Degenesis and Ruinations

Marko Djurdjevic

A while back I tried hacking Degenesis into Shadow of the Demon Lord. I got a little ways and then never any further. Lo and behold I realize now that I was making entirely too much work for myself and the thing I actually needed was in my hands the entire time.

Brent Ault's Ruinations shall serve as the base here. Everything needed for badlands survival, combat, equipment, trade, etc is in there and intact. No need to change what works. The meat of this hack shall be character creation. but, before we get to that, a primer:

What You Need to Know

1. It’s 2595, and the world is fucked. You’re in Europe, which is survivable levels of fucked.
2. There was a huge meteor that broke apart and crashed and had alien fungus on it.
3. This is called the Eschaton. It happened in 2073 and everything was fucked.
4. The fungus is called Primer, there’s a sort of spiritual aspect to it, it infects everything.
5. There are monsters and spore mutants fucking everywhere. This is Sepsis.
6. Civilization is founded on 13 cults. Everyone else is either a mutant or a small clan.
7. The old world had singularity tech. Some of it is still around. There are bunkers out there.
8. Did I mention the world is fucked? Shit’s fucked. God damn. So fucked.

For character creation, select a class, culture concept, and cult.

Class

The following options are available.

Class	Description	Source
Wastelander	Fighters and survivors.	Ruinations
Hunter (I)	Tribal warriors.	Wolfpacks & Winter Snow
Adept	Skilled specialists.	Ruinations
Expert (I)	Tribal specialists.	Wolfpacks & Winter Snow
Sullied (II)	The common mutant.	Ruinations
Aberrant	Degenerating and savage.	Wolfpacks & Winter Snow
Explorer	Scouts and lookouts.	Esoteric Enterprises
Berserker	Frothing blood-rage.	LotFP666
Ranger	Hunters and trackers.	LotFP666
Marksman	Dead-eye with a gun.	LotFP666
Rat-Catcher	Keeper of vermin.	LotFP666
Neanderthal (III)	Sturdy as stone.	Wolfpacks & Winter Snow
Orphan	Abandoned, feral.	Wolfpacks & Winter Snow

Class skills are adapted at a rate of 15% per point.
(I) - Tribal characters only.
(II) - Ignore mutation tables.
(III) - Not actually neanderthals, but close enough.

Culture

Where you're from. Reroll a stat and take the higher number.

Region	Description	Reroll
1) Borca	Dusty wastelands, bordered by mountains to the south and glaciers to the north.	DEX or CON
2) Franka	Miserable bug-infested swamplands, dominated by the Pheromancers.	CHA or DEX
3) Pollen	Scarlands overrun with Fractal Forests, home only to migratory tribes.	CON or STR
4) Balkhan	Clan holds and city states dot an untamed and fractured wilderness.	CON or WIS
5) Hybrispania	Wet jungles and high deserts, embroiled in constant conflict.	INT or DEX
6) Purgare	Toxic volcanic wasteland in the west, fertile plains and hills to the east.	CHA or WIS
7) Africa	There was a great migration northward into the newly-green Sahara.	INT or STR
8) From Beyond	Is it possible to cross the Atlantic? Have the Chinese held out?	Choose

Concept

What defines you. Once per session, you may gain d6 points to add to a roll OR reroll a skill check if you act according to your concept.

Concept	Aspect
1) Adventurer	Go out there and find some excitement.
2) Creator	Working, building, making.
3) Mentor	Teacher and keeper of knowledge.
4) Martyr	Self-sacrifice for others' sake.
5) Ruler	Control and command
6) Seeker	Looking for answers.
7) Healer	Fights against the world's decay.
8) Traditionalist	Upholds the old ways.
9) Mediator	The point between two parties.
10) Hermit	Isolation, solitude, wisdom.
11) Heretic	Upends faith, casts doubt.
12) Conqueror	Glorious victory at all costs.
13) Abomination	Something's broken inside.
14) Destroyer	Let nothing remain standing.
15) Chosen	Hailed as the doer of a great task.
16) Defiler	Blame and undermine all others.
17) Protector	Protect and preserve what is precious.
18) Visionary	Big-picture ideas of a better tomorrow.
19) Zealot	Of absolute faith and conviction.
20) Disciple	Follower of teachers old and new.
21) Righteous	Unshakable confidence in their path.
22) Traveler	The open road still softly calls.

