Reports: The Heart of the Game

Reports are documents gathered from intel, recon, opinion, hearsay, and sheer will of personality, describing a Local. A Local is a place or group or situation or event that could be of interest to a Map-maker. Locals have truths and order, power struggles and opinions, likes and dislikes, a shape, a heart, desires. Even if there are no people. Especially if there are no people.

• What does the local want?
• What does it need?
• What resources does it have?
• What does it lack?
• What would power be interested in?
• What is in charge? What dominates?
• What is connected to the local?
• What could be connected?

Key questions: what does my character see? Or not see? Would my character do anything? Did my character change what they desire? (Rarely) Did my character change goals? How would my character answer the above to themselves? Their crew? The mapmakers?

Regarding 'what' is a Local:

Not every group or place or situation needs to be thought of as a local, and a GM should defer to the players when deciding whether or not to write a report. The fact that a report could be written, that something can be considered a local, is enough to spur the tension. The possibility of eg a place being drifted past without remark from the players or interacted with as merely a place is important:

• It gives space for questions such as: Is this a local? Why or Why not? Would Map-makers see value here? Why? Can we create a reason for them to see value?
• Things seen as neutral can evolve into being seen as a local by the players given a change in perspective/character/outlook
• The idea that a place/group/situation can be non-local (not even a rooted local) has narrative and thematic interest. Why do we see some things as worthy of report?
• Players driving the decision to write a report disrupts the ease at which GM's can prep plot
• Following curiosity and respecting the drives of players is important.

Accuracy:

There may have been a real, deep down truth, but after the report, it's probably gone. Scrubbed clean, sanded down, carelessly altered. If the players think they did a good job at uncovering the truth, they did. Within reason. The default cap on accuracy for a local is 75%.

Old world locals: If the GM or players indicate this local is predominantly old world in nature, the cap on accuracy goes down to 50%.

• 10 The report serves as little more than paper. Root the local only as a Void.
• 20
  30 You were dimly aware of the shape of the thing. A ship passing in the night.
• 40
  50 One big detail remains evidently true. Its purpose, place, relationship, etc might be changed.
• 60
  70 The things you thought were happening, were happening, more or less. The why is flighty, changeable.
• 80
  90 The local is no more. Ossify it. Root it. This should have repercussions both within and without.

Accuracy is tied to finality. The map-makers want stability - they want to know that the document they're paying for won't go out of date immediately. Thus, there is a strong financial incentive for cartographers to resolve high energy situations, to defuse, to contain and pour cold water on tensions. This might mean solving problems, or investigating secrets, or leaving corpses. Map-makers don't usually ask you to do these things directly, but they will imply it strongly. "This report is...fine, I suppose," they might sigh, "but if there was only a single leader of this commune, things would be so much... simpler for our archives." Make this clear to the players through mechanical incentives (and by showing it's already clear to the map-makers and the locals eager to exploit this fact), and clear to the characters via rewards tied to accuracy.

Accuracy is also crucially left vague when it comes to Authenticity. This is because what count as "authentic" is a key question that the game system is supposed to support explorations of, not to answer. For instance - it might boost your accuracy score to pull strings so that only one leadership faction is holding power after you've left (or on paper). Did your group's meddling render this faction inauthentic? If they just altered it on paper after a bribe, is this still inauthentic? how about if they didn't consult with or discover the alternative factions?

Roots: Locals, when rooted, will turn into Peripheries, Hearts, or Voids. Their identity is settled on the broad scale. Players (with the help of the GM if need be) add the local to their map.

• Hearts Power is concentrated here. Soon there will be Map-makers.
• Peripheries Those who hold the Power here are not of the here.
• Voids The map has judged this place illegible. Power is diffuse here, if it can even survive.

Or: Where maps are written, where the maps record, where the maps can only hope to record the edges.

Note that within a rooted local, there can still be opportunities for new locals. Reports can be made and probably sold off, especially to rivals of said rooted place or group, although it is much harder to disrupt a settled identity. To model this, additional reports for things close to rooted local will either need to conform to the reported reality of the map, or make a very convincing case to the Map-maker.

Further scores/remarks in a report:

Map interest - Different Map-makers will have different reasons to purchase your reports. Importance, location, strategic relevance, novelty, accuracy, flattery, personal interests, reputation (yours or theirs). These can be affected by the players. Note that the accuracy score of a report aren't directly "accessible" to the Map-makers. However, if alternative information is easily available or particularly convincing (in their judgement), expect some nasty questions, and potentially nasty consequences, for trying to pass off an inaccurate map, and especially so for a map (inaccurate or not) that fails to advance the Map-maker's wishes.

