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New Game Announcement
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:03 pm
by rydi
For those that care, I've settled on a system and rough start date for my next game. Sometime in february of 2012, tentatively. Game will utilize the Aeon-verse books, but plot will be pulled from a variety of other sources.
Edit: Note that the system is just that, a system. The setting is going to be... Different. Definitely not Aeon at all.
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:41 pm
by Avilister
That's an interesting choice. I was anticipating something more esoteric, or possibly that Immortal system we looked at that one time.
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:54 pm
by angelicyokai
Woot!
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:28 pm
by rydi
I needed something with the widest variety of available systems with already constructed rules. All the knacks+inspiration, all the q powers, and all the psionics+martial arts from trinity are readily available. With a minimum of effort, charms, spheres, and other wod content becomes available.
Immortal is kind of a bad system, and the immortal reboot didn't finish the rules. The other side-systems out there aren't very developed, or aren't the right feel (fate, sav. worlds). None of our in-house stuff is done yet, and while a system like marvel might do it, I feel that the game would be enhanced by a greater amount of specificity, and a ruleset that was already fairly well laid out.
That said, I felt nwod was a tad too generic, and we've already been interacting with that system a lot lately. A change up seemed a better idea.
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:33 pm
by rydi
Primary themes will change as the game progresses, and will likely be grouped into three separate phases with some bleed over. Aspects will probably be included in some form or other, but will not be as "pulpy" as in SW or Dresden.
New beginnings (phase 1):
Personal (player) engagement, relationships, timelessness juxtaposed with rapid change, mystery and trepidation (with elements of horror), differences in cultural modes of thought
This section of the game focuses on extremely old individuals as they continue their existence. The goal is for players to play characters
similar to themselves in order to more fully engage the game and explore their own minds, while engaging the other characters in
meaningful relationships. Loves, hates, friends, enemies, or perhaps all of these and more in a single individual. The goal is to focus on interaction as the characters explore their world more fully. Exploits start small, and work up.
Character creation is in part a mystery to players. Options will be presented based upon what the players provide for backstory and on what they desire from the game. Character development (in terms of dots and xp) is likewise a step removed from the players in some instances. Knowledge of supernatural components and 'true' background elements of the setting will be tailored to individuals' skills, backgrounds, and abilities.
The focus of the game is not power. If the goal of the player is to dominate a bunch of weaker entities for a cheap ego boost, there are better games to serve that purpose. Likewise, power advancement is not a focus; characters develop, sometimes in ways they did not expect, but the progress toward 'ultimate cosmic power' is not a smooth and unbroken path, if indeed it is possible at all.
In short, players should expect a storytelling experience rather than a grand adventure full of explosions and heroic mayhem. They should also not expect to maintain an iron grip of control over the minutia of their characters.
Finally, the game is in some ways about personal horror. I will quote from another source, an individual describing the nuances of another horror game, for this:
Right at the start of the Heroes section it tells us that characters "can be servants of darkness, full of pain and terror, or angels that the dark forces cannot touch."
Wait, what? You can play a character that can't be touched by the dark forces? I thought this game was about how my dude's horrible secret past catches up with him and that horror allows even worse things from other dimensions to wreak havoc upon our world? I mean, that's kinda the impression I got from the previous pages.
Skipping ahead to the dark secrets section, we read this: "All characters with a negative mental balance must have a dark secret … Characters with a positive mental balance may also have secrets. It's up to you."
So, wait, you can play a character without a dark secret?
Get.
the Fuck.
Out of my house.
You want to play a horror game about how your character's dark, secret past catching up with him is tearing a hole in reality and allowing even more unfathomable monstrosities from beyond insanity to enter the world... and you don't want the horror to touch your character?
Let me rephrase that. You want to play the version of Hellraiser that has John McClane* as the protagonist? Well, actually, he was kinda vulnerable. Make that Hellraiser starring Chuck Norris, or Steven Seagal, or Dolph Lundgren. Uh, no. Seriously, come on.
(*Bruce Willis in Die Hard, for those who don't know.)
I'm not gonna discuss the actual dark secrets themselves except for this: they are absolutely hella rock on toast. After the uninspiring text on dice and stats, this section jumps out and addresses the premise like a motherfucker.
I mean, okay, sure: you want to play somebody who hasn't experienced anything terrible, maybe even somebody who is strong, and can probably resist a certain amount of horror. Cool. No, really, I dig it. Here's the thing: this game is about your character being victimized. So pick a dark secret anyway, and your character will find out all about his secret past during the game.
Now I'll unpack that further. This is a horror game, and like all stories in the horror genre, it's about victimization. Characters can be heroic, but that's not the point. The point is how they are victimized and how they react to that.
