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====== Core Concepts ======

===== Biopunk Redemption =====
This world is not ending; it is *adapting*.  

“Biopunk Redemption” names the tone and direction of the setting: a movement from ecological ruin toward renewal through connection.
  * Technology and biology merge...
  * Horror is inherent because change is scary.   But, ultimately, this is about hope
  * Evolution becomes moral choice: redemption through cooperation.  
  * Every transformation carries the risk of losing self, but also of healing what was broken.

===== Identity and Symbiosis =====
The Bloom offers accelerated evolution and shared awareness.  It is the narrative excuse for why our player-characters can do some really cool //superhuman// things.   but the new abilities and perceptions threaten established identity.  Each Host negotiates this tension through three key systems:
  * **Anchors:** memories, beliefs, and relationships that define identity.  
  * **Rupture Choice:** periodic redefinition or sacrifice of Anchors to represent growth.  
  * **Symbiosis Track:** measures the state between **Harmony** (balance) and **Dissonance** (loss of self or over-integration).

Together, these mechanics express the question:  
//**How much of yourself must you lose to become something greater?**//

===== Factions and Worldviews =====
The world is divided, not destroyed.  I envision the following primary ideological factions:
  * **Bloom Cults** mystical or prophetic groups worshipping the merger as transcendence.
  * **Integrationists** advocate guided evolution and partnership with the Bloom.  
  * **Containment Factions** seek to isolate or weaponize it.  
  * **Isolationists** reject integration, retreating into sterile zones.  

Each enclave embodies a philosophy of coexistence or resistance, giving the GM tools for ideological and moral tension.

===== The Symbiote Voice =====
Each Host carries an internal counterpart: the mycelial colony itself.  

Together, the mycelial colony embodies the concept of the **[[Collective Coherence Principle]]** providing narrative justification for superhuman powers and locations that have rules for reality that may vary dramatically from our baseline.

===== Design Principles =====
  * **Fiction-first:** narrative drives mechanics; rolls interpret story.
  * **GM Moves Always Hit** - The GM doesn't roll dice.   NPC and environmental situations apply statuses and conditions.  Players may roll to mitigate.
  * **Consequences over failure:** every action changes the world or self.  
  * **Evolution as progression:** advancement measured by transformation, not power.  
  * **Collaborative interiority:** shared storytelling of internal and external change.

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