Trinity:The Toplanders

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This campaign started the second week of September, 2007, and is currently being played.

In terms of Trinity, this group began adventuring in early 432 CY on Arcturas.

This page will house all the information for this campaign in Trinity.

Game Time

The game takes place on Saturday nights, roughly at 11 pm local time, and goes until anywhere from 4 to 6 in the morning.

Waiting List

Given that there is the possibility of losing some players over the course of time, I will be maintaining a waiting list for this game. If you are interested in joining us, please leave a note in the Discussion page attached to this page.

The waiting list is as follows.

  • House

Game Information

Players may choose their method of character creation: 32 point buy, or standard Trinity rolling method (4d6, reroll 1's, drop 1 die, roll eight - keep seven, arrange in any order). Once the rolling method is chosen, the player will use those stats each time the player decides to switch to rolling method (by which I mean that you cannot roll stats, switch to point buy, then switch back to rolling method to reroll your stats); a player may redistribute ability scores or switch to the other creation method at any point before the game begins.

Rolled stats must be rolled in front of the DM at any time that is convenient. Just make sure that you don't lose the stats!

Ability Scores

Standard Trinity ability scores - standard d20 stats with the addition of Perception - will be used.

Race Selection

Unlike previous Trinity games, this game will have a racial restriction. Race selection is limited to the following races...

Class Selection

Class selection is unrestricted. Any Trinity-accepted classes are allowed.

Level

Characters will be created at 2nd level. That means that you can choose an LA +1 race, and begin at 1st level.

Backstory

Some amount of backstory is appreciated. As this game will not be starting for a good few months, you have plenty of time to figure one out.

Keep your age and race in mind. If you are older than 37 or so, then you are originally from Adnez or Ganymede, and came on the ship to Arcturas; this means that you remember the way things were, and you remember the tyranids. If you are younger than 37, then you were born on Arcturas, and have only heard of the other planets through stories; you have also probably heard of the tyranids, though you may not believe that they're necessarily real.

Regardless of where you were born, you'll need to figure out how you came by your profession. If you're from Andez or Ganymede, then chances are good you had gained some knowledge before leaving the planet, and have essentially taught yourself or gained training from someone else in the community. If you were born on Arcturas, then you probably were taught your skills by one of the gnome akashics (who can tap the world memory and teach you by proxy).

Due note that travel to Arcturas was by spacecraft, which is technological in nature. As such, if you are a member of a magic- or psionic-based class, that you will require an explanation of how you came by those skills. Most of the people on Ganymede (where Arcturas left from) were not versed in the ways of magic or psionics, and as such you'll need to explain why you are. Some classes will require more explanation than others - a sorcerer makes a lot more sense than a wizard (your ability to wield magic was dormant for a good while, for instance). I have no intentions of limiting your class selection, but just make sure that it makes sense.

Character Knowledge

Each character knows something about the world: this information is encountered during training, found while gossiping, or simply inherently known.

About the Game

I will attempt to keep the players as in-the-dark as possible until the game begins; however, this game will add quite a bit of information to the Trinity universe, some of which will need to be up prior to the game to ensure that the players all at least have some idea of what is going on. As such, small updates will be added throughout the wiki on a semi-regular basis over the course of the summer. For my convenience, I shall keep a list here of what has been and is going to be added; this list is by no means comprehensive, and may change over the course of the summer, as additional information may be required or found to be useful.

Campaign-Specific Mechanics

There are a few strange things about this game that aren't covered by normal mechanics. Given the heavily-modified nature of Trinity, the need for custom rules even for a particular campaign shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone.

This section will detail campaign-specific mechanics as they come up.

Crafting using Raw Metal

Crafting using scavenged metal works pretty much like normal crafting. However, given the scarcity of such materials, a wise crafter will be cautious in expending such materials frivolously. In addition, normal crafting rules don't cover what "38 pounds of iron" can be used for, so the rules for crafting will be expanded here.

