This is a compilation of the original post of the melodrama reality of Blightwood Vales, and the follow-up comments. Normally I would have either taken the time to make suggested modifications before uploading a final version to the archives, or simply leave all this information in the monthly archives of the Black Marble Wombat, with a reference to it from the Catalogue for casual perusal. In this case neither of these options were possible, the first due to time, the latter due to a regrettable hole in the monthly archives. Saxon Brenton November 1994 ---------- Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 12:30:34 +1000 (EST) From: "Brenton / Saxon George (COM)" Subject: Blightwood Vales As threatened, the melodrama cosm of Blightwood Vales... The melodrama reality of Blightwoodd Vales is controlled by the High Lord Bartholomew J. Dark, and his Darkness Device Rignit. Dark, like Dr. Mobius, is both an expatriot from the cosm of Terra and a maniacal madman. Dark was born on Terra as a member of the British land-owning gentry at the end of the 17th century, but went into industry. He was a bounder and a cad, and delighted in ruining peoples' livelihoods and means of income. When Dark was accepted as Rignit's High Lord he exported his pulp reality to other worlds rather than attempt to take over his own (a tactic that, for unfathomable reasons, _all_ the High Lords produced by Terra adopt, and of which Mobius and Dark aren't the only examples). Dark retains his ancestral estates on Terra, called Blightwood Vales and after which his reality is named, which he holds by pretending to be a succession of his own fictitious and reclusive descendants. His current identity on Terra is that of Matthew Dark. Dark's formative years were spent in Terra's early 18th century, when the Social and Tech axioms were different to those currently experienced on that world. Even though he still has occasional contact with the rest of Terra and its more advanced axioms he has retained, if not quite his original axiom levels, then something that's highly reminiscent of them. What changes he's made have been more in the way of refinements on an existing theme rather than departures into new areas. Dark continued to raise his Social and Tech axioms to keep pace with the Industrial Revolution, and then stopped. As far as world laws are concerned the reality of Blightwood Vales has been tailored by its High Lord over time to be less and less like its parent world, and more like Victorian melodrama. Specifically, like one of the "dramas of oppression" in which inhuman injustices are inflicted upon a hapless population. This transformation is an ongoing process that Dark hasn't yet completed; moreover, there are several reasons why he may never achieve his exact desires without modification of his strategy. Nevertheless, his achievements to date have been impressive. The removal of both the Law of Action and Weird Science, and the metamorphosis of the Law of Drama into the Law of Melodrama have shifted his reality away from being a pulp adventure setting towards a more Dickensian form. He has also added the Law of Rhetoric, but this is mainly a stylistic conceit. However, enough of the original Law of Drama remains that heroes continue to have adventures, giving Blightwood Vales an element reminiscent of 19th century Boys Adventures literature, such as _Treasure Island_ or _Kidnapped_. Similarly, the Law of Morality makes it relatively easy for evil to be identified, and possibly excised. The problem is that Dark, like Dr. Mobius, is an overenthusiast of a villain who delights in the sheer manic energy of being Evil. Dark's delight in being a melodrama villain, in making extravagant pronouncements of doom and cackling fiendishly, makes him prepared to run the risks of the dangers inherent in the world laws his reality currently operates under. As long as he indulges himself in these theatrics he is unlikely to make the necessary changes to his reality. Other factors also contribute to this situation compromising his reality. Dark has a personal dislike of magical and spiritual matters, and so has lowered both the Magic and Spirit axioms to suit his personal taste. Dark would actually prefer to have a flat 0 axiom for both, but while he may one day succeed in reducing the Magic axiom to nothing, he is unlikely to do so with the Spirit axiom. This is because when involved in a possibility raid Dark relies too heavily on the lure of patriotism and jingoism - of calls to support "King and Country" that motivate people to move out and expand the size of his realm - to be able to lower the Spirit axiom too far. Nationalism and the allegiance that goes with it requires an axiom of Social 10 to support it organisationally and as an intellectual concept, but also needs a level of Spirit 5 to maintain the emotional commitment to it. He is therefore unlikely to ever be able to fully remove the threat he feels religion is to him. There is another factor in the motivation of arrogant patriotism Dark uses to expand his realm that may cause problems for him. In order to get people to move out into new stelae areas they need to honestly believe that it is good of the savages in the wilderness to be brought into the embrace of civilisation (There is therefore no hint of the concept of the "noble savage" in Blightwood Vales). It would have been simpler if Dark had altered the Law of Morality so that everybody, and society as a whole, was fundamentally evil in nature, but what would be the fun of being a villain without the virtuous to persecute? Therefore the population needs to believe that what is being done is for the best, and that ultimately everything will work out because of their altruism and sacrifices. To this end Dark has embedding into his reality the idea of "Virtue Triumphant" (just like in the plays of the 19th century). However, in a way which Rignit will not elaborate on, but which Dark nevertheless has a sneaking suspicion about, this has apparently had a cascading effect on the Law of Morality, so that everybody (ord and p-rated) may use Inclination Detection and Inclination Seduction, and the belief in Virtue Triumphant has imposed a form of the Price of Evil on ord villains as well. At first Dark thought Virtue Triumphant would be a useful tool - a leash of hope for the future that would make it easier for him to lead the sheep under his control. Now he's not so sure. It seems to have taken on a power of its own, enabling Virtue Triumphant to exist in fact as well as belief. Dark has reined in its power as much as he can without spending too much possibility energy on it, but it is still a useful tool which he does not want to give up on. Why then does Rignit tolerate Dark if he has a psychological trait that prompts him to keep a reality with such vulnerabilities? Simple. Rignit both does and doesn't tolerate it. Dark has ambition, as well as a love of destruction, that makes him prime High Lord material, much too valuable to throw away. Just as much as Dr. Mobius, Dark delights in the sheer thrill of doing evil to others and ruining their lives. But unlike Mobius, Dark is not obsessed with personal glory at the expense of destruction. Dark's modus operandi calls for him to manipulate the politics of Blightwood Vales through the Bloodwood Club from his power base behind the scenes. Dark's only weakness is his love of being a melodrama villain, and hence has the need to take an occasional hands-on approach in some of his ventures. Rignit is not entirely satisfied with the situation. It has kept an eye out for other potential High Lords, but none have emerged to its satisfaction. Instead, it has advised Dark on changes to make and courses of action to take, and on occasion has made ultimatums. The most duplicitous step it has taken, however, has been to allow Virtue Triumphant to infect the Law of Morality. (Dark has some inkling of this. After all, realities under a Darkness Device's control are stagnant things, and cannot change without the Device's complicity. This intrigue has only served to widen the gap between the two of them, as Dark has bloody-mindedly sworn to have things _his_ way.) Rignit plans to let things get a bit out of Dark's control in order to try to convince him that a reality of industrial oppression cannot afford to allow melodramatic stylistic trappings. In the meantime the clash between the Evil majority oppressing the Good minority, who in turn bring down the Evil majority with Virtue Triumphant, is causing lots of destruction in society - which is all a Darkness Device could ask for. Overall, Rignit has kept on top of the potential problems, and with vigilance and methodical changes in the future it is confident about Blightwood Vales' long-term viability. Stylistically Blightwood Vales is intended to be a reality of Victorian industrial oppression. In practice the above-mentioned preferences of Dark, combined with the legacy of its parent reality of Terra, means that industrial oppression is not the be-all and end-all of Blightwood Vales' reality. It is, after all, a melodrama reality, and is every bit as hyperbolic as the pulp realities, with its mistaken identities, schemes of dispossession, kidnapped heirs, strawberry birthmarks, ruthless but romantic masked highwaymen, Gilbert and Sullivan plot complications, mysterious parentages, slow acting poisons, overt villainy, long-lost children, falsely accused innocence, dungeons, and decaying gothic mansions, etc. THE COSM For its first six possibility raids Blightwood Vales moved from world to world, before Dark finally took a liking to the world of Erntov. Erntov is a flattened dome roughly 60,000 kilometres in diameter and 10,000 kilometres thick at its apex. Its geography is nothing like that of Terra and other Earth-like worlds. The main resemblances to Terra it possessed was that its dominant sentient species is human, and that one of its cultures (the Rhidan Mall Kingdoms) had reached the point of an industrial revolution at a Tech level of 16. Dark has manipulated the social and political situation somewhat to make Rhidan Mall even more like that of Terra's 19th century Britain. Blightwood Vales has been based there for the past 110 years, during which time it has raided six other worlds. Rhidan, by the way, is pronounced "huh RI dun", as though you had caught the most chronic parody of an upper class English accent and can't stop dropping haitches into parts of words where no haitch was meant to be. The three Rhidan Mall Kingdoms are Ornlin (the foremost of the three), Englia, and Aristide, all of which are in the temperate zone of the world near the rim. The capital city of Ornlin is Malrise; which is a seaport on the northern coast. The underside of Erntov is a flat, airless plain. Since the edge of the world has arctic conditions, it is not possible to sail off