quote:even just Inglorious Bestards but for woman/black people/any other given minority group I have no idea how you could make a non-offensive blacksplotation or rape-revenge film game, but I imagine somebody has tried (especially blacksplotation). Fury Road is probably the most gameable recent feminist revenge film, though you could probably do something with Ex Machina.
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Jun 6, 2016 08:16
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Well how offensive do you consider Django?
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Jun 6, 2016 09:05
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Both in Django and Fury road, revenge comes as a side benefit . The protagonists are not looking for trouble beyond the main goal, If the bad guys stand in the way however...
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Jun 6, 2016 09:10
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Fury Road also treated its female characters with respect; while we saw things like the chastity belts and knew that at least most of them were raped given their pregnancy combined with their hate for Joe, it didn't have gratuitous rape scenes or people demeaning them for being women or with sexist language or anything like that. It turns out, shockingly, if you want to empower people you don't need to treat them like garbage first. Edit: This is more a commentary on how media normally treats this sort of thing, rather than in comparison to games here specifically, admittedly. It is something that Fury Road does well though, and probably something to keep in mind when going for that sort of thing, regardless of medium. Roland Jones fucked around with this message at 09:26 on Jun 6, 2016 |
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Jun 6, 2016 09:15
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Even if betterment of themselves comes as the primary goal every single impediment in achieving that goal is caused by the society it can be seen as a revenge fantasy against. So yes helping themselves and their loved ones is more important to the protagonists of Fury Road and Django, but that's just to emphasize the fact that the protagonists are more nobles and moral than their monstrous enemies. You know because they're heroes, legitimately and classically heroic. Something all of the bad revenge fantasies reviewed in this thread lack.
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Jun 6, 2016 09:24
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Once Upon a Time in the West, features a 'classic' revenge plot, Harmonica even protects the villain because he wants to be the one who kills him
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Jun 6, 2016 09:32
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 Chapter One: Year One It's the setting infodump chapter! Project Black We start with a section on AMP origins -- or origin, since they all stem from the same source. Just like I summarised last time, there were scientists, hugely unethical experiments, a mutant rampage, a breakout, a coverup, etc. If you're being harsh, this whole timeline is ridiculous garbage and involves a lot of people acting like assholes for no real reason. If you're being more charitable, as I'm inclined to be... it still kind of pushes the boundaries of suspension of disbelief. There are a lot of holes that need to be handwaved away, which in its own way also sets the tone for the rest of the book. To quote Darren Maclennan: quote:At some point, you get into so much GM handwaving that the GM achieves liftoff and flies about the room like a beautiful, silken bird. That point may be found within the covers of AMP: Year One. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. Setting info! We learn this time around that 'Project Black' was a multinational initiative between the US, Russia, Germany, China, Thailand, Columbia, and a few others, and it started during the 1920s. First things first, it's nice to see Thailand and Columbia getting a look-in there -- when RPGs normally talk about their nation-level power players it's usually the US, China, Japan and Europe, so a couple of unusual candidates are good to see. Second things second, the handwaving starts here. In the 1920s Germany was the Weimar Republic and largely incapable of functioning on the international stage. Also Russia spent 1921-22 having a civil war, although according to a quick look on Wikipedia the rest of the 20s in Russia weren't too bad. Unless you were the nobility, I guess. Anyway, around 1934 Project Black got on with human testing. Four years later they'd had no success and had just about given up. Then one guy -- Dr David Thornton, who I'm sure is going to be important later because he gets namechecked here -- makes a few tweaks and suddenly everything is awesome. Except for the test subjects, who have to be tortured to trigger their powers to manifest, and who have a 50% chance of a horrible death within three months. In any case, Project Black whips up about 200 super-soldiers with various powers just in time for WW2. Except those guys are never deployed, because... I don't know why. Anyone who objected to the mass torturing and horrible deaths gets disappeared by the government conspiracy responsible for the whole thing, because if there's a(n unspoken) key theme this game has it's that governments -- especially the US government -- are eeeeevil and not to be trusted. Anyway, in 1940 a bunch of the super-soldiers go berserk and kill their way through the Project Black facility. The military rocked up eventually to kill everything  but Project Black was in bits and that was the end of that.All survivors were either demoted to casualties or whisked off to the secret labs that all eeeeevil governments have, and all the countries involved agreed never to mention this debacle again -- then got distracted by World War 2, presumably, since that was A Thing That Was Happening in 1940. The Suppression So, it turns out that a bunch of scientists from PB escaped the carnage and went to ground. They stayed in touch (which I'm sure was super-simple during WW2, considering they're all from different countries...) and noticed a small problem: loads of the initial PB test subjects were starting to show mutant powers, years after the initial treatment. Together the rogue scientists whipped up an antidote and managed to get it to most of the affected. Whew. Oh, wait, except the test subjects were passing those traits to some of their kids. Becoming a mutant death engine was heritable! Who knew! The Suppression became an organisation dedicated to keeping tabs on these AMPs and their descendants and making sure they could be dosed up with the antidote before they went feral and murdered a bunch of people. And this worked, more or less, right up to 2015, when suddenly all remaining members of the Suppression turned up dead. With all knowledge of the antidote gone, all these third- and fourth-generation AMPs start to show their powers. This is their story.  Timeline Ah, the titular Year One. We get a list of all the big AMP-related events in 2015, starting with a woman named Stacie and her super-horse on the 8th of January. Long story short she meets a dude who believes in super powers and they get to studying her (and later boning). Later on Stacie the animal whisperer gets into a fight with a janitor and we learn that AMPs have massive adrenal spikes when they come into proximity with each other, causing them to fight a lot. Which I'm sure isn't going to make assembling a PC party a pain in the rear end, no.  I'm not a huge fan of the art in this book, but I can't look at this without thinking DOG-THROWING POWERS, ACTIVATE! Anyway, Dr Whatsisface sets up a support group for people with superpowers, keeping order by dosing the water with tranquilisers. (Eithical!) To protect their anonymity the support group members use nicknames instead of their real names, and in a neat genre nod this is the origin of the Superhero Name tradition. Blah blah Dr Whatsisface inherits a load of stuff from his father, who happened to be the last member of The Suppression and a direct descendant of that evil genius who was namechecked but whose name I've forgotten already, and he starts the Seekers of Enlightenment. Who are in fact not Buddhists but a US-government-sponsored organisation which tracks down AMPs and offers them the choice to have their powers turned off if they want, and does all sorts of AMP research on the hush hush. Are you getting flashes of Aberrant? I'm getting flashes of Aberrant. Also remember that governments are eeeeevil. On the 19th of May Anonymous discovers a cryptic message of doom about AMPs on the internet, and nobody believes them because they're awful. Lol. Who left this message -- which was encoded in, like, the full stops or something across multiple websites -- is never addressed. Never mind how or why. Skipping ahead, glossing over some stuff... We meet Typhoon, who are a giant criminal enterprise made up of people under the mental control of the Matriarch. They and SoE have a fight, then the government turns on SoE in a fit of pique and tortures a bunch of them for no apparent reason (eeeeevil, I tell you!) before they can escape. Stuff happens, stuff happens... the government is black-bagging AMPs and their families, as governments in 90s comics tend to do... We meet faction #3 (the eeeeevil government doesn't count) the Changelings, who are AMPs whose mutations make normal life impossible. They're pretty chill to start with, just looking to make lives for themselves, but I bet that won't last. Then faction #4, the United Human Front, who are stock anti-mutant racists. But they're willing to employ AMPs to hunt other AMPs though, which makes them pragmatic racists. Then in January 2016 Stacie dog-thrower goes missing and Dr Whatsisface goes completely off the rails. He crawls into a bottle, then out of the bottle, decides that VENGEANCE is the order of the day -- and naturally the entire SoE organisation goes leaps to their feet as one and says 'Yeah! VENGEANCE sounds like an awesome plan!' Then a dude appears in a flash of light next to the President and shoots him while shouting 'Magneto was right!' or something similar, before being thoroughly killed by secret service agents. And that's where the game's going to start. Except it's not. The GM chapter suggests different parts of the year in which to start depending on what kind of game you're trying to run -- which isn't bad advice, all told. Oh, and there are also various super-incidents of different levels of publicity scattered throughout. I'm 90% sure that several of these are the playtest PCs getting their name-checks in, but I can't hate on that. ---- Thoughts: So far, so 90s. I can see the traces in this setting's DNA from Aberrant, Heroes, and WildStorm comics -- all of which I loved, back in the day. (I still have a soft spot for the issue of Stormwatch which introduced a bunch of new characters on page one then killed two of them by the end of the issue.) I've glossed over a few of the more blatant rips from other media, like the Donohue School for the Gifted or the time traveller who accidentally sets up the future he was trying to prevent, but by and large AMPYO wears its influences on its sleeve. I appreciate that the chapter also calls out a lot of the big conspiracies and explains the big picture of what's going on in handy sidebars. It still leaves a lot of loose ends and mysteries to fuel the metaplot (there are those 90s design sensibilities again) in the various supplements, mind you, but I'm not completely in the dark. Next Time: Character Generation. In which we make important decisions before we discover anything more than the vaguest system outline.
