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Things to do in New Eden

The general design of New Eden is a star in imitation of Xaia’s own shape.  The outer perimeter is a six foot thick, poured concrete wall that towers over ten stories high. Just inside the wall is the delicate equipment that powers and regulates the Barrier. The Barrier is a force field powered by the super fuel, Alerium 73, that holds back the Mist and any creature mutated by it. Inside the walls are vast stretches of tenements where the refugees of the dying world live. Above them are the Corporate Houses, living in luxury and ease in penthouse suites the size of conventional mansions.

Pearl Weapons’ Media Fair/ Emery Plaza: The Central Barrier surrounds Emery Plaza, the “Times Square” of New Eden. Ground level is taken up with stores, casinos, arenas, stadiums and television studios. The high rise buildings contain the offices of House Bulstrahd and the various production companies they own and manage. Trouble Shooters HQ is also present in this district. Hundreds of floors up, the Penthouse Suites of these buildings are connected by a series of floating gardens and shopping centers, painstakingly suspended above the city to enjoy direct sunshine and fresh air. Most high-level executives maintain their estates in this neighborhood.

Bulstrahd’s Signature Studios
The production company behind hits like 30 Minutes to KILL!, Signature Studios also has a complete theme park and live shows.

The Solid
The largest casino and mixed martial arts arena in New Eden. Also the annual host of the championship series of prize fights.

De-Con (de-contamination)
The only entrance into New Eden through the barriers. Heavily guarded and regulated, don’t expect to pass without the proper identification.

Independent Contractor Emporium SUPER-CENTER
The largest ICE in New Eden, this building features multiple levels and services not available at a standard facility. Executive Class members of the Rewards Program can take advantage of our luxury accommodations while new operatives can attend seminars and workshops designed to maximize your earning potential. In addition to these great features, you’ll find the widest selection of custom Omega Tech armaments, classic Alpha Tech salvage and even genuine “enchanted” weaponry in our massive ICE Mall.

Emery Group Corporate Headquarters
The tallest building in New Eden, appropriately named after Ethan Emery, the Emery Tower is the main office of EG and is also functionally, a fortress. There are no ground level entrances to the tower that are in regular use. Service and freight entrances are located hundreds of feet below the surface and executives only enter through the roof.

Dragoon
When you were sixteen years old, you were accepted into the EG’s aeronautics academy. You dreamed of being a fighter pilot for PSI or a maybe even a test pilot for Onyx Black’s weapons program, but this was not meant to be. You washed out, not for lack of skill, but due to the second year Psych evaluation. The headshrinkers said you have a nasty “independent” streak which they strongly suspect will make you an unreliable asset in the field. Translation: you’re not going to kill innocent people to further the ambitions of the company. ‘Here’s your walking papers, try not to take the past year’s training and turn it against us.’ You’ve really only got one option, and that’s to go into business for yourself. You don’t have your own ship yet, but your good with a pair of Jump Boots and a spear, you’ve got time. You’re young and adventure is out there, someday soon, you’ll buy a ship, maybe one of those X-32s, and open up your own business, but for now… you’ll dream of flying until the dream comes true.
Dragoons are shock troops, specially trained for ship to ship, air combat. Airships themselves are too valuable an asset to lose in minor skirmishes, so the Corporations have a gentlemen’s agreement regarding battle between Air Forces: They use boarding parties instead of air to air missiles and it is consider poor form not to negotiate a ransom for captured equipment. Personnel, however, is completely expendable and requires a much smaller investment for replacement. This agreement, is not binding in anyway and most Corporations with a clear advantage will fire on enemy ships with little discretion. Dragoons are pilots and boarders who prefer smaller, more maneuverable vehicles and spears for weapons. A spear is much less likely to damage the expensive equipment than an automatic weapon fired at random. They pride themselves in their precision, allowing them to leap a dozen feet in the air with a pair of Jump Boots and land, spear first, on a man-sized target on a ship in mid-air. Dragoons are also some of the best fixed wing fighter pilots known in the corporate world and often fly dangerous missions, giving air support to units battling Mist Fiends on the ground.
Theme Feature: +2 to Operating checks to pilot aircraft.

