Unnatural Trauma
It hurts your brain to think of things that don’t belong in your concept of the world. Contemplating infinity for too long, seeing proof that sometimes 2 + 2 = 5, and understanding how magic actually works are all unnatural traumas. It’s more subtle and unnerving than Violence. Everyone recognizes that violence exists, even those who are insulated from it. Unnatural traumas don’t just attack your idea of safety. They attack your idea of how the universe works.
If Hardened/Failed Violence are often used to run away from or towards battle, Hardened and Failed Unnatural are both often used in Climb and Swim rolls involving magic and the supernatural. Both can attune a character to the workings of the paranormal and so are often used to make appropriate Perception, Appraise, and Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, planes, religion) rolls. Hardened Unnatural is often used to make Disable Device and Intimidate rolls that involve magic or spells somehow, as well as Craft rolls to produce an enchantable item and Linguistics rolls involving otherworldly languages. Spellcraft, Will, and Use Magic Device rolls all often use Hardened Unnatural in general.
Hardened Unnatural governs the spellcasting of wizards. They also use it to calculate how many skill ranks they receive each level. Only one other class ~ bards ~ enjoys the benefits of a single trait governing both.
The Effects of Various Levels of Failed Unnatural (FU) Trauma on Personality
1 ~ At this level it’s pretty hard to tell. Perhaps you become a little superstitious—pestering the local fortuneteller daily, watching for “lucky” numbers, avoiding cracks in the sidewalk, etc.
2 ~ You have a few nightmares, and you are suspicious of and/or fascinated by occult and religious books, places, paraphernalia, and people.
3 ~ You frequently feel like you’re being watched, even when there’s no one around. Sometimes it seems like you hear voices in “white noise”—sounds like the wind in the trees, the sloshing of servants washing clothes, or the noises of the marketplace.
4 ~ The nightmares are frequent, and often you don’t know you’re dreaming until you jerk awake. Sometimes you feel like there’s someone—or something— watching you and you can almost see it out of the corner of your eye. When you whip your head around, there’s nothing there.
The Effects of Various Levels of Hardened Unnatural (HU) Trauma on Personality
1–3 ~ There’s little to distinguish you from the average person, except perhaps a tendency to snort derisively when someone mentions their “intuitions.”
4–5 ~ You tend to listen very closely and intently when someone discusses the paranormal or supernatural, trying to figure out if they know something or if they’re just talking trash.
6–7 ~ You now know and accept that there are vast, incomprehensible forces governing the universe. It strikes you as odd when people act as if they’re in control of their lives: you know better.
8–9 ~ Things that average people consider “meaningless coincidences” strike you as deeply, intensely funny because you see the connections that they do not. You may develop a reputation for laughing inappropriately.
10 ~ You are no longer surprised by violations of ordinary logic. Everything is “normal” to you—talking foliage, spontaneous combustion, and stigmata are as ordinary and reasonable as carts, dogs, and rain.
Helplessness Trauma
A sense of control is crucial for feelings of safety, even when it’s completely unmerited. When you have been challenged by helplessness, you can lose your ability to gauge how “in control” of a situation you are: you may feel powerless when the situation is not completely lost, or you may ignore real impediments from a misplaced sense of capability.
Failed Helplessness is involved in determining the maximum amount of weight your character can carry, as well as sometimes being used to make Climb, Swim, Disable Device, Fly, Ride, Sleight of Hand, Knowledge (engineering), Appraise, Heal, Perception, Sense Motive, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, and Use Magic Device rolls. Rolls to perform feats of strength, too. Hardened Helplessness, on the other hand, is involved in calculating your character’s Armor Class (AC), and is often used to make Fortitude and Will rolls, too, while both Failed and Hardened Helplessness are often used to make Reflex, Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Stealth, Craft, Knowledge (local, nature, nobility), and Survival rolls.
The Effects of Various Levels of Failed Helplessness (FH) Trauma on Personality
1 ~ At this level you’re fairly normal. Perhaps you’re a little finicky or meticulous, trying to eliminate the possibility of something going wrong.
2 ~ You have a tendency to get unreasonably nervous and pessimistic when small things go wrong. You may be irritated if someone is just a few minutes late, or if a tool you’re using suffers a minor break.
3 ~ You have an intense dislike for surprises, even good ones. They remind you of the essentially unpredictable nature of reality, and that scares and annoys you.
4 ~ You find it very difficult to trust anything. Your friends, your own abilities, even your memories could be false, waiting to betray you. You have a tendency towards obsessive-compulsive behaviors such as checking your residence two or three (or more) times every time you leave to make absolutely certain no one’s snuck in. You attempt to be prepared for every eventuality.
The Effects of Various Levels of Hardened Helplessness (HH) Trauma on Personality
1–3 ~ You don’t have any major behavior or attitude shifts yet, just minor things. You tend to be pessimistic and fatalistic, perhaps.
4–6 ~ Your fatalism has increased. When things go wrong in a big, bad way, or when trouble comes from a completely unexpected or unlikely source, you handle it with a remarkable lack of affect. (This is not necessarily incongruent with the behaviors of Failed Helplessness 2+: it’s perfectly possible to be freakishly calm about big things and freakishly upset about little things.)
7–9 ~ You have a boundless faith in the ability of chaos to screw you over. You can easily believe that even the most suspicious of mishaps is simple random chance. (“So my plow blade broke and a sharp piece of metal flew at my face. What makes you think someone tinkered with my plow? Shit happens.”)
