the Salvation

Faithful of Salvation

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Some risk the severe dangers of the Wastes simply to make a living, others revere the Salvation as a biblical calling testing their faith in a world devoid of belief.

by Ali May Sang (the Librarian)

Those who catch the Salvation to traverse the wild desert we call the Wastes tend to prefer dealing with one wagon over any others. It is a trust issue as there are many unsavoury characters behind the wheel and armed to the teeth without a clue how to use these advanced weapons. Sometimes it is a token of good luck to ride the same wagon time and time again. Sometimes it simply comes down to matters of comfort or convenience, and sometimes it is simply a matter of how many passengers they’ve lost in the last few months. When you cross the Wastes, you are always playing the odds.

Not all Caravan wagons are alike. There are a wide assortment of entrepreneurs, freelancers, mercenaries, and naive youngsters hoping to find fame and fortune riding at the side of the One Land’s infamous invention. Most do it for the money and a fraction of those have built a valuable reputation of not getting wiped out in the first sandstorm they stumble into let alone delivering a majority of their customers to their intended destination. Or any destination, for that matter. Personally, I take solace in those who take to riding behind the locomotive behemoth because it is their purpose in life.

Calling themselves the Faithful of Salvation, these drivers and gunners are seriously dedicated in their mission to aid and protect the train survive the challenges of the Wastes. They have seen Deckland Burr’s miraculous invention and view it as more than a marvel of modern machinery but as a sign of the Elemental Spirits offering hope in an otherwise hopeless world. You can tell a Faithful from all others trailing behind the Salvation by the mark they wear on their hand – a burn from the piping hot nameplate adorned on the front side of the Salvation scarring the palm of their dominant hand. This nameplate features Burr’s hand-carved signature reversed on their palm (a warning specifically mentioned because some have attempted forgeries in the past where the signatures was legible and reading right-side up, a clear indication they never so much as laid a hand on the engine let alone seen the Salvation up close). Any Faithful riding alongside the Salvation is willing to give their life to spare the train from serious harm, even if that means bringing their passengers into the afterlife with them. Perhaps this is why passengers should take caution riding in a Faithful wagon and be prepared to join them in death or jump off and risk surviving the Wastes on foot.

Without any benefactors or employment houses funding their fuel and ammunition, Faithful wagons charge a premium for their services but they do offer a discount for those still loyal to the teachings of the Elemental Spirits. And those who are willing to pay in bullets. Their wagons are not the most luxurious or the safest but they are definitively the odd on favourite to get their passengers to the desired destination with as fewer holes when they arrive then when they departed.

The Veil

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Hidden within the toxic fumes along the outskirts of Rust lies a complex black market where anything is up for sale.

by Ali May Sang (the Librarian)

The Veil offers a variety of warmechs for the particular consumer. Sketch by Kieron O’Gorman.

Rust is notoriously protective of its creations. The same can be said for its citizens but they are treated as cattle more than a resource. In the winding tunnels of that underground city, the engineers are the heroes who rise up from the slums to make a name for themselves. Those who cannot build, steal.

There is a toxic curtain concealing Rust from the rest of the world. Somewhere within all that pea-green fog are the remains of once was once the city of Dharos, a now uninhabitable shadow of its glory days. The edges of that curtain remain toxic to your lungs but it is not thick enough to scald your skin on contact or induce psychotic nightmares. They call this place the Veil. It is highly recommended to bring some form of oxygen tank or alternate form of breathing with you or else your time in the Veil will be brief and permanent.

Scrappers, a loose collective of organized black marketeers and gunrunners, sell anything and everything they can get out of Rust to the highest bidder. With drooling warlords eager to keep a leg up on their enemies and defend their belongings, business is good. Warmechs are the prized trophy for every powerful figure in the One Land and there has been a surplus of sales in the past couple of years, particularly to Monsoon if you believe the rumours. Each scrapper is in business for themselves and they will do anything to get an edge against their competition, yet they consider themselves part of a family who turn to a corrupted example of Deckland Burr’s teachings. While the Salvation’s inventor saw technology as something to help connect the One Land, scrappers see it as a chance to even the playing field by taking out the big players. Let the people have equal stake in this world, they say. Be this false bravado or a worthy cause, scrappers look after each other. An attack on one is an attack on them all.

