Exploring the Graveyard of the Armored Hearts [Part 2/2]

solo TTRPG play report

The New Humans are sublime. Come to the Graveyard and relish with us.

That was the message that I decrypted two weeks ago.

I didn’t know what it meant. “New Humans.” “Graveyard.” “Relish.” I didn’t like any of it. But it gave me a heading, which I did like. I traced the signal back, and I found a port. Things went sideways from the moment I arrived. I was immediately found out for the interloper that I am. I had to abandon not one, but two ships. I have blasted and smashed holes into this strange celestial superstructure, and the only people I have seen have shot at me.

Well, I can’t leave without a ship, and I can’t go back the way I came in. So, I guess I’ll head the other way and see if there are any other docking bays with ships that might get me out of here.

---

What is this?

This is a play report of a solo TTRPG session. Using the 5 Million Worlds Pocketzine (by

Chris Air

) to create a character and Thousand Empty Light (by

Alfred Valley

) for the Combined Systems Semiotic Standard oracle (CSSS), I am taking a little anarchist named Jace to The Graveyard of the Armored Hearts (by

watt

and

Chris Air

). Come along as we find out who the New Humans are, what the Graveyard is, and why anyone would want to relish them there.

---

Jace, anarchist

Stats: Strength 37, Speed 31, Intellect 38, Combat 37

Saves: Reality 29, Fear 22, Body 25

Limit: 3

Wounds: 0/2

---

“Well, I can’t head back, so I might as well head forward,” I mumble. I miss being able to talk to my ship. Not that I let it talk back; I hated that AI’s voice. But I knew it was always listening. Now, it’s just me, wandering through a decrepit industrial zone of The Web. At least the Gs are pretty close to normal.

I jogged away from the pod’s landing site at first, just to be extra sure that no one was going to get curious, but now I’m just trudging down the street away from the space-side port.

[D50 on CSSS: 43, computer terminal system]

What were the chances? A flashing light catches my eye through the dusty window of one of the warehouses. I let myself in and find a computer terminal.

Intellect Test

[D100 vs 38: 19, success]

And I’m in! It’s not a key to the city or anything, but it does have access to warehouse stock records as well as a high-level newsfeed of the happenings in The Web. The top headline:

Massive firefight at Transfer Knuckle R09. Dozens of casualties reported. All traffic shut down until source of commotion has been controlled. Verve Wing, Inc., officials on their way to the scene.

“Well, that seems a little dramatic,” I mutter. “There’s no way I killed dozens of people.” Before I leave, I flip through the warehouse manifest.

[D50 on CSSS: 2, no; magnetic attraction]

I find parts for that grav-rail that snakes through the sky above the warehouses. Some other bits that I don’t recognize. Nothing useful. I head out again. I can see a change coming at the end of the street, signs of life. An occasional vehicle passing by.

Entering Area 3: Barren Borough

I reach the street, and I’ve moved into a residential sector. A vehicle rolls past, and I get a glance in through the windshield. Two trad kids are sitting in the front seat. Then can’t be more than 12, and on any world I’ve ever been, they shouldn’t be driving.

I stand back to give them space. One of them locks me with an empty stare as the car rolls away down the street. It feels like I’ve been noticed, and not just by a kid. I move forward. I need to get out of here.

[D50 on CSSS: 19, suddenness; change]

I hear a whirring of engines from behind me. I spin around in time to see a squadron of hovering drones appearing over the warehouses behind me. “I guess they were coming, after all,” I hiss, and I break into a run. I get to the end of the block and turn the corner—right into the waiting arms of a trad almost twice my size.

Body Save

[D100 vs 25: 89, failure, +1 Limit]

4 Limit

I can’t do anything. This mountain of a man picks me up off my feet. Instead of the jolt of pain I am expecting, however, he instead spins me around and throws me through an open door.

I am a little disoriented, but not so much that I don’t realize I am now surrounded by trads. They are all armed, decked out with second-hand or makeshift gear, and wearing threadbare fatigues.

“Who are you?” a woman hisses as the big guy ducks inside behind me and shuts the door. “What are you doing here? What did you do in the Transfer Knuckle?”

“Huh? Wha…Jace. Me. That’s me. I’m Jace,” I reply, still swaying from the rush of getting thrown in here. “Which question was next?”

“What were you doing shooting up the Transfer Knuckle?” the woman asks. “We know you aren’t part of Verve Wing. We know you aren’t a B.A.H.U. scrapper. We know you abandoned your ship to get in here.”

“And you scrapped a VW shuttle too,” another man adds with a chuckle. “That was...”

The woman cuts him off with a glare. “Not ten minutes after your little stunt, there was a full blown assault on that knuckle. We lost contact with the Spiders almost three hours ago. What do you know about that?”

