Bleeding Moon Primer

A dark sliver has appeared on the face of the Moon—the only blemish to appear in all of history. Does Perpetua's power wane? Is this the doing of the Coagulants? Is there something else at work here? One person knows there's something sinister at work and has funded some work to discreetly investigate. You have been roped into this investigation.

This game is a pseudo-sequel to the previous campaign I ran, Balancing Chaos. While there might be some NPCs from the previous campaign, uncovering secrets and putting together puzzles—or other aspects of play—will not require any knowledge of the previous campaign.

I am aiming for noir detective/investigative vibes for this campaign. A goal of mine is to have as many physical props as possible for solving the case presented to you. Therefore, engagement will be important. This isn't to say I won't give hints or anything, but I want things like images, letters, dossiers, boxes with secret compartments, etc. to be a part of the game play. Everyone contributing to theories and solving puzzles will be important.

With the target vibes of the game, it's likely there will be tough and tense moments. There will be difficult decisions to make (hopefully). NPC friends are likely to die. Characters will suffer physical and/or psychological injuries. There will be ample opportunity to poke fun at brooding on a street corner in the rain.

We'll be using the Fate system for this game—further details are later in the primer and the digital handbook will be linked in Discord.

I'm aiming to keep this campaign to 12 sessions. However, it's possible we may go over that by a couple sessions, but no more than 15.

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Contents

Setting Overview
-Factions
-Religion
-Magic
-Technology

System Overview
-Dice
-Fate Points
-Aspects
-Skills
-Stunts and Refresh
-Stress and Consequences
-Wind Down

Character Creation
-Species
-Background

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Setting Overview

Perpetua. All of this world is but a small island surrounded on all sides by the vast, azure sea. A significant portion of the land is taken up by the capital city of Shalie—a bustling city burgeoning with technological advances and the center of the religious order that dominates the populace of this world.

Perpetua is blanketed in a everlasting shroud of night, lighted by the enormous moon—an extension of the god Perpetua. Time moves forward at an even and steady pace, cycles moving in rigid timeframes rather than seasons or celestial movements. Perpetua Themself resides at the heart of Shalie, keeping a constant watch over Their charges to keep them from harm. Those charges partake in a daily ritual of worship when the blood of Perpetua is ingested, connecting them to their god. This connection not only allows Perpetua to protect them, but allows them to use chronomancy.

Yet despite the safety and magic offered by supplication to Perpetua, there are a few who dissent. These heretics live far out of Shalie, moving through secret networks to keep from execution. Known as Coagulants, they work hard to keep their research into hemalurgy away from Perpetua and Their followers, as it is a widely held belief that blood magic is far too sacred for any other than Perpetua.

map here one day

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Factions

There are two main "factions" at play in Perpetua. Crescens are the followers of Perpetua, no matter how loosely they participate. The Coagulant term is reserved for those who deliberately defy the embrace of Perpetua, living in small, hidden clusters outside of Shalie. Outside of these main two groups, there are many unions and guilds that exist for the workers, covering a large variety of jobs.

Crescens

Crescens encapsulates all of Cresdomm—from the most notable of Crescent Delegates that make up the Crescent Council to the most humble of street sweeper. Most people fall into this faction, including those only partake in the Conjunction (consuming the blood of Perpetua on occasion. Even if your character isn't invested in the religion, they would still be considered a Crescen, unless they've never had a drop of Perpetua's blood, in which case they are quite the anomaly and would probably be considered a heretic alongside the Coagulants.

Coagulants

Coagulants are outsiders and heretics that practice hemalurgy unbound by Perpetua's grace, residing in dark hidden places outside of the city of Shalie. These people have broken away from Perpetua's protection, having gone without Moon's Blood in quite some time. They actively reject Perpetua or Cresdomm, or both. However, there are some who are Coagulants for the perceived power gained from hemalurgy. Coagulants are often hunted down by Illuminators (law enforcers) of Cresdomm, especially those rumored to live among the everyday citizen, presumably conniving to attack and murder the faithful.

