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Lurks With Wolves
Jan 14, 2013

At least I don't dance with them, right?
You know, I was kind of creeped out until his forehead pulled itself up into a flesh-fez and he turned into a fez zombie.

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Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Fez Zombie is not a word associated with raw, animal terror.

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Scion: Origin: The Road To Everywhere

Gates can take you from one place to another, but it is the Axes Mundi that bind worlds together. They connect many diverse locales across the World and the Otherworlds. They're used when direct gates can't be found or are too dangerous. It's usually easiest to get to the Underworld via gate, the Overworld via Axis Mundi and the Midrealms through either one. You can't go just anywhere via any given Axis, though - the guiding myths set limits. Each Axis Mundi has a corresponding place, object or state you must get or achieve. These are all less specific than gate keys, though, and once you meet the requirement, you can be off. Axis Mundi connections are always two-way, so you don't have to worry about getting stuck. Mortals can use the Axes Mundi, but they need either an innate ability to do so or special training. Travel time is not about distance, but about ordeals. A well-traveled route will have only one ordeal, generally, while traveling to an obscure realm or to meet a Primordial will require several. Ordeals often have clues about the meaning of your journey and what is to come, so sometimes taking the long way is better, to learn more, rather than just hopping through a gate or Touchstone. Axes Mundi also often bypass the guardians and dangers of other routes, though the ordeals can be their own dangers.

These are some of the best known Axes Mundi, though others exist and in some cases have been hidden by the gods.
The Aether: It's written about extensively in Indian, Greek and modern occult literature. Some call it Indra's Net or the Astral Plane. It is composed of the fifth element, the subtle element that creates space and distance. The Platonists say it transmits the 'light' of the ideal objects which create the substance of other realms. Mortals have always had techniques to send their souls ino the Aether, and from there rise in contemplation of the World and Overworld. Scions can use these techniques as well. Ordeals in the Aether take on the form of riddles, enigmas or acts of self-realization, administered by the abstract idea-beings that dwell in the Aether. Unfortunately, physical travel in the Aether is completely impossible except via obscure magics, and it is extremely hard to get to the Underworld via the Aether.
The Earthways: Known as the Erdstalls in most of Europe, the Earthways actually cross the entire World. They are ancient tunnels, made in legend by goblins, worms or mortals fleeing disaster. You enter one and you reach the Earthways, which extend far and deep, to Midrealms and Underworlds. Subterranean creatures and Chthonians travel the tunnels, and some open into vast underground cities or strange subways. The Earthways form a good way to enter Afterlives without using the routes of the dead, and occasionally even without permission from death gods, who often send patrols to watch out for trespassers. The Earthways cannot reach the Overworld, however, barring intervention by gods or mythic stories.
Sumeru: The Deva hold that Sumeru is the mountain at the heart of the universe. At its roots are the Naraka, the afterlives that purify by punishment. You climb the mountain and you pass through the World, then the Midrealms of the Asuras, then the Overworld, where Swarga and other heavens exist as homes for the Devas and enlightened souls. To enter Sumeru, you must go to one of the Asian mountains associated with it, or if you're a Deva or devout follower who knows the right meditations, climb any mountain. It's easiest to use Sumeru to reach the realms of the Deva and their relatives, but various pathways do extend to other realms - including other Axis Mundi mountains, like Olympus or Qaf. These are longer and more dangerous routes, though, and most gods from other pantheons resent their use.
Ocean: The sea or river that surrounds the World, and is known to many pantheons, including the Aesir, Deva, Theoi and Tuatha de Danann. Ocean connects to all natural bodies of water that reach the sea somehow, and by taking a ship beyond sight of land, a Scion can navigate out of the World and through Ocean to any realm with a legendary body of water. The Tuatha de Danann use it to visit the island Godrealms of those that came before him, and it is where Odysseus was cast from the Mediterranean, though he knew it not. The Theoi have also reached Ocean from the Styx, so it can extend to Hades. The Aesir acknowledge Ocean, but they avoid it, because the World Serpent, Jormungand, dwells in its depths. Some say Ocean is itself a Primordial, and that the storms, monsters and strange islands within it are its dreams or messages. Others claim it as the source of legendary floods, the chaos before time or the formless abyss that existed before the cosmos.
Yggdrasil: Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree, so great that armies can march on some of its branches, if not the smaller or newer ones. It has so many leaves, branches and fogs around it that the sky cannot be seen from its heart, and its trunk cannot be measured or even easily determined, though it must be at least as wide as the World. Its branches run through Asgard, and on to the Well of Urd, where the Norns live, and down through pretty much every Norse Otherworld and Midrealm, including Jotunheim. At one of its immense three roots is the Afterlife of the dishonored, Hel. Some of its branches extend out to other realms, though as with Sumeru, places beyond the Aesir worlds have more dangerous and hidden paths. Yggdrasil is inhabited by the squirrel Ratatosk and its children, who are skilled if untrustworthy guides, and Chthonic dragons descended from Niddhogg, who gnaws on the second root...at least when it isn't torturing the damned in Nastrond. Sometimes ice giants climb up from the third root, which stands upon the Primordial Ymir, who is also called Niflheim as a realm. To enter Yggdrasil, you must climb a sacred ash dedicated in tis name - or if you are a Scion or devout follower of the Aesir, any sufficiently old and strong ash tree.

We've mentioned Touchstones before. What are they? Well, mortal lives are touched by myth. They channel as much as anyone else, even if the results are not so obvious as when more potent creatures do it. Sometimes, though, they create Touchstones, objects attuned to some mythic ideal. Touchstones become what they are by exceptional skill, emotional significance and fame or veneration. This can even extend to copies of some objects. Some ancient obelisks gain power via their vanished Egyptian god-kings, and some copies of the Statue of Liberty connect to the original, adopted by the goddess Columbia as one of her symbols. By touching a Touchstone and calling on their divine nature, Scions can move from one Touchstone to any other that calls on the same mythic archeype. You can go from STonehenge to any ancient henge, but also the Georgia Godstones or French menhirs. They're all standing stones. A prop at a rock concert, not so much - that wouldd lack the artistry, hallowed nature and emotional significance...unless the band sacrificed people with the prop as an altar, which might change things. Touchstones can only be used to travel within the World, and then only if they stand fixed in space for a significant (if variable) period of several days or more. So you can't just ship in a wooden horse as a Touchstone to transfer troops from the Trojan Horse, unless you leave it to sit for a while before you make the transfer. Pantheons often claim Touchstones bound to their traditions. The Netjer, for example, dislike outsiders using the Washington Monument, as they claim it via its sacred architecture. However, the cross-cultural nature of Touchstones often interferes with such claims. Many cultures have standing stones that connect to each other, for example, so many pantheons can lay claim to that network.

The game gives us a list of eleven example cities to show how the World has shaped things differently. First up, Athens, Greece. It has always been Athena's favored city, and it is a mix of modern and ancient, with some temples having been in continuous use since they were built, sharing streets and even sometimes buildings with mosques, museums and nightclubs. Its shrines have often been desecrated by war, and Athena sends Incarnations fairly frquently. Her periodic phases of meddling have caused extensive government policies regarding how to handle it when a Hero shows up to make demands. Athens is the start of several pilgrimage paths, which ehad on to places like the Temple of Apollo Zoster (one of Apollo and Artemis' birthplaces), the Ampiareion of ORopos (a cult site for an oracle Hero) and Eleusis (home of the Eleusinian Mysteries). It is as much a place of worship as tourism. Sure, most of its temples have been ruined over time, but they are always rebuilt. AThena has given the city caryatids across its grounds, which have the power to come ot life as guardians, should anyone approach the city iwth ill intent. When Elgin took the Parthenon Marbles in the 1800s, one of the caryatids was taken with them, and occasionally, the stone maidens of the columns campaign to find champions to rescue their lost sister.

Four mountains surround the Athenian basin. Countless roads and caves in the ranges lead into the Earthways and several mythical mountain passes. With permission or stealth, one can descend to Hades or climb to Olympus. There are also mysterious caves below the Acropolis that function similarly, but are much easier to get lost in. There is also the Sacred Way, a road leading from Athens to Eleusis, which marks the pilgrimage route of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Those who know the inner Mysteries have the keys that let them use this road as a gate to the Underworld and, if they obey Persephone's rules, to get back. The Acropolis has many strange, timeless corners where you mgith get lost and transported to ancient festivals or hear whispers of prophecy. There are also several Touchstones. The Parthenon museum in Nashville doubles as a temple to Athena Polias, Athena of the City, and can be used to reach the original if you enact the procession of the Great Panathenaea festival, make proper sacrifices, and bring a peplos robe made by women alone to drape over the statue of Athena. All Olympic torches in the World also lead back to the ceremonial site at the Panthenaic Stadium, where the flame begins its journey every time. In the World, Athens has hosted the games more than anywhere else, as the Theoi consider themselves the masters of hte Olympics, and their agents often meddle to get them back when other cities win the bid.

