My First BREAK!! Character

BREAK!! Tacit Holistic Recruitment Understanding is an agreement that GMs can run open or semi-open games under. The idea is to allow people to play as much as they want in pickup games and different campaigns using the BREAK!! rules, since everyone's so excited with this cool new toy. You can start at 1st Rank in one game, be in a totally different group later that night, and a third group tomorrow before joining your initial group again next week. Your current Hearts, Gear, Coins, Inventory Slots, and other fluctuating values will stay consistent from session to session just as if there's a contiguous campaign and single GM. When looking for Players, GMs can SIGNAL whether their games accept BREAK!!-THRU characters. Players may look for a BREAK!!-THRU game by searching for that tag specifically.

There's three levels of BREAK!!-THRU accordance that you can SIGNAL.

RED means you want to specifically tout that your game is NOT accepting of BREAK!!-THRU characters. No passers-by, just looking for dedicated regular players.

GOLD means that you are open for BREAK!!-THRU characters but you have some stipulations, such as limiting a number of magic items you can bring from another game, or restricting certain species or callings. This is a "Yes, but..." announcement about what you are flexible about and inflexible about, and should always have a tad more detail than the other Signals.

BLUE means that anything goes. Anyone can come from anywhere and bring anything and play anyhow, with the understanding that a given GM is not bound by the rulings or interpretations of a previous GM and may even ignore certain other rules at their discretion. A powerful magic item would be allowed but may work slightly differently, as might a spell, or a complex battle maneuver.

There are three overriding principles to the BREAK!!-THRU.

1. Promote the game and its creators and GMs through active play

2. Promote active play through community/cooperation

3. Promote community/cooperation through safety and acceptance

The first thing you spot from the distance is a titanic boulder. Away from the mountains - away from Peek Peak - it might overshadow many hills. It is rounded and bulging like a little sourdough bun. There are very old maps from previous aeons which refer to it as 'Child of Mountain.' These days, everyone calls it the Bug.

The Bug has been carved out where it meets the ground and the ground has been scooped away a bit. It might have looked like some great puffball mushroom if it was left that way, but enterprising individuals have ringed the mountain-child with an open-air tavern structure, akin to what one would see at some festival. This is an "always open" structure, serving different drinks and meals at any time of day or 'night,' cooled by the constant drafts between the mountain and the forest. Supporting bracers and buttresses keep the structure upright against any sinking or settling from seasonal downpours. Now, from a distance, it looks like a gigantic Bloodbug growing fat while feeding on the base of Peek Peak.

The structures that have grown up around the Bug have little concern for the fraction of the population who can be considered somewhat permanent residents. Instead, the whole of the place is given over to a transient population of travelers, outcasts, and thrill seekers. The last gasp of libertine lawlessness before entering the Vightran Wilds, Bloodsucker Brook more or less runs itself; however, when tough decisions have to be made, it's the bartenders at the Bug who make them.

Most Services and Downtime Activities are available at the Bug, though who is providing those services changes by the day. Permanent sales stalls exist but they are occupied by one traveling peddler after another. Permanent eateries of a sort exist but the cuisine changes with every meal. Smithies abound, never cold, ceaselessly ringing, with the hand that holds the hammer changing between strikes. In fact, the permanent din and smoke of the wing of smithies around the town are probably the best-known denizens of Bloodsucker Brook.

Thirsty work. Luckily, there's a bar open....

It's the kind of place you go to meet people. Whatever that means. It's the kind of place you either pass through or pass away from. It's rowdy and alive and dangerous and cozy, a permanent revel attended by the most lawless and daring people on the subcontinent. That makes it the ultimate destination for a small group of travelers to meet up with a larger company, or to ensure their safety by hiring armed security, or to employ esoteric specialists of all stripes....

More common in the Red Range across the gulf (where, to be fair, there are more mountains), the forests of Peek Peak and other nearby mountains become flooded with robbers each season as valley authorities (including regular patrols from Vightre, an honor guard from the Sol Alliance, and more) begin clearing the way for that season's new round of pilgrims and travelers setting out for the Nocturne Crusade.

It is out of genuine civic concern but it's largely for show, since this security is never maintained and the robber bands all flow back after a short while. It can be difficult for the hermits, homesteaders, and remote settlements that populate the mountains. This is doubly-true for a newly-established hamlet like Innstead.

