by Michael Baumann | Jan 31, 2015 | Recursions
Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm assembled one of the greatest collection of fairytales in western literature. Children all over the world have enjoyed these tales and they have been turned into amusing movies and television programs making them instantly recognizable by almost everyone. The recursion is flavored by the dark and old tales. The ones that do not get made into children’s movies. In Grimm, the forests are dark and dangerous. If you stumble upon a cottage, it is probably a den of thieves (and they are quite likely cannibals as well). Witches delight in cursing all manner of folk for the slightest insult. Kings are cruel, setting impossible tasks before those wooing their daughters and ready to smite the head off any would-be suitor who fails. Not all of the stories end “happily ever after”. It is not all doom and gloom. There are times when Grimm is absolutely whimsical. Intelligent animals abound and the inhabitants seem to take it in stride. Foolish people are common and their antics are sure to bring a smile to your face. There are also plenty of friendly magical creatures willing to lend aid with little thought of reward. There is no set topography in Grimm. Recursors report that the place seems to change with every visit, as if the land itself responds to the story that needs to be...
by Michael Baumann | Jan 25, 2015 | Foci
They laughed at you at university! Tread not down this path, they said. You pry into matters that are the purview of Lord God Almighty! The study of Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus has been a waste of time they said. Not so. These great philosophers were geniuses, unconstrained by the limits of modern science. You are not so foolish as to ignore the learned sages of the past. Rather, you will build upon their work, couple it with modern sciences such as electricity and discover how to infuse life into an inanimate body! This is the archetypical mad scientist. Victor Frankenstein is the main inspiration for this focus, but other mad scientists of fiction such as Griffin, Moreau and Jekyll flavor it as well. This is a powerful focus, but any GM worth his essential salts can come up with some great GM intrusions for characters that take it. Tier 1: Educated. You are trained in alchemy and medicine. Enabler. Homunculus. You have created a tiny artificial man (treat as level 1, level 3 for alchemy and medicine). While fully animate and quite intelligent, it lacks a soul. It respects your commands and is capable of assisting you in the laboratory, giving you an asset for any task. It is a rather cruel creature and delights in causing others pain and confusion, so you must keep a close watch on it. Enabler. Tier 2: Black Stone Alchemy. You may create the following potions. Ingredients for each cost £ 2D6x10. It takes half a day to create one dose. Two doses count as carrying an anoetic cypher. Action to...
by Michael Baumann | Jan 18, 2015 | Recursions
Celtechnia is a roughly circular recursion, some 200 miles in diameter. It is ringed by a range of imposing mountains known as The Wall of the World. A terrible, acidic ocean, The Caustic Sea, lies in the center of the recursion, separating the land into three distinct masses. To the west lies Ult, named for the kingdom that dominates most of this fair land. To the south lies Gul, a land of petty lords and fallen splendor. To the east is the land of Brae, a fine land divided into the kingdoms of Alb, to the north and Loegr to the south. While the overall level of technology appears high, the people of the land live in a society similar to that of the early Dark Ages. The technological marvels of this recursion are not fully understood by its inhabitants. Great, ancient machines create the automata and modify the biological inhabitants of this world. Technology is baroque and strange. For example, hover cars do not exist, but warriors ride to battle in antigravity chariots pulled by a team of cybernetically-enhanced horses. The rules of physics work differently here. Gunpowder does not work and the inhabitants do not have access to any ranged energy weapons either. The most advanced ranged weapon is the heavy crossbow used by the Pyx of Alb. Most warriors carry a sling and several javelins for battle. The recursion of Celtechnia is an anomaly. The fusion of technology and Celtic myth seems too rare to have spawned a fictional leakage of this size and age. Could an alien recursion have been colored by the legends of the Celts? Playable Races Celtomatron: A...