Next, Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a ton of fairy mounds in its parks, and pretty much any pub that honors the Irish culture and music with old traditions has good luck. Bostonians know that you listen to the buskers at Faneuil Hall and leave milk behind on the T at night, to avoid angering the aes sidhe. The Boston Globe has a satirical column written by bards and poets since its foundation, and it's been used to subtly curse public figures who behave poorly. Catholic churches across the city often double as Tuatha sancta with sacred trees growing wherever there's space, and the Irish Catholics easily dismiss accusations of hypocrisy when they also invoke Nuada to help them at work. The Irish diaspora has roots in prehistory, when the Fomorians banished the ancestors of the Tuatha from IReland. Since then, millions of Irish have settled across the globe, and Boston is full of them. The gods came with them, to help keep the faith alive. They encourage Boston to support the arts, and they find the American Revolution significant, as it resonates with why they fought against their Titans. Ever since a Scion of Ogma signed the Declaration of Independence, American Heroes of the Tuatha have been especially interested in Boston and Philadelphia, and that's part of why there's been a ton of Irish-American politicians there. The Tuatha grant luck in electoral races, if you honor them properly. Boston is also sister city to Kyoto, and so the Kami often send their associates there. This strangthened ties between the Kami and Tuatha, and it is known that Susano-Wo, Manannan mac Lir and the Morrigan love to party and occasionally have drunken revels in Boston.

Boston Harbor lies on an Axis Mundi that Mannanan claims as a route to Tir na nOg, and a sailor that carries wood or stone from Ireland, inscribed with the correct ogham runes, can find the entrance...though the price exacted by the fairies that guard it could be anything from a poetry slam to a full reenactment of the Boston Tea Party. The Sidhe mounds litte Boston Common, and those that picnic there can sometimes hear fae songso n the wind. You follow the wrong path, pay the toll or answer the riddle when you find the crossroads, and you can enter a dream garden where your whims will be catered to...if you stay forever. The Common is also home to the Central Burying Ground, a cemetary two centuries old. Here, the Irish dead have a gate to Teach Duinn, the lighthouse of lost souls...though the journey mirrors the distance between Ireland and Massachusetts, and souls often get more lost than they should. Downtown Boston is known for frequen sluagh hauntings. The Irish gods' favor for sages has also led to Boston's many universities and museums, which often have original texts or artifacts written in Old Irish, ancient instruments...and gates to the Dagda's library or Ogma's trail markers to the Otherworld. You just have to know hwo to read or play the artifact properly.

Next time: Kyoto, Manitoulin Island and Memphis. (The one in Egypt.)

Tevery Best
Oct 11, 2013

Hewlo Furriend


Previously on Neuroshima: we learned Detroit is inhabited by Car People

Character Creation, Part Two: Professions!


A very judgmental looking Technician

Your profession is what you do, and what you do is who you are. As far as the fiction is concerned, this is the most important part of character creation, the one that defines you in the most visible way. But mechanically all you get is a Profession Trait, which you pick from two available ones (you can also come up with your own, but that does not really happen, let's be real). Like the Origin Trait, you can sell it for 50 gamble. You still pick a profession - it is supposed to be a crucial part of your character's fiction.

The book also gives you an option to cheat a little and skip to Step 7 before you pick your Profession - Step 7 is where you roll for your disease, and if you end up, with, say, Cardiovascular Deficiency, you may want to rethink rolling a Gladiator.

The professions were originally in alphabetical order, but given how many there are, I won't bother rearranging them. Sorry!


Chemist - you are, well, a Chemist. The science kind of guy, not the guy who works in a pharmacy. But you're still a minor demigod for your average Joe Wastelander: you can tell is land or water is polluted and, if so, how to scrub that pollution, you can recognize Moloch's combat gas types, you can make meds, synthesise stuff people need... The Traits you get to pick from are Tastes Like Arsenic (-30% bonus to all Stamina checks to resist radiation and toxic contamination) and Pharmacist (you can make healing items - Painkillers, which let you automatically succeed all Resist Pain rolls for wounds and get a -50% bonus for all other Resist Pain rolls, require a Hard Chemistry check, Medpacks, which heal a Light Wound in one turn, require a Very Hard Chemistry check, DeadLines, which downgrade a Heavy Wound to a 15% penalty Light Wound within three minutes, require a drat Hard Chemistry check; you obviously must have a lab and supplies, producing a single dose takes four hours). The former is pretty much useless unless your GM is a sadist, the latter can be pretty useful unless your GM is a petty bastard who won't let you have your work supplies.

Ganger - you're a bike gang member, the most popular job of the modern age. Few people like you, since you and your gang are a bunch of assholes, but it's okay, you like to get into fights, so even if you are on your own, you sure as hell can pull your own weight. You get either One of Them (you have a visible sign of gang membership, so most people won't stand up to you - but some will single you out just for being one of "them", you also get 100 gamble for gang Contacts; normally you only get 100 total, so it's quite a boost) or Brave or Stupid? (you legitimately can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to step up to you, so you automatically succeed with one die in all Intimidate and Morale check).

Gladiator - you're a professional arena fighter. You may or may not be a bad person, but you are quite likely ruthless and unattached to others. You're relentless and tough, and a master of melee combat with any weapon. Traits are Diehard (there's a rule that says a 1 on a hit roll in combat bumps damage up one level, you are immune to it) and Teaspoon (whatever you get your hands on, you fight as if you had the relevant skill at 4; this does not stack with your actual skill and does not apply to firearms).


Trader - in the ages-old conflict between travelling salesmen and Tesco, the winner is you. You need to know the supply and demand networks throughout the hosed Up States of America, and you need to be able to talk yourself into a good deal. You must be able to lie and to stand your ground when someone tries to browbeat you. It's hard work and a tough job, but that's why you're a PC. You get to pick between Trade Route (you've been to all kinds of places and you've met all kinds of people, you get 150 gambles for Contacts, but they cannot be spent on people who can fight) and Used Car Salesman1 (when trading, you get +2 Smarts in Persuasion and Bluff checks... but both those skills are keyed to Character by default. Hmm.).

New Age Preacher - you're the religious leader for the postapocalypse world. You can give a sermon, you can console a person who suffered a loss, uplift the weak, boost the strong - whatever the situation and your god(s) calls for. But, in a pinch, a spade also works as a tool for persuasion. Look Me in the Eyes allows you to detect people's lies once you've talked to them for a while, if you succeed at a Hard Character check and they don't (or if you win an Opposed Character check - I think this is a leftover from 1.0 rules, which AFAIR did not have Opposed checks). Alternatively, you may pick Amen: up to three times per session, you may decide that a roll of 1 on any die is a sign from above that you're on the right path and thus counts as two successes instead of one.


Cowboy - no surprises here. You're a cowboy, you probably ride a horse, you have a ten gallon hat and a revolver in a holster on your belt. Maybe you're a cattle wrangler, maybe you're looking to set up a ranch, or maybe you just want to travel the world and build a legend. Cowboy Traits include Gunslinger (you treat a small arm in your holster as if it were in your hand at all times) and Last Bullet (if your revolver only has one bullet left in the cylinder, that shot is one level easier for you).

Courier - you carry packages and messages from one place to another. You must be an expert outdoorsperson and know the lay of the land better than whoever lives on it. This includes knowing where to find fuel and spare parts for your vehicle - and that's always a doozy. You know, this Profession is a lot more attractive to me now that I'm playing through New Vegas. You get to pick between Friends (additional 150 gamble for non-fighter contacts) and Hiding Hole (you can find or make a stash in any car-sized or larger vehicle within a few minutes; the stash ranges in size from a cigarette pack to a small suitcase; the smaller it is, the harder it is to find).



Hunter - you're in business of finding very rare and very specific items on commission. If someone needs a radiator for a 1976 Ford Buick, and are willing to pay for it, they come to you. You must have a great memory and willingness to travel, but also be persuasive and persistent. Your choice of Traits includes Photographic Memory (whenever you want to remember what a room looked like, you are entitled to a Hard Perception check, and if you pass it, the GM must tell you everything down to the tiniest detail, regardless of how much time has passed) and Persistent (whenever a failed check would set you back on the way to your objective, you get +2 to Character and Constitution for that check).

Mutant Hunter - you hate mutants and you've managed to turn it into a job. Lucky you, you merciless, armed-to-the-teeth sonuvabitch. You pick between No Mysteries (when you encounter a mutant, you can roll a Hard Smarts roll to get the GM to reveal all of their weak points, and, per the GM's discretion, some stats as well) and Mutant for breakfast (you get -20% bonus for any and all checks when fighting mutants).


