#Legacy of the Lost

[alynnl]

Top 5 Ask Game! Top 5 sentences you've written that you can find! Favorites right now, don't be picky, just go through some of your works until you find five you like.

These are not so much sentences, as they are quotes! I hope you don't mind, anon!

“We’ve been over this. There are no such things as extraterrestrials! You don’t get little green men on flying saucers, picking up cows and making crop circles.” - Aftershocks Chapter 2

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“It is said that knowing is half the battle,” replied Cyrus. “But the other half is passing down what you’ve learned to those who will come after you. I believe with my heart and soul that knowledge is something that must be shared freely between people. It’s not to be hoarded, or buried because there is no polite way to address our troubled history.” - A Reason to Fight Chapter 4

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“She said to me, Cyrus Albright, you’ve got to listen. You and I, we’re only human, and we have such a short time in this world. So it’s up to us to choose the best way to spend it. I know you’re hurting and you feel like giving up. But if you did, who would preserve Hornburg’s legacy? Who else would care enough to keep its name alive? Along with its small number of survivors, that kingdom will need a scribe to tell its story. Without that, it’ll fade into obscurity.” - Legacy of the Lost

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Their two lanterns weren’t the only things illuminating their path. As the two walked along the trail, groups of fireflies emitted a yellow glow a short distance away. Their lights went in and out, like the twinkling of hundreds of tiny stars scattered throughout the fields. - Your Pain Shall be Eased

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“I can’t speak for anyone else, Mr. Edgeworth, but I don’t expect you to just move on from it,” Gumshoe replied thoughtfully. He reached over, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You survived a tragedy no one should have to go through. Those sort of memories leave their mark on you, no matter how much time has passed.”

“You sound as though you’re speaking from experience, Detective Gumshoe.”

“Well, sir, you never forget your first day in court. We both know that much.” - You Never Forget

[maddies-musings]

Starting 2023 right by editing/rewriting Fall of Empires, featuring the addition of a wedding.

[basiliskonline]

I have some suggestions!

Black Hole Era by SolsRoles

Black Hole Era is a sci-fi shoot em up ship combat game that takes place at the end of time and space.

One by one the stars wink out of existence, your ancient civilization exists in purely digital form, massive structures that contain untold digital beings draw power from these black holes, allowing you to live in a period of near endless stability.

However, a new threat has appeared to challenge your stability, Extropians, threats from another dimension have begun to tear their way into our reality with an intent to reignite the stars causing the death of untold digitized beings and the collapse of trillions years of age.

You play kilometer long sentient warships sent to protect the galaxy, using what little physical resources remain in your world. As you destroy the enemy, you will salvage the scrap left in their wake and convert it into more powerful weapons and abilities to continue your fight.

Black Hole Era is a one shot game of space battles Illuminated by Lumen, and is one of my very favorite games.

One of the truly unique aspects of this game is the incredible and almost exponential scale of power through the session, in Dragon Game terms, you essentially go from Level 1 to 20 in a single session. I have never played this game, or ran it for new players, and not had every single one enamored and blown away by how it plays.

Legacy of the Lost by @basiliskonline (thats me!)

Legacy of the Lost is a Belonging Outside Belonging (No Dice No Masters) game set in a post apocalyptic galaxy. You play members of a community limping through space in an aging ship, representing perhaps the few remaining remnants of multiple cultures and species.

While surviving in the void of this nearly empty galaxy, you will engage in social and political drama within the diverse community within the walls of your ship, while also exploring the planets you discover, investigating them both for supplies to mantain your survival but also to record what you can learn so that these desolate worlds and those that once lived upon them will not be forgotten.

THEME: Space and Stars

This week's themes are all loosely categorized under space, from space-westerns, to space-fantasy, to some games entirely within their own genre.

Boar Beasts on A Barbarous Planet, by Z.W. Garth.

Boar Beasts on a Barbarous Planet is a 2-page Push Powered roleplaying game of boarfolk warriors surviving on a planet of swords-and-lasers, covered in hostile biomes and littered with the sci-fi tech of planetary invaders who couldn't cut it in this harsh world. 

Players take on the role of warriors dedicated to protecting their sounder from the many threats that plague them, in this harsh, psychedelic world. 

Push games use an interesting 'push-your-luck' mechanic, in which your can choose to re-roll and add to your roll in order to make a "weak" success stronger - but roll too high, and you meet disaster. In my opinion, it's an SRD that feels a little over-looked in the indie scene.

This game is meant to be brutal and violent, on a world that is difficult to survive. Your characters enter the story battle-scarred, and will leave the story worse, possibly even dead. This looks to be a game that’s full of prompts and roll-tables, so if you like random generation, I recommend checking this one out.

From Out of the Boundless Deep, by Scyllaycs. 

