[22-Feb-21 02:26 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Hey there folks! Cam Day here, back again with another project to share about! Most of you might know me as one of the two managers for the 5e superheroic fantasy setting Supers & Sorcery, but I also do a lot of work on the DMs Guild – such hits as Root & Twig and Feyforged – and run my own podcast Comics, Clerics, & Controllers. The game I am coming to chat with all you fine folks today about – and thank you to Dan for working with my scheduling timezone mishap, totally on me – is Comets & Cockpits, a two-book 5e junker space fantasy setting that brings you to a lost megaplanet and the mysterious space station orbiting it!

DONE

[22-Feb-21 02:29 PM] saintnexan#6715
Thanks, @Cam (Daylight Publications)! The floor is open to questions!

[22-Feb-21 02:29 PM] saintnexan#6715
Can you tell us a bit more about the setting?

[22-Feb-21 02:31 PM] saintnexan#6715
(Back in a sec.)

[22-Feb-21 02:34 PM] saintnexan#6715
(Back)

[22-Feb-21 02:34 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
The megaplanet of Adelphos was once home to the Five Peoples, ancient primogenitor species. They were able to manipulate and utilize spark – the force from which magic originates in our world – to build massive technological advancements and magical marvels. However, one of the five began to experiment too far, and visions were seen by a prophet that warned of this. So the four peoples left Adelphos as the experiment that the fifth were conducting caused the world to be shattered. Their cities fell and nature fully absorbed the planet once again for several thousand years before explorers eventually crash landed upon it and began to draw homesteaders to the small penninsula of Haven Territory where the six counties of Tidetimber, Runesalt, Dalemorn, Black Bay, Bigby’s Vale, and Driftwood sit.

The space station of Epoch is actually made from the ship that the creator of Adelphos, a powerful Exarch named Opus Nyn, arrived in the pre-universe. After Opus Nyn was done creating Adelphos, they used the last of their power to create the space station of Epoch and turned their body into the mighty soul engine that powers it. Today, Epoch is home to the six corporations that make the galaxy hum, as well as the growing mecha and ship dry docks.

[22-Feb-21 02:35 PM] saintnexan#6715
So is the planet fully settled now?

[22-Feb-21 02:37 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
No, Adelphos is roughly 39 billion square kilometers in area, with Haven only making up about 0.5 percent of the landmass of the planet. After the Sunder of Mourn, the planet was reverted to a pre-humanoid state, allowing the natural wildlife and kaiju to reassert dominance. So it is covered in old ruins and relics and the like, but Haven is the only inhabited location.

[22-Feb-21 02:38 PM] saintnexan#6715
Kaiju, you say?

[22-Feb-21 02:40 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Indeed. We decided to take the groundwork we did for kaiju in S&S and give them a much more pertenant lore role in C&C. In our universe, the Exarchs are power hungry cosmic scientists who – most of them that is – will stop at nothing to have their experiments and conquests mastered. The kaiju were created by Opus Nyn to protect Adelphos and the Five Peoples from the Exarchs who kept attempting to take over the megaplanet. A lot of relics today that junkers find on the surface of Adelphos are often the corpses of Exarchs who died to the kaiju.

[22-Feb-21 02:41 PM] saintnexan#6715
Can you describe the overall tech level of the setting?

[22-Feb-21 02:45 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
So on Adelphos, tech is present – there is a grav-train that connects all the counties of Haven, and there are plenty of magitech space ships coming ever few months to drop off supplies or pick up exports or bringing more homesteaders, but for the average homesteader tech like speeders and vehicles are expensive. We use runestones as batteries in this world (we developed a whole new runic system) and based on their rarity they can power stuff for longer or shorter. So if you were your regular rancher in Tidetimber, you might be able to afford an old second hand speeder to pull a livestock trailer, but otherwise your money is going to be going into more important supplies.

On Epoch however, tech is readily available, with it being the industrial center of the books. Home to the six major corporations – Bloodhound, Avalon, Dreadnought, Point Break, RuneTech and Seraph – as well as the mecha fighting domes, mecha docks and ship factories, Epoch is BOOMING with magitech.

[22-Feb-21 02:45 PM] saintnexan#6715
What can magitech accomplish on the high end of the scale?

[22-Feb-21 02:47 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Magitech can power huge space ships for months, space stations for years, and mecha for days. Magitech is the core of what keeps the universe going, and it is fueled by junkers who are willing to do dangerous stuff to get old tech to play with and experiment on.

[22-Feb-21 02:47 PM] saintnexan#6715
(Mind the language, please. Family-friendly room. 🙂 )

[22-Feb-21 02:48 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Deepest apologies. It can also create artificial limbs and organs to help heal folks.

[22-Feb-21 02:48 PM] saintnexan#6715
(Thanks. 🙂 )

[22-Feb-21 02:48 PM] saintnexan#6715
I assume there is FTL travel?

[22-Feb-21 02:49 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Yes, we haven’t quite gotten that specific, as we figured nitty gritty stuff like that we would leave to GMs to finangle and work with as they saw fit.

