SDM: Eternal Return Key - BAREGHOST EDITION
A downloadable game
Strap on your riot pleather suit.
Activate your eater sword.
Get on your thermonuclear bike.
Raise your verdazul baobab salient crest.
And ride towards the tremor of civilization to discover why your dry husk was reawakend in a vat of preservative oil. There is a mystery there, and perhaps it will explain the warring voices in your head.
Beware the corruption dragons. Beware your memories.
Something has gone wrong with your world.
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Contents Summary:
- SDM: the anti-canon rpg system formerly known as S.E.A.C.A.T.
- Eternal Return Key: an alternate start for the Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City.
- Character sheet: a landscape version of the UVG 2E character sheet.
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This is the bareghost edition of Eternal Return Key, the free-access art-free rules for psychedelic roleplay with the Synthetic Dream Machine system (formerly teased as S.E.A.C.A.T.).
This free edition includes rules for playing in a strange, trippy world like that of the Ultraviolet Grasslands (read manga-style, from back to front), a character generator for a PC waking up in a wasteland with no idea how they got there (read BD-style, from front to back), and lots of whitespace.
Buy the full-color, full-art CHROMADEMON version to also read Pointyhelmet's New Body, a graphic novel detailing the adventures of the well-deserved hero Pointyhelmet and his trusted sidekick, the mighty wizard Poncho.
***
The whole game on a website:
Download
Install instructions
Thank you for downloading the BAREGHOST edition of Eternal Return Key! For more, there's a website: www.syntheticdreammachine.com
For less, uh ... up to you!
—The Author
(who has a patreon!)
Development log
- SDM - Eternal Return Key - v1.1May 17, 2023
Comments
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Dunno if you read comments here but I loved reading through it. I'm probably going to use this for a campaign mixed with Cairn, not really sci-fi though. I wanted to ask a few things:
Are Oracle rolls meant for "skill rolls" that carry no risk or have variable results (finding a secret or a good sale in a market, for example) If so, how do you feel about adding skill on top of ability, or maybe instead of ability.
Are Hero Dice supposed to be rolled to regain hp?
Hey, I do read, but often with a delay!
1. Oracle rolls are for the kind of situation where you just want to "find out" if something could be available or not. A bit like a magic 8-ball. Or quantum world-building. So, yeah, your interpretation of "skill rolls with no risk or variable results" is pretty much close enough. Adding skill in that situation is a bit of a judgement call by the referee. The examples you list - finding a secret or a good sale - if the player gave me a good or funny one-line rationale why their PC's skill would apply this time ... I'd be inclined to either straight up say, "yes" or "yes, if you spend 1d4-1 cash and a quarter of an hour buying some local weirdoes some iguanas-onna-stick."
2. That is absolutely one of the uses of Hero Dice. They're a quick way to regain life (hp). So, the PC can choose - boost your roll now to get a crit? Save your HD for after the fight? Otherwise, life (hp) are one of the attributes that can be recovered after a 1 week rest.
Thanks for the answers. I wanted to run a somewhat less lethal game, so perhaps giving out more HD could help the players if they dont want to rest for a week.