All normally metal objects have a listed weight (ie, a longsword weighs four lbs). A skilled crafter can use as little iron as possible to construct such an item, and use other materials - wood, for instance - for the remaining weight. Even something as seemingly shoddy as making the entire base of the weapon out of wood, then lining the "edges" of the weapon with iron, can result in a weapon just as destructive (if not as sturdy) as a standard full-iron longsword.

In terms of weapons, armor, shields, and miscellaneous goods, a skilled crafter can make an item that relies on iron to function using an amount of iron weighing half of the item's weight. To make a longsword, then, a crafter must use two pounds of iron. Note that the weight of an item is dependent upon the size of the intended wielder - a longsword for a halfling, for instance, weighs less than a longsword for a human.

If the crafter fails at making an item, normally half of the materials are lost or waste; however, with resources being scarce, this is usually an unacceptable end. A crafter can recover the materials "lost" in failing to craft an item by spending one hour for every two spent crafting the failed item.

For crafting Force items, different metals have different values in terms of raw materials. 

Material	Value/Unit
Iron		50 gp/lb

Crafting using Bug Carapaces

Almost everything from the corpse of a bug is usable, in terms of crafting items. Internal organs aside, a skilled crafter can work the bits and pieces in a manner similar to how iron, chitin, or leather would be worked.

Crafting armor out of the bug carapaces is similar to how armor is crafted from dragonhide. In addition to the normal armors craftable, a bug's carapace can be used to make leather armor or a leather trenchcoat for a creature of the same size as the bug; also, bug carapaces can be used to make chitin armor, with the same restrictions as making banded mail. Multiple bug carapaces can be combined to produce more choice material for crafting - two Medium corpses can be combined to be treated as a Large corpse, while two Large corpses (or their equivalent) can be combined to be used as a Huge corpse.

In addition, due to the extreme hardness of the bugs' skeletal structures (both endo- and exo-), a clever crafter can craft weapons out of the corpses, as well. A weapon of one-handed size or smaller can be made in place of a shield, if the rest of the carapace is used to craft armor; if an entire carapace is used to produce weapons, it can produce: two two-handed weapons of a size equal to the size of the corpse; or, four one-handed weapons; or, eight light weapons. Ranged weapons require more choice bits of the creature (finding an appropriate sinew for a bow, for example, is rather difficult, as is finding bones that would function for a crossbow) - as such, halve the number of weapons of that size that can be made for the corpse being used.

In addition, such weapons benefit from the extreme sharpness of the various parts of a bug's body, resulting in a natural +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. Armor and shields crafted from a bug's body are almost supernaturally hard and resilient to blows, resulting in a +1 enhancement bonus to their AC bonus.

In terms of crafting Force items, bug carapaces do not function especially well as raw components. However, enough bits and pieces can be pieced together to make something vaguely resembling the end goal, if rather organic in appearance. Materials from a bug carapace equivalent to what is required to make a one-handed weapon (see above) are worth 100 gp in terms of raw materials for constructing Force items.

In terms of crafting other kinds of items, the internal organs of the bugs can be used to construct technological devices from the Chemistry field (and the Chemistry field only); such devices have a rather bitter and disgusting smell and a worse taste, but they function well enough. Since these materials aren't useful for anything else, a Medium-size bug's corpse can be raided for parts that can be used to construct two Chemistry devices; for each category above Medium, this number doubles (a Small bug, then, would provide sufficient parts for one Chemistry device, while smaller bugs are simply too small to be of any use).

The corpses of bugs can also be used for the purposes of structures, including buildings and vehicles. To construct a vehicle of a given size, the crafter must have corpses sufficient to be one size category larger than the vehicle; for instance, to craft a Large vehicle, bug corpses whose combined size is Huge are required. However, such vehicles greatly resemble the corpses from which they were assembled, making them difficult and unusual to pilot, resulting in a PCP to the vehicle of -4. For every additional size category larger the assembled bug corpses are, this penalty is reduced by -2 (so in order to build a Large vehicle without a PCP, you would require bug caparaces whose combined size would be Colossal). A vehicle crafted out of bug carapaces uses the following stats for its material. 