Surviving the Veil

Whenever a scene takes place in the Veil, all characters will have to take precautions to avoid the following danger. It should be noted this is by no means a representation of how bad it is beyond the Veil; travelling deeper into the fog towards Rust is a far worse danger.

Toxic Fog: A thin fog of sickly green rolls over this valley at all times until it finally dissipates and becomes the Wastes. At the end of every round the characters spend in the Veil, they lose 1 Vitality. This can be avoided by assigning a resource slot to an alternative breathing apparatus (such as an oxygen mask) or by using a qi power. The fog also inflicts a light concealment step penalty on anyone who does not wear protective eyewear or use an appropriate qi power.

The Salvation

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A symbol of hope and resurgence in a world torn apart, the Salvation is more than just a train connecting the Five Cities.

by Ali Mai Sang (the Librarian)

For hundreds of years after Chaos touched the land, there were only two ways to cross the deserts: by foot or by steed. Neither was a guarantee of arrival and many skeletons lie buried under the sands as proof of this difficulty. One person sought to change this.

Over two-hundred years ago Deckland Burr fled Rust with nothing but the clothes on his back and the tools in his pouch. The third-born of a powerful and respected family in the City, with close ties to the Council of Iron and many sons and daughters serving its elite clergy, Deckland challenged the Council’s “abuse of power.” He loudly decried their failure to use the technology they had unlocked to better all societies, not just those sworn to the Minister. For his heresy, he was jailed. Not only were his words dangerous, but the inventor was known to have the ambition and morale code to follow through on the ideas he spouted in his speeches. His greatest concept was for a massive armoured locomotive, driven by a perpetual engine, carving a trail through the Wastes to connect the Five Cities for trade and travel alike. After his daring escape, Deckland made for Yung Zhi and twenty years later fulfilled his dream. Dubbed the Salvation, the people today simply know it as the Train.

Thousands of coins and hundreds of lives later, the Salvation operates across large reaches of desert connecting all Five Cities. Equipped with iron reinforcements, powerful weaponry and an interchanging crew of dedicated guardians of Deckland’s own design, the Salvation itself is but the means by which others can pass through the Wastes. Unable to take any passengers itself, other vehicles capable of high speeds in rugged terrain join up with this behemoth, breaking formation as each connects to way stations for passengers to disembark or climb aboard when the Salvation makes its next approach. At any one time, as many as twenty privately run connections, colourfully known as wagons, follow the Salvation through the dangers of our world’s deadliest terrain. Many wagons have been lost to Outcast raiding parties, leviathans and raging storms, but the Salvation continues to this day.

The Salvation

Supporting Character
A cross between the steam engine train and an armoured tank, this windowless, seemingly crewless masterpiece of engineering never stops for anything. Guarded by numerous automatons, including warmechs, every angle is covered by canons, flamethrowers, and other heavy firepower. Using an endless supply of gear and tactics to handle any obstacle the Wastes can throw at it, The Salvation has been known to reconfigure and repair most damage and restrictions by adjusting plates and components with ease. There are many who believe these adaptations are a sign of some form of intelligence, possibly conceived by the very chaotic radiations of the Wastes. It would explain many things, especially since no one (not even those in the Caravan) have ever seen an operator or engineer.

Homeland: The Wastes
Qi Power: N/A
Unique Features: A giant locomotive engine built like a tank with heavy firepower and warmechs.

An Unstoppable Force (d12+1/9/5)
One Step Ahead (d8+1/5/4)
Protect the Passengers (d8/5/4)

Resource Slots: 3
Vitality: 50
Adaptation: The key to the Salvation’s endurance driving through the Wastes day after day for years are its back-up features and the ability to reconfigure its parts. These near flawless transformations are the Salvation’s most amazing feature and the reason it can handle all forms of complications like any living character.
Bonus Challenges: The Salvation has a number of additional challenges it can use. These bonus challenges work exactly as regular challenges but can also be used for additional perks provided here. It starts the story with 1 bonus challenge per lead character.
Built To Take A Beating: Built to withstand and push through anything the Wastes can dish out, this marvel of modern steampunk can spend 1 bonus challenge to roll its potential’s dice to determine its Defence. The Director can choose to use either the result or the potential’s original Defence but the bonus challenge is spent either way.
Damage Trigger: Whenever the Salvation takes damage, it (or the Caravan, if the Director prefers) can immediate use a free detail with a d8 for any complication rolls.
A Little Help: The Salvation can spend 1 bonus challenge to grant the Caravan a second description in a round.

