Technology and trade on a world in a feudal-capitalist future! (Traveller Tuesday #16)

I think we've established enough details about Ishee now to get started figuring out its tech levels! On a world settled by Rose Brothers, that is one of the most important statistics to them, culturally.

We start with 1d6, with a bunch of modifiers based on planetary statistics. The die gives us a rather measly-looking 2. Ishee is small enough to get a +1 due to its size, and balkanization drives technological progress, adding a further +2, but that's it. Ishee's high common tech level, thus, is 5 ~ about equivalent to the Broadcast Age or the 1930s (though I doubt it visually resembles such times, though that could be fun, too). In GURPs 3e terms (the tech level system I imprinted on as a child), this would represent early TL 6. (α-3D-0704-α0 (α Greve-Eau Pleine-α Bishop Scheumack-Ishee)/E261774-5/X/LG-LT-Ri/Em)

OK, that's significantly lower than I was hoping (though my hopes were rather unrealistic: the highest tech level we could have rolled would have been only 9 ~ early stellar and fusion technology (G3TL early 9)), but this actually drives the social commentary concretized in Ishee forward, I think. By focusing so heavily on the actions and contributions of individual rock-star innovators and by chasing future shock and paradigm shifts with a religious zeal, they've actually prevented their inventions from rooting into their society and making actual shifts to its structure. Amidst all the flash and whiz, people continue to rely on technologies they know how to operate and whose reliability can be, well, relied upon. I think there's also something to be said that said founding religion was named in the masculine.

Oooh! Knowing the planet's high common tech level lets us explore what material resources and goods are available here. But first, we need to figure out if Ishee has evolved its own native lifeforms. We need to roll a 6 or greater on 2d6 for it to have, and we roll a 6 exactly! I don't have a good Traveller-style method of determining if that life is intelligent (one of my ongoing quests for Traveller worldbuilding info!), but I checked some Drake Equation calculator sites and found that most use between a 1% and 10% chance for planetary life to be intelligent. I'll just use the higher of that, and say that there is intelligent life if I roll a 10 on 1d10. I roll a . . .1, so not only no, but hell no.

We need to roll a 10 or less on 2d6 for agricultural resources to be of significant trade value on Ishee, a 7 or less for ores, and a 5 or less again each for radioactives and crystals. Our first roll is a 2, so we might say that agriculture is not only present on Ishee, but big business! Ores are the next most likely natural resource to be present, and a 4 confirms that ore mining is a thing on Ishee. What about crystals? Another 4 gives us significant crystal deposits on Ishee ~ useful in everything from jewelry to computers to certain construction technologies! Finally, radioactives would round out Ishee's resource wealth, but an 8 rejects us. The next set of three things are processed natural resources. Somewhere between raw materials and consumer products, these are often sold B2B or to the sort of people who really enjoy crafting their own things (although, in the case of agroproducts, this would extend all the way to end-user-facing products, like boxed food, TV dinners, and the like ~ though the category also includes things like cellophane and biodiesel). Ishee will produce compounds on a 7 or less, agroproducts on 11 or less, processed metals on a 1 or less (so, no), and processed non-metals on a 6 or less. We roll a 4 to begin, so Ishee definitely sells compounds, and that's followed by an 11, meaning that Ishee just barely sells agroproducts to other planets. It would seem that they are primarily raw ingredient merchants. Finally, a 12 tells us that processed non-metals are not an Isheean thing.

What about final, manufactured products that could be sold to consumers directly? A 4 or less will mean that Ishee produces parts, a 6 or less that it produces durables (that is, any object intended to last, like a chair or a car), and a 5 or less each that it produces consumables (that is, any object intended for limited use, like batteries or bandages) or weapons. A 3 tells us that Ishee manufactures parts, and durables roll a 7 so they're an almost-but-no-go, while an 8 and a 9 put the kibosh on consumable and weapon manufacturing.

The Dungeon World party

Finn sim-Laugren
Neutral Half-Gnome Half-Human Fighter 1
    Gender and Pronouns:  Male (he/him/his/his/himself)
    Concept: Simple-minded slacker trying to make it into adulthood without dying or getting arrested.
    Description:  Stocky, doe-eyed, sides of the head are shaved and the hair on top is braided, pale and freckled

    Religion: Finn owes no special fealty to any god, but prays on special occasions or great need to whatever god is applicable.
    Homeland:  Not yet defined

Ability Scores
    Strength  16 (+3)
    Dexterity  12 (0)
    Constitution  15 (+1)
    Intelligence  8 (-1)
    Wisdom  13 (+1)
    Charisma  9 (0)

Statistics
    Maximum HP:  25
    Total Armor:  2
    Base Damage:  d10 (+2 piercing)
    Alignment:  Neutral ~ Defeat a worthy opponent.  Make an ally of someone powerful.  Defeat a personally important foe.  Learn a secret about an enemy.  Uncover a hidden truth
    Bonds:  Stevi G's incredible sense of self-deception terrifies me.  I owe Ziggy for betraying com in the past.
    Experience: 1

Moves
    Half-Gnome Half-Human:  Once per battle you may reroll a single damage roll (yours or someone else’s).
    Bend Bars, Lift Gates:  When you use pure strength to destroy an inanimate obstacle, roll+Str. ✴On a 10+, choose 3. ✴On a 7-9 choose 2.
• It doesn’t take a very long time
• Nothing of value is damaged
• It doesn’t make an inordinate amount of noise
• You can fix the thing again without a lot of effort
    Armored:  You ignore the clumsy tag on armor you wear.
    Signature Weapon:  This is your weapon. There are many like it, but this one is yours.  Your weapon is your best friend. It is your life. You master it as you master your life. Your weapon, without you, is useless. Without your weapon, you are useless. You must wield your weapon true.  Choose a base description, all are 2 weight:
• Sword
• Axe
• Hammer
• Spear
• Flail
• Fists
Choose the range that best fits your weapon:
• Hand
• Close
• Reach
Choose two enhancements:
• Hooks and spikes. +1 damage, but +1 weight.
• Sharp. +2 piercing.
• Perfectly weighted. Add precise.
• Serrated edges. +1 damage.
• Glows in the presence of one type of creature, your choice.
• Huge. Add messy and forceful.
• Versatile. Choose an additional range.
• Well-crafted. -1 weight.
Choose a look:
• Ancient
• Unblemished
• Ornate
• Blood-stained
• Sinister
Finn's weapon is a pickaxe, with close range, that is sharp and huge.  It looks ancient.  (+2 piercing damage, messy, forceful)

