Warhammer 40k needs a "Furry" Faction + The Fensi

Yeah I said it.

Let's get real for a second. I think it's pretty obvious that this blog is kinda "furry". I consider myself a furry as well. Despite this, I have a sort of inherent dislike of things "trying too hard", the furry-fatigue saps my interest in a setting or piece of media. Things "too furry" ruin it for me; like a fantasy setting with humans, elves, and then ten different beastfolk race. I'm alright with humans only, I prefer a good mix, but I'm not alright with anthros only for fantasy unless it's for a very specific purpose. Stuff like Zootopia is fun for its visual gags and clever contrasting of species, but it's not really meant for high level worldbuilding. Beastars also gets a pass since its about its predator/prey dynamics and behavior with modern (Japanese) life. But stuff like Ironclaw I don't really gel with; I get the feeling like it's the most boring basic and low effort fantasy just with a furry coat of paint on top. (The artstyle doesn't help), but that's not really fair. It is 100% furry though; I just know it when I see it.

How do we define "furry"? The classic answer is anything involving anthropomorphic animals, ie; animals that walk upright and have humanoid features and usually talk or do behaviors outside of their normal natural behaviors, would be furry. But this isn't a sufficient definition; there are a lot of works of media featuring furries that are rarely considered furry. Redwall, for example, features exclusively anthropomorphic characters, but is rarely considered "furry" in itself; it is moreso one of the gateways into the furry fandom given its status as a children's book series.

There is a second shadow definition; roughly "would some fat guy jack off to this?". The more true you can see it, the more "furry" a furry thing is. But it's not really fair to write off anything because it's someones fetish, the Space Wolves Space Marines are 100% bait for a wolfaboo 40k enjoyer; but they're also still really fucking cool. So what it comes down to is a balance between the projected "self indulgent creator" something has, and the thematic value that can be extracted from its constituent parts.

But how "furry" is something and how can we create something of the right balance? It's not as easy as it first appears. There are tons of anthropomorphic animal people in fantasy and sci-fi fiction, but that doesn't automatically make them furry. In the same way you see a cool lizardman from Warhammer fantasy and can still say it's a little furry but it's much less furry then say a werewolf. "Werewolves are cool monsters though!" I know, but they're a "furry" monster. But a werewolf is still much less furry then a dog anthro, which is in turn less furry then a sparkledog. Part of this comes down to species, the presentation, and its role in the media work, story, or whatever else.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some traits I've narrowed down to signal if a anthropomorphic species, faction, or character is furry.

• Mammals are more furry then other animal species. Canids get extra points.
• More rare species are more furry. Such as a maned wolf being more furry then a standard wolf.
• Unique coloration or markings; especially born with it. Heterochromia free space.
• Hybrids or extra animal body-parts are significantly more furry then a regular baseline creature of its real world counterpart species. Ugly or monstrous mutations are less furry; ie Warhammer Beastmen are less furry then a winged fox-wolf hybrid for example.
• Good aligned or at least positively viewed in its work. If they be subject to unfair treatment, then the audience is supposed to view it as them overcoming oppression/surviving being persecuted unfairly. They never deserve it. Overlapping trait with general Mary Sue profile.
• Usually magical; and closely related to nature and/or moral power systems. You're much more likely to see a "furry" character practicing chi manipulation or elemental magic then being imbued with cybernetics or using dark necromancy spells, for example.
• Cute, or at least drawn in a favorable way. Age range tends towards the young adult/author self-insert age, but almost never old/gray/haggard/scarred/etc. Disabilities, trauma, or other flaws are usually invisible or relegated to the aesthetic facial scar category.
• If violent; high level of proficiency, though rarely aggressive or domineering. "Hidden Badass" trope. Speed & Skill is usually preferred over brute strength, but this is dependent on species.
• Stereotypical traits of the animal species its based on, but rarely the more unsavory elements. ie; Bears are big, honest, love honey, and may hibernate but don't practice random infanticide for example.
• Sexual or romantic profile exactly as author's home culture; usually modern 2000s leniency towards homosexuality & casual sex; with mutual consent being most important factor as opposed to natural mating behaviors of its species or a more traditionalist culture. High degree of fetish content is specific to sexual content/porn, not that common in "normal" furry creation.
• Genders are almost always treated equally. Sexual dimorphism, if any, is regulated to appearance and is based solely on the host species.

So working backwards from this list, how do we create something "furry"? Well firstly, it must be adapted to its genre or host-work. Which leads me to part two.

Warhammer 40k & Faction Design
So 40k is a grimdark setting. Most of the races are engaged in genocidal wars with the other factions, meaning cooperation is very limited. While it's not "species = faction" given things like the Eldar vs Dark Eldar and the many, many human factions, but it's pretty close. The sole notable exception are the Tau, who are one of the few multi-species factions and are kind of meant to be the "tragic doomed good guy" faction in some ways. Even with this, some 40k fans think they're a bit toothless and don't fit with the general vibe of the setting; so our furry faction will have to be at least as bad as them, if not worse.

Disclaimer: I have never played or know anything about 40k besides what I read on wikis. So this entire exercise is just was wank as your own personal headcanon. If anything, maybe moreso, since there are probably other species or groups in 40k that deserve to be a faction way more then anything I could create; and that's valid. For this blogpost, I did at least do a little research, since the 40k game design element of this is what I'm least well equipped to handle in the "just making shit up" category.

Besides the grimdark element, each faction in 40k tends to have different unique traits. While there are many human factions that share similar aesthetics and technological basis, each Xeno species has a few traits across all of them that might work as a basis.

Species	Human / Imperium	Eldari / Dark Eldar
Physical	Humans	Elf (Better humans)
Tech	Ancient, Bulky, Industrial	Magictechish
Aesthetics	Iconography, Gothic, “Used Future”	Organic but not biotech
Gameplan	Varies (Diverse)	Fast & Mobile
Magic/Psionics	Chaos-susceptible, dangerous psykers	High emotions need restraint
Ideology	Fascist Empire w/ Theocratic tone	Independent & Conservative

Species	Ork	Tyranids
Physical	Green, Big, Brutish, Fungal	Insectoid; just Xenomorphs
Tech	Scavenged	True biotech & natural traits
Aesthetics	Scrap, Chaotic, Tribal	Limbs, splines, carapace
Gameplan	GO IN	Swarm (big monsters sometimes)
Magic/Psionics	Gestalt belief-field	Hive-Mind
Ideology	Tribal, “Might makes Right”	Survival/Animal

Species	Tau	Necrons
Physical	Various (Multi-Species)	Machine, Skeletal
Tech	Automatons, Cutting-Edge	Alienware Sarcophagi
Aesthetics	Mecha-inspired, sleek, utopian	Egyptian, Terminator
Gameplan	Ranged shooters	Tank Everything
Magic/Psionics	None	Rewrite reality, Matrix-code
Ideology	Real Politik, Communistic	Domination

Ideally, any new factions would want to have something that's different about them to all the other factions in each of these categories, while keeping in mind the medium they're being designed for. For example, you wouldn't want to make an army more hoard-y then the Tyranids; trying to fit any more pieces on a board then that would just be annoying. Likewise a faction of giant flying space psychic space whales might also be cool; but would be awkward in the context of a tabletop wargame.

Quick side note: Only now reading this do I realize how little of the "each species has one biome" thing 40k actually does. It's refreshing, because it's probably my biggest pet peeve in sci-fi. But at the same time, it'd be rather unique to do something like it, given the all-encompassing nature of 40k's races; that sort of flavor is mostly reserved for individual factions or space marine chapters and the like. 

