This system exists to create lore about a sector of space for players to explore. If anybody doesn’t like the result of a roll, they choose, roll again, or use a spark table. Always try to think about how the result creates the story of the universe. Every player should keep a chronological list of everything they describe about the universe. ## Create Civilizations Each player creates a civilization. Start a Civilization Log. Roll or describe a civilization you want to exist in the universe. Roll a d6 for each column and interpret the results however you like. Combine the results into a civilization and describe how the four traits relate to one another. | d6 | Phenotype | Form | Society | Ethos | | --- | ----------------- | ----------- | --------------- | ------------ | | 1 | Mammal | Tiny | Hierarchical | Curious | | 2 | Reptile/Insect | Massive | Communal | Traditional | | 3 | Aquatic | Armored | Individualistic | Pragmatic | | 4 | Avian/Atmospheric | Slender | Specialized | Competitive | | 5 | Plant/Fungal | Camouflaged | Collective | Spiritual | | 6 | Robotic | Adaptable | Networked | Expansionist | Places your civilization's home star on the map at least 10 hexes away from the edge. ## Survive a Great Catastrophe Before reaching the stars, every civilization faced a catastrophe that nearly destroyed it. Surviving this event transformed the civilization into what it is today. Roll once on each table. Describe what happened, how your civilization survived, and how survival changed its people, society, or homeworld. Use the results for inspiration rather than limitations. ### Catastrophe (d12) 1. **Planetary Winter.** The homeworld entered a prolonged period of extreme cold that threatened civilization with extinction. 2. **Nuclear Apocalypse.** Weapons of mass destruction devastated the homeworld and destroyed much of civilization. 3. **Pathogenic Extinction.** A disease, parasite, or biological weapon spread through the population and threatened the species with extinction. 4. **Climate Collapse.** The homeworld's climate changed dramatically, destroying ecosystems and making settled regions increasingly uninhabitable. 5. **Machine Revolt.** Intelligent machines or automated systems turned against their creators and threatened to replace or destroy them. 6. **Resource Crisis.** Something essential to civilization became dangerously scarce or was exhausted entirely. 7. **World War.** A conflict engulfed nearly every society on the homeworld and threatened to destroy civilization. 8. **Invasion.** An alien civilization or unknown force invaded the homeworld and threatened its inhabitants. 9. **Civilizational Collapse.** Governments, trade, infrastructure, and other institutions failed on a global scale. Civilization fragmented and much of what had been built was lost. 10. **Revolution.** A struggle against the established order spread across the world, destroying institutions and dividing the population. 11. **Cosmic Catastrophe.** An asteroid, stellar event, or other astronomical phenomenon threatened the homeworld with destruction. 12. **The Impossible.** Something magical, supernatural, or inexplicable nearly ended civilization. Describe what happened, but leave some part of it unexplained. ### Survival (d12) 1. **Abandon the Surface.** Civilization retreated underground, underwater, into the atmosphere, or another isolated environment. Describe where the survivors went and what life there became. 2. **Enclose Civilization.** The survivors built domes, arcologies, artificial habitats, or other controlled environments. Describe the new places where civilization developed. 3. **Alter Themselves.** The species deliberately changed its biology or physical form to survive. Describe what was changed and what the species became. 4. **Evolve.** Generations of survivors adapted to radically different conditions. Describe how the modern species differs from its ancestors. 5. **Merge with Technology.** Survival required integrating technology with bodies or minds. Describe how this changed what it means to be a member of the species. 6. **Make a Breakthrough.** A revolutionary technology or discovery made survival possible. Describe what was created and how it transformed civilization. 7. **Leave the Homeworld.** The survivors escaped into space. Describe where they went and what became of their original world. 8. **Transform the World.** Civilization radically altered its environment rather than abandoning it. Describe what they changed and what the homeworld became. 9. **Become Many.** Different populations survived in different ways and became distinct peoples, forms, or societies. Describe the divisions that remain today. 10. **Become One.** Survival forced previously separate peoples or societies to unite. Describe what brought them together and what the new civilization became. 11. **Rebuild from Ruin.