TEXT: Free content Friday
  June 2020
  Jonathan Gilmour & Doug Levandowski
  
  The Ties that Bind
  Doug & Jon’s Note: This was a section of Teens in Space that we had planned 
  and mostly finished, but we didn’t have time to playtest sufficiently before 
  we had to go to print. A core part of most great space operas is a character 
  with mystical powers, and now, you can include them in your game!
  And close readers may notice that a few of the species in the core book 
  reference The Bind. We’d discussed this aspect of the Teens in Space 
  universe with the writers before deciding to cut it, but we told them they 
  could still reference it in there. Now, you’ve got the full rules for using The 
  Bind in your game!
  One of the options you have to improve your character is to spend IP to gain 
  access to the Bind, the mystical force that ties the universe together. It is 
  within all things in the universe, both living and nonliving, and this connection 
  can be manipulated to do the impossible, what many religions would call 
  miracles. Though both good and evil powers in the universe claim the Bind is 
  ultimately on their side, it is not sentient and thus is without intention. It does, 
  however, make those who use it for good more good and those who use it for 
  evil more evil.
  Creating a Character with Access to the 
  Bind
  Choosing to have a character who can manipulate the Bind requires, first, 
  purchasing one of the three Bind Accessor Tropes for 3 IP. Though this 
  does not confer any powers itself, it gives that character a sensitivity to the 
  workings of the Bind. With further training, characters with this Improvement 
  can learn additional skills or augment the ones they already have.
   
  When choosing the “Access to the Bind” Improvement, characters must 
  choose from one of the following “Accessor Groups” representing the three 
  broad groups who access the Bind. However, because Hellbound characters 
  are evil, focused on causing destruction and suffering, they must be non-
  playable characters controlled by the GM. We include the rules for creating 
  them here mainly so that the GM can create a suitable foil should a player 
  choose an Oathbound character.
  The Oathbound
  These warriors and sages represent morally righteous (and occasionally 
  self-righteous) Accessors of the Bind. They have a strong moral code, their 
  Oath, which comprises numerous restrictions on their behavior (including 
  one restriction that is unique to each Oathbound Accessor). In addition, the 
  Oathbound will only use their powers for good. Though they are almost always 
  powerful warriors, they will not strike first unless combat is inevitable. They 
  believe quite dogmatically in the inherent goodness of the Bind and thus in all 
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  T E E N S  I N  S P A C E
  
  living things. Consequently, they will only fight even the most vicious enemy 
  if there is truly no other option. (Note: Oathbound must also spend 1 IP to 
  become Skilled with a Laserblade, the Oathbound’s weapon of choice.)
  When becoming Oathbound, answer all of the following questions:
  • 
  What restriction on your behavior is unique to you? (The GM must 
  agree that this is sufficiently restrictive, and other players must 
  agree that this restriction will not make the game less fun for them. 
  Possible examples being must maintain a vegetarian diet, must never 
  lie, must actively seek young Accessors to convert to Oathbound.)
  • 
  What have you given up as part of your Oath that you miss deeply?
  • 
  What color is your Laserblade, and how does that reflect your 
  personality?
  • 
  Who was your mentor, and why are you no longer with them?
  Roleplaying Notes
  • 
  Oathbound will never knowingly travel with, work with, or otherwise 
  help a known Hellbound. Rather, when encountering a known 
  Hellbound, you will feel a compulsion to convert them to the 
  Oathbound or destroy them and should, within reason, pursue either 
  of those ends.
  • 
  The Oathbound will only travel with a known Boundless for short 
  periods of time, during which you must gently attempt to convert 
  them to an Oathbound.
  • 
  The Oathbound will never insist on others abiding by their Oath, 
  but you will be happy to gently encourage others through example 
  and by showing the power of the Oathbound. Any creature who 
  wishes to convert will find a ready mentor in your character, and 
  your character may be actively seeking new converts.
  • 
  That said, you must attempt to prevent any creature from committing 
  truly evil actions (Violating Actions other than your specific one), 
  using words and influence first and brute force only if necessary.
  For example, Gretxan chooses to be an Oathbound Accessor, spending 4 
  IP to take the Trope and the Laserblade Skill. When she was a small child, 
  she was orphaned when her parents’ starship was raided by Proeleans. They 
  died trying to protect her, and in the moments before the Proelean raiders 
  could slaughter her, too, she was saved by Raitha, an Oathbound Accessor 
  who then took her under her (literal) wing. From Raitha, Gretxan learned 
  3
  
