The Weekend First Look: Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse

Scavengers, Relics, and Uncovering the Veil of Understanding

Last week, I threw out a question into the Substack void: *Would anyone actually want to read a series of game reviews? It turns out, the answer was a definite “yes”—or at least enough of you responded to convince me I’m not shouting into the digital void.

So here we are. Welcome to the first instalment of “Weekend First Looks”—a new series where I crack open the games gathering dust on my shelves (and lurking in PDF purgatory) and take them for a spin.

No deep dives, no final verdicts—just raw impressions, curiosities, and the occasional scream of “why the hell didn’t I play this sooner?”

And we’re kicking things off with a banger: Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse by Blackoath Entertainment…

A Brave New World?

Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse invites us to scavenge, survive, and maybe—just maybe—thrive in the remnants of a world that once thrived on the manifold benefits of technology, This isn’t your typical post-apocalyptic adventure, a la Fallout or Mad Max, Blackoath Entertainment’s latest tabletop RPG blends dark fantasy with decaying sci-fi, where ancient AIs have become deities and humanity clings to survival in the shadow of their rusted thrones.

It’s rules-light yet offers a decent amount of “crunch” and is rich in atmosphere. Whether you’re a solo explorer or a group storyteller, this game gives you the keys to a world where every ruin conceals a secret, and each secret could just alter your destiny.

Originally a Patreon-only project, Blackoath founder Alex T has recently made the game available via the Blackoath website, DriveThru, and Amazon (other online retailers are available).

The game revolves around a fascinating idea—a future where AI gains sentience and destroys the world as we know it. The increasing speculation about such a future in our world only heightens the intrigue.

Machine Gods is set in a fictional world centred on one planet within a broad “empire of sorts” called the Noxian Expanse. This realm is governed by many shadowy machine “gods”—entities that are neither good nor evil; in fact, they remain mostly unknown, acting through human agents.

There exists a “Veil of Understanding” (as the game refers to it), which is how the people of the Expanse perceive ancient technology through a mystical, semi-religious lens. It symbolises the cognitive or spiritual barrier between the mundane and the divine, between what is known and what is unknowable.

Into this world step “Reclaimers”—the player characters in the game—gritty scavengers, techno-mystics, and relic-hunters who brave the desolate wastes of the Noxian Expanse in search of ancient technology and forgotten truths.

It’s a gritty, mystic-infused dive into post-apocalyptic survival—hauntingly familiar, eerily prophetic, and just close enough to our own world to make us think!

Like (almost) all Blackoath products, Alex has designed this game primarily for solo play. Yes, you can play with a GM or in co-op mode, but solo-exclusive rules are deeply embedded in all aspects of the compact 110-page game book.

The Loop of Gameplay

Built for fast play and high tension, the game uses a familiar d20 + modifier vs. Target Number system—but with a twist: both static and dynamic Target Numbers can be in play, allowing encounters to scale naturally and keep even seasoned Reclaimers on edge.

Character creation is quick and evocative: roll your attributes, pick a feat, grab a couple of proficiencies, and spend your meagre starting funds on gear that might just keep you alive. Want to quickly generate your backstory? The game is packed with flavourful random tables to generate everything from motivations to mysterious pasts.

Combat is player-facing, meaning only the players roll the dice—even in battle. Enemies don’t roll to hit; you roll to avoid. This keeps the action fast and the tension high. And magic? It’s not “spells”, as such—it’s ancient tech relics, still humming with forgotten power that people in the Expanse imbue with a “magical” quality.

Exploring the Expanse

Exploration in Machine Gods is the essence of the experience. The system features random generation tables for ruins, landmarks, settlements, NPCs, and even enemy behaviour. Want to explore a forgotten bunker? Roll it on the spot. Need a derelict city-state ruled by a malfunctioning deity? The game has you covered.

These tools aren’t just for GMs—they’re designed for solo and GM-less play, making the Expanse feel reactive and immersive, whether you’re playing alone or with a group.

Encounters vary from environmental hazards and cryptic transmissions to relic-haunted vaults and emissaries of machine gods. Navigation isn’t just about moving from point A to B—it’s about interpreting the terrain, decoding signals, and enduring the psychological toll of the world.

Solo players don’t just explore the world—we build it as we go. The game features a comprehensive set of solo and GM-less tools designed to procedurally generate the Noxian Expanse, one ruin, settlement, or anomaly at a time. We’re not given a map—we discover it, piece by piece, like a digital archaeologist brushing dust off forgotten code.

As we develop our version of the Noxian Expanse, we craft “scenes"—a concept familiar to anyone acquainted with Tana Pigeon’s Mythic Game Master Emulator. Questions are answered with a Yes/No Oracle and built out with rolls on d100 Action and Theme tables—making the world-building process familiar to those who know Mythic.

Denizens of a Broken World

The enemies we face in Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse are as strange and terrifying as the world itself—twisted remnants of a fallen age, corrupted code-given form, and zealots who worship the machine gods with fanatical devotion.

The game doesn’t just throw monsters at us; it conjures threats that seem like they belong in this haunted techno-mythos. Think hounds with metallic growths hunting in packs; corrupted securitrons responding to barely-remembered AI protocols; shambling masses of broken technology, as well as familiar standards such as ghouls, raiders, and slavers.

It’s a perilous and deadly world out there in the Expanse, folks!

A living, growing game world

The Voidspire Territories is the initial expansion for Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse. This 74-page setting book focuses on Voidspire, a labyrinthine spire-city where Glass Lords, Circuit Priests, and Conduit Knights engage in silent conflicts for dominance beneath the watchful eye of the mysterious machine god known as the God of Ten Thousand Glowing Eyes.

Players explore noble estates, slum warrens, and forgotten server vaults, all while dodging rogue drones, reanimated nobles, and conspiracies that twist through the city like corrupted code. With new factions, character backgrounds, relics, and a conspiracy generator to fuel political machinations, The Voidspire Territories turns the game into a pressure cooker of survival and revelation.

The Future?

I don’t think we know yet whether there will be further expansions or settings—I’m guessing, like everything, it depends on sales. Maybe members of The Order of the Black Oath (Alex T’s Patreon) will receive further updates. Full disclosure: I’m a Patreon supporter myself, although I should note that I purchased this game with my own funds, and all views expressed are my own.

I grabbed the core book from Amazon, and it was a reasonably decent Amazon POD product. I bought the Voidspire expansion from DriveThru. Since Alex was kind enough to send me the PDF of the core book, I’ve ordered a ring-bound A4 version of the “complete” Machine Gods from my favourite PDF-to-Print company here in the UK, which should be with me imminently.

So, dear Substack friends, would you like me to create a character, embark on a starter quest, and then write about it here? Let me know with a flurry of “likes,” or even a comment if you dare, and let’s experience The Expanse together…