I like there.  There's also this thing that I'm trying to wrap my head around, which is creating Fronts that allow for those quiet moments, where you just sit and stare at an impossible vista or find just the right spot and decide to carve something out of the landscape.  Like, there should be things that are worth doing that aren't just about survival or chasing after things, where the GM isn't pushing or leading quite the same way they are with standard Fronts.

Maybe everyone has a Workspace-like thing, a project that they are pursuing just for the hell of it (and maybe for XP).

People getting separated isn't just the Architect's problem.  After all, Cartographers are the least likely to get lost, Astronomers can sense an individual's inner light at close range, and Archaeologists are the best at spotting physical signs that a human has been somewhere.  Good luck coordinating rescue efforts across millions of lightyears, though.

I realize I'm late to the party, since the Faceless is about to be playbooked, but I really dig it and want to play one or play with one ASAP.

A few other basic concepts.

Distance

Harm is replaced by Distance, which represents the physical and emotional separation between people. Violence can create Distance even though, as in AW, it can actually increase Hx.  Corrupted artifacts and dark ravings can give you Distance.  The MC can inflict it on you as an MC move, like Harm, often a consequence of travel and being alone in space.

12 o'clock either means being physically lost, becoming an instrument of the darkness, or -- in some rare cases -- dying.  Generally people become lost rather than getting killed.

Fetters

Armor is replaced by Fetters which are the things that bind you to others.  These have to be big things: true love, children, projects that can't be completed without you, higher beauties.  These are critical to Cartographers and may even be related to their NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH-style trait.  Maybe that have a muse or secret treasure that keeps their heart safe while they spend so much time alone with the darkness.

XP

Suggested by Elizabeth: In addition to marking traits, players can also choose to ask questions to ruminate (using "wonders") about specific characters.  Marking a trait is basically saying: "I wonder what would make this character violent" but you could also say "I wonder if X will rebuild the lost star road" or "I wonder if X is really in love with Y or just fucking scared."

I like your temple, Tony!  I'm thinking that the "I wonder" statements are things the MC says TO THEMSELVES, writing them down in their notes for the Front, not things you say out loud to the players.  They're a bit like the Stakes in AW Fronts, I think, and basically just remind the MC to not have fixed answers to the mysteries all planned out.  Maybe the baby is the chosen one, but maybe not. You can only find out through play.

On malevolence...

Fronts in Firmament are definitely not out to get you, except in the sense that the Darkness is out to get you and everything is potentially (and eventually?) a tool of the Darkness, plus the MC is looking at everything through the Darkness' eyes.  So in that sense, yes, malevolence.

However, mysteries are things you wonder about, so they are not -- at least by default -- always aggressive and targeted at the PCs interests.  You have to kinda of follow what's happening with them and how PCs and NPCs interact with them to see how they're going to play out.

Like, if the PCs stumble upon an ancient library, with stacks of stone tablets whose inscriptions have been burned away by focused light (an Astronomer move), the MC can wonder "I wonder why these tablets were destroyed" rather than knowing that already.  But, over time, you could discover that these tablets contained an epic poem written from the point of view of the Darkness or directions down a long road that supposedly leads back to Earth.  The product of wondering is not always malevolent, but certainly can be, if that makes sense.

Another good wonder, by the way, might be something like "I wonder where they quarried this stone" which sets up a future location.  Actually, ANNOUNCE ANOTHER FRONT might be a good MC Move in the view of Announce Future/Offscreen Badness.

Sure, here are some preliminary ideas.

Fronts

Fundamentals: Instead of an Underlying Scarcity, fronts in Firmament are based on the Big Sky Mind, drawn from this Forge post from 2002. Basically, humans react to the crazy weirdness of floating through space in a number of different ways and each front is based on a certain type of reaction.