  about the mysteries of the Bind, and she adopted all of her mentor’s beliefs 
  and restrictions. She swore to never lie and to never seek romantic love. 
  (Gretxan is okay with being celibate, but she does miss lying. What teen 
  wouldn’t?) Gretxan eventually learned how to use her access to the Bind to 
  fly (helpful for keeping up with her winged mentor) and to teleport short 
  distances (something that surprised even Raitha). Her Laserblade is grey, 
  reflecting her muted personality, and Grextan is incredibly hesitant to use it. 
  A few weeks ago, Raitha told Gretxan that her training was done and that 
  she’d need to find her own way in the universe. When Gretxan protested, 
  Raitha seemed to relent, only to jettison her mentee from the ship in an 
  escape pod that night while she slept. Now, Gretxan is seeking a noble 
  cause to put her considerable skills behind...
  The Boundless
  Claiming to be the only ones who truly understand the Bind, Boundless 
  Accessors are committed to neither good nor evil but to the pursuit of 
  knowledge. Each Boundless Accessor seeks one specific kind of wisdom in 
  the universe, endeavoring to understand a specific complexity of the universe. 
  To better pursue this narrow kind of wisdom, they attempt to remain above 
  the rabble of the tangible world. As such, though they have acquaintances 
  and will help them, they avoid joining broader causes or taking sides in 
  intergalactic disputes. They are aloof wanderers; staying in one place or 
  with one group for too long can lead to attachments but, more than that, 
  there isn’t new knowledge in a place they’ve been for too long. As such, they 
  wander the universe, seeking the kind of wisdom they pursue, driven on by 
  Knowledge Visions (brief glimpses of a location where they’ll experience their 
  next epiphany).
  When becoming Boundless, you must answer the following questions:
  • 
  What kind of specific knowledge do you seek? (The GM must agree 
  that this kind of knowledge is sufficiently esoteric, and other players 
  must agree that this specific pursuit will not make the game less fun 
  for them. Possible examples include information about how the Bind 
  functions and new Bind Powers, the stories of the oldest creatures 
  on a planet, experiencing each culture’s unique cuisine.)
  • 
  When did you have your first Knowledge Vision, and what did it feel 
  like to complete it?
  • 
  What is your current Knowledge Vision, and where is it leading you?
  Roleplaying Notes
  • 
  The Boundless will travel with an Oathbound or a Hellbound as long 
  as they’re going your way, but given the choice, you’ll generally prefer 
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  T E E N S  I N  S P A C E
  
  not to. The Oathbound are always only interested in understanding 
  one tiny part of the Bind, and they always try to persuade you to 
  follow their silly, narrow doctrines and join their quixotic causes. The 
  Hellbound are always trying to bend you to their will or fight you, 
  and that gets old really quickly.
  • 
  The Boundless will usually only go out of their way to prevent 
  another creature from doing something in two cases - if they are 
  doing something that risks eliminating unique knowledge (especially 
  the kind of knowledge they’re pursuing) or if their action will prevent 
  the Boundless from continuing to pursue knowledge.
  For example, Naylath chooses to be Boundless, spending 3 IP to take the 
  Trope. They decide that they are pursuing knowledge of languages, which 
  they have been doing since their first Knowledge Vision of speaking a 
  language they had never heard before to a crowd of a species they had 
  never seen. This is, in fact, their first memory, and they were too young to 
  understand it at the time. Some years later, Naylath recognized a member 
  of that species in a bazaar and heard him speaking that language. At that 
  moment, they knew what they must do. They became a deckhand on his 
  ship, a Throggofel merchant ship. Naylath traded lessons in his language 
  for their labor, and within months, they had mastered the language, and the 
  Throggofel merchants were so impressed that they brought Naylath home 
  with them, where they spoke with masters of the Throggofel language. As 
  Naylath was speaking to them in a university lecture hall, they had a deep 
  sense of accomplishment and realized that this was the exact vision they 
  had seen nearly a decade ago. That night, Naylath had a vision of speaking 
  with a small child underwater and leading that child, who spoke haltingly 
  and in a broken version of their language, to her father, who was glad to see 
  her. Now, Naylath is frantically researching underwater species in the hope 
  of fulfilling their current Knowledge Vision...
  The Hellbound (GM-Controlled Only)
  The inversion of the Oathbound, these fighters seek power above all else. 
  Though they may work with a team, they view others, even other Hellbounds, 
  as pawns to further their own ends. Each Hellbound Accessor has one personal 
  goal that is unique to them in addition to the broader goals of power. The 
  more experienced of the Hellbound are universally disfigured from years of 
  violence and from the corruption flowing through them, which causes them 
  to scar more and age prematurely. They often strike before their opponent 
  even knows they’re adversaries. Though some apologists have claimed they’re 
  simply misunderstood, The Hellbound are understood quite well: they’re evil. 
  (Note: Hellbound must also spend 1 IP to become Skilled with a Laserblade, 
  the Hellbound’s weapon of choice.)
  5
  