Dragoon Encounter Power 1
Dive Bomb
You fire the boosters in your Jump Boots and bring your spear down on your enemy
Encounter; Martial; Weapon; Omega Tech; Full Discipline
Standard Action                                Melee Weapon
Requirement: Must Be Wearing Jump Boots and Target must be within one move action from attacker.
Target: One Creature
Effect: You move adjacent to the target creature.
Attack: Primary Ability Modifier V. AC
Hit: 2W+ Primary Ability Modifier +1 for each square of altitude you gained with the move action, up to your level.

Move: You gain a flight speed of 8, you must move in a direct line and gain altitude with each square.

Coffin (Warforged)- One of the more distressing applications of the recently invented Omega Tech, is the binding of a human soul to electronic equipment. Black Onyx himself has pioneered the practice for preserving important employees, creating intelligent and powerful robot soldiers with human minds and even to extend the life of people in debt to the corporation, allowing them to continue making payments indefinitely. Coffins (also called Robots, Zombies & Wind-Ups) are a complex mixture of nonorganic materials designed to mimic the life functions of a humanoid body, powered by Omega-Tech. Coffins are immune to all but the most corrosive Mist which eats through their body.

No big sob story there, but I failed to meet the requirements of my position during my probationary period and they terminated me today. I don't know what I'm going to do next, but I'm looking into unemployment and disability benefits. If anyone wants to share their "getting canned" story, I'll share mine, but I'd like to keep it to PMs since its unprofessional to publish details of a company's employment decisions and I might want to work somewhere again someday and would hate to have a detailed moaning blog post referencing the darkest part of my employment history out there on the internets (guffaw). Anyway, I'm still not entirely sure who you three guys are that read these everyday, but I appreciate the support.

Bright side: More time to write adventures and run games!

Humans- The most populace race left on the planet. Humanity has always comprised the majority of the population, the only other races that ever rivaled them, Ella ‘Drin and Draken, have since dwindled to near extinction. Most corporations are owned and operated exclusively by human Houses. Humanity also comprises most of the numbers populating the lower districts of New Eden. Most humans born below, who possess some natural amount of wit or brute strength, can and do pursue a life of adventure. The alternative is subsistence living in debt to the corporation.

Prize Fighter
Tonight’s the night, the big one, your first break. 30 Minutes to Kill is prime time. Jay Kruz and Violet are real stars, they were champions and now they host the top rated reality show on AVN (all-violence network). And you’re tonight’s challenger, you’ve been competing in regional competitions all year long, broken bones, blood spilt, just for a shot to have your ass kicked by the best. Big Jim Thunder, Miles Stratus, Tor Udo, and Perry Kill are on the card tonight. A half hour ago, some greasy little corporate prick came into your dressing room and primly, matter of factly, told you, “you will defeat Big Jim Thunder and Perry Kill will beat you, badly. Next week, you’ll win three matches, the crowd likes you, end of the season you’re a finalist.” You stare at him, numbly, not comprehending exactly what’s going on. You fought hard every night for the last six years for this. You trained, you went without, you haven’t seen your bastard kid in eight years, and this is your big reward? Take a dive your first night? The what? You stand in front of the lighted, make-up mirror, stare down the ugle crooked nose at your own beaten, healed, beaten again, healed again face and you think, if the crowd likes me… if they like me… Burn the crowd. You’re gonna kick the crap out of Perry Kill, then you just might drag that prim little suit into the octagon too. The crowd can breath Mist for all you care, you came to fight, you came to bloody win.
Prize Fighters are mixed martial artists, street brawlers, and other martial practitioners who not only love to kick ass, they love to get paid and live like rockstars too. Unfortunately, for every Jay Cruz and Violet, there are a thousand dang good fighters who never make it to the big show: 30 Minutes to Kill. 30 Minutes to Kill is a “reality” show were the contestants compete against each other in arena type battle. Each Fighter enters the Octogon arena to face a challenge, often times a captured Mist Fiend. Not only must they defeat the fiend, they have to do so before the time limit runs out. The latter half of the season features bouts between competitors, winners return each week to face “wildcard” challengers seeded from regional competition and “farm” shows like the syndicated version of 30 Minutes, Free for All, Fiend Hunters, and Warriors. A surprisingly well kept secret (Streetwise DC 30) is that 30 Minutes is heavily scripted. Even most Prize Fighters are ignorant of this until they make it onto a show. Most shows, to some degree, follow the same format as 30 Minutes, including competition between competitors and against Mist Fiends. They also heavily script the outcome of most competitor bouts. However, some fighters are what they call Shootist or Live Fires, and they refuse to follow any scripts. Rarely, one of these Shootists will gain heavy grass roots following from first the hardcore fans of the sport and eventually even mass appeal. They are the bane of Corporate as they are unpredictable and a reliable and steady draw for matches. These competitors are often discouraged and must truly shine bright to make it worthwhile for networks to accommodate their independent spirits.