[22-Feb-21 02:49 PM] saintnexan#6715
So is this akin to Ringworld insofar as space travel exists but isn’t the focus of the game?

[22-Feb-21 02:50 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Correct. The true focus of C&C is pulp exploration science fiction fantasy with that lovely junker flavor.

[22-Feb-21 02:50 PM] saintnexan#6715
Can you describe “junker flavor”?

[22-Feb-21 02:52 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
So everything feels very lived in, very worn, rusty, heavy. This is not a polished and shiny universe, it is one that is constantly built, improved and worn down. Collecting scrap and salvage on Adelphos is one of the premier ways folks make money, and the fact that people are constantly building and reworking and rethinking technology. It is very akin to WildStar or Borderlands or Gundam, where that heavy industrial mechanical feel comes in.

[22-Feb-21 02:54 PM] saintnexan#6715
What’s the standard sidearm: slugthrower or energy weapon?

[22-Feb-21 02:56 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
We have a mix of both, but also did not want to remove traditional fantasy weapons from the game, so you can boost them with runestones to give them abilities. We have a wide variety of firearms that rise in class and type, from pistols to much more heavy duty. I did a shotgun that fires flaming pinecone bullets for Adelphan ranchers, while an Epoch resident might choose a small phaser-class pistol or a collapsible plasma hand ax.

[22-Feb-21 02:56 PM] saintnexan#6715
Speaking of axes, how common are melee weapons?

[22-Feb-21 02:57 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Oh very common. Our goal was never to replace core 5e stuff but simply enhance. So you could easily have a team with firearms and melee weapons and they can go toe to toe. Firearms are quite expensive as a leveling too, but yeah, melee weapons definitely still a thing.

[22-Feb-21 02:58 PM] saintnexan#6715
How advanced is armor? Is there magitech power armor, for example?

[22-Feb-21 02:59 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Yup, but we kind of split the flavor. So in Epoch, you might have magitech power armor, but that is just as strong as armor on Adelphos made from arctic stalker (giant polar crab) shells.

[22-Feb-21 02:59 PM] saintnexan#6715
What races/species are available to play?

[22-Feb-21 03:04 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
So all base 5e races exist, we actually include little paragraph write ups on each of the OGL races in how they can exist in the universe. We have 5 original species in each of the books:

Book 1: the odontos; small whale humanoids who are slow and methodical but speed demons. The simbasts; scrappy junkers who are simian-feline hybrids. The darwyk amblyrhy; reptilian humanoids who hyper evolved. Solum; who can be born from any race but are created through cosmic radiation. Threscans; once powerful war-like shark humanoids who have become wise sages.

Book 2: the aukayk amblyrhy; reptilian humanoids who surgically installed runes in their body to evolve. Draxopods; small flying reptiles who are naturally curious. Space goblins; four-armed captains of industry. The asteradi; wise crystalline humanoids who excel with magic. And the nebualns, energy beings dwelling inside armored suits.

[22-Feb-21 03:07 PM] saintnexan#6715
Are the latter akin to Vorlons from Babylon 5?

[22-Feb-21 03:07 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
I cannot say that I am familiar with B5 😅 so I can’t really make an accurate comparison.

[22-Feb-21 03:07 PM] saintnexan#6715
Ah. Well, Vorlons are energy beings in armored suits. 😉

[22-Feb-21 03:09 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Ah, okay. The way the nebulans are designed is that they are very much attached to their “shells” as they call them and take great pride in how they are decorated and ornamented.

[22-Feb-21 03:09 PM] saintnexan#6715
Cool. 🙂

[22-Feb-21 03:10 PM] saintnexan#6715
What twists do you have regarding the “standard” fantasy races?

[22-Feb-21 03:11 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
So one that we were all really pleased with was – frankly – throwing elves under the bus. We figured that since elves are so aloof and isolationist, they wouldn’t be willing to interact with the “lesser” races to learn from them about technology. So we have them trying to constantly play catch up to get to where everyone else is. They do not use ships as they haven’t quite figured out how to build them, but instead use portals. They are very druiditech based.

[22-Feb-21 03:12 PM] saintnexan#6715
Nice touch.

[22-Feb-21 03:14 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
We also decided to try and do what we could to help half-orcs get a bit more love, with having them coming from a city world that they had built and going back to their roots to become very successful ranchers on Adelphos.

[22-Feb-21 03:14 PM] saintnexan#6715
What do they ranch?

[22-Feb-21 03:16 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Oh, they could ranch blue-scaled thunderbara – capybara the size of elephants – or perhaps gasbags or fenflitters. We made a TON of new critters for Adelphos, and included a ton of new mounts.

[22-Feb-21 03:16 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
My personal favorite is the roughnecked cragclaw, a lynx the size of a buffalo with large horns that is semi-sentient

[22-Feb-21 03:17 PM] saintnexan#6715
That’s awesome. 🙂

[22-Feb-21 03:17 PM] saintnexan#6715
Are roughnecked cragclaws used for anything?

[22-Feb-21 03:17 PM] saintnexan#6715
And hooray for capybarasauruses!