The Medic was only added in the 1.5 edition, and I think it was the only profession added at that point. You can kid of tell because of the different art style.
Mobster - you're a mafia goon, or maybe you have a small-time gang yourself. You do bad things to bad people and you also do bad things to good people. You get to pick between Merciless (you gain one point of Infamy and Reputation only costs you 20 XP, but it's always bad) and Class (you're a man of honour and class, which makes you reliable and believable; you can reroll any Persuasion or Intimidation check).

Medic - hard to understate the value of a guy who can stitch you up. You gotta remember that when writing the final bill for your patients. If they survive, that is. And remember to be ruthless towards your competition, there's a reason why people pay you as much as they do and it sure as hell isn't a good supply of skills like yours. Reputation means that if you pass a Hard Persuasion check when entering a settlement, the locals will treat you like long-awaited guests, but the difficulty goes up to Very Hard if there is another doctor in the settlement. Field Medic allows you to ignore all penalties to Treat checks caused by the environmental conditions (loud screams, bumpy road when you're stitching a guy in the back of a truck, darkness, smoke...).


Technician - you are even more sought after than chemists and medics. Everything today is broken, and you have the tools and know-how to make it work again. Which means you have to be a versatile Renaissance Person, capable of doing anything from fixing a car to insulating a building. You pick between Matches and Safety Pins (+2 to Smarts when fixing or rebuilding a mechanical or electronic device) and Troublesome Surplus (if you succeed a Hard Mechanics or Electronics check, you can disassemble a machine, reassemble it and be left with a handful of parts worth as much as 20% of the actual machine).

Mercenary - your job is to do what people tell you to do, as long as they pay for it. Usually it involves killing. That's about it for the flavour text. Your traits include Reputation (you start with 15 additional points of Reputation and every point of Reputation only costs you 20 XP) and Killing Machine (you may temporarily increase any Ability score by 2 points, but this bonus is only usable in combat. After an hour passes or you roll 10 checks of that Ability the bonus disappears and you receive a 50% fatigue penalty, which decreases by 10% every hour; you cannot use this Trait again until the penalty is fully gone).


what's up with those specs buddy
Bodyguard - you protect people who are in danger of being shot dead. You better not gently caress up - nobody hires a failed bodyguard. Gotta say this is not a very popular profession, probably due to how hard it is to shoehorn someone like that into your standard postapocalyptic adventuring party. Muting allows you to ignore any negative modifiers for Perception rolls caused by noise, darkness, and other similar environmental factors when protecting your client. Before He Does means that when the life of the person you are protecting is in danger you automatically win Initiative and go first in combat.

Judge - you protect the law and fight criminals. Maybe you do it for some organisation or authority, maybe you're a vigilante (although you prefer the term "freelancer"). In any case, you're not a cop, you work like Judge Dredd - investigate, chase down, sentence, execute. Uniform and Badge means that when you're trying to psych the enemy out before a fight your opponents have to pass a more difficult Morale check; when you're interacting with people who are not hostile towards you, you get +2 to Persuasion and Leadership, but any kind of scum of the earth likes you less. One of Us means that any law enforcement can instantly tell you're one of them, and you also get 150 gamble for contacts with Judges and vigilantes.


Specialist - you're a fountain of knowledge. As for applying that knowledge, well, it varies. But really knowledgeable people are quite in demand nowadays, and you sure can exploit it. Even the dumbest ganger knows a Specialist is best kept alive. Education means you have all skills in the General Knowledge pack at 2 - and this is a lot of skills, since that pack usually has you pick three fields from a list of eight. Focus means you can isolate yourself from the outside world when at work at a Smarts-based task. You ignore any penalties caused by noise, crowd, or chaos, and get +2 Smarts to boot. However, you get a +30% penalty to any other tasks, decreasing 10% every fifteen minutes after you finish whatever you were doing.

Shamans differ from New Age Preachers in that where the Preachers are leaders and more or less social people, focused on bringing their religious ideals to people, Shamans focus on their own experience. Their minds are open to the spirit world, and they care little for the opinions of others. Maybe it was called by a reactor leak, maybe by too much drug abuse, in any case, they have an aura of supernatural ability around them. Their Traits include The Spirits have Spoken (you can go into trance, typically drug-induced, during which the GM should reveal additional information about a person or location, but you must pass a Hard Constitution check or "go around all day as if someone socked you in the head with a buttstock", but there is no mechanical effect of that listed) and Totem (pick a totemic animal from a list; every animal has an Ability associated with it. You may at any moment become "more alike" your totemic animal by passing a Problematic test of the associated Ability to get a +2 modifier for that ability in exchange for lowering all other Abilities by 1 for the duration; this lasts as long as you want, but no less than an hour, it also ends if you fall asleep; afterwards you get a -1 penalty for all Attributes for as many hours as you spent with the bonus).


Rat is literally a hobo. This game has a hobo class. I am not exaggerating or joking. Listen:

Rat description posted:

They say Rats were once called "vagrants". Weird. What's a vagrant? Like, me? I am no vagrant, no sir, just a regular person, normal. I live in a den in the ruins of one of the buildings in town, I live off scavenging, I eat what I find or I hunt down, I put on whatever's warm, I don't go no barber shops.

I like to snoop around, visit houses, pubs, look for all kinds of interesting items from the old days. And let me say rifles and shotguns are not cool stuff, although I gotta admit I can exchange them for food or a little booze later. I don't need to be brave, or fight well, or to have any traits an assassin or bodyguard could not go without. I am a simple man who does quite well in these - supposedly - hard times.

Wanna join me?

Their traits include What Do I Care Anyway, which allows you to automatically pass any Stamina checks against poison, disease and radiation (this does not make you immune: those checks are like CoC Sanity checks or D&D save for half), you can eat stuff that's pretty much not good to eat anymore and not give a drat, but everyone instantly knows you're a Rat, no matter how well you try to hide it. You still roll for chronic illness in Step 7 as normal. Grey lets you make a Hard Smarts check to move completely unseen in any environment that fits a Rat, because other people pretty much ignore you.

Beast Trainer - it's what it says on the tin. The pet owner's profession. Traits to pick from are Beast (you start the game with a trained beast approved by the GM and you can tame and train wild animals, you know how to approach them, you can issue simple orders to your trained animals) and Wolf's Tooth (you fight like an animal, in unarmed combat, you boost your damage up a level on a roll of 1-3. NOBODY EVER PICKED THIS.).


Tracker - a Tracker is a person who guides people around the wasteland, reads animal and human tracks, and is a general survivalist. Traits are Adjusted Senses (all Spotting and Listening checks in open ground get a +3 Perception boost) and Recognizing Creatures (you automatically succeed on one die in all Hunting and Tracking checks when identifying any creatures you encounter, the GM may tell you some statistics of the animal).

Highway Warriors are vigilantes who live on the highways. They enjoy the thrill of it all, and relish in going alone against a horde of gangers. They hate that scum, so they fight. There's not much more to it, because there does not need to be. Door to Door gives them +2 Dexterity for all checks related to manoeuvring their car. Car Cover means they can use their car as cover (giving the enemy up to a 60% penalty when shooting at the driver) without any penalties to driving, and all passengers in the car get 20% cover as well.


Clan Warriors are members of Desert People clans. They are pretty much your Brave stand-in. Dedicated to their clans, they will go to any lengths to protect it, and derive their mental strength from trust and admiration they receive from it, shrouding it in an ever-present layer of mysticism and exoticism. Traits include Us and Them (you get one automatic success die in all Character checks involving Native Americans and Desert People) and This Is My Home (you get 150 gamble for Native American contacts - for all the lip service the book pays to saying non-Natives are desert people too, it sure as hell does give off a different impression).

Assassins are contract killers. But you have to be a tracker, not just a murderer, as your victims have a lot of space to run away to and hide in nowadays. You never quit and never have second thoughts. Traits include End of the Job (when you have a contracted mark in sight, every action bringing you closer to closing your contract gets one success die; the contract must come from an NPC and be notable enough for the GM to agree that the trait applies) and One Shot (you get +2 to a Skill you use during the first check in a given combat encounter and the damage you deal if you hit after that check are boosted a level).


Machine Killer - you specialize in fighting and killing Moloch's machines, and this may just be the most dangerous job in the world. You must have inhuman reactions, be immensely tough, precise, smart, and calm. And being a bloody loonie probably helps quite a bit as well. Traits include Weak Spot (if you pass a Hard Perception check, the GM must reveal the weak spot of the machine you are encountering, and may also tell you some of its Abilities) and Empiricist2 (you receive a -30% bonus to all checks when fighting robots).

Thief - exactly what it says on the tin. Stealing stuff is a lot more dangerous now that there are no cops to arrest you and no juries to acquit you. Traits include Electronics Technician (you get a +4 Smarts bonus when dealing with electronic security systems) and Cat (whenever you're trying to hide, sneak, or camouflage something, any checks the opponents make to detect you or that thing are two levels harder).