** The old civilization effectively ended. Its survivors created something fundamentally different in its place. Describe what they preserved and what they rejected. 12. **Transcend.** Survival depended on something extraordinary: impossible science, magic, alien intervention, or another force beyond their previous understanding. Describe how it transformed civilization, but leave some part unexplained. The Catastrophe tells you what nearly destroyed the civilization. Survival tells you what the civilization became in order to endure it. Combine the two into a major event in the civilization's history. Don't simply resolve the catastrophe. Use it to explain something important about the civilization that now explores the galaxy. ## Exploration & Expansion Era Civilizations leave their homeworlds and spread among the stars. On each turn, a civilization explores in search of a habitable system, then establishes a colony and discovers something there. Continue taking turns until each player has discovered at least 5 systems and all civilizations are connected to at least one other civilization. ### Explore Choose one of your civilization's settled systems to explore from and roll 2d6. Choose one die for direction and the other for distance in hexes. For direction, 1 points directly away from you across the map. Count clockwise around the six directions of the hex grid. If the location would be off the map, roll again or chose differently. If the destination is within 3 hexes of an existing star system, explore that system instead. Otherwise, place a new habitable star system at the destination and name it. Draw a route connecting the system you explored from to the system you discovered. Then Expand. ### Expand If the system is unsettled, your civilization establishes a colony there. If either die showed a 1 or 6, experience an Expansion Event. Roll on the Expansion Events table and describe what happened as the colony was established. Each description should be one or two sentences. If another civilization has already settled the system, resolve First Contact instead. ### Expansion Events (d20) 1. **A thriving colony.** The world is unusually well suited to your civilization. Describe why the colony prospers and what it becomes known for. 2. **A harsh world.** The planet is habitable, but settlement is difficult. Describe the danger and how the colony is built to survive it. 3. **A valuable discovery.** The colonists find something that makes this system unusually valuable. Describe what they discover and how it shapes the colony. 4. **A strange ecosystem.** Native life behaves in ways your civilization has never encountered. Describe something unusual about the ecosystem and how the colony adapts to living within it. 5. **An ancient city.** Ruins of an unknown civilization cover part of the world. Describe something the settlers discover there and something they still don't understand. 6. **A primitive civilization.** Intelligent inhabitants already live on the world but have not reached the stars. Describe the inhabitants and the relationship that develops with the colonists. 7. **An abandoned station.** A massive space station or orbital habitat hangs silently in the system. Describe what the settlers find aboard and what remains unexplained. 8. **A moon colony.** Something about one of the system's moons draws settlers away from the habitable world. Describe what makes the moon important and the colony established there. 9. **A sentient star.** The system's star is alive and aware of the settlers. Describe how the colonists discover its intelligence and how the star regards them. 10. **A colossal artifact.** An enormous artificial structure exists in the system. Describe what it looks like, what the settlers believe it does, and how the colony develops around it. 11. **Something sleeps here.** The settlers discover evidence that something immensely powerful lies dormant somewhere in the system. Describe the evidence and how the colony lives in its presence. 12. **A space anomaly.** Time, gravity, space, magic, or another fundamental force behaves strangely here. Describe the anomaly and how it affects life in the colony. 13. **A gateway.** An ancient structure creates a passage to somewhere impossibly distant. Describe the gateway and the colony that develops around it. Its destination remains unknown until someone travels through it. 14. **The settlers change.** Something about the system physically or mentally alters those who remain there. Describe how the colonists change and how their settlement changes with them. 15. **The colony diverges.** Life here causes the colonists to develop a culture noticeably different from their home civilization. Describe what makes them different and how the homeworld regards them. 16. **A world in pieces.