[22-Feb-21 03:17 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Mostly mounts, but they are highly territorial and given their sentient nature, folks are hesitant.

[22-Feb-21 03:18 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Another big thing I wanted to do – at least with Adelphos – is really have a subtle conversation with players and GMs about conservation, land use, how we treat and examine animals, sustainable agriculture.

[22-Feb-21 03:18 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
The ideas and discussion is kind of seeded throughout Haven, but the lessons are there subtly

[22-Feb-21 03:19 PM] saintnexan#6715
That’s cool.

[22-Feb-21 03:19 PM] saintnexan#6715
How large is the bestiary?

[22-Feb-21 03:19 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
36 pages

[22-Feb-21 03:20 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Right now, in raw text, Book 1 sits at 143 pages and Book 2 at 142

[22-Feb-21 03:22 PM] saintnexan#6715
What are the respective subject matters of the two books?

[22-Feb-21 03:22 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
So book 1 is all focused on the more space fantasy exploration gritty feel – more Borderlands, WildStar; while book 2 is heavy into magitech and sci-fi, much more Destiny and Gundam

[22-Feb-21 03:23 PM] saintnexan#6715
Are there clerics, and if so, what is the cosmology of the setting?

[22-Feb-21 03:24 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Absolutely, and we just have it as the same base D&D cosmology

[22-Feb-21 03:24 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
We didn’t take anything away or remove in any way – everything is still there, just amplified

[22-Feb-21 03:25 PM] saintnexan#6715
Gotcha.

[22-Feb-21 03:25 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
So your cleric could totally wield a massive lighting hammer and worship regular 5e gods while riding on the back of a speeder while the rogue operates the rune-powerd gatling gun.

[22-Feb-21 03:26 PM] saintnexan#6715
Nice.

[22-Feb-21 03:27 PM] saintnexan#6715
What led you to choose 5e for the system?

[22-Feb-21 03:28 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
We figured that we had set the precedent with S&S, and we knew the system well. But also, like with S&S, we felt that in the 5e sphere, space fantasy has been missing for so long and a lot of people have been clamoring for a Wizards Spelljammer and such, with no results. So we thought, why not offer up C&C as an option.

[22-Feb-21 03:28 PM] saintnexan#6715
Makes sense!

[22-Feb-21 03:29 PM] saintnexan#6715
And you probably knew this was coming… It’s time for @danhunsaker’s Favorite Question!

[22-Feb-21 03:29 PM] saintnexan#6715
Are you available, @danhunsaker?

[22-Feb-21 03:29 PM] saintnexan#6715
Okay, looks like it’s up to me!

[22-Feb-21 03:30 PM] saintnexan#6715
What is your _least_ favorite aspect of Comets & Cockpits?

[22-Feb-21 03:33 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
I think my least favorite aspect is that I know I personally did not put as much effort into Book 2 as I did Book 1 – mainly because I wasn’t expecting I would have to because up until 2 months ago we had someone who was going to be writing the setting for Book 2 who then out of the blue dropped so I had to fill it in. But I think – even though I gave it my all, and I tried to make it as unique and fun as I always do, the setting for Book 2 just doesn’t hit all the right buttons for me. So I think to me, that is always going to bug me a little bit knowing that if I had had more time and more support, Epoch could have been cooler than it is right now. And I think the way I wrote Epoch is awesome, I think people will have a blast, but it just doesn’t have my spark in it.

[22-Feb-21 03:36 PM] saintnexan#6715
Good answer!

[22-Feb-21 03:37 PM] saintnexan#6715
(Sorry — had an important phone call there.)

[22-Feb-21 03:37 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
No worries!

[22-Feb-21 03:37 PM] saintnexan#6715
In the time remaining, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?

[22-Feb-21 03:38 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
I think the only thing that comes to mind is that if folks are really looking for some fun genremash action – it is what we at Daylight Publications deliver on, and we hope that if you liked what you saw in Supers & Sorcery that you come back for Comets & Cockpits. Fun thing is that you will actually be able to pick either or book, so you can back from Book 1 OR Book 2 OR both.

[22-Feb-21 03:39 PM] saintnexan#6715
Very nice!

[22-Feb-21 03:39 PM] saintnexan#6715
Usual reminder: If you have enjoyed this Q&A and would like to buy me a coffee or two, tips are welcome at https://ko-fi.com/gmshoe. Anything’s appreciated!

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[22-Feb-21 03:40 PM] saintnexan#6715
Thanks so much for joining us, @Cam (Daylight Publications)!

[22-Feb-21 03:40 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
The pleasure is all mine, thanks again for working around the timezone mishap

[22-Feb-21 03:40 PM] saintnexan#6715
No worries at all!

[22-Feb-21 03:40 PM] saintnexan#6715
I’ll get the log posted this evening and link you.

[22-Feb-21 03:41 PM] saintnexan#6715
Again, please know that you are always welcome to hang out with us here! 🙂

[22-Feb-21 03:41 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
Greatly appreciate it!

[22-Feb-21 03:41 PM] saintnexan#6715
Take care!

[22-Feb-21 03:41 PM] Cam (Daylight Publications)#2455
You as well!