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Jun 6, 2016 09:40
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Wouldn't Columbia just kind of go off and continue it? Not like they were all that involved with WW2. Then there's that whole thing with Nazi's escaping to South America afterwards and Columbian superheroes sounds way more interesting already. Then there's the matter of 1920's China not being 1950's China at all.
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Jun 6, 2016 10:57
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Cassa posted:Wouldn't Columbia just kind of go off and continue it? Not like they were all that involved with WW2. Then there's that whole thing with Nazi's escaping to South America afterwards and Columbian superheroes sounds way more interesting already. Yeah, I only commented on the historical oddities I was vaguely aware of (thus handily demonstrating my own lack of historical knowledge). The more you look into it, the flimsier and flimsier it gets. Nazis vs superheroes in post-war Colombia does sound pretty rad as a game concept though. potatocubed fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Jun 6, 2016 |
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Jun 6, 2016 11:14
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Cassa posted:Then there's the matter of 1920's China not being 1950's China at all. Exactly, China was divided between factions of warlords in the 1920's, how would they be in a position to do anything like this as a government? Germany had started to get its poo poo together by the middle of the decade but would not have been invited anyway, and why the hell would the US work with the Soviets, we didn't even legally recognize them until 1933! Thailand and Colombia (Columbia is different) actually make more sense than them.
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Jun 6, 2016 14:27
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As much as I like the idea of including countries like Thailand to do something new, there's something sort of weird about having that something new being chemical experimentation on human subjects. During the Great Depression. It feels like Human Experimentation Tourism, if that makes any sense considering what sleazy people go to Thailand for. Also I feel like they might as well have said "this isn't the real world, we're setting this back story in the 1920s because we feel like it" and it would have been somewhat acceptable instead of doing it with a straight face. Don't do the "it's our world but DIFFERENT" thing, you can get away with it if you cop to it being a suspension of disbelief. Cold War Colombia would be a great setting for superpeople hunting ex-Nazis and the info that made them. In the 50s, there's a lot of violence as two different regimes work out over who's going to run the country. In the 60s, you have the rise of the Cartels and guerilla warfare with some of them being backed by the US for hating Communism. You can have plenty of espionage and moral choices by putting the players in the poo poo and having them experience the changes, asking them what they would do to get revenge and stay afloat in the turmoil.
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Jun 6, 2016 15:41
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The other option would have been to localise it entirely to the US, since the modern-day plot takes place 100% there. 1930s robber barons attempting to make supermen to fight the Japanese menace would have made more sense and not stumbled over the international history aspects. Although I'm totally sold on Cold War Colombian Supers. potatocubed fucked around with this message at 09:10 on Jun 7, 2016 |
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Jun 6, 2016 15:54
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Werewolf: the Forsaken, 2nd Edition Fetishes and talens are the two types of magic items that werewolves make and use. They are quite valuable - talens make good items to trade, while fetishes are carefully guarded and protected. They often look unusual, as they have to reflect the symbolism of the power inside them, and often bear glyphs or runes. The power within can be sensed at a touch by werewolves, and you can make an Occult roll to tell what, generally speaking, they do. To make a fetish requires use of the Fetish rite to cage a spirit inside an object. While some spirits will be okay to do this temporarily, some have to be hunted down and chained by force - though that can be dangerous, since you feed the spirit within Essence, so an unwilling one can eventually break free. Talens are simpler - they're a portion of a spirit's power stored in an object, usually, though weaker spirits might be entirely imprisoned. Most spirits will still not make talens without good cause, though, as it weakens them. Most often, it is forced out of spirits in tribute. One dot fetishes have minor or specialized effects - a minor bonus, a free specialty, access to a weak Influence or some simple utility trick. Two dot fetishes are more useful - they might inflict a minor Tilt on their first hit, give a moderate bonus to a Gift Facet or be usable like a modern technological item with a bonus. Three dot fetishes have more power - a vehicle with a bonus, a movement boost in Shadow, a moderate Influence or a change to how a Facet works. Four dot fetishes are either very strong or very broad. A weapon with a bonus, a bonus to all Social rolls, a bonus to defend against spirits of a certain type. Five dot fetishes are legend - weapons that can cut Essence and flesh alike, rote quality on something, a major bonus to an entire Gift or something that lets you break the game rules, like using Defense against mental attacks or being the bane of something that doesn't usually have a bane. However, the more dots a fetish has, the harder it is to use. Talens can also be made by a rite, but they rarely involve binding anything. Instead, they come from a spirit painfully ripping out part of its power and putting it in the object, which doesn't take a rite if you can convince them to do it. Some talens also form from objects that are left in an area with powerful Resonance for a while. Talens also have a dot rating of 1 to 5, and usually contain the power of a Facet or Influence, though not always. When you activate the Talen, you can use the power in it as if you had it. Talens work once, and then lose their power. Example Fetishes and Talens One Dot
Two Dots
Three Dots
Four Dots
Five Dots
From here we get a chapter that just goes over the basic rules for Chronicles of Darkness. We'll skip that. Worth noting, however, is that it tells us that you don't autoheal damage that was in extra boxes you lose by shifting forms. If you shift out of a form that got extra Health, it causes your existing wounds to worsen if you had damage in the boxes you lost. We'll pause for an expanded talk on spirits and Loci, however. Loci are very handy for spirits and werewolves - spirits that match the resonance can possess pretty much anything in the Locus, and they heal twice as fast as normal and get a bonus to cross the Gauntlet. Spirits do not need the Reaching power to use their powers across the Gauntlet in a Locus, no matter what, and those with matching resonance can hide themselves perfectly within one as long as they don't do anything. Uratha can use them to cross the Gauntlet. And on the Shadow side of the Locus, a Locus generates three times its level in Essence each day for anyone to take, with the Essence matching its resonance. Loci are rated from 1-5 dots, with one dot being around 2 yards across and five dots being an entire city block or lake. Loci form when large amounts of Essence build up around a focal point without attracting any spirits. Individual tragedies or triumphs are more likely to become Loci than public events. Uratha can force spirits away to allow Loci to form more easily, but it takes a hell of a lot of Essence. If the focal point is destroyed, all Essence bound into a Locus is released, but unless the Essence is removed quickly, the Locus will probably reform into a new focus item within a few weeks, especially if the place remains heavily resonant. Spirits come in Ranks, which the Uratha divide into five main groups. Muthra are barely formed newborns, mindless and without rank. They aren't even potent enough to awaken, and instead just settle down in Shadow close to Essence. Other spirits eat them as easily as a human might eat an apple. Hursihim are the weakest spirits to fully awaken, many still bound to one place, creature or object, and they act more on instinct than thought. While they have rank, they are more like children or animals than full people to other spirits. Most Totems are of this level, at least at first. Ensihim are fully formed and independent spirits, no longer tied to one Essence source, and are most of the spirits you find. They teach Gifts, give information and help make alliances between umia. The most potent Totems are of this kind. They are the most common prey of werewolves, as well, being the majority that flee to the world of Flesh. Dihim are extremely powerful, paid tribute by lesser spirits. Even the weakest dominate the Shadow and must be respected. They teach the most potent Gifts, and when they come into the world of Flesh, it's always a major event. Ilusahim are the gods of Shadow, spirits of global phenomena and rulers of whole umia. The 'weaker' types are things like the Firstborn, while the strongest are Luna and Helios. They are almost never seen in person and are too powerful to cross the Gauntlet personally. Werewolves often have to negotiate with spirits, and they name this kind of dealing 'gathra'. The more powerful a spirit and the more it hates the Uratha, the more it will demand in gathra for its help. Some want service, others Essence or assistance in spiritual politics. This is Social Maneuvering, but spirits, unlike mortals, cannot agree to a deal until paid or forced. Anyway, from there it's the rules that've been talked about already. Next time: The Pure Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Jun 6, 2016 |
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Jun 6, 2016 16:05
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Hostile V posted:Most Broken Class (Not In A Good Way): Nobody really but I will call out this necessity for Spirit rolls when there's a lot of predecessor power sets that are just "you do the thing, make an attack roll". I would go with the Hound here because nothing you posted suggested the Hound could selectively not sense people - so they literally can't work in a party at all, because if any party member is closer to them than an unknown Delta, welp, there goes all actual use they might possibly have.