Of course, the real answer of "what should the new faction of 40k be" is the myraid of unexplored factions and species already existent in the setting people have been wanting to see for a long time. They might be more deserving, and I'm sure your headcanon is more legitimate then mine. But this is just for fun; so what's a unique "furry" faction we could add distinct to the rest? (And if the Tau pissed off the neckbeards back in the day, oh boy).

The Fensi
Originating from their desert-dominated homeworld of Hassalude, the Fensi are a race of anthropomorphic canids similar in appearance to Fennec Foxes from earth. Their huge ears meant to help locate prey and cool off in the harsh desert conditions where they evolved are their primary distinguishing feature. After being born, Fensi kits quickly grow to a large size with long and disproportionately slender limbs, and die of old age in just a few short Terran years. However, due to a unique element of their culture, the Fensi can live much longer then their natural lifespan during which they slowly shrink in size. This confounds members of the other races, especially the Orks, but to the Fensi, the smallest among them are the oldest and richest, because of their access to Lux.

Lux is a unique substance cultivated by the Fensi. It's a type of specially processed water infused with psionic energy; farmed in special condenser farms and gardens by underclass workers. It can only be gathered on living planets, but seems to keep a store of all the psionic energy of beings who live within its water-cycle. Beyond being perfectly shelf-stable, drinkable, and resisting evaporation from the harsh desert wind, making it a trading currency to their early cultures; Lux is also known to infuse the drinker with an accumulation of psionic energy. While its original effects may have only been related to the health-benefits of good hydration, Lux has been so valued and singularly important in their capitalistic culture that it has become a vessel for value, power, and importance itself; the very drive to acquire Lux has made it more potent.

The Fensi culture is that of competition, hierarchy, and opportunity. While they have laws that protect individuals and private enterprise; their entire culture is about the accumulation of wealth (Lux) by the wealthiest that is often taken from the poorest. Because of their biology, young Fensi are the main laborers, using their big bodies to tend to the gardens and dig for insects to eat, eventually dying of old age in just a few short years if their lips never had a taste of Lux. Trade unions and mercenary armies make up the middle classes, to who which belong Fensi that are shorter and more stout in stature; similar in size to a regular Imperium human. Finally, the aristocrats of their race are the smallest of all, looking more like an upright talking fox instead of a powerful and dangerous Xeno. But this appearance can be deceiving, as these Fensi are the most powerful in their culture; with innate psionic protection and strength making them formidable foes.

Beyond their capitalistic traits, Fensi love art and luxury of all kinds. They prefer colorful clothing and dress, and even reflect this in their machines and military uniforms. Rare artifacts from other civilizations are traded freely and openly in Fensi bazaars and markets; with no regard for possible contamination by Chaos or restricted technology. While Slaanesh primarily gorges herself on the souls of the Elder; the much decadent Fensi upperclass may one day draw her eye.

Fensi tools, weapons, and even spaceships are all powered by Lux. This single-minded approach to resources has made their industry second only to the Imperium in grand scale. Unlike the Imperium however, the Fensi are very capitalistic. Their primary motivation to explore the galaxy and expand is profit and acquiring more Lux, first and foremost. Instead of exterminating another species on sight, they'd much prefer to barter and trade with them, but always to the benefit of whatever Fensi struck up the deal. Their power structure is colonial and imperialistic; establishing colonies on many worlds to suck up their "living water" using private mercenary armies and underhanded tactics to try and make a profit. They are willing to cooperate with many species in the galaxy, but only for the pursuit of wealth.

Fensi Factions
Whipsands Trading Co.
This corporation prides itself on being the largest and most expansive entity in Fensi space; creating monopolized worlds and many exploitive colonies on many foreign worlds. It is defended by its own private army; though it much prefers to expand through trade contract and hostile takeover over direct force whenever possible. It's most powerful members are the board of directors, who are the original founders of the company still alive since the very first of their race left their planet to explore the galaxy and gain profit from it.

Fensi Scouts- Light infantry sometimes found on foot or on the back of a younger long-limbed Fensi. These scouts are simultaneously skirmishers and skilled wilderness surveyors and prospectors, looking for watery oases in desert worlds or being bundled up to explore ice worlds.

Scout Gyrocopter- Fensi Scouts positioned in a flying machine, used for surveying the battlefield and taking weak, low damage potshots at enemies within a very long range. (I don't know 40k flying unit rules so I assume this would just be annoying and not OP)

Fensi Infantry- The standard Fensi infantry are middle-aged Fensi; shortened and stocky closer to human proportions. They wear elaborate costumes and fight in long line formations with their one-shot Lux Muskets. While not very mobile and not strong in melee, their mass shooting can be very deadly and they are well disciplined to be paid to keep order for the company.

Fensi Cavaliers- More heavily armored middle-aged Fensi with multiple carbines for a draw-and-fire approach. They ride on the back of large, younger Fensi.

Fensi Artillery- Powerful cannons using a variety of ammunition types. I imagine this as literally just a Napoleonic wars era type artillery cannon.

Cannonback- Artillery pieces put on the back of young Fensi, who carry them around to either fire a single inaccurate medium range explosive shot or can run into enemies to perform a kamikaze attack.

Fensi Grenadiers- Young Fensi wearing military dress and colorful uniforms, armed with shovels, axes, grenades, and Brewster style body-armor. Meant to break through enemy fortifications and act as a slightly heavier infantry. When each one is killed they drop live grenades as a small trick, taking out their own as well as enemies in melee range.

Bladetank- Large tanks powered by flywheels and Lux-devices; the entire outside is adorned with spinning blades and spikes. Primarily used as a method of breaking up worker revolts; it is a devastating vehicle made for melee combat and rushing into enemy infantry.

LuxWell- Large hovering shrine containing a large amount of Lux with many watering cans and urns besides, marked with company insignia. Designed as a sort of support unit that buffs nearby units (especially Elder Fensi). Kinda meant to be like a Tyranid Brain unit, but vulnerable if attacked directly.

Fensi Elder- Tiny Vulpera sized fox sitting on a self-propelled throne. (I like to imagine them in powdered wigs and frilly outfits, but anything regal and expensive will do). They are expensive in points and are usually named characters. They don't attack physically instead using psionic powers or telepathic suggestion to destroy opponents. Similar to the theme of slow but strong units reliant on positioning; the Fensi Elders would have turning rules but be extremely strong in close combat, having a death cone of attack in front of them you don't want to get funneled into. 

Worker Union
Because of the Fensi's capitalistic culture, the majority of their population exist within an exploited underclass. With short lifespans and tech-enforced monopolies on all trade and property; a growing resistance is brewing in the Fensi's lower and middle classes. While much poorer then the Whipsands corporation, the newly created Worker Union attempts to make up for it in numbers and cooperation. In the grim darkness of the future; there is only class warfare.

Fensi Burrowers- Fensi prefer to live underground in burrows; some little more then a hole in the ground and others elaborate subterranean palaces. The first step to all are burrowers; shovel-wielding very-young Fensi given limited armor and no training or expectation of survival. These Fensi can be used to create emergency cover or tunnels on a battlefield, or thrown into the enemy as an expendable shock troop.

Farmer Militia- Small land-owning farmers who can only create a meager amount of Lux, constantly pushed to sell their properties or in competition to larger corporations. Armed with simple flintlock Lux guns and machetes used for cutting vegetation now act as cheap but flexible infantry.

Arsonists- Those who burn factories and plantations of the wealthy classes; repurposed as a regular unit. Luxfire hits a zone on the table and stays for a long time, but can be instantly snuffed by the controlling player as a sort of unique area-control tool.

