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Genius has some cool ideas, but it's entirely too in love with itself. A good editor could maybe have turned it into something good. That's honestly a big part of the problem with fan projects and labors of love in general: When you're super close to a project, it can be difficult to step back and figure out what's actually good and what should be cut out or rewritten.
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Feb 19, 2017 02:05
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Zereth posted:Shame you don't play mad scientists in Genius, isn't it. I did a review of it in the last thread. I think there's a compelling tragedy and direction at Genius' core, but it's surrounded by an awful lot of "I really want to be playing oMage."
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Feb 19, 2017 02:06
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Cythereal posted:I did a review of it in the last thread. I think there's a compelling tragedy and direction at Genius' core, but it's surrounded by an awful lot of "I really want to be playing oMage." And even more 'Why the hell is this in the WoD instead of its own thing' The WoD is too overcrowded as it is. A world of tragic mad scientists who keep trying to make everyone see and save the world is a strong enough concept to carry a game, but it needs its own space.
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Feb 19, 2017 02:15
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Night10194 posted:And even more 'Why the hell is this in the WoD instead of its own thing' Every aspect of Genius can be described in one of three ways: 1. Stupid. 2. Belongs in Mage. 3. Belongs outside the World of Darkness.
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Feb 19, 2017 02:19
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While genre scientists being unable to fundamentally change the world is an understandable literary convention, or a balancing factor for games that mix genre scientists and other characters, for a game about playing a genre scientist I'm not sure it works. Certainly, I can see doing a much lighter Venture Bros.-style game that's about the failure of the space age promise, but it strikes me as something that'd be best balanced with the humor of being a ridiculous game where you're unleashing your cyborg ape commandos to fight Strike Force Eagle... rather than being played as a really ham-fisted metaphor for mental illness.
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Feb 19, 2017 02:31
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Cythereal posted:I did a review of it in the last thread. I think there's a compelling tragedy and direction at Genius' core, but it's surrounded by an awful lot of "I really want to be playing oMage." 
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Feb 19, 2017 02:45
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http://reductress.com/post/9-things-that-girls-who-arent-slimy-sea-creatures-do/ This is the best Beast related content. Hostile V posted:Beast sucks. That being said. A Hunter monster that is basically the radiation pulses of a dying star that sealed itself in a person who has been turned into a flesh-lined containment unit that is slowly leaking and decaying as the radiation gets stronger so they have to basically burn off energy spikes by flash-atomizing people every so often. That'd be a great "what the gently caress is this" enemy that's a little too tough for the PCs without help or planning. Check out The Incredible Melting Man, which would be an average b-movie if it wasn't for Rick Baker's gore effects. Count Chocula fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Feb 19, 2017 |
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Feb 19, 2017 02:52
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Alien Rope Burn posted:While genre scientists being unable to fundamentally change the world is an understandable literary convention, or a balancing factor for games that mix genre scientists and other characters, for a game about playing a genre scientist I'm not sure it works. Certainly, I can see doing a much lighter Venture Bros.-style game that's about the failure of the space age promise, but it strikes me as something that'd be best balanced with the humor of being a ridiculous game where you're unleashing your cyborg ape commandos to fight Strike Force Eagle... rather than being played as a really ham-fisted metaphor for mental illness. Playing a Vietnam vet turned Evil Genius Henchman in a playful superscience 1969 was one of my other all time favorite PCs.
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Feb 19, 2017 03:42
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Night10194 posted:And even more 'Why the hell is this in the WoD instead of its own thing'
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Feb 19, 2017 04:00
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Halloween Jack posted:Yeah that's also Mage. Extremely. It's actually the case for a lot of the WoD when I think about it.
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Feb 19, 2017 04:21
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Night10194 posted:It's actually the case for a lot of the WoD when I think about it. Then what actually belongs in it?
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Feb 19, 2017 04:22
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I think its worth it to make the distinction between Ascension and Awakening. Ascension muddied the waters hard when taken with the rest of oWoD but Awakening tends to provide context to a lot of the other game lines. I've always felt Awakening fit quite well into the larger setting of nWoD.
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Feb 19, 2017 04:28
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Kavak posted:Then what actually belongs in it? I actually think a lot of its games would each be better as their own individual thing. No-one really feels like they share the stage well.
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Feb 19, 2017 04:29
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Night10194 posted:I actually think a lot of its games would each be better as their own individual thing. No-one really feels like they share the stage well. Except hunters. 
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Feb 19, 2017 04:31
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Cythereal posted:Except hunters. Yeah but that's because Hunters are the one splat where "There's a thousand and one awful things in every loving shadow." actually works great.
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Feb 19, 2017 04:34
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oMage works when you realize that it explains all the other oWoD splats. And depending on how high you are, all of reality too. Instead of fixing Beast, just give their Lair ability to every other splat when they reach the 2nd highest level of their power stat. So high level Vampires automatically get their own Castlevanias, powerful werewolves get twisted forests that respond to their wills, powerful Mages...probably already live in magic TARDISes so it's a bit redundant but thematic, powerful Hunters get trap filled compounds, Demons get the cube from Cube, etc. I know every splat has a Merit to represent that but it's such a cool idea.
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Feb 19, 2017 04:40
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Night10194 posted:Playing a Vietnam vet turned Evil Genius Henchman in a playful superscience 1969 was one of my other all time favorite PCs. Please tell me you were playing this guy...  Count Chocula posted:Instead of fixing Beast, just give their Lair ability to every other splat when they reach the 2nd highest level of their power stat. So high level Vampires automatically get their own Castlevanias, powerful werewolves get twisted forests that respond to their wills, powerful Mages...probably already live in magic TARDISes so it's a bit redundant but thematic, powerful Hunters get trap filled compounds, Demons get the cube from Cube, etc. I know every splat has a Merit to represent that but it's such a cool idea. No, that should be "Hunters get wicked sweet rides". That at least fits thematically with the Mystery Machine, Reggie's Hemicuda from the Phantasm movies, or the Impala from Supernatural.
