Build a Story

This section is primarily tips for a potential GM. It isn’t required. But will help get you started on your first adventure in Eos.

“The player characters are the main characters of the story. The rules of the game only exist to accommodate their story. Dying might be part of their story”.

Time is Dynamic

Sometimes a character’s story is told moment to moment, hour to hour, & day to day. Sometimes, there may be a lull for weeks, months or even years. While combat with this system is “moment to moment” for each round spent. The time spent harvesting, crafting, & learning outside combat should usually be determined by the group running those characters.

It’s not unheard of for a group to settle down in a town for the winter. Building relationships with the townsfolk & hoarding supplies for their next adventure once spring comes. It’s also possible that story won’t wait for them to seek it out & will seek them out instead.

When time passes, the characters don’t press pause. They’re still working, playing, & practicing their arts. That’s why the passive skill points exist. As a character matures, they grow. They get better at their crafts — even if it’s just passing interests that are not part of their daily work. The players can just summarize the work their doing. The relevant “autopilot” tasks don’t require role-playing. Time just goes by. If events are planned within that time, pause the timer, role-play the event. Then let the party decide if they continue passing time or if they want to change their plans. Be flexible with time jumping forward… especially the boring parts.

The GM’s job is to narrate & be the hearts, minds & souls of all the NPC’s, monsters & creatures of the world. Character development doesn’t just occur from rising skill points alone. Their true personality becomes more clear as they face challenges with their party. They may be small. Like opening up a shop in town. They may be challenging weather that requires someone to stand up, put their boots on, & walk into the snow — Because someone has to get those supplies back to town before people starve to death. Or… There may be an unavoidable conflict from a greedy baron trying to obtain more power… or a den of Kobalds that have been raiding the local farms… or a new mob boss in town. Make sure your players have things to interact with. Even if they would prefer to ignore them, the option is there for them to decide.

Random Encounters

If your group is traveling through a zone that doesn’t have predetermined threats, rolling for a random encounter may spice things up a bit. Having them select a difficulty range could give you an idea of how much trouble they’re ready to get into. Have them each roll 1d20 & select any number rolled from among them. 1-5 could be a low encounter, 5-10 moderate challenge, 10-15 very challenging, & 15-20 could be a massive encounter. You’re the GM. You can adjust these numbers or set your own to better suit your needs.

A massive encounter would not just be a single combat scenario. It would be like spotting an old cavern in some ruins, “off in the distance”, far away from the main road. This encounter could require days spent scouting & learning the area, with sporadic attacks from the local inhabitants. A smart group will come up with plans to defend each other when resting. I guess… a smarter group might just keep walking down the road. But the group that succeeds would be rewarded with knowledge, loot, & experience.

Generally experience is rewarded for participation. Show up, get a stipend. But if a player wants to push the limits of their character, seeking out more experience through battle or wit is the accelerated path. Greater experience rewards exist. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. What exact amount that is — should be determined by the GM. Too fast or too slow can stifle character development. Sometimes struggling a little bit adds more character… to a character… so to speak.

Overarching Plot

The default game world uses disruption in the timeline. An NPC from ancient times who mastered time magic spends his life jumping from timeline to timeline. His goal is not apparent, but he’s clearly trying to make a different future. He pulls characters forward in time, wiping their memories. They are all a blank slate. A new person… A new character. Often with nothing but a few items in their possession. The first people they engage with are their new party. With only a faded memory of their last scene before the jump, they have more questions than answers. Maybe these strangers will help figure out “what’s going on here?”.

The plot beyond that is the world the GM prepared for them. The story of the characters & their interactions with that world around them. Were they meant to slay that baron? Or was it the discovery they made of a lost artifact while grave robbing at the catacombs? The mysterious time-traveling NPC’s motive becomes a whisper… as they learn, adapt & grow to the world that they’ve been moved to. They create their new life. There they create their own story.

That Power Non-Player Character(PNPC) with magic, magic, & even more magic, has a few notable things about him. He is a mage. To those who can see it, he glows like the sun. His age isn’t the same every time. He might have waited 10 of his years before he decided the next person to add to his pile of “your group”. He is Human. He already knows your actions before you do them — Because he’s seen them all. Every timeline. Every you. One thing each character is sure of is; whatever he got them to agree to before they were transported through time… well. They agreed to it. What was it? And he disappears as quickly as he appears. He is, honestly, a plot device.

As a PNPC plot device, he can be summoned by the GM to drop replacement characters near the party. This is useful when there is no other explanation of how a new character would organically be wandering around in the middle of nowhere. Those touched by the PNPC’s magic automatically have a commonality. They are an exclusive group. They’re probably the only ones alive at that time. That commonality can act strongly to bind them together as a party. His part of the story beyond bringing your characters together… is something for the longest lived races to hypothesize. No one else will live long enough to see the fruit of his labor.

If a character is created with higher levels than usual for character creation, they are usually built with a backstory from whatever area your group is currently in. Perhaps they grew up there, or perhaps they recently traveled there. Remember when you replace player characters that it should make sense… Also realize that new character build with a backstory would need a reason to go along with the group if they already have a life, & plans, & goals. It’s not always up to the GM to work out the details. Sometimes a new character built this way might just go on their merry way & part with the group the same day they meet them. Good story telling should reflect realism.