the edge of the world because of the perpetual ice sheet. On the other hand, walking, off the edge is perfectly possible, and since the atmosphere of the domed side does not extent more than a few hundred meters from the underside of the edge, it is also highly fatal. As one approaches the edge of Erntov, gravity pulls toward the centre of the dome, creating the effect of climbing an increasingly steep mountain. This is part of the reason why the seas don't flow off the edge of the world; the only water at the edge is in the form of ice, pushed there by the glacial weight of the icesheet behind it. It also means that it is increasingly hard work to travel to the edge, and similarly almost impossible to cross back over if one is unlucky enough to fall over onto the barren, almost smooth, flat side. Erntov has two moons, both of which are domes like Erntov itself. As they orbit their flat sides are always facing towards each other. This is the basis of the Erntovian proverb "Like faces like". It was once speculated that the moons were two halves of a sundered celestial body, but this does not conform with the difference in relative sizes and composition between them. The larger, outer moon is called Dirsha, while the smaller one is known as Iro. They have months of 23 and 27 days, respectively. The moons have a polar orbit around Erntov. AXIOMS AND WORLD LAWS Magic 2 Social 19 Spirit 5 Tech 19 Magic 2. Dark has deliberately reduced the Magic axiom to suit his personal taste. At this level the "weirdness effect" encountered in Nippon Tech manifests itself. As a result, Blightwood Vales is a brooding world of inexplicable coincidences and happenings, and where certain groups wield power beyond most people's credence. Nippon's low Magic fog effect is also found here, and around industrial centres (Wendyne, Tellio, Shimbleshanks, Dytton, etc.) it combines with the pollution endemic to those areas to create sinister and oppressive "pea souper" fogs far thicker and persistent than those encountered during the Victorian era on Core Earth. At this axiom level magic use is near ineffectual. It is only possible through the use of rituals, takes years to learn how to use it at all, and even then none of the magic skills are reliable. Social 19. The Social axiom of Blightwood Vales is remarkably similar superficially to that of the Victorians of Gaea. The social structure is near identical in that the poor are in their place, and kept there with no opportunities to better themselves, while the upper classes gain more wealth from the sweat of the workers. There is a dedication to Malthusian principles of population control among the upper classes: starvation is considered the best way to prevent overpopulation among the poor, and one shouldn't attempt to actually help the poor because that only encourages them to not help themselves. Blightwood Vales is in a state perpetually resembling the social chaos that results when industrialisation begins and lots of displaced rural workers move into overcrowded urban industrial areas. Unions, of course, are actively and often ruthlessly discouraged. Institutionalised slavery is common. It is economic in nature, since anyone who fails to pay "significant" debts goes into slavery (either into private ownership, or into the government run poorhouses, depending on the nature of the debt and to who it was owed). In theory its possible to buy one's way out of slavery, but in practice people are worked so hard and paid so little that this is rarely possible. The main difference between society in Blightwood Vales and Orrorsh is that the Victorian Sacellum's near absolute hold on society is not mirrored here. There is (no longer) a state church in Blightwood Vales (and in at least one sense never was), and although what religion exists may be followed to a greater or lesser extent, and for differing reasons, it holds almost no political power. Entertainment is nowhere near so strictly controlled as on Gaea. The lower classes enthuse after plays, particularly melodramas and romances. If literacy were more common among the lower classes there would be a similar freedom in reading materials, but with no equivalent to the Protestant Evangelical Revival in Britain to push for improved conditions and education there has been no rise in literacy. Consequently the "penny dreadful" novels that were so popular in Core Earth's Victorian era are unknown. Reading matter is usually the province of the upper classes, and tends to be staid and proper. Dark departed Terra in the early part of its Industrial Revolution, at which time the Social axiom was 18. He has since then raised it slightly to increase the efficiency of the bureaucracies of the imperial organisation, but has kept it below Social 20, at which point multiple interests would be capable of taking part in government decision making. Dark prefers for there to be just one dominant faction in charge of Blightwood Vales, the industrialists, with himself controlling the industrialists from behind the scenes . A note on Virtue Triumphant: The concept of Virtue Triumphant is relatively important to the social mechanics of Blightwood Vales, but in many ways is also a complex (even paradoxical) one and needs explaining. At its most basic level, Virtue Triumphant is the comforting belief held by the population at large that things will work out all right in the end. As noted, Dark prefers to keep a substantial part of the population Good for stylistic, not practical, reasons - its more fun to persecute people that way. This, however, runs the risk of people trying to institute reforms to improve things. Thus, Dark has fostered the belief in Virtue Triumphant, since it keeps the population quiescent for the most part. People have little motivation for widespread reforms if they honestly believe that nature favours Good, and that ultimately everything will have a Happy Ending (although a problem for Dark is that this belief seems to have taken on some reality). There are a number of knock-on social effects of this. For instance, virtue is associated with poverty and simplicity, while vice is linked with rank and culture. Another is that people often pay more attention to the moral principle of being Good, while ignoring immediate suffering. The paradox of the belief in Virtue Triumph is that Dark also uses it as a driving force behind expansion of his realm. The population of Blightwood Vales honestly believe that for the good of others (most especially the savages in the wilderness) that they intervene to introduce the industrial lifestyle of Blightwood Vales, yet at the same time are so self-centred as to think that their own house doesn't need being put in order. This is a contradiction, but one that is not without historical precedent. At times during Britain's Industrial Revolution reformers became quite concerned about the emancipation of black slaves overseas while almost totally ignoring the problems, such as child labour, right under their noses at home. Spirit 5. Dark has a dislike, even fear, for the effects of religious fervour. He was still on Terra when the Evangelical Revival began in the 1700s. Even after he left, Dark still had some stake on Terra, particularly through the Terran slave trade, and was able to continue to witness its effects first hand. Having seen the charity that can result from religious fervour Dark wants no part of it, and has worked hard to repress it - unsuccessfully on Terra (as his "son" and "grandson" Peter and Joshua Dark), but very successfully in the reality under his direct control. Dark has deliberately lowered Blightwood Vales' Spirit axiom to suit his personal tastes. He does not want any of his subjects gaining any form of comfort from religion, preferring instead to create a bleak and spiritually dead world where the population must slave, mindlessly, hopelessly, and despairingly, in sweatshops. There is to be no solace for the homeless and the destitute. Dark has worked hard to eradicate all traces of piously inspired charity that could motivate the well-to-do to extend a helping hand to the lower classes rather than grind them into the ground. Rather, he has heightened belief in the principle of the "undeserving poor". Hard work, thrift, and self improvement are the order of the day, and those who can't rise above their sad state obvious choose not to, and are seen as content to drift along in their habits of gambling and drunkenness. The idea that they can't rise above their deprivation, and that their drunkenness and gambling are the only ways to make life tolerable, are ignored. And, of course, the principle of hard work, etc. (what on other worlds would be known as the Protestant Work Ethic) gives the added bonus of supplying a acquiescent work force for the factories. At this axiom level invocation of divine power is just barely possible, but difficult and unlikely. Tech 19. The technology of Blightwood Vales is essentially identical to that of the Victorians of Gaea. The most important thing to note is in the distribution throughout society. Dark doesn't want life to be comfortable for the bulk of the working hoi poli, and so things like plumbing and gas lighting are limited to the aristocracy and mercantile middle classes. Reconnection Numbers Character from BV Character in BV is in reality of: is from reality of: Atlantis 11 Atlantis 11 Avalon 10 Avalon 16 Aysle 8 Aysle 17 Aztec Empire 6 Aztec Empire 15 Core Earth 3 Core Earth 10 Cyberpapacy 4 Cyberpapacy 12 Kantovia 16 Kantovia 15 Land Below * 13 Land Below * 14 Lereholm 16 Lereholm 12 Living Land 15 Living Land 19 Magna Verita 8 Magna Verita 12 Nile Empire 3 Nile Empire 15 Nippon Tech 3 Nippon Tech 9 Orrorsh 3 Orrorsh 16 Pulse's cosm 8 Pulse's cosm 15 Star Sphere 3 Star Sphere 15 Terra 3 Terra 11 Tharkold 3 Tharkold 16 Tz'Ravok 10 Tz'Ravok 14 * also Arachnidia and Gehenna. Law Morality This world law is identical in almost all respects to the Law of Morality of Terra from which it originated, and the use of those aspects that are the same as on Terra and the Nile Empire does not cause a contradiction. Like Dr. Mobius, Dark has changed the ratio of people with Good and Evil Inclination from the 90% - 10% that Terra enjoys to a 40% - 60% balance that makes his depredations easier. The most significant change to this law are additions which were not implemented by Dark, and seem to be a result of Virtue Triumphant running rampant (secretly abetted by Rignit). As a result of everybody (both ords and possibility-rated), habitually voicing their moral convictions it has become possible for ords to use the Inclination Abilities of Inclination Detection and Inclination Seduction. These may be used by each ord a limited number of times per adventure, equivalent to the value of the person's Perception attribute, and should be used when most dramatically appropriate for