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Religion

Cresdomm is the only religion. It drives everyday life. The average person attends at least one nightly sermon per week. Failure to do so results in a friendly reminder to give praise and thanks to Perpetua. Sermons consist of communal recitation of Perpetua's words and wisdom and a sip of Moon's Blood at the end. The ending ritual of consuming Moon's Blood (Perpetua's blood) is known as a Conjunction. Consistent dedication to Perpetua in this way allows the connection between person and god to be established enough for an exchange of power—chronomancy in exchange for the rare honor of Perpetua using one's body as a host for important matters. Manipulation of time weakens the longer one goes without Moon's Blood, which is quite the incentive for the working citizens desiring just a little more time in their waking hours.

Magic

Chronomancy is the magic of time manipulation. It is limited firstly by one's connection to Perpetua. The more dedicated one is and the more Moon's Blood they intake the stronger their chronomancy—the longer they can hold it and the larger area they can influence. Which feeds into the second limitation of personal skill with chronomancy. If, theoretically, one were to consume a large amount of Moon's Blood but not have the skill to wield such an influx of magic, it would likely have disastrous effects to the world around them, and destroy them. Most people can only use chronomancy to affect themselves, or a small bubble of someone/something else for a short time. An office worker caught up on work might use it to slow time for them, making the world around them move faster to pass the remaining boring hours. A factory worker might use chronomancy to speed up their performance, to increase their output. Mechanics and engineers may employ it to temporarily boost a machine's speed, or slow down a trolley moving faster than expected around a turn. It is a powerful magic, but limited in small bursts and area of effect.

Hemalurgy, as it is referred to outside of Conjunction with Perpetua, is taboo. While anyone could use this magic, using one's—or Perpetua forbid, someone else's—blood to use chronomancy is sacrilege. Blood is the realm of god, gifted by Perpetua unto all They protect. It is rumored Coagulants have used Hemalurgy to force a corruption of some kind to Chronomancy, to mimic the heat of fire, the chill of frost, and more.

Technology

Perpetua's technology and aesthetics reside in about the real world equivalent of the Edwardian Era (early 1900s, before WWI). The inherit flow of time throughout the world keeps most mechanical objects moving on a set cadence, manipulated by individuals using their own chronomancy to influence the machinery. Slowly emerging is a cultivation of moonlight to power some machines, though it is not widespread.

There are no cars, but there are trolleys/cable cars. There are watches and clocks, but not guns. Not quite steampunk or fully magitech, but not fully solarpunk/lunarpunk either.

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System Overview

Fate uses 4d6, some resource tokens (Fate points), and invoking various aspects of characters and situations to gain advantages. Accepting complications or failure will often result in gaining more Fate points to use on future rolls. The system encourages making dramatic moments and roleplaying moments for both GM and Players. Players have stats and skills (stunts) with which to attempt to overcome challenges, or lean into their weaknesses to create more drama.

Dice

Fate uses 4d6. There are dice specific to the system, but normal d6s work just fine. When rolling, 1-2 would equate to a "-", 3-4 would equate to "0", and 5-6 would equate to "+". Each "-" results subtracts 1 from your total and each "+" adds 1 to your total. Any bonuses you have from skills or invoking aspects are added to your roll. Dice are rolled to overcome an obstacle, create or unlock an advantage using an aspect, attack in conflict, or defend in conflict. Results are rated on a ladder, listed below and also found in the rule book on page 9.

+8 Legendary, +7 Epic, +6 Fantastic, +5 Superb, +4 Great, +3 Good, +2 Fair, +1 Average, +0 Mediocre, -1 Poor, -2 Terrible

Fate Points

Fate Points are a resource that Players start with at the start of every session that can be used to Invoke Aspects, and more can be gained through play by taking Compels.

Invoke. When you Invoke, you are using an Aspect and a Fate Point to either reroll your dice or add +2 to your roll, done after you've rolled your dice. You must explain or justify how the Aspect is helpful in order to Invoke. You can spend more than one Fate Point per roll as long as you Invoke different Aspects.