CHITIN (LA +0)
	Hardness: 2.	STR +0
	Armor: +1.	DEX -2
	PCP: (varies)	CON +2
	Cold Vulnerability, Acid Immunity.

Campaign

What follows is a summary of each game session.

Cast

Others

Session 01 - Explore? Explore... what?

Perhaps a month after contact with the Arcostes was lost in SY 34, a call was sent out from Arcturas. The people of the fallen craft had lived on this world for 34 years, and knew nothing beyond the small chunk of world they had found themselves on - and Angmar Steeltoe, the old captain of the Arcturas herself, felt that it was time for the Adnezians and Ganymedians to know more about the world they had found themselves on. The call he sent out was a simple one: if you are willing to explore the world beyond what we know, come to the remains of the Arcturas.

Eight people answered the call, from all walks of life. A thinking machine who saw the future; a young girl who seemed terribly out of place. The apprentice blacksmith from the capital city; the twin moogles who had constructed their own mechs. The lone ancelari, who had explored the continent some thirty years before; a young selkie, who assisted in keeping the peace of the land; the legendary musician, whose music inspired the rebellious youth.

Thus did their tale begin.

...

Angmar greeted the group, and told them to go out and explore. He mentioned that the robots in Edge might know something, and that the kids out in Germonik might, as well. The group decided to rest for the evening and head out the next day. Volos waits for the group outside of town.

They travel to Edge. Volos goes to the lumbermill, to see if they know anything; everyone else heads to the administrative building in Edge. The apparent political leader in Edge is an artilect called Bucket, who William knows from being on the Arcturas. They converse; Bucket doesn't seem to know anything useful.

Josef

Shiro and Kuro take their mechs and begin investigating the bottomside of the continent, but don't find anything useful.

The group decides that there is nothing useful here, and heads to Germonik.

They stop at the bridge that crosses the Gouge, as Volos seems to notice something strange about the mountains. The rest of the group gets frustrated, and they continue on.

They arrive in Germonik, and find that someone has constructed a facsimile of the radio tower in Edge, but out of wood. They investigate, and find that its attached to a barn; the whole shindig is apparently under the ownership of a young human called Josef. As they arrive, he goes out and beats someone with his bat.

Inside the barn, they find that he is constructing a flying thing of some sort, which he refers to as "da riggable" (that is, something that can be rigged). Interested in the possibility of flight, the party enquires as to how they could assist; he answers that he needs hemp, fuel, and time. The party decides to go look for some hemp, which Josef can use to finish his craft - in exchange, they tell him, they're interested in using it.

They investigate, and find that the current big shot in town is a kid by the name of Bill. They arrange a deal with Bill, in which they'll trade him a crossbow from sufficient hemp for Josef to finish his craft. Bill agrees to the deal, and the party heads back to the barn to rest.

Session 02 - Teenage Wasteland

XP: 500 (story)

Shortly after the party sets down to rest (with William and Volos keeping watch outside), a mob of Nevhonim appear, some of whose clubs are on fire. Their apparent leader is holding a body; they find out that it's Igor, one of Bill's cronies, who seemed to be the only one who could count. Last time they saw Igor, however, he had a lower jaw.

The leader yells at William, who then goes inside to rouse his companions - the leader then informs his cronies to set the building on fire.

Tabby

Combat ensues. Of the eight members of the group, only three are standing when the last of the Nevhonim is felled.

After the combat, the group finds that one of the Nevhonim had a youngish Gaeli girl attached to him by a rope. Uriah enquires further, and finds that she is unable to speak - instead, she communicates with her flute. 

Tabby (NPC) joined the group.

The party rests for a couple days, to recuperate from the battle. After, they venture to Bill, irritated with what happened - however, they find that Bill successfully procured the hemp, "from the Nevhonim." Irritated, they take their payment, then pay him a few bundles of crossbow bolts (which they had left out of the earlier deal) for alcohol, which the group has determined is suitable fuel.