Stuff and Things
    Load:  14
    Scale armor (2 armor, worn, clumsy, 3 weight)
    2 healing potions (0 weight)
    Antitoxin (0 weight)
    Dungeon rations (8 uses, ration, 2 weight)
    Poultices and herbs (2 uses, slow, 1 weight)

    Total Weight:  8



**************************************************************************


Stephen Gil (a.k.a., Stevi G)
Good Human Bard 1
    Gender and Pronouns:  Male (he/him/his/his/himself)
    Concept: A very dense bard who has somehow managed to make it through lie despite being really bad at it.
    Description:  Fit, with joyous eyes, a stylish cap, and ostentatious clothing.
    Religion: While Stevi G knows a lot about the gods, he's never really ascribe dto any religion.
    Homeland:  Not yet defined

Ability Scores
    Strength  12 (0)
    Dexterity  13 (+1)
    Constitution  16 (+2)
    Intelligence  9 (0)
    Wisdom  8 (-1)
    Charisma  16 (+2)

Statistics
    Maximum HP:  22
    Total Armor: 0
    Base Damage:  d6
    Alignment: Good ~ Perform your art to aid someone else.  Ignore danger to aid another.  Lead others into righteous battle.  Give up powers or riches for the greater good.  Reveal a dangerous lie.  Show mercy
    Bonds: I am writing a ballad about the adventures of Ziggy.  Ziggy said, "I'm very confused" when we first met, but seems to look up to me
    Experience: 7

Moves
    Human:  When you first enter a civilized settlement someone who respects
the custom of hospitality to minstrels will take you in as their guest.
    Arcane Art:  When you weave a performance into a basic spell, choose an ally and an effect:
• Heal 1d8 damage
• +1d4 forward to damage
• Their mind is shaken clear of one enchantment
• The next time someone successfully assists the target with aid, they get +2 instead of +1
Then roll+Cha. ✴On a 10+, the ally gets the selected effect. ✴On a 7-9,
your spell still works, but you draw unwanted attention or your magic
reverberates to other targets affecting them as well, GM’s choice.
    Bardic Lore:  Choose an area of expertise:
• Spells and Magicks
• The Dead and Undead
• Grand Histories of the Known World
• A Bestiary of Creatures Unusual
• The Planar Spheres
• Legends of Heroes Past
• Gods and Their Servants
When you first encounter an important creature, location, or item (your call) covered by your bardic lore you can ask the GM any one question about it; the GM will answer truthfully. The GM may then ask you what tale, song, or legend you heard that information in.
Stevi G is knowledgeable about gods and their servants
    Charming and Open:  When you speak frankly with someone, you can ask their player a question from the list below. They must answer it truthfully, then they may ask you a question from the list (which you must answer truthfully).
• Whom do you serve?
• What do you wish I would do?
• How can I get you to ______?
• What are you really feeling right now?
• What do you most desire?
    A Port in the Storm:  When you return to a civilized settlement you’ve visited before, tell the GM will tell you how it's changed since then.
    Metal Hurlant:  When you shout with great force or play a shattering note choose a target and roll+Con. ✴On a 10+ the target takes 1d10 damage and is deafened for a few minutes. ✴On a 7–9 you still damage your target, but it’s out of control: the GM will choose an additional target nearby.

Stuff and Things
    Load:  9
    4 coin
    Dungeon rations (3 uses, ration, 1 weight)
    A fiddle, never before played (0 weight)
    Ostentatious clothing (worn, 0 weight)
    Worn bow (near, 2 weight)
    Bundle of arrows (3 ammo, 1 weight)
    Short sword (close, 1 weight)
    Total Weight: 1

What does chivalry get me anyway? Or sociopathy, for that matter? (Design Domingo #16)

Chivalrous people are recognized by their ideals, behavior, and reputation. Although six different traits are admired, chivalry does not hold a person to have a minimum value in all of the requisite traits, as does religious virtue. Instead, chivalry strives for an average high quality from among them. If a character has a total of 45 or more in those traits which are appropriate to their chosen domain of chivalry (an average of 7 or 8 in each), they may become chivalrous. First, though, they must swear an oath to their lord to always do the following (the oath is the same, regardless of in which domain a character expresses their chivalry): “To protect and succor the widow, the orphan, the poor; not to slay or deny a vanquished and defenseless adversary; not to take part in a false judgment or treason, or to withdraw if it cannot be prevented; to never give evil counsel to another; to help, if possible, a fellow being in distress.” Once they swear this oath, your character gains the benefits of being a chivalrous person. If their total in the requisite traits should ever drop below 45 for any reason, they lose the chivalrous benefits until such a time as their requisite scores once again total 45 or higher.

The six virtues of the battlefield are Generous, Energetic, Modest, Just, Merciful, and Valorous. Martial chivalry gives a supernatural boon called the Armor of Honor, which reduces the damage from each attack that hits those who follow it by 6. In addition, such people gain a +1 bonus on any roll involving social interaction.

The six virtues of the home are Chaste, Energetic, Honest, Modest, Prudent, and Temperate. Domestic chivalry gives a +1 on any roll involving social interaction and, whenever such a character receives money (whether being paid, selling something, performing their occupation, just plain charity, or any other reason), they receive an additional 25%.

The six virtues of the heart are either Chaste or Lustful (depending on the nature of your love), Forgiving, Generous, Honest, Arbitrary, and Reckless. However, the Courts of Love are even more demanding than the chivalry of war or seneschalry; to follow the chivalry of love, a character must have a beloved. The precise nature of the amorous affair is shaped by the individuals involved; it may be chaste or not, as long as it is devoted, consumes much of their time and energy, and is not unrequited. Despite the scandalous nature of adultery, romantic chivalry recalls old Galatic practices of polyamory, and so monogamy is not required. The lover must also have five or more ranks in in three of the following skills: Animal Empathy, Craft, Perform, Diplomacy, Linguistics, Gaming, Listening, or Archetype skills. The beloved, of course, decides which three skills — i.e., those that they find most appealing in a potential mate. At least once per year, the lover must prove their passion for their beloved by doing their bidding, occasionally even under duress. This activity must be played out, either with the party or solitaire. Finally, the lover must entertain their beloved with presents or entertainments worth at least 100 gold pieces per year. Romantic chivalry gives a +5 bonus to any roll which furthers their romance with their beloved. In addition, its devotees receive a +1 bonus to all social rolls for every successful year they have maintained their love affair, even if their love was kept secret throughout the year.

