Addendum - Architects of the Ruins

[PUBLIC] The addendum for campaigns focused on building and maintaining an Outpost. Adds occupation and building mechanics.

Occupations

Outposts need all hands on deck to survive in the modern environment of the Ruins, but by this point in time different bears have become well versed in different skills, each of which are important for an Outposts survival. These have no collective name in game. Occupations are only being used in this Addendum as a mechanical term. Instead, bears just refer to themselves based on their relevant abilities. Terms used here as an Occupation are not Outpost specific.

Bartenders are social leaders everywhere, not just outposts. The term Worker refers to the laborers given to an Outpost by Gredo, but is also the term for all forced laborers to begin with. This trend exists for all roles except Watches, which explicitly formed as a way for Outposts to protect themselves from Gredo’s various Guard groups, as well as dangers in the Ruins that Gredo often doesn’t help with.

Character creation in Architects of the Ruins only adds Occupations to the method in the base version of Ancient Aetherium. Occupations give characters  abilities that interact with the new systems provided by Architects of the Ruins. Each Occupation has a Rest Ability, which will be used between major Outpost Events (the time when everyone is back at the Outpost chilling out). These are permanent to the character.

Each character will only be able to take one every 5 Levels, getting their first at Level 0, and their next at level 5. Occupations have no effect on the rest of the character, and does not effect Proficiency like Specializations do, or effect Attributes like new Classes will.

Effects gained during rest only trigger on the next Event that bear experiences, and they can stack. This means for every rest, bears not going to events will gain more bonuses.

Occupations

Bartender

Bartenders are the social glue  of a given Outpost, uniting their peers together into one cohesive community. They are the one to go to when settling disputes, organizing Events, or stay in touch with all the happenings. Their position leaves them in a leader position to help organize the community around them, though they lack any official authority under Gredo.

Bartenders get their name from the fact that bars are often treated as the community hub of any given bear settlement. Even without a bar, it's become normal to refer to uniting figures as bartenders. How much a bartender tries to abuse their position of trust is dependent on the bartender and the community they are in.

Rest Ability

Pick any set of bears that will fit within a given outpost bar, and host a gathering for them. At this gathering, each bear can choose another bear. They can give that bear temporary profession points from for that bear's next Event. Temporary profession points must be from Professions that the first bear has. They can then give the second bear an amount of points capped by the lower of their SAN score, or their amount of points in the Profession.

The capacity of the bar can be temporarily raised by the bartender using a SAN check. There is room for 1 additional bear for each success, and room for 1 less bear for every 2 failures.

Occupations

Bouncer

Bouncers are the leaders of the local Watch and the organizers of the Outpost armaments. They coordinate the distribution of weapons, the routines of patrols, train their peers to fight in the surrounding environment, and help maintain the fortifications in their community. Traditionally, they hold no authority over other members of a Watch under Gredo, but act more as coordinators and teachers.

Rest Ability

Pick any set of bears that will fit in a sparring range, and host a training session. Each bear at the gathering gains full proficiency with any class of item (chainsaws, spark-hide armor, or anything else) until the end of their next Event. The proficiency may be selected at the start of the next Event. Bouncers cannot train bears in items they are lacking proficiency in.

Additionally, the Bouncer may make a SKL check to demonstrate the most effective way to use the item. For every 2 successes, each trained bear may add 1 extra dice to their dice pools when using the item during their next Event.

Occupations

Watch

The Watch are a set of bears in each outpost tasked with defending its inhabitants from outside forces. Often these are Traitors taking supplies, ambushes of traveling members, nausea creatures, hive drones, or even members of Gredo’s government. The Watch has a responsibility to the Outpost above all else, even if it means killing members of Gredo’s  various Guards. Watches act as a defensive force for the Outpost as a whole, and traditionally take no part in policing or punishing community members. That role falls to the Guards that Watches were formed to protect against.

Rest Ability

Pick any bear using their rest to travel, and accompany them to prevent them from being raided or attacked. Otherwise, pick a defensive building and block its Decay for this rest.

Occupations

Mason / Worker

Masons and Workers are two very similar and at the same time very different things. Masons were the original craftsmen, making ornate buildings, tools, weapons, and machines. Workers are forced laborers contracted out from the big city to act as an excess production force. Some Workers were Masons, some Masons were Workers. Either way, they are considered a treasured member of their community as they maintain the Outpost. Most attempts to “reclaim” Workers by Foremen will often be met with the full force of the Watch.