From Out the Boundless Deep is a two-player game about a mech pilot and an engineer working on the starship the Boundless. The game follows the pilot’s dangerous missions off the ship, the engineer’s meaningful repairs onboard the ship, and the brief moments the two meet between missions.

This game has two players, and no set GM. If you want to be a character who’s interacting with a dynamic set of stats and risky endeavours, you can pick up the Pilot. If you like building and modding things to set up the two of you for future challenges, then the Engineer might be more your style. The Game itself is split into two phases: Ship Phase and Mission Phase, with each phase giving the player a chance to shine. A Tarot Deck will be used to provide benefits and drawbacks throughout the course of play.

This is a game where you can really explore the conflict and community between two characters, in a situation where they can’t always communicate in a way they’d like. It doesn't demand an epic storyline but definitely has the space for it. This is also a great game for two people who have different and complimentary styles of play. 

Dead Belt, by A Couple of Drakes. 

Dead Belt is played by building a Belter and taking them out into the Belt to scavenge randomly-generated starships, using things you already have laying around: a six-sided die, a deck of common playing cards, and a few tokens of whatever sort happen to be close at hand.

With a dozen unique ship deck plans, over 100 flavorful prompts, and plenty of character stats to help you avert certain death, no two ships will ever feel the same. You’ll board these derelict starships, navigate barriers, dodge threats, monitor your air-supply, and salvage as you go.

You’ll deal with all the dangers lurking onboard these starships, push your luck, and finally return to spend your hard-won booty to secure better equipment, improve your skills, pay down your crippling debt, and hopefully, maybe, eventually set yourself up to live out your dreams far from the Belt.

There are three ways to play this game: Solo, Co-Op and Rivalry. This means that in a two-player game, you can choose to either work together or attempt to sabotage each-other in a race for pay. This game is an homage to Cowboy Bebop and similar Space Westerns, with a lot of tantalizing options designed for duet play.

Vaults of Vaarn, by graculusdroog.

Vaults of Vaarn is a 48-page, black and white tabletop RPG zine, which presents setting information, a full game system, and character creation procedure for adventures in Vaarn, a vast blue desert that lies at the very end of time. The game is built on the chassis of Knaveby Ben Milton, with lightweight rules, speedy character generation, and gameplay that emphasizes creativity and problem-solving on the part of players and referee. 

This game setting feels like a space opera smashed together with acid fantasy, with bright colourful descriptions of strange monsters, NPC’s and locations. It is a dangerous setting that is designed to work with OSR games, primarily Knave but I have a feeling it would be pretty easy to steal ideas from this for other OSR systems as well. If you’re a fan of big space epics like Dune or weird futures like Numenera or Gamma World, this game is probably worth checking out.

If you want to see what the community has created for this setting, I recommend checking out the submissions to the Vaarn Summer Jam of 2022!

Nibiru, by Araukana Media.

Nibiru is a science fiction tabletop roleplaying game, set in a massive space station in a neighbouring solar system. Players take on the role of Vagabonds; people who woke up in the space station with no memories of their past.

Nibiru tackles themes of memory, nature and artificiality through simple mechanics, evocative art and immersive worldbuilding.

This is a game in which you create your character’s backstory as you play, filling in pieces of memory as you explore a space station filled with strange inhabitants and abandoned or deteriorating locations. The way you write about yourself will also fuel your character progression, with rewards for creativity and turning some of your memories into tools that you can use as you play. The setting is unique, evocative, and has a lot of potential to tell a compelling and heart-wrenching story. 

If you want to see a bit of the game in action before buying it, there is a Quickstart Guide available on DriveThruRPG!

Other Space Recommendation Posts

Star Trek (and its sequel)

Space Adventures

Space Westerns

Space Fantasy

[itseghost]

very straightforward redraw because this quest and this whole scene have been ON my mind.

[ducktracy]

Just found out long-time SB art director Peter Bennett passed away last night. One of my favorite parts about visiting the studio has been ogling at all of his gorgeous artwork on the walls. Please be sure to give his work the love it deserves. Not just today, but every day.

peterbennettillustration.blogspot.com

[stealingpotatoes]

some uncharted doods bc brainrot re-emerged out of nowhere

(commission info // tip jar!)

[kashlat2]

voices in my head told me to do this

[stil-lindigo]

image i made for a powerpoint night with friends

[rattypants]

been thinking about this scene since it came out

[samcarpnter]

CHLOE FRAZER in UNCHARTED: THE LOST LEGACY (2017)

[alynnl]

for the ask game, definetly:

“I believe the next morning will be brighter for both of us,” Olberic said positively.  “Let us go to bed, and wait for it patiently.”

Walking arm in arm with the professor, Olberic approached one of the four beds in their lodgings and pushed the blankets aside.  Cyrus climbed into it, relaxing against the pillows and resting his hands over his stomach. Olberic grabbed onto one of the deep blue blankets, pulling them up to his companion’s shoulders.  Then he lingered for a moment, placing his hand softly on Cyrus’s shoulder.