Taken together, a character’s religious and chivalric focus ~ whether or not the character lives up to their ideals ~ are referred to as that character’s alignments. They generally function similarly to D&D and Pathfinder’s alignment systems. If one needed to, one could consider the religious focus to be the equivalent of the moral axis (Good v. Evil) and the chivalric focus that of the ethical axis (Law v. Chaos). A character’s alignments, however, are not the only extreme state your character might find themself in.

Soldiers, bonesaws, and almsgivers know about getting callous. When you’ve seen enough horror, it loses its power to horrify you. The higher one of your Hardened Tramas gets, the more it takes for that kind of stress to rip up your head. Once your Hardened Trauma reaches 10, you’re so jaded and blasé about it that nothing in that category of stress can endanger your mind. This is not a good thing. Mental stress makes us vulnerable. But it also makes us human. If your Hardened Traumas rise too high, you become so completely callous that you are unable to feel fear at all. That’s because you are now cut off from a broad range of emotional experiences that everyone else shares. You’re “hardened” all right: hardened into an emotional fortresses, completely isolated, unable to make a fundamental connection with other human beings.

You’re a sociopath:
~You become a sociopath when you have a score of 10 in two or more Hardened Traumas, or when the total sum of your Hardened Traumas exceeds thirty-five.
~You can no longer gain bonuses from your alignments. You just can’t relate to such intense states of soul and mind anymore.
~You cannot use or benefit from divine magics until you begin to feel again. The gods rely on an empathic connection to grant their power to mortals, and sociopaths slam that particular door shut.

Getting callous towards threats is a dead-end street. Where’s the challenge in being a null? What’s the excitement in deadening your head? It also cuts off options. Your emotional inputs are clogged. True, you don’t get scared when something nasty happens. But you also couldn’t care less when something good happens. You’re so emotionally insulated you can’t feel a damn thing. Nothing is worth doing because you know there is no payoff. No pleasure, no sensation of success, no satisfaction in camaraderie. It all loses meaning. It may be that you dig this for a while. If you approach it as an opportunity to give you and your group interesting problems, maybe there’s some value there. But you can’t maintain it for long. The bonds that hold you to the group don’t last when you’re a walking corpse. Make some trouble, explore this terrain, and then fight your way back to life. When you’re ready to fight back to human feelings, don’t just roll dice. Talk it out. What drove you to this strange place? The rest of your group can help. They might take the roles of other people interacting with you for a bit, asking questions and probing to the heart of where you went wrong. Then roll the dice.

Orcish nouns (Fantasy Friday #16)

All nouns, whether simple or complex, may be followed by one or more suffixes. If there are two or more suffixes, the suffixes must occur in a specific order. Suffixes may be classified on the basis of their relative order after the noun.  There are five types of suffixes. Augmentative/diminutive suffixes come right after the noun; numerical suffixes come after those; qualificatory suffixes come next, followed by possessive/specificative suffixes; syntactic markers come last. This may be illustrated as follows:

NOUN--size--number--attitude--demonstrative--function

Of course, if no augmentative/diminutive suffix is used but a numerical suffix is, the numerical suffix comes right after the noun. If a syntactic marker is the only suffix used, it comes right after the noun.  Only when two or more suffixes are used does their order become apparent.  There are at least two suffixes in each suffix type. Only one suffix of each type may be used at a time. That is, a noun cannot be followed by, for example, two or three possessive/specificative suffixes.

As in English, a singular noun in Orcish has no specific suffix indicating that it is singular: goyrnkoy (“weapon”) refers to a single weapon of any type. Unlike English, however, the lack of a specific suffix for plural does not always indicate that the noun is singular. In Orcish, a noun without a plural suffix may still refer to more than one entity The plurality is indicated by a pronoun, whether a verb prefix or a full word, or by context. For example, tolgoy (“pig”) may refer to a single pig or to a group of pigs, depending on other words in the sentence or the context of the discussion.

Under certain circumstances, the only way to know whether the noun refers to one or more than one entity is by context. Fortunately for students of Orcish, it is never incorrect to add a plural suffix to a noun referring to more than one entity, even in those cases where it is unnecessary to do so. On the other hand, a plural suffix cannot be added to a noun referring to only one thing, even if pronouns are present in the sentence.

A few Orcish words are inherently plural in meaning, and therefore never take plural suffixes.
ti /tʰĩ˦/ “vermin”
oynkoyr /õĩᵑkõĩr/ “goods”
olos /ɔ̃˞lɔ̃˞ʂ/“dreams”
The singular counterparts of such words are utterly distinct:
winkqi /wĩ˦ᵑkxĩ˦/ “an individual vermin”
nkoynkoy /ᵑkõĩᵑkõĩ/ “trade good”
khoynwos /q͡χõĩnwɔ̃˞ʂ/ “dream”
The singular forms may take the -muhg suffix, but the meaning always carries the “scattered all about” connotation:
nkoynkoymuhg /ᵑkõĩᵑkõĩmʌ̃˨g/ “trade goods scattered all about”
winkqimuhg /wĩ˦ᵑkximʌ̃˨g/ “vermin all over the place”
Inherently plural nouns are treated grammatically as singular nouns in that singular pronouns are used to refer to them. For example, in the sentence oynkoyr gihquoyttoy /õĩᵑkõĩrgɪ̃˨kʷõĩtːʰõĩ/ “Sell the tradegoods!” the verb prefix gih-, an imperative prefix used for singular objects, must be used even though the object (oynkoyr “trade goods”) has a plural meaning.

It is grammatically correct to use the regular possessive suffixes with nouns referring to beings capable of speech (as in rinoylihj “your child”), but such constructions are considered derogatory; oyroytolihj for “my lord” borders on the taboo. Students of Orcish should bear this in mind.  To indicate that one noun is the possessor of another noun (e.g., “enemy's weapon”), no suffix is used. Instead, the two nouns are said in the order possessor-possessed: gotuhnkno goyrnkoy /gɔ̃˞tʰʌ̃˨ᵑknɔ̃˞gõĩrᵑkõĩ/ “enemy's weapon” (literally, “enemy weapon”). This construction is also used for phrases translated by “of the” in English, such as “weapon of the enemy.”