by Michael Baumann | Jan 6, 2015 | Recursions
The American Revolution was a tumultuous time in history. The events leading up to the “shot heard round the world” have grown in the telling, becoming almost mythic in their own right. Liberty and Death is a fictional bleed of the decade prior to the revolt against British rule combined with gothic horror. The recursion consists of Warren county, a fictional county in the Massachusetts colony. A forboding forest named The Briarwood covers most of the recursion. Areas of civilization have been laboriously carved from the wilderness, but the inhabitants must constantly work to keep their roads and fields cleared since the forest tries to reclaim the land quickly. InspirationThe following authors works helped shape and inspire this recursion. I encourage you to give them a read. Cooper, James Fenimore: The Leatherstocking series of novels. Finlay, C. C.: The Traitor to the Crown series of novels. Irving, Washington: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (and especially Tim Burton’s theatrical version of the tale Sleepy Hollow). Jackson, D. B.: The Thieftaker series of novels and short stories. Lavallee, Ed & Bond, Grant: The graphic novel Revere: Revolution in Silver Shelly, Mary: Frankenstein; Or the Modern Prometheus Stoker, Bram: Dracula Additional Foci Duels Hunts Monsters Robs Travelers Black Powder WeaponsMuzzle-loading, black powder weapons are the only common firearms in this recursion. Most are smoothbore weapons. They require one round to reload, so you may only fire a musket every other turn. Rifles are available and while more accurate, they are more difficult to reload, requiring two rounds. The following weapons are available to characters in this recursion: Pocket Pistol: Light weapon, maximum range...
by Michael Baumann | Jan 2, 2015 | Foci
“Stand and deliver! Your money or your life!” How many times have these phrases passed your lips? Not nearly enough. The gentry continue to enclose the land, forcing peasants into the city to be preyed upon by merchants. Agents of the crown raise taxes and send their swaggering soldiers about to deprive good men of the few rights of liberty they have left. You are a knight of the road – highwayman to those with a less poetic frame of mind. Like a modern day Robin Hood, you steal from the rich and give to the poor, taking just enough for yourself to keep whisky in the jar. Tier 1: Undaunted Robber. You are practiced with pistols, and trained in Stealth and Riding. Enabler. Know the Back Roads. You are familiar with all the roads, tracks and shortcuts in the county. Travel time takes you 20% less to get anywhere. Enabler. Tier 2: Both Barrels (3 Speed points). If you have two ready pistols or a double-barreled pistol you may fire both barrels at your opponent. Make a single attack roll. If you hit, you inflict damage with both weapons plus 2 additional points of damage, and because you made a single attack, the target’s Armor is subtracted only once. Action. Tier 3: Sense Ambush. You are never treated as surprised by an attack. Enabler. Quick Load. It takes you one less action to reload a firearm. Enabler. Tier 4: Ambusher. If an opponent you attack has not acted on the first round of combat, the difficulty of your attack is modified one step to your benefit. Enabler....
by Michael Baumann | Dec 31, 2014 | Foci
Magic pervades the world. The animals, plants, even the very air resonates with it. Most people are blithely unaware, but not you. You were born with second sight and when you concentrate you can see how wondrous – and dangerous – the world really is. You may wish to keep your power secret. The ignorant equate conjuring with witchcraft, but this is not the case. Your powers are rooted in the living world, not some pact with an infernal being. This focus is best suited for a Paradox, though a Spinner or Vector conjurer would be an interesting combination. With a few tweaks it could be used for a shaman or witch doctor. Tier 1: Second Sight (2 Intellect points). You can see magical forces invisible to the normal eye. This includes spirits, ghosts and creatures using magical abilities to remain unseen. You can determine the level of the creature as well. You may also detect the aftereffect of spells cast up to an hour ago (although details of precisely what spell was cast remain sketchy). Your second sight extends to an area of short range and lasts 10 minutes (about enough time to search the area well). Action to initiate. Secrets of the Other World. You are trained in Occult and Herbalist. Tier 2: Spirit Guide (3 Intellect points). You can call upon the aid of a spirit guide. The player should decide what form his guide takes (human or animal). It is invisible to those without second sight, although the PC may always see it. The guide is intelligent and while it may not speak, it...
