AppendixGM Only
Quick Reference for the GM
Use this when the table is waiting and the sea has already turned.
Core GM rules
- Every adventure has a visible mission, a faction conflict, and a deeper danger.
- Every important faction acts even when ignored.
- Éterlumin is dangerous because it is responsive, volatile, pressured, and poorly understood, not because it is poison.
- The Solarian Church can fear, bless, quarantine, investigate, and condemn Éterlumin, but does not truly understand source chamber science this age.
- Airship battles should change position, condition, or command every exchange.
- Canula Prime is beautiful from a distance and dangerous up close.
- Victories should create leverage and responsibility, not erase pressure.
Fast scene builder
| Step | Prompt |
|---|---|
| 1 | Where are the characters? Add one sensory detail: heat, salt, brass, wet stone, rope, bells, cloud, smoke. |
| 2 | What do they want right now? Name the visible mission. |
| 3 | Who else wants this scene to end differently? Name one faction or NPC. |
| 4 | What hidden pressure is present? Éterlumin, source geometry, law, spies, debt, storm, or Church authority. |
| 5 | What changes if the players leave without acting? Advance one clock or move one NPC. |
Names on the fly (d12)
| d12 | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Esteban Lira |
| 2 | Maribel Arocha |
| 3 | Tomas Keel |
| 4 | Nuala Sayer |
| 5 | Joren Voss |
| 6 | Ilena Varro |
| 7 | Mateo Rivas |
| 8 | Serafina Veyra |
| 9 | Alvaro Renck |
| 10 | Rafael Doss |
| 11 | Amalia de Luz |
| 12 | Roland Ash |
Closing note
The Golden Sea is a campaign engine because every local choice has a route outward. A dockside favor becomes a ledger debt. A ledger debt becomes a ship movement. A ship movement becomes a diplomatic lie. A diplomatic lie becomes a battle under cloud. Let the characters matter. Let the world resist. Let the truth be useful, dangerous, and never cheap.