# Setup

# 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)