Prize Fighter Encounter Power 1
Reversal
You feign neglect of your flank to draw your opponent in, then you strike with a real crowd-pleaser.
Encounter; Martial; Weapon or Unarmed;
Immediate Interrupt                      Melee Weapon
Target: Triggering Creature
Trigger: An enemy moves into a position which grants him combat advantage against you.
Attack: Primary Ability Modifier V. AC (If unarmed/ V. Reflex)
Hit: 1W+ Primary Ability Modifier and target is Weakened, Save Ends.

Alpha Hound
No one’s really been able to explain it yet, but ever since the first cache of Alpha Tech was discovered, more and more caches are turning up, some of them in places that had already been searched. You never know when you might find a new passage leading down to a cavernous, treasure-filled ruin. That’s why you divide your time between exploring old haunts and blazing paths into new ones. It’s a booming business and one of the last ways an independent sort of person can make a living without taking something from someone else. Well, someone live anyway. Alpha Tech is mystery, fortune and adventure all wrapped up into one convenient package, waiting for someone to find it. Some days it seems odd there aren’t more people out there in Mist searching. Other days, when you’re running for your life from Mist Fiends and dodging ancient traps, you think about getting a job in a nice, safe factory. It lasts all of ten seconds.
Alpha Hounds have been called Thieves, Tomb Raiders, Explorers, Independent Salvage Agents and less savory descriptions as well. Each Hound’s ethics are unique, but all of them agree, “Finders, Keepers.” How they go about it is a personal decision. Some Hounds will slit their own comrades’ throats for a bigger share, but others have a romantic attitude about it all, enjoying the thrill as well as the spoils. Whether it’s about the treasure or the adventure, all Alpha Hounds are accomplished Dungeoneers and use these abilities to explore ruins for Alpha Tech and more traditional valuables. It is common for Alpha Hounds to keep the best pieces for themselves, but whether they value aesthetics, utility, or firepower varies. One Hound may treasure a child’s toy powered by Alpha Tech, another may favor weapons, but they all hold back a little salvage when they sell to the Corporations.
Theme Feature: +2 to Dungeoneering or training in Dungeoneering if not an available skill for the Class.

Alpha Hound Encounter Power 1
Salvaged Tech
You’ve managed to find a working Alpha Tech weapon, it’s not entirely reliable, but it is powerful and well concealed, they’ll never see it coming.
Encounter; Alpha Tech; Weapon;
Standard Action                                Melee or Ranged Weapon
Target: One Creature
Attack: Primary Ability Modifier -2 V. Reflex
Effect: If an ally is adjacent to the target, you have combat advantage for this attack and your weapon gains Brutal 2 until the end of your next turn.
HIT: 2W+ Primary Ability Modifier

Kin (Mul)- Kin are more commonly referred to as Cousin by dwarfs and half-breed by humans. Like Half-Elves, they face persecution in New Eden for their mixed heritage. The Union, however, treats them the same as any other Union Man. Consequently, fewer Kin than other miners leave the Outposts. The ones that do are tough as nails (even for Kin) and usually left specifically to crack skulls. In New Eden, the rare Kin you find are either adventurers or hired muscle.

Hey All!

