Somewhere, Somewhere - Thoughts on Pastel Paradise
10 December 2024
Contents
- Contents
- Intro
- What do I look for in a module?
- Review: Pastel Paradise
- Expansion Pack: Somnic Seas
- Outro
Intro
It's Secret Santa Covert Critic week over on the Prismatic Wasteland discord!
Inspired by the 2024 Gifts for RPG Designers post from Explorers Design, this event was set up to get people reviewing / supporting each other's work and generally sharing the DIY love this holiday season. My secret santee (covert crittee?) is a module writer who's been publishing on itch since 2021, Robin Fjärem. Hi, Robin!
His work trends towards adventures in the fantasy OSR sphere, writing for the likes of Dragonbane, Knave, and Cairn, but today I'm going to take a look at the lone Troika! piece in his catalog, Pastel Paradise.
From the ad copy:
"Traveling across the spheres can be exhausting. Kick back and relax with a cocktail by the beach in the Pastel Paradise.
This is a vacation sphere for Troika!"
I picked this one to review for a few reasons:
- A breezy science-fantasy setting occupies an interesting place in a catalog otherwise filled with more grounded work, and I'm curious what drew Robin here.
- I've written about beachside resorts before and love the vibe.
- It reminds me of my favorite level from Anodyne 2, Pastel Horizon.
Most importantly I've seen enough elderly couples rediscover their love for each other at the Margaritaville Hotel & Resort that I feel spiritually attuned to this sort of environment. Let's dig in.
What do I look for in a module?
This is the first "review" I've done here so I'm gonna take a sec and talk about how I'm reading this. The most obvious question to answer is "do I actually want to run it?" but really there are a few sub-questions to knock out first.
Is it easy to use?
Not the end-all-be-all but still important. Is the layout sane? Can I run it on-sight or do I need extra prep to make it work? How much text do I have to parse through to figure out how to play an encounter?
Examples:
- High Usability: The Positronic Library by Yochai Gal. Clean, straightforward, text is sparse but still clearly gameable.
- Low Usability: Sailors on the Starless Sea by Harley Stroh. Huge text blocks, lots to parse, insane map. Tight as fuck, but definitely something you'd want to spend time with before running.
Can I steal anything?
Any good random tables? Useable monsters, traps, or magic items? Interesting procedures or mechanics? Even if I never actually bring a module to the table, I'm always looking for ideas to pick apart and bring elsewhere. I've never played Blades in the Dark but you know I'm still using its clocks.
Most modules are going to have at least something to rip, but generally, system-neutral content is going to score higher here compared to anything written for games with overpowering tones or settings (Mork Borg, Troika! [spoilers!]).
Examples:
- High Yoinkability: YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE by Amanda Lee Franck. System-neutral, lots of great tables, and ideas that still work even when you take them out of the barge. I get the most mileage out of the random trash/scents, but the shop liability & upgrade tables are great too.
- Low Yoinkability: Sepulchre of the Swamp Witch by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr. Most everything here is tied heavily into the theme of the dungeon (druggy cult shit) and hard to separate out. I'd run it as-is any day of the week, but there's not much I'd rip up and use in a different context.
Does it excite me?
Most important for me, personally. Any cool ideas or wild art? Is it beautifully written? Is it strange and difficult to grasp? Is it interesting? Often (not always!) this feels at odds with ease of use.
I'm an improv-heavy GM, so I want to dig my teeth into a weird setting and quickly feel comfortable making shit up there. Anything that can get across the tone or feeling of an adventure space is immensely helpful to me!
Examples:
- High Excitability: In Search of a Bio-Battery by Mouse Druid. Killer collage art, winding prose, surreal exploration. In terms of actual content / mechanics I think it kind of sucks lol but the vibes are so good that, when I ran it, I had no issue going off-book for anything I didn't like.
- Low Excitability: The Thwarted Course by Trilemma Adventures. Trilemma makes a lot of solid workhorse dungeons - easy to slot into a campaign, always a great time, but not the kind of stuff that really sets your brain on fire.