Abolistionist- Cool Elder Fensi riding a motorcycle (maybe a monowheel or old timey-bike with one big and one small wheel), who is a much more mobile but less powerful version of the Fensi Elder. They'd move around the battlefield getting to do AoE blasts around them in a small range each turn, prioritizing hit and run tactics or maybe they could "reverse polarity" and suck enemies towards them making them really good when matched with artillery, which are of course way more expensive for this faction or you need to pull enemies into Luxfire, or something like that.

Species	Fensi
Physical	Anthromorphic Animal-People (Foxes)
Tech	Retrofuturistic, Hand-Crafted, Hydraulic
Aesthetics	Desert Traders, Military Dress, Steampunk, Fantasy-Bazaar
Gameplan	Area Denial & Defensive Depth
Magic/Psionics	Wealth is Power
Ideology	Capital Exploitation & Colonialism

Design Goals
Basically I was trying to make something a little different but still fit in the world of 40k. I don't think it fits very well into 40k in my opinion; too much like a historical fantasy and not sci-fi enough and without the brutal grimdarkness. Notice how most 40k races have at least some kind of conversion or massive survival tactic like Necrons being unkillable machines or Orks having a fungal lifecycle. The Fensi are perfect as one of those xenos the Imperium wiped out centuries ago at least, don't really know if it has the "juice" of a full fledged faction. They'd probably just be a Tau side-species if anything.

Design wise? I don't know enough about 40k factions to say what kind of gameplay is unique. But I think a faction focused on slow and restricted units (like flintlocks who have to reload for a turn, or area-denial artillery and so on) that are strong but very clunky to use are interesting in the context of modern firearms, psionic spells, hovertanks, and other 40k-ish staples. This could totally already exist in the game though and I just wouldn't know any better. Overall, I don't think it's very good, but was fun to come up with.

Blaster Colors by Noble Gases

Art @Nick Gindraux

I've always been real curious about how blasters from Star Wars are supposed to work. I think they're probably one of the most staple and iconic sci-fi weapons (besides maybe the lightsaber); works as a perfect general energy weapon gun replacer.

But I always felt the element of what color or the exact explanation of how the bolts work was somewhat lacking.  Red for the common or normal bolts, green for good ones, blue for ionized for use against bots, etc. I don't care, I don't know shit about Star Wars, sorry.

Obviously it doesn't matter, given its a movie or whatever, but I like to think of their implementation in setting if you wanted to copy them for something else. This suddenly gave me an idea.

Blaster Colors by Noble Gas
The color of a blaster bolt is based on whatever noble gas is used to fill it; after all, they are energized plasma bolts of gas, so the same principles of neon lights apply here. Pure gases are usually used by matter of convenience and because it looks cooler, even though you could realistically get almost any color by combining them.

Why use noble gases instead of a more common gas? Simple; they don't react to things. This makes them ideal for blaster ammunition, as they won't suddenly oxidize the inside of the gun barrel or try to molecular-bond with each other while being charged.

Now you may think that this means each gas-color is really unique and has some really specific function, but no, I actually think it's cooler if they don't. Instead, their molecular mass is the most important aspect, and greatly influences their properties like flight speed, accuracy, how much heat it produces, and how much energy from the firing mechanism they can store. The more energy is applied to the bolt, the stronger its heat and explosive effects will be.

Helium bolts (yellow) are super lightweight, and as such fly the fastest and are extremely accurate, but do almost no damage. At low power settings they're ideal for training and target shooting; getting hit by one is like a spitball. At high power, they scatter the molecules too fast to be of much explosive use, but rapidly pushing out air can still knock lightweight objects out of the air, meaning they're used for sport shooting and shooting down fast moving targets like drones or small animals for game hunting without destroying the meat or pelt. Continuous beam style blasters also use this because it generates the least waste heat; you can use these for your mining lasers.

Xenon bolts are the opposite, ultra-heavy atomically and slow, most effected by gravity and wind resistance giving them a slight spread, but are very powerful. The blue bolts are synonymous with stun bolts used at low power settings, which is like getting slapped with a ton of wet blankets, but are so slow a skilled human might actually be able to dodge these with a head start and a diving leap. At high power settings? Become explosive and blow the fuck out of fortifications and used against heavily armored vehicles and orbital bombardment; being more synonymous with artillery. Use these for your blaster grenade launchers.

The colors in-between are on this spectrum; Neon (red) are fast and accurate enough to be used for sniping and low power enough to be used for handheld weapons without melting the gun in your hands or blowing a hole through the inside hull of a ship. White-Blue Krypton bolts are used for heavily armored targets and vehicles who might be too fast for a Xenon bolt to hit easily, like aircraft or spaceships. Argon bolts are right in the middle, being a perfect purple middle ground that's most used by scouts, raiders, and player-characters since they have no idea if they're going to be shooting at regular people or a rancor and need options.

In D&D terms? Blasters probably do like 4d6 damage or something. But maybe;

Gas	To-Hit Bonus	Damage Bonus	Color
Helium	+2	-4	Yellow-Orange
Neon	+1	-2	Red
Argon	0	0	Purple
Krypton	-1	+2	White-Blue
Xenon	-2	+4	Blue

Also the colors go top to bottom in order for resolving who hits first. So if two people shoot each other at the same time, the person with the lighter gas hits the other first and throws off their aim and wins the duel.

12 Random Doo-Dads from the wall of a Spaceship

I always hate how cool Sci-Fi art, video game levels, assets, etc. always skip over the granular detail of the worlds they live in. With Faster-Then-Light travel and highly advanced spaceships, the art and description of these always seem to show this extremely detailed and textureful spaceship interiors, with lots of buttons, screens, weird pipes, and other do-hickeys hanging and built into the walls of your highly advanced spacecraft. But they never actually go into detail of what they do, or even more rarely do you ever get a chance to interact with them. I love these little gribbles, but what are you supposed to say if a player or reader randomly wants to interact with one of them? What will they find?

Roll on this list to find out! Conveniently; if you don't like psychic stuff in your sci-fi, you can just roll a d10 instead.

12 Spaceship Wall Doo-Dads
[1] Moisture Condensers. Black tubes feed your breath and shed skin oils back into the ship's recycler for water and nitrogen content. Everyone knows where the organic mass for your food replicator comes from, you still don't talk about it.

[2] Wall Capacitor. Usually a slightly raised panel with a bunch of buttons on it. Critical ship systems require a constant and uninterrupted flow of power; these act as extra energy batteries all across the ship. You can press the buttons to cut off or redirect the power held in this unit to somewhere else, especially useful for emergency situations.

[3] Gravity Shocks. These are shock absorbers, which look like long metal tubes or sticks along the side of a ship. Filled with compressive rubber cubes or discs. Whenever the ship hits a powerful g-force or gravity distortion, these absorb most of the shock so it doesn't crush the crew or anything else inside the ship. You can get away with a lot less of these then most people have, but it makes the ride more "turbulent". 

[4] Ship Patch Slot. Very thin door or material strip is pulled aside to reveal a tall but thin hole leading much deeper into the hull then you'd think. Only wide enough to put a hand inside. Within are several long, very thin plastic sheets used to patch small holes in the ship- the sheet is placed over the breach and a simple utility laser or low-powered energy weapon can melt the plastic to the wall to make it stick. Used until you can get real repair back in a stardock.

[5] Life Support Unit. Station dedicated to life support systems; oxygen and an appropriate temperature radiate from these to the rest of the room or area in the ship. Thermostat style controls including all breathable gasses, humidity levels, and PH balance. Ship Captains are notoriously strict about other people messing with THEIR preferred life-support settings. "I don't care how much methane your species needs to breathe, do you have any idea how much that's going to increase the fuel cost!?"