  When creating a Hellbound character, answer the following questions:
  • 
  What goal does this character have above and beyond mere power? 
  (Be sure to make this sufficiently difficult. Possible examples include 
  to rule a planet, to destroy other creatures’ will to live, to make 
  families turn against each other.)
  • 
  Who does this character seek revenge against for a past wrong?
  • 
  Who was their mentor, and why are they no longer with them?
  Roleplaying Notes
  • 
  The Hellbound will never knowingly travel with, work with, or 
  otherwise help a known Oathbound or Boundless. Rather, when 
  encountering a known Oathbound or Boundless, you will immediately 
  seek to manipulate them into advancing your selfish ends or destroy 
  them through direct physical combat (unless doing so is obviously 
  impossible).
  • 
  The Hellbound will never abide others who do not recognize your 
  power and absolute authority (unless you must do so for very 
  specific, short-term goals or unless they are a much more powerful 
  Hellbound and thus a mentor to you). In the long run, regardless of 
  any other creature’s power, you will seek to dominate or destroy 
  them.
  For example, the GM creates Hemblaze, a Hellbound Accessor as a foil for 
  Gretxan, the Oathbound Accessor described earlier. When Raitha stopped 
  the Proelean raiders from killing Gretxan, she didn’t notice a small, scared 
  Proelean boy hiding on the raider’s ship and left with Gretxan. Adrift in 
  space with his dead family’s corpses for days, the boy’s rage grew, eventually 
  attracting the attention of Drex Altha, a powerful Hellbound Accessor 
  traveling nearby. Drex Altha took the boy in, giving him the name Hemblaze. 
  Over the next decade, Drex Altha brutally trained him, adding fuel to the 
  little boy’s rage and twisting him into a tortured man. Hemblaze bears the 
  scars of this training, including the time that Drex Altha severed his right 
  leg for daring to question his methods. Hemblaze always knew he wanted 
  to seek his revenge against Raitha, which he decided to do by slaughtering 
  all of the members of her species, the Reptilnae, that he could. A few weeks 
  ago, in a fit of rage at being told not to pursue his goal, Hemblaze lashed 
  out at his master with a furor that surprised both, literally tearing Drex 
  Altha apart limb from limb and casting him into the void of space, where he 
  perished. Now, Hemblaze is headed for Raitha’s home planet...
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  Playing a Character with Access to the 
  Bind
  First and foremost, it’s important to remember that, as part of the character 
  creation process, you and the other players decided how to mesh your desires 
  as an Accessor character with the interests of the other characters at the table. 
  When roleplaying, remember that you need to walk the line between pursuing 
  your goals and frustrating your team. At the same time, other characters need 
  to remember that, in exchange for having a very powerful member of the 
  group, they agreed to (mostly) let your goals set the tone of the game. It’s a 
  delicate balance, likely made impossible if a character is Hellbound. For this 
  reason, again, players should not create a Hellbound character.
   
  If you chose an Accessor character, you will need to abide by the Code of 
  the kind of Accessor you’re playing. Failure to do so will result in your being 
  unable to gain new Improvement Points until you take actions to atone for the 
  Violating Action. Narratively, the GM will reveal to you the way that you need 
  to atone, whether that is by presenting you with the chance in the course of 
  the story or by giving you a vision of what you must do to make up for your 
  Violating Action.
   
  Each Accessor Group has Grand Actions, behaviors that grant benefits when 
  completed. Characters who perform these actions will find themselves gaining 
  power in exchange for the sacrifices they’ve made to pursue that greater end.
  Oathbound
  Violating Actions 
  • 
  premeditated killing
  • 
  killing for personal gain
  • 
  refusing to help the meek or downtrodden when you could
  • 
  breaking your individual restriction on behavior
  • 
  helping a Hellbound (unless that help is intended and expected to 
  convert them)
  Grand Actions
  • 
  preventing the death of a stranger at great peril to yourself
  • 
  non-violently foiling the schemes of a Hellbound
  • 
  converting a creature you see as evil to your Code
  • 
  sparing the life of a powerful enemy who could later seek revenge
  7
  