Cults & Clans

Each comes with a perk and starting equipment. Special equipment can be acquired later. Clans are limited to specific regions, while cults may be found throughout the remains of the world.

Cult
Anabaptists	Swords against the rot of the Demiurge, swords in the name of Gnosis.
	Perk: Tattoo and nose ring - Advantage on mental saves.
	Starting Equipment: Bidenhander (d10), blessed seeds, Elysian Oil
Anubians	Mystery priests of distant, jungled Cairo. Know more than they let on.
	Perk: Welcomed and sheltered anywhere in Africa.
	Starting Equipment: Anubis mask, soul stones, healing herbs, khopesh (d8)
Apocalyptics	Hedonist flocks offering any imaginable vice.
	Perk: 1000 ways to the sweet spot - Human enemies have -1 AC
	Starting Equipment: Blade bracelet (d6), compact pistol (d6), tarot deck
Chroniclers	Secretive techno-fetishists. Wish to resurrect the bygone Stream.
	Perk: Barcode tattoo - Grants access to any Cluster
	Starting Equipment: Hooded robe, vocoder mask, Chronicler's suit (AC 12), dazer pistol (Save vs impairment, 1d4 rounds stunned on fail)
Clanners	The bulk of humanity; tribes big and small, savage and civil.
	Perk: Detailed regional knowledge
	Starting Equipment: light armor, weapon (blackpowder available > TL 2, other guns > TL3), trade tools
Hellvetics	Guardsmen and tollkeepers of the Alpine fortresses. For hire.
	Perk: +10 bullets / month
	Starting Equipment: Trailblazer rifle (d8 + 1 mod), harness + helmet (AC 16)
Jehammedans	A religion of shepherds and patriarchs; rivals of the Anabaptists.
	Perk: Rally allies with +1 AC and saves during combat, 3/day.
	Starting Equipment: Scimitar or rider's hoe (d8), light armor (AC 12)
Judges	Bringing law and civilization to the wasteland clans.
	Perk: Informants (+2 Network for typical cases)
	Starting Equipment: Hat and jacket (AC 12), Codex, warhammer (d10), blackpowder pistol (d8)
Neolibyans	The capitalists of Tripoli, the masters of the Mediterranean.
	Perk: Start with d6 x 1000 scrap worth of Dinars.
	Starting Equipment: Balance book, heirloom rifle (d10), seal of the Libyan
Palers	Inbred descendants of Bygone vault-dwellers.
	Perk: Dark-vision
	Starting Equipment: Submachine gun (d6), sun talisman, key to a distant bunker
Scourgers	The Neolibyan's muscle.
	Perk: Select a worthy adversary; gain +2 AC when fighting them alone.
	Starting Equipment: Spear (d6), shield (+1 AC), assault rifle (d8), flak vest and helmet (AC15)
Scrappers	Lonesome scavengers of the end of days.
	Perk: Can read and make scrappers' marks.
	Starting Equipment: Rope, compass, periscope, rifle (d10)
Spitalians	Medic-militants locked in a war against the Sepsis.
	Perk: Free access to hospitals and spore purges.
	Starting Equipment: Medical manual, Spitalian suit + gas mask (AC12), splayer with mollusk (d6, detects spore infestation), fungicide rifle (d10, as flamethrower)

Making Your Own Clan

This is legitimately the only random table in the entire Degenesis book. By Jove, I will use it.

Tech Level	Worldview	Governance	Cultural identity	Size	Resources
1: TL1 - Primitive	1-2: Animism	1-2: Rule of One	1: Holy Sites	1: Family	1-2: Food
2-3 TL2 - Medieval	3-4: Theism	3-4 Rule of a Few	2-3: Founding Place	2-3: Extended Family	3: Mines
4: TL3 - Progressive	5: Enlightenment	5-6: Rule of Many	4: Texts	4-5 Local Power	4: Ruin Field
5: TL4 - Industrial	6: Secular		5-6 Legendary Leader	6: Tribe	5: Bunker
6: TL5 - Transhuman					6: Raiding

Backgrounds

Each background is rated between 0-6. Characters get 4 points to begin, and cannot raise a background above 3 at character creation. Further increases or losses will come about as appropriate during gameplay.

Roll a d6 when wanting to draw on a background, aiming at or below your rating. If the roll fails, you may turn it into a success by permanently burning one point of the background.