[6] Manual Lightswitch. Controls all the little LEDs that go up and down the hallways and flash red when the emergency systems are on. Sounds really dumb but people are used to hundreds of years of automatic doors and the AI dimming and changing the lights for them whenever they enter or leave so this seems like a really primitive, hands-on kind of failsafe.

[7] Charging Cabinet. Gentle, "hands off" method of recharging various atomic batteries and small appliances. Replacing the fuel cell on whatever gadget or tool you have is much faster, but you can use these cabinets as a way to store and also charge up whatever object. Charges about 1% of the items' battery per day, so really slow, but these mean whenever you bring out some ancient gadget or special tool it won't be out of energy from just sitting in a closet somewhere for multiple years.

[8] Hologram Anchor. Filled with mirrored discs and little pendulums to know which way is up- really important piece of equipment to stabilize and act as a reference point for any holograms or visual projections you beam inside the ship. If you don't have one of these the holograms will just be like clipping through the floor and their voices will sound like they're coming from the wrong room because the computer doesn't know where to put them otherwise.

[9] Binding Crank. Most ships use a semi-flexible membrane lattice and rubberized supports to let the vessel have some sway and ability to bend so it is not to brittle. These cranks let you tighten or loosen these supports. Despite clearing being made to be used by the crew- the torque required to turn one of these is so ridiculous that you basically can only get a robot to do it.

[10] Computer Junk-Data Sinks. Thin plastic bars with built in handles shoved into consoles along the wall; these are where routine computer check-sums, unrecoverable RAM, quarantined viruses and glitches are all stored. Often neglected because of how little it effects the overall ship AI's performance and because cleaning them is easy; you just run water on them in the sink. Everyone who got to the future by cryogenic freezing is extremely confused.

[11] Psychic Decoy. Electronic devices that look a bit like a clump of tinfoil. They emit false delta and theta brain signals to make it hard to track how many people are inside the ship and what they are thinking about. However, any psychic worth their crystal are going to notice a bunch of comatose people stacked up along the walls of the ship many times over any reasonable ship of that size would have. It was a bit of a fad back in the day, any old beater or "hand me down" spaceship is probably going to have a bunch of these.

[12] Anomaly Sensor. Looks like a plastic medal hanging on a lanyard. Experienced ship captains hoard these things and hang them everywhere like magic talismans. This is because these sensors have the almost miraculous ability to detect when things are just slightly "off" from normal, letting out a shrill electric beep and flashing a small light with its color based on the danger level- green for benign, yellow for caution, and red for danger. From time distortions, memory-voids, invisible energy viruses infecting your systems, or space madness- all things a computer or robot can't help you with. Nobody really knows how they work, but if you break one open and study its core you'll find a tiny amount of human neural tissue locked inside its circuits.

Galaxy Far Away - Ultralite Review + New Tables & Rule Ideas

So I usually don't do this, but today I'd like to take a look at this ruleset made by Jim over at the d66 Classless Kobolds blog. Basically he made a super simple Star Wars roleplaying game that I ended up really liking, but it felt a little bare bones. I want to stress here I'm not taking ownership of this game (obviously), but I made some content for it and wanted to share. Also: this one got a lot longer then intended, so strap in.

But first; let me get a little mini review of the game itself. It's very basic, which I suppose is the point since its an ultralight. Some of the ideas here are fun. I like the 1 in 6 chance to be Force Sensitive for player characters, it's not a perk, just a whim of fate. I guess the other nice thing about an ultralike game for Star Wars is you can depict the force in any way you want.

But first; let's discuss the elephant in the room. Some of the only real meat and potatoes of this game is in your starting equipment, rolled on a random table. One of these is a weapon table; which lists "Frag Grenade" as a possible outcome.

Now I don't really like this because I don't really consider a grenade a "weapon", I mean it is but, it's a one-and-done kind of deal. Obviously you're given some starting credits which specifically says you can buy a cheap blaster, so that isn't a serious problem. But I feel like starting weapons should be a little more lasting then that. If it was a bandolier of grenades that would be fine- but I would rather put this in as a "tool", a more generic explosive that can be used to destroy barricades, damage large vehicles, or kill and damage things out of the character's weight class like a Rancor.

But the real problem with this ruleset? Look at the random equipment tables. Frag Grenade? Really? In Star Wars? Why isn't it a Thermal Detonator? Are you kidding me?

Now jokes aside; I get that it's an ultralight, but without any sort of real mechanics to go on I feel it fails a bit as a game. The idea of realistic damage based on where and how you attack is great fodder for good fight scenes and, in my opinion, works fine for tabletop games, but the way you actually go about making the attacks are 2d6 contested rolls. This means pretty much everything is a 50/50 toss up, with a smaller chance to tie then something like a d6 vs d6 roll since you have more possible outcomes. With this in mind, there's no reason player characters wouldn't be ending every NPC they are fighting in a single roll- and vice versa, if the NPCs are smart. Obviously you could argue that you can just adjudicate the low winning rolls of a 2d6 as being weaker successes, with say a roll of 12 over an enemy roll of 2 being a major success- but frankly at that point you're making things harder for yourself.

Art @ukitakumuki

Now obviously there's not a focus on combat in this game, but I like the idea of variable damage rolls; just a little bit of crunch to bring to the combat system, which tends to be the part of roleplaying games people want and need the most solid rules for. So here are some blaster tables. Whenever you hit an enemy with a blaster, roll a d6.

#	Pistol / Holdout	Blaster Rifle	Heavy Blaster
1	Miss / Ineffective	Environmental	Environmental
2	Environmental	Glance	Scorch
3	Glance	Scorch	Injury
4	Scorch	Injury	Debilitating
5	Injury	Debilitating	Lethal
6	Debilitating	Lethal	Vaporize

Explanations-

Getting an Environmental hit means that the enemy is not damage directly, but something around them is damage; if it be their personal combat droid, target they're trying to protect, destroys part of their cover, or hits a door access panel and forces it shut (or open). Whatever the effect, it should be beneficial to the shooter.

Getting a Glance or Scorch means the target was clipped but not seriously injured or brought out of the fight. Glance may just mean a small scorch mark or minor damage- their helmet could be hit on the visor, thus blackening it and making it useless until they take it off or maybe their weapon is damage somehow. Scorch is a more serious version of a glance, causing a small flesh wound and pain. If you want to get more crunchy, maybe getting scorched causes a -1 to future rolls made until it is healed.

Injuries are more serious. If hit on a limb it may stop use of that limb, or if hit in the body will cause you to fall over. If hit by this you can only barely move away to escape, and are not in fighting shape at all- you'd only be able to do a few missing shots as a fighting retreat. Debilitating is the same, except in this version you can't even move or fight back at all- if the debilitating shot hit a limb, that limb is blasted away or charred beyond repair and will need a cybornetic prosthetic. Unless if you have medical attention; Debilitating means you will die within a few hours. Finally, if the Debilitating hit was aimed from the head, the target will die in a few minutes instead, and be totally unconscious.

Any blast marked Lethal will kill if aimed for the head, neck, or chest. Even if the bolt itself didn't go through or vaporize it, it caused enough concussive force to kill. If you roll a Lethal hit but were aiming to capture or stun (and not using the stun setting?), then that happens instead.

Finally, the Vaporize is unique to the heavy blaster and essentially means the target is not only dead, but either vaporized into a smoking cadaver or turned to dust. You can get the same effect with a Blaster Rifle, but only with many repeating shots to an already defeated opponent- just what happened to Luke's aunt and uncle. Any damage this serious will probably cause other opponents to surrender or at least become fearful.

Once damage is rolled, a player may freely flip over a light-side token to a dark side token to go up one slot on the damage table. They could turn a lethal roll into an injury for an important NPC or themselves, but by doing so shift the destiny of the universe more towards the Dark side (DM).

