The Weekend First Play: Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse
Beginning the search for the the long lost Null Reliquary
Last week, I did a “first look” at Blackoath Entertainment’s latest (largely) solo TTRPG, Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse, and I floated the idea of following up with a “first play.” Well, there were enough likes and comments to suggest this would be welcome, so here we are…
I took delivery of my A4-sized ringbound Noxian Expanse megavolume, consisting of the Core Rules bundled together with the expansion, The Voidspire Territories.
Mmmm… 182 pages of “stay flat on the table” gaming goodness. (Sorry for nerding out, but I love, love LOVE books that lay flat on my table. Does that sound a bit weird, lol?
Forgive me if I make any rule goofs, I’m only learning the game myself!
Creating my Reclaimer
1. Attributes
OK, let’s start rolling up my character, styled as “Reclaimers”, and let’s see how the dice create someone with an interesting story to tell. In this “first look”, I’m largely letting the dice fall as they will—unless something makes zero narrative sense, in which case I’ll use my common sense to override (much like the AI in the Noxian Expanse can override my brain…zapptttt…pffffftttt….zzztytt… **reset**)
There are six attributes for the PC, and the rulebook suggests rolling 3d6 six times and allocating the results as one wishes. My trusty d6s handed me: 10, 9, 5, 9, 10 and 13. Hmmm… statistically pretty standard—four ”middling” rolls, plus one low and one high. As is my wont, I’m opting for a clever, sneaky, largely non-combat character and decided to allocate as follows:
Strength 10
Constitution 9
Dexterity 10
Intelligence 13
Willpower 9
Presence 10
I’ve gone High Intelligence for problem-solving and investigation, with Dexterity for lockpicking, hacking and maybe some parkour! I don’t anticipate much combat, hence dumping my five roll into Endurance (albeit my Dex should help me stab things if I really must). Hopefully, my natural charm, wit and smooth words from Presence will help me talk my way out of too much trouble.
2. Feats and Drawbacks
Now, let’s talk about Feats and Drawbacks. Every PC gets a “free” Feat, Noxian Expanse’s version of skills or traits. Optionally, you can take two more, for a total of three, BUT a “Drawback” must also accompany each additional Feat beyond the first. This negative trait adversely affects the character.
Since I love to make my characters a little offbeat and unique, I was always going “all in” with three Feats and two Drawbacks. I mean, why the hell not? Playing into my high INT, DEX and PRE, I chose “Keen Senses” (for help getting around and avoiding trouble), “Sneaky” (speaks for itself) and “Lucky” (for a bit more help in getting out of tight spots). I went with “Arrogant” and “Slow Healer” as what appeared to me to be two “Drawbacks” that made the most sense.
3. Gear
The Core Book suggests choosing gear next, and it’s here that the layout of the book is a bit odd, since the lists and stats for the plethora of weapons and armour are towards the back of the book in Chapter 4.
It’s not a dealbreaker or anything, but it strikes me as a bit confusing for a new player to have to jump from p.15 to p.79, then back to p.16 to continue with character creation!
Anyway, I decided my PC would look stylish brandishing a Rapier and wearing a Gambeson (you get one free weapon and armour to start)
4. Background
I’ve grouped the next batch of tables together, as they aim to add depth and spice to the PC to create a compelling background story.
Name: Jocelyn (ahhh…so we're female, then!)
Background: Escaped from a cult
From: The Maze Cities of Codex
Vice: Obsessed
Motivation: To recover a family heirloom in the form of an ancient artefact
So, to summarise, I’m a female Reclaimer who escaped from a cult (surely this can play into the story?) with an obsession for gathering knowledge and information. I can charm people with my wit and personality, but I’m a bit of a glass cannon when it comes to the tough stuff. Cool! Let’s see how this plays out.
I’m kinda thinking of this vibe…
I like to envisage something of a “backstory” for my characters, and with the rolled prompts in mind, here is what I came up with.
Jocelyn is a slight girl in her early twenties, a recent escapee from the clutches of a cult devoted to the worship of House Baldmanu—one of the most oppressive noble Houses in Codex. Taken in as an orphan, she knows almost nothing about her true lineage, except for one tantalising fact: her family once belonged to a royal dynasty, largely forgotten since the fall of Codex’s ancient monarchy more than three decades earlier.
That lost legacy now fuels her obsession. This singular goal drives Jocelyn: to unearth relics from the age of kings and queens, and in doing so, reclaim her past. It’s what motivates her to become a “reclaimer.”
While still inside the cult, she once overheard the Cult Overseer whisper a cryptic phrase: "The Null Reliquary." It was spoken in the context of the monarchy—a buried secret, perhaps, or a forbidden artefact. It’s the only lead she has!