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Feb 19, 2017 04:47
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Young Freud posted:Please tell me you were playing this guy... No, it was much more convoluted. But my coworkers were a friendly japanese Sharktopus and Jeb Kerman.  He drove a corvette out of the cargo bay of a Catalina flying boat once. To prove he was still the thrillmaster.
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Feb 19, 2017 04:50
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Young Freud posted:No, that should be "Hunters get wicked sweet rides". That at least fits thematically with the Mystery Machine, Reggie's Hemicuda from the Phantasm movies, or the Impala from Supernatural. You just know Valkyrie has a helicarrier tucked away somewhere that they taunt VASCU and Division Six with.
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Feb 19, 2017 04:50
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Count Chocula posted:oMage works when you realize that it explains all the other oWoD splats.
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Feb 19, 2017 05:09
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Halloween Jack posted:That is exactly the problem. It had thematic and philosophical ambitions way beyond 'pretend to be Lestat' or 'pretend to be furry ecoterrorists'. It also perfectly captures that time in the 90s when people were into The Invisibles and Discordianism and put forward a vision of people of all faiths working together to fight The Man. Plus oMage had more cool ideas per chapter than any other book.
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Feb 19, 2017 05:15
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The problem is that "Why are there vampires?" or "Why are there werewolves" were questions that didn't need to be answered by Mage.
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Feb 19, 2017 05:17
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Was there a F&F on Princess the hopeful? Years ago I remember there being vague drama about some dude threatening suicide because he was cut off from posting wherever they were working on princess at the time. Sounded like one hell of a trainwreck, but I never had the energy to wade in and see what level of dumpster fire fascinating might be lying within.
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Feb 19, 2017 05:18
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It was tried and abandoned 3 times, according to the archive.
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Feb 19, 2017 05:51
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There's really not much to it worth covering, from what I remember from the attempts.
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Feb 19, 2017 05:56
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Young Freud posted:Please tell me you were playing this guy... Yeah that was my first thought, but I'm not sure that would work with all the cool Beast lair stuff like getting bonuses to hunt and confusing your prey. That's perfect for Vampires & everyone else. Maybe you can use your Ride to impose those Lair Conditions on an area, after a montage of getting your gear out of the Impala/Fred setting traps from the Mystery Machine/John Constantine sending Chaz to 'pick up a few things from storage'? Plus I remember an Angel episode with an awesome Hunter Lair that Gunn ran.
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Feb 19, 2017 05:58
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I think the greatest tragedy of Chronicles of Darkness is that some of the writers feel the need to put every type of supernatural thing into a quantifiable box. I know this is probably because that's what the OWoD did and that's how you stayed in business in the 90's but that model doesn't really work today. The best stuff they've put out half the time is unexplainable monsters that don't fall into a preset box. White Wolf fans are bad about this too and argue endlessly about what's what and who's who when that's the antithesis of horror. When you put a malevolent being in a box and quantify every aspect of it, the horror is gone. Overall I feel like Chronicles is a step up from the OWoD by a large margin and I feel that Beast is only a pale reflection of the possible lines and books that could be the nadir of the World of Darkness. Still, Beast is really bad and the amount of unnecessary additions to the line makes me worried about Chronicles' future. They might not even have one too if Ericsson decides to pull their license once his transmedia empire never takes off and he's looking for patsies other than strawman, roleplaying game LIEBERALS mad about his new pal.
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Feb 19, 2017 06:39
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Kurieg posted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBsdWW7MOew
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Feb 19, 2017 06:44
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 Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes - Insatiables part 2 Creating the Insatiable quote:Insatiable are not simply Beasts that are hungrier than their counterparts. They are ravenous monsters that strike out at the world and tear apart society with their horrific powers and the maddening effects of the Schism. They are not intended as player characters, as the Insatiable represent living, irrational concepts of reality that have no rhyme or reason to exist. Where a Beast constantly struggles with her Hunger, an Insatiable is his Hunger, and exists only to feed it. Once you've gotten the attributes, skills, and specialties out of the way, you pick your Insatiable's Moment. Which gives them a special power. Primordial Seas take a -2 penalty to willpower and social rolls but gain a dot of Strength and Wits. Freezing Hells gain a dot of stamina and 2 extra health but take a -2 penalty to Intiative. Molten Earths can spend a point of satiety to make their unarmed attacks to deal aggravated damage but they take 1 point of Aggravated damage in the process, how long does this last? The game doesn't say! Clashing Fault gain Armor 2/1 but take -1 to defense. Finally, Void can spend a point of willpower to invoke Impossible Vista, even if they don't have the power, in the area around her for a number of minutes equal to their current willpower, if they have Impossible Vista they get a +2 bonus to the roll to activate it. What's Impossible Vista you ask? Well, it's an Esurient, a class of Insatiable only powers.  