Let's take an example from a book I read when I was like 11 years old. I don't remember the name of this book, it wasn't really good, but it went like this: A married couple goes camping. She is pregnant. There is a toxic chemical plant dumping mercury and whatnot into the lake or river. They go fishing and eat contaminated fish and her baby turns into a monster. She gives birth prematurely, and her baby grows up, in like no time at all, into some horror-movie monster that tries to kill them, and stalks them through the woods or whatever.
Right, so. If this was a story about a detective or a reporter who found out this chemical plant was dumping bad shit that turned some woman's baby into a monster, it would be a mystery (or at least a procedural). Like, whodunnit and why, etc. It wouldn't be horror, because it would just be about some person finding stuff out that really has nothing to do with them.
Or, if the chemical company sent out goons to try and stop this investigator, it would become a thriller. This would make it more personal, but just having people trying to kill you doesn't make your story a horror story. They would need to catch you and go all Hostel or Saw on your ass.
If it was about a chemical company executive who found out his company had dumped bad shit into the river and some woman's baby got mutated because of it, and then he blows the whistle, and his marriage is destroyed because he can't fuck his wife without feeling guilty about mutated babies, it would be a normal drama, like what we call "literature" or whatever. Maybe it would be post-modern. Or maybe it would also be a thriller—see The Insider, directed by Michael Mann. Great movie, beautiful soundtrack.
But it wouldn't be horror. The story was horror because: your baby is a fucking monster, what do you do? How do you react as you are being victimized? While you are terrified, out of your mind crazy with fear, as your life crumbles uncontrollable around you, what do you do? You got poisoned by chemicals, your fucking baby is a monster trying to kill you! How do you react to that physical violation? How do you function?
Another distinction: Rape-revenge movies are also about being victimized, only they deal with the reaction afterwards. She gets raped, and then, afterwards, she goes and gets revenge. We aren't vicariously feeling the thrill of being hunted, alone, and afraid, we are vicariously experiencing the thrill of revenge. The earlier victimization is there to justify and amplify the violence afterwards. That (and the next paragraph) is why it's not horror.
Horror also takes the victimization up a notch by using the supernatural. It's not enough that the antagonist is invading your life, your personal space, your body. It also violates your mind. It defies your mental image of the world, it destroys the conventions of your life. It attacks the very way you think, the way you perceive the world, and your relationships with others.
That is horror. And if you're going to play a horror game, you, as a player, must be complicit in your character's victimization. When we play old Red Box D&D, we know how weak 1st level characters are. We're taking massive risks, and we know it. But it's just a risk. We can mitigate it, work to avoid it. We can hire retainers to die for us, we can examine every inch of the dungeon, we can run away from wandering monsters, we can raise our Swords Against Death, and some of us will triumph.
In Call of Cthulhu, we know things are going to go badly. We might even want to go insane or die spectacularly. It's fun! But there's also the game of acceptable loss at work. We know we are going to lose sanity points, you always lose them, but we have a certain amount of resources at hand. We can still win this scenario, even if we come out the other end bruised, battered, and half-crazy. If we're lucky, we might be left mostly unscathed, and even get a sanity reward at the end!
In Kult, your character is gonna go through the ringer, guaranteed. That's what it's about. Your everyday life WILL be destroyed. Your conception of reality WILL be proved wrong. You WILL be chased through the sewers by Cairath. Your parents WILL turn out to be Satanists who bred you to be some demon's pleasure slave. You WILL go insane. You WILL die. You WILL go to hell. And you WILL keep playing, because we want to know what you do when all this shit happens. So, if you're going to play Kult, you need to acknowledge that you are playing a character that is being victimized. And in order to acknowledge that properly, it needs to be mechanical, or procedural, and in the rules, and written on your character sheet, by you. An actual decision you make during character creation, not just some lip service.
So. That's dark secrets. Pick one. Or more, but pick one, at least.
Dark Secret will likely be an aspect of sorts, as you might be able to tell. The above quote isn't entirely pertinent to our game, but the fact is that dramatic stories require some loss of control to provide a visceral connection and a memorable experience; this applies doubly to any game attempting to add elements of fear, mystery, or horror. And the game will have some elements of horror, even if they are not readily apparent at the outset.
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:43 pm
by angelicyokai
The concept of a character similar to me with a dark secret makes me all squirmy.
Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 12:08 am
by rydi
More on character creation:
The goal is to create someone like yourself, someone you can relate to. But they aren't you. They come from different times, have different abilities, and have different pasts. But they are like you to the point that you can play out the relationships and behaviors that will add realism and immersion in the shared game reality.
