$55k Stretch Goal, Fragged Seas Art and the Dark Gods of Toil.
almost 7 years ago – Wed, Jun 28, 2017 at 08:50:51 AM

Yay, another Stretch goal has been broken!!! More art for Fragged Seas.

The feature artist for this sourcebook is comic book artist: Marco Turini. You can see his Facebook page here (NSFW). One aspect that sets Marco apart from all of the other artists that I’ve worked with is that he produces his images through a mixture of digital and physical means. Not only does this produce a very interesting aesthetic, it also means that we have original physical copies of his art :D

• 5 new “Art Collector” pledge levels have been added, each one comes with a specific, hand signed, original Marco drawing.
• If your a high tier backer and you would like to also secure one of these original drawings please send me a private message asap.

And without further ado, here are the 5 images that Marco has made for Fragged Seas.

The Dark Gods of Toil

“The Old Gods are long dead. The Esoterica have risen and their spawn hunts mankind unchecked. The unravelling of all things is nigh. No matter what next looms on the horizon, be it oblivion, terror, or madness, we’ll sail full into its face, singing the old songs, as if for the very first time.”

- Ralkara Battle-Queen Shandrala Dram, Captain of the Keening Tide.

When the tide carried the blood, tears and whispered curses of the murdered tribal King and Queen, Saavandi and Kallatru, out to sea, they awakened something deep below the waves. Writhing and horrid things slithered and crawled from a deep trench beneath the ocean, an inky abyss along the floor of a crater, whose origins harken back to the Fall itself (the Fall was when the old gods clashed and cast a star down to the world of Toil). Shamans across the tribes of the Faerie Sea Islands had often dreamt of a twisted palace of intermingled coral and star metal at the bottom of the trench, whose surface had never been kissed by the light of the sun, but shone with its own sickly green radiance. They had dreamt of ancient slumbering things known by many names, whose tentacles, appendages, maws and horrors numbered beyond mortal reckoning.

Saavandi’s curse awakened the Esoterica. Their titanic cries of rage, the mingled blood and hate brought this nightmares-made-flesh from their dreamy torpor. Thus began the Rising - the latest dark chapter in the calamitous history of Toil. Awakening to pain, blood, and hate, the Esoterica gaped their many maws and shrieked as one. They clawed and slithered their way from the lightless prison of the Fallen Star, and the several thousand drops of their blood, raked from them by razor coral and punishing barbs of star-metal, gave birth to as many horrors - monsters spawned from their hot hate, and groaning screams.

The Esoterica spurred by Saavandi’s dying curse struck the Rift Islands and the Black Heart Coast first, before leaving the Faerie Sea, scorning their longtime prison beneath the waves, to spread across the face of Toil devouring and corrupting everything in their path.

In the forty years since their arrival, the Esoterica have nearly eradicated all of mankind. No army could stand before them, no fleet could withstand their otherworldly might. The colossal Esoterica slaughtered with abandon, roaming the land unchecked, sowing bedlam and leading hordes of their hungry children into every city and stronghold throughout Toil.

The Esoterica brought with them a curse; a powerful disease of magic that radiated from the gods’ very core. Each Esoterica carries a different curse that affected the world around them in a uniquely terrifying way. Each varied, and unpredictable, but with a single guiding fact: the larger the landmass, the more powerful the curse, which devastated the mainlands almost instantly and has left most small islands seemingly untouched. Wherever the Esoterica stepped, their curse would spread from land to land until it covered the whole globe,

Only one place has thus far been spared their indelicate ministrations – the Faerie Sea. Perhaps the Esoterica are repulsed by the energies of their former prison, perhaps the influence of the Old Gods now keeps them at bay, or perhaps they are herding the last of mankind into their final trap – either way, for forty years the Esoterica have not revisited the Faerie Sea since their Rise. Meanwhile, the mainlands, large islands and the seas outside the Faerie Sea lie abandoned, left for the Esoterica and their spawn.

