An open space to chat about the game.

Hello! I'm excited to be involved in this crazy thing. I'm looking forward to getting started on the world building.

We've got three people who've confirmed interest and one more who hasn't confirmed yet. I'd like to have four to six to start the game with, but it wouldn't be a bad time at all to discuss family playbooks and options if you already have your eye on one. The game is full Mirrors, meaning all playbooks and options are available, and the starting conceit that supernatural/super-science elements will mostly take the form of living monsters of some kind is fairly broad.

I can bump the recruitment thread tomorrow, and if necessary I'm fairly confident I could snag a couple more players from a server I'm in.

What families are people thinking of?

I haven't had much chance to look beyond the core book yet, so not a clue as to the type of family to be, or how they interact.

Well obviously "The Cultivators of the New Flesh" is closest to what the GM has described as the core theme of the game, so that's a given.

But I could definitely see making "The Order of the Titan" work as providing a lot of source material for the beast genecrafters or whatever they are going to be called.

And I could have fun with "The Gilded Company of Merchants" in this setting.

I mean heck, I could even make "The Tyrant Kings" work out here.

What I'm saying is that almost any of the families look interesting, balanced, and fun to play.

Some family playbooks fall very naturally into the concept, but none are off limits, and any of them can engage with it. If your family is one of the more technological/supernatural ones, then the way you describe them will probably be an extra step toward nailing down the nature of these creatures.

I'm thinking the Syndicate of the Lost Ones.

I'm currently favouring Order of the Titan. I'd love to get some Shadow of the Colossus action all up in our Pokemon.

No strong thoughts on Character Playbook at the moment.

With a fifth player in and the start of the weekend, I'd like to kick things off.

To start with, choosing a family playbook and a stat array (since the stat arrays come with statements about the world) will help the world we inhabit take shape. Landmark options are also important, with each Family bringing four onto the map: a sign of the Before, a sign of the Fall, a Threat, and a Haven. (Havens are described in the Engine of Life book.)

The "Map" we'll be using will be largely descriptive and metaphorical, since in my experience trying to use a collective map in a play-by-post game only slows things down. Still, feel free to describe landmarks' locations as relative to another, or nested within each other, if you wish.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:33, Sat 08 Feb 2020.

The Syndicate of the Lost. The masses were kept under the boot of the Before’s dystopia: Reach 0, Grasp 0, Sleight +1.

Landmarks:
BEFORE: A stadium, home to grand spectacle and cheap entertainment.
THE FALL: The spot where countless vainly awaited for rescue.
A THREAT: Noble hunters chasing after prime genetic specimens.
A HAVEN: A theatre hall, lovingly cared for as the revolution’s cradle.

I've decided to go with one of the non-core families...

The Eldritch Servants
The stars aligned, different dimensions began to bleed with ours, and it caused the creatures that previously never existed here to appear, which after the world collapsing as part of The Fall, we have began to harness as devices and technology.

STATS
Reach 0, Grasp 0, Sleight 0
The Eldritch Powers are Behemoth gods older than time: you always roll Reach with Advantage.

TRADITIONS
Populace. Scientists or artists driven insane by occult findings.
Style. Immaculate.
Governance. Masters - Monstrous Servants.

LANDMARKS
Before
An urban hellhole for the poor and shunned.

The Fall
A city whose population was whisked away to an unknown plane.

A Threat
Temporal hunters from an advanced timeline.

A Haven
A mirror maze where angles bloom into impossible complexity.

HISTORY
Each other Family or Faction discloses their stance in the shadow war:
Devoted: They say what secret practices they hold to honour the Eldritch Powers. You say how they are rewarded. You give them 2-Treaty.
Infiltrated: They say who among their people worship the Eldritch Powers. You tell us how. Exchange 2-Treaty.
Hostile: They say how they battle against the Eldritch Powers. You tell us how you helped them survive this far. Take 2-Treaty on them.

DOCTRINE
Arcane Cultists
You use the Powers’ knowledge for power. Always count the boxes next to Pride and Wealth as if they held a 3.

LIFESTYLE
Settled
Your settlement is an expression of the Endless City, just fleetingly touching this plane. You can perform a ritual to make your settlement disappear under the cover of night or mist, just to reappear somewhere else on the map.