10 ~ The distinction between “intentional” and “accidental” is pretty much lost on you. Maybe you believe that everything is completely predestined, or maybe you believe that everything in the world happens due to chance. The one thing you find hard to swallow is the idea that we are the captains of our fates.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Friday, August 3, 2018
Boanerges's character sheet 2/3 (Fantasy Friday #7)
Personality: The Fifty encourage their members to be vain and swaggering, stylish bravos intimidating their opponents by means of their number, their volume, their indomitable confidence, and the panache with which they fight. Boanerges internalized all of that, seeking glory through tricks and acrobatics and flashy flourishes. Little is fully serious to him and everything can invite a joke or a wry chuckle, often tinged with the burning cruelty almost reflexive among the Fifty. That cruel streak shows itself on the scrap of papyrus he keeps on himself at all points, scribbled with the blows he taken and all the times he’s been wronged. That way he never fails to take revenge ~ vengeance is very important to Boanerges. The fire burns those who would attempt to extinguish it. A strange optimism develops from the same urge; there is no circumstance in Boanerges’s belief that can defeat him permanently. With an appropriately fancy and daring revenge, he can come back from any set-back or defeat to find victory in the fulness of time.
But Boanerges is feeling (and acting) increasingly awkward. So much of how he knew to interact with people is falling away as he fights to achieve his Destiny by ensuring that justice grows within the Fifty. He has increasingly less of an idea of how to interact with people, and he is terrified that this will expose him as no longer agreeing with the ways of the Fifty. He’s seen what the horde does to those they consider traitors, and he fears that even those he considered (before) very good friends will commit such atrocities on him. These fears are particularly intense after the beating he took for another of the Fifty recently.
Self-control is, in many ways, alien to Boanerges. If there is a pleasure to be had (or better, taken), then he gives himself over to it with a venereal devotion that might be inspirational if it wasn’t so base. Drugs, sex, combat, gambling, whatever it is, Boanerges loves to do it. However, under influence from the archangel Awi, he is struggling to learn how to turn this passion for the bodily pleasures to more exalted ends, still as strong in intensity but less conducive to his remaining powerless. Oh, yes, Awi has shown him how the leaders of the Fifty have fostered this attitude of indulgence as a way to perpetuate their power and consolidate their control ~ to keep Boanerges and those like him docile. Their names are written in large print on that scrap of papyrus.
Also alien to Boanerges is the way in which he must work towards his goals. While personal glory and shining panache were how he used to measure success, now success come when no one (or only those that need to, anyway) realizes he was ever there. Where violence was once a way of life, peaceful interventions and subtlety are now his bread and butter. Where he once sought the defeat of those he campaigned against, now his goals are to ensure that justice is done and to bring his friends to the realization that there is another way to be. Constraining the thunderous force of Boanerges’s personality into these clandestine activities is a constant struggle with himself, and discernment has a tendency to disappear into discomfort. Thankfully, however, that means planning (something neither he nor any member of the Fifty was ever good at) is replaced by his old friend and true companion, quick wits.
Appearance: Like most ifrit of the Fifty, Boanerges’s extremely dark skin shines with an inhuman polished brass sheen, against which his long, thin fingers stand out in a beautiful matte dark charcoal-grey, a color that extends up to his elbows and is matched by his calves and feet. The pointed shape of ears similarly reflects that of the horns on his brow. The ivory, brass-colored gleam of these horns against the bright red of his hair, worn in the traditional triple-crested amasunzu of the Fifty, draw the eye from his easy, dare-you grin and glinting hazel gaze. One almost never notices the seeming oddity of that gaze, not just in color but in the gentle, unflinching steadiness of it, looking at any individual thing just a beat longer than one would expect.
Built like a whip ~ tall, thin, and powerful ~ Boanerges of the Fifty wears a flapping kaftan over a relatively sparse leather armor, designed as much for breathability and heat moderation as for protection. The kaftan is in the traditional pattern of the Fifty, an akyem pattern of bright red and grey, symbolizing the glory of great deeds performed in the purifying flames of battle. Strapped to his back is a large, eye-shaped shield, its black ostrich feathers swaying above a stylized painted image of a bowl containing blazing flames and a small, lightning-like serpent escaping its confines. Boanerges’s frame drips and clatters with gaudy jewelry fashioned from the claws, horns, hooves, and teeth of a wide variety of beasts. In his hand is a gorgeously-carved whacking stick, held by default in the traditional fashion, its bulb in front of his fist and its pointed shaft alongside his forearm.
The Unseen Heart of the Flame, on the other hand, leaves the shield behind and dons a very different kaftan, much more tailored and fit to his flame so as to reduce its sound and its motion. Its pattern is the emaa da pattern that denotes uniqueness, perfection, exceptional achievement, and creative ingenuity behind several large stars patterned with the nsoromma pattern depicting the hopeful power of the people when they depend not on themselves but upon the divine powers. The green in the nsoromma, however, is instead blue, replacing the growth of crops with the growth of peace and harmony. The short raffia surrounding a mask consisting of an abstractified, circular face separated from the crescent moon a foot above it by a white rectangle painted with a blue x ~ adapted from a more northerly mask representing Destiny ~ tickles the silver dove-winged scroll bouncing on his chest.
The two giveaways that Boanerges and the Unseen Heart of the Flame are the same person are the scarred, rough-worn, coarse leather armbands whose thick leather straps clasp each upper arm and the thin, flexible cotton cord wrapped several times around his waist.
But Boanerges is feeling (and acting) increasingly awkward. So much of how he knew to interact with people is falling away as he fights to achieve his Destiny by ensuring that justice grows within the Fifty. He has increasingly less of an idea of how to interact with people, and he is terrified that this will expose him as no longer agreeing with the ways of the Fifty. He’s seen what the horde does to those they consider traitors, and he fears that even those he considered (before) very good friends will commit such atrocities on him. These fears are particularly intense after the beating he took for another of the Fifty recently.
Self-control is, in many ways, alien to Boanerges. If there is a pleasure to be had (or better, taken), then he gives himself over to it with a venereal devotion that might be inspirational if it wasn’t so base. Drugs, sex, combat, gambling, whatever it is, Boanerges loves to do it. However, under influence from the archangel Awi, he is struggling to learn how to turn this passion for the bodily pleasures to more exalted ends, still as strong in intensity but less conducive to his remaining powerless. Oh, yes, Awi has shown him how the leaders of the Fifty have fostered this attitude of indulgence as a way to perpetuate their power and consolidate their control ~ to keep Boanerges and those like him docile. Their names are written in large print on that scrap of papyrus.
