 Thursday, July 12, 2007
So, after finishing up my nightly comic panel, I was bored and still in the mood to draw. A responsible person would have started the next day's comic panel, but not me. Oh no, not me. I whipped out this, which is far from perfect, and I'm not sure the character it's supposed to be a sketch of really looks like this, but it's a fun sketch.  If there were a caption, it would probably say something like "Owls are really rather stupid," or "This skirt looks nice, but it's hell to walk in."
 Tuesday, July 10, 2007
On my last trip to the grocery store, I found this little jewel. Assuming it means what I think it means, it's pretty cool.
 Sunday, July 08, 2007
Hi y'all. Sorry for the delay. My blog switched servers and a few files didn't find the right server. I didn't want to post anything new until it was all sorted out. Now, without further ado, some adversaries I've cooked up for the Seventh Enigma universe. This isn't quite the final form they'll see in the novel I'm working on, but it's close, and they should make fun antagonists. The Host is
a group of invaders from an alternate Earth, one in which, millions of years
ago, a global climate shift never occurred. The rulers of that world were
never slain by cold and darkness. Instead, they evolved, grew, and
created a mighty civilization. Of course, civilizations rise and
fall. The Host of today would little recognize some of their
progenitors. "The Host" is their name for their government,
such as it is. The race is named the Drajin. There are other groups
of Drajin who do not recognize the authority of the Host.
The Host
that emerged after the last great war has recovered much, but not all of the
ancients' technology. Some of it was destroyed beyond all recovery - even
wiped from the minds of those who used it. Lost to the Host are the
secrets of life-control that transformed some of them into shape-shifting,
telepathic gods. The Lords of the Host are not even certain that they are
truly descended from the Ancients, although they suppress this information viciously.
They rule a
vast stellar empire, recovered several generations ago after the almost
complete loss of starfold technology. The new network of fold gates is
far less efficient, but the totalitarian Host prefer it that way.
Slipships capable of entering the Fold unaided are rare and expensive.
Most transports require fold gates for superluminal travel.
Biology
The
Drajin's origins are lost to time. They were at one time roughly humanoid
pseudo-reptiles, but they are now so much more.
Melee 20+ Dmg 80+ Type: Alien
Coord 20+ For 40+ Origin: Birth
Brawn 20+ Rep Varies - 20 ave. Weakness: Chemical Dependency (See below) Fort 20+ Life Varies - 20 ave. Effect: Damage/Power Loss
Int 10+
Aware 20+
Will 10+
Powers
Physique: The Drajin are very tough and highly adapted for their roles as
warriors and rulers.
-Body Armor of at least 10
-Enhanced Senses from 6-10 or more. Many have the ability to boost these
further with shapeshifting.
-Regeneration of at least 1
-Superspeed from 1-5, but this ability requires an Endurance test. A green
result means the power works for 1 turn. Yellow provides 3 turns.
Red provides 6 turns of speed. Afterwards, this ability is not useful
until the Drajin has had the chance to rest for at least an hour.
-Chemical dependency: Drajin need to consume the brain chemicals of sentient
beings. Their tongues have special feeding spines for this purpose.
The chemicals must come from a living brain, and the process reduces the vessel
to a mindless husk.
Telepathy:
All Drajin have some telepathic ability. Most of their powers require
line of sight or physical contact. Available power stunts include
-Communication (LOS)
-Mind Control (requires contact - works like hypnosis)
-Mind Probe (requires contact)
-Mind Shield
Shapeshifting:
The Drajins' natural forms are pseudo-reptilian humanoids with varicolored
scaled hides, but they can change shape. Members' power levels
vary. The least of them can only change their skin colors and manifest
claws and the like. The greatest can assume virtually any shape.
Drajin are
carnivores, and many prefer the meat of sentient beings. Cannibalism is a
social ritual. One consumes one's defeated foes to steal their strength
and prevent them from entering the afterlife.
Drajin have
no gender. Sex between them involves a sort of shapeshifting/wrestling
contest where one attempts to overwhelm the other and implant spoors of genetic
material. Thereafter, the other's body will absorb the spoors and produce
one or more eggs bearing the victor's genetic matter. Drajin can
recognize their own offspring by scent. A Drajin who bears another's
offspring is considered subordinate to the "father." The
gestation period is long, and the Drajin give birth to live young. It is
not unknown for a litter of young to get hungry in the womb and consume each
other or even the "mother" although such cases are rare with modern
medical science to make sure the mother is well fed.