The exact number of Esoterica is unknown, but over a dozen unique beings have been recorded. There are reports of a large, skeletal bird with a wingspan the size of a mountain, a mighty fiery boar with six legs shrouded in a red mist, a creature whose body is made of black glass with a wail that makes people cry tears of blood, and many more.

Before the Rise, magic was not commonly accepted as real even by many who claimed to perform it. With the Rising of the Esoterica came the rising of magic as well. What was considered myth was myth no more. Old superstitions gained visible power and common street performing charlatans became powerful magicians.

There can be no argument that the current wealth of magic power in the world of Toil is linked directly to the Esoterica. Due to this connection, magic is brutal and dangerous, even when used altruistically. The use of magic takes a heavy toll on the mind and spirit of the user, and can have unintended results. Those who study magic rarely live long lives, and never healthy ones. Many burn themselves out or go mad during their training as they reach out to the Esoterica, and the Esoterica reach back.

 “There have been tales of mermaids, faeries, dragons and other such fantastical creatures long before the arrival of the dark gods. But they’re no longer considered myth. Have they always been? Or have the gods made imagination manifest?”

- Jessica Whong, Knowing the Unknown.

 The above image shows 3 Esoterica examples. Ogdor, the Endless Maw (top left), Fin0Derark, the Leviathan (top right) and Jakrakarla, the Majestic One (bottom).

In the comment section of my previous update backer ‘NecroNuke9’ had a number of questions about Fragged Seas that I would like to answer here for all to read.

What type and how many Esoterica are available for players? There are 3 example Esoterica in the book, but the GM and Players should feel free to invent new ones.

Can anyone call upon them or do they need to perform a ritual, form a contract, or something else to gain their power? The Esoterica are wild and reality-defying, all but possibly Jakrakarla would never adhere to a contract. Anyone can pray to them… but no sane person would want to be noticed by them. They may require rituals or they may not, it all depends on their nature.

Can a person draw power from multiple Esoterica or do they have to pledge to only one Esoterica? People can attempt to do anything they want, but the Esoterica are really on the same side as each other.

Does the spell caster worship the Esoterica or is it more like making a deal with the devil? Could be worship, could be through a deal, or they could try to secretly stiffen off some of their power with the hope that they won’t notice.

Why would the Esoterica grant power to a mortal? Good question. I dare say many have lost their minds trying to answer it.

If all magic is destructive, dangerous, and comes from dark gods, does that mean there is no healing, protection, or general white magic? No really. But I could see many people trying to justify the use of evil powers to do good things, does this make it any less evil?

Are there any good gods or all the gods evil Esoterica? There are references to the Old Gods, but they appear to be inactive/distant.

Do people have any religions they normally worship? Yes, one of the major empires worship the Old Gods through saints and other human intermediaries.

Are there witch hunters who go after spell casters to prevent the spread of the Esoterica's taint? This sounds like a cool character idea :)

Are there only humans or are there other races? PCs can only be human, but there would also be a wide range of other myth/monster creatures.

Two Stretch Goals! FK Art, FA Dice and a closer look at the Tethered.
almost 7 years ago – Wed, Jun 21, 2017 at 03:22:35 PM

G’day everyone, sorry for the slightly late update, I was a bit wrecked from late night gaming on Friday (my players had some trouble fighting off raiders) and yesterday’s Free RPG Day where I ran a game of Aeternum at my LFGS.

In the last few days we have broken a Community Stretch Goal (Aeternum Dice unlocked!!!) and a Financial Stretch Goal (more Fragged Kingdom Art!!!!!).

Aeternum Dice

These dice will be made by Q-Workshop, who make the best gaming dice IMO, and may be added to your pledge for $12aud.

Let’s take a closer look at that new Kingdom Art!

The Tethered

“Oh ho, look here, a new recruit! Let us get a look at you! Yes, you have the right eyes. We can see the fear in them. You understand hopelessness. You know what it is to see the world crumble around you. That’s good! But are you willing to move forward; to shoulder hopelessness and fight anyway? We’ll see for ourselves, if you survive the final trial.”