the storyline. The total number of times they may be used includes both Inclination Detection and Inclination Seduction, in any combination of times. The Price of Evil applies to Evil ords as well, in the form of a -3 penalty to one action once per adventure, again when it is most dramatically appropriate to the storyline. The Law of Morality is an active world law. Law of Melodrama The Law of Melodrama is a permutation of the Terran Law of Drama, which Dark has changed slightly to suit his purposes. The original "core" of this world law, corresponding to the Law of Drama, continues to function as it does in both Terra and the Nile Empire, and hence this part does not cause a contradiction. As a result of this effect, possibility-rated characters continue to have adventures that are fast and hectic and filled with obstacles. The second part of the Law of Melodrama is a result of Dark's attempt to create an oppressive reality where the population labour in despair as the problems of life grind them into the dirt. To this end he took the principle of obstacle piling, twisted it, and applied it to everybody. All people are subject to this altered form of obstacle piling, which inflicts an almost continuous series of problems on them, many of them occurring simultaneously. These obstacles are not the heroic type that can be resolved in a fight, but instead are the persistent domestic type that linger and are worried over, such as overdue rent, mortgage foreclosures, sick relatives, job loss through redundancy, harassment by officialdom, and heavy taxes. The Law of Melodrama is a passive world law. Law of Rhetoric The Law of Rhetoric is a creation that Dark implemented after he left Terra, and is therefore unique to Blightwood Vales. This law causes people to unselfconsciously voice their opinions and moral stance about life. Of course, Evil individuals will usually try to project an image of Goodness (up until it is, apparently, too late to stop their nefarious schemes, at which point they will maniacally cackle their plans), but in neither case will it actually shut them up. In order to facilitate the habit of people making passionate speeches at whim that air their moral perspectives and judgements, any Presence- related cards may be used as Monolog cards and such uses will gain an award of one possibility (maximum) for each scene they are used in. Another effect of this world law is that of the Dramatic Sting. Whenever a character makes a suitably dramatic exclamation (GM's decision) he may make a roll with his Charisma to beat a difficulty of 12. If successful, a Dramatic Sting will ring out from an unidentifiable point in mid-air somewhere around the character. The Law of Rhetoric is an active world law. High Lord - Bartholomew J Dark Dexterity 18 Dodge 22; Fire combat 23; Lock picking 20; Manoeuvre 22; Melee weapons 19; Prestidigitation 22; Stealth 23; Unarmed combat 19 Strength 11 Toughness 18 Perception 20 Disguise 22; Evidence analysis 22; Find 22; Forgery 22; Land vehicles 21; Language 22; Scholar (master criminal) 29; Scholar (realm lore) 25; Trick 22; Test of wills 28; Willpower 24; Mind 24 Business 36; Hypnotism 26; Science (knot tying) 26, Test of wills 32, Weird science 29 (a leftover from Dark's study of WS, which has science has been deleted from his reality making this skill redundant); Willpower 29 Charisma 24 Charm 33; Persuasion 33; Taunt 33 Spirit 12 Intimidation 27; Reality (Blightwood Vales) 27; Inclination: Evil Possibilities: 45 (more if he has recently tapped Rignit) Equipment: Black cape, black top hat, moustache wax, cane (Tech 7, dam STR+2/17), Colt Peacemaker (Tech 19, dam 15, 3-5/15/40) Dark was an only child, whose mother died in childbirth with his younger brother. He was brought up by his arrogant and aristocratic father to have no concern for the welfare of his tenants. He murdered his father to gain control of the family estates when he was 22, and gained a lot of land and wealth through the Land Enclosure Acts of the 18th century Britain. Although a member of the land owning gentry, he moved into the textiles industry to increase his wealth. At the time this was possible, but not socially acceptable for the gentry, but Dark didn't care. He was also involved in the Terran slave trade, even after he had left to become a possibility raider. He was enraged at the abolition of the slave trade in the early 1830s, and other social reforms as a result of pressure from the evangelical movement. As High Lord Dark usually acts from behind the scenes, directing the politics of the realm through the Bloodwood Club. However, Dark's love of being a melodrama villain means that he often indulges himself and takes a direct hand in some activities; this creates less actual destruction overall, but is more fun. He just has this _thing_ about tying women to railway tracks, y'know. Whenever he personally involves himself, he will always be accompanied (at least) by his enforcers, Doug and Dinsdale. Appearance: Medium height, and a little dumpy in build. He nevertheless manages to disguise this appearance and look tall, dark, and saturnine by dressing properly in black. Quote: "Bwahahahahaha! Now, my pretty! Tell me where the deeds are hidden, or I'll turn on the bandsaw!" Darkness Device - Rignit Dexterity 0 Strength 0 Toughness 205 Perception 28 Evidence analysis 29, Find 33, Language 34, Scholar (realm lore) 32, Trick 32 Mind 28 Test of will 35, Willpower 35 Charisma 35 Charm 36, Persuasion 40, Taunt 39 Spirit 40 Faith (Nameless One) 41, Intimidation 47, Reality (Blightwood Vales) 54 Possibilities: Untold thousands Powers: All those listed on page 88 of the Torg rulebook. Rignit takes the form of a massive black pipe organ (roughly 10 tonnes in weight). It resides in the Great Hall of Dark's manor house. TEMPLATES Aradian Priest Dexterity 9 Dodge, Fire combat, Stealth Strength 8 Toughness 9 Perception 10 Disguise, Find, First aid, Scholar (realm lore), Scholar (Aradian mythos) Mind 9 Test of will, Willpower Charisma 11 Charm, Persuasion Spirit 11 Faith (Aradianism), Intimidation, Reality (Blightwood Vales) Tag skill: Focus Equipment: Olap (ovoid holy symbol); holy book; first aid kit; BP 1856 (Tech 18, dam 15, 3-5/15/40) History: In the course of your ministry you have run afoul of the powerful vested interests that run your world. You strongly suspect that their claims of working for the advancement of society are usually just lies, and have been working to expose their true agenda. Personality: You are pious and resolute in the face of adversity. The miserable conditions of the underclasses that you so often see merely strengthens your resolve to do something about it. The fact that this is against possibility raiders makes no difference. Quote: "The fact that God directs us to persevere in the face of adverse conditions should not be used as an excuse for not trying to improve them." Bold Sailor Lad Dexterity 11 Beast riding, Dodge, Fire combat, Lock picking, Manoeuvre, Melee weapons Strength 10 Lifting Toughness 10 Perception 9 Language, Scholar (sea lore), Tracking, Trick, Water vehicles Mind 8 Test of wills, Willpower Charisma 9 Charm, Persuasion, Taunt Spirit 9 Intimidation, Reality (Blightwood Vales) Tag skill: Unarmed combat Equipment: Uniform, hardtack, club (Tech 6, dam STR+3/18), Sharp 1855 musket (Tech 19, dam 18, 3-40/250/600) History: You joined the merchant navy at a young age, partly to see the world but mostly to escape a life of poverty on the streets. You travelled far and wide and saw many interesting places. Your preference for life in the open, however, has been increasingly disturbed with the encroachment of "civilisation". Your distrust of such "philanthropists" prompted you to keep and eye on them, and led you into opposition to them when they started trying to take over by hook or by crook. Personality: Bold and plucky, and cheerfully ready to face any problem, usually with your fists. Quote: "He's an evil-looking devil; the type you make walk the plank to scare away the sharks." Consulting Detective Dexterity 9 Dodge, Fire combat, Lock picking, Melee weapons, Stealth, Swimming Strength 8 Toughness 8 Perception 12 Camouflage, Disguise, Find, First aid, Forgery, Land vehicles, Language, Scholar (history), Scholar (realm lore), Tracking, Trick Mind 12 Science (chemistry), Test of will, Willpower Charisma 9 Charm, Persuasion, Taunt Spirit 8 Intimidation, Reality (Blightwood Vales) Tag skill: Evidence analysis Equipment: Notepad, pencil, pipe, walking cane (Tech 7, dam STR+2/17), Colt Peacemaker (Tech 19, dam 15, 3-5/15/40) History: You have faced many challenges over the years, picking and choosing the most intriguing cases to stretch your abilities. Over time you have become aware of irregularities in the power structure of the world, and traced it back to a man who claims to extravagant title of High Lord. His origins and methods seem fantastic - but after the removal of the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth. You have set about to stop him. Personality: You have a keen, analytical, and above all logical mind. Your calm and methodical manner contrasts strongly with the emotionalism of so many of your clients, but that is why they overlook the obvious and the rational, while you do not. Some have accused you of pride, but you prefer to think of it as mere competence. Quote: "The game's afoot." Renegade Bureaucrat Dexterity 10 Dodge, Fire Combat, Manoeuvre, Stealth Strength 8 Toughness 8 Perception 11 Evidence analysis, Find, Forgery, Scholar (Realm lore), Trick Mind 11 Business, Test of wills, Willpower Charisma 8 Persuasion, Taunt Spirit 9 Intimidation, Reality (Blightwood Vales) Tag skill: Science (administration) Equipment: Fountain pen, business suit, Colt Peacemaker (Tech 19, dam 15, 3-5/15/40) History: Day in and day out you toiled to help bring the benefits of industrialisation to the world and spread its bounty of hope of a better tomorrow for all people. Then one day you came across a memo from one "Bartholomew J. Dark" to your superiors in the public service. You were horrified by what it said and implied. Now you fight an underground war from within the administration to reclaim the Modern age from the agents of destruction. Personality: Fastidious and neat. You are also passionately committed to the principles of efficient administration Possibly too much so for practical purposes, since it has made you enemies among those who wish to use bureaucracy as an obfuscator to an efficient society rather than an enhancer of it. Quote: "There are parts of his claims that do not add up." Street Urchin Dexterity 12 Dodge, Lock picking, Manoeuvre, Melee weapons, Prestidigitation, Running, Stealth, Unarmed combat Strength 8 Climbing Toughness 8 Perception 12 Find, Trick Mind 8 Scholar (street lore), Test of wills, Willpower Charisma 9 Charm, Persuasion, Taunt Spirit 9 