Review: Pastel Paradise
Overview
The module takes the form of a sphere (miniverse?) in the world of Troika!, set on a slab of water "carried on the backs of two playful dolphins frolicking in the endless cosmos". Unbothered for a long time, at some point a cosmic rift has opened above the Pastel Sea, bringing heaps of commerce and tacky tourism to the sphere. A cosmic spaceport sits beneath the rift to handle the masses, run by corporate regime SEER (Starfish Entertainment Enterprises & Resorts). Don't fret, they're not all bad.
"After many failed enterprises on other spheres they realized the importance of taking care of the ecosystem and native populace. Nobody wants to go vacationing in a barren cesspool after all."
The doc details a few locations of note, ranging from crowded shops (a several-story-tall bazaar built on a scaffolding tower atop a little island) to mysterious remnants (an alabaster ruin hanging over the edge of the sea, waiting to fall to the cosmic dolphins underneath). These are vivid and fun, if minimally fleshed out - most only get a short text box plus a few adventure seeds.
The centerpiece of the module is the Turtle Island Resort, a keyed adventure site on the back of a giant turtle. By day, the waitstaff (who are also turtles??) care for clientele. By night, they shapeshift into bloodthirsty cursed beasts who sacrifice guests to a giant fish.
Past that, there's a few backgrounds (important tone-setters for any Troika module imo), a small bestiary, and some tables to generate random vacationers. Worth noting also is Robin's watercolor art used throughout the document. I adore it all and wish there was more!
Usability
RATING: LOW-MEDIUM
The information here is clearly laid out and easy to understand, although you'll probably have to put some prep work in if you go off the suggested path (spaceport -> turtle island). What prevents it from being a firm medium I think is a good strong hook for the resort. The book suggests that players have special tickets from a mysterious benefactor, and the resort text mentions that you can fill out a sticker card at each area for some kind of grand prize, but neither the benefactor nor prize are fleshed out further. The former is easy enough to improvise (my first thought: the turtles are bringing guests in as sacrifices), but come on, at least write a cool prize!!
Yoinkability
RATING: MEDIUM
A good selection of stuff to pick apart here - more than I expected from a Troika supplement, tbh. The random tourist tables are fun and easily applicable to my game of choice (Electric Bastionland). The bestiary is mostly tied into the beach setting but has a few generally applicable enemies.
The most rippable stuff IMO is the background set. They're all flavorful, and Troika's surreal enough that realistically you could hand them to players no matter which sphere you're running them through, but (to take another page from Bastionland's book) the best part is how easily you can flip them into NPCs.
Take the diver:
Great visual, weird quirk, clear drive, bam. You can toss in this guy anywhere with water. Yoink!
Excitability
RATING: HIGH
Man I don't know what it is about Troika but it really brings out the sauce in folks. A few images I liked and would love to see play out in-game:
- "yoga lessons supervised by a very flexible squid"
- luxury bungalows attached by rope to the Big Turtle so they float on the sea's surface whenever it submerges
- "centipede family that paid several legs for their stay at the resort"
- a psychopomp on vacation because souls stopped coming their way
- sentient coconuts that can magnetize to each other and form strange little golems
Honestly, my favorite part is actually the lightly explained side areas. They lay some good groundwork that I'd happily flesh out on my own.
Would I run it?
Yes! I can imagine two scenarios here:
- run a quick one-shot in the heat of summer w/ the Turtle Island Resort scenario. Make up some bullshit for the sticker prize just as an excuse to get people playing.
- elaborate on Spira and Yr a little bit and write up a short adventure connecting the two. Something about navigating from the highest peaks to the lowest depths of the sphere holds a lot of appeal to me.
The latter is more likely, just because I liked that part of the text more. That said, overall impressions: good! Tbh I went in expecting mostly toothless, tacky, coastal Florida pastiche (Robin is Swedish so idk why I thought this), but I think the module succeeds at mixing classic beachy stereotypes with Troika's out-there science fantasy style. Really the biggest surprise to me is that this is the only Troika content in Robin's ouvre - I'd like to see more of it from him!
Expansion Pack: Somnic Seas
Just for fun, I'd like to cap off this review with an ⭐ unofficial expansion ⭐! I've been kicking around an idea like this for a while, and Secret Santa-ing feels like a solid time to try. I could try and fill in the blanks already provided, but instead I'm gonna follow my heart and take things in a dreamier direction.