Drajin in
"female" mode lose two ranks of Strength, and their shapeshifting
powers are limited to rank 2. They are highly vulnerable to the telepathy
of the "father" Drajin, resisting any attempts at mind control at -2
ranks. Also, they are generally docile and non-confrontational, unless
severely threatened. Then an overwhelming urge to protect their offspring
will kick in, making them want to run or fight as necessary.
The Drajin
have also made slaves of other races they've encountered.
Doshou
Dull, brutish creatures of reptilian origin, used for heavy labor.
Hejin
The most pathetic and hated creatures in the Host - the Hejin are former Drajin
who have had their brains fed upon. Their regenerative capabilities are
sufficient to return the semblance of life, but they are broken, withered
creatures. They lose their telepathy and any defenses they had against
the telepathy of other Drajin. They also lose their shapeshifting
abilities, and can be forced to shift by other Drajin. Even these shifts
are imperfect. Hejin have flaccid, weak muscles and doughy bodies.
They always look partly melted or "unfinished."
Hejin have
intelligence comparable to large dogs, at best, although they remember their
past lives.
To become a
Hejin is the worst punishment possible for a member of the Host - worse even
than being forced into motherhood or eaten.
Mynkin
Small, spry mammals often used for labor requiring a delicate touch. They
are similar to large lemurs, and nearly have a hive mentality. An entire
pod of Mynkin functions as a unit. Separating a single Mynkin from his
pod will kill him.
Synshin
Thin, long-necked reptilian creatures with elaborate head crests, kept as
something between pets and companions. They spit caustic venom and are
often used as guards for the young or hunting "hounds."
Culture
The Host is a hegemony of Houses. There are greater and lesser houses,
with some mobility possible, although it is rare. The House of Houses is
the house occupying the capital of the Throneworld (alternate Earth). The
Host is as much a religion as a government. Each House claims certain
religious sites and artifacts. Numerous orders permeate the society and
cross House lines. Orders link some Houses together in alliances, and
force others to interact. There is no clear "priesthood" as all
Drajin claim to be descended from the Gods.
That said,
there are Orders whose members take on advisory roles.
Families
are very large, and track kinship through the "male" line. This
is easier since offspring and sires can recognize each other by scent. A
House is a large clan, and makes relatively little distinction further than
that, save for the distinction of a Warrior's mates. Drajin forced into
motherhood belong to their "husbands" so long as they are gravid, and
until the next time they mate and take the male role. This often results
in a lifetime of bondage, since Warriors decide who their mates may mate with
under most circumstances.
Young are
raised by their mothers, often somewhat in a crèche style. As they
approach maturity, they receive broad training until they show an aptitude for
one Order or another. Once a young Drajin is able to successfully mate
(to either impregnate or be impregnated), that draj is considered an adult.
Life in the
Host is marked by almost constant conflict. Houses vie for power against
each other. Orders contest against rival Orders. Even within a
House, there is continuous struggle. There are only a few refuges against
the endless strife. A few Orders are pacifisistic, contemplative
monasteries. Drajin weary of battle might retreat to one for a few weeks,
or even longer. The other choice is to willingly become female.
Females are fairly safe from conflict. A birth cycle can be something of
a vacation - although it is a high price to pay.
Technology
The Host has technology far in advance of earth. They have relatively
"clean" nuclear capability, space flight, and energy weapons.
Using technology to mimic their unique biology, they have adaptive materials
that can change shape and function in response to need.
Some of
their technology is in the form of "relics" that they can operate and
even repair (it is often self-repairing) but that they are unable to
replicate. These relics are rare and treasured. A small one can
turn a Warrior into a Master. A large one can be the center of a Greater
House's power.
The Host
have no language as we know it. They use telepathy to communicate in raw
ideas rather than words, and use psionically reactive crystals in place of
writing. Rather than trying to put thoughts down in words, a Drajin
"author" can imprint a crystal with everything he knows on a
subject. They even have "fiction" crafted by imaginative
Drajin.
As a result
of this, while the slaves might have their own languages, they have no written
form. All slaves are illiterate and have difficulty communicating beyond
the halls of their own Houses. This, as much as Drajin telepathy, keeps
them in bondage.