by Michael Baumann | Dec 27, 2014 | Foci
Your mother never spoke much of your father. She was young and naïve. He seduced her and she succumbed. Nine months later you were born. But you are no ordinary child born out of wedlock, for your father was a vampire making you a most rare creature: a dhampir. While you are mortal and have nothing to fear from holy symbols or the light of the sun, you do have a foot in your father’s world and are slowly discovering how to master your talents. Your unruly raven tresses, slightly pointed ears and unnatural grace mark you as something different, so watch your step. Few men understand the distinction between your kind and the living dead. Tier 1: Blood Drinker. You may bite an opponent in combat (treat as a light weapon). If your victim is human (or humanoid in some recursions) you may drink its blood, healing yourself 1 point of damage for every 2 inflicted. Enabler. Night Vision. You can see in extremely dim light as if it were bright light. You can see in total darkness as if it were extremely dim. Enabler. Calling of the Grave. You are trained in vampire lore. Enabler. Tier 2: Blood Frenzy (2 Might points). Your lust for blood turns you into a killing machine. You gain +1 to your Might and Speed edge for 10 minutes. Enabler. Tier 3: Allure of the Night. You are trained in seduction. Resist Compulsion. You are trained in Intellect defense. Sense Undead (2 Intellect points). You can scan an area out to short range for the presence of undead....
by Michael Baumann | Dec 26, 2014 | Foci
Most people fear the dark and with good reason. Creatures stalk the night, hungry for the blood of the living. In the dim, morning light the bodies are found; a man torn limb from limb, or a young girl drained of blood. The townsfolk shudder and mumble about raising a hunting party to track down the “wolves” or “mountain lion” responsible for the killings. They quietly bury the bodies and then return to their homes, praying to god they will not be the next victims. But you know the truth. Vampires, lycanthropes and even more terrible things lurk on the edges of civilization waiting for their chance to devour the innocent. These things are not unstoppable. You’ve learned their secrets and now the hunters have become the hunted. This focus is designed for Gothic Horror recursions with “classic” monsters such as werewolves and vampires. It can be re-skinned in a fantasy setting for most any type of monster. It could even be used as a “Big Game Hunter” in a standard physics recursion with a little work. You must choose a “class” of monsters you hunt. The GM is the final arbiter on what a “class” of monsters includes. It should not be too narrow in focus. For example, Undead might include vampires, skeletons, zombies and other corporeal types of undead. Tier 1: Vulnerabilities. You inflict 3 additional points of damage against the class of monster you hunt. Enabler. Know Thy Enemy. You are trained in lore relating to the class of monster you hunt. Enabler. Tier 2: Sense Ambush. You are never treated as surprised by an...
by Michael Baumann | Dec 26, 2014 | Foci
You hold strongly to your principles and most people respect you for this. You are more than capable of defending yourself. You spend long hours honing your skill in the salle d’armes and look forward to testing yourself on the field of honor. Some may whisper that you are hot-tempered and itching for a fight, but they are wrong. Honor is paramount, without it we would be little more than beasts. This focus is designed for dueling cultures of the sixteenth through eighteenth century. It would also be appropriate for Old Mars or similar Planetary Romance recursions. It can be re-skinned to a Samurai focus by replacing references to dueling swords with katana and wakizashi. It can also be used as a martial artist focus by replacing references to dueling swords with punches and kicks. Tier 1: Duelist. You gain +2 damage with your rapier or smallsword. Enabler. Lightning Reflexes. You are trained in Initiative. Enabler. Tier 2: Web of Steel. You are nearly impossible to hit. You are trained in Speed defense rolls when wielding a dueling sword. Enabler. Tier 3: Riposte (3 Speed points). If you succeed in defending against a melee attack, you may immediately launch a counter attack against your foe. You may not put effort into this attack, but any special abilities (such as duelist) will function normally. Enabler. Tier 4: Seasoned Fencer. You are trained in using dueling weapons. If already trained in Light Piercing melee weapons, you become specialized instead. Tier 5: Bladesman. You gain +2 damage with your rapier or smallsword. This bonus adds to the one from Duelist, giving...
