hello, chuubo’s marvelous wish-granting engine fandom. let’s make a character.
so, for the character's skill setup, you have chosen...a tie. but there can be only one. choose a setup, and suggest skills - for either option, or unrelated mortal skills:
Unique Magic
Inhuman/Pulp Ability
Voting ended onFeb 22, 2023
if there are enough entries, both for the winning option here and for mortal skills, i may run additional polls.
Mind you this is nowhere near complete or where I'd want it to be, but.
The Divine Comedy of Programming Languages
Three programming languages and resultant applications that interact with any medium of information storage: computers, calculators, books, brains, etc, but with the specifics of computer viruses and their spirits in mind. Broadly, Paradiso protects data (also memories, emotions, etc) and hosts from viral intrusion, purging or destroying viruses in the process. Purgatorio is philosophically inclined toward reforming viruses and spirits into productive programs. Viruses are just doing what they were designed to do, and have yet to develop an understanding otherwise. Inferno captures and dominates viruses, pitting them against each other to make stronger spirits, before siccing them on their progenitor. Inferno applications tend to treat features and bugs as the same thing.
It's main limitations are time and territory, though either can be mitigated with proper applications and networking (read: Perks).
These magical skills presume that "hosts" refers to any kind of object that stores information: computers, calculators, books, people, etc. "Information" can be data, memories, emotions, knowledge, etc. "Vectors" are however one host interacts with another host.
Shared Techniques
Mundane Techniques
Obstacle 0 - Working knowledge of basic computer and networking scams.
Obstacle 0 - Basic applications in your chosen idiom.
Obstacle 1 (Inferno) - Practical application of computer and networking scams.
Magical Techniques
Obstacle 1 - Place a viral lure on a potential host.
Obstacle 1 - Trace a particular virus's path to its host.
Paradiso Techniques
Obstacle 1 - Sanctify a potential host against viral intrusion.
Obstacle 1 - Banish a virus or viral spirit from an infected host.
Obstacle 2 - Destroy a virus or viral spirit.
Obstacle 2 - Backup or retrieve information in a higher plane.
Purgaorio Techniques
Obstacle 1 - Trap a virus in its current host.
Obstacle 1 - Insert a reformed virus or viral spirit in an accessable host.
Obstacle 2 - Pacify a virus or viral spirit.
Obstacle 2 - Retrieve a reformed virus from its current vector or host.
Obstacle 2 - Gain insight into a virus or spirit's original creator.
Inferno Techniques
Obstacle 1 - Trap a virus in its current host.
Obstacle 1 - Insert a dominated virus or viral spirit in a host.
Obstacle 2 - Dominate a virus or viral spirit.
Obstacle 3 - Pit two viruses against each other, adding a feature to whichever wins.
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Some of this is themed with being unharmed in the center of dangerous forces, but some of it is themed around like butterfly effect stuff because storms and dances make me think of that.
Mortal Techniques
Obstacle 0 - Dance competently
Obstacle 1 - Interpret the Will of a hive
Obstacle 1 - Also Beekeeping
Obstacle 1 - Predict the weather
Obstacle 1 Magic
Dance unharmed among bees and swarms.
Determine what area of your life faces greatest hardship this day.
Obstacle 2 Magic
Dance unharmed in the storm
Send a simple message to a loved one or fellow practitioner via the cosmos.
+1 Obstacle to anyone else.
Dissipate a swarm.
Obstacle 3 Magic
Send bees, swarms, or storms away to somewhere else rather than dissipating them.
Arcs: Called Away 3, Indomitable 0 (Dark Magister)
Emotion XP: You tried, Digger.
Digger had a penchant for finding things that was the envy of dogs throughout Fortitude. Sometimes, it was neat bones or old trinkets, but the first time Rigorous Augustine II met him, Digger had unearthed a sword of kings and a sacred chalice. Rigorous would come down and trade with Digger the tools he needed for the next adventure. The dog had no knowledge, or need really, of the things he came across.
Rigorous came down to his doghouse and placed a bone and a still intact doll in the food bowl, and waited.Digger came out of the doghouse dragging something behind him, and placed it in the water bowl. Rigor could see that it was a rat, broken and unmoving. Digger just sat there wagging.
“What exactly,” Rigor’s eyes were fierce, “Is the meaning of this?”
”He told me he was your father,” Digger explained, “I wished to reunite the two of you, don’t even have to pay for him or anything.”
”That’s not right,” Rigorous places a paw on his knife, “My father disappeared a long time ago. And why would you kill him if he was my father?”
”Ah, no, that came out wrong,” Digger whimpers, “He was like that when he came to me.”
“What?”
”He came to me, told me his name, and before we could talk about it, he asked me to do something for him. Another dog had roughed him up, he told me, and took his soul and the souls of dozens of rats.”
This was beginning to sound familiar to Rigor.
”So I hunted down this other dog, nasty fellow, by the way, killed him, and freed all his captives. At least, I thought I did. Now your father just lies there, but I figured you’d still want to bury him. Was I wrong?”
“No, I appreciate it,” Rigor tightens his grip on the knife, “Did you bury anything that belonged to the other dog.”
”I didn’t get to know all the other captives, so I could not reunite them with their families. I buried them myself.”
Rigor unsheathes his knife. Digger looks at the knife and stops wagging.“I am sorry, friend, but this must be done. A dog cannot bury the treasures of gods without becoming one.”
”That is unfortunate,” is all Digger can say before bearing his fangs. Beneath their paws was a low rumbling in the earth.
In the bowl, Rigorous the First begins to sit upright. He blinks.
Called Away (Dragon’s Burrows and the Far Roofs)
What you lose can be claimed.
The earth engulfs what is Dragon’s.
An item is less than its place in the hoard.
Yet, what you have is your only true value.
You can hear the singing of the birds.
Friends, Family, Other:
Ben and Anna Alkaev were the product of a wish and forged from a star, making them highly sought after by unwholesome things. Digger is their protector.
The Kuvnetsovs are Ben and Anna’s adoptive parents and trained Digger to chase after the things that hunt them.
There are all manner of Mysteries and other unwholesome things that desire the Alkaev children. Digger is their enemy.
Digger has a curious relationship with the Fortitude Rats.