Soldier the last Profession in the book is your regular frontline grunt. May not have the flair of a Machine Killer or Mutant Hunter, but gets the job done. Soldiers pick between Training (you get all skills in Firearms and Pyrotechnics packs at 1 for free) and Routine (you automatically pass the stare-off tests before combat).

That's a lot of stuff and I'm glad to be done with it. To be honest, I think most professions are sort of bland in this book, and their bonuses are either too situational or too strong. But, then again, it's the GM's job to make sure you get to make use of those bonuses, isn't it?

Also, it has been brought to my attention that it may be easier to explain some points of the character creation process if we do roll a character in the process, so if you have any origin/profession combination you would like to see created, let me know!

Next time: Abilities!

1. The original Polish calls this trait "Glazier". It's a pun, you see, as glaziers used to fit windows with putty, and in Polish wciskać kit (to push in putty) means "to bullshit someone".
2. The 1.0 rules had a bunch of traits that granted you additional or unique equipment when starting the game. They've all been replaced in 1.5, but there are, as you can see, some callbacks, and the name of this trait is one of them.

Cythereal
Nov 8, 2009

I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.
Surprised there's nothing in there about all the Norse stuff in Boston.

megane
Jun 20, 2008



Quake with terror, for your beloved friend has risen from the grave as a Fez Zombie and now he has come fwhy are you laughing, stop laughing.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Kurieg posted:


Deepstone Sentinel
I thought this art looked familiar. It shows up in 4th Edition's Martial Power 1 supplement for the Dreadnaught Paragon path:

Ratoslov
Feb 15, 2012

Now prepare yourselves! You're the guests of honor at the Greatest Kung Fu Cannibal BBQ Ever!

DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ
DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ
DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ
DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ
DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ

Hostile V
May 31, 2013

Solving all of life's problems through enhanced casting of Occam's Razor. Reward yourself with an imaginary chalice.

Depending on how this whole cursed fez scenario plays out I might steal the scenario, edit it, change the setting to America on the Pacific railroad and make it a cursed sombrero.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
The Blood-Red Fez has to be some kind of enormous troll, there’s no way anyone could write this and think, “yes my players will react to this with grave seriousness and not with an onslaught of Shriner and Doctor Who jokes no sir”

Kavak
Aug 23, 2009


Hostile V posted:

Depending on how this whole cursed fez scenario plays out I might steal the scenario, edit it, change the setting to America on the Pacific railroad and make it a cursed sombrero.

I could see that actually working if you balanced the Weird West tone just right.

Green Intern
Dec 29, 2008

Loon, Crazy and Laughable

Mors Rattus posted:

Why would anyone want this hat, anyway? It doesn't even do anything useful.

It sounds like it very briefly allows someone to control the Fez Victim before they die and turn into a mindless berserker Fez Zombie.

Hostile V posted:

Depending on how this whole cursed fez scenario plays out I might steal the scenario, edit it, change the setting to America on the Pacific railroad and make it a cursed sombrero.

Only if it makes someone's head sombrero-shaped.

unseenlibrarian
Jun 4, 2012

There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.
I could see Junji Ito making fez zombies loving terifying, but this is not a Junji Ito story.

Otherkinsey Scale
Jul 17, 2012

Just a little bit of sunshine!

unseenlibrarian posted:

I could see Junji Ito making fez zombies loving terifying, but this is not a Junji Ito story.

"Nice hat! Are you a haberdasher by trade, sir?"
"Oh, no. This fez was made for me."

Kurieg
Jul 19, 2012

RIP Lutri: 5/19/20-4/2/20
:blizz::gamefreak:

Otherkinsey Scale posted:

"Nice hat! Are you a haberdasher by trade, sir?"
"Oh, no. This fez was made for me."
"I don't understand."
"It's a bespoke Fez, see how nicely it fits my heaDEATH TO ALL WHO DO NOT WORSHIP THE FEZ" (Vomits fez shadows)


Ratoslov posted:

DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ
DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ
DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ
DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ
DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO FEZ

But...

Kurieg posted:

Deerstalker yourself and Fez to Bearskin.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
I keep thinking of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMm-jyF2fww

Ghost Leviathan
Mar 2, 2017

Exploration is ill-advised.
I wonder what the attitude among actual arabs/middle-eastern people towards fezzes was. Could be their equivalent of a top hat for all we know.

Down With People
Oct 31, 2012

The child delights in violence.

Inescapable Duck posted:

I wonder what the attitude among actual arabs/middle-eastern people towards fezzes was. Could be their equivalent of a top hat for all we know.

Here's a sidebar from the book!

Battle Mad Ronin
Aug 26, 2017

Inescapable Duck posted:

I wonder what the attitude among actual arabs/middle-eastern people towards fezzes was. Could be their equivalent of a top hat for all we know.

I’ve never met a middle-eastern person who would be caught dead in a fez. The top hat analogy is fitting; we all know it used to mean you were someone, but who in the world actually wears top hats today?

They’re Morrocan in origin (from Fez, the city of fezzes), but I don’t know if they are more common there.

JackMann
Aug 11, 2010

Secure. Contain. Protect.
Fallen Rib
Somewhat. They're becoming less so, but it's still something a person might wear as part of their formal attire.

Part of it is historic. To a lot of Arabs a hundred years ago, the fez was a sign of the Ottomons, so it became unfashionable very quickly. In Morroco, not only was it something they identified as Morroccan, it was also a bit of resistance against the French occupiers. It's taken a lot longer to die off. Part of what keeps it around is that the Royal Family insists on wearing it, and a lot of people follow suit.

Angry Salami
Jul 27, 2013

Don't trust the skull.
There's still a lot of brimless caps that are essentially variants of the fez in the Muslim world - the Indonesian songkok, for example, was inspired by the Ottoman fez and became a symbol of national and religious identity during the colonial period. It's basically just a black fez without the tassel.

Of course, there you'd have the problem that the hat is so unremarkable that the adventure would become the equivilent of one based around an evil baseball cap. No, I think there's no salvaging the idea.

DicktheCat
Feb 15, 2011

Someone throw me a bone, what the hell is "dehumanize yourself and face to bloodshed" actually from? I see it thrown around on here and have long wondered.

senrath
Nov 4, 2009

Look Professor, a destruct switch!


DicktheCat posted:

Someone throw me a bone, what the hell is "dehumanize yourself and face to bloodshed" actually from? I see it thrown around on here and have long wondered.

It's a reference to one of cboyardee's Dilbert animations, I'm pretty sure.

Thuryl
Mar 14, 2007

My postillion has been struck by lightning.

senrath posted:

It's a reference to one of cboyardee's Dilbert animations, I'm pretty sure.

That certainly popularized it, but it's originally from obscure 1985 Japanese RPG The Screamer. (While it has a fan translation patch now, that particular bit of Engrish was in the Japanese original.)

Thuryl fucked around with this message at 13:06 on Jan 29, 2018

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 23 hours!
This cursed fez scenario is straight up Garth Marenghi ridiculous.

Lichtenstein
May 31, 2012

It'll make sense, eventually.

You forgot to mention the coolest thing that didn't make it to the second edition: there was a radio operator class. There's literally an entire profession about having a radio and knowing how to use it.

(it was pretty useless and nobody ever picked it, but it sure was eye-catching)

PurpleXVI
Oct 30, 2011

Spewing insults, pissing off all your neighbors, betraying your allies, backing out of treaties and accords, and generally screwing over the global environment?
ALL PART OF MY BRILLIANT STRATEGY!
Maybe the SAN loss from the Fez is more existential than horror-based. It's not that the Fez is scary, but that the concept is so ridiculous it makes the Investigators doubt the realness of their own reality.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
The fez zombie is the starring ghost from an ashcanned episode of the Real Ghostbusters.

LongDarkNight
Oct 25, 2010

It's like watching the collapse of Western civilization in fast forward.
Oven Wrangler
Way of the Wicked - Book 2 - Fantastic minions and where to find them



Get me all the cheetos from the WaWa

MASTERS OF THE WICKED
Having hordes of disposable, nameless henchmen is a staple of any villain’s career and WotW provides an optional sub-system for just that. Now the last thing 3.pf needs is more sub-systems but bear with me here, I think this one is pretty good. Leadership has long been a vestige of 2nd Edition that designers refused to get rid of but didn’t have any clearly defined mechanics other than getting a pile of dudes and a cohort; leaving the player and GM to argue about how they can be used. The system presented here streamlines the process.

How do I build an Evil Organization?
Easy, step one is to take the Leadership feat. If more than one PC does so they can choose to form a council and pool their points to create a more powerful evil organization. Control of the organization will be shared so this may cause issues, the wicked aren’t known for sharing.

Next step, stats; this is d20 so everything has stats. Your organization stats map to the traditional PC stats. The scores range from -5 to +10 and are applied to all actions taken by your minions.