Intro
Uh oh! Some blacked out tourist jumped into a cosmic dolphin's blowhole. Drunken bullshit's nothing special around here. What is special is that he came back bearing news: there's another world down there!
Jumping down the blowhole takes visitors to an island on a vast burgundy sea under a starless sky. The horizon sits frozen, painted with swaths of crystalline blue streaks. The water flows like silk and smells slightly floral, but it didn't take long to discover an inconvenient quality: anyone who touches it falls asleep instantly.
The locals think it's a dolphin's dream that got out of hand; SEER thinks it's free real estate. They've already set up shop, offering bougie meditation tours and potent psychedelics. Most recently they've erected long lines of string lights across the sea to form constellations of a sort. Tourist ships are allowed in if they get a permit, so long as they follow one simple rule: no wake.
1d6 Ships under false stars
| d6 | Vessel |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Dark Rum Noir. Run by bartenders here to easily sleep off a hangover. Liquor seeps from the back; drunken fish swim in their wake. |
| 2 | The Everything Blue. Hypnagogic academics tie sleeping volunteers to the bow in hopes that they'll dream up a long-forgotten god. |
| 3 | The Loblolly Queen. A wave hit them recently, knocking everyone out. Currently driven by an extremely stressed insomniac. |
| 4 | The Fester. Anti-dream monks here to resist ultimate temptation. Share perma-wake tinctures if you sit through a condescending lecture on the dangers of sleep. |
| 5 | The Billowing Sputum. Ghost ship (real wood, ghost crew). Love to lie to the living about hidden treasure underwater. Drowned spirits are welcomed aboard! |
| 6 | The Cackle and Quail. Two living ships deeply in love. Currently arguing about whether letting a tourist ride in them counts as cheating. |
1d6 Islands on wine-dark water
| d6 | Location |
|---|---|
| 1 | Small spit with a giant billboard advertising the Turtle Island Resort. A Corporate Drone from SEER camps here, firing t-shirts at passers-by from a pneumatic cannon (damage as Crossbow). |
| 2 | Two rival resort islands locked in a record-breaking tug of war match. Long rope spans the mile between them, ruining any ships that try to pass. |
| 3 | Cave shaped like giant stone nostrils rising from the water. Family of six slimy green bats live inside; they harass passing ships, looking for fruit (Skill 3, Stam 4, Init 3, Damage as Small Beast). |
| 4 | Empty save for a palm tree, lit fire, and glittering chest. Actually the tongue of a massive underwater organism. Creates a maelstrom when ships come close, attempting to swirl them underwater. |
| 5 | Smoke rises over a low-lit bar. From a distance: steel guitar music and low-voiced singing. The performer is a bored siren, paid to lure in customers (test Bad Listener or be compelled to sail closer). |
| 6 | A tumorous metal tower belches dark smoke. On approach, a mechnical sharkmersible swims out, piloted by scrappers hoping to strip your ship for parts (Skill 12, Stam 18, Init 5, Armor 3, Damage as Large Beast). |
1d6 Sailors on the dreaming sea
| d6 | Visitor |
|---|---|
| 1 | Alberto Otrebla, cosmarine biologist studying space dolphin dreams. In way too deep. Thinks you're part of the dream and narrates your actions into a recorder Attenborough-style. |
| 2 | Gunt, from the Sludge Dimension. Mostly formless. Sleeps in any body of water and infects it with spreading sludge which produces horrific gas. |
| 3 | Rowan, young treant. Outcast from his family for not fitting in. Desperate to make you think he's just a normal tree. |
| 4 | Speliogabalus, retired literalmancer. Any spoken idioms or turns of phrase become literally true in his presence. Currently trying to get his foot out of his mouth. |
| 5 | Lily Flagg, renegade antimaterialist. Whatever you're after, she'll pay you double to destroy it. |
| 6 | Djinnan Tonyck, elemental spirit of liquor. Longs for connection. Think you're only talking to it for free booze. |
Adventure Site: Mella Tonnin's Lagoon
At the far edge of the Somnic Sea: a spiky mass of volcanic rock, entirely uninhabited save for a tower shrine inside a lagoon. Rumblings on the mainland say it's a communion point for the ancient sleep deity Mella Tonnin, not built, but dreamed.