Also alien to Boanerges is the way in which he must work towards his goals. While personal glory and shining panache were how he used to measure success, now success come when no one (or only those that need to, anyway) realizes he was ever there. Where violence was once a way of life, peaceful interventions and subtlety are now his bread and butter. Where he once sought the defeat of those he campaigned against, now his goals are to ensure that justice is done and to bring his friends to the realization that there is another way to be. Constraining the thunderous force of Boanerges’s personality into these clandestine activities is a constant struggle with himself, and discernment has a tendency to disappear into discomfort. Thankfully, however, that means planning (something neither he nor any member of the Fifty was ever good at) is replaced by his old friend and true companion, quick wits.
Appearance: Like most ifrit of the Fifty, Boanerges’s extremely dark skin shines with an inhuman polished brass sheen, against which his long, thin fingers stand out in a beautiful matte dark charcoal-grey, a color that extends up to his elbows and is matched by his calves and feet. The pointed shape of ears similarly reflects that of the horns on his brow. The ivory, brass-colored gleam of these horns against the bright red of his hair, worn in the traditional triple-crested amasunzu of the Fifty, draw the eye from his easy, dare-you grin and glinting hazel gaze. One almost never notices the seeming oddity of that gaze, not just in color but in the gentle, unflinching steadiness of it, looking at any individual thing just a beat longer than one would expect.
Built like a whip ~ tall, thin, and powerful ~ Boanerges of the Fifty wears a flapping kaftan over a relatively sparse leather armor, designed as much for breathability and heat moderation as for protection. The kaftan is in the traditional pattern of the Fifty, an akyem pattern of bright red and grey, symbolizing the glory of great deeds performed in the purifying flames of battle. Strapped to his back is a large, eye-shaped shield, its black ostrich feathers swaying above a stylized painted image of a bowl containing blazing flames and a small, lightning-like serpent escaping its confines. Boanerges’s frame drips and clatters with gaudy jewelry fashioned from the claws, horns, hooves, and teeth of a wide variety of beasts. In his hand is a gorgeously-carved whacking stick, held by default in the traditional fashion, its bulb in front of his fist and its pointed shaft alongside his forearm.
The Unseen Heart of the Flame, on the other hand, leaves the shield behind and dons a very different kaftan, much more tailored and fit to his flame so as to reduce its sound and its motion. Its pattern is the emaa da pattern that denotes uniqueness, perfection, exceptional achievement, and creative ingenuity behind several large stars patterned with the nsoromma pattern depicting the hopeful power of the people when they depend not on themselves but upon the divine powers. The green in the nsoromma, however, is instead blue, replacing the growth of crops with the growth of peace and harmony. The short raffia surrounding a mask consisting of an abstractified, circular face separated from the crescent moon a foot above it by a white rectangle painted with a blue x ~ adapted from a more northerly mask representing Destiny ~ tickles the silver dove-winged scroll bouncing on his chest.
The two giveaways that Boanerges and the Unseen Heart of the Flame are the same person are the scarred, rough-worn, coarse leather armbands whose thick leather straps clasp each upper arm and the thin, flexible cotton cord wrapped several times around his waist.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Techgnostic Mormonism: The Beaumont Cosmological Computing System (Traveller Tuesday #6)
OK, this is interesting: I just rolled a 9 on 3d6 for the next religion's God View, which means that it's an interactive monotheism. Like Mormonism and some evangelical Christianities (and, I imagine, some Judaisms and Islams, too), this religion says that there is only one God and that that one God is constantly and ongoingly actively involved in the lives of sophonts. This is “God is My Co-Pilot” and “I Have a Testimony” territory. How is this going to interact with the Spirit-Listeners' watchful eagerness to take the path the spirits of the dead have made easy? Will they be great allies on this tech-worshiping world, or will they be at each others' too-similar throats? Let's find out!
Also, the Lost Secrets of the Rose Brothers are monotheistic, meaning that this might be the successor to the previous religion, perhaps a Mormon-like and/or fundamentalist shift in the guild's teachings?
Well, rolling a flat 2d6 gives us a Spiritual Aim of 6. It appears that this is a religion focused on getting into a heavenly paradise after death. That certainly doesn't sound like anything the Rose Brothers would put forth, nixing that idea. So, is that highly-interactive God trying to get you into Heaven, trying to create situations in which you have to make that choice, or trying to prevent you from going to Heaven after you die? Those last two are more interesting to me than the first. On the one had, you have a God actively campaigning against indecisiveness, apathy, and going with the flow and on the other, you have either a malevolent God who wants to hurt everyone (a maltheism) or a benevolent God trying to save sophonts from the numbing euphoria that awaits them.
The 9 we roll on 2d6-1 gives us a point of similarity between this religion and the Lost Secrets of the Rose Brothers: both have meetings only every other month, Isheean religions don't ask for much in the way of formal worship from their members! (So far, anyway.) I get the sense that Isheean culture, whether Fraternal, Oleinikan, Jermainish, or TCI focuses primarily on the ethical and embedded elements of religion, rather than orthodoxy or ritual. Rolling an 8 on 2d6+2 merely provides more evidence, as we learn that this religion has a loose hierarchy that leaves most decisions to the local level. I'm starting to get a sense that this religion might be similar to some Mormonisms, with a strong focus toward receiving testimony from Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother(s), and/or the angels. In the case of this science-fictive religion, the hierarchy would mostly be chosen on two bases: (1) a higher-than-average rate, comprehensibility, accuracy, and detail in the messages they receive from the divine, and (2) more importantly, their skill and creativity at incorporating the testimonies of their congregants into a guiding plan for the community as a whole. Above the local level, clergy would be receiving more testimonies and, as they rise in rank, more summaries of collections of testimonies and trying to synthesize them into a whole ~ high clergy's role is reactive, rather than proactive.
