They warn you about the danger of being shredded by gunfire. Being incinerated in a reactor meltdown. The brave pilots who burn up in drop without seeing a moment of battle.
They don’t warn you about the cockpit.
Twelve hour patrols in a cage of fogged-up glass and rattling alloy. Sweat soaked seat, padding crushed to paper, squeaky faux-leather. A kick to the arse with every step.
Always hot or cold. Never warm.
Sucking on a tube of soot-stained water, an aftertaste between metal and rubber. RationPaste kept too cold in the locker, all ice crystals and tomato paste with a caramel chew.
Brakes once tuned to supreme sensitivity, now slammed on or off. Left arm twitchy, right arm lagging. warning lights that just won’t quit.
If you’re tall your knees are in for a bad time. If you’re short you might not reach the ejector.
The FlakVest pinches. The helmet is small but heavy, an ache in the temples and the neck.
The air tastes like radio static. The radio sounds like a sputtering engine. The engine doesn’t sound like anything, it’s all enclosed, but it shakes the whole MAC at just the right frequency for a toothache.
Most of the buttons don’t do anything, but some of them overheat the reactor. The silent running switch looks just like the headlights. The armour panel release is just below the impact brace.
The whole thing is insulated, so you don’t get fried when you’re hit with a JoltCannon, but don’t touch the display panels. They can give a little shock of their own.
The atomiser keeps the whole thing sterile. If you can’t stand a vinegar haze in your eyes you can disable it down in the manual switchbox. Pilots say this is the most important part of your cockpit, so most engineers hardweld it shut. You’ll be the most popular jockey in camp if you’ve got a cutter that can get through it without shorting the whole interface.
Every pilot complains about the waste system, but you’ll hear nothing from me. If we keep moaning they’ll only change it, and right now at least it goes in the right direction.
Cryptic Keywayhas a brilliant method to make those boring old elves and dwarfs much more interesting while still hitting the classic notes.
Murkdice has a nice little weapon vs armour system that would slot easily onto Mythic Bastionland if you’re that way inclined.
No Foes, No Traps is converting a boatload of Pokémon into B/X monsters, creating amazing illustrations for each of them, and it’s fantastic. I’ve linked the full series, go check them out.
Nova wrote about the concept of Hyperdiegesis, teaching me a new word in the process. I chimed in on discord, so I get a nice mention in there too.
I guess it's the text version of this artwork thing I wrote about before. An intriguing little detail that makes you wonder about an unexplored element of the setting.
Expect the full post here and on the blog next week.
Thanks for reading Bastionland Presser! Subscribe for free to receive new posts straight into your inbox.
Thanks for the mention! I was thinking of Mythic Bastionland whilst writing that little hack.