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Jun 6, 2016 16:08
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Mors Rattus posted:I would go with the Hound here because nothing you posted suggested the Hound could selectively not sense people - so they literally can't work in a party at all, because if any party member is closer to them than an unknown Delta, welp, there goes all actual use they might possibly have. Okay the Hound is busted.
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Jun 6, 2016 17:11
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I love how they couldn't even be bothered to rotate the shots of the pregen's heads for the ID cards to have them facing the "right way".
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Jun 6, 2016 17:15
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NutritiousSnack posted:We have an ongoing review of a game having the literal patriarchy be the villain against feminist witches. It's a bad premise, with only the occasional writer doing a decent job of it. Handing political strawman to beat up on sucks the writers ability to write well rounded characters, create tension, or even "tough characters". As much as I dislike Miller or Ennis, the former and current can right compelling villains of opposing ideology. From limp wristed liberal psychologist right about the heroes relationship with his villains to Lesser Evil and Competent Dick Cheny. Except Bella Magum fails at strawman beating because the strawmen in question habe been brainwashed by the planet Mars, and it falls into the same trap as Beast by using actual oppressed groups and turning them into psychopathic monsters doing terrible things with flimsy justifications. Kavak posted:Exactly, China was divided between factions of warlords in the 1920's, how would they be in a position to do anything like this as a government? Germany had started to get its poo poo together by the middle of the decade but would not have been invited anyway, and why the hell would the US work with the Soviets, we didn't even legally recognize them until 1933! Thailand and Colombia (Columbia is different) actually make more sense than them. With this an Brave New World, it appears the overlap between "superhero RPG writer" and "history geek" (or alternatively "Wikipedia visitor") is a bit slim. Doresh fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Jun 6, 2016 |
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Jun 6, 2016 17:30
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Bellum Maga also had the only positive portrayal of a man in the game be the Barrista who's loving the POV character. And some really hosed up opinions on Trans issues. Beast on the other hand doesn't have any positively portrayed Heroes but it does have plenty of non-binary characters who are very vocal about being non-binary.
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Jun 6, 2016 17:37
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Doresh posted:With this an Brave New World, it appears the overlap between "superhero RPG writer" and "history geek" (or alternatively "Wikipedia visitor") is a bit slim. To be fair, I don't think wikipedia existed when BNW was made.
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Jun 6, 2016 19:43
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Y'know, I'm kind of surprised that there was never a licensed Blood War RTS, since that genre was peaking when Planescape was in development. (I do remember there being a Blood War TCG, I assume it was just crushed by MtG).
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Jun 6, 2016 19:46
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Covok posted:To be fair, I don't think wikipedia existed when BNW was made. Very likely, but AMP has no such excuse.
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Jun 6, 2016 19:49
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Covok posted:To be fair, I don't think wikipedia existed when BNW was made. I mean, if you know your history to that point that's great, but you kind of need to do a little "this is what happened in our world" sidebar so people really get what you're trying to say.
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Jun 6, 2016 19:50
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SirPhoebos posted:Y'know, I'm kind of surprised that there was never a licensed Blood War RTS, since that genre was peaking when Planescape was in development. (I do remember there being a Blood War TCG, I assume it was just crushed by MtG). There's a huge amount of potential for all kinds of games based on DnD, but Wizards seems to be retarded. Total War: Eberron, anyone?
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Jun 6, 2016 19:55
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Werewolf: the Forsaken, 2nd Edition Uratha need prey - and some of that prey is incredibly dangerous. Powerful spirits, shartha that seek to reunite into their deific progenitors, human institutions larger than any pack. This chapter's all about those - and the things that even Uratha don't know how to hunt: the idigam, spirits of things that don't exist, banished the moon, each unique and dangerous. But more on them later. Right now? The Pure. The Pure are werewolves, just like the Forsaken. They have all the strengths of a werewolf - physical and spiritual. They reject the Forsaken beliefs and their bond with Luna. Some want to return to the paradise of hunters that was Pangaea and blame Luna and the original Forsaken for its loss, while others reject the idea that the Shadow must be kept in balance. The rift between Pure and Forsaken is a brutal war that has been going on for millenia. There are three Pure tribes to the five Forsaken ones, but each is quite large. The Fire-Touched, or Izidakh, are mad zealouts. They follow the Firstborn Rabid Wolf, and serve as the priests of Shadow and spirit. Their sacred prey is those who dishonor and disrespect the Shadow. They see the Forsaken as deluded betrayers, but they believe that their lost cousins can be saved, if they'd just listen. The Fire-Touched are armed with many Rites and esoteric lore, making them very dangerous, especially in Shadow. They are the largest of the tribes and wield spiritual disease and madness against the Forsaken. The worst thing about them, however, is that they love to talk to you, and they can be distressingly persuasive. The Ivory Claws, or Tzuumfin, follow Silver Wolf. They are obsessedf with having a pure lineage, believing that the heritage of Father Wolf is in the blood, and so with pure enough blood they might build a new Pangaea. The Ivory Claws track their lineage amazingly, keeping track of the supernatural bloodlines of the human population and culling where they see ift. Their sacred prey is those who do not honor their lineage - which the Ivory Claws define to include most Forsaken. The trick with hunting an Ivory Claw is that they are wealthy and wield their human kin like weapons. They aggressively recruit new werewolves and Wolf-Blooded, stealing them away from the Forsaken, and they're masters of rituals of pain and blood, using them to call on the potential that lies in their spiritual inheritance. Some claim they practice cannibalism of other werewolves for power, and their goal is simple: breed Werewolf Jesus. The Predator Kings, or Ninna Farakh, are the most savage of werewolves. They follow Dire Wolf, and care only for hunting. They see human efforts to tame the world as an affront to the paradise Pangaea, and they name as sacred prey all those who fail to honor the hunt appropriately - including both the Forsaken and modern humans. The Predator Kings are unrivalled in physical brutality, but not stupid. Their message of surrender to the predatory urge is an attractive one for werewolves, and their rejection of civilization means they don't hold back against your human allies. And perhaps weirdest of all, they aren't entirely wrong in their belief that Pangaea can be found in savage revelry, because their Sacred Hunts can and have changed the relationship between Flesh and Shadow before. A few things differentiate the Pure from the Forsaken, mechanically. The Pure reject Luna, and have neither auspice nor Moon Gifts. They have stronger ties to Shadow than the Forsaken, and instead of the Moon Gift, they get an extra Shadow Gift and a free dot of Totem. Last, the Pure react much more strongly to silver than the Forsaken. Merely touching silver causes 1B per round, and during the full moon, this increases to 1L. The Pure tend to