We Made Them Look Like Us

By Takuma Okada | noroadhome.itch.io

They came for you and your people. You’ve been on the run for years.
But with this new machine, the Human Renaissance Testament,
there will be no more running.

You will fight. You will win.

SETUP
To play, you will need any number of things that help you feel most
like yourself. This could be anything; examples are below, but there is
no need to use them if you have something else in mind.

❖ Hormones

❖ Makeup

❖ A binder

❖ Your favorite clothes

❖ A sword

❖ Jewelry

❖ Some good boots

THE STORY
Years ago, your people fled a terrible genocide, crammed into the
fastest ship they could find. But your numbers have dwindled, your
pursuers are relentless, and it is a greater struggle each day to keep
the ship one step ahead. You, and this machine, are their last hope.
HUMAN RENAISSANCE TESTAMENT
The HRT is a perfect machine, every part tailored to you. It is every
quality of yourself that you love, amplified to the extreme. It is the
ideal self, weaponized to protect you and yours.

ANSWER: What about you is most prominent on the HRT?

GENAURUM
To synchronize e ectively with your movements and synaptic signals,
the HRT requires the infusion of the chemical genaurum into your
bloodstream. Genaurum can be obtained as pills, injections, patches,
or implants. As you take genaurum, your human body becomes more
similar to the HRT, increasing your e ectiveness in combat.

ANSWER: How is genaurum administered to you?

HOW TO PLAY
Play as many times as you need to. Play THE RITUAL in preparation
in a safe place. Play TO BATTLE when you face a hostile
environment after performing THE RITUAL.

When you no longer need this game, when you are the person you’d
like to be, you have won the game. Play RENAISSANCE.
THE RITUAL
Before every battle, you must take genaurum. It is a ritual to center
yourself. To prepare to face the enemy.

ANSWER: Look at the things you have prepared. What gives you
strength? What makes you look in the mirror and smile? What do you
hold most dear? That is what taking genaurum is. It feels right.

TO BATTLE
Your foes never stood a chance.

You are invincible. You are terrible. You are beautiful.

Human and machine, you move as one. When something in the world
makes you doubt who you are, describe one of the options below:

❖ Defend your people from an all-out attack.

❖ Achieve something previously thought impossible.

❖ Fix a vital part of the ship.

❖ Understand something new about yourself through the HRT.

❖ Defeat your fascist pursuers.

❖ Find a new place to call home.

 RENAISSANCE
From the moment you stepped in the HRT you knew that you would
become one with it some day. You barely even notice when it
happens.

ANSWER: Look at what you used to take genaurum. What can you
let go? What do you wish to keep? What has become a part of you?

ANSWER: What would you tell yourself if you could travel back in
time to the day you first piloted the HRT?

Rest. You’ve earned it.

HUMAN adjective
Of or characteristic of the better qualities of humankind, such as
kindness or sensitivity.

RENAISSANCE noun
From the French; a rebirth.

TESTAMENT noun
An expression of conviction.

Title quoted from Austin Walker in the COUNTER/Weight season of Friends at the
Table. Thank you to all of the #sadmechjam participants, John Harness for sparking
and organizing it, The RPG Design Friends, Ipogew, and Babble On.