Ruthless - using violence to solve problems.
Secrecy - hiding your nefarious activities.
Survivability - the ability to weather adversity.
Connections - getting things done without violence.
Espionage - intelligence gathering capability.
Loyalty - measure of your minions devotion.

The scores will fluctuate over the course of the game but if any fall to -5 the organization is prevented from taking certain actions. In addition if either Survivability or Loyalty go to -5 your organization is destroyed or collapses.

All the scores start at 0 and when your organization is formed the PCs can spend points equal to their positive Charisma mod to raise the stats on a 1-to-1 basis. No stat can be raised above +4 when founding an evil organization. In addition every time the Master gains a level they can raise a stat by 1 and events in game will raise or lower the scores.

Last piece of bookkeeping is to determine the number of actions your organization can take each week using the chart below. The total number of actions is combined if the PCs have formed a council.
pre:
Level + Charisma Mod.                                     Actions per Week
            9 or less                                     0
            10                                            1
            11                                            1
            12                                            1
            13                                            2
            14                                            2
            15                                            3
            16                                            3
            17                                            4
            18                                            4
            19                                            5
            20                                            5
            21                                            6
            22                                            7
            23                                            8
            24                                            9
            25 or more                                    10
Actions
Now that we’ve made our evil organization what can we do with it? Any time you assign your minions a task it’s resolved by rolling 1d20 + relevant score. Shocking, I know. All these Action Checks are subject to critical failure or success. There’s some recommended DCs for actions but I suspect they aren’t based on any math so I’m not listing them here.
If your minions fail an action you can “Vader” the check and execute one of them to get a reroll, your organization takes a -1 to Loyalty.

The Action List
A sampling of the things you can use your evil organization to accomplish. The book encourages homebrewing additional actions, which we did. For the sake of brevity I’m only including the full text of a few.

Abduct Peasants (violent action): You need peasants (lvl 1-3 commoners) for your gruesome experiments or perhaps as monster chow. Roll a Ruthless Check.

Assassination (violent action): Your minions attempt to kill someone. Roll a Ruthless Check. Important NPCs are often immune to this action.
- Success: The target dies. -1 to Secrecy.
- Failure: The target does not die.
- Natural 1: The target does not die and minions are captured. -1 to Secrecy and Survivability.
- Natural 20: The target dies and it looks like an accident. +1 to Ruthless.

Criminal Enterprise (violent action): Your organization uses crime to acquire funds. Roll a Ruthless Check.

Frame Someone (skilled action): Your minions plant evidence to convince the law that someone is guilty of some unsavory crime. Roll an Espionage Check.

Gather Information (skilled action): Your organization tries to gather three random rumors (see page 9) or tries to answer three questions that might be known about town. Roll a Connections Check.

Grave-Robbing (violent action): Your organization violates graves to acquire corpses and skeletons for you. Roll a Secrecy Check.

Guard Duty: You assign your organization to guard a location for a week. This creates an encounter equal to a CR of the level of the highest level master -2.

Hunt Beasts (violent action): You order the capture of wild beasts to guard your base. Roll a Ruthless Check.
- Success: Roll 1d10. The minions catch:
1 - 1d3 Snakes, Venomous (CR 1)
2 - 1d3 Giant Spiders (CR 1)
3 - 1d2 Crocodiles (CR 2)
4 - 1d2 Snake, Constrictor (CR 2)
5 - 1d2 Giant Leeches (CR 2)
6 - 1d2 Giant Toads (CR 2)
7 - 1d2 Tatzlwyrms (CR 2)
8 - Giant Mantis (CR 3)
9 - Giant Scorpion (CR 3)
10 - Chupacabra (CR 3)
- Failure: Minions catch nothing.
- Natural 1: Monsters catch minions. Survivability -1.
- Natural 20: They catch a hydra (CR 4)

Indoctrinate: Your minions have grown quarrelous and forget their place. Teach them the meaning of obedience. Loyalty +1 up to a maximun of zero.

Lay Low: You organization keeps out of the spotlight for a while. Secrecy +1 up to a maximum of zero.

Legitimate Enterprise (skilled action): Your organization uses legitimate means to acquire funds. Roll a Connections Check.
- Success: Level*(1d4-1)*10 gp is acquired.
- Failure/Natural 1: no consequences
- Natural 20: Success and +1 to Connections

Recover: Your organization stays out of danger and focuses on recruiting new members. Surivability +1 up to a maximum of zero.

Spread Disinformation (skilled action): You organization tries to convince the populace of something isn’t true. Roll an Espionage check.

Torture Captives (violent action): Extract information from “guests” of your dungeon. Roll a Ruthless check.
- Success: You receive answers to three questions.
- Failure: No results.
- Natural 1: The prisoner dies (50%) or escapes (50%).
- Natural 20: Success and +1 to Ruthless.

Training (skilled action): Increase Ruthless, Competence or Espionage by +1 up to a maximum of zero.

Trap Building (skilled action): Roll a Connections check to fix a trap.

Trap Repair (skilled action): Roll a Connections Action Check to fix three traps.

Our homebrewed actions were:
Recruit Boggards (violent action): Your Banewog tribesmen recruit other Boggards from nearby tribes to join the holy mission of summoning Father Dagon. Roll a Ruthless check.
- Success: Gain ‘1d3-1’ Boggards.
- Fail: No effect.
- Natural 1: Lose ‘1d3-1’ Boggards.
- Natural 20: As Success and gain a special Boggard Minion with 1d3 Character levels.

Obtain Contraband (skilled action): Use your organization to obtain some item that cannot be procured legally. Roll an Espionage Check.
- Success: The item can be acquired in ‘1d3(+1, +0, -1)’ weeks.
- Fail: The desired item cannot be acquired for any price.
- Natural 1: Your inquires draw unwanted attention. -1 Secrecy.
- Natural 20: You find a source with no delay and +1 Connections.

Enhance Reputation (skilled action): You minions organize a whisper campaign in the underworld granting a bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate when appropriate. Roll a Loyalty check.
- Success: For the next week PC’s gain a +5 organization bonus.
- Fail: No effect.
- Natural 1: Your minions draw unwanted attention. -1 Secrecy.
- Natural 20: As Success and +1 Loyalty

Events
Every month the organization is subject to some event with a range of consequences. GM rolls 1d20, this cannot be rerolled by the PCs executing a minion.

1: Disquiet in the ranks. Make a Loyalty Check.
- Success: Lose an action next week
- Failure: Desertions. All Scores -1.
- Natural 1: Assassination Attempt. The Game Master puts together a level appropriate encounter based around the fact that your minions want you dead.
- Natural 20: No penalties
2-6: No Events
7: Capable Leadership. Gain a bonus action next week.
8: Times are Hard. Your minions have suffered more losses than usual. Can they endure this time of trials? Make a Survivability Check.
9: Revealed! You are being hunted. Can they find your organization before it’s too late? Roll a Secrecy Check.
10: Recruitment Opportunity. Can you ever have enough minions? Make a Survivability Check.
- Success: Your ranks grow. Survivability +1.
- Failure/Natural 1: No effect.
- Natural 20: Rapid growth. Survivability +2.
11: Rumors and Whispers. -1 to Loyalty.
12: Your Organization is a Shadow. +1 to Secrecy.
13: Infiltration Opportunity. You have a chance to get an agent amongst your enemies. Are you sneaky enough take advantage of it? Make an Espionage Check.
14: Talkative Minion. -1 to Secrecy.
15: You Give Them So Much. +1 to Loyalty.
16: The Cause Grows. +1 to Survivability.
17: Turf War. Other criminal organizations try to take your turf. Can you defend what’s yours? Make a Ruthless Check.
18: Unnecessary Squabbles. -1 to Survivability.
19: A Caper. This job could make you rich if you can pull it off. Make a Connections check.
- Success: Level*1d6*100 gp. Connections +1.
- Failure: Bridges are burned. Connections -1.
- Natural 1: A massive blunder. Connections -1 and Secrecy -1.
- Natural 20: Masterfully done. Success plus Secrecy +1.
20: Rare Opportunity. You have a chance to really expand your power base. Make an Action Check of your choice.
- Success: Opportunity Seized! +1 to the score of your choice.
- Failure/Nat. 1: Opportunity missed. No effect.
- Natural 20: Success beyond your wildest dreams! +1 to all scores.

Using a Cohort
Per standard Leadership feat rules you also get a cohort. If all you PCs take Leadership this can quickly turn into a clown car so it’s good to choose just one NPC as your cohort and Grumblejack is a handy option. Assigning your cohort to go along with with your minions on a mission they can add an appropriate bonus to the action, for example Grumblejack’s +6 Strength bonus to violent actions. If the action fails and any Survivability would be lost the cohort must succeed at a Fort save or die. The bonus provided is huge but it would suck to have a senior henchman you’ve grown attached to die on single save.
(I didn’t like this section and completely rewrote it in the rules presented to my players.)