So, for my character, I would start at Nature, and pick something that really fit my personality, something to hinge the character on. I'm torn between several, such as visionary, architect, curmudgeon, even leader on occasion. I decide I want to use a dual nature (there's rules for it somewhere, and if not we'll wing it) and pick visionary/curmudgeon. I've got a lot of ideas, they're pretty good, but the pragmatic realities of it all drag me down, and I'm pretty grumpy about it.
Then I fill in attributes. Now, I'm not making myself, but I am making someone that relates to the world in the same way. I'm a generalist at heart, though I believe in excellence where possible. On a long enough timeline, that would translate to a lot of 3's and 4's, but probably few 5's. Skills are the same, skilled in many areas but a true master of few.
There is an element of the supernatural in the game, but it is... vague. We start with the knacks available in Adventure! and we try to ignore the light and fluffy tone the book takes while looking at it. For more esoteric things, we discuss things with the ST/GM. For my part I want to know a bit more about the other stuff that is out there, but I don't want to expose myself to too much risk; I'll end up with some basic occult knowledge, but not much more probably. As far as actual powers, I sort of think some emotion stuff might be appropriate, some of the mesmerist knacks would probably do just fine. I'd have to look at more powers, but I think that would work.
For backgrounds, I think I'd like to take something involving long term planning. Maybe resources, maybe alternate identities, maybe something like age for the additional xp. Not sure. (note that i'm pulling bg's from several sources, which is the benefit of using a white wolf system). Probably should look at allies, or at least contacts, though that would really depend on how old I end up being.
Then I pick aspects. In this, aspects are going to be connected to other characters, and deal with a few intrinsic qualities. Something to describe and define your immortal existence, your nature, a dark secret, and then aspects/descriptors for your relationship to EACH character. Now, this isn't real life, it's a dramatization. I don't want your real dark secret, just one that fits your personality and the character you've made. For relationships, we aren't replicating our real-life interactions, but we do want to at least have something that we can get into playing. I'd love to see some romantic relationships, but if you can't play them, don't. For me, I'll probably define my existence by the way it relates to others, as some sort of teacher, mentor, etc. and will try to create intense bonds with characters to set the tone for the game. I've always wanted to play out a romantic relationship in game, and with my wife, so I'll probably go there. I need someone to have a tense relationship with, a shared past of conflict that bled into friendship, so gid or jason. An intellectual companion to share thoughts on life, perhaps steven or adam. A long term correspondent (though honestly I'd probably be more desperate than the average immortal to stay in touch) that i contact often to maintain my sanity, perhaps angela or josh. And as for my dark secret... hmm.
But you see where this is going. It is a bunch of plot driven decisions. No one here is likely to be the "greatest warrior that ever lived" archetype, nor would they really know how to play it. The whole point is to play someone you can really get into, and describe a character that has parts of you, but isn't actually you.
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:05 pm
by rydi
Supernatural Selections:
While this could probably be pretty awesome with ONLY basic human abilities and immortal lifespan, that isn't the tale I plan on telling. There are a variety of supernatural options available, though characters will be limited in the number of these they may select to a few categories:
Heightened Abilities: the base adventure rules allow you to start with a 6 in an ability. This is used exactly as listed, and represents lifetimes honing a skill. Duncan McCloud's swordsmanship, Wolverine's ability to kill people, or Lacroix's creepy stalking of his progeny all count.
Background Enhancement: This can be applied to any background, representing an awesome, transcendent level of that background. My retainer is wolverine. I can finance an expedition to the moon. I'm older than this mountain range. My secret identities have secret identities of their own. And so on.
Knacks: These are a smattering of various abilities that either place more emphasis on the immortal's long existence in the form of nearly supernatural prowess, or emphasize the immortal's actual supernatural state. Characters can take any appropriate knacks, but are limited to lvl 2 or below.
Psi: In ancient times this would have been seen as magic, or perhaps the manifestation of the soul's potency. It uses the rules for psiads in the aberrant player's guide (using the trinity psionic modes).
Sorcery: Through exacting rituals the immortal manipulates reality. This will use one of three systems, I haven't decided which yet. The current options are: exalted sorcery rules, owod sorcerer, and nwod second sight magic.
Evocation: The ability to call on powers from beyond the mortal plane to perform certain functions. This will utilize a modified version of mage: the awakening rules, max 3 dots in any given sphere.
Other: if there is something appropriate to the character that isn't covered, bring it up. Other powers will be made available as the story progresses.
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:41 am
by Amseriah
I guess I will make it official and post it, I am very interested in this game so you can count me in.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:54 pm
by rydi
Some new info finally. Here is char creation, new and modified traits, and xp. All data subject to change as I find stuff that doesn't work.