(This version of the Salvation has been revised from the original version found in High Plains Samurai: Legends.)

Warmechs

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Symbols of Rust’s technological supremacy and highly sought after by gunrunners, these steampunk marvels can change the course of any skirmish.

by Jacob Gray (aka the Faceless Kid)

An example of why people who can afford them love having a warmech around. Art by Kieron O’Gorman.

If Rust had a flag, it would feature a warmech standing on a pile of dead heathens (which could be anybody, let’s face it). When the dust settled and what remained of the One Land stood up to claim what they could, the first warmechs appeared. It’s difficult for many of us alive today to recall a time when the Five Cities were locked down in underground bunkers or hiding behind thick walls from the forces of Chaos, leaving a generation in the dark about the fate of the rest of their world. When these first mechanical marvels appeared, it was clear what the City now called Rust had been up to all these years.

Those who have never seen one before may count themselves lucky for these bring destruction on a large scale wherever they go. Rocket launchers, flamethrowers, static bolts, a sword the size of a person… you name it, they can use them. Their size and bulk make them near impossible to damage, so anyone going up against one (or more) will need some explosive qi powers or weapons to put a dent in them. When the smallest warmech on record is at least 8′ tall, that also means big guns that can double the damage of your more conventional weapons. No two warmechs look alike, each one featuring a signature design and power source created by their engineer. The only thing they truly have in common is that a living person must pilot them from inside. (The one exception being those warmechs guarding the Salvation, of course.) Depending on the skill and intelligence of the warmech’s pilot, it is possible to trick them into exposing weak points in their armour, particularly towards the rear of the machine where the pilots climb into that cramped cockpit.

Some who were never born under the heavy hand of the Council of Iron have tried to build their own warmechs and failed to deliver anything as reliable as those who from Rust. And seeing as quite a few influential engineers have fled this underground City for someplace with actual air to breathe, that’s opened up the door for gunrunners like Dollface, K’mesh, and others operating out of Yung Zhi and Serenity Falls to scoop them up at reasonable rates and sell them at much higher prices along the various black markets set up in the Veil. Nowadays, purchasing your own army of warmechs is simply a matter of negotiating the right terms with the right dealer.

Building Your Own Warmech

Looking to bring your own unique warmech into the story, are you? Then here is a step-by-step method to building original warmechs to suit their inventor.

  • All warmechs are extras. Regardless of the pilot inside, the warmech’s shell is always considered an extra. Once it is defeated, the pilot can escape and be treated as a separate character.
  • Determine a power source. What fuels this warmech and allows it to bring mayhem to the fight? Knowing this information will help the lead characters determine a possible way to deactivate it using complications. A warmech can generally last until the end of the next round after it loses its power source but this is not written in stone.
  • Assign a resource slot. Most warmechs have one dominant weapon to go in their resource slot. Do not feel beholden to this one primary weapon; load them up with whatever weapons or tech best suits the scene. The damage bonus on any warmech is doubled due to their large size. There is no need for an armour-related resources; all warmechs have a special perk below.
  • All warmechs gain the Built To Last perk. It is designed to make any encounter with warmechs memorable and dangerous for your average lead characters.
Built To Last: Reinforced with steel plates to withstand a barrage of gunfire and various weaponry, warmechs are only damaged by explosions. Otherwise, warmechs can only be removed from the scene when they take 3 restriction complications to take them apart (i.e. remove the head, take out their legs, etc.)

The Grotto

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Sometimes you find the smallest piece of paradise when you look hard enough…

by Chi “Fireball” Zuo

You know you’re hitting Monsoon when the Salvation goes over that metal bridge, painted jade in most places. I’ve heard it called Jade Bridge and that ain’t a surprise. It’s pretty distinctive. I mean, there are other suspension bridges, and that one sure ain’t the biggest, but it’s that paint. You’re just not expecting that colour.

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, the Salvation’ll slow to get supplies, water, what-have-you before it crosses the bridge – before it gets into the General’s territory. There’re a bunch of stairs cut into the face of the cliff. There’re pretty old so they’ve been worn smooth. Take them slow and careful. Down at the bottom, and it’s a ways, easily hundreds of stairs though I’ve never counted, is an old temple and monastery. There ain’t no monks there now, but there’re people. There’re good people, honourable and fair which is something you just don’t see all that often in the One Land.