Her search has brought her to Rockmound, a dusty, broken-down mining settlement, the place where she spent her earliest years. Here, our journey begins.
The Setting
Ok, we have our PC and a place to start. The Core Book has tables for rolling up Settlements. It’s where I got the name, “Rockmound. Further rolls on these tables told me that it’s a settlement which is little more than a hamlet, with fewer than 100 residents, ruled over by an Overlord. They are highly suspicious of outsiders owing to a previous incident where a visiting merchant inadvertently introduced a deadly disease, which killed several people and caused widespread debilitating sickness.
I didn’t roll on the table to discover what the main industry of the Settlement was. It’s called “Rockmound”—it HAS to be a mining town, right?
Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse employs a grid-based exploration system. PCs can explore two squares in any 24-hour period, and it is assumed that we can detect the most important features of any surrounding square from the square we are currently in. We’re in a Settlement right now, so I roll a d20 on the “point of interest” table for each surrounding square.
North: An ancient ruin that might be worth exploring
West: An impassable feature like a canyon, gorge, etc.
South: Nothing of interest.
East: A distinctive landmark (further rolls on the d100 Landmark tables tell me this is a Decaying Bridge.
I can’t go West, and there’s not much point in going East or South right now. North is my obvious choice! But first, I’m going to see if there is anything to learn in Rockmound.
OK, I’m rested after a night in the local Inn. A roll on the weather table tells me it’s blazing hot today. I need to make a CON check to avoid becoming fatigued. Fortunately, I roll a 14 and pass! Failure would have meant sleeping more—or taking a hit to any INT, WIL and PRE checks until I did sleep!
Phew! I decide to ask the kindly innkeeper, Corven, if he knows anything about the ruins to the North. The Yes/No Oracle in the game asks me to rate on a scale (of 7) between “Almost Impossible” and “Almost Certain.” Since I have nothing to go on, I’m going for 50/50. I roll 13, so it’s a “Yes.” He does know about the ruins.
Optionally, I can roll a d6 at the same time to introduce a complication into the answer. I decide I will do so (in the hope of sparking something of an “inciting incident” into my story), and I roll one. “There’s an unexpected event at a very bad or good moment.”
It’s so early in my story that I don’t have context for that “event”, so I turn to the included Action & Theme tables and roll 2d10 dice. I get “Guide” and “Mystery.”
Cool! It looks like things might be going my way. I’m thinking about going to an Ancient Ruin. What could be more helpful than a “guide” to help me uncover the “mystery”? This time, my unexpected event has turned out to be “good”…
Now, this is where we’d probably meet an Orc Barbarian or Dwarf Mercenary in a standard fantasy setting. But Alex has specifically created this game in a human-centric universe, so we’re going to need to get creative.
I flipped through the Bestiary chapter and found that there is a dedicated Scavenger human, said to “end up simply risking their lives digging through the ruins of the old world, trying to find anything of value.”
This sounds promising! But it’s super-generic. I want something a little more edgy and off-beat. I keep looking and find the Guardian Servitor, described as “a humanoid combat robot still following its ancient protocols.”
Much better! It has a dedicated “Guard Mode” as well as a standard Ballistic shot and a special attack, Energy Blast. It’s not exactly a “tank”, but it looks like a lot of fun.”
As Jocelyn pressed the cheery innkeeper, Corven, for any tiny scrap of information that might help her expedition to the nearby ruins, they were suddenly interrupted by a low, mechanical, droning voice from behind them.
"Whirrrr… Click… T-459PX knows Ruins of Mirsal." Spinning on her heels, Jocelyn saw the android in the corner—one she’d noticed earlier, seemingly inactive—had now whirred to life.
“Oh, don’t mind the bot, youngster,” Corven chuckled. “She pipes up any time someone so much as mentions those ruins. Rumor is, ol’ T used to patrol the corridors back when it was still the Temple of Rizdak.” He stroked his beard thoughtfully, “Mmm. You could do worse than take T with you. She’s a rusty old bag of bolts, sure—but she knows those ruins like the back of her drill attachment. And let’s be honest, you don’t exactly look like you’re built for a fight. You could use a hand—and T’s got four of ‘em ...”
And just like that, it was decided. T-459PX was coming along.
"Zzzz… prrrr… T-459PX will lead way to Ruins. You follow…"
Want to hear more? Check back soon for part #2 where we test out the exploration, scavenging and (just possibly) combat in Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse from Blackoath Entertainment.
Really enjoy your writing style. I’ve been wondering what “Machine Gods” is like, and your writing really helps the reader understand how the game is played.
Great start. Looking forward to more.