Relevant Project Characters:
Skills:
Superior Dog 3 - Digger’s a Dog.
Rider Necromancy 2 - Dragon has a way with dead things.
Slayer 2 - Digger fights the things that hunt the Alkaev children.
Treasure Sense 1 - Digger can find useful treasures in his quest.
Perks:
1/chapter, Digger can opt to sheathe himself in tile and scale, becoming impenetrable to blades and fire.
Bond +2 “I am driven to protect the Alkaev twins”
Called Away 3 (Dragon Burrows and the Far Roofs)
Estate: Hoarding, to equate yourself to your possessions without truly knowing their worth.
Treasures: There are things, relics, weapons, trinkets, creatures, and people buried deep in the burrows, waiting to be unearthed and reminded of who they are. The earth moves to Dragon’s will. A retinue of dead birds make homes in stovepipe trees. The occasional rat who Digger cannot release from service.
Shadows: The first Dragon is gone, but not his influence, and Digger must contend with a choir of reanimated birds.
The Old Guard (In Their Shadow, Level 2 Bond)
Dragon is dead, or his title has moved on, but still the first one has an influence, represented by a retinue of dead birds who Digger is unable to free from his service and who constantly remind him of his potential fate. Digger has a +2 Bond to acting as the old Dragon or mimicking the music of the birds. Digger is also vulnerable to the things Dragon is vulnerable to.
Green Eyes Upon You (Spirit-Walking)
Digger can manifest a spirit self in another location, typically to people who possess too much or otherwise covet something. He can also manifest near the Alkaev children.
Dig Too Deep (Into the Mittlemarches, Miraculous Action)
1/chapter, Digger can form an Intention via his Superior Dog Skill to dig his way onto the Far Roofs.
Fool’s Gold (Catalytic)
1/chapter, for 1 MP, Digger can burden one with a treasure he possesses, either the target covets the treasure, devaluing everything they ever had, or otherwise the target just has to deal with the peculiarities of that particular treasure. This is usually done as a mortal action with a +3 Tool bonus, and inflicts the equivalent of either a Complex, Vice, or In Over Your Head Issue.
Discard Shapes (Estrange)
1/book, Digger can turn someone into something befitting his Realm, usually a sentient crow, rat, or some relic creature long buried.
Indomitable 0 (Dragon)
Curse: Digger will manifest miracles and attitudes not dissimilar to his predecessor. Rats can always seek him out and challenge him as appropriate.
Potential Miracles
Digger can manifest the things reminiscent of his Hoarding Estate, but not the feeling itself.
Otherworldly 0-1: Digger can divine what you want that will make you forget anything else. Digger knows whether or not you will cherish the things you chase after.
Otherworldly 2: Digger deprives you of an item that has been holding you back.
Otherworldly 3: Digger can unearth one of the Great Treasures lost to Dragon’s vaults, drawing in people by their avarice.
Emptiness 0-1: Digger ruminates on what it means to be divine, albeit malignantly so. At the end, he conjures a dead bird to slay or a rat to act as messenger.
I got invited to a Chuubo Post-Outside Weird West style campaign hosted by @cadaeix , and before I settled on using a version of Pterri Ptolemy, one of my pitches was for a snake-oil salesman, except an actual giant snake who can turn his various oils into medicines. I didn’t wind up using him, but felt the urge to stat him out.
Emotion XP: Are you kidding me, Slick?
Skills:
A Long Drawl or Hiss 3 - Slick’s got a hypnotic voice.
Accordion 2 - He runs a medicine show, after all.
Slip Away 2 - Slipping out of bonds, running away, etc.
Medical Knowledge 1 - He actually knows something about something.
Perks:
Some Manner of Treasure Perk: The Diamondback Spectacle Medicine Show, a couple of performers he takes with him.
Affliction (CoA): “There is a process to turn my oils into curatives and the like.”
Child of the Ash 3
Kaiju-Form: A giant snake, duh.
Element: The Land of 5000 Venoms
Mood: A need to make the best of the worst vs a desire to poison what is good in your life.
This one is a bit involved and went through a couple of revisions. It started off as one skill, but now it’s a skill with multiple trees that you can only take one of. It’s kind of thematically “what if demons were sea creatures” kind of deal.
Mortal Techniques
Obstacle 0: Convincing sea creature noises
Obstacle 1: Professional level swimming & diving
Magical Techniques - Breathing
Obstacle 1: Hold your breath as long as a whale might.
Obstacle 2: Breathe under water
Obstacle 2: Exhale a gust of wind or a rush of water, your breath is so deep.
Obstacle 3: Surround self or others in a bubble of air.
Obstacle 3: Breathe and twist the currents
Obstacle 3: Breathe and stir the winds.
Magical Techniques - Peering
Obstacle 1: See past the surface of a body of water.
Obstacle 1: Normal person eyesight while underwater.
Obstacle 2: See past the surface of a person, reading surface thoughts in doing so.
Obstacle 2: See past the surface of a person, reading into their immediate past in doing so.
Obstacle 3: See into the depths of a person, view forgotten memories and secrets.
Obstacle 3: Normal person eyesight while in the Abyss.
Magical Techniques - Keening
Obstacle 1: Command fish and other creatures of the sea
Obstacle 1: Fill someone who can hear you with emptiness and longing.
Obstacle 2: Summon up one of the lesser minions of the abyss.
Obstacle 2: Cause your voice to travel the distance of an entire region.
Obstacle 3: Cause your voice to travel across Regions.
Obstacle 3: Grab the attention of the Great Masters of the Abyss (whether they come to you is another matter).
Magical Techniques - Gleaming
Obstacle 1: Hold the gaze of people around you
Obstacle 1: Blind someone with a flash of light
Obstacle 2: Project a light visible for a good distance
Obstacle 2: Hypnotize someone with a series of lights
Obstacle 2: Cast a light over a target, drawing gazes toward it instead.
Obstacle 3: Project a light big enough that detail is discernible
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Credit to @wepon for the initial idea. This version of the skill is more for making and wearing the pelts of slain animals and the benefits of doing so.
Mortal Techniques
Obstacle 0:Cut skins and basic tanning
Obstacle 1: Give the impression of an animal you wear
Obstacle 1 Magical Techniques
Wear the senses of an animal whose skin you have
Wear the tongue of an animal. Speak to others of its ilk.