The order of the Orcish alphabet (by which wordlists in this series will be organized) is:
t, i, ng, qu, o, s, q, gh, ow, m, kh, ch, nk, g, ui, j, n, oy, r, ai, l, uh, ‘, ih, w

tilti /tʰĩ˦ltʰĩ˦/:  (noun) money, tilit- in some compounds
tilti’i’ /tʰĩ˦ltʰĩ˦ʔĩ˦ʔ/:  (noun) wealth; riches; treasure
-toy’ /.tʰõĩʔ/:  (numerical suffix) plural for beings capable of using language.
-quonk /.kʷɔ̃˞ᵑk/:  (qualificatory suffix) indicates that the noun is being used in a false or ironic fashion (for example, saying nkoyrquonk “so-called home,” rather than simply nkoyr “home,” indicates that the speaker does not really believe that the home is legitimate or likely to endure)
sirti /sĩ˦rtʰĩ˦/:  (noun) life, not Life in general or as a principle, but (a period of) individual activity, thus also “the place where a person, people &c. lived and had their business, i.e. habitat, haunt”
-sihj /.ʂɪ̃˨d͡ʒ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) my (used for objects incapable of using language)
-sih’ /.ʂɪ̃˨ʔ/:  (lexical suffix) one who does; thing which does (nominalizes verbs)
-sih’ /.ʂɪ̃˨ʔ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) my (used for beings capable of using language)
-qom /.xɔ̃˞m/:  (augmentative/diminutive suffix) indicates that what the noun refers to is smaller, less important, or less powerful than it would be without the suffix.
-quhg /.xʌ̃˨g/:  (qualificatory suffix) indicates that the speaker is pretty sure the object referred to by the noun is accurately described by the noun, but has some doubts.
-muhg /.mʌ̃˨g/:  (numerical suffix) general-usage plural; if used for beings capable of using language or body parts it adds a notion of “scattered all about” (compare: rinoy “child”, rinoytoy’ “children”, rinoymuhg “children all over the place”)
-mij /.mĩ˦d͡ʒ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) our (used for objects incapable of using language)
-mi’ /.mĩ˦ʔ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) our (used for beings capable of using language)
-chij /.t͡ʃĩ˦d͡ʒ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) their (used for objects incapable of using language)
nkin /ᵑkĩ˦n/:  (noun) way; place; spot
nkinti /ᵑkĩ˦ntʰĩ˦/:  (noun) end
nkoyr /ᵑkõĩr/:  (noun) house; home; dwelling; family; earth; world; household
nkoyr’i’ /ᵑkõĩrʔĩ˦ʔ/:  (noun) palace
nkoyrqom /ᵑkõĩrxɔ̃˞m/:  (noun) room; hiding-place
-nkoy’ /.ᵑkõĩʔ/:  (numerical suffux) plural for body parts
nkaitoyli /ᵑkaitʰõĩlĩ˦/:  (noun) the act (but not the result) of working; job
nkaitoyliqom /ᵑkaitʰõĩlĩ˦xɔ̃˞m/:  (noun) task
-nkij /.ᵑkĩ˦d͡ʒ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) his, her, its (used for objects incapable of using language)
gorinkoy /gɔ̃˞rĩ˦nkõĩ/:  (noun) round
goroynoyr /gɔ̃˞rõĩnõĩr/:  (noun) year  (“sun-round”)
-ni’ /.nĩ˦ʔ/:  (qualificatory suffix) indicates that there is no doubt in the speaker's mind as to the accuracy of his or her choice of words
nostoyli /nɔ̃˞stʰõĩlĩ˦/:  (noun) sort; species; kind
noyt /nõĩtʰ/:  (noun) thing
oynoyr /õĩnõĩr/:  (noun) sun
oyroy /õĩrõĩ/:  (noun) side
oyloy /õĩlõĩ/:  (noun) day
oyloyn /õĩlõĩn/:  (noun) daytime
oyloy’i’ /õĩlõĩʔĩ˦ʔ/:  (noun) holiday
-rim /.rĩ˦m/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) this; these
-rij /.rĩ˦d͡ʒ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) y’all’s (used for objects incapable of using language)
rinoy /rĩ˦nõĩ/:  (noun) child, -rin in compounds
-ri’ /.rĩ˦ʔ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) y’all’s (used for beings capable of using language)
roynuh /rõĩnʌ̃˨/:  (noun) man; male; male animal
-ruhl /.rʌ̃˨l/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) that; those
lee /lĩ˥ː/:  (noun) people; race
linkti /lĩ˦ᵑktʰĩ˦/:  (number) five
linktioy /lĩ˦ᵑktʰĩ˦õĩ/:  (number) fifth
linknoyr /lĩ˦ᵑknõĩr/:  (noun) week of five days
lo /lɔ̃˞/:  (noun) night; a night
luhnki /lʌ̃˨ᵑkĩ˦/:  (noun) time; hour
-lihj /.lɪ̃˨d͡ʒ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) your (used for objects incapable of using language)
-lih’ /.lɪ̃˨ʔ/:  (possessive/specificative suffix) your (used for beings capable of using language)
-’i’ /.ʔĩ˦ʔ/:  (augmentative/diminutive suffix) indicates that what the noun refers to is bigger, more important, or more powerful than it would be without the suffix.

Death doesn't make me not a dad (Mutants & Masterminds, 3e)

Donald Ebberman

"Bringing back the dead (or saving the living from the shadow of death) is the ultimate queer act."
—Sharon P. Holland, Raising the Dead:  Readings of Death and (Black) Subjectivity


Donald Ebberman came to the MGM desperate in 1980.  He'd had a daughter in a previous relationship, before he'd admitted even to himself that he was a man, and her condition was getting worse, the treatment more expensive.  He'd just lost his job and was in sore need for his meager savings to be significantly more than meager.  Gambling was the only option he could think of.  He took everything out of the bank and brought it to the casino, thinking only that there needed to be something to give thanks for at the upcoming holiday.

He spent the night of November 20th strapped into the roller-coaster of fortune that is a casino when more than a mere dopamine hit is on the line.  There was no way for him to realize it in the intentionally timeless space of that casino, but the sun had left and returned as he watched the rise and fall of his bankroll.  At 7 a.m., an electrical wire that had lost its insulation and grounding lit an abandoned restaurant within the hotel called the Deli on fire.  Six minutes from the resultant wall of flame finally being noticed, the building was engulfed in flames.  Donald was one of the 18 killed on the casino floor.

"If you spend a week at a casino you will very easily see that people have a certain way of behaving in a casino."
--Mads Mikkelsen

Donald's life insurance policy just barely covered his daughter's treatment, ensuring her survival but not her shelter or food or anything similar.  As he was reluctantly dragged by the hand by some sort of dog-headed person, that math was all that he carried in his head and in his heart.  Memory becomes a little fuzzier after that.  Running, lots of running, through any number of surreal and strange landscapes, pursued by . . . something.  It only settled into a stable construction when he found himself in the center of a casino.  It was Bally's Las Vegas, and it was six years later.