Rest Ability

Pick any Construction Project and add an extra point of progress towards its completion. Otherwise, pick an existing Structure, and remove decay using 1 of any material used to make the Structure. Masons remove STR decay, and Workers remove ABS decay.

Occupations

Inventor / Engineer

Inventors are the mechanical hearts of Gredo’s infrastructure, but they are far from formal academics. Inventors are scrappy creators of new machines, and engineers are efficient implementers of existing designs. Each become well-versed in taking advantage of sparse resources quickly, and tend to make rather strange creations to match their needs.

Rest Ability

Pick anything related to the building or maintenance of Structures, and swap out resources requirements to any other resource. Inventors may swap SKL resources, and Engineers may swap Knowledge resources.

Occupations

Trader / Conductor

Traders and Conductors make the rounds to nearby outposts, waystations, and supply lines to make sure their communities remain stocked for survival. They deal in direct goods since bears have no unified currency, but often face themselves needing to avoid those trying to take some for themselves. Traders tend to travel on foot or by taking rides with other Conductors. Conductors run through supply lines directly using their own train lines.

Rest Ability

Complete a trade route to get an amount of resources. Conductors gain SKL resources, and Traders gain Speechcraft resources. Each must make a DEX check with a difficulty of half their level (rounded down). Should they fail, they only bring back as many resources as successes on that DEX check, as they have been robbed.

Occupations

Ruiner / Scavenger

Scavengers are familiar with navigating the ruins and their hidden treasures for any goods still remaining. At the core of every Outpost is the struggle to keep themselves fortified even when the train lines fall through and their traders arent home, and a good Scavenger will keep the lights on even in the worst of conditions.

Rest Ability

Ruiners roll Knowledge and Scavengers roll Perception, and tell the total to the Ruin Master. The Ruin Master will use these rolls to get a section of Uncharted Ruin from the Uncharted Ruin rules. Proceed to either Chart it to reveal its resources and hazards, or to salvage its resources. Otherwise, salvage from an existing Charted Ruin.

Occupations

Tailor

Tailors are the doctors of bear society, and no Outpost is fully complete without one. Husks, while durable, undergo much wear and tear often, especially when combat is factored in. Tailors keep their peers’ husks clean and strong in order to keep their health in check. Tailors are also versed in equipment to aid mental strains a bear may have, but this is much less formal, and partially unique to Outpost Tailors, and the Tailors in Lord Pip’s Divisions.

Rest Ability

Pick DEX or SKL bears, limited by the capacity of the Tailor’s Shop, and bring them all back up to full lethal wounds without expecting any supplies, equipment, or resources.

Buildings

Buildings all provide some bonus in trade for resources, and these bonuses can be anything that the RM or players think would be interesting or useful. The RM can then decide the stats that form a building given the theme and bonus. While it is encouraged to dream up your own that are specific to your Outpost, Architects of the Ruins provides some suggestions for common buildings an Outpost may have. These are just suggestions, and the traits of each building can be changed to fit a story.

Buildings

Bar

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources
3

4 Brace,

10 Stone,

2 Arcane,

1 Exotic,

2 Gear (Alchemists Kit, Dishware)

 1 10

Stone,

Arcane

Bonus

Bars provide a place to gather and celebrate. Bars allow Bartenders to host their gatherings, and start with a capacity of 3 for a gathering. At any point, an extra 1 capacity can be added by a Worker/Mason using 2 Stone and 1 Brace.
Buildings

Storage Center

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources
1

1 Brace,

4 Stone

 1 8

Stone

Bonus

Acts as a central center for Residents to store their resources and gear for use in construction, in order to free up Bag Slots. Each Storage Center can hold 100 Bag Slots worth of items.
Buildings

Tailor’s Shop

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources
3

2 Brace, 

5 Stone,

3 Arcane,

2 Exotic,

4 Gear (Mix of Enchanted Thread, any Husk Parts, or Husk Mods)

 1 4

Stone,

Exotic,

Gear (Enchanted Thread or Husk Parts)

Bonus

Acts as the work place for Tailors, and starts with a capacity of 1 (excluding the Tailor). Additional capacity may be added by having a Mason/Worker use 1 Exotic, 1 Arcane and 1 Stone.
Buildings

Train Depot [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Attaches the outpost to an additional supply route, providing some supply route based material every rest.
Buildings

Watch Post [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Provides a place for Watches to look over the surrounding ruins for any trouble coming their way. When armed by a member of the watch it loses no durability, and provides them with notice of an enemies popping up during the next Event. Multiple Watches Posts will allow for more information on those enemies.
Buildings