Recruiting Minions in Farholde
So where are all these disposable henchmen (and presumably henchladies) coming from? Presumably they are being recruit from among the orphans of the PCs made an alliance with Baron Vandermir. If not there are plenty of thugs in Drownington that can be recruited. In addition if the PCs take over the Boggard tribe in the Lower Caverns they can get a number of bonus “Boggard” actions based on the size of the tribe, maximum 4 actions per week. The Boggards are adept at violent actions but will take a -4 penalty to any skilled actions.

A few notes before we get back to unleashing some hell.

TROUBLESHOOTING
We’re jumping around a bit in this post since these two sections appear at the end of the book. The authors give some advice on troubleshooting problems that might arise during this part of the AP.

Reservations
Some PCs may not want to summon a daemon; the whole Ritual and plan to unleash the Tears of Achlys is a terrible idea. Too bad, you signed a contract. If the PCs resist too much a visit from Tiadora can remind them they don’t have a say in the matter. A bit railroady but so much else about the AP is a sandbox I can forgive it.

Missing Components
There are a few essential items for the Ritual that the PCs may not find or obtain due to mistakes by the players or bad luck for the characters. The authors give some advice on what to do if C13 isn’t found or if the PCs accidently kill Halthus or Sir Valin Darin. None of these scenarios came up with my group but there are good suggestions for dealing with obvious situations that could derail the campaign.

Turtle, turtle
The PCs may also decide to seal up the lower levels of the Horn and try to grind out the Ritual by bunkering up in the Sanctum. If the lower levels are abandoned the various threats we’re going to meet in the next entry will clear out the lower levels and work to crack the defenses of the sanctum. They may even join forces and form a supergroup of adventurers, like some sort of Nick Cave and the Good Seeds, to take down our maltagonists. The book notes that many weeks of nothing leading up to a climatic onslaught is boring and potentially campaign ending. There are suggestions for problems that can arise if the PCs do turtle up to help break them out of their shell.

Now returning to our regularly scheduled programming and Act III

NEXT TIME: Evil, the long way around

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Scion: Origin: A Tourist's Guide

Kyoto, Japan is the favored city of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, and is home to thousands of Buddhist temples and shrines to the Kami. The greatest weavers and textile companies work here, under Amaterasu's blessing, and the city has a high demand for Heroes with urban planning and archiving skills - the many guardian gods of the city resist moderniztion whenever they can, and the priests would love for Scions or other Fate-touched builders to help preserve Kyoto as it has been for centuries. At one point, Kyoto was the Imperial capital of Japan, until the fire kami Kagutsuchi schemed to burn it down and chase the Emperor to Tokyo. See, Kagutsuchi is a violent god who can't control his emotions, and he wages a constant passive-aggressive war on Kyoto, hiring on yokai to help him set fires, out of jealousy. See, he hates that people more often pray to Atago Gongen (local Kami mantle of the Buddhist deity Jizo) for fire safety rather than propitiating him. The yokai tend to spread chaos by kidnapping the Kami that rely on protable shrines to protect their shintai (the objects or natural features they live in) when the priests move them during festivals, and then take these kidnapped spirits and try to turn them to darker, more destructive urges in the wild. Thus, Kyoto's holy places are some of the most heavily guarded in the World, and the local miko and kannushi are trained in divine protective arts. The temples are always on the lookout for mercenaries and exorcists they can hire to protect them during festivals.

The primeval forest Tadasu no Mori, never cut by human hands, is home to the Kamo clan of tutelary Kami who protect Kyoto, and proper gifts and rites to them can lead you in - and from there into the forests of Heaven, or to similar forests in Japan, such as Aokigahara, near Mount Fuji. The various torii arches at the entrances of Shinto shrines demarcate holy places, and if you perform a musical piece or other artistic work beautiful enough, you may catch Benten's attention and pass through a torii into Heaven. It is also a popular pastime to earn Benten's approval by having sex under a torii at night. Certain torii also serve as Touchstones to each other, especially among shrines that belong to the same network or kami division, such as Hachiman shrines. The oldest parts of the city were modeled on the Chinese city Chang'an, today called Xi'an, and are built on its mystical principles. This means that certain especially auspicious street corners, gardens and rooms fall under the dominion of the Shen, and the Kami that live there are considered to be part of the Celestial Bureaucracy, whether they know it or not. A few of the telephone poles, drainpipes and trees can serve as sky ladder into Chinese Heaven. The Monkey Park Iwatayama, on the slopes of Mt. Arashiyama, is supposed to just be a wildlife park full of macaques. However, the personal monkey friends of Sarutahiko also live there, and by leaving the proper gifts at a hidden crossroads, you may consult these monkeys for advice, martial arts training or message service to their divine patron.

Manitoulin Island, Ontario, also known as Mnidoo Mnis in the Odawa dialect of Ojibwe, means 'spirit island'. It is an island in Lake Huron, sacred to the Manitou and their people. On the island is the smaller Lake Mindemoya, which contains a smaller island, Mindemoya, also sometimes known as Treasure Island, which is a slumbering Incarnation of the grandmother-goddess Geezhigo-Quae. Her presence has led many to believe that Manitoulin might be the original Turtle Island, and its extremely bountiful crops and prosperous nature support that, but its many lakes and rivers hide darker things. Fishermen and tourists have recently been reporting lots of strange sightings, and there's been a worryingly large number of missing persons. The local communicators with the island's dodaem warn that the misginebig, a giant serpent that normally sleeps in an underwater spirit cave between South Bay and Manitowaning Bay, has awoken. The authorities are hunting for a Scion of Maudjee-Kawiss, or frankly anyone else willing to lead a hunt to kill the serpent, and the local nibiinaabe merfolk are asking anyone willing to talk to them for help. Still, the Anishinaubaek refuse to leave their ancestral land, and are preparing to fight for it despite the dangers.

The lakes and waterways of Manitoulin connect, in their depths, to the Underworld, though many titanspawn live in these waters and make it a dangerous trip even if you know the way and can survive underwater. Occasionally, spirits of the dead float up to the water's surface to give cryptic warnings of strange Manitou planning to visit the World. Treasure Island contains a tree that appears ordinary but, if climbed, is much taller than it should be. If the correct ritual entreating the Manitou is performed, you may climb this tree to reach a vast network of roots and branches that lead to Skyworld. You can also take a longer, more dangerous route to reach Yggdrasil or other World-trees. The Anishinaubaek also visit a local promontory, Dreamer's Rock, to fast in order to receive Manitou dreams. The guardian dodaem also use the place to bless youths for the first time, and those who complete vision quests may be granted healing powers or secret knowledge, in emulation of the Scion Shawanosowe. Outsiders must gain permission from the Whitefish River First Nation to visit Dreamer's Rock. The local waterfall Bridal Veil Falls, near Kagawong, is home to a strange Manitou, small with a red feather, who grants food and fertility blessings to those that accept his hospitality and defeat him in a wrestling match. He is able to help seekers of lost family or ancestors navigate the rivers to find them.

Memphis, Egypt is, in the World, a bustling, living city, though it is no longer capital of Egypt. Ptah, his son Imhotep and the Egyptian Scion Menes all had a hand in its construction and its turning into one of the most prosperous cities in the entire World. It is widely known as a birthplace of Heroes and a global leader in architecture and technology. The Imhotep Institute for Technology and Engineering is highly competitive and on the cutting edge, and Memphis has always stood as a haven for the followers of the Netjer even when being one was dangerous. Legends of the mummified dead rising from the Saqqara necropolis to defend the city remain to this day, discouraging attacks. While there are Christians and Muslims in Memphis, Ptah and his worshippers remain a top priority in the city's prayers. The city is aesthetically divided quite sharply between shining skyscrapers and maglevs and the old-styled stone tombs of Saqqara. While Saqqara is part of the municipality of Memphis, it operates as an independent borough that is dominated by the funerary arts. Here, the local officials handle requests and paperwork from visitors to borrow or buy relics, consult oracles, pass on messages to the dead via ghostly messengers or gain embalming services. Those who can pass the secret trials required to live in the necropolis have a peerless healthcare plan and access to many mysteries.

The pyramids and tombs of Saqqara are a network of passages into Duat, if you know how to cast the right spells. They are guarded by mummies that judge the worth of visitors, and those found unworthy are cast out and then arrested for trespassing. One of the more famous spots in Memphis is the Ozymandias Nightclub, and it takes reservations years in advance to celebrate your 30th birthday there, at the feet of a giant statue of Rameses II downtown. If you turn 30 on the rooftop and personally sacrifice something great and important that represents your most triumphant victory to the eternal legacy of Rameses II and his unending Heb Sed festival, you are Fated to settle the worst of your life's conflicts that year, either by achieving an impossible peace or defeating an impossibly powerful foe. And if you were to go looking in the back roads of Saqqara, you might find clues leading to the hidden tomb of Imhotep, concealed by his final magics as a puzzle to his successors. If you were to find the hidden clues and piece them together, you might be the first in 5000 years to set foot in the ancient tomb, where you would then need to solve many riddles and puzzles to reach the innermost chamber, where the true ren of Imhotep is inscribed. It is said that, should a seeker speak this ren aloud, they will inherit the human soul of the god Imhotep, along with all of his secrets - and, potentially, even a Visitation.