This is the Grotto. It’s a village, yeah, but the reason I stop and visit whenever I can are the hot springs. The monastery was built against the cliff, right at the bottom of the stairs, and the village was built facing it. Behind the ruins of the monastery, in a cave, are the hot springs and the pools they feed. Soothing don’t quite tell the story. It’ll wash the grime off the body and the tired off the bones.

They also make a fish soup in the village that’s spicy and’ll clear the head right up if you’ve been drinking hard the night before. The river don’t always run strong, and sometimes it ain’t nothing more than a creek, but when the rains come and the river flows, the fish in your soup’ll be fresh. It’s something special.

I don’t know why no one’s bothered to pillage the place, or come for taxes. Because they’re too poor? Because of the stairs? The villagers’ll tell you there are six hundred, but I ain’t so sure of that. Anyway, there’s peace there and a place to fill your belly. You can sleep without worrying someone’s going to steal your belongings. It’s just right special.

I swear, when I die, I figure I’ll find myself in the Grotto, soaking and eating that soup. Yeah, that’d be okay.

 

Submitted by Fraser Ronald

Port Royale

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One of many way stations positioned along the Salvation’s many routes, this one serves as a trading post for Outcasts, bandits, and businesses within Serenity Falls.

by Ali May Sang (the Librarian)

Every dusty rock has the potential for a shining jewel waiting inside. My jewel, the one that brings me hope despite the harshness of the Wastes, is a small way station positioned along the Salvation’s most common route. Founded by Horatio Small nearly twenty years ago, this well-constructed two-storey building made of wood, stone, and steel reinforcements has become known as Port Royale, named after the old harbour in Serenity Falls before the ocean ran dry.

Now operated by Horatio’s three daughters – Charm, Grace, and Divine – the station connects travellers with numerous freelance operators connecting with the Caravan, commonly known as wagons. Port Royale is recognized as neutral territory between the Outcasts of the Wastes and anyone else who comes here to do business, leading to a small but comfortable trading post. Small shops and stalls exist around the station for those looking for maps, relics, and supplies needed to survive any place a traveler may find themselves. An assortment of representatives from the various wagons operating within the area are called ticket masters; it is they you must speak to if you wish to catch a ride alongside the Salvation.

In exchange for this neutral ground, Port Royale is protected by several Outcast warriors at all times. Their loyalty to the Small sisters and the opportunities provided by the station give them cause to ensure nothing happens without their best warriors protecting it. Using discarded and refurbished weaponry from the Caravan (who comes here at times to refuel and repair their vehicles), security is maintained by an Outcast who answers only to the name Gnash, a towering qi warrior whose ability to meld with the stone and become an immovable object makes him a fitting commander of Port Royale’s lasting presence on the outskirts of the Wastes.

Gnash

Supporting Character
Life in the Wastes is a constant struggle to survive, let alone doing so without getting your hands bloody. Gnash is a firm believer in the big picture and sees the opportunities provided at Port Royale as the means for his people to become useful members of society. For that, he would give his life to defend this way station.

Homeland: The Wastes
Qi Power: Merge with stone
Unique Features: Standing over eight feet tall without a single hair on his body, Gnash’s muscles appear chiseled and sparkled with grains of sand embedded into his skin. His movements are slow and methodical but incredibly effective.

Unstoppable (d8/5/3)
Protector of His Community (d6/3/2)

A Kind And Gentle Soul (Motivation): Gnash seeks a peaceful life, one rarely possible as an Outcast. Whenever he is able to confront a situation and protect Port Royale and its residents without resorting to violence, he gains +1 Vitality.
Fits of Rage (Hindrance): If Gnash fails to block or counter a complication roll targeting someone or something under his protection, he can enter a state of rage to target the character who harmed his ward. When this happens, he takes a -1 step penalty against any other character in the scene until his target is removed from the scene.

Resource Slots: Merge with stone (qi power; +1 steps or +2 damage)
Vitality: 10
Predicting Chaos: Spending years in the swirling insanity of the Wastes teaches you a thing of two about predicting what’s to come, even if you only have a few minutes to prepare. By spending 1 challenge, Gnash can rewrite another player’s description or outcome while in the Wastes (including Port Royale) and provide a revised threat created by the landscape itself. For example, if a Writer describes a leviathan approaching, you can spend 1 challenge and change it to a sandstorm.