Art @AraxussYexyr

Armor Rules

Armor is unique in this game (and in Star Wars) because it's not at all explained. So instead, we'll go with some guidelines. Basic and mass produced armor up to the Clone Troopers or Storm Trooper level turns a result of 5 or 6 on a table to a 4 on its corresponding table. This is also the level of armor I'd consider starting Player Characters who rolled the "Modular Armor" result on clothing to have.

Specialist armor like the Mandalorian armor / bounty hunter armor has the ability above but also counts any weapon as the table to its left. So a Heavy Blaster is treated like a Blaster Rifle and a Blaster Rifle as a Holdout Blaster, while also reducing rolls of 5 or 6 to a 4 on that table. Blaster Pistols aren't effective against this armor at all, only dealing Scorch damage on a roll of 5 or 6. If a character aims at a specific target on the armor (like the fuel tank or jetpack controls), then they can still hit it and damage it on a roll of 6.

Armor is also locational; so armor equal to those white helmets the rebels wear might save their life, but only if shot in the head.

Also: If you're playing as a really tough species (Wookie), have a bunch of damage-absorbing Force effects on at once, a bunch of implants, or anything else that would make you tougher then average just reduce whatever result you get by -1.

Also also; I like the idea of a "Glance" actually getting deflected totally and flying off, causing collateral damage, if you're wearing some kind of armor at all. But heavy blaster bolts are too heavy and powerful to be deflectd so easily (at least without a lightsabre) so that's why its just listed as a Scorch instead.

The Force & Destiny Tokens

So in Jim's game rules, he doesn't really give a list of force powers. I really like this, as it frees up the Jedi and the Sith to use the force in ways that are unique, interesting, and once again allows for the referee and players own interpretation of The Force.

So with no other real rules to go by; I kind of like the idea of the force being balanced by the Destiny mechanic; the light side and dark side tokens. Basically as the rules describe them, it's a set of 6 tokens that are either white or black, representing the light or dark side of the force. If the player flips a white token to the dark, then they can get an advantage, but each dark token can be flipped to the light so the referee can give the players a setback. That mechanic I think is interesting, as it basically provides infinite resources to both players and, in the context of the fiction, acts as an interesting idea.

See, with how vague The Force is sometimes, I like to think the tokens represent the balance of the force in the game world. So if all the tokens are on the light side, that means the players have a massive amount of potential in every action- it's like they have the momentum of the plot. In the same way, the referee having all the tokens set to black means the dark side is currently winning, has the most resources to throw at the players- it's like evil has the upper hand.

I like to think this is a literal thing, even a thing players can feel. Whenever the referee flips a token to the light side and gets an advantage, the force-sensitive characters can literally feel it in the world. "I sense a disturbance in the force." That's fun. Of course, this only really works if the players are also good guys for the most part; if the players are aligned with the evil empire or are Sith, then it doesn't really make sense- but you could just flip the tokens colors for players/GM if you're playing an evil campaign.

Now how does this work mechanically? Simple! The power of your force abilities is influenced by the tokens in play. If all the tokens are white, then the light side of the force is more powerful. If all the tokens are black, then dark side powers are more powerful. Perhaps something like a simple d6 roll over the color of the opposing side of the force to defeat an enemy force user in some kind of context- like perhaps only for actual force powers v force powers battles, with lightsabres and stuff having their own rolls. But if ALL force user fights came down to destiny (with the winning side forced to flip a token to the other color afterwards) you can create your own dramatic tension.

I kind of like this because it makes force sensitive characters more hooked into the game rules and, perhaps a bit cheesy, able to peer through the 4th wall a bit the way Jedi seem to do. It also discourages players from actually using their light side tokens for advantages, as they can weaken the dark side by not flipping them. I also think the idea of all the other player and referee actions kind of leading and flowing into this climatic Jedi finale where the outcome is determined by destiny is very Star Warsian. I just think that's mechanically a cool idea, but narratively and in the fiction? Ehh, maybe not. You could obviously see how this takes away any force-sensitive player importance and if anybody does get to be a Jedi they'd have to work for it since you can't start the game as one; so this would kind of squash that accomplishment.

Art @BossLogic

Lightsaber Rules

Now, I can see Lightsabers being a bit of an issue with this ultralite. You see, the idea is to make the rules go with the fiction, and that's easy enough to understand. The problem here is with lightsabers, and since at least one player is almost certainly going to be a Jedi, and you'll probably fight Sith at some point, then Lightsabers upset this balance. The problem here is that according to the fiction, Lightsabers just kill everything. If somebody slashes you with a lightsaber up close, even if they aren't a Jedi, you'd just die. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but when it comes to the idea of a game not having rules for things like this and being a conversation between players and a DM, then the issue of why you can or cannot just run down everything and cut them apart with a lightsaber (or how enemies won't just shoot you on the way over) could be a problem in a narrative game like this.

So instead, we use a little mechanic called Momentum. Momentum is a numerical counter of a Jedi or Sith's "battle trance", or otherwise how powerfully they are moving forward, deflecting blaster fire, and pushing towards their enemies as a dervish of flying energy sword swings. Momentum is both a force-users attack and defensive power in combat, though this never overrides the fiction. If a combat roll is called and it is failed, your momentum drops down one step. If a combat roll is called and is successful, then you move up one step. The force user can cut thru a swathe of opponents of their momentum or less, and a force user can deflect any attack made at their deflection level or less.

Everyone who picks up a lightsaber fights at their training level. If two lightsaber users meet at equal levels (the same momentum) they cannot overcome each other, unless one uses the force, a trick, or an ally to help distract their opponent, etc. Also, whatever "tier" of Momentum a character has gives them all defenses on both their tier and everything about it, whatever makes sense.

M	Ranking	Cuts Thru	Deflects
-1	Nonforce User	X	X
0	Force Sensitive	Womp Rats	Training Bolts
1	Padawan	Battle Droids	Blaster Pistol
2	Jedi / Sith	Storm / Clone Troopers	A few pistols / Blaster Rifle
3	Knight / Inquisitor	Droidakas	Many Blaster Rifles
4	Jedi Master / Sith Lord	Monsters / Bounty Hunters	Heavy Blaster
5	Heroic / Starkiller	Regular Jedi / Sith	Repeating Blaster

To stat up different fighting styles; simply change what rank each column has. For example, if you've got Obi Wan using Form III, you could say that whatever momentum level he is fighting on is moved one down on deflection, but moved one up on cut thru, since it's a defensive focused form.

Finally- if all of this game's destiny tokens are flipped to one side; then all force users of that alignment gain a momentum of +1 in combat while using lightsabers. If this is too powerful, just move up down a stage for cut thru for Sith if all dark side tokens are up, and move down a stage for deflect for Jedi if all the light side tokens are up to make the characters more thematically appropriate.

[Class] Eelstronaut

Eelstronaut
HD- d6
Max AC- 12 / Minimum Hit-Points- 4

You're a big scary eel man. You're also exceptionally intelligent, dexterous, and all around nice guy. If you're playing in a more fantasy setting over sci-fi, maybe this guy is from another dimension, future timeline, or is dropped in from a cosmic spelljammer starship that crashed on your primitive planet.

Generate your Dexterity and Intelligence as 3d6+1
Generate your Charisma as 1d6+1

You have a very low Charisma. This isn't just because you are ugly and scary looking, but because of several innate biological traits that can't be suppressed. You are totally carnivorous and have to eat your prey live- eating dead prey is similar to a human eating uncooked meat. Technically possible, but unpleasant and can get you very sick. You're also prone to several gross or weird social ticts and habits; such as saying "Please pass me the plasma wrench dear. Oh yes, thank you eheheheHEHEHE." and other fits of creepy behavior. Sorry.