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Agent of T.S.U.N.A.M.I
It was seven years ago today. Sitting there in the cramped station, waiting for the train to take you to the factory where you made toys you could never buy for your little girl. You’d take some broken parts home from time to time, cobble them together into something like you’d find in a Buy-Me toy store, but she loved it just the same. The company said the operation wasn’t covered in your policy. In fact, they had three different vacant men in expensive suits explain it to you. Seven years ago today, you came home from work and found your daughter had died in her hospital bed for need of an operation with an 82% success rate that cost a life’s worth of your salary, eight times over. As you set the timer on the device, you think of the vacant men’s vacant faces and smile. The office they summoned you to is on the 235^th floor. This is for you, sweetie. Tick…tick…tick…boom.
T.S.U.N.A.M.I. is classified by the Emery Groups public safety company, PSI, as a “terrorist organization dedicated to the destabilization of EGHD: New Eden through destruction of property and the assassination of corporate personnel.” Most citizens just think they’re a bunch of wackos, but a few who harbor some glimmer of hope call them heroes. T.S.U.N.A.M.I. goes to great lengths to avoid inflicting collateral damage on anyone outside the executive branch of the Emery Group. They have been known to abort operations whose success would wreak billions of dollars in damage and the loss of key personnel when a single working-class individual enters the building. The unexploded bombs are found hours later, abandoned. Agents operate in cells of less than six members and rarely know more than two or three other operatives outside their cell. Communication is capable through old-style pneumatic tubes, constructed new and maintained by sympathizers and operatives. On the rare occasion a cell is broken, the destruction of the tombs is of the highest priority, most cells will trigger self-destruct charges rather than have this key piece of the resistance compromised. Agents are usually well versed in stealth and often demolitions as well.

Agent of T.S.U.N.A.M.I. Encounter Power 1
Shaped Charge
You slap a small charge on a nearby wall or on the ground with a pressure sensitive detonator concealed within.
Encounter; Force; Fire
Standard Action                                Melee Touch
Target: One Square of Terrain Adjacent to You
Effect: You make a bluff check, the result is measured against the passive perception of each creature that moves adjacent to the square you designate. If your bluff check is higher they move into the square you’ve designated and trigger the secondary effect.
                Secondary Attack: Close Burst 2
                Target: Each Creature in Burst
                Attack: Primary Ability vs. Reflex
                Hit: 2d6+Primary Ability Modifier Damage and ongoing 5 Fire Damage (save ends)

Half-Elves- They are uncommon and usually discriminated against in New Eden. Despite these prejudices, most Half-Elves can get by well enough in New Eden with a hat and a downcast gaze, but half-breeds are easy targets for a bully’s entertainment and the popular opinion of most Public Safety Initiative employees is that Half-Elves are terrorists at worst and street criminals at best. One of the few places Half-Elves can find acceptance is in the outlying communities where no one willing to do honest work is turned away or disrespected. It’s not unusual in New Eden for Half-Elf adventurers to form close bonds with their comrades in an attempt to experience a community of their own.

Gobblers (Goblin)- Gobblers can be found working in most repair shops and garages. They’ve got a well-earned reputation for reviving machines long since abandoned by the less determined and slightly more stable mechanics. Some of them make their living repairing Union mining rigs at outposts in the wild territories. Unlike Mouzles, Gobblers have no inherent charisma that helps them avoid being trod upon by bigger races. What they do have, though, is an uncanny ability to avoid unwanted attention and move stealthily to avoid searching eyes.

Corporate Noble
Lithe bodies entwine under silk sheets on your bed behind you. You pay little attention to the display as you look out over the city. You can’t imagine what it must be like living beneath, where the sun never reaches and people are born, live and die without seeing a clear blue sky. Your father told you his own father hadn’t inherited his position in the company as the two of you did. Grandpa had applied and interviewed for it. Of course, his interviewer was Great-Grandpa, but the pretense was still observed. With the shrinking job market, nepotism became a necessity of survival. Families became known as Houses again and for the first time in generations, a Noble class rose and a division between the rich and poor was made physical where once it was only figurative. 
Tomorrow you leave it all behind, the opulence, the luxury, the lies and deceit. Were you forced out by a rival? Did your family disown you? Have you had your fill of living upon the backs of the poor? Whatever the reason is, after tonight you make your own path through the world. 
Every member of management, from the lowliest Branch Asst. Executive to the CEO of the Corporation, is trained in combat. This has been deemed the most economical solution to an increasingly dangerous world. You’ve been outside the barriers, down to Lowtown to meet with the Unions, but you’ve never spent a night anywhere but between the silken sheets of your bed or another just like it. You sigh softly as you stare at the starry sky. You wonder if they have silk in Lowtown.
Corporate Nobles are the scions of Executives, top members of family Houses with a tradition of holding Management positions within the Corporations. These Houses in cooperation control the markets of each major world power. Some Nobles turn away from their House or are forced out in a coup. These former employees of the Corporations are still highly skilled and driven individuals. They almost always go into business for themselves either as a negotiator with the Unions at dig sites or bidding for private contracts from Corporate. These jobs are too dangerous for rank and file employees, but not serious enough to necessitate a Troubleshooter Unit. Some Nobles hope to someday earn their way back into the company, others look for every opportunity to take revenge on the company and some simply want to leave the past behind and start new entirely. One thing is constant: men and women who leave the Corporations alive are not to be trifled with. Despite their refined tastes and (by comparison) mild natures, Corporate Nobles are dangerous, even more so if you make the mistake of underestimating them. They are raised in an environment where brothers’ and sisters’ loyalty only stretches to the point it begins to threaten their own career. A Corporate Noble would not think twice of arranging the assassination of their own sibling for a promotion, if they could do it without getting caught. Some of them are cold and calculating, others just work hard enough to get by without threatening their betters, but all Nobles possess the skills to navigate corporate waters safely and will fight like cornered animals until the bitter end.