have potent totems and unusual Gifts, and they always have more spirit allies than the Forsaken. It should be noted that the Pure do not always want to kill the Forsaken. The Fire-Touched, especially, prefer to recruit them and sway them. The Ivory Claws are happy to spare you if you: A. have strong lineage and B. are happy to join their bloodline cult. The Predator Kings will kill you if you get in the way, but are always happy to have another hunting alongside them. Just carve out Luna's marks on your soul first - don't worry, they'll show you how. And it'll hurt like hell...but hey. You'll be Pure, right? The Pure aren't the only danger that the Uratha hunt, however. Spirits are ore numerous, harder to categorize and always hungry. Even one spirit can have a lot of power, thanks to its Numina, Influences and raw physical strength. A powerful Ensah can take on an entire pack and not always lose. Worse, spirits are elusive, difficult to track. You have to use their weaknesses against them and learn all you can to be able to win. Without knowledge of a spirit's nature and abilities, you have little chance. It's also important to remember that not all spirits are prey - they can be allies, totems and resources. They are used to gain Essence, Gifts and rites, to bind talens and fetishes. Spirits don't work for free, though, and often wouldn't be capable of it even if they wanted to. Even so, they can be used quite well in your hunt - spies, scouts, fighters and more, if you offer them the right gathra. Influences are especially potent and often overlooked - an emotional spirit can strengthen rage within the prey, a fire spirit can make flames fly out, a raven spirit can call on entire flocks to harry the prey. Never forget how useful a spirit can be. Then we've got Hosts. Hosts are incredibly dangerous, the fragments of ancient gods who, by fragmenting, survived even Father Wolf's fury. They are eternally trying to reforge themselves from their shards, able to hide in human flesh yet also become monster of immense size. They twista nd warp the Gauntlet, and just killing them is rarely enough. They come in two main varieties. First are the Azlu, the Spider-Hosts, who are shards of the Spinner Hag. Each is a spider that seeks to devour other spiders. Individually, they are tiny, but they can crawl into a human's skull, burrow into their brain and take them over. Soon, the body fills with spiders and, by absorbing other shards, they transform into a horrific spider-human hybrid of immense power. The primary goal of the Azlu, besides reunification, is to entirely split Shadow and Flesh, weaving their webs into the Gauntlet to strengthen it. They can even web out Loci into traps that snare those that try to use them, and they leave areas spiritually dead, without Essence. Even the humans and animals living in these areas become listless. It's said that within the Gauntlet itself are entire Azlu settlements, full of spider-hybrids building webs to somewhere the Uratha can never go. The Beshilu, or Rat-Hosts, are the other primary type of shartha. They were once the Plague King, and they are rats that nestle in the hollowed-out hearts of humans, turning them into rotting bags of flesh full of other rats. The transformation continues until all that is left is a mix of rat and man, full of pestilence and madness. They have a strange mix of paranoid panic and religious mania, with each following their own bizarre heresy. They gnaw at the Gauntlet, trying to merge Flesh and Spirit, then return to the Plague King before a new Great Wolf can destroy them. Their hives are often within large tunnel networks or abandoned buildings, and they spread disease and insanity as well as allowing spirits to easily spread through the material world. The shartha life-cycle roughly goes like this: First, a single shard infests a human, pilotng them around and using their body to host more shards. As the body gets more infested, it becomes clear to onlookers that they're actually a skin-bag full of monsters, but their power grows, gaining more abilities. Eventually, with enough shards, meat and Essence, the body grows into a true abomination, as the shartha merge with what's left of the human to create a hybrid monster that will, left to its own, continue to grow even more powerful. They're hard to kill because the early stage is very hard to spot, and the later stages are very resilient. Their ability to discorporate is a real challenge as well, and once beaten, you have to be ready to kill the mass of spiders or rats that emerge from the corpse, because if even one survives, the shartha lives on. The next major prey of the werewolves is humanity. There's plenty of reasons to do so, and they're plenty dangerous. Surveillence is everywhere these days. Get careless, you get recorded, and then animal control is coming in, and you have humans breathing down your neck all the time - to say nothing of what happens when you piss off organized crime by trying to clean up your area. They're as vicious as you are and have no qualms about hitting your human friends and family. And that's before spirit cults get involved. Sure, any one human is no challenge for you, even if they're a hunter with lots of guns...but humans working together can overcome Lunacy. A hunter cell or paramilitary squad is often more than able to keep going after seeing a werewolf...and they cheat. Just like you. They build traps and ambushes, they stack the deck, the strike at weak points with overwhelming force. Humans that know werewolves exist play really, really dirty - and that's when it stays physical. Humans in positions of influence can ruin your day by accident, just via public works projects - and you can't easily deal with them by just killing them. That leads to martyrs whose cause gets taken up, or just someone replacing them. You need to find a better way. Once a spirit and human get together, however, they become something new - the Ridden, the final major form of prey that the Forsaken recognize. Each of them has violated the laws of Wolf, breaching the gauntlet and taking a human as their body. They're a problem, though. The Urged are hard to track - they're normal humans with a spirit whispering to them, and they don't necessarily stand out in a world full of other mental health problems. Tehy're a danger, though, because each day they exist, the spirit is getting stronger and will soon be able to take control. Eventually, they become the Claimed, in which the spirit and human fuse into a single being, changing them both mentally and physically. They can be extremely powerful, using abilities that neither human nor spirit had alone. The domain of the spirit generates new powers in the Claimed, and often they can ignore simple attacks as they try to push the spirit's agenda along. Their actions often imbalance the Shadow as they change their environment to fit their desires. Last are the Spirit Thieves, or Nanutari, who are fugitive spirits with no time for Claiming or Urging - they just possess someone and shove their consciousness aside to take control of the body directly. They are often easy to track because they leave a trail of chaos, but the problem is, they're never really the danger themselves. Nanutari happen when a spirit decides to run from something, after all. Next time: Idigam
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Jun 6, 2016 19:56
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Evil Mastermind posted:That's something that's come up a few times in the Torg review, too. There are parts of some cosm's backgrounds that are based on real life people or events, but they're presented in a way that makes it feel like I should just know who the pope was in 19XX or who the major players in the Salem Witch Trials were. Last week, I was bored at work and looked up 1943 in WW2 to see what Superior would have prevented and when since it's pretty vague a date and the big one that popped out, bigger than Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Tehran Conference, was loving PT109. You know, where JFK got his war hero credentials that would allow him to get to the Presidency.
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Jun 6, 2016 20:14
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Cythereal posted:There's a huge amount of potential for all kinds of games based on DnD, but Wizards seems to be retarded. Total War: Eberron, anyone? Last time Wizards cared about Eberron was when Warcraft was all the rage and Total War was still a bit non-mainstreamish. So we got Dragonshard.