Maybe their theology is modeled on distributed computing? A syncresis of Mormonism and distributed computing? We are all the sons and daughters of God, which means that we are all components of a massive distributed algorithm designed by that God for some ineffable purpose. But how does Heaven fit into this? Ah! If we take it as a God who is creating situations in which we need to make a choice between Heaven and Hell, then each life could be a bit in the process, bit as in the technical, computer-science meaning of the term.
It seems Isheean culture as a whole sees religion as something more akin to philosophy, as we again roll a 10 for liturgical formality, resulting in those bimonthly meetings being formal study groups discussing and interpreting holy writings. As I develop this idea of a testimonial/oracular distributed theo-computing, I imagine them discussing and interpreting not only the writings of the past that laid out the foundations of their beliefs, but also the testimonies of other worshippers and communities, reflecting on how those visions intertwine with their own.
There are active efforts by this religion to acquire converts across the subsector, if not further (rolled a 4 on 2d6-2). After all, the more sophonts engaged in God's distributed computing efforts, the faster, more powerfully, and more effectively the program can run. However, certain sophont species possess nervous systems so divergent from those that devised this religion that its followers cannot see how their testimonies (if they have testimonies at all) could fit together with those of the church as a whole, and so such sophont species are left alone by the missionaries.
3d6-4 gives us hundreds of thousands of adherents to this religion. Random.org tells us that the precise number is a highly respectable 810,552. That's smaller than the remaining available population of Ishee, so I'll invert my process and roll to see what percentage of those adherents live on Ishee. 53% of them live on this planet we are creating, which comes out to 429,593 Isheeans.
Finally, we roll the dWikipedia for a seed of a name . . . how about the Beaumont Cosmological Computing System? Yeah, let's go with that, with a note that the name doesn't capture the heavy Mormon influence on the origins of the religion ~ I'm seeing it as a techgnostic take on Mormonism.
The religious landscape of Ishee so far:
4,966,607 sophonts (31% of the population) atheist/agnostic/non-religious
7,690,230 sophonts (48%) Liberty Fellowship of Spirit-Listeners (known as Fellows, Associationists, or Listeners)
6 sophonts (essentially 0%) Lost Secrets of the Rose Brothers (generally just called gerontocrats or old fogies)
429,593 sophonts (app. 2.7%) Beaumont Cosmological Computing System (generally called Beaumonters, Algorithmists, or Systemites)
2,934,918 sophonts (app. 18.3%) not yet accounted for
Also, the Lost Secrets of the Rose Brothers are monotheistic, meaning that this might be the successor to the previous religion, perhaps a Mormon-like and/or fundamentalist shift in the guild's teachings?
Well, rolling a flat 2d6 gives us a Spiritual Aim of 6. It appears that this is a religion focused on getting into a heavenly paradise after death. That certainly doesn't sound like anything the Rose Brothers would put forth, nixing that idea. So, is that highly-interactive God trying to get you into Heaven, trying to create situations in which you have to make that choice, or trying to prevent you from going to Heaven after you die? Those last two are more interesting to me than the first. On the one had, you have a God actively campaigning against indecisiveness, apathy, and going with the flow and on the other, you have either a malevolent God who wants to hurt everyone (a maltheism) or a benevolent God trying to save sophonts from the numbing euphoria that awaits them.
The 9 we roll on 2d6-1 gives us a point of similarity between this religion and the Lost Secrets of the Rose Brothers: both have meetings only every other month, Isheean religions don't ask for much in the way of formal worship from their members! (So far, anyway.) I get the sense that Isheean culture, whether Fraternal, Oleinikan, Jermainish, or TCI focuses primarily on the ethical and embedded elements of religion, rather than orthodoxy or ritual. Rolling an 8 on 2d6+2 merely provides more evidence, as we learn that this religion has a loose hierarchy that leaves most decisions to the local level. I'm starting to get a sense that this religion might be similar to some Mormonisms, with a strong focus toward receiving testimony from Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother(s), and/or the angels. In the case of this science-fictive religion, the hierarchy would mostly be chosen on two bases: (1) a higher-than-average rate, comprehensibility, accuracy, and detail in the messages they receive from the divine, and (2) more importantly, their skill and creativity at incorporating the testimonies of their congregants into a guiding plan for the community as a whole. Above the local level, clergy would be receiving more testimonies and, as they rise in rank, more summaries of collections of testimonies and trying to synthesize them into a whole ~ high clergy's role is reactive, rather than proactive.
Maybe their theology is modeled on distributed computing? A syncresis of Mormonism and distributed computing? We are all the sons and daughters of God, which means that we are all components of a massive distributed algorithm designed by that God for some ineffable purpose. But how does Heaven fit into this? Ah! If we take it as a God who is creating situations in which we need to make a choice between Heaven and Hell, then each life could be a bit in the process, bit as in the technical, computer-science meaning of the term.
It seems Isheean culture as a whole sees religion as something more akin to philosophy, as we again roll a 10 for liturgical formality, resulting in those bimonthly meetings being formal study groups discussing and interpreting holy writings. As I develop this idea of a testimonial/oracular distributed theo-computing, I imagine them discussing and interpreting not only the writings of the past that laid out the foundations of their beliefs, but also the testimonies of other worshippers and communities, reflecting on how those visions intertwine with their own.
There are active efforts by this religion to acquire converts across the subsector, if not further (rolled a 4 on 2d6-2). After all, the more sophonts engaged in God's distributed computing efforts, the faster, more powerfully, and more effectively the program can run. However, certain sophont species possess nervous systems so divergent from those that devised this religion that its followers cannot see how their testimonies (if they have testimonies at all) could fit together with those of the church as a whole, and so such sophont species are left alone by the missionaries.