Once da riggable is set up, the group begins to discuss where to go. There are two thoughts - either to head west, across the desert, or head north, to the mountains.

Loot

Wooden Maul, Masterwork (*1)
Wooden Maul, Masterwork (*2)
Quarterstaff, Masterwork (*3)
Natural Potion [Bear's Endurance (2nd @ 3rd)] (ID'd)
Thin sheet of wood, covered in writing on both sides [language unknown; Divine item] (*5)

Session 03 - Decisions, Decisions

XP: 719 (469 combat, 250 story)

Volos decided that he was irritated with the group, and headed off on his own. 

Volos (PC) left the group.

After he left, there was some debate regarding which way to go. The party decided to head north to the mountains, then - if that proved uneventful - to head to the waterfall near Edge.

Using "da riggable," they headed for the mountains. Along the way, they noticed a gremlin heading towards Germonik. Setting down, they found out that he was looking for the group - he had apparently planned on being part of the original expedition, but was late. After some debate, the group decided to allow the gremlin - who told them his name was Miggs - to join them. 

Miggs (PC) joined the group.

The group arrived at the mountains some time later, and decided that there was little worth doing there. They decided to head to Arcturas to refuel, then carry on to the waterfall.

They arrived in Arcturas and refuelled. While the group was resting, Miggs planted flashpowder on Kuro and Shiro; when they woke up, Kuro fell prey to the trick, and angrily pulled his pistol on Miggs, who was clearly the culprit. After a warning shot was fired, the group carried on.

Arriving at the waterfall, there was some discussion as to the best course of action. They decided to go over the edge and follow the waterfall down to wherever it went.

They followed the waterfall down for a little less than two miles, and saw ground and a lake below. Kicking on their engines, they made a cautious landing.

They searched the lake, and found a river heading west-southwest. They decided to follow it. Some time later, they came across the edge of a forest, perpindicular to the river; they decide to continue following the river. Two days later, they came across a fork in the river: the river they were following joined another, and continued to flow south. The adjoining river was flowing from the north. The group decided to follow the flow, and headed south.

Two and a half days later, they encountered a strange humanoid-looking creature, up in a massive bulge in a tree. After several attempts at communication, the creature gestured for them to follow it, which they did. Four hours later, they arrived in a "city" of these tree-bulges. They were brought to one of the humanoids dressed in blue in the top of a tree.

An adu'ja

They found out that the creature they were brought to was an akashic, who rapidly learned their language. The group found out that these people were the Adu'ja, a race of - essentially - sentient mobile trees. The akashic's name was Aes'iel, and they learned later that he was a Simic - a druid/akashic. Aes'iel was also somewhat suspicious of Addison, though he did not mention why, save in a rather cryptic manner.

They asked several questions. The group learned that the adu'ja had been present for six-hundred years, and that the myconids - a race of fungus people - had been around for at least eight-hundred. They learned that the adu'jan akashics could only see up to around eight hundred years in the past: beyond that, there was a great gap in the world memory. They learned that there are other floating landmasses, though the adu'ja do not know how many there are; they also learned that there are sometimes visitors from elsewhere on this landmass (which they found was called Tai'lyan), but that they were primarily left alone.

They also found out that there was a cavern complex that connected Tai'lyan and Turas, in the mountains, "beyond the mushroom forest." They also learned that there were ancient ruins north of the forest, along the river, the nature of which the adu'ja were uncertain: it had always been ruins, in decay, for at least eight-hundred years or so.

The party decided to go explore the ruins. Before they set out, Aes'iel gave each member of the group (along with Tabby, who had been tagging along since they left Germonik, and would apparently not leave Uriah's side) an akashic stone, which allowed them to instantly learn the Adu'jan language, called Phytic. Aes'iel informed the group that, with that, they could speak with the adu'ja and the myconids. The party then set out.