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Jun 6, 2016 20:17
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Well, they keep updating that weird 3.5 Stormreach MMO even though Neverwinter exists.
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Jun 6, 2016 20:27
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Young Freud posted:Last week, I was bored at work and looked up 1943 in WW2 to see what Superior would have prevented and when since it's pretty vague a date and the big one that popped out, bigger than Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Tehran Conference, was loving PT109. You know, where JFK got his war hero credentials that would allow him to get to the Presidency. More than that, it would've prevented the death of his older brother.
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Jun 6, 2016 21:15
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Kavak posted:More than that, it would've prevented the death of his older brother. I was going to mention that if someone else brought up the Kennedy family, Joe Jr. surviving a top secret bombing campaign like Operation Anthropod which might have made him the family war hero instead of JFK. Also Joe McCarthy spun off his three year war career into a political campaign, which might not happen if it it got cut short by two years. I was thinking about doing a rewrite of BNW's history but I've come largely to the conclusion it would be better to forgo the whole JFK conspiracy and just make Superior the President, since everyone's postwar political careers would be heavily affected if the war got cut short. Even Eisenhower would be largely eclipsed by Superior.
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Jun 6, 2016 22:52
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Brave New World would be a lot more interesting if it was Red Son by way of a cynical post-war America. I'd still keep the Bicentennial Battle and Devastator Device so there would be a good moment of mass upheaval that causes everything to go sideways.
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Jun 6, 2016 23:47
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Midway still happened, so you could have President Spruance who might theoretically be similar to Eisenhower. I don't know anything about his personal politics, but I'm not sure anybody could challenge your claims either.
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Jun 6, 2016 23:47
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 Planescape: Planes of Chaos - The Abyss (part 2)  damnit screenshot  It’s time to take a closer look at this shithole. The Plain of Infinite Portals is ruled by no deity or Abyssal Lord. Instead the layer is controlled by mobs of Tanar’ri deserters and outcasts. A mob’s goals are to kill anything they come across. Sometimes that’s Baatezu or adventurers, other times it’s the iron strongholds that dot the layer. If one of the Tanar’ri is competent enough, it can threaten the rest of a mob into setting up their own fortress. Aside from the fortresses, the big feature of this layer are craters as far as one can see. These craters are conduits to the rest of The Abyss. One region of this layer is aptly named the Lakes of Molten Iron, and it’s from here that the Tanar’ri get building material for their fortresses or just forge weapons. The lakes are often a target of Baatezu invaders, as control of them would let them set up a beachhead. So far, no luck. And of course the River Styx is present on the top layer of The Abyss. A word on running a smithy on this layer: “only a leatherhead tries to smelt iron with dried Tanar’ri dung.” Thanks book, I was really curious about that. The largest fortress on the layer is Gallowsgate. It’s rule by a Marilith named Jaranda. Jaranda commands a sizable army of Tanar’ri and is also a member of the Doomguard, so mortal members of that faction are allowed to hang out without being eaten. Another important fortress is Styros, which is used by the Molydei as a barracks to herd Tanar’ri before sending them down the River Styx. Losing half of all recruits to them falling into the Styx is an acceptable casualty level. Any Tanar’ri, Tiefling or evil Planar within 50 leagues of Styros is considered a deserter by the Molydei. And of course there’s Broken Reach, which sits on top of the Gate to Plague-Mort and the Outlands. Aside from the general desolation and lakes of molten iron, the Plain of Infinite Portals doesn’t have any hazardous conditions. Instead it’s the roaming gangs of Tanar’ri, over-zealous Molydei, and invading Baatezu armies that a berk has to watch out for. Two Molydei are identified; a pale, sickly Molydeus named White Shadow who is a proxy of Graz’zt, and Tarnshaff the Grim who is also a proxy but his high-up isn’t identified. Not only do they round up fresh bodies, but they also procure equipment for the Tanar’ri armies. Anyone these two meet is expected to contribute either themselves or gear to fighting the Blood War. Finally, there are travelling caravans on the layer that sell blacksmithing supplies and tool if that’s something you’re interested in. The fortress of Broken Reach was already discussed in the Travelogue, but the DM’s book provides some additional details. For example, Red Shroud is a member of the Fated, and she’s strong enough that she was able to defend Broken Reach from a minor Abyssal Lord. Her consort, Ygrax the Skullbiter, was originally a would-be usurper before getting Hodor’d. Most of the important bits of the town are underground. Broken Reach has the tomb of a Bleak Cabal Factol, which is why a bleaker dwarf has been poking around the place. It’s unclear how Red Shroud keeps order in the fortress, but she somehow manages it, Vendettas aren’t allowed to threaten her guests, and Molydei are told to look elsewhere for recruits. Of course Red Shroud is as capricious as any Tanar’ri, and will occasionally order someones execution for shits and giggles. Aside from overpriced supplies, Red Shroud sells off her Succubi and Incubi offspring. Again, thank you TSR for including demonic child sex slavery into Planescape. Really glad you covered all your bases. Red Shroud of the Broken Shroud posted:One dose of poison is worth twenty daggers. The next entry is labeled a site, but more accurately it’s a ship. In particular it’s the Ship of Chaos. These are a joint project between the Tanar’ri and the Doomguards. Ships of Chaos produce an effect similar to dragon fear, but it’s effective against any level creature. It’s a minor advance for the Tanar’ri in their fight against the Baatezu, but for the Doomguard, who get 1 in seven ships built, it’s a huge achievement. The ships haven’t been tested yet, and mages of the planes (who know about this secret project how?) believe the range of the fear effect may be limited.  Now we get to Azzagrat, Graz’zt’s realm. And before we begin, I want to compare the introduction of Azzagrat to the Plain of Infinite Portals. For the Plains, we get: Plain of Infinite Portals posted:The gateway to the Abyss, the Plain is a site of constant activity, transients, and banditry. Few stay long, and those who do long to gather power to themselves. Everyone passes through sooner or later, but that don’t mean the trip’s pleasant. It’s all the universe’s bad parts of town put in one place. Azzagrat posted:Hidden evil lurks, flaring into violence as a spark can flare into all-consuming fire. Let rage build until it must be released. Corruption is behind every facade, and no one and no place is ever trustworthy. Lurk like a viper, then strike. Bloodbaths are tools for rulership. Each of the three layers of Azzagrat has different conditions that make them distinct, but they interlink with each other in a confusing way, and some say the layers will eventually just fuse into a single layer. The River of Salt mentioned in the Travelogue gets some details. It runs through all three layers, and getting ground into red paste takes 1d6+2 rounds no matter what. So there’s that. Using the green furnace portals (or the fakes set up by Tanar’ri for lulz) does 2d6 fire damage. The best known towns of Azzagrat are actually connected to all three layers. While the towns are clean (or at least the fronts are-lots of screams behind closed doors), they are a confusing, shifting maze that only Tanar’ri can really make sense of So when visiting these towns, a cutter should hire one of the locals to be a guide. Zelatar, the largest city, shifts so much that rumors are that it’s trying to recreate the portals of Sigil. Zelatar’s town crier is a Tiefling Convert name Mefisto who’ll shout any news you pay him to deliver, whether it’s true or not. Tanar’ri find it amusing to figure out what’s true and what’s not. Somehow, no one has killed Mefisto or “injured him enough that he can’t make his daily rounds.” The Argent Palace is said to contain mature conduits to the Plain of Infinite Portals, Pandemonium and Gehenna. Don’t visit the Palace if you can avoid it, though, because Graz’zt lets mad bodaks and other monstrosities just wander about the otherwise “frighteningly clean” mirrored hallways. Getting invited to the palace usually means that Graz’zt’s not happy with you, and all the Tanar’ri in the realm are all too eager to make sure a berk never skips an invitation.  