Genesys RPGplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigGenesys RPG

A very brief overview of the system

Narrative Dice

Whenever you have to roll (which isn’t all that often), you create a dice pool based on a characteristic, a relevant skill, the difficulty of the check and any circumstantial factors. Once you figure out what you rolled, you’ll have some combination of:

Principles of Magicplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigPrinciples of Magic

* You can’t make something out of nothing, or nothing out of something (mass is conserved) * Magic comes from below and returns to below. * There’s always a downward pull when using magic. * Using magic to fly would require a tremendous amount of power, to balance out that downward force.

We live in a huge megacity, which extends for hundreds of miles in every direction, as well as down below the surface, up into the sky and beyond. The rest of the world, as far as we know, is nothing but strip mines and toxic wasteland, with immense, solar-powered farming towers peppering (and polluting) the landscape.

We come from Apex, an endless, sprawling suburban utopia that floats three miles above the ground. There are places even higher up, but we don’t pay them much mind, except when their light-bending technology glitches and we lose our sunlight for ten minutes. Then you can hear the screams of outrage for miles. About ten million people live in Apex. The wealthy have large homes with yards and swimming pools or flying pools. The even wealthier live in skyscrapers with ceilings made of imported light-bending material, so that every floor feels like the penthouse. There are no poor in Apex (that we know about), and everyone takes on the profession they want.

• The rumor mill is wild. There's strong social jockeying.
• The music scene is about adding more and more complexity. Everyone seems to like it, but that could be because they think everyone else likes it.

Near the center of Apex, there is an iris hatch in the ground which reveals an elevator, supported by both levitation and ropes. The ropes take over about half a mile from the ground, when Shadow interferes. It takes about an hour to descend on the Drop, and an Operator supervises the process, as well as being there to give a short lecture on Shadow, and answer questions. Criminals banished to Shadow use the Drop.

Apex is a giant chunk of earth, rock and metal floating in the sky. The structure is maintained by those who live in the Pen, which hangs from the underside of Apex, and occupies up to a hundred stories inside. The service class is imported from the Pen. Whenever something goes wrong, they take the blame.

Apex is theoretically supposed to supply Shadow with light using the giant floodlights attached to the underside, but many of these are broken or in poor repair.

There are numerous floating communities below Apex, typically using huge dirigibles to hold themselves up rather than whatever sort of levitation supports Apex. In Apex, these are collectively known as Zephyr. In Shadow, they're known as the Floating Cities. They get their light by interposing themselves between Apex's floodlights and the ground.

The magic-infested land on the ground is called Shadow. It's not spoken of much in Apex.

• Old skyscrapers.
• There are mutants – people who aren't quite Human.
• The Singulon believe that Dark Information, an unknown but valuable knowledge, is somewhere in Shadow.
• Their closeness to the earth gives them more strength/physicality. Spending time down there makes you brutish.
• Sometimes, they try to reach higher than their city would support — teetering towers that try to reach Apex, but fall or get knocked down.

More about Shadowplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigShadow

Shadow is the old city on the ground. It's a dark place, with the only external light coming from the few Apex floodlights that work and actually reach the ground. Most of these lights are blocked by the Floating Cities, leaving Shadow in only dim light during the day, and in utter darkness at night. Residents of Shadow call it simply

Below shadow is a network of old subway and monorail tunnels, with what used to be stations expanded into small cities. These communities have populations in the thousands to tens of thousands, and trade along the empty and dangerous tunnels between them.

Below the subway tunnels are the Depths, said to be the source of magic. Little is known about them.

The “sky” of Apex is the floor of Paradise, which extends another two miles, its own ceiling held up by enormous pillars. The people of Paradise are controlled when needed by chips implanted in their brains, but most of the time, they have some semblance of free will. Paradise maintains the light-bending technology of Apex which gives them the illusion of night and day, and keeps Apex running when any intervention is needed. In turn, Paradise is watched over by Control.

Nothing is known yet about the level above Paradise.

Flashbacksplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigFlashbacks

Sometimes, the characters find themselves in some alternate version of themselves. Why does this happen? No one knows.

Alternate game systems

Everyone is Bang

Story

For what felt like the first time, but could have been the hundredth for all you know, your attempts to explore Paradise turned into a desperate need to escape it. This was unexpected; a flashback you had over a year ago painted the place as much more welcoming. It took the loss of Cassandra to come upon the right com…