Player approval - Each player will sign off on the report, although they record their character's approval of the contents. This is a chance for the characters to reflect on their actions and opinions, their fears. This is not public information in-character unless the player decides to announce it.

Local approval - This is for the GM only. Do not mark on the report itself. Write how the local would respond to reading this report (one sentence for each important faction/person/etc).

Shelf-life - How long before this report becomes unacceptably inaccurate?

• How long before a similarly skilled group could produce a "better" report?
• How long before the report becomes a hindrance (in the eyes of the map-maker)?
• How convincing were your report's lies, if any?
• How comforting were your report's truths, if any?

The last report on this local was:

• Nobody has seen this place before
• No cartographers have seen this place before
• destroyed before it was handed in
• destroyed after it was handed in
• the first report
• the first report in a while
• one of many frequent reports
• the reason the last cartographers were hunted
• the reason an ex-map-maker lost all power/dignity
• the reason you were asked to report again
• the reason you didn't want to come here, even though you needed to
• the reason you were excited to come here

The last report was: (these are the local report accuracy scores if already visited) inaccurate 50/50 accurate etc

WHO wants this place mapped? WHY would they want this place mapped? WHY are they asking your group?

people in locals want to:

• curate your report (priorities, information, accuracy)
• stop your report (cold shoulder, hide, threaten, bargain, provoke, attack)
• sell you things (information, leads, curios)
• Use you/your things

--

Advancement and Rewards

pins/badges (in addition to a small payment) are the standard reward for handing in reports - larger and more ornate for more valuable reporting. These pins can be resold for cash but most prefer to display them to garner trust from strangers.

If a character meets some sort of criteria for adding specific information to a (sufficiently in-depth/sought after) report, should they get to advance?

trying to promote interesting axes attempt1 - imagine there are two "class components" -choose a "negative' from one and a "positive" from the other -advance if the report emphasises the positive more than the negative (who decides?) -choose one "neutral" from each. advance in the one the report emphasises -choose one axis from the first, one from the second -4 quadrants of advancement! (fail fail = no advance, success success means 1 in each, one success means critical advance because you sacrificed one ideal for another)

should there be advancement Use it or lose it? advancements based on how much you stood to lose - or did? "advancement mechanics exist either to drive player behaviour or to drive character change." avoiding upwards power curve?

"This place looks dangerous. why shouldn't we just leave?" If this question is felt, then: Is there anyone that has made it clear they'll pay for a report on this dangerous place? Why not? Is there something the characters would want here? Sometimes the answer might be genuinely that it's not worth the trouble. Either make the next place less threatening, or make the characters more desperate.

Character and Group Creation

One other pc: "why are you wanted (as part of the group)"/"who vouched for you and why" - other players "auction" this off - you put forward a relationship, everyone that wants to gives an intriguing detail/wrinkle, you choose your favourite. The detail can involve other characters if they allow it, but is still only primary for the two. This is marked for both characters.

group: "Why are you needed (as part of the group)" - phrase as "I am the only one who can..." - the severity of the need should be such that if you were to leave the group, they could limp on, but at a significant disadvantage. Whatever you say becomes your domain, other characters can only do this at 5-15% capability/efficiency.

group: "why do you need the group?" - 2 questions, phrase as "I am the only one who can't..." you can only do this at 5-15% effectiveness compared to the group. Make sure this is as significant a burden for you as the group being without you would be burdened. "I need the group to help me with.."

How important is it to the character that:

• The reports are accurate?
• The reports are sought after?
• The reports are pleasing to the Map-makers?
• The Locals make sense to them?
• The Locals adhere to their principles?

Put another way - the key ideas are:

• What does this character see? (Where they go, who they talk to, what they focus on...)
• How does this character make sense of what they see?
• How does this character relay their sense of what they see to others?

A character's actions should be a way for the player to answer or explore these questions.

A character is a cartographer, even if that isn't their primary occupation. All cartographers have produced at least a single report. Ask the character:

• What information did you sell?
• Whose did it belong to? (Yourself? Your family? Your neighbourhood? Somewhere that took you in? Somewhere you descended onto?)
• What did it cost you?
• Who bought it?
• What did it bring you? (every cartographer keep their first badge. It is a sign that they are kin. They have done an unnatural deed.)