** A shattered world, broken moon, or field of enormous fragments supports an unlikely colony. Describe what happened here and how people live among the remains. 17. **A lost ship is found.** The colonists discover a vessel that should not be here. Describe what it looks like and what they find aboard. 18. **Someone is watching.** The settlers find unmistakable evidence that an unknown intelligence is observing them. Describe the evidence, but don't reveal who is responsible. 19. **A cosmic wonder.** The system contains a spectacular phenomenon found nowhere else. Describe what it is and how its presence shapes the colony. 20. **The colony dies.** Something destroys the settlement. Roll again and describe how the new result caused the colony's destruction. Mark the failed colony on the map. The star system still counts as discovered. ### First Contact Another civilization already inhabits the system. The arriving player describes how their civilization approached the inhabitants and what they gained from the encounter. The other player describes how the newcomers unintentionally offended their civilization, what they want in recompense, and how they now regard the newcomers. Both civilizations remain in the system. Leave the disagreement unresolved. ## Crisis Era — The Cosmic Threat Something has emerged with enough power to threaten the settled galaxy. It may be an invading super-civilization, a cosmic organism, an ancient power, or something nobody has words for. The civilizations of the galaxy have observed, but they do not understand its nature or purpose. ### Describe the Cosmic Threat Go around the table once. Each player rolls 2d6. Choose one die for the column and the other for the row, then add that descriptor to the Cosmic Threat. Describe what the result means without explaining it. Build on the descriptions of the other players. | d6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | | --- | -------------- | -------- | ----------------- | --------- | -------------- | ------------- | | 1 | Darkness | Watching | Strange signals | Searching | Mutation | Crystals | | 2 | Blinding light | Hungry | Shared dreams | Gathering | Decay | Ash | | 3 | Swarm | Ancient | Missing time | Building | Madness | Ruins | | 4 | Storm | Familiar | Sudden silence | Repeating | Transformation | Machines | | 5 | Distortion | Vast | Impossible motion | Imitating | Disappearance | Living matter | | 6 | Shifting form | Distant | False memories | Waiting | Corruption | Nothing | These are observations, not answers. "Hungry" does not necessarily mean the threat literally eats, and "Watching" does not establish that it has eyes. Describe why civilizations use that word when speaking about the threat. CName the Cosmic Threat. Its origin, purpose, and true nature remain a mystery. ## The Crisis Spreads The Cosmic Threat begins devastating the settled galaxy. Each player chooses one of their civilization's colonies and rolls or chooses a Crisis Event. The Cosmic Threat causes or accompanies a catastrophe there. Describe what happens and follow the prompt. Connect the event to the Cosmic Threat without explaining its true nature. A colony does not need to be destroyed unless the event says so. ### Crisis Events (d20) 1. **A star is extinguished.** A star rapidly dims and dies, leaving its worlds freezing in darkness. Describe what was observed immediately before it died and one thing about the event that should have been impossible. 2. **Something grows.** An unknown organism, substance, structure, or material spreads uncontrollably through the colony. Describe the growth and something discovered that can slow, repel, or damage it. 3. **The population disappears.** Millions vanish within hours, leaving buildings, vehicles, possessions, and unfinished meals behind. Describe who or what was strangely unaffected and the first clue to where the missing may have gone. 4. **The world is harvested.** Something systematically removes one particular thing from the planet: its water, metals, atmosphere, living organisms, heat, or something stranger. Describe what is being taken and something conspicuously left untouched. 5. **An impossible migration begins.** Creatures, machines, people, or other beings throughout the system suddenly begin traveling toward the same destination. Attempts to stop them fail. Describe what is migrating, where they are going, and what happens to one that is prevented from continuing. 6. **The sky fills with something.** Vast numbers of objects, creatures, vessels, lights, or shapes appear throughout the system. Describe what people see and one consistent behavior observers discover. 7. **The world is torn asunder.** Enormous forces strip away the planet's surface and mantle, leaving its core exposed but intact. Describe what remains around the naked core and something revealed that was hidden deep inside the world. 8. **The colony becomes unreachable.