The Straw Hawgs are one such band, led by the youngest of three terrifying and monstrous Porc brothers. These toughs are violent, money-hungry people-eaters. They are also oblivious to Innstead's existence, and believe they are snatching supplies intended for Crash Landing on the other side of the mountain. While they love big crude weapons and big crude armor their favored weapon (such as at their "toll gate" switchback ambush) is boiling oil.

A holy pilgrimage of sorts has become a common practice on the Bronzed Continent, where participants attempt to visit all of the Shrines of Night within a single year. A new "commencement" of the pilgrimage happens for each season and most travelers will try to fit their journey in within a single season. The keepers of the Shrines of Night and their guard establish a new route for each season, depending on travel conditions and the current route projections of Crater Island.

The Nocturne Crusade is not merely a holy endeavor, though. The areas surrounding these shrines have blossomed into large towns or cities in some cases, and the most common routes between them have become routes for travel, diplomacy, commerce and trade, even tourism! There are even places where proper roads are maintained between multiple communities all designed to service the constant traffic of these pilgrims.

Now the Sol Alliance HATES this, because this free movement gives power to the other kingdoms in the hemisphere and challenge its cultural supremacy. In particular, devotees of the Invincible Bright would be happy to see the Shrines of Night cast out like a serpent from the Blazing Garden for not-entirely-spurious reasons. However, since the Alliance benefits so greatly from the strong trade and diplomatic ties to its rivals, it does not actively (OVERTLY) interfere with the Nocturne Crusades. It does, however, demand certain concessions from the planned routes, certain levies from the pilgrims who can afford it, and are very difficult to liaise with when Crater Island enters their territory.

Because routes vary so much between seasons the whole of the Bronzed Continent is webbed with reminders of pilgrimages past. Some of the most remote permanent settlements in the region were established once to serve those on the Nocturne Crusade. Along the way, traditional "outset points" have accrued among the culture of travelers, and these have become designated places to meet and equip before setting out. Peek Peak, and the recently-established settlement of Innstead, is one of these.

The Bronzed Continent follows the calendar of the Cogstone Warwork in the same way as does much of the Outer World but, in practical cultural terms, the continent marks time through in inexact passage of the three seasons.

The Still Season brings nothing but oppressive heat and increased ferocity from the creatures of the region. Spirits grow restless in these times, too: both those semi-divine and the vestiges of the departed. Because instances of the dead walking are most common during this season (while still rare), and because many creatures and remote homesteads wither and die from lack of food and water in these months, the Still Season is sometimes referred to as "Carrion Days." This is the most popular season for the pilgrims walking the Nocturne Crusade, especially after the losses of the Floods. It is typically the longest season.

The Wailing Season comes with howling winds which scour the land as much as they cool it. As the cooler air from the Twilight Meridian slips in to the realms of eternal light the heavy, cooler air from the Wistful Dark flows in to the Sunrise Lands. This front acts as a wall, leaving nowhere for the swirling airmass to go. The constant buffeting crosswinds give rise to sudden lightning strikes and makes many modes of travel more difficult. The Paw Post in particular seems to have the roughest time during these months and are sometimes forced to suspend certain services, with many people jokingly referring to them as the "Pause Post." The impact of this season is different across different regions, and is welcomed like family in the Sol Alliance.

The Floods come next, the shortest and most dangerous of the three seasons. Scorched lands betray the life they once harbored and those places where the mountains pile up the clouds drink deeply, resulting in lush jungle and rolling green hills. The cost of this is a constant threat of rain and storm at minimum, and the likelihood of sudden unexpected slides and floods nearly tips over into a certainty in many regions. This is considered a season outside of time, when debts and sins are forgiven. Community and mercy take on an added importance, but any truces or alliances during this period are washed away in the currents. This is also the naturally-darkest period on the Bronzed Continent, when people take advantage of cloud cover, softer ground, and the force of mighty torrents to effect great change. It is paradoxically a time when many shelter at home as much as possible as well as a popular time for certain festivals.

