#or a flying chariot

[bacon-neko]

Nano 2023 Day 21

just like a normal father-daughter conversation just a totally normal conversation

On Olympus’ peak, deep in its administrative bowels, sat Athena, bowed over a pile of scrolls that never seemed to get any less dense no matter how long she worked. Her eyes stung and her head kept drooping, threatening to collapse onto the table at any moment, but she kept digging.

Records from the Titanomachy were sparse and, even in aftermath, it’s clear the early Olympians were more concerned with rebuilding the world than writing down how it happened. She couldn’t blame them. What immortal being would presume the need to keep records on events they had lived through? Moreover, why would a young immortal shy away from asking the direct sources for answers?

She dared not answer that question, even in her own mind, as if the thought alone would spell doom, as if she could forestall tragedy by refusing to admit her actions as treacherous. After all, she was just looking at old documents. Nothing strange about that.

What she couldn’t understand is how her own mother seemed to have despised writing. Head counsel to the King of the Gods and not a single missive, memo, letter or otherwise. Like she’d never existed to begin with.

Maybe it was a Titan thing. Or maybe there was an accident and the records were just gone. Or maybe she hadn’t looked hard enough yet.

Just as she stood to raid another shelf of scrolls, a knock rapped at the door. She called them in, stifling a yawn as she straightened her chiton. A servant entered, head bowed, and informed her that His Majesty requested her presence in the great hall.

For a paranoid second, she flinched and nearly moved to block the desk from view of the door, before offering a thank-you and the polite assurance that she’d be there right away.

The servant left without a word and she pinched her temples between her hand, summoning her strength, before exiting the room.

The sun burned bright and angry overhead, glaring through the windows as she re-entered the palace proper. Still squinting even with her eyes shielded behind her hand, Athena was forced to reckon with just how long it’d been since she last slept. She drew her helmet lower upon her brow, masking her eyes in the shadow, and clasped her hands behind her back. There were people around—guests, servants, family—and although none dared speak ill of her directly, even the slightest slip-up would send them gossiping for months.

When she arrived in the great hall, she found her father on his throne, chin resting on his fist, eyes trained on the open window and the view of the sea. He didn’t even look at her as he asked, “Is Poseidon back from Ethiopia yet?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Athena replied, falling easily into her role. “Why?”

“Tell him to come back. Where’s Hephaestus?”

“Kythera,” she said. “With Aphrodite. I can—”

“Make sure he stays there,” he said quickly. “And tell the Cyclopes to fire up their forges, I want new armor and a round of thunderbolts before Spring. Have you seen Hera?”

“No, sir.”

Zeus huffed and stroked his beard. “Any guesses?”

After a moment’s thought, she suggested, “South. Possibly as far as Crete, but I’d check Argos first.”

“Send Iris to look, get her back. I’ll go myself if I have to.” Then there was a pause and, for a second, Athena thought he might dismiss her before he continued, “Hermes is gone?”

She swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

“I want an immediate report upon his return.”

“Of course, sir.”

Zeus nodded his approval, tight and shallow, only then looking towards his daughter. Stiff-lipped, he asked, “Where were you this morning?”

She lifted her chest and kept her eyes trained steady. “The library. I lost track of time. My apologies.”

Athena had started to bow, but Zeus waved her off. “That’s fine,” he said. “You can waste your time however you like.”

Pinned beneath his gaze, she resisted the urge to wince. “Thank you, sir.”

He hummed and she tightened her jaw, ready for the next line of questioning, when a familiar laugh carried in from the hallway and drew Father’s attention away. The King stiffened and turned to the doorway, frown deepening, as the interruption showed his face.

The golden son of Leto breezed into the room with arms opened wide and a gaggle of servants dogging at his heels. “Yes, yes, hello,” he said, beaming. “You may hold your applause.”

“Apollo!” said Athena, surprised, nearly smiling despite herself. “You’re here. In winter.”

“Heard someone had a nasty headache,” he said. “Thought I’d help out. By that sour look, I’d say I came just in time, huh Father?”

[prokopetz]

— Chariots of Steel v1.0 by @open-sketchbook, p. 72

This is very possibly the best explanation for lack of realism in a tabletop RPG I've ever read.

[kaelor0409]

A fun thing I noticed about Flying Circus and its Chariots of Steel expansion is that in both systems combat is extremely isolating, but they isolate in opposite ways.

Combat in Flying Circus is agoraphobic (or more accurately it is kenophobic). You might be part of a team, but you are alone in a vast blue void. It's so big that getting lost in a clear sky is a genuine possibility. Things appear as if from nowhere and disappear the moment you take your eyes off them. Someone who was in your gun sights one minute might be on your tail the next, and you have no idea how they got there. Even if you are lucky enough to have a backseater, you can't really talk to them unless you shell out for an intercom. Unless everyone installs expensive and bulky radio equipment you can't talk to the rest of your team either. If things go far enough off script you can literally go down in flames and your friends won't know until they find your smoking crater...if they ever do.