– The Grave Robber.

If any one aspect most influences the flow of life and history in Aeternum, it is the soul. When an individual dies their soul will visibly rise from their body. These souls are ghostly reflections of a person’s former appearance, after a moment the soul will then slowly rise into the sky or be pulled violently beneath the ground. This posthumous movement of souls presents multiple dilemmas for humanity.

First, the existence of a soul is a troubling notion which carries implications of an existence separate from the physical life people know. The nature of souls in Aeternum, primarily their gravitation in one of two directions, raises the probability of an afterlife existence. Knowledge of a preferable afterlife brings about debate on how one should live in order to reach it. Without a clearly set path, it is a debate that will never be solved. Centuries of trial and error have provided no roadmap to an ascended soul, and the people of Aeternum have tired of trying.

The Tethered, referred to from within as ‘The Order’, consider protecting the souls of Aeternum’s people their sacred charge. The Order seeks to accomplish this by doing all within their power to provide more time to the city’s people to cultivate souls capable of ascension. This has become the sole preoccupation for the Tethered who throw themselves into an eternal struggle against the nature of mankind and the hellish Fiends.

The origins of the Tethered are shrouded in mystery. Even within the Order there are few historians who can reliably discuss the first Tethered. It is widely accepted that the Order stems from a husband and wife, the very first Tethered, who witnessed the descent of their young son’s soul. The couple was so distraught by the thought that even a young soul could be drawn below, that they desperately searched for any method to correct the tragedy and prevent it from happening to others. The tales tell of the couple finding a method of using strange lanterns discovered deep beneath Aeternum as receptacles for their souls, allowing them to extend their physical lives indefinitely. Others tell of them being personally gifted a golden flame from a mighty Celestial, this flame must be kept within a specially made lantern and would prevent ones soul from going either up nor down, binding them to the now. These tales are dismissed by many Tethered as wild storytelling, an idea made stronger by the fact that no evidence of the couple’s existence has been discovered.

By fusing their souls to the Great Lanterns, the Tethered are capable of cheating death. This has created chapter houses around Aeternum, each guarding one of these Great Lanterns. The flow of a person’s soul into the lantern slowly changes the Tethered. Their bodies become stronger and faster than ordinary humans. Muscle memory is greatly enhanced, allowing most members of the Order to quickly learn complex physical skills. In a manner of months, the Tethered can perfect a skill which would take an ordinary human a lifetime to master. Other changes accompany the fusion, but these vary from one member of the Order to the next. It is not unknown for a Tethered to possess strange and unique abilities beyond the ken of mortals.

To join the Order an applicant must go through a rigorous series of trials in order to determine their mental and physical ability. These tests exist primarily to weed out those without the will to endure hardship. After weeks of having their limits pushed, an applicant is invited to partake in the final ritual; the binding of their soul to one of the Order’s Great Lanterns. Fewer than one in twenty survive the process of fusion. Those that do not are unceremoniously dumped on the streets, for the undying Tethered have no graveyards.

Mandate, Morals & Motivation

Most Tethered share a single vision; to see all souls ascend. However, there are many differing theories on the best approach to this goal. While all members of the Order agree that humanity needs more time and protection from senseless death to find the proper path, the nature of that path is a matter of great debate. Upon rare occasions, Tethered will find themselves directly opposed to one another, despite each seeking to do what they think is best for humanity they may see a fellow Tethered as an enemy. In these cases, if an amicable compromise cannot be reached, the Tethered will often fight each other, or enact political manoeuvrings to gain support from other Tethered. Rivalries between Tethered can be long and brutal.