Key Relationships:

• Locals to Cartographers (mediated/changed/obfuscated/explained/understood by reports)
• Cartographers to Reports (why do they write what they do? How do they feel? What do they say/hide?)
• Cartographers to Map-Makers (tensions between worker/producer, voice/voiceless, powerful/weak/unheard)
• Map-Makers to Maps (How does power propagate/react? Do they reject/allow? Shape/preserve?)
• Maps to Locals (remaking/reshaping/chafing/acceptance/embrace/resent/abandon)

Note that these relationships do not have to be antagonistic, or even in conflict. The process of mapping will still alter, change, eradicate, makes promises, threats. Thus, a Local might have the same desires as a cartographer, or even map-maker, and might support the principles and foundations of the report. This does not translate to a frictionless process. A translator with the best interest of and the full support of the translated will still by necessity provoke changes by the act of translation. Writing reports, submitting reports, assisting with reports, creating maps, adopting maps - These are all acts of translation.

Initial Perception

When presented with something unknown, it is usually up to the GM to describe it, to 'set the scene'. This is usually fine, but for exploration it is too much of a heavy hand. Instead, PC's should have a set of "obvious perceptions":

When I find myself somewhere unknown I first perceive:

• A mouth
• A deterioration
• The unclean

When I find something unknown I first perceive:

• Its sharpest edge
• Its centre
• its rhythm
• its weight

When I find someone unknown I first perceive:

• Their heart
• Their nerves
• Their hunger

If a character ever ceases to see involvement with the group as necessary or desirable, ask the player: What does the character want now? Is there a instrumental goal that the group will accept? Can they be convinced?

If they do not: Why can't the group work towards this goal?

recommit: Each player and the GM put forth a reason for why the group can provide. These can be new facts about relationships or characters. The player should accept at least one.

If they do not: Where would they go?

It becomes that player's responsibility to have a character in that local/root that desires or sees it necessary to join the group. They must be able to convince the group. The player must also have a reason to make the group drop them off (payment/favour/introduction to local power/bounty/promise of replacement).

What if the other characters cannot abide a crewmate?

Firstly, every character should be needed. This is a requirement of all characters. So the bar for exile should always be high. But, it could happen.

Are the players happy with the tension of their characters? If so, make each player announce their character's reasoning for changing their mind (this can involve new facts, relationships). The player of the target character should agree to the changes. This might also necessitate a conflict roll.

Are the players unconvinced the crewmate is worth the liability?

The player of the character announces something that they have been keeping from the crew, or makes a promise. This revelation should be dramatic (It is the character's last bid to stay!). The other players are free to suggest modifications (especially if they remain unconvinced), and if these modifications are accepted by the target player then their character will stay. Note that the announcement and modifications may require rolling if the GM decides so, but the GM should mostly say yes, especially to new facts. Announcements and revelations can be inaccurate, after all. What matters is that the group is convinced.

Example:

A crewmate has picked up a nasty infection. Their arms hang limp, a putrid odor eminating, and sporadically swell dangerously and contract again with a loud bang. They can barely navigate, which is their main reason for being needed, and the noises interfere with the group's main activity, which is recon. The players decide the group would most likely go on without target character.

The target player announces: "I know of a place where I can be cured."

Player two decides this isn't enough for his character. He offers the modification: "My character has a brother that went to the place you speak of. I want to check up on him."

Player three likes this idea, but has an idea: "What if the passage leading up to this place was very dangerous? There'd be money in delivering packages and news there. Plus, my guy loves rough seas."

Player one thinks these modifications are good. She asks the GM if this is ok. Since the GM sees no interesting reason to roll, they accept, and add after thinking: "There is a sanitorium a good distance away for the Plaintive Heights. Very stormy. Razor rocks. Is this the one you were thinking of?"

Death

If you go without food for a long time, you will be fed. You will not have a choice in what you are fed. This goes for all needs.

Sated by:

• The self (body): An organ is absorbed, turning into unremarkable flesh. A limb is lighter, tender to the touch, and shrinks from flame.
• The self (mind): Something dear to you is removed. Not forgotten, but no longer stirring much affection. A fact becomes a rumour. A thought becomes a craving.
• Others: You ransack their energy. They are sluggish, awaken feeling tired. They know in some dim way that you are feeding. For the especially hungry, there is always the flesh.
• The Gods: It will not be ambrosia. It will always bind you.
• The world: Your pores are sucking. Items you carry may be drained. The ground you walk on: licked clean, grime and all. It will go exactly as badly as it sounds.