The Kuvnetsov house has been quiet for awhile, but suddenly small humanoid figures spring out from the shadows into the yard. Four kids watch what unfolds from the rooftops; a parrot sits on the shoulder of the lanky boy.
"What are they, Pollyanna?" the oldest boy asks.
"Trolls, I think" the parrot says, "Just watch."
The Kuvnetsov dog, tall and jet black, slowly comes out of his doghouse. The trolls stop in their tracks as his eyes meets theirs.
The dog stops being a dog, growing scales of red tile and claws extending further than a dog's claws should. His breath is hot and bright as he advances on the first troll.
"Dragon," Pollyanna says.
Dragon's jaws are quick, snapping down on the first troll's neck. A quick shake of his head and the troll goes limp. Two others share the first troll's fate before the others back away into the night.
Dragon barks, and the fallen trolls rise again.
"The rats call him Hoarding," Pollyanna says, "All things that fall to him are his, lives included."
Polly turns again to the oldest boy, "We are not the first to covet the children of the Kuvnetsovs, Aldric. This monster stands between us should we take them, and he will chase us to our ends should we succeed."
Then she flies off into the night.
"We shouldn't," the lanky boy, Daisuke, says at last, "if only because of the dog. I'd like to keep my soul."
"Rhonda said the twins have the largest concentration of wishing energy," Aldric says, "There aren't many we can draw on."
Rhonda, the scholarly girl, grimaces, "Even so, alternatives do exist. This is...it's distasteful."
Aldric just sits there, "Can we defer our deal any longer?"
The four sit there a moment until Alisa breaks the silence.
"We got together...we made the deal with the Master to escape sorrow, but look. The Kuvnetsov children struggle, morning and night, for being born. By day, students and the Six Sins scheme to take their power for their own ends. At night, mysterious creatures threaten to take them in their sleep. We would add ourselves to their number. They have few protectors, few friends, and their dog, their best friend and protector, is a monster. Their lives are paranoia and sorrow. Why make it worse?"
Aldric says nothing, but he cannot deny the feeling she is right. The four children get off the rooftop and make their way home. Dragon has not returned to the dog house while the fallen trolls make their way to his warrens. Pollyanna alights on the Kuvnetsov fence in front of him.
"They've talked themselves out of it, sir" she says.
"Very well," Dragon sheds his scales and returns to being a dog. He seems wearier now and older.
"I thank you for your mercy, uhhh."
"It's Digger now," the dog says as he flops down, "I won't be so merciful if they hurt them."
Pollyanna squawks uncomfortably, "I suppose not."
"Eventually, they'll know you've made a deal with me. Eventually, they'll know what you've been doing."
"It's only until they give up on my master. I cannot let it enter this realm."
Family, Friends, Others
The Cult of the Spectrum consists of Aldric, Daisuke, Rhonda, and Alisa, still students in School. Aldric takes charge of cult activities, while Rhonda leads investigations on other cults.
The Unfathomable Spectrum is the sealed god that Pollyanna works for. She understands its cruelty quite well.
Relevant Project Characters
God Dog (Called Away/Indomitable): A fellow monster.
The Wise Trio: Another group with near apocalyptic exploits.
Fear’s Shadow knows something of the eldritch.
Skills
Superior Eldritch Entity 2 - Pollyanna is a phantasmagoria of sentient colors that can take the shape of a parrot.
Changeling 3 - Pollyanna looks like a parrot to most.
She has a variant technique that fills one with the enlightenment of her master rather than the void and falling stars.
Third point granted by Gatecrasher
Elder Lore 2 - She knows things.
Flight 2 - Both flying and escaping.
Perks
Affliction (It Never Stops) “I am a phantasmagoria of unfathomable colors“
It’s harder for Pollyanna to stay IC as a crisis gets out of hand.
Connection 2 - The Cult of Unfathomable Colors
Gatecrasher 3 (Apocalypse Cult)
Initiate of the Apocalypse
Pollyanna can induct people into the mysteries of apocalypse cults, and there is an Obstacle 2 that occludes the worst of their activities.
Changeling (Specialty)
Pollyanna is a natural shapeshifter
Eldritch Physiology (Understanding)
Pollyanna has an understanding of animal and eldritch physiology to aid her mimicry.
Phantasmic Body
Pollyanna's made of colors and light and not a physical body. She shrugs off most attempts at physical harm and transformation and uses Changeling to heal it.
Cult Initiate (Basic Moves)
Most members of an apocalyptic cult or organization have access to two techniques:
Summon a lesser being of their particular mythos. Strange colors in Pollyanna's case.
The ability to read and understand languages of eldritch import.
Eldritch Powers (Plot Devices)
Pollyanna has two sets of powers to draw upon.
Divine Gifts from her god, tied to Trust
Developing Eldritch Organs, tied to In Over Your Head.
Troubled 0
A story of Pollyanna as she undermines the efforts of her cult and tries to free them from their deal with her master. Her master cannot give them what they truly want.
Technique: Eldritch strangeness and magics
Curse: Pollyanna is a focal point for the summoning of the Unfathomable Spectrum.
Herald of the Unfathomable Spectrum (Title)
Pollyanna has a +2 Bond to acting as a focal point for the Cult of Unfathomable Colors.
Quest Miracles
Bindings 0-1: Pollyanna can grant someone an alien color, allowing them to see into her spectrum.
I look in fascination at this machine that Pterri built. Colorful glass spheres dance around each other with clockwork precision as they glow with a strange fire. I put my hand up to one of the spheres and yelp in pain at the searing heat on its surface.
“So, what,” I say, “You open windows and cast these lights into the sky?”
“An inverted astrology,” Ptolemy nods, “Set destiny to the sky, rather than the sky to destiny.”
Placards sit beneath each sphere, bearing names and a meaning.
A single bright star sits at the center of the moving spheres: Ptolemy, Star of Illumination.
I grimace, “Is it right to place yourself at the center of this cosmos?”
“I guess it’s a bit egotistical,“ there’s something like embarrassment, at least.
“So what prompted the making of this machine?”
Pterri tilts her head, “The fire.”
Right, the fire.
“I saw my home and father’s livelihood burn down as the sun died.”