 Thursday, June 28, 2007
What is the Seventh Enigma?
Well, that's a riddle, isn't it?
(Yeah, cheep joke, I know)
The 7th Enigma Universe (sometimes abbreviated 7E) is the
label I'm applying to a new fiction project I'm working on. The core concept is to, like Heroes on NBC, Astro City,
Rising Stars, or similar works, take a slightly different look at the tropes of
comic book superheroes and the worlds they inhabit. It's nothing that hasn't been done before,
but I hope I've found a worthwhile angle.
And if I haven't, you can't really stop me anyway. :P
That still begs the question "what is the 7th
enigma?" but I really don't have an answer. I don't even know what the other six enigmas
are. It's just that 7th Enigma can be
made into a really cool logo.
The 7th Enigma Universe takes its inspiration from the
question of "what would happen if people had superpowers in the real
world?" It's an old question,
debated countless times. There have even
been some "realistic" takes on superpowers in the past. The NBC show Heroes, which probably kicked
this matter to the front of my brain again, is a recent example. Going into the wayback machine a little,
there's the Wild Cards universe. Both of
those are similar in that they limit the field a little before grappling with
the question. I decided to avoid those
limitations myself. In the 7E universe,
anything goes. All the classic
"origins" will be available, and not limited by world-builder's fiat.
That means I want room for aliens, magic users, mutants, and
guys in power armor, and even alien mutant magic users in power armor. It also means I'm not going to dodge around
the supertech issue by saying mad inventors and superscientists are using some
highly refined form of psi power to make their machines work.
I am, however, taking a completely different dodge. A world where superpowers had been around all
along wouldn't really be recognizable to us.
It'd be so drastically changed that what I was writing would be more
like science fiction than superheroes.
So taking a page from Marvel's New Universe (one taken many times
before) and saying superpowers and related phenomena didn't exist until
recently. I'm going to tell the story of
a normal world that one day wakes up and realizes it has superpowers. Then, in manageable chunks, I can examine the
ramifications of different superpowers.
But what does this mean to you, my legions of adoring
readers?
Well, for one thing, it means a new label over on the
side. I'm adding a 7th Enigma
category. 7th Enigma content might also
get other labels, like Artistic Widgets and Fiction Widgets. But mostly, 7th Enigma Widgets will be for
gaming. Specifically, they'll be for the
4-Color system, for which I am deeply indebted to Phil Reed of Ronin Arts. (Everybody say "Thanks, Phil")
And yes, I could have used M&M instead, but I can write
4C characters off the top of my head, with no references at all. For M&M characters, I'd have to have my
book, and my character creator spreadsheet, and it'd take time. And, honestly, I'm too lazy for that. So this way, you get stats you can use if you
were a fan of the most Marvelous supers game from the 1980s, and I get to hash
out ideas in a solid form.
I'm simultaneously developing the setting and plotting the
first book (tentatively called Seven Wonders).
As I go along, I'll put up stats for various characters, and maybe some
gear and so-forth. Of course, don't
quote me on any of this. What ends up in
the book may be different than what I post on the blog. For one thing, I have to keep some surprises,
and for another, I change my mind a lot.
Before we get going, I'll give you a brief rundown of 4C. For more info, try the Ronin Arts forums, here.
There are 7 Primary traits and 4 Secondary traits.
Primary
Melee: This Primary Trait is the measure of a character’s
expertise in melee combat. When kicking, punching, stabbing, or otherwise
fighting in close quarters, this Trait determines the success or failure of the
attack.
Coordination: This Primary Trait is the measure of a
character’s physical proficiency. When shooting, throwing, dodging, balancing,
or otherwise employing physical nimbleness, this Trait determines the success
or failure of the action.
Brawn: This Primary Trait is the measure of a character’s
physical power. When lifting heavy objects, determining damage with melee or
thrown attacks, throwing an object a certain distance, or otherwise engaged in
activities relying on physical power, this Trait determines the success or
failure of the action.
Fortitude: This Primary Trait is the measure of a
character’s physical stamina and robustness. When attempting to hold breath,
resist sickness, overcome toxins, ignore fatigue, keep from dying, or otherwise
engaged in physically strenuous tasks, this Trait determines the success or
failure of the action.
Intellect: This Primary Trait is a measure of the
character’s intelligence. When attempting to invent, solve a problem, learn, or
otherwise use smarts, this Trait determines the success or failure of the
action.