Death is NEVER the result of a failed roll. Death is only to be asked for by the players, and has to be the result of a successful roll. It is hard to die in the new world, and death must be fought for. This doesn't mean that most characters want death, it is still something to be feared and struggled against, but rather that a player seeking to preserve their character in amber must give them up. The punishment for failure should rarely be a reduction in capability for the character, but the reduction in the player's ability to direct the character's affordances. In fact, the most serious punishments should be ones that expand the character's power, while maintaining or only slightly reducing the player's.

The flipside to the fact that death is difficult is that the same applies to everyone. This is clear to nearly every person in the world. Still, there are a lot of things that people will want to avoid. Bodily harm is still very problematic. Make sure players understand that defeating in someone in combat rarely ends their problems, it just substitutes them for different ones. This especially applies when someone would die, but doesn't. Many are nervous of violence not because they may die, but what will happen instead - to them, or to their opponent.

Still, there are some things that could inflict harm beyond which it reasonable to assume a "self" could survive intact, for instance, pulverisation by rocks falling, or a parasite removing all concepts from a character's mind. If a character suffers something of this magnitude, they are put in the "fraying" state. They have to make a fraying roll. On failure, the GM or the group decide on a "struggling on" condition for why the character refuses to or is unable to die, and the character is advanced on the Birth track. On success the player can decide to let go, willingly surrendering control of their character (and choosing a community if they have not done so already). The character will quietly but inexorably become part of their chosen death community, they cannot be talked to or reasoned with, and will grow agitated if prevented from leaving. If the player succeeds the fraying roll, they may alternatively decide to struggle on regardless. In this case, the player decides on a "struggling on" condition for why the character refuses to or is unable to die, and the character is advanced on the Birth track.

Birth track:

• Once-born - The default for this world. You didn't exist, then you did and still do, and the passage of time between the start and present is marred only by brief bouts of unconsciousness.
• Twice-born - It was hard, but you managed to find death. Standard procedure now is to find a community of like minded individuals, and quietly disintegrate. Sadly, for one reason or another, this is unavailable to you. Twice-born are generally indistinguishable from regular people, although the signs are there for those in the know. Basic pleasures require sustained effort to be enjoyed, and passion is hard to muster. When you become Twice-born, choose a pledge and a community. Note that many will consider it gauche that you are not immediately heading off to the seclusion of a death community, and some find it offensive or immoral.
• Many-born: You pledged yourself to a cause, and found death instead. Again. This is exceedingly rare, and those that are Many-born are inescapably obvious. Their wilful denial of their circumstances is now not just embarrassing, it is a stain. It drips from their words and deeds. Many will attack you on sight, determined to push you into a grave one way or another. Your presence is a dread weight on those around you.

"Struggle on" conditions:

• Gnawing - There is something eating you. You hear it at all times.
• Ashen - Grey follows you. Colour is leached out of your surroundings, and equipment breaking has a chance of collapsing into ash.
• Innumerate - Numbers disagree with your existence. You and others around you struggle to keep track of amounts of things. Single options become sprawling, choices become fixed paths.
• Wordblind - The shape of words may remain, but detail has become blurry. Complicated concepts are reduced in your mind if you ever try to communicate them through words. Lies feel like a sting, concepts may become colours, syllables become beetles.
• Qualmless - You don't feel it so important to consider the consequences of your actions. Surprisingly, people around you tend to agree. They also tend to disagree that you should be considered either, however.
• Windchill - An ache in your face, a cold in your bones that will never go away. You have been gripped by the gales, and they will never leave you.
• Veiled - Every curtain is drawn when you're around. Every guard is raised, every hackle and haunch. Secrecy comforts you, and you have invited it into your heart. Your vigilance will be rewarded. You are right not to trust.
• Entropic - Rust and decay. Crowds disperse, coffee goes cold, the cloud of the unremarkable descends. The present resembles the end a little quicker when you're around.
• The Damp - You will never be fully dry. The damp rises around you, the joy of fungus, the bane of the camp. Expect skin to rot and slough off.
• Corrected - Death has taught you the error of your ways. Well. it has taught you that you have erred, at least. The habitual becomes the enemy. Routine is a disease. You know the New Ways, and you will share them, until they become painfully old ways, at which point it is time to find some newer ways.
• Aged - Up until now, you have been living as a mote, a blip. You know better now. A glimpse at the whole thing has taught you the meaning of age, and it terrifies you, or excites you. Aging is audible to you now, and everything ticks like a clock. Or - ageing is a taste, and you are suddenly ravenous.