3d6-4 gives us hundreds of thousands of adherents to this religion. Random.org tells us that the precise number is a highly respectable 810,552. That's smaller than the remaining available population of Ishee, so I'll invert my process and roll to see what percentage of those adherents live on Ishee. 53% of them live on this planet we are creating, which comes out to 429,593 Isheeans.
Finally, we roll the dWikipedia for a seed of a name . . . how about the Beaumont Cosmological Computing System? Yeah, let's go with that, with a note that the name doesn't capture the heavy Mormon influence on the origins of the religion ~ I'm seeing it as a techgnostic take on Mormonism.
The religious landscape of Ishee so far:
4,966,607 sophonts (31% of the population) atheist/agnostic/non-religious
7,690,230 sophonts (48%) Liberty Fellowship of Spirit-Listeners (known as Fellows, Associationists, or Listeners)
6 sophonts (essentially 0%) Lost Secrets of the Rose Brothers (generally just called gerontocrats or old fogies)
429,593 sophonts (app. 2.7%) Beaumont Cosmological Computing System (generally called Beaumonters, Algorithmists, or Systemites)
2,934,918 sophonts (app. 18.3%) not yet accounted for
Sunday, July 29, 2018
The other half of the equation: Traumas (Design Domingo #6)
In addition, your character has five Traumas, each of which has a Hardened score from 0-10 and a Failed score from 0-5. These measure how close you are to going crazy, freaking out, freezing like a frightened deer, falling on your sword, or running into the night howling like a wolf. These things happen when you start talking with demons, melting your face to win friends, and exorcising the supernatural resonance of a sex crime. It’s tough stuff, and the medieval world offers little to stand between you and going completely gonzo batshit. But why go crazy if you already live there? If you’ve had some heavy trauma in your life (which is depressingly common), you can go ahead and put up to three points, total, into any of your character’s Failed Traumas. For each one you add, you can also put a point in a Hardened Trauma as well. They don’t have to be in the same Traumas ~ if you’re going to be crazy, be your own special kind of crazy. And if you want more than three of each, talk to your GM. Remember to wear clothes.
You’re going to face a lot of threats and do a lot of things out there, and not all of them are physical. You’re going to be exposed to stresses that are beyond the normal, experiences that challenge your mind’s ability to fit them into your view of how the world works. These stresses are measured by the Traumas. As mentioned before, there are five scores that measure how resilient or susceptible you are to different mental stress: Violence, the Unnatural, Helplessness, Isolation, and Self. It’s quite possible to be very casual about, say, Violence, while being a basket case when it comes to the Unnatural.
Each Trauma has two scores. Hardened Traumas represent stresses you’ve endured, and they are scored 1–10. Failed Traumas represent stresses that have broken you even just a little bit, and they are numbered 1–5. It’s common to have nonzero scores in both versions of a single Trauma. Someone who’s deep in both directions on Isolation probably has a highly ambivalent attitude towards being alone, which is perfectly in character for people who have been repeatedly exposed to that mental stress. Someone with the same situation for Violence feels little or nothing when exposed to most forms of bloodshed, but when something is so shocking that it gets through the hardened barrier, the result is devastating.
Remember that the following descriptions include examples of rolls that each Trauma is often used to make, but that these are suggestions and indicators of frequency. Once again, a character’s reasons and emotional realities determine which trait is used for any given roll; talent, ability, training, and more esoteric things in that category are described with skill ranks and feats.
Violence Trauma
You have an instinctive revulsion towards actual violence. It’s stressful to hurt others, to watch others get hurt, and to get hurt. This Trauma also covers the fear of death that everyone suffers from in varying degrees.
Though it is relatively easy to imagine situations for every Trauma to contribute to any given kind of roll, both Hardened and Failed Violence are probably the most common to use when making attack rolls. They are both often used to make Perception and Knowledge (dungeoneering) rolls and also Craft rolls that produce arms, armor, and the like. Like Valorous/Cowardly, both are also often used to make Climb, Swim, and Sense Motive rolls. Failed Violence is involved in calculating your character’s Armor Class (AC) whereas Hardened Violence is involved in calculating hit points. Hardened Violence also adds to damage rolls, like Cruel and Vengeful and is also often used to make Appraise rolls to appraise arms, armor, and the like. It’s sometimes used to make Will, Heal, Survival, and Intimidate rolls.
The Effects of Various Levels of Failed Violence (FV) Trauma on Personality
1 ~ At this level, you’re superficially fine. Perhaps you’re a little edgy whenever a knife in the room happens to be pointing your direction.
2 ~ You are very aware of violence, both as it exists and as it is depicted. It strikes you as somewhat odd that so many people don’t realize that the violence in the stories and songs of troubadours is very different from real violence.
3 ~ You get alert or uneasy every time you see blood, even badly faked blood in a play (or even a puppet show) or when someone cuts a rare steak. Sometimes you have nightmares about violence you’ve witnessed.
4 ~ You instinctively take a defensive posture whenever there’s a loud noise or raised voice nearby. Your nightmares are frequent, and you have a hard time looking at anyone without imagining (if briefly) what you would do at that moment if they attacked you.
The Effects of Various Levels of Hardened Violence (HV) Trauma on Personality
1–3 ~ Superficially, you’re much like everyone else.
4–5 ~ Your attitude towards violence shows on your face when the subject comes up in conversation, unless you work to keep it hidden. It might be intensity, or nervousness, or just a grim silence, depending on how you cope.
6–7 ~ Violence is a common feature of your mental landscape. Unlike less-hardened people, you show little reaction at all when it is discussed or depicted in fiction.
8–9 ~ Your callousness shows in your every word and expression unless you make a continuous effort to suppress it. Again, the exact tone is up to you: it could be bitter and harsh, feverish and vehement, or icy cold.