RESOURCES
Surpluses
Luxury
Prestige

Needs
Leadership
Rare Materials
Spies

MOOD
-1

ASSETS
Eldritch characters gain a spell to evoke Hostile Grounds of their choice in the current scene at the cost of 1-Harm.
Words of madness and power (Ranged, Hidden)
Sustained by the void (Sealed, Implanted)
Void walkers (Space, Air, Mount)

MOVES
ENLIGHTENED MADNESS
You have a ritual that’s complex, time-consuming or costly; describe it. When you perform it, the gaze of the Eldritch Powers is drawn to the world. The next time your Family or Character discards a 1, 2 or 3 thanks to Dis/Advantage, place it in one of these slots:
Faith [ ][ ][ ] Pride
Lore [ ][ ][ ] Wealth
Echoes [ ][ ][ ] Mirage
Once any row has a sequence from 1 to 3 in any direction, the stars align and you are infused with the quality next to the 3. All dice in that row are infused and set to 6.
When you invoke this power before your Family or Character takes action, you can replace one of the dice you would roll with an infused die (set at 6). Roll the others as normal. Once all infused dice are gone, you are no longer considered infused.

ENDLESS CITY
Your domains extend to secret places beyond this world, into an infinite city of arcane design. Chose two sectors from the Endless City and place them on the map:
• A Bizarre Bazaar
• A Defiled Temple
• A Secret Street
• A Den of Vice
• An Arcane Library
• Corrupted Gardens
• The Ancestral Home
Tell us how these places pervert mundane expectations and give us a sign of their alien power and wisdom. Also choose a second stat you roll with Advantage when you act in the City.
While in the City, you can activate Enlightened Madness freely.
You can change sectors or their location at the beginning of every Age, and you may remove an infused quality to bring another sector into this world.

ALLIANCE MOVE
At the beginning of every Age, secretly decide if you are Devoted, Infiltrated By or Hostile towards the Eldritch Powers. Gain 1-Treaty on any Family or Faction who shares your current stance when you support them.

INHERITANCE
Servant characters get an Inheritance move. Quick Characters also pick one:
Night Stalkers. You can see perfectly and move silently in the utmost darkness - but you become a carrion eater.
Deep Dweller. You can live and travel without complaint in a particular type of hostile land (sea, void, radiation, etc) - but you have a compulsion to lure others there despite their inability to survive.
Dream Lurker. You can visit other people’s dreams - but you must embrace an addiction to a forbidden drug of your choice.
Scaly Dancer. You can hypnotize others with your swaying motions - but you are bound to always keep a treasure of the next world safe.
Storm Rider. When you commune with a place of power, its energy bursts free and does roughly what you wanted - but there are always unintended side effects decided by the GM.

THE SYNDICATE OF THE LOST
No one is coming to save us. If we’re going to survive this, we will need to save each other. It has to start somewhere...What better place than here, what better time than now?

STATS
If the masses were kept under the boot of the Before’s dystopia:
Reach 0, Grasp 0, Sleight +1.

TRADITIONS
Populace. a ragtag band of survivors.
Style. rags and a striking badge of honour.
Governance. a true town hall democracy.

LANDMARKS
Before
A stadium, home to grand spectacle and cheap entertainment.

The Fall
The spot where countless vainly awaited for rescue.

A Threat
Noble hunters chasing after prime genetic specimens.

A Haven
A theatre hall, lovingly cared for as the revolution’s cradle.

HISTORY
Each other family gives you 1-Treaty: where there are hierarchies, there are those who support your creed.

Which one of you helped us on our moment of greatest need? They describe the trials you faced together and you give them 2-Treaty.

Which one of you has conspired with those who oppressed us? They say why they withdrew support from the conspiracy and give you 2-Treaty.

DOCTRINE
Revenge
When you oppress a prosperous community, you erase all their Treaties on you.

LIFESTYLE
Dispersed
You have friends everywhere with shelter always ready. Authorities can’t find you if you lay low on a large settlement or remote community.

RESOURCES
Surpluses
Morale
Justice

Needs
Leadership
Recruits
Safety

ASSETS
You can always add another tag to your Gear if you add Unreliable Tag as well. In addition, pick 3:
HOW DO YOU FIGHT? Homemade explosives (Area, Brutal)
HOW DO YOU TRAVEL? Motocross bikes (Land, Swift)
WHAT USEFUL EXPERTISE CAN YOU DRAW ON? Terrorists (Quality 2, Sabotage &
Infiltration)

MOVES
NOT A BROKEN MAN
You don’t owe these pigs no shit! When someone uses Call In a Debt on you, get Advantage on the Hold Together roll to resist it. Also, when you Fall Into Crisis, everyone has to erase 2-Treaty on you, or else you gain 1-Treaty on them.
PEOPLE OF THE SUN
You have infiltrated every human Family or Faction. When you roll Subterfuge against them, you can spend Treaty on them 1-for-1 to choose extra items from the list.  Also, you have a finger on the Homeland peoples’ pulse. When any other faction triggers In Want, you can be the one who chooses what crisis they suffer if you wish.

ALLIANCE MOVE
At the beginning of every Age, Gain 1-Treaty on any Faction or Family whose common people suffer needlessly.