The gears are spinning in my head. “N-nothing, I swear,” I stutter. “I saw that there was an attack, but I thought that was just someone spinning what I did for the news coverage. I didn’t know there was more fighting afterward.”

[D50 on CSSS: 14, violence]

The woman does not look convinced. She opens her mouth to say something else, but a massive explosion interrupts her.

The wall of the building is blown clear off. The sounds of automatic rifles and pulsing energy weapons fill the space. A war has erupted outside, and it is about to come in.

+1 Limit

5 Limit

The people around me leap into action, drawing weapons and rushing toward the breach in the building. The big guy behind me is now holding a heavy plasma cannon on each arm. He backs out of the door through which we entered and opens fire.

I don’t know what to do. Do I help these people? They seem to hate Verve Wing, and they are giving some serious “Freedom Fighter” energy here. That’s a plus in my book. I look around for a weapon.

[D50 on CSSS: 30, yes, but; carelessness]

There is nothing in the room. I glance through the doorway as the big guy goes down under heavy fire from two of the hovering drones. I sprint toward him. He’s beyond saving, but one of his plasma cannons isn’t. I hoist it and aim for a drone.

Violence Test

[D100 vs 37: 54, failure, +1 Limit]

6 Limit

I miss. The drone spins and returns fire as I try to dive back into the cover of the building.

Body Save

[D100 vs 25: 07, success]

I make it. More explosions sound across the area. I gotta get out of here. I head deeper into the building until I find myself exiting through a small restaurant on the other side.

[D50 on CSSS: 13, interaction]

I step into the street, and I am nearly run over by the two kids in the car. They stop and open the door. I can see them ogling the cannon. “Hey, you aren’t VW, are you?” the driver asks.

“No,” I reply. More explosions. “We need to get you two out of here,” I say. “Do you have someplace to hide?”

“Yes,” the driver says. The passenger punches his arm. “But we aren’t supposed to tell people,” he finishes after wincing.

“Don’t tell me, then,” I say. “Just go. I don’t think there’s gonna be many people left around here when those soldiers are finished.”

“Where’s Bran?” the passenger asks. “That’s his gun.”

It’s my turn to wince. “He’s gone,” I say.

The kid nods. He has seen more than any kid should have to. “Let’s go,” he mutters to the driver. The door slams shut and the car tears off down the road and out of sight.

I head in the same direction, though I do not follow after the car turns off this road. I just need to get away from the fighting.

[D50 on CSSS: 29, distraction]

The look on that kid’s face haunts me as I work my way through this area of crumbling apartment buildings and untended gardens. The gunfire subsides. I am mesmerized by the sound of my own footsteps, and I do not notice the whir of the drone until it’s too late.

Body Save

[D100 vs 25: 82, failure, +1 Limit, +1 Wound]

7 Limit

Wound 1/2

[D10 on Wound: 4 - cracked, dizzy, hazy vision]

Limit Test

[D10 on Limit Break vs 7: 3, fail - Sortie, devise an escape route, -3 Limit]

4 Limit

The shockwave from the drone’s weapon slams me to the ground. My ears ring; my vision is blurred. I stagger to me feet and reel around. I aim the cannon at it as I back away toward an alley.

Violence Test, [-] from the Wound

[-D100 vs 37: 05 and 88, critical failure, +1 Limit]

5 Limit

Limit Test

[D10 on Limit Break vs 5: 1, fail, [-] for 18 minutes, -1 Limit]

4 Limit

Critical Failure: plasma cannon explodes

Body Save

[-D100 vs 25: 32 or 95, failure, +1 Limit, +1 Wound]

5 Limit

Wound 2/2

[D10 on Wound: 7 - lost limb]

Limit Test

[-D10 on Limit Break vs 5: 4 or 1, fail, [-] for another 12 minutes, -1 Limit]

4 Limit

The cannon explodes, taking my arm with it. It’s not looking good for me. I stumble into the alley, desperately clutching the stump at my shoulder to try to staunch the bleeding.

Intellect Test

[-D100 vs 38: 11 or 70, fail, +1 Limit]

5 Limit

I can’t do it. I slide down the wall as the world grows dark.

I probably should have just told the truth.

---

End of Part 2

Oh boy, that is not what I was hoping for. There were a whole lot of rolls there at the end, so I might have done something a little wonky, but I think that’s a nice, dramatic ending for our, uh, hero?

In any event, I hope you enjoyed this little story. I hope to post more play-throughs using some other systems in the future (especially that VyrmHack game I was setting up a couple of weeks ago). As for my game development work, my biggest announcement is that the pre-launch page for my next Kickstarter, Foul, is live now!

I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with a more extensive game production update, as well as some details on Foul. Until then, thanks for reading!

—MAH