While many join the Order for altruistic reasons, a larger number join out of fear. It is no secret that the vast majority of souls in Aeternum do not ascend. This has created a fundamental fear of death in the city’s population that can outweigh natural survival instincts. Such is the drive to cheat death that a large number of the Order’s members join to prolong their lives. Murderers, thieves, and other ne’er do wells have sought to join the ranks of the Tethered seeking a reprieve from death. While traditionally the Order has had very strict entry requirements, these have been laxed in recent decades due to declining resources and a rise in the philosophy that even the worse examples of humanity have the right to more time to seek ascension. Many skilled Tethered have joined the Order for selfish reasons, only to later grow into their new vocation, and if their membership is beneficial to humanity there are few complaints.

The daily struggle for the souls of Aeternum does not relent. Many Tethered become disenchanted with the pairing of constant hardship and lack of reward. While cases of desertion are rare, they do exist within the Order. These deserters quickly become outcasts and are hunted by their former comrades who seek to capture and retrieve them at all costs. What happens to the retrieved betrayers is pure supposition, but rumours that the fusing ritual can be undone gives would be defectors significant pause.

Ash, Arising & the Awakened Soul

Tethered do not fear death as normal people do. Their bodies age at a rapidly reduced rate, so long is their lifespan that no Tethered has ever been recorded as dying from their bodies breaking down. The fusion of their soul and bodies to the Order’s Great Lanterns make true death, from normal means, impossible. When external sources would kill a Tethered their bond with the Great Lanterns causes a miraculous and frightening reaction.

As a Tethered’s body falls dead, their soul rises from the apparent corpse. Each person’s soul is different in appearance and is a reflection of their true nature. Without the fetters of flesh, a Tethered soul is a terrifying opponent capable of unbelievable destruction.

After a short time heavy phantasmal chains will erupt from the surface of a Tethered’s personal lantern. These chains will seek out the errant soul, ensnaring and violently pulling it into the lantern. As soon as the soul is returned, the lantern as well as the body of the Tethered will disintegrate into a pile of ash leaving little evidence that it was ever really there. This state of pseudo death lasts until the next night. The following evening, when the gaslights of Aeternum are lit, the Tethered will rise from a Great Lantern and be reborn to continue the eternal struggle.

A strange power exhibited by all Tethered from the connection to their own lanterns is the ability to return their destroyed colleagues to life. This power places great strain on the Tethered utilizing it and will often form a bond between them and the Tethered they are resurrecting. As long as the Tethered remains in their corporeal form they are capable of bringing their ghostly colleagues back.

Unknown to most of the Order, the struggle of eternal life does not last forever. At some stage in their life, the Tethered will feel compelled to return to the lantern which gave them their power. This span of time is variable, and many Tethered have lived for close to a century without hearing the call. This choice is incredibly private and often very sudden. The final fate of a Tethered’s soul is only known by very few, most speculate that it simply vanishes, going neither up nor down.

Blades, Bonds & Brilliance

The equipment of each Tethered varies greatly and is always based on personal taste. The Order provides all manner of personal arms and armour to the Tethered. Each piece of equipment is marked with sacred sigils tying it to the soul of the Tethered. This bond ensures that when a Tethered is killed and reborn, their regular equipment is reborn with them; intact. While the weapons and armour of the Tethered can be destroyed, the same process which repairs their bodies also reconstructs the bonded tools of their trade.

Despite the variance in equipment, all Tethered carry a single unifying item, a small lantern. These lanterns serve as not only a source of light, but a link between the Tethered and the Great Lanterns. The style of each lantern differs from ornate ancient looking lamps to handheld hooded lanterns worn on the belt.

Game Journal #3, Fragged Kingdom Range and Mass Combat.
almost 7 years ago – Wed, Jun 21, 2017 at 03:22:29 PM

Hello everyone, we have just broken another Community Stretch Goal (character sheets will now be upgraded!) and we are well on our way to breaking our next Funding Stretch Goal (for more Fragged Seas art!!!).

Game Journal #3

With the party split up in the heart of the monster’s lair in the middle of the s, my party is ambushed by a massive Nephilim spider like creature and its swarms of children. As this was my players first big fight in FK we took things a little slow, and it turned out to be an epic show down with an ending that no one could have anticipated. :D

Eshet used his shield to great effect to block the ranged attacks of the Brood Mother giving his team-mates enough time to gather back together, and for Mythra to bring in Tribal NPC reinforcements from behind the beast.