List of New Traits:
Attributes: as per Adventure!
Abilities/Specialties: add Occult to Wits, and add the thaumaturgy rules from Exalted based on Occult; the specialty Lore may be applied to any skill, and taken multiple times to represent higher knowledge of supernatural truths regarding that skill; Fighting styles listed in the Trinity Player's Guide and Aberrant the New Flesh are available for purchase and can be combined.
Backgrounds: all Adventure backgrounds, plus Age from V:tM, and any other trait from any other 2nd ed. WoD product, exalted product, or Aeonverse product that works well with the setting (when in doubt, ask).
Advantages: NWoD Mage Arcana (same rules), Trinity Psi Modes (modified rules), Knacks (mostly as written, some mods, no restriction by type but no mesmerist Knacks at all and no Tier 3), Exalted Sorcery (modified costs), any merits appropriate to the setting (when in doubt, ask)
Soul Traits: Willpower (modified starting dots), Spirit (Psi; modified rules), Gnosis (as written), Reflective, Intuitive, Destructive (as written, but modified starting dots and no inspiration); all averaged to create Soul (a primary power stat equivalent to essence or quantum)
Revised Character Creation Table
Phase One: Genesis
Step 1-4: Same as Adventure! p.116
Step 5: Distribute 4 dots among the six Soul Traits; spend bonus points (15, as per table except all soul traits cost 2pts, and only 2 dots may be purchased this way)
Phase Two: Immortal
Step 1: Choose Primary Soul Trait (other soul traits may not exceed the selected trait)
Step 2: Choose Advantages from the following Groups that may be selected with Immortal Points
-Group A – Characters may choose to purchase from any 2 of the following Trait categories: Ability Mastery, Ability Specializations (Fighting Styles), Ability Specializations (Lore, Thaumaturgy)
-Group B – Characters may choose to purchase from any 2 of the following Trait categories: -Background Enhancements, Knacks (Heroic or Dynamic lvl 1-2), Merits (1 IP = 4 bonus points)
Group C – Characters may choose to purchase from any 2 of the following Trait categories:Evocation Arcana, Serenade Aptitudes, Tier 1 Sorcery Charms
Characters that select Traits from Group C must follow special rules for trait selection (Evocation -Watchtower; Serenade-Aptitudes; Sorcery-Category)
Step 3: Spend Immortal Points
Spend 13 TP's; costs are the same as those listed in Adventure!, with some exceptions.
-Willpower dots and all other Soul Trait dots cost 1 IP
-Inspiration points and dots do not existent
-4 Merit points per 1IP
-Fighting Style Specializations cost 1IP
-2 Lore or Thaumaturgy Specializations cost 1IP
-Evocation Arcana cost 3 IP
-Serenade Modes cost 2 IP
-Sorcery Charms cost 2 IP
Phase Three: Last Details
Step 1: Spend Age XP (See revised xp chart)
Step 2: Select Aspects (Nature, Dark Secret, Relationships)
Step 3: Finalize calculated values
Revised Experience Chart
(numbers after slashes represent non-favored Trait costs)
* Attribute: 10 xp
* Ability: 4 xp
* Background: 3 xp
* Specialty: 2 xp (3xp for Lores and Thaumaturgy, 4xp for Fighting Styles)
* Sorcery: 10 xp for tier 1 charms
* Arcana: 10/12/14
* Serenade Modes: 7/10
* Soul Traits: 10
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:57 pm
by rydi
Oh, and Legacies. Not the mage kind. This is a reminder to myself.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:16 pm
by rydi
age:
1-300 - 0xp
301-500 - 60xp
501-750 - 110xp
751-1000 - 150xp
1001-1500 - 180xp
1501-3000 - 200xp
Before recorded history - 201xp
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:30 pm
by angelicyokai
Questions!
Since heroic knacks dont follow the lvl 1-3 ranking, are they all fair game?
(yes)
You had mentioned that characters who didnt take age high might benefit in some way that offsets not getting the oodles of xp, is that still correct? (i dont need specifiics, just wondering if ill be at a greater disadvantage for not being older than time.
(won't be at a disadvantage for not taking age)
Did you finish a character sheet, and if so, i can haz?
(in the works)
Thats it for now!
Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:38 pm
by jimreaper
I find this game very interesting, a challenge of sorts. I'd like to buy the gerbil lunch and discuss the mechanics.
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:23 pm
by rydi
Actually Jonathan, this is more a game for the people i've known for 15+ years of my life. Sort of a way to commiserate over shared life.
However, if I run another game of interest, you are certainly invited. You might also look at the various games Gideon is interested in running, or the pulp settings Jason often is interested in running. They both could use the players, and you would likely be a good one.