The hotel where Donald had died has been sold and rebranded.  As comprehension dawned in fiery panic, he ran through the city ~ walls were as solid as holograms ~ searching for the family he'd left behind.  They were in a tenement in Downtown Las Vegas, where a single father could pay as little as possible for a roof over the head of a disabled daughter whose treatments were paid for, but not the accommodations that made her life both possible and livable.  He set out once more to take care of the two people who still mourned him.


"The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets."
--William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Unwilling to put his loved ones through the stress of discovering that he was a ghost, Donald set out to test his haunting abilities and scheme to turn them towards the well-being of his family.  He used his control over heat and flame to punish those who would harm them before figuring out more skillful uses of such power.  The real revelation, however, came when he discovered that he could possess the living and make them do things.  Surely, he thought, this would provide for those he'd left behind.

Quite an urban legend built up around the ghost who came to be known as Emberwight on the burgeoning internet.  Donald himself barely noticed ~ it's not like he spent much time making small talk with the living.  But other beings with powers and experiences beyond the normal did.  His efforts began to get tangled up and distracted by his interactions with these beings and people, making his eternal death all that much harder.  Interestingly, Catspaw was not one of those people ~ she discovered his existence when he possessed her in order to pull off one of his schemes.  You can guess how well that went.

"I think every child deserves a family as loving and committed as mine. Because the sense of family comes from the commitment we make to each other to work through the hard times so we can enjoy the good ones. It comes from the love that binds us; that’s what makes a family. ... My family is just as real as yours."
— Zach Wahls

Home Base:  Las Vegas.
Gender:  Transmale
Sexuality:  Gay vanilla
Romantic Identity:  Monogamous romantic

"Morrison imagines the spectral sphere as always already queer, a provocation and challenge to heteronormativity—with the ghost sometimes an active participant in disruptions of compulsory heterosexuality, sometimes a figure embodying closet desires, and sometimes a disembodied emanation that counterpoints homophobia"
--Toni Morrison and the Queer Pleasure of Ghosts

Recurrent Foes:

• Ammit the Devourer of Souls, Great of Death:  When Donald died, his heart was heavy, loaded down with worry for his husband and daughter, self-recrimination for his failure, and a host of other, similar feelings.  It was not lighter than a feather, so he ran.  He ran from the strange dog-headed man who had brought him to . . . the Luxor? . . . and he ran from the green man who operated the scales, who had plucked the feather from atop the winged woman's head and his heart from his chest to compare their weight.  And he ran from the lake of fire and the strange animal that stood snarling beside it.  A crocodile head atop a body that's leonine in the front and hippopotamine in the back, and it somehow failed to catch the gambler until he'd run back to this world, a ghost.  Ammit hungers for the soul of this man who failed the test and pursues him still.  If he succeeds, Ebberman will be gone forever, reduced to nothing.  Ammit doesn't even shit.  Emberwight knows to run and to trick and to recruit allies when he catches a glimpse of his divine predator, because there is no way that he can stand against such a being.  So far, his wits have earned his continued existence, but he frets over the day he runs out of ideas and allies.
  
  • Notable Powers:  (PL 16) Senses (acute smell, low-light vision), Swimming, Environmental Adaptation (aquatic), Bite (STR-based soul or piercing Damage 8, Improved Critical), high STR & FGT, Affects Insubstantial on everything, Protection, Insubstantial, Growth, Shrinking, all combat advantages, Favored Foe (those escaping the destruction of their soul), Fearless, Great Endurance, Tracking, Well-Informed, Immortality, lots of Immunities, Movement, Senses, Variable (Devourer of the Dead).  Terrifying Roar, Speak with Animals, Swallowing Shadow, Immunity to Darkness, Immunity to Light, Gloom (extreme), Darkvision, Banshee's Wail (as Alternate Effect with Terrifying Roar), Feature (deathly aura, mental Strength), Death Stare, Suppress Life, Shielded Soul, Death's Gate, Valkyrie's Ride, Death Sight, Death Visions, Speak With the Dead, Dimension Walk (Affects Others, Area), Dimension Sense (analytical), Immolate (soul or fire, after critical damage), Immunity to Heat, Warm (extreme heat), Life Sense, Psychic Diagnosis, Power Detection (acute, analytical), Aura Reading, Cutting Loose, Massive Knockback, Shockwave, Bracing, Tug of War, Makeshift Handholds, Super-Leaping, Unstoppable from Power Profiles.
• Vincenzo Sangiovanni:  The undead crime family Vincenzo is a representative of specializes in necromantic magics and interactions with ghosts.  Despite the two meeting when Emberwight's spectral wrath came to Vincenzo's casino in the flaming deaths of a handful of patrons, the ghost didn't start out as particularly special to the blood-sucking hotelier ~ just another ghost to be bent to Vincenzo's will like so many others.  It was only when Emberwight successfully resisted his control that Don Sangiovanni's pride became bruised, putting Donald in his crosshairs.  That same pride, however, has been Emberwight's saving grace, as Vincenzo is stubbornly unwilling to give the fiery wraith any more of his attention or resources than is minimally needed.  The couple of times the time traveler known as Tonka Truck has become even peripherally swept up into their conflict, the spiritworker's seemed strangely spooked.
• Notable Powers:  (PL 12) Metrosexual Vampire from Supernatural Handbook.  Command the Undead, Grasping Graves, Death Sight, Death Vision, Necromancy (with a number of spells as Alternate Effects), Speak with the Dead, Mind Control from Powers Profile.  Death-activated equivalent of Scrying Stone of Sirrion and large installation from Gadgets Guide.  Benefit (wealth 5)
• Catspaw:  Emberwight possessed Dikadora at one point.  Quite innocuously, to be sure ~ his intent was to establish a bank account he could later deposit money into that could provide for his husband and daughter.  He didn't know about Dikadora's fey-twisted heritage, but that ignorance didn't protect him.  His plan devolved into bad luck and failure, ending up taking money from his survivors rather than giving it to them.  Vengeful wrath has led him to become a recurrent foe of the werecat's, a relationship which is complicated by Donald's occasional need for flight or protection from Ammit the Devourer of Souls, Great of Death.  At times, he has brokered an unstable peace with Catspaw that allows the two to work together to save his ethereal hide, but the effort always invites Catspaw's powers.  The two never come out friends afterwards, sadly. (PL 10)
  
• Ravella the Riverboat Queen:  Emberwight is a recurrent player at Ravella's table, appearing whenever he can scrabble together some intangible bankroll exciting enough for Ravella to be willing to play.  Quite a few of his more desperate plots have come from this quest for an ante she'd accept.  He has won a game or two, but he also has an addiction.  Ectodopamine is a helluva ghost-drug.  Only once or twice has he been able to walk away from the table while his chips were high, but even then he soon discovered that his winnings were either not enough to secure his husband and daughter's future and comfort or that his winnings actually hurt them (which drove him back to the table, hoping to gamble those winnings away).  One notable storyline involved someone utilizing Donald's addictive appearances at Ravella's table specifically to harvest his ectodopamine as an ingredient for a superdrug.  Ravella revealed a bit of gold to her heart as she exerted herself to save her ghostly friend from his oppressor.
  