The party wore the Brood Mother down as they kept its endless swarms of children at bay, Liz’s Long Bow proved to be particularly effective as she was able to keep her target within her ideal range. When the Brood Mother was on its (literal) last legs it lashed out all nearby targets, swallowing 3 Tribal NPCs, wounding Mythra and grabbing Eshet.

Perched over the top of the hole that it had burst out of, the Brood Mother fought to force Eshet down her throat as Mythra was forced to listen to the screams of agony from her fellow tribal warriors as they were being digested. But just as things were looking to be at their worst, Liz loosed an arrow that flew true, killing the beast, sending its corpse and Eshet tumbling down the hole that the Brood Mother had been perched over.

With the beast dead, the smaller spiders became incredibly easy to kill. After moping them up the PCs grabbed a rope and rushed to the side of the hole, eager to rescue their friend. With little trouble the PCs were able to lower themselves down into the hole. But what they found was not just a web filled nest, but a large metallic chamber with strange glowing walls. They had found an ancient structure made by the god of industry himself, Dray (aka: the Dray Mining Consortium from the Antagonist Archive book). They speculated that the entire town must be built over this ancient, underground structure.

But exploring this metallic dungeon would have to wait, for now, they needed to save as many Tribal Warriors as they could. Unfortunately those who had been eaten all died… poor Eshet will be haunted by their muffled screams for some time :(

With the ruins cleared, the settlers of New Jinder eagerly moved in and begin the process of building permanent homes for themselves.

With so many able-bodied Tribal Warriors slain and wounded, the tribe has become a great burden on the town. The PCs negotiate with the Town Elders for them to remain, but it costs them lots of their stored supplies. During these negotiations the PCs were able to spend some time with the tribal shaman, a wild and erratic woman who warns of a great danger from the South.

Remember those self-cloning Nephilim the PCs fought in the very first game session? Well they’ve been busy over the past month… multiplying. Scout reports come back that hundreds of Nephilim, an army, is building in the citadel ruins to the South East, and its coming for New Jinder.

Fragged Kingdom Range

Weapon Ranges work a little differently in Fragged Kingdom than they do in the Core Rule Book. Each

• Max Range: This is the maximum Range of a Weapon.
• Ideal Range: Attacks have a -2 Hit penalty for each Rng Increment outside their Ideal Range.

These two small changes make a HUGE difference to the feel of combat in Fragged Kingdom. Here are two examples:

• If your armed with a Long Bow (Rng 5, Ideal Rng 3rd) you going to want to keep your target 11-15 spaces away from you, and if a guy with a Dagger gets up in your face you’re going to want to pull out another weapon (as your Long Bow will have -4 to Hit such close range).
• A greater variety of Melee Weapons, not only with their raw damage and weight, but also in regards to their effective ranges. Ie: Daggers (Rng 1, Max Rng 1, Ideal Rng 1st) want to be in your face, Balanced Axe (Rng 1, Max Rng 2, Ideal Rng 2nd) want to keep their opponent 2 spaces away, and Arming Swords (Rng 2, Max Rng 2, Ideal Rng 1st) are great against opponents who are 1 or 2 spaces away from you.

Mass Combat in Fragged Kingdom

Mass Combat in FK is built on the Theatre of the Mind Combat Rules from the Core Rule Book, but with some important changes.