In contrast, Chariots of Steel is claustrophobic. If you are a tanker, you are stuck in a cramped metal box. You can't hear anything over the engine, and you can barely see anything out of the tiny vision slits. Sure you have crew, but unless you pay extra for an intercom your only means of talking with your crew will be strategic kicks. Infantry have it just as bad. Soldiers in the open are better known as "target practice", so you'll spend a lot of time huddled behind stuff with your head down, praying that there isn't someone sneaking closer with a grenade. This status quo of blind terror is enforced through the Suppression and Morale mechanics, which are critical to how fights work in CoS.

The extent of this isolation is obviously going to vary based on the tone of your game, but it's baked into the rules of both systems. Even figuring out where people are and what is going on usually requires a roll, and communication is complex and crude unless you jump through a lot of hoops. Teamwork is still possible and often key to success, but this isn't D&D where everything is laid out neatly on a grid and talking is a free action. When the bullets start flying it's just you and your instrument-shaped character sheet. You can't focus on the entire battle, just your little corner of it.

It's a truly unique approach, and I really like it.

[open-sketchbook]

FLYING CIRCUS - CHARIOTS OF STEEL IS OUT!!!

This absolutely ludicrous 314 page expansion for Flying Circus adds so much content for ground combat you could use it to run a whole campaign without ever leaving the ground!

[oldschoolfrp]

Three hunters enter a fantasy forest with undines, unicorns, and changelings in chariots pulled by birds (Hank Jankus for the short story "Karl and the Ogre" by Paul J McAuley, Dragon 135, July 1988)

[themissingmango]

[danskjavlarna]

Source details and larger version.

Vintage Apollo and solar chariot imagery.

[dragonkid11]

Chariots of Steel, by Erika Chappell, is a 314 page super-heavy expansion book for Flying Circus, both massively expanding the rules and options for fighting on the ground for crashed pilots, as well as adding an alternate mode of play as landsknecht, mercenary army companies operating in Himmilgard's least-stable regions.

[creaturefeaster]

What’s the deal with Lauren? From what I’ve seen so far, she’s kinda mean, and she takes advantage of people every so often

She is mean if you don't understand her*, and to practice and flourish in the field of necromancy one must be a little morally acute. Even moreso, she is infamously powerful and comes from a very wealthy background, so often she feels like she can get away with indulging in her more questionable actions without consequence. Considering all of this, it's shocking to many that she's even cooperating with the other fated at all.

Typically she works in semi isolation with whatever lackey/apprentice is willing to put up with her (Elliot you are so patient). So her social skills are not always the best either.

*Most of her behavior stems from an extremely logical point of view, rarely considering people's feelings. She doesn't necessarily intend to be rude, she just does not soften her opinions and words for the sake of others.

[star-goose]

My character for a Chariots of Steel game, Pauline Dekker

And one of her Squamates, Emelie Wolf

Very excited for this game!

Now just have to draw Four more of these </3

[texasthrillbilly]

Home away from home💫

[lokijiro]

Frigga, Thor and Loki are all cat ethusiasts.

[bionicle-necron]

I'm being VERY NORMAL about Chariots of Steel.

IM NOT FREAKING OUT ABOUT THE FT-17 BEING RIGHT THERE. WHAT DO YOU MEAN IM HOLDING IT TOO HARD ITS A TANK.

[kaelor0409]

I swore I'd be normal about Chariots of Steel. I really did.

But "Wilhelm and Josef" got me.

[open-sketchbook]

CHARIOTS OF STEEL RELEASE DATE

AFTER THREE YEARS OF WORK I FINALLY HAVE A RELEASE DATE

Chariots of Steel, the ground combat & tank expansion for Flying Circus, comes out on Friday, May 17th!

This absolutely ridiculous expansion both gives far more depth and guidelines for when your pilots end up in shootouts in the Wild or in town, plus gives you an entirely new way of playing, as landsknecht, the ground counterparts to Flying Circuses. These mercenary companies with tanks and rifles do dirty jobs in the places of Himmilgard where the Wild is thin.

To make that interesting, it also includes extensive new Threat guidelines, with a large array of GM moves for the ground and a variety of new and expanded enemies, from the clockwerk constructs to the armies of post-apocalyptic warlords.

The game has 20 premade tanks, a flexible ground vehicle builder with examples, a bunch of new firearms and equipment, and six new Mastery sets for ground combat. The tanks a mix of historical and original vehicles, with lots of variants for each one.

Also... there's way, way too much art in this book. Way too much! I drew so so, so many arts!

[mythical-art]

The dragon chariot and fairy minstrels cross the moon by Charles Altamont Doyle