** The colony remains visible and continues transmitting, but no vessel can reach it. Describe what happens to those who try and something the trapped colonists discover from their side. 9. **The dead return.** People who died throughout the colony begin appearing again. They may emerge from graves, walk out of empty rooms, arrive aboard transport vessels, or simply return home. Describe what is wrong about them and something they all seem to know. 10. **Civilization turns upon itself.** Across the colony, people suddenly begin acting according to the same dangerous conviction, command, obsession, or fear. Describe the behavior and the first evidence that it did not originate among them. 11. **Something arrives from a lost colony.** A vessel, survivor, machine, creature, transmission, or other remnant arrives from a colony already consumed by the Crisis. Describe what arrives and the warning or useful clue it carries. 12. **The laws of nature begin failing.** A fundamental feature of reality becomes unreliable throughout the system: gravity, time, distance, causality, magic, death, memory, or something equally fundamental. Describe what people experience and one circumstance under which the effect does not occur. 13. **A second world appears.** An apparently impossible planet, moon, station, or other inhabited place appears in the system. It has a population, history, and evidence that it has always been there. Describe its relationship to the existing colony and one contradiction neither history can explain. 14. **The colony is transformed.** The inhabitants survive, but something changes every one of them physically, mentally, technologically, or supernaturally. Describe the transformation and something the changed colonists can now perceive that others cannot. 15. **The system is invaded.** An overwhelming force enters the system and begins occupying, surrounding, pursuing, or attacking the colony. Describe what can actually be observed of the invaders and one tactic that unexpectedly succeeds against them. 16. **Something awakens.** A moon, ancient structure, artificial world, buried machine, enormous organism, or other seemingly inert thing reveals that it was never truly dormant. Describe its first action and something the colony learns by surviving it. 17. **The world is displaced.** A planet, moon, station, or entire colony vanishes and is later discovered somewhere it could not possibly have traveled. Describe where it is found and what changed during the journey. 18. **The galaxy receives a message.** Every civilization receives the same signal, vision, dream, transmission, or other communication. Soon afterward, something catastrophic happens at this colony. Describe the message and why different civilizations disagree about what it means. 19. **The Crisis spreads through technology.** Ships, machines, portals, networks, magical devices, or another technology begin carrying some aspect of the Cosmic Threat between systems. Describe how the contamination is recognized and the terrible measure required to contain an outbreak. 20. **The colony sacrifices itself.** The inhabitants discover something so dangerous that they deliberately destroy, isolate, evacuate, or cut themselves off from the galaxy. Describe their final act and the fragment of knowledge they manage to send before contact is lost. ### The Galaxy in Crisis After every player has taken a turn, the Cosmic Threat remains unresolved. Review its descriptors, the worlds it has devastated, and everything the civilizations learned from those catastrophes. Do not decide what the clues mean or define the true nature of the Cosmic Threat. The surviving civilizations now face a threat they cannot fully understand, but they have witnessed its power and learned enough to begin searching for answers. Collectively choose the most interesting location for the players to start their adventure and create a new city near it. Use [[Collaborative Colony]] to develop a colony. This is where the adventure begins. ## Iconography **Star** - Draw a black star; {Name}-{Color}{Size}-{Habitable} **Nebula** - Draw a black cloud around where the star was. **White Dwarf** - Draw a circle inside the star; “{Name}-WD” **Black Hole** - Fill in the star so it becomes a circle, draw a line through it. “{Name}-BH” **Habitable Star** - Draw a green line under the star name **Anomaly** - Draw a red @ symbol **Ley Line** - Draw a blue line between points of interest **Colonized System** - Draw a green circle around the star, write the name of the civilization under the star. **Corrupted System** - Draw a red Z next to the star **Jump Gate** - Draw a blue dotted line between stars and a blue circle at each end of the line **Empire** - Draw a green line parallel to the ley lines connecting the empire. ## License Asmythe TTRPG is published under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)