• The PCs and GM will each have a pile of dice to represent their forces (more dice = more troops). • Each of these dice may have different rules (ie: Veteran, Ranged, Defensive, etc…).
• PCs gain these Mass Combat Dice by Mustering troops from their Holding, building Siege Equipment, Fortifications, etc… The terrain may also grant free Mass Combat Dice (ie: if you’re defending a easily defendable location you may gain free Defence Dice).
• Each round the PCs take turn rolling off against the GM, drawing dice from their respective pools.
• PCs gain a free Mass Combat Die if they use a Skill they are Trained in, and an additional Die if they describe their actions well and stick to their strengths.
• If a PC uses a die from the pool, no other PC may use that die (unless it’s a Defence die) until the round has ended. Ie: you can just keep using the same troops for every roll.
• The person who rolls the highest wins the round. If the GM wins then 2 points of Damage are dealt to a PC and a nearby Holding may take damage.
• If a “6” is rolled on a die, then an enemy die that was involved in that combat round is removed from the entire combat.
• The combat ends when one side has no remaining forces or if the PCs win the required number of rounds.

These rules are light and flavoursome, they’re designed to encourage creative tactical play and for the PCs to not rely on their own strengths (though there is a Trait called One Man Army if you want to go all Legolas!!).

SwarmCast Podcast

A few days after the KS launched I did an interview with the SwarmCast Podcast.

Feel free to check it out (I start at 01:22:23).

Game Journal Entry #2 and Maps.
almost 7 years ago – Fri, Jun 16, 2017 at 03:30:01 PM

G’day all, for today’s update I’m going to post another actually play update from my Kingdom game and show you the feature maps for each of the books. Also, we are VERY close to unlocking custom Aeternum dice!!!!

But first, let’s see what my PCs (Eshet, Itai, Liz, Cyrus and Mythra) have been up to.

Founding of New Jinder

My players are yet to settle on a final name for their town, as it will most likely come about from their activities and discoveries over the next few sessions.

Session two starts with a month of time going by (I give everyone a bonus Spare Time Point to spend) as the NPC settlers found the town. The ruins are still infested with Nephilim spiders so the settlers settle down on the outer eastern side of the ruins in tents and other temporary structures. Farmers start to plant crops along the river, lumberjacks and woodsmen travel along the river to the nearby forest and float their logs back to the town (after transporting them a short ways up river first).

The players also start to get to know some local NPCs: • Miguel and Tulio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2TP6DZpmfA&t=30s), the surviving Scouts that first explored these ruins have set up a mercenary business in town. We are not yet sure if they will be allies or competition. • Xitor (Tolalt) and Legarius (Legion), two Eternal God priests that are seeking to establish a temple in New Jinder. Legarius is soft hearted, while Xitor is a stickler for tradition and rules. • The town elders are made up of various prominent members of the town and they set the rules and laws. The PCs are a part of this group.

During this time a traveling tribe of Kaltorans and Remnant seek to join the town. Some time ago they were crippled by a Horned Nephilim who tricked their warriors into leaving their tribe and then killed all of the non-elderly and healthy members of their tribe, crippling them. (Some of the tribal PCs are introduced at this point, as they come from this tribe). This tribe still lives in fear of the Horned Nephilim and are seeking a new home.

The town is nervous about these newcomers (especially Xitor, who distrusts their pagan religions and is worried about them worshiping the destructive god of nature ‘Neph’). The PCs negotiate a deal where the tribe’s remaining warriors who are to help them clear the spiders out of the ruins in exchange for their admittance into the community.

The PCs then embark on the long job of clearing out the Nephilim spiders from the ruins. These spider like creatures have a large ball like body with 6 small legs, and are about 1 and a half feet wide. The spiders attempt to bait them into their webs as they secretly surround the PCs. The PCs don’t fall for this trap and easily dispatch the spiders, but in doing so they discover that the spiders communicate through the use of chemical excretions.

When they kill the spiders they emit a chemical that attracts other spiders, but if enough of this chemical is spilt (ie: through killing them in a messy fashion) it changes smell and prompts all nearby spiders to flee towards the centre of town. The PC then coordinate with the tribal warriors to split up and kill the spiders in a messy fashion, thus driving all of them towards the centre of town.

At night the PCs start to examine captured and dead spiders in more detail and Itai, using his invisibility enchantment powers, scouts the centre of town. In the centre of town Itai catches a glimpse of something big hiding in the old town well, and Cyrus starts to think that these smaller spiders are extensions of a larger organism/system.

