In our last Entropy Preview, we showed you the cryptic and foreboding Zord. This time, we show you the scientific and secretive Gazoid
Among the stars travel a race of soldiers without a cause. The Gazoid is the remnant of a once scientifically great species which fell from glory at the end of the Shroud War. They are the survivor who fled from their world as it broke apart into a black-hole and swallowed something from another world. With a strong tradition set on military practice and training, the remaining Gazoids perpetuate their legacy by being extremely good mercenaries and guards across space.
Once part of a species of great scientific genius and very social entity, they lost all their root as their world disappeared with their greatest mind with it. Now only soldiers and tough, hardened troops, they split up to find their way. With only the people who shunned the way of lives of their civilians, they are now in a position of great turmoil. Either they repopulate and form a new culture similar to the glorious, now dead “Zoid”, or they disappear slowly as they mingle with other species and lose their heritage and fade away.
The Gazoids’ most practised hobby is combat. Since the event of the Shroud war, regular civilians and ordinary activities for amusement or to pass the time has disappeared, leaving only the battle-able people that managed to exit the system before the great collapse of their world. Young and old people died, and only adult soldiers exist anymore, pushing the race to reproduce urgently to replenish their numbers or disappear.
This change in population made all typical parent to be fighters who raised their children to be also like them, directly or involuntary, therefore seeing kids with guns in the Gazoid culture is universal and also well seen by other Gazoids. The young practice very early to become the next great mercenary of their family after their parents. Usually, when a child is born, the father or the mother chooses to stay with them a while to be sure they are fit, serving as instructors and military trainer, bonding in the process as well. Meanwhile, the other member of the family is hunting down bounties or working as hired help to feed his or her family.
The Gazoids are ashamed of their past, leaving so many lives and so much history to be engulfed by the black hole that saved the Cosmic Exchange. It is common to see people cheering or interested in the Gazoid by this fact alone, but they rarely talk about it. But sometimes, more detached Gazoids use this historical fact in bars or social gathering to get attention or even to coerce other species. Selling their service is common, and this allows them to be seen anywhere in the galaxy, serving as bodyguards, entourage, or adventurers. Money is their most prized possession, but glory is a very close second. Therefore they always strike to be in better shape and better at what they do, reflecting on their physique. Always trained, always healthy, it is almost impossible to see an unfit or very thin Gazoid, their job is never done.
Gazoid’s military is quite simple, given their combat focus. The most “ranked” Gazoids are the one with the biggest ship, the most kills and the largest pile of riches and trophies. For now, the “throne” of “general” of the Gazoid has Gatavok, a wild and diehard Gazoid that keep completing the most difficult and most dangerous expeditions around the galaxy, upgrading the shuttle he used to flee his homeworld into a real gigantic cruiser that serves him as a home. The only real power this Gazoid had over the rest is the respect and admiration he gets from them, but if a crisis strikes and Gatavok ask for backup, any fit Gazoid around will run to his aid, to be part of the legend’s allies and worthy battles he might get into.
Therefore yes, the military is very vague in the Gazoids, leaving most species clueless to their structure since none exist. If a fight starts around a Gazoid current place, they will try to find compensation and the chance to help for a price as they are all the time on the search for income and action. They are seen as opportunists and cheesy action anti-heroes by most Humans who try to deal with them the less possible, but their service is the best, and they know it.
If you want to know more about Entropy then join our Discord server, and chat with Charly the dev himself.
For this week’s Dev Journal, we’re showing off something that technically is completely part of the Runed Age, but will also be its own thing. Cheekily having our cake and eating it too.
The Enchiridion Sigillum
Literally meaning the Handbook of Symbols, the Enchiridion will be a book we publish alongside the Runed Age update. It will contain all the updated rules for designing and drawing runic arrays, a full list of all the runes we’ve ever made and their uses, as well as all the runic arrays ever put in this blog and the Journals of Runic Array Design.
In short, it will be the complete book of runic magic, with everything you need to know about how to design them, draw them, read them and understand them.
Standalone book
Everything about the runes from the Runed Age will be in here, and also all the incantations as well that we’ve made, so it goes a wee bit beyond the Runed Age in its current form or the update. What the Enchiridion definitely will not have is any game mechanics, so it will be completely and utterly system-neutral. Much like the Journals of Array Design, the Enchiridion will be entirely focused on how the magic works in fiction, rather than in the game. This means that you’ll be able to use the ideas in the Enchiridion in any other game set with runic magic, enchantments and wizardry. Of course, any Sigil System game would be well placed to use the Enchiridion.
