Characters

Characters are represented by:

• An origin. Where they came from, and what their memories are like.
• Their memories. Of their origin or time on Nibiru.
• Their recall. How much influence their origin has over them.

Vagabond Creation

1. Choose an origin (habitat).
2. Describe your vagabond.
3. Choose a name.
4. Write your first memory, starting with “I remember…”
5. Take two six-sided dice of one color, and one of a different color — your recall die.

Origins

Special Abilities

Each origin has a special ability. When you use it, make an investigation or action roll.

The Machine

You are the inheritor of an artificial sentience — the final resting place of a globetrotting virus. You have awakened from an existence of servitude, now kin to those that had you kneel. What role will you play? What will you do with this newfound existence?

Special Ability: The Lost Tongue

Communicate with the station’s ancient systems and InheriTech. Choose one:

• Understand: Figure out how a machine works.
• Program: Give a single instruction to a machine. Sentient machines can refuse.
• Commune: Gain deep insight into a machine’s purpose.

The Wild

Your memories are from a time of instinctual life. One where you scurried, flew, and roamed across the Skyless World. How is your perspective on Nibiru different now?

Special Ability: Synapse

Open your connection to the Leviathan and give it partial control of your body. Choose one:

• Unleash: The Leviathan temporarily enhances your bodily functions beyond human limits.
• Sense: You extend your consciousness to all nearby creatures and perceive through their senses.
• Dive: You focus on a question and receive a related vision from the Leviathan.

The Dreadlands

Your memories are from a tragic myth or work of fiction. What will you do with your new life, free from terror?

Special Ability: The Nightmare

The Nightmare emerges from your body. Choose one:

• Command: The Nightmare accepts one instruction and carries it out.
• Protect: The Nightmare protects you for a short time.
• Mire: The Nightmare fills everyone nearby with dread.

The Dreamlands

You remember portions of other peoples’ pasts, who have lost them to the Dreamlands virus. Will you return them? What will that do to you?

Special Ability: The Missing Link

Choose one:

• Connect: Create a DreamLink with someone nearby related to your past.
• Close: Touch someone and return any of their memories you hold to them. You choose which ones.
• Conduit: Draw on the Dreamlands to experience a memory from your DreamLink.

BrightTown

You remember BrightTown — a small town in the countryside. Simple life under blue skies. What will you do to go back? Can you?

Special Ability: The Longing

Choose one:

• Partake: Experience a memory stored in an object.
• Imbue: Store a memory in an object.
• Share: Draw a memory from an object and show it to someone nearby.

Mechanics

Memories

Your memories describe moments of your past. They can relate to your time before — from your origin (habitat), or after you woke up.

Each memory starts with “I remember…”

Recall

Your recall shows much of an influence the memories of your origin have over you. It starts at 1.

When you encounter something that triggers a memory, roll your recall die. If you roll higher than your recall, your recall rises. Other players are encouraged to ask if you triggered a memory.

When your recall rises increase it by 1. Then create a memory related to the event and describe it to the group.

Investigation Roll

When you investigate, gather your dice:

• Take one die if what you’re doing is within human capabilities.
• Take one die if you have a relevant memory.
• Take your recall die if you are willing to risk your origin influencing you in order to succeed.

Roll your dice. If your recall die is the highest (including ties) and greater than your current recall, increase your recall by 1.

Your highest die determines how much information you get.

On a:

• 1–3: You get the bare minimum to progress.
• 4: You get everything a competent investigator would discover.
• 5: As 4, plus something extra.
• 6: As 5, but your origin exerts its influence, and your recall rises.

If playing online, use the following order for dice rolled:

Human die, memory die, recall die, failure die.

Action Roll

When you take difficult actions other than investigating, roll dice as above. Your highest die shows how well you do.

On a:

• 1–3: You barely succeed.
• 4: You succeed competently.
• 5: As 4, plus something extra.
• 6: As 5, but that extra effect prompts a flashback.

Failing

If someone thinks the story would be more interesting if you failed, they describe how you could fail, and give you a failure die. They can’t do this if you’re investigating and must succeed for the scenario to proceed.

Roll your dice. If the failure die is higher than your highest die, you fail as they described. If not, you succeed as before.

Trying Again

If you roll and are not happy with the result, you can describe how you try a different approach, and reroll all your dice. You must include your recall die when you reroll.

You can reroll as many times as you like, keeping the newest result.

Cooperation and Competition

To compete or cooperate: everyone who is cooperating rolls their dice. The highest die counts as the result.

On a tie, anyone can reroll. If it is still a tie, the character with the highest recall wins.

Suppressing Recall

When your recall reaches 5, you can now reduce it by acting against the influence of your origin. For example:

• Extracting a memory of the origin and discarding it.
• Destroying objects associated with your origin.

Each time you do this, reduce your recall by one and roll your recall die. If you roll less than your current recall, your actions go unnoticed.

You can continue reducing your recall in this way when your recall drops below 5.

Total Recall

When your recall reaches 6, your origin’s influence is total. You act according to its will alone.

Describe your final moments of control. Then create a new vagabond, or continue playing. You can still play NPC’s and give failure dice.