Indecision -- so many possibilities of what to do, how do you decide?
Smallness -- feel so insignificant in the face of the stars
Rapture -- total awe of the vast glory of the stars, starstruck
Shock -- complete inability to deal with or comprehend the stars
Terror -- uncontrollable dread, fight or flight
Rejection -- seeks out other "better" explanations for what you experience
Replacement -- comes up with a conspiracy theory or other explanation
Fantasy -- believes it all to be a dream or illusion, refuses to accept consequences
Rage -- channels feelings into anger at a certain person or thing
Zealotry -- takes up a specific cause to keep your mind off things
Apathy -- feigns indifference
Hubris -- god-complex, believes oneself to be special, egotism
Rooting -- limits oneself to acting within a certain sphere, focusing tightly, controlling
Normality -- pretends that nothing's changed, going on with life as usual
Suicide -- decides that death is the only possible response
Gluttony -- drinks deep of experience, insatiably wants more

This list will probably be refined in play and made more useful.  Basically, when creating a Front you either have it be something that ancient humans or contemporary NPCs do/did that came out of this reaction or attempt to press PCs with a reaction mind.  Doesn't mean the PCs will react that way -- in fact, they probably won't -- but it gives you some direction as MC.

Mysteries: Threats are replaced by Mysteries, which can be locations, situations, NPCs, etc.  There are definitely different types, hmm.

Relations
- Turmoil: NPCs creating drama from within the community
- the Lost: NPCs creating drama from outside the community
- A Great Project: someone has a plan and is seeing help to enact it
- Corruption: the darkness is coming (through its agents), and soon
- Birth: a baby is born in the stars or will be born soon
- Xeno: You encounter something that may or may not be alive, a crystal growth, an eerie glow, a humming noise

Remnants and Ruins
- An Unfinished Project: Something stopped the ancients from completing this
- A Partially Destroyed Project: The remains of an ancient wonder
- A Pandora: An ancient trap or situation better off left alone
- A Dormant Thing of Power: Something that needs to be awakened
- A Corrupted Wonder: Ruins given over to the Darkness
- A Tool: You have no idea what it does

Paths
- A Dead End Trail: An ancient road that suddenly stops
- A Signpost: "DO NOT ENTER" is a good one, but there are others
- Glory Road: Supposedly a stop on the way to an ancient capitol, Paradise, or Earth
- A Broken Chain: Several pieces of a now unlinked road
- A Darkened Road: a path offered to and accepted by The Darkness
- An Unmarked Trail: You may have a map, but this is the wilderness
- A Great Leap: A sign that points to another galaxy, WTF?!

Stars and Starlight
- Transformation: a star is about to face a big change, like going nova
- Memories: ancient forbearer have left impressions within a star
- Spelunking: you find signs that there may be ruins or even people inside a star
- Fading Away: an entire beacon chain is failing, why?
- The Lighthouse: you can sense a beacon (small and near? huge and far?) but don't know how to get there

Those are just some ideas.  They're a little too focused on the character types right now, but I think others will develop during play.

I need to come up with specific moves for these mysteries too (like the threat moves), but for now you can probably extrapolate.

Mysteries have Countdowns, Agendas / Dark Futures, Custom Moves, Stakes, and a Cast (though this includes things, not just characters) as normal.  At least for now.

Remember too that the real drama is between PCs and between PCs-NPCs.  The mysteries are cool, but they're merely a platform for the characters to do their thing.  Uncovering them is not the purpose of play, just the structure of it.  And as in AW, the MC should be wondering about mysteries, not having clear answers to them.

I would just say things like:

- It's about awful people in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a makeshift family that sometimes fuck each other and sometimes fuck each other over.

- It's about people who are hot, sharp, hard, cool, and weird.

- Hey, this is hands-down one of the best games ever made. You should check it out.

- Or, for a certain crowd, this game is important. Make note of it.

You mean, can the darkness embrace you? Or invade you like a Brainer?  I don't think it can do that directly, but it's possible that those working on the darkness' behalf or handling ancient corrupted artifacts could do it.

The real temptation for embracing the darkness is when you've gotten yourself so lost that it's going to be nearly impossible to make the rolls necessary to become un-lost.  Because I think there are negative modifiers that accumulate as you roll failures during the recovery process, and recovery requires a series of moves unless you have some special or expanded move.  Like, you can dig yourself into such a pit that, when you finally emerge from being lost, the darkness has a whole bunch of Hold over you. Or maybe those searching for you have to ask the darkness where you are, because otherwise they have to roll a 12.  So everybody in the search party might end up with a little Hold.