Yes, their powers are called Hungries. By that token, I really hate the way the Moments alternate back and forth between different methods of Address, Primordial Seas are a plural, Freezing Hell is singular. The Molten Earth has a term of address for some reason, Clashing Fault is singular again, and "Void" is just a word, for some reason they didn't use "Unfathomable Void"? it's just inconsistent, and ultimately doesn't matter since insatiables are just NPCs anyway. Why do they need this level of splat fidelity when they're explicitly NPCs? Back on Topic, the storyteller just assigns Esurients to the Insatiable as they feel is necessary based on how strong the Insatiable is supposed to be. Same with Nightmares. Atavisms... well, they're only supposed to have them if they're Subverted(Yes, that's a proper noun) a Beast's Lair, or they've stolen them with an Esurient. But the ones from the Esurient are explicitly temporary. Also: The insatiable gains all the bonuses a Beast gets from undergoing the Merger... except as mentioned earlier Insatiables don't have Lair dots natively, and Lair dots are explicitly temporary so you'd have to constantly re-apply and re-calculate the Merger template and bonuses. "Except they do not gain the bonus to detecting ambushes" That's...  that isn't a power they get by default, that is one of the powers that they are allowed to pick in exchange for one of the Lair dots they lose when they go into the Merger. Did whoever wrote this just think that the list of potential Merger powers was just a list of what Merged beasts got once they merged? In addition to the Merger powers that they may or may not get, there are a couple of other things Insatiables get by default.Horrible Form Insatiables can appear as a normal human being, or manifest their Moment the same way a Merged Beast becomes a physical embodiment of their Horror. But Moments aren't assembled bits of human folklore like Horrors are, instead they're more like sentient angry concepts. So an Insatiable's Horrible Form might appear as a swarm of fanged spheres, or a gaunt giant with no orifices or features save for a black hole in their sternum. The human mind is incapable of processing a Horrible Form, either way, since it has no amalgam in our collective unconscious. Mortals instantly flee and rationalize away the encounter, if they are forced to spend a scene or longer in the presence of a Horrible Form they gain the Shaken condition. Supernatural creatures must roll Resolve+Tolerance or gain it as well. Impossible Anatomy Insatiables don't conform to rational concepts of biology, and any power that affects their body doesn't gain the benefit of extraordinary successes when used against them... wait, loving wait. They're Abberations so they're immune to critical hits? This isn't D&D! For fucks sake. Lair Subversion Insatiables start with 0 Lair, and can gain points by stealing access to a Beast's lair. This lasts for as long as they maintain control of the Beast or their Lair, and afterwards they lose one dot of Lair per day. They can steal Atavisms from a Beast who's Lair they've subverted and retain them even after their lair falls back to 0. They can also spend points of Satiety to temporarily boost their lair rating, creating nightmare realms out of nothingness, they only last one day per point of Satiety spent. But some Insatiables think that these temporary lairs are their only true homes and thus devour mortals at a frightening rate to keep their dream alive, literally. Unseen Presence quote:An Insatiable also does not show up in the Primordial Dream and leaves no lasting residue of his appearance apart from the Schism (ed: yes, another proper noun that they're referring to out of order). To Beasts, Insatiable appear as faint ripples in the Primordial Dream, but do not stand out among the other dreams and fears. A Beast or supernatural creature using a power to detect an Insatiable suffers a -2 penalty to any dice rolls associated with searching, though an Insatiable who uses any of its powers becomes immediately noticeable as a foreign presence that feels wrong and damaging to the world. Heroes cannot sense Insatiable the way they do Beasts due to this phenomenon, and even Schisms do not necessarily alert a Hero to an Insatiable’s presence, making them a threat only Beasts are equipped to deal with. Let me repeat that. "making them a threat only Beasts are equipped to deal with" Yup, this is Matt's justification, we must accept the child rapist because only they can fight the dude who eats people. The Act of Subversion quote:The Insatiable cannot build their own Lairs. Like owls, they instead steal the nests built by others and make them their own. An Insatiable is a covetous creature, stealing Lairs away from its victims and then tossing them aside when it encounters an even greater Lair. Like most things, it’s the thrill of the hunt and of devouring that appeals to the Insatiable, not the actual conquest. That does not mean they are looking only to borrow a nest. The Insatiable aim not only to take control of the Lair and the Hive it is be bonded to, but to gorge themselves upon the Beast and the things that make up his existence. An Insatiable, once it has targeted a Beast, will aim to devour everything about that Beast until there is nothing left. Subversion of Contentment And they open up with a curve ball. See, up until now they've talked about how you use Subversion to take over a Beast's Lair. But if the beast is full you instead take over the BEAST PLAYER CHARACTER. This requires skin contact, either by passing by and touching them, or by crushing them in a hug with their monstrous void tentacles, either way, you make an extended contested roll of the Insatiable's Strength+Satiety vs the Beast's Composure+Willpower. (It should be noted that usually you don't roll willpower, you roll Composure+Resolve as Willpower is a derived trait. Is the Beast rolling Composure+Composure+Resolve?) The beast loses a dice for each point of Satiety above 5, and gains a dice for each point below 5. For each success the Insatiable gains the beast loses a point of Composure and Presence(Meaning they actually lose two dice because of the aforementioned Composure being rolled twice thing) before they roll again. When each attribute reaches zero the Insatiable subverts the Beast's consciousness and gains control for one hour per point of Satiety the Beast used to have as the Moment pushes the Horror aside and takes control of the Beast. It says that this is an immediately recognizable act as the Horror rails against it. But it's also an extended contested action with no time interval, that can apparently be initiated by gently touching their hand as you walk by. Does it continue after the Insatiable removes contact? Is it instantaneous despite the multiple rolls? Is there any way for a Beast to actually break free or an explanation for what happens if he wins the contested roll? None of these questions are answered. Also does the Insatiable physically enter the Beast when they're controlling their mind? They sort of imply that they do. At least they do address the massive breach of player trust that mind control is.  "You are likely not a monster, but you are playing Beast." Subversion of Hunger This is the version that they were talking up earlier, when a Beast is hungry their Lair is somehow left vulnerable (despite the fact that their Horror is more active when a Beast is hungry but the fact that they've forgotten Beasts thematic mechanics is the least of this book's problems at this point). "Her constant hunger is so visceral that it pervades everything she does; she not only hungers for flesh and terror, but power and dominance. The only way to have everything is to take everything from her prey." To do this the Insatiable stalks a Beast, noting which entrances and exits he uses to get to his lair. Then she waits until the Beast leaves and pierces through the layers of the Dream to enter herself. This takes 3 points of Satiety if they're entering from the material world, or 1 point if they're entering from another Lair in the same hive. Once in the lair they must touch a thematically important object. Such as the brackish swamp water for a Beast that's a poison spitting hydra, or the bones of a Harpy's victims. This results in an extended and contested roll against the Lair's owner. with the Insatiable's Satiety+presence(remember: he had to spend 3 Satiety to get here, probably) vs the Beast's Willpower+Lair(Rolling willpower again?), each