Reality (Blightwood Vales) Tag skill: Streetwise Equipment: Knife (Tech 7, dam STR+3/17) History: You grew up an orphan on the streets of an industrial centre, stealing to survive. Then, one day your daring took you into the den of the grasping factory owners, where your eavesdropping revealed that their plans were everything you suspected. They don't just want the money, they want to make everyone else miserable in the process as well. Now you regularly make yourself a surreptitious opponent of them, sneaking in to commit small acts of vandalism to upset their plans. Personality: Hard and calculating, but more than perfectly capable of coming across as the endearing waif. Quote: "She'll be right Guv'. I knicked the keys while they weren't watching." SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS... The Bloodwood Club The Bloodwood Club is the most pre-eminent and powerful of the male-only gentlemen's clubs that are the real power behind the government of the Rhidan Mall Kingdoms and Erntov. Here the old boys gather to wheel and deal the fate of the world over drinks. Both old and new money are welcome in the Club, as long as the possessor has lots of it and, more importantly, the right attitude towards going about getting more of it. It takes its name from the speech of one of its founders, that the club's members would make and use their fortunes as they saw fit, and if gainsaid would destroy their opponents with "blood and thunder". >From this rather hysterical pronouncement the club has traditionally been panelled in the red coloured timber of the bloodwood tree. The Bloodwood Club has its main address in the Ornlin capital of Malrise, but also retains smaller residences in other major cities. Royal Family The current king of the Rhidan Mall Kingdoms is Alexander III of the House of Enthorp. His immediate family consists of his wife (Queen Guinevere, "Gwen"), five children (Princess Catherine; Prince Egbert, the heir apparent; Prince David; Princess Alsistrea, and Prince John), and mother (Mary, widow of Stefan VI). Their usual residence is the Summer Palace in Malrise. Alexander III is empowered as the constitutional head of state; as king he is the head of government and is the source from which the power and authority of the government derives. But although government is carried out in his name he is circumscribed by tradition as being unable to wield any of the power himself. The reason for this situation has been a long term diminution of the real power of the throne, which came to a climax some 160 years ago, 50 years prior to the arrival of Dark. At that time the House of Enthorp of Ornlin gained paramountcy over the other Rhidan Mall Kingdoms, Englia and Aristide, but at the cost of giving up much of its power for the support of the landed aristocracy that made the victory possible. Alexander III's great great grandfather Stefan V was embroiled in war with his paternal cousin Warwick II of Englia and the then ruler of Aristide, Peter II (the alleged usurper of Stefan's maternal second cousin's throne). The squabble over the thrones were complex issues of succession, and were not helped by the fact that Peter II was claiming Aristide's throne under the system of "thrimark" (eldest son claims the throne, thereafter claimed by eldest first cousin - the result of ancient kin-fostering traditions from Peter II's native Biddleonia), while both Ornlin and Englia were using primogeniture. Government The King is constitutional head of the government, but holds no real power. The government itself consists of two houses. The first is the Domain of Nobles, with 230 hereditary seats reserved for titled aristocracy. The other is the Domain of the Free (sarcastically referring to both the fact that as elected representatives they are not "burdened" with the "responsibility" of the hereditary seats in the Domain of Nobles, and also that they are usually pawns of powerful land and industry owners), which has 189 seats for representatives elected by citizens who own more than 15 Snelks (approximately $10) worth of land. These representatives are usually controlled by powerful interests both because the voting isn't secret, and because of the use of gerrymandering and malproportionment of the electoral boundaries to fix the outcome. (Respectively, gerrymandering refers to fiddling the shape of the electoral boundary, while malproportionment is fiddling with the relative number of voters within and between electorates). Both malproportionment and gerrymandering are used to keep out undesirables. Aradian church. The church resembles Christianity primarily in that it is monotheistic. The basic tenets of Aradianism were formed some 2,500 years ago when the prophet Zephrim, titled The Enlightened, began preaching against the oppression of the imperialist Glarn Empire. Zephrim's message of tolerance, peace, and charity was forced underground over the following three years. The turning point came when one of Zephrim's followers, Cody the Martyr, was tried for blasphemy by priests of the Great God Hobabi and killed with the Rite of Reconciliation. This was a symbolic act whereby all sinners had their sins "burnt away" by the "searing and penetrating gaze" of the Hobabi clergy, who are credited in parable as being all-seeing. Then, once the sins were burnt away, the former sinners were brought back into the fold. In practice this symobolgy was carried out by roasting the convicted heretic alive and consuming parts of his body by ritual cannibalism. After Aradianism became the state religion, it replaced the practice of ritual cannibalism with a more symbolic ceremony, involving meat for the body of the martyr and wine for the blood. To those who are ignorant of the true meaning of the Celebration, it strongly resembles the Christian Holy Communion. Aradianism has always had female priests. This results from one time when Zephrim preached against the practices of the Izabinites with the question "Whyfore do you weaken yourselves spurning your other halves?". The Izabinites where noted not just for their practice of segregating their wives, but also for their habit of burning them on a pyre should they prove barren. The evil adversary of Aradianism is represented by Ipit, originally the highest of the Khafatim (roughly, angels) of a neighbouring tribe at the time of Zephrim's childhood. Although by the time Zephrim began preaching at age 26 this tribe (the Melzarms) had been wiped out by the 21st Emperor of Glarn in genocidal retribution for an imagined wrong, Zephrim remembered the name Ipit from his childhood, when it had been used as a bogeyman. In Aradian mythology Ipit is traditionally depicted as a hideously ugly being. Once beautiful, his inner evil twisted his features, and now he shows his face to no-one, instead always manifesting himself as a man cloaked in darkness, or occasionally as an area of shadow. Ipit has four lieutenants who guard the four cardinal edges of the world, and who represent the four classical elements. Rah holds the West, and has power over the earth; Teley resides in the North and holds sway over fire; Belzamdar is in the east and his element is water; while Sho is in the south with control over frigid air. This cosmology reflects the geographical knowledge of Zephrim's time, since his region of the world was thought to be the centre of a flat disc - with the land to the west, sea to the east, frigid areas to the southern side and burning hot areas on the northern side. In fact the dome shape of Erntov means that northward leads to the equatorial region at the top (the north pole) of the world, while the entire rim of the dome has a cold climate. As an aside, up until the time Dark brought his reality to Erntov, Aradianism was the state religion of the Rhidan Mall Kingdoms, as well as several other countries as well. The retroactive changes the High Lord of Blightwood Vales has imposed on Erntov means that the former history of the Aradian church is no longer valid. The onion- domed cathedrals of the church still exist, but have been retconned to have different origins and purposes. In the new history Aradianism directs most of its efforts towards ministering the poor and destitute. Its attempts to make inroads with the aristocracy and nouveau rich are openly spurned. This is an inversion of the superseded state of affairs, when the High Church activities of Aradianism caused it to be part of the establishment and preoccupied with the upper classes, virtually ignoring the lower classes. The dating system of Erntov was originally based on the birth of Zephrim, by which it is currently 2435. In the retconned history the dating system of the Rhidan Mall Kingdoms (and hence the rest of Erntov) is based from an important battle between the Glarn Empire and the Tykons. ...AND STUFF Notes on the Invasion of Ispsplae Dark's fourth possibility raid was to the cosm of Ispsplae. It failed, ostensibly because of a mysterious form of technology that Ispsplae was proficient at, and which functioned without contradiction in the melodrama reality. This technology was, of course, Weird Science (although the Ispsplaee refer to it as the Law of Kirbian Technology). When Dark left Terra to begin his career as a possibility raider, the world law of Weird Science had yet to be codified by the conflicting efforts of Dr. Mobius and Dr. Alexus Frest in the early 20th century. Nevertheless, the world law existed in potentia at that time on Terra, and so was carried, unknowingly, by Dark as well. Thus, Dark was not prepared for it, and for him its discovery still represents a galling defeat. After he had calmed down, Dark became intrigued by the fact that this strange form of technology had functioned under his reality without contradiction. In the years that followed this setback Dark turned his attention to identifying this hitherto unknown factor and then mastering it so that it could be used as a weapon. However, when it became clear what Weird Science was and how it worked Rignit demanded that it be removed, and Dark agreed with only a little reluctance. They recognised that the presence of Weird Science would be a factor preventing the total dehumanising the population. Weird Science is superficially similar to technology, but as noted in the Terra sourcebook (p. 19), the more often it is used and reproduced the less reliable it becomes. It is therefore unlike conventional technology in that it is not suitable for creating oppressive working conditions and sweatshops across the world. It represents the wondrous unknown - the inexplicable and exciting and adventurous side of technology. Both the Darkness Device and High Lord agreed that it is not appropriate for the feel of Blightwood Vales (which may seem strange considering the melodramatic trappings Dark tolerates in the other world laws, but presumably he has to draw the line