  • Notable Powers:  (PL 10) Variable (can bet and receive bets for anything; Affects Others, Slow, Precise, Variable Descriptor, Distracting, Limited: Only in Betting Games, Side Effect 1, Check Required: Opposed Expertise: Gambling), Immortality, Immunity (aging)
• Pastor Repressor:  Raised in a very conservative Christian home, Stacey Robertson tried to become a police officer.  While there, he asked a classmate out after they had spent time at gay bars together after class.  Socially awkward and disliked by classmates, he did manage to get one, single, solitary boyfriend (Miguel) and a few one-night stands by visiting Vegas's gay nightclubs and using dating apps.  His parents' homophobic teachings sat in his brain like a wriggling mass of worms all slathered in ghost-pepper sauce, however, leading to many nights at the club as a loud and belligerent drunk in a corner by himself.  The day he learned that he might have been exposed to HIV by one of his lovers he saw a pair of ghosts on the Strip.  Two men, who by their manner of dress had died in the late 1940s, appeared all wispy and pale, lost in the romance of a kiss.  The bigotry of his childhood and the fear of disease manifested in an explosion of futile disgust and a flight back to the home ~ and church ~ of his youth.  After enduring the usual barrage of insults from his parents, he renounced his former life, and buried himself in studies of his faith.  Particularly the rituals and practices of exorcism, casting out the demons like Jesus did Legion from the pigs.  After all, he reasoned, if he could exorcise the globe of queer ghosts, then he will have eliminated queer history.  Without queer history, he never would have even considered that he might be queer, and everything could be right with the world.  His eventual conflict with Emberwight is obvious, don't you think?
• Notable Powers:  (PL 8) Exorcism in the Name of God (as Occult Exorcism of Obroros), Dimensional Banishment (limited to ghosts), Command the Undead from Powers Profile. Ritualist, Comprehend (spirits), high Expertise: Theology & Philosophy, Expertise: History, Insight, and Investigation, Artificer, Connected, Contacts, Fascinate (Expertise: Theology & Philosophy), Favored Foe (queers), Favored Foe (ghosts), Extraordinary Effort, Ultimate Effort, Luck, Inspire, Interpose, Languages, Leadership, Trance, Spirit Binding (Affliction, Affects Incorporeal Only, Limited Degree; vulnerable, immobile), Deflect (limited to ghostly powers), Senses (Ghostly Awareness, Counters Concealment Limited to Ghosts, Counters Illusions Limited to Ghosts, Danger Sense, Detect Ghosts, Shred Ectoplasm (alternate array: Damage ghosts, Weaken ghostly powers, Weaken ghostly attributes, Damage ectoplasmic objects).
• Slum Lord: Richard Beaumont fucked a djinn, a fey being that had come to the Nevada desert from the Arabian desert.  He did strange drugs off of her tramp stamp, and then he fucked her.  As Dikadora Kelly can tell you, that side of her family (no matter how distant) can have a whimsical sense of justice and a twisted magic.  See, Beaumont had made a bunch of money in some shady real estate deals, which he barely even remembered when this beautiful Arab-American woman looked him in the eye, irises blazing behind her pink contacts, and murmured, "I can give you so much more, but only if you're brave enough to see.  Do you want it?"  Brain full of lust and foaming wines, he nodded and whispered from an expectantly dry mouth, "Yes.  Yes, all of it yes, give me all of it!"  Their simultaneous orgasm brought him great magical power over the urban landscape, but only those portions of the city to which he had brought suffering.  He's come to regret this hasty deal, which forced him into a close examination of his actions' effects.  Now, Richard's not sure if he's a villain or a hero, as he endeavours to do good things in more and more parts of Vegas ~ which means making tenants like Emberwight's family suffer.
  
  • Notable Powers:  (PL 6) Movement (Permeate, Limited to Urban Construction Materials, Limited to Into & Within Areas Where He Has Caused Suffering), Senses (Detect City Details and Layout (Acute, Analytical, Extended), Radio; Limited to Areas Where He Has Caused Suffering), Dynamic Array (Perception Ranged Move Object, Damaging, Precise, Limited to Urban Materials, Limited to Within Areas Where He Has Caused Suffering; Transform (any urban material into any other urban material), Continuous, Limited to Within Areas Where He Has Caused Suffering; Remote Sensing (all senses), Subtle, Limited to Urban Areas, Limited to Areas Where He Has Caused Suffering; Teleport, Accurate, Change Direction, Change Velocity, Easy, Turnabout, Medium (urban areas), Limited to Into & Within Areas Where He Has Caused Suffering), high Expertise: Civil Engineering, Diehard, Benefit (wealth), high Will and Toughness

Recurrent Allies:

• The Hummingbird Thief:  Professor Cullen might be over-focused on (his interpretations of) Huitzilopochtli-as-hummingbird, but he hasn't forgotten that he was also a sun god, or had been raised to such exalted status by the cihuacoatl Tlacaelel I.  This has led him to team up from time to time with the fiery ghost Emberwight.  Usually, he allows Emberwight to possess him, allowing them to combine both the Hummingbird Thief's superspeed and Emberwight's control over flames.  They often go by the name of Solar Flare in this form. (PL 8)

"Here’s to the ghost
We still seem to host
How he’s becoming us
Here come the vultures
Here come the vultures
Screaming down at us"
--Charlotte Wessels, Here Come the Vultures, The Human Contradiction

Physical Appearance:  I can't draw, so I really like providing a few reference pictures and trusting in your imagination to build a good image of Emberwight.  He looks like some combination of these five pictures:

"The double ontology of ghosts and ghostliness, the manner in which ghosts exist inside and out and traverse categorical distinctions, seems especially useful for a queer criticism that attempts to understand communal mourning, group psychologies, and the need for a politics that ‘carries’ our dead with us into battle for the present and future"
--Esteban Muñoz, Cruising Utopia 