Five days later, they arrived at the ruins. William noted, at first, that the architecture was similar to the Ronkan style; later on, he also noticed that they seemed similar to Elven architecture, as well. The group explored the ruins, which were the size of a city suitable for perhaps a thousand occupants; as they searched, they also salvaged as much usable metal as they could (as the remains of the buildings were metal in nature).

After awhile, Kuro, Cassian, William, Miggs, Shiro, and Uriah (though he was sleeping at the time) began sparking purple; Addison, meanwhile, began sparking white. They also began noticing ridges in the ground, as though something were traveling underground. Kuro flew up, and noticed that the ridges were appearing around the group in a vaguely circular pattern, and more were forming some distance from the group, no matter where they went. As those who were sparking neared the ridges, their sparking was more intense.

Miggs climbed up a delapidated building, and Shiro flew down to inform William of what he saw. As soon as he touched down, five creatures burst forth from the ground, forming a circle around the group.

Three of the creatures look like this...
...and the other two look like this.


Three of the creatures look like this... This creature is about the size of a large dog, with a short tail and tough carapace. Its back legs are long, while its front legs end in sickle-like claws. Beneath its head rest two equally sharp fangs, and it chitters and jumps about restlessly.



While the other two look like this... This creature slithers forward on a serpentine lower body. It is hunched forward, its two powerful arms curved like wicked scythes and its manibles dripping with acidic drool. The back of its head is elongated into a plate, covering most of its back save for a long spine on the top of its carapace.



Loot

9 akashic stones, all containing the Phytic language

Session 04 - Question!

XP: 500 (story)
The creature Aes'iel called the memento umbra.

The group fought the creatures, in a rather vicious fight. They found that the creatures were able to regenerate their wounds - those they thought were slain rose to fight again. When the last was felled, they proceeded to smash in all of their skulls, as that seemed effective in stopping their regeneration.

In the course of the fight, Shiro and Tiy succumbed to their wounds. After a bit of healing onsite, the group gathered the bodies (including the bugs' bodies, which Kassian believed were able to be worked like iron) and returned to the Adu'ja, who they believed would be able to return the dead.

The adu'ja were in fact able to do so, and agreed to reincarnate their friends (in a rather Simic manner, combining the power of Nature and the Blue to reincarnate the creature in the same body), in exchange for a favor. The adu'ja had explored the memories of the party's world and people, and discovered the existence of the mementos - they also found that some had been trapped there, and sought a way out. Unexperienced in the ways of the mementos, they accidentally freed a particularly vicious memento, which Aes'iel believed was known as memento umbra.

To assist in their search for the creature, Aes'iel implanted a rough map of the continent into the minds of the party.

Waiting for the morning, the party is able to recuperate from the experience of the fight, which had pushed them to their limits. 

XP: 675 (combat)

After resting and meeting up with their reincarnated members, the party discussed where to go. Kassian was adamant that the group go to the mountains; William questioned the human's insistence, and Kassian explained that the various things he had been picking up had a strange "aura" to them, and that he believed the things they fought at the ruins were the source. He believed that the myconids, whom the adu'ja had mentioned existed prior to the gap in the world memory (800 years prior to now), may know something about it.

William also made a query to the adu'ja regarding the possibility of ironwood, which he had encountered on Ganymede. Aes'iel told him that the adu'ja do indeed make ironwood, and keep stores of it, and that they may be willing to part with some of it.

In addition, while the party was waiting, Addison talked to Aes'iel about the nature of the momentos - hoping to turn her from her path, Aes'iel gladly told her all she wanted to know. The conversation eventually led to Addison gaining the skills of a trainer.

Loot

Map of Tai'lyan (memory now possessed by all current members of the party)

Session 05 - Mushroom Samba

XP: 250 (story)

After some discussion, the group decided to head north to the myconid village of Samtri.

