Season 3 brings Ultraviolet Grasslands 2nd Edition. Combined with a variety of solo tools.
UVG solo - intro | start | partway | finish | all season 3 | all rolling solo
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RPG Introduction - Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City 2e
ultraviolet intro | solo tools | chars | chargen | threads & extras
Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City 2e is written by Luka Rejec. My hardback is 248 pages, packed with lore, rules, tables and art. I've no idea how it differs from 1st Edition. It's a book I've been waiting for ages to get to the table and now is that time!
First up the book is beautiful and I love the design and layout. The setting and tone give me similar vibes to Troika and Electric Bastionland. The inside cover has a handy caravan flowchart and the back inside one is full of useful tables.
The book is a fantasy-science setting based around you (and companions) leading caravans through weird and wonderful lands. And getting into trouble as only adventurers know how.
How the game works and what it is for is not entirely clear when you pick it up and look through it. I think this is intentional, as it's a game that can be used as you wish it to be. It can be used as is, as a sourcebook / wolrd-guide for many d20 based games (it could be cool to run using Dragonbane), as reading inspiration or pillaged for the caravan rules or random tables.
The game as is has the rules reduced down to one page. Using a d20 + bonus roll against a target number (from 3 for Trivial to 19 for Very Hard), with a few types of bonuses and penalties. Combat looks chaotic and brutal but haven't got to try it out yet (no doubt next session will it a try).
It has quick tables and character generation rules, then the majority of the book (about 150 pages) is filled with describing the setting. This includes maps of caravan routes through strange and varied lands (Ribs of the Father, The Near Moon, Spectrum Palace), each with discoveries, tables, a history, weather and all manner of beings and sites within.
Then there are sections on caravans, equipment (including vehicles and mounts), inhabitants of the grasslands, spells, and the setting (mostly random tables supporting aspects of the game).
The default game is your group of characters pooling their resources and trade goods (taking out a loan from a dodgy patron) to take a caravan on a voyage of exploration and opportunity (or misery and danger) through the Ultraviolet Grasslands.
The rules are lightweight so I'll happily be using a group of characters (3 to start) with their caravan.
Solo Tools - A Mix
ultraviolet intro | solo tools | chars | chargen | threads & extras
I've no idea where this game will go, and I'm using a variety of tools for this one. But tools I'm familiar with as it is a story that could go all over the place.
For my solo emulator I'll be using the latest version of my Chaos Solo Emulator (2-year old version). I'm hoping to publish a free basic fantasy version in the next couple of weeks.
I'll also be using Rory's Story Dice as these are great for interpreting for various situations. And some weird D&D postcards I found in a local antiques shop a week ago.
Then I'll be trying out my own Space Fantasy Alliterative Adversaries for encounters and inspiration. They seem to fit this vibe quite well.
Plus anything else that fits the vibe and situation.
Introducing Jai, Muria and Ouestin
ultraviolet intro | solo tools | chars | chargen | threads & extras
Jai Ping-Noon
A tall hunter from a powerful family, driven to find the creature that haunts her dreams.
Exiled bluelander noble big game hunter (f) - compulsion after meeting a seer. Nemesis - very talented musician - absolute ass
STR 0, END 0, AGI 3, CHA 2, AUR 0, THO 2, Life 8, level 1 (300 xp)
Skills - shooting +6, leadership +3
Gear - ivory set of Zu Complex ignition tables,
Muria per Cupa
A determined healer who bears the sign of the Shield. She and her cult seek allies for a revolution...
Secret azure cult bio-mechanic (f), seeking allies for a revolution, bears a sign of the Fast Stars - A Shield that glows when exposed to radiation.
STR 0, END 2, AGI 1, CHA 0, AUR 3, THO 1, Life 8, level 1 (300 xp)
Skills - healing +6, stir up a crowd +3
Gear - yellow cape of pure steel silk
Ouestin Haus
An opportunist from old money who studied surgery at a famous college. Attracts people but cares little for them, instead seeking gratification and fortune.
Redland vintner aristocrat surgeon (m), sheer industrial greed, loyal friend (taciturn mechanic who fixes nearly anything)
STR 0, END 0, AGI 1, CHA 3, AUR 1, THO 2, Life 8, level 1 (300 xp)
Skills - surgeon +3, carousing +3, wines +3
Gear - four brassy cogs from a soul mill
Caravan (Tomato Trading Trust)
- 3 two-wheeled carts
- 2 donkeys (Greeny - begs for food, Ruby - red-tailed donkey), 2 mules (Reddy - can bark like a dog, Bluey - has a rag doll), 1 goatelope (Jet - longbearded goatelope), 1 loper bird (Puce - loves apples)
- 6 sacks of supplies
- Trade goods - marrow-beets (3 sacks), second-hand pulp literature from the Rainbowlands (3 sacks), vampire wines (3 sacks)
- A debt owed to Banner (their Patron)
- Symbol of three tomatoes.
Character and Caravan Generation for UVG
ultraviolet intro | solo tools | chars | chargen | threads & extras
Characters
Character generation is simple in Ultraviolet Grasslands.
- Assign 7 points between Strength, Endurance, Agility, Charisma, Aura and Thought. All start at +0 (I rolled 7 d6 to see where points would go)
- Roll on d50 tables (I used d100, -50 if rolling 51-100) for Who Are They, Why Are They On the Road and What Do They Bear
- Optionally roll on any of the extra quirk tables. (I rolled on one table for each character)
- Choose 2 skills at +3. As broad as specific as you like.
Give them a name (there's 60 or so in the book to help) and give some thought on how the bits fit together.
Caravan
The caravan is the basic "adventuring party", consisting of the characters, a patron backer, trade goods, supplies, animal, a vehicle.
I went with the First Caravan option (pg 174), which gives you a caravan with (per character) a traveller, a two-wheeled cart, a couple of animals, some gear, supplies, trade goods and €290 spare. Plus a €1000 debt (per character) to be paid at 100% interest.
Threads and Extras
ultraviolet intro | solo tools | chars | chargen | threads & extras
For my starting Threads (open questions and plot threads) and Extras (npcs, factions) I took one or two for each character.
Threads
- Hunt the monster Jai saw in a vision
- Avoid Ranalo Xerive
- What is the revolution Muria seeks allies for?
- What is the opportunity that brings Ouestin out here?
- Pay back debt of €6000 in a year to patron
Extras
- Azure Cult - Muria is a member
- Banner - patron of TTT caravan. Academic high priest, wants to create a dynasty, part of a collective temple hive, opposed by occultist imperialists, turns into a felinoid in sunlight. Actually backed by Oranjist biomantic0pharmaceutical conglomerate hoping to benefit from useful and efficient food sources, who can send along help.
- Occultist Imperialists - foes of Banner.
- Ranalo Xerive - nemesis of Jai, very talented musician - absolute ass
- Torron Valpin (mechanic) friend of Ouestin, fixes nearly anything, taciturn
Finishing Up
That's the lot for the moment. Next will be choosing a place in the Grasslands for Starting Scene and choosing some kind of trouble for the Starting Scene.
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