Nausea Barrier [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Uses a series of void crystals to remove lingering arcana coming from the Outpost. Nausea creatures cannot detect or find the Outpost while a barrier is present.
Buildings

Reinforced Route [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Allows travel to and from a specific place without risk of being ambushed by any other groups. This is most often used in Events to easy travel.
Buildings

Archives [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Archives are the building of choice for any Seekers in an Outpost. Within an Archive, a bear with the Seeker Profession can gain an extra 2 points of Knowledge during their next Event.
Buildings

Shrine [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Allows paying tribute to a specific Founder, giving the next party that takes part in an Event a divine intervention they may use once.
Buildings

Workshop [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

The choice place for any of the tinkering sort lurking in an Outpost. During a rest, they may make a roll to add any effect to a weapon. More extreme effects require more successes, with a penalty if the tinkering fails. This lasts through the next Event.
Buildings

Stash [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Provides 10 Bag Slots of storage which cannot be found by any raiders or guests in the Outpost.
Buildings

Training Grounds [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Allows Bouncers to use their ability and train any other members of the Outpost. Starts with a capacity of 2, but can be increased by 1 by using 1 Stone and 1 Metal.
Buildings

Research Station [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Any bears may choose to use the station to gain 1 question they can ask the Ruin Master regarding their next Event. May be used during that Event.
Buildings

Military Fort [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Used as a station for members of Gredo’s military to operate in the Ruins. During Events they may choose to join as an NPC to help out. Members of the military further north tend to be sympathetic to the struggles of Residents.
Buildings

Ward [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Useful when harboring traitors. Wards prevent the Conquerors from knowing anything regarding the Outpost without being present.
Buildings

Holding Center [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Allows members of the outpost to detain and imprison any single bear. Following in the footsteps of Gredo, most holding centers are either used for ideological prisoners, interrogation, or torture. Otherwise, execution is preferred.
Buildings

High Mason Generator [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Creates some arbitrary structure, like a another building, out of Arcane Ice. Can be disabled or enabled during rests, only losing durability while enabled. If mimicking another build’s ability, it must also use the resources of that building.
Buildings

Scrambler Network [TODO]

Construction
Decay
Time Resources Time Critical Resources

 

 

Bonus

Any high tech communications, like those used by Outpost 33 or the Hive, become useless. In the case of the Hive, this causes all of them to become Disconnected (see bestiaries).

Running the Ruins

Outposts are isolated communities in the ruins that have built their own presence into the empty buildings that once belonged to their creators. They are often products of their environment, making Outposts near factories quite industrious, and Outposts near old universities very research hungry. This is not a strict trend, Outposts like Iron Outpost at Iron Wall University decided to take special interest in the campus car shops, and developed a heavy racing culture around them. Outposts can be anything, as long as their motivations are nearby.


In terms of Outposts in Architects of the Ruins, your Outpost is your home base. Your bear lives at this Outpost, belonging to this community first before all others, and spends most of their time inside the community that has formed there.


During the course of a game using Architects of the Ruins to modify Ancient Aetherium, all the members of the game will be responsible for constructing, maintaining, and protecting their Outpost and their various bear peers. This will be broken up into event cycles described later in this section, and rest time also described later in this section. Outposts are all based around logistical choices, community forum, and resource management.

Running the Ruins

Events & Rests

Games focusing on the progression of an Outpost over a long period of time will inevitably run into the issue of having long periods of time where everything runs relatively smoothly, and periods of time where some force has brought the bears out to play. Events describe the small stories that hit the Outpost that are played out in sessions. You can have a session thats just a Rest, but this is far from the point of a rest, and its suggested to use Events as individual points of action in the Outpost timeline, and allow the Outpost to function in-between these sessions (though, some Events may take more than one session to conclude).


Events are just normal play sessions, and can often be scenarios like Gredo knocking on the front door, the Nausea becoming a new neighbor, a siege from the Hive, the Military taking temporary refuge, or some Traitor group causing trouble. Anything can fit in an Event, however Events should be somewhat isolated from each other time wise to give room for Rests.
Rests are the time between Events, representing the day-to-day life of the Outpost as it’s merely just trying to survive. During a Rest every bear can choose to use their Rest Ability as picked in the Occupation section, attend a single gathering, and pick on building of focus.


Rest Abilities are unique abilities each bear has to keep the Outpost moving and/or care for their peers. They can be taken no matter what during each Rest.


Gatherings are the unique abilities of Bartenders and Bouncers. They take a group of bears and give them some bonus for the next Event which wears off after the Event concludes. Some buildings may provide an alternative to one of these Gatherings, but they also use a building’s Focus.


