Tyland Revisited

By now most folk should be aware that part of my efforts to get Frozen Skies updated to SWADE is going through and revisiting some of the lore of the world. This has included tightening things up a little or completely overhauling and revising others. This week is the turn of the Tyland Free State.

For Freedom And Past Glories!

On the whole, I'm pretty happy with Tyland's history and current situation. There is little I wish to change about a once proud nation that has fallen so low and suffers the humiliation of occupation by a foreign power. I'll delve deeper into Tylanish culture, though that is not the subject of this week's post.

There is a change that I do wish to make to the situation in Tyland, well technically two changes. The first of these is play up a civil war aspect with various factions vying for power with frequent skirmishes. The second change ties in alot with the first, make this civil war a proxy war between the Commonwealth and Artian Confederation as the two former wartime allies have different views concerning the future of Tyland.

Both powers covertly support different functions, usually to undermine the other and also the Provisional Government. Those in authority consider a war between the two nations quite likely, so they seek to influence and dominate what is effectively a buffer state. There are strategic implications that are taken into consideration, especially as the Free State would give the Artians air bases much closer to the Commonwealth's Home Isles from which to launch raids.

So where does this leave Player Characters?

Well they could get directly involved in things as agents working for either the Artians, the Commonwealth, the Free State or one of the militant groups. Heck, they could form their own group and fight for whatever cause they want in what could be an interesting mix of war and politics. The more nefarious could simply partake in activities of questionable legality by smuggling in supplies or even trying to sell arms to one or more of the militants. They could also exploit the chaos for their own ends in other ways by looting banks and mansions.

Hopefully this will all make the Tyland Free State more interesting and provide some fodder for games.

Challenge Accepted

Recently Utherwald Press reached over a 100 likes on Facebook.

To celebrate this achievement I offered to either an adventure, location, item or NPC based upon a one or two word prompt. I was expecting some interesting responses and I wasn't disappointed, though they were surprising all the same. So...

Organic Spacecraft

An interesting one, though not all that surprising given who posted it (you know who you are!).

Spacecraft automatically means we're looking at the SciFi Companion for this one. Decided to build it like a normal spaceship to begin with, though picking stuff that would make sense. Then to better reflect its organic nature, added in some special rules.

Drokzi Hive Ship

Gargantuan Starship: Size 24, Acc/TS 25/20, Climb -2, Toughness 67(25), Crew 3000
Notes: Artificial Intelligence, Armour x6, Electromagnetic Shielding, Garage/Hanger x6, Sensor Suite (Planetary), Torpedo Tubes x8, Targeting System
Weapons: Heavy Torpedo x112
Special Abilities
*Living Ship: Instead of a Repair roll to fix or 'heal' wounds, the ship uses the Healing skill to do so. It is assumed to have d6 for the purpose of this roll.
*Sentient Vehicle: See SciFi Companion p.92
*Regeneration: The ship can make a natural Healing roll once per day.

Cargo Cults

This was the other response, a particularly curious one. I have to admit that this one cause a bit of head scratching until I hit upon the idea of a religious order devoted to the safe transportation of goods.

The Conveyors of the Way, or simply the Conveyors, is an organisation that traces its origins back to the wars that once ravaged the lands that now form the Artian Confederation. The many wars waged between Tyland and the Holy Sodkan Empire saw trade disrupted within the Artian states and many towns and villages left upon the brink of starvation. Many concerned church leaders branded together and got tact approval from the commanders of the warring armies to run convoys through to the affected villages, though it still left the problem of bandits and highwaymen. A call went out to the faithful who processed skill at arms and they were taken on as effectively caravan guards, though they proved themselves more than capable fending off ruffians and seeing that the convoys got through.

The Conveyors have evolved a bit since then, attracting former soldiers and specializing in safeguarding certain goods. Though whilst there are certain factions they won't work and certain goods that they won't escort, the Conveyors do only ask for a modest fee. Once they've been charged with escorting a cargo, a Conveyor will guard it with religious devotion until it reaches its destination. There have been many stories of Conveyors giving their very lives to ensure the safety of the cargo that they were charged with protecting.

Conveyor

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Notice d8, Repair d6, Shooting d6, Taunt d6
Charisma: -2; Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 8 (3)
Hindrances: Code of Honor, Loyal, Vow (Minor)
Edges: Alertness, Block, Combat Reflexes, Counterattack, Dodge, First Strike, Quick, Quick Draw, Steady Hands, Two-Fisted
Gear: Revolver (12/24/48, 2d6, RoF 1, Revolver), sword (Str+d6), plate corselet

The Airman's Gazetteer: The Free State

Currently our series, which covers the various nations of Darmonica in a greater detail, we take a look at the Tyland Free State. Formerly the Kingdom of Tyland, it now little more than a sad rump of a nation still struggling with the aftermath of defeat. It also faces an uncertain future as parts of its territory remain occupied by powers that may possibly clash with one another before long.

The Tyland Free State

Compared to the Commonwealth, the Free State is a nation teeming with problems. There is deep seated anger at Tyland's defeat a decade earlier and at Tylander territory being in 'enemy' hands. The Provisional Government, based in Midraige, is considered weak and ineffective (mostly true) and has to rely on a small army to enforce martial law in order to achieve anything approaching stability. As per the Conditions of Surrender (otherwise known as 'the Conditions) that were imposed upon Tyland, a small council of ministers leads the Free State rather than a single head of state. These ministers are stuck between keeping the Artians happy and trying to fix the sighted injustice that the Tylander people feel has been done to them, it is a fine balance that the Provisional Government has struggled to make work.

The Free State has been even slower than the Commonwealth with repairing war damage, rubble choked streets and burnt out farmsteads are still a common sight. Though not all of the damage was caused by the war, some of it has occurred much more recently. There are frequent clashes between the Free State Army and anti-government forces, plus the fallout of clashes between Tylander resistance groups and Artian forces. This has resulted in martial law being imposed and the Free State becoming a grim and downtrodden country. There are shortages of everything and thus strict rationing, which in turns sparks more unrest and protests against the government.

Foreigners aren't entirely welcomed, though the Tylanders reserve their hatred for the Artians especially. As per the Conditions, the Artians are allowed to send their troops into the Free State at any time and arrest persons suspected of aiding the resistance groups. Artian troops are also exempt from prosecution under Free State laws, which gives them an almost free reign to do what they please. Even though the Commonwealth, for its troops based in the Treaty Ports, can apply for the same protections under the Conditions it elected not to do so. The Commonwealth has been pretty big on the conduct of its troops and building up a cordial relation with the Free State ahead of the Treaty Ports being handed over.

The Treaty Ports were a series of ports on the Straits coast of Tyland that came under Commonwealth control at the end of the war, under the Conditions the Commonwealth is allowed to retain those ports for a ten year period and then renew (if it wishes) every five years. The Treaty Ports are the most stable part of the Free State and the Commonwealth has invested some money in them. Only one or two ports are expected to be retained by the Commonwealth, they happen to be the best defended and many believe this decision is perhaps influenced by the Commonwealth and the Artians currently being 'uneasy allies'.