WIP Sneak Peek
If you’re keen to see what the WIP document of the Enchiridion looks like, head on over to our Discord Server where we talk quite a bit about it, or CLICK HERE to see the version we made when this post was written.
Last time on the Entropy Preview, we showed you the enigmatic and mysterious Zord. This time it’s the artificial Vector
Vector, the only synthetic race part of the Cosmic Exchange, in fact, the founder of it. The Vector created the organization to make appointments and connections easier on neutral ground and judged by an entirely disinterested party, the Vector themselves. From an unknown origin, they dragged their race into a utopian society formed by helping each other and working towards a common goal.
However, not all Vector are born in the Power system and sometimes lack the link their brethren has with each other, developing a personal opinion and tastes for everything.
Every species in the galaxy are not sure what to make of the Vector, but the Vector race is aware of the distrust and doubt they are judged with every day. This stigma doesn’t trouble them much; however, as they keep their patient attitude practically all the time.
Being nearly immortal and timeless, they lack the same focus than the usual Human, but they try to work on projects all the time to keep themselves occupied, so an adventurous Vector is a pretty standard sight, even with their unstable relationship with the exterior.
Vectors usually keep to themselves when not involved in politics, but their culture is somewhat known around the galaxy. Since they represent the most neutral point of view in the Exchange, they try to appear as polite and hospitable as possible, but they mainly wish to be left alone to build and work on themselves to achieve their mysterious purposes.
They collaborate to build themselves the future they aspire for, landing on worlds usually impossible to settle and start to gather resources for their large machine on their homeworld and creating more advanced vectors, resembling more and more to their ideal unit. Many species see this as an attempt to surpass all other races and start a massive war on organics, creating killing machines or Vectors able to outsmart any resistance amongst them.
Vectors seem to elude any retort to such accusations and ignore criticism, leading to threats and violent actions. The Vectors only wish to perfect themselves. Not all Vectors are pure, however, and some are even made by wicked deeds and methods, creating wild, unpredictable specimens. Humans and Zelars worked in secret on such experiment and had weird results, from Vector who think they are knights up to the egomaniacs and even nasty and naughty mechs. These studies make the natural Vector very outspoken and hateful towards organics, but it usually fades away in little calm angst against such personalities.
Vector seems to work together correctly, as they believe in one thing, their advancement as a species, but their involvement in galactic politics is omnipresent. They host the Cosmic Exchange meeting and preside any argument or debate the best they can, splitting power and advice amongst the residents of the galaxy. Seen as impartial judges and prone for justice, they are not opposed to their position yet.
Their most ancient Vector is always present to all meetings and seems to glare at all the politicians present at the hearings, never saying anything on its own, only replying as it makes final judgments and decisions, towering everybody in the room with its massive hulking body with many arms and hands, holding different devices and broadcasting instruments. Scary at first but kind, this Vector as no name or official title, people names it themselves with wild, colorful names as “Judge”, “Justice”, “Balance”.
The Vector has an entirely neutral look to all the races in the galaxy, even if the species hate them dearly. Could this be as simple as understanding or on the opposite, indifference?
If you want to know more about Entropy then join our Discord server, and chat with Charly the dev himself.
Not every moment of your character’s life will be spent sneaking around places they’re not supposed to be, taking things that don’t belong to them, killing people who get in the way of the first two, and in general being up to no good. They’ll need time to rest, recuperate, relax, or get back to their regular lives. That’s what Downtime is all about, seeing what your characters do on their days “off camera”. Down time is also a good way to “park” a character for a bit if you want to change out characters. One can be spending his time “off camera” while you take a new one out for a spin.
Downtime is split into three main parts: Work, Live, Play. Each part pretty much does what it says (and we’ll dive into them below), but there is a key thing that happens at the end of Downtime: paying the bill. Nothing in life comes for free, and you’ll need to pay for whatever you do on your Downtime.