10 ~ It’s not hard for people to realize that the deepest horrors of torture and brutality have become commonplace to you, unless you work very, very hard to keep it hidden—which means you come off as tense and guarded all the time. The death of others, or yourself, has no intrinsic significance. You might prefer to stay alive, but it’s only a matter of personal taste. Life, in the abstract, doesn’t mean anything.
You’re going to face a lot of threats and do a lot of things out there, and not all of them are physical. You’re going to be exposed to stresses that are beyond the normal, experiences that challenge your mind’s ability to fit them into your view of how the world works. These stresses are measured by the Traumas. As mentioned before, there are five scores that measure how resilient or susceptible you are to different mental stress: Violence, the Unnatural, Helplessness, Isolation, and Self. It’s quite possible to be very casual about, say, Violence, while being a basket case when it comes to the Unnatural.
Each Trauma has two scores. Hardened Traumas represent stresses you’ve endured, and they are scored 1–10. Failed Traumas represent stresses that have broken you even just a little bit, and they are numbered 1–5. It’s common to have nonzero scores in both versions of a single Trauma. Someone who’s deep in both directions on Isolation probably has a highly ambivalent attitude towards being alone, which is perfectly in character for people who have been repeatedly exposed to that mental stress. Someone with the same situation for Violence feels little or nothing when exposed to most forms of bloodshed, but when something is so shocking that it gets through the hardened barrier, the result is devastating.
Remember that the following descriptions include examples of rolls that each Trauma is often used to make, but that these are suggestions and indicators of frequency. Once again, a character’s reasons and emotional realities determine which trait is used for any given roll; talent, ability, training, and more esoteric things in that category are described with skill ranks and feats.
Violence Trauma
You have an instinctive revulsion towards actual violence. It’s stressful to hurt others, to watch others get hurt, and to get hurt. This Trauma also covers the fear of death that everyone suffers from in varying degrees.
Though it is relatively easy to imagine situations for every Trauma to contribute to any given kind of roll, both Hardened and Failed Violence are probably the most common to use when making attack rolls. They are both often used to make Perception and Knowledge (dungeoneering) rolls and also Craft rolls that produce arms, armor, and the like. Like Valorous/Cowardly, both are also often used to make Climb, Swim, and Sense Motive rolls. Failed Violence is involved in calculating your character’s Armor Class (AC) whereas Hardened Violence is involved in calculating hit points. Hardened Violence also adds to damage rolls, like Cruel and Vengeful and is also often used to make Appraise rolls to appraise arms, armor, and the like. It’s sometimes used to make Will, Heal, Survival, and Intimidate rolls.
The Effects of Various Levels of Failed Violence (FV) Trauma on Personality
1 ~ At this level, you’re superficially fine. Perhaps you’re a little edgy whenever a knife in the room happens to be pointing your direction.
2 ~ You are very aware of violence, both as it exists and as it is depicted. It strikes you as somewhat odd that so many people don’t realize that the violence in the stories and songs of troubadours is very different from real violence.
3 ~ You get alert or uneasy every time you see blood, even badly faked blood in a play (or even a puppet show) or when someone cuts a rare steak. Sometimes you have nightmares about violence you’ve witnessed.
4 ~ You instinctively take a defensive posture whenever there’s a loud noise or raised voice nearby. Your nightmares are frequent, and you have a hard time looking at anyone without imagining (if briefly) what you would do at that moment if they attacked you.
The Effects of Various Levels of Hardened Violence (HV) Trauma on Personality
1–3 ~ Superficially, you’re much like everyone else.
4–5 ~ Your attitude towards violence shows on your face when the subject comes up in conversation, unless you work to keep it hidden. It might be intensity, or nervousness, or just a grim silence, depending on how you cope.
6–7 ~ Violence is a common feature of your mental landscape. Unlike less-hardened people, you show little reaction at all when it is discussed or depicted in fiction.
8–9 ~ Your callousness shows in your every word and expression unless you make a continuous effort to suppress it. Again, the exact tone is up to you: it could be bitter and harsh, feverish and vehement, or icy cold.
10 ~ It’s not hard for people to realize that the deepest horrors of torture and brutality have become commonplace to you, unless you work very, very hard to keep it hidden—which means you come off as tense and guarded all the time. The death of others, or yourself, has no intrinsic significance. You might prefer to stay alive, but it’s only a matter of personal taste. Life, in the abstract, doesn’t mean anything.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Crowdsourced campaign idea (Shadowrun, or rather: Shadowridiculous)
While trying to read up on Los Angeles to prepare for the upcoming Poison Oak Mentoring Month I'm writing up, I found this little bit:
{In Shadowrun, Los Angeles has been beaten by repeated major earthquakes, leaving a good chunk of its megaplex as underwater ruins and most Angelenos homeless refugees}
"Several charity clinics in West Covina serve the refugee camps and are known for being less than picky about IDs, especially if you can actually pay.
. . . .
Pomona and the Covina Floodwall
The gateway to the Inland Empire, the city of Covina became a sort of breakwater for all of the debris carried along by the flood. As a result, the city of West Covina is now a sort of monstrous floodwall keeping the toxic stew of the floodwaters here out of the rest of the IE. On the east side of the floodwall lies Pomona, now populated mostly by the down and out, those too poor to move to higher ground and out of the shadow of the floodwall. Massive refugee camps sprawl out, temporary pre-fab structures rise shakily towards the sky, and bright graffiti stands out against the predominately gray buildings and residents. It is a bitter and hopeless sort of place, as the shadow of the floodwall serves as a constant reminder of LA’s most recent calamity.
The Covina floodwall, practically the size of a small city itself, is a massive construction designed to filter and purify the toxic waters on the other side and pipe them to the Inland Empire. A small army of engineers and drones maintain the equipment and constantly monitor the status of the waters on the other side. The floodwall is a joint PCC and Maersk project, with Maersk providing much of the aquatech needed to run the operation. PCC forces have a strong presence in the area, and security has increased significantly after the recent bomb scare. Despite the increased security, there have been numerous raids on the floodwall in the past months. Mostly small sabotage, although a few key structural points have been targeted.