You are, however, an Eel person. You can't breathe underwater but you can hold your breath for an hour. If this is because of your race or if it's because of your advanced Eelstronaut training that's up to you. You can also see in darkness, especially dark water, and can fit into anything that your head can fit into letting you slip through pipes and stuff. Useful on a space ship.

You're very good with advanced technology. You can repair high tech gadgets and gizmos a number of times equal to your level before they stop working or need replacement parts. As a general rule, something high tech without a support network will keep working until it is either damaged or used incorrectly, then it has a 1 in 6 chance of failing until it fails. Eelstronauts can repair these, but they have a 1 in 6 chance to fail each time they are used from damage. You can also move around in micro gravity, which helps when hit with a levitation trap in a fantasy world.

You can also add +1 to hit with blasters and energy swords at first level. Every three levels after, add a bonus +1.

You can do a bite attack at 1d6+1 as long as you don't have your spacesuit helmet on. You find this kind of thing very barbaric however, and will need to spend at least a turn after combat grooming and picking man-flesh out of your sharp, spiky, glass-like teeth.

At 4th level, you gain the ability to perform an electric shock. You can do this pretty much as often as you want for low voltages, but for a big, high voltage attack; once per day. These low voltage shocks can be done on anything you're touching and can restart generators, run electrical circuits, or hotwire a device. The high voltage shock hits anything you are touching or that is grappling you; deals 1d8+1 damage and shorts out killer robots and stuff and deactivates them for 3 turns.

At 10th level, you become an Eelstronomer and now work in mission control, once you return to civilization (as in, a society with space ships, not a medieval town.) You no longer have to get into the cockpit, now you perform mission control and school the new generation of astronauts. You become the unsung hero the Eel space program and can retire with a comfy pension.

Sci Fi Expedition-Planet Generator

Roll on this table when you discover a new planet and beam down to interact with the locals. Each planet has a specific biome (to keep with the tropey sci-fi theme), has a technology level, is ruled by one dominant race, and a dark secret.

Biome – Roll 1d20

[1] Desert.

[2] Forest. 50% chance of being Rainforest/tropical instead.

[3] Grasslands and mountains.

[4] Garden. Planet has no predators, perfectly manicured grass, berries everywhere, etc.

[5] Polluted dump/trash world. May or may not be the fault of the current inhabitants.

[6] Snowy tundra world. Sparse woodland areas.

[7] Ocean world. If the dominant race is land dwelling, then they live on islands.

[8] Rain forest/tropical.

[9] Giant fungal blooms.

[10] Surface of planet is too hostile for life- everything lives inside massive cave system.

[11] Lava world.

[12] Rocky wasteland with giant crystals and geodes.

Technology Level – Roll 1d6

[1] Stone age. Tribal, but a few cities and monoliths exist. Built without your help.

[2] Medieval technology level. Most people are subsistence farmers.

[3] Early Industrial level. They live in growing cities with factories and automobiles.

[4] Modern Era. Technology has progressed to computers and information age.

[5] Early Space Age. Local orbit space ships and have begun colonizing their 1d4 moons.

[6] Modern Space Age. Have space ports, robots, regulation planet of the federation.

Dominant Species – Roll 1d20

[1] Cybernetic spiders with their brains in an artificial “mesh” attached to their heads.

[2] Immortal race of “pleasure droids” dropped on this planet eons ago.

[3] 10 ft tall ogre dudes with a beak. They pierce holes in their beaks for status.

[4] Fuzzy worms that constrict/snuggle prey to death.

[5] Triceratops people. Go crazy if they see a comet (or crashing spaceship?)

[6] Muscle people. Root themselves to one spot and stay their for life. Lots of regret.

[7] Tree people. Extremely slow moving, blend in with nature extremely well.

[8] Mole people. Die if too much of their skin is exposed to open air at once.

[9] Alien dudes that are like 80% head by weight. Ridiculous evolved trait for mating displays.

[10] Bird people. Look like emus. Can't fly, believe their gods can.

[11] Soft rounded bean people with few traits. Look like Fall Guys, basically.

[12] Horrible barbed chitinous bug people.

[13] Centipede race. Not anthropomorphic, just giant centipedes.

[14] Multiple eel “headhands” burst from a central “hive”. Brain is in the hive.

[15] Levitating, highly intelligent beings made of plasma and paper-thin tissue.

[16] Eyeballs filled with lighter than air gas. Use spindly spider legs as graspers.

[17] Blue/Green/Red/Yellow skinned humans. May or may not have weird forehead.

[18] Aggressive, predatory skinless monster people with dog-like heads and horns.

[19] Fish with prehensile fins. Have to wear globes on their heads to travel on land or your ship.

[20] Sponge people with regenerating, sexless egalitarian society.

Weird Cultural Quirk – Roll 1d20

[1] Doctors, and all other types of sorcerers, are forbidden.

[2] Every individual of their species wears choking amounts of perfume.

[3] No concept of intellectual property. They'll take a picture of your face and put it in ads.

[4] Find it extremely rude if your grasping organs (hands, tails, tentacles, etc.) are not covered.

[5] Everyone there follows an intolerant space religion. However, there is no pretense against new converts or apostasy. You are baptized when you arrive and excommunicated when you leave.

[6] All new arrivals are required to give up DNA sample. If low technology- it's a superstition.

[7] Every hut/house/pod flies a different flag above it. It's basically a family crest here.

[8] All vehicles, required by law, look like animals a bit. Somebody will paint a face on your ship.

[9] Every third individual here is a musician. All public places are expected to have music!

[10] The people are relatively solitary. Build their dwellings so they can't see each other.

[11] The technology here developed in a very unusual way. Stone weapons, lasers for medicine.

[12] Please take off your shoes before you step on the planet's surface. Thank you.

[13] Common slang on the planet sounds very similar to something very offensive on yours.

[14] Aliens keep rocks/dolls/robots as pets and give them names and personalities.

[15] They're Indian givers. They give much hospitality and gifts, but will call you thieves if you try to leave before paying them back.

[16] People are assigned into “friend groups” at a young age and aren't allowed to leave them. Your party trying to talk to the locals or be nice is seen as very weird, kind of taboo.

[17] Most of them think space is a bit of a hoax. Even if they have space travel themselves. You're from some island or something, right?

[18] They invite you to a simple, leisurely game. The game actually shows mating fitness, expect horny aliens if you try at all.

[19] Extremely neighborly and kind. They leave around random red tiles and objects; don't touch or step on them or else everyone will treat you like shit for then on. It's a test of your “intuition”.

[20] You must eat food the same day it is prepared, anything else is miserly. They'll feed visitors like you a great feast but will look offended and/or question your sanity if you ask for a to-go bag.

Dark Secret – Roll 1d20

[1] Secret society rules the world- pulls the strings. Group has access to tech one level higher.

[2] One tree/rock/derelict ship is fed sacrifices from visiting “outsiders” like yourselves.

[3] Geological event will cause everything on the planet to die in near future. Obvious to you.

[4] There is a race of alien conquerors just above the planet, hidden from natives' view.

[5] The dominant race has a very cruel culture; rape, slavery, child abuse behind closed doors.

[6] Genocide currently underway. Camps full of slightly off-color aliens, starving to death.

[7] You arriving here has exposed aliens to a deadly, incurable pathogen. Oops.

[8] Planet's core has a cache of super weapons, unknown to natives. Taking them = dead planet.

[9] Air contains an addictive substance; almost impossible to leave once adapted to it.

[10] Natives have a plentiful resource that is incredibly rare and valuable in open space.

