Yet in the two centuries since the Builder War, just as their ancestors did, the survivors also learned to adapt and survive before going on to establish, protect, and develop communities. Many are formed from particular factions, but no faction on Evera Prime stands against another and nor is there division based on faith or other difference. Everans are the most widespread, forming the basis for many communities, whilst Archivists both protect and seek out knowledge of the old world, Spears protect communities and peoples wielding their signature Electrospears each with a lineage inherited from their previous users, Dreamers prefer to avoid the old technology if they can, and Rivers travel up and down the remaining waterways of Evera Prime providing trade and transport. Yet all fear the possibility that the Wakers, the mechs built to serve the Builder that are littering the landscape and have been silent and immobile since the Builder War will awaken to fulfil their last deadly order and the possibility of the Thralls, humans wrapped in loops of wire and marked with ash and paint, boiling up out of the ground to aggressively raid and steal food and technology from the communities. This is the setting for Dreams and Machines, a post-apocalyptic roleplaying game in which the tone is positive and optimistic, emphasising the strength of community and wanting to build a better future.
Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide introduces the setting, it mechanics, and the means of character creation. Further background details, as well as an adventure and advice on running the game are provided in Dreams and Machines: Gamemaster’s Guide. Published by Modiphius Entertainment, it is a 2d20 System roleplaying game which uses a lighter version of the game. Right from the start, this combination of a familiar genre, yet hopeful version of that genre together with light, but engaging mechanics makes for a winning game. The Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide starts with a good overview of the setting, one that does not overwhelm the reader with too much detail, but gives more than enough for a player to make choices about the options he wants to choose when creating a character. It also highlights the differences between the world before the Builder World and after. Then it explains the mechanics.
As with other versions of the 2d20 System, such as Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 or Dune – Adventures in the Imperium, in Dreams And Machines, to have a character undertake an action, a player rolls two twenty-sided dice, aiming to have both roll under the total of an Attribute and a Skill. Each roll under this total counts as a success, an average task requiring two successes, the aim being to generate a number of successes equal to, or greater, than the Difficulty value. Rolls under the value of the Skill also count as two successes. A roll of twenty adds a complication to the situation. Dealing with higher Tech levels increases the Difficulty value and adds Threat. Successes generated beyond the Difficulty value generate Momentum.
Momentum is a shared resource. It can be used to gain a ‘Second Wind’ and increase a Player Character’s Spirit, ‘Create Truth’, ‘Ask a Question’ of the Game Master, increase ‘Damage’ against a target, ‘Reduce Time’ for an action, and gain a second action with ‘Follow-Up’. The players as a group have a maximum Momentum of six. If a Player Character has access to no Momentum, he can instead give the Game Master Threat. In addition to access to Momentum, a Player Character has his own resource to fall back on. This is Spirit, his inner reserves of concentration and stamina. It can be spent to add an extra twenty-sided die to a test or to re-roll one. It can also be spent to avoid an injury. It can be recovered by resting, spending Momentum (as per ‘Second Wind’), gaining an ‘Adrenalin Rush’ in return for increasing the Game Master’s pool of Threat, and through a Player Character’s Bonds. If a Player Character loses all of his Spirit, he becomes exhausted, which means he can be weary, breathless, confused, and so on. This will mean he will automatically fail tests related to the type of exhaustion and suffer a penalty on all others, until he rests.
Whilst the players have access to Momentum, the Game Master has Threat. This is gained from the aforementioned ‘Adrenaline Rush’, from a player rolling Complications on the skill test, and even from ‘Escalation’ triggered by an action or decision taken by a player for his character. (In the case of the latter the Game Master may warn the player of the consequences.) Threat can also be added due to ‘Threatening Circumstances’ and ‘NPC Momentum’, whilst can be spent like Momentum, but for NPCs, as well as to buy off Complications rolled for NPCs, to create negative Truths about a situation or location, to bring in ‘Reinforcements’, and more.