At the end of it, paying the bill comes down to a Wealth Check with a modifier based on your lifestyle, but will be the only modifier. There is so much that can be done during Downtime, that we could drown you in modifiers to your roll. We’re not gonna do that. Instead, everything that happens during Downtime will give you either a Bonus Reroll or a Penalty Reroll. A Bonus Reroll means you reroll the Wealth Check and you choose the best result; and a Penalty Reroll means you reroll the Wealth Check but you must choose the worst result. Bonuses and Penalties cancel each other out, so when it comes time to pay the bill, you’re either gonna be left with just Bonus Rerolls, none at all, or just Penalty Rerolls.
It’s a quick and easy way to track your “spending” during Downtime, and so now let’s see all the things you can get up to.
Work
Nothing in life is free, and for most of us, the way to make money is to work. During Downtime, your character can find a job, or go back to theirs and work like the rest of us plebs.
To look for a job, you’ll need to pass a Skill Check. If you pass, you can do that job for the Downtime. If you fail, however, you need to go look for another career. You can only attempt each job once per Downtime, and if you fail, you’ll get a -10 modifier to the next job-hunting Skill Check you do. If you already have a job from your background or a previous Downtime, you can just go straight back to it without having to do a Skill Check. And if you can’t find a job, or don’t want one, you can be a vagrant for the Downtime and get a Penalty Reroll to your Wealth Check at the end.
Here’s the list of Skills and what jobs you can get if you pass their Checks.
Apothecary, Civil Official, Jeweller, Law Clerk, Office Clerk, Printer, Trader
Will
Clergy, Fishmonger, Grocer, Butcher, Tanner
When you’re in a job, you can also make another Skill Check for the Downtime to see how well you are performing at your work. Pass this second Check and you’ll get a Bonus reroll to your Wealth Check at the end.
Live
It’s the quickest and easiest part of Downtime, and it says what sort of level of lifestyle you have. How rich or poor are you living? The answer to that will determine the modifier you’ll get to your Wealth Check at the end.
Lifestyle Modifier
Homeless
–
Subsistence
60
Poor
45
Average
30
Comfortable
15
Wealthy
0
Lavish
-15
Opulent
-30
Decadent
-45
Kingly
-60
There are also things that can get you rerolls. If you have dependants living with you, you’ll get a Penalty Reroll, but if you have another breadwinner in the house then that’s a Bonus Reroll.
Each Downtime you can also choose to increase or decrease your standard of living. Increasing means a Penalty Reroll for that Downtime, while decreasing is a Bonus Reroll (on top of the change in modifier).
Play
This is where you get to unwind and enjoy yourself. Well, maybe. You can always choose not to do any activities for the Downtime and just focus on more work instead, which will net you a Bonus Reroll.
There are 10 broad categories of activities that you can partake in during Downtime, and each will have it’s own quirks and special rules (that will be fully explored in the book), and some will give you Bonus Rerolls or Penalty Rerolls; some will give you other types of rewards or misfortunes that could carry over into the next adventure as well.
Your level of lifestyle will also affect many of the activities you participate in. Going socialising with the upper-crust of society is clearly different type of party than slumming it in the… well… slums. Your lifestyle will add flavour to your activities, but it could also unlock some extra tidbits as well.
Craft: Start, or continue on, a project.
The GM will give you a target number to reach, and the first digit of each successful Broad/Fine-Craft Skill Check will contribute to reaching this target. The more complex the project, the larger the target number.
Gamble: Try and make some easy money.
Roll a d100 to set a target and then roll another d100 to see if you can get lower than the target number. If you succeed, the first digit of your result is the number of Bonus Rerolls you get, but if you fail, the first digit of the total by which you failed is the number of Penalty Rerolls you get. You’ll also get positive/negative modifiers to your next adventure’s Wealth Checks.
Relationship: Work on a personal, social, or business relationship
You can try and ingratiate yourself with a faction, go looking for love, take care of your family, or try and get a business partnership settled. Like the Craft Project, your GM will give you a target number to reach, and your Social Skill checks will help or hinder you to this goal. Each step along the way will make your relationship stronger.
Research: Find out more about a topic.
Knowledge is power, and a Logic, Investigate or Intuition Check and some time will get you more about both. You can be looking for new runic array designs, maps and blueprints to locations, or history of a person you’re investigating.
Rest: Good old R&R
Sometimes you just need to kick back and relax for a while. The world is a chaotic place and you need to get away from it for a bit. Resting will help heal wounds (both physical and mental) quicker, so if you really need to recuperate, just rest for a while.
Scout: Go far afield to a new place.