[11] Ancient precursor vessel trapped underneath ice cap/sand dune/deep ocean.

[12] Their language and writing wasn't invented here. Taught by ancient alien visitors.

[13] They can mate with other species. 1 in 4 chance they eat mates after sex.

[14] Alien government keeps one of every species in their “zoo”. One of you will do.

[15] Planet has some kind of boogeyman creature that has lived on it since forever.

[16] Spirit of a murderer executed when you arrived will try to possess a crew member.

[17] Dominant race goes berserk at the sight of a specific color or pattern. Nobody mentions this.

[18] Computers are outlawed here because of a self-aware AI that destroys everything. Nanomachines on the planet are drawn to unprotected advanced technology- like your ship.

[19] One family/corporation/clan owns basically everything. It's not much of a secret, just kind of sad and nobody really has the will to change it or speak against it.

[20] The brains of the dominant species are not their own. They harvest gray matter/souls from a race of compassionate, pacifistic slug-like people who they've held as slaves for centuries.

Kenshi - The Wrong Headcanon

So before I start writing this; I want to make it clear- this is my headcanon lore for a game that is absolutely 100% wrong. See, when I first started playing Kenshi a few years ago, I played it from time to time. But the world of Kenshi is really weird and unique, and for whatever reason I began to make up a "story" all on my own. But here's the thing- the game already has lore. It already has a background story that is quite interesting on its own involving a cycle of falling empires, a race of machines, and so on. For this blogpost, we won't be discussing any of it- so you can consider this spoiler free.

In the end, my headcanon explanation for the world and what was going on in it was totally shot to hell because of it, so I ended up not writing this blogpost. But then I realized it doesn't really matter- as its just a headcanon. Maybe this concept is something that a out-of-touch noble of the United Cities thought up in their spare time, where as a faction like the Tech Hunters would be more "in the know" and know that none of this is true. Still, maybe you can enjoy this wrong headcanon.

Kenshi Origins
The world of Kenshi is set on a moon. It orbits a great gas giant. The moon has a decent amount of water and a breathable atmosphere. While the most ignorant of souls in the world of Kenshi might think this planet is all there is, or the center of the universe, most with at least some scientific education know otherwise.

Think about it- there are advanced machines still running hundreds of years after whatever destroyed the world (and let's face it- it is destroyed, there are ruins everywhere. Ancient blades and armor are better then our new stuff- they wouldn't live and scrounge among ruins like we do). Technology has clearly regressed. Most people would know that Kenshi's planet is not the origin of intelligent life on it. It is clear that life has come from somewhere else- travelling on spaceships.

Dotted around Kenshi's planet are massive superstructures. Some of them are so big entire towns can be fit inside. Huge piles of scrap metal that look part of an even larger structure. What possible weapon or machine could these be a part of? At the size and shape they are; the only real explanation is that they are part of great world-vessels, huge starships meant to ferry many living things or people across vast distances in space. Therefore, people didn't originate here, they came here through space. But something went wrong; the spaceships they lived on in orbit around the moon started to fail. They had to land on the planet- the spider bots and bases may have been their first outposts the original people lived in before their technology and knowledge was slowly lost.

Kenshi Races
The world of Kenshi has a few different intelligent races. There are four- Humans, Shek, Hive, and Skeletons (Robots). While the skeletons are artificial and could not have come about naturally, the other races/species leave more up to questions.

Firstly; Humans. Humans don't really look like anything else on the Kenshi planet. There are two subraces of humans; Greenlanders, and Scorchlanders. They are both humans, but have different skin colors and slightly different stat and skill growths. This indicates that these people did not originate from the Kenshi homeworld, and are instead the original race of interstellar travelers. The two races appeared later- Scorchlanders created themselves using advanced genetic engineering after the planet-ships crashed to better survive the wastes.

Second; Shek. Shek look like humans (and even call themselves humans in some dialogue events, but it is unclear if this is an oversight), but are covered in bone plates and are very physically strong. In fact, their appearance is similar to many of the animals on Kenshi's world. This would indicate that they are more naturally from the world? Wrong.

The animals of Kenshi come in different categories. Three species in particular match real-world animals we know of; goats, bulls, and dogs. These animals look like Earthling animals to an extant, but with bone plates similar to those the Shek have. This shows that these animals are also artificial; genetically modified and created to live on the planet with the Shek. It could be the Shek were created as a primitive culture, to either be studied by the advanced humans living in orbit, or to help the early colonization of the planet, as there is no better way to destroy harmful megafauna then to create early hominids and let them run amok for a few thousand years. But the Shek, being primitive and aggressive, were never meant to last. They were supposed to be wiped out or uplifted after a certain point, to ready the planet for human colonization.

Next are the Hive. The Hive don't look like any other races and don't have sex (well technically they have Queens- but we won't talk about that here). Instead, they don't look like any other race. The Hive look like some of the native life of Kenshi; baring superficial resemblance to the beak-things, leviathans, etc. They have a similar coloring and skin coatings- the Hive are natives to the planet. Created or uplifted by human involvement; their role was to become differing castes of servants and planet-colonizers. They have castes innate to their biology, and their reproduction via the Queens is clearly augmented by technology.

Finally; the Skeletons. The Skeletons are robots, obviously. Not much needs to be said there. They were created by humans as their various workers or servants. With the ability to gain self awareness, they became their own race since the secrets to building them was lost along with the high tech factories. Any of them you see are basically antiques.

Kenshi Mechanics
Now finally, let's talk about game mechanics. Kenshi's own people wouldn't know about this, but compared to our world, the game mechanics are very unrealistic when compared to our world.

For starters, people in Kenshi can become extremely strong, supernaturally so. Enough to punch metal and take multiple powerful sword blows without serious bodily injury or death. While it is possible to do exercises to become tougher in real life, it's not an infinite scale up- there are limits to how tough flesh and bone can be. In Kenshi, people clearly exceed that level. The same goes for physical strength and speed- with people able to sprint for extended periods while carrying super humanly heavy loads. Finally; limbs can be chopped off and removed. In the real world, people can survive this, so it isn't a huge stretch. With the advanced technology of Kenshi left around in old relics, people can use robotic limbs to replace them. That's sensible. But what isn't so sensible is how quickly people recover from limb loss- both in terms of shock and how quickly they can adapt to having a new limb. The moment they put a new robotic limb on, they can instantly use it as well as their own limbs, with some small negatives to dexterity or highly precise movements like picking locks. How could this be the case?

The answers are simple- and are done in two. First is genetic engineering, and the second is oxygen.

In the real world, humans have evolved to a certain state that we are because of evolution. The truth is humans could be stronger, smarter, taller, etc. But the reason why we aren't is because of the cost- mostly in the form of calories, heat exchange, and childhood development. The square-cube law is a huge bitch anyway. In real evolution, humans had to evolve the correct balance of being useless after being born for a number of years with a payoff, and they had to balance our physical and mental abilities with the amount of food we could realistically get. But once humans gain modern technology, these restrictions become less important. For this reason, I believe the humans (and all races based on them) are highly genetically modified to allow for things like ultra-dense muscle formation, rapid healing, and supernatural levels of cardiovascular conditioning and ability.

But the question is, why do characters start so weak in that case? Simple- humans aren't stupid. Humans know that there is a chance they or their descendants could be trapped on barren planets or stuck in spaceships for many years, and these changes require heavy amounts of calories and proteins to power. As such, you don't start with this level of strength because your body isn't efficient enough. For a highly advanced society that manipulates the genome like clay, there's no reason you can't have both- efficient bodies for emergency situations and survival/regression into a pre-advanced society, and advanced, powerful bodies once agriculture or mechanized society comes around. (The only problem is that characters don't require more food as they get higher stats, which is just a part of the gameplay. Maybe the body-structures are also genetically engineered to be really efficient once set up?)