roll takes 30 minutes of time, If the Insatiable has made it to the Heart of the Lair she gains +2 to the roll. and a Beast is instantly aware that something is going on in their Lair and will immediately act to do something about it. After each roll, if the Insatiable has more successes than the Beast, she works to reshape the lair to suit her needs. Each additional success steals a point of Lair from the Beast, temporarily transferring it to the Insatiable. If the Beast gains more successes the attempt fails and the Insatiable loses any gained lair dots. If the Insatiable gains no successes the attempt fails and they can't try again for one day. Once the Beast loses all the dots of his Lair, ownership transfers to the Insatiable until driven out by the Beast or she relinquishes control over it. The Insatiable must visit the Lair daily to maintain control as the Primordial Dream itself fights against the defilement. When the Insatiable relinquishes control or is forced from a Lair, it degrades by one point a day until the dots are fully restored to their owner. This is more mechanically complete, but it still has problems. It simultaneously states that the Insatiable can leave, but also can't leave. Cause they have to come back once a day (Spending an absurd amount of Satiety to do so every time) but if the Beast "forces them out" Then they lose control. I'm not sure which it's supposed to be. Also: Why is this the subversion of hunger? There's no mechanical benefit if the Beast is hungry. The Schism Beasts try to stay anonymous, usually, attracting attention means Heroes, which means you're probably going to die. Insatiables don't care about that, they consider everything in this world transitory, and don't care if they kill one man or twenty as long as they sate their hunger. The strange nature of the Insatiable causes ripples in the Primordial Dream, centered around their Dens. The more an Insatiable feeds in an area, the more it changes how mortal humans in the area interact with each other. It starts slowly and people often overlook the effects as just outbreaks of bizarre behavior. A Little League game turns into a shouting match between parents who used to be friends. In church the friendly pastor might suddenly give out a fire and brimstone sermon about all of the congregations sins that he somehow possesses secret knowledge of. As the influence of the Insatiable fades, these events also fade from their minds as random events not worth remembering. But if the Schism gets worse, these strange behaviors heighten the emotions and paranoia of those that spend more than an hour in the area. People act impulsively, or suffer from delusions. They often suspect their neighbors of harboring violent thoughts and others abandon long-held ideals for beliefs that grant them temporary comfort. Many Insatiables take advantage of this growing paranoia to build a cult around themselves to help feed their Hunger. Once the Schism reaches it's peak, conflict overwhelms the area as people give in to violence and destructive influences. Mob rule sets in as threats to the community are driven out or killed, as the individual members fall under a grand delusion. A delusion in which the Insatiable always plays at least some part as their Moment bleeds through into their minds. A Molten Earth schism might see a dozen arsonists start fires to burn out the secret disease that is spreading under their noses. A Void schism might have people bury their still living neighbors deep beneath the earth to stop them from rising as zombies. Insatiables can influence the way their schism goes by making suggestions to members of the local community, as by the very nature of the phenomenon they're seen as right and correct. quote:If an Insatiable dies or leaves the area, her Schism slowly fades as the Primordial Dream repairs the divide between itself and reality. Slowly, people come to their senses and regain rational thought, and many wonder what drove them to such strange behavior. For most, they choose to believe simple explanations to their actions: tainted water sources, a polarizing news story, or having it simply described as a daily occurrence depending on the location of the incident, such as “Well, that’s Florida for you.” Schisms are rated between 1 and 10, each month of constant feeding increases the Schism by 1. All social rolls made within the affected area suffer a penalty to the local Schism rating and, oh, am I reading this correctly? Yes. Okay. THE LOCAL GAUNTLET IS LOWERED BY ONE PER POINT OF SCHISM TO A MINIMUM OF 1, AND THE NATURE OF THE SCHISM BY IT'S VERY NATURE ATTRACTS GHOSTS AND VIOLENT SPIRITS. Right, got that out of my system. Needless to say this is very bad bordering on Catastrophic, and would probably be stopped by a local Forsaken pack before Beasts even heard about it happening. The Schism's radius is one mile per point of Schism. Beasts are instantly aware if they're in the radius of a Schism, and can determine it's strength with an Occult+Intelligence roll. Esurients As we go through this, remember that Insatiables are all under the Merger, meaning that they need to spend a point of Satiety a day just as a matter of course. And actually getting to a Lair that they "own" costs 3 Satiety. Cast Aside The insatiable spends a point of Satiety to make her limbs grow stronger, or longer, or something else, that lets her inflict the Staggered Tilt instead of inflicting damage with a melee attack, the Tilt lasts for one round per damage the Insatiable would have dealt. Please note: THE STAGGERED TILT DOES NOT EXIST Body of Mouths The insatiable is covered in mouths, each one is capable of both speech and biting. In a grapple they're 2L weapons that can't be controlled by the opponent against the Insatiable, additionally attempts to hold, restrain, or damage the insatiable suffer a -2 penalty. Damage? Like all damage? Not just damage in a grapple? What? The Burning This does not, apparently, actually involve setting someone on fire, instead it's electrifying your skin while you touch someone. You spend a point of Satiety to deal 2 Lethal damage to anyone who comes in contact with you (For what duration?) anyone affected by this touch must make a Stamina+Survival(..what?) roll to avoid gaining the Paralyzed Tilt. THE PARALYZED TILT ALSO DOES NOT EXIST. Channel the Lifeblood quote:The Insatiable challenges the raw elements of the moment of his birth, channeling them through his body and unleashing them upon his victim. After the Insatiable has taken Lethal or Aggravated damage, he can channel that pain into a raw physical attack composed of the elements of his Moment. The Storyteller makes a ranged attack using the Insatiable’s Strength + number of Health boxes filled with both Lethal and Aggravated damage; the attack has a rating of 2 lethal. Foul Mess This is an Insatiable "Leaving Behind a Calling Card", letting other Beasts and Insatiables know they're in the area and willing to kill them. They must partially devour a creature while it's alive, but leave behind the corpse. Spending a point of satiety imbues the corpse with a supernatural aura that makes anyone who looks at it violently ill, and supernatural creatueres feel ill at ease with the senseless and violent death. Mortals take a -2 penalty to social and mental rolls for a scene, supernatural creatures can resist it will resolve+composure(yay, they got the dicepool right!) beasts can add their Lair dots to this roll to resist. Impossible Vista quote:The Insatiable come from moments in time that no living