  Result of a Grand Action: +1 IP to be spent only on Bind Powers, either 
  upgrading an existing one or gaining a new one.
  Boundless
  Violating Actions
  • 
  taking sides in a large-scale conflict
  • 
  seeking out an adversary, even one who has harmed you, or helping 
  others do the same
  • 
  deviating from your pursuit of your specifically desired kind of 
  knowledge (unless there is an immediate necessity to do so)
  • 
  doing anything that might damage or impair your memory or ability 
  to acquire new knowledge
  Grand Actions
  • 
  fulfilling your previous Knowledge Vision
  Result of a Grand Action: +1 IP to be spent only on a new Bind Power and a 
  brief vision of the next knowledge goal.
  Hellbound
  Violating Actions
  • 
  sparing the life of an enemy
  • 
  sacrificing power, influence, or any other selfish end for another’s 
  benefit
  • 
  helping the meek or downtrodden (except to further your own ends)
  • 
  helping an Oathbound (except to further your own ends)
  • 
  not pursuing your specific goal when you could without significant 
  danger to yourself
  Grand Actions
  • 
  killing a powerful enemy who thwarted you in the past
  • 
  getting an Oathbound Accessor to willingly commit a Violating 
  Action
  • 
  killing an enemy after they are no threat to you
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  T E E N S  I N  S P A C E
  
  • 
  getting any creature to intentionally destroy something they love
  Result of a Grand Action: further disfigurement and +2 IP to be spent only 
  on Bind Powers
  Bind Improvements
  Blockable: An appropriate check of 8 or more prevents it unless the target 
  willingly fails.
  Passive: Unlike most Bind powers which must be activated, this Improvement 
  is considered always in use.
  Bind Improvement
  IP Cost
  Description
  Upgrading
  Access to The Bind
  3
  Allows the 
  Accessor to 
  be Oathbound 
  or Boundless. 
  (NPCs can select 
  Hellbound.)
  not 
  applicable
  Laserblade Mastery
  1
  Allows the 
  Accessor to 
  wield and control 
  their laserblade. 
  (Required for 
  all Oathbound 
  and Hellbound 
  Accessors.)
  not 
  applicable
  Pulling Push
  1
  Blockable. Allows 
  the Accessor 
  to pull or push 
  an object or 
  creature without 
  damaging it 
  from up to 20 
  feet away.
  Each 
  additional 
  point: 
  Increases 
  range by 
  10 feet.
  Purge Venom
  2
  Allows the 
  Accessor to 
  purge a poison, 
  foreign pathogen, 
  or other similar 
  ailment from 
  a willing or 
  unconscious 
  target’s body.
  not 
  applicable
  9
  
  Bind Improvement
  IP Cost
  Description
  Upgrading
  Remove Sense
  1
  Blockable. Allows 
  the Accessor 
  to temporarily 
  suppress a single 
  sense in a target. 
  If successfully 
  blocked, the 
  target is aware of 
  the attempt and 
  who attempted it. 
  If unsuccessfully 
  blocked, the 
  target is unaware 
  of who removed 
  their sense.
  Each 
  additional 
  point: Allows 
  the Accessor 
  to block an 
  additional 
  sense in the 
  same target 
  or the same 
  sense in an 
  additional 
  target.
  Restore Health
  2
  Allows the 
  Accessor to heal 
  minor injuries 
  in a willing or 
  unconscious 
  target.
  not 
  applicable
  Savage Kinship
  1
  Allows the 
  Accessor to 
  communicate 
  with creatures 
  with animal-
  level intellect.
  not 
  applicable
  Silent Step
  1
  Allows the 
  Accessor to move 
  silently across 
  any surface.
  not 
  applicable
  Swirling Storm
  1
  Allows the 
  Accessor 
  to levitate 
  small objects 
  and create a 
  swirling radius 
  around them.
  Each 
  additional 
  point: Allows 
  for larger 
  area of effect 
  or larger 
  objects.
  Thunder Clap
  1
  Allows the 
  Accessor 
  to create a 
  thundering sound 
  with a clap of 
  their hands.
  not 
  applicable
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  T E E N S  I N  S P A C E
  
  Bind Improvement
  IP Cost
  Description
  Upgrading
  Tranquil Wave
  1
  Blockable. Allows 
  the Accessor to 
  calm a target’s 
  emotions.
  not 
  applicable
  Uncanny Visage
  3
  Allows the 
  Accessor to make 
  themself different 
  in appearance, 
  though they must 
  still be the same 
  size and shape.
  Each 
  additional 
  point: Allows 
  for additional 
  10% 
  difference in 
  apparent size 
  and shape.
  Unsettling Visions
  2
  Allows the 
  Accessor to get 
  a brief, confusing 
  glimpse of 
  an upcoming 
  negative event 
  that may 
  come true.
  not 
  applicable
  11
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Kids on Bikes/Kids on Bikes Teens in Space FCF 2006.pdf