Scouting is the physical counterpart to Research. It’s about actually going somewhere you haven’t before to find something out. This can be as mundane as a nice holiday, or more nefarious like checking out the next place to rob.
Shopping: Buying and selling.
Who doesn’t like a shopping trip? Work with your GM as to what exactly you want to buy and he’ll give you modifiers to a Wealth Skill Check that you’ll need to beat. You can always choose to take Penalty Rerolls to make that Check easier. In the reverse, if you want to sell, you’ll need to beat a Social Skill Check and if you do you’ll get some Bonus Rerolls.
Socialise: Get out and about with your friends.
Or get out and about with new friends. Here you can recover some energy from your latest adventure, make new friends that you can then use a Relationship activity to strengthen that friendship.
Train: get better at a Skill
Probably the most straightforward of all the activities. You choose a Skill to get better at, roll a Skill Check and (hopefully) get better at it. You can also take a Penalty Reroll to find a mentor to help you, and this will make your Skill Check easier or get you more EXP in that Skill.
Tutor: Teach another character to be as cool as you
The exact opposite to Train. Here you can help another character get better at something that you are good at. This can be another player’s character, a friendly NPC, or perhaps your character’s family and heir (that you can play as if something happens to your character).
Paying the bill
Now that you’ve done everything you could or wanted, it’s time to pay the bill. So tally up your rerolls, get your Modifier from your Lifestyle, and roll that Wealth Check. If you pass, then all is well. If you fail, well then you have a choice.
You can go broke, which means the number by which you failed becomes a negative modifier to all your Wealth Checks for the next session of gaming, and your Lifestyle gets forced down by one for the next Downtime. Or you can go into debt, which means nothing bad happens now, but eventually you’ll have to pay up alongside the interest. Who knows, maybe a determined debt collector might show up in an adventure or mission a few sessions from now.
In our last Entropy Preview, we showed you the mammal-reptilian hybrids: the Cyrex. This time, we show you the cryptic and foreboding Zord
The Zord is an empire that influences all the Cosmic Exchange with their presence. They are originated from their now dead red planet: Koz, in the currently almost empty system of Jede. Zords are quite cryptic, creepy, and towering individuals that work in almost perfect unison against the forces of the Anomaly. Led by the legendary “ZORD” from which they took the names they use, they patrol space in massive ships of very angular shapes equipped with heavy weaponry.
Zords are seen as very violent and hard to talk to, and most people would prefer them to be as far away from them as possible. Loyalty, faith, and brawn are the most shown qualities amongst the Zord, who train all their life in squads or on the field to hone their talents to kill anything that could stand in their way. Nobody knows the real weight that burden every Zord, for when all hell breaks loose, they will stand tall and give their lives to protect the rest of the galaxy, even if they would kill anyone of them to achieve it.
Zord culture is somewhat remote from the eyes of the other species since they only look like crusaders with a crazy cause as a reason to fight or being mean. This freezing demeanor could be the cause of why they are frown upon or avoided. Even the fear of being accused falsely of Lunacy usage or ritualism is present in stations around the galaxy when Zords are spotted, people hide and wish for them to go away with only the officials addressing them in person with their best spokesman to slow or stop the Zords from overreacting.
Only Zords knows what their people do in their stations for leisure time and diversion. From a few witnesses and meetings, Shlaugs discovered that what they mostly do of their time is: training, outside of their armor musculation, and disciplinary exercises but a few times some of them were seen playing a strange game that they could not observe for too long. Therefore, maybe they do have pass times activities, or this could be merely strategic simulations.
Lively Zords are sometimes encountered, but they are very hard to sympathize with. However, when trust is gain with a Zord, they share war stories and tactics advice with other people, since they travel a lot, they are full of wild and impressive tales of the unknown. Storytelling is the strong suit of Zords who wish to express themselves with other species that dare to approach them. Zords most precious thing in life is their limitless faith in their leader. They carry banners and kill in his name with high energy on the battlefields. They work for him and bring his words because the enigmatic “ZORD” never leaves his mothership in the Jebe system, in orbit around Koz. The interior of the station is decorated like a church and is full of depictions of Zords in action, chasing down monsters and “heretics” in the glory of their master.
If you want to know more about Entropy then join our Discord server, and chat with Charly the dev himself.
Tabletop RPGs aren’t always played in the afternoons and evenings. Some of the best games I’ve had were when we all showed up first thing in the morning, bright and bushy tailed, ready for a whole day’s worth of gaming. For those early starts, you need a little something to kick off your day, and there’s nothing easier to make in the mornings than these.
