What Is the Vergency RPG?

The Vergerunner Chronicles takes place in the Known Realms of Airnea, a world torn apart by a cataclysmic event that blew the planet into pieces over six millennia ago, now remembered in myth as The Great Kockup. Floating continents are all that are left, dotted with the Remnants of the Ancients. These remains will be strangely familiar to players due to Airnea’s anachronistic setting: this world is filled with items and structures reminiscent of the late 80’s/early 90’s of our world. Of course, this world still has many differences from ours, from the regular usage of dirigibles for travel, and prunes being used as currency. The main difference, viewed by casual tourists, is the peculiar use of magic.  If you say the magic word, you could win a 100 prunes, but that’s not the magic we’re talking about.

The magic in Airnea is created through music learned from the ancient records, known as the Numberone Jamms. Wizards collect their favorite spells, and put them on mix-tapes for playback on a “walk man” when out hunting for more records, much like a spell book. The Church of Ademos, which is the central religious institution that binds the remains of human civilization, also hunts for these records. They hope to keep them in libraries where wizards won’t use them, and are studied by Librarians. These Librarians must limit their studying to short sessions so as not to unleash the ancient magic, usually involving two Tech 12s and a Mixer. Records are very rare, and it is said that the best place to find them is in the Dead Malls.

The Remnants of the Ancients include massive Waterworks, slumbering Reactors, lost Vaults, mysterious Interchanges and Tubes. But the Dead Malls are curious caverns of glass and sand, with empty yawning storefronts appearing in new places upon return and flickering neon lit signs. Some would argue that the Dead Malls are not quite dead, and they have their own inhabitants. Dorcs, a diminutive breed of Orc, will frequent them quite often, mainly to raid the Food Court for sodas and nachos to replenish themselves. How such sundries remain edible after nearly six millennia is a mystery, and the Dorcs don’t care. They find the Dead Malls the perfect place to practice sweet skateboard tricks in the large halls and forgotten pools, and generally cover the whole lot in graffiti.

There is one area they avoid, that being T̛̤̰̱̥̝̳̹̰̽̃̒̍̀͡͡ĥ̬̦̗͚̃͒̆͌ͅe̡̛̮͈̹̥͇͙͐̎̍̑̀͝ ̖̟̲͋̉͠B̡̳̏͒͐͢a̬͒͋͟ç̗̫͕̠̰̭͍̍͆̎̍͛̍͋͞k̡͎̙͕̥̯͖͆̑̊͐͋̔͘͟͝r̬͍̮̙̃̂͂̅o̪̤̞͉̬̠̖̍́̇͒͂͡͡õ͓̼͍̤͛̃͒m̛̙̥̝̯̉͛̊͋͢s̝̟̒͠ located behind the Manager’s Office. As legend tells it, once you go in, you rarely get out. Getting too close can cause you to glitch into the place, so Dorcs keep their distance. Others claim, however, that that’s where the real treasure lies, if you can make it through the horrid place and find a Storeroom.

In search of such treasure are the other inhabitants of Airnea, which include Humans, Dwarves, and Elves. Let’s take a closer look.

Humans live in city-states, each guarded with high walls to keep out Giants and Kaiju. These cities are connected by Caravan Roads and Skyships. Humans are constantly trying to manage the water supply of their city-states, and regularly hire plumbers to investigate the Waterworks of the Ancients. Humans will generally get along with anyone who can make themselves useful, and will be quick to imprison, banish or destroy anyone who upsets the common order or makes themselves a danger.

Dwarves live in the deep places, mining crystals and rare minerals, crafting great bells and singing pillars to hearken the Great Recombobulation. Dwarves are a hardy people with unbreakable bones. Considering how they spend much of their time fighting back the Daghorn packs and the creeping Dead Malls, it’s a useful characteristic . Due to a history of conflict, Dwarves are cautious with Humans, and suspicious of Elves.

Elves live in the Wild Lands. They come in many forms, reproduce asexually, commune with the wild, and have hearts of living crystal. Elves are part of the enchanted Nohmish peoples, including Goblins, Trolls, and Dorcs who inhabit the deep places. They are androgynous and highly protective of nature (or whatever they consider “nature” to be). Some live in solitude, others live in large bands, and all are suspicious of Humans and Dwarves. Remember, they are nomsters, not monsters.

That being said, this is a setting inspired by what I refer to as the Terrific Terry Trinity (Pratchett, Gilliam and Jones, respectively). 

The central genre of Vergerunner is satiric fantasy where magic and technology are synonymous, strange, and have an unsettling familiarity. You could call this a mix of Mage Punk with Cassette Futurism and a dash of High Fantasy. Failure should be comical whenever possible, and shenanigans should be encouraged on a regular basis. The rules are something you can bring from whatever game you currently enjoy playing. I’ll probably come up with a rule system of my own eventually in order to reflect the type of game play I enjoy, which is fast, creative, and usually accompanied by those sweet Numberone Jamms.

So please, take a look around, maybe check out Cassidy Blumtickle’s Field Guide to Creatures of Airnea and Known Threats to Plumbers. More coming soon!