The Gaming Den

Prak_Anima wrote: Tsukumo means artifact, apparently, and tsukumogami are basically what I was talking about in the other thread, though I was being a bit lenient in allowing objects to gain spirits after only 25 years.

Well, legally 25 years is when a memo becomes an "ancient document" for evidentiary purposes in some jurisdictions.

FrankTrollman wrote:

Prak wrote:Kumogami. there, problem solved, ish.

No. 4 syllables in a single non-standard word is still too many for a standard character type. I mean you could go the Gygaxian route and just grab the word for "spirit" in various languages, because that's what you've basically done for the Sidhe. So you'd just call them "Kami" and drop all the prefix shit. Or you could go to a sufficiently obscure language like Ewe and call them "Se" or "Vodun" or whatever.

-Username17

Kumo Gami.

I didn't want to split it, because Kumo means spider.

Of course there's Mono no Gami, or Gami no Mono. Or hell, we're butchering anyway, so Mogami.

Orion wrote:Well, legally 25 years is when a memo becomes an "ancient document" for evidentiary purposes in some jurisdictions.

neat.

You could just call the spirit of an old thing a 'history', or a 'legend'.

Are these in universe names which you'll be working into the dialog, or are they purely game mechanical names?

I'm assuming that the Technocracy, being team science, would have some latin or greek derived formal naming for these things?

So,
sidh = genus loci
object spirit = daemon
and so forth.

DrPraetor wrote:Are these in universe names which you'll be working into the dialog, or are they purely game mechanical names?

I'm assuming that the Technocracy, being team science, would have some latin or greek derived formal naming for these things?

So,
sidh = genus loci
object spirit = daemon
and so forth.

That's a good point. Ghost Busters don't refer to thinks as "wraiths" they refer to them as "Mark II repeating phantasms".

-Username17

They're purely conceptual right now. I've not decided what the in character terms will be.

So, for powers, my current plans are as follows:

Everyone draws their powers off of the same list, be they mage or technocrat. Powers will either have a highly generic name, or come with two names, one Technocratic and one Traditional, eg. "Psi Detection|Sense Spirit". Not sure which yet.

Powers will have a default cost which gives you a blatantly magical, non-Mandate-approved version of the power. Spending extra of some sort of character resource (probably not the same one you buy powerss with) will allow you to get a Mundane version (which does not appear magical or at all remarkable to people looking) and/or and Approved version (which is considered kosher by the Technocracy and thus is not as easy to dispell). Other qualities may be available if they seem relevant.

Powers are divided up almost exactly like disciplines are in After Sundown. The three power sources and the disciplines that go under them are as follows:

Skills: These are magical things that you know how to do. They are non-fungible, covert until used, and cannot be taken away from you except by getting them banned by the Celestial Bureaucracy, which is something that can happen to any skill.
-Psionics: Telepathy, Telekinesis, Teleporting, anything tele related except television.
-Medicine: Heal the sick, revive the dead, bioengineer retroviral plagues.
-Dynamics: Do crazy extreme things with moving objects that other people can't.
-Martial Arts: Secret fighting styles that let you death touch fools.
-Influence: Win friends and influence people. Only applies to humans.

Items: These are magical things that you can create. They are inherently fungible and it is expected that you will bring enough to share. They can be used for a number of scenes (or possibly a number of times) equal to the net hits of the creator before needing recharged, repaired or replaced by someone with the correct power.
-Energy Physics: Laser guns, light sabers, forcefields and fireballs.
-Metabolic Somethingorothers: Potions, super serum and steroids.
-Metamaterial Engineering: Unbreakable armour, supersharp blades, non-newtonian fluids and mithril smelting.
-Communications Technology: Sensors, X-ray goggles, proximity alarms, forensics and magic mirrors.
-Cybernetics: Putting magical items inside of people in a non-sexy way.

Titles: These are things that magical beings are expected to do on your behalf. These powers cannot be Mundane, as they work by drawing attention to yourself and declaring how the new laws of physics are going to work. This naturally draws attention, even if all you're doing is announcing a new discovery about electromagnetism.
-Demenses: Powers that alter locations to behave counter to the normal rules of reality.
-Spiritualism: Summoning, detecting and conversing with spirits.
-Dispelling: Foiling other people's mojo and preventing it from working in the first place.
-Spiritwalking: Travelling to the spirit world and doing things there.
-Glamour: Appearing to be something that you're not.

What about invisibility? Is that in Energy Physics, Communications or Glamour? What about third-person illusions/holograms?

How about Shape Shifting? Likewise, that could be Glamour, but that seems a bit strange.

Finally, what about those powers which certain spirits enjoy intrinsically - like, say, "is a giant bull", or "has claws"? Are those going to be purely attribute based, possibly with some ()s after certain attributes for claws or armor? You could also use Shadowrun-style Critter powers for some of those - water elementals can clearly engulf people, for example.

Otherwise, okay, this should work.

Invisibility is a metamaterial power. You make invisibility cloaks and supertech camoline armour with it. Third person illusions are probably going into either energy physics as holograms, or as a sort of glamour.

Shape shifting is divided up into differet disciplines based off of the specific effects. Cosmetic changes and disguises are in glamour, while hulking out is metabolic/cybernetic stuff.

Spirits (or at least playable spirits) do not get powers like "is a giant bull" as no playable spirit is a giant bull. Having claws is a doable thing, and is a martial art.

Grek wrote:Spirits (or at least playable spirits) do not get powers like "is a giant bull" as no playable spirit is a giant bull. Having claws is a doable thing, and is a martial art.

What about giant robot bulls?

As in Shadowrun, this isn't something you can dodge. If the player characters (or even their repeating adversaries!) can summon spirits who are giant bulls - and I assume that they can - then you need somewhere a rule for giant bulls. Likewise, you need rules for Engulf, even if none of the player characters can do it themselves.

If I ever feel the need to have a spirit take the form of a giant bull, it will have the stats of a normal bull, plus the spirit powers that a spirit of the appropriate type will have. But I'm not currently planning on having giant bulls (or water elementals, for that mater), so I'm not currently planning to write rules specifically to support them.

You're damn right that spirits are going to be giant bulls. Or just plain giants. Or scorpions. Or whatever. You genuinely need a category for critter powers that they have just because they happen to be some non-human shape.

-Username17

You're damn right that spirits are going to be giant bulls. Or just plain giants. Or scorpions. Or whatever. You genuinely need a category for critter powers that they have just because they happen to be some non-human shape.

-Username17

Alright, I'll bite. What sort of powers does a giant bull need to have?

Scorpions are already covered, as there are plans for a poison people power. Giants are not explictly covered, but I can see wanting to have gigantic spirits, so I'll port over the Giant Size power from After Sundown to cover that case. But what does being a bull get you?

Grek wrote:Alright, I'll bite. What sort of powers does a giant bull need to have?

Depends where your spirit-dohickies fall on the spectrum of "literal rendition of animal attack forms" to "gain abilities related to cultural mythos associated with creature form"

But I'd wanna include both and have a power list something like:

• Gore
• Trample
• Load of Bull
• Inspire Idolatry
• Rally the Market
• Air Jordan