Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 06:14:27 -0600 Sender: torg@buddha.intecom.com From: "David Wood" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:410] BORDERLANDS (Posted for John S. Olson. Please forward all comments to him via David Wood) Borderland, the Cosmic Horror Cosm On the surface, The Cosm of Borderland resembles Core Earth of the 1920s. This veneer of sanity masks a reality that cannot be understood by rational thought. The true shape of reality in Borderland is so alien to human logic that one cannot understand it, or even perceive it fully, without risking one's very sanity. The creatures that have mastered the tangled axioms have warped their minds to conform to its requirements; humans are also able to do this, but generally lose the ability to function in human society. Axioms and World Laws The axioms of Borderland are limited in strange ways by the Power of Madness (see below). They work the same way as in other cosms up to a point, and beyond that point they are utterly different. To reflect this, each axiom is given two ratings. The first number represents the limits within which the axiom behaves the same way as in other cosms. The second number denotes the true limits of the cosm. Magic Axiom: 5/20 On the surface, Borderland is a rational cosm, where magic is dismissed as superstition. Things seem to work by scientific means, with very little if any credence given to "luck" and unseen influence. Beneath the surface, things happen which science cannot explain, but there are never any reliable witnesses. Even if they were reliable before they became witnesses, they lose their reliability in the face of what they have seen. Social Axiom: 19/24 Socially, Borderland is in the 1920s. Most of the world has been tamed, leaving no real frontier, but there are many hidden areas in dark continents and distant mountain ranges that have yet to be explored. Most governments are constitutional monarchies, democracies or republics, with a fairly free-market economy. Socialism has been discovered, but is generally regarded as wild-eyed utopianism. The Power of Madness has had its effect on the underpinnings of society. There is a faint hint of decay in every culture; rustic backwaters are full of ramshackle, crumbling buildings, while modern cities are redolent of sinister shadows and suspicious doings. Madmen seem able to act in disturbingly organized fashion even if they have no means of communicating with one another... no normal means! Spiritual Axiom: 7/33 The rational paradigm of Borderland is material science. Religion is seen as either superstition, or a useful moral compass in a universe that makes sense. Beneath the veneer, insane gods cavort through the vastness of space. These gods are entirely real, hence the Axiom level of 33. Of course, a mere glimpse of these gods is enough to drive one into total, eternal insanity. Technological Axiom: 20/33 The internal combustion engine exists, but even in the cities, horse-drawn carriages are still used for deliveries. Cars are limited to the likes of the Model T and Model A. Some automobile manufacturers are trying to market steam- powered cars, but these are not catching on as fast as the gasoline models. The telephone is another recent invention, but most rural homes don't have one. Radio and movies are the primary source of amusement. And if any technicians or scientists suspected what sort of things were really possible, they would take up finger-painting. World Laws The Power of Madness In Borderland, reality is inherently incomprehensible. Beyond certain limits, its axioms are tangled into a complex knot of mixed principles that no sane mind could understand. As a result, the powers of this cosm are not divided into spells, miracles, psionic powers and devices. Instead, there is an array of techniques known as Elder Secrets. These will be described in more detail later. The other effect is the madness skill. This Mind skill is not normally studied; instead, one "learns" it by encountering the creatures and ideas of the Cosm. Many of the creatures of Borderlands have a Madness Rating; upon encountering one of these creatures, a character must roll against this rating on either Mind or madness. Failure means the madness Skill gains one add. Old books of forbidden lore also have Madness Ratings, which one must roll against before learning its secrets (and Secrets). Like the Ayslish skills of honor and corruption, madness has a cumulative effect with each add gained. Unlike those skills, the effects of madness are not purely advantageous. There are four levels of development; the first (at one or two adds) is Eccentric. The precise effects of each add are left for the reader to work out, but they should include penalties to the totals of Charisma skills, physical effects like hair turning white or shaking hands, and the ability to induce madness checks by raving