Graz’zt, Abyssal Lord posted:Your pretensions are amusing, but futile. The 45th layer is foggy, and it’s difficult to remember specifics on it. Move Silently and Move in Shadows get a 10% bonus and creatures have a +2 to their chance to surprise. On the 46th layer, light comes up from the ground instead of down from the sky, making shadows rise in stark columns. One would think this would mess with attempts to hide, but no rules indicate they are. On the 47th layer, hot and cold are flipped. In practice, this means fire damage now does cold damage and cold damage does fire damage. Since most Tanar’ri are immune to fire damage but take 1/2 cold damage, this effect can mess with a mage’s choice of spells. The 46th and 47th don’t have a direct link to the Plain of Infinite Portals, so a cutter has to get to the 45th layer (usually via Zeletar) to leave Azzagrat. Unlike the rest of The Abyss, there’s something of a society on Azzagrat. Specifically Azzagrat posted:Unlike other Tanar’ri, Azzagrat’s fiends form a superficial society of cruel alliances, betrayals, and intermarriages with a veneer of cosmopolitan politeness and beauty. The fiends are all jaded, cynical, and relatively loyal to Graz’zt, because the Abyssal Lord has personally destroyed all the disloyal fiends and all his opponents for generations.  Aside from Graz’zt himself, important NPCs in this realm include Karnacki the Quick a Tiefling Doomguard Conjurer that apparently commands Graz’zt’s forces? (the book just says he is capable of commanding the Tanar’ri of the Triple Realm. Since he has a tower here, I presume he’s got Graz’zt’s support). Karnacki wears a skull codpiece, so I give him points for style. The other important mortal here is also a Tiefling. Omaranna the Doomgiver is a Chaoswoman trapped in The Abyss thanks to a cursed silver ring stuck on her. While she hates being trapped, she’s making the best of the situation as a guide and source of info in Azzagrat. Two Tanar’ri are named along with Karnaci and Omarana. Maretta is a Succubus and Sensate. She watches over the revenues from Graz’zt’s pacts on the Prime Material. She also rules the city of Samora, a typical den of depravity and vice. Samora contributes to the Blood War with tribute instead of troops, so it’s a haven for anyone avoiding the war. Finally there’s Owartz. Owartz is a Goristro that wears a black crown of adamantite. Rumor is that Graz’zt possesses Owartz to go joy-riding and smashing poo poo up both in Azzagrat and beyond. As stated in the Travelogue, Thanatos, the Belly of the Dead, is the 113th layer of The Abyss and the realm of Kiaransalee, the drow goddess of death and revenge. Kiaransalee actually took over the layer after Orcus was killed, although the booklet doesn’t specifically mention the Abyssal Lord. Kiaran has ordered Orcus’ name struck from every monument, slave collar and scroll. She wears a cloak of rattling bone that causes fear in all living creatures that hear it (save versus paralyzation at -4). “The petitioners of her realm are those she has slain”, which is not how petitioners work. Thanatos is a cold place of ice, thin air, and a black moonlit sky. There’s no life here save for some molds and fungi in the warmer parts. Like several layers, the River Styx runs through Thanatos. Despite being perpetually cold it apparently has seasons, because Kiaran maintains a summer and winter residence. It makes even less sense because drow are an underground race and wouldn’t give a poo poo about seasons. Most of the layer is a frozen necropolis, but there are two locations of note. There’s Naratyr, which was described in the Travelogue. Then there is the Forbidden Citadel, Kiaran’s summer residence. The Citadel is surrounded by a town called Lachrymosa, the Cauldron of Tears. The palace and town are kept warmer than the rest of the layer by series of rust-red geysers. Thanks to the extra warmth, this part of the layer smells of rotting flesh. Fleshy undead are common around the Citadel, while the undead in Naratyr are more often meat-free. Undead make up the majority of residence. Tanar’ri that are here are typically accompanied by large packs of useless undead servants (rented at a copper a day). As you might guess, the Dustmen are pretty prevalent in Thanatos. The undead will ignore parties accompanied by a Dustmen, and Dustmen charge accordingly (10gp or more a day). If you die in Thanatos, you get turned into an undead after an hour. For petitioners, this effect is irreversible. For Primes and Planars, the process can be halted with raise dead or limited wish, and reversed with resurrection, shapechange or wish. All undead have regeneration of at least 1 hp/turn. Undead that already have regeneration start regenerating the same round they get wounded. Finally, the thin air reduces the Constitution of all living creatures by 2 while they visit. This effect can be reversed with heal or wish. Kiaran’s most important servants are her two stewards. One we’ve already heard of-Rotting Jack, who runs Naratyr when Kiaransalee isn’t in town. Rotting Jack is a Babau, and his flesh is rotting as you might guess. Rotting Jack is plotting to overthrow Kiaran, and is trying to convince a few other Abyssal Lords to back him. Kiaran knows about Rotting Jack’s plotting, but lets him continue as long as it’s amusing. The steward of the Forbidden Citadel is Anista of Eight Eyes, a drider. Anista’s stat summary says she’s male, but the book uses female pronouns. Maybe Anista is supposed to be trans-gender, but I kinda doubt it. Anista wears a crown of many eyes, but is high strung and “any basher clearing his throat behind her is likely to make her jump”. Apparently she forgets that she has a crown that literally lets her see 360 degrees. Finally, there are identical twin Molydei on Thanatos that pretend to be one Guardian named Sleepless. Sleepless and Sleepless will kill anyone that figures out the truth.  The booklet drills down further and provides extra details about the city of Naratyr. Some additional details are provided about Rauva Cormrael. She’s a member of the Dustmen and is a level 28 priest, which I think is the highest level NPC so far presented. Rotting Jack takes over when Kiaran is not around, and the only reason why Rauva hasn’t just straight up murdered Rotting Jack yet is I assume Kiaransalee told her not to. When Rotting Jack is in charge, he brings in all his Tanar’ri buddies and makes things lovely even for undead abominations. Naratyr is described as “curiously silent”, even though the same paragraph explains why the town would be (it’s because undead are terrible shoppers). The town’s militia is called the Ivory Mace, named after the magic clubs carried by the Babau captains. 1/day, the captains can reproduce a banshee’s death song ability with their club. For most of those unfortunate enough to have business in Naratyr, the only place to stay (well aside from the lower reaches mentioned in the Travelogue) is Bottomless Well. It’s run by a wight, and the clientele may be living but they look as dead as the rest of the layer. For intelligent undead, there’s the Last Meal, which serves energy levels. Entertainment at the Last Meal is provided by Ladislas the Cruel, a Tiefling bard who, by his description, is probably the most metal a pre-electricity musician is allowed to be. The adventure hook is that a priestess of Lolth has appeared as a banshee looking to work for Kiaran instead. Moving on to places we haven’t covered in the Travelogue, the next layer is number 377, the Plains of Gallenshu. This is an independent layer dominated by huge herds of Armanites. Armanites a new Tanar’ri species introduced in this box set, and are basically centaur demons. The layer is like Mad Max if the warboys were fused with their car. The plains are shrouded in choking dust clouds penetrated by a harsh blue light. There is little water on this layer, and in fact instead of dirt or rock the ground is composed of flesh, bone and blood, ground into dust by generations of hooves. Gallenshu was also once home to huge flocks of Varrangoin, or Abyssal Bats (another monster this box set introduces). Now in decline, Varrangoin used to live in cities on this layer, and the surviving bats are trying to return to the cities. The only way to find these cities is to spot a Varrangoin trying to dig up the ground. There are 24 towns in Gallenshu, although they’re more like fortified stables. The booklet list 