Awareness: This Primary Trait is a measure of the
character’s intuition. When attempting
to sense danger, spot something, recognize a hunch, or otherwise work on
instinct rather than analyzing a situation, this Trait determines the success
or failure of the action.
Willpower: This Primary Trait is a measure of the
character’s mental strength. When dealing with psychic abilities, magic powers,
issues of willpower, or otherwise using powers of the mind, this Trait
determines the success or failure of the action.
Secondary
Damage: This Secondary Trait is a measure of the physical
punishment a character can suffer before dying. This Secondary Trait uses a
numerical score (not Rank Value) that is decreased as the character takes
damage. This Secondary Trait, as well as damage and healing
This Secondary Trait’s starting value is calculated by
adding up the Rank Values of the character’s first four Primary Traits (Melee,
Coordination, Brawn, and Fortitude).
Fortune: This Secondary Trait is a measure of the
character’s ability to use luck, training, and/or experience to influence the
present. This Secondary Trait uses a numerical score (not Rank Value) and
points may be spent from it to affect die rolls and improve the Rank Values of
Primary Traits.
This Secondary Trait’s starting value is calculated by
adding together the Rank Values of the character’s last three Primary Traits
(Intellect, Awareness, and Willpower).
Lifestyle: This Trait is a measure of the character’s wealth
and ability to procure needed items and services.
To calculate the Rank Value for this Secondary Trait roll
once on Table 1.
Repute: This Secondary Trait is a measure of how well the character
is known; the greater the score the more popular the character. This Secondary
Trait uses a numerical score (not Rank Value).
To calculate this Secondary Trait’s value roll d% and divide
the result by 3 (round up).
(Not that I'm going to do that)
Rank Values: Primary traits have a percentile value and a
descriptive adjective. The number is all
that really matters to the system, but the descriptors are much more
flavorful. You can add your own when you
play. For simplicity's sake, I'm just
going to use the rank numbers, and generally the first one from any given range
within a rank, such that someone with a 30-39 has a 30 for my calculation
purposes.
Rank 1-2 3-5 6-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-74 75-99 100-149 150-999 1000
Besides Traits, you've got Powers, Skills, and
Contacts.
I'm using freeform powers, which is a fancy way to say I
just make up whatever I want. It's easy:
just describe what you want the power to do and assign a rank number to
it. These characters won't be "balanced"
like, say, the Unisystem ones, but the source material isn't particularly
balanced, either, and in this case my task is to represent the source material
accurately rather than to produce completely playable content.
Skills are the stuff a character is particularly good
at. Both in the pulp-inspired writing
that I like and in superhero comics, there's a lot of latitude in a character's
skills. Captain Striker can use any gun
he damn well picks up, and fly any kind of plane, because that's the way the
writer wants it. So Skills are fairly
broad, although I'll suggest specialties.
A skill gives a character one extra rank when he's using it. For instance, a Scientist with an Exceptional
Intellect would have a Super Intellect in the area of Science.
Contacts are the people a character knows and can call on
for help or information. I'll be pretty
descriptive with these, since that's more fun to me than totally broad
categories.
By next week, I should have a pretty good idea of what
characters will be running around. To
the (negligible) extent that I'll focus on anything, I'll try to focus on
villains, since they're really the fun people anyway.
 Sunday, June 24, 2007
I promised a picture of Diana in skimpy attire, so here you go.  First of all, I'm sorry about the image quality. I did this one at work on scratch paper with a pencil, then bumped up the contrast in Photoshop so it would be visible. The idea behind this sketch was to draw a figure in perspective. You'll notice that most of my art is from a straight-on point of view. That's because I suck at foreshortening. I didn't quite get the effect right here, either. I think what went wrong was the placement of the window. It should be a little lower, and not quite so distorted by persepctive. I couldn't really set up a drawing board at my desk, so the perspective is all just eyeballed. This picture spawned a conversation between Lisa and me about what kind of underwear Phoebe would wear. If any. :)
Today's Found Writing comes courtesy of avid reader Blue Canary. (doesn't "Avid Reader Blue Canary" sound like a good title for a manga?)  I can't even read most of that. I'm not quite sure what language it's in. If you'd like to win eternal fame by sending me a Found Writing, well... you probably won't, but feel free to send it anyway. I'm not too picky about the file format, but once I compress it it's going to come out as a jpg. Use the email link on the blog, and it'd probably be smart if you prefaced the subject line with [electric widgets] so I can easily sort them out from my tons of regular mail. (Well, not tons, but at least pounds)
 Thursday, June 21, 2007
Okay, now it's time for those long-awaited Supernatural
Packages
The Gargoyles universe is home to several unusual creatures
and to humans who have traded (willingly or not) their humanity for something
else. Gargoyles are relatively easy, but
some of the others are a lot more fluid.
