Forum Replies Created
WrattsMaybe you might feel inclined to suspect me. Judge for yourself:
– In the condo I used to live in, over in the USA; we had a poltergeist. Yeah, the whole shtick – caps unscrewing themselves, electronical appliances that went on and off, cupboards that would open and close. I’m never going back there.
– There used to be a website called something like “www.soulxchange.com” and you could auction off your own soul, as well as buy others. It seemed more like a gag and game, but, well, ya’ never know. Last time I checked in there, I had owned 6 souls already. I wonder what happened to the site…
– I briefly knew this woman who did my horoscope for me when I turned 18, and my horoscope was about 30 pages long and judging the text, she knew all about me, even things that only I could know and never told anyone. All she knew about me back then was my birthdate, birthtime, birthplace, name, and what I looked like. One time I had her predict the future for me concerning my professional career, and it turned out to be 99% precise, although the prediction originally sounded as wishy-washy as most horoscopes or divinations. But the really “funny” thing about her? She didn’t charge money for her services. Now I can’t find her and nobody knows how to contact her.
– I used to know a girl who could have damn well been a WECHBY. Years ago she went missing without a trace.
– I used to have a ring that I gave on to a complete stranger. And I originally received it from a complete stranger, myself. The thing about this ring was, was that you would get really lucky at stuff, but on the other hand you’d get paranoid and feel closer to – let’s say – spirits. One time we did a seance of sorts with cut-out letters, candles, and a glass in the middle, and when I was the medium, the above-mentioned WECHBY tried speaking to her dead boyfriend. I was blindfolded, and was able to guide the glass to precise combinations of letters which gave out precise words and answers to the questions, in spite of some of the other present people continuously re-arranging the letter circle. Two weeks later, I gave that ring away because the sense of “otherworldly presences” was getting increasingly creepier.
– I now have a card of a Hindu power that can supposedly ward off evil spirits. I got it from the leader of a sect which follows some blend of Hindu/Buddhistic traditions and works magick (I learned a ritual of how to astrally project from that dude.) Just like the astrology-lady, this guy didn’t charge me anything, either. A damn shame I gave away that “ring of the dead” already.
– I have relatively weak healing and regenerative abilities which I can however use to cure other people’s migraines, speed up their healing processes, etc. If I could figure out how I charge up mojo for it in the first place, I could probably do some good stuff with it. And no, cutting does not work for me. (:
WrattsGood pointer.
I also spotted a Phobomancy variant on this site under the adepts, which was an interesting read. (here)
The method of gaining charges I’ve been toying with seems far more difficult than these Phobomancy schools; mainly because they involve the adept really and truly terrorizing people over stretches of time, and having to have victims that genuinely fear them.
Something along the lines of stalking someone for hours in the night and then raping them would probably grant the Terrormancy adepts a minor charge, but something like putting a bunch of people into horrid situations à la The Saw (as in, confronting ’em with choices like having to saw off a limb or die horribly, etc.) would go for significant charges. With the major ones, we’re talking about the Terrormancer’s name becoming a living myth and synonym for fear incarnate, say Freddy Krueger, Jack the Ripper, and so on.
Which leads me to an issue I have so far. How do I gauge the fear the Terrormancers reap from victims? First call would be a stress check and a madness notch, but I’m beginning to think that’s a bad idea. If such, than it should involve multiple stresses and notches, if not complete insanity and following disorders along the lines of phobia. If anybody could brainstorm up a really original and bright idea on how to handle the “reaping of fear”, I’m all ears.
So essentially, this school is supposed to be the whacky, dark path of crafty psychos, and while it isn’t subtle, it isn’t “limited to the mind”, either – it can fundamentally punch visible holes into the fabric of reality.
I was thinking of one of the spells being a minor healing spell, but I’m thinking of ditching that again because it would increase the margin of the Terrormancy school being used for any “good.” On that same note, the Terrormancy spells aren’t any good to defend yourself against fear.
Also, the blast style – I was thinking that something not unlike the Plutomancer’s blast style (causing a victim to desire harm and hurt him-/herself) would do it fine albeit under a different preface, but I’d like to know if anybody thinks that’s an unfitting idea.
From what I can tell from my sketchbook so far, it’s a pretty powerful school, but it’s also a very dangerous one to follow. That is, for other people as well as for yourself – mostly because of the consequences – for if you terrorize people without killing them (and indeed you need to do this, because the dead cannot fear you), you can rest assured that what you gave around will come back around to haunt you like you did in the first place.
If you spread the nightmares and fears like diseases, reality will try to cure itself and when it catches back up to you, you and your dark dreams and desires will find an end.
WrattsIf you read the rules carefully; someone unskilled in something can *never* use a crit in a major check. This extends to firearms as well.
Also, if you want to make a house rule and power down the damage dealt by an unskilled shooter who rolls a Hail Mary, you could rule that such damage is the sum of the dice, and not computed as firearms damage normally would be. After all, even a matched success for a character trying something without the appropriate skill “doesn’t have the equal chances”, or something like that, even on match successes.
If I remember the rules correctly.
WrattsAlthough I’d suggest that’s among the many things you’d hear of Mr. Alzis. I’m liking that third one the best; Stephen Alzis doesn’t exist. Or rather, he does. Sorta.
You can never have too many whacko freakshow circus troops parading the Occult Underground.
And a little tightly-knit conspiracy involving a group of independant film-makers, an entropomancer, and a vidiot – would be a wonderful instrument to put something to life that never was. (They probably met an AA meeting.)
