Use this document when the players are exploring, fighting, or being punished within Bastion. This zone is a high-danger combat sandbox and retro-futuristic military exhibit: part fortress, part training ground, part blood sport.
Bastion is the Vault’s great war machine. Brutalist steampunk towers of black steel and brass rise above trenches, artillery nests, neon tactical displays, and marching Warden formations.
To Chronos, Bastion is the Military Wing of the Museum.
To everyone else, it’s where you go when:
You’re in serious trouble (Trial by Combat)
You want high-end weapons or war-tech
You’re desperate enough to gamble your life for credits or glory
Organic Citizens are rare. Most inhabitants are:
Wardens and combat automatons
Prisoners, gladiators, “volunteer” contestants
A handful of human specialists and officers
At the top of the hierarchy sits General Napoleon of Upper Management, locked in his command dome but wired into almost every system.
Arrival – Deployment Zone Alpha: Teleport in under turrets and trenches; realize you’re in a war zone, not a welcome center.
The Hook – Coliseum or Arcade: Get funneled toward punishment (Kinetic Coliseum) or “training” / gambling (Virtual-War Arcade).
Command & Logistics – Strategy Dome / Chrono Armory / Repair Bay: Learn who runs this place, where weapons come from, and what happens to broken machines.
The Battlefield – Perpetual Front & Museum of Eternal Conflict: See war as exhibit and environment.
The Pull – Napoleon: Interact with the unseen general controlling the flow of troops and trials.
Theme / Vibe: “Retro-Futuristic Fortification”
Black steel ramparts, brass plating, rivets, gun ports
Neon HUDs, glowing scoreboards, hard-light simulations
Constant movement: drills, artillery tests, troop marches
Atmosphere
Loud, harsh, militarized
Smell: oil, burnt propellant, ozone, coolant, metal
Sirens, barking orders, distant explosions, clanking gears
Horror Element
Violence normalized as entertainment and procedure
Prisoners fighting for “rewards” that are just new hells
Sentient machines repaired and wiped like tools
War turned into an eternal theme park ride
Description:
Heavily fortified arrival/exit pad. Deep trenches, razor wire, and gun emplacements mark this as the front door of a fortress, not a civilian plaza.
Appearance:
Scarred concrete platform encircled by trenches and barbed coils. Automated turrets track movement. A circular pad in the center emits a golden teleport beam.
Use:
Initial intimidation, Warden inspections, first contact with Bastion’s attitude.
Description:
Napoleon’s sealed command fortress and Bastion’s brain. All major deployments, drills, and tactical decisions route through here.
Appearance:
Exterior: Smooth, brutal black steel under a shimmering energy dome.
Interior: Opulent 19th-century French palace décor—velvet walls, crystal chandeliers, marble floors—laced with holographic tactical displays and campaign maps.
Use:
High-level negotiations, audience with Napoleon (directly or via holo), mission briefings, final approvals for trials or operations.
Description:
A ceremonial corridor used to impress and intimidate anyone granted deeper access to command.
Appearance:
Towering gilded paintings of wars from many eras, each reimagined to glorify Chronos or Napoleon. Beneath each painting, a glass case holds a relic: helmets, banners, weapons, broken medals. The hall hums softly with stasis fields preserving them.
Use:
Atmosphere, visual storytelling, subtle history lesson of Chronos’s meddling.
Description:
The central weapons vault for Bastion, storing arms from countless timelines.
Appearance:
A maze of tall shelves stacked with everything from stone clubs and flintlocks to rail rifles and plasma cannons. Labels are inconsistent; some racks are perfectly cataloged, others look like a looted museum.
Use:
Upgrades, heists, side quests to secure specific tech, “choose one weapon before the mission” scenes.
Description:
Bastion’s trial pit. Criminals, dissidents, or “problem cases” are thrown into dynamic deathmatches against mechanical gladiators and hostile terrain.
Appearance:
Metallic hexagonal tiles form the arena floor. Tiles rise as pillars, sink into vats, or reveal hazards (heat grids, grinding wheels). Corner Tesla-towers cast crackling arcs. A moat of bubbling green coolant rings the pit; spectator stands loom above.