Gargoyles - the Gargoyle package will appear below. Basically, Gargoyles are strong, can fly, can
regenerate when they turn to stone, and have nasty claws.
Cyborgs - Cyborgs can have just about anything that can be
mechanically grafted onto them.
Gargoyles-verse prosthetics can run the gamut from being
indistinguishable from human parts without close examination to being large and
obvious. It is not at all uncommon for
cyborgs to be able to pass for human so long as they don't use their more obvious
powers and avoid metal detectors.
Cyborgs have the disadvantage that some portion of their
Life Points are tied to their cybernetic parts.
For every 5 points of Cybernetic Qualities a character has, 25% of his
LP no longer heal normally. Instead, he
either needs a specific Regeneration power, or requires the services of someone
with a cybernetics lab and the Mr. Fix-it skill. Additionally, Directors can rule that some
powers can be temporarily lost due to damage.
The Target Limb maneuver is particularly good for this.
Demifey - Human (or possibly Gargoyle or something)/ Faerie
hybrids are viable life forms. The Third
Race's genetics are remarkably adaptable.
Faerie blood carries faerie magic.
Demifey characters often have Sorcery, Supernatural Senses, and the
like. These powers take practice to
develop, so demifey who are unaware of their heritage or reject it might have
very little power. Demifey generally
look like normal members of their other race, with modest if any unusual
features. They are generally quite
attractive and fit specimens, so adding modest stat boosts to a demifey package
is completely appropriate.
Mutates - Techniques pioneered by Dr. Anton Sevarious allow
human/animal DNA grafts that produce viable life-forms. Mutates generally have powers that can be
traced to real animals. A little Natural
Armor is fine. Being bullet-proof would
be kind of odd. Distance attacks are
somewhat rare (but then again, electric eels.)
Hybrids - All of the above are at least somewhat
compatible. Coldstone was a
cyborg/gargoyle. There's nothing but the
fact that you'll run out of points to stop you from making a cybernetic demifey
gargoyle with a suit of battle armor.
Packages
To get you started, here are a few more obvious packages
Cyborg (20-point Quality)
Cyborgs have a lot of variation. This one is designed for straight-up combat
with gargoyles.
+2 Str, Dex, Con (6) Night Vision (1) Natural Armor 10 (10) Natural Weapons (wrist blades) Str x3 (2) Supernatural Attack (Optical Laser) 20 (8) Flight (Shoulder & boot Jets. Boot jets can also be used for Supernatural
Attack) (5) Combat Computer (Situational Awareness, Fast Reaction Time)
(7) Beholden (secret masters) (5) Cruel 2 (disassociative disorder) Appearance -2
Demifey (18-pont Quality)
Keep in mind that the Demifey are as varied as their Faerie
parents, but here's a fairly typical one.
Dex +3, Per, Will +2 (7) Appearance +5 (5) Immortal (0) Hypnosis (What do you See) (10) Supernatural Senses (Basic, the Sight) (4) Vulnerability (Can be bound by magic, iron does x3 damage) (5) Honorable 3 (bound by Faerie Law)
The demifey probably also has Sorcery, but it's not part of
this Quality. It might be fun to play
him or her without it instead, perhaps replacing some of Hypnosis with Emotion
Control to represent a less developed ability.
The poor character might not know why iron is uncomfortable or why he
can't seem to lie or break a deal.
Gargoyle (19-point Quality)
Gargoyles are stronger, faster, and tougher than humans,
with sharp senses They get +4 Strength,
+2 to Dexterity, +2 Constitution, and +2 Perception, and Natural
Toughness. They get 3 levels of Hard to
Kill, and can buy up to 5 more They also
have razor-sharp claws (Strx3 armor-piercing), gliding wings, and prehensile
tails. When in stone sleep, they
regenerate Con/Minute, which also removes any poisons, but doesn't cure
diseases. They also have very sharp
hearing, sense of smell, and night-vision.