In the bright heat of eternal day on the Bronzed Continent any respite is welcome and darkness is prized. Rooms in homes are dedicated to it, the destitute crawl into dangerous caverns seeking it, and some bizarre cults even worship it in defiance of those proselytizing the Invincible Bright. The wealthy and privileged have personal "shaders" which they can crank up to show off their status.

There are also the Shrines of Night. These are unaffiliated shrines to what was lost when the Sun Machine broke and have become quite the destination for travelers. Some are maintained by technology, others by magic, and some stand shrouded through some unknown means, but all exist within an ancient field of night. They dot the Bronzed Continent and its surroundings and are found on all maps dating from the shattering of the Sun Machine.

They are not related to the Shadow Shrine in the Twilight Meridian, which exists in perpetual twilight and venerates not darkness but the transformative nature of shadow and boundary.

Laws honored throughout the Bronzed Continent prohibit any company or individual from lingering at any of the Shrines of Night longer than a few weeks unless about the specific business of the upkeep of the shrines. As such, many people will move from one location to another in the same way some folks follow herd migrations or traveling musicians.

Chasmeres are massive heavy metal goatlike creatures with two tall, sharp prongs sticking out of their Fab Four bangs. Their poofy, wiry coats feel like household insulation. They're very sure-footed and capable of fantastic leaps, so are often found nesting in the trees. They represent a danger from branches unable to support their weight, or just falling asleep and rolling out of their bough. They are private creatures who will bound away if approached but can turn aggressive if followed.

They can be milked for nourishment or shorn for trade/crafting material (mostly used for lighter armor or cold-weather-proof Outfits). Most would never deign to be ridden (unless you were able to negotiate with them directly in their own bestial terms) but they can be convinced to turn a wheel or pull a small cart...

Standing alone, scanning the horizon, a nameless elf stands. He has stood there for longer than anyone can be certain. The whipping winds, hungry Chasmeres, and inconsiderate trophy-hunters have all but stripped him bare. The few scraps which cling to him indicate no ancient allegiance. They do however seem militant in nature....

His back is turned to the massive doomed airship whose wreck makes up the central structure of Crash Landing among the waves far below the Summit Sentinel's perch on Peek Peak. It is assumed that this ship belongs to the Sentinel but none have been able to verify that and the Sentinel isn't talking. Not for hundreds of recorded years. Not since he died.

The Sentinel is unaffected by the ravages of time and there is no insect life or carnivores to speak of on this promontory to abuse their body. In life, in game mechanics terms, this elf was immune to the Toppled Ailment. In death, the stand as an organic statue and once-living landmark.

Other elfs and immortals see the Sentinel as profane and would love to see the Sentinel interred, but there is a dispute that forestalls this since the Sentinel was recorded on the Sol Alliance's mapping records since before those maps acknowledged the giant mountain he's standing on.

In these modern times, he has become something of a tourist attraction alongside the other wonders of Peek Peak, like Hero's Rock and the Fogfalls. Since the Nocturne Crusade has begun, taking in the very panorama viewed by the Sentinel's dead eyes has become a tradition amongst pilgrims, leading to the recent establishment of a settlement designed to serve these curiosity-seekers....

Because so much of the Bronzed Continent and beyond can be seen from its summit, Peek Peak has been a traditional outset point for the Nocturne Crusade for generations. The Sol Alliance has provided many promises in the name of establishing a settlement on Peek Peak but most of their proffered resources have not materialized. Whether this owes to their disapproving attitude toward the pilgrimage overall or not is for others to say...

Innstead was built around the crude hostel which already existed here to service travelers, explorers, woodspeople, and the scavengers coming up the mountain from Crash Landing. It consists of...

The Blue Inn, an ugly brown structure in sore need of its overdue paint job. Minded by Madame Miriam Minder, a human who lives there with her children Decent and Blythe. Food and rooms can be purchased here. Dolga the human artist also lives here.

The Hostel, a large ramshackle building where visitors can find free lodgings for up to a week at a time. Currently managed by Dus Koronna, a Tenebrate, and occupied intermittently by Loafy Tenderfoot the Chib guide.

The Stablesmithy, providing housing for a few hard-lived mounts and beasts and blacksmithing services. The smith is a large human called Fadin the Broad. Can also act as a workshop for smithing and tinkering.