about what one knows. In addition, at certain points in the progression, the character should check for Degeneration; if this occurs, the victim stops gaining madness adds and becomes a mindless monster of some kind, and usually goes to live in underground tunnels, howling wilderness or desert. The monster gains a Madness Rating comparable to its madness skill, and anyone who encounters it must make a madness check. The principal benefit of madness is that it allows those possessing it to learn Elder Secrets. An Elder Secret can be anything from a ritual that summons creatures from some insane pocket dimension to a method of building a teleport gate out of brass, gold and tiny chunks of radium. A person may know one Elder Secret for each add of madness. Each Elder Secret has a Madness Threshold; this is the minimum madness skill that must be possessed in order to learn that Secret. Most Secrets also have a Madness Rating, similar to that possessed by monsters; the madness check is made when using that secret. In the case of, for instance, teleport gates, a lesser madness check must be made by anyone who walks through. It is possible to lose adds in madness. The use of the psychology skill, with a DN equal to the madness skill of the patient, can remove one add of madness at a time. This can cause the loss of Elder Secrets, if the patient can no longer meet their Madness Threshold, or now has too many Secrets for his madness adds. Elder Secrets usually require a skill roll, but different ones use different skills. The "Active Skill" may be faith, focus, psi manipulation, one of the magic skills, or sometimes something weird like martial arts. Some sample Elder Secrets: Call To The Piper In The Mist Madness Threshold: 14 Active Skill: Conjuration magic Difficulty: 16 Backlash: 19 (resisted by willpower) Cast Time: Varies, see below Effect Value:25 Range:0 Speed:0 Duration:NA Bonus Number To: Willpower (for resisting backlash) Madness Rating: 19 This chant requires that the mage stand on a hilltop on a foggy day just before dawn. She must slowly dance in circles, calling out the alien words while making intricate gestures with her hands. As the sun clears the horizon (not that you could normally tell in the fog), the sound of pipes being played joins the chanting, while the fog becomes thicker and takes on a kind of yellowish gleam. Finally, a shape will be dimly seen in the fog, with two glowing eyes about a foot apart and eight feet above the ground. The Piper will fully manifest just after the sun clears the horizon (not that you... oh, I said that already). The Piper In The Mist is not controlled by the caster of this Secret, but starts out neutral in attitude. Unless the caster knows the language of Astruel, it will quickly become hostile and attack. Speaking to it in Astruel allows the caster to bargain with it for knowledge or ask it to use its powers on behalf of her. It distains actual, physical combat, preferring to use its powers and spells, but will do so if angered or pressed. The actual Attributes, powers, skills and Madness Rating of the Piper are left as an exercise for the student. Telepathy Madness Threshold: 10 Active Skill: Psionic manipulation or Perception Difficulty: Mind or psionic resistance of target Backlash: 20 (resisted by madness, but see below) Cast Time: 3 (within one combat round) Effect Value: 14 Range: 8 Speed: 8 Duration: one round Bonus Number To: Backlash reduction Madness Rating: Backlash effect value This Secret allows the user to glimpse the thoughts of another person within range. It requires no gestures, no incantations, no material components. All it takes is eye contact. The "quality of success" chart should be used to determine how deeply the casster saw into the target's mind. Ancestral Regression Madness Threshold: 12 Active Skill: Meditation Difficulty: 14 Backlash: 17 (resisted by willpower) Cast Time: 18 (one hour) Effect Value: NA Range: 0 Speed: 0 Duration: NA Bonus Number To: Willpower Madness Rating: 17 This technique causes the user's mind to begin sliding into the past, where it re-experiences important events first in his own life, and then in the lives of his ancestors. The quality of success of the backlash result is used to decide how fast the pastward travel is; if control is lost entirely, no more than a glimpse of each life is gained before it's on to the next one. Once the caster decides he's seen enough, a willpower roll must be made, at a DN of the backlash result +1 for each life seen, in order to break free of the spell. Failure means sliding back another life before he may try again. If the caster fails completely, he begins to accelerate into the pre-human past, eventually becoming one with the primordial slime. Mercifully, he is completely insane long before that happens. -- David Wood, Freelance Computer Consultant ("Freelance" is just a cheesy way of saying "Irregularly Employed")