Corporate Noble Encounter Power 1
Hostile Takeover
You manipulate your enemy’s perception and force him to lash out blindly at his own allies.
Encounter; Psychic;
Standard Action                                Range 10
Target: One Creature
Attack: Primary Ability vs. Will
HIT: 2d6+Ability Modifier Psychic Damage and the target makes a melee basic attack against one adjacent creature of your choice.

Mist Walker
Thank the maker you head back out in the morning. One more night of splitting headaches and pacing sleepless and you’d toss yourself through the barrier. Just to put a stop to that buzzing. You close your eyes and send your other self out into the Mist, it hurts as your spirit passes through the barrier and then you’re free. The night air rushing against the memory of skin, the whole sky stretched out before you, beckoning you on. If only you could fly away, but you can’t, cursed to walk, never feeling whole inside the barriers, and never feeling safe outside them. You feel your body tug you back, a disturbing sensation filled with vertigo and nausea, and the brief escape ends with you caged again, safe until the morning. When you’ll smile as you walk out of the city and into the Mist that breeds the world’s nightmares.
Mist Walkers are survivors of Mist-Storms who are inexplicably immune to the mutating effects of the Mist. The degree of immunity varies from Walker to Walker, but any Walker can shrug off lower concentrations and most are immune to all but the most intense storms. Mist Walkers who know for certain they are completely immune are few and far between and well regarded by other Walkers and even Pilgrims. No one finds out they’re immune on purpose, unless they’re real damn crazy. Walkers spend most of their time outside the confines of the city, scouting safe routes, thinning out the Mist Fiends circling the barriers and guiding the poorest Pilgrims who can’t even afford a spot in a Caravan. Your relationship to the Mist is a complicated one. You can sense it better than the most advanced equipment used by Caravaners and Aristocrat Airships and can predict its movements when nothing else can. Unfortunately, all that sensitive equipment other people use tends to give bad readings and malfunction entirely around you. Anything made with Omega-Tech is next to useless as well.  Your abilities work best when you’ve got both feet on the ground, but motorcycles and convertibles still allow you to sense the Mist. Mist Walkers are tougher than ordinary humanoids and are the only creatures besides Mist Fiends that are repelled by the barriers. Being in close proximity to barriers also causes them discomfort and headaches.

                Mist Walker Encounter Power 1
                Mist Touched
                You reach out for whatever remnants of mist are nearby and use it to channel life energy from your foe into you or an ally.
                Encounter; Psychic; Mist; Healing
                Standard Action                                                Close Burst 5
                Target: One Creature In Burst
                Attack: Primary Ability vs. AC
                Hit: 2d6+Ability Modifier Psychic Damage and you or one ally within the blast gains temporary hit points equal to your primary ability score or make a saving throw with a +5 power bonus to end one effect a save can end.

Dwarves- Dwarves, in partnership with human clans outside the habitats, control the active mines left in the world. Ancient contracts and a firm grasp of their territories keep the company suits and scabs out of their business.  Dwarves are quite rare inside the walls of New Eden, but it is not unheard of for an individual dwarf to lose interest in digging and strike out in search of adventure, or at least a change of scenery. Massive Dwarf cities once existed deep within mountains, but now, all that remains after a century of Mist and the mutated monsters it spawned, are the mining outposts. Dwarf Fortresses combine living quarters, gun batteries and barrier arrays with fully functioning, totally subterranean mining operations. More stronghold than mine or city, the outposts seem to mirror the stolid and practical dwarves themselves.