creature has ever seen, and for a brief time they can trap their opponents in these vistas. Once affected by this power, the target actually believes he is in another time and place, and he cannot help but struggle against the primordial elements he sees there. The vista is different from one Insatiable to the next, but it is as grand and awe inspiring as it is brutal and terrifying. A point of lair is insane, especially when you remember that a Void insatiable can just inflict this on everyone around them for a single point of Willpower, ignoring the secondary satiety expenditure as well. Intruder The Insatiable can spend 2 points of willpower to get a +1 bonus to stealth and project an image onto the senses of others, it has to be a specific image and can't be subjective. But it can be "A Mail carrier" or "The beast I'm hunting". Laws of Man No Longer Apply Since the Insatiable is by it's very nature something that defies nature, they can impose this on reality around them. They can't cause sweeping changes, but they can nudge the laws of probability in their favor. quote:The player spends a point of Satiety and adds a +2 bonus to rolls in which the Insatiable is dealing with his environment for the rest of the Scene. He is able to manipulate the bullets fired from a gun to better seek their targets or is able to stay warm despite being locked in a freezer. In addition, the Insatiable ignores all penalties due to Environmental Tilts. Obedience An Insatiable with this power can manipulate her Schism to directly control people affected by it. Each week an Insatiable can spend 5 points of satiety (-1 per point of Schism to a minimum of 1) to force humans who hear her commands to obey her. They may roll Resolve+composure to resist but are at a -1 penalty for each level of the Schism's rating. This lasts for one week per level of the Schism. Does your Insatiable have a level 6 schism? Congratulations on your brand new zombie army. Terrible Form uhh... quote:Though Beasts are able to briefly manifest their guise as a monster from mythology for only brief moments, Insatiable are able to manifest their forms more fully. With Terrible Form, they are able to assume forms that do not conform to any shape that seems possible in our world. An Insatiable of the Void may turn its body into chunks of burning meteorites caught in a swirling tornado and an Insatiable of the Primordial Seas may assume the form of a swarm of stinging tentacles that merge into a knot of corded muscle. These forms are insidious and frightening to behold, and can shatter the minds of those who look at them. We Can See Your Insides ...you can spend a point of Satiety to make a person's skin translucent. Yup. Anyone who sees this has to roll resolve+composure or gain the sickened tilt (which doesn't exist, it's the Sick tilt) for the rest of the scene. The existence of clothing appears to mean nothing to this power. Your Power Is Mine By spending a point of satiety and touching a Beast, an Insatiable can steal a Nightmare or Atavism for the rest of the scene by succeeding on a Satiety+Manipulation vs Satiety+Lair roll. Okay, let me go over my opinions on Insatiables in General before I go into the examples. Mechanically they have all the failings of Heroes writ large. They go through Satiety on a massive scale, and would need to be killing 3 people a day to keep up with all the things they need to spend it on. Requiring a pile of ST Fiat. Schisms are powerful but require that an Insatiable acts offscreen for an extended period of time, they have access to Atavisms, which are powerful, but require them to have succeeded in a mathematically unlikely roll at some point offscreen. That's also the only way for them to have a supernatural resistance stat at all. So like Heroes the only way that an Insatiable is a danger to anyone is if there's a conga line of weak beasts Jobbing to them off screen. Also Insatiables in general get plot hooks in addition to the individual insatiables plot hooks. Plot Hooks quote:• The local gas station comes under new management, and the sweet old couple who used to run it have disappeared. The new owner, who introduces himself as James Johannson Jeremiah Johnson, always talks to customers as they come in. He sells everything at 50% off, and the gas station has become popular among local teens and those seeking late-night snacks. But, those who visit the gas station notice how cold the owner keeps the air conditioning, and people have started to disappear. The police dragged a teenager from the lot behind the gas station who complained that she was deathly afraid the avalanche would get her.  The Authority “I wouldn’t do that…the Authority might be watching.” Good lord that man has a punchable face. The Authority began as a boy named Carlton who was picked on by his older siblings throughout his entire life. He dreamed of one day bringing ruin to them and living his life without hastle, that day came one day when his fists turned to lava and reduced his brothers to bloody smears and viscera on the carpet for his parents to find. He ran away from home that day and began the regular process of using his lava fists to rob unlucky innocents he came across, but leaving them to go about their lives. He only killed the truly despicable in his city, like thugs and drug pushers. For a while there was talk of a robin hood figure who stole only what he needed to survive in his pursuit of the criminal element. It wasn't too long then, before his activities brought the attention of the Forsaken that were in league with the local drug trade. They warned Carlton to leave the area as his exploits were also affecting the surrounding spirits, but "he knew this was far from the truth" (No we know this is explicitly true). He was just a thorn they wanted out of their paws, so Carlton beat a few of the wolves senseless (how) and turned to the remaining forsaken and demanded their loyalty (How?) "It was a choice between being burned by molten hands or following a new leader, since their previous pack leader was a pile of ash on the ground. This revealed a new aspect of Carlton's power: the ability to control others through fear, without ever having to lay a finger on them." I'm sorry what? Do you know how the Gauru form works? Just... I.. fine.So now he had his own pack of Werewolf bodyguards who were probably racking up breaking points towards flesh like crazy. He took down all the rest of the drug trades and crime families leaving him at the head of the only remaining family that previously belonged to the Forsaken. Word of the street vigilante faded from public view, and the Authority began making the rounds of the various underground circles. He ruled the crime of the city with an iron fist, who people needed to ask for permission to operate in his city and who had law enforcement on his payroll. No one dared go against him because of his "pack of hounds". A Reputation that Precedes That was a year ago, and no one remembers that the Authority was once a homeless vigilante. To most the Authority isn't even a man so much as a construct that lives in the shadows. No one knows his true name outside of his most loyal followers who will crush anyone who would oppose him before they could even scratch the outer surface of his organization. His close advisers are a bunch of Changelings and Forsaken, some have taken it up as a job, others as a safe harbor that someone with only the wealth and resources of the authority could provide - including protection from the Gentry and Pure. The rest of the supernatural