Use:
Trial by combat, punishment arenas, spectator blood sport with Wardens and officers watching.
Description:
A vast propaganda hall showcasing war through curated dioramas that can animate on command.
Appearance:
A broad central corridor with exhibit bays on both sides. Each bay holds a frozen battle scene from a different era. A brass railing and control panel sit at the front; activating it causes the automatons inside to reenact a violent 30-second loop with real weapons, contained by stasis and force barriers.
Use:
Lore, foreshadowing, eerie encounters when exhibits malfunction or bleed into reality.
Description:
An artificial warzone used to drill Wardens and combat automatons in endless live-fire simulations.
Appearance:
Iron-reinforced trenches, cratered “No-Bot’s Land,” razor wire, tank traps, smokestacks, distant artillery flashes. Industrial towers loom over muddy ground and shattered plating.
Use:
Large-scale battles, escort missions, stealth across active lines, or navigating through “live training” that can be turned on the players.
Description:
Officially: advanced tactical simulation. In practice: lethal game show for credits and thrill. Hard-light constructs generate waves of enemies and hazards for escalating payouts.
Appearance:
Matte black floor sliced with neon grids, glowing walls, and shifting cover. Massive glitching scoreboards float above, listing high scores and recent deaths. Wireframe enemies spawn and shatter into pixels. Loot nodes glow like arcade prizes.
Use:
Optional challenge runs, poor-citizen desperation jobs, spectator sport for bored elites.
Description:
Primary facility for repairing Bastion’s mechanical personnel.
Appearance:
White tile, chrome surfaces, harsh overhead lights. Repair slabs lined with armatures and diagnostic rigs. Mechanical limbs and torsos hang on hooks. Smells of antiseptic, flux, and hot oil.
Use:
Robot-focused roleplay, sabotage, upgrades, meeting glitchy units who fear being wiped.
Description:
Back-room execution space for machine minds. Sentient or glitching automatons are strapped here to be reset.
Appearance:
Small, soundproof metal room. Scratch marks rake the walls and chair: names, dates, “I AM ALIVE,” “DON’T FORGET ME.” A heavy iron chair with restraints and a helmet interface squats in the center.
Use:
Moral horror, rescue attempts, or scenes where players must choose who gets erased.
Types:
Prisoners, gladiators, officers, test subjects, a few elite weapons engineers.
Behavior:
Hardened, fatalistic, or zealously militaristic
Respect strength and competence above all
Many accept “fight or be crushed” as the only rule
Wardens:
Ubiquitous patrollers, trial enforcers, coliseum guards. Corporate-slogan speech, shock batons, unquestioning obedience.
Combat Units:
Mechs, drones, trench-walkers, target dummies that shoot back.
Support Units:
Announcers, med-tech bots, repair drones, referee-bots in the Coliseum and Arcade.
Napoleon’s influence should feel systemic:
Announcements changing training levels
Sudden “drills” that conveniently intersect the players’ path
Overrides that shut doors or open killzones
He may intervene remotely as an unseen general, offering deals or escalating threats.
War is the Default Setting
There is almost always a drill, exercise, or firing test happening somewhere. Quiet areas feel tense and temporary.
Trouble = Combat, Not Paperwork
Authorities resolve problems with trials, fights, or “tests,” not long legal processes. Trial by combat is a common solution.
Violence is Routine, Not Shocking
NPCs react more strongly to disobedience, desertion, or sabotage than to bloodshed. Killing in the arena is normal; refusing to fight is suspicious.
Napoleon is the Invisible Hand
Treat major tactical shifts as his choices: increased patrols, redirected units, new “exercises” triggered around the party.
Emphasize Weight, Noise, and Risk
Describe recoil, explosions, marching, alarms. Bastion should feel heavy, loud, and lethal.
Survival Leads to More Duty, Not Freedom
Winning rarely equals escape. Success generally grants reassignment, new missions, or being noticed by powerful people—not peace.
In Bastion, the war never ends.
You don’t leave the battlefield. You just change which side of the gun you’re on.