THE CAMPAIGN Mortisphere is designed to be experienced as an ongoing campaign. A single battle is only one moment in the existence of a crew. The true story is what happens between battles: the members gained and lost, the choices made, the discoveries uncovered and the consequences that follow. A crew does not enter Mortisphere, fight a battle and leave unchanged. Nothing survives the final age without being altered. --- THE CREW'S JOURNEY A campaign follows a crew as it attempts to achieve whatever purpose keeps it moving. That purpose may be: - Wealth. - Survival. - Revenge. - Knowledge. - Loyalty. - Power. - Faith. - Curiosity. - Something that only makes sense to the crew itself. The universe no longer has a grand purpose. Neither does every creature within it. Some beings continue because they have a goal. Others continue because stopping would mean accepting that there is nothing left. --- LAST LIGHT The campaign begins and continues through Last Light. Last Light is the final major settlement of Mortisphere. It is not a paradise. It is not a symbol of a coming rebirth. It is simply the last place where enough people, machines and other things have gathered to maintain something resembling civilization. Within Last Light, crews may: - Recruit new members. - Replace losses. - Acquire equipment. - Receive contracts. - Learn about opportunities. - Prepare for future conflicts. Last Light is a place where things still have value. Even at the end of everything, people still trade. People still bargain. People still want. --- HUNGER Every crew has a reason to continue. This reason is called its Hunger. Hunger is not limited to food. The final age contains many forms of desire. A creature may hunger for: - Survival. - Recognition. - Wealth. - Revenge. - Knowledge. - Purpose. - Creation. - Destruction. - Something impossible to achieve. A crew's Hunger gives meaning to its actions. It explains why they accept dangerous contracts, explore forgotten places and fight over things that may have no value to anyone else. --- CAMPAIGN PROGRESSION As a campaign continues, crews develop. Members may: - Gain new equipment. - Increase in power. - Suffer permanent consequences. - Discover forgotten technology. - Change through their experiences. - Be replaced by new recruits. A crew at the beginning of a campaign should not resemble the same crew after many battles. The purpose of progression is not simply to become stronger. It is to become different. --- RESOURCES AND REWARDS Victories provide opportunities. Rewards may include: - New equipment. - Additional recruits. - Improved capabilities. - Access to new locations. - Information. - Choices that influence future scenarios. A reward is not always a direct improvement. Sometimes information is more valuable than a weapon. Sometimes a dangerous discovery creates more problems than it solves. The final age has many things worth finding. Not all of them should have been found. --- LOSS AND CONSEQUENCE A campaign should create stories through both success and failure. A defeated crew is not necessarily finished. A lost member is not simply removed from a list. Every loss changes the crew. A survivor may become more cautious. A leader may become more ruthless. A replacement may create a new direction. The history of a crew is written through everything it experiences. --- THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN Mortisphere does not promise a final victory. The universe is already dead. No crew will restore what was lost. No battle will undo the end. The purpose of a campaign is not to save everything. It is to discover what remains when everything else is gone.