somewhere). Before Dark and Rignit decided to remove Weird Science from Blightwood Vales, Dark had plans to use huge and horrible steam- driven death machines in his invasions, although he had not yet come up with the idea of reality bombs. A few prototypes were made before the project was terminated, and most were melted down for scrap, but some examples may still survive, somewhere. Should examples of Blightwood Vales' weird tech turn up, then they will be differentiated from Terran and Nile Empire weird tech not by function, but by appearance. Whereas the other two use 1930s style widgets with vacuum tubes and capacitors, Blightwood Vales tended to create steam- driven contraptions made of heavy cast iron with cogs, gears, boilers, turbines and belt drives. Their Tech level will be a maximum of 31 (same as Terra; Dark did not have the time to raise it to 33, as Dr. Mobius has done). Unknown to Dark, there is another reason why the invasion of Ispsplae failed. That reason was the attack on Rignit by another Darkness Device - the renegade Darkness Device and self-proclaimed Lightness Device Igglepleck (which has subsequently taken to calling itself Heironymous). Igglepleck warned the astounded Rignit that Ispsplae was under Igglepleck's protection, and that if Rignit tried to conquer its world Igglepleck would destroy its sibling. When Rignit collected itself after its moment of shock, it condescendingly ridiculed Igglepleck. The Lightness Device then proceeded to beat the crap out of Rignit, using abilities and levels of power that were as far beyond anything a standard Darkness Device possesses the powers of stormers are beyond ords. Rignit barely escaped, and fled, honestly fearing for its existence. Igglepleck did not follow, but instead used a hitherto unknown means to respark the population to spare them from the effects of double transformation, then pulled up Blightwood Vales' stelae all at once. After Dark's withdrawal Rignit tried to sneak a peek at Ispsplae again, but couldn't find it. Igglepleck has, apparently, hidden its reality from outside detection. Rignit has since told the other Darkness Devices of these events, and most have made a search for Ispsplae and Igglepleck to some degree or another; only the completely insane The Other Nameless One of the Ideals reality hasn't made any attempt. However, all investigations have proven fruitless, and the Darkness Devices can only wonder what their errant kin is up to. ----- Saxon Brenton University of Canberra Canberra, Australia Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 15:06:10 -0600 From: Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim) Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales Saxon writes: > As threatened, the melodrama cosm of Blightwood Vales... > > The melodrama reality of Blightwoodd Vales is controlled by the High > Lord Bartholomew J. Dark, and his Darkness Device Rignit. Dark, like > Dr. Mobius, is both an expatriot from the cosm of Terra and a maniacal > madman. > Dark was born on Terra as a member of the British land-owning gentry > at the end of the 17th century, but went into industry. He was a bounder > and a cad, and delighted in ruining peoples' livelihoods and means of > income. When Dark was accepted as Rignit's High Lord he exported his > pulp reality to other worlds rather than attempt to take over his own (a > tactic that, for unfathomable reasons, _all_ the High Lords produced by > Terra adopt, and of which Mobius and Dark aren't the only examples). Ehhhhh...I don't like Dark being from Terra. Is there some greater need for it, some cosmic meaning behind it? Why would there be more than one Darkness Device in Terra? And if Terran HLs always run off and go after other cosms, why would DD even travel to/stay on Terra? Someone who can't even conquer his native reality wouldn't exactly inspire me to go there looking for a new HL or to stick around waiting for someone to come along and prove worthwhile. There's an infinite number of cosms out there but apparently a finite number of DDs (otherwise every cosm would have one) so why would they be doubling up anywhere? > However, enough of the original Law of Drama remains that heroes > continue to have adventures, giving Blightwood Vales an element > reminiscent of 19th century Boys Adventures literature, such as But is that style of action the same as what the Law of Drama gives us in Nile/Terra? Do we really need a 19th century pulp action cosm? What's wrong with the "lesser" style of action you get in every other cosm out there? (Maybe I've just read the wrong fiction from that era but "fast" and "action-packed" isn't how I would describe it.) [...] > To this end Dark has embedding into his reality the idea of "Virtue > Triumphant" (just like in the plays of the 19th century). However, in a > way which Rignit will not elaborate on, but which Dark nevertheless > has a sneaking suspicion about, this has apparently had a cascading > effect on the Law of Morality, so that everybody (ord and p-rated) may > use Inclination Detection and Inclination Seduction, and the belief in Is Inclination Seduction limited to just P-rateds? I don't remember off the top of my head. [...] > Law Morality How about calling it the Law of Virtue? It would avoid confusion with the Nille/Terra LoM which would be good since there are differences in what they do. > Law of Melodrama > The Law of Melodrama is a permutation of the Terran Law of Drama, > which Dark has changed slightly to suit his purposes. The original > "core" of this world law, corresponding to the Law of Drama, continues > to function as it does in both Terra and the Nile Empire, and hence this > part does not cause a contradiction. As a result of this effect, > possibility-rated characters continue to have adventures that are fast and > hectic and filled with obstacles. As I said above, I must not have read the same Victorian literature... And the WL should affect Ords too (the setting, not the people, is what the WL affects.) > The second part of the Law of Melodrama is a result of Dark's attempt > to create an oppressive reality where the population labour in despair > as the problems of life grind them into the dirt. To this end he took the > principle of obstacle piling, twisted it, and applied it to everybody. All > people are subject to this altered form of obstacle piling, which inflicts > an almost continuous series of problems on them, many of them > occurring simultaneously. These obstacles are not the heroic type that > can be resolved in a fight, but instead are the persistent domestic type > that linger and are worried over, such as overdue rent, mortgage > foreclosures, sick relatives, job loss through redundancy, harassment by > officialdom, and heavy taxes. I wouldn't exactly call that "melodramatic" though, so I wonder if it might not be better as a seperate WL (though I like the development from the LoD, but since I disagree with the need for the LoD here it's not necessary.) > Law of Rhetoric > In order to facilitate the habit of people making passionate speeches at > whim that air their moral perspectives and judgements, any Presence- > related cards may be used as Monolog cards and such uses will gain an > award of one possibility (maximum) for each scene they are used in. Assuming of course it is used to make a speech about morality and not just some way of keeping the NPCs from using that "Villain Up" condition (sorry, minor aside not actually directed at the writeup but at my players who seem unable to actually come up with a monologue of any kind when they use the card, they just throw it and say something trite like "Your plan will never succeed because we're going to kick your butt".) > Another effect of this world law is that of the Dramatic Sting. > Whenever a character makes a suitably dramatic exclamation (GM's > decision) he may make a roll with his Charisma to beat a difficulty of > 12. If successful, a Dramatic Sting will ring out from an unidentifiable > point in mid-air somewhere around the character. Huh? What exactly is a "Dramatic Sting"? > High Lord - Bartholomew J Dark > Dexterity 18 > Dodge 22; Fire combat 23; Lock picking 20; Manoeuvre 22; > Melee weapons 19; Prestidigitation 22; Stealth 23; > Unarmed combat 19 > Strength 11 > Toughness 18 Obviously not of the Mobius/3327 school of master villain thinking... > Mind 24 > Business 36; Hypnotism 26; Science (knot tying) 26, Test of wills 32, > Weird science 29 (a leftover from Dark's study of WS, which has > science has been deleted from his reality making this skill redundant); Redundant? Must be a use of that word I'm not familiar with... [...] > Street Urchin > Dexterity 12 > Dodge, Lock picking, Manoeuvre, Melee weapons, Prestidigitation, > Running, Stealth, Unarmed combat > Strength 8 > Climbing > Toughness 8 Damn big urchin! > Mind 8 > Scholar (street lore), Test of wills, Willpower Er, Scholar is a Perception skill. > ...AND STUFF > Notes on the Invasion of Ispsplae > Dark's fourth possibility raid was to the cosm of Ispsplae. It failed, > ostensibly because of a mysterious form of technology that Ispsplae was > proficient at, and which functioned without contradiction in the > melodrama reality. This technology was, of course, Weird Science > (although the Ispsplaee refer to it as the Law of Kirbian Technology). I don't know if I'd say that non-Terran Weird Science would work in Terra or a Terran offshoot reality. Weird Science isn't like cyberware or magic where it's purely an axiomatic effect and exportable to any cosm with the right axiom; it's due to a WL or WL-like effect and unless it's a case of one WL (Nile) being an offshoot of another (Terra) I don't think they'd "synch" up properly. Just MO of course, YMMV. > appearance. Whereas the other two use 1930s style widgets with > vacuum tubes and capacitors, Blightwood Vales tended to create steam- > driven contraptions made of heavy cast iron with cogs, gears, boilers, > turbines and belt drives. Their Tech level will be a maximum of 31 > (same as Terra; Dark did not have the time to raise it to 33, as Dr. > Mobius has done). I know we've probably gone over this before but does it actually say Tech 33 in the Nile SB? My recollection is that it doesn't, because otherwise Mobius could build time-machines and any number of other gonzo devices beyond the dreams of most pulp stories. > Unknown to Dark, there is another reason why the invasion of Ispsplae > failed. That reason was the attack on Rignit by another Darkness Device > - the renegade Darkness Device and self-proclaimed Lightness Device > Igglepleck (which has subsequently taken to calling itself > Heironymous). Igglepleck warned the astounded Rignit that Ispsplae > was under Igglepleck's protection, and that if Rignit tried to conquer its > world Igglepleck would destroy its sibling. When Rignit collected itself > after