Titan

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A massive earth elemental wanders the Wastes crushing those who would stir the chaotic energies of its homeland.

by Ali May Sang (the Librarian)

An artist’s rendition of Titan facing the Lost Samurai of Qin before only the warrior’s crushed helmet was found on a pile of boulders. Artwork by Kieron O’Gorman.

When I first spotted the gargantuan elemental known only as Titan, it was tending to a rolling field of screaming violets over a mile wide. With soothing motions and its deep grumbling tones humming a relaxing tune, it was able to sooth the terrifying flowers until it was nothing more than a soft breeze fading into the distance. What a gentle soul, I thought. Until the earth trembled and I watched as Titan erupted into a rage. A fissure suddenly opened into the middle of the valley and spewed hot gases killing the flowers it cared for. Before there was time to mourn, Titan had moved on and I never saw it again.

Titan is a legend and a mystery in the Wastes, commonly found in a mountainous expanse known as Titan’s Valley. One moment it is a wise sage offering guidance and aid to those seeking shelter from the anarchy of this dangerous hellscape, the next finds it bringing the full force of those house-sized fists to the ground against those who would incite the Wastes’ love of violence. Many Outcasts look to Titan as their protector, some even view it as a guardian of the Fallen City and the lost temple of Heaven’s Peak. Unable to speak, it uses sign language to communicate with those who have bonded with the elemental. So long as you are willing to wait a few minutes as its massive arms and fingers maneuver into forming the words.

Invoking the Wrath of Titan

Crossing Titan is quite simple. The Wastes feeds off violence within its borders and elevates it with sandstorms, acid rain, and other insane responses. Should Titan be nearby when such violence erupts, it will squash the instigators (and anyone else caught in the middle) to bring the violence to a quick and sudden end. Numerous accounts of Titan spotted battling with other gigantic beasts native to the Wastes have become the stuff of legends. To date, it has never interfered with the Salvation and often comes to its aid in times of crisis.

Titan’s Rage: Due to its immense size and power, there is no plausible means of facing Titan in combat. Whenever it strikes, the result is swift and explosive but final. By spending 3 challenges, the Director can bring Titan into any scene taking place in the Wastes. At the end of a round, one major or supporting character or group of extras is swiftly eliminated from the scene and treated as if they were reduced to 0 Vitality. The Director can spend additional challenge as normal to cause enduring complications and other calamities as normal with Titan as the focus or an additional challenge can be spent once per round to reduce a lead character to 1 Vitality.
Titan cannot be brought into the scene by spending challenges unless it has already been introduced earlier in the story.

The Wastes

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The scourge of the One Land and the source of its qi. 

from High Plains Samurai: Legends

Life in the One Land revolves around the Wastes; not only as the heart of the continent but as a blight on the whole world. Sand storms created by its slicing winds hurdle past its borders without warning, earthquakes from shifting mountains rumble in all directions, and an unseen ooze of corruption leaks out into the dried up riverbeds winding across the land. There is not a day that goes by without the Wastes, without reason, extending its reach and bringing misery to thousands.

Tainted by the anger of Chaos, this place is in a state of constant change. Even the land does not remain the same for long, creating a maze for those who do not wish to be found. Perhaps this is why it appeals to those who seek refuge from the anger of warlords or freedom from their oppression, even if the chances of death increase exponentially. While the whispers of city dwellers believe only the crazed and maniacal would call this place home, there can be more honour found here than most other places today.

Those who call it home have adapted to the harshness of it all. And what hardships they must endure: An eternal blasting sun that scorches the skin within minutes, stirring up the air to create a curtain of heat that blinds a weary traveller, or perhaps a sudden storm with waves of rain and hail pelting down on anyone without shelter. Another day could bring on massive earthquakes as the rock itself rises and falls to build new monuments of stone, sometimes wiping out entire settlements in minutes. Despite it all, those they call Outcasts call this home. Nomads, devout believers in their way of life, and incredible hunters, these few lead meagre lives because they are either unwelcome or wanted for dead by one of the five warlords. Part of the Outcasts’ code is to aid all survivors and give them an opportunity to live a free life away from the oppression of the Cities.