On the other hand they are ugly to human eyes, with
Appearance -3. Gargoyles don't have
human psychology, either. They feel a
deep need to protect. This translates to
the Driving Goal flaw at -2. A
gargoyle's worst weakness, however, is their vulnerability to sunlight. Being exposed to sunlight turns a gargoyle to
stone. On the up-side, stone is fairly
tough, but modern man has plenty of ways to damage it. Staying indoors is no defense, either. Once the sun is fully in the sky (say, an ten
minutes or so after sunrise) the transformation occurs regardless of whether
the gargoyle can see the sun or not - and gargoyles need exposure to the
sun. Without it, they gradually become
sickly and infertile.
Gargoyles are currently 2-point Minorities with no legal
rights, but that's not figured in to the cost of the Quality.
Gargoyles frequently have the Honorable Drawback, but this
is not a requirement. Those who don't
have Honorable often replace it with Cruel, but this, too, is a matter of
choice.
Neo-gargoyle (27-point Quality)
Neo-gargoyles are Mutates built to have traits similar to
gargoyles. They were created for David
Xanatos by Dr. Sevarious, but he ultimately lost control of them. Sevarious may have created more than the
initial group.
Neo-gargoyles combine the traits of big cats and bats or
raptors, along with those of electric eels.
They get +3 Strength, +2 Dexterity and Constitution, and +2
Perception. They also get +3 levels of
Hard to Kill and can by up to five more.
They have Str x3 claws, but theirs are not armor-piercing as a
gargoyle's are. Most impressively, they
can throw blasts of electricity doing 20 points of damage. These have limited use. After a number of blasts equal to the Neo-Gargoyle's CON score, he needs an hour or so to recharge.
They have gliding wings, but not prehensile tails. They have no stone sleep, but regenerate at
con/hr. Like Gargoyles, they have acute
hearing and smell, and night-vision.
Neo-gargoyles have hair-trigger tempers, giving them one
level of Antisocial Impulses: Violence.
They also look frightening to human eyes, with appearance -3. (Note: I really wish I could make htis one come in for 20 points or less, but supernatural attacks are VERY expensive)
Neo-Werewolf (14-point Quality)
One of Sevarious' most popular conversions is to simply
graft some predator's DNA to a human's.
The result is a stronger, faster,
meaner creature.
A new-werewolf is a mutate with (generally) wolf DNA. This conveys Str + 2, Dex +2, Con +2, Per +2
(with a minimum of 5), Acute Hearing and Acute Smell, as well as Enhanced
Smell, meaning the neo-werewolf can track by scent. Neo-werewolves are tough with 3 levels of
Hard to Kill and an option on 5 more. They
also have Strength x2 claws and fangs.
The wolf's hardy constitution provides Con/hr regeneration.
Wolf DNA produces severe problems in humans. The neo-werewolf has -2 appearance and
Antisocial Impulses: Violence at 2, as well as one level of Cruelty (and
individuals can take more separately).
Neo-werewolves have no vulnerability to silver beyond what one would
expect.
And, with that, you should have enough to play a Gargoyles
game, or add Gargoyles and their associated hangers-on to your Angel and Buffy
games. Enjoy.
 Thursday, June 14, 2007
Here's another grocery list. The smudged bits were people's names. I gather that one person was shopping for some other people. She wrote on both sides. Besides burning with curiosity over whether or not the bingo sampler paid off, I wonder what blue sugar is. Is it some kind of confectioner's thing? 
 Wednesday, June 13, 2007
At least at the moment, I'm not going to bother to write a
lot of setting exposition, so we'll start roughly in what would be Chapter 2 of
a normal Eden RPG book. Here, we'll take a brief run-through of
attributes, skills, and existing Qualities and Drawbacks. New Qualities
and Drawbacks will be in part 3. (Yes, Virginia, there is a Gargoyles
Quality. There's probably a Santa Claus, too, but we'll talk about him
under the Fey later on.)
Attributes - nothing much needs to change about Attributes.
Skills - the standard Cinematic Unisystem skill list works just fine for the
Gargoyles world. Occultism clues you in on the secret history of the
world, and lets you know about magic and the faeries.
Qualities - ah yes, here's the meat of the thing.