community sees those who serve the Authority as traitors to their own kind out for a quick buck, something with the Authority has no problems leveraging to assimilate other outcasts into his organization. When someone under his care steps out of line they are dealt with swiftly, quietly, and usually by someone else. In the rare case that he deals with a problem himself he turns it into a spectacle to serve as a warning to any other transgressors. The last person to merit such attention was kept at an abandoned construction site for days before he gathered all his minions to witness the death sentence. Elliot stepped out of the crowd, screamed "This is what happens to the disloyal!", punched the ground open revealing a pit of lava, threw elliot into the lava, then ordered his guards to riddle him with bullets. That seems conter productive for several reasons. Description Incredibly punchable man in an impeccable suit. His horrific form is a creature several heads taller than a human made of lava, with a human skeleton only barely visible inside. Rumors “I hear the best time to strike is the full moon. That’s when his wolves are on a leash, and he can’t keep his eyes everywhere. I know a guy who’s been running drugs under his nose every full moon, hasn’t gotten caught yet.” Things do get more chaotic on the full moon, because he actively doesn't do anything, instead getting off on the fact that everything goes to poo poo if he's not actively involved in keeping everyone in line. “I don’t know what it is, but they say he’s got a thing for redheads. They don’t get any kind of special pass or anything, but he seems more interested in them. I’d keep your head covered, or maybe even just dye it. Better to not get noticed, ya know?” I... quote:Long ago, someone told a young Carlton that he had no soul. Did these onlookers see into the boy’s future to see the abomination he would eventually become? No, they were insulting him due to his red hair and freckled complexion. “At least I’m not a ginger,” is something he became too used to hearing at too early an age. This shaped much of his worldview once he discovered his nature as an Insatiable. Plot Hooks quote:• A group of Forsaken approach the characters in hopes of making a deal: They need a certain group of drug pushers taken out and their inventory torched to send a message. The plan should take place during the full moon, the only real time the stash is protected to a lesser extent than normal. If they investigate, the location belongs to the Authority, so the question becomes whether or not to proceed. In either case, the characters find out those same Forsaken committed other crimes that same night. Sending the group was simply to avert blame and to put the characters on the Authority’s radar instead of themselves, which warrants another talk with the Forsaken. His stat line isn't bad, he's got a pretty good melee combat suite, but he's also got a pack of werewolves.  The Blind Man Little Blind Man, We see you’ve come, So now we’ve got to run, run, RUN! [screamed] Old Blind Man, Go on your way, Unless you’ve come to bid “Good day.” [in a deep voice] The Blind Man, Don’t look like that, Eat her instead, SHE’S NICE AND FAT! [shouted] — The Blind Man, by Anon Wait... is.. is this just ascended creepypasta? quote:Legend tells of an elderly Persian who walked the length of the Achaemenid Empire while wearing a fastened blindfold. Wherever his road took him, violence and decay followed in his wake, eventually warping the land itself into vistas beyond anything natural for the region. Whenever someone attempted to aid the old cripple, he stood in place and considered. Factors completely arbitrary to most people determined whether he would either opulently reward or slowly and painfully murder the would-be altruist and his entire family. Spawning the Primogenitor The Blind Man is an omen of the coming of the Primogenitor, he actively spreads his rumor (mixed with small moments of kindness to keep the unpredictability going) in hopes of spreading his influence. But he's more than a simple wandering field of destruction, wherever he travels he leaves behind small eggs, oozing them out of his body. What's born of these is unknown, as most people react instinctively by smashing them when they see them, to obliterate the wet mess. The Blind Man's belief is that once he is the carrier of the Primogenitor and once he covers the planet in his eggs, he will be reborn. Even other insatiables think this is unlikely, but he's gained a cult of followers that waxes and wanes depending on how hungry he is that century. The tales have him as a traveller but he tends to like moving into an area, setting up shop, stealing some lairs, and spreading his eggs before moving on. According to his followers the time when he will spread his eggs for the last time will come soon, and the Primogenitor approaches. Description quote:The Blind Man’s appearance is not static. From tale to tale, he alters slightly in the description: one time being a tall, stooped male bearing deep creases across his kindly Kurdish features, another being a rigid, wiry man, tight of muscle and wearing a perpetual grimness upon his weathered Nordic face. The only constants see him carrying a cane, typically white in color, appearing at least 50 years of age, adorned with something obscuring his eyes — typically shades in the current era, and wearing clothes marked with pink or black blotted stains around the location of his navel and groin.  He's always cordial and polite, even while he's eating someone alive, and uses courtesy as a way to get his way into places that he shouldn't be. He's not actually blind, of course, he can see just as well with his eyes covered as without. Because he doesn't have eyes. "When visible, the holes in the Blind Man’s head clearly contain tiny, shifting centipedes and earwigs, steadily birthing a thick ring of little white eggs on his eyelids and in his eyelashes. Occasionally a bug will drop from one of these orifices, but the Blind Man pays this no heed." Now I've been slow playing this, but it's time for the big show. quote:The Blind Man’s blotted clothing is as result of a thick trail of what resemble fish eggs progressively leaking from his navel, urethra, and anus. Particularly around his navel area, a coagulated mass of pink and black eggs comes forth when the Blind Man strains his abdominal muscles. Horrifyingly, the Blind Man has from time to time passed these eggs off as salmon roe or sturgeon caviar, as they bear a sour, fishy odor. Those who consume his “produce” have their fertility dramatically increased, and gradually produce their own eggs in a similar fashion to the Blind Man, the only difference being that mortal-produced eggs possess a coat of thin white fur. This invariably drives the afflicted unfortunates insane, as they cannot stop the egg production, resulting in self-destructive harm. The Blind Man believes that by participating in the birthing, they increase the speed at which the Primogenitor will be reborn. I've heard rumors to the effect that the Blind Man is actually a refugee from a previous lovecraft themed work by this particular author, which explains a lot but doesn't excuse it. This is just loving stupid and disgusting. Next time: Why not, you've been patient. Null Snyper
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Feb 19, 2017 07:16
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You know, the biggest failing of these plot hooks is that not a single one of them is scary in the slightest.