17 of the 24 towns as “the most well-known”. The Armanites use these town to regroup, reshoe and rearm for their next attack against either the Baatezu or another Armanites herd. If the town comes under siege, all the non-Tanar’ri are rounded up and impaled on the ramparts. This slows down besiegers and eliminates spies and traitors (of course ignoring that Tanar’ri love to betray each other. The largest city, Blackmane, is older than any Armanite can remember. Blackmane is controlled by Rutterkin riders on enormous brass mechanical horses. Blackmane is a neutral territory for leaderless Armanites gather to be recruited by warlords. The other town detailed is Oxblood. The Armanites of this town are served by a clan of Rutterkin that ride atop their masters and fight with serrated sabres and “barbed crossbows that fire quarrels laced with arsenic.” Yes, the crossbow itself is covered in barbs. Gallenshu’s dust clouds acts as a stinking cloud to anyone exposed to it for more than a round. Slow poison, neutralize poison, or even just a wet cloth over the nose and mouth are effective defenses against this effect. Spells that create wind are not effective on this layer. It’s also easy to get lost thanks to the dust. Travellers without a guide get lost on a roll of 1-8 on a d10. If the group has a ranger or the sense direction proficiency, this chance is reduced to 1-6. Finally, all non-metal goods not made in the Abyss decay here within a month. There are two important NPCs listed for this layer. One is an Armanite warlord known as Amber Stallion, who is close to conquering several towns. There is also the warleader of the Varrangoin, Vis Narran Vis. Unbeknownst to the Armanites, Vis is gathering his kind for a counter-assault against 10 of the towns. Currently, he is looking for some inside help to assist in his plans. Like every other location, the section on Gallenshu has a part explaining what services a visitor can procure here. Usually these are just amusing in their laziness such as Thanatos “uh, you can rent undead cheap, but rations are triple cost” Gallenshu at least has some story hooks. Besides hiring guides/bodyguards (100gp/day), elder or lame Armanites are expert smiths. While they’re basically slaves, they’re greatly valued by their herds, and they get peeved when one is noticed and then poached by an Abyssal Lord. On the side of dumb details, “Armanites are also known for their colorful flags, standards, and puffed-and-slashed cloaks.” The last realm of the Abyss detailed is Torremor, the 503rd layer. This realm is ruled by the Abyssal Lord Pazrael. Pazrael is an absentee ruler, only coming around when he hears his authority is being challenged. Torremor is a place where anyone without the ability to fly or a flying transport can get hosed. The layer has no bottom, just rocky pillars connected by ramps and beams. Anything that falls continues to do so until they strike a beam. The inhabitants of the layer are flying Tanar’ri and other evil flyers like Perytons, harpies and gargoyles. There are waterfalls here that create continuous rainbows, which Tanar’ri from other layers make fun of. There aren’t any towns in this layer in the usual sense. The most important gathering place is called Onstrakker’s Nest, a ramshackle dwelling made of debris and fiend-droppings where the Nabassu lay their eggs. This part at least implies mature Nabassu don’t just gently caress off to giant fortresses when they mature, so that’s good. Onstrakker’s Nest is ruled a bloated Nabassu named Keekaku. Chasme gather in the lower reaches, laying their eggs in the carcasses of the fallen. According to the booklet their courtship involves exchanging magic items, and scavengers will come here after the mating season to gather up the trinkets. Maybe it’s just me, but if your players are sorting through bug cum while playing Planescape, then something has gone horribly wrong. Objects in Torremor have central gravity, so you can stand on any surface. While not on a surface, gravity has a single direction, which Pazrael can change to whatever he feels like. Besides flying Tanar’ri, there’s a cult of petitioners called Wire-Stringers that set hazards to kill or maim careless flyers. Pazrael doesn’t care either way about these jerks, so there’s been no concerted effort to destroy them. There’s also a group of Tieflings that relay messages via huge drums. These drummers are led by Atlor Raithgarra, who is noticeably not a Tiefling but a Githzerai. TThe drummers are a neat details until you remember that Tanar’ri have telepathy and teleport without error as innate abilities, which calls into question why any would bother with drums. Thankfully, Torremor doesn’t have any services. And that’s it for The Abyss! Our next stop in the Book of Chaos is Arborea, the Big Frat House of the Planes. In the meantime, here’s the back of the poster I showed in my previous post. It lists a few layers not mentioned in the booklet and goes into more specifics on what spells are corrupted. 
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Jun 7, 2016 00:44
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Werewolf: the Forsaken, 2nd Edition The idigam are contradiction. They are an impossibly ancient threat, but they have only been around for around fifty years. They are everchanging spirits, known also as the Formless. Unlike all other spirits, their natural state is a roiling chaos of Essence, changing at every moment. At least, until they find something that sparks them, an indefinable thing that holds their attention and begins to transform them. It anchors and calms them from utter chaos into something new, something entirely unique. The idigam are primeval creatures who find the modern world a rich ground of experience to experiment with and wander through. Werewolves are coming for them, assuming they are tracking a prey they can understand. They do not realize they are up against a foe that even Father Wolf could not kill, that Luna had to seal away forever. One that despises them. So, once upon a time in Pangaea the idigam wander around, offending Father Wolf with their total chaos. But he could not beat them - each time he caught one, it changed and went away, defeating his attempts to corner and run them down. He could not complete the hunt, but he could not give up, because giving up went against all he was. After countless years, Luna found a solution, perhaps after Wolf asked for help or perhaps because Moon wanted to protect the idigam, or perhaps some other reason. It doesn't matter. Luna gathered up the Formless and imprisoned them on the moon. Physically. The moon had no Essence, no spirits - nothing. They stared at the stars and the void and the light of Earth, and some went into slumber. Others danced out of madness, loneliness and emptiness. Others stared at the lights of Earth and listened. Jump forward to 1969. The first human lands on the moon, and the silence of the Hisil there is broken by it. Many idigam flee the initial rush of Essence and spirits, unable to handle it. The strongest stay and devour the new sustenance. Four of them manage to get into the lander and ride back to Earth with it, landing in the North Pacific. Several lunar missions have happened since, bringing other idigam to the world. Some escaped by reaching out to the information streaming between satellites. They flew to freedom on that infromation. Those few idigam that remain on the moon are nearly insane with how close freedom is - and terrified that the Lunes will notice and make a new prison for them. Not, mind you, that all of the idigam were on the moon in the first place. Those that remained became the Earth-Bound, held captive in other ways. The Moon-Banished idigam remained Formless, but the Earth-Bound were trapped by humanity itself. Only a few scraps of stories explain their nature. Tales of the Earth-Bound Idigam posted:This story is true. The Earthbound took on the duty of serving as monsters for humanity to hunt and battle. Their changing natures made them the perfect opponents to test the species' mettle, always returning in a new form when defeated. Perhaps Father Wolf looked fondly on the people amongst whom his Uratha children dwelt, and wanted to give them the only gift he understood - the hunt. Perhaps the idigam were just supposed to be a distraction for humanity from deeper horrors in the darkness, defeated puppets set to an undignified task. Anyway, the Earth-Bound idigam ended up going into slumber as civilization became more static and no longer needed monsters. They preferred slumber to risking pissing off Wolf and getting sent to the moon. So, where the hell did the idigam actually come from? They reflect nothing of the physical world, and the Uratha that know anything about them are baffled. A few theories have been produced, but none have any strong evidence to suggest they are correct.