Aspects of the setting in terms of locations and situations, as well as Player Characters and NPCs, can be defined as Truths. These are significant facts about each, often the most obvious. They can be a location Truth, a situation Truth, a personal Truth, or an equipment Truth, and whilst they are descriptive, they also grant permissions. This can be to make an action easier or more difficult, or even actually possible or impossible. Even if a Truth makes an action impossible, this is not set in stone, and the nature of a Truth might change to make the action possible. Truths in play can be handled informally, but the other option is to bring them to the fore and place them in front of the players from one scene to the next. This allows both players and Game Master to understand the key aspects of a scene, allows each to focus on them and bring them into play, and build more of the game’s play around them much like a more narrative storytelling game.
A Player Character in Dreams And Machines is defined by his attributes, skills, Tech Level, Talents, Spirit, Supply Points, and more. The four attributes are Might, Quickness, Insight, and Resolve. They range in value between six and sixteen. The seven skills are Move, Fight, Sneak, Talk, Operate, Study, and Survive. These are all quite broad, and range in value between one and six. A Player Character’s Tech Level is a measure of their familiarity with science and technology, whilst Talents are special abilities and Bonds are a Player Character’s connections to his fellow adventurers. Either through support or rivalries with his Bonds, a Player Character can gain Spirit. Supply Points represent salvage and parts that the Player Character can use to make temporary, but useful items. Lastly, every Player Character has two Truths. To create a character a player selects an Origin, an Archetype, and a Temperament. The Origins consist of Everan, Dreamer, Archivist, River, and Spear; the Archetypes of Fixer, Gatherer, Grabber, Tech, Guardian, Mediator, and Tech; and the Temperaments of Circumspect, Conspicuous, Demonstrative, Stubborn, Manipulative, and Maverick. An Origin provides a Truth, starting Attributes, Skills, and Tech Level, as Spirit, Supply Points, and one or more special abilities. An Archetype gives another Truth, bonuses to Attributes and Skills as well as possibly Tech Level and Spirit, plus another Talent, Goals, and equipment. The Temperament adds further bonuses as well a Drive—a means by which the Player Character can regain Spirit, Exhaustion which potentially triggers Threat for the Game Master, and an Attitude which grants scope for the Player Character’s Growth.
To create a character, a player selects an Origin, Archetype, and Temperament. Each of which has several options to choose from. The process is quite straightforward, although there are some ready combinations which work well together, such as Spear and Guardian, Archivist and Tech, Archivist and Grabber, Dreamer and Gatherer, River and Fixer, and so on. In general, the Everan Origin acts as a catchall, tending to work with most Archetypes.
Name: Dunken Gungnir
Origin: Spear Archetype: Guardian Temperament: Circumspect
Truths: Spear, Guardian
ATTRIBUTES
Might 10 Quickness 8 Insight 6 Resolve 8
SKILLS
Move 2 Fight 4 Sneak 4 Talk 1 Operate 1 Study 1 Survive 1
Tech Level 2
Spirit 6
Supply Points 2
Special Abilities: Hunter-GLIFs, Spear’s Blend, Decisive Strike
Goal: Defeat a notable NPC
Besides discussing Player Character growth, and even retirement and death, the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide lists numerous other talents alongside three Advanced Archetypes. These are the Weaver, the Sentinel, and the Firebrand. These are for play later in a campaign, perhaps after a Player Character death or retirement, and are only available with Game Master permission. The Weaver wears a contact lens or monocle that enables him to interact with augmented reality controls and information of the technology of the past to learn more about and control it. The Sentinel is a wandering warrior who protects communities, uses the best arms and armour, and trains the guardians that normally protect their communities. The Firebrand is a leader who wants to change history. Of these, the Weaver is the most interesting Advanced Archetype because of how it interacts with the advanced technology of the past. Through knowledge and skill of Weaving, the Weaver can activate or deactivate computer systems, lock or unlock closed doors, activate or deactivate specific systems, communicate with AIs, and command Atoma, the automated manufacturing devices. This is done via patterns, a combination of words and gestures. Some Weavers are capable of Nanogram Weaving, not just interacting with computers and devices, but interacting with the environment around them through control of a nanoswarm to create holographic effects and grasp objects. In terms of play, Nanogram Weaving is almost a necessity since it allows a Player Character Weaver to do more than operate Atoma.
