by James Stutz | Feb 14, 2015 | Foci
Whether you volunteered or were pressed into service, at some point in the past you found yourself aboard a sailing ship. Turns out, you were pretty good at it, and it didn’t take you long to figure out how most everything aboard her worked. Maybe you worked your way up to command a ship of your own, or maybe you were just the old jack-tar that knew your vessel like the back of your hand. Either way, salt water runs in your veins, and you feel most at home on the open ocean. You probably dress simply if you’re a sailor, or a bit more sharply if you’re the one in charge. Your hands are likely rough from years of hard work at the lines, and your skin has seen more than its fair share of sun and salt spray. Vectors are most likely to have sea legs, but Spinners have the charm necessary to rise through the ranks of a 19th-century European navy, and Nanos could fulfill specialized roles (sailing master or ship’s surgeon). Note that, while women were not generally found among the crews of Napoleonic vessels, there are plenty of historical precedents for exception, from women who disguised themselves as men, to the openly female captains of earlier Age-of-Sail pirate ships. Tier 1: Know the Ropes: You know a little bit about almost every function of a sailing ship. You are trained in sailing (points of sail, reading ships’ colours, etc.), climbing, and swimming. Enabler. Tier 2: Well-Traveled: You’ve put in at plenty of ports around the world, and you know a man or two in...
by James Stutz | Feb 1, 2015 | Foci
Not everyone stops when they die. Unfinished business, the need to issue a warning, or just plain old-fashioned hate can keep a person from the peaceful sleep of the grave, and while they see their reason for existing beyond death as necessary or urgent, the living seldom see things the same way. That’s where you come in. You specialize in guiding the spirits of the restless to their appointed afterlives, whether they want to go or not. The good days are when you can help a poor soul finish his purpose in life and find some measure of peace. The bad days involve a lot of holy water, sticky rice, and screaming. Nanos and spinners are the most likely candidates for fighting hungry ghosts, but vectors could do well in rituals that require a lot of fortitude and determination. Tier 1: Spirit Lore. You are trained in all tasks related to identifying different types of spirits, their weaknesses, etc. Note that this only applies to incorporeal undead. Enabler. Ghost Touch. You inflict 3 additional points of damage when fighting incorporeal undead. Enabler. Tier 2: Chill in the Air (2 Intellect points). For the next 10 minutes, you can sense all incorporeal undead within long range. You can determine how many spirits are in the area, and in what rough direction(s) they lie. Action. Tier 3: Learned. Long hours spent in libraries and tombs, researching everything from family histories to local folklore, has given you access to a wide array of knowledge. You gain 1 additional point to your Intellect Edge. Enabler. Hardened. You have seen the other side of...
by James Stutz | Feb 1, 2015 | Recursions
Fictional leakage, drawing on the imaginations of thousands of residents of Earth Prime, has created some truly breathtaking recursions, places like Ardeyn and Old Mars, where beautiful vistas, noble adventurers, and derring-do for the good of all are the order of the day. It’s also drawn on some of Humanity’s darkest fears, and most sane recursors know to avoid places like Cataclyst and Treachery if they know what’s good for them. So far, not many recursors know about the Midnight Building, but the word is slowly spreading. And the word isn’t good. Getting Past the Doorman Still a relatively young recursion, the Midnight Building takes the form of a single, massive apartment complex, similar to Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong or the Centro Financiero Confinanzas in Venezuela. Like those buildings, the decor ranges from threadbare to derelict, with hallways lit by dim, flickering fluorescent lighting, walls sporting cracking paint or peeling wallpaper, puddles of water formed under dripping vents, and the overall pallor of neglect and decay. All windows to the outside have been boarded up or bricked over, and characters will find these barriers impossible to break through. Whether translating to the Midnight Building or coming by way of a gate, travelers always first appear in a random empty apartment. Some have radios or televisions that are tuned to static, others sport half-eaten meals or cigarettes still burning in ashtrays. All of them are abandoned; in fact, the recursion seems to sport no inhabitants other than those who come here from outside of it. This perception is not entirely accurate, however, as those who insist on exploring the...
by James Stutz | Jan 28, 2015 | Recursions
Masters of the World History is full of what-ifs, almosts, and might-have-beens, and these possibilities and near-misses have fueled Humanity’s imagination for centuries. La Mer is one of the products of such imaginings, an alternate history that sits at the intersection of two major events. In La Mer, the year is 1812, and the rapid and unexplained melting of the ice caps at both poles has led to massive flooding across the globe. In the wake of these rising water levels, the armies of Napoleon I have taken a back seat to his navies and, following on the heels of his success at Trafalgar, the French Emperor has launched a full-scale invasion of the British Isles. So far, he has conquered much of southern England, but the country is proving hard to pacify, and between heavy fighting in the North Country and rebellions that periodically flare up in the south, the French forces and their mercenaries are finding themselves stretched thin and sorely taxed. A Tale of Two Cities La Mer is large for a Developed recursion, having been fed by countless retellings of Napoleonic-era glory, and occupies a roughly 1100-mile (885-kilometer) diameter centered approximately over the English Channel. In the north and west, the fog-shrouded edge of the ocean leads directly into the Strange, while in the east and south, the similarly foggy land borders gently return those who attempt to venture past them to the lands encompassed by the recursion. The one force that is still able to easily outmatch L’empereur is the implacable sea. Sea levels in La Mer are over 200 feet higher than...