The General Store, run by a toadlike creature named Bufo Dize. Many travelers have heard of his brother, Bofa. General rural goods and adventuring gear can be found here but the more useful/essential items can be priced dearly.

The Witch's Hut, which looks like a large beet on stilts. Home to Sezyu the Seer, a Chib gifted at readings, potions, and treatment of injuries. She gets high on her own supply and many of her unlabeled potions have strange effects.

Peek Peak, an uncontested and unclaimed mountain separated from the Red Range. It is a place where clouds aren't, and where the air is so thin that a light jacket is sometimes warranted. Deep within its forests and caves, one can even find the occasional frost-drift.

At its duskward base lies Crash Landing, a community of opportunists and treasure-hunters centered around the remains of a great ancient airship of some complexity. A few fortunate among them possess an Outerworlder Guide, a mysterious and unreliable antique folio of secrets.

In the surrounding waters, the Thousand-Cove Pirates maintain hidden nomadic city states bound by the Peaces of Eight in refuge of that scourge of the Sunset Sea: pirate hunter Belladonna Brightlightning.

At its sunward base lies Bloodsucker Brook, built around a small channel that feeds into the great jungles beyond. A massive stone forms a central tavern hub to this settlement, looking from a distance like a fluid-filled Bloodbug. This is the last stop for rowdiness before plunging into the Vightran Wilds...

I wanted to put a convenient list of level 0-1 enemies based on the advice listed in BREAK!!, which favors using a smaller adversaries section alongside guidance on customization and reskinning for different purposes. At first glance this can make it look like it's difficult to fill out an encounter table without relying on much more dangerous creatures, but I disagree. These are the ones I found, and I only cheated on 1 entry really; all of the rest of these are available with almost no premeditated tinkering required for the BREAK!! GM.

Mange bandits (p400)

Porcs (as Mange)

Croaks (as Mange)

Other Beastmen (as Mange)

Skeleman (p404)

Animated doll/mannequin/scarecrow (as Skeleman)

Rudimentary robots (as Skeleman)

Wretch (p363)

Other Nuisance (homunculus or vat spawn)

Blighted demons (p372)

Mutants or zombies (as Blighted)

Goops (p382)

Standard Lalka (p392)

Other minor elementals/lalka (as Lalka)

Tiny Unhelpful Cloud (p416)

Minor imp or spirit (as Cloud)

PC species bandit (as Mange)

As Basic Folk (p322)

As Custrel (p186)

The Histories on offer do have some typical genre conventions (e.g. Knight Errant, Street Rat) but they're typically very specific and very tied to the demands and expectations of their associated regions. Some denote training, some denote upbringing, and some denote circumstances, but whereas I think a lot of D&D5's Background were designed from the perspective of "Why have you found yourself on the road in an adventuring party?" as if being "an adventurer" is something you can just fall into, BREAK!!'s Histories seem more designed around what your character would be doing if they weren't ON AN ADVENTURE. Tom Hanks used to be a teacher in Saving Private Ryan and that does inform his character and his behavior when you know that, but it's wildly different from how everyone in his command pictures him. He's on an adventure because of a convergence of unique circumstances, some of which arose our of necessity and some of which seem almost contrived against him. He's going to go back there some day, just like Gonzo the Great. There are others in his company who feel differently, who can't wait to leave their old life behind and use the money and experience from their military service as a launchpad into something new, something better than the circumstances they left behind.

That's because the Histories in BREAK!! represent a choice. There are some folks bopping around doing good deeds because it's what they've run towards, and there are others for whom these wonders and horrors are only something to run THROUGH. Sometimes the choices are easier than others: someone devoted to "vanquishing all evil" after a life of pious service will find being a vagabond savior a smooth, imperceptible transition. A merchant or craftsman might easily find opportunities to ply their trade during travels, or might commit to this new way of life precisely because of the opportunities it affords them for when they elect to walk away. That's life, though: depending upon our circumstances and resources, some lifestyles might make some choices easier or much much harder depending on the person.

I wanted to make an adventure site using the tools presented in the book and I wanted to show how I go about it. The first step is in gathering results from BREAK!!'s tables. I prefer to start on p342, and going through the section on Encounters. I'll use 2 results from some tables but only 1 from others. That'll give me a list....