Emberwight (PL 8)
STR -  AGI 0  FGT -1  AWE -1
STA -  DEX 0  INT 2  PRE 2
Powers
Burned to Death & Mad About It:  Environment 5 (extreme heat), Features 4 (always knows where his husband and daughter are, deathly aura, flame aura)*; Immunity 10 (Heat Effects); Senses 1 (infravision), Enhanced Trait: Soulfireball 3 (fades, reaction: when absorbing heat, distracting); Soulfireball 1 (Ranged burst area soul or fire Damage, Dodge resistance check (DC 10 + rank) for half effect, resistible (Will as well as Toughness), affects corporeal 1) • 40 points
Dead:  Immunity 30 (Fortitude effects); Insubstantial 4 (innate, permanent) • 51 points
Death’s Gate: Movement 2 (dimensional 2, afterlives), portal • 8 points
Death Sight: Senses 4 (detect dying at range; precognition limited to visions of death) • 4 points
Invisible:  Concealment 2 (normal sight) • 4 points
Skin-Riding:  Perception Ranged Cumulative Affliction 4 (resisted by Will; dazed, compelled, controlled), quirk: merge with subject, subtle • 16 points
Speak With the Dead: Senses 4 (postcognition) • 4 points
*  Deathly Aura: Your touch is inimical to simple forms of life: small plants wither and die when you touch or even just walk over them, and small insects perish upon touching you. Although an inconvenience (and good for a complication) at times, this is a net Feature good for, amongst other things, a circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks.  Flame Aura:  Harmless flames that flicker within the depths of the character’s eyes or around their person, providing a +2 circumstance bonus to Presence-based checks.
Advantages
Favored Environment (casinos), Startle
Skills
Deception 2 (+2), Expertise: Gambling 4 (+6), Intimidation 3 (+3), Perception 3 (+3), Sleight of Hand 2 (+2)
Offense
Initiative +0
Soulfireball +0:  Ranged, Damage 1 (soul or fire; up to 4 after absorbing heat)
Defense 
Dodge  0
Fortitude  immune 
Parry  -1
Toughness  0
Will  -1
Ground speed rank 0 (2 mph)
Complications 
Haunting Temper: Being a ghost carries with it certain realities and phenomena, one of which is a simmering rage, an anger at those who are alive and don't know what they have and a jealous wrath that can sneak up and jump out of a ghost when they least expect it.  Every feeling gets twisted towards fury.

Motivation ~ Responsibility: Although he can get pulled into any number of other plots by virtue of being dead, the only thing Emberwight wants is to know that his family is safe and comfortable.  Everything he does tracks back to that desire.

Power Point Totals:  Abilities -16 + Powers 127 + Advantages 2 + Skills 7 + Defenses 0 = 120

Our Dungeon World, 2nd edition

Quick rundown of characters:

• Natasha is playing Stephen Gil (a.k.a., Stevy Gil or Stevi G), the worst holy bard in the world. (He/him/his)
• Kate is playing Finnegan "Finn" sim-Laugren, a half-gnomic miners' kid turned gangster who wields an ancient pickaxe too large for most ogres to wield easily. (He/him/his)
• I am playing Zeguvra sim-Laxum, Finn's half-sibling and mining camp follower's kid (read: whore's kid) turned gangster turned devoted paladin of the god what freed com from prison. (Co/com/cor)

GAZETTEER

Merilerilor

This city-state is ruled by a single person who holds all the power, except for the power to ensure they'll stay in power.  That person is the current lover of the highest-ranking wizard in the city-state, chosen from the military that defends it.  That wizard's only political power outside of the guild that magically maintains the city-state's cohesion in this chaotically shifting world is to choose that partner and to dump them as the wizard chooses, removing them from power.  The high wizard is free to choose other lovers if they so choose, but also gets a lot of pressure to have one and only one lover in the military.

Stone houses built in concentric circles make up the substance of the city-state, which was built over time from the center out.  The newest and outermost such circle is the slum known as the Ring, which is crowded full of wooden buildings jammed into the alleys between the older stone houses, so that taking a stroll around the Ring means squeezing through tight spaces while jumbled roofs squint at the sun above you.  The Cartographer’s Guild occupies the most ostentatious stone building in the Ring.

Terriam

This outpost of Merilerilor primarily supports its parent city-state by farming produce.

Sarriel

Another of Merilerilor’s outposts, whose primary resource is sugarcane, though kord farming and other livestock farming is also common.  The worship of Hieridion is very popular.

Adironika

Otherwise known as the First City, Adironika now lies in ruins.  It was built 200 years ago and disappeared mysteriously one night.  Our characters just discovered its first new appearance in 30 years.

ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIAL GROUPS

Bards

The bardic uniform is a durable cross between a robe and a vest that falls to the bard's knees.  It is more cloth than leather, and a spray of colors splattered in embroidery on a purple fabric.

ECOLOGY

Kords

Kords are giant placid crustacean livestock, who look sort of like turtlefish and taste something like a cross between turtle, lobster, and beef.  The tallest portion of their black shells sway 8-10 feet above the ground.  Shovel-like pincers and eyestalks extend from within that shell, which is crucial to the kord's survival in cold temperatures.  In such situations, they contract into their shells, hibernating until  the cold passes.  When they wake up from such a period, they then lay a crapload of eggs.

RELIGION

Each deity has three to five photos to describe them ~ the idea is that if you combine all five pictures to form a single being, you can start to imagine the being itself.  I would love if someone who could draw decided to draw out images of each of these gawds, but that might have to wait until I can pay for commissions.

Odenki

Goddix of What Lies in the Deep, Sweet Waters Beneath

Odenki is the goddix of the deep, sweet waters beneath the surface shallows of brackish and polluted waters, of the freshwater hidden at the bottom of the cesspit.  Clergy of Odenki are everyone's dirty little secret ~ useful for answering questions or finding stuff or discovering infidelity, but prone to casually letting slip truths about yourself you didn't know and didn't want to know.  Everyone's visited them, and no one wants to admit it, and absolutely no one has enjoyed their visit.  Their symbol is a mask or group of masks, a reminder that what is seen is rarely what is.

Hieridion

God of Delicious Moments

Few to no details have yet been worked out concerning this god, who exists because the pizza box ordered us to enjoy our "delicious moments" and I'd just been looking at the cleric's god list and thought that phrase had to be on the list.

Amari-Diore

Goddix of the Union of Land and Sky

Our characters have been on one adventure together already, for the Cartographer's Guild.  Sadly, the caravan we were guarding ran afoul of a manticore who worshiped this deity.  Like many of this deity's worshipers, the manticore had a fairly specific sort of delusion after drinking poisoned water for some time: it had decided that the poisoned water was forming an inappropriate border between land and sky and so sought to destroy the water and also the passing caravan.