Pomona and Covina are really hopping with independent assets right now. Pomona has a lot of places to hide, despite the increased security, and enough people who are too busy trying to make it through another miserable day to care about a stranger’s business.
> If you’re looking for work in the area, try Mitzie’s Bar. The crowd is pretty hardcore, and you won’t find any fancy LA drinks, just piss-poor soy-beer. The bartender, Macy, has some good Azzie contacts and will hook you up, for a price.
> Alex Machine"
And I thought: what would Crazy Ex-Girlfriend be like if it was set in the Sixth World? What do y'all think? Any ideas for musically ridiculous nuanced-feminist adventures in the post-Awakening world? What would it be like if Rebecca Bunch hired your shadowrun team for one of her schemes? How does the story change if West Covina is a bunch of buildings sticking out of irradiated salt water like broken teeth and everyone is wearing rags they plucked from underneath the waves? What if Darryl Whitefeather wasn't just a lawyer, but actually working for the beleaguered Pueblo Corporate Council government? Which character is the secret Aztechnology agent (are Greg Serrano or Valencia Maria Perez disaffected Aztechnology employees?)
{In Shadowrun, Los Angeles has been beaten by repeated major earthquakes, leaving a good chunk of its megaplex as underwater ruins and most Angelenos homeless refugees}
"Several charity clinics in West Covina serve the refugee camps and are known for being less than picky about IDs, especially if you can actually pay.
. . . .
Pomona and the Covina Floodwall
The gateway to the Inland Empire, the city of Covina became a sort of breakwater for all of the debris carried along by the flood. As a result, the city of West Covina is now a sort of monstrous floodwall keeping the toxic stew of the floodwaters here out of the rest of the IE. On the east side of the floodwall lies Pomona, now populated mostly by the down and out, those too poor to move to higher ground and out of the shadow of the floodwall. Massive refugee camps sprawl out, temporary pre-fab structures rise shakily towards the sky, and bright graffiti stands out against the predominately gray buildings and residents. It is a bitter and hopeless sort of place, as the shadow of the floodwall serves as a constant reminder of LA’s most recent calamity.
The Covina floodwall, practically the size of a small city itself, is a massive construction designed to filter and purify the toxic waters on the other side and pipe them to the Inland Empire. A small army of engineers and drones maintain the equipment and constantly monitor the status of the waters on the other side. The floodwall is a joint PCC and Maersk project, with Maersk providing much of the aquatech needed to run the operation. PCC forces have a strong presence in the area, and security has increased significantly after the recent bomb scare. Despite the increased security, there have been numerous raids on the floodwall in the past months. Mostly small sabotage, although a few key structural points have been targeted.
Pomona and Covina are really hopping with independent assets right now. Pomona has a lot of places to hide, despite the increased security, and enough people who are too busy trying to make it through another miserable day to care about a stranger’s business.
> If you’re looking for work in the area, try Mitzie’s Bar. The crowd is pretty hardcore, and you won’t find any fancy LA drinks, just piss-poor soy-beer. The bartender, Macy, has some good Azzie contacts and will hook you up, for a price.
> Alex Machine"
And I thought: what would Crazy Ex-Girlfriend be like if it was set in the Sixth World? What do y'all think? Any ideas for musically ridiculous nuanced-feminist adventures in the post-Awakening world? What would it be like if Rebecca Bunch hired your shadowrun team for one of her schemes? How does the story change if West Covina is a bunch of buildings sticking out of irradiated salt water like broken teeth and everyone is wearing rags they plucked from underneath the waves? What if Darryl Whitefeather wasn't just a lawyer, but actually working for the beleaguered Pueblo Corporate Council government? Which character is the secret Aztechnology agent (are Greg Serrano or Valencia Maria Perez disaffected Aztechnology employees?)
Friday, July 27, 2018
Boanerges's character sheet 1/3 (Fantasy Friday #6)
Boanerges, “The Unseen Heart of the Flame”
Cismale CN/CG ifrit vigilante (splintersoul, zealot of Awi) 3
History: The origins of the roving army known as the Sulxonmo (“The Fifty”, in the Dzena-drif language) stretch back a century and more. The Bonfire Queen of the ifrit theocratic kingdom Rashab at the time, Alfonyath of Astwera, claimed her newborn son was the rightful heir of the Presterjho nation of Cusulu. Naturally enough, perhaps, Sehjic (the Bykeg of Cusulu) disputed this claim. A cold war developed; Alfonyath hinted at invading Cusulu to make it a protectorate of Rashab, but delayed while sending a series of adventurers to search for the Great Erolamadu, a magical ivory scimitar and symbol of her office.
Nothing turned up before Bonfire Queen Alsonyath died and was succeeded by her niece Oramir of Astwera. Hoping to establish dominance and end the decades of hostility, Bykeg Sehjic demanded Oramir re-establish an ancient tradition of sending 50 common and 50 noble ifrit virgins to Cusulu in tribute, a tradition Alfonyath had defied from very early on in her reign. As Oramir seemed to consider giving into these demands, Alfonyath’s son Matamor of Astwera grew angrier and angrier, incensed that what he considered his rightful birthright would be frittered away by his peace-loving cousin. He began to gather a horde of disaffected ifrit and form them into an army of preening, vain, daring warriors. Their tactics were founded upon the intimidatory potential of excessive (and loud) shows of skill and confidence; in short, they were swashbucklers with whacking sticks. He named them the Sulxonmo in mockery of the tribute demanded by Cusulu and allowed his rage to pull him into leading them in more and more despicable ways. Such as the forced recruiting (as in, kidnapping) of children to serve as soldiers.