• Allies - Contacts within the Cult.
• Network - Contacts outside of the Cult.
• Authority - Influence within the Cult.
• Renown - Reputation outside of the Cult.
• Resources - What you can draw on beyond your own possessions.
• Secrets - Knowing the truth behind the curtain.

Secrets generally don't involve a roll involved, and just dictate a specific thing a character knows. The location of hidden bunkers, the passwords to an ancient computer, the real reason why the higher ups are giving an order, and so on.

Corruption

Sepsis spores are everywhere, and the best Spitalian medicine can only purge them from a body in the early stages. Be vigilant.

A character's maximum infestation limit is their CON + WIS modifier, as the spores attack both body and soul. Spore infestation up to this limit can be medically treated. Reaching 50% infection forms a sepsis stigma on the victim's chest.

If a character is infected beyond their maximum, they must make a WIS save whenever they would gain further spore infection. If they fail, they will gain a point of permanent infection. Reaching 50% permanent infestation means that there's no going back: the character is now a Leperos, fully under the sway of the Primer.

• 0-100% - Treatable infection.
• 50% -  Stigma appears.
• >100% - Permanent infection.
• 150% - Leperos transformation. Character is lost.

Characters gain 1 point / day in areas of light sporination, 1 / hour in areas of moderate sepsis, and 1d6 / hour in adult fungal blooms.

Services

Available in any settlement with a Chronicler or Spitalian presence.

Chroniclers

• Sell unique and curious artifacts (TL 2-4)
• Access to communication network (100 scrap for an account, 10 to read messages, 30 to send) 
• Salvage leads (They claim 10% on all salvaged goods)

Spitalians 

• General medical care (20 scrap per day, heals 1d4 / day)
• Surgery (100 scrap, heals 5d4)
• Detox (300 scrap, flushes out 4 points of spore infestation)
• Complete De-sporing (900 scrap, reduces spore infestation to 0)

Some Thoughts About Degenesis

Marko Djurdjevic

Addendum 6/5/2020: It recently came to my attention that the module Black Atlantic (published after I wrote this review) contains a railroaded sexual assault against a player character, which explicitly directs for the removal of the other players from the room. This is accompanied by art.

That shit is unacceptable. And, considering the interactions I have had with representatives of SixMoreVodka and the Degenesis community have circled around a distinct lack of listening to criticism on their part, I don't see much point in attempting to improve the situation through dialogue.

I did not mention in this review about the game's clumsy-at-best handling of Africa within the setting. I should have been much more critical of it at the time. Treating Africa as a monoculture is the first of many sins, and whether their origin is malice or Dunning-Kruger, I don't know.

Whatever the case, my goodwill towards this game has evaporated in the time since I wrote this review.

--

Degenesis Rebirth is the strangest goddamn RPG I have ever experienced.

I paid 120 dollars for it. Yet, I feel no real buyer's remorse for it, despite that price point being well past where I would normally begin to have second thoughts. I attribute it to the books' quality: they're head, shoulders, and most of the torso above everything I've seen that isn't Lamentations. The covers are great. The binding is great. The paper quality is great. The art is as close to perfect as one can get. These are good books...if we focus on the book aspect.

The first of the two books, Primal Punk, is lore. Entirely lore. No game mechanics at all. 346 pages of straight, uncut lore. I love it.  It's evocative, it leaves open ends and dangling mysteries and in some cases just doesn't tell you at all what's going on. And it's a translation! Sniffing its own farts more than a bit, but I can forgive it. I can forgive a lot when I'm given something both cool and new.

It's a downright unicorn: a detailed setting that has an incredibly strong identity. You can recognize it at a glance. It draws you in. Post-apocalyptic new-ice-age Europe infested with alien fungus of spiritual significance barely understood? Yes please.

The second book, Katharsys, is where the system is laid out, and it is here that the terrible secret of Degenesis is revealed: I don't think the designers ever intended for people to play this game.

The basic game system is a pretty standard dice pool mechanic: roll X dice, anything above Y is a success, the task at hand has a difficulty of Z and requires that many successes. I find it clunky and unintuitive, but it's not the worst in the world. This isn't the problem.

The problem is that the book seems designed to make it difficult to use. The fart-sniffing prose that I forgave and praised a few paragraphs ago has intruded upon the mechanical underpinnings. I was fine when it was on its own - that's actually a pretty fine idea, splitting up lore and mechanics into different books - but it is now officially in the way of running the game.

Add to this a death by inches, of little things that make no sense building up into the damning blow.

Say you want to look up the rank progressions for your cult. You're playing an Anabaptist. Obviously, since Anabaptist starts with A, that would be at the start of the section, right?

Wrong. The Spitalians are first. Anabaptists are twelfth out of thirteen. Is this an issue with the translation? I don't know. But have fun having to flip through the entire section to find what you are looking for, every time you go looking.

There's no end to this sort of thing.

• There is no entry for a day's rations anywhere in the item lists. Rules for scavenging and trapping, yes, but not buying. Scavenging for food and scavenging for scrap are in different sections of the book.
• There are enemies listed that have no stats provided at all. This includes human opponents. Not even a quick-use template for "clan warrior".
• The bestiary is anemic; with the above taken into consideration, there are four non-boss enemies in the entire book that have stats listed.
• The list of minor clans, which is supposed to cover the entire setting, has several that are all locked in their own little isolated conflict within a tiny pocket of one particular region.
• Certain cults not only don't play well together, but are practically "murder-on-sight". A mixed team of European and African cults is possible with some wrangling, but the Apocalyptics (whose entire deal is dealing in alien fungus dust drugs) would run afoul of the Spitalians, Judges, and Anabaptists (who are practically guaranteed to be in the party.) This used to be worse in the original version of the game, but that's faint praise.
• Character generation is all about assigning skill points, and you are required to dump into your toughness skills if you don't want to be killed by stiff breezes. I had a player who would be instantaneously killed by any given attack, because she wanted to be a charismatic and social character.
• The item lists are needlessly subdivided, with no overarching order to them. Most are overloaded with specific cult items.
• Items / characters / concepts / places will be referred to multiple times, without any proper explanation of what they are or (more importantly) how to use them in an actual game.

There's also the flip side of the praise I gave to the setting: it is, frankly, overwhelming. There's a relatively easy in, one particular region more newbie-friendly and recognizable, but the book's scope is broad and the referee needs to do the leg work. Here is the deep end, swim or bounce off.

Speaking of referees, the referee tools are essentially nonexistent. Of a 350 page book, there are 17 pages devoted to that end, all of which are devoted to topics such as "Believable Characters", "The Three Act Story", and assorted broad-strokes conflicts. There are some bullet points offering some suggestions for content, but it's not enough. There's nothing in the way of practical tools for building, populating, and running a session.

The referee tools do not contain the following:

• Quick NPCs
• List of old world artifacts found while scavenging
• Travel times between major locations on the provided world and regional maps
• Encounter tables in general or specific to region or environment
• Interesting sights along the road
• Ruin generator
• Town and settlement events
• Town and settlement generator
• Rumor list
• Consolidated secret list 
• Player-facing reference sheets

There is one proper random table in the entire book, for clan generation. They included a decent started adventure, so there's that, at least.

The one non-setting related positive I can offer is how I really like the rank-based progression. That's worth swiping and tinkering with. But the rest? Utter chaff. Useless.

It's a useless game book.

Final Thoughts

I still have no idea what to think about this game. Who was it made for? Why was it made? Are all these quality-of-life-improvements I take for granted still nestled in one specific subset of the hobby and unheard of by those outside the circle?

Still, even for every complaint I have, the setting scratches an itch that other games haven't. In light of all its many failings, I still love the setting that's been built. I'm a sucker for unique apocalypses and rebuilding from them, I suppose.

120 US dollars plus tax worth of a sucker.

That's enough to buy a whole lot of decent zines.

What the hell is this game?

Shadow of the Eschaton (Draft 1)

Marko Djurdjevic

I hacked Degenesis into the Shadow of the Demon Lord system. You can find it here. It's neither pretty, complete, or tested, but it should work well enough to not immediately collapse. Mostly it's a means of getting ideas out of my head and testing out some mechanical waters. Depending on how things go, there might be further drafts down the line.

Right now, it contains:

• Character creation
• 7 cults, with progression templayes
• Cult-related items
• Spore infection mechanics

While making this, there was a lot of translation of progression via ranks within a faction (rather than "get X money and go up a level"), and so character growth is focused on accessing better equipment and greater privileges. I really like this idea, and will certainly be returning to it elsewhere later.

If anyone happens to take this for a spin, let me know! I'll do my best to fix any breakages.