The idea was: I wanted to play a little Ultraviolet Grasslands, but bounced quite off the SEACAT system included within the UVG book — some nice flavour there, to be sure, but a modicum too crunchy for my table. Into The Odd is a perennial favourite of mine for its light rules scaffolding and decisive combat — it's like the Crystal Palace of ttrpg systems — so naturally I eventually found my way to Into The Grasslands. This one's got Bastionland-style failed careers (and associated gear packages) which lean into Will's version of the UVG setting, a version inhabited by stoned detectives and souped-up steppe buggies. Lovely writing, but overall a bit sillier than my read of the UVG.
So, necessity (or stubbornness) being the mother of invention and all, I made a thing to fill the void. This one uses the classic ItO approach to starter packages (determined by HP and highest ability score) but the spread is a bit different — see, I don't have as many ideas as Chris, so I had to massage the numbers to make em fit.
I started by flipping thru UVG and just writing down what I saw depicted in Luka's drawings. Then I poked around google for Moebius images to add to the palette. At some point, the project broadened into a relatively setting-agnostic potpourri of space junk gleaned from DS9 reruns and pinterest-preserved paperback covers.
Yes, it's "Esotericum," because I'm a sucker for neologisms. To receive one, roll on Vaarn's Exotica table, grab an Arcanum from ItO, or invent your own novel way of turning an overpowered spell-like weirdness into a physical artefact. In any case, I hope you find something useful!
PDF --> Science-Fantasy Starter Packages
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