Age of Wonders: Known Space

Let’s first take a look at the Magiverse so we know where to get started. After all, the point is to play and have fun. The first question for the Ref is how can they use Age of Wonders with the rules they already have? The answer is that all the extant rules still apply because Age of Wonders defines its rules for the setting as a Magiverse. Players can take their existing characters with all their class and magic powers, magic weapons, and use them all in Age of Wonders without any conversion being required. There are a few new things of course for the expansion of the genre into the Magiverse as will be discovered in this and subsequent articles.

Known Space, the map, is open game content. The purpose of this is to let others use the map as a jumping off point for their own space wilderness campaigns. Dungeons are of course located somewhere in this wilderness; they are derelict space craft, ancient ruins found on moons and more. I humbly refer you to Outpost Wolf Iron as an example. Known Space itself represents a point of contact between a somewhat vaguely defined “Empire” and the very alien “Caliban”; the claimed regions of space are separated by a wild and lawless frontier.

How do the players get into space? Perhaps their formerly isolated and humble planet is discovered (and annexed) by the Empire thus providing the route to off-world wilderness adventures. The Mederon star system which is claimed by the Empire and has been left for the Ref to define add the world the players come from and they may connect it to Zoon by whatever Route Number (RN) they find suitable. It is useful to remember that the Players efforts to obtain treasure, which is the way to improve their characters, is usually a story which tells itself. The Referee need not immediately concern themselves with complicated plots and intricate themes unless such is their bread and butter. The Caliban have also claimed the Mederon system for their own, designating it Caliban 338, which may be brought up as part of some later scheme. However, simply getting off-world and into adventure is what Age of Wonders is really all about.

Unlike Speculative Fiction the focus of the Magiverse is one of Fantasy and necessarily so for swordplay and magic are our meat and bread. everything we do has to fit within the extant rules of the game as we know them. Thus, Age of Wonders more or less ignores what would be the inconvenience of science; so the various devices that one might find in SF’s tropes are re-imagined through the tinted glasses of magic. The gadgets of the Magiverse are magically assisted clockworks, magically excited substances, and the magically integrated organic. The Magiverse is not meant to be a simulation of the real but a fantasy.

The setting itself imagines an improbable magi-futurism. Across the void of space once stretched an ancient and magical star-faring civilization. The wondrous gadgets of the magi-future are created by Mage-Artisans who devote their lives to the pursuit and retrieval of the lost knowledge of ancient civilization and in discovering the secrets of the Magiverse itself. The Mage-Artisans are individually competitive and secretive but together they form a powerful faction in the Empire. They are willing to pay considerable sums for the artifacts of the Ancients which they study to re-discover lost secrets. This provides the Referee with an easy means of attracting Players to adventure. As Salvors, it is the Player Characters who risk their lives to plunder the ancient ruins of Known Space in search of the magical secrets of the Ancients and other treasures.

As with all things Refs are encouraged to please themselves and they are free to adopt, modify, or ignore any part of Age of Wonders, or Known Space, as required.

Robot Q&A

As we are introducing a new character class I thought I might share my own personal view of this new class and how as a Ref I might rule on some common things Players are sure to ask about.

The Robot is an additional Character Class for players to enjoy that is the main thing. The character is an example of the way in which stock-in-trade SF tropes are re-imagined in our magi-futurism. The Robot is a magical fusion of the clockwork and the organic for within its mechanical body is a living brain-in-a-jar. The Robot is envisaged as a clunky bronzed automaton rather than an android; resembling more a mechanical diving suit and incapable of passing itself as a human or demi-human character. As with any character the player choosing this class is granted coins at the start of the game to purchase the Robot’s equipment from a supplementary list. The player can also spend their coins on items from the regular equipment lists as well as the Robot is able to use most of the weapons of a fighter save bows.

Robots are made to serve humans and demi-humans but through some stroke of fate the Player Robot has become self aware despite the usual process of their creator (a Mage Artisan) to wipe the memory of the brain used in the manufacture of the Robot. There are plenty of obedient Robot NPCs but the Robot character is fully sentient.

The Player Robot might be on the lam from its former master now that the character has a mind of its own and quite unlike an NPC Robot does not obey commands unless the player so desires to feign obedience. A Robot could have any number of back stories, been abandoned and left to fend for itself, been lost, returned as defective to a warehouse where it then woke up, etc.

Does a Robot have an alignment? Absolutely! The character’s alignment is part of the organic brain; this organic element also means the Robot is of course subject to magic spells just as any normal character. They are not immune to Charm for example.

Can Robots do harm? The Robots of our magi-future can of course do harm as there are no restrictions preventing such actions. Non-Player Character Robots obey their masters. Characters of alignment Chaos may even employ Robots to do their bidding and such the Robots are themselves of the alignment Chaos.

As players are bound to ask, could Player character’s transfer their own brain to a Robot and keep their class powers? My ruling as a Ref would be no but that is a personal preference. Instead I would design a new character using Erin Smale’s BX Options Class Builder ,shameless plug! Otherwise when a Player Character of another class has their brain transferred into a jar, and then a Robot body, I would insist that the character must lose all previous class abilities, lose 40% of their XP as their previous class experience is not all relevant, and enter the game in their new demi-class of Robot.

Brain switching, as a trope of fiction, of course has all sorts of story potential as Mage-Artisans might be inclined to kidnap unwilling donors and use their brains to create Robots to serve themselves. A Player Robot could have such a backstory having subsequently escaped the service of the nefarious Mage-Artisan once their memory returned.

Could a Robot have more than one body? Sure. Their brain-in-a-jar is transferable as long as it is alive.

Do melee weapons like swords and spears injure a Robot? Yes, all melee weapons, as well as monster attacks, can damage a Robot.

Can a Robot wear Armour and Magical Armour? No.

Can a Robot wear magical rings? No.

How many Hit Points does the Brain-in-a-jar have? Assuming there is a need to remove and destroy the Brain-in-a-jar for that purpose I would rule that once removed it has 1 Hit Point and is physically incapable of defending itself.

Can a Robot die? Robots are not immortal, they have Hit Points just like other character class, may be injured, and even die.

Can a Player Robot have the brain of an un-dead creature? This is an interesting possibility; that a Robot might be controlled by an un-dead brain. A Non-Player Robot might have an additional ability related to the un-dead brain, an alignment of Chaos, and would be subject to Turning. Certainly the brain of a Player Character Robot should not be un-dead as that would make them a monster and therefore an NPC.

As we have had an epic flood here at home this is all I have time for today! Hope you enjoy it 🙂

Greg