Twin Peaks From torg Mon Feb 15 15:08:13 1993 From: 910427m@axe.acadiau.ca (JASON MATTHEW MCDONALD) Reply-To: torg (Torg Mailing List) Subject: Twin Peaks:the cosm Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1993 15:08:13 GMT X-Gated-From: alt.games.torg X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu The following is my first real attempt at creating my own cosm that I can be the Ks. Jim of. It deals with the TV series Twin Peaks and the movie Twin Peaks:Fire Walk With Me. It is used for the Torg Gaming system. The reason I may have just stated the obvious is because I'll be cross posting the to both Alt.Games.Torg and Alt.tv.twin_peaks (I think that's it's name) I originally saw a request for info in a TP RPG in the TP group, and decided to make a TP cosm for Torg, All you Torg players, you may have no interest in this cosm. All your Twinnies out there, you may (probably) have no idea what hell Torg is. Well, tough, this is for the few of us Torg playing Twinnies out there.(surely I'm not the only one:) Anyways, this is just a rudimentary attempt, and please don't hesitate to point out fallacies, and errors, but PLEASE don't pick on my spelling, it's too late to be proofreading here at home. Also note, that to get the true feel for Twin Peaks, tons of rules are unneccesary. The GM and players MUST have a strong grasp on the series. I could sit here and type 300 pages on how players should act, but it all comes down to roleplaying, and not necessarily game playing. Rules cannot make a player playing Coop do the corny things he does. The player must know Coop and play him as he/she feels Coop would really be. And so, before I go to bed for a good sleep, I present to you: (drum roll please) fade to black start Twin Peaks opening music fade to: The Cosm of ^Twin Peaks^ POP 51,201 Axioms ------ Magic 9 - Precognition, ESP, and reliable Divination all possible. Minor Alteration of physical matter also possible. There is enough magic to support minor magical entities. (Ex. Lana the Wood Nymph). Social 21 - No difference from modern Core Earth society. Spiritual 10 - Direct intervention possible with spiritual entities, sometimes at the request of the faithful. These inteventions are clear signs of divine agency. Technological 23 - Modern Core Earth technology. World Laws ---------- Law of Secrecy -------------- "In a town like Twin Peaks, nobody is innocent." Each character created in this cosm must choose at least one dark secret which has the potential to severly disrupt their everyday life More than one dark secret MAY be chosen, with a bonus possibility point equal to the Torg value of the measure of secrets taken. Ex) Secrets P-Points 1 0 2 1 3 2 4 3 5 3 ... ... 100 10 Law of Duplicity ---------------- Naturally, this law has several manisfestations. 1) In combination with the Law of Secrecy, any character using Trick/Persuasion/Charm in an attempt to hide one's secret adds a +3 bonus to the relevant skill. 2) Almost everything in Twin Peaks has a cyclic aspect to it. Although, this cannot be put into game terms, the GM should try to make adventures cyclic in some manner. There are also Mirror/double selves in the town. Ex) Killer Bob/Bobby Briggs Mike the OAM/Mike Nelson 3) Events in Twin Peaks can be explained by most common people (Ords) in a conventional murder with a motive manner, however, their is usually something beyond what the Ords are willing to see. There is almost always a darker, less realistic rationale behind a person's actions, or natural events. Ex) Leland may have murdered Laura because of her knowledge of murder of Theresa Banks, and his sexual abuse of her, but we all know the real reason ... or do we? Skill notes ----------- Investigation is carried out in the manner stated under Research in the Orrorsh sourcebook. Investigation is a less 'reality based' form of Evidence Analysis. Investigation allows the character to study evidence, both relevant and irrelevent, to 'divine' the identity of the criminal being seeked. Invetsigation also makes use of books and secondary sources of information, but relies on evidence more than research. The skill is used in the same way as in the Orrorsh sourcebook, and I'm to lazy to type out the rules. However, if you have not the Orrorsh book, Email me, and I'll explain the rules. (As long as I'm not seriously breaking any copyright laws) Meditation as per the NipponTech sourcebook (I think that's the book) The Darkness Device ------------------- The Darkness Device for Twin Peaks is in fact The Black Lodge. Unique in the matter of it's size, and makeup, the origin of The Black Lodge is unknown. It is in fact in it's own pocket dimension, closely tied to Twin Peaks, and can be accessed during certain astronomical alignments. Also unique to this DD, is the fact that it is virtually unmovable, and cannot be taken from it's pocket dimension, as it is too large to travel through the portal it creates for external access. The Black Lodge 'arrived' untold ages ago, and is strongly implanted in Native American lore, especially those tribes of the northwestern US and southern BC. There is no known High Lord, however there are several 'enitities' which reside within the darkness device. Their purposes remain ambiguous at this time. There does seem to be some discontent between the entities, and there is no clear superior entity. They have shown the ability to travel outside the Black Lodge, whether through possession or in their 'true' human forms. (although the LMFAP has not been seen outside the Lodge other than thruogh dream/visions) It is rumoured the the Law of Duplicity permeates the cosm so strongly that even the DD is subject to it. There