When they arrived, they found a small copse of enormous mushrooms, and seemingly no one about. After some investigation, it appeared that there were some larger mushrooms, with door-like structures in them. Miggs went up to one of the doors and knocked loudly, while William yelled loudly.

Their actions were fruitful: a bipedal, humanoid-looking mushroom exited one of the house-like structures, and spoke with them. However, he didn't speak very long, as he continually insisted that it was "sleep time" - the party realized that they had arrived in early afternoon, and that - these being mushroom-people - they were probably nocturnal. They decided to wait until "nightfall," when they hoped to see more of the mushroom folk.

After a few hours, the village of Samtri did indeed awake, and a throng of myconids exited the several mushroom houses and began heading north, to the mountains. Following them, the group found that they were headed to a cave just north of the village; once all the myconids were inside (aside from two guards), a single, larger myconid came out to greet them.

The myconid (whose name they didn't bother to learn) seemed to be the leader of the village. He explained that the world had ended, that the bugs had come and gone, and that the moon had fallen. The party tried to explain that the bugs were back, but he was insistent that they were gone, along with "the faceless ones." The party was intensely curious about these so-called "faceless ones," and the myconid explained that they were to the southwest. They inquired as to what they would find in the myconid village to the west, and the leader explained that Mitrosis was much like Samtri, only bigger.

Their quest for knowledge satisfied, they went into the cave, to find what the myconids were up to, as they could clearly see that they were standing about in a circle. The leader myconid had told them they were forgetting; upon entering, they all became subjected to a massive hallucinogen. The group remained for the duration of the "meditation" (eight hours), after which the myconids returned to their mushroom houses.

The party then discussed what to do; they decided to head southwest, along the treeline of the adu'jan forest, to see if they could find the ruins the myconids mentioned. They walked for a little more than a month, and reached the edge of the continent, without finding anything.

They went east, to the adu'jan city of Sh'cala, seeking out more Simics. They found them, and discussed what they had learned from the myconids. The simics explained that the myconids were simple creatures, and that they would not lie - if they said the cities of the "faceless ones" were to the southwest, then they were, but there were no such places on this continent. The party then decided that they would head southwest off the edge, taking da riggable, to see if there was another continent elsewhere.

This is what the party explored for five months.

After some tree-hopping, courtesy of the simics, they recovered da riggable, and sailed off the southwestern edge of Tai'lyan.

Going somewhat down, they found another continent, full of sand. They set down, and began to explore; after two days, however, they began suffering from dehydration, and had yet to find water or even something other than sand. It was also unbearably hot, which they found odd, considering none of the higher continents had been so warm. Heading back to the simics, they asked for a source of water that would never run dry. The simics agreed to provide them with such a thing, but in exchange, they wanted the party to seek out the foreigners that sometimes appeared in the desert to the north (which Aes'iel had mentioned before). The party agreed to this favor, and set out.

Four of these creatures dive towards da riggable.

Returning to the new continent, they proceeded to explore to the east, following the ledge they found after two days' journey; they found that it made a circle, and they found themselves where they had originally landed. They then opted to follow the northernmost edge of the continent west. For three and a half months, the group walked through the desert, returning to Tai'lyan when their food sources ran out. In this time, they found three ruins, none of which were inhabited; all of them exhibited signs of having suffered through a great catastrophe, reminiscent of an earthquake (according to Miggs, on an earthquake-measuring scale of 1 to 10, these cities had suffered through a 13).

They then decided that the circular-shaped "hole" in the continent may have an answer; some of the group believed that the references the myconids made to the moon falling may have happened here. They set out, following the inner edge of the continent, and eventually found the edge - two days' from where the ledge began. They decided to go down as far as they could, and three miles down, they could see water below. After some discussion, they left the mechs behind, and explored two days' worth to the north, seeing nothing but water.

They returned to roughly where the hole in the continent was, and began to ascend. As they did, however, William spotted something flying in the air...

Loot

Decanter of Endless Water [Nature]

Session 06 - Aerials

The next session will be taking place on Saturday, October 20.

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