entire ship at the same time. They’re also useful tools that the Storyguide can invoke to help frame the start of an episode or the outcome of downtime.
These actions suggest both general difficulties and potential Complications. Storyguides are encouraged to combine these two effectively — usually a low base difficulty and one or two Complications based on the ship’s circumstances. This helps to ensure that even low rolls push the story forward, forcing players to choose between potential Complications in order to establish what kind of dramatic challenges the crew is facing next.
Evasive Maneuvers
Starships move at vast speeds, but even simple maneuvers require tremendous, coordinated efforts. This action models efforts to evade pursuit, hide the ship, or otherwise get out of trouble.
This is usually rolled by a helm officer using their Pilot and the ship’s Maneuverability.
The base difficulty is 2, or 3 in open space without any nearby planets, asteroids, or other elements to leverage. Potential Complications include:
Dogged Pursuit (1-3): You can run, but you can’t hide. If not bought off, an opposing ship is able to match your speed — you’re far enough ahead to stay out of their reach, but only if you keep going. Alternatively, you’re leaving a trail that anyone can follow.
Overclocking (1-3): You can get away, but it taxes the engines to the limits. While you escape trouble, you begin the next scene with the Adrift Condition until you can make extensive and often costly repairs. Until then, you’re left to drift with only minimal thrusters to adjust course, and can’t attempt further Escape Maneuvers.
Perilous Course (1-5): Your escape plan takes you through dangerous territory. If not bought off, you suffer one or more Injury Conditions based on the severity of the danger. This might include scraping the hull in an asteroid storm, overloading the shields to hide in a gas giant, or other plans that put the ship’s safety at great risk.
Major Repairs
Starships have many interlocking systems, and implementing effective repairs demands skill, resources, and ingenuity. This action models the work of large-scale repairs and retrofitting, whether fixing the hull after a disastrous battle or incorporating the alien technology of the Tenebrium into a Martian freighter.
This is usually rolled by an engineering officer, using their Technology and the ship’s Engineering.
The difficulty for repairs is based on the Injury Condition to be repaired — 1 for Bruised, 2 for Injured, 4 for Maimed, and 5 for Taken Out. Other actions like retrofitting are usually difficulty 2 or 3, at the Storyguide’s discretion. Potential complications include:
Midnight Oil (1-3): The project is larger than the repair crew can reasonably handle given the time frame. If not bought off, characters involved in the repairs suffer the Burn Out Condition until they have extensive time to rest and recuperate, taking a −1 penalty to actions requiring physical and mental stamina and worsening their Attitude towards their fellow crew by one.
Expensive (1-3): The project is an enormous drain on the ship’s resources. If not bought off, the ship suffers the Shortage Condition, taking a −1 penalty to a Ship Attribute related to the shortage until they have the opportunity to restock. Alternatively, they might not be able to finalize the project at all until they take on needed supplies, forcing the crew to seek out a suitable source.
We'll get a better idea of how this all works, and a deeper look into other Starship actions and more, when backers gain access to the entire draft of the Space Odyssey section tomorrow. Remember, if you're a backer, you'll have access to the entire current draft of the book tomorrow, allowing you to read the entire thing before any pledges are processed or payments collected.
I'll see you tomorrow! In the meantime, make sure you've voted for our seventh shard, which will be included in the final version of the book!