is supposedly a White Lodge that is only reachable by travelling through the Black Lodge, therefore inplying that they are connected, and possibly that the two lodges are in fact one. Other Notes ----------- The general public is completely ignorant to the existence of the DD, the US government suspects that something strange is taking place in the forests surrounding the town of Twin Peaks. They suspect UFO activity, and are on the right track, but they are unaware of the existence of Possiblity Raiders. There is a relatively low population of Storm Knights on this Earth, and because their is no formal intent to rid their reality of the DD, there are not likely to be any great surge of Storm Knights as there was on Core Earth. However there are groups that are aware that there is something terribly wrong in the forests of Twin Peaks, but do not know what it is either. An example of this would be The Bookhouse Boys, but even they do not fully comprehend the true nature of the evil in the woods. The group of FBI agents working on Project:Blue Rose, under Gordon Cole, are the most informed group on the Possibility Raiders, and are just now beginning to get a grasp as to the size of the problem. Project:Blue Rose is closely tied in with Project:Blue Book the unofficial FBI/AF investigation into the appearences of UFOs within American borders. Project:Blue Rose is the unofficial FBI/AF investigation into the possiblity of super/paranatural events within American borders. It is not known whether or not other nations have had any contact/experience with the Possibilty Raiders within their borders, but it would not be unlikely that Canada has had some trouble due to the location of Twin Peaks. The American gov't will deny the existence of Project:Blue Rose, and any instances involving supernatural investigations in the area of the northwestern states. Well there it is. The first draft of my first cosm. If you have any interest at all in this, please E-Mail me at 910427m@axe.acadiau.ca. I would like any suggestions, corrections, or general comments. Hey I'll even take flames, as long as they're polite. Any impolite flames will be returned at the expense of the original sender. If there's enough interest, I'll get to work in Stats for Coop, Bob, et al. From torg Tue Feb 16 09:36:50 1993 From: tgt33358@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Thanatos) Reply-To: torg (Torg Mailing List) Subject: Re: Twin Peaks:the cosm Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1993 09:36:50 GMT X-Gated-From: alt.games.torg X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu Great idea! YOu've managed to capture the feel almost perfectly, without a doubt. However, since every cosm has three world Laws, and you really didn't cover the fact that so many of the good guys were going nuts by the end, I submit this, a shameless rip off of SAN from Call of Cthulhu, as the final flaw. Please respond if you have any comments: And to show that ignorance is bliss, and perhaps you _can_ know too much (and roll too well...): The Law of Insanity: Whenever a possiblity rated character tries an investigation roll, he sees what result he has garnered. The better he did on the research, the more involved he gets, and thus the more obsession begins to creep inot his brain. Every SK starts with an insanity value equal to the amount of secrets they started the game with. With every twist and turn, the more information is garnered, the more the plot drags the characters into its convoluted center. Consult the following chart: Result of Research or other Investigation: Minimal +0 Average +1 Good +1 Superior +2 Spectacular +3 Each time a success value is figured, add the above to the insanity rating, to determine the new rating. Ex: Coop wants to find out who took an axe to the Log Lady's door. He uses research to find out, and receives a Good success, talking all the while about Andean Mummies. He must now add +1 to his Insanity total. At different points in the story, characters will behold supernatural events which require an insanity value to be generated. Difficulty is picked by the GM, but usually based on the effect level of the phenomena. For instance, stuff that happens at Core Earth Spiritual Levels don't bug the SK. However, things get hairy at higher events. Fear and the atmosphere around the event may also play a big role. The Insanity Value starts out small, but the more one learns, the worse one gets, (with the player acting out the quirks, and perhaps taking on more Secrets), until finally a Superior result is gained, and the character reverts to the GM until further notice. Ords, because of the Law of Duplicity, are unaffected by the Law of Insanity. Most will think the researcher crazy (Andean mummies indeed!), until the answers pop up, at which point they do their best country bumpkin routine (Gee, Coop, that's swell...Andeam mummies do know a lot about tree frogs), not even trying to understand the convolutions. Note that the SK can spend a possibility point to reverse this effect. By spending a point, the character rolls one die, and adds the NEGATIVE value to his insanity value. Thus, if she rolled a 17, she would add a negative 4 to her insanity value. If, however, she rolled a 4, she would add a negative -8 to her value, increasing it by 8. This can be tried once per act. Doing so, however, buries the information, generating another Secret. -- I don't mind being the smartest / Thanatos, DeathUrge, Master of Unknown man in the world...I just wish it\ Time and Space tgt33358@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu wasn't this one... / It's a Zen thing... -Ozymandias \ you wouldn't understand...