Mexico City, Mexico is the center of the Teotl's universe, the remnant of a mighty empire that now claws its way back to the top. The conquistadores once buried Tenochtitlan, using its stones to build their churches, but the Teotl now work to reclaim it, leading archaeological digs, holding open-air tianguis markets in honor of the gods in the Zocalo, and play the ancient ritual game of ollamaliztli in newly built courts, petitioning the government to tear down Spanish architecture to expose the old temples and relics beneath. Here, they reenact the World's creation and the founding of the sacred city via ceremonies at the dig site that revealed the remains of the Templo Mayor, honoring Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc beneath the Fifth Sun. Scions of the Teotl, traditionally hidden in plain sight among the quiet dedications to their parents in Mexico City, have been entering the limelight once more to try and strengthen the Fatebinding of Mexico City to their gods in preparation for the returning darkness.

Northeast of the city, the ruins of Tenochtitlan stand as evidence of the greatest city of the Teotl in the previous age. They are dominated by three pyramids in the central boulevard, the Avenue of the Dead, or Miccoatli. Beneath these ruins are piles of bones that show the closeness to Mictlan, and each year during the Dia de los Muertos, Miccoatli leads directly into the Afterlife for those that honor the dead with offerings or who carry marigolds and who can overcome the trials of the Underworld. The spirits of the dead exit the same way, seeking their loved ones. The ancient homeland of Aztlan is also known to be home to the seven caves that birthed the Nahua tribes, where Huitzilopochtli led his favored people to build Tenochtitlan. Aztlan remains as a Midrealm, and if you dig beneath Mexico City, you can find waterlogged caverns that will lead to Aztlan's lake island, so long as you denounce your old name and identity, taking up a new one during the journey. Under the ruins of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Tenochtitlan, archaeologists have found a sealed tunnel, lined with mercury and pyrite shards which glow like stars in the dark. Teotl Scions prepare for battle, as they know - this was the prison of the tzitzimime, which now run free. The cold power of the stars remains, however, confusing the senses and leading visitors astray, to vanish in the dark. Downtown Mexico City sits right on top of Tenochtitlan, and while there, compasses spin and GPS fails - the literal center of the universe defies human technology and navigation. Here, you can find secret shops and market stalls that display the black jaguar of Tezcatlipoca, and in these you can buy obsidian mirrors that will lead to your desires or show the way to places you will go in the future. The Angel of Independence statue, plated in gold, stands atop a victory column downtown, too. This angel represents the Greek goddess Nike, and the Teotl and Theoi often fight over its ownership and use, for it serves as a Touchstone that connects to similar victory columns in places like Berlin, Copenhagen, Jaen, Saint-Denis, Chihuahua or Saint Petersburg, when blood is spilled there in triumph.

Next time: New York, Reykjavik, Sao Salvador, Wudangshan.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Huh. I never thought I'd see Manitoulin Island mentioned in one of these write-ups.

Kurieg
Jul 19, 2012

RIP Lutri: 5/19/20-4/2/20
:blizz::gamefreak:

Bieeardo posted:

Huh. I never thought I'd see Manitoulin Island mentioned in one of these write-ups.

They tapped a lot of people who were ethnically of the groups they were creating the Pantheons of to write said pantheons.

Mr. Prokosch
Feb 14, 2012

Behold My Magnificence!

RedSnapper posted:


Monastyr stuff [/b]


I vote for Officer. We spent most of our life leading the good and noble sons of Ragada against those villainous Ragadans!

Subjunctive
Sep 12, 2006

✨sparkle and shine✨

Bieeardo posted:

Huh. I never thought I'd see Manitoulin Island mentioned in one of these write-ups.

Same!

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer

Kurieg posted:

They tapped a lot of people who were ethnically of the groups they were creating the Pantheons of to write said pantheons.

That's awesome! I hope that we see more of this kind of thing going forward.

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
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Scion: Origin: You Can Serve God - He's Mammon

New York City, New York is one of the most diverse cities in the World, with pockets of pretty much every faith in existence flourishing. Mammon is the patron god of Wall Street (and that's notable because Mammon as an entity, in our world, was a medieval Christian invention), pretty much every well-known god has a church or temple somewhere in the city, and those that don't still have storefront shrines maintained by the locals to pay their respects, as do a number of saints. The Scions of New York are similarly diverse, with some loving fame and publicity and others working just to protect their own neighborhoods from the divine infighting that plagues the city. See, no one pantheon claims the city, and if anyone tried, it'd spark a terrible war. When the Statue of Liberty went up in New York Harbor, Columbia, the goddess of democracy and America, declared its island neutral ground, where anyone could meet - even titanspawn - with her personal guarantee of safety. A few of her other Mantles opposed the idea (Columbia's quite young by deity standards and hasn't settled on a single dominant identity), but Fate settled in her favor, and the peace has lasted over a century...primarily because it's easy enough for anyone who wants to fight to take a ferry to Battery Park and do it there. The fallout is a constant issue for New Yorkers, but subtly and blatantly. It isn't especially unusual for a commute to get delayed because a pack of Hindi-speaking monkeys starts a gang fight with a few ravens, accusing them of being Odin's spies. (Which they usually are.) The city maintains a budget line item every year for 'Spiritual Matters,' which they use to maintain and repair the place in the wake of the Scion battles, demonic invasions, river serpents, frost giants, ghosts and other problems certain to happen in the coming year. However, it's not all chaos. For every fight, there's plenty of cross-pantheon cooperation. An Incarnation of Eshu Elegbara owns a bar, the Crossroads of the World, in Times Square, and welcomes anyone to drink there, regardless of their affiliation or power. There's a freestyle hip-hop dance group in Brooklyn who offer veneration to any god that loves dance and doesn't mind blessing them occasionally. Every subway line calls a different liminal deity their patron, to ward off delay and malfunction, and the agents of those lines generally engage in friendly competition for bragging rights. NYC is where you go when your own pantheon isn't that happy with you, for whatever reason. It'll help you hide or help you find friends - the city has your back.

The downtown 6 train officially ends at Brooklyn Briodge and City Hall, but if you stay on past that, you'll head past the old, shut down City Hall station. If you have a talisman of any god whose purview includes Journeys and make the right offering or prayer while passing through, you'll end up riding past the World and into the Via Incognita, a railroad that runs through several Midrealms of numerous pantheons, including a few hidden ones full of abandoned creatures or lost souls, with no entry or exit besides the train. The Statue of Liberty is not just the referee of its own neutral zone, but also works as a gate into the Godsrealm of Columbia that'll open for anyone that has made a sacrifice for any form of freedom, their own or another's. It also works as a Touchstone hub for other Liberty Enlightening the World status across the planet, all of which can go back to Liberty Island as well. It is said that the graffiti palace of 5Pointz, an abandoned factory building in Long Island City that was transformed into a monument to street art, was sold off and painted over some years back. Others, however, say it is still there - and they can prove it with photos. See, the gods of artistry in each pantheon - a group that includes Brigid, Khnum and Sarasvati - watch over 5Pointz and preserve it against any attempt to end its creativity, but it c an only be seen by those with inspiration and a passion for self-expression.

Reykjavik, Iceland is extremely tapped into Fate. The Aesir guided the city's founder to it, and in Reykjavik...well, Fate is not the background white noise it is elsewhere. Everyone has developed various traditions to avoid or encourage Fatebinding to Scions, relics or mystic places. They know what rhymes keep the wolves out, what choices will lead them to exciting lives and which will let them live peacefully. Scions stand out in Reykjavik whether they want to or not, and most folks are far too savvy to get swept up in it unless they want to be. The wild areas in and around the city are home to shocking numbers of legendary beasts - elves and trolls, sure, but far more. The people of Reykjavik and the hidden folk tend to stay out of each others' way. Urban expansion routes around known alagablettur, or places of power and elf habitats. There are subtle clauses in national legislation that take prophecy and magic into account, among other things. Draugr sometimes rise from botched funerals, and trolls will sometimes rob tourists who don't know how to appease them, but mostly, people just coexist. Some dwarves even offer craft workshops at local schools and universities, for those that will pay them in gold or favors. The worship of the Aesir has been quiet but constant since Reykjavik's founding, and has resurged greatly recently. A brand new temple has been built, presiding over daily public ceremonies to the gods. Others prefer more direct methods, tying themselves to Fate by emulation of deities. There's a biker gang named the Wilder Hunt that travels the highways and roads in the name of the Allfather, each wearing an eyepatch over their left eye (which each sacrificed) and each seeking ways to preserve Reykjavik during Ragnarok, which they believe approaches soon.