INHERITANCE
Syndicate characters gain +1 to Steel or Sway. Quick characters pick one:
• The News. When you investigate a scene of corruption, you can ask the GM one
question about the corrupter or the corrupted.
• The Rage. When you voice your message of discontent in a loud and public fashion, you will attract the oppressed to witness your performance. Beware the
authorities though, as they’ll come too.
• The Union. You can gather labourers and convince them to stop or resist a project they are involved in until their demands are somehow addressed.
• The Guerrilla. When you retreat to the edge of wilderness or the depths of the
slums and lay low for a while, the Authorities simply can’t find you.
• The Soul. When you hold your revolutionary colleagues back from excessive force or collateral damage, support to the cause swells across all social levels.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:59, Sat 08 Feb 2020.

Updated character names for you two for now, will probably make that more granular once we have actual characters in.

Players 3, 4, and 5, mind letting us know where you're at? No worries if you're still reading the book, just checking in.

I am still reading the book, but leaning toward the Guilded Company of Merchants. It would be interesting to make that work in the context of the world.

Sorry, everyone, the week got away from me. The rest of the week is about to do the same. I'm about 98% decided on Order of the Titan. I'll do up a sheet by the weekend.

Sorry I hadn't checked in yet had a odd week dogs nearly killed each other and started a whole drama. But things have settled. Reading the book atm but will try to get it all sorted promptly.

Okay, here we go. Family sheet. I'm seriously considering Saint or Warlock as my initial character. It'll depend a lot on what the world looks like by the time we get there.

THE ORDER OF THE TITAN

STATS
Reach 0
Grasp 0
Sleight 1

(Our studies woke the Behemoths and set them loose)

TRADITIONS
Populace: an honourable corps of warrior-scholars, dedicating their lives to protecting the world from the Behemoths we awoke

Style: flowing robes of adaptive camouflage covering intricate tattoos that glow faintly in the dark

Governance: volatile meritocracy where power and authority can shift suddenly and dangerously depending on individual exploits

LANDMARKS
Before: a titan’s carcass crawling with scavengers.
The Fall: the broken shell of a mighty capital laid low by the first Behemoth attack
A Threat: a tall ruin, now a monster’s aerie.

HISTORY
Which of you has given us reason to believe you know things about the behemoths we don’t? (take 2-Treaty on us)
Which of you fought alongside us in the last war, and let us down at the worst possible moment? (I get get 2-Treaty on yoyu)
Which of you currently hosts the greatest hero of the last war in a respected role? (take 1-Treaty on each other)

DOCTRINE
Carrion Market: when a new Behemoth is found, name a Surplus that can be extracted from it or its environment, at the risk of drawing its attention.

LIFESTYLE
Dispersed: when any other Family’s holdings are menaced by a Behemoth, you may narrate the arrival of a group of the Order

RESOURCES
Surplus: Weaponry, Transport
Need: Prestige, Scouts, Recruits

ASSETS
How do we Fight: Carving blades (melee, brutal).
How do we Travel: Tamed beasts (air, mount).
What Useful Expertise can we Draw Upon: Tamers (1 Quality, Bringing animals to heel).

ORDER MOVES

KAIJU THREAT ALERT
When you scout for signs of behemoth attack, pick a danger in the world as an omen of an incoming assault. Say how it threatens Families of your choice, who become Alerted. You can spend Treaty you have on one Alerted group on any other.
* If the behemoth is stopped before the threat becomes plausible, each Alerted Family or Faction gets 1-Treaty on you.
* If you stop it once it’s a clea threat, gain 1-Treaty on every Alerted Family or Faction, and redistribute Treaty on them as you like
* If someone else stops it once it’s a clear threat, you and whoever stopped it gain 1-Treaty on every Alerted Family or Faction.
* If the behemoth assault happens as you foresaw, you and every Alerted Family or Faction gain a Need of your choice.

ULTIMATE WEAPON
Your vehicles are the edge that allow you to bloody the nose of the Behemoth, and wipe the floor with regular foes. When you take one of your special vehicles out of storage, choose 2:
* They have an extra environment tag: sea, land, air, void, earth, or something stranger.
* You have advantage on physical actions when piloting it.
* They’re giant and can fight Behemoths on equal terms.

Every time the you use it pick one:
* Erase Surplus: Transport or Surplus: Energy.
* It pollutes: gain Need: Medicine or Need: Land.
* It could break down or blow up at any moment.

ALLIANCE MOVE
When you Lend Aid to a group under a Kaiju Threat Alert, gain 1-Treaty on them.

I can definitely get behind this ;)

I've got a solid idea with the ascendant afflicted. It's being a pain to type out on my phone so will try tomarrow as I'll have the ability to use a computer recreationally.

Is this still going ahead?

I hope so. :(

Well I do apologize for my part in the delay. I knew we were still waiting on someone else so I let myself kinda push getting everything into the right form to post it here back as no one had said anything. I'll try to speed myself up.

Is the MC still around?