A building of focus is a fancy way to say “the building that your bear spends most of their time/energy at.” During a rest, you may choose any building in the Outpost that has not been fully decayed, or is not at capacity, and use it’s ability. Sometimes this can be incompatible with attending a Gathering, but most will allow you to attend any Gathering you want.

Running the Ruins

Architecting the Ruins

At the physical core of every outpost are the structures that comprise it. Each building has a set of stats and a building ability which can be used in-between Rests.


Buildings are comprised of 2 main stages: construction, and maintenance. Both require various resources, but those resources will be different for each building stage. These stages will also have a time factor, represented by a single number. Time is measured in Rests, with any time effect being applied once the Rest ends.


Construction is the creation of a new structure. To start construction, pick an existing building to either add a new purpose to, or to upgrade an existing purpose. This will require a set of materials and a duration of construction. 


The Outpost does not need to have enough resources to meet the requirements in order to start building one. Instead, for each rest, every tick down of the construction will require one material. If there are not enough materials, the building project will start gaining decay, which must be fixed before it can move forward.


Decay is the natural wear and tear that will happen to each building, and will require resources to maintain. Each building has a resource or two that can remove decay, and by default any bear may choose to focus on a building in order to repair 1 decay with 1 resource.


Decay is measured in a rate, and a critical failure. At the start of every Rest the building will gain the listed amount of Decay, and if enough Decay builds to meet the Critical Failure, the building has collapsed and needs to be rebuilt.

Running the Ruins

Materials & Resources

This is a list of each material type used for building construction and maintenance, what it is, and where it is often found. Use this as a reference when looking at the building list.

Metal

Metal is as it sounds, various forms of metals and alloys. These are decently common in Ruined cities, but they are most common from supply lines ran by Gredo. Metal is most often used to add durability and armoring, making it most commonly used in defensive or offensive structures.

Stone

Stone encompasses most materials that are hard, heavy, and used to make the walls, floors, and roofs of buildings. This can be brick, rock, tile, or anything in-between. These are the materials old buildings are primarily made out of, making this material the most abundant of the bunch.

Brace

Brace is used to add stability and structure to a building. Think wooden and steel beams. Brace is unique in the fact that most of it out in the ruins is usable to a point, but not salvage-able due to wear over the years. Most Brace comes from supply lines, but toppling an old skyscraper will also yield some to take home.

Arcane

Arcane materials are just crystals. That’s pretty much all it is. Arcane materials are mostly used on buildings that require some magical function or routine, but typically not in as high amounts as Metal, Brace, or Stone. Arcane materials are semi-common on supply lines, but somewhat rare in the ruins.

Exotic

These materials cover a wide range. From unstable forms of inverted crystals, to mind crystals, to a set of specific machine components, Exotic materials are just the hard to find specific and unique pieces some builds need to bring together. These are hard to find, just because they are rare by nature, and must be directly acquired.

Gear

Gear encompasses all equipment, and will come with specifics when the building asks for it. Guard posts, for instance, will require some kind of weapon that is specific to it. This is as common as the piece of gear is.

Running the Ruins

Uncharted Ruins

During rests Scavengers and Ruiners can choose to investigate the Ruins around them to discover locations of interest, or hunt down resources. When this happens, they find Uncharted Ruins (anywhere unexplored by the outpost), and turn them into Charted Ruins. 
Charted Ruins contain some amount of resources, hazards, or encounters. While it is best left to the Ruin Master to take the rolls of the bears into account and weave an amount of resources and risk they see fit, they may also choose to create one through rolling some dice of their own. Whatever is contained in Charted Ruins remains there until a Ruiner, Scavenger, or other member of the Outpost goes to loot it. Only Scavengers and Ruiners may take resources present in charted ruins.


For resources, roll a pair of D6s for each success rolled by the Ruiner or Scavenger. For each pair rolled, add the following resources based on the total of the two dice:

2

No resource

3

Nothing

4

1D6 Metal

5

2D6 Metal

6

1D6 Stone

7

2D6 Stone

8

1D6 Brace

9

1D2 Gear (anything)

10

1D3 Arcane

11

2D3 Arcane

12

1D2 Exotic

Afterwards, roll 1D6 and add the following based on the roll:

1

1D2 Enemy of a higher level

2

1 Enemy of a higher level

3

1D2 Enemies of the current level

4

1D6 Enemies of a lower level

5

Nothing

6

1 Friendly passerby


 
If rolling on these tables, the Ruin Master should feel free to take inspiration instead, and tweak the contents of the Charted Ruin to make something they think is interesting.