Reykjavik translates to 'Bay of Smoke', named for its hot springs, lava fields and active volcanos. Anyone that ventures into the earth around Reykjavik with true rage in their heart, cursing someone they hate and wish to destroy, can descend all the way to Muspelheim. Northwest of the city is the Neighborhood of the Gods, with streets named after the Norse pantheon. Those that live there tend to see their Fate turn in ways reminiscent of their address's god. Academics and scientists compete to get the aparments on Odinsgata, while those that want courage head for Tysgata. No one lives in Lokastigur unless they don't mind being troublemakers and watched closely by their fellows. Some might question the wisdom of deliberately tying yourself to a pantheon doomed to die, but the locals just accept it. Ragnarok comes for everyone, so why not accept some doom in exchange for greatness?

Sao Salvador de Bahia, Brazil is a raucous capital city, heavily Afro-Brazilian and dedicated to living each moment to the fullest. It was once a major hub for the slave trade, and is now one of the major Worldly homes of the Orisha, or Orixas as the locals say in Portuguese. The influence of the Yoruba gods has made the city a home of music and dance, host to the biggest celebrating of the World during Carnival. The locals are very proud of their worship, making offerings ot the Orixas since their ancestors founded the religion by cloaking their gods in the disguise of saints. The city has blended Portuguese, West African and Native American cultures into a unique if not seamless fusion, and they constantly reinvent themselves whole still being true to the ancient ways. While the Orishas have followers across the globe, Salvador is the frequent home of incarnations of Eshu Elegbara/Exu, thanks to its status as a cultural crossroads and as the center of the ashe musical style and birthplace of capoeira. Scions of Shango/Xango especially enjoy the work of the capoeiristas in protecting their homes and stopping other pantheons from trying to bring their Titanic wars to Brazil.

Salvador's colonial neighborhood of Pelourinho is a treasured cultural center...and also a symbol of racism and oppression. The name means 'pillory', for the place where the slavers imprisoned and whipped people. Candomble practitioners play sacred music and dance to catch the attention of their ancestors on the spot the pillory once stood, allowing them to speak to these spirits via possession. The goal, you see, is to ease their suffering long enough open the way to orun for them. There are also many endangered species of plant and animal in the 40,000 square miles of forest around Salvador and the Bahian coast. Anyone visiting, particularly Scions of Oshossi/Oxossi and other hunters must be very careful not to be led astry by the flame-haired, childlike Curupira that protects the forest. It cares little for mortal or divine concerns, and uses its backward-facing feet to lay false trails, imitaties natural sounds and shapeshifts to confuse people. It sometimes even turns people into prey animals or steals their shadows.

Wudangshan, China is not a city - it's a mountain range in Hubei Province, the home of the famous Wudang martial arts, a Daoist tradition dating back to ancient times, and a dedication to fierce righteousness. It is full of martial arts schools and waterfalls, and atop the highest peak is the Gold Pinnacle Temple, made of copper and painted with gold. It was placed directly on the mountaintop from Heaven by a Scion of Zhenwu the Perfect Warrior, guardian deitiy of Wudang, becauser the mortals had no idea how to transport it there from its original construction site. The Pruple Heaven Palace, down the slope, has many temples and courtyads for training. IT is home to the Green Dragon Crescent Blade of Guan Yu, which Heroes may use if they get the gods' stamp of approval. On forms, in triplicate. Wudang masters teach internal martial arts relying on momentum, and they are famous for their sword skill. The local Daoist monks welcome travelers, offering services in divination, feng shui readings, advice and healing. Daoists come from across the World to learn and teach, and the ancient temple compexes have a history of quiet resistance to those who would end their way opf life. They staged effective protests against the Cultural Revolutiopn, and to this day, the concept of 'jianghu' remains strong. Jianghu, of course, is the hidden world of outsiders and commoners that many martial artists belong to, taking care of those that the mainstream cannot.

The Wudang complex includes two paths into Heaven. First is the Sword River Bridge, which crosses the river Zhenwu made by cutting a line in the ground with his sword in order to stop his mother from preventing him from ending his journey of enlightenment. The other is the oldest staircase, which runs from the mountain foot to the Golden Pinnacle Temple. In either case, those that wish to use the paths must perform sufficient amounts of righteous deeds, and then report them on a special form that they can submit at any of the temples. Deeds are earned not just by unselfish acts and defending the weak, but also by learning new things or by lighting incense on the head of a stone dragon that stands at the end of a narrow ledge jutting from Nanyang Palace over a long drop. Once the requisite deeds are reported and approved, you must either climb all the stairs in one go with no breaks, or cross the bridge on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese traditional calendar, that being the day Zhenwu ascended to godhood. The place is also home to the cave of Grandfather, called the Bee Taoist, a reclusive priest who has achieved total clarity and stillness to the extent that he has tamed a massive swarm of bees. Within the cave, time stands still - no one inside may age or die until Grandfather and his bees are gone. Wounds do not bleed out, diseases halt their progression, nothing changes. As long as you have respect, you may ask Grandfather and the bees questions about spiritual or physical health, the future, love, war - really just about anything that peace of mind and flawless memory might be helpful with.

Varanasi, India is the holy City of Light, full of ancient templ;es along the sacred Ganges River. Here, the gods stand close to the world, and Fate binds them and the city tightly via Heroes, festivals, relics and the Axis Mundi that is the river. The patron of the city, the Kashi Naresh, is always a Scion of Shiva and always lives in the Ramnagar Fort, across the river from one of the many ghats, or wide sets of stairs that lead to the water, on which devotees perform ritual cleansing and cremation. The Incarnations of the Deva visit each year to bathe in the river during the Dev Deepawali festival, while mortals light a see of diyas - a form of oil lamp - in their honor. However, while Varanasi is unquestionably theirs, the Devas may only show themselves in strict traditional ways that Fate decreed long ago. The city is also home to a fairly sizable kitsune population, ever since it recently partnered with Kyoto. They serve as advocates and messengers of the Kami. The criminal underworld of Varanasi has recently been taken over by several rakshasa gangs that steal and smuggle relics back to the island city of Lankapura, where titanspawn and other supernatural beings struggle for supremacy. Whether they serve the asuras or not is unclear.

The waters of the Ganges wash away sin, and their tutelary goddess, Ganga, rides a makara and presides over travel between worlds via an Axis Mundi that leads to the home of Shiva and other Otherworld locations. During Diwali, if you hang a lantern from the prow of a boat and row upstream, you may enter the Axis Mundi. Tose who are burned upon a ghat or whose ashes are cast after death into the river may bypass Naraka and immediately pass to a higher level of the afterlife, possibly even transcending reincarnation. It is said that the Ganges' divine power is even enough to turn those who bathe in it into Scions. Lack of proof has not stopped thousands from trying it every day. Makara, a strange chimera of fish and mammal, swim in the river depths, and anyone sufficiently fast and brave may catch one to train as an aquatic mount. In the oldest neighborhoods of Varanasi, which have been inhabited for millenia, the streets are cramped, packed alleys - and nother is ever truly lost. There are many forgotten nooks, full of things like indoor forests that serve as home to monkey people or street corners where the same game of dice has been in progress for 3 millenia. Anything lost in Varanasi can be found eventually, if you wander around enough, but it's not always easy. In the nearby area of Sarnath, where the Buddha's first sermon was given, there is a pillar that bears four lions, which also appears on the Indian national emblem. Emperor Ashoka, who converted to Buddhism in atonement for his sins, erected these pillars across India and inscribed them with his edicts. If you commit a truly selfless act before a pillar, you may travel to any other pillar. Many of them survive only in fragments, if that, and while you can travel to a broken pillar, it's risky - you do it wrong and you might get trapped between parts of reality.

Next time: The Titan Wars

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
I guessing that Fatebinding is the main reason that the mainstream monotheist religions of our world are still dominant despite the presence of acknowledges pagan gods with visible power?

“Dad, why do we pray to Jesus instead of Thor?”

“Because Jesus won’t show up one day and try to drag you on one of his dangerous quests to Jotunheim and get you killed.”

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Until the expansion pack, anyway.

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

The game as yet does not offer an explanation as to why monotheism has adherents; that said, the existence of Mammon as a deity suggests that you might be able to be the Scion of Saint Michael the Archangel. Probably not his kid, though - angels don't gently caress any more.

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thatbastardken
Apr 23, 2010

A contract signed by a minor is not binding!
Does Scion at any point explain why monotheism exists? It seems kind of out of place, given that the world acknowledges the existence of many gods. So far it just looks like they wanted to dunk on Christianity for ignoring "reality".

efb

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