its moment of shock, it condescendingly ridiculed Igglepleck. The > Lightness Device then proceeded to beat the crap out of Rignit, using > abilities and levels of power that were as far beyond anything a > standard Darkness Device possesses the powers of stormers are beyond > ords. Rignit barely escaped, and fled, honestly fearing for its existence. Ehhhh...I'll hold off on commenting until you post the Heironymous writeup you mentioned elsewhere but I will say right now that I'm exceptionally leery about the whole idea.... Overall I think the concept is good but I disagree with a lot of the setup, primarily the connection to Terra. I don't necessarily see it as being necessary and while TORG does work well at combining different genres together (Nile Empire, Cyberpapacy) I don't think the combination of "inhuman oppression" and "heroic adventure" works too well. Kansas Jim (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu) Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 19:37:26 +1000 (EST) From: "Brenton / Saxon George (COM)" Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales On Monday 10th October Ks. Jim wrote: > Ehhhhh...I don't like Dark being from Terra. Is there some greater need > for it, some cosmic meaning behind it? Why would there be more than one > Darkness Device in Terra? And if Terran HLs always run off and go after > other cosms, why would DD even travel to/stay on Terra? Someone who > can't even conquer his native reality wouldn't exactly inspire me to go > there looking for a new HL or to stick around waiting for someone to come > along and prove worthwhile. There's an infinite number of cosms out there > but apparently a finite number of DDs (otherwise every cosm would have one) > so why would they be doubling up anywhere? Okay, taking the questions more or less in order; no, there probably isn't some *greater need* for it. I think I can justify it by claiming that it highlights the action/adventure mindset of Terra (and pulp realities in general) - I expect that weird coincidences like that are always happening. Or to put it another way, in the archives in the superhero cosm of Technopolis there was the idea that the Law of Luck is "shielding" that cosm from DDs, and keeping them out; well, this is the reverse, the LoDrama is causing weirdness to be sucked in. But as for why its included, basically because the conception of a melodrama reality that I had in my head was so close to the extant pulp realities that a) it was possible, leading to b) it making a nice bit of history if I included it. Of course, as you note later, your conception of melodrama is different to mine. So basically it's just old overenthusiastic Saxon's imagination running away with him again. :-) (Not that I see a reason to change it at this point, mind you :-) Next, it didn't say that Dark *couldn't* conquer Terra, simply that he choose not to. Now, it'd be interesting to see if Dark actually could, but as I've said before, the number crunching side of game mechanics isn't my strong point. :-( Now, on the issue of doubling up, for the immediate reason see above. However, I got the impression that the Nameless One dispatched the DDs willy nilly through the cosmverse, so a random double up could happen, but it helps if the cosm itself is a weirdness magnet :-) >> However, enough of the original Law of Drama remains that heroes >> continue to have adventures, giving Blightwood Vales an element >> reminiscent of 19th century Boys Adventures literature, such as > > But is that style of action the same as what the Law of Drama gives us > in Nile/Terra? Do we really need a 19th century pulp action cosm? What's > wrong with the "lesser" style of action you get in every other cosm out > there? (Maybe I've just read the wrong fiction from that era but "fast" > and "action-packed" isn't how I would describe it.) Well, I *think* so. Admittedly one of the things I was trying to convey, and didn't do properly, is that Dark and Rignit have been whittling away at this effect, so that its now only a pale shadow of its Terran parent. But I still see the stereotype adventures of people being tied up in pirate cave (with all the obligatory skeletons) as the tide comes in, and plucky British youth going off to the wilds of Africa and India and having adventures and get chased by heathen natives before converting them to Christianity, and moorland chases with smugglers, and all the sort of stuff you get in Enid Blyton's "Famous Five" or even Joan Aiken's "Wolves of Willoughby (sp?) Chase" (and the rest in that series, the name of which I can't recall at the moment :-( Maybe not fast, but definitely filled with hyped-up adventure, nothing subtle about it at all. Even in melodrama proper, there are evicted mothers carrying swaddled babes through the snow while being stalked by wolves, and honourable naval officers forced into lives of piracy because of obligations who get into sword fights on the poop deck, etc., etc. (I think part of the problem in judging what genre melodrama is comes from its history. According to my research it started in France, reached its high point in England, accumulated several centuries of history, and covered a number of different sub-styles, from romance to industrial grim-n-gritty "drama of oppression" to supernatural thriller - though I doubt if any ghosts of bleeding nuns will be wandering around ruined castle battlements in BV, the Magic axiom's too low) > Is Inclination Seduction limited to just P-rateds? I don't remember > off the top of my head. Yes. NE sb, p. 61: "Possibility-rated characters who are under the influence of Terran/Empire axioms have abilities and penalties based upon their Inclinations..." etc., reiterated Terra sb pp. 50-51. > How about calling it the Law of Virtue? It would avoid confusion with > the Nile/Terra LoM which would be good since there are differences in > what they do. Sounds reasonable. It's certainly what the population would call it. [Law of Melodrama] > And the WL should affect Ords too (the setting, not the people, is what > the WL affects.) True. I hadn't thought of that. > I wouldn't exactly call that "melodramatic" though, so I wonder if it > might not be better as a seperate WL (though I like the development from > the LoD, but since I disagree with the need for the LoD here it's not > necessary.) For definitions of melodrama, see above. Obviously, its only part of what Dark could have developed, but the "drama of oppression" bit was the only bit he wanted. [Law of Rhetoric] > Assuming of course it is used to make a speech about morality and not just > some way of keeping the NPCs from using that "Villain Up" condition (sorry, > minor aside not actually directed at the writeup but at my players who seem > unable to actually come up with a monologue of any kind when they use the > card, they just throw it and say something trite like "Your plan will never > succeed because we're going to kick your butt".) Pesky players. You go to all the trouble of creating an interesting world with a new genre and all they want to do is enjoy themselves. :-) > Huh? What exactly is a "Dramatic Sting"? It's where someone says something dramatic or important, and everyone stands there in shock for a second or two, and there's a blare or beat of dramatic sounding music or noise. The obvious Torg example is the Law of Darkness Devices for the Cartoon Cosm (Dum-da-dum-dum). >From memory the "Dragnet" show started its exposition voice-over with a dramatic sting beat. In an old "Muppet Show", Gonzo the Great is about to tell why everybody's turning into chickens, then leans forward to whisper, "and I could use a dramatic sting here". I also recall "Hey Hey Its Saturday" used to use several types (both beats and blares) all the time (but the latter reference will probably confuse everyone except Daiajo and any lurking Aussies :-) > Er, Scholar is a Perception skill. Arrgh! I sat down with the list of skills to make sure I avoided that sort of mistake. Paint me green and call me an incompetent! > I don't know if I'd say that non-Terran Weird Science would work in > Terra or a Terran offshoot reality. Weird Science isn't like cyberware > or magic where it's purely an axiomatic effect and exportable to any > cosm with the right axiom; it's due to a WL or WL-like effect and unless > it's a case of one WL (Nile) being an offshoot of another (Terra) I > don't think they'd "synch" up properly. Just MO of course, YMMV. If we were back pre-silly putty interpretation of Land Below I'd argue that world laws are capable of evolving not just similarly (like the Honour/Corruption abilities of Aysle and Avalon) but also into identical world laws; in which case if they have the same name, treat 'em as compatible. But now I'm not so sure. Actually though, the point is moot, and for exactly the reason you suggest. > I know we've probably gone over this before but does it actually say > Tech 33 in the Nile SB? My recollection is that it doesn't, because > otherwise Mobius could build time-machines and any number of other > gonzo devices beyond the dreams of most pulp stories. Yes. NE sb p. 83 WS =33; Terra sb p. 42 WS =31. Centre column in both cases. And interestingly, in the NE section it does mention the possible creation of time-travel gizmos. Guess it was decided that things'd get a bit out of hand if that was possible, huh? (I wonder if Brian realised that when he wrote the Terra sb and made the change deliberately?) > Ehhhh...I'll hold off on commenting until you post the Heironymous writeup > you mentioned elsewhere but I will say right now that I'm exceptionally > leery about the whole idea.... With good reason, I can assure you. I've been working on BV for most of the year, but the idea of Heironymous occurred to me only in the past month or so. Its still very sketchy, and the cosmic reality its creating to go on a jihad against the other DDs is terminally munchkin. It's more an idea I want to throw into the ring than something I would expect people to actually use in play. Think of it as a bit of history rather than as rules supplementation. > I don't necessarily see it > as being necessary and while TORG does work well at combining different > genres together (Nile Empire, Cyberpapacy) I don't think the combination > of "inhuman oppression" and "heroic adventure" works too well. You and Rignit both, which is why its been whittling it down. In play I should think you'd need to emphasise the former over the latter. Heroic adventure is something that's being continually downgraded in BV, and really I included it to emphasise BV's lingering links with its parent reality. Saxon Brenton University of Canberra Canberra, Australia Date: Tue, 11 Oct 94 08:54:35 -0400 From: parham@mismo.niehs.nih.gov (Fred Parham) Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales "Brenton / Saxon George (COM)" said: > ... Joan Aiken's "Wolves of >Willoughby (sp?) Chase" (and the rest in that series, the name of which I >can't recall at the moment :-( In chronological order (fictional world time), _Wolves of Willoughby Chase_, _Black Hearts in Battersea_, _Nightbirds on Nantucket_, _The Stolen Lake_, _The Cuckoo Tree_, _Dido and Pa_. I highly recommend these. The magic axiom in these would be about 11. The setting is a warped version of early 19th century earth. Many of the plots deal with attempts by the evil supporters of the Hanoverian pretender, Bonny Prince Georgie, to overthrow the rightful Stuart kings of England. _The Stolen Lake_ has a character from English legend who has moved to South America (I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers) and would make a great High Lord. Fred Parham Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 09:02:49 -0600 From: Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim) Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales Saxon writes: [I wrote:] > > But is that style of action the same as what the Law of Drama gives us > > in Nile/Terra? Do we really need a 19th century pulp action cosm? What's > > wrong with the "lesser" style of action you get in every other cosm out > > there? (Maybe I've just read the wrong fiction from that era but "fast" > > and "action-packed" isn't how I would describe it.) > Well, I *think* so. Admittedly one of the things I was trying to convey, > and didn't do properly, is that Dark and Rignit have been whittling away > at this effect, so that its now only a pale shadow of its Terran parent. But > I still see the stereotype adventures of people being tied up in pirate cave > (with all the obligatory skeletons) as the tide comes in, and plucky > British youth going off to the wilds of Africa and India and having > adventures and get chased by heathen natives before converting them to > Christianity, and moorland chases with smugglers, and all the sort of stuff Well, I don't necessarily see needing a WL just to enforce adventure; any cosm will have adventures, it's the Law of Drama in the Nile that makes it's adventures "bigger than big". The type of stuff you mention above isn't necessarily that kind of Drama though, at least IMO - melodrama is sensationalistic and emotional while the drama in the Nile is more sensationalistic and hyperactive. > > Is Inclination Seduction limited to just P-rateds? I don't remember > > off the top of my head. > Yes. NE sb, p. 61: "Possibility-rated characters who are under the > influence of Terran/Empire axioms have abilities and penalties based > upon their Inclinations..." etc., reiterated Terra sb pp. 50-51. Of course those penalties have to apply to Ords otherwise we've got the situation of Ords being able to act contradictory to their reality but P-rateds who can't! I think that's one of my main quibbles with the Nile SB, the WLs were written purely from the POV of P-rateds and ignored the Ords in the cosm. Perhaps a little bit of rewriting is in order (nothing major, just generalize things a bit more so that Ords are considered.) [Saxon defines "dramatic sting"] Okay, that's what I thought you meant but I'd never heard the term before. Besides, I already use 'em whenever anyone says something dramatically appropriate, I just figured it was one of the meta-WLs of TORG in general. 8-) > If we were back pre-silly putty interpretation of Land Below I'd argue > that world laws are capable of evolving not just similarly (like the > Honour/Corruption abilities of Aysle and Avalon) but also into identical > world laws; in which case if they have the same name, treat 'em as > compatible. But now I'm not so sure. Actually though, the point is moot, > and for exactly the reason you suggest. I'd forgotten about Aysle and Avalon having the same Honor WL, so I guess if you want it you've got a precedent to work with. But I was planning on redoing Avalon to fit my preconceptions anyway so.... 8-) Kansas Jim (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu) Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 09:45:21 EDT From: Daiajo Tibdixious MACS Subject: Double DD's (was Re: Blightwood Vales) Tue, 11 Oct 1994 19:37:26 "Brenton / Saxon George (COM)" >On Monday 10th October Ks. Jim wrote: >> along and prove worthwhile. There's an infinite number of cosms out there >> but apparently a finite number of DDs (otherwise every cosm would have one) >> so why would they be doubling up anywhere? > Now, on the issue of doubling up, for the immediate reason see above. >However, I got the impression that the Nameless One dispatched the DDs >willy nilly through the cosmverse, so a random double up could happen, >but it helps if the cosm itself is a weirdness magnet :-) Ah, but the probability of that is 1/infinity * 1/infinity = 1/(infinity squared). [BTW this is not gibberish, read "On Numbers & Games" or similar.] Is the cosm 'suck' power up to this. :) I was tossing up 'distribution' rules for DD's, and I would definitely put in 1) only 1 DD per cosm, unless a HL found it and moved it (eg. Earth). 2) for a random cosm, it has a DD if you roll over 110 (Torg style) (that's more than 1/10^7 from the transform table) -- wetibd@itwol.bhp.com.au Daiajo Diphenyl Tibdixious DEVAX1::WETIBD V2.1 GCM/B/SS d++() H-- s-:++ g+ p1 au>++ a>- w+ v-?(+) C++++ N++ V++$ -po+ t+@ !5 R++ G++>+ tv++ b+++ B? e++* h--- f+ r-- n++ y+++* Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 09:28:19 -0600 From: Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim) Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales Saxon writes: [I wrote:] > > IMO - melodrama is sensationalistic and emotional while the drama > > in the Nile is more sensationalistic and hyperactive. > A valid distinction. Hm, maybe to simulate that sort of effect the > melodramtic adventures have somehow tied itself into the > emotionalism of the LoRhetoric (ie, LoMelodrama has had the LoDrama game > mechanics completely excised, but the fading tendency of the ex-pulp > reality towards adventure has latched onto an emotional rather than > phsical support. Mind you, that's anthropomorphising the wl :-) Hey, they've anthropomorphised The Nameless One already, what's a WL compared to that? 8-/ > > [Law of Morality for ords vs. p-rateds] > > Of course those penalties have to apply to Ords otherwise we've got > > the situation of Ords being able to act contradictory to their reality > > but P-rateds who can't! I think that's one of my main quibbles with > > the Nile SB, the WLs were written purely from the POV of P-rateds and > > ignored the Ords in the cosm. Perhaps a little bit of rewriting is in > > order (nothing major, just generalize things a bit more so that Ords > > are considered.) > Um, isn't it the case that ords *have* to follow their Inclination > and p-rateds can cheat on it by spending poss? And I'm not advocating > that it change (at least, I'm not advocating ords should be able to ignore > their Inclination - p-rateds having their Inclination following tightened > up a bit may be a different story). BVs version of the LoMorality simply > opens up Inclination abilities for ord use, which in itself might be a > useful starting point for a house rules modification of the LoM toward an > ord POV. The Nile WL does limit Ords to following their Inclination and allows P-rateds to go against it at the cost of Possibilities, I didn't mean to imply other- wise. What I was trying to get at is that the Nile WLs are very PC-centric, with the exception of having an Inclination there's nothing in the WLs that really affects Ords (arguably the Law of Drama does but it has no _direct_ effects on them.) Now I could see Mobius changing the Nile's WLs slightly to get that effect (helping him since prior to Core Earth most P-rateds would be on his side) but in Terra it's a bit more unusual. P-rateds are the exception, not the rule, so the development of WLs that can really only be used by P-rateds seems a bit out of place. Kansas Jim (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu) Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 18:18:33 +1000 (EST) From: "Brenton / Saxon George (COM)" Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales On Tues 11th Oct Ks. Jim wrote: [Law of Drama and BV adventures] > Well, I don't necessarily see needing a WL just to enforce adventure; > any cosm will have adventures, it's the Law of Drama in the Nile that > makes it's adventures "bigger than big". The type of stuff you > mention above isn't necessarily that kind of Drama though, at least > IMO - melodrama is sensationalistic and emotional while the drama > in the Nile is more sensationalistic and hyperactive. A valid distinction. Hm, maybe to simulate that sort of effect the melodramtic adventures have somehow tied itself into the emotionalism of the LoRhetoric (ie, LoMelodrama has had the LoDrama game mechanics completely excised, but the fading tendency of the ex-pulp reality towards adventure has latched onto an emotional rather than phsical support. Mind you, that's anthropomorphising the wl :-) [Law of Morality for ords vs. p-rateds] > Of course those penalties have to apply to Ords otherwise we've got > the situation of Ords being able to act contradictory to their reality > but P-rateds who can't! I think that's one of my main quibbles with > the Nile SB, the WLs were written purely from the POV of P-rateds and > ignored the Ords in the cosm. Perhaps a little bit of rewriting is in > order (nothing major, just generalize things a bit more so that Ords > are considered.) Um, isn't it the case that ords *have* to follow their Inclination and p-rateds can cheat on it by spending poss? And I'm not advocating that it change (at least, I'm not advocating ords should be able to ignore their Inclination - p-rateds having their Inclination following tightened up a bit may be a different story). BVs version of the LoMorality simply opens up Inclination abilities for ord use, which in itself might be a useful starting point for a house rules modification of the LoM toward an ord POV. Saxon Brenton University of Canberra Canberra, Australia Date: Thu, 13 Oct 94 02:00 CDT From: loren@hops.wharton.upenn.edu (Loren Miller) Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales My main complaint about BV is the proportion of Evil people to Good people. With a proportion of 60% to 40% Evil to Good, it's way worse than Terra, which is already way worse than our real world. [Warning, rambling ahead] If you want to make the cosm oppressive in comparison to the real world, then think about it this way... in the real world the proportion of born criminals is somewhere between 1% and 5%. If we had to characterize born criminals with a moral name then Evil wouldn't be a bad name to pick. Terra is already a *lot* more oppressive than real life, with 10% of the populace being born to commit