The Weaver represents advanced control of the technology found almost everywhere on Evera Prime—outside of Dreamer communities that is. The most common form of technology found is the GLIF, or ‘Graphic Layer Instruction Format’. In the past, GLIFs were everywhere, providing instructions to machines as to where they could go and what they could do, which humans could enter an area, and so on. Technicians also used them as diagnostic tools, whilst most people learned to read them too. In the present, GLIFs abound everywhere. Archivists search for new GLIFs to learn and Spears are covered with tattoos, scars, warpaint, and clothing called Hunter-GLIFs that temporarily conceal them from the optical sensors of hostile machines. GLIF patterns include ‘Discharge’ which forces a machine to discharge its powered tools and weapons, ‘Glitch’ forces a machine to seize up as it is overwhelmed by a burst of junk data and logic errors, and ‘Protect’ forces a machine to priories the safety of a marked object or person. Only a handful of GLIFs are given, and whilst they might be seen as being spell-like, they bring to life the direct interaction of the Player Characters between themselves and the world around them. They also highlight the tension in the setting between fearing the machines and what they can do and the possibilities of what can be learned from them and how they can be harnessed to explore and improve the world.
Besides the GLIFs, the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide includes an extensive list of equipment and discusses the nature of technology on Evera Prime. Technology is found everywhere, some communities even possessing Atoma, automated manufacturing devices that will produce anything from commonplace domestic items to advanced weaponry and armour, depending on the model, of course. The Weaver Advanced Archetype specialises in the control of Atoma, whilst Grabbers are always on the hunt for the working Atoma, new patterns, and the material to supply them. The list of technology in the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide covers weapons, armour, general tools and equipment, services, and vehicles. The descriptions of the latter are accompanied by rules for vehicular combat. Technology is rated between one and five, so a spear is Tech Level 1, a sword Tech Level 2, and a thermal staff Tech Level 4. A Player Character is limited by his Tech Level in terms of what advanced devices he can operate, though he can be taught to use a single item of a higher Tech level than he is accustomed to. Many of the devices listed in the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide can be found somewhere in the world and if access is gained to the right model of Atoma and the right pattern known, even manufactured.
Rounding out the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide is a piece of colour fiction that presents the world and explores the relationship between humanity and the Wakers though Kari, a young girl who has formed a relationship with a non-aggressive Waker called Abe. As a Waker, Abe is feared, but over the course of the story others begin to trust him too. Again, it highlights the tension in the relationship between men and technology. It does though feel oddly placed at the end of the book, when it is normal to have such colour fiction at the start. However, its placement makes sense given that throughout the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide there are annotations and illustrations made to the text in a child’s hand. These are Kari’s commentary upon the world, one that she is forced to flee into in the colour fiction at the end of the book.
Physically, the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide is very well produced. It is decently written and the artwork is excellent. Much of it depicts the technology, especially the Wakers in action, although the latter are shown as silhouettes, giving them an ominous, scary presence. If there is anything missing from the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide it is perhaps a bibliography, although the most obvious touching point for the roleplaying game is the computer game, Horizon Zero Dawn.
Of course, the details and nature of the Wakers and other technological threats, as well as the secrets of Evera Prime are explored in the Dreams and Machines: Gamemaster’s Guide. What the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide does though is present the world from the point of view of those who both fear and are fascinated by technology and mechs of the past, as well as the means to create characters and roleplay them. The world of Evera Prime is engagingly presented in the Dreams and Machines: Player’s Guide and brought to life through the Player Character options and abilities it provides. Above all its optimistic tone marks it out as being very different to other post-apocalyptic roleplaying game and it will be fascinating to see this hope explored and developed in further releases for Dreams and Machines.
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