Attractiveness - The current system, elegant in its simplicity, lumps all
matters of personal appearance into the Attractiveness Quality. So a
Gargoyle might start off with -3 Attractiveness to represent his inhuman
appearance, but could then buy it up as far as he wanted. Goliath, who's
got a way with the ladies, might have spent 5 points or so to get an effective Attractiveness
of 2.
I don't really like that. It's okay in Buffy or Angel, where most of the
characters are human, but in a Gargoyles game, it's very possible that all the
PCs will be Gargoyles, so it's a little wonky. I'm seriously considering
splitting Attractiveness into two Qualities/Drawbacks. One would measure
your aesthetic Attractiveness, and the other would measure your deviation from
human norms. "Fearsomeness" would be a Drawback that makes your
basic form scary/ugly to humans. It'd give you a negative modifier to
Influence tests not based on fear, no matter how high your Attractiveness is -
except for dealing with people who are used to your unusual form in some
way. For them, your Attractiveness kicks in. Possibly rather than
all or nothing, the two add/subtract from one another, so a Gargoyle with -3 Fearsomeness
and +1 Attractiveness is only two points scary on first impressions.
When I get to the point of writing up characters, I'll decide whether to adopt
this or not, but I think it makes a neat alternate rule.
Enchanted/Superscience item - The relatively high tech level of the Gargoyles
setting means that 1-2 point items are frequently not worth paying for with
Quality points. They can just be purchased with sufficient wealth or
obtained through Organizations. Higher-level items should still be bought
for 2 points per PL.
Optionally, something that would be incredibly expensive like a battlesuit
(Which is really several PL 4-ish items all mushed together) can be purchased
as a Supernatural package Quality. The Dual Form Drawback is appropriate
to represent the fact that you can't walk around in your battlesuit all the time.
As I've mentioned, I think there's an Eden-approved method for this in All
Tomorrow's Zombies. It involves buying the Robot Quality and whatever add-ons
you'd like. That seems workable to me.
Enchanting/Superscience - Enchanting is completely gone. Mortal magicians
can create potions and charms through a variety of spells, through the Sorcery
quality. More powerful items are purely the purview of the Third Race.
Superscience is easier than it is in Buffy. Superscience devices no
longer require special ingredients. Money works. This will be
discussed more completely later on. Your Superscience Quality can never
be a higher level than your Science skill, and you should probably really have
Science of at least 4 before you pick up Superscience. 6 would be
better. We're probably going to talk about new uses of Superscience to
cover metagenetics and cybernetics.
Occult Library - I think Occult Library works just fine as-is.
Rank - Rank now explicitly buys up your standing in an Organization, granting
you more autonomy (but also more responsibility). We'll talk more about
Organizations when I get into new Qualities/Drawbacks. You can have Rank
in several groups. For instance, an undercover police investigator might
have rank in the Police and in an organized crime ring. Almost all
Illuminati members also have Rank in some other group. In fact, that's
frequently why they were recruited into the Illuminati.
Robot - The Robot Quality from Buffy is a decent starting point for any robotic
characters, but there's no reason to limit yourself so. Instead, build
Robots like Demons and Supernatural characters from Angel. Robots can
have Drawbacks like Beholden from Armageddon (which I might list down in the
next part, for simplicity sake). They could also have variations of
Antisocial Tendencies, Mental Problems, Emotional Problems and the like to
represent programming imperatives.
Cyborgs work pretty much the same way, except they can recover (depending on
how many cybernetic parts they have) 75%, 50%, or 25% of their Life Points
without a Mr. Fix-it test. Cyborgs who are nothing but a brain in a robot
body work just like normal robots. Drawbacks like Cruel are appropriate
to represent the dehumanizing effect of losing so much of your essential humanity.
(Then again, Jackal and Hyena were already pretty twisted)
Sorcery - Sorcery works as-is, except that I'd drop it to 3-points per level
and remove the TK. Pretty much only Faeries have Sorcery, and some of
them might instead have 2-point per level Magic Domains, which are pretty much
Invocations as per the conversion rules in the Magic Box.
Vampire - no Vampires have shown up in Gargoyles, thus far. If they do,
the existing Vampire Quality probably won't really work for them, but do
whatever you want with your own game.