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Feb 19, 2017 07:53
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Count Chocula posted:Yeah that was my first thought, but I'm not sure that would work with all the cool Beast lair stuff like getting bonuses to hunt and confusing your prey. That's perfect for Vampires & everyone else. Maybe you can use your Ride to impose those Lair Conditions on an area, after a montage of getting your gear out of the Impala/Fred setting traps from the Mystery Machine/John Constantine sending Chaz to 'pick up a few things from storage'? Plus I remember an Angel episode with an awesome Hunter Lair that Gunn ran. poo poo, now I need to add another one to the list: Ash's Oldsmobile. Kurieg posted:
Honestly, this illo isn't half bad, although it gives him more of a Patrick Bateman vibe than a  punchable face. Art-style reminds me of Joshua Gabriel Timbrook or Sam Liu's androgynous characters from oWoD.(On a side note, I had just remembered Liu's name, completely out of the blue, and I'm almost not surprised that he's made a career out in animation, working on Young Justice and the recent Batman DtV shows. A lot of guys seem to have made that transition, like Tim Eldred and Mike Jackson (although MJ apparently was working the designs for "Reboot" when he was doing most of his Shadowrun stuff). Also, I like the premise of "Bad Batman" and they really should have just left it at that. Kurieg posted:
Reading the description and the whole "corrupted birth" metaphor and "decaying yonic symbolism" feels like it would have worked better if it was The Blind Woman.
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Feb 19, 2017 08:15
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Someone who is more up-to-date on WoofWoof care to give me a quick rundown on what a low Gauntlet means, and why it being lowered is Real Bad?
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Feb 19, 2017 08:17
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Spirits come through and gently caress up all your poo poo.
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Feb 19, 2017 08:23
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You know, the more I see of it, the less the World of Darkness actually seems horrific and the more it's just a lovely place to live. E: I mean, there's a thousand and one various secret conspiracies that fight the thousand and one various gribblies, things mostly seem to take care of themselves, just everything rains a lot and you're way more likely to get randomly murked in the street.
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Feb 19, 2017 08:25
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oWoD I think was always meant to be more along the lines of "you're playing one game and this other poo poo may have UTILITY for that, so please buy all our books, but you're going to be rooted in one thing." I remember this came up in the Werewolf DM's guide which raised a question about things like who was right about what, to which the answer was basically, "If you're playing Werewolf, the Nephandi are in thrall to the Wyrm, even if they're worshipping hosed up arcane wyrm-enigma spirits rather than your standard Captain Pollution; if you're playing Mage, the Wyrm is a titanic but not unique entropic entity and the Garou struggle is real but not the whole story."
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Feb 19, 2017 08:58
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Crasical posted:Someone who is more up-to-date on WoofWoof care to give me a quick rundown on what a low Gauntlet means, and why it being lowered is Real Bad? Basically, you have a guy who, by his very nature, is probably killing a person a day, if not several, and doing so in a horrific and violent way, this creates ghosts. This heavy concentration of ghosts is going to attract other ghosts. You've also got spirits attracted to the area because the lowered gauntlet means more essence is seeping through. However since the area is a Schism and the people who live there have become paranoid and violent, those resonances are echoing in the shadow. So spirits of murder and violence are growing fat and powerful, thus encouraging more murder and violence. But even worse is the fact that other spirits in the area are also probably being tainted by all the murder essence that's seeping through, so previously benign spirits of community, commerce, and even poo poo like traffic lights are being tainted by violence. Creating spirits that encourage murder cults, murder for pay, and, well  Now the gauntlet gets even lower, ghosts and spirits start seeping over into the physical world, trying to influence things and ensuring that their new tainted resonances take shape. If things get bad enough that murder traffic light spirit will posess someone and create a ridden that exists to kill people with cars and ensure the creation of more things like itself. A rank 10 Schism with gauntlet 1 would basically be a murderous dali painting made flesh but absolutely no one there thinks anything is wrong.
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Feb 19, 2017 09:06
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Dear Lord these proper nouns. And everything else. It's like a parody or something. (Btw do "Moe Alucard", "Otakumancer", and "Scientist-chan" sound like good splat replacements?) *Makes Bluff check* Also I might be perfect for a fansplat because I don't have any emotional attachments to any holy cows of WoD game and setting design. Doresh fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Feb 19, 2017 |
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Feb 19, 2017 09:11
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If he's based on Lovecraft, the Blind Man is some weird combo of Nyortholotep and a Deep One/Dagon, especially Alan Moore more... literal depiction of how they breed in Neonomicon. And lava fists are what Ben 10 has. Not scary. Anyone played that new Vampire interactive fiction game for iPhone?
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Feb 19, 2017 12:15
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You know, the Insatiables seem a lot more interesting than Beasts, possibly because they're explicitly bad things so the authors are free to make them truly monstrous without that veneer of "what they do is totally cool because reasons  ".