I freeze.
“And I did not wish to live at the dictates of chance or fate. Not when I can do something and change it, you know?“
I nod along. It’s all I can think to do.
She doesn’t remember. That would make sense. The future must be built on the events before it, so something that could rewrite the future could potentially rewrite a past. A present where her parents didn’t die would necessitate a new reason for its construction.
Worse, a machine that can rewrite the past can be used any number of times. I remember a time where Mr and Mrs. Ptolemy are dead, but that might just be the past I remember. How many more pasts has she gone through?
I look up at this orrery of false stars.
It baffles me.
From Gillian Brandish
The Hack: Pterri Ptolemy can manipulate destiny.
The Experience: She spins out potential possibilities, watching them play out before you.
While Reality Syndrome doesn’t really hang on the usual Knight Arc elements, I’ve included them here. It might also be useful for Allegory
Role: Guide to the Ptolemy Planetarium
Truth: Illuminating - She can cast some kind of light on the situation.
Failing: Denial - She cannot accept things as they are.
Potentiality Plays (Shared Experience)
Ptolemy can generate the Region Property: “You can Perceive and Adjust Ptolemy’s sense of your future.”
Actuality Plays (Dreams Made Flesh)
Ptolemy can temporarily make the people and objects of her predictions real enough to have tangible impact.
As an alternative at character creation, she could spell out someone’s fate and everyone would believe it the primary outcome.
Orrery of False Stars (System)
When Pterri encountered a motley of dying stars, she used their embers to light lanterns that now occupy a giant orrery. No longer content with divining the future, Pterri uses her Orrery of False Stars to define it.
Once a chapter, Pterri can set or change destiny via her Orrery of False Stars. This functions as a wish and uses Wishing Map rules.
See diagram as designed/suggested by geostatonary
The Orrery functions similar to a Wishing Map. Each PC has a celestial body and a short phrase. Spending a Refresh Token adds a line to the map. A Knight Quest can add an important NPC.
The Orrery then casts the light of its lanterns into the night sky, creating false starlight and new meanings imprinted on the sky. Reality shifts to accept the new interpretation of the cosmos.
Wishes are strongest when locking in the future or altering the past and present that build to a future. A faulty wish can also generate counterfeit, if real and occasionally benign, stars and constellations
Sample Quest Miracles (Knight)
Reality Syndrome: Pterri struggles to connect with another character in some manner, until she reaches the idea of them needed for her Orrery.
Knight 0: She can gain a +1 Tool to doing things to further her role as a planetarium guide or gain social armor as one who can guide your path or not take things as they are.
Knight 2: If there’s something that Pterri can do as a planetarium guide or keeper of the False Orrery, she gains miraculous backing to do it.
Knight 3: Pterri can enhance one of her powers or perks by calling on the authority of the planetarium or her parents, with potential consequences based on how she’s used their authority.
Wounded Angel (Binding Ill Omens)
Ill Tidings (Dramatic)
Pterry Ptolemy has narrative justification for appearing to the doomed or unfortunate.
Counterfeit Cosmolabe (Devices)
Pterry has a +1 or +2 Tool to her Star Charts skill when predicting ill omens or interacting with false or foreboding stars and constellations.
Sample Quest Miracles
Bindings 0: Pterri gives someone one of her lanterns of false starlight or otherwise imbues them with a piece of herself.
Other Arcs of Note
Allegory: On top of being a planetarium guide, Pterri may be some dark angel of rejection and overturning the dictates of fate.
The Ptolemies smile as they greet me, and I wave back to them as I enter the store.
They’re dead, though.
I remember father talking about it some. The planetarium caught on fire when the sun died. Even when the world started back up, the Ptolemies didn’t make it, though their daughter survived.
Other students from Fortitude would talk about Pterri after that. She’d show up on some festivals and chase after star showers. Others mentioned her carrying lanterns with strange, faint lights.
The encounter marks the third time today that I’ve seen them. Coincidence? The last time I checked Town records, the fire happened, but everyone survived. They’ve always been alive.
One night, I heard strange noises coming from their planetarium. The windows emitted strange lights as a song like a dirge started up.
I can’t get past it. Their movements seem to jerk a bit whenever I’m about to look away. They evade any questions about the fire or the goings-on at the planetarium, often with the same platitudes they’ve used before.
Sometimes, when I look at the night sky, I see lights I don’t remember.
It feels like they’re being staged for me.
From Gillian Brandish
Skills:
Star Charts 2 - Pterri can navigate stars and divine things from their positions.
Guide 2 - She can show you around and tell you things.
Love for the Doomed 2 - She has a fondness for those who would suffer.
Machines 1 - She can put together and maintain the mechanisms of the Planetarium.
Illumination 1 - She has a basic grasp of symbolism and alternate meanings on which she can shed light.
Perks:
Bond 3 (Reality Syndrome): “I am driven to change things for the better”
A False Star is Still a Star
Miraculous Action (Inherent Power Cost)
Mid-Scene, Pterri can use one of her lanterns to cast light on a situation, making it possible for others to discern lies and disperse illusions.
Basic Quest: Navigation vs Pioneering (Green/Lurid)
Before the sun died, Pterri was content to look at the stars and map the future. Afterward, she seeks uncharted seas and bends the cosmos to a future of her choosing. Old habits die hard, however. Once per scene/15 minutes, Pterri can flip a sign between “Quiet, Contemplating” and “Thoughtful, Demanding”
Quest Set: A Scientific Adventure for now.
Friends, Family, Other
Pterri’s family should not be, but are. They twig some people’s sense of infidelity, but they’re otherwise benign.
Pterri’s father, an astronomer, runs the planetarium.
Pterri’s mother, a rocket enthusiast, teaches physics.
Pterri has a younger sibling Tina or Ted.
She is on questionable terms with star and wish spirits.
She’s probably known among Astrology and History clubs and circles.
Pterri has a fondness for the children and creatures who visit the Planetarium.
Relevant Project Characters
The Salvager (Keeper of Gardens, Visionary): Reuben Maksimov is obsessed with the past. Pterri’s mucking with the cosmos upsets him in that regard.
The Errant Vassal (Knave/Reality Syndrome): Sig Yadon’s destiny is a bit hard to read and a source of fascination.
The Cursed Heiress (???/Called Away): The Maksimovs are not as they were, but their destiny is in flux.
Great machines run wild throughout the lands west of the Heavenly Tower. Some were built-up by previous ages of man, and others spawn by magic and errant code. Those that can be ridden are known as steeds: motorcycles, machine unicorns, metal falcons, and many more. The nomadic gangs hold them in reverence.
This is a magic to commune with all machines meant to be ridden, including a sort of telepathy with them.
Baffling to non-practitioners, many capable of communion lack cybernetic enhancement. The practice remains largely unknown, though there are at least two known factors involved:
Touch: Physical contact must be made with the steed in question.
Reciprocity: Feelings and senses are shared between rider and steed.
Mundane Techniques
Obstacle 0: Ride a motorcycle or steed of similar sophistication.
Obstacle 1: Basic maintenance and repair of motorcycles and steeds of similar sophistication.
Obstacle 1: Get a sense of a machine’s purpose.
Obstacle 1 Magical Techniques
Just know the general condition of any steed steed.
Establish machine empathy with any simple steed capable of thought or feeling. This doesn’t let you peer into a steed’s mind, but grants insight into their moods, fears, or senses.
Establish a calming aura that a steed can pick up on.
Obstacle 2 Magical Techniques
Have better intuition of a steed’s condition.
Get the gist of a data readout. This doesn’t grant particular knowledge, just a general sense
Peer into the mind of a simple steed and vice-versa.
Establish machine empathy with some of the greater steeds: machine unicorns, devil wheels, etc.
Obstacle 3 Magical Techniques
Peer into the mind of a greater steed and vice-versa.
Establish machine empathy with one of the Sovereigns’ Steeds*
Diamondback has this power and is what makes him Champ of the Snake Gang.
Writer’s Note:
*The assumption here is that peering into the mind of one of the Sovereigns’ Steeds is more a miraculous ability or a Perk than something this skill can do for you. Also, not many of the Sovereigns‘ Steeds are down for that.
While you can use machine empathy or mental linking to command steeds, it’s likely more effective to have a different skill for riding or fixing a steed.
The demarcation between a simple and greater steed is kind of nebulous, but my rule of thumb is that it has to have a bit more utility than being something you can ride, drive, or use for transport.
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Knave of Hearts (The Kingdoms Sigismund Will Build) 3
Part 1 of the Errant Vassal
Regina looks at the boy in the cell. He says nothing, but he matches her gaze.
The silence goes on for some time.
“So...”
She’s not sure how to tell him, but settles on just laying it out.
“it turns out there’s a prophecy on your head,” she says, “Basically, your labors will build kingdoms.“
The boy tilts his head to the side, eyebrow raised.
“The prophecy puts the lie to conventional wisdom,” she continues, “It means kingdoms aren’t built by kings or lords. It means you can decide who is nobility.“
“It’s reminiscent of a knight who put my family on our throne so long ago,“ Regina says, “I think he fears you’re the end of his reign.“
It’s all out there now. What can she say? What is there to be said.
“What was his name?” the boy says with a smile on his face, “The knight, I mean."
Regina hesitates a moment, she almost knows where he is going.
“Sigismund. Sigismund Yadon.“
The boy stands up and puts his hands apart. His hands move closer to himself, like he’s trying something on. He blinks, and when he opens them again Regina sees his eyes are now a void.
“He was right to be afraid,” Sigismund III says, “Cause building kingdoms sounds awesome.“
Mythos: I Will Build Kingdoms On My Back
Read Heraldry (Symbolic Logic)
Sigismund can see how people fit into his potential kingdoms: people could be kings and queens, knights (black, opposite, or otherwise), or people who could lay down the foundations of castles. He could see items that could be useful weapons or relics or animals that could be dragons.
When he views the world through this lens, he suffers a level 1 Obstacle to recognize the ordinary details of the world.
Armor and Banners (Idealize)
Sigismund can quickly bring things superficially in line with his Mythos as a level 3 magical intention: Arming students, placing banners all over the place, etc.
The Knight and the Bard (Somebody Else’s Story)
Sigismund can ride along mentally with someone who is part of his Mythos or actively experiencing it. Typically, he’ll be the passenger of someone he’s roped into a project, but there might be someone who has agreed to be a king or queen or who is typically his black knight/rival. He can operate in his own skin at the same time, but he faces Obstacle 2 to the attempt.
People he has followed this way share a +1 Tool to Connection Skills with him and vice-versa.
Unfurl the Banner (The Dream That Dreams Do Dream Of)
Sigismund can wreath himself in the following rules, which serve as Afflictions, for 1 MP.
My Efforts Will Exalt You*
I am Tireless in My Pursuits
I Attract Rivals and Challengers
*Typically, this makes anyone he does work for stronger or smarter or placed higher in the social hierarchy, but never wiser, on its own.
Knighting, Excommunication, and The Grail Quest
(Inevitability Entanglement, Destiny Exile, Mythos Complementation)
For an MP, Sigismund can grant another one of his rules or tie people and things into his destiny. Typically, he’ll knight someone, turn knives and bats into swords and clubs, or turn animals into steeds or monsters of chivalrous lore.
For 2 MP, Sigismund can make it harder to act in accordance to his rules, or exile someone from his Mythos. Knights stop being knights, dragons aren’t dragons or other chivalrous beasts, etc.
For 4 MP, Sigismund can name a grand destiny for a target that ties into the kingdoms that he will build. It’s possible that he has set Mulciber Smelt on the task of building castles.
Sample Mystic Quest Miracles
The Principle that Sigismund usually expresses via this Arc is probably Purpose or Vassalage.
Mystic 0-1: Sigismund can develop small powers to solve problems, usually extending from quests, gathered relics, and finding rivals, challengers, and dragons. Alternately, he picks up powers extending from someone he’s working for.
Mystic 2: Sigismund dissociates from himself. Whoever he feels he is is likely under the thrall of another.
Mystic 3: Invisible powers go to work to make the world a little more feudal or kingdom like.
Reality Syndrome (Second Skins) 0
Experience: Sigismund shares his sense of your own potential.
Hack: Sigismund can roughly mimic the powers of another. Typically, people who he is acting on behalf of or people who are trying to oppose him.
Role: The Errant Vassal, a servant with any lord he chooses.
Truth: Sigismund sees the best in people.
Failing: Albeit from the perspective of a demi-feudal Excrucian.
Who’s Awesome? You’re Awesome (Shared Experience)
Once a book, Sigismund generates the Region Property “You share Sig’s experience of how awesome you are."
Sample Knight Quest Miracles
Knight 0-1: After a Quest to find his place as an Errant Vassal, Sig gains a +1 Tool and an insight into what he should do.
Alternately, Sigismund has an aura that says he is an Errant Vassal and finds you awesome.
Other Arcs of Interest
Alchemist: Sigismund knows his Purpose, but lives in a world that may not need it. Those who are lost might come to him, and he will make them knights in a fashion.
Visionary: Sigismund struggles with his destiny: How does one even build kingdoms in a world that does not honor royalty? Can he shed outdated concepts and still fulfill his destiny? His Visionary Skill might be Superior Knight or some form of knightly magic, and his blessings are relics scrounged from countless travels.
Beneath the undergrowth of Old Molder, Anna Alkaeva finds herself at the edge of a playground. She no longer heard the sounds of those who chased her. They remained behind a black iron gate and could not reach her. She turns toward the center.
A tall boy stands in front of a castle in miniature. He possesses the Rider’s eyes and straw-colored hair like a horse’s mane. He greets her with a nod but not much else.
“Is this place yours?“ she asks.
Silently, he stands aside. In front of the castle entrance, Anna can see a stone with a sword wedged in it. She grabs the hilt, and gasps the moment she feels it slide. She lets go before it’s halfway out.
The boy says nothing, but he smiles.
Skills:
Superior Knight 2 - Sigismund radiates valor, and is schooled in all the ways and past times of nobility.
Quest 3 - Great tasks require Sigismund know where to go and who to talk to.
Bats & Clubs 2 - Sig’s weapons of choice.
Do Stuff 1 - Sigismund has a minor grasp of multiple fields.
Perks:
Affliction (Hero or Calling): “My Self-Esteem is Invincible”
Sig never doubts himself as the odds stack against him or he perceives a role for himself. Failures are the fault of circumstance or superior opponents.
Cool 2 - Opposition needs to step up their game.
Shine 3
A free Perk from Knave of Hearts.
Emotion XP: Beckoning XP, Sig is just good all around muscle.
Basic Quest: Rustle Dragons! (Over the Top)
Sig escalates just about any chore or task another puts him on, either due to the task not being as simple as it first appeared or to Sig’s tendency to overreact.
Quest Set: TBD
Friends, Family, Other:
Sigismund Yadon I is Sigismund’s grandfather. There is also a distant cousin named Gidie Yadon, a privateer.
Sig claims Regina Sophie as a friend. She does not wish for his servitude, and he can respect that.
Katsuo Nakano and Sigismund are on the same baseball team.
Sigismund has a presence in numerous clubs: Civics, Architecture, Baseball, and Shop among them.
Relevant Project Characters:
Civics’s Princess (???): Regina Sophie wants to be a normal club leader and get into hijinks, but people naturally want to obey her.
The Star (Knave/Ace): Katsuo Nakano is destined to find greatness in baseball, if he could just get a league together.
One of the first artisans in the world found inspiration from a fire in the sky. They wooed that flame down to earth, and from their union came the other fires and our ancestors.
The gods could not forgive our existence.
-from The Book of Smelt
Dionysus is out of sweat and spit and tears. He had worked so long on the preparations he forgot to drink, or maybe the flames had dried him out. There is a dull throbbing in his temples. The world begins to spin around him, he can feel himself begin to collapse.
Dionysus blinks and only the headache remains. He is back in the studio, lit only by the rainbow-light lanterns. In one corner stands a statue depicting a person of flame and passion. In the second is Pandora Smelt.
“A premonition of sorts,“ she says, “What will happen if you take my help.“
“I appreciate your candor,“ Dionysus walks to a lantern, “but I’ll be fine.“
He puts his hand in the flame and grimaces as it sears his flesh. Dionysus ignores Pandora’s cry.
There is something unique to the sensation, compared to other times he’s been burned, a sort of tingling feel in his head. He makes a note of it.
Dionysus endures for a few more seconds.
Then the flame goes out. His hand appears unmarred, the tingling fades away.
He smiles, “No problem exists that can’t be handled at a better time.“
Pandora stands there, mouth open.
“What the fuck, Boyle?“
Demesne: Pandora has her own little studio. On a prominent display is a statue of a flame in human shape.
Un-Element: The lanterns of her studio are lit by the terrible fires of inspiration.
Treasures: At Arc 0, Pandora is allowed a single Treasure.
Workshop Connection: Pandora has Connection 3 to her studio. At Arc 0 she can manipulate the timing of events in her studio and the surrounding Region. She can also manipulate the level of light and heat within it.
Become Somebody 3 (The Muse of Flame)
Role: Pandora is the Muse of Flame, good at sparking and forging ideas.
Truth: Pandora is a member of the Smelt family, for better or worse.
Failing: All Smelts are cursed of course, but hers afflicts people with an inspiration that they obsess over until it burns them out (in some cases literally).
Who Burns? (Wages of Sin)
Pandora can tell when someone is cursed and hurting from it or when they’re gripped with obsession over their ideas.
Lanterns in the Dark (Shared Experience)
Pandora can grant herself an Affliction that grants an insight into someone’s desire for inspiration or who wants to bring inspiration to someone else.
Points of Light (Your Truth)
The following facts regarding Pandora are protected by a level 3 Auctoritas.
I am a Smelt, with all that that entails.
I am a Muse, the spark and forge of ideas.
The Divine Flame (Unstoppable + Commanding Aura)
Nothing can stop Pandora from expressing herself as a Muse to somebody, sheathing that action in an Auctoritas and Obstacle with ratings equal to her Arc.
On top of this, Pandora has the ability to engage the flame of inspiration in somebody or increase their desire for arts and crafts. This manifests as a Wound of sorts.
She can choose to use a stronger version of that power, that creates a scene of divine wonder that aids Pandora’s attempts to communicate her Role before the power takes effect.
Snuff the Spark (Reject)
Alternately, Pandora can strip someone of their creative drive or talent for a particular art or craft.
Sample Knight Quest Miracles
Role: Pandora Smelt is the Muse of Flame.
Truth: Pandora is a part of the Smelt family, and can manifest their legend or social standing.
Failing: Like all Smelts she is cursed.
Knight 0-1: Pandora thinks on how to be a better muse or how to fit in with the rest of the Smelt family, gaining a +1 Tool to efforts to do so.
Alternately, Pandora can wreath herself in the Truth of being a Smelt or the Failing of being cursed.
Knight 2: Pandora can engage in actions appropriate to her role, such as granting inspiration or improve her connection to flame.
Knight 3: Pandora can draw on her connection to the ancestral fire spirit possibly to boost her ranking among fire spirits or other Smelts or invoke epic versions of other powers.
Sample Shepherd Quest Miracles
Craft: Talk it Out is the usual skill Pandora uses for her Treasures, mostly people. She might be able to get some mileage out of Spiritual Energy to purify or Arts and Crafts for places.
Treasures: Anyone that Pandora can claim right now, and possibly counting the connection to her studio.
Shepherd 0: Pandora can use her Craft to grant a creature or place a +1 Tool that anyone can use. She typically applies it to her Studio to boost productivity.
Alternately, if she has a Craft to justify it, Pandora can give someone a Superior Skill at Level 2.
Other Arcs of Note
Specialist: Pandora engages in either the Smelt family politics or a hidden world of artists and crafters. She will draw on the power of her Divine Gifts or manipulation of fire or the connections to friend and family to gain an edge.
Visionary: Pandora takes on more and more the aspect of the ancestral flame spirit. Devour revives the husks of those burned away from her inspiration. Blessings manifest as the spark of flame and mind. As the ancestral flame, she can dictate the history of the Smelt family.
Arcs: Become Somebody 3, Of a Certain Place 0
Inspiration: Actual
Part 2: The Studio and Tools of Pandora Smelt
“Our family is cursed, Dora,“ her brother says, “Our favored art, craft, or practice, the method of our self-expression, turns against us. Some are lucky, manifesting a single malign action, others find the curse entwined in their every performance til the end of their lives.”
Pandora Smelt thinks back on what has happened.
She had thrown ideas at Gillian Brandish a week ago, and she seemed invigorated with the suggestions. However, Gillian forgot to eat or sleep as she worked on the play those ideas inspired.
One kid talked to her about a mural they were working on, and walked away with new energy. Then she heard that the kid had taken a nasty fall, they tried to paint their mural in a precarious location.
Today, a boy was bouncing ideas off of Pandora for a book he was writing. Their conversation took a turn, and the boy became excited as many new possibilities asserted themselves. His chatter became faster and more excited.
And then he self-immolated.
Pandora lit a fire in their mind, only for that fire to burn them.
As curses go, it’s bearable. People would be safe if they never came to her with their work. If she never helped them make the best play or book or painting that they could make.
”Well, I’m not going to give up,” she says at last.
Skills:
Superior Spiritual Energy 3 - There is something unnatural or divine about her.
Arts and Crafts 2 - Pandora Smelt is pretty competent at all arts.
Talk it Out 2 - Pandora can talk you through your ideas.
Never Go Down 1 - She is hard to demoralize or hurt.
Perks:
Connection 3: Pandora’s Studio - Pandora has a studio that she lets artists use from time to time.
Not actually a Perk, but a benefit from Of a Certain Place.
Connection 3: Mulciber Smelt - An architectural buff and generally responsible older brother. He wrestles with a hell of his own making.
Affliction (Sickness or Calling) “I have no problem opening locked boxes.“
Emotion XP: “Try Harder, Pandora Smelt” or “Endure”
Basic Quest: Bouncing Ideas (Work and Study or Paradigmatic)
Pandora is usually good for generating or refining ideas. If she thinks a situation is pertinent to a work one is struggling with, she’ll usually say something like “I got it!” and present an idea.
Quest Set: With slight jiggering, I imagine A Bittersweet Saga is a good fit for Pandora Smelt.
Friends, Family, Other:
Mulciber Smelt is the older sibling. His curse took the form of a singular act, the creation of a place of suffering, and he will have to deal with the consequences.
Gillian Brandish has come to Pandora once or twice in the past.
Relevant Project Characters:
Hell’s Architect (Reality Syndrome/Called Away): Mulciber Smelt can work miracles through his architecture, but has already been burned by the curse.
The Playwright (Visionary/Become Somebody): Gillian Brandish is a playwright kept under Glass Spider’s thumb.
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So, I figure for future installments, anytime I have a character who has alternate Arcs in Called Away, Keeper of Gardens, or Of a Certain Place, I’d put up a list of concept properties and related powers.
Called Away (The Company of Shades)
You must hold on to what’s meaningful
Truth must be guarded.
Smiles are only for show.
In a world of lies and schemes, trust is the most valued commodity.
You must congregate as evening comes.
Story
I’ve come to remember the pact I made every time I see the corridor, the boy’s easy-going smile most of all.
Funny, there was a time when I was afraid of the things beyond the end of the hall, but not so much anymore.
Colors blur into nothing. There’s a table next to the wall, chairs, an inbox and outbox for messages on top, all are mere silhouettes. The noises of the School, child chatter and the thrumming of science experiments, give way to a light music.
One of the Regents stands at the end of the corridor, his dark blue suit the only color for now, my only means of distinguishing between them. The Regents hide behind their half-moon masks, but their smiles are that same easy-going smile.
I look at the Regent pensively.
He nods at me and smiles, “The preparations have been made, Lady Bogs.”
I try not to groan at the appellation. Subservient Regents were always the worst.
“Master Dunn will present your brother at the gala, as promised,“ he continues, “I assure you his condition will be to your satisfaction.“
I look at him stonefaced, “You’re not going to spring some backroom deal or other plot on me, are you?”
He shrugs as if it were an apology, “I cannot guarantee that.“
Figures, another night likely ending with a knife in my back
“Why do you wear his face?”
He stops smiling, it almost surprises me.
“I don’t remember him being this way. I remember him being more...comforting, open, trustworthy, I guess." I sigh, “Why can’t you be as he was?“
He furrows his brow, I think, and looks almost wistful.