Compel. When you accept a Compel, you might take an automatic failure, restricted choices, unintended consequences, or complication in order to gain a Fate Point. Compels add twists, turns, and drama!

Declaring a Story Detail. You can spend a Fate Point to add a detail that works to your advantage in a scene, such as retroactively having the right tools for the job. You must justify your story details by relating them to your Aspects.

Aspects

Aspects are traits and characteristics attached to the setting, location, scenes, NPCs, and most importantly, PCs! Aspects can be used to Invoke or Compel characters. Aspects can range from things like your character's job to conflicting ideologies of an organization. Player Character Aspects are explored in further detail further below. For Session 0 as a group, there are a few more broad Aspects we will create together to figure out some important place and NPCs to the characters you make.

The setting Aspects are already complete (mostly, subject to some changes) and are as follows:

Perpetua's Grace. Perpetua oversees and controls everything. Mostly.

Investigative Work. Something is wrong with the workings of the world and many factions are looking for an answer; often in the wrong places.

Skills

Skills operate along a pyramid with players having 4 Average (+1) skills, 3 Fair (+2) skills, 2 Good (+3) skills, and 1 Great (+4) skill. Available skills include all found on page 97 of the rule book with the exceptions:

• Drive is not available
• Shoot is not available
• Chronomancy is available
• Hemalurgy is available

(Subject to updates; you will be notified.)

Chronomancy. Overcome? Y Create an Advantage? Y Attack? N Defend? Y

The Chronomancy skill reflects the level of control you have over manipulating time at scale and potency. It's how long you can hold the magic, how large an area you can affect, how little unintended consequences you incur.

• Overcome: Chronomancy can be used to Overcome the stable flow of time. Running late? Trying to keep someone's attention? Experimenting with plant-growing techniques? Chronomancy can be used for a wide variety of Overcome checks, in limited spurts.
• Create an Advantage: Need some time to think? An extra second to set up the trap you're working on? The trap you're trying to disarm as the patrol is rounding the corner? A boost to running after a suspect? Chronomancy can be used to create these types of Advantages.
• Attack: Chronomancy is not meant as an Attack skill.
• Defend: Give yourself enough time to move out of the way. Speed up your escape. Attempt to slow your attacker, or whatever bomb is about to go off.

Example Stunts

• Call to Action. Chronomancy can be used as an Attack Skill.
• Split Second. +2 to Overcome rolls when slowing time down on yourself.
• Continuum Split. Once per session, you can take a mental stress in place of physical stress.

(Subject to updates; you will be notified.)

Hemalurgy. Overcome? Y Create an Advantage? Y Attack? Y Defend? N

The Hemalurgy skill reflects your control over ██████████ and █████████████. It allows you to pull from ██████ ███ ██ ████ █████.

• Overcome: Hemalurgy can be used in a pinch to wrestle control of chronomancy. It can also be used to establish a ██████████ ████ ███████, potentially influencing their decisions.
• Create an Advantage: Also provides access to the Advantages of chronomancy, but with varying effect. ███████ with others to gain insights.
• Attack: Use Hemalurgy to empower yourself in combat. Stress your physical body beyond normal limitations to crush whoever is in your way.
• Defend: Hemalurgy is not meant as a Defense skill.

Example Stunts

• Blood Renewal. Hemalurgy can be used as a Defense Skill.
• Blood Bank. +2 to Creating an Advantage or Attack rolls when you use blood other than your own to empower this roll.
• Transfusion. When a creature would take physical damage near you, you can instead take the damage for them.

Stunts and Refresh

Stunts are like Feats in D&D. They are special abilities that your character has that can add a new action to a Skill (being able to Provoke on a Skill that doesn't by default, for example), adding a bonus to a Skill roll, or create an exception to a Skill rule.

You can pick from the example list in the Rule Book (starting on page 98 listed with each skill) or create some Stunts relevant to your character and the setting (page 88). The first 3 Stunts are free by default, and you can take up to 2 more by reducing your Refresh by 1 for each additional Stunt after 3.