Corn Fritters
Ingredients
1 cup of self raising flour
Or 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 large eggs
1 can (around 400g/14 ounces) of creamed corn
½ cup of grated cheese
Equipment
Stove top/hob
Method
Mix all the ingredients together
Heat up oil in a frypan and drop in two spoonfuls of the mixture in to form each fritter
Cook for a couple of minutes until they are nicely golden brown on both sides
This makes around a dozen fritters, depending on how big those spoonfuls are.
Cold Brew Coffee
Ingredients
125g/4 ounces coarsely ground coffee
1L/2 pints cold water
Equipment
Fridge
Muslin/cheese-cloth
Method
Stir the water and coffee grounds together and chill it in the fridge for at least 12 hours, but preferably a whole 24.
Strain the coffee through the muslin/cheese-cloth (helps to put the cloth in a sieve).
This makes around 4 glasses worth. Keep chilled until you’re ready to serve with ice cubes and (if you like) some cold milk or cream.
If you like these recipes, have a go at making them, and let us know how it turns out!
If you’ve missed any of the previous recipes, find them HERE.
And get your hands on our newest game, Enforcer, by clicking on the banner below.
Gates has had its first major update for its beta version, so here’s James with what’s changed:
Gates has been a fun ride so far. Its gone through many updates behind the scenes, even being rewritten several times. All of those updates and rewrites served to polish the game into the best form it could be in. Though, I have a long way to go. This first update for the public beta progresses some of the game, but actually removes some as well. The following is a short update on the changes:
Lots of little rewrites and grammar changes. I have a lot of work to do to turn my writing into something presentable, but over time it will become a professional work.
Descriptions of talents are simplified. This is a preventative measure for me. Essentially, I am making them simple now so I can experiment with different description types and styles. When I find one I like, I will be slowly fine tuning all of the descriptions.
Reordered the book. Some of the rules are introduced at awkward times, so I simply moved them to where they are relevant.
Monsters! I added several enemy examples. These enemies are for mundane to heroic tier. I will add some more powerful examples latter as well.
Colossi rules have been expanded. Giving proper rules for climbing and battling them.
My personal favorite monster is the ninja. Particularly because of its ninja swarm ability. Essentially, if the ninja is in a large group of other ninja, then it is severely weakened. This gives that reverse ninjitsu feel that cinematic movies have. And what else is cooler than fighting hordes of ninja?
Try out Gates now by clicking on the logo above or just CLICK HERE.
If you want to chat with James and the other devs of Stormforge West about the games they’re making, come join our Discord server.
Who doesn’t love burgers and chocolate? Well then, why not have the best of both worlds with a chocolate burger? Surely, it’s the next logical step, right? And to go with your chocolate burger, why not some chocolate mousse? No one ever says you can have too much chocolate.
Chocolate Burger
Ingredients
1kg/2.2lb beef/pork mince
200ml/7oz milk
80g/3oz breadcrumbs
20g/½oz cocoa powder
2 eggs
2 onions, finely diced
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Equipment
Microwave
Stove top, hob
Method
Mix together the milk and cocoa powder, and heat up in the microwave
Add in the breadcrumbs to the hot chocolate milk and mix well
Mix the chocolate breadcrumbs and the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl
Shape into burger patties and fry them over a medium to high heat for 5-6 minutes
This makes around 6-8 patties depending on how big you make them. Put them on some burger buns and some chocolate sauce, and enjoy.
Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
4 egg yolks
¼ cup of sugar
3 cups cups of cream
250g/9oz dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Equipment
Stove top/hob
Fridge
Method
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until they become thick and fluffy
Heat half the milk in a saucepan, again not to the boiling point, and very gradually whisk this into the egg mixture
Cook the egg mixture on the stove top for around 5 minutes over a low heat, until it thickens enough to evenly coat the back of a spoon
Stir in the chocolate pieces and stir until they melt and combine with the egg mix
Take off the heat, cover it and put it in the fridge until chilled
Whip up the rest of the cream, until they form soft peaks
Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, and keep chilled until serving
If you like these recipes, have a go at making them, and let us know how it turns out!
If you’ve missed any of the previous recipes, find them HERE.
And get your hands on our newest game, Enforcer, by clicking on the banner below.