Hook
SEER corporate oracles have divined that the mainland rumblings got it in one - the island is a communion point for Mella, and, even better, her powers still work despite her age. She can dream up anything you ask... if you can get there.
Wasting no time, SEER's hiring everyone they can to sail out to the lagoon and verify the oracles' data (prophecy can be finicky). The party's been tasked by middle manager Bill Hunts to go out and wish him up a golden pleasure yacht. Their payment? A free stay at the Turtle Island Resort, plus access to the yacht on weekdays (pending one week's notice, appropriate paperwork filing, and availability).
Unknown to the oracles: Mella's reserves of power are nearing their end. She may only dream up one more thing before disintegrating. Her remaining servants know this, and have vowed to protect her at all costs.
Running the Lagoon
From the island beneath the blowhole entrance, roll up a ship to take players to the lagoon, two or three islands to cause problems on the way, and an NPC to bother them on the lagoon itself.
Map and Key
1. Pier
- Lonely dock. No ships. Ropes lead from dock ties into the water. Knee-high black shrubs line the path further up the lagoon.
- The ropes have been cut. Woven threads litter the water nearby.
- Three Servants of Mella hide in the bushes. If undetected, they sneak onto the boat when the party leaves, kill anyone on board, and send it sailing out to sea (Skill 5, Stam 12, Init 3, Damage as Knife).
2. Occupied Bridge
- Water pools in small craters here. Swaying rope bridge leads to an ominous stone tower. Six anemone-like creatures huddle on the ropes towards the bridge's center, covered in swaying tubes filled with burgundy water.
- The creatures are Sleepwalkers. Crab body, shell covered in gently swaying tubes (Skill 3, Stam 4).
- Don't attack, but spray ocean water from their tubes when startled, causing anyone hit to fall asleep.
- They scare easily, but can be soothed by soft voices or gentle music.
3. Communion
The top of the tower. Twenty robed figures sleep on the ground, faces peaceful. In the center: a stone bed floats a few feet in the air. Scent of blood. The air hums. Even recently dreamed, this place's history feels tangible.
- On inspection, the figures (actually Servants of Mella) are only pretending to be asleep.
- The bed allows communion with Mella if slept on.
- A hidden trapdoor beneath the bed leads to area 4.
Communing with Mella:
- When someone sleeps on the bed, the surrounding Servants rise and attempt to kill them.
- The sleeping player sees Mella in a starry void. The goddess takes the form of a shifting amalgamation of every person the character (and the person playing them) has ever met.
- Movement in this dream within a dream is difficult - they may only speak one word per round (or test Lucid Dreaming for more).
- Mella happily manifests whatever is asked of her despite knowing she will die. "No dream lasts forever." She does make sure to ask the player if they're absolutely sure they want whatever they ask for.
4. Disposal
- Outisde: Back of the tower. An entrance at the base lies hidden by the illusion of a stone wall. It glitters on inspection.
- The illusion fades in the presence of bright light or ringing bells.
- Inside: dead travelers from myriad spheres. Corpses look fresh.
- A ladder goes to a hidden trapdoor leading to area 3.
- A bell hangs from the wall - ring it to dispel the illusion.
5. Empty Bridge
- Long, tense rope bridge leads up to the tower. The rope is fraying on this end, and will clearly snap if too much weight is put upon it.
6. Empty Shore
- Cold, rocky shoreline. No pier. A figure in bright white armor lies reposed, half its body in the dark water. Toothy mouths are inscribed across its surface. The barest hint of a path leads up to area 5.
- Too shallow to sail here - you'd have to anchor further out and swim, or walk the long way around.
- The armored figure is hollow. Golden blood leaks from the joints if disturbed, but there's no body inside.
- If worn, the suit provides Armor 2, but cannot be removed. The Maw, a great beast said to eat entire spheres in one gulp, lays claim to your flesh when you die. It speaks to you when you're wounded, preparing you to enter its gullet.
Outro
Pastel Paradise can be supported on itch.io.
I don't intend to do this kind of thing often, but if you're interested in having me write a review / mini-expansion / both for your work, feel free to toss me a DM on bluesky.