crimes and screw people over just for the hell of it. In fact, doesn't the Nile Worldbook say something about how Mobius has been raising the percentage of Evil folks for ages and ages? So how did Dark manage such a complete victory of Evil over Good, and with all those Evil folks running amok why hasn't his cosm turned into an abbatoir like a steam-age version of Los Angeles? You see, people who inform on neighbors and so on aren't actually evil. They *think* that what they are doing is *good* because they've been duped by someone in a position of power. They're pawns, yes, but Evil, no. Evil people are as nasty as Bloody Jack or Bluebeard. They aren't the nosy neighbors. so... what does that mean for Blightwood Vales? It means you can still have "You must pay the rent!" "I can't pay the rent!" "Then I'll tie you to the railroad track until you cough up the rent!" exchanges, but now instead of the innocent girl being outnumbered by her murderous neighbors who all want to throw her on the tracks and ravish her and steal her ancestral quilt patterns, her neighbors all stand back in amazement at the sheer *gall* of that Snidely Whiplash as he throws her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and takes her to the Blutburg & Ipswich Line and a strong hawser made of hemp. How to make it so that the neighbors don't all take action against Snidely? How can you enforce inaction? Rather than a law of Melodrama try a law of Melancholy. Make it so that people do depressing things because they find them rewarding. Instead of taking care of a problem, they ignore it in the hope that it will go away, and it gets worse, and then late at night they agonize about it and get in the mood to write florid poetry. It's kind of like clinical depression, or attention deficit syndrome. As things pile up, they naturally get melodramatic. And melancholia is a much more typical sign of 19th century literature than melodrama. When your pregnancy ends in a miscarriage, do you cry about it and try again? No, you go catatonic! When your lovely wife goes crazy do you put her in an asylum or commit her to a nunnery? No. You lock her in the attic! Is that the action of someone who has no trouble making decisions? No way! It's guaranteed to cause a lot more pain for everybody involved. And that's the kind of thing that the law of melancholy should enforce. I don't know how to write it though. What would be the reward? But if you have a law that makes good people fail to take action against Evil, then you have the oppression that you want, but without the feeling of being vastly outnumbered as you would in your original BV. Good people should outnumber Evil people, and be powerless to do anything about it (because of their own weakness, weakness encouraged by the law of melancholy). -- Loren Miller I can tell by your shoes that you are a lover of liberty Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 08:48:53 +1000 (EST) From: "Brenton / Saxon George (COM)" Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales On Tue Oct 11th Loren Miller wrote: > My main complaint about BV is the proportion of Evil people to Good > people. With a proportion of 60% to 40% Evil to Good, it's way worse > than Terra, which is already way worse than our real world. [Warning > rambling ahead] If you want to make the cosm oppressive in comparison > to the real world, then think about it this way... in the real world > the proportion of born criminals is somewhere between 1% and 5%. [...] > Terra is already a *lot* more > oppressive than real life, with 10% of the populace being born to > commit crimes and screw people over just for the hell of it. If fact > doesn't the Nile Worldbook say something about how Mobius has been > raising the percentage of Evil folks for ages and ages? So how did > Dark manage such a complete victory of Evil over Good, and with all > those Evil folks running amok why hasn't his cosm turned into an > abbatoir like a steam-age version of Los Angeles? Very interesting points. I hadn't considered that. For the balance of E to G I simply copied the situation as given in the NE (yes, you're right, it does say Mobius has been raising the percentage of E to G in the NE from what it was in Terra. I presume Dark did it the same way Mobius did (however that was, presumably just spending poss. on nudging the wls around). The observation society collapsing into virtual warfare with that high a percentage of Evil people is *very* good (but at least they don't have techno-demons :-) It may be something that Ks. Jim should consider if he carries out his threat to have a look at the Terran (and particularly NE) LoMorality. [...] > How to make it so the neighbors don't all take action against > Snidely? How can you enforce inaction? Rather than a law of Melodrama > try a law of Melancholy. Make it so that people do depressing things > because they find them rewarding. Instead of taking care of a problem, > they ignore it in the hope that it will go away, and it gets worse, > and then late at night they agonize about it and get in the mood to > write florid poetry. It's kind of like clinical depression, or > attention deficit syndrome. As things pile up, they naturally get > melodramatic. And melancholia is a much more typical sign of 19th > century literature than melodrama. When your pregnancy ends in a > miscarriage, do you cry about it and try again? No, you go catatonic! > When your lovely wife goes crazy do you put her in an asylum or commit > her to a nunnery? No. You lock her in the attic! Is that the action of > someone who has no trouble making decisions? No way! It's guaranteed > to cause a lot more pain for everybody involved. And that's the kind > of thing that the law of melancholy should enforce. I don't know how > to write it though. What would be the reward? > > But if you have a law that makes good people fail to take action > against Evil, then you have the oppression that you want, but without > the feeling of being vastly outnumbered as you would be in your original > BV. Good people should outnumber Evil people, and be powerless to do > anything about it I like the idea. Subtle, but flavoursome. Works even better than peoples' faith in Virtue Triumphant for keeping them passive in the face of oppression. If I ever get around to doing a final rewrite I may well include this (with attribution, of course), but I, also, would have to think about how mechanics would work. A simple "this is the way society as a whole react to things like this" would probably work fine for NPC ords, but be ignored by PC SKs; a possibility reward for acting melancholic would probably be abused and only used in non-fight scene situations; and a penalty to rolls is acting a bit too late, what we're looking for here is something to sap their initiative *beforehand* to *prevent* them taking actions, not mute the ones they're already doing. (Sorry if I'm sounding a bit bitter and vicious, but I've had trouble with PCs trying to take all the benefits but avoid all the penalities. I'm horribly tempted to stop trying to be subtle, and just use wls to club them into submission, but that'll ruin my campaign ). Thank you Loren. Saxon Brenton University of Canberra Canberra, Australia Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 10:33:27 -0500 (CDT) From: David J Oakes Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales [loren points out that 60/40 evil could be bad] well, as long as we stick with the nile definition of evil as self centered, i dont think we are in much danger of making BV into a charnnel house. even the most evil master villain in Terra would probably look at bluebeard and cringe. and in the end, we only really have to worry about the prateds. KS Jim feels that there is a basic level of "adventure" in any TORG cosm, and so BV doesnt need a LoDrama to be "captains courageous". I feel that ords are inherently inactive, so we do not need a LoMelancholy to enforce their non-interfering nature. Loren's example of snidely coming in and stealing away nell and no one bothering to stop him is exactly what ords are for. if someone tried to stop them, they would be the hero of the picture, and consequently prated. there will be exceptional ords - the kid that runs out to stop the villain, only to get his butt kicked to provide proof that the villain is really villainous - and prateds that dont want to get involved - have to write that art film cosm one of these days - but they are the exceptiopn that proves the rule. unless everybody is a hero, as in the nile, or everyone is a coward, extra wls to enforce drama or melancholy are not needed. dave "he has a speaking part - give him one poss" oakes Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 09:15:47 -0600 From: Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim) Subject: Re: Blightwood Vales Loren writes: > My main complaint about BV is the proportion of Evil people to Good > people. With a proportion of 60% to 40% Evil to Good, it's way worse > than Terra, which is already way worse than our real world. [Warning, > rambling ahead] If you want to make the cosm oppressive in comparison > to the real world, then think about it this way... in the real world > the proportion of born criminals is somewhere between 1% and 5%. If we > had to characterize born criminals with a moral name then Evil > wouldn't be a bad name to pick. Terra is already a *lot* more > oppressive than real life, with 10% of the populace being born to > commit crimes and screw people over just for the hell of it. In fact, That is overstating things a bit - not all Evil people in Terra/Nile are murderers and hardened criminals. The Nile book uses an old man who yells at the neighborhood kids just because he likes scaring them as an example of an Evil person. If we include mean-spirited, self- centered, spiteful and other similar negative emotions under the heading of Evil then 10% of the population isn't such an outrageous number. (But the number of actual criminals out of that section probably does amount to only 1-5 percent of the entire population.) [Melancholy vs. Melodrama] > of thing that the law of melancholy should enforce. I don't know how > to write it though. What would be the reward? > > But if you have a law that makes good people fail to take action > against Evil, then you have the oppression that you want, but without > the feeling of being vastly outnumbered as you would in your original > BV. Good people should outnumber Evil people, and be powerless to do > anything about it (because of their own weakness, weakness encouraged > by the law of melancholy). It comes down to figuring out if the law should reward inaction or penalize action against Evil. The penalty would be an easier mechanic to institute but might make things feel too oppressive. Kansas Jim (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu)