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AegyptoAnother possibility is replacing TNI with another cabal as a source of conflict. The Sleepers would be perfect for this: They’ve got guns, scary adepts, and are definitively not going to trust the characters – so violent conflict is fairly likely.
To further complicate matters, maybe one of the Sleepers has a personal grudge with Eugene – remember that the Sleepers already went once after him, and Eugene has a tendency to piss off people.
They probably aren’t too crazy about Erica Fisher (and consequently, Mak Attax) getting mystically empowered, either .
This may also present the characters with a moral dilemma: Provided that they manage to explain their goals to the Sleepers, these may offer some help or assistance to the characters in killing Arkane – provided that they are willing to betray Eugene and Erica, too.
AegyptoA few ideas on characters (some of them come from my own games):
– A retired killer trained by the CIA who is obsessed with the “perfect shot”: The instant of where the universe fits into place as shooter, bullet and target become one. In game terms, this character may have a Soul skill like “Zen Gunman” allowing for some funky gun-fu effects.
– An anthropologist who pissed off some African sorcerer during a field trip, and woke up one morning with an elaborate tattoo on his back -staring too long at the intrincate, wicked patterns can cause headache. Since then, he’s been struck by all sorts of misfortunes. Surgery won’t erase the tattoo, by the way.
– A sci-fi writer who is being stalked by a group of weirdos – they claim that his writings contain hidden truths and messages from God. Alternatively, the PC may be one of the weirdos.
– A weirdo who believes that logos are mystical sigils and can affect anyone who comes into contact with them. He only wears plain unmarked clothes, never eats at McDonalds, and has meticulously scratched any logo or trademark from his few non-generic possesions.
– A transgendered character who skipped town after a misunderstanding involving five kilos of uncut cocaine, corrupt cops and a severed hand in a freezer. Always carries a .357 in the purse, just in case.
More later.
AegyptoI was under the impression that whatever “Ersmon Rarisly” is supposed to do, it’s been specifically designed for him. A typical ritual won’t do the trick anymore than your average blast spell.
I’d say that summoning the Cruel Ones or getting him Renounced are the best bets. Good luck with those, though.
AegyptoThe thing to keep in mind is that mechanomancers can create very powerful things, as long as the basic technologies were available in the XIX Century.
As an example, the New Inquisition sourcebook features a clockwork bulldozer. That’s downright nasty.
Think machine cyphers and steam- powered difference engines with more computing power than an entire NSA facility. Think hand-held gyroscopic devices which can calculate your position as well as any GPS. Think clockwork dragons with in-built flamethrowers.
Now, most mechanomancers aren’t very interested in that sort of machines. They could build them if they wanted, but they’d rather to work in toys that resemble living beings, because many of them see mechanomancy as that: To create artificial, living beings, indistinguishable from natural ones.
AegyptoI think it’s stated in Statosphere that the First and Last Man can create new rituals – or more precisely, he can figure the proper ritual needed to create any effect, short of blasts and major magicks.
Barring that, some adepts could learn them spontaneously, maybe as a result of magick research and major magick casting.
Mind you, I think it would be fun having the characters finding an old, dusty grimoire which contains rituals that require modern components – TV sets, mobile phones, whatever – which clearly didn’t exist when the grimoire was written.
AegyptoOh, fuck. The previous post was supposed to appear on ANOTHER topic, the one about rituals.
Sorry. I forgot to login, and had to rewrite the entire post, without realizing I was in the wrong window.
And now, for something actually relevant to THIS topic: Check anything by Tim Powers, particularly his Fisher King trilogy (Last Call, Expiration Date and Earthquake Weather).
AegyptoI think it’s stated in Statosphere that the First and Last Man can create new rituals – or more precisely, he can figure the proper ritual needed to create any effect, short of blasts and major magicks.
Barring that, some adepts could learn them spontaneously, maybe as a result of magick research and major magick casting.
Mind you, I think it would be fun having the characters finding an old, dusty grimoire which contains rituals that require modern components – TV sets, mobile phones, whatever – which clearly didn’t exist when the grimoire was written.