'Pilgrim' TTRPG

Traveling across a shattered array of fallen worlds, where ancient technology is revered as holy relics and sacred spaces, are the Pilgrims. They journey on vital routes that keep the many disparate worlds connected, and along the way, they defend the common folk from marauders, monsters, and all those who seek to use the power of the Ancients to subjugate them. On their perilous paths, they encounter cults dedicated to “Ancient Spirits” that mysteriously provide them with food and water. They work alongside the priests of The Temple, who have transformed the maintenance of still-existent technologies into religious ritual. Finally, they fight against the scourge of those who have shed their humanity in a desperate bargain for power.

 

Technological Mysticism, Reverence of the Past, Finding Purpose for the Future, Protecting what still Exists

 

The age of the Ancient Galactic Empire is over, all that remains are stories that sound mythological and amazing technologies viewed more like miracles than machines. Across the fragmented stars, feudal warlords and familial clans carve up territory, battling over the ruins of forgotten science. Each world is connected by the Pilgrims aboard some of the last still functioning, colossal star vessels; floating cathedrals of lost knowledge following circuitous paths between isolated worlds.  Their original purpose has been lost to time, but now they serve to ferry vital messages and goods; spreading the sacred doctrines of The Temple. Each Pilgrim comes to these vessels for different reasons; some seek redemption, others an escape, or simply a better lot in life.  Every journey means navigating dangerous politics, salvaging lost artifacts, and protecting desperate communities from the marauders who misuse the power of the Ancients for their own selfish designs.

 

This is a campaign frame based in a far future science fiction world that has lost most of the knowledge of how to create and maintain the amazing technologies of their forebearers. The great majority of worlds are stuck in an early Industrial Age level of technology and knowledge.  Many live in or near ancient structures of the bygone age, some are even still functioning and providing goods and services for the people that live there.

Rudimentary Artificial Intelligences inhabit almost every piece of still functioning ancient technology, but the people view them as “Ancient Spirits” that are proof of the wondrous power of their long past ancestors.

Surviving

The world is harsh, and the powers of the ancient empire’s technologies can destroy just as easily as it can preserve.  Heroes should do what they can to protect themselves, the innocent, and the defenseless from being victims of the malevolence or uncaring happenstance.

Preserving the Past

The most powerful ancient technologies are viewed like holy relics imbued with miraculous powers.  These relics are exceedingly rare.  Even though this is a science-fiction setting, common tropes like jet packs, laser guns, and androids are talked about in fantastical stories around the hearth fire, yet they have rarely ever been seen in person.  So when one is found it is held on tightly like one has found the Holy Grail.

Fostering the Future

This is a setting that is part of a futuristic dark age.  If nothing changes these worlds will continue to fragment, decay, and humanity will eventually die out.  Heroes should want to leave the world better than it was, they should want to guard against the evils that fester in the decay and plant the seeds for a world that will one day return to the Golden Age of its storied past.

 

Long ago there was an empire that spanned the stars. They had founded a countless number of outposts, colonies, and sprawling ecumenopolises. The sciences had allowed them to conquer the great distances between their worlds, to directly tap into the energy of the stars, and give birth to intelligences equal to themselves.

Yet, all things fall apart. The reason as to why the empire crumbled has been lost to the ages and is now clouded by a multitude of conflicting myths. Now used all too often to scapegoat outsiders.

 

Why the empire collapsed doesn’t matter nearly as much as the current state of the worlds that became disconnected from each other. Trade routes that provided necessary materials for the miraculous technology of that age had stopped delivering. Connections of knowledge and communication faded and blinked out, and as a result the skills to produce and preserve the tools of the past slowly eroded. The people now cling to the shreds of that bygone age as best that they can, recovering what can be restored, and striving to build a new age that learns from the mistakes of the past.

This campaign frame is designed for the Daggerheart TTRPG published byDarrington Press. Powered by an innovative card and Duality Dice design, Daggerheart blends tactical depth with narrative freedom, empowering each group to make the game their own.