A few years into his agitations, Matamor had a revelation of a dream in which a child rode a white horse under a banner made of a fishing net, wielding the Great Erolamadu. Born to a wealthy fisherman and his dancer wife, Boanerges was a child of but 35 years at the time. In fact, on his 35th birthday, he went fishing with his own cousin, an ifrit by the name of Logadé, in the Negdal Fields of northern Rashab. After being pulled into the water by a large fish, Logadé found an ivory scimitar, beautifully carved. When they returned, Boanerges watched as his cousin played with the other children of the village, miraculously not wounding them when he struck them with the blade. Everyone he struck, however, began to act like the legends of the zombies people talked about existing in far countries.
Several months later, Boanerges was captured by the Fifty in a raid led by Matamor himself, who recognized the child from his dream. A quick and threatening interview later revealed the location of the Great Erolamadu and its bearer Logadé. Once the Sulxonmo tracked down and kidnapped the boy, Matamor told Boanerges that he had to kill his own, beloved cousin in order to be initiated into the horde. When Boanerges refused, he was told that the alternative was death. When he still refused, Matamor sighed a heavy sigh and hit him with the Erolamadu. The domination effect brought the intended effect, and Boanerges became a member of the Sulxonmo covered in the blood of his own kin.
Cismale CN/CG ifrit vigilante (splintersoul, zealot of Awi) 3
History: The origins of the roving army known as the Sulxonmo (“The Fifty”, in the Dzena-drif language) stretch back a century and more. The Bonfire Queen of the ifrit theocratic kingdom Rashab at the time, Alfonyath of Astwera, claimed her newborn son was the rightful heir of the Presterjho nation of Cusulu. Naturally enough, perhaps, Sehjic (the Bykeg of Cusulu) disputed this claim. A cold war developed; Alfonyath hinted at invading Cusulu to make it a protectorate of Rashab, but delayed while sending a series of adventurers to search for the Great Erolamadu, a magical ivory scimitar and symbol of her office.
Nothing turned up before Bonfire Queen Alsonyath died and was succeeded by her niece Oramir of Astwera. Hoping to establish dominance and end the decades of hostility, Bykeg Sehjic demanded Oramir re-establish an ancient tradition of sending 50 common and 50 noble ifrit virgins to Cusulu in tribute, a tradition Alfonyath had defied from very early on in her reign. As Oramir seemed to consider giving into these demands, Alfonyath’s son Matamor of Astwera grew angrier and angrier, incensed that what he considered his rightful birthright would be frittered away by his peace-loving cousin. He began to gather a horde of disaffected ifrit and form them into an army of preening, vain, daring warriors. Their tactics were founded upon the intimidatory potential of excessive (and loud) shows of skill and confidence; in short, they were swashbucklers with whacking sticks. He named them the Sulxonmo in mockery of the tribute demanded by Cusulu and allowed his rage to pull him into leading them in more and more despicable ways. Such as the forced recruiting (as in, kidnapping) of children to serve as soldiers.
A few years into his agitations, Matamor had a revelation of a dream in which a child rode a white horse under a banner made of a fishing net, wielding the Great Erolamadu. Born to a wealthy fisherman and his dancer wife, Boanerges was a child of but 35 years at the time. In fact, on his 35th birthday, he went fishing with his own cousin, an ifrit by the name of Logadé, in the Negdal Fields of northern Rashab. After being pulled into the water by a large fish, Logadé found an ivory scimitar, beautifully carved. When they returned, Boanerges watched as his cousin played with the other children of the village, miraculously not wounding them when he struck them with the blade. Everyone he struck, however, began to act like the legends of the zombies people talked about existing in far countries.
Several months later, Boanerges was captured by the Fifty in a raid led by Matamor himself, who recognized the child from his dream. A quick and threatening interview later revealed the location of the Great Erolamadu and its bearer Logadé. Once the Sulxonmo tracked down and kidnapped the boy, Matamor told Boanerges that he had to kill his own, beloved cousin in order to be initiated into the horde. When Boanerges refused, he was told that the alternative was death. When he still refused, Matamor sighed a heavy sigh and hit him with the Erolamadu. The domination effect brought the intended effect, and Boanerges became a member of the Sulxonmo covered in the blood of his own kin.
Thursday, July 26, 2018
I'll just put this here for later inspiration . . . .
Call of Cthulhu (being aware of and addressing its inherent racism, obviously)
+
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
+
"Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley
(+
An optional infusion of Unknown Armies, maybe?)
=
One of the best ideas I've ever had!
And if you're wondering why, just hold this in the cosmic horror part of your brain:
In shoujo magical girl anime, the only thing that can save the world is love.
And then read the lyrics of "Crazy":
I remember when
I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place
Even your emotions have an echo in so much space
And when you're out there, without care
Yeah I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Possibly
And now that you are having the time of your life
Well think twice
That's my only advice
Come on now, who do you
Who do you, who do you
Who do you think you are?
Ha ha ha, bless your soul
You really think you're in control?
Well
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me
My heroes had the heart
To lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember, is thinking
I wanna be like them
Mm hmm ever since I was little
Ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done
Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably ooh hmm
As for Unknown Armies, I'll just remind you of its old tagline: You Did It.
+
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
+
"Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley
(+
An optional infusion of Unknown Armies, maybe?)
=
One of the best ideas I've ever had!
And if you're wondering why, just hold this in the cosmic horror part of your brain:
In shoujo magical girl anime, the only thing that can save the world is love.
And then read the lyrics of "Crazy":
I remember when
I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place
Even your emotions have an echo in so much space
And when you're out there, without care
Yeah I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Possibly
And now that you are having the time of your life
Well think twice
That's my only advice
Come on now, who do you
Who do you, who do you
Who do you think you are?
Ha ha ha, bless your soul
You really think you're in control?
Well
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me
My heroes had the heart
To lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember, is thinking
I wanna be like them
Mm hmm ever since I was little
Ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done
Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably ooh hmm
As for Unknown Armies, I'll just remind you of its old tagline: You Did It.
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