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Feb 19, 2017 12:16
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Fight! - Challengers Power Level 3 Now it's finally time for the Fighters to get themselves a Super Move. I'll probably only highlight their most notable Moves, since those move sets are starting to get a bit long. Chastity  Not even a contender in the "World's most scantly-clad fighting game character" contest. Fighting Style: Spec Ops training (?!) and Inferno Force elemental mastery Win Quote: "You got too close to the fire so now you know what it means to burn." Chastity used to be a spoiled party girl until she angered her rich parents one too many times. Her little trip to a boot camp went a bit too well, and she started a career as a friggin' mercenary. During a firefight in some ancient ruins in Central America, she accidentally awakened an elemental called the Inferno Force and ended up fusing with it. Having also rekindled some of her teenage spirit, she looked for another job and ended up as a bodyguard for the arms dealer Aphrodite Ambrosia - who I can only assume is a bit crazy if she orders her bodoyguard to compete in tournaments wearing a babydoll. She was originally a character of the Twin Strike campaign, which sounds a lot like a tag team tournament. Except her tag buddy to show up later. Chastity is a well-rounded and accurate character with some Shoto moves like a Shoryuken (Aggressive Eruption) and a Hadoken Fire Force. She has some twists, though: She can temporarily power up Fire Force with another move (Fire Up), and annoy the opponent with teleports and dazzling lights. Her Super is Meltdown, a suped-up Fire Force she can charge up like Sakura. Gabriella Alvarez  Watcha gonna do when Gabrimana runs wild on you? Fighting Style: Basically "All your grapples are belong to me" Win Quote: "Hot, smart, and rich. I'm the complete package." Another Twin Strike denizen (not Chastity's partner). She's a Cuban exile whose boring IT job cause her to learn martial arts and steal from her company, which also had her uncover that her employer is kind of a d-bag. She eventually quit her job when one of her robberies had her run into Hugo, a proper thief. They quickly bonded and decided to steal from evil corporations everywhere, like your typical fighting game tournament organiser. Gabriella is a grappler (think Shermie or Vice from KoF, especially since she's not really into 360° moves) which you really don't want to have close to you due to her high Accuracy bonuses. She also has throws for any occasion. Need to hurl someone against a wall? Check. Need to do a sustained hold? She has two of those. She has a counter throw very much like Geese Howard called Denial of Service, and her Crack the Code (a leap followed by a leg lock) is one of those Moves that have been built with most of the effects of a normal throw to allow for some movement before the throw. Her Super is System Crash, a more powerful version of Crack the Code. Also she has a knockdown slap called Queen Bitch. Hugo Herrara  Introducing the Muscle Rogue. Fighting Style: Predator-style Kickboxing Win Quote: "Thanks for the throwdown. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other plans." Gabriella's tag buddy and partner in crime. Having grown up in poverty in Mexico City, he one day tried his luck with the rain forest. He somehow copied the fighting style of predatory animals and turned it into kickboxing. He eventually returned to civilization and found out about evil corporation shenanigans, which led him to become a thief. Hugo is a slow character that hits hard. Despite his size, he does a lot of quick kick combos and roundhouses for his Moves. His main way to get close the his opponent is the Lion Raid, a jumping punch attack similar to Potemkin's Mega Fist. Other interesting Moves include Tiger Melee (a series of kicks and knee strikes that can deal more damage by burning up leftover Control) and Iron Panther (a standing roundhouse kick with guard crush potential that forces the opponent to burn up Fighting Spirit or lose a bit of health on a miss). His Super is Invincible Predator, which starts with a flurry of kicks and ends with the mother of all roundhouse kicks. Modesty  I think there's something wrong with her name. Fighting Style: Spec Ops training and Ice Witch elemental mastery Win Quote: "The cold-hearted can achieve victory in any circumstance." Chastity's tag budy and ice-themed counterpart. Much of her past is a secret, but she worked for a Russian crime syndicate until a little shootout shattered a blue gem she was about to sell and caused her to fuse with the Ice Witch elemental bound within. She also ended up becoming Aphrodite's bodyguard, and the rest is tag team history. Also her artwork is less revealing than the she actually is. Her stats are mostly well-rounded, but she can't into anything fancier than 2-hit combos at the moment. Then again she has exactly two projectiles (the slow-moving Frigid Witch energy ball and the Icicle Impale which drops form the ceiling), so she's quite annoying at a distance. If she wants, she can also close the distance by skating on ice and punching you (Blizzard Blitz), followed by encasing you in ice with a snap of her finger (Frozen Image). Her Super Bold Snap combines her Blizzard Blitz with her Ice Storm, a jumping double axe kick. Red Magnum (Rowind Owlatz)  Dakka on Titan. Fighting Style: Street fighting and boxing Win Quote: "Remember, Justice allows you to survive in order to learn. Don't make me teach you again!" Rowind has a heavy Green Lantern vibe going on: The original Red Magnum was an alien cop/hero who crashed to Earth while fighting another alien known as the Blue Mallet. They double-KOed each other hard, and Red Magnum passed his armor and obligation to fight for justice onto Rowind, who happened to see the whole fight. Surprisingly enough, having alien power armor with gun barrels on your arms doesn't turn you into dual chaingun Megaman. His only ranged attack is an arcing projectile known as Mortar, and he can only use it 5 times per combat. The only other Move limited like that is Booster Blaster, which causes the barrels to slide down to the hips and act as boosters for a nifty flying punch. Though the limited uses are well worth it for the Temporary Invulnerability Element. Your opponent is constantly countering you? Booster Blaster just no-sells it. All his other Moves use the gun barrels for melee-range blasts to enhance his punches, and they have a gimmick seen in some pistol-wielding fighting game characters in that he has to "reload" these Moves every now and then. His Revolver Fist is a fast and accurate blast punch that can directly combo into the Crimson Barrel, which keeps Rowind close to the opponent for follow-up attacks and has a good chance to cause stun. He also has the Magnum Cannon, a far-reaching punch combo that hits hard. His Super Move, the Ultimate Magnumg Cannon, is unsurprisingly a suped-up Magnum Cannon that covers a bigger area and hurts even more. Vesta Angelborn  At least she gets a complete description of her appearance in text form like everyone else. Fighting Style: Primal Arcana Win Quote: None stated. Vesta hails from an isolated community that has dedicated itself to protecting the world from otherwordly threats. She was born blind, but with the ability to see the world of the primal spirits, with whose help she is now travelling the world, looking for evil spirits and other intruders. Another low-combo Fighter, Vesta has all sorts of funky Moves. She can reflect projectiles with Primal Shield, can use her Thunderball as a floating bomb, and Spirit Form that binds the opponent in place while allowing her to float wherever she wants. Also Great Beast Form has her do a wildshape for one attack. Vicious Transformation is a real gem of a Super: It doesn't actually deal damage, but instead locks the opponent in place for a while and prevents him from doing anything fancier than a Basic Move. The best part? It costs less Super Energy to use, and she has a Special Move called Spirit Power Collect that does nothing but provide temporary Super Energy, which she can use to either spam her Super or ramp up the duration of the debuff. It's basically a save-or-suck spell. In a multi-Fighter brawl, she's either your BFF or worst nightmare. Next Time: Power Level 4. Power harder.
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Feb 19, 2017 12:36
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