Pick your favorite! Mine is #6. Anyway, idigam are an out-of-context problem for the Uratha, who must adapt to deal with them or inevitably lose. The thing is, most Uratha that face them never understand what they are. There's no lore to fall back on - they are both too old and too new. They aren't just spirits, and treating them as mere spirits is asking for trouble, because their nature is change. Formless idigam, fortunately, are rare - but exceptionally hard to defeat. These are idigam in their protean state, and whatever you do to them, their weaknesses change moment by moment, their strengths adapt. They are infinitely variable. The Coalesced are much more powerful idigam, in terms of raw numbers, but they lack the constant change of the Formless. They have immense capabilities that are rarely seen elsewhere, they create retinues of bizarre creatures, but they at least have one weakness. However, while idigam must be defeated by ban and bane, trying to detect their bans and banes is impossible for Gifts, and other spirits are unliekly to know a drat thing. Instead, you might want to capture and study the creatures they spawn, which might give some hint. The Coalesced have a ban and bane that are often only tangentially related to what they are, tied more to their surroundings during Coalescence - which means you're going to have to figure out their 'birth' to be able to figure out how to beat them. As for the Formless...their ban and bane shift constantly. Find it, it's useless in ten seconds. The best thing you can do is just hurl as much raw power as possible and hope they get driven off or can't adapt quickly enough. In the time since the return of the Moon-Banished, a few stories have started to circulate and build the beginnings of what will be idigam lore. No one really agrees on where they came from or what they want, besides 'killing all werewolves.' Some wonder if they are born of the planet's anger or corruption of Lunes by the Maeljin, or if they are space aliens. No one has yet figured out the whole story. (Funnily enough, the Pure are the closest, having suffered the worst so far - they tend to want to seek patronage from an idigam, and that never ends well. The Lunes also know what's going on and the idigam seem to fear them, but they show no interest in telling anyone else.) The Lodge of the Quicksilver Children are a lodge that crosses tribal boundaries in search of the answer to why children of Wolf and Moon are born human. They believe they have an answer from the scraps of lore they've been able to find on the Formless and other idigam. Their conclusion is that the true child of Wolf and Moon was an idigam, which was itself the true progenitor of the Uratha, with help from some kind of human sorcerer. They believe they even know where this progenitor sleeps, and think that Wolf refused to harm it. Specifically, they believe it's in France, in Gevaudan. They intend to awaken and study it, or even get it to serve as a totem for the Forsaken as a whole. (Unsurprisingly, they haven't spread their findings very far, and their conclusions are rather iffy at best.) Mechanically, Formless Idigam are spirits that have no influences and which lose Essence at double normal speed. However, their ban and bane change every scene, without any relation to what's going on around them. They cannot shape the Essence of others, and only have the power to shift their form. If the Coalescene, their Rank increased by 1, and they gain Influences, static traits, ban and bane, as well as getting full access to any power the GM wants to give them. Both types of idigam are immune to any power that commands, masters or reshapes them, no matter what. They can be bound or sent dormant, but never tamed. A Coalesced can return to Formlessness by spending (Rank*2) Willpower when sent into dormancy by damage or Essence loss, but most have no desire to do so. The weakest idigam are Rank 3, while the most potent ever seen was Gurdilag, a Rank 6 Coalesced. It is feared that even stronger ones are out there. When an idigam Coalesces, their ban and bane are set by the circumstances. Eguriduth-Dur Coalesced in a prison riot, drinking in the Essence of the chaos. Its ban is that it can't be in an enclosed space and must try to escape, while its bane is manacles. Shendenna Gaskalla landed in the ocean and Coalesced next to a ship in a storm. Its ban is that it must flee any heat hotter than blood, and its bane is metal from the hull of the Arctic research vessel it Coalesced next to. Earth-Bound idigam are an exception to the lack of rules - all of their weaknesses involve humanity in some way. Lulusumhul Coalesced in a goat herd, and its ban is that it can't harm human animal-herders, while its bane is goat wool spun and worked by human hands. All idigam have a great ability to manipulate and shape Essence, though the Formless can target only themselves with such powers. Other idigam usually have Essence shaping abilities equal to their Rank, but that's not a hard rule. Essence Shaping can be used to attack others by altering their Essence flows in a grapple, to lay a trap in someone's Essence that explodes when they use it, to corrupt their Essence and sicken them, to create a void that draws in Essence from others, to tear a hole in the Gauntlet or manipulate its strength, to alter the stats of ghosts, to manipulate and control Loci, to warp creatures into servants, to extend their senses into any creature they've warped, to manipulate local Shadow or to steal Gift Facets from werewolves until the idigam is killed or used the power once. The most terrifying power, though, is the servant warping. See, it works on anything. They can force a spirit to Claim a creature, or even force multiple spirits to Claim a creature, forming a 'Hive-Claimed' that is an insane, ravenous mix of all the spirits within it. They can corrupt a werewolf, tearing out the soul and replacing it with a spirit, creating an Empty Wolf - a unique Claimed that retains some Uratha powers, like regeneration and Gifts. They can also just turn spirits into physical beings permanently, though the spirit will be forced to consume flesh for Essence. They can turn willing werewolves and humans into Heralds, sort of assassin-envoys that serve the idigam's goals with their own initiative as telepathic slaves. And last, they can create spawn, spiritual beings in their own image that share some of their power. (Also fun - some idigam can call down void spirits - alien spirits that live beyond Earth and ride in to serve by crashlanding inside a meteorite.) Next time: Deceiver Lune
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Jun 7, 2016 01:08
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Terrible Opinions posted:Revenge fantasy against the patriarchy could be loving amazing, and done in a huge number of ways. I've never seen it done tastefully, and I'm a huge exploitation film fan. You can get things like Django Unchained or Pam Grier movies, but even those films have unintentional undertones that are going to make people uncomfortable at parts (which is fine, but what these games have done). Even things like Ex Machina, which are about the self destructive nature of the patriarchy, are overtly not revenge films (the robot exploits women and others just as much as her male creator).
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Jun 7, 2016 01:09
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Idigam Theory #6 is fun but I prefer #2- they're spirits formed from minds inconceivable to ours, when the Homo genus was just reaching towards sentience.
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Jun 7, 2016 01:32
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Hostile V posted:Brave New World would be a lot more interesting if it was Red Son by way of a cynical post-war America. I'd still keep the Bicentennial Battle and Devastator Device so there would be a good moment of mass upheaval that causes everything to go sideways. It might be interesting to set it in the 70s, 25 years after Superior has taken over, and have it fit with the political conspiracy and science fiction dystopia of the time. That the world is on the precipice of either a great change or the apocalypse. wdarkk posted:Midway still happened, so you could have President Spruance who might theoretically be similar to Eisenhower. I don't know anything about his personal politics, but I'm not sure anybody could challenge your claims either. True, but I think it's a better concept to have human effort be largely overshadowed by the Alphas and Deltas, similar to that throwaway bit in Mark Waid's "Kingdom Come" where there's no more Olympics because what good is measuring and celebrating human endeavors when superpowers exist. President Superior would be an example of that, since he basically ended the war by himself in a few hours when Eisenhower, Patton, MacArthur, etc. couldn't do with a million soldiers from more than a dozen nations in two-three years of conflict.
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Jun 7, 2016 01:55
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Idigams seem cool as gently caress--is there more in this book about the void spirits as well?
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Jun 7, 2016 01:55
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Void spirits are mentioned just once, in the power that summons them.
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Jun 7, 2016 01:57
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Mors Rattus posted:Void spirits are mentioned just once, in the power that summons them. They do get oblique mentions when talking about Luna in their role as Warden Moon, and Helios in general. The fact that Idigam can call them at all kind of lends support to theory 6. And yeah, idigam are loving awesome and yet another example of why werewolves probably have the best antagonist lineup of any World of Darkness line.
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Jun 7, 2016 02:00
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I prefer Idigam Theory #4, for the effect of making the werewolves eventually realize that these mysterious, ineffable, extraordinarily dangerous entities are the spirits of the race most werewolves disregard as weak and unworthy prey.
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Jun 7, 2016 02:01
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