Corresto, the Beastmother

Goddess of Change

The goddess of change, most of whose legends are old.  One of the more commonly told is a child's fable called "The Little Girl and Corresto", which is a bastardization of some very old legends.  It is story of a girl who wanders into the realm of gods from the woods, goes into Corresto’s realm, and meets all manner of fantastic creatures.  Every teller of the story tells that this nameless little girl makes a deal with Corresto to return, but the contents of that deal are always different, often between tellings from the same storyteller, though each city does tend to have certain similarities in how they tell it.  Sometimes the deal is clever, sometimes the little girl just happens to luckily offer the one thing Corresto is interested in ~ there are a million and one variations, but the overlying theme is that Corresto is the Beastmother.  Every one of the incredibly adaptive creatures in the world are viewed by this tale as her progeny.

Unnamed Yet

God of Death

We don't yet have a lot of details about this god, other than that Stevi G has been trading away important bits of himself to Death in order to return to life.

Refocusing on Ishee, which is more Black Rock-like than ever! (Traveller Tuesday #15)

We're gonna focus back on Ishee as we get into some of the more technical aspects of planetology, starting with determining the density of the planet. Well, before we do that, we have to determine what kind of planet it is. The planet's size and atmosphere pull in opposite directions in this determination, resulting in a roll of 2d6-1. That results in a 7, which means that it's a molten-core planet. We go on to roll 3d6 to determine it's actual density, which comes out to 98% of Earth's density. Ishee's really coming out as a rather nice place to live!

This allows us to then calculate the mass of the planet, using the formula M=K*(R/8)³. That's the quotient of Ishee's Size digit (2) divided by eight, cubed, multiplied by its density. That comes out to a mass of . . . 1.53125% of Earth's. Well, it is much smaller, even if its composition is similar. Ishee's gravity is then determined by another formula: G=M*(64/R²) (the quotient of 64 divided by the square of the Size digit multiplied by the mass). We figure out that Ishee's gravity is 0.245 g, about ¼ of Earth's.

α Bishop Sheumack being a K7 V star, it has a stellar mass 40.8% of Sol's, so rather a bit smaller. This is likely balanced out, however, by Ishee's extreme closeness to its sun; it's only 0.2 AU away. Putting this together like so, P = √(D³/M) (the square root of the quotient of the distance cubed divided by the star's mass, we determine its orbital period (a.k.a., its year) to be 51 Earth-days, 3 hours, 29 minutes, and about 7.888 seconds. We return to the dice to determine if and how many satellites orbit Ishee ~ 1d6-3 comes out with 3 moons! Their size is a 2-1d6 roll, which comes out less than 0 in all cases, leaving them all Size 0 (if the roll had come out 0 exactly, the satellite would have been a ring). We roll 2d6 twice for each to determine their orbits. Two 9s place one satellite 50 radii from the planet (76,000 km), while another moon is placed at 65 radii (98,800 km) by a 9 and a 12 and the last rolls a 5 and a 10, putting it 11 radii (16,720 km) from Ishee.

Now we can roll the dWikipedia to help us name them. In order, we'll call them Amon Assemon (Ishee-A), Fantome (Ishee-B), and New Malta (Ishee-C).

We also determine Ishee itself's rotational period (a.k.a., day) by using the formula P = (A*4) + 5 + M/D, the sum of 2d6-2 quadrupled, 5, and the quotient of the sun's mass divided by the planet's distance from it. A roll of 3 means that Ishee's day is 19 Earth-days, 57 minutes, and 36 seconds, which is approximately three-eighths of the year. An Isheean year is, very roughly, 2½ Isheean days. We roll a 6 to see what kind of axial tilt (and therefore, seasons) Ishee experiences. A follow-up 2d6-2 roll gives us a final tilt of 21º (2½ degrees more vertical then Earth's. Not shabby. And it brings up an image of α Bishop Sheumack not only loop-de-looping across the sky, but actually running a literal circle around its companion star every so often (after all, they'd move differently across the Isheean sky).

We roll 7 on 2d6 to find out that there is no eccentricity to Ishee's orbit, which will also have an effect on things like seasons and whatnot. This brings us to determining the planet's seismic stress factor, measuring how much tension and force is involved in the movements of its tectonic plates and such. The formula is F=X+P+M+S (which looks simple, but is a bit difficult to turn into a verbal description, as the latter two factors involve some math as well). We roll 1d6-3 twice, resulting in 2 and 3. We also need to determine the exact diameters of Ishee's three moons, using the method described for the planets in an earlier post. Amon Assemon comes out as 1280 km in diameter, Fantome as 480 km, and New Malta 1440 km. The final result is a seismic stress factor of about 9.354.

Ishee's Atmosphere of 6 means that its atmosphere is a standard nitrogen-oxygen mix, with only very minor differences from Earth's, and a 4 on 2d6 tells us that its pressure at the surface is 85% of Earth's ~ thin enough to be felt, I'd imagine! We also determine that α Bishop Sheumack is just less than half as bright as Sol (49.8%). This is then modified by β Bishop Sheumack on the other side of Ishee's orbit, which adds about 0.008 to α Bishop Sheumack's for an effective luminosity of 0.506. Ishee's orbit factor (a variable used in temperature calculations based on the planet's distance from its sun) is 836.345. A roll of 2d6-5 lets us approximate Ishee's surface water: a 1 means that between 6% and 15% of the world's surface is covered in water. This is the first crack in Ishee's seemingly perfect environment ~ it's a very, very dry world. It does strengthen Ishee's resonances with Black Rock City, though! This gives Ishee an energy absorption of 0.9, and its atmosphere alone gives it a greenhouse effect of 1.1. We can now determine the base temperature on Ishee, a starting point for (and thus, a vague idea of) the temperature on the planet. Many more factors effect it, such as latitude and time of day and season, obviously. To work it out, we just multiply the effective luminosity, orbit factor, energy absorption, and greenhouse effect all together. The result comes out to 418.959º K. That works out to 145.959º C, or 294.7262º F. I'm not gonna try to work out the details of Ishee's temperature right now, but I doubt there will be many long strolls in a T-shirt and skirt here on Ishee, sadly. It's just too hot.

Ishee's bUWP is now α-3D-0704-α0 (α Greve-Eau Pleine-α Bishop Scheumack-Ishee)/E261774-?/X/LG-Ri/Em