Which, along some curvy lines, leads us back to some crazy-ass dude in a wrinkled business suit and a long hippiesque hair-do sitting at that desk and filing his nails, and half-digesting those words that seemed to resemble “Fack off”. Half-digesting only, because he already had begun to formulate his blood-curdling retort, and plan through strategies of how to display the wonderful other uses for a nail file (one of them being an adaptation into an improvised instrument of stabbing.)
And if that isn’t more dark than savvy to make your skin crawl, right now – for some odd reason – I’m picturing Stephen Alzis to be the spittin’ image of Iggy Pop, or Janis Joplin – depends on the nutcase telling you about it.
Just don’t ask me why.
Well, actually, to spell out some more nitty-gritty things: What the Sleepers did back when was to snuff out the Big mojo out of the Big Apple. They prevented something, or someone, or both – from ever having existed. And they sure as hell never saw it coming when Mr. Alzis’ non-existence took a new turn and would wind up again as a cosmic boot-print on their asses.
Or so, the voices in my head do tell me.
The moral of the story is to not mess around with the Big Apple. If life can find a way, so can mojo, and so can things that go bump in the night. Mr. Alzis is back, he’s not himself anymore, rather some sketch of what he was believed to be, and Stevie is now really pissed. And I actually heard this unsettling song from a bird that it’s not “Stephen” anymore but rather “Stephanie“. Which would make me have to double-back and make that “Ms.” Alzis.
Hell hath no fury.
WrattsTed Pro’s Cleidomancy is quite a good one with interesting ideas, but it’s pretty much a 180° turn from what I’m intending with Tractomancy (Cleidomancy deals in controlling locks and keys, Tractomancy only deals in “traveling” through doors).
I’ll be submitting a re-worked draft of Tractomancy soon, it appears to me there’s been no similar school alike it.
Thanks a ton.
Here, a little excerpt from one of the more recent drafts:
—
The boogeyman in your closet. The worker bees disappearing behind doors marked with “Employees Only.” Doors to restricted areas. Doorways are everywhere, some locked away with keys. You knew and understood this already as a little brat.
Now you know doors that lead to Other Spaces. Places that those ignorant fools cannot reach, but not just a locked tool shed or broom closet or bathroom door – some doors can lead to places they weren’t intended for. Other places. Extra dimensional pockets? Parallel dimensions? You’re not quite sure. But their precise nature never really mattered, anyway.
What really matters is that you can use these doorways. They aided you in saving yourself from those harrying bullies. They saved your sanity when you ran from your dad. And they led you to bizarre places, although these challenged your sanity as well, fully realizing they were beyond your comprehension. Yet you understood, because you know that doors are more than what they’re made to be.
And you are the key to these gateways.
The central paradox of Tractomancy is that you can control doors to do the things you want them to do, but you surrender control over where the gateways will lead you. You can escape and move freely between “reality” and the “other” spaces, but in this you imprison yourself in constant flight through the unknown and the unexplored.
WrattsI typically apply some “fuzzy logic” to the shotguns.
First off, if the buckshots are fired at a considerable range, you won’t do anything but some cosmetic damage to people, scratches, etc. The higher the range, the less damage.
Second, it’s fairly easy to hit people with a buckshot; I oftenly allow my players to drop their rolls by 10, 20, or 30 depending on the slugs and weapon and range to target.
And if you use a sawed-off shotgun with buckshots from hand-to-hand range and make a clear hit, yes, they probably are the best weapons in the world, if you look at them damage-wise.
But then again, a sniper rifle or a rocket launcher can work wonders, too.
WrattsIf you ask me, the “Terrorist” is not as well-rooted in the collective unconscious as most Archetypes typically are (or rather: should be). There is a wide schism of what people (as a whole) regard as the “Terrorist”, and we could spend some time arguing about what a Terrorist actually is.
Fact of the matter is, “Terrorist” has been cast as the universal Boogeyman, the “evil violent fighter against order which we all must fear” (or something like that) by the general media spin. And people are catching on. But not everybody, because many Terrorists are, well, very different – depending on their personal beliefs and agendas. Any terrorist – at their core – believes in something higher or noble that they convey with their actions; something they battle to the bitter end. Causing fear is only a side-effect of their ruthless actions and a way to draw attention. And given, if you blow up something or kill people out on the open, you will draw media and law enforcement’s attention. You don’t even need avatar channels to do that.
Bottom line: I don’t understand why anybody would really need a Terrorist archetype when the Warrior is actually the true embodiment of what a “Terrorist” truly is at its core. Mainly because I don’t believe in the cliché Terrorist as the media is trying to sell them. And I know for a fact I’m not the single only person to look at it that way. Which would mean such an Avatar would be quite a weak one because it’s weakly rooted in the collective unconscious.
Just my two cents on the subject.
WrattsIndeed this has to be the finest pen ‘n paper RPG out there.
Indeed it’s a shame that this game is on the fringe of the entire market of RPGs and sadly drowned by a steaming pile of horsedung that some of us consider the mainstream RPG market. On the other hand, the makers of Unknown Armies have my utmost respect for creating the most inspiring and intriguing RPG I’ve ever seen up to date.
Sure it’s a shame that there won’t be any more publications for the setting and game, but my thanks goes out to the makers for giving my group and myself a game for which we actually don’t even need extra publications. I resent all those money-hungry game designers that deliver unfinished, half-assed products which are far beyond conceptually kaputt – when it comes to entertaining roleplaying games.
I wholeheartedly agree with Stephen Alzis’ open letter for I share his sentiments on having purchased the book. Plus, it’s one fine piece of work, in the sense of prose and artwork, which is always a bonus goodie.