The following morning the PCs throw caution to the wind as they all head for the centre of town (which is crawling with countless spiders): putting Eshet on watch (who is not trained in Awareness), Cyrus ties himself to a rope and swings under a bridge to collect large red spider eggs as Itai wanders off looking for loot and Liz jumps down a steep ledge into the river to watch Cyrus… at this point, with only Eshet around (who rolled a “6” on his Awareness Skill Roll), a giant Brood Mother erupts form the town well!!!

Next session: fighting the Brood Mother and learning not to split the part up!

Maps!

I had a lot of fun personally drawing these maps up :D

2 Stretch Goals Reached! – Aeternum Art & the Death Rules in all 3 Sourcebooks.
almost 7 years ago – Thu, Jun 15, 2017 at 03:16:59 AM

Yesterday we broke a community AND a financial stretch goal! All PDFs will now be hyperlinked, bookmarked and layered, and Aeternum will now have massive 2 page title spreads!

Let’s have a look at these title spreads, all illustrated by the amazingly talented Mateusz Mizak (you can see more of his work here).

Death

Let’s have a closer look at how Death works in all 3 Sourcebooks.

For those unfamiliar with the standard FE Death rules:

• PCs die if any Attribute is reduced to -5.
• PCs start to Bleed if any Attribute is reduced to -1 or below.
• Players may permanently reduce their Fate by 1 to miraculously avoid death.
• A PC may make a Paramedics Healing Roll at the end of each combat to Heal 3 points of Attribute Damage, spread accross any player.

PC death does not play a major role in Fragged Empire, but character crippling can. My design reason for this is that I wanted to avoid the unhealthy game of chicken that can sometimes occur between GMs and PCs: with the GM wanting their Players to feel a little fear for their characters’ lives, but the PCs knowing that their kind-hearted GM would never kill their character.

IMO Players are also more likely to have a tangible response to risk of slowed progression (Spare Time Point cost of Healing Rolls) and crippling (carrying Attribute damage for multiple sessions).

Kingdom & Seas

PC death in FK and FS works much like it does in the Core Rule Book with some minor changes.

• Kingdom: Players may permanently reduce their Willpower Attribute (which works like Fate) by 1 to miraculously avoid death, if they do so they also gain a Disability Condition (ie: missing finger, ruined knee, stutter, lost eye, etc...). These Conditions are rare, but they may help to give more character to a PC who has survived the harshness of Akharon's wilds for a long time.
• Seas: Players may permanently reduce their Luck Attribute (which works like Fate) by 1 to miraculously avoid death, this represent them making a deal with a dark god and will have narrative consequences. Again this is rare, but helps to feed into the core Pirate theme of greed and making dark deals.

Aeternum

Death and Healing in FA works incredibly different to all other Fragged settings as the PCs are playing immortal characters known as the Tethered. Here are the full rules.

• PCs will die a LOT. It is rare for a game session to go by without at least 1 or 2 PCs deaths.
• When any Attribute is reduced to -2 (not -5) the character dies.
• When a Tethered PC dies they become a Spectre, gaining extra power (+1 Crit Dmg and Armour) but slowly fading (2 Attribute Damage per Turn).
• All Tethered gain 1 free Healing Roll per combat (which can be used mid-combat).
• Tethered may resurrect other Tethered, but if no one resurrects them they will come back to life during the next morning at a Great Lantern (home base).

This approach to Death and Healing is a cornerstone mechanic to the entire gaming experience. Not only does it completely remove the previously mentioned game of chicken that can occur in other RPGs, it also serves to increase the tempo of a fight as more PCs become Spectres (as the players not only become more powerful and the sense of urgency grows). GMs are encouraged to hold nothing back, and PCs are encouraged to take risks.

At first this immortality may go to players heads, but they will quickly learn that despite their incredible powers, they are the underdogs fighting opponents that dwarf their own power.

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I'm sure lots of you will have questions about the death rules for Aeternum, please let me know your thoughts in the KS comments page.