“I’m sorry,“ he says at last, “Trust is the most valuable thing to have and the easiest to lose. It is one of those secrets I keep hidden most of all.“
I get a sense that he keeps his secrets from everyone, but fears me learning them above all others.
On that thought, I reach my hand out toward him. A wisp of him peels away and becomes a mask. It is a fox’s face in dark blue.
I place the mask on my face, “I am ready for your gala, Regent.”
Estate: Secrets, shadows must attach themselves to shape and meaning, but they obscure the truth and image of that which casts them.
Denizens: Forgotten truths and hidden knowledge are as physical things, casting the shadows that are the Realm’s denizens. Intelligent shades are vaguely human-shaped and wear elaborate clothes, but all bare colorful masks and smiles. One can reach for their essential meaning and snuff them out that way. What knowledge doesn’t cast a shade gets forged into daggers and fencing blades that can be sacrificed in their stead. They are little more than shadows when in Town.
Treasures: The truths long buried, interesting food and drink, the fencing schools of the shades, intricate plots and schemes, hard won allies, magics that veil and reveal.
The Shadow: The Regent sits at the center of shade society. He wears different colors, weapons, and personalities, but all versions wear the half-moon mask and an easy-going smile. Sometimes he seems willing to guide Min (with caveats), and other times to stymie her efforts, but he will never seek her death.
Catalyst: Min can have someone keep a secret, or intimate that she knows a secret the target possesses. This can probably manifest behavior or mini-stories similar to a Vice, Complex, or In Over Your Head Issue.
The wind died down, the black mass vanished and only Min Bogs was left standing in the shattered husk of our machinery and the debris of the gymnasium. She walked over to her siblings, fussed about how smudged they were as she checked for injuries, and then walked backed to us.
”I believe that was in poor form,” she said to us. We looked to each other briefly and then her shadows fell upon us. For one it was as needles and chitin, for the other she felt like scales and padded fingers.
And then the textures changed as they got a hold of us.
We realized then, they weren’t shadows so much as a shapelessness, taking forms as they pleased before returning to their true state.
We assumed then that her body was just another shape she chose to cast, a polite fiction of some kind.
“We’ll be seeing somebody about this,“ she said, dragging us away from the gym.
From the Sirida Siblings
Mood: Fear
Element: A world of fearsome things that dance around a faint light. Shadows line the edges.
Kaiju: A massive shadow creature, presumably quadrupedal, of no discernible shape.
Cloud of Darkness (Set the Mood)
Over time, Min generates the Region Property “Here is Something to Fear“ or maybe “Here is Something You Do Not Know.“
Fear/Safe-Splosion (Mood-Splosion)
Once per book, Min can wish that a situation gets more fearsome, or more likely, that everyone acknowledges how dangerous a situation naturally is.
Big Sister (Wicked Mode)
Min wears so many masks that none can be said to express or conceal her nature. It is when she removes her overcoat that one knows she means business, that she can totally take care of the situation. Her Mood of Fear becomes a Mood of Security.
Primordial 3 (The Thing of Fear and Shadow)
Principle: Fear, typically interpreted as a shield to innocence. Something to keep you safe until you are wise enough to tackle things.
Transformation: The All-Horror, a thing of a thousand awful shapes and none.
Element: Shadows
Shadows Loom (Unnatural Action)
Shadows stretch and warp to reflect Min’s moods. She can also use the shadows as an extension of her own skills, twisting shadows to mess with one’s sense of perspective and disorient, for example.
The All-Horror (Bindings)
Min will talk to someone about the things they fear, and she develops a limb and power to shepherd them through the things that scare them, should they want it.
She could also talk about what it means that she is the All-Horror, a thing that can be any creature but isn’t.
Powers bound to her Normal Health Levels take the shape of harmlessly spooky masks, slightly uncanny physical mimicry, Halloween accessories, or maybe attract small creatures granting a level 2 Bond or Superior 1 Skill.
At the Tough Level are fearsome masks, creepy, erratic motions, strange textural changes to her skin, nails, and hair, or a swarm of small creatures that grant an Affliction, Superior 2-3 Skills, or a 1-2x/scene miraculous ability.
At the Divine Level are the extra shadows that surround Min, each one suggestive of a different creature. Min can also grow a single body, which serves as her main body for most purposes. Min typically prefers human bodies gained from talking to the rest of the Bogs family.
Run! (A Distant Mood)
1/chapter, Min can aid someone whose experience she holds who is lacking her Principle.
As a practical effect, shadows slowly skew her target’s sense of direction, but always away from the most dangerous locations.
As a metaphorical effect, her target gains a +2 Bond “Shadows Lead Away.“ Someone trapped in a bad social situation can at least figure out a way to distance themselves in the shadows. Those being chased can escape easier through the darker streets. So on and so forth.
1/book Min can bump up this power to a wish level effect, presumably something like:
“I wish you to know safety at the end of this ordeal.“
Maybe,
“I wish that escape is an option. I wish for you to know escape is okay.”
Sample Mystic Quest Miracles
For the purposes of Quest Miracles, Min generally acts through the Lens of Fear. If she picks up Visionary, she might be capable of other Principles.
Mystic 0-1: Min Bogs grows a shadow, crafts a mask, or works the field for a solution to a problem she faces.
Mystic 2: Someone finds that they are being chased by a Shadow that is a Beast, until they are consumed and remember that they are Min Bogs.
Mystic 3: Shadows squirm and work the land to best reflect Min’s preferences. They tend to take the shape of plagues of minor creatures.
Sample Otherworldly Quest Miracles
Her Estate from Child of the Ash is Shadows. It is possible to pick up another estate, presumably Lost Secrets, from Called Away.
Otherworldly 0: Min finds something in her dreams, a divination from the shadows.
Other Arcs of Note:
Called Away: Where Min Bogs quests through the Land of Shadows, where the Shadow Sorcerer quests. Here she will navigate a world of hidden truths and projected meanings and come to terms with Secrets.
Visionary: Min continues to quest through the Land of Shadows. Here, she perfects her Changeling Magics to best blend in, develops elixirs and mystic organs as Blessings, and absorbs the other shadows that plague her. Her Principle, for if it matters, would be Secrets.
