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Concept: Far future low-tech post-apocalyptic. Humanity split between 6 species who are beginning to encounter each other.

In the tale the elders tell, the fall happened with hubris and greed. The people saw what was in front and behind, but never ahead. They didn't look to the stars to see outside, nor to the ground to feel their life's rhythm. They watched the water flow, but did not wonder where it flowed to. They grew mighty and thought that this strength made them invulnerable, all the while they dug beneath themselves and removed the foundation that held them up.

At first came the anger. They held anger against themselves and against others. Much as now, they had tribes, and also as now sometimes those tribes warred. They killed others, and when others weren't near they killed their own tribe members.

Then came fear, in a continuing cycle with anger. They feared what they didn't know, and then were angered by the strangeness. Not understanding the interdependence of all beings, they were quick to fight and kill and undercut the life they themselves lived. They used weapons against each other that also injured themselves, but gloried in this, thinking again that their strength made them immortal.

These weapons…creations of fire and impact, but also of sickness. The people were weapons. The water was a weapon. The air was a weapon. The space above was a weapon, and their untold millions of people suffered, not knowing moment to moment whether they were about to die.

In the end, even the dreams people had while they slept became weapons, and the people screamed at the skies before they took their own lives.

1. Thall (thall): Tall, thin, long-fingered, tree-living. Can move silently in forests. Can leap long distances, tree-to-tree, with powerful legs. Often found solo in jungles.
2. Stamb (stam-buh): Brutish and powerful, run on all fours but walks mostly upright, herbivores with bottom-jaw tusks for defense. Sapient, but not tool-users. Herd protectors.
3. Delling (dell-ing): Cave and canyon dwellers, known for using and keeping fire. Small and furred, aggressively protective, uses primitive weapons. Some amount of agriculural knowledge.
4. Konxa (kong-sha): Seaside people, use of dugout canoes and basic rafts. Use barbed reed spears for fishing and defense. Use a high-whistling language that can carry for long distances. Short of stature, but strong upper body.
5. Hyunpe (he-oon-pay): Desert people, “those who weave/make cloth”. Live on the edge of deserts where they know how to survive but outsiders don't. Very insular, but willing to trade (no knowledge of money). Dark skinned, cover themselves with cloth, with woven stories across them.
6. Lalent (Lall-ent): Also known as pole/Stick-draggers. Nomadic survivors and trade people. They survive by travelling between the other groups. Negotiators and peaceful, out of necessity for survival. They create A-frames to transport goods.

Core abilities: All abilities are between three and ten points. Roll a d10 until within that range.

1. Power: Physical strength or force exerted or capable of being exerted
2. Speed: Swiftness of physical action
3. Will: Purposefulness and independent determination
4. Sapience: ability to apply knowledge or experience or understanding or common sense and insight

Derived abilities: These are simple averages between the listed core attributes (rounded up).

1. Attack (Power+Speed)/2: Amount of damage with a physical non-weapon attack.
2. Constitution (Power+Will)/2: Ability to withstand damage and continue acting.
3. Accuracy (Power+Sapience)/2: Chance to hit in combat or hunting.
4. Dexterity (Speed+Will)/2: Ability to perform non-combat physical feats or create things.
5. Derivation (Speed+Sapience)/2: Ability to guess outcomes, resolve puzzles, use experiences in new situations.
6. Resolve (Will+Sapience)/2: Ability to overcome mental challenges, withstand difficult mental or emotional challenges.

The game works by only the derived abilities and role-playing. If a situation does not fall into the derived abilities, role-play it to succeed.

GameMechanics

BuildingSkills