Finally; there is Oxygen. The Kenshi moon has a lot of oxygen. You can see this because all the metal outside is rusted to hell and there are few plants in most places. This oxygen is terrible for plant life, but great for mammals and other species that breathe oxygen. The fact some creatures can reach such huge sizes and people have such great cardio is directly caused by oxygen. The only places where plant life grows are in swamps, valleys, and other places where carbon dioxide can be found in great quantities- perhaps leaking from the ground from ancient garbage dumps buried from the previous civilization.

40 Minute Settings- Bombed Empire

On the distant planet of Wagan, the ships are bombing the surface. It's been going on for about two years. If you're here, that means you weren't able to get off the planet in time. Now you're kind of stuck. The royal blockade has kept everyone here. You stay alive off humanitarian aid and scavenging through the ruins; but some co-opt farms and underground grub farms work well enough.

The war all began when the last emperor gave up the planet. Now, four species fight over it. The clever Tulari, the militaristic Zimt, the repugnant Olgun, and the conniving Jess'et.

These four alien races are just small smattering of the ones that inhabit the galaxy. Wagan was a very cosmopolitanism place. But after the human emperor gave up the planet, moved the capital back to Earth after four hundred years of tradition keeping it here, the planet became a real hell hole. Humans, Tulari, Zimt, Olgun, Jess'et, other species too- the little people are stuck down here in the ruins.

Every day bombs fall over head, trying to knock out important power connections and religious or cultural sites. Every day anti-bomb defense bombs try to blow up the first bombs. It's hard for the people of the planet to do much about it, mostly because they're all up in space in cruisers and battleships. These ships send down small armies of elite troops, mechanized infantry and drones to try and capture locations, while other factions try to bomb the shit out of them at the same time. At this point it's probably just laughable.

It's easy enough to avoid getting rubbled for the most part; staying indoors is a good start because most of the buildings here are made of zirconian elements, pioneered by the Tulari, which are essentially compression and explosive proof. Still, the damage takes its toll. You can see inner-city markets spring up in neighborhoods that were attacked two, maybe three days ago. The smoke still rises but it's cleared up enough that you can move in for a time. Usually any place that gets destroyed stays clear for up to a week before the ships overhead move back into position to fight for the next useful speck.

Wars on the Ground

The soldiers in the sky aren't just interested in each other though; there are factions on the ground too. People down here are willing to sell their knowledge; secret tunnels, bomb shelters, and lead troops into ambushes against their enemies. Everybody down here wants somebody to win this war for their own benefit, if they're interested at all in Wagan politics. The Jess'et are promising to make the planet an anthropological paradise for all of the deep-space remnants of old cultural importance for many resources who, frankly, can't afford to keep them on planets anymore. Space is at a premium on planets when compared to the vast empty. But the Zimt are famous for well-planned central economies that keep people working and hearty pensions for veterans; of which civilians who aid them will be recommended for by the Zimt ground captains, naturally.

The players could take the role of minor leaders. They could be landed nobles from a quickly dissolving feudal land-ownership system, gang and rebel squad strongmen, or military commanders in way over their head. You lead squads of men into the rubble to rescue civilians, capture territory, or hold important objectives. You need to keep a good schedule of the ships above and where they'll be over next, and down here short hyper-wave transmitter scanners are as common as microwaves. Everybody, civilians and soldiers alike, listens to the Wagan Renegade- the hyperwave transmitter AI that gives coordinates and estimated time of payload hits, calculating wind resistance and gravity acceleration in real time to give the most accurate reports. Nobody is quite sure who set up this AI, but whoever did has saved far more lives then they would know.

Of course, urban combat in such a chaotic environment is brutal. Half of warfare is about setting up hardpoints and using technology from the various races to augment your own forces, or make it hard for the enemy to catch up. The Zimt are experts in energy field manipulation, and while their ships and brigades sent from above are the best at it, most races can hack together some energetic fields that displace blaster fire or make force fields that cannot be passed except by those with the right keys. The Olgun are a special example as they partially terraform entire city blocs; pulsating moss growing on every surface fast enough that you can see it, turning interior spaces into gas-spore infested condemned buildings. Their race is adapted to breathe it with their air gills, you probably aren't.

There are wars in the Sky too. The ships above are in constant stalemate. The large carriers and cruisers holding the weapons refuse to cross over the horizon line close enough to see another ship; going too far over the curve of the planet means laser weapons can annihilate you at the speed of light. Instead, they play a careful game of posturing and delayed bombing. For the second half of the second year, kinetic rods were all that has been used since traditional ammunition has seem to run out. But if the council is anything to go by, new shipments of payload is coming in to replace the old. As such, some rebel civilian groups have even banded together to stop it from arriving. But how to get out into orbit and stop transports carrying military weapons with just our own scrap, planet-locked forces? That's the tough part.

War in the Council

Meanwhile, near the heart of Wagan is the Council building. The huge, laser-protected dome is one of the few megastructures not yet bombed to shit by the above cruisers. The garden terraces around the building can always be seen from below and above; a jealous look of cultural elegance that is anything but. Just about as much violence is inside the building as around it.

In truth, the Council is just about as cutthroat as anywhere else. Racial diplomats at the end of their rope; assassins hired among the staff are constantly stalking the halls. Young privates and custodians with no experience are quickly promoted to official liaisons, even generals, as the body count keeps growing. The Jess'et are pretty close to wining this war just through attrition; their RNA unsequencer poisons placed in cloth fabrics and ventilation shafts kill quick and clean.

Pointless debates over if cyber-bounce grenades should be banned by military troops who don't follow the guidelines in the first place rage on as slimy arms dealers try to undercut the expensive imported military goods from space, since the space elevators were cut at stratosphere height ages ago, by using cheap local manufacturing. Some of the most well off people on Wagan are those who put shell casings together by hand in what used to be a preschool.

Hyperinflation is the bane of most fiat economies- in Wagan? It's another form of attack. By getting the mints to mass duplicate credit codes, you can destabilize and cause hyper inflation in your opponents army. Of course in a month when things change and you're now reliant on the codes to supply your own side you'll do anything to shut down the computer farms that duplicate the digital currency; like bomb them from space. Now you can see the problem.

The Goodness tucked Away

All over the planet; people are just trying to get by. While some sectors seem almost well cleaned after the constant destruction, some don't even look inhabited. Young people get along as well as they can in education, requiring digital uplinks and learning from archaic methods, like reading books or watching videos, as opposed to full VR education exercises. Holographic imaging technology requires a lot of infrastructure a lot of people here just don't have anymore; theaters do plays in person with costumes and everything. It's a time of great cultural expansion; the people of the planet looking inward when a galaxy who has forgotten about them keeps turning the great wheel of productivity.

Wagan was once a planet of nothing but gray sludge formed into building shells and maximum utility centers of industry. Almost all of its natural resources were stripped a long time ago; a great desolation occurred hundreds of years ago when the humans settled here. It seems now, with their leaving and the jealous war over the aliens who are descended from their imperial ambitions, life untethered is making a come back. Species who were intentionally made extinct by city planners during the great urbanization have been seen in rumors around mossy-covered parks. Escaped Olgun specimens and mold-children have actually somewhat melded with the common ecosystem. Underground birds have begun to reappear, the lack of skyscrapers coating every inch of inhabitable ground means that the air currents that they navigate by with their eyeless little faces are opened up to them. In some ways, life has made a combat only through mass destruction. Perhaps it is just a temporary change as the result of a great, mostly pointless conflict. Or perhaps it is a change here to stay.