He spoke quietly to wish the scholar a good night, but realized too late that he’d slipped.

Olberic meant to say it in their common language, but he spoke the words in Hornburgian.

“Ah, my apologies, Cyrus, what I meant to say was-” Olberic was close to correcting himself.

“Good night, Cyrus, Wise One,” the scholar spoke a perfect translation of the phrase, and smiled warmly.

“Good night, Olberic, Valiant One.”  Cyrus returned the sentiment, speaking it in Hornburgian as well.

It was a surprise for Olberic to hear his native tongue spoken back to him after eight long years of not hearing it at all.  There was a trace of Cyrus’s Flatlands accent, but it was not off-putting in the slightest.  It was the feeling behind the words that mattered more than their precise pronunciation, and in that regard, the professor spoke wonderfully.  Olberic could not think of the words to thank Cyrus for this in either language, so instead he answered with a simple wordless nod.  

The mutual Hornburgian greeting, from Legacy of the Lost. I know it well!

What was I thinking when I wrote it? I’ll level with you.  I wanted sap and I thought this was one of the ways to deliver it.  What better way to show how much you care for someone than to talk to them in their native language, even if it’s different than your own?  There are bonus points for Cyrus making the effort to make sure Hornburgian doesn’t turn into a dead language.  And of course, Olberic appreciates the gesture wholeheartedly. What made me write it in the first place? It actually formed in my head when I first had Cyrus and Olberic talk about learning different languages.  In Cyrus’s case, he was learning Hornburgian in his anticipation of visiting the place, and Olberic learned the common language shared between the Travelers and their starting towns so that he could adjust to life in a place where the words and culture were different than his own.  Bilingual headcanons are so fascinating to me even if I myself am not bilingual.  I think it adds a layer of depth to the characters and gives a richness to the world I imagine them inhabiting.  It paints a picture of Orsterra being sort of like our own world in that it’s very diverse, and there are many different ways for people to express themselves. What was going through the characters’ heads at the moment? Olberic was low key embarrassed here!  He thought that he made a tiny blunder.  And this was foreshadowed, since he mentions expressing himself in Hornburgian when nothing else will do.  But when Cyrus greets him back in the same language, that embarrassment quickly fades into admiration for the scholar, who’s meeting him in the middle.

Then we have Cyrus.  He’s the sweet, earnest scholar we all know and love who wants to study so he can leave the world a better place.  Cyrus knows that Olberic might have spoken in his native tongue by accident, but he’s never one to discourage anyone!  Instead he chose this small way to acknowledge where Olberic came from.

These two understand each other even deeper from this tiny exchange of words.  It shows that the language doesn’t matter: they will always value each other.

Why did I choose the words “Wise One” and “Valiant One?” Mostly, I wanted the Hornburgian expressions to sound cool.  Haha.  But also I thought these words expressed the traits that these two admire the most in one another.  Olberic looks to Cyrus for his wisdom and counsel, while Cyrus marvels at Olberic’s prowess on the battlefield and listens to his judgment when they’re in a dangerous situation.  There’s actually an extra bit of lore that didn’t make it into the main fic.  That the brightest scholars/tacticians earned the title of Wise One and the most distinguished knights earned the title of Valiant One.  It might be better if there is no formality or politics attached to these expressions though.  Anyone can be called these or other titles if the speaker thinks they should be, and that’s beautiful.

What does this moment mean, in the context of the rest of the story? The entire story of Legacy of the Lost is about Olberic finding out why Cyrus chooses to study Hornburg to this day.  It’s a “How it started, and how it’s going” overview of one of Cyrus’s main interests.  The mutual Hornburgian greeting is a good way to show how Cyrus’s tale of hope, loss, and renewed resolve changes both his and Olberic’s outlook on life going forward.  We have Cyrus truly making an earnest effort to begin speaking the language, and Olberic’s acceptance of it despite the accent.  Neither of them corrected each other, because they were each sincere in this moment.  This shows how much trust Cyrus and Olberic have built between them on their journey.  They don’t need to be precise.  This mutual understanding is a love language all on its own.

Any music I would set to this scene? The Piano Guys version of A Thousand Years definitely goes with the vibe I want from this one.

[lovvecherrymotion]

we can never let these die now

[justkillingthyme]

A compilation of every voiced line of Hershel laughing

Minor spoilers warning for all games

*do please tell me if I’m missing one and I’ll go back*

[thursdaymoonrise11]

Britain's north/south debate is REAL

this is for all the brits out there who don't know whether they're a northerner or a southerner lmao (the midlanders)

Once again, poor Ominis

[stealingpotatoes]

chloe frazer with her hair down. you agree.

(tip jar!)

[kashlat2]

Replayed uncharted4 and tll a while ago so here we are

(Bonus) legacy of thieves in one pic: