Keep the following guidance in mind while you GM this campaign.
Update the Faction Influence Chart and Map
After each little adventure, consider how the faction map has changed due to the Butterfly Effect mechanic. Move around a few influence points. If the points dip below 2 at a certain location, consider who’s moving in. Did they have the influence to spare for the incursion? Or is the location becoming Lawless?
Also, feel free to add or remove a few points with the faction that the players aren’t really interacting with much. If a part of the map isn’t feeling interesting, entice them with rumors of change. At any point, feel free to explain your influence changes via rumors or overhearing NPCs gossiping in taverns.
You can also throw in some red-herring gossip that isn’t entirely true!
Who’s in Control of the Location, and What Does That Mean?
Whenever the players visit a new area, consider it in terms of the generic location description mixed within whoever is the controlling faction of the area. This campaign frame leaves a lot up for interpretation when it comes to the concrete description of locales because that’s an opportunity for you to collaborate with your players.
Explain to them the basics of the location and take a few minutes to discuss how the ruling faction has influenced it. Then, if the players ever visit the same location under a new ruling faction, you can have that conversation again under the new context. Changing the ruling faction of a location keeps things fresh but familiar at the same time.
Who’s Born Here?
When players visit a new area, also consider which nurseries are located there. There are up to sixty ancestries, each with its own nursery. If you’re using all 14 locations, and the nurseries are roughly evenly spread out, you can assume there are 4-5 nurseries present somewhere at the location. Are they beneath downtown? Or jutting out of the lower slopes?
The presence of an ancestry’s nursery means there’s likely a higher population representation of that particular type of Skyborne. Nurseries can be a font of quests and local drama that’s not necessarily tied to a ruling faction. How have the newborns from each type of nursery interacted with their neighbors?
If you’re struggling for ideas, source some from your players. Tell them, out of character, about the location, and its nurseries, and ask for rumors they may have heard. Then, secretly choose which of those rumors is actually true.
Let the Players Make Their Own Goals
This campaign frame is designed to be a sandbox. There are a number of potential adventures and threats that the players can deal with, but you should encourage them to pursue their own goals. Of course, if the players aren’t actually pursuing any goals, there are plenty of factions, monsters, AI Overseers, and lawless influences that could come along and wreck their day just to keep the story interesting.
There’s Always an Exception
For every rule, make an exception just to keep things interesting. Skyborne is a setting with a lot of lore-founded taboos and beliefs, but no taboo or belief is so strong that it prevents the Skyborne from surviving. Some examples of exceptions that are built into the setting are:
- Golem’s Gullet and Fortune’s Grasp vs the fear of awakening the mountains through mining operations
- Airship combat over The Boneyard vs the taboo against shooting down ships
Establishing set taboos or rules for or against something gives structure and expectations to the world. Occasionally, breaking those taboos in an intentional way makes the world interesting.