Refresh is how many Fate Points a character starts a session with. The default is 3. However if you were to take 4 Stunts, your Refresh would be 2, and if you take 5 Stunts your Refresh would be 1.

Stress and Consequences

Stress is the amount of Physical and Mental damage you can take; a separate track for each. Each track has 2 boxes by default, but can be increased with either Physique and Hemalurgy (Physical track; does not stack, take highest bonus) or Will and Chronomancy (Mental track; does not stack, take highest bonus) skills. The number of boxes at first glance is bit deceptive; the number actually represents the threshold or "Shift" (see Ladder values on results in dice section) value of damage. "2" is representing when you take specifically a 2-Shift damage hit (or lower, if your "1" box has already been marked). The maximum amount of damage boxes for either track is 4-shift damage.

Consequences are ways to mitigate Stress taken in exchange for temporary Aspects that can be Invoked (typically by foes) until they are healed. Each Consequence box has a respective value that it will reduce the Shift damage value of the attack by should you choose to take one. For example, an incoming attack is about to 2 damage, but you'd really like to keep the damage off you for now, you can instead take a Mild Consequence to prevent marking the Stress box.

Once you can no longer check any Stress boxes or take any Consequences, your character will die (but we'll make it dramatic and/or tragic!).

Wind Down

Not a part of Fate, but I would like to utilize Stars, Wishes, Feelings at the end of sessions to help gauge how we're all doing. Stars are what you felt were the highlights of the session; cool moments or nods to other players, etc. Wishes are things you'd like to see in the future; more combat, less combat, more props, objectives of a certain kind, hoping a certain thing doesn't happen, more highlight moments/opportunity for your character to shine, etc. Feelings are overall how are you doing? Are you doing ok after the session? I will also make a Discord channel for this in the event we do not have enough time at the end of session.

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Character Creation

Character creation is a collaborative effort in Fate, so while you are more than welcome to have a character concept ready for Session 0, keep some things open. The biggest thing you'll need to think about is your High Concept (Aspect) and Trouble Aspect.

Your High Concept is an Aspect that can be something like your job or calling. Some examples for the setting might be dedicated train conductor or seeks freedom from parents. Also consider why your character might have been hired or otherwise involved in investigating the recent strange events. More examples can be found in the Rule Book.

Your Trouble Aspect is an Aspect that complicates your character's existence. This can be personal struggles about a dark side or impulses that hard to control, or problematic relationships about people or organizations that make your life hard. Your Trouble shouldn't be easy to solve. Some examples might be you or a relative is suspected to be involved with the Coagulants or you owe fees to a worker's union. More examples can be found in the Rule Book.

After you have decided on your High Concept and Trouble Aspects (perhaps even with the help of fellow players), we begin the Phase Aspects. The First Phase is will create an Aspect about something you recently did that's adventurous and interesting. Then, the Second and Third Phase is the very collaborative part that involves your fellow players. These will create Aspects for each involved person on how they know you and got involved in your First Phase Aspect, and vice versa.

Additionally, the group will also decide on some important places and NPCs. Each should have a name, a relationship to an organization or issue, and Aspect that can be Invoked/Compelled. You can come with some ideas prepared, but we'll flesh these out during Session 0.

Species

Species in Fate does not grant any mechanical bonuses. Here are the common species (all D&D based) found in Perpetua, with a brief description of their general status:

• Human. A majority of the population, followed very closely by orcs. What they lack in specializations is compensated by their audacity to try anything.
• Orc. Many venture into work forces of forges and factories, but several are also well-known craftsmen.
• Dwarf. Most likely to make a warforged. Though many also pride themselves on fishing and farming.
• Gnome. Innovators and the finest craftsmen of small gears and other machinery that sets their work apart from others.
• Warforged. A sentient warforged would be incredibly rare and would likely seek to disguise the fact they are sentient, or that they are warforged. Other sentient warforged are paraded around by their creators as the latest breakthrough in technology. Most "warforged" are little more than automated machinery, though still unusual to see.

Other species are subject to approval, sorry.