From there, I start matching up elements. This is where rolling multiples of some items can come in handy. This quickly establishes a lived-in narrative in a way that makes this adventure make sense, because no element exists in isolation. It's about how everything relates to each other.

I don't feel like the restraints trap really fits in with everything else in a way which speaks to me so I may scrap that result but I'll leave it in for now. Let's look at what we've got so far: 1. A hidden grave (read: unmarked) in a difficult-to-cross, eerily serene area suggests to me a forgotten cemetery of some kind, one of those places like you see in Dark Souls or New Orleans or rural areas where folks are just....piled on each other over time. Peaceful and nice in its way but not calm in a welcoming way. If we're recovering lost tech then the strange mechanism may be something that the grave's occupant wanted to take with him....that may even explain why the grave is unmarked. May be some kind of portal device. An inventor who wanted to protect the world from what they created? 2. Our noble could be someone who coveted that technology and has spent a long time searching for it. The birds/skree are his eyes and ears, and Medium-sized growls act as his muscle. He may be old. He's not even for sure a "he" but cmon wasting all this time pursuing this power that doesn't belong to him when his station could afford him ANY other opportunity? That's a guy. He's been digging, probably using a grid system in search of this grave....a mechanism by which he can seal off sections of the cemetery while he searches could make sense. Probably a magical barrier, a ward.... 3. I like the idea of making the fog more of a local hazard than a trap, and making that what's obscuring everyone's vision. I wouldn't make it too toxic in terms of burning through players' hearts but I might make it toxic enough that only those with Rebreathers can recover hearts, including after a Fight. The glowing light leading them through the fog is a nice idea....the spirit of the departed inventor? It's also raining frogs (ribbittys?) who are unaffected by the fog. 4. Abandoned quarters could represent the home of the inventor on the grounds....is this his ancestral stead, or was he a brilliant gravedigger?....the confused god imprisoned within could have been the key to unlocking the secrets of the portal device. The god may not have a full understanding of time or death, or for that matter of imprisonment; this can be a god in the sense of a force less than a full personality. It may still be expecting the inventor to turn up. I've watched enough Danny Phantom that it makes sense to have the portal device be used to seal away the "hungry adventurers," which could be your standard walking dead but which I prefer to make a kind of ravenous semi-spectral horde, one which perhaps terrorized this plain in the wake of a great battle until sealed away. That wouldn't leave much opportunity for an abandoned home or a cemetery to develop, so maybe they only manifest at certain anniversaries....

Thinking about how the opening to Ninja Gaiden or an oldschool anime recap would handle this helps to put things into perspective for me. Also, when in doubt I just think about the images I want to capture. In this case there are 3: the entity/horde being sealed away as they try to breach into the world again, the noble villain surrounded by his animal servitors, and the uncomfortable effort of clambering over markers and amphibians while following a light in the fog. If I wanted to capture the restraints-trap, I'd do so with the lashing, grasping limbs of the phantom horde as they first escape their containment, moving and flailing as one creature... "In the misty ruins of a mansion's grounds, a bitter aristocrat continually searches for the magical technology he believes is rightfully his. Our heroes must brave the dangers of the Coughin' Gardens or else an ancient curse will be re-visited upon the surrounding countryside."

There's a version of this scenario where the noble listens to reason and it's only through the united efforts of the company, the noble, the god, and the spirit of the inventor that the device is able to renew the seal against the horde, and their opposition comes from a mutiny by the carrion-feeders the noble employs as his spies. Manipulated by the same deathly forces which bind the hungry horde in its sinister cycle...

But it's also an interesting PLACE to spend a session and at least 3 interesting figures around whose struggles the scenario revolves. There's a handful of clear goals. I'm also a big fan of scenarios where things are already moving toward either escalation or resolution by the time the players gets involved. It lets them choose whether to bring a deft touch or a Gordian knot solution to the proceedings when it feels less like all these people were standing around waiting for some adventurer to come and do everything for them; players feel less like their level of investment is being assumed on their behalf.

Battlefield areas can be Isolated or Precarious, most of them can be Obscured, and I'd keep the threat of suffocation at bay and out of a fight's logistics if I were to employ my heart-recovery restriction I mentioned earlier....