Setup

• Overview
• Define Your Settlement
• Time Scale: The Cycle System
• Initial Conditions
• Choose Tracking Method
• Materials Needed

Overview

Before play, establish your settlement's foundation collaboratively (20-30 minutes). These choices shape everything that follows.

Define Your Settlement

What is the name of your settlement?

Choose or create a name that reflects your community's character. Duskaran settlements often reference wind patterns, temperature zones, or founding ideals:

• Wind names: Galehold, Breezehaven, Stormwatch, Whisperkeep
• Temperature names: Warmhearth, Coolreach, Emberstone, Frostbreak
• Ideal names: Harmony Station, New Landing, Hope's Edge, Bridgepoint
• Hybrid names: Windharmony, Stormhearth, Emberbridge

What kind of twilight belt settlement are you?

Choose one that establishes your settlement's fundamental character:

• Agricultural Hub — Vertical farms and hydroponics; you feed surrounding settlements and pride yourselves on making things grow despite Duskara's harshness
• Trading Crossroads — Located where multiple Deep Road tunnels meet the surface; you're cosmopolitan, dealing with both twilight and cave dwellers
• Research Outpost — Founded by those seeking to understand Duskara's mysteries; you maintain ancient Earth equipment and study native phenomena
• Refugee Gathering — Recently formed by those displaced by catastrophic storms; diverse traditions clash and blend
• Frontier Watch — On the edge of the habitable zone; you push boundaries, test limits, venture where others won't
• Elder City — One of the first settlements; you carry deep memory but struggle with ossified traditions

Where along the twilight belt?

Your position affects daily life:

• Night-ward edge (cooler, calmer, closer to cave networks)
• Mid-belt (temperate, most stable, most crowded)
• Day-ward edge (warmer, harsher winds, closer to mining operations)

What defines your settlement's culture?

Choose 1-2 cultural touchstones:

• Earth Rememberers — You carefully preserve customs, languages, and traditions from the homeworld
• Duskara-Born — You embrace full adaptation, seeing yourselves as native to this world
• Psychic Traditions — Weather workers, thermal sensors, and bonded ones hold formal status and training
• Techno-Preservationists — You maintain and revere the old Earth technology
• Wind Singers — Your culture centers on music, poetry, and oral traditions shaped by the constant wind
• Collective Governance — Decisions made through consensus and careful deliberation
• Guild Structure — Specialized roles (weather workers, engineers, farmers) organized into formal guilds

Time Scale: The Cycle System

Each turn represents one cycle—approximately 15-20 Duskaran days, or roughly one-third of Duskara's 30-35 day orbital period around HD Xanthea. Three turns equal one full orbital period.

A cycle is long enough for:

• Crops to show growth stages
• Major weather patterns to develop and pass
• Community projects to make visible progress
• Interpersonal dynamics to shift
• Resources to be depleted and replenished

This pacing balances immediate needs (food, water, storm preparation) with longer-term development (infrastructure, exploration, cultural evolution), matching the rhythm of life on Duskara where settlers must think in terms of the planetary cycle while responding to daily challenges.

Initial Conditions

Starting Resources (choose 2-3)

What does your settlement have in abundance or reliable access to?

• Wind Turbine Array — Stable power generation from the eternal winds; lights stay on, systems run smoothly
• Deep Aquifer Access — Reliable underground water source; you're never thirsty, can afford irrigation
• Vertical Farm Complex — Multi-level agricultural system; food security and surplus for trade
• Thermal Exchange Network — Sophisticated heating/cooling using temperature differentials; comfortable living spaces
• Storm Shelters — Reinforced deep structures; your people weather superstorms safely
• Data Crystal Archive — Extensive preserved knowledge from Earth; technical and cultural information
• Psychic Talent Pool — Unusually high number of thermal sensors, weather workers, or bonded individuals
• Deep Road Connection — Direct tunnel access to cave settlements; regular trade and cultural exchange
• Native Life Sanctuary — Protected area where Duskaran creatures thrive; potential for bonding and study
• Salvage Stockpile — Recovered components from the Stellar Horizon or ancient mining equipment

Starting Challenges (choose 1-2)

What problems or tensions already exist?

• Failing Infrastructure — Critical systems (water pumps, power grid, storm barriers) showing age and wear
• Resource Rationing — One essential resource (water, food, power) insufficient for current population
• Superstorm Damage — Recent massive storm destroyed part of the settlement; rebuilding ongoing
• Cultural Fracture — Deep disagreement between Earth Rememberers and Duskara-Born about the community's direction
• Psychic Unrest — Gifted individuals (sensors, workers, bonded) feeling marginalized or exploited
• Isolation — Cut off from other settlements by broken Deep Roads or political tensions
• Ancient Mystery — Discovery of inexplicable structure or phenomenon nearby; some want to investigate, others fear it
• Population Pressure — Too many people for available resources; decisions about who can stay becoming urgent
• Generational Divide — Young and old unable to agree on settlement priorities
• Boundary Dispute — Conflict with neighboring settlement over territory, resources, or jurisdiction

The First Question

Pose one open question about your settlement's future to frame early play:

Sample questions:

• "Can we repair the failing thermal exchange before winter-side temperatures become unbearable?"
• "Will the Earth Rememberers and Duskara-Born find common ground, or will the settlement fracture?"
• "Should we investigate the ancient structure in the scorched lands, despite the dangers?"
• "How do we manage the growing population without exhausting our aquifer?"
• "Can the psychic talented be integrated as honored community members rather than feared outsiders?"
• "Will we reach out to the isolated cave settlements, or remain separate?"

Choose Tracking Method

Select how you'll record your settlement's evolution:

1. Map — Draw the linear city stretched along the twilight belt; add structures, farms, wind turbines
2. Timeline — Chronicle the settlement's story cycle by cycle with dates and events
3. Character Web — Focus on emerging individuals and their relationships
4. Combined Approach — Use multiple methods as needed

Record this somewhere all players can see and modify.

Materials Needed

• Standard 52-card playing deck
• Paper and writing implements
• 4-6 six-sided dice (d6)