Wealth - Wealth, at high levels, gives you free levels of the Organization
Quality. At level 4, you get 5 Organization points. At level 5, you
get 10. Beyond level 5, Wealth would start to describe the resources of
nations. Characters might actually be that rich (like David Xanatos), but
level 5 represents the limit of their liquid assets, so this Quality is capped
at 5. (To keep the Director sane, really)
Supernatural Qualities - Note that many Supernatural Qualities are appropriate
for Demifey, Mutates, and Cyborgs.
Natural Attack - New to this Quality is an Armor-Piercing kicker for 2
points. It'll probably work with Supernatural Attack, too, but I'd be
more hesitant to apply it.
Supernatural Senses - New to this Quality is night-vision, costing 1 point.
Okay, so I think that does it for existing Qualities. Next up are the new
ones.
Magical Conduit (2-point per level Quality)
A Magical Conduit is a mystical artifact that allows a human to freely work magic.
Each level of Focus allows a non-Sorcerer to Quick-Cast spells of a power level
up to the level of the Quality. A would-be magician can only control a
Conduit of a strength equal to or less than his Occultism level.
Otherwise, his spells have the chance to go seriously awry - using the miscast
rules in Buffy. A Magical Conduit is essentially an enchanted item, and
can be lost.
Magery (1-point per level Quality)
Magery provides bonus points on Sorcery checks. The maximum rating of
this Quality is 5 levels.
Organization (Variable Quality)
The Organization Quality provides a character (or characters, it is possible to
pool levels) additional Organization points.
Supernatural Qualities - Supernatural Qualities are possessed by such creatures
as Gargoyles, Demifey, Mutates, and Cyborgs. To create such a character,
you build a package Quality by picking the positive and negative traits you
want to be intrinsic to your character's "race." (In the case
of a cyborg or mutate, it might be a race consisting of a single creature, of
course. Each demifey might be unique, as well)
Extra Limb - Variable Quality
You have one or more extra prehensile limbs. Extra feet don't really cost
you anything. This Quality doesn't grant you any additional actions, but
it can allow your actions to affect more people. If you had, say, ten
tentacles, you might be able to grab ten people a few at a time and hold/crush
them all.
One limb costs you 1 point. 2 to 4 additional limbs cost 2 points.
5 or more cost 5 points. In practical terms, 10 limbs is probably a good
limit to this Quality. Extensible limbs that significantly increase your
reach add a 1-point kicker if you can reach about 10 feet (3 meters or so), and
2 points if you want to be able to reach even further. And at some point
you're just getting silly. Particularly at the higher levels, your limbs
don't have to be static limbs. An amorphous mass that can extend multiple
tendrils might vary from no limbs up to ten, depending on his mood.
Magical Affinity (2-point per level Quality)
Each level of Magical Affinity gives you a +1 bonus on Sorcery tests, up to a
maximum of 5. Unlike Buffy Sorcery, there is no progressive spell-casting
penalty, so there is no point in taking this Quality beyond 5 levels. The
prerequisite for this Quality is Sorcery.
Special Movement (Variable Quality)
This Quality imparts more freedom of movement. Characters can have more
than one type. For instance, Gargoyles have the first level of Climbing,
and Gliding, for 3 total points and pretty much as much freedom of movement as
someone who can just fly.
Climbing: 1 point for climbing with claws/special gear. 2 points for
spider-like wall-crawling that lets you hang from the ceilings as well as
scaling the walls and climb smooth surfaces easily.
Flight 3: points for flight that can be easily disrupted (like with wings), 5
points for freeier flight.
Gliding/swinging: 2 points. It's pretty much just the lower level of
Flight.
Leaping: the ability to make prodigious vertical or horizontal leaps. 2
points.
Superspeed (2-point per level Quality)
Superspeed lets a character move really quickly. It's generally tied to a
single type of movement, like running, swimming, or flying, depending on the
character. Each level of Superspeed more or less doubles the character's
maximum speed. At level 3, the character can move as fast as a car in the
city. At 4, he's approaching race-car speeds, and at 5, he's... well,
really fast. Superspeed doesn't allow any extra attacks. For that,
you're going to want obnoxiously high Dexterity.
I think that covers new Qualities. I was planning to do Packages as part
of this post, but it's getting late tonight and I still have some work to do on
them. I'll do them next. Really, you don't HAVE to have package
qualities to start using this stuff, so I don't feel too bad about leaving you
waiting.
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